Capítulo 2: A Small Ceremony

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What happened next caught everyone unprepared as they exited the classroom they where once again blinded and once their vision had returned they were standing on stage in front of an enormous crowd of youths that looked from ages 10 till 15 years old.

There was an old man addressing the crowd of youths with a passionate speech.

Aaron could listen to what he was saying.

"Hello and welcome you all. My name is Curtis Granderson and I am the mayor of our Large City-State known as Junction. Most of you also know it as Guild City. Beside me are the three Gym Leaders of this city-state." He gestured to the two men and one woman who wore the three distinct colors of red, yellow, and blue.

"You all know why this crowd is here today. Today is the day that this year's batch of potential Pokémon trainers are selected from our population. I know that none of you have a desire to be here today. I believe that all of you have lived inside these city walls your entire lives. There have been many horrifying stories about Pokémon Trainers. Let me be the first to tell you, all of them are true."

Taking a break to watch the thousands of youths react to his statement.

"Pokémon are vicious monsters that would tear all of you apart if they are given the chance.If not for those walls we would live in constant fear of Pokémon and the carnage that they would upon us."

"However, the wall is not the solution. Outside, there exists Pokémon powerful enough to destroy our whole city. There are Pokémon that can fly over and dig under the wall to get into our homes. Pokémon trainers have been the first and last line of defense that stands between civilians and those Monsters.

That is why we are here today, Ever since the Cataclysm a century ago trainers are needed to combat this threat. Just know that those who are chosen are sacrificing their futures to ensure our survival. I thank everyone for listening to me today and to those of you who are chosen our hearts go out to you and your families. But don't let the sacrifice be in vain become the lifeline of our society by becoming the best trainers possible and help protect your families and civilians."

There was only silence throughout the entire crowd. Aaron looked over at his classmates who seem to now recognize that this is not the game like Pokémon world but it might be a real fight for survival. Some of them were clenching their fist while others were holding back tears. Aaron then saw Alex who seemed very sure of himself like always. He just shook his head trying to remember the detail of the fanfics he had read in his past.

Then the gym leader clothed in a Red Vest showing off his incredibly large muscles walked up to the podium and addressed the crowd.

"I am Bruce and I am one of the three Gym leaders of this town and also the Guild Master of Team Valor. I have been told that I am very blunt and that is why I had to talk to you snots." He said while glancing at the remaining gym leaders.

"As you all know our city-state consists essentially of 3 different cities each protected by Pokémon trainers and guilds. What I am saying is, I hope that you take the Governor's words to heart. This is not a game this is a fight for human survival. It's us or them. We trainers are the bloodline of the City-State and its Citizens so take that into account when you are called today. I don't like to waste time so let's start the selection." He turned to the trainer on the closest computer and nodded.

"This year the League of City-States and governors has determined that our Junction City will have to select 30 potential trainers. This is the same number as last year"

There were quite a few murmurs thought the crowd of civilians. Some of the Prospective trainers became worried because this was a large number even though there where thousands of kids in the plaza.

"As you know each year the names are randomly drawn by the computer. At this time we would like to present to you part of this Years Chosen." He said gesturing to Aaron's Class "These twenty youths have gracefully volunteered to become potential trainers." There where a large number of gasps and ridiculing names being tossed at their wide-eyed group.

Aaron thought "But we have 30 in our class alone. He either miscounted or did this to get some sort of reaction."

"SILENCE" THE GYM LEADER YELLED WHILE HIS FACE STARTED TO TURN RED FROM ANGER.

"At this time if there are any more volunteers to serve please raise your hands. Each Volunteer might result in one less name drawn from the computer"

There was absolute silence the original 30 was now reduced to 10 more potential trainers. No youth wanted to become a trainer as it was a disgrace to their family and would most likely get them disowned. That is if their parents were not already trainers.

Suddenly a soft voice called out from the crowd

"I Volunteer!"

The children around the boy scattered quickly as if he had COVID. The boy quickly made his way to the stage. Aaron looked at the kid who was very frail and malnourished. 'He seems to be of the lower class' It looked like he either would starve or opt to become a trainer. Eventually, four more youths volunteered.

Everyone in the crowd sighed in relief as the chance of them getting chosen was extremely small now.

Suddenly the Woman Gym leader who dressed in a tight Blue Suit and Glasses walked to the front and said with a cold emotionless voice "Since there is a large number of volunteers this time we will still be drawing 10 names." With that, she went and sat back down.

Once again silence pervaded the plaza. After a short while and uneventful drawing 10 more youths where chosen. Most of them came from a higher district number which indicated that they were poorer. While others from the low number districts seemed well off by their clothes and others where just dressed in rags.

Once the ceremony was over all the civilians left the plaza in a rush.

All the Potential Trainers were split into groups and lead by some older trainers to the Pokémon Center.

When they arrived the three gym leaders stopped in-front of the door and the female Leader named Candice said "This is the Pokémon Center where you all will live for the next week before the ordeals. We will have some B-Rank trainers to help you all prepare for them over the next days. Tomorrow is a Free Day to tie up loose ends after being Chosen. After that, you will have five days of training before the Ordeal on the sixth." She finished and walked away with a couple of her guild's trainers who were similarly dressed in blue. The other leaders nodded and left the newbies alone.

Everyone entered the Pokémon Center.

What greeted everyone was a very large desk staffed by a middle-aged woman followed by two assistants. She saw the group and said, "Welcome prospective trainers to the Pokémon Center. My name is Julie and I am the night manager here" she paused before continuing "This center will be a new home for most of you as you begin your new lives as Pokémon Trainers. Follow me we will give you a tour."

She and her assistants then led the different groups around the Pokémon center. Behind the desk was a central door that leads to a hallway of other doors within the Pokémon center.

Their first door opened and there was a large storage of items and a register next to the entrance.

Julie "This is the poke-mart. This is where trainers buy the basic supplies that they need to train Pokémon and go on a mission. This is just the bare essentials such as Pokeball, Pokémon food and potions, and other simple goods. If you were to join one of the many guilds here they would have their own shop and prices cheaper for similar items."

A Boy form their class spoke out "What guilds offer the most items?"

Julie smiled "Of Course the Big 3 Guilds Mystic, Valor, and Instinct. They are the respected leaders of each of the three cities that make up Junction. They are also the most powerful."

A girl then asked, "So it is cheaper to buy things from a guild?"

Julie smiled and replied "Yes and No. It is only cheaper if you joined that respected guild. Guilds also have their own in house currency or points for trainers to buy items…. Since I know you all are going to ask. You have to become a D ranked Trainer in order to join a guild so that you are allowed to perform missions given by the guild and city-state."

Aaron nodded thinking that it made sense to profit from others while giving members a discount.

There where discussions starting to heat up the atmosphere.

Julie shouted "QUIET"

Silence

Julie "More Details pertaining to all of this will be given in your 5 Days of training before your ordeal. No more questions about Guilds, please. The Pokemart is only open from 8 am to 5 pm. If you need anything outside these hours please see me at the desk."

The group left the room silently kind of scared of the manager now. The next room they entered and she began to introduce the room. This here is the computer room where there where 18 computers and 6 machines that had screens and six slots for poke balls. Some of the occupied machines held a couple of Pokeballs.

"This here is the computer room. Trainers use these computers for several different things. 1st off its just like a normal computer and you can browse the internet. They all have a direct link to the mission office in the central district. This is the same for the other two PokeCenters. You can use that link to view available missions that you are eligible for and accept missions they desire. Guilds also have these in their Guild Halls. Some missions are available for several trainers, while others can only be chosen by one trainer or a small organized team of trainers."

She then pointed to one of the small slotted machines

"Next to each computer is a device that has three main uses. First, it is a healing machine that can help your injured Pokémon recover. Second is that it has the Pokedex Application that allows you to view all the stats of the Pokémon within the Pokeball in the slots. Lastly is the transport feature. It breaks down poke balls into code and sends code to your trainer account storage on the Net. You may keep Pokémon stored for future use or you can trade or sell any of your captured Pokémon to trainers here or any other city-state in the region. Again Guilds have these also but they are lower quality than our Pokémon Centers."

She then led them around the facility which housed a canteen, break room, public restrooms, and barracks. These were where New trainers stayed until they became D-rank. When one reached this rank they were available to go on missions and make money. They rarely house D rank trainers since almost all of the trainers upon turning D rank immediately entered a Guild and lived in Guild's respected facilities. Julie indicated that they "Range from Extravagant to Simple. Guilds put a lot of emphasis on picking trainers with potential therefore these residences were one of the results. But all of the rooms are better than our communal barracks."

They where warned if new candidates where picked then they would be given priority over the previous candidates. This had yet to happen due to how almost all trainers that return become D-Rank. They only got one meal a day after the ordeal but until then they could eat three meals a day as they were the league's responsibility. The new candidates were given small boxes with snacks and bare essentials to hold them throughout the week.

Julie "This will be your home for at least a week. Tomorrow is your day off to get acclimated. You will have sessions for the next five days to help prepare you for the Ordeals and becoming official trainers. Work on passing your Ordeals and once you become a trainer you will be eligible to take missions and earn a living."

"Okay, so that's the end of the tour. You all look tired so go grab some food or head over to the Barracks to sleep"

...

Many people dispersed into small groups while most headed to get some sleep. Aaron just found a place to sit and think. He overheard people talking about their backgrounds with some of the volunteers and other candidates. Many of his classmates were conversing with each other while only a few decided to talk with the people who were native to the city. The natives seemed to be more stressed than his class. Maybe because it seemed like a fantasy game in their previous world but he felt that his class was going to have to adapt quickly. Based on Aaron's observations he concluded that there was an overall 2:1 Boy to girl ratio. Many of the girls grouped up while the boys all continued to try to find someone or a small group to converse with.

Aaron sighed "It is a little different than what I have read but I need to prepare. I am already in decent physical shape for my age but I still need to get used to maneuvering. I also need to find a map and study the surrounding terrains and territories around the city and the most common Pokémon that I can find. I don't need a rare one I just need one with decent potential to start me off."

He looked at his watch and smiled as it was going to be essential in his plan and gave him an edge over the others who spent their points on clothes and Pokémon that they currently couldn't use during the trial.

Aaron looked out the window and stared at the numerous stars two red moons in the sky and started to drift to sleep.

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