Elf: Who told him to be an investigator!

Chapter 23 Investigator Benefits

One day later.

Yamanashi Research Institute, Sawaki's room.

"Congratulations on officially joining our ranks of investigators!"

Investigator Yuzheng took out a badge exactly the same as the one he had tried to use to prove his identity that day and handed it to Zeshu. "We investigators don't have any grand awarding ceremonies. Well, please understand."

Ze Shu accepted the medal and said indifferently, "That's even better."

The medal is still engraved with an incomprehensible pattern, with Ze Shu's name and the date he joined the investigators on the side: today—August 20, 205 of the Alliance Calendar.

"The same."

"Aside from your desire to expose yourself, not many of your colleagues will actually know your identity. Hmph... although everyone is interested in you as a new colleague."

"However, for us investigators, even communication is mostly concentrated on the 'investigator terminal' I gave you earlier."

"Investigators as flamboyant as Watari are rare... but with your ice-attribute specialization, Watari would probably be scared of you."

Seeing that Ze Shu didn't mind, Xiong Zheng chuckled and then took out a lot of props.

"These are all the Alliance's latest technologies, kid, you're in luck. I didn't have anything this good to offer back then."

"Oh?"

Looking at the items that Xiong Zheng took out.

A black waist bag with many Poké Ball slots. On the surface, there are six slots, but upon closer inspection, there are many more spaces hidden in the shadows that can hold Poké Balls.

And all sorts of tools—telescopes, stun guns, ropes…

Xiong Zheng pointed to the obvious storage space in the very center of the waist bag.

"This waist pack features the Alliance's latest spatial storage technology. Don't be fooled by the impressive-looking spatial backpacks sold in stores; this one is even more amazing. Not only does it take up less space, but its storage capacity is many times greater."

"And these slots make switching Poké Balls very smooth! Of course, as investigators, if you apply, you can bring more than six Pokémon into a Poké Ball, and these hidden slots are for that purpose."

"As for the other tools, well, I won't go into details; you can figure them out yourself."

Xiong Zheng finished speaking about what he wanted to say.

Ze Shu was a little stunned.

It has to be said that the onboarding benefits are indeed generous. Even a simple spatial backpack, as Ze Shu has seen, would cost anywhere from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of yuan in a shopping mall, and it's not even available in Zhensha Town.

"That's not all!" Xiong Zheng chuckled. "To take care of you, the newcomer, we can let you apply for an excellent 'starter Pokémon' partner. How about that? Pretty generous, right?"

"Just tell me what Pokémon you need. I'll apply for it for you."

"Hmm..." Ze Shu pondered for a moment, then looked at Glaceon and Snorunt guarding him in the room. Recalling their comfortable expressions in the ice-filled room earlier, he said without hesitation, "If possible..."

Zeshu said a name.

Xiong Zheng paused for a moment, then said, "This is difficult. It only exists in Alola, and you need to hide its ability. But, well, I'm the one who introduced you..."

"See how good I am to you?" He patted Ze Shu's shoulder heavily, raised his fist, "Then shouldn't we...?"

"You want me to punch you back?"

Ze Shu: "..."

Before he could speak, Glaceon, hearing this, protested, "Eevee!"

"Don't hit Sawaki!"

"I'll beat up Sawaki and shoot you to death with my freezing ray!"

……

In the end, Xiong Zheng still did not take any action. Under the threat of Glaceon, he repeatedly raised his hands, saying, "Alright, alright, I'm not that vengeful."

"It was just two punches. Those two punches were nothing in my past experiences. They didn't even hurt me. Anyway, I won't hold a grudge against Ze Shu for those two heavy punches, one to my left cheek and one to..."

Ze Shu: "..."

"Ahem, but on another note," Xiong Zheng's eyes became more serious, "now that you've joined the investigators, there are some things I have to tell you."

"I've observed a lot of unusual activity in the deep forest near the Yamanashi Research Institute, with large numbers of footprints appearing frequently. This is also related to the fact that the two Pokémon hunters you captured wanted to destroy the Yamanashi Research Institute."

Xiongzheng said with a serious expression, "I suspect someone is going to target the Yamanashi Research Institute again! I've already reminded Dr. Yamanashi to prepare for the worst. So, next..."

He patted Ze Shu's shoulder heavily again.

"I'm leaving everything to you!"

Ze Shu: "??"

……

Sinnoh, Bide City, top of the Galactic Bide Building.

Tools and mechanical parts were scattered across the large table. A serious-looking man sat at the table, his hands fiddling with something.

"Hehehe... Boss Chi Ri." A slightly overweight man wearing a white coat pushed open the door and entered.

"Unfortunately, our previous operation at Lizhi Lake was disrupted by Champion Zhulan, which also drew her close attention, making it difficult for us to make much progress. We had no choice but to experiment at Xinqi Lake, which is farther away from the league."

"Huoxing has already scouted out a location at Xinqi Lake."

"And we were short-handed, so we had to temporarily hire some Pokémon hunters to help us."

"Pokémon hunters?" Red Sun continued fiddling with the parts, speaking without looking up. "Pluto, our current actions shouldn't expose us too much to the League. And hired Pokémon hunters... they won't listen to us."

"I know, I know..." Hades said repeatedly, "So I... added money! I guarantee they'll behave."

"Although these Pokémon hunters were a bit careless, my intelligence indicates that the Special Investigator who came to Sandstone Town earlier has already left."

"There's no force left in Sand Town that can stop us! Officer Jenny? We could plant the 'Galactic Bomb' right under their noses! She wouldn't be able to stop us!"

"Moreover, Huoxing has taken many follow-up measures."

Hades confidently addressed the blazing sun, like a warrior signing a pledge.

Previously, their Galactic Team suffered heavy losses during their operation at Lake of Ambition, when they encountered Orchid Bamboo passing by. That operation was led by Hades, so he was very eager to redeem himself this time.

The red sun cannot be denied.

"Perhaps," Hades murmured, "the town of True Sand hasn't even discovered any trace of our activity yet!"

……

"Zeqi, Zeqi, I'm telling you!"

"I really noticed a lot of signs of people being around that big lake in the evening. A lot of fruit has fallen from the trees, come on..."

Chongtai filled his straw hat with piles of deep blue orange berries, their surfaces still glistening with dew from the river. With a simple, honest smile, he presented them to Zeshu. "Try some. My Master Yuan loves them."

"Ding ding~"

The mage standing beside the trainer smiled and gently shook the antennae on his head, producing a clear xylophone sound in response to the trainer.

Ze Shu smiled and asked, "Could you tell me the specific details?"