Pokémon Detective Case Files.

The legendary spirit, praying for a bountiful harvest, nodded slightly, responding to the old man's call, and silently and swiftly opened its clasped arms.

The next instant, the sound of sharp, heavy objects scraping against stone bricks rang out all around. Although it was impossible to see what was happening on the field with the naked eye, the sand and dust floating in the air clearly became chaotic at the same time.

This means that not only the ground, but also the airspace above the battlefield is now covered with sharp, invisible rocks. As a result, whether Champion Alder wants to switch Pokémon, or even if Wu and Wanlong plan to send out their Pokémon to help, they will be blocked by this barrier of sharp rocks.

"Since you've made this move, you're trying to use this Pokémon to duel with my Volcarona, right? Well, I don't dislike one-on-one duels; after all, it has a very old-fashioned feel to it from the frontier era."

Alder was certainly familiar with Cloud, the land god of Unova legends known for bringing harvest and abundance. But he merely scratched his fiery red hair, showing no emotion at Cloud's appearance, as if he were simply treating this core member of Team Plasma as an ordinary challenger.

"Let me tell you in advance, the title of Unova Champion can only be passed down through a full-scale six-on-six battle. If your goal is merely to defeat Volcarona, I will never acknowledge you as the successor to the title."

“It’s alright.” Joggs shook the sleeves of his blue robe, the intricate patterns flowing like a golden river.

"A mere title? That's something the Order and we kings can have—'Rock Collapse'!"

The clouds beneath the earth cloud churned and rose upwards, and several layers of falling rocks appeared in the air, crashing heavily onto the burning moth like a meteor shower.

Meanwhile, the seasoned champion shook his head: "Ever since the type matchups were compiled and published, Pokémon battles have become increasingly boring."

With a flick of his wrist, his simple linen shawl billowed with a flutter no less impressive than that of a sage. Adek simply reminded his partner, "Let's do it the old way."

Before the words were even finished, the crimson flames on the Volcano Moth suddenly surged up, and a loud "insect chirping" sound rang out, indiscriminately destroying the hearing of everyone present.

Is Volcarona trying to use Sound Wave to counter Rock moves that are four times stronger than Bug and Fire types?

No, as the "rockfall" fell, the fire moths at the center of the dense rock formation began to dance.

It's not about resisting, but about avoiding.

It wasn't even a matter of dodging; it was as if it was simply dancing in the eyes of the crowd.

The Flame Moth, singing "Insect Chirps," gracefully dodges the falling rocks with the same elegant dance moves a hunting swallowtail butterfly uses during courtship, and flies towards the Earth Cloud in the center of the arena, trying to close the distance with its opponent.

The Bug-type status move, "Butterfly Dance".

This is a move that Flamewaker must master to evolve into Volcarona. The user gracefully performs a mysterious and beautiful dance, which simultaneously raises their Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed. Alder's Volcarona, through years of training, can even dodge the opponent's attacks while dancing.

In fact, if Yoggs had given command to the Earth Cloud immediately after the Volcano began its "Butterfly Dance," given the power of this desert deity, they might have been able to inflict effective damage on the Volcano.

However, Alder's partner had already used "Insect Chirp" first—the piercing shriek not only slowed down the reaction of the Plasma Sage by half a beat, but also prevented the voice of the command from clearly reaching Landorus's ears, even if he wanted to give a command quickly.

By the time the "Insect Chirp" fades slightly, Volcarona has already increased its speed, making it even more difficult to hit it with ranged moves like "Rock Slide".

Such tricks would be absolutely useless against the Elite Four—psychics can use telepathy to ignore the obstruction of sound waves; gamblers have countless off-the-books schemes to hint at the next move to their Pokémon; novelists have countless drafts in their minds and will prepare contingency plans before Volcarona launches an attack; and as for Lian Wu, a martial artist, his loud voice can also overcome the interference of "insect chirping".

However, despite being a learned historian and holding a high position in Team Plasma, even gaining the approval of legendary desert Pokémon, Joggs was not a powerhouse of the Unova Elite Four.

Detective Hugo once gave Blueberry a research report, which analyzed that Team Plasma's top-tier trainer-level combat strength was actually not abundant—this was not an unfounded claim. This was precisely why Vio and the others fell into the trap Blueberry set up, using themselves as bait.

They are sorely lacking in high-level trainers.

However, at this moment, this Team Plasma Sage, whose battle prowess was not outstanding, faced with the loss of the first move, faced with Volcarona's increased speed, special attack, and special defense, and faced with the composed Champion Alder, smiled confidently—

"That's quite a good start. Perfect teamwork and top-notch combat strength combined barely allowed me to dodge a 'Rock Collapse' attack. It seems I'll be able to complete the mission smoothly this time."

Joggs's mission objective was neither to win the championship nor to win the duel, but rather—to kill the Volcano.

In the air, the fierce-looking earth cloud suddenly opened its eyes wide and charged head-on at the approaching Vulcan moth without dodging or yielding.

It didn't use Flying or Ground-type moves that have their own type advantages, nor did it use Rock-type moves that are four times super effective against Volcarona, but instead—

"Let's cause a ruckus, Land Cloud! Use 'Reverse Scale'!"

Therefore, Joggs simply gave the order.

"Outrage," a Dragon-type move. Pokémon that uses this move will launch a chaotic attack for a period of time, causing a great disturbance, after which the user of the move will also fall into confusion.

This is undoubtedly a risky skill that hurts the enemy a thousand while harming yourself eight hundred. Even Cynthia, the Sinnoh champion, would give Garchomp a Wood Berry, which can remove status conditions, when Garchomp was about to use "Outrage" during a League match.

But Joggs did not give the land cloud a similar item.

Rather, his real purpose was to throw this abundant Pokémon into chaos.

The reason for this is that Joggs understands his own limitations; he and Landorus lack the unspoken bond of a trainer and partner. In a sense, his command as a sage is tantamount to an imposed constraint on the battle of a legendary Pokémon.

But now, the sage in blue robes has taken the initiative to break this seal.

All that has been done is done; now it's up to fate.

.

"I admit that Landorus possesses combat power commensurate with legendary Pokémon, and its strength should be more than enough to defeat Shilan, however..."

Outside the tower, while Joggs and Adek engaged in a one-on-one elven duel, the detective's reasoning never ceased—

"But to say that the Landorus could defeat Steward Stone and all the trainers here in an instant, and after accomplishing such a feat, it would even have the strength to climb the tower and challenge Ardek, the champion of the Unova League... that's a bit too unrealistic."

Hugo observed the green-haired youth's expression and slowly voiced his guess.

"It's as if there exists some kind of super-powered device that can provide the land cloud with an unlimited supply of energy for the battle."

N lowered his eyes, a sign of guilt—such a small gesture couldn't escape the detective's notice. The green-haired youth was unlikely to display such emotions in a human being, which meant…

"Yorgus also carries another extraordinary Pokémon. A Pokémon that can rival legends, a near-miracle like a phantom."

The detective made his final judgment.

"Or rather, it was with the help of that mysterious spirit that the blue-robed bishop was able to defeat Landorus and bring it out of the desert ruins... And judging from your behavior of revealing information to me now, and your expression at this moment, that mysterious second ace is definitely not following Sage Joggs willingly—it is a Pokémon forced to obey human commands, and it is the one you need to liberate."

“Freedom Garden Island,” N suddenly said, uttering a place name.

"While I was traveling, Team Plasma launched a large-scale operation to capture a certain Pokémon that had brought them victory. The capture location was on Free Garden Island, and the Sage of Rhodes, who was leading the team, revealed some details of the operation to me. After that, I intended to mobilize the resources I could to free that Pokémon, or at least prevent it from being manipulated by others, but the Order had already assigned it to another sage. Just now, when I met with Joggs, I heard the faint cry of that Pokémon."

Normally, N cannot hear the thoughts of the Pokémon inside the Poké Ball, but perhaps because the energy contained in that Pokémon was too great, or perhaps because the modified Poké Ball had lost some of its original functions, N clearly heard the Pokémon's lament inside the ball.

Hugo, of course, knew the Pokémon N mentioned that brought victory—Victini, considered the star of victory in the Unova region. Legend says this Pokémon brings victory, possessing the ability to generate limitless energy and distribute it to anything it touches. There are even rumors that trainers with it will win any battle.

In fact, more than a year ago, the detective's first stop after arriving in Unova from Sinnoh was that small island called Liberty Garden. At that time, he wandered around the island for a whole month without finding any trace of this Pokémon that was said to bring good luck—unexpectedly, this Pokémon was captured by Team Plasma.

"Can't you just order Yoggs to release that elf?"

A bitter look appeared on N's face: "Although he is a sage who is loyal to me, he seems to think that I, the king, am too naive. So he rejected my request without saying a word and went straight up the tower with the help of the land cloud. It seems that I am still not good at negotiating with humans."

“I think it’s not just a matter of negotiation skills,” Hugo said, shaking his head sincerely.

People like Rhodes and Jogs are among the few centrists in the Order who remain neutral between the "King's faction" and the "Papal faction." Their independent actions are not merely due to cowardice or hesitation. Only those with both strong will and power are qualified to maintain a neutral and detached position amidst the undercurrents of power struggles within the Plasma Group.

"The Tower of Heaven is now a special place, where the champion of the United States Alliance awaits the successor. As a representative of Team Plasma, if I follow Joggs up there, I will inevitably have to fight the champion of Ardek—I suppose the reason why Sage Joggs openly climbed the tower in front of me was also to facilitate this."

N sighed: "The one thing I didn't want to do was battle that Volcarona when it was critically ill and dying. For me, taking a Pokémon's life is an absolute bottom line that cannot be crossed. Various contradictory reasons were intertwined, so I hesitated at the foot of the tower, and that's when you came."

"In other words, that's how it is..." Hugo sorted out the green-haired youth's thoughts.

"As the king of Team Plasma, if you ascend the Tower of Heaven, there's no reason not to battle Champion Ardek; as the one who liberates Pokémon, you want to defeat Yoggs on the tower to release Victini from his grasp; and as yourself, you're unwilling to battle Ardek in his current state, because that would inevitably lead to Volcarona burning out and dying... Hey, are you a robot that acts according to arithmetic logic? How can you be at a loss for what to do about something like this?"

N wore an expression that suggested he didn't understand the detective's sarcasm, as if such multifaceted thinking was common sense to him.

"If you really intend to take action, you'd better make a decision quickly," Hugo warned N. "Because before long, the reasons that are making you hesitate will be eliminated."

"Why?" The green-haired youth looked bewildered, seemingly genuinely puzzled. "Sage Joggs isn't particularly skilled in Pokémon battles. Even with the help of two legendary Pokémon, he probably wouldn't be able to defeat Champion Aldera, who is protected by four Unova Elite Four members, right?"

The detective in black shook his head emphatically, sharply retorting, "Yorges's statement hits the nail on the head. N, even as a villain, you're incredibly naive. Or rather, isn't it precisely because you're a villain that this kind of thinking seems so naive? Please think about this carefully—"

"If Joggs, that wise man whose every move is meaningful, has an ultimate goal not to seize the title, but to stage a brutal murder of Volcano, completely erasing the last obstacle between you and the championship title—can you allow such a thing to happen?"

While questioning N, Hugo looked up at the towering Tower of Paradise at the end of the grass.

At this moment, Joggs, along with Land Cloud and Victini, had already reached the top of the tower and had likely already descended the spiral staircase to appear before the Champions and Elite Four members.

If this cunning historian were to propose a seemingly fair and just one-on-one duel to Aldek, and the elderly champion and his old partner, who only knew one side of the story and were completely absorbed by the existence of the Earth Cloud, were to survive against the God of Abundance, who was blessed by the Star of Victory?

If Yoggs' plan comes true and Alder's Volcanoes are indeed defeated, the green-haired youth in front of him, whose actions are driven by his own identity, will surely challenge for the Unova League championship.

Even if N doesn't issue a challenge today, the same thing could very well happen in the future. After all, being a champion means constantly facing challenges from all sides. Alder's fighting spirit is waning, while N is in his prime, possessing the ability to communicate with Pokémon. With Team Plasma's support, it wouldn't be surprising if he won the championship title at any time…

What would the world be like if the King of Team Plasma became the League Champion? Undoubtedly, chaos would ensue.

How can we break this deadlock?

Chapter 216 How to Use the Poké Ball

N has lived deep within the castle built by Quixote since childhood.

In that enormous, dreamlike room that never saw the light of day, the green-haired boy spent his entire childhood, day after day, year after year.

He had long realized that the Pokémon around him, whom he considered friends, were actually deliberately chosen by his father—the boy, who could understand the thoughts of Pokémon from birth, saw through the truth his father was hiding from the very beginning.

However, for some reason, the boy did not become estranged from the chosen elves because of this. Instead, he wholeheartedly regarded them as his companions, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that they depended on each other for survival.

The Pokémon's circumstances varied, but they had all suffered incredibly cruel deception, betrayal, and even abuse in the human world. During the time when N first met them, whenever all was quiet and the night was deep in the air, some Pokémon would suddenly wake up from nightmares, crying out loud without warning or unleashing a berserk attack.

So N heard all sorts of inner thoughts—

The wandering Pokémon in the city would endlessly complain about the hypocrisy and indifference of humans. In the eyes of the Pokémon, compared to Pokémon that can use moves, humans are very weak creatures. But it is precisely because they are so weak that when humans discover wild Pokémon that are even weaker and more helpless than themselves, they will unleash a chilling cruelty.

Even after a full meal, the elf, who had been imprisoned by a ruthless merchant, would still crave food and water. Although the other party would obediently fall silent as long as N said no, the fear and hunger in her heart would still cry out incessantly.

The spirits that have suffered abuse in the past will go into a frenzy of hysteria whenever they sense someone approaching. Their mournful cries and shouts are equally shrill and deafening, enough to pierce the heart of any listener...

Even so, even after spending more than a decade surrounded by such sentiments, the boy miraculously still did not harbor hatred towards humanity.

Although he had never set foot outside the room, he had seven excellent teachers who provided him with enough knowledge to understand the world through daily one-on-one instruction.

This is why he understands that a carefully selected sample can never represent the overall situation of the data. Just as there are positive and negative numbers on a number line, there are good and bad people among humans. Although there are Pokémon that are persecuted in the world, there should also be Pokémon that are cared for by humans.

N just hasn't met them yet.

If people in the world could communicate and understand each other as he did with the fairies in that room, they would have a chance to heal one another.

—That was N's original thought.

Until the day he walked out of the room.

That day, the boy expressed his desire to the seven sages who were teaching him for the first time—he wanted to see the outside world, even if it was just to step out of the room and wander around the castle outside the door.

The father frowned blatantly, but the other six sages thought there was nothing wrong with it.

Thus, N was granted the freedom to go out and move around for the first time—of course, this freedom was limited to the closed castle.

"By the way," Quixote suddenly said to N, "since you want to go out and about, you'll have to increase your protection, right?"

N nodded because his father's words made sense, completely unaware of what was about to happen.

"Oh. You mean these, that's fine then."

Joggs, who taught history to N, immediately understood what Quixote meant and said, "It's time to put on a show."

The sages exchanged glances, as if understanding a secret signal, and nodded in agreement. Each face wore an expression of normalcy, as if nothing had happened.

“I happen to have a few empty ones on me, so I’ll use those.” Sage Vio fumbled in the inner pocket of his robe, just as he would when he pulled out his paper and pen for calculating formulas, and took out a few round objects from his sleeve.

It is red and white, with a switch-like protrusion in the middle. The material is somewhere between metal and plastic, and it appears to be hollow.

That was something N, who had lived in a room since childhood, had never seen before.

He might have heard the name before, but seeing the actual object in person was a first for him. Therefore, he couldn't connect the knowledge with the reality before him.

Is this a toy? Or some kind of self-defense weapon?

"For some, it's just a toy. For others, it can be a weapon."

Quixote answered.

He grasped N's hand and, through his son's hand, took the object from Vio's palm.

It's very light. It feels like a capsule. Because it was just taken out of my pocket, it's not cold.

"Father, what are you doing?"

Quixote did not answer, but guided N to turn around and face his friends in the room.

The Pokémon, who had been hiding behind the furniture in the room out of fear because of the Seven Sages, slowly peeked out again when they saw N turn around.

"Let's start with that one." Quixote's words were unusually gentle, as if revealing a hint of affection, and N was momentarily moved.

If he knew what would happen next, he would never have thought that way.

This can only be described as a miraculous oversight...

The most arrogant ambitious man, the most ruthless speculator, the most sincere seeker of truth, the most fervent fanatic, the most profound researcher, the most cunning conspiracy theorist, and the most brilliant engineer—seven wise men, with different qualifications, backgrounds, professions, and viewpoints, all coincidentally made the same mistake…

This wasn't even a conspiracy. The Seven Sages may have committed, and will commit, countless unforgivable crimes, but this was definitely not one of them.

Simply because the matter was so ordinary, the sages completely forgot to tell this green-haired boy, who was isolated from the real world, a certain message over the past ten years. That's all.

This information was so self-evident that they forgot to teach N what that red and white spherical thing was—forgot to tell him that there are capture items in the world that can shrink or weaken Pokémon and trap them inside.