"Buii~"
"Alright, alright, I promise — I'll eat properly from now on."
Only after receiving Auron Vale's assurance did Mawile rise on her tiptoes, and with Auron Vale bending downconfess voluntarily to meet her, she patted his shoulder.
"Buii~"
*(Eat well, okay?)*
"Mm-hm, I heard you."
Satisfied with Auron Vale's response, Mawile picked up the small basket from the ground and hopped off toward the forest where Pikachu and the others were playing.
"Tsun-yuki, aren't you getting down?"
"Oshō~"
Tsun-yuki shook her head from Auron Vale's arms. She wasn't getting down — this was such a rare opportunity to be held by Xiao Ze. She was going to enjoy it.
Fortunately she'd come along with Mawile today, or she never would've run into Xiao Ze. And she got to hold on even longer.
Looking at the clingy Tsun-yuki in his arms, Auron Vale could only laugh helplessly. "Fine then, you can tag along with me."
"Oshō, oshō~"
Tsun-yuki lifted her head, flashed Auron Vale a bright smile, then burrowed back into his arms.
"No clue if Electabuzz and Big Sis are around or not."
"Oshō~"
Tsun-yuki lifted her head and looked up at Auron Vale — nodded, then shook her head.
"So Electabuzz is here, but Big Sis isn't?"
"Oshō!"
"Alright then, beautiful lady, could you take me to find Electabuzz?"
"Oshō~"
Tsun-yuki beamed at being called beautiful. She hopped down from Auron Vale's arms and tugged him in the direction of Electabuzz.
"Oshō, oshō~"
"You mean Big Sis is with Grandma lately?"
"Oshō, oshō~"
The trio walked and chatted — though it was mostly Auron Vale and Tsun-yuki talking, while Crawdaunt followed along at the back.
Auron Vale had lived with Tsun-yuki for nearly ten years, so between that and a bit of guesswork, he could make out what her enthusiastic gesticulation meant.
"Almost there?"
"Oshō!"
Tsun-yuki nodded.
They walked a bit further, and Tsun-yuki led Auron Vale up to a artificial rock formation.
"Oshō~"
Tsun-yuki called out loudly toward the top of the rock formation. A moment later, a figure jumped down from the five-meter-tall structure.
"Rio?"
*(What's up?)*
"Oshō~"
*(Look who's here~)*
Actually, Electabuzz didn't need Tsun-yuki's announcement — once he'd landed and steadied himself, he'd already spotted Auron Vale.
"Rio!"
Electabuzz was overjoyed to see Auron Vale. With one long stride, he stepped forward and pulled Auron Vale into a hug.
"Electabuzz, long time no see! Look who I brought along."
After the embrace, Auron Vale released the Electabuzz that had been dozing inside its Pokéball.
"Rio?"
"Rio!"
Electabuzz the father was thrilled. This was his son — his own son — and he hadn't seen him in so long.
"Rio!"
*Thwack.*
Electabuzz, brimming with excitement, lightly punched Electabuzz on the shoulder.
That punch, however, was enough to snap Electabuzz fully awake.
"Rio!"
"Rio!"
Only after seeing Electabuzz standing there did the younger one truly wake up — then immediately rushed forward and hugged Electabuzz back.
"Electabuzz, you two catch up for now. I'm going to find my dad."
"Rio!"
"Rio!"
Electabuzz the father and Electabuzz the son both nodded to Auron Vale simultaneously. After Auron Vale left, Electabuzz the father tugged Electabuzz the son, wanting to test the young one's current strength.
"Rio!"
*(Let me see how much you've improved!)*
"Rio!"
*(It's going to blow your mind!)*
With that, the two Pokémon began their battle.
Electabuzz had been following Auron Vale since it was freshly hatched — back when it was still an Elekid. Though for a period after hatching, it had been raised under Electabuzz the father's watch.
But now they hadn't seen each other for some time, and Elekid had just evolved into Electabuzz. So Electabuzz the father naturally wanted to see what the young one could do now.
And Electabuzz the son was just as eager to prove that he hadn't slacked off — he'd been training hard.
"Alright, going to find Dad."
Auron Vale knew the path from the backyard to the research institute by heart.
And since Tsun-yuki and Crawdaunt were slowing him down, he recalled Crawdaunt into its Pokéball.
Then he scooped Tsun-yuki up and headed toward the institute at a much faster pace.
"Oshō~"
Tsun-yuki let out a soft squeal — but she didn't resist at all. Instead, she nestled happily into Auron Vale's arms.
Carrying Tsun-yuki, Auron Vale moved even more swiftly, and soon reached the institute.
He swiped his ID card at the entrance and walked right in.
Auron Vale's ID card carried the record of his doctoral title, so he didn't need to enter as a family member — he could use his own credentials.
His access privileges weren't as high as his grandfather's or Grandpa Mo's, but they were about equal to his father's.
Once inside, Auron Vale went to his father's office — but found it empty.
He stepped out and stopped a young researcher.
"Excuse me, where's Dr. Lu? Do you know where he went?"
The young researcher glanced at Auron Vale and immediately recognized him.
"Good afternoon, Dr. Lu. Dr. Lu and Dr. Lu are over at the testing grounds."
He finished speaking, then froze — suddenly realizing the issue with what he'd said. He quickly tried again.
"Ah, apologies, Dr. Lu. Dr. Lu is…"
At this point, he seemed to realize that even just calling them by name wasn't quite appropriate, so he just trailed off.
"Haha, no worries, I get it. Thanks."
Auron Vale didn't mind at all. He patted the young researcher on the shoulder and headed toward the testing grounds.
"Thank you."
The young researcher let out a relieved breath and thanked him back.
Auron Vale waved him off and continued on his way.
"Testing grounds? Dad's not helping me write my paper — what is he doing at the testing grounds? And is Grandfather there too? What could be going on?"
Auron Vale wondered to himself. Normally, his father should have been writing the essay on Kingdra's and Maika's evolution conditions for him. Why would he be at the testing grounds instead?
After the Milotic paper was submitted and a series of tests confirmed everything was sound, the publication date had been set — tomorrow.
Beyond Milotic, during his off hours, Dr. Lu had also been helping Auron Vale write evolution condition papers for Steelix, Politoed, Slowking, Gyarados, Escavalier, and Mega Camerupt.
But because Dr. Lu had a demanding job of his own, the last two papers — Kingdra and Maika — were still pending. That's why Auron Vale was curious about why his father had gone to the testing grounds instead of writing.
"Oh, and Grandfather still has a Rhyperior. Should I add that to Dad's workload?"
---
That's all for now — same rule as usual, another chapter tonight.(_|||)_
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