"Hmm?"
As soon as the sound rang out, the apprentices jolted upright from their chairs. Their sleepiness vanished almost instantly.
There were still thirty minutes left before the end of their shift. If Professor Elm saw them slacking off like this, they'd be in big trouble.
"What... what was that sound?" a hunched apprentice asked nervously, glancing around the room.
One of the bolder ones tiptoed to the door and cracked it open to peek outside. After confirming no one was there, he turned back and gestured that the coast was clear.
"Phew…"
Seeing that no one was out there, two apprentices sat back down.
But a glasses-wearing one, pushing his frames up his nose, spoke quietly, "I think that sound came from the computer. Didn't the professor ask us to keep an eye on it? Maybe he's waiting for a message."
The group exchanged looks, then all turned to the glasses-wearing apprentice.
"Kade, you go check," someone said.
Kade, the one who had just spoken, didn't object. He walked over to the computer and took a look.
The moment he moved the mouse, a chat window popped up. On the screen was a newly received message from Shiro, replying to Elm's previous question.
"This is… Corviknight?" Kade muttered under his breath. He naturally recognized the name. In recent times, Corviknight had become a sensation in academic circles. He hadn't expected that Professor Elm was waiting for a reply from him.
He glanced at his laid-back colleagues, but none of them were paying attention.
Kade felt a rush of nervous excitement and quietly scrolled through the message.
"Pokémon eggs?" he whispered as he read. "Eggs probably shouldn't be part of a Pokémon's evolution chain… because there aren't any distinct markings on the shell that can clearly identify the species… huh, so the patterns really matter?"
Professor Elm had been emphasizing patterns as well. And now, even this Corviknight was bringing them up…
Kade began to understand why the professor had asked them to keep track of the markings on the eggs. He must be trying to find a way to identify the species inside based on the shell's surface patterns.
But… was that even possible?
Looking at Corviknight's response, Kade found himself silently agreeing.
It seemed unlikely. Maybe even impossible.
'Professor Elm really wants to include Pokémon eggs in the evolution chain? He must be out of his mind. He's desperate for research results. Just crazy,' Kade complained inwardly.
Still, his fingers kept scrolling. As he read the next part of the message, he couldn't help but murmur:
"Pokémon population… biological traits… whether they can breed… Egg Group?"
The words hit him like a lightning strike, sending a shiver down his spine.
The direction of Professor Elm's current research... wasn't it population classification? Which was exactly what this message referred to as the Egg Group!
Corviknight had actually guessed the professor's research topic, and even offered a clear path forward.
This… he had to report this immediately!
Almost as if possessed, Kade scrambled up. He stumbled past chairs and desks, rushing out of the lab and running straight down the corridor toward the main research room at the end of the hall.
Behind him, a few surprised apprentices poked their heads out of the room.
"Hey! What's going on?"
"Kade? Kade!"
"Did he snap or something? Been working too long?"
Several of them looked utterly confused. But when they saw Kade yelling for Professor Elm and bursting into the main lab, they quickly grabbed their notebooks and pens and hurried back to the incubation unit, crouching down to pretend they were recording data.
They didn't know what had gotten into Kade, but one thing was certain: Professor Elm would be here any second.
At the same time, a troubling thought surfaced among them. Could it be that Kade, unhappy about something, had gone to complain to the professor?
The more they thought about it, the more likely it seemed. Then came the sound of fast, chaotic footsteps approaching the door. The apprentices ducked their heads, afraid to look up.
"Quick, quick! Where is it?" Elm asked as he entered, wiping his glasses with a handkerchief. He followed close behind the flustered Kade, and behind them were a bunch of his assistants.
Not one of them spared a glance at the apprentices crouched near the incubator. Instead, they all rushed toward the computer in the corner.
By the time they reached the terminal, Kade was already bent over, panting heavily with a hand on his waist.
Just as Elm stopped in front of the computer, a sharp-witted assistant slid a chair perfectly under him, and with a smooth motion, shoved the exhausted Kade off to the side.
"Oh?"
Adjusting his glasses, Elm carefully moved the mouse and started skimming through Shiro's reply at incredible speed.
"He disagrees with my theory about Pokémon eggs? Thinks the patterns on the shell are hard to distinguish? Hmph... more like impossible to distinguish, right?"
His tone was flat, but those nearby held their breath. They knew that calm voice meant he was in a bad mood.
Some of the researchers looked at Kade with suspicion. He came running like a madman, yelling about some important reply from Corviknight, and this was it?
Just a simple message? What was so shocking. They were Professor Elm's apprentices and assistants. This wasn't worth getting worked up over.
"Hmph…" Elm slowly shook his head. While a little disappointed, the message also rekindled his desire to push through with his research on Pokémon Eggs. He was well aware that the chances of finding a consistent pattern was slim, but this kind of work was always a gamble. Corviknight might not believe in the idea, but what if he managed to succeed?
He continued scrolling down.
"Hm? Classifying Pokémon species based on biological traits? biological traits… biological traits… for the purpose of breeding…"
That single sentence hit him like a bell ringing deep in his mind. Elm repeated the phrase unconsciously, and suddenly, countless Pokémon characteristics that had been floating vaguely in his head began to organize themselves.
He'd spent the last few days trying to find a reliable method to classify Pokémon breeding groups; he had explored types, habitats, even reproductive anatomy.
He had felt like the answer was right in front of him all along, but just couldn't quite grasp it. And now he saw it.
Yes, biological traits.
Elm mumbled the words as his hands instinctively searched for pen and paper. One of his assistants, used to this, handed him both, and he began writing furiously.
"Humanoid, plant, mineral…"
But then he stopped. Many Pokémon couldn't be grouped based on shape alone. Some required additional factors like their habitat to be accurately categorized.
Just using physical appearance wouldn't be enough to assign every Pokémon to the right group.
So could type and reproductive organs still play a role?
His sudden burst of inspiration started to fade, but his curiosity only grew. He kept reading and, upon seeing Corviknight's final sentence, let out a heartfelt sigh.
"Egg Groups? Egg Groups… what a good name. This Corviknight must really know his stuff about Pokémon breeding."
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