"Hello, Professor Birch. I'm from the Devon Corporation..."
Just as Cairo was about to extend his hand again, Birch suddenly froze for a moment before rushing outside.
"Sapphire, Sapphire?"
Birch saw his daughter slowly climb out of the car. He called out to her while hurrying over and carrying her into the house. "Go eat your dinner!"
After saying that, Birch came back outside and tried to close the door.
No matter how good-tempered Cairo was, his expression became a little unpleasant. Still, he could only ignore it and pretend nothing had happened.
After all, Birch had always been like this. Forget about a mere employee from the Devon Corporation. Even if a Hoenn Elite Four member or Champion came to see him, they would receive the same treatment, either being ignored or treated with disdain.
Cairo couldn't tell whether this was the natural arrogance Pokémon researchers had toward trainers or simply part of Birch's personality.
Anyways, that kind of attitude really made everyone uncomfortable.
"Professor Shiro!" Birch grabbed Shiro by the arm. "Go tell those two drivers outside to leave. Aren't you staying here for a while? That car is taking up too much space."
Shiro patted him on the shoulder and tried to calm him down. "I'll just say a few words to them. Professor Birch, why don't you go check on Sapphire first? She doesn't seem very happy."
"Then hurry up!" Birch urged impatiently. "Some Pokémon really do move to a new habitat within a short period. If we're even a little late, we might not see them anymore. This is the perfect time for us to head out."
Shiro didn't answer. He simply waved at him helplessly before walking outside.
The driver had already gotten into the car, but Cairo was still standing there with a smile. "Professor Shiro, if you need anything, you can call me. Tomorrow, no, I'll come visit again after some time."
He paused and glanced at Birch, who was busy inside. "I'll let you know in advance when I come."
Shiro nodded as well. "I'm sorry, Mr. Cairo. I didn't expect Professor Birch to be so eager to discuss academic matters."
Cairo only smiled again before getting into the car and leaving.
By the time Shiro closed the door, Birch had already changed into his outdoor clothes. His backpack was packed and his goggles were on. He looked completely ready to leave.
"Let's go. Come on, let's hurry..." Birch urged him impatiently.
While Shiro thought about what excuse he could use to refuse him, he slowly walked outside and looked around.
Sapphire seemed to be in the dining room, but judging from Birch's attitude, he didn't seem to care much. Otherwise, he wouldn't have temporarily left Sapphire with Rowan when they were in Pallet Town.
Wait, where was Birch's wife?
Outside on the small road, Birch walked quickly. It seemed like he was about to break into a run.
"Birch!"
A sharp voice suddenly rang out.
Birch shuddered.
At the end of the dirt road, in the direction of the town's only store, a short-haired woman came running over. She carried a bag of freshly bought vegetables and Berries in her hand. Her face was filled with anger.
"Birch! Where do you think you're running off to?"
Birch hurriedly moved behind Shiro and nervously rubbed his hands together.
Shiro's psychic powers keenly picked up on his discomfort. It wasn't exactly fear. It was more like the kind of avoidance a person showed when they didn't dare face someone.
When the woman finally reached them, the dim light made it possible to see both of their faces clearly.
"Hello, Mrs. Birch. I'm Shiro. I'm also a Pokémon researcher with the League. I just arrived in Hoenn today, and I had already arranged to discuss some academic matters with Professor Birch."
Shiro smiled and briefly introduced himself.
"I'm Soyln Birch."
Soyln held the bags in both hands and gave a slight nod. She was tall and slender, and her face looked about seventy percent like Sapphire's. Her anger quickly faded, replaced by a hint of confusion.
"May I ask, Mr. Shiro, what are you doing out here?"
Birch suddenly became tense.
Shiro pointed toward the nearby forest. "I only arrived recently. Professor Birch wanted to show me around Littleroot Town, but we realized it was already getting a little late after we came out, so we were about to head back inside. Professor Birch said he wanted to stay outside and wait for you to come home."
Soyln glanced at Birch's backpack and goggles. She clearly saw through the lie but chose not to expose him. Instead, she smiled gently and said, "Then why don't you stay for dinner? Whatever research you have to discuss can wait until tomorrow."
After saying that, she didn't enter the house first. Instead, she used her eyes to force Birch back inside before politely apologizing to Shiro.
Once inside, Soyln immediately heard strange noises coming from the house and rushed toward the dining room.
"Sapphire!" Her surprised voice carried a slight sob.
Shiro and Birch stood at the entrance and looked at each other in silence.
To be honest, Shiro really couldn't understand what Birch was thinking. He clearly had a wife at home, yet he had left his own child with someone who could barely even be considered a colleague.
All for the sake of giving Sapphire a line on her record showing that she had participated in an academic conference?
The child was far too young for that.
At Sapphire's age, being away from home for nearly two months was really not appropriate.
Shiro patted Birch on the shoulder. "Do you have a study or something like that? There should at least be a laboratory in the research institute, right? Let's go there and talk first..."
Just as the two were about to leave, Soyln came out of the dining room carrying Sapphire in her arms. She looked almost like an enraged female Charizard.
"Birch! You..."
The curse was already on the tip of her tongue, but when she noticed Shiro beside him, she forcibly swallowed the rest and turned toward the kitchen instead.
Shiro felt a chill run down his spine. Beside him, Birch looked as though he wanted to say something, but in the end, he remained silent with a dejected expression.
Without saying anything else, the two went up to the third floor.
The old wooden staircase creaked under their feet. The wooden floorboards in the third-floor hallway did the same, making it easy to wonder if they might suddenly give way.
After opening a door on the left, the two moved some chairs and sat down inside what could only be described as a cramped laboratory.
Shiro looked around the laboratory. He didn't want to belittle a professor's research room, but this place was honestly too shabby.
It was about the size of a bedroom, and it was probably a converted bedroom. There were no valuable experimental materials, not even a computer for entering data. There were only a few tables and chairs, along with neatly arranged sheets of paper covered in data.
The most eye-catching thing was a Pokémon habitat model in the center of the room. It had been made with sand, soil, and trees, and it was incredibly detailed and realistic.
Unfortunately, it was still only a model.
If Shiro wanted to conduct similar research... No, even Rowan, who had struggled to keep his own research institute running before, would have found an actual location to use as a research site.
A proper Pokémon professor shouldn't be working under conditions like this. As Oak had once said, if someone wanted to conduct research, asking the League to set aside an ecological park for a few controlled experiments was nothing difficult. Even the smallest research project would need dozens of Pokémon for experiments, right?
After observing the room for a while, Shiro finally couldn't hold back his curiosity.
"Professor Birch, where's your research funding? No matter what, the Hoenn League should be giving you a few hundred million in research funding every year, right?"
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