Cedric was pleased with the question. Seeing Orion's excitement, he knew that he would ask that question. He thought, 'The main purpose of this visit is to make an impression on their young minds so that they would become enthusiastic about becoming a Psychic.
Normally, I show them the arena and then tell them fascinating things about being a psychic. But it's good to have someone take the lead by himself.'
The rest of the kids looked at him with puppy eyes. Seeing the marbles float was too damn cool. They all began imagining levitating everyday items. One began dreaming about levitating the entire Gym! Fortunately, just dreaming about it didn't activate Psychic powers.
Cedric put up an act. He sighed and said, "If you look at me like this, how can I say no?"
The kids immediately cheered. Aiden said, "Becoming a Psychic will be my first step to becoming the Pokemon Master!"
As for Orion, he just smiled and said, "Thank you, Sir."
Cedric smiled and thought, 'What a polite child.'
He said, "Let's go and see the Arena first. I'll show you more tricks afterwards."
Everyone immediately followed him. At the very centre of the Gym was an arena where Sabrina used to fight the trainers who challenged her Gym.
The children immediately began watching with sparkling eyes. Until that moment, they had only watched it on television. Orion was engrossed too. He thought, 'Finally a sight that is similar to what I remember.'
Cedric let the children move around the Arena for a while until they got bored. After all, it was just an empty arena. How long would it keep them occupied? A few played around roleplaying as Gym Leaders and challengers but that got old in an hour.
Seeing that the children were getting bored, Cedric brought them back to the room that Orion had pointed to earlier. For once, the children didn't see anything fancy in the room. They just noticed 9 trainees sitting in the room focusing on the object in front of them.
Cedric said warmly, "Welcome, young ones, this is where your journey into the world of Psychic begins."
This immediately attracted everyone's attention. Without him saying anything, a couple of trainees got up and walked to him. Orion noticed that both of them looked very similar to each other and guessed, 'They must be twins.'
Both looked at Cedric and said, "Master, you are back."
The boy looked at the kids and asked, "Who are these kids?"
The girl asked with a smile on her face, "Are they here to become Psychics, Master?"
Cedric nodded and said, "All of them are interested."
He looked at the children and said, "They are Mia and Leo. Both began training under me 3 years ago."
Leo said with a smile, "Welcome. Pretty soon, you will be able to do some amazing things."
As he talked, a few spoons in his pockets began levitating. The kids watched with excitement in their eyes. Mia said, "And you could also do things like these."
He raised her palm towards the spoons. One by one, each spoon began bending.
Aiden said loudly, "So cool!"
Bryan muttered, "Can we do that as well?"
A bunch of other questions were thrown at them. Meanwhile, Orion was confused.
He thought, 'What the heck is going on? I thought that they would be very reluctant to train us. But the old man agreed too easily. And he has even instructed these two to put up an act and entertain and excite us. It's as if they desperately want us to train in Psychic abilities. But why?'
Unlike the children who didn't notice anything odd, Orion, who had lived another life, immediately noticed it. After all, it was a lousy set-up. Though it was appropriate considering that their targets were little kids.
He wondered, 'Is this related to Pokemon tides? Does the league take so much effort to raise the younger generation to secure their future?'
Orion couldn't think of any other reason. He thought, 'If this is indeed the case, then this is a great opportunity. If I become a Psychic, I could also try asking for a high talent Psychic Pokemon to raise. It'd be great if I could get Silver talent Abra from here. It would be a much better option than choosing the Pokemon that the league would give.'
Orion's mind immediately realized the opportunity in front of him. After Mia and Leo were done entertaining the kids and answering their questions, the smile on Cedric's face faded away as he said, "It's great to see your enthusiasm. However, I will have to warn you. Becoming a Psychic isn't an easy job. You will have to train with focus and for long hours daily for years. Only then will you be able to develop Psychic powers. Even after that, you will have to keep training to improve them."
His words doused some enthusiasm that the kids had. A smile appeared on his face as he continued, "But… If you become a Psychic, then your journey to become a very skilled Pokemon trainer will become easy. You will have a big advantage over others who are your age."
Aiden immediately asked, "Will becoming a Psychic help me become a Pokemon Master?"
Cedric didn't mind the ludicrous question. He had seen many kids with such dreams over his long life. He replied, "It will make it much easier to become a Pokemon Master."
Aiden immediately replied, "I will train hard to become a Psychic then!"
Immediately, a bunch of other kids said the same. They might not be as loud as Aiden, but they all dreamt of becoming a Pokemon Master as well.
Cedric nodded and said, "Good. We will start training tomorrow morning. For now, let's eat up."
The kids immediately celebrated and began running towards the Canteen that they had been shown earlier. The food there was very delicious. That said, the food in Orphanage was quite good as well. Unknown to the kids, the food was specially tailored for Psychics to help them improve their abilities.
After lunch, Cedric talked with Amelia for a bit before seeing the kids out. As he saw the bus leave, he let out a sigh and muttered, 'I wonder how many of these kids will be able to stick to the training plan. It'd be great if even one of them became a Psychic.'