Chapter 10- Three Months
I was in heaven. Plain and simple.
Meat, grilled fatty meat.
The smell drifted through the laboratory causing my walking speed to keep getting faster and faster. I didn't even need to glance at the few signs that pointed out directions in the facility, no my nose was more than sufficient.
I've eaten nothing but rice, canned vegetables, and beans for nearly a month.
In a blink, I was in front of it. A school self-serve style cafeteria. In one of the stations were three-inch thick steaks, I took two, followed by three scoops of mashed potatoes and mac n cheese each.
I vaguely noticed Elm wave me over to his secluded corner. Barely acknowledging my benefactor as I tore into the meat and calorie-filled sides like a starved beast.
Three minutes later the plate was empty as I laid back with a sigh and a slightly bulging stomach. 'Society….. I'll never take you for granted ever again!' I promised the world as I hummed in contentment.
Now, if only I could get a cigar or a small bottle of whiskey.
"Well, that was interesting…." Elm commented, I opened my eyes and saw the man do his best to try and keep a straight face. He was disgusted by my monstrous display.
"Sorry about that, I've been eating nothing but rice and beans for a month. Abandoned research facility, first home in this world" I said with an apologetic smile.
"It's no trouble Connors, tell me, how are your accommodations?" Elm asked with his nose buried in a bunch of unorganized research papers, his dinner set to the side slowly getting cold.
"Perfect Professor, the PC was especially helpful, specifically. I learned a lot and have several ideas for my next project now!" I said with enough excitement that Elm put down his papers and gave me his full attention.
"Already, well I won't doubt you yet. Care to give me a little clue as to where your mind is headed? I'm known as a bit of an evolutionary expert myself" Elm said with a smile. That was true and correlated well with what he was described as in the game. 'A leader in evolution and the origin of life'.
"Murkrow and to a lesser extent Eevee," I said to which Elm laughed slightly.
"That is very fitting, Eevee is on researchers' minds these days. With it being the only Pokémon to have three different evolutions. Well, most see the same potential and are having tests and experiments as we speak, including myself" Elm said as he stacked the papers in front of himself and handed them toward me. "Would you like to see my progress?"
I didn't fail to notice the disregard Elm had for Murkrow, two Pokemon were stated but only one he deemed worth his attention. I'd show them, no me, and whatever murkrow I catch would show the entire league.
I'd be a fool to refuse even though I knew how to evolve every 'known' form of Eevee I was still interested as to how close Elm had come.
The first twenty or so pages were an introduction and other fluff. The next forty described his processes and the results of those. He seemed to do something similar to me with his Pokémon Hypno.
He used Hypno to test what kind of energy print a specific Eevee had, for example, Eevee #4 showed a strong affinity towards psychic energy. So Elm ordered and tried every psychic-type item he could get his hands on. From a twisted spoon to a psychic gem, failures.
Despite the failure, Elm became sure a psychic type Eeveelution existed. He then again like me, tried the 'Move Required Evolution' theory, well not by that exact name but still. That's what it would be called when my papers were published.
"We are very like-minded, Professor Elm," I said with slightly narrowed eyes as I continued to read. He taught Eevee the only three psychic moves it could learn, by T.M. that is. Those consisted of Rest, Calm mind, and stored power. Results? It was a failure as of three days ago.
"Oh, you've realized it as well, I nearly thought I had a long-lost child after I read your report. Thankfully you're a few years too old for that to be possible, my wife would've killed me" Elm joked as I choked on air. Shaking my head at Elm's antics I reached the end where Elm's next experiment started, this afternoon.
A more hands-on approach, where he got back to his roots and tried to implement 'move required Evolution' in a more literal sense. Attempting to mix Eevee #4's quick attack with the offensive move stored power. He at least coined my name and process as a reference and inspiration.
"So what do you think?" Elm asked as he took back his slightly less messy research report.
"I believe this new path of a hands-on approach is very promising, especially since you would be training the Eevee yourself. I recommend you take that a step farther and battle in the wild or with an assistant, give the Eevee a true name. I'd bet my left arm you'd get results in a month or so." I stopped myself there as Elm held up his hand and dug out a pen from his breast pocket and a small notebook.
"So your theory is that Eevee has to be happy?" It was a dumb question and it was obvious he was trying to get me to explain further.
"I guess technically yes, emotions are very important to psychic types from what I've observed from my starter" I paused to look beside me to Minato stuffing his face into a bowl of mac and cheese. He looked up at the sound of me saying 'starter' and 'emotions' but decided it wasn't as interesting as his newly favorite dish.
"Furthermore, the bond between a trainer and their Pokémon is a powerful thing. It is a theory I intended to name 'Friendship Evolution'." Now if this were anybody else I wouldn't have gone this far to hand them a discovery but Elm could ask for five more and I wouldn't bat an eye to help him.
"So you recommend I capture Eevee #4, train it up, name it….. What an interesting theory, but wouldn't the average Eevee trainer have discovered the possible psychic evolution by now?" Elm pointed out a major flaw in my reasoning.
"I've done a fair bit of research on this exact subject," I said. 'Literally five minutes on the subject using '
"I'm sure you know the history but there was only one group, who were confirmed to train Eevee ten years ago. Before that group, Eevee was a 'pet Pokémon', owned by rich ladies and little girls. Barely ever seeing battle." I said.
"Hmm, you're speaking of the 'Battling Eevee Brothers' of Stone Town. Everyone knows of them, they were the first to discover Eevee's three evolutions after all. Those kids made so much money out of that discovery I heard that they have acquired a giant mansion and now own every mine in Stone Town. They're now the leading supplier of evolution stones in Indigo." Elm explained, I only vaguely remembered the 'Battling Eevee Brothers', as they only appeared in one or two episodes of the anime. But did lead me towards a link showing an article about the brothers and their life-changing discovery, I merely skimmed it but I got the jist.
"Exactly, a group of teenage orphans made the greatest discovery in Pokemon evolution this decade, so far" I trailed off with a confident smirk.
"Okay, but not to sound rude Connors, can you speed this up. The rest of the assistants are waiting for me to continue". Elm said as I had been speaking about things he already knew for the last five minutes, he was beginning to lose interest.
"I have just the thing. An observation I just made to show you where you made your greatest mistake on this research project" I said then paused to give him a moment. 'Might as well, a second discovery as simple as this one won't raise too many eyebrows, but it might cause other professors in the region some slack due to how obvious this was.'
"Big words Professor Connors, tell me, what is so obvious that I'd glance it over?" Elm asked with narrowed eyes, it seemed I might have touched the nerve of my benefactor.
"Well, it's simple. From this conversation, I've realized you put too much faith in the competency of the average person. Researcher or trainer." Elm's eyebrows scrunched up at my observation, but I continued quickly. "I seem to share that folly with you, but upon a bit of reflection I believe I've made a breakthrough."
"Two in the same day? Well, color me intrigued. What do you need, my laboratory is yours" Elm seemed to raise the stakes on me. It seemed he either believed me or saw this as a chance for me to learn a lesson as his junior professor.
I motioned for his papers, specifically the ones where Elm's Hypno had measured the Eevee's elemental affinities. Might as well use the one with the 'most' potential, though I doubted it would help or worsen the chance of discovery either way.
"Just two…. No three things!" I said with a sheepish smile. "Miss Eevee #12, a leaf stone, and the nicest pack of cigars you can find in this town."
"...No, there has to be a test….. Why can't I remember any, I've been leading this project for two years. I'd remember….." Elm had a look of utter horror on his face, it seemed I might not be seeing the most important third item. Eh no big deal, I'd been planning to head to the mart in town to have my stack of checked and cataloged tomorrow anyway. I'd get them then.
"Sarah! Bring me Eevee number twelve and a leaf stone to the cafeteria immediately!" Elm nearly screamed into his brick-sized cell phone. He was about the hang up but hesitated and continued. "Oh and send one of the helpers out to die a pack of cigars and a few bottles of wine, please, and thank you"
'Elm, the saint. He was shaping up to be my greatest friend, in two worlds!' I chuckled at my horrible joke as I watched Elm lose a battle. One of patience, he practically jumped out of his chair and began pacing, checking his wristwatch every minute or so.