Seeing Kairos's reaction.
Lila thought he hadn't understood and explained again: "I think that's what they're called... I've heard there's a special type of Pokémon whose bodies are almost intangible, made of pure energy or spiritual essence.
They're usually very powerful, so some researchers collectively call them 'Soul Bodies.' Looking at your partner, with such a unique form and those flames that seem almost ethereal... is that what it is?"
Kairos thought to himself, Isn't she just describing Ghost-type Pokémon?
It seemed this world had different classifications and terminology for Pokémon.
He couldn't be bothered to explain in detail, so he simply nodded along with her assessment.
"Yeah, something like that."
Professor Lila's eyes immediately lit up with a mixture of surprise, disbelief, and intense curiosity, the instinctive reaction of a researcher encountering something unknown.
Suppressing her excitement, she said earnestly, "I really have to thank you and your partner for stepping in earlier.
Otherwise, things could have spiraled out of control. It's too chaotic here. Why don't we find somewhere quieter to talk? I'd like to properly express my gratitude."
Kairos thought about it. Perfect, he could use her to learn more about this world.
He agreed directly: "Alright."
The two left the chaotic park center and went to a reception room in a nearby research institute building.
The reception room was simple, with the typical high-tech aesthetic of this world.
Professor Lila poured Kairos a cup of hot tea, its fragrant aroma slightly dispelling the faint smell of machine oil in the air.
Kairos accepted the tea, thanked her, and decided to cut straight to the point:
"Professor Lila, I've just arrived from very far away and don't know much about this place.
Could you tell me about this world... well, about the situation with Pokémon? I feel like things are quite different from where I'm from."
At his words, a complex expression flashed across Professor Lila's face.
"You certainly don't look like you're from our region."
She sighed softly.
"Different... yes, things have become very different indeed."
Cradling her teacup, her gaze grew distant.
"It all goes back many years to that massive disaster that swept across several regions... That catastrophe nearly destroyed the original ecological balance, and many species of Pokémon... disappeared."
"Disappeared?" Kairos's heart jolted.
"Yes," Professor Lila nodded, her tone heavy.
"Extinct. Especially those that depended on specific natural environments, or whose attributes leaned toward... well, natural energy. Most Grass, Water, Fire, and Flying types... almost none survived.
The Pokémon that remain in the world now are mostly those with stronger adaptability, or those that naturally aligned more with steel and electricity, like Magnemite, Klink, Voltorb, and their evolved forms."
Kairos suddenly understood.
No wonder they had to mess around with that "Genesis Engine" to artificially create rain and simulate sunlight!
It was because the Water and Fire types that could naturally manipulate weather and alter environments had almost completely vanished.
He thought back to the Pokémon he'd seen on the streets with obvious mechanical modifications, and asked: "So what about all those Pokémon I saw with mechanical parts attached? What's that about?"
Professor Lila looked momentarily surprised, as if the question was self-evident: "That's the most direct and simple way to enhance a Pokémon's strength.
Because of that disaster's effects, Pokémon abilities are generally not very high anymore. Mechanical modifications can improve them quite a bit."
As she spoke, she took out her Poké Ball and released a Magneton.
This Magneton looked similar to what Kairos remembered, but its metallic shell was noticeably shinier, the metal rods connecting the three magnets had tiny indicator lights embedded in them, and the humming magnetic field carried an artificial enhancement quality.
Kairos used his experience to roughly sense the creature's aura.
Compared to Chandelure, this energy was incomparably weaker, meaning this Magneton's strength was probably just barely at the Ace level.
Lila looked at the Chandelure quietly floating behind Kairos, its red-violet flames and condensed spiritual energy making her marvel once again. She couldn't help asking curiously: "If I may ask... what star rating would you say your 'Soul Body' partner is?"
"Star rating?" Kairos didn't understand.
"Oh, that's our universal power classification standard here," Professor Lila explained.
"From one star to five stars. One star is the weakest, basically just past the juvenile stage, and five stars is the strongest, currently recognized as peak combat power."
Kairos quickly converted in his mind. His Chandelure had Champion-level strength, so by this standard... "Probably four stars?" he said conservatively.
"Four stars?!"
Professor Lila's voice jumped up an octave, looking at Chandelure as if it were some kind of monster.
"Really four stars?! That's already incredibly powerful combat strength! In our world, trainers who can possess four-star Pokémon are exceedingly rare!"
Kairos was somewhat bewildered by her reaction and instinctively asked: "Then... what about five stars? How much stronger is the strongest five-star compared to mine?"
Professor Lila thought seriously for a moment before answering: "It's hard to quantify exactly, but according to League assessment data, the comprehensive strength of a five-star Pokémon is at least twenty times that of my Magneton."
Twenty times?!
Hearing that number, Kairos nearly choked on his own saliva.
Twenty times an Ace-level? That would at most barely touch the edge of Gym Leader level.
So the ace Pokémon of this world's top trainers only matched the Gym Leader level from his world?
Maybe not even that?
He immediately realized this must be closely related to the disaster she'd mentioned.
That catastrophe not only drastically reduced Pokémon species, it had probably knocked down the entire world's power level significantly, severely limiting the upper ceiling of Pokémon strength.
No wonder when the incident happened earlier, no one sent out Pokémon to solve the problem. It wasn't that they didn't want to; they simply didn't dare. For that kind of energy fluctuation, Pokémon below Gym Leader level truly had no way to handle it.
So what exactly was this so-called disaster in this world?
But then Kairos reconsidered.
Wait, what does this have to do with me?
He quickly tossed aside his surprise.
He hadn't forgotten his fundamental purpose for crossing into this world: to use the game development system to create and publish Pokémon games here, collecting emotion points!
With that thought, Kairos's eyes nearly lit up.
Advanced technology level, comprehensive network infrastructure - that meant his games could spread rapidly!
Moreover, the people of this world had such limited knowledge of Pokémon, and their power system was so... low. Wouldn't the complete ecology, diverse attributes, evolution chains, and powerful Legendary Pokémon shown in his games easily create an outrageous shock factor?
This was practically the perfect newbie village prepared just for him, a pure emotion point extraction farm!
Why hadn't he crossed into this world first?
If that had been the case, this start would have been so much easier...
Meanwhile, that woman named Professor Lila, seeing Kairos fall into deep thought after the five-star question, with his expression changing constantly, didn't know what to say.
After thinking, she changed the subject: "By the way... I still don't know what to call you. Where are you from? Beings like you and your partner, who are so... well... pristine, I haven't seen in many years."
Kairos snapped back to attention and casually made up a reason, taking a sip of tea: "Just call me Kairos. I come from... a very distant place. Very remote, information doesn't travel well there."
He deliberately kept it vague. Otherwise, if he straight up said he came from another world, that would probably cause even more trouble.
Professor Lila nodded thoughtfully, seeming to accept this explanation, though her gaze couldn't help drifting back to the mysteriously auraed Chandelure, her eyes full of research desire.
Watching her expression, Kairos quietly formed a plan.
Perhaps this doctor in charge of the "Genesis Engine" project could become a useful entry point?
Hearing Kairos's vague answer, the probing desire in Professor Lila's eyes intensified, but she was clearly well-mannered and didn't continue pressing about Kairos's origins, such sensitive questions.
Her intuition told her this person's background might not be so simple, but now wasn't the time to pursue it further.
Her attention quickly returned to Chandelure.
"Um, Mr. Kairos, your... Chandelure, it seems to very effectively interfere with and even absorb that special energy escaping from the 'Genesis Engine.'"
Professor Lila carefully chose her words, her tone carrying both caution and excitement. "This ability is extremely rare. Our project team has been searching for methods to stably guide or even enhance that energy. Perhaps... your partner could provide some crucial data support?"
Kairos's heart stirred. If he could get closer to this Lila, it would be a good opportunity to understand this world more deeply, and he could naturally obtain his identity in this world.
He pretended to think it over before nodding: "We can try. However, my Chandelure's condition needs to remain stable. I can't allow any risky experiments."
"Of course! Of course!"
Professor Lila quickly assured him.
"We absolutely put your Pokémon's safety as our top priority! Just some non-invasive observation and data recording!"
As if afraid Kairos might change his mind, she immediately pulled out an advanced-looking tablet and rapidly operated it.
"I'll set you up with a temporary advanced visitor clearance for the research institute right away.
You can freely use most public facilities, including the library and internal network. Oh, and this is a thank-you gift. Please don't refuse."
She pulled out a small metal box from a drawer and handed it to Kairos. Opening it, he saw five crystalline gems radiating pure energy fluctuations.
"These are the highest quality Electrium Gems,"
Professor Lila explained. "They're excellent supplements for Electric and Steel-type Pokémon, quickly restoring stamina and even slightly raising energy capacity.
Although your partner is a... Soul Body, it should still be able to absorb this pure energy, right?"
Kairos sensed the energy fluctuations, which seemed quite substantial. Although the attributes didn't perfectly match his Pokémon, they were still good items... and unique to this world.
"Thank you, it should like them."
Kairos nodded and accepted them directly.
After exchanging a few more words and arranging to meet again to discuss the observation cooperation in detail, Kairos excused himself, saying he needed rest, and left the institute.
Leaving the institute's reception room and walking on the high-tech streets, Kairos was in quite a good mood.
The advanced clearance Professor Lila had given him was exactly what he needed most right now.
He found what looked like a public library, smoothly entered with his temporary clearance, found a quiet corner, and connected to the network.
Sure enough, the network information here was far richer than the information kiosks outside.
Kairos began rapidly browsing, focusing on materials related to history, Pokémon research, technological development, and the entertainment industry.
As he dug deeper, he gained a clearer understanding of this world that the system had designated PM-0734.
The disaster called "The Great Silence" occurred about fifty years ago.
Its cause remained controversial, with the mainstream view being that underground energy sources in multiple regions were over-exploited, triggering some kind of global energy depletion and ecological collapse.
The result was that Pokémon dependent on natural energy died off in droves. Grass, Water, Fire, and Flying types in particular suffered catastrophic losses. Those that survived were mostly types like Magnemite and Klink that had low dependence on natural environments, or types like Magneton, Magnezone, and Metagross that were inherently connected to steel and electricity.
To survive and develop, humanity's technology tree completely tilted, placing all focus on electrical power, machinery, and artificial intelligence.
Perception of Pokémon also underwent a massive shift.
They were increasingly viewed as a "biomechanical" resource, optimized and enhanced through chip implants, exoskeleton attachments, energy conduits, and other modifications to compensate for insufficient innate potential.
The so-called "star rating evaluation system" was established based on this kind of post-modification comprehensive combat power.
The peak of five stars was essentially the ceiling constraining this world's Pokémon power level.
As for the "Genesis Engine" project, rather than saying it was for environmental improvement, it was more like a desperate attempt by the League and major corporations to artificially recreate "natural energy."
They seemed to have discovered something in ancient ruins and were trying to reproduce some kind of nature-harmonizing power from Legendary Pokémon, resulting in this unstable energy core.
Seeing this, Kairos couldn't help but smile.
Regarding the entertainment industry, this world's games and film works were almost entirely mecha, space warfare, and cyberpunk themed.
Even those occasionally involving Pokémon were hardcore sci-fi games like "Mecha Tyrannosaurus" and "Electromagnetic Frenzy Shark."
Works like Emerald, depicting humans and Pokémon living harmoniously in nature, full of adventure and warmth... There wasn't a single one.
And this situation was, without question, perfect.
Because the people of this world were like children who'd never tasted sugar, and his game would be the first massive, incredibly sweet chocolate dropped into their lives.
This information gap and cognitive chasm was ridiculously huge, meaning once the game launched, the emotion points he could harvest would be astronomical!
He glanced at the time display on his interface. He still had over ten hours left in this world, so he didn't hesitate any longer and immediately called out to the system in his mind.
"System, if I want to publish Emerald in this world, do I need to make any adaptations or modifications?"
[Ding! Detecting current world's network environment and fundamental rules... conducting compatibility analysis...]
[Analysis complete. Current world's technology level exceeds the main world, network coverage reaches 99%, and terminal compatibility is excellent.]
[Notice: Detected massive discrepancy between current world's Pokémon ecological data and game content. Direct publication may trigger unpredictable chain reactions.]
[Warning: Due to game independence, you cannot publish Emerald in the current world. You need to publish a brand new game!]