Hey Artemis! Welcome to PC!
Great to see another long-time Pokémon fan! I got into the franchise thanks to the anime as a kid, what about you? Anime and manga are lovely, I wish I could get more into that too.
As for online battling, did you know PokéCommunity has their own
Battle Server? It's a great place to start competitive battling and receive some tips from other users as well as just chit-chat about your daily life. At first the competitive play may seem very complicated, but if you're familiar with Pokémon, you'll figure it out in no time, I can assure!
I hope you have a great time on the forums!