Pokémon: I picked up a reborn Eevee at the start of the game

Xia Chen remained silent, contemplating the fate of the two artificial intelligences.

I wanted to offer some comfort, but comforting an emotionless AI would make me seem a bit crazy, so I could only remain silent.

Whether Aurelia understood Xia Chen's thoughts or not, she changed the subject and said, "Alright, I'll take you to the lab where you did your doctoral studies on crystallization."

Xia Chen nodded, collected his thoughts, and followed.

…………

Because the crystal called [Tai Jing] only exists in the lower and bottom layers of Zone Zero, and research on it can only be done in the research institute, Xia Chen stayed there.

Because the institute was built with the long-term residence of staff in mind, its living facilities are very complete.

The only issues to consider are food and water.

The research institute has artificially cultivated tree fruits and vegetables, as well as artificially synthesized meats, but eating only these, not to mention nutrition, the taste is a big problem.

However, these problems are easy to solve. Every day, one can take the Guleton to the upper level to fish and hunt, which can be considered as going out for fresh air.

With these basic living guarantees, Xia Chen could easily stay at Research Institute Zero for a year or two.

Having settled these matters, he finally began to peruse the valuable information left by Dr. Orin regarding the phenomenon of terrestrial crystallization.

[Taijing] was named by Dr. Fautu, who discovered this crystal. After research, it was found that it originated from Talebagh, hence the name. It is simple, easy to remember, and quite fitting.

At first, they thought it was just an ordinary ore that only existed in Zone Zero, nothing special except for its unusually hard texture.

It wasn't until the discovery of another mineral—Taijing fragments—that Taijing's wondrous reaction was triggered.

The Tai Crystal Fragments are divided into different attributes. Only Pokémon that have consumed Tai Crystal Fragments can absorb the energy within the Tai Crystal Stone and complete the Tai Crystalification process.

As for why it's described as eating... well, according to records, the Leyton and Milletton were eaten like candy beans.

That's right, these two paradoxical species that first arrived in Zone Zero were the only two experimental subjects of the Taijinghua.

According to Dr. Orin's research, the patterns on the shell of the Talobagh turtle distinguish eighteen shell plates, corresponding to eighteen attributes.

Taijing fragments are the debris produced when shell plates fall off, while ordinary Taijing stones are the debris that falls off other parts of the tortoise shell.

Xia Chen understood that the relationship between the two was similar to that between the Key Stone and the Super Stone, or the Z-Crystal and the Radiant Stone. They were useless on their own, but a wonderful reaction would only occur when they were combined.

However, what's quite different is that when the fragments of the Prism Crystal were fed to other Pokémon, they caused an adverse reaction, which in severe cases even led to the death of a Roaring Tail.

The doctor and his wife were filled with remorse and even felt a bit scared about feeding the two large lizards directly.

Fortunately, they did not encounter any problems afterward, and the experiment was able to continue.

Chapter 367 Final Evolution, Dragapult Appears! (3/5, 5k views)

The unexpected accident during the experiment made Dr. Fautu and his wife extremely cautious afterward, which naturally slowed down the progress.

By the time the incident occurred and the two perished, they had not been able to develop a third spirit capable of achieving crystallization.

After skimming through the thick research log, Xia Chen leaned back in his office chair, staring at the ceiling, organizing his thoughts.

There are only two core components of terrestrial crystallization: terrestrial crystal fragments and terrestrial crystal stones.

The problem now lies in the former—how to transfer the attribute energy containing the power of Talebagos to the elves.

Only Gul'dan and Milton succeeded, while all the other elves failed.

Undoubtedly, the differences between the two groups are the key to success.

The first reason that can be ruled out is paradoxical species. Among the failed cases, there are also "too happy creations" such as the roaring tail and iron tracks.

Therefore, it is somewhat unreasonable to say that the crystal fragments can only act on paradoxical species.

No, based on the current information, strictly speaking, not all paradoxical species can directly absorb the energy of the crystal fragments.

Whether ordinary spirits can absorb it is another matter entirely.

Is it a matter of ability?

It's not impossible. As we all know, while the power of legendary Pokémon is a panacea for ordinary Pokémon, directly absorbing it without sufficient strength could very likely cause serious problems.

The problem is that, according to the experimental log, the Roaring Tail was not the weakest of all the experimental Pokémon; on the contrary, it possessed the strength of a Gym Leader.

To put it bluntly, it's not even that it deserves to die...

Xia Chen rubbed his temples, looking somewhat confused.

However, he wasn't annoyed at all; the research had only just begun.

If it were that easy to solve, the PhD couple wouldn't have been researching for so long without making any progress.

Research isn't afraid of not finding answers, it's afraid of not having a direction. Now that the direction is relatively clear, there's not much of a problem.

The successful experimenters were right next to me; at worst, I could make a breakthrough based on Gulerton's work.

…………

After staring at the computer for most of the day, Xia Chen was feeling dizzy. When he went to the orchard in the research institute's living area for some fresh air, he happened to run into Duolongqi, who was most enthusiastic about getting familiar with his surroundings.

This guy is already over two meters tall, almost as tall as the rather petite Dorambaruto, and he's really growing wildly.

Doronchi, with its orange-red little dragon on its head, flew to Xia Chen's side without saying a word, but just stared at him with the same expectant look, as if reminding him of something.

Xia Chen smiled slightly and ruffled their hair in two hands, one on each side. "I know, you want to revive Doron Messiah and then evolve her, right?"

Duolongqi and Xiaoduolong nodded in unison, having been looking forward to this for a long time ever since the incident ended yesterday.

Xia Chen had spent the entire morning in the lab, and Duolongqi was afraid of interfering with the trainer's important business, so he didn't bring it up. He didn't expect Xia Chen to wake up so quickly.

"Don't worry, how could I forget something like that?"

Xia Chen took out a storage ball from his pocket. The only thing inside was the Millerton Origin Scale, which he had obtained through a process comparable to "pulling teeth from a tiger's mouth".

He then turned and shouted to a tree behind him, "Zoroark, bring out Doronmesia."

In the dense canopy of trees growing under artificial light, a metal bundle holding something resembling a basketball jumps down from the canopy.

Then a faint smoke filled the air, and Chicken Bro transformed into Zoroark.

This is the object that Zoroark has been cosplaying these past few days, because Xia Chen has an inexplicable fondness for this strange paradoxical species, and always calls out to it "Chicken Bro, Chicken Bro".

They couldn't even figure out how to handle Orin, this artificial intelligence. She's clearly a messenger bird from a paradoxical future!

However, the iron bag itself wasn't averse to it. Under Xia Chen's tutelage, it even learned various fancy ways to play with the bag, like playing basketball...

…………

That said, after Zoroark revealed his true form, a transparent spirit appeared out of thin air; it was none other than Doromesia, who had been in the Spirit World for more than half a year.

Having spent too long in the spirit world, she's become ghostly and unsettling; if she doesn't come back to life soon, she'll probably become a ghost forever.

After handing over the soul of Little Dragon and the original scales of Milton to Dragonki, the latter immediately entered the synthesis space.

Having learned from the first resurrection experience, the second one was naturally a natural progression.

From Xia Chen's perspective, in an instant, a Doronmesia, identical to Milton and entirely crimson purple, appeared in front of Doronchi.

Duolong's younger sister is much smaller than her brother, and looks like she is underdeveloped.

However, Xia Chen wasn't worried. His brother was like that when he was first resurrected, and he would get better after absorbing more energy.

Six months later, the siblings who were persecuted by Team Galactic and turned into "Dragon-chan" are finally reunited—although they have seen each other quite a bit in the past six months, there is always a sense of "being separated by death".

At this moment, Xia Chen and Duolongqi naturally didn't want to cause any trouble. Instead, they waited for a while before starting their evolution, after Duolong's sister indicated that she was ready.

As for preparations, there's really nothing special to prepare. Just open the camera on your Rotom phone and record this special moment.

Upon hearing that Draco was finally going to evolve, the Pokémon scattered throughout the research institute all rushed over to watch this partner, who was perhaps the most troublesome to evolve in the team, finally realize his dream.

Amidst the blessings and cheers of their companions, Doronchi and the petite Doronmesia pressed their paws together, one big and one small, as if making some kind of pact.

Then, that long-unseen yet strangely familiar light of evolution shone around their bodies.

Evolution begins!

Under the white light, one could vaguely see the changes in Doronchi's body; his already enormous body grew even longer as energy surged.

Especially its tail, which became thick and long.

Judging by the look of his eyes, that tail alone is probably more than two meters long. Judging from this, the evolved Dragapult's entire body is probably close to four meters long!

This time, the light of evolution lasted for an exceptionally long time; the white light gradually dimmed after about three minutes.

A massive, imposing dragon named Balut, with a black and blue body and clear, foolish eyes, has appeared!

…………

From an appearance standpoint, the biggest change in Dragapult after evolution compared to its Dragapult form is its large tail and iconic airplane head.

In addition to becoming thicker and longer, his tail also exhibits a gradient color from blue to transparent, fully demonstrating his ghostly attributes.

The changes to the nose of the aircraft are concentrated on the larger and longer "wings," and on the "wings" are two small caves specially built for Dorgonmesia.

Because it is almost half the size of a normal individual, the two entrances of the Doronbaluto cave are much more spacious, and even the little Doron siblings can squeeze into one inside.

"Ruto!"

The evolved Dragon Balto was very excited and immediately pounced on Xia Chen. Its posture was a bit awkward, like a dragon trying to abduct a princess, and it arched its back against him.

Then, naturally, it carried Xia Chen around the small orchard, letting him fully enjoy the evolution time he had been looking forward to for so long.

Speaking of which, Xia Chen now has three Pokémon in his lineup that have the ability to fly, and their riding experiences are not all the same.

Therefore, the Leton is smooth and comfortable, similar to a luxury car used for executive purposes; the Minas is silky smooth, like a well-handled sports sedan; as for the Doron Barutto...

This guy is an absolutely outrageous aerial husky!

He flipped and tumbled in the air with Xia Chen, doing side flips and back flips. After one round, Xia Chen almost threw up.

"Ruto... (Sorry, I got too excited just now...)"

After his outburst, Dorombaluto sheepishly offered a belated apology to the victims.

What else can Xia Chen, the trainer, do?

Of course, I'd choose to forgive him.

However, after being traumatized by this incident, he may not choose to ride the Dorombalto again.

The completion of evolution is not the end; there are still various checks after evolution. Xia Chen himself is now a human-shaped detector. Before he could even be tested in the research institute's professional equipment, he couldn't wait to begin his exploration.

Its height and weight are obvious at a glance; it's half again as large as a normal adult. More importantly, it's strong.