Lorze opened the Pokédex forums.
The sheer volu of posts was staggering, but he realized Auntie Xue's strategy was working.
Most people were obsessing over the Eevee silhouettes; very few were actually reading the boring Ability updates.
It made sense. Unless a discovered trait directly affected your own Pokémon, why would you ignore a cute Eevee teaser to read about so "wild" Ability?
People only clicked on the technical threads when it concerned their own partners.
Lorze's job was to answer the genuine questions and crush the obvious shills.
He scrolled through the comnts, trying to pick out the "poison" from the "dicine." It was hard at first, so he just picked a genuine-looking user to start.
Totodile-Fan: "Researcher Lorze, you ntioned Totodile can have the Sheer Force Ability. I just realized my Totodile's Ice Fang has literally never frozen anything. Does that an it's actually a Sheer Force variant?"
Researcher Lorze: "Do you feel like your Totodile's Ice Fang hits significantly harder than it should?"
Totodile-Fan: "Yeah, it feels like a truck! I just assud my croc was naturally gifted with Ice energy."
Researcher Lorze: "Go to an official testing center and get an elental energy rating for your Totodile. Compare its damage output to other Pokémon with the sa rating. If the damage is about 30% higher but the freeze effect never procs, you've got yourself a Sheer Force hidden variant. It's an incredibly powerful offensive trait—you should completely pivot your training strategy around it."
Totodile-Fan: "Holy shit! I'm going right now! Thanks for the tip, Lorze!"
Easy. One happy user served.
Lorze smiled. Being called "Goddess Xue Tong" or "Researcher Lorze" felt pretty damn good. It was a massive ego boost.
He was officially a "Big Shot" in the community now, right up there with Xue Tong~.
Cough. Okay, maybe not that high yet. I should probably check a mirror before I get too cocky.
The Totodile guy was clearly real. But the next guy? He slled like corporate sabotage.
A user nad User Q tagged him directly.
User Q: "Hey Lorze, I see you pinned the accuracy boost for Compound Eyes at exactly 30%. What's your empirical basis for such a specific number?"
User Q: "I'm a researcher myself, albeit a minor one. My team used 100 Butterfrees to try and quantify Compound Eyes. We controlled the variables, using the sa moves like Sleep Powder. Theoretically, the Compound Eyes group should have outperford the Tinted Lens group."
User Q: "But our results were a ss. One 'Compound Eyes' Butterfree perford worse than a 'Tinted Lens' one. Individual talent and move proficiency make it impossible to create a perfectly clean testing environnt. So, how did a kid like you co up with a clean '30%' figure?"
Researcher Lorze: "That's simple. Stop using 100 Pokémon. If you reduce the test subjects to exactly one individual, you don't have to worry about the 'Individual Talent' variable at all, do you?"
User Q: "One subject? Are you high? How do you perform a comparative analysis with a single unit?"
Researcher Lorze: "It's actually two subjects in one body. Use a Ralts with Trace. Test the move with the Ability copied, then test it without. Boom. Perfect control. Variable eliminated."
User Q: "A Ralts?"
Researcher Lorze: "You could use Porygon too, if you have the high-level governnt clearance to own one. Which I assu a 'minor' researcher like you doesn't have."
User Q: "..."
User Q went radio silent for several minutes. He was likely frantically checking the logic of using Trace as a scientific tool.
It was actually... a flawless thodology.
But he was paid to be a prick, so he ca back for more.
User Q: "Even with a single Ralts, move proficiency increases with every use. Your 1,000th test shot will be more skilled than your 1st. Those data points cannot be compared side-by-side!"
Researcher Lorze: "Ever heard of cross-testing? Fire 10 shots with the Ability, then 10 shots without. Rotate the states every 10 reps. Do you really think a Pokémon becos a master in those 10 Reps? Stop being a pedantic clown."
User Q: "Even so! The 11th shot is still more proficient than the 1st! The data is inherently flawed!"
Researcher Lorze: "???"
Other Users: "???"
What the fuck are you even talking about?
By that logic, if a Pokémon is always 'learning,' then Pokémon Science is impossible. Let's all just quit research and beco Muggles.
Even classical physics operates on 'ideal' environnts. Ever heard of 'at standard atmospheric pressure'?"
It was obvious User Q was just a "Contrarian Prick." He wasn't looking for the truth; he was just trying to waste Lorze's ti.
The rest of the forum was starting to notice too. Even the Totodile guy jumped back in.
Totodile-Fan: "Are you seriously this thick? Even I know what a 'margin of error' is. You call yourself a researcher? You're a paid troll!"
User Q: "A troll? For asking valid questions? I guess everyone on this Snowhide app is just a corporate simp. Is this the level of the user base here?"
Totodile-Fan: "Yeah, and your dad is a simp. No wonder you're a 'minor' researcher."
User Q: "Minor or not, I don't pull fake numbers out of my ass to trick users!"
Totodile-Fan: "Lmao, then what's the 'real' number? If you're too incompetent to find it yourself, don't claim soone else's data is fake. Being a researcher must be easy if all you do is head-canon everyone else into being a liar."
User Q: "Fine! Even if the accuracy data is 'estimated,' explain Shell Armor!"
User Q: "Your description says: 'Protected by a hard shell, making it difficult for opponents to land critical hits.' What the fuck kind of science is that?"
User Q: "Look at the test subject: Torkoal! A Torkoal's shell is naturally hard. It's biologically designed to prevent internal damage. That's not an Ability; that's just a turtle! Does a Torkoal without the Ability just lose its shell? You're clearly just bullshitting!"
Totodile-Fan: "Hehe. No wonder you're a nobody in the field. Your brain is a total brick."
User Q: "What's that supposed to an?"
Totodile-Fan: "Has it occurred to you that Lorze used his Ralts to Trace 'Shell Armor' directly from a Torkoal? He didn't 'guess' it existed; he literally possessed the trait. He felt the effect."
User Q: "..."
User Q: "So we're just going to let 'Ralts can copy it' be the answer to everything?"
User Q: "Is this the 'Genius Researcher' the ads promised? A kid who just lucked out with a rare Pokémon?"
User Q: "Without that Ralts, what is he? He's nothing."
Totodile-Fan: "Cry harder. There are other people with Ralts, but they haven't discovered shit. Lorze is the only one with the brain to use the tool correctly."
User Q: "He just got lucky and found a specific Torkoal with a mutation. Once his 'luck' runs out, he'll never produce another new discovery again."
User Q: "I guarantee it. This 'Genius' is a one-hit wonder. A fraud fueled by viral traffic."
User Q: "Spending corporate money on a kid like this is why our national research is a joke."
Totodile-Fan: "Tsk. Big words from a small man. If Lorze makes another world-class discovery, what are you going to do?"
User Q: "I'll livestream myself doing a handstand while eating my own shit!"
Other Users: "LMAO. Savage. 10/10."
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