Elf: Who told him to be an investigator!

Zhu Lan slowly walked up the suspended stairs. Just as Ze Shu had said, halfway up, she could smell a faint, foul odor.

Her expression was somewhat strange.

She found that this investigator, Ze Shu, possessed exceptional professional skills, which she found incredible. However, his methods might be somewhat unconventional…

as predicted.

As Ze Shu made way, Zhu Lan successfully climbed onto the deck of the spaceship.

The stench became even stronger.

What she saw left her somewhat stunned and silent.

Even though she had already prepared herself somewhat.

But I couldn't help but be taken aback by the scene on the deck—

All around the deck were people bound in various crooked positions, their faces pale. Most of them were unconscious, and even those who were awake dared not speak or move, appearing extremely timid and numb.

Are these still the same "veteran" Pokémon hunters?

Even when she came aboard the deck, the awakened Pokémon hunters looked at her with a mixture of relief and anticipation in their eyes!

They were expecting her to take them away.

This was unbelievable to Zhu Lan.

Upon seeing her, the Sinnoh Champion, these Pokémon hunters not only showed no fear, but even wanted her to take them away.

She remembered from previous reports that they had escaped by boat from the valley power plant, and that only two or three days had passed... how could they have turned into this?!

"This..." Zhu Lan couldn't maintain her composure. "What's going on?"

Even the most heinous criminals would not be treated so cruelly by their alliance.

"Well... well," Ze Shu touched his nose somewhat guiltily, "Look how great my Pokémon are. I've kept a close watch on them, haven't I? Almost none of them have resisted."

Actually, he was a bit obsessed with the feeling of piloting the spaceship, so he unknowingly completed the two-day flight. During that time, he only glanced at the 'monitoring' on the deck at most, and seeing that the soldiers were doing their duties diligently, he didn't pay much attention to it.

But Pokémon hunters are human too—

They needed food, water, and to relieve themselves, but the Ze Shu (a mythical tree) provided none of that, simply 'forgetting' them on the deck, which is why the current scene is so 'tragic'. Those who couldn't hold it in relieved themselves during their unconsciousness and had to do so on the spot, which is the source of the stench.

at this time.

The prison guard, Koma, still stood in the center of the deck.

One of the Pokémon hunters became impatient upon seeing Cynthia, fidgeting as if in rebellion.

Clang——

Komamura swiftly approached him, raised his arm, and without hesitation, snapped the Pokémon hunter into a deep, infant-like sleep.

Zhu Lan: "..."

You call this "keeping watch"?!

That's really strict.

"There are unavoidable reasons for this," Ze Shu said seriously. "Alright, you must know the situation here, Cynthia Champion. These are some 'ruthless' Pokémon hunters who have caused serious damage to the Sinnoh region. They even tried to destroy an important League facility—the Valley Power Plant—three days ago."

"Therefore, arresting them is entirely justified."

"Get them out of here right now, these people have made such a mess of my deck."

Zhu Lan: "..."

She looked at Ze Shu, who seemed completely unconcerned, and said what she had been wanting to say all along:

"Is this your boat?"

"certainly!"

Ze Shu still took it all for granted.

He defeated Hunter J, right? He caught all those Pokémon Hunters, didn't he?

Then this ship should rightfully be his spoils of war!

Is there no problem?

Zhu Lan's expression was strange: "Alright... then it's yours..."

Seizing the opportunity, Ze Shu pointed at the numerous Pokémon hunters around him, fanning his nose to smell the stench: "I've rid the League of so many threats, but these people have made my ship so dirty. Wouldn't you call that a 'work-related injury'? The League should be responsible for 'treating' my ship, okay?"

"Of course, I will pay those 'doctors' compensation for their emotional distress."

Zhu Lan: "..."

"certainly."

Her delicate face showed helplessness.

But considering the destruction of the Valley Power Plant and the chaos that the Sinnoh region would face... coupled with the fact that she already knew about the "Lake Heart Explosion Incident," which was also solved by this investigator, Sawaki...

Zhu Lan couldn't help but take the somewhat unconventional investigator in front of her seriously.

She said earnestly, "The Sinnoh League will not treat you unfairly, Zeki."

Ze Shu simply smiled and said, "Then thank you to the alliance."

A six-tailed creature emerged from his chest: "Ooo~"

It seemed to have just woken up; after letting out a cry, it yawned and squeezed out tears from the corners of its eyes.

Zhu Lan smiled and said, "No, the Alliance should thank you."

Then she waved.

The League members who came later had no choice but to cover their noses and drag away the Pokémon hunters, some unconscious and some compliant, one by one.

These alliance members never expected that the fierce battle they had mentally prepared for would actually be a battle against the stench.

Seeing this, Cynthia had no choice but to summon Togekiss. The little white plane, looking miserable, used "Clear Fog" to flap its wings and disperse the stench.

After a long and busy period, the dim sun had long since disappeared and the night had turned pitch black before they finally managed to drag all the Pokémon Hunter 108 items away from the spaceship.

……

Guest rooms in the Sinnoh League.

Ze Shu settled down as he had wished.

He was now carefully helping the soldier with the dagger to wash his body. After all, he had been standing on the deck for a long time, exposed to the sun and rain, so his body inevitably needed to be washed.

The water gushed down, washing away the impurities.

The Koma Blade Soldier's surface, which had been covered in dust, now gleamed like new, reflecting a cold luster from the water droplets. Combined with the sharp spikes around its body, it still looked as imposing and awe-inspiring as armor. Its only problem was its small size; however, this wouldn't be an issue after it evolved into the Slashing Commander.

"Thank you for these past few days, Komato Kohei," Sawaki said softly. "Of course, I'll need your help a lot in the future."

He looked at the child who couldn't speak or express himself, but could only silently follow his orders. He smiled and shook his head, saying nothing more. He carefully wiped the child's knife-like body with a towel before taking it to the center of the room to let it rest.

"Bu-i~~"

"Of course..." Ze Shu turned his head and saw the Ice Eevee lying on the bed with a hint of anticipation in its eyes. He chuckled and said, "Hehehe... I also have to thank my Eevee properly."

He pounced on Eevee, flipped its cold, soft body over, and stretched out his warm claws to frantically scratch Eevee's side.

"Bu~bu, bu-ee~~bu..."

"Feels good, doesn't it?"

Glaceon blushed crimson, and in its excitement, it exhaled a hot breath: "Eee~!!"

However, in their playful antics, they failed to notice—

Komato Kohei, who was sitting cross-legged in the center of the room, trembled his usually motionless arm, as if he wanted to reach towards Sawaki.