Chapter Twenty-Four: Nazzy

“You even remembered to charge it for me. Very good.”
Zhu Suihan powered on the device with practiced ease. After the letter R flickered across the screen, a clean interface appeared before his eyes. One pre-installed application made Zhu Suihan frown slightly.
It wasn’t some strange, irremovable adware, but rather the name of the application.
[Team Rocket Pokédex]
Upon opening it, he found a collection of simplified intelligence files for various Pokémon, though the sheer variety was impressive.
“So that’s it—an internal perk.”
A buzzing sound broke the silence, catching Zhu Suihan off guard for a moment.
Incoming call—Nazi.
Nazi?
That psychic prodigy?
“Hello? What is it?”
“So, you’re Zhu Suihan?”
Nazi sat atop the office rooftop, a cup of clear juice in her hand, her phone resting on the table beside her.
“Is there something you need, Psychic Gym Leader?”
“No. Just saying hello.” Nazi’s tone was even. “I had Ma Zhishi add my contact information for you.”
“In the future I’ve foreseen, you seem like someone who’ll be of great help to me.”
“Of course, you could also think of it as networking for work. I’d like to be as lucky as Ma Zhishi.”
Blunt, as always.
Zhu Suihan made a sound of acknowledgment. “If I come across any suitable projects, I’ll contact you. By the way, what’s your position?”
“One of the three executives, same rank as Ma Zhishi. Head of PR.”
Nazi explained, “The apps on your phone are just employee benefits. If you need any supplies, you can purchase them directly from the internal store at a discount.”
“If you’re willing to pay a little extra, deliveries will be handled by a Dragonite with considerable strength.”
Dragonite deliveries—how utterly uninspired. Why not use a spaceship? Now that would be stylish.
Zhu Suihan replied lazily, “Thanks for the tip, but…”
“Beep—”
Nazi paused, sipping the last of her juice.
“Sorry, I forgot to mention—I predicted when you’d turn on your phone using my psychic abilities. I didn’t install any background monitoring programs on your device.”
She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “We’re also wary of anyone trying to use tech-savvy Pokémon teams to hack our system through the devices we distribute.”
So forthright. But that sound earlier—was it Alakazam reminding Nazi?
Now, Zhu Suihan was genuinely intrigued.
Perhaps Alakazam was the real PR director.
As one of the quintessential high-IQ Pokémon, it knew exactly what he was going to ask.
“That’s all. Goodbye.”
Nazi took out a spoon and stirred the bottom of her cup, a look of keen interest on her face.
“The first time, truly the first time.”
Ever since Ma Zhishi scored his first effortless commission, Nazi had been paying attention to this peculiar phenomenon.
The three executives were equals; no matter how impressive Ma Zhishi’s achievements, they didn’t concern her much, nor would they prompt her to wander into his office on a whim.
For a psychic, the ability to foresee the future depended entirely on the strength of one’s powers, though one could also amplify them via psychic-type partners.
But for Nazi, it was usually her Pokémon receiving the boost.
She could predict down to the second when Zhu Suihan would turn on his device.
But as for visions about Zhu Suihan himself, all she could see was a vast block of ice beneath the black abyss.
When psychic abilities are insufficient, the things one foresees are often metaphorical, never revealing reality directly.
It’s like a difficult problem: a powerful psychic writes out the answer, a weaker one only sees the method, and an even weaker one gets a simple formula.
Beyond the ice block, Nazi could see nothing.
“An interesting person. Alakazam, do you think I should meet him? I have a feeling things could take an intriguing turn.”
Old Alakazam slowly shook its head, unconvinced that this was a wise idea.
If even Nazi’s powers couldn’t discern who he was, why approach him?
Best to have someone bold and a little scatterbrained go first.
Alakazam twirled the spoon of fate in its hand, wisdom glinting in its eyes.
Right, Ma Zhishi?
…
“All that trouble just to call and ask me to remember you when I have commissions?”
Zhu Suihan found it odd. Even without such connections, among the world’s top psychics, only a fool like Sakaki would remove Nazi from her post.
Even if she did nothing at all, simply being kept on Team Rocket’s roster, no one would dare object.
Why is everyone so dishonest these days?
Zhu Suihan shook his head. “If you’d just said you foresaw something with your psychic powers, I might’ve played along and seen if there was any gossip worth following.”
But then again, such brazen attempts to pry into people’s secrets—even Nazi wouldn’t say so outright.
“People really are troublesome.”
Zhu Suihan rolled the Poké Ball in his hand. “Right, Lapras? Better to spend this time working on Poké Balls.”
“Laa?”
Lapras grew nervous, recalling what Chihiro had said the other day.
If Zhu Suihan learned to make Poké Balls, he might become as boring as Grandpa…
Could this be an early sign?
“Though I feel you’re thinking something strange, don’t worry. This is definitely a good thing, it just takes a bit of time.”
Zhu Suihan said, “I’m a little short on time today. Now that I know my way around, I’ll come to the gym by myself tomorrow to sort things out.”
Another peaceful day passed. Before leaving the gym, Abi patted his chest and promised he wouldn’t let Officer Jenny and her team bother Zhu Suihan’s life.
When asked why, it turned out that Officer Jenny was quite taken with Zhu Suihan’s personality and methods, and wanted to know if he’d consider a job.
Abi had gathered a sense of Zhu Suihan’s intentions and helped him decline.
The next morning, Abi, bleary-eyed and shocked, saw Zhu Suihan at the gym entrance.
“Why are you here so early?!”
Zhu Suihan squinted. “Taking Chihiro to school. And by the way, at this hour, it’s not actually early. Don’t you, as a gym leader, have any concept of time?”
Abi grumbled, “Only because someone finished all the paperwork yesterday. My mentor sent me a public file to study in advance so I wouldn’t be clueless.”
Zhu Suihan looked at him oddly. “Don’t tell me you studied all night.”
“The public section wasn’t hard, but after reading through it, I got inspired and ended up researching my other projects too.”
Abi yawned hugely. “Come in. You know your way around. Do as you please.”
At this hour, the apprentices were probably all busy—otherwise, Abi wouldn’t be the one opening the door. Or perhaps it was just a coincidence.
Letting Lapras out, Zhu Suihan cupped the Pokémon’s large head in both hands and gazed into her eyes.
“So, would you mind living in a different ball?”
“Laa?”
A different ball? What does that mean?
“Mr. Steel’s words were a great inspiration. Technically, Apricorn Balls can be customized.”
Zhu Suihan continued, “I used to worry that, since Apricorn Balls are crafted from natural materials, their energy might dissipate over time—unlike the more robust Tech Balls.”
“But after consulting with Mr. Steel, I realized these are more like proof of a career change—the energy doesn’t fade, there’s no expiration date.”
It’s like an online game: different colored apricorns are like different starter classes, and the forging process is a job change. There’s no reverting to a blank slate afterwards.
With that, Zhu Suihan came up with an interesting plan.
He’d craft a unique Poké Ball just for Lapras!
Later, he could customize Poké Balls for all his partners. Maybe he could even sell the idea as a specialty business—a boutique approach.
“Laa!”
Lapras understood and was instantly interested.
She wanted it!
A Poké Ball was a symbol of their bond, and even with a better one, nothing between Lapras and Zhu Suihan would ever change.
“Don’t worry. If I succeed, I’ll keep the old ball safe.”
If nothing else, his cheat gave him ample storage space!
Zhu Suihan patted Lapras’s head. “The raw material will be Pink Apricorns. Go play somewhere for a bit—I’ll probably ruin a few before I figure it out.”
“Laa, laa!”
Lapras shook her head decisively and stayed right by Zhu Suihan’s side, eager to witness the birth of her new home!
“No problem.”
For Lapras’s ball, priority would be given to ice and water resources, but considering her broad movepool, other materials could be included as well.
Those additional resources would serve as the shell.
After all, using only ice and water for an Apricorn Ball might just blow up the forge—and himself along with it.
The inspiration came from Nurse Joy’s extra-spicy Pokéblock recipe: a hellishly hot shell, with a layer of intensely astringent apricorn essence.
Thank you, Nurse Joy.
If I ever have to give a speech as an outstanding student, I’ll be sure to thank you.
Before crafting, he began grinding powders.
The attribute resources sent by Ma Zhishi were all top-notch—no odd mineral residues left behind, and the process felt almost like handcrafting an air conditioner.
Though grinding generated heat, Ice Stones and Water Stones brought the temperature back down.
“Icy Rocks, Never-Melt Ice—Team Rocket really does a brisk business.”
With all that, a bit of Heavy Ball material mixed in, the shell should be stable.
Lapras watched the jars and bottles with curiosity, feeling there were perhaps too many.
Whether a trainer could withstand forging apricorn balls over open flame was another matter.
Having ground two batches for testing, Zhu Suihan placed a Pink Apricorn on the machine and fired up the forge.
The clanging echoed on, one hand hammering, one hand feeding materials with precision.
Behind him, Lapras bobbed her neck in rhythm with the strikes.
Lying in bed, blanket pulled up, eyes wide open, Abi thought:
…
Why did I let Zhu Suihan in here?!