Chapter 117: Flowers and Plants Are Also Essential Lessons

As for a better method, Zhu Suihan could not think of one for the time being; strictly speaking, this type of case was quite an outlier.

There was a simpler approach: finding someone with supernatural powers to treat it like a kidney stone surgery, using a refined version of ultrasonic lithotripsy inside the Shuckle's body. However, if one were to write that on an exam paper, it would at the very least be treated as a zero. After all, it contradicted the academy’s philosophy—not everyone possessed such supernatural abilities.

The answer sheets were collected, and once the teacher confirmed they were all in, she played a video for the class to observe how this bizarre case was handled.

"I see, so no puncture was required."

The treatment in the video was a purely mechanical procedure, a refined surgery performed remotely via computer and motion-capture gloves. It sounded hard to grasp, but it was essentially the medical world’s version of a high-precision Stand, specifically designed to help doctors perform complex maneuvers during treatment. As long as the computer detected that a medical instrument might touch the Shuckle’s body, the system would immediately issue a warning to avoid any unnecessary medical accidents.

Zhu Suihan clicked his tongue. He had forgotten that the level of technology in the Pokémon world had reached such heights; this kind of fully substitutive mechanical treatment was not an issue at all. Or rather, this was far from the limit of refined mechanical surgery. The fact that such equipment was used just to clear out some fructose blocks meant that its penetration rate was quite high—it was likely the kind of thing present in every Pokémon Center.

The white-haired youth fell into deep thought. The question then arose: if such mechanical equipment had become widespread, did that mean similar strange cases had occurred elsewhere in the world?

Zhu Suihan remembered a conversation with a shop clerk in a certain game, where the person had blurted out, "If I give my girlfriend a Water Stone, maybe she'll evolve." His internal processor had overloaded on the spot. He had to wonder whether he should ponder the possibilities between humans and evolutionary stones—for instance, if the girlfriend was a supernatural being capable of absorbing water-type energy—or if he should consider what species she actually was, or if she was simply a cute little Eevee.

It was a very strange question, and one that could not be looked into too deeply. If it were the latter, he might have to call Officer Jenny as well. The Unova region needed talents like that; after all, the Pokémon world never kept idlers.

With precision machinery acting as a "Stand," resolving the Shuckle's problem was relatively simple. However, when the fruit pulp blocks were being crushed, the Shuckle's body clearly showed signs of distress. In short, its vitality dropped rapidly, and its head and neck, which had previously been standing tall like a fried dough stick, quickly drooped, returning to their pre-fried state.

A Chansey nearby, acting as an assistant physician, quickly supported the Shuckle, while Healing Pulse and Life Dew slowly seeped into its body, allowing the Shuckle to hold on until the surgery was finished. The fruit pulp blocks cleared out were nothing more than tiny fragments. After about half an hour, the medical instruments were withdrawn from the Shuckle's body.

Nurse Joy and the Chansey carefully held the Shuckle and placed it into a box, then poured in two full bottles of Life Dew.

It was an oven. (Crossed out)

It was not an oven, but an incubator capable of monitoring vital signs, roughly a combination of a pet hair dryer and a Pokémon egg incubator. It kept the temperature at a level the Shuckle could tolerate, but one that would allow any remaining fruit pulp blocks to slowly turn back into a liquid state. Zhu Suihan estimated that the residual pulp must have been attached to the Shuckle's body, and forcing it off would be dangerous, or perhaps it was stuck to non-essential parts of its shell.

Coupled with the use of Life Dew as a nutritional source to let the Shuckle sleep inside, ensuring that its vital signs would not deteriorate, the condition should be alleviated. Although the vitality of Pokémon was generally unreasonably strong, this time it was quite serious; it would have to stay in the recovery room for at least three to five days.

"The video ends here. Do students have any questions?"

A Joy raised her hand. The teacher smiled, nodded, and signaled for her to speak.

"Teacher, may I ask why this Shuckle's trainer would do such a thing?"

They were all students of the Joy Academy; it was impossible for them not to see the true cause of the Shuckle's condition. The teacher’s expression turned somewhat strange, and she swept a glance at Zhu Suihan quite directly.

The white-haired youth: "?" Why was the teacher looking at him? Wasn't this a very normal question? Anyone who understood the habits of the Shuckle species and loved Pokémon would have been quite restrained not to be as furious as the early-days Ash, who had wanted to resort to physical combat.

The teacher naturally didn't think there was anything wrong with Zhu Suihan. Wait, no—it *was* his fault! The other grade levels hadn't changed, but the first-year students had generally undergone some strange transformations. To put it simply, there had been similar case study courses before, but the Joys' main concern had always been whether the Pokémon in the case recovered their health. She herself had been like that as a student; that year, some classmates had even discussed visiting those severely ill Pokémon—it was all about being warm-hearted.

But now, the focus of the freshmen had shifted to the trainers of the Pokémon. Judging by their tone, if they met those trainers after graduation, they would definitely give them a few punches. Who taught you all such thuggish ideas! Oh, right—it was the "destined villain" designated by the dean during the joint exercise between the two academies, who was also a student of their Joy Academy and a top-performing honor student.

She was speechless. The teacher had a very ominous premonition. Once this batch of students graduated and headed out into the world, she felt that the public's perception of the Joy clan would undergo a massive change. It seemed there was no need to worry about the students' safety; in the future, it was those who wanted to cause trouble who would need to consider their own safety.

Since the curriculum already included physical education and battle classes to strengthen physical fitness and combat ability, and then Zhu Suihan had added a bit of "finishing touch" spice during the riot control drill, if this batch of Joys were unleashed, they were truly likely to become the right hands of the Jennys, rather than mere partners.

"Ahem, as a doctor, it is a violation of protocol to inquire about a patient's trainer's personal identity information. You must remember this," the teacher said. "I can tell you that the Shuckle has fully recovered, and the trainer has already understood their mistake under the guidance of Officer Jenny."

Seeing the student sit down, Zhu Suihan was lost in thought. If the trainer realized their mistake, it seemed they were just a trainer whose basic knowledge wasn't very solid, who had intended to deeply develop the Shuckle's potential and ended up doing more harm than good. Well, such things were indeed hard to avoid during growth. At least from the fact that the Shuckle was willing to cooperate with its trainer, the relationship should still be fine. And since they were able to come to the Pokémon Center for help, it couldn't have been one of those guys on the wanted list.

Next was the introduction of the medical equipment used in this case, a topic Zhu Suihan was quite interested in. That medical equipment was like a precision version of Clemont's mechanical arm; if he could get his hands on one and modify it, he could play Doctor Octopus in the Pokémon world. If he could play Doctor Octopus, as long as he put some effort into multitasking, completing such special cases wouldn't be too difficult.

The white-haired youth felt a bit conflicted. This case, which seemed somewhat bizarre to him, was actually just a first-year placement exam. In other words, in the teacher's eyes, the difficulty of this case was not out of line. This meant that even more outrageous cases were waiting for him in the future. Perhaps he should just pray that Arceus would "refresh" a divine light to descend and help heal the Pokémon.

Class ended. Zhu Suihan packed his things, went to another classroom, and ate two energy cubes to calm his nerves. In the real world, regions were connected, and the mobility of Pokémon was high; he guessed that the Joy clan had records of strange cases from all over. In a sense, this could be considered a record of people's dark history. If the stupid things he had done were taken out by the Joy Academy as classic cases for teaching, and then a few years later, after the students graduated, they met him in person, that would be a true "social death" on the spot.

The second class began. Fortunately, there were no strange options; it was a normal course, and the target Pokémon was also very common.

Hoppip—a light, airy Pokémon. A person with a larger lung capacity could perhaps blow a Hoppip away in one breath, provided they didn't mind the person having bad breath. Today's lesson was about how to trim the leaves on a Hoppip's head. That’s right—in at least this aspect, becoming a hairstylist was also a skill a Joy needed to master.

The two helicopter leaves on a Hoppip's head grew in a standard way, just like in the Pokédex. When the wind blew, at least you could judge in which direction your partner would fly. As the Hoppip's cultivation level increased, the leaves on its head would grow accordingly. At such times, the trainer needed to be extra careful; if they couldn't trim them, it was best to send it to a Pokémon Center.

To give a simple example, whether in sports or gaming, if you blindly imitate the equipment and habits of star players, you are likely to do more harm than good. The teacher's slide showed an example: some trainers had their own unique understanding of raising Hoppip, meticulously trimming the leaves on their heads themselves. As a result, once the wind picked up during a battle, or the aftermath of the battle created an airflow, only the partner would know how they would fly. It was truly erratic in the literal sense.

If a trainer rashly imitated this and caused their partner to fly off into some deep mountain or forest, it would be a question of whether you could even find your partner, let alone avoid bothering Officer Jenny and the Ranger team to help with the rescue.

As for the evolved forms, Skiploom and Jumpluff, they were a bit better, as at least their strength increased significantly after evolution, and they had a degree of self-control. Being capricious and drifting with the wind was their nature, but controlling themselves not to fly away randomly was self-discipline. Furthermore, one had to be extra careful when treating a Jumpluff, because the three clumps on its body were of the same type as spores; inhaling them rashly would cause coughing and itching.