Pokémon Detective Case Files

Chapter 473 The Return of the Plasma Sage

Chapter 475 The Return of the Plasma Sage

On the very day that the Plasma Cluster Castle tore through the sky, announcing the arrival of a new order.

A man covered in wounds and dressed in tattered clothes stumbled through the deformed sewer network beneath the Alliance.

He had just shaken off the Unova League's pursuit, and the Pokémon he was with had only just recovered to the point where they could fight again.

"Ha." He leaned against the cold, damp concrete pipe wall, breathing heavily, a short laugh that was hard to tell whether it was praise or sarcasm.

"As expected of that guy Jero. Even though I was mentally prepared—seeing it with my own eyes is still a world of difference in terms of shock. He truly deserves to be called the renowned 'City Defense Master' back in the day."

The man wearily raised his eyes and looked ahead.

Before them, the once orderly drainage system of the Alliance headquarters had been completely distorted. The thick alloy pipes resembled metal twisted by an invisible giant hand, exhibiting bizarre curves that defied all engineering mechanics. The concrete walls were cracked, and broken steel bars were exposed like pale bone spurs.

Even more shocking were the new components parasitizing the old structure—a huge gear set embedded in the breach was slowly spinning, making a dry, harsh friction sound as it meshed; and a dark blue plasma halo flowed along the thick energy conduits, which coiled like blood vessels, some even melting through the original pipelines.

What we see before us is probably the "anomaly" that former Inspector General Holt noticed while reviewing underground pipe network maintenance records. And this is also the root cause of his later inexplicable resignation from the league and subsequent disappearance.

Just as he was feeling sentimental, he heard voices coming from the passageway in front of him.

"Halt! Who's there?"

Two Team Plasma members emerged from the shadows around the corner, quickly assuming a defensive stance upon seeing the approaching figures. The Plundercat beside them crouched low, while the Crocodile grinned, revealing its menacing teeth.

"Hmph, is this the kind of trash Quidditch sends to guard this place?"

The newcomer crossed his arms without any surprise. Despite being seriously injured, he looked down at the two seemingly inexperienced soldiers who appeared before him with disdain.

His gaze fell on the cuffs of the two men's uniforms. Hidden within the seemingly uniform patterns was a variant pattern that only members of the Plasma Group could recognize. He immediately understood.

"So you were Vio's former subordinates. That makes sense. The main force of the Order should be engaged in a standoff with the police atop the castle. To be able to spare one or two people to guard a sewer entrance that's normally impassable is quite a thoughtful arrangement. It's perfect to send you—newcomers who have fallen out of favor in the internal power struggles—to do this kind of job."

"How did you know—could you be...?"

The younger members stared at the white beard trembling below the man's lips as he spoke, and took a half-step back in disbelief.

"You still haven't figured out my identity. In my opinion, your future in the Order is limited to this. Don't you know about the Alliance's actions last night? I barely escaped the Alliance's encirclement and am rushing to report to Ghettoss despite my injuries. Do you expect me to be stopped in front of my own people now?"

The scarred, bearded elder took a step forward, taking advantage of the situation. Seeing the two instinctively back away, he shook his head condescendingly and walked straight between them, even patting one of them on the shoulder in the process.

The pickpocket cat and the crocodile raised their paws warily, but they did not receive any move commands from their trainer.

"Do you...do you need us to help you?" one of the plasma group members asked cautiously.

"You do have some sense. But your task is to continue patrolling, be vigilant against Alliance infiltration, and report any incidents promptly." The man didn't even turn his head. "As for my affairs, you can go and inform your current superiors. I don't have time to waste here."

Having said that, he quickened his pace and staggered deeper into the castle.

Just as the two team members breathed a sigh of relief and were about to pick up their walkie-talkies to report, they suddenly felt a cold touch on the back of their necks without warning.

This second wave of "visitors" was not as easy to talk to as the first "big shot".

The man was oblivious to what was happening behind him, seemingly unaware that he was being followed.

He stood before the intricate terrain of the underground tunnel for a moment, considering the situation. Although he had walked through this place countless times, the changed terrain was different. Normally, he could solve the problem instantly by contacting his colleagues, but it was not a bad thing to use his brain occasionally, and it could also avoid being ridiculed by those guys. So he turned on his flashlight and chose the route that the patrol team had just taken.

This area of ​​underground water pipes was rarely visited except by maintenance personnel. All structural changes were carried out according to the massive turbines pre-set by the cult, so the path was covered in dust and easily left with footprints. In the dim light, footprints were difficult to discern, but once illuminated by strong light, fresh footprints could be clearly identified immediately.

Moreover, the patrol team that was dispatched was obviously not the only one they encountered, so by observing the place where the footprints first gathered, they could easily find the place where the cult members originally set off.

"It's as clumsy as drawing feet on an Onix; Ghettoss made a terrible mistake."

The man squinted unhappily, using the light of his assistant's flashlight to discern the marks on the ground. He then crossed several side paths and finally arrived at a thick iron door leading to the interior building.

Without hesitation, he took out the cult emblem he had hidden on his person and lightly touched it to the sensor next to the door. With a low hum, the defensive door, secretly purchased by the Plasma Group using funds misappropriated from the Alliance, slid open.

"Who is it?"

There were also guards inside the gate, and they were clearly older and more experienced. Upon seeing a stranger, they immediately questioned him warily. At the same time, the electric beast beside him clashed its fists together, producing a crackling sound—this person's status was clearly higher than those newcomers outside.

"At your level, you should recognize this, right?"

Without saying a word, the man held up the badge that unlocked the access card in front of the other person and waved it from side to side.

The interior was brightly lit, illuminating the unique pattern on the badge with crystal clarity. It was a shield cleaved by lightning, with strangely interwoven black and white patterns—a token that only high-ranking officials could possess.

"Sage? What happened to your injuries?"

The guard stared wide-eyed at the battered, white-bearded visitor before him.

However, before he could confirm further, the person before him, who appeared to be one of the Seven Sages, began to question him in a deep voice—

"Where are Zero and Ghetto? I need to speak with them urgently. Stop sending people to patrol the underground passages; it's a waste of manpower and they easily leave footprints that reveal their location—just use a few Pokémon with the 'Levitate' ability to keep watch."

"I see—I'll adjust the deployment immediately." The guard was intimidated by the undeniable aura and nodded subconsciously.

"Don't forget my question, and what was your answer?" The oppressive voice rang out again.

"Yes—Lord Geralt is stationed in the control room at the center of the castle. As for Lord Quixote, no one has known his whereabouts since he appeared outside the castle this morning. Rumor has it that he went to welcome the sages returning to headquarters from various places—could you be the one who has returned?"

Don't ask questions you shouldn't ask.

The man interrupted him, raised his chin covered by a gray beard, and continued walking into the doorway.

However, the guard's brow furrowed even more deeply: "But—in my memory, there doesn't seem to be a face like this among the Seven Sages—"

Watching the robe recede into the distance, he and Electabuzz exchanged a puzzled look.

Despite his confusion, he didn't stop. The guard casually picked up the walkie-talkie clipped to his waist, intending to recall the patrol members who had been dispatched, as instructed by the Sage. But when he tried to contact the most recently dispatched squad, he only heard a hollow static on the receiver.

No one answered.

"What happened?"

The guards and the two newcomers were originally subordinates of the purple-robed sage Vio, so he took special care of the two.

When he suddenly lost contact, he immediately felt that something bad had happened.

He instinctively turned to look at the security screen beside the door. The screen was scrolling through recent access records, and in the latest entry, a name he had never expected popped up: "Vio!?"

What does Vio, my former boss, look like? Would he possibly mistake me for someone else?

Behind him, the "Sage" who had been walking steadily and dignifiedly suddenly started running.

"Oh no! Someone's broken in—"

While on guard duty, his gaze was completely drawn to the person in front of him. Just as he was about to press the alarm on his body, he discovered that his arm had gone numb without him even realizing it!

He turned his head in horror and saw that the electric beast that had been jumping around just moments before was now lying on the ground, its yellow face shrouded in a strange pale purple aura, its eyes closed, clearly unconscious.

"Who is it?"

The guard stared resentfully at his immobile fingertips. Just as his vision began to blur, the heavy alloy door slid open silently once more.

"Oh? It's progressing so smoothly?"

Another tall figure stood against the light at the doorway, a sigh of helplessness in his voice.

Ahead, the "Sage" who had already walked away also turned back, and as he passed the guard, he casually tied the guard's hands together.

"So you followed me too, Captain Lila."

The man ripped off his fake beard and tossed it behind him. His partner, the mischievous frog, nimbly leaped onto its shoulder, and together they faced the woman standing by the door.

"I'm here to arrest one of my subordinates who interrupted his treatment without authorization and acted on his own."

The Interpol expeditionary captain, upon entering the room, showed no smile at the "whistle" signaling the successful infiltration of the enemy.

"You just survived the explosion in the Giant's Cave, your injuries haven't even healed, and you're already running off to die in a place like this? Don't you want to die? Even if you don't think about yourself, shouldn't you think about the delinquent frogs who went through thick and thin with you?"

"Actually, it has already recovered to the point of————"

Before the handsome guy could answer, the delinquent frog on his shoulder puffed out its cheeks and gave Lila a standard "provocative" face.

"Sigh, I guess this guy and I are the same kind of people who can't sit still—after all, we saw those reports in the hospital room."

Faced with Lila's increasingly unfriendly expression, the handsome detective could only scratch his head and smile wryly.

"As for the Bad Frog, it is sometimes like a detective who is better than me. I can't hide anything from it."

>