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After seeing off Lizabeth's family, Lionel finally had time to head to Mossdeep Town's most iconic building—the Space City. Research Center.
These past few days, he had specifically sifted through Devon Corporation's internal database, gaining a general understanding of this research center.
It focuses on space exploration, aerospace engineering, and research on extraterrestrial Pokémon.
It leads rocket development and satellite deployment, while also being responsible for deep space observation, cosmic ray monitoring, and tracking the trajectories of meteorites, comets, and other celestial bodies.
Before the discovery of Mega Evolution, this was actually the League's primary supported project.
After all, no one wants to experience another crisis like the "meteorite impact on Hoenn," and they can't always rely on Rayquaza to save the day; humanity must have its own means of coping.
The satellites are used for real-time monitoring of near-Earth objects, while the rockets are "weapons" for dealing with meteorite disasters, capable of detonating them in outer space if necessary.
Besides these, exploring the existence of Pokémon in outer space, finding Rayquaza's habitat, and attempting to establish contact are also core tasks here.
These grand research projects are somewhat distant for Lionel; what truly interests him is the "extraterrestrial meteorites" that Liza mentioned.
Those fragments of falling meteorites, or specimens collected by rockets and spacecraft in lunar space, might contain some strange and unknown objects.
Saturday is the gym's rest day, and the Space Research Center...
Before the white steel gate, Liza and Tate were already waiting.
Seeing Lionel approach, Tate waved first:
"Lionel, you've finally arrived! Let us be your guides today and show you around!"
Liza added with a smile:
"There are many interesting places inside, especially the zero-gravity training ground. We've played there since we were little."
With two small Vulpixs perched on his shoulders, and behind him following an eager-to-fight Larvesta and a Deino, Lionel replied with a smile:
"Thank you both for being guides."
"Just follow us," Tate said excitedly, leading the way:
"However, some research areas are not open to the public. I'll take you to some places where you can have fun and learn something new."
Entering the research center's working area, Lionel was immediately stunned by the sight before him.
Behind the huge glass walls were various sophisticated instruments and screens, displaying complex data and star maps.
Researchers in white lab coats hurried along, occasionally whispering amongst themselves. In the nearby exhibition hall, a massive, silver-white rocket model stood, quite a sight.
"We're here. Look, this is a weightlessness training device simulating a lunar walk."
Tate pointed to a cylindrical capsule ahead:
"And that one over there is a machine for training astronauts to resist centrifugal force, simulating the g-force sensation of a rocket launch."
He grinned mischievously at Lionel:
"Want to try it? It's quite interesting."
Lionel looked at the centrifugal force trainer, which resembled a spinning top, and recalled Ash's experience in the anime of his past life, and decisively shook his head:
"No way, I'm afraid I'll get dizzy."
Just as he finished speaking, Larvesta beside him suddenly chirped, looking at the trainer, eager to try it out.
This guy was always incredibly curious, wanting to try everything.
Lionel raised an eyebrow and said,
"Are you sure? This isn't as fun as you think. Oh, it'll make you dizzy?"
Larvesta gave Lionel a haughty snort. It wasn't afraid of getting dizzy; it was already here, so it would be a shame not to have some fun.
Since Larvesta wanted to try, Lionel didn't stop it; in fact, he'd already tried to dissuade it.
Larvesta immediately climbed onto the machine with a triumphant air, letting Tate fasten its seatbelt, and even snorted at Lionel, asking him to record it, to capture its heroic posture.
As the machine started, the centrifuge spun rapidly like a top.
At first, Larvesta chirped excitedly, but after a few seconds, its chirping changed, from a "squeak" tone to a "woof woof~" tone, completely panicked.
When the machine stopped and Larvesta got off, it was staggering, unsteady on its feet, its big rear end swaying from side to side.
Deino, watching Larvesta's blunder, couldn't stop laughing, rolling on the ground and nearly choking.
Larvesta glared at it angrily, then its eyes darted around, trying to persuade Deino to try it too.
Deino wasn't stupid; it ran behind Lionel and refused to go.
"Hahaha, it seems Deino isn't very interested in this. Let's go to the zero-gravity training area; it's more suitable for Pokémon to play there," Liza said with a smile.
Next, Liza led Lionel and the group to the zero-gravity training room, a huge spherical space where gravity would be greatly reduced when activated.
Lionel took the lead, leading the two Vulpixes and Deino inside. As soon as they entered, the Fire Vulpix and Ice Vulpix floated up, startled, and quickly wrapped their tails around Lionel's arm.
Then, finding it novel, they tentatively released their tails, floating around in mid-air like feathers.
Deino also flapped excitedly, but because it couldn't control its balance, it landed headfirst and couldn't flip back up, hurriedly calling for Lionel's help.
Larvesta remembered the loss it suffered in the previous round and stayed outside to observe for a long time. Seeing that Lionel and Deino were alright, it dared to tentatively enter.
It struggled to control its body, tracing a crooked trajectory in mid-air, occasionally bumping into Deino. The two would then chase each other playfully in the zero-gravity environment, eliciting continuous laughter from everyone.
After experiencing the zero-gravity training, Liza and Tate finally took Lionel to the place he had been most looking forward to—the meteorite fragment collection room.
This place resembled a giant exhibition hall, with various oddly shaped stones displayed within transparent protective enclosures, each labeled with its discovery location and time.
Some meteorites were entirely black, their surfaces covered in burn marks; others gleamed with a metallic sheen, their exposed cross-sections revealing complex crystalline structures…
Lionel walked along, scanning these meteorites with his system panel:
[Ordinary meteorite fragments: Contain trace amounts of cosmic energy, no special function.]
[Magnetic meteorites: Can attract metal, have a weak attraction to electric spirits.]
Aside from their somewhat peculiar appearance, these meteorite fragments didn't seem to have much use, until Lionel reached a display stand where his gaze was drawn to an irregularly shaped stone.
The stone looked as if it had been scorched by fire, its surface pitted and uneven, a dark brown color. A label beside it read:
Found in the Arctic glacier region, suspected to be meteorite debris.
At that moment, a special line of text popped up on Lionel's system panel:
[Special Meteorite Fragment: A stone contaminated with trace amounts of Deoxys core fragments, purpose unknown.]
Deoxys?!
Lionel's heart skipped a beat. That was a legendary Pokémon from the universe, capable of changing its form according to the needs of battle, possessing immense combat power.