Elena was just about to dive into the research topic Lorze had proposed when she was imdiately called back by her own daughter.
Anna Lee: "Mom! Don't you dare leave yet! Tell us what the hell you just figured out!"
Elena let out a long sigh and replied: "Did you see him ntion the move Return? How do you not get it yet?"
Anna Lee: "I've never used that move in my life, how am I supposed to understand?"
Xue Tong: "I think I understand now too."
Little Xue: "???"
Anna Lee: "???"
Anna Lee: "How did everyone suddenly beco a genius? Are we the only two Muggles left?"
Anna Lee: "Goddess Xue Tong, spill it."
Xue Tong: "The logic is simple. The power of the move Return increases as the relationship between a Pokémon and its Trainer heats up. This ans that by studying the power levels of Return at different stages, we can mathematically quantify the value of 'Emotional Energy.' That's it, right?"
Elena: "Bingo. Also, Xue, make sure your Eevee learns Return imdiately. I need the power data from that move the exact mont it evolves. That specific value will be the 220 points Lorze ntioned."
Little Xue: "I can do that, but how am I supposed to know when Eevee's Friendship has reached the threshold? I can't exactly skip sleep every single night to test if it'll evolve, can I?"
Elena: "I'm not entirely sure about that part myself. Let Lorze answer; he's the expert here."
Even Elena felt a bit bizarre saying that. A world-class professional researcher like her was actually deferring to a high schooler as the ultimate authority? Was she being serious?
Xue Yi felt even weirder. Just a month ago, Lorze was a "manipulative fuckboy" who did nothing but tease her. How the hell did he transform into a legendary expert that even the pros bowed down to overnight?
You're an ordinary guy with no resources or background. It's one thing to be a beast in the arena, but why are you a god at research too?
Doesn't this make all of us who have infinite funding but zero results look like total trash?
Xue Yi felt incredibly reluctant, consulting Lorze with a tone thick with resentnt.
Little Xue: "Fine then, Mr. Expert! Care to give a solid tric?"
Lorze: "There is a tric. When you can perfectly understand every single word your Eevee says, it ans your Friendship is basically at the threshold. That's when you should start taking it out for nightly moonlight baths."
Xue Yi was dumbfounded when she read that: "How long is that supposed to take? Normally, it takes a Trainer and a Pokémon at least a year or two of living together day and night before they can understand each other, right?"
Xue Yi glanced at the Eevee curled up in her lap, sleeping. She was the first human Eevee had seen since birth, so the bond was already high, but she could still only barely guess what the little fox wanted.
As for a full, fluent conversation? God only knows how long that would take. She had zero confidence she could pull it off within a year.
If Eevee couldn't evolve within a year, didn't that an she'd be barred from every rookie tournant in the circuit?
She wanted to follow in her sister's footsteps and make a na for herself in her debut year!
Lorze: "Normally, yes, it takes a year or two. But there are short-cuts. For example, the item Soothe Bell can effectively accelerate Friendship growth. Also, feeding it Hondew Berries makes it much easier for it to bond with its Trainer."
Little Xue: "Hondew Berries? Let look that up..."
Little Xue: "Wait, that's wrong! The wiki says those berries have side effects! Long-term consumption leads to a decline in physical stamina. Are you seriously trying to scam ?"
Lorze: "Stop checking the wiki. The current scientific community hasn't even discovered Emotional Energy yet; how the fuck are they supposed to know the true value of those berries?"
Little Xue: "Then how the hell do YOU know...?"
Lorze: "Because I'm the expert~. [Hands on hips]"
Little Xue: "Wow."
Little Xue: "But what if Eevee's physical condition actually craters?"
Lorze: "Is your Eevee so fragile greenhouse flower? If its fitness drops, just train it back up. The warning said 'long-term' use. Are you planning on being a lazy sack of shit who never moves a muscle?"
Little Xue: "Fine... I'll trust you one more ti."
Xue Yi grew even more resentful. She felt Lorze was incredibly impatient with her, while he treated her sister with total devotion and respect. Hmph...
But she chose to believe him anyway. No one on the planet understood this better than he did. Since she was already committed to the Umbreon route, why hold back now? She might as well go all in with him.
Anyway, through their exchange, the evolution conditions for Umbreon were finally clear. The cultivation thod and the testing tric were provided. Lorze had fulfilled his contractual obligations perfectly. Now, it was up to the Snowhide research labs to see if they could replicate his theories.
Mother Xue (Xue Xu) never expected Lorze to provide this much granular detail.
She had assud he only had a vague conceptual idea. She didn't think a high schooler could possibly know the specifics; she'd only reached out to him on a whim to see what he had.
But the boy had arranged everything—from the training regi to the diagnostic tools. If these theories were verified, they would bring the Snowhide Corporation much more than just a new Pokémon evolution.
He had basically handed them an entire industrial chain.
Think about it: once the "Emotional Energy Test" becos the industry standard, where would people go to test their Pokémon's bond?
Snowhide Corporation would be the only entity on Earth capable of doing it.
They would have an absolute, global monopoly!
Do you understand the level of astronomical profit hidden behind the word "Monopoly"?
And then there were the Hondew Berries. For decades, they had been treated as "trash fruit," or even harmful substances for Pokémon. No one bothered to research or cultivate them.
Now, with a single sentence, Lorze had revealed their true purpose as if he'd known it all along.
As for how he knew these secrets...
Honestly, Mother Xue was too smart to ask. It was obvious the boy was guarding his secrets. Prying further would only breed resentnt and ruin their relationship.
All she knew was that if Hondew Berries really held hidden value, the comrcial opportunity was massive.
To put it simply: find a way to strip the "stamina-lowering" components, refine the rest into a pill, and you have a premium product that raises Friendship with zero side effects.
A one-of-a-kind product on the market!
This little guy... how many more heart-stopping surprises is he going to drop on before he's satisfied?
Mother Xue started to feel a sense of frantic urgency.
She realized the contract she'd drafted for Lorze was way too loose. It had zero binding power. If another corporation saw his value and offered a higher price to poach him...
Could she really afford to let a talent like this walk away?
Mother Xue desperately wanted to draft a new contract right now—to buy him. To buy the man himself!
But she still had lingering doubts.
If Umbreon worked, if Emotional Energy was real, and if the berries were truly valuable, she'd pay any price to sign him.
But right now, these were all just theories. What if none of it could be replicated? She'd be lighting a fortune on fire for nothing.
It was a gamble, but Snowhide was rich enough to play the table!
Just to be safe, Mother Xue initiated a private call with Elena to get her professional opinion on Lorze's value.
Elena wasn't surprised by the call. She picked up imdiately: "Xu, what's on your mind?"
"Don't play dumb. How much of what Lorze said do you actually believe is true?" Mother Xue asked seriously.
"All I can say is, if you want to sign him, do it right fucking now. His theory on Emotional Energy is almost certainly viable. The boy is a goddamn genius," Elena replied with total conviction.
The mont Lorze ntioned the move Return, she could already visualize the day they'd successfully asure the energy.
It was so blindingly obvious—the move literally told the world that emotions had physical power.
It was a miracle no one had connected the dots before, instead wasting decades theorizing about quantum entanglent and other bullshit...
It was the classic trap: the more you over-analyze a problem, the more you overlook the simplest truth.
Most researchers weren't Trainers. They didn't think like Trainers. Their heads were filled with formulas, trying to solve the mysteries of the universe through math while ignoring biological reality.
The entire field of Pokémon Science needed a total paradigm shift.
"I understand." After hearing Elena's answer, Mother Xue made up her mind to claim Lorze.
She returned to the group chat, silenced the bickering kids, and addressed Lorze directly.
Mother Xue: "Little Lorze, how many other people know about Emotional Energy?"
Lorze replied instantly: "Nobody. Just the people in this chat."
Mother Xue: "Good. I want to sign you as an official Snowhide Corporation Researcher right now. How does an annual salary of one hundred million bucks sound? The only condition is that your future research can only be published through Snowhide. What do you think?"
The chat, which had just cald down, exploded into total nuclear chaos.
Little Xue: "???"
Anna Lee: "???"
Xue Tong: "Oh?"
An annual salary of 100 million? What kind of fucking madness was this?!
He was only 17!
Making 100 million a year through pure rit at 17? Is he even human?!
Even Elena didn't command a price like that!
All of this just for an Umbreon?
Has Mom actually gone clinicaly insane?!
But the thing that made them realize the world had truly gone mad was Lorze's very next ssage...
Lorze: "Uh, can I say no?"
Little Xue: "???"
Anna Lee: "???"
Xue Tong: "???"
Mother Xue: "???"
Elena: "???"
You're actually going to REFUSE?!
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