29 League tournament close to starting
"Thanks again for bringing me here, Altaria."
"Altaria!"
Petting her head while also feeding her with some Poke treats specific for Dragon-types, Lukas says goodbye to his mother's Pokemon.
"We'll see each other in a few days when the quali rounds are finished, take care."
"Al"
*swish*
After he saw Altaria off, Lukas turned around to appreciate the magnificent scenery of Indigo City.
In light of the massive influx of visitors that every Pokemon league championship brings with it, the local law enforcement allows the direct entering of the city via flying for every participating trainer. Otherwise, they would run the risk of getting stuck at the gates, unable to enter the city until it's too late.
Lukas landed next to one of Indigo City's many Poke centers.
He is currently faced with a dilemma. During the last few months, all of his Pokemon made considerable progress. All of his Pokemon reached the Silver-Rank sometime during the last 6 months, raising his team's prowess by a considerable margin. Yet none of his Pokemon advanced to the Gold-Rank so far.
It's not that they can't however, Lucario Kadabra and Charmeleon have all reached the end of their Limit training.
Lukas dilemma stems from his current trainer-rank. His current rank is that of an Expert, but should all three of his ready Pokemon advance right now, he would have his rank raised to Junior Elite.
Therein lies the problem, according to the Alliance rules for the Junior Championships all around the Human regions, you are only allowed to compete in one Junior league Championship as a Junior Elite.
This rule was implemented so that the Championship really is a competition for the younger generations and not dominated by older trainers who are stuck at the Junior Elite-rank.
That means if Lukas participates this season as a Junior Elite, he will only be able to participate in the Senior League from then on.
He also knows that even if he has three Gold-Rank Pokemon on his side, his chances to win the Junior League are slim to none since some trainers who spent almost the entire off season as Junior Elites will be his opponents in the later stages of the tournament.
Lukas current situation is in no way unique. Many trainers have to make this decision every year.
Unsurprisingly, those who suppress their trainer-rank will often be among the favorites to win the following season.
'Ugh, screw it, the junior league isn't that important anyway.'
In the end, the Junior League is only that, a competition for newer trainers to get a taste for what it's like being a professional trainer.
While a won Junior Championship can increase a trainer's credentials if they ever want to apply for a certain position, they ultimately fall far short to some of the higher competitions.
Having come to a decision, Lukas went to a secluded corner of the Poke center's training field to give his Pokemon at least some privacy.
While he released all of his Pokemon from their respective Poke balls, Lukas thinks back to all the changes the Pokemons who evolved/advanced went through.
First, Pidgeotto. Like before, she has the highest stats aside from the first three and is currently at the (high)Silver-Rank. The reason she managed to somewhat catch up to the first three is that they spent more time learning and training moves in the last few months.
Second, Pupitar. Like Pidgeotto he reached the (high)Silver-Rank, his stats are just a bit lower compared to Pidgeotto.
Third, Feebas, or rather Milotic now. She evolved and advanced to Silver just a few weeks ago and is currently still at the (low)Silver-Rank. Her evo/advancement also had the following effects:
1. Full Buff --> Full Buff II
2. New trait, Strong Blood(Water)
3. New trait, Polished Genes
4. Fable Scales --> Fable Scales II, increasing her defense by +15% instead of 5%.
5. New trait, Water Rush, basically the same effect as Swift Swim.
6. Swift Swim replaced by Competitive.
While not amazing compared to other Milotic's at her rank, she can be considered a beast.
Fourth, Gabite. He finished his limit training only a few days prior. His evo/advancement resulted in the following changes:
1. Full Buff --> Full Buff II
2. Pure Blood(dragon) --> Royal Blood(dragon)
3. New trait, Polished Genes.
4. Extreme Fighting Spirit --> Extreme Fighting Spirit II, now has a 15% chance to triple the effect of an attack buff or defense debuff.
5. Rough Scales --> Rough Scales II, has an added 5% chance to lower the defense of a Pokemon hitting Gabite with a physical move.
6. New trait, Will to Fight, lets Gabite survive 1 attack that would have otherwise knocked him out every 24h.
In comparison, Lukas liked Gabite's new trait more.
Aside from learning a bunch of new moves and increasing their mastery over already learned ones, his first three Pokemon didn't have any changes so far. Of course, that is about to change.
Luckily his current rank already allowed him to purchase items at the Gold-Rank so he had no problem acquiring the necessary ingredients for the advancement potions as he now dubbed them.
Despite that however, it still cost him the entire Prize money from his 3rd to 8th badge to afford all the ingredients, not to his surprise since Gold-Rank items are priced around 2.5 million PD.
All three of their advancements went off without a hitch. Every one of them received a new trait for their advancement, of course Full Buff turned from 'II' to 'III' as well now giving +50% to all stats instead of 45%.
Lucario's new trait is: Momentum, every time his speed or attack is increased or lowered the other stat has a 33% chance to follow suit. (example: Sword Dance increases attack by 2 stages and now also has a 33% chance to raise speed by 2 stages as well.)
Charmeleon's new trait is: Daunting Presence, upon entering a battle Charmeleon lowers the opponent's evasion by 1 stage.
Kadabra's new trait is: Psych Out, when Kadabra faints the attacking Pokemon has its special defense lowered by 1 stage.
After congratulating his Pokemon on their successful advancement, Lukas cleared his throat.
"Ahem, listen up, the day after tomorrow the tournament will finally begin."
Waiting for the excited cries from his Pokemon to finish, Lukas continued, "The first 7 rounds will be the qualification, after which the trainers within the top 256 records advance to take part in the real competition."
"The first 4 quali rounds will be 1v1, the remaining three a 2v2."
Saying that, he turned his attention towards Milotic and Gabite.
"To be honest, that's where you will get most of your chances to fight."
"Milotic/Gabite!"
Receiving a nod in return, Lukas continued, "Both the round of 256 and round of 128 will be 3v3 matches. After that, the round of 64 and 32 will be a 4v4 contest, with the round of 16 and quarters being a 5v5."
Making sure all of his Pokemon understood, Lukas finished by saying, "Should we manage to reach the semifinals we'll have to fight 6v6 from then onwards, it doesn't matter whether we compete in the finale or for 3rd place afterward."
The amount of qualification rounds is necessary considering that every year about 5000 trainers participate at the Junior League.
*beep* *beep*
As if on command, Lukas PokeNav vibrated, indicating a new message just as he finished explaining the tournament format to his team.
Reading the message, Lukas takes a deep breath before saying, "Alright, let's go, the stadium where we'll have our matches was determined."
Recalling his Pokemon Lukas made his way to the Poke center near the stadium where his qualification rounds will take place. He isn't overly concerned about qualifying for the tournament since he, being a new Junior Elite trainer now has little competition aside from others of his rank. Yet, the vast majority of trainers participating in the Junior League are at the Expert or Senior-Rank.
'Oh yeah, before I forget it, I should make my rank increase official.'
If he were to participate with three Gold-Rank Pokemon without raising his rank, he might be accused of fraud, which he would rather avoid.
Just like that, the start to Lukas first Pokemon Championship League Tournament inched closer and closer.
