Pokémon: I picked up a reborn Eevee at the start of the game

Mingyi recognized the three gems as a Key Stone, a Prism Stone, and a special Wishing Star containing Galar Particles, which were naturally used to specialize the three types of Pokémon.

The petals were quite unusual, their vibrant colors resembling those of artificial flowers, and they possessed a delicate, refreshing fragrance.

Moreover, it doesn't appear ordinary at all next to these three gems that contain mysterious energy.

what is this flower?

Seemingly noticing Mingyi's confusion, Xia Chen smiled and explained, "These are petals given to me by the stem of the Eternal Flower. They will never wither or fade. I thought they looked pretty, so I strung them together."

Upon hearing that the flower petals came from such a prestigious source, Mingyi was quite surprised. "Ah, this is something from a legendary Pokémon! Wouldn't it be better to give it to Sylveon and Gardevoir?"

Although the Eternal Flower is not well-known to the outside world, Xia Chen told Mingyi about what happened in Carlos some time ago, and she was well aware of the preciousness of these petals.

Compared to them, the three gems that could fetch millions elsewhere paled in comparison.

Xia Chen waved his hand dismissively, saying, "It's nothing, it's nothing. Before Hua Yedi left, I... cough... she gave me a lot."

Mingyi glanced at her and said, "You just said '薅' (a slang term for 'to pluck' or 'to weed'), right?"

Xia Chen coughed lightly, feeling guilty, and interrupted, "Anyway, just accept it. Wearing it often might even have the effect of prolonging life and maintaining youth."

"You're making me sound like I'm seventy or eighty years old."

Although Mingyi complained, she eventually happily took out the bracelet and put it on her wrist.

She held up her hand and admired it for a while, her face full of joy, then turned to Xia Chen: "Let's go, we're just about to make dinner, why don't you go help my parents?"

Xia Chen smiled and nodded.

This girl doesn't treat herself like an outsider at all.

…………

Having not visited Mingyi's home for a long time, Xia Chen made thorough preparations, bringing gifts not only for his aunt and uncle but also for each of Mingyi's elves.

After a year apart, she has captured two new Pokémon: Togekiss and Kirin.

The former perfectly made up for her lack of a flying spirit she could ride, while the latter was a spirit that Xia Chen had never seen before. It was probably the evolved form of Qilinqi in Padia, and it looked strangely cute.

Catching two trainers a year is a relatively low frequency for the average trainer, but Mingyi and Xiachen both adhere to the strategy of "quality over quantity" in their catching efforts.

These two new Pokémon are almost at the Gym Leader level, and in time they will be a powerful addition to her main team.

During dinner, Xia Chen tried again to invite Mingyi's family to move to Yuanling Island. As expected, Mingyi's parents politely declined, citing work as the reason.

Mingyi's father asked Xia Chen to talk to her alone after dinner. There was a strange sense of solemnity between his brows, as if he had made some kind of decision.

Xia Chen glanced at Mingyi, who seemed a little curious, and knowing that her uncle probably didn't want her to know about this, he agreed for the time being.

Dinner ended in a somewhat awkward atmosphere, and the uncle pulled Xia Chen outside to buy some fruit.

Xia Chen glanced at the overflowing fruit platter on the coffee table, nodded silently, and thought to himself, "At least put some effort into your excuses..."

However, this also shows that what his uncle was talking about must be quite significant. Xia Chen didn't say anything more, changed his shoes, and went out.

Sure enough, after leaving the house, his uncle did not go to the so-called fruit shop, but instead took Xia Chen to a quiet coffee shop.

They found a quiet corner where no one was around and sat down, then casually ordered two drinks.

Finally, my uncle spoke.

"Xiao Chen, you've grown up so fast these past few years. If your parents knew, they would be so proud."

The growth my uncle was referring to wasn't in terms of a trainer's skill level, but rather the changes he saw in the eyes of his elders.

However, my uncle suddenly brought up my parents, something that had never happened before.

Mingyi's parents would always avoid this topic when they were with Xia Chen, for fear of affecting his mood.

Xia Chen's expression hardened, as if he understood something. He tentatively asked, "Is what you want to talk to me about regarding my parents' disappearance?"

The uncle nodded and said solemnly, "Yes, actually, your parents left me some things before they left for the last time. Although they said not to tell you, I think... you might want to know."

Xia Chen nodded without hesitation: "Thank you for telling me this. I want to know what it is."

The expected answer made Mingyi's father smile, and then he took out a storage ball and handed it to Xia Chen.

Xia Chen took the storage ball, but before he could open it, his gaze was drawn to a pale gold, cross-shaped symbol on it. Xia Chen vaguely recognized the symbol, and his powerful mental strength quickly led him to the source of that memory in his memory palace—

That's the logo of the Ether Foundation!

Xia Chen's expression gradually became serious. Could his parents' disappearance be related to the Ether Foundation?

…………

Xia Chen was very fortunate that he had played the Sun and Moon game before his transmigration, and had a basic understanding of the Ether Foundation.

This is an organization located in the Alola region whose main work is the rescue and research of wild Pokémon.

This includes research on Ultra Beasts!

The Ultra Ball, capable of capturing Ultra Beasts, was developed by the Aether Foundation.

Its leader, Lusamine, is a woman who appears to be full of affection for elves, but in reality, her love for them is psychologically twisted.

In the game, it was her stubbornness that led to the large-scale invasion of Ultra Beasts.

Could the disappearance of his parents be related to the Ultimate World?

Xia Chen's expression grew increasingly serious.

He may have anticipated this as early as when he learned that his parents had disappeared in the Alora region, and now, after seeing the things they left behind that were related to the Aether Foundation, he is even more convinced of it.

Chapter 482 Ultra Ball, Letter, Off to Alola!

Across the table, Xia Chen's uncle noticed the change in his eyes and pressed, "What's wrong, Xiao Chen? Do you know something?"

Xia Chen snapped out of his thoughts and replied, "I have some ideas. I'll head to Alora after the New Year."

The uncle hesitated for a moment, then nodded and sighed softly, "Your parents probably don't want me to tell you because they're worried about you, but I think you have the right to choose, especially since you now have the help of Guleton and Deochis..."

Xia Chen, on the other hand, reassured his uncle, "I understand. Thank you for telling me. No matter what, I need to find out the truth about their disappearance before I can feel at ease."

The conversation ended in a somber atmosphere, and the two left after finishing their coffee.

After staying at Mingyi's house for a while, Xia Chen returned to Yuanling Island.

Back in his room, he took out the storage sphere bearing the symbol of the Aether Foundation.

If I'm not mistaken, there should be some information inside related to the parents' disappearance.

This is a first-generation storage sphere developed by Silver Corporation. It has a small capacity and is very easy to use.

Press the button on the storage ball, and everything inside will come out.

With a "click," Xia Chen activated the storage sphere that held many mysteries.

The contents were simple: a Poké Ball and a letter.

The Poké Ball was entirely purple with a grid pattern. Although it looked somewhat different from what he remembered from the game, Xia Chen could still recognize it as an Ultra Ball.

It is indeed related to Ultra Beasts.

With his suspicions confirmed, Xia Chen felt much calmer.

Of course, there were no Ultra Beasts inside the Ultra Ball. After stroking the pristine Poké Ball for a while, he opened the envelope.

The elegant handwriting seemed to be from a woman's hand, and Xia Chen began to read the contents of the letter.

"To your future self, I'm not sure who you will be reading these words, nor do I know what the world will be like when this letter is opened. I only hope that our worst fear—the [monster invasion]—will not happen..."

…………

The entire letter is several thousand words long.

The first half mainly consists of Xia Chen's parents introducing their jobs.

Nine years ago, five years before their disappearance, they came into contact with the Aether Foundation in the Alola region during a business trip and met the Lusamine couple.

Xia Chen's parents met the wealthy couple because of their shared love for elves. At their urging, they resigned from their positions at Donghuang and became senior elf researchers at the Ether Foundation.

After joining, Xia Chen's parents realized that things were not as simple as they had thought.

Beneath the surface, the Aether Foundation is conducting clandestine research on elves from another world!

They are called [Ultra Beasts], and five have been discovered so far, each with its own codename.

[Parasyte] Nihilego, [Inflated] Burstbee, [Beautiful] Pheromosa, [Lightning] Electric Wood, and [Slash] Kamitsuki.

They were exactly the same as the Ultra Beasts in Xia Chen's memory, except that there were half the number. There were no records of Ironfire Kaguya, Guzzlord, and Bang Head Clown, so they probably haven't been discovered yet.

Information about the existing Ultra Beasts is attached at the very end of this letter.

The parents were worried that after the invasion of the alien beasts, humans would know nothing about these powerful and unfamiliar spirits, so they kept as much as they knew about them as possible, including their attributes and weaknesses.

Besides, the most valuable information revealed in this letter is the Aether Foundation's means of communicating with the Ultimate World.

However, all they knew was that the specific methods to do it were in the hands of the Rosamund couple.

Xia Chen's parents' purpose in going there this time was to confront them—

Ultra Beasts are too dangerous. If the passageway is fully opened, it will cause enormous damage and impact on this world.

What's chilling is that they probably knew this trip wouldn't go smoothly, otherwise, what would be the point of leaving this letter?

In short, the disappearance of the parents is definitely related to the Ether Foundation and Rosamund!

Xia Chen closed the letters and put them back into his storage sphere along with the Ultimate Sphere. After a moment of contemplation, he summoned his Rotom phone.

“Rotom, gather all the information I need related to the Aether Foundation.”

"Okay, Loto~"

Soon after, Rotom retrieved the information about the Ether Foundation.

Xia Chen first skimmed through the content and, unsurprisingly, found nothing. Then he added keywords like "mythical beast" and "ultimate" and cleared the content.

Xia Chen slowly exhaled. Sure enough, they wouldn't openly put this sensitive information on the internet.

Searching for information online is too inefficient.

After thinking about it, Xia Chen decided to ask Cynthia and Gadria tomorrow. They are both high-ranking members of their respective alliances, and they might know something about Lusamine and the Aether Foundation.

Having made up his mind, Xia Chen put aside his chaotic thoughts, meditated for a while to calm his mind, and then washed up and went to bed.

Silent all night.