Chapter 142 Before the Lecture

"Since you happen to be here, help me brainstorm what I should talk about tomorrow," Chen Ou said, swallowing the bite of bread in his mouth, and looking over at White.

White nodded and said, "It is about time you got some advice. After all, if I remember correctly, this should be your very first time giving a formal lecture to others."

Chen Ou nodded. He truly had no prior experience with public speaking or lecturing. Back when he was a nobody, naturally no one sought him out, but now that his name was known far and wide, this sort of engagement had finally come knocking at his door.

"When I used to go out and lecture alongside Professor Juniper, she would usually take her already published findings and expand upon them with a bit of extra context to keep things fresh. After all, as the lecturer, your research should already have been thoroughly studied and dissected by everyone else," White said, tilting her head thoughtfully.

"Surely it's not that extreme..." Chen Ou scratched his head. To be honest, he still didn't have a very clear grasp of his own influence.

Hearing this, White rolled her eyes and said, "Dr. Chen Ou! Please have a realistic understanding of your current status, will you?"

She straightened her posture and continued, "You are currently the leading authority in mythology, the pioneer who filled in blank pages of academia, and even the creator of an entirely new academic field. You are a doctor standing on equal footing with Professor Juniper and Professor Elm. If you wanted to, you could walk into any region and become its chief professor."

Don't underestimate White; she had been by Professor Juniper's side for a year or two now. She was already a qualified and competent research assistant, perhaps even more proficient at this point than Crys.

Therefore, throughout their journey together, there was no rigid hierarchy between the two of them. Instead, they were essentially in a state of mutual learning.

Hearing White's words, Chen Ou could only rub the bridge of his nose. Honestly, he really hadn't expected a single paper to propel him to such heights. He had always assumed he had simply published a paper—even if its significance was monumental, capping off as an obscure little doctor would have been his ceiling.

After all, acquiring the material for that paper hadn't been all that troublesome.

The Tree of Life, Mew, and Lucario were all right there. The dream energy attracting a slightly weaker Darkrai was also well within Chen Ou's expectations. So that paper hadn't been difficult to write at all. At most, Chen Ou had just gotten into quite a few physical altercations with others back then.

Emmm, at the time, he wasn't very strong yet, and mostly he was the one getting beaten up, but he had the endurance to outlast his opponents. Much like when he fought Darkrai—he literally exhausted Darkrai until it was completely drained of stamina, and only then did he beat it up a bit before snapping some precious photographs.

As for the actual writing of the paper, he didn't contribute all that much either. He merely wrote the initial draft, and the rest was polished and revised by Daisy.

Consequently, the original plan was to list Daisy as the second author, and Professor Oak as the corresponding author.

However, when the two of them uploaded the paper, they both deleted their own names...

In Professor Oak's words:

"Sometimes, when people help you, they simply want to see you bask in the glory all by yourself."

To this day, Chen Ou could still not forget the smiling faces of Daisy and Professor Oak from that moment.

Chen Ou felt his heart turn upside down, and he barely managed to suppress the urge to burst into tears right then and there.

Suddenly, another name flashed through his mind... and he shuddered violently, snapping back to reality...

Watching Chen Ou space out, White shook her head helplessly. Over the period of time they had spent together, White had figured out this particular flaw of Chen Ou's... This guy could zone out completely regardless of time or place...

Fortunately, he still maintained his focus during actual battles, otherwise he would only be able to shout "Nice job!" or similar phrases after Growlithe and the others won. A textbook definition of a "nice" player.

However, seeing the genuinely moved expression on Chen Ou's face, White didn't rush him, simply waiting quietly for him to collect himself.

After a moment, Chen Ou snapped out of it and said apologetically to White, "Sorry about that, I zoned out again."

White gave him a sideways glance and said, "Let's put that aside for now. Have you prepared the material for your lecture?"

Chen Ou rubbed his chin in thought for a moment and said, "I basically have a rough mental outline. Aside from the content already in the paper, I can also use the incident in Alamos Town to support my theories. Though I really do need to structure my wording carefully. After all, the whole mess in Alamos Town was caused by those two space-time dragons."

White nodded noncommittally and said, "As long as you have an outline, that's fine. There will probably be plenty of things like this in the future, so you should prepare properly. I'm going to return this meal tray to Nurse Joy first. I'll come back in a bit and tell you about Professor Juniper's lecture strategies."

With that, she quickly tidied up the items on the table, picked up the tray, and walked out the door.

Watching White's retreating figure, Chen Ou let out a sigh of relief, then grabbed Rotom by the back and pulled up his contacts list.

"Aah gah gah! Don't! What are you doing! Where are you touching! You beast! Rotom!"

Rotom began to wail in a manner that was terribly prone to misunderstanding.

Chen Ou slammed a heavy palm onto Rotom's back cover and said rather helplessly, "Can you please watch fewer abnormal things of that nature? Do you believe me if I cut off your electricity and internet right now???"

"Please by all means do not, I will not do this again, please believe me," Rotom said in a flat yet sincere voice at top speed. Its desire to survive was palpable...

Chen Ou rubbed his temples in resignation, finally located the name he was looking for in his contacts, and silently placed the call.

After drafting a quick opening in his mind, the other party picked up quite swiftly. A man with short brown hair, wearing a lab coat and glasses, looking rather weathered, appeared on the screen.

Upon seeing Chen Ou, the man said happily, "Ah, Xiao Ou! I just finished reading your latest paper. It is truly exquisite, an epoch-making piece of work. By the way, if Mew and Ditto both transform into other Pokémon to breed, what kind of egg would they produce? And also..."

True to form, the man launched into a three-minute uninterrupted monologue right out of the gate...

Chen Ou smiled as he listened to the man's rambling. Finally... after the man finished chattering, Chen Ou spoke up: "Senior Brother Elm! I'm calling to ask for a favor!"

Professor Elm's attention was instantly diverted, and he asked, "What favor? Name it! As long as your senior brother can help, I will never refuse!"

Chen Ou didn't stand on ceremony with him and stated directly, "I've taken on a student here, and I'd like to get her a Snivy egg."

Professor Elm patted his own chest and said, "Small matter! Your senior brother has plenty of other things, but eggs are in endless supply!"

How utterly bold and magnanimous! These Pokémon eggs were by no means ordinary goods. Only a researcher like Professor Elm, who specialized in breeding and egg groups, could ever utter such words.

Moreover, Professor Elm naturally understood that since Chen Ou had come asking him personally, he was undoubtedly looking for the absolute best!

"Would you like to bring your apprentice over and pick one out yourself?" Professor Elm asked enthusiastically.

"No need, you can just mail it over. I have to give a lecture at Celadon University tomorrow. I won't have time to run around these next few days," Chen Ou said, looking somewhat apologetic.

"No problem at all! A lecture? Even better! I'll bring it over to you tomorrow!" Professor Elm's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and he chimed in eagerly.

"Uh, I don't have an issue with that. Just coordinate with Celadon University on your end," Chen Ou was certainly welcoming of Professor Elm; when all was said andចេញ and done, this man was solidly on his inner circle.

"Alright, it's settled! I'll head over tomorrow. Let me go make some preparations first, and I'll give you a big surprise!" With that, Professor Elm abruptly hung up the call.

Left in a state of utter confusion, Chen Ou shook his head and decided not to dwell on it any further.

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Johto, Elm Pokémon Research Laboratory

After hanging up the phone, Professor Elm rapidly clicked open another group chat named "The Seekers" and sent a message inside.

"Dr. Chen Ou will be holding a public lecture at Celadon University tomorrow!"

He dropped the teaser, and the group chat instantly exploded like a stirred-up hornet's nest...

Professor Elm smiled brightly. Silver, who was wearing goggles and holding a pool cue while coming over to help out from the side, asked, "Uncle Elm! Is there something good to laugh about?"

Professor Elm smiled as he looked at Silver and said, "Come on, let's go pick out a Snivy egg. Tomorrow I'm taking you to meet a real bigwig!"