36 Additional ideas

Baan then thought of something that had previously been mentioned. "Then how would we deal with the ongoing problems within Zou that have been missed or ignored over the years?"

Pixel went deep into thought before finally answering. "I am not completely sure but… I may have some idea."

She thought back to her old world and the sights she had witnessed around different cities that she had passed by. "How about some kind of school or academy? A place where the youths of Zou can come to learn a variety of the basic things they need to live? It could just be the very basics but they could also learn more to help themselves or Zou itself.

As you are aware.. our main food source comes from growing it on the pieces of fertile land, hunting hairless animals and from the occasional time that fish may fall from the sky during Zunesha's time to clean itself."

She continued. "Not everyone has fertile land and those that do may not have the required knowledge to properly make use of it. Those that cannot hunt will have to either starve or wait for the times that fish may fall from the sky.

If they are willing to take the risks then they could climb down from Zou and fish for themselves but even then they are putting themselves in danger as they may not know how to swim, row a boat, navigate or fish."

She sighed. "The Meridian and other families offer a lot of chances for Zou to remain stable for now as they have took up the dangers and have journeyed to other islands. If one or more of those families weaken in power or suffer some accident then that support system will fall apart which will let many go hungry. With our strong metabolism, we eat more than others and quickly convert that into energy.

When the population is very high and something bad happens then Zou may fall into a major crisis. In fact, I believe that it may have already happened in the past. This is why it is important for such a place to be established and it should be possible if Zou's best and brightest were to support it."

Baan and Rufus looked over her and then were both lost in thought.

Baan then asked. "Such a thing has happened and it resulted in many deaths, rationing of food and we had to reduce the amount of hairless animals being hunted to prevent their extinction which would make things even worse. So were you thinking of a place of learning for survival and knowledge or will they be separate?"

Rufus nodded. "This could help solve a lot of problems in one go but there will still be those that cannot attend for their own reasons or they may not be so motivated to learn. How would you plan to solve that?"

Pixel had seen the martial arts dojos around her previous world, Pokémon trainer academies or other schools that help prepare the children for the world.

Many children would leave home at a young age and wander around with their starter Pokémon as they go through many tribulations, most that wished to survive the hidden dangers and rise to greatness had to attend some kind of place that could prepare them for it all.

There was also the trainer gyms and tournaments that they took part of so Pixel had learned quite a lot.

She put her hand on her chin and her eyes suddenly lit up. "How about this? Those that achieve good results can have opportunities to get experiences within a noble family or business? Noble and rich families will always be looking for those that can do certain jobs so they could sponsor those that they wish to support and employ later.

The same is for finding work, the traders and businesses would want to offer their support to establishing such a place so they can get more capable and talented people to work for them."

She then added. "The two dukes already have some form of structure to their own groups so it can be used if tweaked a little to provide that kind if training to young recruits. What we need is a place to learn more practical skills and knowledge that is available to everyone who wishes to improve themselves. Those that have high achievements in their own field can be given a reward by the dukes which could be anything from a trophy, a badge or a certificate which will be used as proof for their great achievements.

Those with that recognition will most likely be the most wanted by various powers or groups. As for the noble families secret knowledge or techniques that are to be kept in the family, while the schools will be available and have teachers from all kinds of backgrounds, they do not have to pass on their own techniques and secrets. At most they just need to pass on the basic to more advance knowledge to prepare the students for the world so they can survive on their own and support Zou."

Baan looked very serious as he said. "You are right when you said that this would require the best minds and probably the resources of Zou to make possible. Not everyone would be so happy to hear about such a place being built. Not everyone likes the idea of those below them no longer having to rely on them.

Those at the top fear those below because they fear them rising up and taking away their position. Although it does not happen often, there are some that have been able to achieve such feats all on their own in the past."

Rufus agreed. "Not everyone is so open to progress because it often gets in the way of their own interests. However if this is something you want to happen then you must stand firm and not waver in the face of adversity."

Pixel looked very serious as she said with a crafty look in her eyes. "Although I am not that rich or have a large amount of influence, I would like to use some of my funds from my businesses to support such a thing if it were to become a reality. However I would want to get the first choice from those that have been learning cooking, tailoring and other skills."

Rufus nudged her and sighed. "Sneaky brat. So greedy."

Baan laughed as he said. "Ah… although it is not something that can happen right away, I will talk to the other two dukes along with some other families to see if we can make it happen."