After crossing the King Carp Lake Pedestrian Bridge, they stepped into the domain of the Magic City Trainer Association Headquarters.
The road here was spacious, with buildings of various styles alongside it; among them, the Research Mansion and the Cultivation Mansion rose from the ground, flanking the headquarters on both sides.
As the two main professions related to Pokémon, both Researchers and Breeders have their own "Associations."
"We'll enter from the north gate," Lu Hai glanced at his watch, then turned to Fang Yuan and said.
"Okay," Fang Yuan followed behind him.
To enter the Research Mansion, identification had to be shown and registration made; it was Fang Yuan's first visit, and upon entering the lobby, he saw various skeletons and fossils on display, including the complete fossils of a Bastognosaur and an Archen.
"These are all Fossils from the secret location that are relatively well-preserved; they belong to extinct Pokémon. Are you very interested?"
Seeing Fang Yuan engrossed in front of the exhibits in the lobby, Lu Hai smiled and said, "There is also a Fossil Museum behind here with even more types of fossils. Do you want to go have a look later?"
"Thank you, no need, I'm just seeing it for the first time and was a bit curious," Fang Yuan retracted his gaze.
On this Earth, where no machine capable of bringing ancient Pokémon's fossils back to life had been researched, fossils were indeed just fossils.
Fang Yuan was only interested in what the Pokémon were like before they became fossils, but he had little interest in these stones themselves.
"Do I have a chance to research Fossil Revival Technology myself?"
In the Pokémon World, the first to master the Fossil Revival Technology were the Red Lotus Research Institute and Devon Manufacturing Co., Ltd. The latter could become a dominant enterprise in Hoenn, and this technology was indispensable. Fortunately, Fang Yuan did remember some key information - the seriousness with which he watched the cartoon... did help him after all. Speed reading is not advisable; even ordinary plotlines have important settings.
"In the cartoon, Professor Cedar mentioned that reviving fossils involved using Dream Energy from Munna to turn the fantasy of ancient genes from unreal to real," Fang Yuan thought.
"This could be key," Fang Yuan shrugged and continued walking. Even if it were true, it's not his concern now.
This wasn't research that could be done with the power of one person alone.
However, although it was not needed now, if he ever had the capability to form a research team in the future, maybe he could indeed try researching Fossil Revival Technology. At least, Professor Cedar had pointed out the general direction; currently, on Earth, no one realized that Pokémon fossils could be revived.
...
Not long after entering the Research Mansion, Senior Lu Hai left Fang Yuan to wander on his own for a while as he had some things to take care of, and it would likely take about ten minutes. Upon returning, he would take Fang Yuan for a tour.
During the wait, Fang Yuan did not wander around on his own but seriously flipped through a book he picked up from the public bookshelf.
The contents of the book were easy to understand and amounted to an intro manual for Researchers.
As an Official Researcher, Fang Yuan now basically had a stable job.
If one joined the Pokémon research institution under the Trainer Association, a nice subsidy could be received each month. Or, one could directly cooperate with some enterprises and become their Researcher. However, whether it was the former or the latter, it was necessary to complete research tasks and assignments handed down. Someone like Fang Yuan, whose basic skills were not solid and who had "skipped grades," was not suitable for either.
Besides that, there were other paths, such as deepening one's knowledge in their own field of expertise and teaching in schools or institutions - for example, most professors from the Research Series at Mo Da were senior Researchers.
However, what Fang Yuan leaned more towards was applying for his own personal research institute in the future, establishing his own research team, and even starting a company to gain business cooperation and profit opportunities through research results. The requirements for this were pretty strict, though, including having certain connections and, at the least, holding the title of senior Researcher.
"Sorry to keep you waiting." Ten minutes later, Lu Hai hurried back and smiled, "Shall I take you to the auction house?"
Fang Yuan was eager and immediately put the book back.
...
The inside of the auction house was very quiet; there was no scene of several Researchers with flushed faces snatching research materials. Each item had its own display stand with a history written underneath.
"No one here?" Fang Yuan asked.
"Few people come at this time; it's much busier when the Professional Trainer teams return from exploring secret locations. That's when they auction the items found there," Lu Hai explained.
"Then, it's not only Professional Trainers who come but also Researchers and Breeders, as the more novel and rare treasures tend to be bought during that time," he continued.
What this implied was that the items on display now were those that no Researchers were willing to study – either they were of little research value or the investment of energy was not proportionate to the returns.
"Just have a look, but don't cross the line and touch anything, or there will be an alarm," Lu Hai warned.
Fang Yuan nodded, having gone through several security checks on the way here. He knew there would be protective measures... However, what piqued Fang Yuan's curiosity was whether any top-class Trainers ever became thieves. With the various Special Abilities of Pokémon, they could probably be even more spectacular than the greatest historical thieves.
[Starry Sand]
Description: Fine and beautiful red sand with subtle Energy Fluctuations, suspected to be of extraterrestrial origin; function unknown.
Origin: Meteor Secret Realm.
There was also a note below indicating that only Official Researchers could bid for it, implying that it was reserved for Research personnel above the Official Researcher level.
"That's a trap; it's no different from ordinary sand other than looking a bit nicer," Lu Hai commented.
"I know, I know," Fang Yuan recognized the item at a glance; in the game, it was just junk sold to NPCs...
[Pink Metal]
Fang Yuan continued on and saw a metallic mineral, also from a secret location.
According to the description, it was an unknown substance; many Researchers had tried feeding this mineral to Steel-type Spirits, but to no effect. Also, it was not compatible with other fields like typical metallic minerals and, with production almost nonexistent, it was left only for research.
For a moment, Fang Yuan couldn't figure out what the metal was...
"Pink?" However, when Fang Yuan saw the color, he thought of a certain item: Metal Powder, which increases Defense when held by a Ditto – a magical powder. Whether the two were related, Fang Yuan didn't know.
Continuing on, there were too many bizarre items, and the use of 95% of them Fang Yuan couldn't begin to fathom.
Of course, there were some items with known uses, like the [Golden Crown] made from golden stone...
Upon seeing it, Fang Yuan thought, isn't this the Certificate of Kingship? An Evolution item!