Chapter 219

Chapter 219: Chapter 219

"At present, all we can prove is that Unova’s three Forces of Nature regularly visited the Hisui region during that era. As for where they originally came from, we can only speculate. Perhaps they simply flew from Unova to Hisui. At this point, we still don’t know."

Cynthia’s tone remained professional and measured as she continued.

"What the documents and records I’ve shown today do prove is that many of the myths and legends passed down across Sinnoh were based on events and Pokémon that truly existed."

"As for the three known Forces of Nature and the mysterious fourth member, we’ll continue investigating them in greater depth."

With that, Cynthia bowed to the audience and stepped down from the stage.

Professor Sycamore, who happened to be sitting beside Professor Juniper, immediately leaned toward her.

"Professor Juniper, could you tell me more about this fourth Force of Nature, Enamorus? I’m rather interested."

He genuinely was.

Everyone knew that when the three Forces of Nature appeared in Unova, they often caused plenty of destruction, but their appearances were also followed by extended periods of abundant harvests.

Because of that, Unova generally didn’t interfere with them too aggressively.

Whenever the three appeared, people in the affected areas were normally evacuated instead.

Now Cynthia had publicly revealed far more information about a previously unknown fourth member of their group, naturally drawing enormous interest from scholars throughout the hall.

A Legendary Pokémon nobody had ever heard of before was already worth investigating on that fact alone.

Professor Juniper fell silent after hearing Sycamore’s question.

’What am I supposed to tell you?’

Everything she knew about Enamorus had come from Cynthia’s paper and the presentation they had all just listened to!

After organizing her thoughts, Juniper finally admitted, "To be honest... everything I know about Enamorus also comes from Champion Cynthia’s paper and today’s presentation."

Sycamore: "..."

"Could Champion Cynthia’s hypothesis actually be right, then?" he asked after a moment. "Were the three Forces of Nature originally Pokémon from Sinnoh, only to migrate to Unova later?"

Juniper: "..."

As a professor whose research focused on Pokémon origins, Juniper had previously argued that the Forces of Nature originated in Unova.

If their true place of origin turned out to be Sinnoh...

Wouldn’t that make her look like she had falsified her own research?

’No. Absolutely not!’

She needed to find Cynthia later, ask for every detail she could get, then go back and investigate the matter properly from the beginning.

...

After Cynthia left the stage, another Pokémon professor took her place.

His field appeared to be Pokémon ecology.

Mike thought the man looked vaguely familiar, as though he had seen him somewhere before, but he couldn’t remember where.

Once that presentation ended, Mike would be next.

His report was also the final presentation scheduled for the day.

Mike lifted Glameow from his lap and Hatenna from his shoulder, stood up, said a few words to Sonia and Professor Carolina, then also spoke briefly to Grandma through the screen before heading toward the presentation area.

When the professor before him finished, Mike climbed the stairs from the side of the stage.

The two happened to meet on the way, exchanged polite nods, and continued past one another.

Mike stepped behind the podium and looked down.

Rows upon rows of white lab coats filled the auditorium.

His heart began beating noticeably faster.

Professor Rowan and Professor Oak were sitting in the front row. When Mike caught their eyes, both men gave him an encouraging nod.

Mike drew a deep breath and opened his presentation.

The enormous screen behind him displayed the title.

[The Reemergence of Pokémon from the Hisui Era]

"Hello, everyone. I’m Mike."

He kept the introduction simple.

"Today, I’ll mainly be discussing Pokémon from the Hisui era—particularly Pokémon with Hisuian evolutionary forms—as well as some of the methods we’re currently exploring to allow those Pokémon to reappear in the modern world."

The scholars below immediately focused their attention on him.

"First, I’d like everyone to watch the complete footage of Stantler evolving into Wyrdeer."

Mike started the video.

Onscreen, Stantler repeatedly used Psyshield Bash under Mike’s guidance.

Eventually, the Pokémon cried out in pain as evolution began.

Mike paused the video once Wyrdeer’s completed form appeared.

"This is the full process of Stantler evolving into Wyrdeer. From what we observed, a significant part of this evolutionary process appears to involve the reawakening of dormant traits within Stantler’s lineage—in other words, the reemergence of traits associated with the Hisui era."

"Professor Kukui already discussed earlier today how Pokémon bloodlines may be connected to signature moves..."

The longer Mike spoke, the smoother his presentation became, until eventually he was completely absorbed in the report.

Professor Oak listened from below, nodding repeatedly.

"He’s doing pretty well," Professor Rowan said with a smile.

"If I didn’t know this was his first time presenting at a summit like this, I’d think he’d been doing academic presentations for years," Oak whispered back.

...

Twinleaf Town.

In Grandma’s courtyard, she sat stroking Growlithe’s head while watching Mike speak confidently on the screen.

Her aged eyes seemed brighter than usual.

Growlithe stared at Mike as well, tail sweeping excitedly across the floor with an expression that practically shouted how impressive he thought Mike was.

"Growlithe, he’s doing wonderfully, isn’t he?" Grandma asked softly.

"Awoo~!"

Growlithe barked happily.

Behind them, Dragonite watched the overjoyed puppy panting with his tongue hanging out, silently thinking something to himself.

...

Back at the summit, Mike continued his presentation.

"Of course, some of you may believe Wyrdeer’s successful reappearance was simply a matter of luck."

That statement immediately stirred discussion among the audience.

Sonia glanced toward Cynthia, who was sitting beside Professor Carolina. Cynthia always carried such a composed, intimidating air that Sonia found her slightly difficult to approach, but curiosity eventually won.

"Champion Cynthia... do Pokémon from the Hisui era really have a chance of returning in significant numbers?"

Cynthia didn’t answer directly.

"Keep watching."

Sonia turned back toward Mike with even greater curiosity.

"Everyone," Mike continued from the stage, "take a look at these next two videos."

The screen changed.

A Scyther stood engulfed in evolutionary light, crying out in pain in almost exactly the same way Stantler had during the previous footage.

The scholars in the auditorium widened their eyes.

"No... no way..."

Someone in the audience audibly gasped.

Scyther’s silhouette began changing inside the glow.

Then the light disappeared.

A Pokémon nobody in the hall had ever seen in person stood on the screen, its body rugged and stone-like, with the familiar scythes on its arms replaced by enormous stone axes.

Every scholar in the auditorium stared.

Those who had read Mike’s previous paper recognized the Pokémon immediately.

Kleavor.

Those who hadn’t were left completely stunned.

Mike didn’t give the audience time to start questioning him.

He immediately played the second video.

This time, Ursaring appeared on the screen, swallowed by evolutionary light.

The audience collectively stared again.

"You’re kidding. There’s another one?!"

Ursaring released a deep roar almost identical in tone to the cries from the previous evolutionary experiments, and the outline of the Pokémon’s body began changing.

When the light finally faded, an enormous four-legged Pokémon none of them had seen before stood on the ground.

Mike paused the video.

"Besides Wyrdeer, our recent research has also successfully identified the method by which Scyther can undergo a branched evolution into Kleavor, as well as the process by which Ursaring evolves into Ursaluna."

"It won’t be long before these two discoveries are formally made public. Once that happens, detailed information about both Pokémon will also be added to the Pokédex."

He paused for a moment.

"So I believe we have every reason to expect that more Pokémon once associated with the Hisui era may eventually return to our world."

Mike smiled.

"And I intend to keep working toward that goal, so that even more Pokémon from that era can once again appear in the beautiful world we live in today."

He continued by giving the audience a broader overview of Hisuian Pokémon, touching on several key traits and pieces of information they had uncovered so far.

During a brief pause, Professor Birch raised his hand.

"Assistant Mike, may I ask a question?"

He removed his glasses, wiped them, then put them back on.

"Of course."

"I read your earlier paper, and you discussed the influence of ecology and environmental conditions on Hisuian forms." Professor Birch leaned forward slightly. "Would the modern environment still be suitable for those Pokémon to live in?"

Mike nodded.

"I understand exactly what you’re asking, Professor Birch. The section on habitat comes a little later in the presentation, so please bear with me."

"Oh, I see. I thought you were nearly finished."

Birch scratched the back of his head with an embarrassed smile before sitting down again.

Mike continued.

"If we want Pokémon from the Hisui era to genuinely return to this world, then evolution itself isn’t the only problem. We also need to consider whether suitable habitats still exist for them."

"That means we first need at least a basic understanding of the environment in ancient Hisui..."

He moved into the next section of the report.

"Based on the information we currently have, we’ve made a preliminary hypothesis that many Pokémon associated with the Hisui era were adapted to comparatively cold environments."

"For example, the Wyrdeer we eventually released has returned to the Mount Coronet range."

"As for Kleavor, environments such as mountain caves and bamboo forests may be suitable for colonies of their species. Ursaluna, meanwhile, may be particularly well suited to wetlands and similar terrain."

...

Time passed, and eventually Mike reached the final portion of his report.

"The Hisui era remains largely unknown to us. But the unknown usually means there is still more waiting to be discovered."

"So I intend to continue investigating the history, Pokémon, and mythology of ancient Hisui."

Mike finished speaking and bowed to the entire hall.

Professor Oak and Professor Rowan were the first to applaud.

Cynthia followed, then Lucian, Sonia, Professor Kukui, and others.

Within moments, applause spread throughout the entire auditorium.

Mike’s presentation had earned the approval of practically every scholar present.

Academic competition aside, this was a world where genuine results commanded respect.

If a researcher could present enough meaningful evidence and produce significant discoveries, the rest of the academic community would acknowledge those accomplishments.

That was also one of Professor Oak’s lifelong goals.

Through years of effort by people like Oak and Rowan, the modern academic world surrounding Pokémon had become remarkably cooperative.

Mike stepped off the stage.

With that, the first day’s presentations officially came to an end.

...

Some scholars immediately left the venue together to eat, while others returned to wherever they were staying so they could continue working on their own research.

Others remained behind to question the presenters about things they hadn’t fully understood.

Mike had only just finished answering several scholars who approached him about Hisuian Pokémon when Professor Spencer Hale cornered him with questions about ancient writing.

Mike patiently explained several passages and translated a few inscriptions.

Then Spencer Hale brought out what was apparently some of his most treasured ancient material.

Mike stared at the growing pile in numb disbelief.

He skimmed a few pages and quickly realized that the surviving inscriptions contained nothing especially useful.

He had absolutely no desire to translate every last line.

"Professor Hale."

Mike looked at him.

"My interpretation of ancient writing is ultimately based on my personal understanding. I can’t guarantee that every reading is perfectly correct."

He paused.

"If you’d like, I can organize the methods and conclusions I’ve developed while studying the script and send those notes to you. You can use them as a reference for your own research."

Professor Hale froze.

A moment later, he understood.

Mike clearly wasn’t especially interested in devoting himself to ancient-language research.

However, when he realized Mike was willing to give him the methodology behind his own translations, excitement immediately replaced any disappointment.

"Then I’ll have to trouble you, Assistant Mike. Thank you very much."

The two exchanged contact information, and Mike promised to send the material over once he had organized it.

Only then did Professor Hale finally leave Mike alone and head over to question Cynthia instead.

"Finished?" Lucian asked when Mike finally reached him.

Mike shook his head.

"I seriously underestimated how enthusiastic academics can be. I didn’t expect them to be this obsessed with learning."

"For Pokémon researchers, knowledge is basically what battling is to Trainers," Lucian explained.

Mike looked at him strangely.

"What surprises me more is that people were asking you questions too."

"What’s strange about that?"

Lucian looked completely unbothered.

"I’ve spent years handling League affairs for Boss Lady. Giving an academic presentation isn’t all that different from dealing with League work."

"Still..."

Mike rubbed his chin and stared closely at Lucian.

"Why did your presentation slides look kind of similar to mine? Especially the formatting."

Lucian’s expression stiffened.

He coughed.

"Most presentations use roughly the same structure. Besides, I created the original framework for yours."

"But I remember changing the framework afterward."

Mike narrowed his eyes.

Lucian stopped talking.

"And now that I think about it, Cynthia’s formatting looked pretty similar to mine too."

Nearby, Cynthia was still discussing ancient writing with Professor Hale.

The moment she heard Mike’s words, she quietly began walking farther away with Professor Hale.

"Probably just a coincidence," Lucian said.

"Yeaaaaahh... probably."

Mike was only mildly suspicious.

Surely Sinnoh’s Champion wouldn’t copy his PowerPoint presentation.

Impossible.

Absolutely impossible!