Unlike the Origami related Ability, Kai hadn’t figured out the Pokemon Trainer Ability just through his deduction skills.

First, he created the facade of words, manipulating Meg’s emotions and noticing her reactions. Second, the moment he mentioned the picture outside the window, he sensed the strongest reaction of mixed happiness and despair oozing out the red-haired beauty. That’s how he confirmed the presence of the second Ability.

If Kai wanted to, he could suck out Morning Mist’s happiness, but that would have been too obvious.

Coming out of the effect of Kai's Emotions Manipulation, Meg stood up, taking a deep breath. "You… you are right," she said. "I have Advance Origami Creation and Elementary Pokemon Trainer Abilities."

"Good," Kai nodded. "Take out your Pokemon."

Meg hesitated, but ultimately sighed, taking out the Pokeball.

She pressed the button at the seam of the red and white part and a blue beam came out, zing-zagging on the floor.

"Squirtleee…" An excited voice filled the room as the Pokemon took the shape.

Kai looked at the little thing.

It was a light-blue turtle-like Pokemon, standing over its hind legs. At a foot tall, and with purplish eyes, it looked more cute than dangerous.

"Squirtle… Squirtle…" The Pokemon looked about and then, finding no other Pokemon, walked to Meg. Only then did the creature look at Kai.

Kai stared at it, his eyes moving from the Pokemon to Meg, and then back at it. "What is it?" he asked, losing almost all his interest.

Meg frowned at Kai. "You don't know Squirtle?" she asked, sitting down, caressing Squirtle's head. "Which Pokemon do you have?"

Kai didn't lie, as it was bound to come out, eventually. "I don't have any Pokemon."

"What?!" Meg stood up so suddenly that even the Pokemon looked taken aback. "How can that be? But you are so young?"

"What does age have to do with it?" Kai asked, pressing his brows.

"Oh!" Meg gasped. "You are a solitary Contestant, aren't you? Young, alone, and powerful beyond limits. No wonder you are so smart and cautious. No wonder."

Kai's heart thumped. There was regret in her words, he could tell, without even using his Ability. "Tell me," he almost commanded.

"Age is very significant in the Primordial Tower," Contestant Morning Mist answered. "Pokemon is a Random World which favors the young, Desmond. If you are young enough, you can even become a Pokemon Trainer by just going to a Research Lab and getting your first Pokemon and many Pokeballs from a professor. Just like that."

What the actual fuck?! Kai's thoughts blasted his mind, but he didn't let those emotions come out on his face.

"That's why I was shocked to see you so young, and yet not have a Pokemon," the old woman continued. "It means this is your first time in the World of Pokemon. And if my experience counts for something, then I can tell that if you don't become a Pokemon Trainer this turn, then you can never come back here."

Now Kai panicked. "Why?" he asked, calmly, but the Pokemon was giving him odd looks. "Explain thoroughly."

This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

For the first time, Meg addressed Kai formally. "Yes, Captain," she said. "You must know by now how to get your first Pokemon (-Kai nodded-). The obvious way is to become a part of an organization that gives you a used Pokemon upon joining them. I got Squirtle like that, after joining the Twin-Peak Organization."

"I haven't heard of it," Kai said, implying it must be some lame organization.

Meg smiled ruefully. "There are three major organizations on the 1st Set," she said, picking the Pokemon up in her lap (- "Squirtle…" it affectionately cried-). "Both Silver Hunters Guild and Thunder Faction are standalone organizations. At least, the Silver Hunters Guild was before the massacre caused by the Butcher of the 2nd floor. It won't remain too long, I think.

"The third is Thousand Armor Smithy. But it's actually a conglomerate of smiths from many tiny branches of high floored organizations. Twin-Peak is a 7th-floor mid-level organization, and it has branches on the 1st Set."

"I still don't understand what you are getting at," Kai said, annoyingly.

"I am getting to it," Meg replied, smiling. "Have you ever wondered why so many organizations have their branches on lower floors?"

No. He hadn't. Now that he thought about it, it did feel odd to him.

"There is another way to get Pokemon," she said, not waiting for Kai's reply. "There are many worlds which favor the youngsters over grown-ups, like Pokemon and Harry Potter. But there is no guarantee of getting young Contestants. So, the Organizations send one or two branches to the 1st and 2nd floors and… create them."

Kai felt a monstrous amount of dreadful emotion in her voice. "They create… Contestants?!" he asked incredulously. "How?!!"

Meg giggled, but it was just an empty laugh, Kai could tell. "They kidnap children," she said. "Of course, they don't call it kidnapping, but believe me, it is that. Then they train them in a specialized field. Like letting them bond with a Pokemon, or giving them magical books to read. When they become old enough, some 9 or 10, the organizations bring their family members to them separately.

"Then, they force every child to watch as they torture their parents. Finally, they tell the children that if after becoming a Contestant they don't come back to that Organization, they would kill the parents for good."

"After becoming Contestants, you mean…" Kai trailed off.

"Yes," the old woman said, her head down, looking at her Pokemon. "They kill those children. With such vast resources invested in them, around 1 in 1000 becomes a Contestant and return to the Organization. You see, the System analyzes children lives to give them Stats. By forcing them to bond with Pokemon, they almost ensure that the Pokemon World would be among their Initiation Missions."

"The City of Assignments…" Kai muttered.

"It's a name given by the Empire," Meg said, again looking out of the window. "Not because the Contestants are getting assigned to different Organizations. But it assigns lives to the children of an entire planet-sized settlement."

A silence took over the small room, following Meg's tale. She let the Squirtle return to her Pokeball and took a deep breath.

"The Missions you choose in your 1st Set are very important," Morning Mist said. "Your future progression depends on them. Many Contestants spend their lives not even hearing the word Quidditch. That's why I said. If you don't become a Pokemon Trainer this time, you might not get to become one ever. There is a popular saying from Twin-Peak's leader.

"Chaos gives choices, never chances. All unworthy are doomed eternally."

Kai said nothing to her after that. Nor did he ask any further questions. The only thing that was going in his mind was… What a fucking brilliant idea! Get the children to become Contestants. Send them to the Random Worlds with a specific purpose, and discard them later, facing almost no chance of future retaliations. Whoever thought of this must have been a mastermind.

To Meg, though, he showed a concerned face. Bringing their attention back to the notification about the DVD, Kai gestured at her. "Have you heard something like this happening before?" he asked.

"I am also seeing it for the first time," said Meg, shaking her head.

Kai approached the table drawer.

It had two columns of four drawers each. He first tried all the drawers other than the right topmost one, but they were all locked. When he opened the said drawer, there was a DVD box in it. Kai took it out, examining it front and back. One side of the box was completely black, but on the other side, there were well-printed images.

The image showed the main protagonist of the Pokemon World, Ash Ketchum, with his Pokemon, Pikachu on his back. On Ash's left, there were two flying Pokemon, one blue and the other red. The background was of a sea and a water city, much like the one Kai had walked through before coming here.

But it was the words written over the DVD box that caught his attention the most.

"Pokemon Heroes: The Movie."