Within the PCAverse there are places known as Gyms. The question that many have is what purpose do these Gyms have and how exactly do they work. After all in the games and show they served as a place to go and challenge gym leaders for badges in order to qualify for the Championships in the various regions. They don’t quite work the same way for the Pokemorph version of the world, though they still serve as an integral part of society. Below is a general guideline I worked up for how I view the Gyms as working in the PCAverse.

Here is also a very brief look on how the structures of the battle leagues are set up as well as the various levels.


Gyms are designed for training a battler to get better, but they are not designed for teaching a ‘mon how to battle. While this may seem contradictory at first it makes sense after one considers the position of a Gym in the life cycle of a battler. Most ‘mon who are serious about working their way into a battle league be it local, regional or national start their training at a fairly young age. In some cases champions have been known to have started training as early as they could walk, but rarely do you find successful battlers who started when they reached high school age or older. There is precedence for it, but the phenomenon is rare. Instead most battlers start learning in either a dojo or an early training school.

Dojos are designed to start training the young who wish to learn how to fight. Most accept students as young as six, though the dedicated ones will sometimes take younger depending on circumstances. Most students learn the basics of self defense at these dojos, some doing so with specific styles that allow for a little bit more flexibility. Its here that early battlers learn how to throw a punch, block a blow, fall down and roll with a shot properly as well as other important knowledge on how to fight in the first place. Some dojos also teach early and basic moves though it’s not always possible given the dojo leaders. These are considered an important first step for a battler as sometimes one has to be able to kick the shin of the person they’re fighting.

Early Training Schools serve the same purpose of many battle academies but at a much younger age. These elementary schools are like most schools in that the primary curriculum includes the basics such as reading, writing and arithmetic, but have the additional benefit of teaching students much in the same way a dojo does. These schools tend to be more public and offer a means for students of poorer families, or families that see nothing wrong with the public education system, so they’re more open and easier to get into. The counter-argument is that they don’t have as high caliber teachers as a result. The benefit of such a school is that with an expanded faculty they are able to teach basic elemental moves more often than not to their students. The trade off is less dedicated attention leaving one to decide how they want their child to learn.

Beyond the additional years of schooling that most Battlers go through, there is a number who skipped school and rely on raw talent and force, most wind up with a Gym. True Gyms are regulated to ensure that everything runs on the up and up and are compliant with Battle standards. These include the occasional inspection for drugs, health violations and to ensure equipment is safe and up to par. Gyms often pride themselves on how well they pass reviews and aren’t afraid to use a bad score against a rival Gym in order to get more attention.

The question still stands what exactly does a Gym do for a battler? A Gym serves as a home base for a battler, a place where they can go to refine their skills and stay in shape, much as a boxer or mixed martial artist would in our world. The Gym serves as a way to find sparing partners and work oneself into better condition or to rehab a nasty injury. Gyms also work to help ‘mon to perfect a battle technique or even to learn something new, depending on the Gym itself. These buildings are the home away from home for many battlers who know that the competition is fierce and they have to keep themselves ready to go at a moment’s notice.

Beyond being a space for working out, Gyms often provide a great deal of necessary amenities for battlers: Food, coaches, basic medical facilities, showers and in some cases a place to stay. It’s not unknown for Gyms to have small restaurants and apartments built in as well to bring in extra money. A battler could spend up to six months preparing themselves for entering or going back into battling but still need to have the basics of living. So for them being able to have a place to pick up a quick hot meal, or a place to crash in between training sessions that doesn’t involve a hike or car ride is crucial. Some gyms don’t offer more than a smoothie bar and don’t have apartments just to avoid the extra regulations that come with them.

Gyms are also the place to most commonly find Coaches. Coaches serve the battlers as trainer, teacher and psychologist. They work directly with the battlers in order to help them perfect their moves as well as to develop them mentally for dealing with the rigors of the Battle Leagues. These Coaches come from all walks of life and tend to be viewed as many different things. Some are has-beens, others never-were, and some are former champions who still love battling but can’t get in the ring anymore. Recently there’s been a growing trend of young coaches coming straight out of schools and going to Gyms and other places to help train Battlers. These students could potentially have been battlers themselves but chose instead to work with fighters. Many older battlers and coaches scoff at the idea of kids knowing anything about real battling without having been there, but younger battlers are often taking a chance on these younger Coaches because they tend to be able to relate to them better; as well as the fact they’re often cheaper or available and won’t completely talk down to them.

Gyms are also the gateway into the Battle Leagues for many fighters, with most Gyms having some sort of connection to at least one League. The more established and well known Gyms will often be crawling with scouts every few months from promotions to try and find a new battler. Some serve as training grounds for a specific League and will be sent new fighters to train. This works two ways as battlers who have no connections in any way will often go to these Gyms in order to try and be discovered by a scout. Often times Gyms within a city will work together to put on local level shows to test out how far their guys have come along, as well as to earn bragging rights. For many battlers this is as far as they get, though some enjoy a measure of local celebrity and get a free beer on occasion from their fans.

Beyond the local level there are two other levels of Battle Leagues: Regional and National.

Regional Leagues are the second most numerous after local leagues and tend to have a handful of cities that they consider their territory. The majority of battlers on this level are either green kids who are still working their way up, older battlers still trying to draw a paycheck or guys not good enough to go any further along. These leagues tend to draw good crowds, though not quite the stadiums that the larger leagues will fill up. The regional groups do tend to draw some of the fiercest internet followings as fans of each League love to argue and defend their battlers. There are several websites dedicated just to arguing about whether or not the Southern Johto Battling is better than Blackthorn Dragon Battle League.

National Leagues tend to roam over the entirety of a Region, with each Region housing one to three of these larger, more universally popular Battle Leagues. Smaller regions such as Fiore and Orre tend to have only one each while Kanto, Sinnoh, Johto and Hoenn each have three separate Leagues. These federations tend to limit themselves to their Region and are worshipped and fawned upon no matter which city or town they go to. These Battlers are the cream of the crop, the best of the best or they known how to lick some serious tail and have been given positions based on who they know. These are the goal of every battler in the world, and are the big time. They are recognized even in other regions a lot of times. Sometimes these national federations will go to other Regions in order to show off their fighters and often draw huge crowds. Some of the more well known National Battle Leagues include Blackclaw Entertainment, Steelstar League and New Hoenn Battle Federation.

Very nice information, we really need to compile all of this somewhere once it all gets sorted out. I had a little bit about the importance of Battle Academies to the leagues as well a while back http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/197636/

No kidding. Probably set up a Google Group or something. We should also work on merging our information together so it jives a little better, stretch the Gyms as I described them to work as a sorta minor leagues like in Baseball after they get drafted by the big leagues, or as a way to get a second shot at getting in.

The idea was that the battle academies were A source for upcoming talent but not the only one, the old-fashioned gyms served the same purpose. At one point I was going to hint at a bit of a conflict between the gyms and academies in that the old-school gyms saw the the battle academy grads as "whippersnappers who haven't paid their dues" while the academy grads saw the gyms as "yesterday's news and the way of the past" (in the most generalized forms possible of course) but didn't really go anywhere with it.

That would make sense. How one works their way up the Pro Wrestling ranks as a sort of parallel where before you went to a school run by one or two guys and then worked the regional circuits or indies, and now you've got stuff like Tough Enough, or full blown schools on it that have indy feds attached to them.

The word you want is "Treatise", not "Treaty"


Another thought is Pokemon battlers would frequently go from Gym to gym and challenge pokemorphs there, to practice their technique against the local styles, as a way to hone their skill and prove themselves to the leagues.

Right, fixed. Thank you.

And that is a good suggestion as well. Might even be some hustlers who go from gym to gym and make money off of it.

Probably. Some might even televise fights on the local stations or even nationally for huge gyms.

...Hrmmm. Badge's don't probably exist, but there was traditions in japan of claiming a Dojo's sign if you defeated its owner. There's most likely some sort of bragging-rights tradition for gyms.

Oh this...this is *gold* and may need to be re-read some more the next time I want to work more on Meg's backstory (I'm still trying to figure out what kind of gym Meg's is...not to mention the 'original' gym from her home in Cinnabar)

I actually had Meg's Gym in mind when I worked up a lot of this. The idea being that she's in charge of making sure the day to days happen, as well as that coaches and clients stick with the gym and see it as a viable place to work/workout. Which also leads into a storyline idea I want to run by you eventually, I just have a few more things I have to work on first.

OHOOOOOOO, that's interesting! And that sounds about right, yeah

And of course, whenever you're up to share that, lemme know

Man! Great stuff. Just like with the resource Carlito provided, I really wish I'd found this a few days ago when creating Team Boost. I think that I could have integrated this into Voltner's history quite well.

I've already begun submitting stories for my team, but with this new information, I'm really tempted to revise and revamp them. XD

Thanks for providing this most informative addition!

glad to be of help and don't be afraid to revise as you see need. The all mighty retcon was created for a reason.

Sweet. I'd been hesitant to do so, but as long as it's cool, I'll strive harder to improve Team Boost. Thanks for that support!

Where you're still getting established with everything you*e got wiggle room. Just no changing species in six months. ;)

But then I can't throw in the surprising twist, down the line, that Voltner's most trusted teammate was -in reality- a ditto assassin, in disguise, hired by rival clan to kill the team's leader! KIDDING! XD

Seriously, though, I'm considering changing up the year /grade of attendance at the PCA for one or perhaps more of Team Boost. I can definitely see potential for further backstory with teammates who've worked together for a year or longer. :3