Chapter 316: Perseverance and Photosynthesis
Xiu walked down the stairs in a daze, his mind obviously still not completely disengaged from the discussion about the Pokedex.
He didn't expect that just as he got down to the first floor, Daisy would come towards him with an annoyed look on her face. When she saw him coming down, she shouted with a hint of familiar resentment,
"How many times have I called you for lunch! You don't want to eat, right?"
Xiu only realized after hearing her that he had been too engrossed in the conversation with Professor Oak just now. The exchange of complex thoughts certainly required immense concentration.
In such a state, it was normal to ignore some "noise" from the outside.
"My apologies," Xiu said, tactfully offering an apology to Daisy. "I'll go and ask the Professor to come down for dinner right away." He was about to turn around and go back upstairs but was stopped by her.
"He's coming down. I saved your portions," Daisy's tone softened, no longer angry, but rather tinged with a familiar helplessness. "You two forget the time completely once you get into the lab. Don't you even know when to eat? Which is more important, the experiment or your health?"
"Health is important, health is definitely important," Xiu readily agreed, knowing that Daisy didn't like him missing meals.
Sometimes, when deep in discussion or research, he really had no choice— but he wasn't stupid enough to refute her concern, so he just followed her words and conceded.
Xiu walked towards the dining area and saw the tray with Professor Oak's meal. He subconsciously wanted to take it and said, "I'll take it upstairs to him."
Unfortunately, Daisy deftly dodged his outstretched hand and complained, "Don't think I don't know that you two don't even let go of mealtime for your discussions. Let Grandpa eat his meal in peace for once."
Xiu stood there awkwardly. He knew that Daisy was afraid that he would start talking to Professor Oak endlessly again and prevent him from eating his meal properly.
Uh… how should I put it… Xiu thought. It seems like that is indeed a very real possibility. Even though they had just finished a long talk, Xiu's brief review on the way downstairs had already generated many new questions that needed to be answered or clarified by Professor Oak.
Daisy softened when she saw his slightly sheepish expression and tried to explain, "Your portion is in the kitchen, Xiu." After saying that, she walked past him and went upstairs with the tray for her grandfather.
After she left, Xiu recovered immediately and looked back towards the stairs with a faint smile. He knew Daisy would ensure that he got fed. Thinking of this, Xiu went to the kitchen to enjoy his own lunch.
As soon as Daisy got upstairs, she complained to Professor Oak. "Grandpa, you're not eating on time again!" Daisy put the tray in her hand on his cluttered desk.
Professor Oak shifted his gaze from the data slate he was studying to Daisy and said with a warm smile, "Sorry, my dear. Inspiration is fleeting. This matter I was working on really did take priority over eating just now."
Daisy took the data slate away, put his lunch directly in front of Professor Oak, and said with affectionate helplessness, "No matter how important it is, you still have to eat."
"Okay, okay," Dr. Oak smiled. This was his granddaughter's kindness, her concern, so of course, he had to accept it.
Daisy sat aside while he ate, idly looking through the Pokédex plan the two of them had just been working on, which Oak had left on his desk.
"Grandpa, do you really want to invest so much in this?" Daisy asked, after patiently waiting until Dr. Oak had finished eating. "According to the data and projections in this plan, a considerable amount of research and development funds will be required in the early stages, and whether it will ultimately be successful in the future is another matter entirely."
"Don't worry about this, my dear. Xiu and I will take care of it," Professor Oak said, not seeming to care much about the concerns Daisy raised.
The document Daisy was looking at was the plan for the Pokedex. The earlier plan regarding the dissemination of affordable Pokémon textbooks was not written down there but had remained in the verbal communication between the two men just now.
Daisy couldn't possibly understand the full scope of these projects. For Professor Oak, it was not yet the time for Daisy or Gary to understand these complex matters.
After dinner, Xiu didn't have time to take care of other miscellaneous things. He packed up quickly and rushed to the botanical garden.
He had been busy with the Pokedex proposal for the past two days, which had resulted in the previous promise he'd made to Rinko to help with her Pokémon training being put on hold.
Now that the Pokedex plan had been finalized, Xiu felt that he might be even busier in the near future, so he had to take advantage of any free time he had now to follow up on that commitment.
When Xiu arrived at the botanical garden, he saw Rinko and her Gloom on the flat grassy area in front of the villa, looking like they were intently studying something, practicing.
Seeing this, Xiu did not rush over. Instead, he walked slowly, observing her and Gloom.
Rinko did not notice Xiu's arrival. After receiving Xiu's hint about Grass Knot a few days ago, she had evidently studied it for several days and checked a lot of references.
She finally seemed to understand why he had proposed that specific skill for her Gloom. And now, she was testing whether Gloom could successfully execute it.
Gloom faced the gentle sunlight shone on it, giving its petals a layer of soft green glow. This light was not intensely strong, but it seemed to contain the very power of life, and it gave people a feeling of vitality just by looking at it.
This ability, Photosynthesis, was an instinct that almost every Grass-type Pokémon possessed to some degree. However, for some, it could not truly be considered a combat-effective skill; that was often a problem of the effect's potency and speed.
Gloom also had to do its "homework" every day by absorbing sunlight; this was a habit left over from its time as an Oddish. It accumulated energy by basking in the sun.
This was one reason why Grass-type Pokémon were often considered easy to raise by novice trainers: basking in the sun was often equated to eating for them, and they could even seem to grow without consuming much food.
But this passive method of accumulating energy was too slow for serious training and had largely been superseded by optimized diets in modern cultivation methods.
In fact, even Grass-type Pokémon in the wild didn't simply gain all their energy from basking in the sun. They also obtained energy from consuming plants, and some Grass-type Pokémon were even part-time carnivores, such as Bellsprout and Venusaur.
Seeing that Gloom had almost finished accumulating energy from the sun, Rinko said, "Okay, let's try again, Gloom."
As soon as she finished speaking, the green light on Gloom's body seeped back into its core, and it soon returned to its original appearance. This was just the beginning.
As the green light faded, Gloom raised its two little leaf-like hands, aiming at an open space on the ground right in front of it. There were no fancy visual effects, just a tender green vine that suddenly sprouted and grew rapidly from the earth not far in front of it.
When Rinko saw this, she didn't say anything, but walked forward and carefully dug out the newly sprouted vine. Along with the roots separated from the soil was a small, white seed, about the size of a soybean, with a fresh sprout that had just emerged from it.
After a careful inspection, Rinko put it aside and took out another, similar-looking seed from a pouch, placing it in the hole.
"Hi!" Xiu, who had been observing for a long time, finally stood up and walked over.
"Uh!" Rinko obviously hadn't noticed him approach. When she heard his voice, she turned around hurriedly. When she saw that the person coming was Xiu, she replied, a little flustered, "Xiu!"
"Have you finished the homework I left for you?" Xiu didn't hesitate, starting directly by talking about the assignment.
"Done! Wait a moment, I'll go get it," Rinko responded and ran back towards the house, leaving Gloom behind.
Xiu didn't pay much attention to Gloom at that moment. He released Abra and Scizor from their Poké Balls and said, "Find a suitable place nearby and do your thing."
As for Happiny, it was left to play with the other, gentler Pokémon that sometimes roamed the institute's backyard.