After that, Lance explained some details about that secret to Cain. A large part of the information was something Cain had never heard before—true secrets within the League's secrets.
It is said that, in the early days of the League's founding, an extremely powerful individual appeared within it. As for his name, nowadays there is no way to verify it, as there are no documentary records regarding it.
However, thanks to his appearance, the League discovered an unknown place in the space near Mt. Silver. Or, to be more precise, it should not really be called "space," but rather a continent similar to an independent space.
The existence of that continent was extremely peculiar.
Because it was incredibly small—so small that it practically equaled the size of a pebble.
A stone of that size, lost in the vast and boundless outer space, would be nothing more than a drop of water in the ocean, so insignificant that it could be completely ignored.
But precisely something the size of a pebble was in fact a continent, because it had been created through special methods. Everything that existed inside it had been proportionally reduced to the same scale. To compress a continent to that level required a control over spatial power comparable to that of a deity.
Not only that, the flow of time inside that pebble was also different from that of the outside. Staying there for five months was equivalent to only one month—or even less—passing in the Pokémon World.
That miraculous place was discovered by that powerful individual, who was also a psychic and, among psychic abilities, particularly excelled in controlling spatial energy. Thanks to this, he managed to enter that continent reduced to the size of a pebble.
Unfortunately, before entering, his strength already belonged to the category of beings who dominated the entire Pokémon World. Therefore, the Pokémon, materials, and treasures inside were of little help to him. Even so, that place was ultimately incorporated by the League and became a pillar of its foundations, more than ten times more important than the interior of Mt. Silver.
Beyond how extraordinary that miniature continent was, the most crucial issue was the problem of the temporal flow within it. If it could be utilized, the League would be able to continuously train powerful trainers. For a League that had only been founded for a short time, this was like receiving help in the midst of a snowstorm.
But reality was not so ideal. The spatial energy enveloping the Pebble Continent was too intense. Only that powerful individual, with his extraordinary spatial talent, could barely enter. For ordinary people, even if they discovered that object, it was nothing more than an unbreakable stone.
Later, the League thought of using that place to train Pokémon. Reducing the growth time to one-fifth was, for Pokémon that required long periods of training, nothing short of a divine artifact.
However, with the help of that powerful individual, after introducing several batches of Pokémon and collecting the results, it was discovered that although they had grown, they were not truly usable. They had been assimilated by the wild Pokémon and the natural environment, developing their own combat styles and habits, without achieving perfect coordination with trainers.
Moreover, due to the dangers of the wild environment and the scarcity of resources, many Pokémon could not even fully develop their potential. Without the regulation of a trainer, instead of progressing, the aptitudes that could have led them to higher heights were wasted.
Thus, that plan was also set aside.
Having an invaluable treasure in one's hands, yet not finding an appropriate way to use it.
It was like possessing a mountain of gold and being unable to take even a tiny speck of it.
Until, some time later, it was once again that powerful individual who discovered that the spatial energy enveloping the pebble had peaks and valleys of fluctuation. Although the range of variation was not very large, after prolonged observation he noticed that the maximum values were very stable and hardly changed, but the minimum values varied every year.
Later, it was discovered that there was a temporal cycle.
Every five years—that is, five years in the Pokémon World, equivalent to twenty-five years inside the pebble—the spatial energy would reach a low level that lasted for a certain period and was not too intense.
Once this situation was understood, the League immediately conducted tests and discovered that, during that valley of spatial energy, ordinary people, with the help of certain amplification instruments, had the opportunity to pass through that energy membrane and enter the interior space of the pebble.
However, that period only lasted for one month—one month of the Pokémon World.
Even so, the enormous number of Pokémon and resources inside could provide tremendous assistance to the trainers who entered, allowing them to improve their strength and broaden their experience.
Unfortunately, the technology of that era was not as developed as it is now. To bring people inside, they could only rely on the psychic power of that individual.
But even the strongest are human, and life has its limits. After the death of that powerful individual, the League could no longer introduce people into the pebble.
However, the League did not forget that extremely important place. There were no written records; only a few high-ranking League officials passed the secret on by word of mouth until it was preserved.
With the advancement of technology, breaking space ceased to be something exclusive to psychics. Scientists of the Pokémon World invented object transfer and Pokémon transportation, direct applications of the use of space.
In this way, League trainers were able to enter the pebble again, though only during that month when the energy was weakest. Moreover, due to technical limitations, the number of people who could enter remained small.
Fortunately, not many people knew that secret, so every five years the candidates to enter were selected and decided internally by the League itself.
How many people each region could send was clearly stipulated within the League.
All regions, except Kanto—which, due to its vast size and abundance of talent, had three slots—had only two, whether they were regions that joined the League very early or regions incorporated later, such as Kalos. This was a strict rule of the League.
But the League continued to advance, and so did technology. Now the number of people who could enter had changed: each region obtained one additional slot, that is, three in total, while Kanto increased to four.
Even so, for a region as rich in talent as Kanto, it was still insufficient. The division of Kanto and that number of slots were not entirely unrelated.
After the division into the Kanto region and the Johto region, both came to have three slots each, just like the other regions. This was something that both regional Leagues valued greatly. Although the other regions felt some envy, there was little they could do, as the matter had already been approved at the Central League assembly and, moreover, they had received compensation in other aspects.
Regardless of how much the trainers' strength might increase steadily after leaving, the fact was that their potential would undoubtedly be developed to a certain extent. Allowing geniuses to grow faster was precisely what the League wanted to see.
For example, Professor Oak, when he was still a trainer, participated once.
Even the current leader of Team Rocket, Giovanni, before his identity was made public and when he was still strongly supported by the League, also entered once.
Just by mentioning these two names, one could already understand what kind of people were able to enter there and what their growth limit could be.
(End of chapter)