Where should I start?

I'm new-ish to pokemon, I've played black 2 but I've never really taken it seriously until now. I'm playing moon now, but I'm sure it doesn't matter all too much. Does anyone have advice on what I should do to really begin battles like these, or should I just jump in?

Personally, what really got me into it was watching other people play Pokémon and trying to learn. The best method for me was watching YouTube videos of people playing on the ladder. I find that the best mix of skill and educational commentary would be from PokeaimMD's channel. Of course it takes a while to get into it but I think soon enough you'll understand what's going on.

That being said, we do have a (slightly antiquated) list of resources if you prefer reading. You can find it in the Guidelines & Resources Thread.

Another thing you can do is PM/VM me or any of the Battle Staff Server (purple people) and see if anyone has time to give you a brief rundown. I'm more than willing to help if you catch me when I'm online. Though I have to preface this by saying that I will have more time a week from now. Hop on the Battle Server too if you have time.

Worth noting, not all of us bss are currently purple. So it doesn't hurt to check the list at the top of the forum. I think a good starting point would be learning the common threats in the meta you want to dive into and how to check/counter them. Maybe use some teams build by more experienced players before you jump into creating your own.