[A/N: This chapter will have a lot of theory. If you get bored, skip to the Author's note at the end of the chapter.]
Orion began reading from the most general information. He decided that he would slowly dive deep into different topics one by one. However, he never expected to be blown away by the very first piece of information he would read.
He stared dumbfoundedly into the book as he muttered, "There are over 1500 known species of Pokemon in this world! And there are 13 regions which are under the control of the Pokemon League."
This information just made him even more enthusiastic about this world. He remembered waiting for years to see the new Pokemons released in his previous life. And he just got the opportunity to read the information on hundreds of new Pokemons.
Over the next three months, Orion visited the library daily. No one found this odd. After all, it was what he always did. Only a few caretakers noticed that he had stopped reading scientific books and instead read books related to Pokemons, History and Geography.
The amount of information the library had was phenomenal. Though there were a crazy amount of books, Orion wasn't bothered. Though a normal person might be overwhelmed, as someone who read thousands of academic and fantasy books with passion, Orion was thrilled. He absorbed all the information and gained a deeper understanding of the world.
After analyzing all the data, Orion's first thought was, 'This world is freaking scary!'
He let out a sigh and thought, 'I was so thrilled to be in the Pokemon world instead of some other world like Naruto, One Piece or Hunter X Hunter. Though those worlds are equally, or perhaps even more interesting, the risk to life is several times higher. If I had been born as an ordinary person there, I could have died without even knowing how or why.
In comparison, the Pokemon world was very relaxing. Anyone could catch and train Pokemons. Anyone who worked hard and applied some brains in Pokemon battles will be able to live a comfortable life. Someone who works to an extreme will be able to climb to the top. But…'
He let out another sigh in the library, 'I never imagined that this world would be so dangerous and raising Pokemons would be so complicated.'
He began thinking about the complexities involved in becoming a strong trainer. He analyzed, 'From what I recall in anime or manga, it didn't matter what Pokemons you caught. They can be completely ordinary ones and you can still train them to be very strong. The games had some additional stats like Individual Values and Effort Values that created a difference. But even then, that difference wasn't very high unless you played in competitive tournaments.
But here… Instead of IV or EV, every Pokemon has a talent level. From worst to best, they are categorized into Poor, Mediocre, Good, Excellent and Outstanding. And it looks like they use metals to name these categories.
Poor talent is called Iron talent.
Mediocre talent is called Bronze talent.
Good talent is called Silver talent.
Excellent talent is called Gold talent.
Outstanding talent is called Platinum talent.
Over 95% of Pokemons have Iron or Bronze talent. They are considered very weak. Most decent trainers have teams full of Silver talent Pokemons. As for Gold and Platinum talent, they are very rare.
Fortunately, a Pokemon's talent can be improved. It just needs resources of their respective types or species. And quite a few of these resources are the held items that used to be in the Pokemon games.
For example, a miracle seed helps to improve the talent of Grass type Pokemons in addition to strengthening the power of Grass type moves. Due to this, most items are very expensive. Sigh, it looks like I will need a lot of money to raise a good team.
Regardless, the talent of a Pokemon is very important. A Pokemon with higher talent can raise their levels and master their moves several times faster than a Pokemon with lesser talent. It also signifies how high a Pokemon can level. As for the Pokemon levels, they themselves are segregated into different tiers. But just like the games, the level of the Pokemon can go from 1 to 100.
The segregation as per levels are Baby, Young, Intermediate, Advanced, Elite, Pseudo Champion, Champion and Guardian tiers.
With the help of these tiers, the trainers are also categorized into ranks. They are Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Elite, Elite Four, Champion and Guardian Ranks.
A baby Pokemon is a newly born Pokemon. By the time they grow into their youth phase, their level rises from level 1 to level 5. So these Pokemons at these levels are considered Baby Pokemons.
The young Pokemons tier is used for Pokemons from level 6 to level 19. This tier is rather easy to reach as long as the trainer is willing to take some effort.
The next tier is intermediate Pokemons. These are used for Pokemons from levels 20 to 39. Irrespective of the talent, every Pokemon can reach this tier as long as they fight for it. In this world, the majority of the trainers have Pokemons at this tier.
A trainer with 6 Intermediate tier Pokemons is considered an Intermediate rank trainer. Anyone who can't satisfy this condition is considered a Beginner rank trainer. In terms of numbers, this tier has the highest number of trainers. In fact, more than half of the trainers are at Intermediate rank.
From level 40 to 49, a Pokemon is categorized into the Advanced tier. Meanwhile, a trainer that has 6 Advanced tier Pokemons is considered an Advanced rank trainer. This rank is considered a differentiating rank. It separates talented trainers from common ones. But, the main reason why this is considered as important is that it represents a possibility of the trainer reaching the Elite rank!
Level 50 represents some sort of divide. Though not many details were available, I read some information stating that Pokemons can learn Elemental Force at this level. Once this is learnt, their power and abilities increase by several times. Apparently, it is impossible for a Pokemon who hasn't mastered this to win against a Pokemon who has.
At this level, the talent of the Pokemon becomes very important. Even if a Pokemon with Iron or Bronze talent levels up to level 50, it is almost impossible for them to master this power. Even if they do, it will take an extremely long period to do so. And they won't be able to level up easily beyond this point.
The Pokemons who master this force are considered Elite Pokemons. And if any trainer has 2 Elite Pokemons in his team, he is considered an Elite trainer. These are the pillars that support human society in this world. Without them, human cities and towns wouldn't exist.
A Gym Leader is also an Elite trainer. But to become a Gym Leader, the trainer needs to have at least 10 Elite tier Pokemons in their team. This is to ensure that the Gym Leaders are able to protect their cities from an attack on multiple fronts.
Beyond the Elite tier is the Pseudo Champion tier. This tier represents Pokemons from level 70 to 79. To reach this tier, a Pokemon should have at least Gold talent.
An Elite Four needs to have at least 6 Pokemons at this tier. And if a trainer who isn't an Elite Four satisfies this condition, then he or she can challenge one Elite Four every year to claim their position.
But, the league can decide to reject the challenges if an Elite Four member is too important to be replaced or if is targeted by challengers. For example, in Kanto, Agatha can't be challenged due to her influence on the Pokemon Tower.
Beyond the Pseudo Champion tier is the Champion tier. These are Pokemons from level 80 to 89. Only Platinum talent Pokemons can reach this tier. In order to be considered a Champion rank trainer, the trainer needs to have at least 3 Pokemons at this tier.
If a Region doesn't have a trainer that satisfies this requirement, then that region would not have a Champion and would instead be managed by the Elite Four.
And if any Region gains a second Champion rank trainer, then to become a Champion, that trainer needs to first defeat every Elite Four and then challenge the Champion. If the challenge against the Champion fails, then he or she can't challenge the Champion again for the next 5 years.
Just like in the anime and manga, the champion represents the highest level of trainer. They are the leaders of their respective regions. And they decide the route the region must head in.
However, on very few occasions in history, one Pokemon of the champion broke into level 90. From level 90 to 99, the Pokemon is considered to be in the Guardian tier. The first recorded Guardian tier Pokemon trained by a human was around 150 years ago.
The then Champion of Kanto was a trainer named Fujitora. His Rhyperior reached this tier. It was due to him that Kanto began growing much stronger than other regions, becoming sort of a superpower among the 13 regions.
As for level 100, I didn't find any information on it in this library. I guess no one has ever reached this level. Or perhaps that information isn't public knowledge.
Regardless, I did learn one thing. If a trainer managed to train his Pokemon to level 100, that trainer would be considered a Pokemon Master. However, since there is no information, it is safe to assume that there are none or perhaps they live in seclusion.
Anyways, just like Pokemons, their moves also have mastery levels. A Pokemon move mastery is divided into four levels. They are Common, Expert, Master and Perfect.
At Common Mastery, the Pokemon can't move much while using that move.
At Expert Mastery, the Pokemon can freely move around while using that move.
At Master Mastery, the Pokemon can not only freely move, but can also prepare another move which is also at master level mastery.
As for Perfect Mastery, the Pokemon can use those moves almost instantly and can simultaneously use another move.
But, unlike the levels, the move mastery isn't permanent. If a Pokemon doesn't use a move for a long time, then the mastery can decline. In addition, the move mastery can vary a lot at the same level depending on the training. This is especially true at the Perfect level.'
After analyzing all the data, Orion let out another sigh. He thought, 'Who would have thought that becoming a Pokemon trainer would be so complicated? I kinda miss the games. I could just stay on victory road for a few days and level my mons to far beyond what the Elite Four had!'
His expression became grim as he thought, 'And this stuff is very easy compared to the dangers in this world. HUMANS ARE NOT THE RULERS OF THIS WORLD! Instead, we can only live in the safe cities and towns and some smaller villages. Even in the regions ruled by the league, we only occupy around 1-2% territory!
Everything else is occupied by Wild Pokemons! Fortunately, they aren't united. Otherwise, all human cities would be crushed in a day or two! And once in a while, the pokemons surrounding the cities will unite and attack the cities in huge numbers. These attacks are called Pokemon Tides.
If the defence fails, then every human living there dies. It seems like Orion's parents were killed during the previous Pokemon Tide. Anyways, depending on the danger level, every tide causes an alert to be issued in the city. The alerts are Blue alert, Orange alert, Blood alert, Purple alert and Black alert.
A blue alert is issued when the city can defend against the tide with minimal losses.
An orange alert is issued when the threat of the tide is high but the city is confident in defending. However, there will be a high loss of life.
A blood alert is issued when the threat is very high. The city has a small chance of failing. And even if they survive, the city will be washed in blood!
A purple alert is issued when the city has a high chance of falling to the tide.
Lastly, a Black alert is issued when the city's demise is a foregone conclusion. It signifies death. Under Black alert, everyone is allowed to escape however they want to.'
Orion closed all the books and sat in the library for a while with his eyes closed. Finally, he opened them with a determined look and thought, 'I wanted to become the strongest trainer just for fun. But now it looks like becoming strong is a necessity! I just hope that this city doesn't fall before I become a Pokemon trainer. That said, the Saffron city has stood for over 150 years. So I should be safe here.'
Orion looked outside the window. It was already evening. He closed the books and kept them back properly. He walked towards the orphanage while thinking, 'Though the library had a lot of information, I can't consider this as all there is to this world. There should be a lot of secrets only known to the leaders of the world.
After all, the information said nothing substantial about the legendary pokemons. I should keep my mind open for more information and surprises.'
He stretched his back a bit and wondered, 'Now that I have gained an understanding of this world, it's time to decide what team I should build!'
[A/N: That took a while to finalize and write. Anyway, this is the system I came up with. Apologies for throwing it all in one chapter, but I wanted to establish this early on. Instead of slowly writing more theory-based chapters. Anyways, as Orion realized, this theory isn't everything there is as this is information available in the public domain. He will get to know more once he starts becoming strong.
If anyone got bored and skipped to this part, no worries. Just continue reading the story. If something confuses you in future chapters or if you forget, then feel free to return to this chapter. I will also create some chapters in Volume 0 to mention all the information in this chapter in a short and precise format. Feel free to check that out later.]