Lance then told Aoki about this secret, much of which Aoki had never heard before—the true secrets among the secrets of the League.
It is said that at the beginning of the League's founding, a supreme expert appeared. As for this expert's name, it is now impossible to verify as there are no written records.
But because of his appearance, the League discovered an unknown space in the area around Mt. Silver, or rather, it shouldn't be called a space, but a continent similar to a space.
However, the existence of this continent was also very special.
Because it was very small—so small it was almost equal to a pebble.
A stone of this size in the vast, boundless space was like a drop of water in the ocean, so tiny it could almost be ignored.
Yet such a pebble-sized thing was a continent, as it was a land created using special means, where everything inside was shrunk in the same proportion. This required a control over spatial abilities comparable to a god to shrink a continent to such an extent.
Not only that, the flow of time in this pebble was also different from the outside. Spending five months inside might only mean one month or even less has passed in the Pokémon World.
Such a magical place was discovered by that expert because he was also a Psychic user, and among Psychics, he was best at controlling spatial energy, so he successfully entered this continent that had transformed into the size of a pebble.
Unfortunately, before he entered, his strength already belonged to the class of existences that stood at the peak of the entire Pokémon World. Thus, the Pokémon, various materials, and treasures within were not of much Helping Hand to him. However, this place was eventually taken into the League's possession and was an existence ten times more important than the interior of Mt. Silver in the League's foundation.
Setting aside how miraculous its pebble-like size was, the most important thing was the issue of its internal time flow. If it could be utilized, the League could continuously cultivate powerful Trainers. For the newly established League at that time, it was simply like a timely Helping Hand.
But things didn't go as planned; the spatial energy surrounding this Pebble Continent was too strong. Only that expert, with his formidable spatial talent, could barely enter. Even if ordinary people found this thing, to them, it would just be an unbreakable stone.
Later, the League thought about whether they could use this thing to cultivate Pokémon. Shortening the time by five times was simply a divine tool for Pokémon that required a long time to train.
However, with the Helping Hand of that expert, after several batches of Pokémon were put in, they found upon harvesting the results that although these Pokémon had grown, they were no longer fit for use. This was because they had been assimilated by wild Pokémon and the wild environment, developing their own fighting styles and habits that did not perfectly coordinate with Trainers.
Furthermore, due to the dangers of the wild environment and the lack of resources for many Pokémon, they were unable to even develop all of their own talents. Without a Trainer's regulation, it instead wasted the potential they originally had to reach a higher level.
Consequently, this plan was also shelved.
Clearly holding a great treasure in hand, yet unable to find a suitable way to use it.
It was like having a mountain of gold but being unable to take even a single bit of it.
It wasn't until later that the same expert discovered that the spatial energy wrapping this pebble had a fluctuation peak and valley value. Although its fluctuation range wasn't very large, through long-term observation, he found that the peak values of these spatial energies were very stable and would hardly change much, but the valley value had a different value every year.
Later, it was discovered that there was a time cycle.
Every five years—that is, five years in the Pokémon World and twenty-five years inside the pebble—a phenomenon would occur where the spatial energy value would reach a valley that lasted for a period of time and was not very strong.
Upon learning of the situation, the League immediately began testing and found that if the spatial energy was at this valley value, ordinary people, with the Helping Hand and amplification of certain instruments, had a chance to pass through this spatial energy membrane and enter the internal space of the pebble.
However, this valley value could only be maintained for one month—one month in the Pokémon World.
But even so, the large number of Pokémon and resources inside could provide a very great Helping Hand to the Trainers who entered, Helping Handing them to improve their strength and broaden their horizons.
It was just that technology at that time was not as developed as it is now. To bring people in, they could only rely on that expert's Psychic.
But experts are also human, and their lifespan is ultimately limited. So, after that expert passed away, the League could no longer bring people into that pebble.
However, the League did not forget such an important place. There were no written records, and it was only passed down orally among the few high-level members of the League.
Later, with the development of technology, breaking through space was no longer something only Psychic users could do. Scientists in the Pokémon World invented object teleportation and Pokémon transmission, which are applications of space.
Thus, League Trainers were able to enter the pebble again, but still only during that weakest month. Moreover, because capacity was limited, the number of Trainers who could enter was also limited.
Fortunately, not many people knew this secret, so every five years, the people who could enter were chosen and decided upon by the League internally.
How many people each region could send in was clearly regulated within the League.
For all regions, except for the Kanto Region, which has vast land and many talents and thus has three slots, all other regions—whether they joined the League early or joined later like the Kalos region—only have two slots. This is a hard and fast rule of the League.
But the League is progressing, and technology is also advancing. Now, the number of people who can enter has changed. Each region has had one slot added, meaning three slots each, while the Kanto Region now has four.
However, for the Kanto Region, where talents emerge in succession, this is still somewhat insufficient. The division of Kanto and these slots are not necessarily unrelated.
After the division, it became the Kanto Region and the Johto region, each having three slots just like other regions. This is what the Leagues of the two regions valued. Although other regions were envious, they didn't have much of a choice. After all, this matter was passed at a meeting of The Master League, and they also received certain compensation in various aspects.
Not to mention to what extent the strength of the Trainers who come out can steadily improve, their own potential will definitely be developed to a certain degree, allowing geniuses to grow faster. This is what the League hopes to see.
For instance, Professor Oak, who used to be a Trainer, participated once.
Even the current leader of Team Rockets, Giovanni, before his identity was fully revealed, was vigorously cultivated by the League and had entered once.
By mentioning the names of these two people, one knows what kind of people enter and what kind of upper limit they might possess.