Ash, with his invincible physical body, wants to become a Pokémon Master.

Chapter 533 A Grand Celebration

"If we retrieve the trophy before we reach Kaina City, then everything will be fine!"

That Phantom Thief Banai is really unlucky; he actually dared to steal things right in front of Ash.

After learning about the amount of money involved in Banana's wanted notice from Officer Jenny, Ash said...

"What?! The bounty is a whopping 5000 million?! Then for the sake of the Alliance's justice, and for the smooth running of this magnificent celebration, I absolutely cannot stand idly by!"

"This is so obviously about money, Ash!"

[Ding! Congratulations, host, you have triggered a new quest, "The Phantom Thief Gibbon": Please help Officer Jenny capture the despicable phantom thief who stole the treasure!]

【奖励：联盟币+2000；体力+2；速度+2；自由属性点+2：解锁新特性「易容术Iv1」

Ignoring May's complaints, the reason Ash is so happy about Bannage's bounty is that he's so poor he only has 1000 million left in his savings.

Since he teleported the giant psychic clay figure back to the Dark City some time ago, the massive infrastructure construction there has officially begun.

As a result, the 200 million yuan dividend that the group used to pay every quarter was suddenly reduced to 20 million yuan due to excessive temporary fixed asset investment.

Although the daily expenses of the legendary Pokémon kept at their old home are now being covered by the company and Professor Oak.

But the legendary Pokémon that Ash carries with him now cost quite a bit in daily expenses.

Animals like Rayquaza and Groudon only like to eat Ancient Energy Crystals as their food.

Originally, only one crystal needed to be fed to Nigakure, but now Groudon, Kyogre, and Deoxys are also feeding on it, making a total of four mouths to feed on it at the same time.

Even the little star Jirachi sometimes wants to eat a few crystals to replenish its energy.

This resulted in the fact that even with the generous assistance of the giant meteorite, Ash's vast reserves of ancient energy crystals, which were as numerous as a river, had already been depleted by a quarter.

Keep in mind that Ash initially estimated those crystals, given that he only had Nigakure, would last forty years; now it's only been a year.

Aliens, flightless creatures, and fathead fish all eat way too much!

However, since Deoxys' injuries have finally fully recovered, and his strength has not only returned to its peak but has even improved, so it's not a complete loss.

Ash is a trainer who doesn't want to shortchange his Pokémon, and even after his biggest source of income shrank, his regular expenses remained high.

Of course, this isn't the main problem, after all, Xiao Zhi is quite the business whiz.

The several new business lines he had established after arriving in Hoenn had begun to generate profits, and he also received a salary as regent of the Kingdom of Miraju, so maintaining a balance between income and expenditure was not a problem.

But simply balancing the budget isn't enough; he has another important task to complete.

It's that mission where Ash travels across multiple regions and spends an extremely long time exploring the map and setting up teleportation points.

[Ding! Side Quest "Quickly Light Up All the Teleport Anchor Points! (Hoenn Chapter)": Please light up the teleport coordinates of important cities in the Hoenn Alliance! (8/9)]

[Rewards: Alliance Coins +8000; Speed ​​+2; Free Attribute Points +4; Milton Battle Ticket Fragment +1 (Rumor has it that collecting four fragments can summon Shenron!)]

Now, only one city remains of Ash's city, and only one fragment remains of the city.

Two months from now, he will be heading to the final destination of his Hoenn trip: Seirei City.

With the money Xiaozhi currently has, it's not enough to buy a house in Hoenn, where land is incredibly expensive. In such places, even a plot of land the size of a toilet can cost half a person's life.

For the house he's interested in, there's still a shortfall of 4000 million.

The muscular man was already troubled and was even considering returning to his old ways as a shrewd businessman, diluting his stamina recovery drugs to make quick money.

Unexpectedly, a stroke of luck appeared. If Little Smart catches Banai, the bounty will be enough to buy a house and even leave him with 1000 million.

This Bannail has arrived just in time! Ash definitely doesn't want to miss the opportunity to complete the mission quickly.

Although Officer Jenny and Mr. Conkenstein had no idea what Ash was thinking, they were very grateful for his help.

However, they were still uneasy.

"Ash, we are very grateful that you were willing to lend a helping hand, but that Phantom Thief Banai's disguise skills are said to be flawless, and he has probably disguised himself into the crowd again."

"How are we going to find him?"

The best solution Miss Officer Jenny could think of was to find a way to acquire or create a fake, more expensive exhibit, and then spread the news that it would be exhibited to attract Banai to show up.

However, Ash immediately waved his hand, rejecting the suggestion.

"It feels too deliberate to suddenly add a very expensive exhibit at this time."

Banai has already won her biggest goal: the ceremony trophy.

If he doesn't quickly find a way to escape at this point, he might be further embroiled in a discovery he's never heard of before and which has suddenly been put on display.

If the product were to appear.

He's either an idiot or he's being forcibly controlled by fate.

"So there's no need for that complicated process, I have an easier way."

When it comes to finding people, Xiao Zhi is the best at it.

Although I've never met Banai before and don't know what his waveguide looks like, it doesn't matter!

The people on the ship, besides the staff, were the invited coordinators and their relatives and friends.

Each person is a pre-registered individual, and the number of people is fixed.

Moreover, since every facility on a luxury cruise ship is free, you need to scan your face to enter any area.

If Banai were to disguise herself, she could only do so by pretending that there were already people on the ship.

With Ash's powerful aura and the memory granted by his psychic brain, he only needs to walk around from top to bottom to find two people with the same face but different auras, and Bannail will naturally have nowhere to hide.

Ash's Aura can ignore terrain limitations and is specifically designed to target the life energy emitted by the human body.

No matter where Banai hid, he could always find her.

After Ash finished explaining his plan, he instructed Conkenstein and Officer Jenny to use the opportunity of holding a grand celebration to promote their ideas.

This was the starting point for bringing together the coordinators, who made up the majority of the group.

May and Max went to help them, while Ash could handle the rest.

As Ash had suspected, Banai was still on the cruise ship.

Currently, he appears as a long-haired beauty, mingling in the crowd disguised as a normal young girl shopping.

This guy is clearly a grown man, but he always likes to disguise himself as a woman. Phantom thieves are indeed strange guys.

But for a phantom thief, strong skills are all that matter.

Banai pulled off another big heist, mocking the League members as if they were all pigs, while searching for an opportunity to sneak onto the top deck.

Once he gets on the deck, he can use his rocket backpack to evacuate for millions, and then he can completely secure his gains.

However, because the top deck is completely enclosed when the cruise ship is traveling at high speed, only highly skilled technicians can go up there.

That's why Banai kept wandering around outside, trying to find an opportunity to disguise herself as a useful target as soon as possible.

As he was walking, Conkenstein's voice suddenly came over the loudspeaker.

"Ladies and gentlemen! I now cordially invite you to proceed to the stage in the central area of ​​the ship."

"There, the Director of the General Affairs Bureau, Conkenstein, will personally give a presentation on the details of the grand celebration."

"This is a rare opportunity before the festival begins, so I urge all future top Coordinators to attend and not miss it —"

"Oh, it's Mr. Conkenstein!"

"It's about a big celebration, shall we go and take a look?"

Upon hearing the announcement, the crowd that had been shopping nearby immediately turned and headed towards the center.

The initially sparse and isolated flow of people suddenly became synchronized, making Banner, who could have easily blended in, appear extremely out of place.

"Why now—there's no other way, it seems we have to act ahead of schedule!"

The girl Banai is currently impersonating is a homebody trainer he carefully observed and selected.

He stayed indoors for several days during the voyage, making him arguably the most suitable person for him to impersonate.

But no matter how much she stays at home, the girl is a Coordinator who is about to participate in a grand festival, so she will definitely go out in this situation.

If she were seen by someone she knew, Banai would be in trouble.

Thinking of this, Banai immediately used his unique skills as a phantom thief to minimize his presence by adjusting his posture and gait.

Following the flow of people, I slowly walked towards the edge.

We planned to break away from the main group at a corner ahead and head towards the deck ahead of time.

Then suddenly, his intuition, honed through years of being chased by the police, kicked in.

Banai suddenly felt as if a pair of sharp eyes were staring at her back, but when she turned around, she found nothing.

"Is it just my imagination? But my body is already sending warning signals—"

This vague yet incredibly unsettling feeling was something Banai had never experienced before, and he couldn't help but quicken his pace.

With practiced steps, he turned into an empty passageway in the blink of an eye. After checking the surroundings, he immediately hid in the large iron cabinet that he had prepared in advance.

He quickly removed his disguise, revealing his fairly handsome face. Next, Banai prepared to disguise himself as the captain he had met before and head to the deck.

"The captain is too conspicuous, but there's nothing we can do about it now!"

Just as Banai was changing clothes, someone suddenly patted her on the shoulder.

"Hey, you can take off the disguise on your face, but don't take off your clothes."

"Who goes there?!"

The metal cabinet is not very large; it can only accommodate two people turning around at the same time.

Despite the short distance and the long time that had passed, Banai was completely unaware of the sudden appearance of another person.

At that moment, Banai's hair stood on end.

Turning his head quickly, he was met with a gaze that made him feel uneasy, and a sturdy body carrying an adorable yellow mouse.

That's right, the person who followed him all the way, even to the point of going into the closet with him in a wicked way, was Ash!

At this moment, our muscular man is looking at the makeup props in Banai's hands with a meaningful smile and great interest.

"It's so realistic, it looks just like human skin."

"Who are you? When did you start following me?!" Banai was completely terrified and wouldn't listen to anything anyone said.

This tall man possessed breath-holding and tracking skills ten times better than his own, skills he had never heard of in the industry before.

I've talked about this kind of person before; they're really terrifying.

Ash's smile deepened as he stepped forward into the light, revealing his appearance.

"When? Back when you were still a cute little girl?"

"Ah, you, you are—"

When Banai saw Ash's face clearly, he looked like he had seen a ghost. Ash didn't waste any more words with him. With a twitch of his shoulder, Pikachu leaped into the air.

"100,000 volts!"

"Pikachu!"

Banai, with nowhere to hide, was instantly turned into a lump of charcoal, without even a chance to take out a Poké Ball to fight back.

Ash pulled him out of the cabinet and unleashed the Strength and Mega Tyranitar he had specially obtained from the center before starting the search.

These two interrogation experts will conduct the usual male-on-male, verbal interrogation.

Although Ash's two Pokémon are both female, when it comes to their interrogation abilities, no Pokémon in the world can surpass them!

"Oh, you shrew, I'll tell you, I'll tell you everything—"

They easily figured out the location of the celebration trophy.

Ash: "My darlings are so capable!"

"Hooray!" (A piece of cake!)

"Clack clack clack!" (No need for praise!)

[Ding! Congratulations, host, on completing a new side quest, "The Phantom Thief Gibbon": Please help Miss Officer Jenny capture the despicable phantom thief who stole the treasure!]

【获得奖励：联盟币+2000；体力+2；速度+2；自由属性点+2；解锁新特性「易容术|v1」】

[Disguise Technique Iv1: Allows you to temporarily change your appearance, but you may be recognized by those close to you, so please be careful.]

When Ash brought the Celebration Trophy and Bannage to Conkenstein and Officer Jenny, the two were overjoyed.

"I never expected that we could catch Banai, that bad guy who caused the police so much trouble, so easily this time. Thank you so much, Mr. Ash!"

Miss Officer Jenny readily agreed that the reward would arrive in her account as soon as possible.

After confirming that the celebration trophy was genuine, Conkenstein finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Now the grand celebration can finally proceed smoothly, all thanks to Ash and the others!"

Ash helped retrieve the stolen trophy, and May and Max were also very helpful during the presentation.

Now not only are the trophies back, but the grand celebrations are also getting better publicity. It's really my luck to meet these young people.

"I don't know how to repay you all."

And Ash and his friends were wise at just the right time.

"You're welcome, Mr. Conkenstein. It's simply what we, as members of the alliance, should do!"

"Yes, Mr. Conkenstein, there's no need for any repayment."

"That's right, Ash and his sister are right."

Anyway, as long as Conkenstein leaves a good impression on Haruka in his mind.

When it comes to the stage ratings at the big celebrations, we can just give Haruka a tiny bit higher, right? (Just kidding.)

Of course, Ash and his friends wouldn't have the same thoughts as those who do good deeds.

The 5000 million is a well-deserved reward; I'll take it as it's due. I won't ask for anything more; I'll just remember the favor.

This is typical of Ash's style.

After saying goodbye to Mr. Conkenstein and his group, they left in a carefree manner.

Conkenstein was left to cast respectful glances at them.

The voyage proceeded smoothly from then on, without any further incidents.

May ate, slept, and trained her Pokémon to her heart's content every day, and the days flew by.

Suddenly, as the sun set one day, the magnificent outline of the grand celebration venue gradually emerged from the coastline into the eyes of the people gazing from the bow of the ship.

We've finally arrived in Kaina City, the venue for this grand and magnificent celebration.