The Connection

Prologue

"It only makes sense."

It was a simple statement, yet a powerful way to end the speech. The entire audience that had waited with a plethora of words on their tongues could hardly make a sound as the speaker settled once more into his chair. Said speaker was not especially beautiful, charismatic, or clever; if anything, he was a little too average in every regard to be normal. Of course, the darkness of the meeting room did not allow the features of anyone to be distinguished well. The truthfulness of his words needed nothing more to be persuasive. It did only make sense.

Finally, one of the audience of five wrestled the scattered letters into words, and those words into sentences, "It is so simple, it is hard to believe… Can we really trust it enough to risk it all?"

Now all eyes were on the new speaker, once more with bated breath as the average man rested his sights on the table, "Of course. You said it yourself, it is so simple. Nature is typically so; leave it to mankind to overthink everything."

"It is only simple in theory!" screeched another, braver, bystander, "We are really risking it all. Kidnapping children, especially ones from prominent families, is not simple!"

The average man turned to his new target, "I guess you are right, but the hard part is simple. It will all be worth it because talent breeds talent. These families: Kirkland, Bonnefey, Vargas, Beilschmidt, Braginski, and Wang, breed talent. Their youngest members will do the job."

A thick silence descended upon the room once more, crushing its members with the weight of mountains. Here they were discussing kidnapping like another business proposal—but that is exactly what it was. They needed this to work like they needed to breathe. Everyone knew it and arguing was only delaying the inevitable. As much as they all hated it, this was their only option.

"Say it does not work," starts the man that had been the first to recover his tongue after the speech, "Or even if it does—we ruin their lives. They either die or are cursed until death. Heavens know how painful it is…"

The average man actually pauses at this, showing the first signs of humanity since the meeting began, "Yes, but millions of others suffer, including them, if they do not. All I can say is that they will be heroes to me, and all I can ask is that they be heroes to you, too, because we have no other options. Gentlemen, we are at the end of the road. We need the protection of our deities for our regions and world, and no ordinary man can call them out. I believe these bloodlines hold the key to that."

The average man pulls out six manila folders and tosses them across the round table, each with the name of a mentioned family imprinted in bold on the side, "I will start with the upstarts: the Wangs. Yao Wang is a fighting type specialist in the shared Kanto and Johto elite four. That may not be impressive all on its own, but he resurrected his family from the ashes of his parents' deaths and poverty all on his own. He is not to be trifled with, and I believe his younger brother, Kiku, holds that same potential."

"Now the Beilschmidts," he begins again, motioning to another folder that was beginning to be passed around, "They have a history steeped in the military of the Johto region since its founding, traceable all the way back to an ancestor that was regarded as a hero. Legend has it that he had a legendary Pokémon as a partner, how convenient? In modern times there are three branches of this family; however, we are focused on the main branch. Gilbert Beilschmidt is the fire type specialist of the shared Johto and Kanto elite four. His little brother Ludwig is the one we are focused on."

Another folder found its way into the many hands around the table, "The Bonnefey family is next. Although they have been namely known for their coordinators, their battling prowess is nothing to be looked down upon. They have a right to be considered as much as anyone else. That being said, Francis Bonnefey, is the top coordinator in Kanto at this moment. His little brother, Matthew, should do nicely."

A noticeably thicker folder now made its way around the table, "The Braginskis, now. I know very well that their name precedes them from the time of 'General Winter,' but their newest generation has not had much talent in any of the three branches. That being said, my biggest hope is Ivan, from the main branch. After that, I would say Emil, from the Northern Branch family. However, we will also be taking Feliks and Toris from the Sourthern branch family."

"The Vargis family, a favorite of all of yours I noticed, is next. This family is like the Beilschmidts, only in Kanto. In fact, both their main ancestors were rumored rivals and have several legends about them. Of course, it is well known that in its golden age, the Vargas family was the strongest in both Johto and Kanto. In recent years the family has gotten back some of its vigor, but after the family's fall it has never been the same. Antonio Vargas is grass type specialist of the shared Kanto and Johto elite four. Our targets will be his younger twin brothers, Lovino and Feliciano."

Down to the last folder, the average man now had a smirk on his face, "This family needs no introduction. It boasts the newest champion and ghost type specialist of the shared Johto and Kanto elite four, Allistor and Arthur Kirkland. This family is incredibly large, so you might be expecting us to take several, but I think one is more than enough. My personal favorite, Alfred, will be our target. He is the closest in age to all the chosen others, and I just get a vibe from him. Of course, I will only risk that on my part. So, gentlemen, are we all in agreement?"

The meeting room grew tense once more, but, slowly, the crowd started nodding, one after the other. It was decided. These children, these innocent and naïve beings, were going to be forced to trials they could previously only dream of and there was no other option. It did little to make anyone in that room feel better about the graveness of the situation, but the average man managed a sincere smile as he stroked one of the folders.

"Well then, Alfred, you will get your adventure, I swear." he whispered.