I woke at the sound of six Delibirds flapping their wings. They flew right above my house and whirled in a circle. Trying to stay as quiet as possible, I opened the door and walked outside. My Absol followed me.

"Ab!" It growled at the swirling Delibirds. One left the circle and landed right in front of me. Reaching into its bag, it pulled out a black and white envelope. I grabbed it and they flew away, flapping their tiny wings.

"It's not Christmas yet, right Absol?" I asked. Absol purred. I headed inside and ripped open the letter. I read aloud.

"Dear Mr. Nimbus, we are delighted to inform you that you have been accepted into the Pokemon League Battle Program. This program helps you become a full member of the Pokemon League. You have shown you're interest in becoming a Pokemon Gym Leader. Now is you're time to rise beyond a trainer and into a Leader! Please arrive at this date to your port city, which is Dawnville. Bring no pokemon with you." – Pokemon League

"Wow Absol, this sounds big. But how did they know I wanted to become a gym leader?" I asked. Absol licked its paws.

"Well, I better go tell Mother and Father in the morning. Let's go back to sleep Absol." I said, wiping my eyes. I fell back into a familiar dream of becoming a Pokemon Master, catching all the pokemon in the world.


"Do you think it was smart to accept a trainer from the Gaen Region? I don't think you can even call it a region." Steven asked. He fumbled through the list of applications and groaned.

"Were supposed to be fair and equal to every trainer, despite their region's standards. Although I do agree with you on how we shall place him." Cynthia wondered. I scribbled another acceptance letter to Brendan Sapire and May Ruby. I placed my pen down and watched as all the champions stared at me.

"Yes?" I asked. The only one wasn't looking was Alder, who was too busy feeding his Volcarona.

"What do you think about this Riley?" Lance asked me. I stared back with uninterested eyes.

"I don't have a strong dislike or the opposite for this Gaen trainer. We shall just have to see on the battlefield." I said. Suddenly, the bell rang and everyone filed out to the lunch room. Everyone except for me, Alder, and Steven.

"Congratulations by the way. I never got to tell you that ever since the meeting." Steven said. I nodded.

"Thank you." I slipped my papers under my arm and left, ignoring the malicious glint in his sky-blue eyes.


"Mom, you don't have to buy me all this. I'm sure they'll provide them for me." I groaned as my mother bought 30 more Max Potions. She handed them to me.

"Don't be silly Laert. I'm so proud of you for being accepted. Only 40 are accepted each year and my little baby is one of them. I remember when you used to throw Voltorbs to catch pokemon." She started tearing up.

"Mommmm." I groaned. We walked to Dawnville's port where a large, white ship was waiting for us. My mother took both my hands.

"Now listen Laert, make sure you send letters to me once in a while." She said. I rolled my eyes and promised. I handed her Absol's pokeball as I knelt down to it.

"Sorry girl, but you're going to have to stay behind. I'm not allowed to bring any pokemon with me." Absol growled and started yapping. I patted its head and boarded the ship.

"Laert! Good luck!" My mother yelled. I waved back and pulled my cap down. The ship let out a massive roar and departed its port. I watched as my Absol tried to follow me, but couldn't go the boardwalk.

"Take care Absol!" I shouted. It howled and I thought I saw a tear in its red eyes.


"Who does he think he is? Just because he got the new title of "Pokemon League Master Director" he thinks he's the best? He lost his mind." I growled as I tossed a small sculpture of a Metagross across my desk. I closed my eyes and remembered that faint hint of pride that he gave me.

"Are you alright Steven?" Drake asked from across the table. I slammed my fist down and grabbed Drake's shirt.

"You know what this means right? I can't have him or the other champions on my tail all the time. You cover for me Drake, got it?" He shook his red face up and down. I sneered.

"Good, and let no else hear of this. Especially the Gaen. I'll need him. Now go." I ordered. Drake shuffled out as Emmet walked in.

"Hello Steven, quite a loud conversation you were having." He took his cap off. I rolled my eyes.

"I've had a bad morning." I replied. He merely smiled and held up a sheet of paper.

"Riley put the schedule up. He also made the six instructors for each week official Elite officers. The officers get special privileges and are allowed to punish or reward any trainer. The five officers are you, me, Ingo, Alder, Lance, and Cynthia. Thought it was kinda unfair to pick only the champions of each region, minus me and my brother. But he thought you guys would execute the tasks the best." Emmet said. I nodded, bored by his words.

"Alright then, I get the Dynamic Task right?" I asked.

"Yup, he'll explain it at induction tonight." He bowed and closed the door. I picked up my sculpture and put it in my pocket. I smoothed out my grey hair and fixed my tie.

Stay calm, everything will go fine


"Welcome! We have chosen you, the top 40 of the all the Pokemon Regions, to compete in a mass Pokemon League Battle Program. This program was designed to find ideal trainers that have the potential to become gym leaders, Elite Four, or even a Champion of a designated region. Each week, you shall receive a task and challenge that must be completed in order to move onto the next week. I promise you this, every week, there shall be cuts, meaning many of you will be leaving. We will only be looking at the top 10 to see if they have the potential.

Now for the tasks, I shall not explain them for many of you shall not reach them. The tasks are the Disadvantage Task, Egg Task, Dynamic Task, Tag Team Task, and the Bravado Task. Completion of all these tasks will definitely help us decide who shall lead the Pokemon League. The rules of these tasks are in your guidelines which I hope you all took the time to read.

Finally, my last thing to say is that every week, there shall be a random challenge. Two trainers will automatically be chosen before the Task day and will compete to secure themselves a spot in the next week. However, the loser shall be automatically sent home. Mind you, they are random, so don't think that just because you are picked you-" He was cut off by a boy who shouted, "How are we supposed to battle them if we aren't allowed to bring pokemon?"

"Throughout this program you shall receive new pokemon, and you shall fight with those." Riley said bluntly. A wave of murmurs and whispering filled the large dome.

"Excuse me! As I was saying, each week you shall receive a new pokemon. Only twice will you have a choice in what pokemon to get. Now then, I hope you all have a fine night because the first task starts tomorrow!" He pressed a button and a screen came down with a huge sign that said "PBLP. Find your destiny!" Then the curtains fell down and a band started playing. The chairs automatically folded themselves and slid into the ground. Everyone started dancing and visiting the drink and food bar. It was a modern day pokemon-prom.

"Hello?" A voice asked behind me. I turned around and saw a small girl with a white dress.

"Oh, sorry. I thought you were someone I knew." She said, blushing. My face suddenly turned red.

"So, yeah, hi!" I said. She smiled and her perfect white teeth shined.

"Do you want to dance?" She asked. I glanced at the band, which was playing "I Absolutely love you."

"Sure." She grabbed my hand and we started dancing.

"So tell me about yourself." She asked. I tried to shout over the music.

"My name is Laert Nimbus. I'm fifteen and I'm from the Gaen Region, which is off the coast of Unova. I only have one pokemon, my Absol, and I want to be a Gym Leader. How about yourself?" I said.

"I'm Lily Valens. I'm from Hoenn. And I have six pokemon, but I had to leave them behind. My favorite is my Bree, who is a Breloom. I want to become a famous pokemon breeder. But I always wanted to a gym leader, especially since Winona is my sister." She said. After we danced a couple of songs, we went to the drink bar and ordered two MooMooMilks.

"A toast! To the future of the Pokemon League!" Lily shouted. Our glasses met and we drank to the night.


"You ready for tomorrow?" I asked. Lance tapped his computer once more and closed it. He turned to me.

"Everything's stocked and ready. And I even included some shiny's." He grinned. I tipped my hat down and opened the door.

"Don't worry Riley; they are going to have an interesting challenge." Lance said.


I met Lily near the breakfast line and grabbed a bagel. She looked tired, but still had a happy face on.

"I'm so nervous for today. I don't know what's going to happen!" She said. When we heard a bell, we all walked out outside, where we were told to wait. A wave of chattering crashed over us.

"Do you know what the first task is?"

"No clue. Better be easy, since it's our first week and all."

"I hope we get to keep our new pokemon."

"Doubt it, hey May, can I borrow some sunscreen?"

We waited for a minute…two minutes…five minutes. The sun was pounding down on us and many were fanning themselves. After what seemed to be eternity, a Dragonite fell from the sky and landed in front of us. Lance climbed off the back of the dragon-type and grinned.

"Welcome to your first task! Of course, how can you complete a task in the Pokemon Battle Program without any pokemon? So before every task, you will have a chance to obtain a pokemon. For today, all of you shall roam through the ForeFear Forest and catch a pokemon. However, instead of wearing it down, you shall just throw this ball, the Champion Ball, and will automatically catch the pokemon you choose. Be careful, unlike the Master Ball, you cannot release the pokemon in the Champion ball, so make sure you get a pokemon you really want. Just a little fact, every pokemon is at their final evolution and there are a couple of shiny pokemon. Catching these shiny pokemon will result in not being selected for the random match up. So everyone get ready and get your Champion Ball!" Lance handed out one Champion Ball to everyone and pulled out a whistle.

"Ready…set…go!" Forty trainers piled into ForeFear Forest, in search of a pokemon.


Should I get a shiny pokemon? What if their really not that great? Like a Zangoose

Nothing against Zangooses, but evolutionary pokemon amazes me the most. I tore through the bushes and shrubs until I saw a Nidoqueen sleeping. I was about to throw my Ball, until one went flying past me and captured the Poison-ground type.

"Hey! I was going to catch that!" I yelled as the trainer, a boy named Drew. He smirked.

"Well if you want to catch a pokemon, you better not be that slow Lily." He walked away. I was burning with rage. I kept walking until I spotted a beautiful Luxray. I threw my Champion Ball as hard as I could, but it quickly dodged it.

"Almost had it!" I yelled. I picked it back up and tried again and again.

Come on!


I glanced at my poketech, which was like an Ipod, but for your wrist. Lance gave us a time limit of one hour, but I couldn't find any pokemon I liked. I went past a Raichu, Excadrill, Primape, Octillary, and even a shiny Raticate. But I think that was a joke since nobody would use a Raticate. Oh sorry, nobody that wants to be laughed at uses a Raticate. I found a mountain and started climbing, hoping to find a better view of the forest. I climbed and climbed until I entered a small dugout, like a cave. I took a break and sat down near the rocks.

What type should I get? Fighting has the most advantages, grass has the most disadvantages, but dragon is tough against anything.

I wonder what my Absol would say if I got a dragon-type. I chuckled lightly, until I heard a soft growl. I looked farther into the cave to see two pairs of eyes watching me.

It's probably a Zubat…don't worry…but Zubats don't have eyes…

The pokemon stepped out into the light and I saw an Umbreon, spotted with dark blue rings, instead of yellow.

It's a shiny!

I got my Champion Ball ready and was about to throw it, when it released a loud roar. I was paralyzed and dropped my Ball. The Umbreon leaped and snatched my Ball in its mouth and looked at me with its pure eyes, as if it was analyzing me. I was scared that it would break the Ball, or attack, or both. I closed my eyes and hoped for the worst. A breeze whipped my face as I heard the Umbreon move.