The trainers that had made it to the pokecenter were transported back to camp in the bed of a truck on a serve road. Jeff and the rest of the trainers were waiting in the main lodge. Jeff cleared his throat for silence. The trainers fell silent.

"I’m sure you’re all wondering how you did." There was a murmur of agreement. "Let me start by telling you that all these tasks were not what they seemed. For example, take this last task. This race wasn’t about who crossed the line first. It was about admitting you weaknesses and having the humility to ask for help when you needed it. Most of you stopped when you came to an obstacle you could not get past. Some of you tried to go around. It was the serious minority of you that asked for help." There was a confused murmur; "I know this because there was a Judge hidden at the beginning and end of every obstacle. These judges reported if and how you got past each obstacle."

"What about the rest of the tasks?" a girl asked, "What was significant about them?"

"Good Question. The first test was simply. All you had to do was catch as many pokemon as you could. The tournament was to test your battle skills as well as your ability to work with some one you barely knew. The obstacle course was not just to test your speed in over coming problems but also how well you worked with your pokemon. There was no twist to the healing of the pidgeys. Hatching the egg tested you gentleness. Any other questions?" No one said any thing. "Ok then. Lunch will be served in half an hour; you have the rest of the day free. Tomorrow you will receive your licensees."

The camp was a buzz for the rest of the day. After lunch some of the trainers took the time to train, but most, like Jace and Creidi, just rested and spent time with their pokemon.

The only noise at breakfast the next morning was the clink of silverware against plates, but when Jeff and Phillip showed up even this ceased.

"I think they’re ready." Phillip said sarcastically.

"Really. Wouldn’t have guessed." Jeff came back in the same tone. "Ok, Ok," He raised his hands as if to find off an attack, " we’ll get started. First a question: What do you know about the Pokemon Leagues?" No one answered. "There are about 10 different leagues. The best known of these are Kanto, Johto, and the Orange Islands. The leagues are rated 1-5 on several points: Number of pokemon, Kinds of Pokemon, Number of gyms, kinds of gyms, travel time between gyms, and terrain. For example the Kanto league is a 2. The terrain is not too diverse, the travel is short, but it has a good number of good gyms, good verity of pokemon but none that are overly dangerous. Johto on the other hand is a 3: it lacks a little in the gyms, but the terrain is more diverse, pokemon more dangerous, travel time longer. Most of you will start in one of these." Phillip began to hand out pokedexes consulting a clipboard before handing each one to a trainer.

"If you receive a yellow dex you are registered to go into level 1 leagues. A red one indicates a level 2 league. A green one is for level 3 leagues. A blue one is for level 4 leagues. And the golden ones are for level 5 leagues." He paused here to allow Phillip to finish.

"If you were to look around the room you would see that for the most part you all have green or red dexes, but you will also see a very rare site; Two Gold dexes. Jace and Creidi have proven themselves strong enough, and humble enough for this opportunity. Now that said you will all be able to work your way up to that level. To do that you must complete all the leagues in your level. You may also go through the leagues of lower levels if you like."

"What happens after you complete all the leagues?" Jace asked.

"That all depends on you. One more thing needs to be said about level 5 leagues. Because of their difficulty the trainers are allowed to use 8 pokemon. Any questions?" Most of the trainers were too interested in their pokedexes to ask questions. "Great! Go pack your stuff. The trains will be here in a bit to take you to your destinations."

Every trainer in the camp was packed and at the train station in record time. Before them were five trains, one of each color. Jace and Creidi climbed on to the gold train and found a cabin. They were just starting to look at the maps on their pokedexes when Jeff came in.

"We thought you would like these. Don’t worry everyone going to a level 5 league gets one." He disappeared into the corridor. The girls released their pokemon. They each received a Smiladon cub.

"So were are you going first?" Creidi asked as she stroked her new ice tiger.

"I think I’ll get off at the Jewel League and head for Topaz Town." Jace answered.

"Me too. But I was going to go to Emerald City." Creidi smiled, "How about we go together instead and head for Sapphire City?"

"Ok, it’ll be fun."

The train gave jolt as it started up. It would carry to two girls to the Jewel League and to the adventure of their lives. In the years to come they would grow and train and so would their pokemon. By the time they were 25 they would both be champions. Together they would start the Elements League. The League would become the ultimate test of trainer and pokemon alike. Jace and Creidi would go down in history as the two greatest trainers every to live.