"Okay, so explain it to me," I said.

We were sitting in a cafe a few blocks from the Pokemon Center. I was still feeling the residual glee from my first Gym battle win. I'd been awarded a pleasant amount of money and received TM 51: Roost. Priya's team had been returned to her; they were all healed but the nurses advised us to take it easy for the rest of the day. Cyril and Nyx would be in for about another hour, but Vulcan had to stay and be monitored overnight. He had been exposed to the rain for too long and his core temperature was much too low. Still, the nurses assured me he wold make a full recovery. They said they saw examples like that all the time due to Fire-types fighting Water-types.

Artemis and Albus were our only team members outside their Pokéballs. They were currently dozing on Priya's lap.

"Didn't you ever read anything about being a trainer before you left home?" Priya asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I had lots of books, yeah," I said, not meeting her eye.

"And let me guess, you just flipped to the Battling 101 sections."

"No! Well... maybe, kinda..." I replied bashfully. Priya rolled her eyes but looked amused.

"Okay, so where do you want me to start?"

"Umm, what was that about tiers?"

"Tiers is just one of the many ways us trainers are organized. Trainers participating in their first Gym challenge are ranked as TT1, TT2, TT3, and TT4. That's Trainer Tier 1, Trainer Tier 2, and so on," Priya said.

I nodded along and forced myself to remember every detail.

"If you have no badges, one badge, or two badges then you are a TT1. Three or four makes you TT2. Five or six makes you TT3. Then seven or eight makes you TT4 so long as you have yet to participate in a League. If you chose to participate in another Gym challenge after you have entered a League then your rank is Advanced Trainer unless you become a Gym Leader or Elite or something."

"So, what's the point?" I asked.

"Before I get into that, do you know the rankings of Pokémon species and attacks? No, of coarse not. Well, each Pokémon is ranked as Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced. Pokémon attacks are also ranked by power using numbers. It used to be on a 1 to 100 scale, but now the numbers go higher. Weaker attacks like Tackle have a rank of 40, while stronger attacks like Flamethrower have a rank of 95. Stronger still would be Flare Blitz with 120, or Hyper Beam with a rank of 150. You follow?"

"Yeah, I think so," I replied. "But what does this have to do with Tiers?"

"Well, when Falkner said you could be disqualified later, he meant if you used a disobedient Pokémon in a Tier 3 Gym challenge. By the time you are going for your 5th Badge, it is expected that you can maintain control over your Pokémon. You can win the fight, but if the Gym Leader feels you are not in control of your Pokémon, you won't get a badge. You'll also be investigated and you could lose your trainer's license."

"No way."

"Way. It's for the safety of everyone. Also, TT1 trainers need a temporary certification to have Pokémon ranked as Advanced, or to have Intermediate Pokémon with attacks that rank 100 or above. Since some Pokémon evolve prematurely, like Vulcan, or know powerful attacks from a young age thanks to breeding, like Spyne. Your temporary certification gives you six months to move up to TT2."

"Wait? So Vulcan's Advanced now? Does that mean-"

"No, I was simply pointing out that sometimes Pokémon evolve earlier then expected. Vulcan, like Spyne and Cyril, are Intermediate level. I looked it up. After my Gym battle I had to get a temp certification for Spyne because he knows Flare Blitz. I didn't need one before because Cyndaquil are ranked as Beginner. I'm also lucky because a couple years ago Arcanine were bumped down from Advanced to Intermediate."

"But why? Why can't people just have whatever Pokémon they want?"

"Because Pokémon like Gyarados and Steelix could easily destroy a town or city and kill hundreds of people."

"Oh, right," I said, thinking about my father. Suddenly I began to wonder if maybe you should have to be more then just a TT2 trainer to have such a powerful beast.

"The Pokemon League is in constant debate about rankings," Priya continued. "Like, Teddiursa and Magikarp are both ranked Beginner but their evolutions are Advanced. On occasion you hear about the newb trainer who strengthens up their Pokémon so they evolve, but then they can't control the thing. Then accidents happen..."

"Do Gym Leaders have ranking?" I asked. "I mean, I've heard Falkner is the easiest, but is that true?"

"Yeah, they have rankings. Falkner is the lowest rank which is why everyone says he's the easiest. Also you, as a trainer, can't just challenge any leader any time. As a TT1 you must beat the Level 1 Gyms: the Violet City Gym and the Azalea Town Gym. Once you've beaten both you may challenge a Level 2 Gym: the Goldenrod Gym or the Ecruteak Gym. Beating ether will make you a TT2," Priya said.

"So, does that mean you're off to Ecruteak then?" I asked. It had never really occurred to me that Priya would leave. I mean, nothing bound us together. In fact, we'd never officially decided to be travel buddies. It just sort of happened. Then a Ninetales told us we were a big part of a coming war, so it was like we were meant to stick together.

"No," Priya said, pulling me out of my thoughts. "I've got six months to beat one more Gym. Plus, I've heard lots of people say not to travel through Union Cave or the Ilex Forest alone because they can get pretty dangerous. I've been through the forest but that was with Ferno and a bunch of Fire-types. No wild Pokémon would dare mess with us."

"No kidding. So wait, they put a Level 1 Gym right between a dangerous cave and forest?" I asked, amused.

"Yeah, but the League tries to weed out the weaklings early on. I mean, how many crying trainers did you notice at the Center? People come here because Falkner is supposed to be the easiest and Violet is more accessible then Azalea. But a lot of people still get beaten."

"Hmmm," I mumbled, thinking about Vulcan's vicious eyes once again. "So how do you make Pokémon more obedient?"

"Everyone's different," Priya shrugged.

"I thought Pokémon would listen to you better if you have more Badges?"

"Psh," Priya snorted. "That's a bunch of baloney. Badges, like money, don't mean anything to Pokémon. Stronger Pokémon respect strong trainers not because of Badges but because of the experience they sense upon the person. Newly caught Pokémon will respect an experienced trainer because they had been previously beaten my that trainer's strong Pokémon and they themselves want to get strong, too."

"But not all Pokémon want to get strong," I said. "My Ekans wasn't all that keen about battling."

"No, that is true. She never should have been caught. Usually a wild Pokémon will challenge a trainer because they want to get stronger. Trainers that seek out hiding Pokémon to capture are taking a risk that the Pokémon may not desire strength."

"Gotcha," I said, lost in thought about all that Priya had said.

Then I noticed the guy sitting closest to us. He couldn't have been more then a couple years older then myself. He was normal looking enough; your typical trainer in jeans, a sweater, with a few Pokéballs on his belt. He only grabbed my attention because he was obviously eavesdropping in on our conversation as he casually leaned backwards in his chair. His eyes met mine and I raised an eyebrow.

"Err, umm, sorry friend. Didn't mean to over hear your plight there," the trainer said, at which point Priya mumbled something that sounded like betcha coulda. "Thing is, a buddy o' mine had the same problem when his Nidoran evolved. The blasted Nidorino wouldn't listen to a dang word he said. Then, when he was in Goldenrod he stumbled 'pon this random stand in the Underground. An old guy sold him this strange little device that he attached to that troublesome Nido's head and they been fine ever since," he finished with a smug smile.

"And let me guess," Priya said, with audible disapproval in her voice. "That thing was a product only sold in the market because it's not approved for Pokémart sale by the League?"

"Hey, if it works it works" the trainer said as he stood up and left.

"Humph," Priya said as she stroked her sleeping Torchic. "I've heard half the junk found in that market doesn't work. The other half shouldn't exist because it does."

"What?"

"You shouldn't have to turn your Pokémon into mindless droids," Priya replied with a sigh. "Plus, if the right person sees you using something like that you'll have your license and Pokémon taken away."

"Right," I said, dismissing the idea of skipping Azalea to visit Goldenrod first.

"Come on," Priya said. She passed me my sleeping Togepi and got up. "Lets go to the Center and see if your Pokémon are done. Maybe there's a room big enough that we can let Ferno and Cyril out. Our Pokémon can do whatever while we decide how we are going to get to the next town. I would prefer flying, but both our teams need more experience."

"I thought you said I'd have an advantage in the next Gym?" I asked as I got up and followed Priya. It was still raining so I tried to shield Albus as much as possible.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean it's going to be a breeze. Plus, I've heard the Goldenrod Gym is a whole new level of trouble."

As we jogged through the rain I thought about what Priya had said. What would happen when the rest of my team evolved? Even Cyril, who wouldn't evolve, wasn't a fully matured adult yet. In my mind one thing led to another and I wondered why that Ninetales had put so much trust and faith in someone as inexperienced as myself.