On March 13th, Lorze finally set foot on the land of Galar.
Even though spring had already arrived in the Kanto region, this land had yet to recover from the harsh winter. Many remnants of a vast expanse of white could still be seen in the field of vision. Patches of dirty white spots paved the expansive meadows, and at a glance, one couldn't even see many human buildings.
To put it with high emotional intelligence: the environment is undisturbed by humans, and the natural charm is very strong. To put it with low emotional intelligence... the economic development is actually backward, a downright backwater!
For some unknown reason, the development of the Galar region was truly too backward compared to other regions. It was hard to imagine that such a shabby place existed on the same planet as the utopian technological worlds of Kanto, Johto, and Unova.
Even in the timeline more than ten years later, this place still looked like a countryside in urgent need of revitalization. Otherwise, Champion Leon wouldn't have printed ads of all sizes all over his cape—whether it was attracting foreign investment or supporting the local economy, in the end, it was all to promote the rapid development of his hometown.
Professor Magnolia's laboratory was in Wedgehurst, and the journey to the Wedgehurst laboratory was made by a farmer raising Corviknight who gave Lorze a ride.
According to him, Corviknight is a very important transportation Pokémon in the Galar region. Come to think of it, this might be the predecessor of the Flying Taxi in the Sword and Shield timeline.
After some twists and turns, Lorze finally met Professor Magnolia—an older woman wearing glasses.
In Sword and Shield, she was already a wrinkled old granny.
But the current Professor Magnolia was a woman in her early 40s. Her coquettish charm was very strong, making Lorze unable to associate her with the aged grandmother in his impression for a moment. The only thing that hadn't changed was that face where every inch of muscle expressed a serious expression.
However, Lorze's attention was quickly drawn by someone else, because young Leon and young Sonia soon pestered the guest who had traveled from afar.
"Hello there, I am Leon, who is going to become the strongest in the world!"
"Tsk, Leon, you should get your own Pokémon first!"
"Uh uh... that kind of thing will happen eventually."
Lorze also watched the childhood sweethearts bicker with a smile—the current Champion of the Galar region is Peony, not Leon. However, the birth of the new Champion would probably be in just two or three years. After that, Leon would begin to write his undefeated legend.
"Hello, Professor Magnolia. I am Lorze, a researcher residing at the Tree of Beginning. I am very glad to come to the Galar region for academic exchange with you."
"Mhm."
Professor Magnolia remained focused on the work in her hands, just responding to Lorze rather coldly.
Actually, she was already secretly praising him in her heart, because Professor Magnolia had read Lorze's paper long ago: To be able to complete research of this level at such a young age, his future is truly boundless.
Although Lorze's paper still had some flaws: for example, the data wasn't that exhaustive. But even Professor Oak, the benchmark of the industry, wouldn't dare say his research is flawless.
After all, there is still a large blank area in the research of Fossil Pokémon, so Lorze's achievement appeared especially dazzling. Overall... the flaws did not obscure the virtues.
"As Mr. Lorze knows, my research direction is the Dynamax and Gigantamax phenomena. So... what is your area of expertise?"
"Breeding of Psychic-type Pokémon, observation of the life activities of the Tree of Beginning, and research on the habitats of local Pokémon. Currently, I am focusing on the research of Fossil Pokémon."
These words made the wives feel very ashamed. Mewtwo even rubbed her belly with a blush on her cheeks. What breeding of Psychic-type Pokémon, isn't that just banging and having sex with us❤!
"I came this time also hoping to assist you, Professor Magnolia, with the research on Dynamax."
Professor Magnolia nodded and handed a document to Lorze: "Before that, I would like Mr. Lorze to look at this paper first."
Professor Magnolia originally had a deadpan face. When handing this document to Lorze, the muscles on her face twitched twice in extreme disgust, which instead made Lorze curious.
The title of the paper was: Research on Fossil Pokémon in the Galar Region.
Dum dum dun!
Seeing this title, Lorze premonished something was wrong. He hurriedly flipped through a few pages and immediately felt the sky was falling.
That's right, these bastards in Galar actually managed to splice together those freaks from Sword and Shield after all!
Sticking the head of an ichthyosaur onto the tail of a stegosaurus, attaching the upper body of an avian dinosaur into the head of a marine beast, this is what the researchers in the Galar region did.
Granted, the author of the paper wasn't Professor Magnolia, but a group of unknown nobodies.
"Mr. Lorze, this paper hasn't been published yet. I want to hear your opinion."
"Perhaps my words will be harsh, but... isn't this just messing around? Unquestionable academic fraud! Why would this kind of thing appear?"
Regarding this, Professor Magnolia also sighed: "Foolish people wanting to catch up to the pace of geniuses, they will even resort to crooked ways. As you can see... the Galar region doesn't have much to show for itself right now. My Dynamax research is also still progressing. So your research paper on Fossil Pokémon made some people in our region feel as if they had found a priceless treasure. In order to quickly grab people's attention, they created this kind of thing."
Lorze shook his head. Actually, for him, the academic fraud was secondary. More importantly, this was an insult to living, breathing lives.
"Although I don't dare to call myself an expert, I can be considered a scholar, a Pokémon researcher. But before that, I am first a Trainer! This behavior of desecrating Pokémon... forgive me, but I cannot understand nor accept it. Perhaps the Galar region cannot be considered developed right now, but as long as every member of Galar unites... it can also develop rapidly. As for this paper, it's purely drinking poison to quench thirst!"
Professor Magnolia seemed to agree very much and nodded, but still sighed.
"The publication of this paper is no longer something I can stop. At least I protested. I just hope... Galar's academia won't become a laughingstock. Alright, after this matter... I have also confirmed that Mr. Lorze is a qualified scholar and a trustworthy partner. Please forgive my rude probing, Mr. Lorze."
Lorze also let out a long sigh, calming his agitated mood.
Compared to cursing those bastard researchers, he actually felt more pity for those Fossil Pokémon who didn't know the whole picture.
Unfortunately, the Tree of Beginning didn't have Fossil Pokémon from the Galar region, otherwise he might have been able to clear their names.
I don't know if it's thanks to the technology of the Pokémon world or what, but even spliced incorrectly, those deformed Fossil Pokémon can still live, and Dracovish among them even has quite a bit of strength-based beauty...
Although he felt it was a pity, this matter could only be dropped.
"Mr. Lorze, among the Psychic-type Pokémon unique to the Galar region, it is known that the Gigantamax phenomenon exists in Orbeetle. Could I trouble you to research the other Pokémon? I am currently researching other Gigantamax phenomena and am truly too busy to split my attention."
"Happy to help, just... I still hope to bring some Psychic-type Pokémon from you back to the Tree of Beginning for research. I will compile the results and send them to you together."
"Let's do that. There are Indeedee and Hatterene in the backyard of the laboratory. Mr. Lorze can choose the ones that catch your eye and take them away."
These words were exactly what Lorze wanted. After all, this was his main purpose for coming to the Galar region. So the young man didn't decline and gladly accepted—
"I am extremely grateful, Professor Magnolia!"