I'm live-streaming Pokémon science popularization on New World.

Time slips away quietly amidst the busy schedule of the forest trails.

He frequently traveled between military training bases, research institutes, group headquarters, and government meeting rooms to ensure the selection criteria for military trainers were met, answer technical questions, and participate in discussions on new city planning.

That day, he had just returned from a secret military base in the suburbs, where he had guided the first batch of "seed trainers" and their new partners (mainly from the Spearow and Beedrill colonies) in basic cooperative training. On the way back, he received an urgent message of good news from the Chengdu Academy of Sciences.

"Mr. Lin, we have successfully created the basic prototype of the 'Pokémon Pokédex' you provided!"

On the other end of the phone, Academician Qin Muwen, who was in charge of the project, spoke with barely suppressed excitement and pride.

Lin Dao immediately changed direction and headed straight for the Institute of New Materials and Information Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

In a clean laboratory filled with precision instruments and debugging equipment, he saw the finished product.

It was a dark gray device, slightly thicker than a regular tablet and with a wider bezel. It felt quite heavy in the hand, and the casing was made of a matte special composite material that felt warm and sturdy to the touch.

The front features a high-definition screen, while the back has a slightly raised circular composite lens module embedded in the center, surrounded by fine heat dissipation holes and solar energy absorption patterns.

"Mr. Lin, please take a look." Academician Qin, who was nearly sixty years old with gray hair but still in good spirits, personally demonstrated the device. He turned it on, the screen lit up, and the interface was exceptionally simple, with only a few icons: [Encyclopedia], [Communication], [Database], and [Settings].

"Based on your suggestions and the schematic diagram you provided, we've made a lot of subtractions."

Academician Qin explained, "It does not have the entertainment, social or complex computing functions commonly found in smartphones; its core functions are 'identification' and 'basic communication'."

"All Pokémon ecological data, type matchups, common moves, and habit descriptions that you transmit have been stored locally and encrypted."

"When there is a network connection, it automatically connects to the internal server to update the latest, audited public database, such as newly discovered Pokémon species, corrected habit records, safety precautions, etc."

"Even in a network-free environment, basic functions can still be guaranteed by relying on a local database."

He pointed out the special coating and lens on the back of the device.

"In terms of energy, it has a built-in high-density polymer battery that we improved based on the 'photovoltaic conversion enhancement structure' you provided. Under normal standby and use, the battery life is more than one month."

"Using the solar energy absorption technology you provided, the battery can accumulate enough electricity to fully charge after a whole day of exposure to normal sunlight. We have taken into account the needs of long-term outdoor activities."

"This is the most crucial point," Academician Qin said, gently stroking the lens.

"The manufacturing process of the 'Life Energy Spectrum Identification Lens' you provided is very unique. The core material can only be extracted from minerals in specific volcanic areas that are suspected to be related to the activity area of ​​the legendary Pokémon 'Heatland'."

"Combining our own high-end optical lenses and image recognition algorithms, as long as the lens is pointed at a target Pokémon within a range of 100 meters, it can quickly capture and analyze the unique life energy field and morphological characteristics emitted by the target Pokémon, achieving recognition in seconds."

Lin Dao nodded, picked up a prototype, aimed it at Pikachu, who was curiously perched on his shoulder, examining this "new gadget," and pressed the scan button.

With a flash of light from the camera, a 3D rotating model of Pikachu immediately appeared on the screen, along with a series of clear data:

Pikachu

Attribute: Electric

Characteristics: Static electricity (can sometimes paralyze opponents upon contact).

Known common moves: Thunderbolt, Quick Attack, Thunderbolt, Shadow Clone, Iron Tail...

Brief description of habits: Electric Mouse Pokémon. Its cheek sacs can store large amounts of electricity. It is typically lively, active, and curious, but extremely loyal to its trusted trainers. It releases a powerful electric current when angry or threatened. The cheek sacs also act as signal lights for its emotions, with flashing frequencies representing different moods.

......

At the same time, a clear, pleasant, and energetic synthesized female voice came from the speaker: "Pikachu, the electric mouse Pokémon. Its cheek pouches can store a large amount of electrical energy. When it's happy, its tail wags slightly, and the current flows smoothly; when it's angry or threatened, it releases a strong current!"

Pikachu was startled by the sudden sound. "Pika?" it exclaimed, then leaned closer to the screen and curiously poked its own image on the screen with its little paw.

"We used multilingual synthesis technology for the speech system," a young researcher added.

"You can switch between Mandarin, dialect, or foreign language according to your settings. The database contains detailed information on all the Pokémon you provide. However, some Pokémon do not have specific pictures, but the built-in AI will automatically match and record them."

Looking at the interface and functions, which were almost identical to the Pokédex in his memory, Lin Dao was filled with emotion. Although it couldn't display levels, individual differences, and real-time status as precisely as the Arceus phone, it was already a revolutionary security guarantee and a treasure trove of knowledge for ordinary people and novice trainers.

"Academician Qin, thank you for your hard work. What are the manufacturing costs and production capacity of this thing?" Lin Dao asked the crucial question.

Academician Qin adjusted his glasses, revealing the pragmatic expression typical of a technical expert: "The cost control is quite good. Because the function is highly specialized, a large number of general-purpose chips and complex functional modules have been eliminated. The main cost is concentrated on the special lenses, high-energy batteries, and robust casing."

"Especially for lens materials, the mass production process is still being optimized. Currently, the estimated cost of materials and processing per unit is around 280 RMB."

"With the maturation of technology and the expansion of scale, especially after the breakthrough in lens material synthesis technology, the cost is expected to drop to below 200 yuan."

"What about pricing?" Lin asked, concerned about accessibility.

"The ministry and the price bureau have discussed a preliminary plan," Academician Qin replied.

"Considering the R&D investment, initial production capacity, and its positioning as a 'safety necessity,' the initial price may be 998 yuan."

"This price is far below that of mainstream smartphones, and its functions are clearly defined, aiming to encourage every family or individual interested in getting involved with the outdoors and Pokémon to equip themselves with one."

"As costs decrease in the future, prices will be adjusted accordingly, and it is even possible that specific subsidies or insurance packages will be included."

Lin Dao nodded in satisfaction. This price and positioning are reasonable; they cover the costs of driving product iterations without becoming an inaccessible barrier for ordinary people.

He continued testing other features of the Pokédex: video calls were clear and smooth, offline database searches were fast, and there was even a simple training log function that could record the growth process of trainers and Pokémon.

After exchanging ideas with Academician Qin on future upgrades to the atlas (such as adding simplified medical guidelines, hazard warnings, and terrain scanning), Lin Dao returned with a prototype to a quiet detached villa in a safe area arranged for him by the municipal government.