Pokémon: My Parallel World Daughters Revealed

The video continued playing.

Professor Carolina led Tiana into the research institute by the hand, while Cynthia followed behind them with helplessness written all over her face.

Both sides of the corridor on the first floor displayed ancient artifacts excavated throughout the Sinnoh region. Clay tablets engraved with ancient writing rested inside glass display cases, while watercolor reconstructions of Sinnoh’s ancient cities hung on the walls.

Although Professor Carolina held Tiana’s hand, the child’s head constantly turned from side to side like a tiny radar.

"Great-Grandma, what’s that?"

Tiana pointed toward one of the glass display cases.

Inside rested a stone tablet about the size of a palm. Several curved lines had been carved across its surface, while its edges emitted a faint blue glow.

Professor Carolina bent down and examined it.

"That is a fragment of a star chart used in ancient ceremonies. It is said to be connected to Legendary Pokémon, but researchers still haven’t reached a definite interpretation."

"Legendary Pokémon?"

Tiana’s eyes brightened.

"Yes—Dialga and Palkia."

Professor Carolina adjusted her reading glasses.

"But these subjects are still a little too advanced for you. It won’t be too late to study them after you grow older."

Tiana nodded, but her mismatched eyes remained fixed on the stone tablet inside the display case.

Cynthia walked at the back of the group, holding a cup of coffee one of the research assistants had handed her. Her face was filled with exhaustion.

She watched the two figures ahead of her—one old and one young. One was explaining everything seriously, while the other listened with equal concentration.

For some reason, the sight made her feel even more exhausted than attending an academic conference.

That was because Professor Carolina was willing to teach Tiana absolutely anything.

The last time Cynthia brought Tiana to the research institute, Professor Carolina had explained ancient ceremonial rituals to her. After returning home, Tiana constructed an altar out of building blocks, placed Gible in the center, and declared that she was going to summon Dialga.

It took Cynthia three hours to convince Tiana to dismantle the altar.

Now Professor Carolina was teaching her about fragments of ancient star charts.

"Grandma," Cynthia said, "please don’t explain these things to her in too much detail. The last time you taught her about ancient ceremonies, she built an altar at home."

Professor Carolina turned toward her.

"Isn’t that wonderful? It proves that the child possesses intellectual curiosity."

"She placed Gible in the middle of the altar as a sacrifice."

"Children are only playing make-believe. When you were young, you treated the research institute’s Fossil Pokémon skeletons like building blocks."

Cynthia fell silent once again.

She had discovered that whenever she raised concerns about Tiana inside this research institute, someone would immediately use her own childhood record to silence her.

Worse still, that record was being provided by her biological grandmother, making its authority impossible to dispute.

[Regular-Seat Chat Group]

"Cynthia at the League: the aloof and dignified Champion. Cynthia at home: a pitiful mother repeatedly struck by critical hits from her grandmother’s stories about her childhood."

"Professor Carolina is Cynthia’s ultimate counter. She’s even more difficult to battle than a Legendary Pokémon."

"Tiana began researching how to summon Dialga at three years old? Isn’t she progressing a little too quickly?"

"Her father is Asher, her mother is Cynthia, and her great-grandmother is Professor Carolina. With that lineup, it would be a waste if she didn’t study Legendary Pokémon."

"This research institute isn’t somewhere that can restrain Tiana. It’s Tiana’s educational paradise."

[VIP Chat Group]

[Cynthia]: ...

[Diantha]: Cynthia has already broken her personal record for the number of times she has fallen silent today.

[Lorelei]: Inside the research institute, Cynthia isn’t the Champion. She’s merely the pitiful person trapped between her grandmother and her daughter.

[Iris]: Professor Carolina’s combat power is incredible. Every sentence she says lands as a critical hit.

[Bertha]: Professor Carolina is the only person I’ve ever seen render Cynthia speechless repeatedly.

[Lucian]: Cynthia’s authority at the League amounts to nothing in front of her grandmother.

[Dawn]: Tiana actually thought of building an altar out of blocks to summon Dialga? Hahaha! That’s so adorable!

[Iris]: The important part is that Professor Carolina considers that intellectual curiosity! Would an ordinary person call it intellectual curiosity? They would just think a child was playing around~

[Gary]: Professor Carolina is a leading authority in archaeology. In her eyes, nearly everything is probably connected to academic research.

[Professor Oak]: Professor Carolina is correct. Tiana truly does possess a powerful curiosity. Her methods of expressing it are merely somewhat unusual.

[Professor Birch]: Agreed.

[Bill]: +1

[Barry]: This many professors approve of her behavior?

[Professor Juniper]: Only people who conduct research understand that this kind of desire for knowledge is the most precious quality of all.

[Gary]: That’s true.

The video continued playing.

Professor Carolina brought Tiana to a laboratory on the third floor.

When she opened the door, rows of bookshelves and display tables came into view. They were covered with ancient artifacts and fossil specimens.

Tiana’s first reaction was to run toward a temperature-controlled incubator in the corner.

"Great-Grandma! What’s inside this?"

"That is a fossilized Pokémon Egg," Professor Carolina answered with a smile as she approached.

"Can it hatch?"

Tiana pressed her face against the glass, her mismatched eyes widening into circles.

"Not at present. The research team is attempting to reactivate it through several different methods."

"Daddy might know how."

Tiana made the suggestion with complete seriousness.

"Your father?"

Professor Carolina chuckled.

"He has certainly helped the research institute solve many difficult problems. This Egg’s circumstances are rather unusual, however, so we need to proceed slowly."

Cynthia leaned against a bookshelf with a cup of tea in her hand, watching Tiana run around the laboratory.

She suddenly remembered that when she was young, she had also spent her time in this room, lying across that very table as she watched her grandmother restore ancient stone tablets.

Back then, she had also believed the research institute was the most fascinating place in the world. Every stone concealed a secret, and every broken fragment told a story.

Now her daughter was here, leaning against the same incubator in the same posture and expressing the same amazement toward the same research materials.

The feeling was strangely wonderful, as though time had tied a tiny knot directly before her eyes.

"Mommy!"

Tiana ran over and grabbed Cynthia’s hand.

"Great-Grandma said that fossil over there belongs to an Anorith!"

"Mm. Be careful and don’t damage it."

"I won’t damage it!"

Tiana placed her hands on her hips.

"I’m going to become an archaeologist when I grow up too!"

Professor Carolina laughed from nearby.

"Wonderful, wonderful! Tiana has ambition. Great-Grandma supports you."

Cynthia sighed helplessly.

"Grandma, Tiana is still far too young."

"That doesn’t matter. I’ll teach her myself. As long as Tiana is willing to learn, everything will be fine—provided she doesn’t divide her attention the way you did."

"..."

[Regular-Seat Chat Group]

"Tiana is like a fish returning to the ocean inside this research institute. Professor Carolina can teach her anything, and Cynthia can’t stop either of them."

"Cynthia brought Tiana to the research institute because she wanted her grandmother to help restrain her. Instead, Professor Carolina immediately began Tiana’s academic education."

"This might be the most obedient Tiana has ever been, because the research institute is filled with things that interest her."

[VIP Chat Group]

[Professor Carolina]: How nostalgic. Little Cynthia once said the exact same thing to me~

[Cynthia]: ...

[Dawn]: After seeing her like this, it’s difficult to imagine that Tiana will eventually become the Master of Time and Space!

[Iris]: It’s normal for children to have a new dream every day, but Tiana looked extremely serious when she said the word "archaeologist."

[Ash]: Then why wasn’t "archaeologist" included in Tiana’s list of achievements?

[Brock]: Compared with titles such as Champion and Master of Time and Space, being an archaeologist probably doesn’t seem significant enough to mention.

[Diantha]: Professor Carolina actually said Cynthia wasn’t dedicated enough! Hahaha! Cynthia has been criticized again!

[Cynthia]: ...

[Professor Carolina]: After little Cynthia became Champion, she truly had very little time left to devote to research.

[May]: Professor Carolina’s standards are that high? Being both a Champion and an archaeologist? Aaaah, I could never manage that!

[Tracey]: Professor Carolina’s standards may be attainable only by researchers who devote themselves entirely to academia.

...

TL: Woof woof, Professor Juniper—why don’t we conduct some research of our own? Interested in biology... and the origin of humans? wink wink—gets hit by Hyper Beam