In general, this dinner, which involved no clear host or guest, ultimately resulted in no one being completely satisfied, but also no outright conflict. From this perspective alone, it could be considered acceptable.
In the RV, Xia Huanao leaned back in his chair, gulping down a glass of water. "I'm exhausted. We didn't accomplish anything in the end, just got permission to access the Alliance's archive, and not for everything. It feels like a raw deal."
Shen Yu, beside him, advised him not to be greedy, and that being overly calculating would make life tiresome. Zhang Hong also stated that their leader's performance was already quite good.
The driver started the vehicle and took them to a research institute on the outskirts of Linglong City, parking in front of the main gate.
Xia Huanao and the other two alighted. Yu Linglong pointed at the gate. "Unfortunately, the things inside are highly classified. We can't go in, so we can only bring you three this far. The rest is up to you. Good luck!"
Xia Huanao approached the main entrance and chatted with the guards. The guards asked him to wait and then made a phone call.
Before long, Xia Huanao saw a familiar figure running towards them, waving.
"Huh? Brother Lu? What are you doing here?"
Lu Kunwu escorted Xia Huanao and the other two into the research institute. "I've been seconded to help you. It's not just me; there are many students from major Pokémon universities across the country who have also been seconded to work on various projects."
Xia Huanao introduced everyone to each other. Lu Kunwu gently shook Shen Yu's hand. "Oh, Sister-in-law, hello."
"Ah, hello Brother Lu."
After a brief greeting, Lu Kunwu turned his attention to Zhang Hong. "It's you, then. You need to work hard. I have high hopes for you."
"What?"
"You manufactured the Berry Pokémon based on Xia Huanao's design, right? We dismantled one and studied it. Although it was a bit rough, it was well done."
"Thank you for the compliment, Brother Lu."
As they chatted, Lu Kunwu led them to a row of bungalows. "Don't mind it. Researchers have to endure hardships. You'll have to make do here."
Xia Huanao pushed open the door to his room and glanced around casually. "Brother Lu, you really don't have to say that. This is already very good."
"Alright, then you three can rest first. We'll officially start work tomorrow. Good night, everyone."
After bidding each other good night, the four returned to their rooms to rest. Nothing eventful happened overnight.
The next morning, Xia Huanao and the others gathered in a small research room.
"Little Xia, look. The equipment in Linglong City is much better than that in Liuling City."
Xia Huanao shook his head. "I don't really understand this equipment very well, and in my opinion, developing a Pokédex doesn't require it at all. You could probably get it done at any workshop."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, Little Xia, you don't understand. Do you think our research really needs this equipment? People are like this now. Only when you present something high-tech can you prevent trouble. Of course, this equipment is also for emergencies."
"I see. Then let's start working. By the way, our team isn't just the four of us, right?"
Lu Kunwu shook his head. "Of course not. There are also some university students who are auxiliary researchers in various research institutes. You can treat them as errand runners."
Xia Huanao gave a wry smile. "What do you mean, errand runners? They're all three or four years older than me, how can I order them around like that?"
At nine in the morning, Xia Huanao and the Pokédex production team sat in a conference room for a meeting. "Good morning, everyone. Let's skip the unnecessary pleasantries and get straight to work."
...
"That concludes our entire concept for the Pokédex. Does anyone have any opinions or suggestions?"
A researcher raised his hand. "In what order should we assign numbers to the Pokémon?"
Xia Huanao thought for a moment. His original intention was to use the national Pokédex order he was familiar with, but that didn't make sense. He couldn't arbitrarily dictate an order, so he thought and said, "How about this, our research group has access to most Pokémon-related data. I'll pull up some information for us to look at, Zhang Hong."
Zhang Hong typed on the keyboard and pulled up Charmander's data from the database. As everyone studied it from top to bottom, one researcher said, "Why don't we just arrange them by the time of discovery?"
Another researcher asked, "There's a problem with that. If we do, shouldn't there be quite a few other Pokémon inserted between Charmander and Charmeleon? But we all know that Charmeleon is Charmander's evolved form."
"Then let's just put Charmander, Charmeleon, and Charizard together, to save trouble."
"Zhang Hong, pull up the data for Charmeleon and Charizard from the Pokémon Alliance. If the time difference isn't too large, let's put them together. If the initial discovery time is decades or even a hundred years apart, then forget it."
Everyone nodded. For Pokémon discovered so far apart in time, the Pokémon Alliance's initial research concluded they had no relation to existing evolutionary chains. It was only later, by chance, that their evolutionary relationships were discovered.
At this point, another researcher raised his hand and asked, "What about Eevee?"
Eevee, a Pokémon with the most evolutionary forms in history. Xia Huanao had always felt that this little thing might have evolutionary forms for all attributes.
"That, for now, will be handled like the other Pokémon. Let's first arrange all the Pokémon by their discovery time and create a preliminary order. Other work will have to wait until we have a list."
As the saying goes, many hands make light work. Although there were already seven or eight hundred discovered Pokémon, with the efforts of these dozen or so researchers, the entire list was compiled in just over thirty minutes.
Xia Huanao organized all the data into a booklet, printed it out, and distributed it to the researchers present. "Please point out any issues you see. If there are no problems, we will proceed with creating the Pokédex in this order."
Everyone flipped through the directory. Someone asked, "Didn't Arceus already announce its death? Why is it still listed in the Pokédex?"
"It is the God of Creation, how can it not be included?"
The group engaged in a lively discussion about this issue. In the end, Xia Huanao made the final decision. They would proceed according to the existing data, and Arceus would remain in the Pokédex.
Once the writing order of the Pokédex was confirmed, data input proceeded much faster. Under the orderly arrangement of Xia Huanao and the others, all the data they deemed necessary to input was completed in just a few days.
With the data in hand, Xia Huanao and the others began to create the first version of the Pokédex.
"Our Pokédex needs to be as convenient as possible. If we have to type in the name and then have the Pokémon's related information pop up, that would be too cumbersome. In a dangerous situation, who would have the time to slowly type?"
Zhang Hong nodded. "So, we need to make a camera and then intelligently filter out what Pokémon it is? That's a lot of work, and not easy to do."
Xia Huanao nodded. "It's not easy, but it has to be done. And it also needs to have the function to recognize relatively rare shiny Pokémon. This will be troublesome for you all."
The researchers nodded and then started developing new features. Xia Huanao turned and left.
Shortly after Xia Huanao left, the researchers began to whisper amongst themselves. "Do you think Researcher Xia is only responsible for setting the general direction?"
"Who knows? But he's an honorary vice-chairman, so it's understandable that he has some privileges."
Although Zhang Hong was dissatisfied with their quiet murmurs, gossip was powerful, so he could only keep his thoughts to himself.
It must be said that with the data available, it was quite simple for the researchers present to create equipment that could identify Pokémon and retrieve information. Before long, they completed the task and sent someone to inform Xia Huanao, and to see what this Researcher Xia was doing. He couldn't be on vacation, could he?
A researcher approached the door of Xia Huanao's temporarily assigned office. The door was not fully closed, and he could hear Xia Huanao's voice from inside.
"Oricorio, Pokédex number 521, with the Normal and Flying types..."
The researcher pushed the door open. Xia Huanao put down his earphones. "Why...?"
"No wonder Researcher Xia's voice hasn't been quite the same these past few days. So that's why."
As everyone was quietly discussing, Xia Huanao walked in. "Hello, everyone. I heard you've finished making it. Where is it? Has it been tested?"
Everyone froze. In their excitement, they had forgotten to test it.
Xia Huanao released Froakie. "Then let's have Froakie try it out."
Everyone pointed the camera at Froakie. The screen then displayed information about Croagunk. Everyone was stunned after watching. Xia Huanao pointed at the screen. "No, do you really think our Froakie looks like Croagunk?"