Welcome to the next part in the Pokemon Entertainment League story. In this chapter Zane and Roddy go over the different championships in the PEL and different rules. As well they figure out what is in store for them in the future and how they stand up to everyone else.
March 7th Part 4 (Season 1 Episode 5)
Who would have known my second day in the PEL would be so exciting? Not only have I won my first match here but Roddy Fabre, my new friend, decides to invite me back to his apartment so that we can go over a game plan with each other about how we are going to survive our time here. We both deposited our pokemon at the pokemon center to get healed up, since it's a requirement for people to deposit their pokemon at a center after a battle.
Arriving back at Denaro Hall we both decide to head up to his room. We arrive on the second floor and immediately he heads down the hallway until we find ourselves in front of room 228.
"Apartment sweet apartment." He says with a chuckle as he swipes his keycard to enter into his apartment. His apartment seems to be set up in the same manner as mine, except his walls were painted white instead of a light green like mine were. He points at a couch which is in roughly the same position mine was in back in my apartment. "Sit down and I'll get this set up so we can go over our plan." I am actually confused by what he means by "set up" but then I see him grab a remote and point it at the TV, turning it on. I sit down on the couch facing the TV.
"So what is it that you are going to teach me?" I figured out when we were walking that he was very knowledgeable about the day to day activities and I to know some of the important things but I fell out of the loop for the last few months. Roddy has kept up to date till the day he arrived.
"First I thought it might be a good idea to go over the current champions and what they are champions of. Plus we could teach each other something even though we are just going over the basics." He mentions. He pushes a button on the remote and the screen changes to showcase information on the PEL. More button pushing and we come to a screen that solely focuses on the champions in the PEL. "Let's just go down the list." He says. I nod as he selects PokeLeague Champion, which was the best in the whole Pokemon Entertainment League, and up comes the page. "Oliver Jessen, 2 time PokeLeague Champion. Became champion on Febuary 2nd . He was also champion last year from August 15th to October 28th."
I nod as well agreeing with what he says. "I was around for his first championship reign and he is a dominating force. I remember in one of his battles during that time, his Klinklang took out three pokemon. He is scary to go against."
"I agree. I also remember when he lost his championship he was gracious about losing it. So he doesn't seem to be someone we have to be careful about but if we ever battle him it could make our career."
"Or make us look like fools." I say, which he nods understand that is a real possibility. He presses a button and we move on.
"Next up is Double Battle Champion. The best in double battles goes to Rufino Giordano. A first time champ but been a champ since January 28th. He has exceptional skill with his pokemon and is able to pull out combos quite well with each of them. Surprisingly has become quite loved over his reign as champion."
"That was around the time I stopped watching and I have to say I am surprised at how far his championship has lasted. His title match was close so I'm glad to see he has improved." He nods and moves to the next champion on the list.
"The PokeChampion, which is a champion that goes to the strongest pokemon, is a Zebstrika owned by a Nicolette Galvez. Once again Zebstrika is a one time champion who obtained the championship on Febuary 10th. Zebstrika is a quick pokemon with plenty of moves to get around its weakness." The PokeChampion is a very interesting title since it's the only championship where mostly everyone recognizes the pokemon and never really the trainer in its accomplishments.
"An electric type, which ground types have an immunity against, is a strange choice to have as a champion." I mention which is the truth. Having a glaring weakness usually doesn't work well for a PokeChampion. Roddy nods but moves on.
"Next up is the Tag Team Champions, two trainers who work together in battle. These champions are Lara Burrows and Ryan Brooks. They obtained them on December 18th of last year. While Lara is a one time champion, Ryan is an extraordinary five time champion, holding the championship at least once during the last three years. He's become a namesake for the tag team title and division." I am looking forward to talking about Ryan. I wasn't sure if he still has the championship but I am glad he does.
"Ryan Brooks is a force to reckon with if you are against him in a tag team battle. Funny how much of an impact he has made in the two years he's been here. I always enjoy watching his career." Ryan Brooks is probably one of the most well-known names in the PEL for his wondrous contributions he made to the tag team division. He is a fan favorite for sure and if you got paired up with him and became a champion alongside him it surely pushed your career forward with the fans.
"Now is the Contest Champion, Cailyn Wood, a three time Contest Champion. She obtained the title on January 16th, just two months ago. Contests are all about bringing out the beauty of your pokemon, whether it's through showcases or in a battle. She knows exactly how to bring about beauty in her pokemon and is quite deserving of the title."
"I was never a big fan of the contest aspect of the PEL but I do understand that with me being here I probably will have to participate in one at some point. I have prepared a couple of pokemon to go through with contests so I am ready in case." Roddy nods and moves on with the list.
"The Specialty Champion is an interesting championship mostly because it covers a lot of different types of battles. Anything that isn't covered as a regular battle is a special battle. Things from a certain pokemon in a battle, to one type on a team, to a random pokemon battle, to even a wildlife battle, the list of special battles goes on and on. It tests knowledge and pokemon skills rather than just battling skills. It is certainly an interesting champion concept." That was one of the more exciting reasons to why I wanted to come here. Expanding my knowledge on what is normal for me and testing myself more.
"Who is the champion?" I ask.
"Caitlyn Findlay, a one time champion but champion since September 20th." I am shocked. That is a long time to be champion. Not being bested that whole time, or at least not being bested during a title match shows exceptional skill.
"That is amazing. She is defiantly a force that I'm not sure I want to face any time soon."
"I agree one hundred percent on that," He moves on through the list. "Next is the Representative Champion. An interesting championship that has the champion leave the PEL for some time every week and go to different tournaments and speaking arrangements to not only talk about the PEL but showcase the type of skill the trainers have here."
"One of the few, if not only, championships I don't feel like going after. I wish to remain here on campus and hone my skills with everyone else and not be a person to talk about what goes on here." Harsh yes, but I know what I want and leaving the PEL campus wasn't one of them.
"I agree with you on that. Best to show what I can do here than out there. Either way the champion is a guy named Joseph Marks. One time champion who earned it on February 18th. The only positives I can see are that you are payed more for your battles and you earn more since you battle a lot more. But every week you have to comes back and have a battle to determine if you are still good enough to be the champion. Plus you are constantly being reviewed to see if you can keep your championship. It's the only championship that you can be forced to have taken away from you for your battling talent." He moves onto the next and final championship. My personal favorite one. "Now is the Choice Champion."
"The championship that has outraged fans, has pushed careers, has destroyed careers, has made fans wonder what is going on. The truly upheaval championship in the whole PEL because you can only earn it in a four way battle and if you get it you can turn it in to do whatever it is you want in the whole PEL. You can force trainers to battle each other in any type of match. This can be used to show off your talents as a trainer or try and diminish your rival's talents. This can be used to give yourself a championship shot and the worst thing that it can be used for is taking away a person's championship for no reason. I am pretty sure the only thing it can't do is give someone a championship without a battle." Roddy is looking at me with his eyes wide and looking quite surprised. "This is my favorite championship. I've always enjoy the chaos it causes when an announcement is made." He smiles at me just slightly shaking his head.
"You certainly know a lot about it and seem to enjoy it more than any of the other ones. What you might not know is that a Jason Molina is the champion as of Febuary 24th. He just got it recently and might be a cunning person to utilize it. He seems to be well known for analyzing situations and putting forth a plan with the information he collects."
"Just like me." I am looking at his picture and seem to recognize him but couldn't pinpoint it. "He looks familiar and not like I've seen him on TV before."
"That's because he was in the audience watching our battle today. I noticed him as well a few times. I'm not sure who he was routing for, but you might have a target on your back from your win now."
"I don't care," I say chuckling. "Bring it on."
"Well I am glad you are ready for him but we still have one more group to talk about. The Elites of the PEL." Yikes, the Elites were a group of seven trainers that while they didn't battle a lot they were some of the best in the business and had some authoritative control over the battles. They could make it so that a certain trainer has to battle a certain way or at an advantage or disadvantage. It wasn't like an ordinary title that you could lose in a battle since if you made it in you kept it for life, until you left the PEL, or you are voted out by the other members. While having this title, you can't hold another title at all. Even though it sounds very high up and snobby they aren't bad people at all. They are like the Board of Directors for the PEL.
"I've seen trainers get on their bad side and it is a tough obstacle to overcome." I say.
"Yea I know what you mean," He brings up the seven names of the Elites. "The seven trainers are William Briggs, Dylan Stodart, Christoffer Jessen, Amy Daniels, Megan Dobson, Robert Schultheiss, and Micah Murray."
"They haven't changed at all, which isn't surprising. It's a huge event when an Elite gives up their title and a new one has to be chosen."
"Well that's all of the titles." Roddy says as he shuts off the TV. "What should we do now?" At that moment though my PDA suddenly gives off a chime. as well I hear Roddy's PDA go off as well.
We both take out our devices and look to see why they went off. I wasn't sure why Roddy's went off but I decide to check mine. Turning it on I see that it is alerting me to two new notifications, one of them is telling me I something has been added to my schedule. The second one is telling me that my rating has come out.
"My rating came out and I have something added to my schedule." I say to Roddy looking at him.
"Same here. What got added to your schedule?" I open up my schedule and see that an icon has been added to the next day. I highlight that day and see that I have an interview at 10:15. That is surprising.
"I have an interview tomorrow at 10:15."
"Funny, my interview is at 10:30," He turns to me smiling. "What's your rating? We can compare to see how we rank with each other." I find the notification and click on it and up pops my profile page, with a number that indicates my rating.
"82.58. Yours?
"78.61. So we are close to each other. But you have a distinct advantage over me considering your rating is above 80."
"Yes I know." It is strange to think about but it was truth. If your rating was between 80 and 90 you are allowed to reduce your rating by 10 which would allow you to choose any trainer in the whole PEL and battle them. But the battle that is chosen is completely random. If your rating is between 90 and 100 you are allowed to reduce your rating by 10 and you can choose any trainer in the PEL and battle them and you can choose what type of battle it is. So the higher your rating is, the more you have an advantage against other people for being the best and showcasing your skills.
"So what is our plan?" Roddy asks me after we put away our PDAs.
"Well at least for today we should relax after the grueling battle we had," I pause for a bit. "Then tomorrow we should go to our interviews and then maybe we should scope out some of the battles that are happening that day. Be a bit more prepared for when our battles start."
Roddy smiles at me in agreement. "Good plan. We can't exactly do much until we start battling next week so might as well enjoy the battles of other people."
I hold out my hand to him. "To good partners and even better friends." He just smiles at me as he shakes my hand.
Thank you for reading and please review and tell me what you thought of this chapter. Also tell me what you think of
-The different championships.
-The rules for the different championships.
-The rating system.
As you can see we are getting down into the pretty good stuff and it will only get better from here. If you have any questions you can feel free to contact me and ask so I can clear things up for you.