Chen Kai knocked on the door for a long time before Zhao Mingzhu finally responded:
"Xiao Kai, what's up?"
Opening the door, Zhao Jie walked out.
Her white lab coat was wrinkled, as if it had been crumpled into a ball and then casually straightened and put on. Several buttons on the lab coat were misaligned, making her look quite comical. Her pants were also incredibly wrinkled, and the cuffs were stained with some dust and dirt. She shuffled in a pair of old slippers, the heels of which were flattened from being stepped on, making a "clack-clack" sound as she walked.
Looking at her appearance, Chen Kai felt a bit amused, but since he was there to ask for Helping Hand, he didn't dare to say much.
"Zhao Jie, it's like this..."
Chen Kai omitted some details, simply explaining the recent events regarding Xiao Mei's Mega Evolution.
"So! You discovered significant changes in that ite!
And then you hid it from me?!"
Zhao Jie practically roared.
Chen Kai awkwardly scratched his head: "It's not that I wanted to hide it from you, I just wanted to succeed on my own and give you a surprise, hehe."
Chen Kai's original intention was indeed to wait until Xiao Mei successfully achieved Mega Evolution before demonstrating it to Zhao Jie.
Now, his attempt to show off had failed, and he even had to seek Zhao Jie's Helping Hand.
"Hehe your big head!"
Zhao Jie composed herself and asked, "So, what's the specific situation now?"
Chen Kai found a relatively empty room and demonstrated it to Zhao Jie.
When the keystone and the Ampharos mega evolution stone emitted light, Zhao Jie's eyes widened like brass bells, her eyeballs seemingly about to pop out of their sockets as she stared intently at the two beams of light, her gaze filled with disbelief.
Her eyes widened like brass bells, her eyeballs seemingly about to pop out of their sockets as she stared intently at the two beams of light, her gaze filled with disbelief.
"This... This is?!"
Zhao Jie was already somewhat incoherent.
Although Chen Kai's ite had a slight connection with Flaaffy's ite before, it usually required instruments to detect that the ite was related to Pokemon and trainers.
Now, just by looking with the naked eye, it was clear that this ite was definitely useful for Pokemon, and very useful!
She might even be able to secure a place in the Pokemon Research Institute with this miraculous ite!
Thinking of this, her breathing quickened. She took a pair of instruments from the room.
She tested the keystone and the mega evolution stone, which emitted light, for a long time, and then tested Chen Kai and Xiao Mei for a long time.
Zhao Jie frowned deeply, staring at the instrument, and muttered to herself, "This... this is truly..."
Chen Kai and Xiao Mei felt a little panicked hearing this.
"Is there a big problem?"
Zhao Jie waved her hand: "Oh, no big problem, it's just that I've never seen this form of energy fluctuation before.
This energy fluctuation is different from any known energy on Blue Star, and my instruments here cannot detect the specific situation. We'll have to make a trip to Da City; perhaps they can measure it there."
"Phew--" Chen Kai let out a long breath; he had thought something was seriously wrong.
Chen Kai remembered that, according to the setting, mega evolution stones were not native products, but came from outer space.
Zhao Jie put down the instruments in her hand and pulled Chen Kai, ready to leave.
"Let's go! Let's hurry to Da City. If Da City doesn't work, we'll have to go to Yu City or Cheng City!"
Chen Kai struggled free: "Wait a minute, Zhao Jie, it's not the weekend today, I haven't been dismissed from school yet?"
Zhao Jie was a little displeased: "Tsk, then I'll go talk to that old principal."
Chen Kai quickly advised her: "It's Friday today. We'll go to Da City after classes this afternoon. I've been failing to use this item, and I'm eager for you to help me find a way to succeed."
Zhao Jie sighed and said helplessly, "Alright, I'll wait for you at the school gate this afternoon."
Chen Kai quickly left. He always felt that Zhao Jie was somewhat like a mad scientist.
Although he wasn't a model student, he had never skipped class.
That afternoon, at the gate of Zining High School, Chen Kai looked around but didn't see Zhao Jie.
Just as he wondered what had happened to Zhao Jie, a car stopped in front of him.
Although Chen Kai didn't recognize the cars on Blue Star, he could somewhat tell that this car was quite expensive.
The car window rolled down, revealing Zhao Jie's face; she was still as unkempt as ever:
"Get in quickly, let's go."
Chen Kai got into the car under the surprised gazes of several classmates.
"Zhao Jie, where did you get this car?" Chen Kai remembered that Zhao Jie had been in Sichuan Province for less than a month, right?
"Borrowed."
Zhao Jie changed the subject: "Xiao Kai, that ite of yours, did you really find it on Zining Mountain?
Specifically, where did you pick it up?"
Chen Kai naturally couldn't tell the truth, so he just played dumb: "Uh, I was just wandering around the mountain, I can't remember the exact spot, but I've only come across this one so far."
Zhao Jie said with some regret, "That's too bad. I've been acquiring these ites globally these past few days, but I've only managed to get a few domestically. They're very rare, and it seems some people abroad are also buying them up in large quantities.
This afternoon, I analyzed that energy fluctuation, and I suspect these two ites can connect trainers and Pokemon, greatly increasing Pokemon's combat power.
The increase will be very significant! Much more than conventional items!"
Chen Kai asked curiously, "Hey, Zhao Jie, have you collected any of these ites? What do they look like?"
Zhao Jie gave Chen Kai a set of photos while waiting at a traffic light.
Most of them were keystones. Only three were mega evolution stones, and Chen Kai couldn't even recognize the colors of several of those Evolution Stones.
It seems there are even more Mega Evolution forms on this Blue Star that are beyond Chen Kai's knowledge!
It was already dark when they arrived in Da City.
Chen Kai didn't even eat dinner before being dragged to a Research Institute.
Fortunately, he had already communicated with his parents by phone.
A group of people at the Research Institute studied him and Xiao Mei for several hours.
Everyone was greatly astonished.
However, they couldn't immediately decipher the principle of these two ites, nor did they have any solution to help Chen Kai.
They made many attempts, changing Pokemon, and even changing people, but it was all in vain.
Finally, Zhao Jie had a flash of inspiration and suggested: "Perhaps it's related to the power of the bond between a Pokemon and its trainer?"
"Miss Zhao, this is too absurd! How can such an abstract concept generate such powerful energy?" a researcher said with disdain in his tone.
"Exactly, we are researchers, we should explain phenomena using scientific methods and theories, not propose such baseless conjectures," another researcher echoed.
"Then do you have any solutions?" Zhao Jie asked.
Everyone was speechless.
Zhao Jie continued to speak to herself: "I think, according to a typical plot, bonds and such need pressure!
Xiao Kai, I'll arrange a match for you with the Da City Gym Leader tomorrow!"
Chen Kai didn't know how to solve it either, but Zhao Jie's solution was a bit abstract, though it certainly fit the typical plot progression!
Battle, then evolve!