"Ah!"
Professor Rowan slapped his forehead, making his messy gray-white hair shake slightly. He hurriedly opened the profile of the newly added contact, Corviknight, and began typing with urgency.
"Hello! Are you busy right now?"
He was afraid the other person might disappear again after showing up for just a moment.
A few seconds later, a reply came.
"I'm free now."
"Excellent!" Rowan clenched his fist and lightly pounded the table, then stroked the two tufts of white mustache at the corners of his lips before carefully typing out his question.
"In the third part of your evolution theory, the final point under 'special conditions'—what does it mean that some Pokémon need Pokémon in order to evolve? I don't quite understand."
Out of the three evolution methods, the first, gaining levels and building up energy, was the easiest to grasp. The second method, which involved evolution stones, was also common. It was the third one, involving special requirements, that raised questions.
The paper had mentioned Pokémon evolving with the help of specific items. Rowan understood that much, but since studying it would require large-scale experimentation, he hadn't paid much attention to it before.
But now that the Evolution Magnetic Field theory had been proven, it showed that exposure to such a field could trigger changes in a Pokémon's genes, leading to evolution.
However, that last point—some Pokémon needing other Pokémon to evolve—what exactly did that mean? Did it suggest certain Pokémon had to consume related species in order to trigger evolution?
That idea...
Made a lot of sense.
After sending his message, Rowan began thinking about which Pokémon might eat which others, and whether that could lead to surprising results.
Bzz—
A while later, a new message arrived.
Shiro wrote:
"The summary in the paper wasn't complete. There are still some unknown methods that could trigger evolution, and some may even be related to the trainer. But when it comes to Pokémon and Pokémon, my theory is that some develop a symbiotic relationship with specific species. For example, parts of their bodies might connect in some way."
"Parts of their bodies? Not eating..." Rowan muttered while tugging on his mustache, a little disappointed.
In his view, the Pokémon world had a complete food chain. It made sense that in certain places, some species had evolved by feeding on others over time, leading to rare and mysterious transformations.
But if it was about bodily fusion and symbiosis...
He firmly kept that idea in mind. Then he typed another question.
"Are you currently in the Galar region?"
"Yes."
"Are you a local?"
"Yes."
"Ehh..." Rowan hesitated for a moment midway through typing, but still sent the message: "I've heard the Galar region is rather closed off. That everything is controlled by a powerful corporation... Has your research been affected by that?"
Inside the Rose Tower dorm room, Shiro paused when he saw the message. He turned his head and looked out the window at the garden of the building, then rubbed his forehead before replying.
"That's exactly why I didn't have the means to carry out the research. I'm truly grateful you're helping me bring the theory to life, Professor Rowan."
"Ah..." Rowan scratched his head.
'Could this Corviknight be under threat from local Galarian powers just for sharing his Pokémon evolution research with the outside world?'
The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.
The academic isolation of the Galar region had been a long-standing issue. Despite having joined the League years ago, they hadn't produced a single useful result. It was hard to even spot a single researcher from there. Names with Galar tags rarely, if ever, appeared in paper comment sections.
"What an evil political force. Even the regional League is probably under their control. If academic freedom is restricted, how can the entire Pokémon world progress together?" Rowan mumbled to himself, deeply distressed. His expression drew glances from fellow researchers working nearby.
He quickly returned to the conversation, typing another message.
"We in Sinnoh sincerely invite you to join our research efforts. If you're willing, I can personally request an academic delegation to Galar. We could use that opportunity to bring you out with us."
After sending it, he waited anxiously. When no reply came for a long while, worry crept in. Had he said something too bold? Too sudden? Or worse—had the message been intercepted by the Galar authorities?
Then, finally, a response came.
"I don't have such plans for now. Researching Pokémon evolution is just a personal interest."
Reading that, Rowan's fingers hovered over the keyboard. He wanted to type something, but hesitated.
The evolution field theory had been the other man's idea. He had merely run a simple verification. In fact, it was likely the other person had already verified it himself before ever sharing it. Otherwise, why release it?
But if the man was truly in such a harsh environment, and they couldn't meet in person, then publication and recognition would be difficult. Funding, prizes, everything would be complicated.
He needed to find this person. But Rowan wasn't sure if the researcher had a safe environment. Pushing too hard might only make his life worse. That would be counterproductive.
It all depended on the other man's situation.
'Or... perhaps he could give official authorization…'
Still hesitant, Rowan finally typed.
"Regarding your theory and research, there are many follow-up papers we plan to develop. Would it be possible for you to authorize our lab to continue studying and publishing on the topic? I know this might seem unnecessary, but we promise only to list the contributing researchers at the end of the paper and not to change the authorship."
"Hmm?"
Leaning back on his couch, Shiro let out a soft grunt of surprise. He hadn't expected Professor Rowan to be so academically ethical. Normally, anyone would have tried to get in on the authorship at least.
Shiro's original plan had simply been to provide the ideas and let Rowan do the actual research. After all, the professor had the resources, the manpower, and the facilities, which he lacked.
After a moment of thought, Shiro replied:
"Of course you can. That's what I hoped for from the beginning. As for the authorship, just list my name at the end. I only brought up the idea and didn't take part in the actual research. Most of the results were achieved by you and your team."
As soon as the message popped up on his screen, Professor Rowan scanned it eagerly.
"That's great!"
He exclaimed, accidentally yanking out several strands of his mustache in excitement. He jumped up so suddenly that his chair toppled over behind him.
**
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