That first part I can definitely help with!
First thing you're gonna want to do is check out the
Pokemaster's Hall forum. It's very much a general purpose competitive battling section. Things like Simple Q Simple A, outside tournaments like Smogon Opens, and other metagame discussions. We also have (as you may have noticed) a
gym system! You can challenge the gym leader, and if you win, you get a badge for the site! If may not sound a whole lot like the competition you're looking for right now, but those badges can help you earn your way into one of our Battle Teams. Periodically, we'll have "guild war" -style crew battles between the teams.
And of course, we have an internal matchmaking system for whichever ladder you'd like to play on!
Now, I'm not super knowledgeable about genning, to be honest with you. I love our genners, and I make use of their services on the reg. But I know about as much about how they do it as I know about how my favorite Panera makes their bread. I give money, I get delicious things.
That said, if you're already equipped for genning and just itching to go, set up a shop! You'll want to get familiar with
Da Rules, and how the sites economy functions.
If you're wanting to get lessons on how to gen, though, I'm not 100% on how one goes about it. I do know that a few of our current sellers offer lessons. But this is a case by case basis kind of thing.