Chapter 149: The Purpose of a Discipline (Part 1)

Before Chen Ou's voice had even faded, a sea of hands shot up from the audience all at once, reminiscent of the swarming zombies grabbing at flying aircraft in World War Z. Chen Ou's mouth twitched slightly, and then he spotted White standing in the crowd with her hand raised high—very high indeed. Chen Ou cast an inquiring look her way.

The two of them hadn't discussed any form of interaction prior to the class. So what on earth was White doing?

Chen Ou and White exchanged glances. White met his gaze with a look of earnest determination.

[It seems she genuinely has a question to ask...]

Although he couldn't quite fathom why White had chosen this particular moment to ask a question, since she wanted to ask, he would let her.

"The fourth row, the student in the white shirt with a Chimchar sitting on her shoulder—you can go first."

That's right, the Chimchar was still perched on White's shoulder. As a side note, it had hopped over from Cynthia's shoulder to White's.

The little fellow was terribly clingy, though thankfully it wasn't picky about who it attached itself to...

White stood up in response and took a microphone from the host at the front of the stage. Then she said, "Dr. Chen Ou, I'd like to ask: the roles played by legendary Pokémon, as you mentioned, are things we can more or less understand through literature. But our problem lies in the fact that ordinary people simply have no way to come into contact with legendary Pokémon, and for most people, a legend remains nothing more than a legend throughout their entire lives. So, for those of us who aspire to dedicate ourselves to research like yours, how are we supposed to approach these legendary Pokémon?"

One has to admit, this was a remarkably high-level question, and a crucial one at that.

Clearly, this was a question concerning practical application, and it pinpointed the greatest bottleneck.

Legendary Pokémon are called legendary precisely because, in the eyes of most—or even the vast majority of—people, they exist only in legends.

Not everyone is Chen Ou or Ash. Many people spend their entire lives searching without ever finding a trace of them.

They are like entities existing only in the myths of this world—found in literature, murals, and the stories told by the elderly. Passed down by word of mouth, they resemble elusive, ethereal symbols. They do not exist in the present world; they exist only in the imagination. If not for the occasional sighting reports that surface before the public every few years, legendary Pokémon might not even retain the "Pokémon" part of their name anymore.

They would just be legends.

Therefore, the issue isn't whether studying legendary Pokémon has meaning; the key question is... how does one find a legendary Pokémon?

After the question was posed, the students in the audience began to whisper among themselves, and the murmur of many voices swelled into a massive, buzzing drone. It was as irritating as it was unsettling.

Meanwhile, the professors in the front row, along with Blue and the others, began to ponder the question.

"Oak, is this child... really Chen Ou's assistant?" Professor Rowan asked with a puzzled expression as he watched White, who was standing and gazing up at Chen Ou with her chin held high.

"A good question, isn't it? I'd actually love to see how little Ou interprets this," Professor Oak said with considerable appreciation.

Professor Carolina nodded as well, indicating her agreement with Professor Oak's assessment.

On the other side, Fennel looked from White to Chen Ou on the stage, a look of worry flickering in the depths of her eyes.

Dr. Burnet, sitting beside her, patted her shoulder to reassure her.

"Don't worry, hasn't every person sitting here answered this question before? Is the Z-move popular in the Alola region really in need of large-scale research? Can Mega Evolution in the Kalos region be subjected to mass research? Can Galar's Dynamax, which is restricted to small-scale actual combat, become a mainstream research project?"

Dr. Burnet looked with a smile at the young girl who, despite her youth, had already become a doctor. "Every single one of us has answered this question. At its core, this question is merely asking about the accessibility of research—it's just the dividing line between mainstream and niche research."

Fennel carefully considered the core of the question and realized it was indeed the case. The significance of this question lay in categorization, not in determining the life or death of an academic discipline.

Cynthia, sitting in the audience, showed not a single trace of worry as she looked at Chen Ou on stage. Instead, she watched with keen interest as Chen Ou wore an expression of relief.

Clearly, that fellow Chen Ou had already prepared his thoughts on White's question beforehand, though it seemed White hadn't given him a heads-up.

Noting Chen Ou's expression, Cynthia felt no need to worry and simply prepared to listen to his upcoming response.

"That is truly a great question," Chen Ou said with a relieved sigh, followed by a smile.

His words once again drew the attention of everyone in the hall back to himself. The auditorium, which had previously been as noisy as a gathering of countless flies, fell silent once more. Clearly, most people present were filled with anticipation for what Chen Ou was about to say.

"My theories have always belonged to niche research."

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire hall fell dead silent.

The students' brows furrowed. Then, another wave of murmurs broke out.

Daisy's brow furrowed as well.

Obviously, Chen Ou framing it this way could hardly be considered good for his own career development.

"What Chen Ou said is the truth," Blue's voice suddenly rang out.

Daisy and the people nearby all looked toward the Viridian Gym Leader, eager to hear his insights.

Blue paid no mind to the gazes of those around him, simply looking at his older sister and saying, "You have to understand, Divine Beasts—or legendary Pokémon—are inherently scarce and rare. Those capable of seeing them are as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns, and those who manage to survive and return after seeing them are naturally the rarest of the rare among the rare. To pursue Chen Ou's line of research, one inevitably needs people of this caliber: the strength to protect oneself, the luck to find them, and the disposition to win their approval. All three are indispensable. People like that are exceedingly rare to begin with."

"Chen Ou's research can be said to be a niche within a niche. You've known this all along; you're just letting your anxiety cloud your judgment," Blue said, looking at his sister with a helpless expression.

And then there was Red, who was still angry at Chen Ou. It was absurd that he hadn't resolved this issue after so much time. To this day, Yellow and Misty were still up on the mountain; if he didn't visit frequently to check on the situation there, he really would have thought that fellow Red had managed to win over both women.

The overwhelmed Red naturally hadn't paid attention to Chen Ou, but this was also why he trusted Chen Ou. In Red's words: "Chen Ou won't be stumped by a trifle like this."

Chen Ou stood in silence on the stage. As the audience grew slightly quieter, Chen Ou spoke: "People capable of communicating on equal terms with divine beasts will always be a minority. This academic field does not fear being passed down through a single disciple per generation, as long as it continues to exist."

The audience fell silent once again.