Kapitel 3: Another World Another Class

…

Aaron woke up early the next day. He realized that he actually slept next to the window and no one bothered to wake him up. He then went to the cafeteria where some of the candidates were already up and eating breakfast. Some of them were still hung up on getting disowned while some others had not really come to terms with things while the desperate ones just accepted the situation.

"It looks like my class is actually doing better coping wise, I think. I don't know how they will fare as many of them don't know that much about Pokémon previously and are now are relying on the few with some knowledge. I don't really care that much, as it is none of my business. I just wish it was my old class instead since I really don't know anyone other than Alice here.

I don't have time to worry about making friends My only goal should be survival." He consoled himself and then headed to the computer room to get his information.

He found out that Junction actually had 6 main gates and each lead to specific regions.

The city was shaped like three circles similar to an oblong Venn diagram. Gates were located in the North, East, South, West, South East, South West. For a visual, the city looked like a rounded triangle with one of the main gates facing Due North.

Regarding the topography of the surroundings, the Northern Region was the most remote and housed a humongous dessert that was bordered by part of a mountain range that curves around the city and headed off towards the West. So off the Western Gate was the more Mountainous Region housing many caves and mines while it was noted that if one went deep into the mountains there was also snowy climate around their peaks. The Eastern Gate and SouthEastern Gate both opened towards vast Grasslands but the only difference was that the South Eastern Gate housed a river and some Marshland while the Eastern terrain butted up against the bottom of the steep cliffs which created a natural border of the Northern desert. The Southern Region was where the Forrest started and the trees grew denser the more one headed West. Meaning that the SW was dense Forrest which continued into the mountainous Western Region.

He also chatted with a couple of older trainers in the computer room and eventually found out Repel and a Knife is the only thing a candidate gets during the ordeal along with a couple of other necessary items. Aaron was thinking that the repel is some sort of chemical that irritates the Pokémon and might end up being a double-edged sword. But he will still use it as his main weapon.

He also found out some rules for Pokémon in residential areas. Trainers were ranked with grades and their group of candidates was classified as unranked as of now.

He went back to his room and took out a sheet of paper. He needed to get some things straight for his plan. Right now he felt vulnerable and he did not like it one bit. He had formulated many different plans for his starter based on the games and now he knew most of them were wrong from the start.

He needed a partner that could ensure his safety when he took missions, loyal, and have decent potential to grow. His first thought was to find a Ground Type for defense and he could always dig a hole or build barriers to block an attack.

He also initially wanted a psychic Pokémon or fighting Pokémon so that he might be able to learn either type of power from it but apparently those types are very rare, dangerous, and too aggressive for newbie trainers. Psychic types were considered very rare while fighting type pokemon could be found every so often. He wanted to learn how to use powers like Aura and Psychic but he did not know how to go about that.

Finding one of those two types might not be a good idea but that might not be the case down the line as there were ways to trade and sell Pokémon from other areas through the network. What Aaron concluded was that there were many different environments and that he could not predict what could happen.

He listed a couple of common Pokémon that might have potential specific to each area. He also listed his favorite Pokémon but that was a shot in the dark at that Pokémon was a Beldum as its final evolved form is psychic and an amazing Pokémon overall. But if worse came to shove he would still be happy with any Pokémon even the most common Zubat.

Aaron then got up and roamed around the facilities of the districts. Like most city-states they are all divided into numbered sections. The trainer section is Section 10 and in Junction, it apparently occupies 38% of the Land overall. Approximately 25% in each "City" didn't know the numbers but that seemed off for some reason. There are residences scattered throughout some of the districts but they all have been marked with the unique Valor sign.

He sighed"I guess we are in the city where Valor is headquartered. I don't think I am going to join a guild as I don't like being ordered around by others. It will result in people just resorting to political games to one-up each other. I want my freedom but I would sacrifice cheaper resources and a solid backing."

Continuing with his stroll he eventually stopped at an open field and sat down in the shade of a large berry tree. He then noticed a trainer with young Pokémon training on the other side of the clearing. She had two Pokémon out right now and he recognized them as a Bedew and Ducklett.

??? Alright, Bedew come to help me train Ducklett, he is not listening to me." The girl complained

Bedew Bedew Bedew

Bedew tried to negotiate between its trainer and Ducklett which ignored her commands.

Aaron wanted to analyze both Pokémon but for that, he would have to get closer. So he decided to introduce himself to the group.

"Umm hello, Hope I am not disturbing anything but can I pet your Pokémon?"

The Trainer was startled and immediately went on guard, but when she saw it was a boy two or three years younger than her she relaxed a little but was still on guard. "Uhhh I guess so?"

As soon as she said the words Aaron seemed to disappear from her sight and sat between the two Pokémon. He preceded to pet Bedew and examined her body while muttering "This Bedew is quite young and it seems very healthy. Its leaves on its head are a lot sturdier than I thought. Maybe this is from being out of the Pokeball so much and absorbing sunlight?".He then pulled out a berry he had picked to see if it would eat it.

Annoyed that it wasn't getting attention from the stranger Ducklett waddled up to Aaron and started nuzzling him wanted to be petted and to get some berries.

The girl was stunned She had at first thought that some guy came to start another conversation with her and get on her good side. She did not lack suitors being a potential A-Rank talent within Mystic. But she was wrong as he seemed to just be here for her Pokémon.

She had just caught this Ducklett a day ago to fill a much-needed gap in her team and she still hadn't tamed him as he was quite stubborn. She was a currently C-rank trainer and taking her B-Rank exam next week so she had plenty of experiences on how to handle Pokemon but this boy came out of nowhere and becomes best friends with her youngest members of her team.

"How?" She simply questioned

Aaron Looked up at her confused and asked "How what?"

Trainer"How did you befriend them so easily?"

Aaron thought a bit and replied "I don't know really. I just see them as creatures with emotions, maybe this is different than normal trainers? I also brought berries. "

She thought about it and gave up understanding. She also treated them with food and knew that all her Pokémon had emotions and different personalities so his answer didn't help her. She stuck out her hand to Aaron and said "Hello my name is Gwen what is your Name?"

"Names Aaron but my friends just call me N. Would you mind if I ask you a few questions?"

…

2 Hours Later

"And that's how the Torchic crossed the road."

"Ahhh so that's how."

Aaron "Well its been fun Gwen, See ya around."

He then turned around and left before she could even reply. A vein popped in irritation but she settled down. 'He didn't even care to ask how to contact me'. She usually had a cold character but for some reason, he got under her skin from his small actions. Even so, she actually learned a lot from Aaron about Pokémon and personalities, types of food, and some other things. She also found out what type of food Ducklett prefers over the dry food that she had been feeding it. She muttered as she watched him stroll away "If you pass the Ordeal maybe I should invite you to join Mystic."

…

The next day … After Aaron Got up and ran a little bit to help keep his endurance up and get used to his body. He continued until a veteran trainer gathered all the Newbies and went into one of the Computer rooms for the lecture.

"Everyone now please take your seat"

They all sat down at the desks and looked at him. He then passed out small notebooks and pens to each person.

"My name is Jimmy Dean. I am a B-Rank Pokémon Trainer born and raised here at Junction. I am part of Instinct Guild which can usually be identified by someone wearing yellow or a yellow armband."

"That's enough about me but now onto you all. Yesterday you had the day to get your mind ready to become Pokémon Trainers. Today is the first official day of training. Including today you have 5 days to prepare to become trainers on the sixth day you will have to take your Ordeals. YOU will have to pass these Ordeals to become an official trainer. Take notes and ask questions if you have any.

First off, the topic that you all have on your minds the Ordeals. After the Cataclysm the League instituted the selection day policy trainers were given starters. But that turned for the worse because some of the Pokémon did not respect their trainers enough and turned on them. That and ALL Pokémon even tamed ones turned aggressive after that event. After some deaths of new trainers, this new policy was put into place.

Therefore new trainers instead of being given a starter, they would have to go out into the wild to catch their own Pokémon and then tame this Pokémon by themself. These Pokémon become the candidates' official Starter.

"Why is was that the best option" yelled someone from the back of the class.

Jim sighed "The league said it would prove to them and the trainers themselves that they could take on the dangers of missions by themselves without outside help. As for why they won't help tame the starter. It's because the Pokémon wouldn't respect the beginner trainer if they needed help. Stats said it was the same amount of trainers that die on their ordeals as the trainers who couldn't control their given starters and ended up dying anyway."

Make no mistake The Ordeal is no walk in the park. Every year we send out a group of prospects into the wilds. There have been very few years that all the prospective trainers made it back to the city-state alive. Some years none of them made it back at all. That happened last year to the 30 or so chosen and is the reason for so many selections for this year to fill the shortage of trainers.

Most of the students in the room became pale after that. Aaron just could care less as it was all talk right now.

"What if you return without a captured Pokémon?"

"Those of you who fail your Ordeal but make it back t the city alive will be sent out the next day to try again. You will continue to go out every day until you return with a Pokémon or don't return at all."

The room dissipated into a chilling silence.

"You must work hard in the coming days to prepare"

Jimmy continued the lecture for a few hours. He spoke about trainer basics and what we needed to know about common items trainers used. He went over medicine like Paralyze Heals and Potions. Finally, he went over the most important item the Pokeball.

"This is a Pokeball," he said after he pulled one out of his pocket. "This device is used by all trainers to capture and store their Pokémon. While inside the poke balls, Pokémon are put into a state of suspended animation where they can rest and even slowly heal from injuries. Keep in mind that the Pokeball's slow healing process is extremely slow. The devices next to the computers greatly speed up this process."

You should all note that while the Pokeball provides rest and heals Pokémon it cannot provide sustenance. You should let the Pokémon out of the Pokeball and provide them food. It should be done with Pokémon in the PC about once a week.

He dropped the ball in front of him and a Pokémon materialized. Everyone except for Aaron's school class jumped up and scurried to the back of the room. As his class has owned, seen, and played with Pokémon before this their reactions where minor which got some surprised looks from candidates and Jim.

Jim muttered I will have to tell the leaders that we might have a lot of potential talents this year or just some really ignorant kids"

"Graveler" it grunted The Pokémon looked like a large boulder with a face carved out in front. It had two legs and four hands.

"Sit" he won't attack unless I order him.

This is my Graveler, Grinder," Jim said. He is a Pokémon that I caught on my Ordeal. Of course, back then he was just a small Geodude. Geodude is a dual Ground and Rock-type Pokémon commonly found in the caves and on the mountains just west of the city stat." He reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a fist-sized rock. He handed the rock to the Pokémon who proceeded to eat it.

As I mentioned before you should release your Pokémon at least once a day to give them food. This is very important as even tame Pokémon you have had for a while may turn on you if they get hungry enough."The Graveler finished his meal and turned to look at his trainer. When it saw that no more food was coming he sat down and just stared at us.

"The Mart and Guilds sell dry Pokémon food for different varieties of Pokémon. If you can't afford to get some food or if you have Pokémon that refuses to eat the dry Pokémon food, you will have to take your Pokémon outside the walls where they can hunt or forage for their own food. Luckily for us, trainers may come and go from the city-state at will. At our own risk of course," he said

"Other than releasing your Pokémon to feed," he said, "you obviously have to release your Pokémon while you are training them. If you don't work on training your Pokémon at least once a week, It won't grow stronger. If it doesn't grow stronger, it won't be able to use strong attacks and will not eventually evolve. You should also consider releasing your Pokémon once in a while so it can relax outside of its Pokeball. This may help your Pokémon become more loyal to you. Keep all of this in mind"

"The last two items I would like to cover are trainer ranks and missions," he said. "While none of you are technically civilians anymore, neither are you considered official Pokémon trainers until you pass your Ordeal. As such, you possess no trainer ranks. Once you return from your Ordeals with a captured Pokémon you will officially become E-rank trainers. There are six trainer ranks. The low ranks are the E-Rank and D-Rank trainers. The middle ranks are the C-rank and B- Rank trainers. Finally, we have the higher ranks, A-Rank, and S-Rank trainers. A-Rank trainers are more commonly known as elite trainers. The S-Rank trainers are the Pokémon Masters. All Gym Leaders and High ranking League Officials are either elite or master trainers. While some trainers get stuck in the lower ranks, most make it to the middle ranks and go no further."

"How many Pokémon a trainer is allowed to own depends on their rank," He said. "E-Rank trainers may own a maximum of two Pokémon. One of these Pokémon you may keep with you at all times, however, the second Pokémon must remain in the computer storage system. This is to ensure that trainers never have more Pokémon than they can handle on them at one time. As you go up in rank the number of Pokémon you may own goes up by two. With each additional rank, trainers may keep one more Pokémon on their person than they could at the previous rank. The poke balls themselves keep track of this system. If you are a D-rank trainer and you capture the third Pokémon, that Pokeball will remain locked. You will not be able to release the Pokémon within until you store one of your other Pokémon in the storage system."

Trainers are allowed to take any missions that are their rank or one rank lower. A trainer may only go out on a mission one rank higher if they are teamed up with a trainer of the appropriate rank. Missions are classed as either D, C, B, A or S rank based on difficulty," he continued

Before taking any missions, you must be promoted to D-Rank. This is easy as you each must prove to a Gym Leader that the Pokémon you caught will obey your commands and attack on command. In other words, you must first tame your Pokémon and prove it will protect you out in the wild. Once you prove that, the Gym Leader will promote you to D-Rank were you can start taking D-rank missions."

I hope you all successfully tame your first Pokémon. If for any reason, you can't tame your first Pokémon you may request to retake your Ordeal and your Pokémon will either be put down or put to work for the city-state if it is of some use. I would suggest that all or you trainers look at Pokedex and don't go trying to catch evolved Pokemon and start with young Pokémon that are easier to control.

Well let's end it right here I will be available up until all of your Ordeals.

…