Hey there Floyd. That has to be one of the worst feelings. I've done it as well. Reborn works a little different. To promote diversity in your team there is a gym leader for each type and the level caps. This means you probably won't be able to just use 6 pokemon to plow through the entire game. You can check the level cap on your trainer card in game. If your pokemon ever go above the level cap. You can use Common Candies to lower them back below it. As others have said, that will not show as shiny, however, I'd recommend skipping the the nicknaming to save yourself some time because the Name Rater is available almost immediately, just north of the exploded train station. Also the chances of a pokemon being shiny in this game are roughly 1/100 much higher than in the main series games.
If you have any questions you can ask the Moderators or myself. But most importantly please read the rules. I'd also recommend checking out as many of the pinned threads as you can because they usually have very useful information you can use. Like the forum FAQ for one. Also, come talk with us on the Pokemon Reborn Showdown Server, you can learn the competitive game or just talk with your fellow reborn citizens there if battling isn't really your thing. There's a link to the top left above Member Info
No matter what your into, there's bound to be people here with similar interests, so stick around.