"So this is Gible…"
Standing beside Chen Mo, Hu Chengliang wore a white lab coat as he stared fixedly at the Gible walking together with Absol and Houndoom in the berry forest.
"Nido…"
The Nidoran at Hu Chengliang's feet wore a rather helpless expression.
Its trainer was always like this—every time he encountered a new Pokémon, he would stare endlessly at it.
Inside the berry forest—
After Gible ate the Apicot Berry Houndoom had given it, Absol immediately picked another Oran Berry for it.
After hesitating for a moment, Gible ate that one too.
But when it saw Houndoom preparing to pick even more berries for it, Gible finally couldn't sit still anymore.
It still remembered Chen Mo's earlier reminder not to waste food.
So it quickly stretched out its tiny arms and shook them desperately, stopping Houndoom.
"Gaao…"
I really can't eat anymore…
Houndoom looked at Gible, frowning deeply.
Back in its own pack, when food was plentiful, newborn pups could easily devour several pounds of meat in a single meal.
The little guy in front of it had such a huge mouth—it looked like it should eat a lot.
So why was it eating so little?
Could it be shy?
Hu Chengliang, watching from nearby, was equally puzzled.
Everyone knew that pseudo-legendaries were called "late bloomers" mainly because their growth periods were exceptionally long.
And that naturally meant that as young Pokémon, pseudo-legendary hatchlings required far more nutrition and energy accumulation than ordinary Pokémon before they could complete their evolutionary leap.
According to Hu Chengliang's assumptions, these pseudo-legendary babies should therefore have enormous appetites.
After hearing his question, Chen Mo smiled and explained:
"That's true. Pokémon like Gible need far more energy to grow compared to ordinary Pokémon."
"But as you can see from Gible's body structure, although its mouth can open extremely wide, its actual stomach capacity is quite small."
"And it already ate a lot at lunch today, so it's perfectly normal that it can't eat many berries right now."
"I see…"
Hu Chengliang nodded.
After glancing at Gible again, he hesitated briefly before proposing:
"Xiao Mo, before registering Gible officially, how about bringing it over for some tests? We're already conducting this week's routine examinations for the Pokémon in the Bureau today."
Hu Chengliang was incredibly tempted by Gible.
He desperately wanted to gather more biological data regarding pseudo-legendaries and other "late bloomer" Pokémon.
There was no helping it—
Pseudo-legendaries were simply too rare.
Although the authorities had already located several pseudo-legendaries through their own efforts, most of them were already in their final evolutionary stages and harbored deep wariness toward humans.
At present, the researchers could only observe them from afar using drones and didn't dare approach too closely.
And now—
A living pseudo-legendary baby was right in front of him.
Hu Chengliang's scientific spirit was burning fiercely.
"Of course."
Chen Mo nodded without hesitation.
Even if Hu Chengliang hadn't suggested it, Chen Mo had already intended to bring Gible for some professional examinations to properly record its current physical condition.
"Pikachu, gengar, stop playing around. We're leaving."
"Pika~" "Gengui~"
After saying goodbye to Houndoom and the Panpour line, the two men quickly arrived at the training grounds where Pokémon in the ecological park were undergoing inspections.
From afar—
One could already see all kinds of Pokémon standing neatly in line under the guidance of researchers in white lab coats, waiting orderly for their examinations.
The livestream viewers became intensely envious at the sight.
[Other people's kids already have Pokémon… sob… Motherland, when are you assigning me a cute Pokémon too?]
[Ordinary people shouldn't dream too much. But if you get a job at an official Pokémon-related organization, you actually do have a chance. My cousin bonded really well with an Aipom while taking care of it, and eventually the supervisors let him officially raise it.]
[Easy for you to say. I can already imagine how insanely competitive the civil service exams for Pokémon-related jobs are going to become later this year.]
[Guess I'll just rely on myself. A planning zone is being built near my city too. Once it opens, I'm heading in to try my luck.]
Chen Mo glanced at the comments but said nothing.
Most viewers didn't actually have much hope regarding officially assigned Pokémon.
After all—
Current government messaging strongly emphasized encouraging people to capture Pokémon independently.
And since there were far fewer Pokémon than applicants, official distribution seemed unrealistic to most people.
But as an insider—
And after many discussions with Professor Zhou recently—
Chen Mo understood very clearly.
In order to encourage and accelerate integration between human society and Pokémon—
The era of officially assigned Pokémon was probably really coming.
Of course—
With numbers still limited, no one knew how many lucky people would ultimately receive the chance to obtain their very first Pokémon.
Just as Chen Mo was lost in thought—
"BOOM!!!"
A loud explosion suddenly erupted from the training grounds.
The Pokémon waiting in line instantly became somewhat panicked.
Seeing this, the researchers hurried over to comfort the startled Pokémon and maintain order.
Chen Mo looked puzzled.
"Brother Hu, are there actual combat tests during the examinations?"
"No real battles. But there are move evaluations."
Hu Chengliang also looked confused.
"Still… that explosion sounded way too intense."
At that moment—
Another heart-wrenching shriek rang out from inside the training grounds.
Then—
Chen Mo and Hu Chengliang watched as a yellow duck burst out through the training ground entrance at full speed.
"GWAAAH!!!"
"Psyduck!?"
Chen Mo froze.
Clutching its head tightly with both hands, Psyduck ran around like a headless chicken.
But the instant it spotted Chen Mo—
A spark of intelligence suddenly flashed through its normally vacant eyes.
Then—
Using incredibly agile movements, it dodged all the researchers trying to grab it and instantly hid behind Chen Mo.
At the same time—
An angry roar came from inside the training grounds.
"PSYDUCK!!!"
A young man in a white lab coat rushed out furiously, looking extremely disheveled as he scanned around murderously for the yellow duck.
Very quickly—
He spotted the Psyduck hiding behind Chen Mo while peeking out halfway.
"Gwaa!"
Psyduck clutched tightly onto Chen Mo's pant leg, looking extremely serious.
Seeing this, Hu Chengliang shook his head helplessly.
"Xiaochuan… you made Psyduck participate in that experiment again?"
"Yeah."
After seeing Chen Mo and Hu Chengliang, the lab-coated man's murderous expression softened slightly as he nodded.
"There's no helping it. There are plenty of Pokémon in the ecological park, but very few can skillfully control Psychic-type energy."
"Sigh."
Hu Chengliang sighed lightly.
"Even so, you can't force Psyduck too much. It already struggles to control the power inside its body. What if its headaches flare up again?"
"About that…"
The lab-coated man looked visibly ashamed after being lectured.
"…Yeah, that's my fault."
After the Mount Zangqing incident ended, Psyduck had stubbornly refused to leave, so the lab-coated man eventually brought it back to the Bureau.
During that period—
Thanks to Chen Mo's earlier reminder, the researchers also learned that among the healing medicine formulas Chen Mo had previously provided to the authorities, there was a special medicine capable of treating Psyduck's headaches.
While it couldn't completely cure them, it could effectively relieve the condition.
That was undoubtedly a good thing.
Perhaps because it no longer suffered from constant headaches—
Psyduck had become much more spirited compared to its days at Mount Zangqing.
However—
Even with the medicine available, forcing Psyduck to participate in experiments was still not a good thing.
"Whatever the reason Psyduck chose to follow you, you still need to give it a break."
Hu Chengliang's expression became serious.
"Otherwise, don't blame me for reporting this to our professor and revoking your qualifications as Psyduck's trainer."
The lab-coated man immediately looked pained.
"Xiao Mo's right here, so don't slander me."
"Ask literally anyone at the Bureau and they'll tell you how well I treat Psyduck."
"Whatever it wants to eat or drink, I provide it."
"And at least six days a week, it can do absolutely whatever it wants. Among all the Pokémon in the ecological park, how many live as comfortably as it does?"
"And even on the remaining day, I only ask it to spare one or two hours helping with experiments."
"And what happened?"
"The experiment had barely started before this idiot blew up the prototype machine we just finished building."
"That was an entire week of work!"
"And the second we started testing, everything exploded!"
At this point, the lab-coated man's blood pressure clearly rose again.
He glared viciously at Psyduck.
"Starting tomorrow, your vacation privileges are canceled."
"You're training properly until you can at least… fine, barely… barely control the psychic power inside your body."
"Gwaa!"
Psyduck's eyes widened in despair.
Previously, because it constantly suffered from headaches, Psyduck had mostly relied on instinct to survive.
Now, with the help of the special medicine, it had finally begun experiencing how beautiful the world could be.
Psyduck loved its peaceful life in the ecological park.
No worries about food.
No predators bothering it.
But now—
Those peaceful days were about to disappear.
"Gwaa…"
Tears instantly streamed down Psyduck's face.
Seeing this, the lab-coated man slapped his forehead heavily.
"Alright, alright, stop crying. Three vacation days, okay?"
"You still get at least three days off every week. That's already more vacation than students and office workers in this country."
"But during the other four days, you're coming to train your psychic control."
"Gwaaa…"
Psyduck cried even harder.
The lab-coated man's face immediately darkened.
"Keep crying and you lose all three days."
"Gwa."
Psyduck's expression instantly transformed.
With both tiny hands clasped behind its back and tail swaying calmly, it slowly walked over beside the lab-coated man.
Its expression practically said:
Three days is fine. Better than none at all.
Chen Mo & Hu Chengliang: "..."
Even Pikachu nearby was stunned.
At this point, it seriously suspected that back at Mount Zangqing, Psyduck had been deliberately acting dumb when answering its questions.
The livestream viewers were equally shocked.
[Psyduck… feels completely different from back at Mount Zangqing.]
[I was just feeling bad for Psyduck, but now it honestly feels like Xiaochuan's the more pitiful one…]
[I'm curious though—what exactly is this experiment he mentioned?]
The viewers' confusion was also Chen Mo's confusion.
However—
Because the livestream was still active, and worried the topic might involve confidential matters, Chen Mo didn't ask directly.
The lab-coated man noticed this and casually explained on his own:
"The experiment I had Psyduck participate in was testing a Special Energy Absorption Device—specifically its defensive capabilities against Psychic-type energy."
"And then the second the experiment started, Psyduck blew the machine up."
"I see…"
Chen Mo nodded—
Then immediately froze.
"A Special Energy Absorption Device?"
"Sounds unbelievable, right?"
The lab-coated man grinned.
"You should thank yourself for that, Xiao Mo."
"…Me?"
Chen Mo looked even more confused.
The lab-coated man leaned closer and lowered his voice so the livestream audience couldn't hear.
"The Pokémon Medical Center."
Chen Mo instantly understood.
A "Special Energy Absorption Device" clearly sounded like technology beyond the current era.
And what the researcher meant was obvious—
This black-tech invention had evolved from the advanced medical technologies Chen Mo previously provided.
Having toured the Pokémon Medical Center before, Chen Mo knew there were indeed similar futuristic technologies there.
Back when A Yuan's Espurr had entered critical condition due to chaotic Psychic energy inside its body, Elder Zheng and the others had used related equipment to help stabilize and organize that energy.
But organizing wasn't the same as absorbing.
Even someone like Chen Mo, who didn't fully understand the science, knew there was a huge difference between the two.
"How did you manage this?"
Chen Mo looked astonished.
The lab-coated man raised an eyebrow proudly.
"Obviously because I'm a genius. Did you already forget about the Poké Ball project last time? Anyway, let me explain—"
Before he could finish—
Hu Chengliang directly shoved him aside, forcibly interrupting his "grand speech" while saying helplessly:
"What does this have to do with you? Wasn't it Elder Qian and the others pulling all-nighters to achieve this breakthrough?"
"Sure, Elder Qian and the others deserve most of the credit, but my contributions to the project weren't small either!"
"Hah. Shameless. You and Elder Qian's team were indeed slaughtering the project together. The only difference is that they handled the 'slaughtering' while you handled the 'blah blah blah.'"
After roasting the lab-coated man, Hu Chengliang turned back toward Chen Mo and said seriously:
"We discussed the information you brought back for a long time."
"The future is destined not to remain peaceful."
"Pokémon are working hard to grow stronger."
"And humanity needs to improve as well."
"Don't worry."
"As long as we continue striving forward…"
"Someday, we'll overcome every challenge ahead of us."
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