Chapter 125: An Unremarkable Day

Chen Ou watched as the girl named Eri cried out in surprise, asking with genuine interest, "Do you know me?"

Eri suddenly realized that everyone's eyes were fixed upon her. Her face flushed, and she reined in her fanatical demeanor, answering with a composed expression, "I have heard of your achievements from my uncle. You made a stunning impression at the Research Summit. I saw you in a commemorative group photo from the event that my uncle keeps."

Chen Ou nodded, not bothering to ask who her uncle was. Such questions held little meaning for him. After all, besides Cynthia, he hadn't really interacted with anyone else at the summit.

Everyone had originally planned to chat with this newly appointed doctor during the next day’s excursion to build a rapport. However, Chen Ou hadn't gone on the trip at all, choosing instead to head to Alamos Town for a "happy and pleasant" adventure with Cynthia.

Therefore, Chen Ou would never proactively ask who Eri’s uncle was. Unless it was a regional-level professor whose face immediately came to mind at the mention of a name, Chen Ou had no impression of them. And the children of those regional professors would surely not have taken this long to recognize who he was.

It wasn't that Chen Ou was boasting, but the "big shots" in the field placed great importance on their peers. Children in such families would naturally be influenced and learn more, and Chen Ou was someone on par with those elites.

As for the regional professors, thanks to Professor Oak’s intentional or unintentional introductions, Chen Ou was already familiar with most of them. Even for someone like Professor Juniper, whom he didn't contact often, Professor Oak would still show Chen Ou her papers.

These things were useful for future meetings. Otherwise, what would they talk about when they met? If Chen Ou were to walk up and say, "Ah! Professor Juniper! You look beautiful today!"—the words weren't wrong, but they lacked the scholarly air expected of them.

Thus, most regional professors knew more than just each other's existence; they had to memorize each other's theories or viewpoints. They weren't afraid of conflicting opinions; they were only afraid of having no opinions at all.

"I have also heard about your research findings and direction from my uncle. I am very interested in this field and hope to seek your guidance," Eri said, skipping the pleasantries and getting straight to her request to learn.

"No problem," Chen Ou agreed readily. "I was invited by Professor Oak to give a couple of lectures to everyone anyway. Answering questions is part of my duty as a teacher."

It was clear that Eri felt a wave of relief. She knew her request was somewhat abrupt, but when facing such a giant in the field, telling an eager student to hold back her questions would be like killing her.

Chen Ou naturally understood the young girl's thoughts, which was why he agreed. Besides, a fangirl in the research field—this was a first for him.

"Thank you very much!" Eri bowed politely.

"Just doing my duty," Chen Ou replied with a wave and a smile.

Throughout the class, apart from a few who were shocked upon hearing the name "Chen Ou," most of the students had no idea who he was. This wasn't really their fault; Chen Ou’s fame hadn't yet reached a household level.

This was because the paper he had presented at the Research Summit hadn't been published yet. There was no helping it; papers require verification, and the content of Chen Ou’s research was not easy to verify. They couldn't just go out and find Mew or Darkrai for confirmation, so they had to rely on existing literature.

However, it was likely to be published soon; or rather, the scholars tasked with verifying the paper had finally decided to give up on their impossible struggle. In general, there were no major issues, and Professor Oak and other experts had vouched for the paper's accuracy. More importantly, while Darkrai was hard to track down, they had managed to find plenty of records regarding Mew and the Tree of Beginning.

"Alright, alright! Students!" Erika clapped her hands, drawing everyone's attention away from Chen Ou and Eri. "You are still in my class. Please do not announce to everyone that you intend to attend another teacher's lectures; the teacher might get jealous, you know~" She added, feigning a heartbroken expression.

Erika's antics made the students laugh, and they jokingly tried to comfort her.

"Professor Erika, we won't abandon you!"

"Professor Erika is the most beautiful!"

Erika laughed and led the way, with the students following in a boisterous crowd. Eri wanted to follow Chen Ou, but she was pulled away by Yuzuki.

Eri was, of course, a million times reluctant, but since her best friend had intervened, she couldn't be too stubborn. Plus, Chen Ou had already said he would be lecturing at Celadon University, so she didn't feel like she had lost her chance. She offered Chen Ou an apologetic bow and followed Yuzuki.

Chen Ou thought the girl was far too fond of bowing, or perhaps just too formal. But it wasn't necessarily a bad thing, so he didn't stop her. He and Bianca lingered at the back of the group, acting as guards.

Bianca looked at Chen Ou teasingly, "What? Does Professor Chen Ou feel regretful now that he doesn't have a beautiful student to keep him company?"

Chen Ou chuckled lightly, "Aren't you here to keep me company?"

Bianca’s face flushed; she clearly hadn't expected Chen Ou to say that. Still, she retorted, "Haha, are you satisfied having a beautiful girl like me for company?"

"You're overthinking it," Chen Ou stretched and said, "I meant that whether you're a beautiful girl or not, you are my student. As a teacher, I am not alone."

Bianca glared at him fiercely and turned to play with the Chimchar instead. Chen Ou was happy for the peace. He walked forward with a smile, silently praying that he wouldn't run into any more strange occurrences; with so many people, he wasn't sure he could protect them all.

On the other side, Yuzuki glanced quietly at Chen Ou and whispered into Eri’s ear, "Eri, what does this handsome professor specialize in?"

Eri looked back at the lazy Chen Ou and said, "His research focus is on Legendary Pokémon. He is a mythologist."

Yuzuki looked at her strangely, "A mythologist? I remember you telling me before that mythologists are just a bunch of empty talkers. Even though they've compiled a lot of important documents, they essentially haven't made any real contributions... and they certainly don't have any results. After all, they’ve never even seen a Legendary Pokémon."