Time to take a look at the stuff that's going on in the Pokemon HQ Laboratory! Marion spent some time working there for her practicum, and as we see, Jovi is all grown up and is a professor now! They're working hard on Pokemon Conservationism in order to restore the Orre Region to its former beauty, and this chapter we'll get a look at some of the stuff that they're trying out! Will they be able to make a difference?
KedharS: Pokemon Conservation is an exciting topic. Who doesn't want to learn about how are world is slowly dying but for the hard work of a few (underfunded) scientists? Definitely an engaging and positive topic.
Thunder Fire: I don't know, you should ask the people who originally created Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 924
Professor Jovi began the tour by leading the group of students down the hall and into a room that, well… was full of dirt.
There were large tanks of dirt stacked against the walls and lining the floor, dirt of various colors and textures with charts hanging from the sides that indicated data, as well as monitoring sticks and other scientific devices taking readings.
Needless to say, the students were a little confused about what they were seeing.
"Why… dirt?" Lila asked, making a sour face. What little enthusiasm she'd had for this tour had quickly evaporated. Dirt was about the most unappealing thing that the professor could have shown them, at least to a girl like her.
"I'm also confused," Olivia agreed, raising her eyebrow. While she wasn't a big fan of dirt either, she at least wasn't as put off by it as Lila was. Still, she didn't really get why the professor had started the tour by showing off a bunch of dirt in tanks.
What did any of that have to do with pokemon research? Was this what folks in the Research Course did, study dirt? If so, she was definitely going to have to rethink what little respect she already afforded them.
"This is our soil analysis room!" Professor Jovi explained with a smile. "We take records about soil samples and experiment with soil treatments to adjust the mineral and chemical deposits in order to determine which combination is the most fertile!"
Not one person in the Empress's faction could understand a single word the professor had just said. They all looked at her with empty eyes.
"…So you study dirt," Olivia said. "All this research technology, time, and money, is being spent on studying dirt."
Professor Jovi laughed. "Well, it's a little more complicated than that, but yes, you could say that this room is about studying dirt!"
Donoma snorted, rolling her eyes. "Just as I thought, this place really is stupid," she scoffed. "Studying dirt? This was your brilliant idea, Marion?"
"Donoma!" Hiromi snapped, aghast at the girl's appalling behavior towards the professor who was generously giving them a tour without even charging a fee.
But the professor didn't seem bothered by Donoma's rude statement.
"No, Professor Jovi understands completely," she said, nodding. "It must look pretty boring, analyzing soil samples all day. And honestly… yes, in a manner of speaking, it is boring. But it's still incredibly vital research necessary for the sake of the Orre Region." She held her head high as she told them that, wearing a proud smile on her face.
Everyone let that sink in for a second. Then it was Ayame who put to words the realization that a few of them were having.
"…Because the problem with the Orre Region's environment is related to the infertile soil, right?" she said.
Hiromi beamed proudly at her daughter, Ayame had figured it out.
"O-o-oh, that's right!" Lila said, remembering what Marion had said the other day. "Because of… what was it, again? Running mines?"
"Mining runoff," Darla gently corrected her. "A mining project was too ambitious and resulted in a lot of damage to the ecosystem. Dangerous chemicals leaked out into the soil and the water, making it impossible for the region to sustain life for pokemon."
"That's exactly correct," Professor Jovi said, nodding solemnly. "Because of that accident, the Orre Region can barely sustain any life at all. So Pokemon Conservationists like us are working hard to find a solution to that problem."
She gestured to the tanks of soil. "These soil samples are taken from all across the region. We're testing them for chemical damage and seeing if there are any ways of neutralizing or reversing the damage to the ecosystem."
She pointed at a few other tanks. "And we also have imported soil from other regions to use as a comparative base. Right now, we're trying to experiment with something called 'soil transplantation' to try and artificially develop soil for berry cultivation."
"Why can't you just, like, use fertilizer?" Lila asked, scrunching her nose in confusion. "Isn't that, like, the whole point? To make soil more fertile?"
"It doesn't work that way," Darla answered. "Sure, if the problems were due to just general low-quality soil, that would be one thing, but the ground is literally poisoned, there's no way that something as simple as fertilizer would help."
"Oh…" Lila said, tilting her head down and blushing with shame. She wasn't exactly a big fan of dirt, so it's not like she ever did any gardening. Maybe it was better if she just kept her mouth shut and let the others do the talking.
"There wouldn't be nearly enough fertilizer for the whole region even if it would work," Professor Jovi added. "The amount of space we have to terraform to make the region suitable is just an unfeasible project right now. Even soil transplantation will take a long time to work, and the process itself is extensive."
Hiromi gave it some thought. She could definitely see merit in what the professor was proposing, but she also knew that it wouldn't be as simple as she was making it out. Though she was no botanist, or, well, whatever a "soil expert" was, she knew that if it was as simple as taking soil from one location and moving it to another, then the problem wouldn't be as much of a problem.
So she decided to ask. "Professor, what's going to keep the contamination from spreading to the new soil that you transplant?"
"Oh! Good question!" Professor Jovi said brightly. "Yes, you've touched on a major problem that we've spent a lot of time trying to solve. The problem is, even if we do transplant new soil to replace the old soil, the chemical runoff will still result in poisoning the new soil. Which is why part of our transplantation process is designed to address that issue. Come here, take a look."
The professor led the group to one of the tanks, one that was a fair bit larger than the others. It was divided into four sections.
"Here, we've adjusted the mixtures to account for specific runoff problems," Jovi explained. "The one on the left is our control. It has no soil transplantation whatsoever, just regular stuff pulled from the ground."
She gestured to the next section. "That one contains a mixture of 75% old soil, 25% new soil. Then there's 50% old and 50% new, then 25% old and 75% new. We didn't use 100% new soil, of course, because that wouldn't tell us anything."
"Hmm…" Marion walked over to the tanks and studied them closely. Then, she stuck her hand in one of them and came back with a handful of dirt.
"Oh, uh, Marion, please don't touch-" Professor Jovi asked, but it was too late.
Marion scooped some onto her finger and licked it. Everyone stared at her with repulsion, not only was she eating dirt, but she was doing it right from the left tank, the most contaminated one out of the bunch!
"…And please don't eat it," Professor Jovi sighed.
"Marion!" Hiromi gasped. "Are-Are you okay?! What are you doing?!"
"What?" Marion asked, scraping the dirt back into the tank and then reaching for the next one. "I wanted to compare the taste to see if there was anything different!"
Professor Jovi grabbed her arm before she could follow through with her little taste test.
"Please don't do that," she urged Marion. "You'll contaminate the samples by mixing them together like that."
"…O-Oh, right," Marion said, laughing sheepishly.
"Did… Did she do this a lot?" Jessie asked worriedly. "Taste the soil for contaminants?"
Professor Jovi's only answer was an exasperated sigh.
An awkward silence hung over the air, and Hiromi was desperate for something to fill it. Luckily, one of the other students had a question of her own.
"So what is this experiment monitoring then?" Celia asked curiously.
"They probably planted some berry seeds, if I had to guess," Allen answered her. "But it doesn't look like anything's growing."
"Well, that's the idea, anyway," Professor Jovi said. "We are planning to start planting, but right now we're still in the experimental stages. We're currently looking at how much soil corruption we can record over a period of time, see those monitors there?"
She pointed at a row of gauges shoved into the dirt.
"Those markers measure the soil contamination levels," she explained. "In fact, we just transplanted the soil last night, so their readings are perfectly representative of where we would expect them to be at the beginning. But as time goes on, well… the soil will get more corrupted." She gestured to the gauge in the leftmost section of the tank, where the needle was firmly in the red. "Before long, all four sections are going to look like that," she sighed in disappointment.
"So what's even the point, then?" Allen asked. It seemed totally pointless to monitor something if they already knew the outcome. "Unless… are you trying to figure out how long it takes the contamination to set in?"
"Exactly! Professor Jovi is impressed!" Professor Jovi chirped. "Yes, we want to see how long it takes for the contamination to fully seep into the soil, and how the ratio of new soil to old soil will affect that. And from there, we can figure out potential soil combinations to implement that can help stave off the ground corruption."
Allen wasn't that impressed. It sounded like trying to empty the water on a sinking ship with a couple of buckets. "Isn't that just staving off the inevitable?" He asked. "Sometimes, the land is just dead and there's nothing you can do about it."
Everyone gasped. He hadn't meant to be offensive, but Allen had said something that absolutely should not have been said in a place like this. Hiromi in particular found that offensive. As a retired Pokemon Ranger who valued the bonds of nature, thinking about a situation where nature was permanently harmed and impossible to repair felt painful. She didn't want to confront a scenario like that, especially not here, in a laboratory filled with hope.
Professor Jovi sighed. Suddenly, the bubbly woman with a childlike exuberance was gone, and in her place was a very tired professor.
"…You're not wrong," she was forced to admit. "It can definitely feel like what we're doing here is futile. Because, yes, the contamination caused by the runoff has made the land of Orre uninhabitable for decades at this point, with no clear sign of ever flourishing again." A smile touched her face again. "But that doesn't mean it's impossible."
Hiromi brightened. "Oh?"
The group of students listened intently as the professor began to explain what she meant.
"A long, long time ago, people used to spread salt on the lands they conquered to prevent the inhabitants from rebuilding," Professor Jovi said. "But it didn't last forever. Even when you salt the earth so nothing grows, that isn't the end of it. Rain will eventually wash the salt away, and the land will be ripe for cultivation once more. Does it take a long time? Certainly. Perhaps even longer than my lifetime, I'm sad to say."
She cast a wistful gaze to the tanks of soil. "But as long as we keep trying, as long as we keep transplanting the soil, and work to fight the contamination, I believe that eventually it will run its course. It may take a long, long time, but as long as we can keep the land sustaining life for as long as possible, the hope is that someday it will regain the strength to be able to do so on its own. Does that make sense?"
Allen nodded, a little embarrassed. It was an unusual feeling for him. "Yeah, I guess it does," he admitted.
"I'm glad," Professor Jovi said, smiling.
Lila's face was filled with conflict. But then she held her head high. "Okay, I've decided! Dirt isn't so bad anymore!"
That was the biggest shock of the day.
"Uh, what?" Darla asked, taken aback by the outrageous statement that her partner had just made in front of everyone. "Lila, are you feeling okay?"
"I'm feeling fine, Darla!" Lila said, nodding. "I was just thinking about all the things that the professor was saying, about how, like, dirt and soil are important and all, and how we need to take care of the environment and change the soils, and chemicals, and data monitoring, and all that other important stuff!"
Just listening to her talk, it was clear that Lila hadn't understood half of what Professor Jovi was saying. She may not have been as stupid as she pretended to be on the stage, but she was far from educated on this topic, that was for sure.
"…So you like dirt now," Darla said dryly.
"Yep!" Lila said, nodding adamantly. "Dirt is good! Super good! We need dirt and soil and stuff to make all the berries grow, right? And without berries we wouldn't have Pokeblocks and Poffins for contests, so it's definitely a good thing!"
"…You weren't aware of that before now?" Allen asked, suppressing the smirk that threatened to creep up his face.
"Well, duh, obviously," Lila said, rolling her eyes. "But hearing the professor talk about it, it just made it seem so much more… you know, important."
Darla sighed, nursing her forehead. Lila was a real piece of work sometimes. They both came from the Hoenn Region, a place well-known for its incredibly fertile soil and vast assortment of flowering berry trees, and Lila was just now realizing that it was important to take care of the environment? Bless her poor heart, that girl was too pure for her own good sometimes.
"Well, if I could get even one more person to be more environmentally-conscious, then I consider that a job well done!" Professor Jovi said, smiling brightly.
"Yeah!" Marion cheered, leaping forward and pulling Lila into a hug. "That's just the tops! Caring about the environment is the best!"
"Hey! Let go! Ewww! Get off me you!" Lila shrieked, scraping her hands at Marion frantically. "Your hands still have dirt on them! You're staining my dress! Off! Off! Off!"
Darla doubled over laughing as Lila wailed at the dirt smears from Marion's hug.
"Hah! So much for being pro-dirt! That lasted all of two seconds!" She cackled with glee.
"I didn't mean on me!" Lila wailed helplessly. "It's not fair, this stuff is so GROSS!"
"Yep, it seems like you'll be having a hard sell with that one," Hiromi said sympathetically to the professor.
"As long as she understands the value of taking care of the environment, that's enough for Professor Jovi," Professor Jovi said good-naturedly. She didn't care if Lila became some pro-environmental activist or anything, she was just happy that more young people were getting their eyes opened.
"Well, this has all been very enlightening," Donoma said loudly, in a tone that illustrated that she felt exactly the opposite. "Don't you have anything more interesting than dirt that you could show us? I'm bored out of my skull."
That was it. That was the last straw for Hiromi. She fixed her eyes into a cold glare and stormed over to Donoma.
Donoma was actually taken aback. She didn't expect to be intimidated by such a short girl. And yet she still felt pressure. It was like when Ayame got angry; suddenly, everyone who had doubts about the relationship between the two of them due to their sizes stopped questioning it. This was confirmation enough.
"Come with me right now," Hiromi growled, grabbing Donoma by the arm and dragging her off to the corner.
Donoma had no choice but to follow. She may have been in a foul mood all morning and felt like having a confrontation, but suddenly that was the last thing on her mind.
Everyone watched in surprise. They didn't hear what Hiromi was saying to Donoma, but it was clear that she was absolutely DONE with the way Donoma had been treating everyone.
A few seconds later, Donoma came trudging meekly back, her face flushed with shame. It was shocking. She looked like a tamed Spearow. Whatever Hiromi had said, all the opposition and anger that Donoma had been expressing was completely gone now.
"I-I'm sorry for being so rude," Donoma apologized, and the entire room was deathly silent. Lukas's jaw actually hit the floor in shock. He had never heard Donoma apologize, not once, and certainly not as sincerely-sounding of an apology as this one.
Professor Jovi blinked, just as taken aback as the students. While she didn't know the context that the others did, she hadn't expected this girl to actually apologize; lots of tours had at least one unruly kid who didn't want to be here, and the professor had just learned to put up with it. But right now, she was seeing some real contrition.
Professor Jovi's smile quickly returned.
"It's perfectly fine!" She said cheerfully. "I understand that this isn't the most interesting thing for everyone, you don't have to apologize for being bored. In the future, though, I would appreciate it if you kept your comments to yourself? That way you won't make the others feel bad for being interested. Sound good?"
"Yes, ma'am," Donoma nodded obediently.
"Great!" Professor Jovi chirped. "Then with that said, if there are no more questions about our soil sample room, let's head off to the next stop on our tour, where you'll see something a little more exciting, hopefully!"
With that, the professor turned and led the students out of the soil sample room, and onto the next leg of the tour. But thoughts of Pokemon Conservationism were the last thing on anyone's mind right now after what they'd just seen.
Everyone was looking at Hiromi in disbelief. She had put Donoma in her place without even trying, and made it seem like the easiest thing in the world. Ayame was particularly impressed; she would have to ask her mother what trick she'd used to get Donoma to fall in line, she might need to use it herself someday if the girl kept bothering her.
Lukas hoped that Donoma's change of attitude was permanent; he didn't want to be on the receiving end of her revenge later. Maybe if he was lucky, Hiromi would tell him what she'd done, so he could keep her at arm's length?
The other students were thinking similar thoughts. What had Hiromi said to tame Donoma so thoroughly after the bad mood she was in?
They all wanted to know, but no one was brave enough to ask. Instead, they decided that the best course of action was to stay on their best behavior and not give Hiromi a reason to pull THEM into the corner.
Yikes. Hiromi can get intimidating when she wants to be, apparently. And it's good that the tour of the pokemon laboratory is going well other than that. There's a lot of hard work being done to repair the Orre Region's ecosystem, and it's nice to see that people are still trying even after all the damage that's been done to it. Keep up the good work!