I groggily got up to the sounds of heavy thudding and slamming. As I sat up, I heard a harsh, feminine voice.

“Hey you, you’re finally awake.”

The unfamiliar voice jolted me out of my sleepy state.

“Wait, I wasn’t with Ulfric!” I shouted out in fear.

“Huh? What the hell are you talking about?” a teenage girl asked, apparently very confused by my statement. She was a tall, athletic girl with tanned skin. She wore a white long-sleeve sweatshirt and running shorts with leggings underneath them. Her Buneary slippers looked very comfortable.

“Oh, sorry. I got mixed up. Who are you?” I asked, embarrassed. Good thing I wasn’t in that world. “Wait, why are you in my room?”

“I’m your next door neighbor who was woken up by your hyper Pokémon making a huge ruckus. What the hell is their problem?” she said, apparently very annoyed. I looked around at that, seeing Inkay and Ferroseed playing around by chasing each other all over the room. They hadn’t broken anything, yet, but were making a lot of noise as they went along having their fun.

“Ah, crap. Sorry about that. I just caught them yesterday, haven’t had much time to discipline them yet,” I told her, scratching the back of my head.

“Jeez, you old geezer. I heard that older starting trainers were incompetent, but this is just sad,” she said with contempt, walking out of the room. With that, I was alone with my two Pokémon. The two kept bouncing around while I sat there, simmering in the insult. She waltzes into someone’s room and insults them, not ev- how did she even get in?

Wait, did she say older starting trainers?

I pulled up the League app once again, fishing for more information. Info dumps, the bane of waking up in an unfamiliar setting. My search told me that there were three types of starting trainers: Juniors, Rookies, and Seniors. Junior trainers were those whose family decided to get them a Pokémon instead of starting Trainers’ School.

Their families taught them a bit on how to raise Pokémon and let the kids learn from experience. They would take a practical exam that proved they could protect themselves. A written exam also took place to measure their knowledge on survival skills. If they failed the written exam, they had to pass a course of Wilderness Survival.

They were typically from lower class families who couldn’t pay the tuition for Trainers’ School and tended to be on the weaker side of trainers. They started with Pokémon like Rattata, Scatterbug, Caterpie, and Patrat, normally after turning 12 or 13.

Rookie trainers were those who went to Trainers’ School. This was a program created by the League to increase the average strength of the trainers in the region. It taught trainers about Pokémon, both tamed and wild. Trainers that graduated were able to receive stronger Pokémon lines like the Azurill, Venipede, Pidgey, and Geodude lines. They also had an option of continuing their education instead of receiving a Pokémon. This would lead to specialization and a specific Pokémon related to their specialization.

For example, someone who focuses on medicine can get an Audino, with a Chansey being available if the Joy clan thinks they are capable and worthwhile. Someone who specializes in technology can get a Porygon or Rotom, though that apparently usually happens with a League contract. Only very talented students or those with serious connections could get a regional Starter like Rowlet, Torchic, or Oshawott. Kids who didn’t specialize graduated at 16 while those who specialized graduated at 18 or 19, depending on the program.

Senior trainers were people who, for one reason or another, couldn’t follow the above paths. While the majority of them were from families living in extreme poverty (which was extremely low in the Pokémon world), there were a lot of people who did not want to become trainers as kids but ended up changing their minds.

For this group, trainers older than 20 had to submit a form detailing why they wanted to become trainers and take a qualifying exam before anything else could happen. After passing, they could either select a Pokémon from the League or go out and catch one themselves with the help of a League Official. If they selected a Pokémon, they were given three choices that were sort of gathered based on the submitted reason for becoming a trainer.

I guess I’ll have to take the qualifying exam since I couldn’t be a Junior or Rookie trainer. Just as I had finished up the little bit of research, Inkay slammed right into my face, pushing me back into the bed. Inkay immediately backed into a corner, probably afraid of how I was going to react. Ferroseed hopped over to see if I was ok. I got up, staring at the two.

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“Alright, no more play time. We have stuff to do today,” I told them. Ferroseed hopped into my arms while Inkay landed on my head. “Nah, both of you made a lot of noise and bothered our neighbor. Not to mention, one of you slammed into my face.”

This got me guilty looks from both of them. “Both of you will stay in your Pokéballs until lunch.”

With that, I returned both of them. They didn’t like it, but both were silent about the punishment I gave them. I walked out of my room, deciding to grab breakfast first. I asked for two breakfast sandwiches for myself, and omelets for both Inkay and Ferroseed. I released both so we could eat together. We enjoyed the food, so much so that Inkay and Ferroseed didn’t want to return to their Pokéballs until I took some food to-go.

“You know, we won’t always be able to eat such delicious food,” I told both of them. Inkay had an incredibly melancholic look on his face as he stared at the empty plates. Ferroseed looked outright mortified at the prospect. “Now back to your Pokéballs, I’m serious.”

I walked over to Nurse Joy to ask about the qualifying exam. I thought it would also be a good idea to check out the Mission app this morning. I needed money, as was the case back home. Back then, I was saving money from every check to pay tuition and not take out loans. Now, I need money to feed my Pokémon. I could feel a headache from the amount of money I would soon be wasting.

“Good morning Nurse Joy, may I ask you some questions?” I greeted after she finished helping everyone in the lobby.

“Sure, what do you need?” she asked back.

“So, I looked up the types of trainers and realized I might need to go down the Senior trainer route. Any ideas on how I should start?”

“Well,” she began, “normally you would have to write up a summary about what made you choose being a Trainer so long after not choosing to be one. After, you’d have to take a qualifying exam that shows the League what you know about surviving in the wild, training and taking care of your Pokémon, and how to interact with other trainers. The exam normally also includes three battles, one with each of the three Pokémon they will present to you as an optional starter. That would be the normal path for a Senior Trainer.

“However, since you have two Pokémon and don’t seem to have a family, or any history here, I think it will be different for you,” she explained. “If I were to guess, I’d say you will take the exam after they conduct an interview, but won’t receive a starting Pokémon. You may also be required to take additional exams to see what knowledge you lack, and might be required to take some remedial classes before becoming a trainer.”

“Hmm, that makes sense. Do you have any estimate on how long that would take?”

“If you don’t need to take classes, about a week. Each class you need to take adds another two weeks. The classes are two weeks long each, mostly to make sure you can use the knowledge appropriately out in the wild. Some people forget that being able to stay calm and use your head is the single most important skill out there. It doesn’t matter how strong or fast someone is; if you panic, you make more mistakes that can cost you your life,” she answered seriously.

“Hmm, got it. Another question I have is about training. From your knowledge, is it better to focus on a specific goal while training Pokémon, like practicing moves or body training, or should I mix it up and do a bit of everything?” I asked her because there were a lot of divisive posts on the best training regimen.

Some believed focusing on a single thing brought more gains, others thought it was better to do generalized training for steady all-around improvement. There were other camps, like those that thought general work-outs mixed with a few hours of specific training worked best. And then there were those that said battles were the only thing Pokémon needed. Since Nurse Joy was an expert in Pokémon physiology, I thought it would be best to ask for her opinion.

“You’re the first person to ask me that. Let me think,” she responded. She sat there for a few minutes before she spoke again.

“I think it is best to do an hour of body training, an hour of move training, two hours of battling, and an hour of energy manipulation or meditation. At least for most. I think that order specifically may bring out the best of most Pokémon,” she answered. She looked a bit excited at the chance to use her medical knowledge.

“Pokémon are very specific creatures. I’ve noticed the first thing that corrects itself is the Pokémon’s energy pool. Pokémon have a certain amount of pure energy, Infinity Energy, that is largely dictated by the species. It can be used for move execution, general movement, evolution, healing, Mega Evolution, Typer Energy, you name it.

“Infinity Energy is converted into a specific type when a move is being used. Moves of the same type as the Pokémon use less energy for the same amount of damage as moves of differing types because the conversion is more efficient. That is the cause of what we call the Same Type Attack Bonus.”

Nurse Joy took a few moments to collect her thoughts, while I grabbed a pen and some sticky notes to write all of this down.

“When a Pokémon is moving around, well, energy is consumed for that. Body training and conditioning helps with increasing the energy pools, or the amount of Infinity Energy the body can store. Meditation and manipulation training help with refining the amount of Infinity Energy used to do certain actions, which results in more efficient use and conversion of Infinity Energy.

“Move training does three things: one, it increases the strength of the move; two, it decreases the amount of time needed to gather enough energy to use it; three, it increases the quality of the pure energy of the Pokémon. In other words, it has an easier time using moves, less energy is needed to use said moves, and the moves become stronger. For this reason, tiring a Pokémon out and then having it focus on gathering energy and converting it will lead to tremendous growth for the Pokémon.

“Of course, you have to be careful and make sure the Pokémon is resting properly or else it will hurt it more than anything. Pokémon battling is needed to make sure the Pokémon is able to quickly react to threats. It is also a great way to combine both move training and body training in a way that is not just mechanical. What’s the use in lifting 49 kg (100lbs) with one arm if the only way you can do it is by starting with your arm close to your chest and pushing up?”

That was… a lot.

“Thank you, Nurse Joy. That was really informative. I don’t think I was able to write all of that down, could you repeat it?” I asked, very much dazed at the sheer amount of knowledge spewed at me.

“Hahaha, don’t worry about it. I’ll send you the information in an easier-to-read document. I’ll also include stuff about baby Pokémon so you can start your Ferroseed in an optimal manner.”

“Oh, thank you! That’ll be very helpful,” I thanked her with a smile. “Oh, and one other thing before the medical tests today. Can you change the locks on my door?”