"The Pokémon League is a grand competition held in every region. Generally, the competition takes place once a year, and the start times vary by region. For example, our Kanto's Indigo League will begin in half a year, while Johto's Silver Conference is almost ready to start."
"The day before the Pokémon League begins, participants must register with eight Gym badges to qualify. You can only have more badges, not fewer. If you only collect them on the day of the competition, then unfortunately, you'll have to wait until next year's competition, and all the Gym badges you collected this year will be void, requiring you to collect them again."
Misty carefully explained the rules of the Pokémon League to Ash.
In terms of rules, the Pokémon League could be quite strict. Participants needed to collect eight Gym badges in a year, and not all trainers had a full year. In fact, most trainers didn't have a year to collect badges.
After all, every trainer started their journey at a different time. To coincidentally begin traveling right after the Pokémon League ended would require tremendous luck and perfect timing.
Like Ash, he was only on his second day of travel, and the Indigo League was set to begin in just half a year. This meant Ash must collect eight Gym badges within half a year, otherwise, he would miss out on the Indigo League.
"Are Gyms hard to beat?" Ash asked, somewhat curious.
"It's both hard and easy. The main purpose of a Gym is a training challenge, a threshold set by the League for trainers. They possess strength far beyond that of ordinary trainers. If they truly fought challengers with their full power, probably not many would pass the Gym's trial."
"So, generally, Gym Leaders assess trainers based on the badges they hold and the duration of their journey. The more badges, the longer the journey, the stronger the power the Gym Leader will display."
Gyms were challenge checkpoints set up by the League in various regions. If they were to use their full power against every challenger, then this challenge would be meaningless, because it wouldn't be a test at all.
Suppose a novice just came out of Pallet Town with a starter Pokémon, at most adding a Rattata or Pidgey caught near their home, and then faced a Pokémon with Professional level or even Gym level strength... Let's not even talk about the tactics of a trainer who just started traveling; with such an exaggerated level gap, even if you had a Champion commanding, they still wouldn't win.
So generally speaking, Gym Leaders did not use their true strength to battle challengers. If a challenger could truly force out and defeat the Gym Leader's full power, then it proved that this challenger had the potential to be a Champion!
Don't misunderstand, the Champion mentioned here was not the League Champion, but the League Conference Champion. There were only two words difference, but the actual meaning expressed was vastly different.
Generally, the strength of a League Conference Champion was roughly Professional level to Gym level. Only a very small number of League Champions would have Elite level strength.
"If you encounter an Elite level trainer participating in the competition, then you can only consider yourself unlucky. Trainers of that level participate in the League Conference not for the Conference Champion title, but for a seat in the Elite Four. Because the Conference Champion has one chance to challenge the Elite Four, and as long as they defeat an Elite Four member, they can take their place."
Misty waved her fair fingers while speaking earnestly.
By now, Ash had learned most of the League Conference rules. For a novice trainer like him, who hadn't even obtained a single Gym badge, the Gym's trial wouldn't be too difficult. Ash's anxious heart also relaxed slightly.
He took out his Pokémon Pokédex at the Pokémon Center's front desk and successfully registered for the League Conference. Afterwards, Nurse Joy thoughtfully gave Ash a map, which also marked which cities had Gyms.
Nurse Joy suddenly thought of something and smiled at Ash. "Speaking of which, you're the second Pallet Town trainer to arrive in Viridian City, and also the second Pokédex owner."
"Second? Who was the first?" Ash paused, then quickly asked.
The reason he and Misty arrived in Viridian City so quickly was partly due to being chased by Spearow, and partly because they traveled through the night. This speed should have been very fast. Even if he was the late one, there shouldn't have been anyone faster than him.
"The first was a young man named Gary. He seemed to have arrived in a sports car. When he came to the Pokémon Center, his red sports car attracted a lot of onlookers." Nurse Joy lightly tapped her fair chin, recalling her first encounter with Gary yesterday.
"A sports car... That Gary, he really knows how to enjoy himself!" Ash gritted his teeth with a displeased expression.
He traveled the world on foot, while Gary, on the other hand, drove a sports car! The difference in their treatment was like heaven and earth.
"The meaning of travel lies in the scenery along the way. Although that guy named Gary is faster than you, he views the surrounding scenery like passing clouds, fleeting in an instant. Such a journey won't bring him much growth," Misty spoke to Ash meaningfully.
"Exactly, what's the use of being fast! That Gary's experience is definitely not as good as mine. I even met a Ho-O... Mmm mmm mmm!" Ash hadn't finished speaking when a pair of small hands tightly covered his mouth.
Misty stood behind Ash, her pretty face nodding apologetically to Nurse Joy, then quickly used one hand to hold Ash's neck and the other hand to continue covering Ash's mouth, dragging Ash away from the front desk.
After getting some distance from the front desk, Misty finally released Ash's mouth. Ash gasped for air, complaining with a displeased expression, "Misty, what are you doing! Are you trying to suffocate me?"
With his strength, he could have easily broken free, but he was afraid that abruptly breaking free would hurt her. Plus, he also guessed that Misty did that for a reason, which is why he didn't struggle hard.
But Misty covering his mouth and holding his neck was practically like trying to suffocate someone.
Misty rolled her eyes somewhat speechlessly. "You have the nerve to complain! You still want to talk about meeting 'that' on the road in public? Do you know how many people covet that Pokémon? If someone heard that you met her on your first day of travel, then during your journey, you would be targeted by countless people. Have some sense, okay?!"
Hearing this, Ash paused, then scratched his head somewhat awkwardly: "S-sorry, I didn't think it through. Misty, you're really careful."