Chapter 2 "Planning"

"Hey dad. Is mom home yet?" I ask as I come inside and head for the kitchen.

"No, she's working late tonight. She called a little while ago to let us know she'd be late, but apparently she has a small group of trainers that wanted gym battles with her at late times."

"Ah. Okay, do you need any help?" I ask, aware even at this age that mom usually helps dad put the food out.

"Nope," he replies,"We have some guests as well. Your Uncle Lance is in town and decided to stop by with Claire."

"Cool!" I say. Lance and Claire are Dragon Tamers. The pokemon they have are all dragons, and they specialize in training and caring for Dragon type pokemon.

Just then Claire walks into the kitchen. "Hey kid!" she says upon seeing me, "how have you been?"

"I'm good Aunt Claire. Did you bring Dratini with you?" I ask, excited to get a chance to play with the small dragon pokemon.

"Not this time kiddo. Dratini is in training with his mom right now. I might be able to bring him next time."

"Oh, okay," I say. Little bummed out, but I know that Dratini is getting strong enough that he should be able to battle soon.

"But, while I didn't bring Dratini with me, I did bring another friend who is kind of shy. So if you could get him to play a little bit I would appreciate it."

"Huh?" I look at her, inquisitively.

"A trainer from Galar was visiting and asking for some help on dealing with a dragon from Galar who they hadn't been able to train. They ended up trading this little guy for a Swinub that they got along with. Dreepy, come on out." she says, lightly tossing a pokeball so that it would release the pokemon inside.

And out comes a small dragon. With a kind of triangular head, and a little wispy tail, and two arms that remind me of a Lurantis.

"Hey there Dreepy. My name is Arthur, would you like to play with me?" I ask, only to get a cough from my dad.

"After Dinner would you like to play with me?" I quickly amend. The little dragon floats over behind Claire though and hides behind her, looking at me cautiously.

"It's okay little guy," Claire says, "We'll get you some food first okay?"

With a little nod, the dragon rests on Claire's shoulder. Then we go to eat.

*****

Several hours later, mom finally gets home.

"Sorry everyone, my last two matches asked for night to be a little closer. They had good reasons too, as one trainer had a Zubat, while the other was just being careful with a Duskull. Both pulled off wins, though I had to admonish the one with a Zubat for not thinking about type advantages."

Lance and my Dad nod, while Claire looks interested in hearing more about the battles, but doesn't say anything. We let mom get her food and settle down a bit first. She lets her pokemon out to enjoy themselves and settle down for the night as well.

I go off and play with Dreepy who seems to have warmed up to me during dinner, while the adults talk about whatever. Though I do stay close enough that I can hear what they are talking about. Not that I have any input on it, but it is interesting to hear.

"Well Nicole," Lance starts off, once they think I'm not paying attention, "I came by tonight to tell you that I'll be stepping down as the Gym Leader of Blackthorn. Claire will be taking my spot. She's been taking over my responsibilities over the last several months, and she'll be taking the rest once I've told the others and the Alliance."

My mom kind of hums for a second before saying, "Okay, I appreciate the heads up. Granted, I'll only be your colleague for a little while Claire. The Alliance is talking about setting up a new type of League, only for those trainers that are sitting at the top of the current Leagues. You know the project Lance."

"I know it, and I knew you had some questions about it, though I hadn't heard any more on that."

"My reservations are that some of the trainers they want to make World Gym Leaders have pokemon on their main teams that can level cities. But that is kind of the point of the World League. These trainers should all be at the level where they can deal with those higher level pokemon one way or another. If they are at the level they need to be to actually compete in the World Tournament, they should be able to hold off a Pokemon Horde with just their team."

"I know my misgivings about it are that trainers will get points for every gym they defeat. Even if it is only one point for the regional gyms, it seems like something that will get these trainers into trouble by thinking they can do things they aren't prepared for. Though I do understand that the League will be arranging missions for those with certain point values."

Claire speaks up with, "I think this will be good for the Alliance in general. Trainers tend to be a very independent lot to begin with, and making there be requirements to participate in the Leagues and the World Tournament will mean more trainers working with the Alliance to protect regular civilians."

The conversation goes over the subject back and forth for a bit there, with everyone saying what they like and don't like about the proposed new League. Then my mom says, "The Alliance has asked if I'll step down as Goldenrod City's Regional Gym Leader, to become the World Gym Leader."

"I for one, think that would be good. You'll have less challengers to start with. But that'll give you time to get some other trainers under you or to get your current ones trained up to the correct level for a World Gym. As I remember, the lowest level for World Gym Trainers is Senior Class." Lance says.

"Yup," my mom replies, "My Junior class trainers would need to find a new Gym Leader to set up an electric Hall, or they would need to advance to Senior Class to be a supporting trainer for the World Gym. Granted, the World Gyms are supposed to work a little differently. You can't beat the gym by just beating the Gym Trainers. You have to beat the Gym Leader to get the badge and be recognized. But the affiliated trainers would be on call to help the nearby areas, and as Senior Trainers they'd be prepared for most situations they would encounter."

"Any way I look at it," my dad says, "It'll mean Nicole is home more often. And that is only for the better."

They shift to other subjects at this point, and I stop paying as much attention. At least until they call me back to talk about something.

"So Arthur, are you excited to be starting Trainer School?" Lance asks once Dreepy and I have come back to the table.

"Kind of. I know that the Trainer school doesn't just teach people how to be trainers. But I also know that that is what I want to do."

Everyone smiles, and then Dad asks, "Have you given any thought to what you want your first pokemon to be?"

This part. Honestly, I had given this a lot of thought, but I wasn't sure my parents would approve of my plan.

"Well, I want to apply for the New Trainer Scholarship Program. I would like my partner to be one of the Royals of Johto. I was hoping for Totodile."

At this announcement, my parents and the Wataru's are showing looks of surprise and pleasure. "Arthur, it's very respectable that you want to earn one of the Royal Pokemon from the NTSP." my dad says, "But it's going to be a lot of work. You'll need to prove that you are at the top of your class in all of Johto, within the next two years. At ten years old you'll get to pick a pokemon, and if you are under the scholarship, that can include the Royals. But If you don't place high enough, I think it will be better to accept one of the baby pokemon on the Ranch at that point."

I nod my head seriously. "Well, I want Totodile as my first. But if I can't get Totodile, I'll see if any of the pups here on the farm are a good match for me. My big thing is that the pokemon I choose be compatible with me."

All of the adults nod their heads, as that's a very normal thing for trainers. Even if a pokemon likes the person, that doesn't necessarily mean the pairing is compatible. Part of being a trainer is knowing which pokemon a trainer can train, and which they can't.

"Well," my dad says, "if you're going to do well enough in school that you get at least top three for the Johto Scholarship, you'll need to make sure you study and learn everything you can. I know we only have four regions right now, but Kalos and Galar are just barely sitting on the fence, and they already have thier own leagues and gyms. Not to mention Orre, Almia, Alola, and Rota."

"Absolutely. I want to be strong enough to battle all of the gym leaders with their actual teams."

Everyone chuckles at that for a moment, before Lance says, "Well, if you want to do that, you'll have to join the Battle Clubs. Once you have your own pokemon of course. But, all of the Gym Leaders are higher ranking members of at least two clubs. A couple, like myself, are members of multiple clubs even. Course, large part of that for me is no one wanted to make a Dragon Tamer Battle Club, but I can't blame them. Not nearly enough trainers that are skilled enough to train dragons."

At this point my mom looks at me, "Arthur dear, it's past your bedtime already. I know school doesn't start for another week, but best get in the habit of going to bed at a decent time now, than when it'll mess up your schoolwork."

"Yes Mom. Night everyone!" And a rush off to brush my teeth and get into my pajamas for bed.