He grabbed his communicator and started reaching out to every ally he could contact.
First up was Miles. "Minister Miles, I need something, anything, that contains pure earth energy. You got anything like that?"
There was a long silence on the other end before Miles' tired voice came through. "Kairos... look, we don't have that kind of stuff. Our power levels aren't anywhere near high enough for that, and we've been stuck underground so long. Special items with earth energy? That's way too rare for us. Sorry, but I can ask around for you."
Next, Kairos tried Alicia.
She told him the Alliance didn't have anything like that in their stockpiles, much less the Lower City Watchers.
Kairos felt a wave of helplessness wash over him.
He'd almost forgotten how dirt poor everyone in this world was.
Their Pokémon were mostly Steel and Electric types, and Quasi-Elite Four level was already top-tier combat power. Where the hell would they get high-level items containing earth energy?
Just as his headache was getting worse, an unfamiliar avatar popped up on his communicator screen.
The name wasn't unfamiliar though: "Old Smoker."
"Kid, heard you're looking for something?"
Old Smoker's voice was as gravelly as ever, rough from years of smoking.
"I don't have it, but I know a place that might."
"Oh yeah? Where's that?"
Kairos perked up. Old Smoker's information network was still as good as ever. The guy had heard about it already.
"The black market in the Prosperous District." There was a hint of amusement in Old Smoker's voice.
"They've got everything there, long as you've got money. Or rather, long as you've got something valuable enough to trade. Fair warning though, place is crawling with all kinds of people, plenty of dangerous folks. Shouldn't be a problem for you, though. Just hope they don't decide to mess with you."
"I'll send you the address in a sec. Go check it out."
Soon, following Old Smoker's directions, Kairos made his way through the bustling streets of the Prosperous District and turned down a secluded alley.
At the end of the alley stood a building called "Eternal Tower," its sleek surface reflecting the colorful lights around it.
He didn't use the main entrance. Instead, he circled around to the shadowed side of the tower and found a tunnel entrance that reeked of sewage.
There was no door at the entrance, just a guard in a black uniform standing there expressionless.
Next to the guard was an electronic screen flashing the words "Identity Verification."
Kairos walked up and pulled out what looked like an ordinary ID card from his pocket and handed it over.
Lila had prepared it for him earlier.
The guard took the card and swiped it across the screen.
A red light flashed, then a line of text appeared with an automated female voice.
[Identity invalid. Entry forbidden.]
"No identity, no entry."
The guard's voice was completely flat. He didn't even bother looking up at Kairos.
Right then, two flashily dressed young guys walked over, clearly from the Prosperous District.
Seeing Kairos getting turned away, they exchanged glances and both started laughing.
"Yo, some poor kid from the Lower City? What, trying to see how the other half lives?"
One of them, a guy with bleached yellow hair, slapped Kairos on the shoulder. Hard.
"Yeah, this isn't your kind of place." The other one, wearing sunglasses, chimed in. "You're lucky nobody's kicked you out just for walking around the Prosperous District. And you want to get into the black market too? Dream on."
Kairos ignored them and pulled his ID card back.
Just then, a clear female voice spoke up beside him.
"Hey, come on, you two. Don't be like that."
A girl in a simple dress quickly stepped forward. She looked about twenty, with delicate features and sympathetic eyes.
"He's probably here for the first time and doesn't know the rules."
She turned to Kairos with a friendly smile. "Sir, you're looking for the black market entrance, right? I'm heading in anyway. Why don't I take you with me?"
"No." The guard spoke without looking up.
"Last warning. Non-members can't bring guests."
The two rich kids looked even more delighted, like they'd just heard the funniest joke.
"Hear that? They won't let you in." The yellow-haired guy pointed at Kairos and smirked.
"I'm telling you, quit embarrassing yourself. Some nobody from the Lower City. Who the hell could you possibly know? You want into the black market? You can't even get through the door."
The other guy looked downright contemptuous.
But Kairos still didn't say anything. Didn't even glance at them. He just calmly pulled out his communicator.
The screen lit up. He found Alicia's number and hit call.
"Hello? Kairos?"
A slightly puzzled voice answered.
"Yeah, it's me, Chairman Alicia." Kairos's voice was completely calm.
"I'm at the black market entrance under Eternal Tower. You know the place, right? They're saying my ID isn't good enough and won't let me in. Mind helping me out?"
There was a brief pause on the other end, then her voice became extremely respectful.
"Yes, Chairman. Access granted. Please wait."
After hanging up, Kairos handed the ID card back to the guard.
Seeing this, the two rich kids practically doubled over laughing.
"Hahahaha! Did you hear that? He said he's on the phone with Chairman Alicia!"
"You're saying that's the current chairman? Shit, I know the previous chairman, Ira! You think everyone else is stupid or..."
Before he could finish, the screen in the guard's hand let out a long beep, and a harsh red light suddenly flooded the entire entrance.
Then an extremely pleasant electronic female voice rang out, completely different from before.
[Identity verification passed! Esteemed Mr. Kairos, welcome! Your presence honors our establishment! Please enter!]
The red light faded. An invisible door slid open on both sides, revealing a passage leading underground.
The smiles froze on the rich kids' faces. Their mouths dropped open, eyes bulging as they stared in disbelief at what they were seeing.
He actually got in??
And that level of VIP black market notification. They'd never even heard of that before?
A chilling realization hit them.
Holy shit, this guy actually knows the chairman??
Without another word, the two of them turned and bolted, disappearing around the distant street corner in a panic.
The girl (Lizzy) standing beside them was stunned too. She stared at Kairos, her eyes full of shock and disbelief.
She never would've imagined that this seemingly ordinary young guy actually knew Chairman Alicia and had such high-level access.
Kairos pocketed his ID card and turned to smile at Lizzy.
"Since they're letting me in, want to come along?"
Lizzy snapped out of it, her face flushing slightly as she nodded, a bit embarrassed.
"I... I won't say no to that."
The light in the passage was dim, the air thick with dampness.
The two walked one behind the other, with Kairos breaking the silence first.
"You here to buy something at the black market too?"
"Yeah," Lizzy nodded, worry creeping into her tone.
"My family's Pokémon was seriously injured. The hospitals in the city can't do anything for it. I heard the black market has some special medicines that might help."
Hearing this, Kairos couldn't help but feel a little surprised.
"Why not go directly to the Alliance's official hospital? Their equipment should be better, right?"
Lizzy gave a bitter smile.
"The Alliance hospital? I went there. They didn't have any good options either."
Suddenly it clicked for Kairos.
The humans in this world lived underground and basically only encountered Steel and Electric type Pokémon.
Pokémon with natural healing abilities (like Meganium, Blissey, and others common in surface environments) simply didn't exist here.
So their hospitals had no Pokémon to help and relied purely on human technology to treat Pokémon injuries, which was incredibly limited.
Back in the world he came from, Pokémon medical care depended heavily on healing-type Pokémon.
He stopped, rummaged through his system inventory for a few seconds, then pulled out a small silver bottle and handed it to Lizzy.
"Use this to treat it. You don't need to look for medicine."
Lizzy froze for a moment, then took the bottle. It had a green cross symbol on it.
She looked at it, confused.
"What... is this?"
"Full Restore," Kairos said.
"Just open it and spray it on your Pokémon. It'll heal any injury."
"Will... will this actually work?"
Lizzy desperately needed help, but she was obviously skeptical.
How could there be medicine that healed all injuries? Plus, she'd heard plenty about the black market selling questionable stuff. Who knew if this mystery medicine had side effects.
"Try it. If it doesn't work, then figure something else out."
Kairos said it casually.
This was a bonus item he'd gotten from his system lottery. Forget ordinary Pokémon. Even if a Legendary Pokémon got injured, this could probably heal it.
After all, this was medicine that didn't exist in the real world yet, only in games.
And in the games, this thing directly restored all of a Pokémon's HP and cured all status conditions!
Lizzy hesitated for a moment but ultimately accepted it, quietly thanking him.
"What about you? Are you here to buy medicine too?"
She suddenly remembered to ask.
"Nah, not medicine." Kairos shook his head. "I'm looking for something... related to the surface world."
Saying "earth energy" would definitely confuse her. Better to keep it simple.
Unexpectedly, Lizzy's expression changed dramatically at those words. She immediately looked around warily, then lowered her voice.
"You... you can't just say things like that. Anything about the surface world is taboo. The Alliance banned talking about it ages ago. Be careful!"
But as soon as the words left her mouth, she remembered the identity Kairos had just revealed, and her face flushed.
He knows Chairman Alicia. Of course he knows all this stuff.
Feeling embarrassed, she quickly added:
"I'm, I'm sorry, I... force of habit. Don't take it the wrong way."
"It's fine," Kairos smiled.
"So do you know where I can find stuff from the surface world?"
Lizzy breathed a sigh of relief. She thought about it.
"Deep in the black market, near the energy core area, there's a special stall. The owner's this old guy who has some things salvaged from the surface world. But he's got a really weird temper and won't necessarily sell to you. You should speak politely to him. That's your best shot at getting what you want."
"Thanks."
"No problem. Well, I'm gonna look around. Good luck."
After saying that, Lizzy hurried off in another direction, quickly disappearing around the corner of the passage.
Kairos watched her go, then turned and continued toward the depths of the black market.
Since he had a lead, might as well check out the stall she mentioned.
At the end of the passage was a massive underground space: the black market itself.
Different from both the run-down Lower City and the glitzy Prosperous District, this place was full of bizarre sights.
Stalls packed together, displaying all kinds of weird stuff. Mechanical parts modified beyond recognition, strange ores giving off faint glows, and bizarre devices he'd never seen before.
The air was a mix of indescribable smells: fresh herbs, rusty metal, and even a faint trace of blood.
It took him a while to push through the crowds, his eyes scanning stall after stall.
Finally, he stopped in front of an entrance covered by a ratty canvas tarp.
Lifting the heavy, grease-stained cloth curtain, an even stronger smell of ancient metal and decades of accumulated dust hit him in the face.
This had to be what Lizzy mentioned.
He walked in quickly.
The inside of the stall was cramped and cluttered, basically a junk recycling station.
Rusty gears, broken fossils of giant bones, several dull stone fragments, and a few rolls of ancient parchment with vague terrain sketches...
All kinds of random crap piled together with barely any room to walk.
In the corner, several severely damaged, long-defunct Poké Ball shells were just tossed aside carelessly.
In this underground world where Poké Balls had practically become legend, stuff like that was pretty rare.
The stall's owner was an old man with stark white hair, wearing work pants.
He was sprawled in a creaky, beat-up chair, eyes half-closed, holding an old-fashioned radio that was playing a song. Real fuzzy, sounded like some old tune from this world's last century.
When Kairos walked in, the old man barely lifted his eyelids before sinking right back into his own world, looking completely unbothered.
Kairos glanced at him, then patiently started searching through the massive pile of junk nearby.
Rusty iron, fossils, parchment scrolls... he quickly sifted through item after item.
Just as he was about to give up on that corner, a faint energy fluctuation emanated from a pile of inconspicuous, dust-covered ores.
Lucky for him, his recent ability enhancement had strengthened his body while also sharpening his senses. Otherwise he might've missed that subtle vibration entirely.