"Hmm…" Shiro thought for a moment before carefully suggesting, "Maybe Pokémon can still complete evolution while staying inside a Poké Ball?"
Rowan stroked his beard and answered, "We tried similar experiments before, but when evolution started, the Pokémon became unstable and broke free from the Poké Ball on their own."
Unstable…
Shiro knew Pokémon could evolve inside Poké Balls. If they became unstable, then the magnetic field frequency had to be the issue.
He asked again, "Professor, the evolutionary magnetic field works within a certain frequency range, right?"
"That's correct," Rowan replied.
"Then is it possible to narrow that range and find the exact part that truly triggers evolution?"
"Uh… in theory, yes."
Rowan seemed to realize something.
For some time, he had focused only on proving that the evolutionary magnetic field was effective. After that, he had simply followed the usual steps and tested different Pokémon, and without noticing, he had stopped digging deeper into the field itself.
The electromagnetic frequency they were using was still the same rough, wide range from the beginning.
Deep down, Rowan had always worried that reducing the range might cause the field to fail. But now that the one who proposed the theory was here, and Shiro believed it would work, why not try?
If the equipment could be simplified, the magnetic field method could spread much faster.
Growing excited, Rowan called to the researchers peeking in from outside. "You all heard that. Come in and help adjust it!"
Rei and Dale rushed to the machine first. After a short explanation, Dale, who had already prepared in advance, quickly learned how to operate it. The dozen researchers who followed worked in an orderly way: some transferred Pokémon, some sorted them, and others recorded data.
By a little past seven in the evening, they achieved initial results.
The magnetic field range had been reduced by half, and they had also successfully completed an in-ball evolution experiment with a Graveler.
"Professor Rowan, aren't you going to rest?" Shiro wiped the sweat from his forehead and straightened his sore back. They could continue tomorrow.
Rowan was clearly excited, his hair messy and his eyes slightly red. He had never produced results this quickly before. "I'll stay here. Shiro, your idea was extremely accurate. Right, today might be too late. Tomorrow I'll show you around the institute…"
Before finishing, he lowered his head and continued adjusting the equipment.
Shiro sighed helplessly and stepped out of the lab.
Research was truly exhausting. Even a guess that might not work required huge amounts of time and money to prove. Fortunately, he already knew it would succeed. If all that effort had gone to waste, it would have been hard to accept.
Now he could understand Rowan's anxiety over the past twenty years. Failing again and again would make anyone restless. Still, he had not expected this slightly chubby old man with white hair and beard to have so much passion. At his age, he could easily leave the work to assistants and rest.
"Ha…" Shiro yawned as he walked.
* * *
After eating a simple meal in the dining area on the first floor and feeding his Pokémon, Shiro glanced at the dark night outside and headed to the room Rowan had arranged for him.
After washing up, he hesitated briefly and took out the laptop he carried with him.
Products made by Macro Cosmos were always high quality; the only problem was the risk of being tracked.
But now he had already left Galar, and Chairman Rose and the company had gone quiet as well, so there was no need to worry about that. He just was not sure if the laptop could still be used.
Ding!
The screen lit up as usual.
Shiro skillfully moved to open the academic website, but his finger slipped and clicked into the browser search page instead.
He was no longer in Galar, and the network he was using belonged to Rowan's research institute. He should be able to access outside information and see news from other regions. Maybe he could even learn something about Kanto and guess Agatha's purpose.
He searched for "champions of each region," and a flood of messy headlines appeared.
[Unova Champion Alder celebrates the birth of his grandson with a grand party in Floccesy Town…]
[Sinnoh Champion Allen recently stated that registered trainers of the Sinnoh League should receive better benefits.]
[Shocking! Kanto may split into two regions?]
[The president of Devon Corporation requests the Hoenn Champion to issue a one hundred million Pokédollars reward to find the missing finance director from the ship S.S. Veil…]
[Mysterious Galar releases a suspected photo of its newest Champion. Reportedly the youngest Champion ever at only twenty years old…]
Shiro's eyes felt dizzy from the scrolling text. He was about to click the shocking Kanto headline when he noticed the Galar one again.
"A photo of Galar's newest Champion?" He muttered and clicked it.
A familiar smiling face filled the screen. The young man wore a red cloak covered in company logos and held a silver Champion trophy, with the six Pokémon he had used in the finals standing behind him.
Leon.
Shiro was not surprised. Leon had always been Macro Cosmos' chosen Champion. What puzzled him was how the company and the League had explained everything to the people of Galar.
Did they say that Shiro had died in an air accident while riding Corviknight?
That sounded ridiculous.
He chuckled softly, closed the page, and opened the shocking Kanto article instead.
He disliked clickbait, but among so many headlines, this one truly made people want to click. How could Kanto split into two? He felt confused just reading the title.
The article itself, however, was long and vague. It talked about League Chairman Goodshow making polite statements with various people and mentioned upcoming meetings, while the Kanto Elite Four remained silent.
After skimming through it, Shiro frowned and began to think.
First, the known forces in Kanto were roughly divided into two sides: the League and Team Rocket.
The League looked powerful on the surface, but internally it was divided, with League trainers belonging to different factions. There might even be ancient noble families involved behind the scenes.
If Kanto split and formed another region, there would be more League positions, meaning they would have to select a new Elite Four and a new Champion.
The moment he thought of this, everything became clear.
It all connected.
Agatha's words were pushing him to compete for a position in the new region's Elite Four. Maybe the current Kanto Elite Four would also be replaced. That meant eight Elite Four seats and two Champion positions.
Team Rocket. The League factions. The powerful families.
They were all fighting for those spots.
**
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