At the Chen Family Farm in the Hoenn Region.
Chen Shi and Pheobe had brought out two chairs and were comfortably basking in the sun.
"Now this is the life!"
"Brother Chen Shi, is that the sun up in the sky?"
"The light it gives off feels so nice and warm."
Chen Shi glanced at her. "Why are you following me around instead of training your Pokémon?"
"Oh, they can train on their own!"
"My grandparents already made training plans for them."
"Fine." Chen Shi sighed helplessly and left her alone.
There hadn't been much going on lately, so it was time to start preparing his next paper.
But Chen Shi hadn't decided which Pokémon to write about yet.
His grandpa had a King's Rock and a Razor Claw, so he could choose Slowpoke and use the King's Rock to evolve it into Slowking.
He could also find a Poliwhirl and use the King's Rock to evolve it into Politoed.
As for the Razor Claw, Sneasel was the only option.
Of course, he could also find a Scyther or an Onix and use a Metal Coat to evolve the latter into Steelix.
Metal Coats were easy to find, too. He could buy one at the department store in Mauville City.
The quality just wasn't that great.
After thinking it over for a while, Chen Shi decided to publish a paper on Onix's evolution this time.
That Pokémon was widespread and could be found all over the place. He could even catch one in Verdanturf Town's Rusturf Tunnel.
With that thought, Chen Shi tapped Pheobe beside him.
"I have a job for you."
Pheobe immediately perked up and asked excitedly, "What job?"
"Go into Rusturf Tunnel and catch an advanced-level Onix for me."
"Don't worry about potential or any of that other stuff. It just needs to be advanced-level."
"Your Pokémon are all Ghost-types anyway, so finding one should be easy."
Pheobe looked puzzled. "Brother Chen Shi, are you planning to raise an Onix?"
Although Pheobe knew little about the world, she knew quite a lot about Pokémon, including Onix.
"No. Just catch one and bring it back. I need it for something."
Pheobe immediately lost interest. "I'm not going. I want to sunbathe."
She wasn't stupid. Why would she run errands for Chen Shi for free?
She might as well spend that time basking in the sun.
"One hundred thousand League Coins."
Pheobe hesitated. She had gained a basic understanding of the outside world the night before.
She knew that every aspect of life out here required money.
One hundred thousand League Coins was already a substantial sum. It could buy plenty of things.
But basking in the sun felt so good that she didn't want to move.
"Two hundred thousand!"
Pheobe immediately stood up. "Just leave it to me, Brother Chen Shi! I promise I'll bring that Onix back!"
With that, she rushed toward the villa.
Presumably, she had gone to get her Pokémon.
Chen Shi gave a smug little huff. "You think I can't win you over?"
Then he turned his gaze toward the nearby garden.
Florges was tirelessly tending to her flowers.
Chen Shi walked over and glanced at her panel, finding no newly learned moves.
"Florges, how many times can you use Disarming Voice now?"
"Flor~ Flor~"
Florges didn't even turn her head, but she still answered her Trainer's question.
Chen Shi rubbed his chin thoughtfully. She could still only use it once.
But using it no longer completely depleted the Fairy-type energy inside her, even though she still couldn't use Disarming Voice a second time.
That meant Florges's reserves of Fairy-type energy were growing.
She would probably learn more and more moves in the future.
"Then remember to tell me if you learn any new moves, all right?"
"Flor~"
Florges still didn't turn around, but she waved a hand to show that she understood.
Chen Shi stopped bothering her and headed home to work on his paper.
Writing these things was a real pain.
He had to carefully consider every word, even every punctuation mark.
When he entered the house, his grandparents were sitting on the sofa as usual, one drinking tea and the other resting.
Chen Shi greeted them and was about to head upstairs.
Grandpa Chen stopped him.
"Pheobe just rushed out of here and said you'd given her a job."
"What did you send her to do?"
"Nothing much." Chen Shi waved a hand. "I just asked her to catch an Onix in Rusturf Tunnel."
"An Onix?"
Grandpa Chen asked in confusion, "What do you need an Onix for?"
"To shoot a video!"
"Oh, Grandpa, do we have a Pokémon transfer device at home?"
Grandpa Chen was completely baffled. He wanted an Onix just to shoot a video?
Still, upon hearing his grandson's question, he answered, "Yes. It's in my laboratory."
"Do you need to use it?"
Chen Shi said, "Yeah, I'll use it to transfer the Onix later."
"Oh, Grandpa, do we have a Metal Coat? An ordinary-quality one will do."
Grandpa Chen couldn't hold back anymore. "What exactly are you trying to do?"
"You're acting so strange."
Chen Shi smiled. "I figured out how to evolve Onix into Steelix."
"Once Onix is holding a Metal Coat, it can evolve into Steelix through a link trade."
Grandpa Chen froze. He hadn't expected that answer from his grandson.
Grandma Chen, who had been resting against the sofa, opened her eyes as well.
"Shi, do you want to become a researcher?"
Chen Shi waved a hand. "Oh, it's just a side gig. I'm only doing a little casual research."
Both elderly people's eyes twitched slightly. He called that casual research?
A little casual research was enough for him to discover how Onix evolved?
Onix had long been a problem that stumped many researchers.
Steelix had also been found in the wild, and everyone agreed that some connection had to exist between Onix and Steelix. Unfortunately, they had never been able to prove it.
Yet their grandson had just said he'd discovered it through a little casual research. Neither grandparent knew what to say.
Grandma Chen said earnestly, "Shi, we won't interfere with your interests and hobbies."
"But you need to know what comes first."
"Whether you choose to become a Trainer or a Breeder, I won't object."
"Because we can give you the greatest support in both of those fields."
"But becoming a researcher is different. That's a difficult path to take."
Chen Shi walked over and sat beside his grandma.
"Grandma, don't worry. I'm really just doing some casual research. It won't get in the way of my main work."
"I also discovered Leafeon and Glaceon a little while ago."
"I'm already a junior researcher, so you can relax."
Grandpa Chen stared at his grandson in shock. "You're Severe Indecisiveness?"
"Yeah. Didn't I tell you?"
Faced with their grandson's humblebragging, the two grandparents were momentarily speechless.
Afterward, Grandma Chen seemed to come to terms with it. She couldn't stop him anyway.
Things had already reached this point. All she could do was let him have his way.
Grandpa Chen accepted it much more readily than Grandma Chen.
Because he understood that some geniuses simply defied all reason.
Milotic
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