Pokémon Detective Case Files

Chapter 268 Dawn - Battle Ends

Chapter 270 Dawn - Battle Ends

The first to notice something amiss was Lian Wu, the Fighting Master on the fourth floor.

For training purposes, his old construction workers would suspend the two huge concrete pillars, which should be used as supports, above the ground during their rest time, as if they were holding a bucket without handles.

In this way, the experienced craftsmen can train their balance every day, just like a martial artist practicing a horse stance.

It can also strengthen grip strength and upper limb muscles.

This practice had been going on for over a decade, almost becoming a daily routine for the veteran craftsmen. Now, they can perform various operations with the stone pillars as effortlessly as a gourmet using chopsticks, a drummer wielding drumsticks, or an artist wielding a brush, truly achieving a state of effortless mastery.

However, just now, bang, bang.

The old craftsman, who had just finished reinforcing the pillars of the Tower of Heaven, relaxed for a moment, and his hands, which were gripping the stone pillars, suddenly slipped.

The cultivation was interrupted, and the two heavy concrete pillars succumbed to the pull of gravity, immediately hitting the ground with a continuous, dull thud.

"Old craftsman, are you alright?"

Seeing the old craftsman pick up his weapon again, even the Martial King's golden eyebrows rose.

"Has the injury from the battle with my master at noon not healed yet? Or is it because the mist created by 'Max Water Flow' has made the rocks too smooth?"

He immediately identified the cause of the problem, but something still felt off.

Given the old craftsman's current skill level, he shouldn't have made such a basic mistake, no matter what unexpected situation he encountered. What he mentioned earlier, while it could be considered a reason, was more like an excuse than a reason for the mistake.

However, he didn't have time to think further—

boom.

Another series of dull thuds echoed together.

The old craftsman's concrete pillar made contact with the ground once again.

However, the responsibility for this mistake did not lie with the old craftsman; it was due to force majeure—the four-story ground they were standing on suddenly shook as if hit by an earthquake.

Lian Wu immediately turned his gaze to Cattleya, who was on the same floor.

"The superpowers of the artificial cell egg have malfunctioned, and I have just taken control of this floor."

The superpowered individual said calmly.

Looking at the calm and elegant face of the Psychic King at this moment, there was absolutely no sign of him using any superpowers. The only thing that showed was his long, wavy hair moving without wind under his wide white hat, hinting at his terrifying control over an entire space.

Unlike those Pokémon fantasy movies made in Hollywood, there are no dazzling light effects or mysterious auditory hallucinations around Cattleya who uses superpowers.

The so-called telekinetic power should be silent and unnoticed.

In her early years, Gadlia was not able to control her psychic powers to this extent. Her current achievements are largely due to her daily training in the Sinnoh Battle Castle.

Behind her, the artificial cell egg, which should have been working hard to stabilize the superpower barrier, now had its large, light green head drooping, and the little figure inside the cell membrane covered its face with its hands, its shame evident.

The two Elite Four members' main Pokémon both exhibited abnormal behavior at the same time?

Lian Wu became serious: "Is there something wrong with the space around here? Could it be related to Mr. Adek's battle?"

"—I think I should have some clues."

Beyond Piplup's increasingly ethereal blue head, Gadriya turned her gaze to someone else.

An acquaintance I knew from my time in the Sinnoh region.

She sighed, looking like she thought it would be too much trouble to explain, and said to Lian Wu, "It's not that there's something wrong with this space, but rather that the miracle covering this place has faded away."

"What do you mean?" Lian Wu asked, puzzled.

"With that challenger, the world around Hugo will soon return to normal."

The superpowered individual emphasized.

"Misfortune is about to befall us."

Almost at the same time that Cattleya made her judgment, referee Bictini, whose eyelids had been drooping, let out a long yawn from the third-floor spectator stands.

It certainly hopes to witness the end of this battle.

Whether it's the aggressive red-haired old man who wins or the detective who gave it an ominous feeling who wins the match, after such a wonderful Pokémon duel, they will surely reward it with a huge amount of victory energy.

Just thinking about the bountiful reward, like rain after a long drought, makes the little guy want to spin around in the air to celebrate.

However, there is now a very serious problem.

Perhaps because he had been trapped in the confinement device by the bad guys for too long, Victini, who was said to have endless energy, was feeling more tired than ever before.

Especially as the duel continued, and the Pokémon on both sides used one move after another, this fatigue accumulated and multiplied.

Now, with the match reaching its final stage, the little guy finally couldn't hold on any longer after the man in black shouted out three skills in one breath.

Sleepiness crept into my mind, and my thoughts became heavy and unbearable.

"Forget it, I'll recover my energy eventually. Health is more important," Victini thought, and simply closed her eyes, nestling into Alice's dark purple hair. The moment her little head drooped, she immediately started snoring—Victini was just too exhausted.

The last thing it saw was the spectacular scene of Garchomp, Chimchar, and Max Piplup successfully unleashing their respective moves.

Phew, let's hope they succeed—

Chimchar successfully executed the "Hold On" move!

Even Hugo, who wasn't particularly interested in Pokémon battles, couldn't help but secretly cheer in his heart.

The surging "Big Character Explosion Flame" split in two before the detective's eyes.

With its stamina depleted once again, the Chimchar's eyes shone with golden light as it faced the Champion Pokémon's full-force attack like a rock in the ocean, displaying a stubbornness and courage rarely seen in a beginner Pokémon.

Meanwhile, the attacks from Piplup and Garchomp were successfully executed.

Faced with a pincer attack from both sides, Alder didn't hesitate to give the order, "Ignore 'Scorching Sands'! Use the separated 'Flame Burst' to suppress 'Max Rock'! Then use 'Heat Wave' on Chimchar again!"

In a battle, the most important thing is rhythm.

Currently, his Volcano has seized the initiative in the battle, so now, even if it means sacrificing a little more stamina...

We must also firmly grasp this decisive advantage!

The insect's throat made a sound.

Like Alder, Volcarona was clearly in an excited state, releasing its abilities more than twice as fast as before.

The two halves of the giant "Explosive Flame" drew an embrace-like arc and reunited, colliding with the rock ball released by Pogaman.

Although "Gigantamax Rock" is four times super effective against Volcarona's Firefly type, the difference is still the difference.

When sparks collide, the difference in strength is immediately apparent.

The move that Gigantamax Piplup painstakingly used instantly turned into a pool of red liquid, disappearing without a trace along with the sand and dust that was about to rise.

The combined "Fireball" continued its rapid advance, aggressively approaching the attacker—Piplup, who had now de-Dynamaxed.

boom!

The little penguin, who already had only a sliver of strength left, was thrown backward and crashed into the tower wall of the Tower of Heaven, whereupon it lost consciousness.

The detective team has suffered another loss!

Meanwhile, Garchomp's ranged move "Scorching Sands" also hit Volcarona.

Unfortunately, the scorching sand composed of terrestrial energy, while temporarily suppressing some of the flames on the Volcarona,

However, it barely managed to damage Volcarona's main body—which is precisely why Alder allowed Garchomp to unleash its attacks.

At this moment, everything is ready: Gaman is seriously injured and unconscious, on the verge of death; Chimchar is too weak to use its moves again; Garchomp has run out of items and is unable to defend; and Hugo himself is right next to Volcarona!

At this moment, nothing can stop Volcarona's next "Heat Wave" attack!

"Let's go!"

A roar filled with enlightenment rang out behind the Sun Worm.

Even Aldak himself found it unbelievable that he was so excited about such a weak opponent.

Sensing its trainer's call, Volcarona perked up. Although it felt a strange hindrance when using its moves, it managed to unleash the attack using the boundless energy within its body!

"Hot Wind" is a fire-attribute special attack with a wide area of ​​effect, using a hot breath to attack the opponent.

Adek can swear on his championship career that this move is absolutely enough to completely decide the outcome of the entire match!

With its six fiery red wings flapping rapidly, the world in front of Aldek was instantly covered in a fiery red!

That was a raging torrent of flames! The towering, deep walls of fire, powerful enough to incinerate everything, were more than ten times larger than Piplup's "Max Water Stream." Even if Garchomp, at its peak, teleported there, it would be instantly defeated by this "heat wave."

Ah, Aldek suddenly realized that he hadn't felt such a surge of fighting spirit in a battle for many years.

The fire moth in front of him should be even more so. However, just as he was lost in thought, he suddenly heard a strange sound.

It's like hearing the brakes of a car while crossing the street, feeling the airflow in your face while on an airplane, or pressing the launch button for a rocket only to see an error message pop up on the screen.

Slight, but unclear.

Then, a hand emerged from the flames.

It wouldn't be accurate to say it was just one hand; it was actually two hands overlapping each other—a large human hand and a small, ape-like claw tightly gripped within it.

Legend has it that the hands of ape-like Pokémon can sometimes create miracles.

But what is happening now is completely different from the vague and unfounded legends.

The "hot air" released by the volcano is fiery red, the same color as its hair and wings.

The hand reaching out from the fire was covered with a layer of blue light—the same color as the flames.

A weak, yet tenacious blue flame.

Is that Chimchar's "Blaze" ability?

What exactly is the other side trying to do? They think they can win the game by just extending one hand? That's wishful thinking.

As the champion from United Nations pondered this, an ominous premonition grew stronger in his heart.

Since the detective and Volcarona were already very close, and Garchomp's "Scorching Sands" suppressed some of the flames on Volcarona's body, the blue hand that emerged from the flames touched Volcarona's abdomen in no time.

Although the hairs on the abdomen of the volcano moth are pure white, they are filled with violent and surging heat, especially towards enemies that the volcano does not recognize.

Aldak still couldn't understand his opponent's actions.

Then, the two overlapping palms opened, revealing a round object inside, similar in shape to a Poké Ball, which seemed to be some kind of device.

The red-haired champion couldn't immediately recall what it was, but felt as if he had seen it before.

No, it's that thing!

The black Poké Ball that was originally in Joggs's possession was hidden in the window sill of the Tower of Heaven by the Sage of Team Plasma, and then retrieved by Hugo!

That illegal confinement device that once imprisoned the mythical Pokémon Victini!

The champion suddenly realized what was happening, but it was too late.

The button on the black device, protected by two palms, touched the abdomen of the fire moth.

The black Poké Ball opened, revealing the rough texture characteristic of handmade items, and emitted a deep red light that was slightly different from that of ordinary Poké Balls.

A distorted, ominous red light!

!

The Vulcan moth vanished suddenly.

It didn't seem unusual while it was there, but as Volcarona disappeared, the Tower of Heaven suddenly became pitch black, and a cold wind slipped in, ruffling the red hair of the current Unova champion.

Only the blue flames were still faintly visible as the other person strode forward, running towards the bewildered old man.

Two click-clack sounds, like the sound of fastening a buckle, were heard.

The other person seemed to throw something out, and then a cold, hard object pressed against Adek's side of his neck, where the carotid artery was located.

The object wasn't sharp; it appeared to be a round-headed metal piece.

The other person's vocal cords trembled, as if they wanted to say something, but unfortunately, they couldn't make a sound.

Adek, however, understood the meaning of those words.

You lost.

Boom!

The blue flames had just completely dissipated when the sound of an explosion rang in my ears!

The sun's rays returned to the Tower of Heaven once more, so dazzling that it was impossible to open one's eyes.

It's a volcano moth! The volcano moth has broken free of its restraints!

The modified Poké Ball that had sealed away the Star of Victory for several months held out for less than a few seconds against the resistance of the Sunbug. In no time, it tragically turned into a clump of ash in the flames.

At that moment, Adek finally saw his opponent—a figure blackened by flames.

The little Chimchar was held in his arms with one hand, its body also charred black. This beginner Pokémon, which had just used the move "Endure," was clearly in a dying state and unable to battle.

The opponent stood upright in front of Adek, like a statue of a knight-errant.

But his weapon was not a knight's sword, but a modern-style portable baton, with the rounded end pressed against the side of the current Unova champion's neck.

throat!

An enraged insect chirp rang out, and the Volcarona, witnessing everything before it, immediately flew toward it, only to be blocked by a blue figure—Garuda.

The Sinnoh Champion's Garchomp was covered in wounds. It followed the tracks left by its previous "digging" to the center of the battlefield, trying to stop Volcarona's counterattack.

However, how could the earth dragon, whose physical strength was already on the verge of collapse, possibly stop the enraged fire moth?

With a defiant roar, Volcarona unhesitatingly unleashed its attack, swiftly eliminating its last champion-level opponent with a short "Chirp."

The Chimchar in the challenger's arms was already unconscious, and Garchomp was also unable to battle. Alder's side was completely wiped out, with only Volcarona still in its prime remaining.

—Of course, one cannot ignore the baton pressed against one's throat.

So, what should we do in this situation? Thinking about it carefully, there's really nothing to hesitate about, right?

Alder took a deep breath, calmed his mind, and then raised his weathered eyes to look at his partner, "Vulcanmoth, that's enough for now."

He shook his head.

"We lost."

The Volcano froze, letting out a pitiful cry, which made Adek smile.

It's been such a long, long time since I've heard the chirping of insects.

If I hadn't heard it tonight, I probably would have forgotten about this special sound.

However, for some reason, upon hearing Adek's words of surrender, the man in front of him stubbornly kept his baton pressed against the former champion's neck, showing no sign of letting up.

Adek turned his head in confusion.

Only then did they realize that the detective standing in front of them had already passed out.

Outside the window, the first glimmer of white light suddenly appeared.

As if sensing something, someone left from the tall grass with a Zoroark.

Someone witnessed the other's departure from the treetops, and then confidently mounted the dancing swan, flying swiftly towards the Tower of Heaven.

But all of these things are irrelevant to the championship battle.