"69!"

‘Ugh! This is just taking too long; couldn't they just give us the Pokemon at once or call us in a group?' It’s been over an hour or two since the Pokemon picking started, and it’s still not over yet.

What made it even more tiring was keeping track of people who got pokemon that were steel rank or above: "Only five people got a steel rank after that girl but no iron rank; maybe those were the special pokemon Zack was talking about?"

While it was the most obvious conclusion, I couldn't be sure of it as I don’t think those pokemon make a huge difference compared to the rest, which were class rocket pokemon such as Ekans, Koffin, Zubat, Rattata, and Oddish, unless the difference in rank makes a huge difference.

‘But what are those ranks even based off of?’ There were three possibilities that I could land on while thinking about the ranks and observing what was going on in front of me: 'Let's try to organise which one is the most plausible one.’

‘First was their species group, like how Ekans or Rattata, which are pretty common, have the copper rank while pokemon like Elekid or Cleffa, which are pretty rare, have the iron rank.' While a good theory, it was the weakest of all three due to several flaws in it.

Like, how would I explain the steel rank Raticate of the boss? While evolution could be an answer, what about the six iron rank pokemon, one of which was Rattata? There were too many inconsistencies for this theory to be true.

But there was one answer to that inconsistency, and that was that those Pokemon species were divided into various ranks instead of just one, like how some humans are just better than most humans on average.

‘Hmm, but it's still too rough to categorise as ranks, so it's still the weakest one.’

‘Second was the IV values; higher IV values pokemon had a higher rank, and vice versa, and it could also explain why the rank system was created and somewhat explain why he called them special pokemon.' It was probably my strongest theory, as it has the fewest flaws compared to other ones.

It was the easiest one to categorise and could explain the reason behind the same species of Pokemon having different ranks, but there was just one problem.

‘Why were they so distraught after hearing their Pokemon ranks?' I remember the faces of the kids when they got a copper-rank Pokemon, and almost all of them had the same distraught expression. I was surprised because I was believing this theory, but it put me in doubt, as I don’t think the difference in IV should make a huge difference for a normal person.

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‘Ugh, why couldn’t it be a little bit simpler or don’t exist at all like the game?' I started to get annoyed by this obscure feature of this world that I didn’t know any explanation for, and the desire to know more about Pokemon makes it even more annoying.

‘And last but not least, the EV theory is the same as the IV theory, but just replace it with EV, but there’s just one slight problem.' Then I looked towards the source of the problem: the twins, more specifically their pokeball.

‘How do I explain their ranks with EV theory?' Well, this theory does not sound possible, and I only added it for caution, as three is better than two.

‘I mean, there could be a possibility that some Pokemon start with extra EV when they are born, right?' At this point, I realised I couldn’t get any definite answer at all until I learned more about this world, and I couldn’t even ask the people around me about this as it seemed like pretty common knowledge.

‘Wait, if there’s a unique mechanic like ranks that exists in this world, then wouldn’t there be some hidden stat that is not present in games?' When I was trying to find some proof for EV theory, it suddenly clicked that I needed to stop looking at them like they were in games.

Suddenly someone tapped on my shoulder, which took me out of my thoughts, and I looked at the person who did that, who was the guy in front of me in the line. I could see that he was slightly pointing towards the boss.

Following his direction, I could see the boss looking slightly annoyed. "100!"

‘Oh fuck, that was fast.' Realising what was happening, I quickly started to walk towards him, not before turning around and whispering, "Thanks, dude."

"Oh, I am here. Sorry about being late." I quickly arrived in front of him and tried to pacify him by saying sorry.

"What took you so long?" He looked at me with an annoyed expression, with some invisible pressure holding my body down.

‘The Hypno?’ I slightly looked towards the Hypno, but he was just standing quietly next to this guy. 'Weird? But let’s try to calm him down.’

"Ahh, sorry about that; it’s just that I have a slight ear problem, so I couldn't hear you properly, but I will be careful next time." And while saying all this, I could see he was starting to look less annoyed. ‘Success?’

"Good, but be careful next time, as I hate people who I have to tell to order more than once."

"Understood sir."

"Hmm, now go take your Pokemon."

Hearing his words, I got a little excited, as I will finally have the pokemon in hand and also somewhat solve this rank mystery.

‘Time to pick my Pokemon." I move towards the briefcases to see only one pokeball there in the third briefcase, right in the middle: ‘More like take than pick.’

After taking that pokeball, I walked towards the paper guy, who, with a smile on his face, gave me the last document and key he had on his hand. "Oh, little unlucky, worse than last guy but still not bad, you have got yourself a Steel Rank Zubat."