Chương 169: Unexpected Phenomena
Floyd had just finished a session instructing Pokémon when he decided to head towards the laboratory. He was eager to get an update on the ongoing research involving the Tumblestone and Apricorn.
A few moments later, as he entered the lab, he noticed Yamada, Nakamura, Inoue, and Aizawa engaged in what seemed like a hushed conversation.
Curiosity piqued, Floyd approached them. "What's going on here, everyone?" he inquired with a raised eyebrow.
"Youngest, it's you," Yamada greeted him, a hint of surprise in his tone.
Floyd's gaze swept across the room, landing on Kanraku who was deep in discussion with an unfamiliar person. "Who's that with Kanraku?" Floyd asked, nodding in their direction.
"That's Kurogane Tetsuya, the smith we've been searching for," Inoue informed Floyd, his eyes following Floyd's gaze.
"And what's the topic of such intense gossip here?" Floyd prodded further, sensing there was more to their huddled conversation.
"Cough~ We're not gossiping," Yamada quickly denied, a slight awkwardness in his demeanor.
"Oh?" Floyd's interest was further piqued by Yamada's reaction. "There must be something. Come on, spill it," he urged, a playful tone in his voice.
"Youngest, you must be imagining things," Inoue tried to deflect.
"Since you're not telling me, maybe I'll go ask the Professor myself," Floyd said, feigning a move to leave towards Kanraku.
"No, no, wait!" several voices chorused in unison.
"Youngest, chotto matte," Aizawa and Nakamura said, almost simultaneously, reaching out to hold him back.
Floyd turned back to them, a sly smile on his face. "So, are you going to tell me now?"
Nakamura sighed, a resigned look crossing his face. "Fine, you win. We'll tell you," he said, then added cautiously, "But you must promise not to tell Professor Kanraku. Otherwise, we'd be in serious trouble."
"You can trust me," Floyd assured them with a nod.
Nakamura took a deep breath and began, "The issue is..."
As Floyd listened intently to Nakamura's explanation, his eyes lit up with intrigue. "So, these two were love rivals?" he exclaimed, piecing together the story.
"Exactly. Kurogane Tetsuya and Suzuki Sensei were childhood sweethearts until Professor Kanraku came into the picture," Nakamura elaborated, glancing over at Tetsuya.
"So, you're saying the professor inadvertently got in the middle of their..." Floyd began to say but was cut off by Yamada who slapped his shoulder.
"Keep it down, Youngest. Don't portray the Professor as the villain. Suzuki Sensei and Kurogane were merely childhood sweethearts, nothing official like engagement or marriage. They were free to choose their partners, and ultimately, Suzuki Sensei ,chose Professor Kanraku," Yamada clarified.
"Yeah, that does make sense," Floyd nodded, finding Yamada's explanation reasonable.
"But I do feel a bit sorry for that guy…" Aizawa murmured, almost to herself.
"Aizawa, whose side are you on? We should be supporting Professor Kanraku, not pitying his rival," Nakamura chided him.
"No, no, please don't get me wrong, I support Kyouju," Aizawa quickly clarified, gesturing with her hands. "It's just really painful to realize that the person you've been close to and had fun with for so long won't be the one you end up with."
The group fell into a brief silence, until Floyd, noticing something, glanced in a particular direction. He suddenly froze, a chill running down his spine as he stared at someone standing behind the four.
Inoue issued a reminder to the group, "We must keep this to ourselves, particularly from Kyouju and Sensei. If they find out, we're in big trouble."
"Uh, be-behind..." Floyd attempted to warn them, but Nakamura quickly cut in, "Regardless, we're with Kyouju. Our support is firmly for Kyouju and Sensei!" he announced with a sense of pride.
The other three members of the group acknowledged his statement with a collective nod, murmuring, "Uh-huh."
The others, still unaware of the presence behind them, nodded in agreement, murmuring their assent.
"Really?" The sudden, icy voice slicing through the air made the group's hearts miss a beat. That voice was all too familiar to them, and in this moment, it seemed like an ominous sign.
Slowly, they turned to see Suzuki Akiko, her face a mix of anger and embarrassment.
"Ahh... umm... uh... Se-Sensei, I-I-I mean..." Nakamura stammered, his voice trembling as he struggled to explain.
"Se-Sensei, we were just..." Aizawa began, also attempting to defend their actions. However, their words were cut short when Suzuki firmly grasped the ears of both Aizawa and Nakamura.
"Ah, it's hurt! Sensei, I'm sorry, I won't do it again, please let go," Nakamura pleaded, wincing from the pain in his ear.
"Ouch, Sensei, please, I'm a girl, be a bit gentler," Aizawa implored, feeling the sharp pain in her ears.
Inoue and Yamada, witnessing their comrades' plight, attempted to quietly back away, hoping to escape Suzuki's wrath. But it was too late; Suzuki had already caught them, gripping their ears firmly.
"Ouch… Sensei! We're sorry!" they both wailed, regret evident in their voices.
Amidst the commotion, Nakamura tried to divert attention to Floyd, "Sensei, Youngest is also—" But before he could finish, he realized Floyd had vanished in the blink of an eye, already making his way toward Kanraku.
…
Ting! Ting! Tang! Tang! Ting! Ting!
Meanwhile, Tetsuya was back at his forge, laboriously hammering the alloy, working to remove its impurities. He frowned, perplexed by the unusual number of impurities in the alloy.
What had started as a brick-sized piece had now diminished to the size of a matchbox. The reduction was drastic and unexpected, leaving him both baffled and concerned about the quality of the material he was working with.
A few hours later, in the lab, Tetsuya carefully extracted the cooled-down metal from the furnace. As he touched the alloy, he muttered thoughtfully, "It's strange, this alloy is not as strong as I anticipated."
Just then, Kanraku, his eyes fixed on the monitor displaying the test results, couldn't contain his excitement. "Look at this! The space properties of the two materials have combined!" he exclaimed, fascinated by the outcome of the alloy Tetsuya had forged.
"What's going on?" Floyd, intrigued by the conversation, approached from behind.
"This metal... is weak," Tetsuya confessed, a hint of disappointment in his voice. He had hoped the new alloy, as hyped by Kanraku, would be both strong and unique. However, the reality was underwhelming.
Despite the numerous hammering sessions to remove large impurities, the fusion of Tumblestones and Apricorn had resulted in a metal riddled with imperfections. After multiple attempts to purify it in the furnace, what remained was a mere tiny cube.
"But observe the combined space properties here. I can't fully explain it at the moment, but this could lead to a groundbreaking discovery," Kanraku said, his enthusiasm undimmed by the metal's physical weakness.
Before Kanraku could elaborate further, the lab door burst open, and Blastoise rushed in, cradling a sick Wartortle in its arms. "Blastoise~" it called out urgently.
"What happened?" Kanraku immediately turned his attention to the distressed Pokémon, his concern evident.
Tetsuya was taken aback by Blastoise's sudden entrance, and stepped back slightly with an uneasy look on his face.
Kanraku carefully examined the Wartortle, noting, "It's quite hot," as he felt a slight burn on his hand. Suddenly, the Wartortle's skin brightened momentarily before the light vanished as quickly as it appeared.
"It's about to evolve!" both Kanraku and Floyd exclaimed in unison, recognizing the signs of Pokémon evolution.
"Blastoise~" Blastoise nodded in agreement, though its expression remained worried for its companion.
"Evolved?" Tetsuya, unfamiliar with Pokémon's behavior, looked on in confusion.
Kanraku gently took the Wartortle from Blastoise, cautiously touching the cooler parts of its shell, and began to move away with it.
"Mister, please follow us," Floyd beckoned Tetsuya.
"Ahh, ehm, sure," Tetsuya replied, a bit awkwardly, but nodded in agreement, following Floyd and the others.
Blastoise rushed towards them, unaware that he inadvertently touched the small alloy cube, triggering a miraculous event. The cube sucked Blastoise.
"What?" Floyd and Tetsuya, who were nearby, witnessed the event and were shocked by what they saw.
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