Book of Veridian

"Hello, Uncle. My name's Pepper, and I'm ten years old."

On the way to the research lab, Pepper, now full of energy again, chattered nonstop in Luo Mu's ear.

Luo Mu felt a little helpless. Could this chatterbox really grow up to become the slightly melancholy Senpai Pepper from Pokémon Scarlet and Violet?

That was one heck of a change.

Actually, Pepper's chattiness didn't bother Luo Mu. He was the kind of man who could sit through a four-hour meeting that started promptly after work and stay until the end. A little verbal bombardment was nothing to him.

But there was one thing he couldn't stand.

After Pepper called him "Uncle" yet again, Luo Mu put a hand on his shoulder and said with a smile, "Is it possible I'm only about eight years older than you?"

"Be good and call me big brother."

"...Big Brother Luo Mu," Pepper said meekly.

He preferred calling Luo Mu "Uncle," but there seemed to be something in Luo Mu's smile that he really shouldn't mess with. Pepper decided it was best to follow his heart.

Children's moods came and went quickly. Soon enough, Pepper was chattering again, calling him "Big Brother" over and over.

Even Jacq, who had been putting up with it all this time, couldn't take her son's constant, chant-like babbling anymore. Slightly annoyed, she said, "Quiet! Go back to your room and play with Master Dogue."

Pepper seemed used to Jacq's short temper. He made a face at her, then rode Master Dogue around the next corner.

Jacq could only watch helplessly as Pepper rode Master Dogue away. A softness crept into her eyes, unnoticed even by herself.

Watching it all unfold, Luo Mu suddenly pictured the sorrowful expression Pepper would wear when he grew up.

Even if his parents had spent several years at Area Zero researching a time machine, perhaps Pepper had already realized the moment an AI pretending to be the two professors contacted him that his parents had become strangers.

That was why Pepper's brow was always clouded with sorrow.

Real emotions were too difficult for an AI to imitate. Even after inheriting all their feelings, the Jacq and Futaba AIs only gradually came to understand them after witnessing the protagonists' grand adventure.

Could his arrival change these tragedies?

Luo Mu fell into deep thought.

Jacq noticed the atmosphere had grown a little heavy after Pepper left. Still feeling guilty for having wrongly accused Luo Mu, she decided to make conversation.

"Luo Mu, do you know why I was so nervous earlier?"

Interrupted from his thoughts, Luo Mu slowly raised his head, a puzzled look in his eyes.

That was right. He hadn't thought of it until Jacq brought it up.

As a region rarely visited by evil organizations, Paldea should have had very little crime.

But Jacq had been so nervous at the time, as if she were afraid of something.

Luo Mu nodded. "I'm curious."

Jacq said gravely, "The police put out a notice. It seems a group of criminals from another region recently fled to Paldea, and their specialty is trafficking or kidnapping children."

"If the parents are wealthy or influential, they extort them. Ordinary children are sold directly to evil organizations in other regions. That's why I reacted so strongly to you."

"I see."

Luo Mu's gaze sharpened. He despised criminals who trafficked children.

It wasn't as if he'd go looking for trouble and play the hero, but if he ran into them, they wouldn't get off easy.

Soon, the research lab where Dr. Jacq and Dr. Futaba—whom Luo Mu had never met—usually worked came into view.

The lab wasn't the high-tech, metallic place Luo Mu had imagined. Instead, it felt very lived-in.

The research area was naturally equipped with plenty of cutting-edge devices, but there was also a sizable living space in the room, and the bookshelves in particular were packed with all kinds of books.

Noticing Luo Mu's curious gaze, Jacq gave him a detailed introduction to her research. "Besides taking commissions to make Terastal Orbs, my husband and I study the legends that have been passed down in Paldea since ancient times."

"The four ancient shrines scattered throughout Paldea, and the ultimate mysteries of the Great Crater of Paldea. Just thinking about them gets my blood pumping."

Jacq was undoubtedly a professor who loved research. Whenever she talked about it, her face seemed to glow.

Jacq walked over to the bookshelf and pulled out a book with a red cover. Stroking its cover, she enthusiastically introduced the facilities in the lab to Luo Mu.

But he couldn't hear a word. His gaze was fixed on the book in Jacq's hands, and his pupils contracted.

It was the Book of Veridian!

He remembered that the book had been written by Heath, an explorer who had successfully reached the bottom of the Great Crater of Paldea one or two hundred years ago.

It mainly recorded the experiences of Heath's expedition in the mysterious region at the very bottom of the Great Crater of Paldea, which they had named Area Zero.

But the contents of the Book of Veridian were so bizarre that the prevailing opinion in Paldea was that Heath had made them up.

The Book of Veridian had been labeled supernatural fiction, and Heath himself had been branded a liar.

It was worth noting that Heath had published the Violet Book right after the Book of Veridian.

Luo Mu still remembered most of what was written in the Book of Veridian and the Violet Book. Both were also in the library at Naranja Academy, so if he did forget, he could look them up after class.

But it wasn't the existence of the books that shocked Luo Mu. It was Dr. Jacq holding the Book of Veridian.

This meant Dr. Jacq and Dr. Futaba might already be considering going to Area Zero to build a time machine and study Pokémon from the past and future.

Once they had that idea, it probably wouldn't be long before Paradox Pokémon appeared, followed by the arrival of the Scarlet Violet Box Legend.

Luo Mu was silent for a while. His dream was to live a peaceful, leisurely life, but he couldn't bear to watch tragedy unfold.

After a moment's hesitation, he asked, "Dr. Jacq, do you really like the Book of Veridian?"

Jacq paused, then smiled brightly. "I'm fascinated by the enormous, ferocious Pokémon with wild, ancient instincts described in the book. They're what inspired me to devote myself wholeheartedly to researching Area Zero."

"You came at just the right time. My husband and I plan to restart the Terastal Plan for the Great Crater of Paldea later this month. He went out to negotiate with a company interested in financing it. If you'd arrived any later, I probably wouldn't have had time to make you a Terastal Orb."

"Are you interested in the Book of Veridian too?" Jacq looked at Luo Mu expectantly. When Chairwoman Poppy had contacted her, she had specifically mentioned that Luo Mu was a powerful Champion-level Trainer, every bit her equal.

If she could persuade him to join her research team, the dangerous Wild Pokémon in the Great Crater of Paldea and Area Zero would no longer be a threat.

Luo Mu thought it over, then modestly replied, "I've only read it, so I know a little about it."