A hand stopped Xia Hunao just as he was about to put away the table. Looking up, he saw an old man with white hair and beard staring intently at the paper in Xia Hunao’s hand.
Xia Hunao handed the attribute-resistance table he had just written down to the elder.
The elder nodded as he read, “Good, very good. Your summary is accurate. Did you come up with this yourself?”
Xia Hunao nodded, “Yes, I summarized it myself.”
The system hid in his heart, “What does this have to do with you? This is clearly Ren’s credit.”
Xia Hunao pouted, “What does this have to do with Ren? I’ve already reached the Lingyao Star, can he still chase me here?”
To this thick-skinned statement, the system could only agree.
After the elder finished reading the entire resistance table, he pointed to a column and asked, “This, are you sure about this?”
Xia Hunao followed the elder’s finger. The content in that column was the effect of Dark-type attacks on Steel-type, and Xia Hunao had written ‘normal’ in that column.
Xia Hunao trusted the table given by the system. Moreover, Greninja was a Water/Dark type Pokémon, so how could Xia Hunao have a problem with this!
Xia Hunao nodded affirmatively, “I confirm there’s no problem.”
The elder withdrew his finger, “Do you know what the current textbooks say?”
Xia Hunao naturally knew what the textbooks said. In the current Pokémon textbooks, Dark-type attacks are super effective against Steel-type Pokémon.
Xia Hunao had also questioned this at first, but he hadn’t voiced it. What good would it do if he said it? Would they revise the textbooks? Absolutely not. To deal with the college entrance exam, he just had to learn what the textbooks taught and write accordingly if it appeared on the test. As for battles, of course, he would follow his own table.
The system’s explanation for this matter was simply to display attribute comparison tables from two eras.
One was from the fifth generation, and the other was from the sixth generation. The biggest difference between the two generations was the appearance of the Fairy type.
...
On the train, the elder continued to ask Xia Hunao, “Then why did you come to this conclusion?”
Xia Hunao hadn’t anticipated such a question and was momentarily speechless. The elder then took out a证件 (zhèngjiàn - identification document) from his chest pocket and handed it to Xia Hunao.
Xia Hunao’s eyes widened as he looked at the name on the证件. The elder’s name was Zheng Hongde, the Dean of the Imperial Capital Pokémon Research Institute, and also the President of the Ming Long Nation Pokémon Research Association.
“No wonder I found you familiar, Elder. So that’s who you are… My apologies, my apologies.”
Taking back his证件 from Xia Hunao, Zheng Hongde asked, “You’re quite the smooth talker. Can you tell me now why you came to this conclusion?”
How could Xia Hunao explain? Because Ren had newly introduced the Fairy type, and to balance it, he changed the resistance relationship between Dark and Steel types? He’d be sent to a mental hospital for that.
However, Zheng Hongde was clearly unwilling to let Xia Hunao off the hook. In this situation, Xia Hunao had no choice but to rack his brain and come up with a plausible explanation to appease this Director Zheng.
“Well, the discovery of the Fairy type was about ten years ago. Since a new type was discovered, it would inevitably affect other existing types.”
Zheng Hongde agreed with Xia Hunao’s statement but thought it had no direct bearing on Xia Hunao’s table.
Xia Hunao continued to fabricate, “After I got into high school, I calculated that if the existing relevant textbooks were indeed correct, then the Steel type was a bit too strong. Steel-type Pokémon have very strong defensive capabilities. If they also have strong resistance to other types of energy, it would be unfair to other types.”
This was not Xia Hunao making things up randomly. After all, if you checked the Pokédex, you would find that Pokémon whose primary type is Steel generally have stronger defense than attack.
“So your data is from theoretical calculations?”
Xia Hunao shook his head, “No, I experimented. I once borrowed a Smeargle and used its Sketch ability to imitate other types of moves. The conclusions I reached were generally consistent with this table.”
Saying that, Xia Hunao pointed to another table, “Look, according to my experiments, the compatibility between Ghost and Steel types is also different from before.”
Zheng Hongde also looked at the Ghost type row as Xia Hunao pointed.
Xia Hunao’s explanation seemed plausible, but upon closer inspection, some issues arose.
“If your theory is correct, then ten years ago, the type system in this world was already unbalanced.”
Once Xia Hunao found a thread, his mind started working quickly, “The Lingyao Star is constantly changing. Perhaps hundreds or thousands of years ago, Ice-type could deal normal damage to Fire-type.”
Although this explanation was forced, it was somewhat reasonable. Biological evolution and the reactions between energies are not easily understood. Under the interference of world rules, it wasn’t impossible for attributes to maintain a subtle balance.
Perhaps ten years ago, before the Fairy type was discovered and researched, its resistances were completely different from what they are now.
Zheng Hongde nodded with great satisfaction, “One last question. Moves of the Normal type are ineffective against Ghost types. How did you use Sketch to conduct your experiment?”
Xia Hunao was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, “Elder Zheng, stop testing me. ‘Normal-type moves are ineffective against Ghost types’ means that Normal-type moves cannot hit Ghost-type Pokémon. It doesn’t mean that the Sketch ability, which is classified as Normal-type, cannot sketch Ghost-type moves. Besides, Ghost-type moves are not exclusive to Ghost-type Pokémon.”
After hearing Xia Hunao’s reply, Zheng Hongde’s satisfaction became even more apparent, “Young man, you are very good. I have met many people over the years who spout some theories they concocted and try to show off. However, when it comes to details or even common sense, they become hesitant and unable to explain clearly. Although your table may not be entirely accurate, it is evident that you have some foundation.”
Xia Hunao felt that the misunderstanding had grown too large with Zheng Hongde’s praise, but what could he do?
Zheng Hongde folded the table and put it in his pocket, “How about you give this table to this old man?”
“Perhaps I could write another one, sir. This one is for my future planning.”
As Xia Hunao redrew the table, Zheng Hongde praised again, “Hmm, your handwriting is good. There aren’t many young people nowadays who write so well.”
After collecting the table redrawn by Xia Hunao, Zheng Hongde asked, “We’ve been talking for a while, and I still don’t know your name, young man.”
“Director Zheng, my name is Xia Hunao…”
“Xia Hunao, hmm, it sounds familiar…”
“Oh, you know me?”
“You’re Xia Tianjue’s son, aren’t you? I know your father. He’s a good researcher. I didn’t expect his son to have such abilities. But you shouldn’t be very old, should you?”
When it came to such matters, Xia Hunao felt a bit embarrassed, as he was a dropout.
After learning the full story, Zheng Hongde smiled, “It’s nothing. It’s not the only way to be excellent by getting into a Pokémon university. How about you come with me for a trip?”
“Go where?”
Zheng Hongde did not speak, but simply smiled in silence.
...
They both alighted from the train at the Liu Ling City train station. Seeing that someone was waiting for them at the exit, Xia Hunao asked, “Grandpa, what are you doing in Liu Ling City?”
Zheng Hongde still remained silent, instead leading Xia Hunao to a conspicuously extraordinary business van.
Sitting in the car, Xia Hunao placed his hands on his legs. If one observed carefully, they would notice his feet trembling slightly.
Although Xia Hunao could remain composed in front of Ou Haining because Ou Haining was very close to Hu Jing, and Xia Hunao was sure there would be no negative consequences for him, who was the elder sitting beside him now? Not to mention Xia Hunao alone, even if Xia Tianjue, Hu Jing, Ou Haining, and others were included, they would amount to nothing.
The person sitting in the passenger seat observed Xia Hunao through the rearview mirror, seemingly trying to discern what was so extraordinary about him that this important figure would bring him along.
The atmosphere in the car became peculiar. Zheng Hongde sat at ease, Xia Hunao was filled with anxiety, the researcher was observing Xia Hunao, and there was the driver. None of the four spoke, only the sound of the engine filled the car.
Just as Xia Hunao was about to lose his composure, the car stopped at the opportune moment.
Xia Hunao himself didn't know how he got out of the car. He only realized he was in a conference room when he came to his senses.
The researchers around looked at this incongruous figure and couldn’t understand why such a little guy was here.
Zheng Hongde coughed twice, “I’m here today to have you test this thing.” Saying that, he took out Xia Hunao’s table.
A researcher beside him took the table, “Elder Zheng, you could have just given us instructions on what to test, why did you have to come in person?”
“You’ll know after you test it.”
Researchers are people who deal with data and tables all the time. With just a few glances, this researcher understood the significance of the table and immediately went to conduct the test.
To be fair, it was a very simple matter for the research institute to test for changes in known data. Before long, the researcher returned and handed the table back to Zheng Hongde, “Elder Zheng, the results are out. This table is correct.”
Zheng Hongde nodded, “Show it to them. This is a mistake in our work.”
The researcher projected the table onto the large screen. The researchers present quickly spotted the key points and were all astonished, “How is this possible?”
Zheng Hongde sighed, “You all have considerable ability in research, but you lack the courage to question authority. You are incapable of doubting common knowledge that has been around for hundreds of years. This discovery has taught us all a lesson.”