"Oh, do you have relatives at the Qingyin Mountain Research Institute?" the taxi driver asked, turning his head when he heard Xia Huna o was going there.
Xia Huna o shook his head. "No, I'm going to the institute myself, for something I need to do."
The driver's eyes lit up. "Really? Young man, you're quite impressive to be able to handle business at a research institute at such a young age."
Xia Huna o quickly shook his head again. "It's not like that. My Pokémon is sick, and the Pokémon Center hasn't been able to cure it, so I'm transferring it to the Pokémon Research Institute. I received a call from the Pokémon Center today saying my Pokémon's treatment has been effective, so I'm going to check on it."
Hearing Xia Huna o's words, the taxi driver gave an "Oh." "I see. Then why are you going at night? It's not safe this late."
Xia Huna o became agitated and slapped the car door. "That's my only Pokémon! How can I not be anxious!"
Seemingly startled by Xia Huna o's words, the taxi driver's hand trembled, almost driving the car onto the pedestrian crossing.
"I'm so sorry, I was just too anxious," Xia Huna o quickly apologized to the driver.
The taxi driver didn't blame Xia Huna o for the incident. He steadied the steering wheel and guided the car back into its lane. "It's okay, young people are all like that. My son was the same way."
The two chatted casually, and soon they arrived at the Qingyin Mountain Research Institute. According to the institute's regulations, all non-certified vehicles not on the registration list must be parked fifty meters outside the main entrance.
Xia Huna o got out of the car and took a crumpled banknote from his pocket, handing it to the taxi driver. The driver took the bill and glanced at it. "Really? If you weren't a kid, I'd suspect you were giving me counterfeit money."
Despite his grumbling, the taxi driver took out change from his wallet and handed it to Xia Huna o. After receiving the change, Xia Huna o walked towards the institute's entrance without looking back.
After a brief chat with the guards at the entrance, Xia Huna o entered the institute. The two guards exchanged glances and then resumed their duties.
Following the main road within the institute, Xia Huna o arrived at a research room designated for him. Although it was empty, the vice director had stated that as an honorary researcher, he deserved his own space.
Looking at the bare research room, Xia Huna o thought it was more suitable as a storage unit than a place for experiments. He decided to find Lu Kunwu. If it was Lu Kunwu's lab, there would likely be equipment for him to research Berries.
Upon arriving at Lu Kunwu's research room and knocking, Lu Kunwu came out to greet Xia Huna o. "Is there something you need today?"
Xia Huna o nodded. "I was planning to research some Berries, but you know, my own research room..."
"Haha, that one. From now on, if you want to research anything, just come here, and I'll help you. Let me explain about the research rooms first. We are currently outside my research room, where there are no restrictions. Eating is allowed, but you must turn on the ventilation after you finish. Inside is the actual research laboratory, mainly equipped with instruments. You can ask for specific details when you need to use them."
Xia Huna o changed into his lab attire and entered the research room. Lu Kunwu pointed to a white telephone. "Use this white phone for anything you need."
Just then, the intercom in the research room rang. Lu Kunwu walked over. "Hello? It's Teacher. Alright, I'll be right there."
Hanging up the phone, Lu Kunwu turned to Xia Huna o and said, "Elder Zheng is calling me, so I have to go. You carry on with your work, and be careful."
Xia Huna o assured him that he was very cautious and would simply call for a Berry using the phone and do nothing else.
After making the call for the Berry, Xia Huna o sat in the outer compartment of the research room and waited. Soon, the Berries were delivered.
Placing several boxes of Berries on the floor, Xia Huna o couldn't help but exclaim, "They're so extravagant! Do they really allocate research Berries by the box?"
However, looking at the large pile of Berries before him, he hesitated. There were too many types of Berries, and he couldn't distinguish them well. He decided to let the system sort them first and deal with them later.
As the system was categorizing the list, Xia Huna o picked up a purple Berry with soft spikes and took a bite. A bitter taste shot directly to his brain, instantly freezing him. "Ptooey, this fruit is so bitter..."
"Holy cow, host, you can't eat this fruit!"
Lu Kunwu had only been gone for twenty minutes. When he returned to his research room, he saw Xia Huna o sitting there silently, not moving, and had no idea what was going on.
"Xia, what's wrong?"
Hearing Lu Kunwu's voice, Xia Huna o turned around. Upon seeing Xia Huna o, Lu Kunwu took a few steps back in shock. "Xia, what happened to you?"
Xia Huna o rubbed his face. "I was waiting for the Berries just now, right? After they were delivered, I took a bite while categorizing them. You might not know, but I don't really like bitter things..."
"So you ate an Oran Berry and got confused?"
Xia Huna o nodded. "What else? Do you think I would slap myself twelve times on each side of my face in a normal, sober state?"
"Wait here, I'll get you some medicine."
A while later, after the swelling on Xia Huna o's face had subsided with special medicine, he began researching how to make Poké Puffs in the research room.
Following the method in the Pokémon games, making Poké Puffs requires putting Berries into a machine, and as the turntable in the center rotates, the Berries turn into Poké Puffs. However, this theory didn't quite work in reality. If you put two Berries in a machine and spin them, no matter how fast they spin, they remain two Berries and never become one Puff. If you were to cut them with a knife, what would be the difference from just eating the Berries?
"The physical changes of Berries are nothing more than juice and pulp, solid and liquid. Therefore, they should be separated first."
Xia Huna o put the Berries into the equipment and extracted the juice. Then, he put the juice into a centrifuge to separate the upper clear liquid.
Looking at the small amount of liquid in the test tube, he wondered, "Is this all you get from extracting the clear liquid from Berries?"
Xia Huna o was puzzled how such a small amount of separation could result in a Poké Puff. According to Nintendo's rules, making a Poké Puff requires at least two Berries. But with this small amount of clear liquid, could two Berries really make a Poké Puff?
Xia Huna o placed the test tube containing the clear liquid on a nearby rack and continued to ponder. If the clear liquid was insufficient, what should he use? Concentrated juice?
Xia Huna o took out another Berry, squeezed out the juice in the equipment, and then put it into a device for low-temperature vacuum concentration.
Looking at the concentration equipment, Xia Huna o took out a ruler and began measuring data. "Hmm, if it's this size, maybe it's possible? But it's still a bit too big."
Lu Kunwu, who was nearby, looked over. "Xia, what are you thinking about?"
Xia Huna o pointed to the low-temperature vacuum concentrator. "Is this equipment always this big?"
Lu Kunwu put down what he was holding. "How could that be? This is laboratory grade, capable of controlling the dehydration ratio. If you just want to make concentrated juice, there are smaller devices for sale on the market, but those have no experimental significance."
Xia Huna o took out the vacuum-concentrated juice and placed it next to the previous test tube. "So, if I wanted to, could I also customize equipment with a specific dehydration ratio?"
Lu Kunwu turned back to his work. "Yes, you can. It's not difficult."
Xia Huna o placed the concentrated juice and the clear liquid together and compared their components using various methods. "If we're talking purely about nutritional content, the concentrated juice seems to be higher."
However, Xia Huna o soon realized that both liquids were just juice, one after centrifugation and the other after vacuum concentration. Ultimately, Xia Huna o decided to use the concentrated juice for the next stage of the experiment.
Continuing to sit by the workbench, Xia Huna o began researching how to turn the juice into a Puff.
"Theoretically, if all the water from the concentrated Berry juice is removed, it can change from liquid to solid. But what form would that take? It would probably be powder. Then it would be Poké Powder instead of Poké Puff?"
Xia Huna o twirled his pen and drew a square on the paper. "If the temperature is lowered, the Berry juice can solidify due to its freezing point, but then it would be an ice cube."
He crossed out what he had just written with his pen and began to scratch his head. At this point, Lu Kunwu had finished his research for the day. He stood up and asked Xia Huna o, "Xia, do you need my help?"
Xia Huna o shook his head. "No need. If you think a bit more, you should be able to figure it out."
Lu Kunwu nodded. "Alright, I'll be going then. Get some rest."
After Lu Kunwu left, Xia Huna o also stood up and paced back and forth in the room. After a few laps, Xia Huna o walked over to the table and picked up the components he had just tested. "The components in Berry juice include vitamins, carbohydrates, esters, aromatic hydrocarbons, and cellulose. Ah, the more I look, the less I understand."
Xia Huna o put the test report back on the table. Exhausted by his inability to figure things out, he finally couldn't hold on and fell asleep on the table.
In a daze, Xia Huna o heard someone calling him. When he opened his eyes, he saw Lu Kunwu sitting beside him. "You really stayed up all night. That's the spirit of a researcher."
Xia Huna o shook his sleepy head. "What are you talking about? What time is it?"
Lu Kunwu pointed outside. "It's 6:30 in the morning. Time for breakfast. I brought something for you from outside."
As Xia Huna o walked to the outer compartment, he asked, "Kunwu-ge, what's for breakfast this morning?"
"Milk, eggs, and some other things. Help yourself. I'm going to get back to work."
Entering the compartment, Xia Huna o cracked an egg and painstakingly peeled the shell onto the table. "Honestly, the breakfast at the research institute is really good. Not only milk but also eggs..."
Looking at the tender white of the egg that had been peeled, Xia Huna o felt as if he had received divine inspiration. "Maybe this is it!"