Pokémon Detective Case Files

Chapter 525 The Narrow Gate to the Summit

Imagine a Pokémon that feeds on the energy of victory. One day, for some unknown reason, all of its energy is completely depleted—where would it go to rest?

At first glance, some people might imagine the answer to this question to be quite complicated.

But actually, the answer is very simple: just go to the places where there are many victories.

So, after Hugo defeated former champion Mr. Ardek and took over the league in such a somewhat forced manner, where is the place in the Unova region with the largest number of the strongest and highest-level battlegrounds?

In the past, this answer might have been the venue for the Pokémon League Conference, or the city gyms guarded by local gym leaders; in the future, this location will most likely be the battle hall for the Pokémon World Championships (PWT) currently under construction in Sailbridge City.

However, at this very moment, there is only one obvious answer to this question: the championship room at the league headquarters.

More precisely, it was the room guarded by the Champion Agent, Ms. Touko, before the League headquarters was turned into ruins by Team Plasma's castle.

In fact, after the former champion's defeat and Hugo's appointment as champion, a counterintuitive fact existed in the Unova region: although the new champion was unwilling to appear publicly, only promising that the champion selected through open competition would take over his temporary title at the next league tournament and become the next champion, the threshold for challenging for the championship had already been greatly lowered during this delicate period.

Originally, according to the rules set by the league, apart from the unprecedented accidental situation of "a highly respected old champion having a sudden whim", there have always been only two feasible ways to become the league champion: challenge the league conference held every few years, and after becoming the conference champion, go a step further and challenge the champion to a title challenge match where the title of "champion" is at stake.

Alternatively, they could directly defeat the four champions of the league, achieve a winning streak, disregard time limits, bypass all the procedures set by the league, and issue an undeniable challenge to the champion.

Now, Hugo has defeated Ardek to become the champion, but he is unwilling to make a public appearance to face the scrutiny of the public and challengers. Although this situation will only last for a short period of time, the champion, who is at the pinnacle of trainers, will inevitably cause dissatisfaction among the trainer community by holding such a cowardly attitude.

Therefore, Hugo, who had anticipated this public opinion situation, had to symbolically open the narrow door to the championship title a little, as a kind of balance in the power structure of the league.

The result of this compromise was the special position of "Champion Agent".

The official explanation for this job was simply that she was hired as a temporary helper to handle miscellaneous tasks that were beyond the champion's reach when the league champion was unable to stay in the champion's room. Hugo's explanation for Douzi was the same.

However, he did not specify exactly what those so-called "miscellaneous tasks" included.

To give a simple example, Douzi, who acts as the champion's agent, only knows that when she stays in the champion's room, a brand new challenger will randomly appear every now and then, clamoring to fight her.

These challengers, while required to hold at least eight gym badges, are clearly not gym leader candidates like Nishiko or Blackie.

According to league staff, the reason they were here to challenge Hugo was because these trainers were uneasy about Hugo's championship status and therefore submitted an application to the league requesting a friendly sparring match with the current champion.

As Hugo's assistant, Douzi must take the place of the champion and use his strength displayed in the battle to properly resolve the discontent of these guys.

However, neither the league staff nor Hugo told Touko what would happen if she lost her match.

The so-called "champion's agent" is someone who takes on the responsibilities of the champion.

Although there is a world of difference in status and position between this position and that of an "acting champion" or a formal champion.

No, but if we get to the point, as long as she has the title of "agent," she is just like those champion title holders, "acting" as the champion's authority.

If she fails, it will undoubtedly be considered a defeat for the champion as well.

The prosperity of one brings prosperity to all, and the loss of one brings loss to all—this is precisely the significance of agency.

The acting champion carries both the obligations and the rights of the champion. There is no reason for a challenger to fight the champion again after defeating the acting champion.

Otherwise, if the champion hires a hundred agents, plus four more league kings standing in front of him, wouldn't the challenger never have to fight the champion again?

Of course, the challenger who defeats the fighter cannot be directly awarded the championship title, but if this happens, the alliance that has reached a compromise with Hugo will then enter an emergency procedure to decide who wins the championship.

Specifically, they would call one of the four Heavenly Kings of the Unification Alliance, including Lian Wu, back to conduct a second review of the challenger who had defeated the Champion Agent—that is, to hold a new round of battle.

In this rematch, if the Elite One wins, it can be assumed that the Elite One is stronger than the challenger and the acting champion, forcibly triggering the special rule that the Elite One inherits the championship position. However, according to the prior tripartite agreement between the Elite Ones, Hugo, and the League, the winning Elite One will return the title to the champion to avoid chaos within the League—in short, the whole thing can be treated as if nothing happened, with the League awarding the challenger a material reward and a direct seeding to the next League Tournament's knockout stage as a reward for defeating the acting champion.

If the King of Pop loses after the fight, it will be enough to prove that the challenger is capable of winning the championship title.

Given his strength, Hugo wouldn't be so greedy for power as to cling to the chair at this point; the league would directly award the championship title to the new challenger.

However, as the price of this emergency procedure, if a challenger does defeat both the fighter and the judge, Hugo's previous statement that "the League Conference will decide the new champion" cannot be overturned, the new champion will have to compete against the champion of that conference several months later at the League Conference.

Only the winner of this round can become the true, rightful Unova Champion, and hold the title for at least several years.

Some might think that even if a challenger successfully completes all the procedures for challenging the champion, they still have to face a challenge from the champion of the league conference, which is really not worth it.

But think back to the conditions that were originally required to become a champion. Whether you take the path of the league conference or the path of challenging the king, it requires a considerable amount of waiting time, and this is just the easiest part to overcome of all the difficulties.

The former requires engaging in a brutal elimination tournament with more than ten trainers who have earned at least eight gym badges, where they must use all their perseverance, strategy, and trump cards.

The latter will face the four Elite Four trainers who occupy the top of the Unova trainers. It would be lucky to win even one battle, let alone four!

Heaven have mercy! Even if Lian Wu, Wan Long, Yue Ju, and Jia Deliya came by themselves, they probably wouldn't be able to defeat the other three of the Four Heavenly Kings.

Under Hugo's rules, challengers only need to defeat three or even just two opponents to obtain the championship title that countless Pokémon trainers dream of their entire lives!

That's the title of champion!

Even if it's taken away from you within five minutes of your acquisition, for countless people, it's still a lifetime of honor.

There are countless trainers who have this idea and see through the tricks hidden under the challenge rules.

Out of his pride, the King of Team Plasma decided to wait until he had challenged all four Elite Four members before issuing a formal challenge to the true League Champion.

However, those Unova trainers who covet the coveted championship title don't care about all that.

In just the two months that Douzi served as the champion's agent, she had already "reunited" with at least a dozen veteran trainers she had encountered in tournaments around the world.

These opponents each have their own unique styles and tactics, and each has its own set of problems.

If it weren't for the fact that in order to raise funds for filming the movie, Douzi had participated in almost every tournament in Unova, becoming a seasoned bounty hunter who had been immersed in the battle field for many years. He was already prepared for the tactical system of these fellow trainers, and the battles were almost like open-book exams—who knows, he might have really lost to those people's challenges full of open and covert attacks.

Among these challengers was Thorn, the Raven City Trainer who had fought her to a standstill at the Haruka Conference, whose ace Pokémon and Toad King were renowned for their sound-based attacks, and who was also known for his chivalry and unparalleled loud voice.

Raw.

There's also Orlando Perez, a trainer of unknown origin who once held the upper hand in a friendly pre-match battle against Blacklink, but suffered a crushing defeat in the official match. He arbitrarily called his childhood friend a formidable rival and, together with his partners Krookodile and Dugtrio, called themselves the "Sand Magicians." However, every time they met, he would pull out several inexplicable and obscure Pokémon. In Douzi's eyes, he was like a random blind box.

There's also Hector, the "Iron Wall," a master of defensive tactics who once cornered Douzi's Vulpix with Gigalith in the Ripple Town Tournament finals. That guy used to be a tunnel engineer under Kiku's tutelage, and now, with his partners like Ferrothorn and Chucky, he's a nightmare for countless Unova trainers who love fast-paced battles. Although Douzi wanted to say something nice about this respectable opponent—like that this squinty-eyed guy is actually a kind-hearted person—based on her observations from the tournament stands, it seemed even his own children didn't think so.

And then there's Katalina from Snow City, whose ace Pokémon are Double Ice and Gyarados, especially skilled in snow-themed tactics. She loves to unleash her villainous three-part laugh during battles, but is essentially a cunning woman. This rich girl once told Touko that she would condescend to play the lead role in one of her movies, which Touko formally refused.

In addition, there's Ms. Shizuku, a history teacher in Kagome Town with an extremely conservative playstyle and a Ghost-type defensive team consisting of Cofagrigus, Sableye, and Chandelure. She's known for her tendency to make her students and opponents share the burden of their battles, and is a slow-paced, academically-minded trainer. It's said that she started training Pokémon because she was inspired by a Sinnoh archaeologist who became a star trainer.

There's another trainer named Gigreg, who used to be a bounty hunter like Douzi, but his income dropped due to new disruptors, so he recently started streaming Pokémon battles. His signature Pokémon is a Gengar with expressive features, but his real battle core is actually the Fighting brothers, the Striking and Throwing Gengar. He's naturally a bit talkative, and his catchphrase on his video account is "It's okay if you don't understand, you'll get it after watching." But honestly, Douzi feels that this guy's eloquence and performance talent aren't as solid and consistent as his commanding style.

And then there's Mina Kor, who studied in the Kalos region. This up-and-coming trainer, a junior to Douzi, loves to boast to his Unova peers about the Kangaskhan Mega Stone he found at the Lumiose City flea market. However, it's said he still owes a large loan to the Kalos Bank to buy the matching Key Stone. Before that young man pushed open the door to the Champion's room, Douzi had no idea that this fledgling trainee had already collected all eight Gym Badges and even had the confidence to challenge the Champion. It's hard to say whether it's a case of the younger generation being formidable or economic pressure driving progress.

Trainers who had a long-standing relationship with Douzi made up about half of all the challengers, while the rest came from all over the world.

There were veteran trainers who had retired for many years, Unova immigrants who had returned from other places, assistants or deputies of gym leaders from various regions, industry insiders who had learned about the changes to the Champion Challenge rules from their relatives in the League, and seasoned trainers who had been following the story of who would win the Champion's Throne since the Tower of Paradise incident.

Despite the reservation system limiting the number of participants, trainers of all kinds still practically overwhelmed the entrance to the Champion Room.

The latter half of the challengers were slightly weaker than the former, but in the end, even a big shot like Iris, the Gym Leader of Osaka City, came to the Champion's Room to challenge Douzi, the Champion's Agent.

However, it turned out to be a false alarm, because the Twin Dragons Gym Leader, who had just finished intensive training, had not made an appointment with the league in advance and therefore was not qualified to challenge the champion's representative.

If she wants to showcase the results of her special training, it seems she'll have to wait until the next league conference in the near future.

During these two months of continuous challenges, the trainer who successfully defeated the Champion Agent and advanced the Champion Challenge under Hugo Rules to the second stage, the Elite Four review stage—

not a single one.

In other words, during the time that the champion's agent, Miss Touko, was guarding the champion's room, she successively defeated all the challengers, including Mr. Thorne, Orlando Perez, Hector, Katharina, Ms. Shizuku, Gigreg, and Mina Cole.

Through battles—she made retired trainers continue their seclusion; she made Unova immigrants who returned from other places leave empty-handed; she made the assistants or deputies of gym leaders in various places understand the gap between themselves and the strong; she made industry stakeholders who learned about the changes to the Champion Challenge rules from their relatives in the League realize that the change in rules does not mean that the difficulty has been reduced; and she made veteran trainers who have been paying attention to the ownership of the Champion's Throne since the Tower of Heaven incident experience the taste of defeat once again.

She defeated all the badge holders who came to her door one by one, in several rounds a day, until they were all convinced of the champion's strength after each of them contributed a battle that was either exciting or boring.

One challenge after another, one battle after another, one victory after another.

Even the faintest spark, if placed in an environment with sufficient fuel and oxygen, will instantly transform into a raging inferno.

Is there any place in the world more suitable for that creature that uses victory energy as its foundation than the champion's room where Douzi was?

How can a mythical Pokémon recover its condition after consuming a large amount of food?

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