With the news from Tian Xin finally confirmed, Oliver began the last stage of his preparations.
On the Proof of the Existence of the Eighteenth Pokémon Attribute
Fire, Water, Electric, Grass, Rock, Ice, Psychic, Ghost, Fighting, Normal, Steel, Bug, Poison, Ground, Flying, and Dragon—together with the Dark-type discovered by Dr. Bruce fifty years ago—form the seventeen Pokémon attributes currently recognized by humanity. Every Pokémon in the world has, so far, fallen within the scope of these seventeen types.
But does "the way it has always been" truly mean it is correct? Before Dr. Bruce's discovery, people also believed there were only sixteen attributes. If that was wrong, why can there not be an eighteenth?
After a long period of research, I have now confirmed the existence of an eighteenth attribute. Moreover, it is a natural counter to Dragon-type Pokémon. I hereby name this new attribute: the Fairy type.
Based on current research data, many Fairy-type Pokémon have long been misclassified. For example, the Clefairy line and the Togepi line have been labeled as Normal-type, while the Ralts line has been regarded as purely Psychic-type. There are many more similar cases.
The number of Pokémon related to the Fairy type is vast. With my own limited capacity, it is impossible to catalogue them all. This paper therefore stops here for now. I hope that, using the information I have provided, more researchers will join in identifying additional Fairy-type Pokémon.
Pokémon are miraculous beings born of heaven and earth. Our understanding of them may still be superficial, but I firmly believe that as long as we persist, humanity will one day uncover the true truth behind the descent of secret realms and the appearance of Pokémon.
Even with Oliver's astonishing typing speed, finishing a paper of over ten thousand words still pushed the clock past one in the morning.
The paper integrated extensive combat data from Kirlia's battles against Pokémon of various attributes, using real results to establish the Fairy type's effectiveness and resistances.
As for Sylveon, Oliver only mentioned it briefly. He planned to write a separate paper devoted entirely to Eevee's new evolution and publish it alongside the Fairy-type paper.
After all, a brand-new Eevee evolution was, under normal circumstances, a discovery on par with the Milotic evolution itself—more than worthy of being a companion paper.
Unfortunately, time was already too tight. With the final exams coming the next day, Oliver could only postpone the full Sylveon manuscript.
The Next Day
Yawning, Oliver walked into the examination hall.
Although the Viridian Force granted him extraordinary abilities, it didn't magically strengthen his physical body. Pulling an all-nighter still left him exhausted.
In this world, high school education in Xia Country split students near the end of sophomore year—much like arts and sciences in Oliver's previous life—but with an additional Pokémon Track.
Students who chose the Pokémon Track, like Oliver, received a starter Pokémon during summer break. Their studies focused primarily on Pokémon-related knowledge, with other subjects as supplements. This path trained future Trainers, Pokémon Researchers, Breeders, Coordinators, and other professions unique to the Pokémon world.
Those who chose the traditional arts or science tracks studied regular academic subjects as their core, with Pokémon knowledge as a secondary component. They would still interact with Pokémon in the future, but more as part of human society rather than the frontline.
Because of this, true Trainers were still a minority among the global population. Most people either had no Pokémon at all or kept them as companions.
That said, there were also many who didn't choose the Pokémon Track in high school, yet later became powerful Trainers through other paths.
The Pokémon Track's examinations were straightforward:
two written exams and one practical battle assessment.
The written exams covered Pokémon Fundamentals and Theoretical Battle Strategy, held in the morning and afternoon respectively.
Once the papers were handed out, Oliver glanced through them.
To him, these questions were no different from a university student sitting down to solve elementary school problems. The answers surfaced in his mind almost instantly.
He started writing without hesitation.
Thirty minutes into the exam, Oliver put down his pen.
He checked the time. There was still an hour before the earliest allowed submission.
So he lowered his head… and went to sleep.
One of the proctors looked up and saw a student with his head down, seemingly having given up entirely. She was about to walk over and wake him when another proctor stopped her and whispered:
"That's Oliver."
"Oh."
Understanding dawned instantly, and she calmly sat back down.
From freshman year to senior year—combined with the previous research-paper incident—Oliver's name had long since become legendary within the school. His habit of finishing exams early and still ranking first was well known among teachers.
With that in mind, no one interfered. After all, who knew whether this student knew more than the examiners themselves?
When the time came, Oliver handed in his paper.
The proctor couldn't help but skim through it. As expected, almost every answer was correct. Watching Oliver leave the examination hall, her eyes were filled with admiration.
The afternoon's theoretical battle exam was even easier. Once again, Oliver finished in half an hour.
After delivering the day's quota of energy blocks to Mu Xue, Oliver returned home and immediately started writing the Sylveon paper.
Because there was limited data available, the focus lay mainly on Eevee's evolution method into Sylveon and Sylveon's abilities and characteristics.
Even so, with the evolution video as concrete evidence, the paper's credibility was beyond question.
Oliver's first paper had been published just before the school year began.
This time, he was submitting new research on the very last day of the semester.
One semester.
Two world-shaking discoveries.
What kind of storm would this time ignite?
After organizing all the files, Oliver logged into the academic forum, accessed his account, and uploaded both papers.
He took a breath.
Then clicked—
Submit.
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