I'm popularizing ecology in the Pokémon world.

Chapter 102 Challenging Awatari

Not all wild Pokémon can grow into powerful beings like leaders or lords. In this world, ordinary Pokémon ultimately constitute the majority of the ecosystem.

Just like the pair of black seahorses in front of us, they are very ordinary elves. When they get angry, they can't even spit out a powerful "water gun". Instead, they can only regurgitate the hard branches that they can't digest in their stomachs and use them as projectiles, launching them out with the help of water flow.

The little Eevee, maintaining its Vaporeon form, easily dodged with a flick of its tail.

But the next moment she also received a naughty punishment.

Because Chen Mu immediately used the power of Tokiwa to communicate and ordered her: "Go and pick up that small piece of branch."

Little Ibrahimovic immediately showed a shocked expression.

(0△011)

Should we go pick it up? It was vomited out by the black seahorse.

"They've all been soaked in seawater, which is equivalent to being washed. What's there to complain about?" Chen Mu reassured Little Yibu.

Despite his reluctance, Little Ibu kindly swam over and retrieved the items for Chen Mu.

"Good girl~"

Chen Mu wanted to reach out and touch Eevee to express his gratitude, but before he could reach out after taking the coral branch, Eevee had already nimbly swam away.

Do you really dislike it that much?

However, this is a valuable observation sample, and it must be taken ashore; it's impossible to lose it.

Chen Mu then expressed his gratitude to the two wild seahorses.

For some reason, they, like Little Ibu, also avoided Chen Mu's outstretched hand.

emmm*"

Perhaps this is the price that must be paid for scientific research. Afterwards, Chen Mu stayed underwater for a while longer, using his overhead camera to film many underwater coral reefs, until his pressure reached 60 bar before choosing to surface.

While returning to shore to replenish his energy, he also handed over this crucial broken branch to Acorus and Sakura.

"Take it back for testing as soon as possible; it must have fallen from the sun coral."

Normally, Horsea wouldn't actively attack other Pokémon in the vicinity. It's unlikely they intentionally gnawed off this branch; more likely, it's a piece of Corsola's body that detached for unknown reasons, was accidentally ingested by Horsea, and then found it indigestible.

If you're lucky, you might find some useful information on this branch.

This is the value of scientific research: much information cannot be discovered without immersing oneself in the local ecosystem.

"It's a pity we didn't find any live sun corals," Lian Ying, who was in charge of compiling data on the shore, said regretfully.

Chen Mu explained, "They're not that easy to find. These kinds of spirits are very good at hiding, and they also have certain plant-like attributes, so they can stay buried at the bottom of the sea for a long time without moving."

However, he also said optimistically: "According to the observation results, there has been no large-scale necrosis of the coral forests that have formed in this sea area. This is good news, indicating that the local ecosystem has initially established an adaptive risk resistance capability."

Coral forests are built little by little by sun corals using their secretions; this is their nest, their paradise, and their happy haven.

Even though many sun corals are currently fleeing nearshore waters for unknown reasons, the ecosystem will still exist as long as this underwater forest does not perish.

"I don't think you need to be so tense. Ecosystems are not always as fragile as people imagine," Chen Mu comforted them.

However, judging from Xiaoxia and Changpu's worried expressions, it's hard to say how much they actually listened to their advice.

After a short rest, Chen Mu and Xiaoxia replenished their air tanks and then headed to the next sea area for another underwater exploration.

They worked until evening before finally finishing their day's information gathering.

In the evening, everyone returned to the Cerulean Gym, and Lance also returned.

Du has been searching in the outer sea area all day.

"Did you find anything?" Xiaoxia asked Du.

"I did make some discoveries," Watari nodded. "I found a group of damaged ships in the open sea. They were clustered together, not like they had migrated naturally. I suspect someone deliberately released them, so I chased them all away."

Besides that, I've also heard some fishermen say that they often hear strange singing sounds in the open sea recently, but they can't see any singing creatures. I suspect that this is also caused by an unknown Ghost-type Pokémon.

As he spoke, he nodded to Chen Mu in respect.

"We have to thank Professor Chen for the hint. With the clue about the ghost, we made a lot of progress."

Chen Mu had gotten used to hearing such thanks recently, so he wasn't too bothered. However, Lian Ying, who was seeing this scene for the first time, was stunned.

She was so excited that she didn't know where to put her hands.

This is the championship! The league championship! And the reigning champion!

Even Champion Du is thanking Teacher Chen!

That's truly worthy of Teacher Chen!

Turning her head, Lian Ying was even more impressed to see Chen Mu still so calm.

However, for Chen Mu, this was just his daily routine lately.

He not only accepted Watari's thanks calmly, but also composedly refuted her after some thought.

"No, I think the real core reason may not be in the open sea."

Why do you say that?

Chen Mu explained, "Because you may not know enough about the Pokémon Broodmother. Although Broodmother has no evolutionary chain and is unpopular in battles, it actually occupies a very high ecological niche in the ocean. It has a good relationship with Poisonous Dragon and can even cooperate to hunt giant Pokémon like Wailord."

Frankly, sun corals, with their small size and low ecological niche, don't even deserve to be food or targets for dilapidated ships.

Even Du was stunned.

This was the latest clue he had finally found after riding his Dragonite all day. He was secretly pleased and walking with a spring in his step on the way back, but Chen Mu denied it as soon as he got back to the gym.

For a moment, Lian Ying's palms clenched with nervousness.

Is the teacher really not afraid of showing such disrespect to the champion?

As it turns out, Chen Mu really wasn't afraid; that's the confidence of an academic giant who has mastered core knowledge.

"I think that the sun corals being scared away or driven away from the nearshore waters and their ghostly appearance after escaping are likely two separate events with two different causes. There may be a connection between the two events, but I don't think we can arbitrarily combine them directly for analysis."

A-Du can continue searching for clues about the ghostly transformation in the open sea, while we continue searching for the reason why the sun coral left the nearshore area. We can see which side will solve the mystery first.

These words instantly ignited Watari's fighting spirit.

"Okay!" He readily accepted this simple challenge.