After Shiro agreed, Blue turned to Oak and said coldly, "Grandpa, please step outside for a moment."
"Huh?" Oak pointed at himself, looking as surprised as a child suddenly left out by his friends. "Me? But I'm—"
"Yes. Thank you. I will not see you out." Blue crossed his arms again, his cold tone hitting the man directly.
"Alright then." Oak showed a slightly hurt expression. "My dearest grandson actually—"
"Please hurry," Blue urged.
Oak gave Shiro a wronged look, then quickly left the lab and closed the door behind him. After that, he skillfully took out a Poké Ball.
A yellow fox holding spoons floated out. It was Alakazam. No words were needed as its spoons pressed lightly against the door.
Inside the room.
Blue clearly let out a breath, his body relaxing as he sat down on a nearby chair.
Shiro looked a little surprised. "Are you that nervous around your grandfather?"
The boy turned his head and nodded slowly, but did not explain why. Instead, he fell completely silent.
A few moments passed before Shiro broke the silence. "Blue, this is our first time meeting, right? What do you want to ask?"
Blue snapped back to his senses. After hesitating, he took out his communicator, and they exchanged phone numbers.
"Mm..." After thinking for a moment, Blue finally spoke. "I heard you know a lot about Mew."
Mew?
Shiro suddenly recalled the plot from the special manga.
The first time Red and Blue met was because they both discovered Mew.
"Mew..." He considered his words before saying, "That's a very famous Mythical Pokémon in the Kanto region. It's also considered a Legendary Pokémon. Very mysterious."
"I want to capture it," Blue said seriously. "Do you know how to confirm its location?"
Of course, Shiro did not know.
And Blue had only just started his journey. With his current strength, he would at most be toyed with by Mew.
Just like at the beginning of the special manga, he had given up on battling after seeing the huge gap in strength.
Still, Shiro told him what he knew. "It's said that Mew emits a special kind of sound wave, and someone has already recorded it onto a tape."
Blue suddenly stood up, excitement flashing in his eyes. "If I can use that tape, I can track Mew with sound equipment!"
"That's right." Shiro added with slight regret, "But I don't know where that tape is."
It originally belonged to Team Rocket, but was stolen by Blue...
Blue rested his chin in thought. "I see. Thank you."
As he was about to leave, he suddenly said, "Oh right! Professor Corviknight, this is my account at the research website!"
He turned his device around, and the username on the screen was: SquirtleSquirtle.
Squirtle...
Shiro showed a look of realization.
Red chose Charmander, so Blue chose Squirtle.
Seeing his reaction, Blue quickly put away the device and coughed lightly to hide his embarrassment.
Shiro took the chance to ask, "Blue, do you know Red?"
The boy looked confused. "Who's that?"
Shiro waved his hand with a smile. "It's nothing. Just someone I knew before. He's quite similar to you."
Blue shook his head, puzzled, but still remembered the name.
Red… it matched his own name, Blue.
Strange.
Does such a person really exist?
With those doubts in mind, Blue left the laboratory.
After pushing the door open, Oak, who had been standing straight outside, waved and asked, "How did it go?"
Blue did not respond and walked straight ahead, but his grandfather grabbed his arm.
"Blue, I have something important to tell you." Oak's expression was very serious.
After a brief pause, the two left side by side.
* * *
Shiro watched the duo's backs for a moment, then turned and walked toward the stairs.
The approval for his research institute had come through, and he still needed to explain the situation to Dale.
He soon arrived at the first-floor conference hall, where many researchers had gathered, discussing academic topics in small groups.
The hall was very spacious, with a few bar counters as well. However, the researchers in white coats were all gathered around small white round tables, while only a few staff members lingered near the bar.
Shiro scanned the room from the entrance, then used his psychic ability and quickly found Dale.
He was arguing loudly with Lorelei… discussing academic issues.
"What's wrong with Professor Corviknight's friendship paper? The hypotheses inside are clearly correct!" Dale's face was red with anger as he pushed up his glasses and glared at her.
Lorelei did not back down. Crossing her arms, she replied, "It's missing necessary experimental procedures. If Professor Oak hadn't helped conduct the experiments—"
Although she admired Shiro for producing so many results, as a strict academic, she clearly understood the proper structure of a paper.
Correct hypotheses and missing experimental content were two different matters.
Dale knew that as well, but as Professor Corviknight's assistant, he had to stand firm in front of others.
"There's nothing wrong with it!"
"It lacks experiments!"
Lorelei narrowed her eyes, her tone growing sharper.
But hearing someone question Professor Corviknight felt like they were questioning Dale himself. He simply could not take it.
"You..."
If he had trained Pokémon, he would have already challenged her to a battle.
"Cough, cough..."
From the side, Shiro coughed twice, finally drawing their attention.
"Professor Corviknight!"
They both spoke at the same time and immediately straightened up.
Lorelei lowered her head, feeling a bit embarrassed. After all, pointing out flaws in a newly appointed professor's paper, especially one she admired, felt awkward.
Right.
She had forgotten her main purpose after arriving at the lab.
She still needed to invite Professor Corviknight to Grandma Agatha's place.
Now how was she supposed to say it...
Lorelei fidgeted with her fingers.
Dale, on the other hand, perked up and was about to argue again.
Shiro patted his shoulder, signaling him to calm down. "My paper does lack experimental content."
As soon as he said that, Dale hurriedly spoke, "But—"
"Professor Oak did help conduct the experiments," Shiro said calmly. "As long as the results are verified, the process is not that important."
After the Academic Summit and the professor appointment, Dale had become a bit too protective of him.
"I… understand." Dale nodded slightly, looking somewhat down.
He always felt like he had no real contribution and had only followed Professor Corviknight this far.
Shiro quickly changed the topic. "Dale, a researcher's duty is to study and produce results... and I happen to have a task for you."
Dale's eyes lit up. "Yes!"
**
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