Pokémon Detective Case Files.

"I admit, the current Unova Champion is a rather unreliable guy in terms of fighting ability. Mr. Alder's defeat at his hands is, by all accounts, a disgrace in his later years. But..."

The Dark Elite Four member paused in his speech—

“Hugo is the champion I recognize,” he said.

"That guy tackled seemingly impossible challenges head-on, betting his chips where victory was within his grasp—as a Champion of the League, and as a trainer who lives by his beliefs, I approve of this outcome."

In the darkness, something seemed to flow silently. The blueberry's voice grew closer, carrying a chilling warning—

"So if anyone thinks it would be much easier to challenge the declining champions during Mr. Ardek's retirement from the title, I advise them to give up on that idea. Although you seem to have defeated Lian Wu and Wan Long and are only two steps away from a complete victory... I will make you understand that the real gamble has only just begun."

A blinding spotlight suddenly shone, precisely locking onto the blueberry.

A gambler with an exaggerated hairstyle stood in the center of the pillar of light, a confident smile on his lips, his fingertips gently stroking the surface of the Poké Ball.

"You seem determined not to use human-made Poké Balls. It must be very inconvenient to have Pokémon follow you without these modern gadgets, right? It's time to taste the bitter fruit of being out of touch with the times."

He pointed to the steel plate sealing the windows on all sides—

"These specially treated steel plates have been modified by Pokémon with psychic powers, making them impenetrable to ordinary spirits and rendering 'Teleportation' ineffective. The ceiling and floor here have undergone similar treatment. I've heard you summon wild Pokémon to fight, but how can you fight in a completely enclosed man-made structure like this?"

The Elite Four member narrowed his eyes defiantly: "Without any wild Pokémon responding to your call, can you fight alone to the level of that detective?"

Before she could finish speaking, Cranberry flung the Poké Ball out of her hand—

"boom!"

The deep red crocodile crashed to the ground, its menacing teeth gleaming coldly under the light.

It let out a low growl, its fierce gaze fixed intently on N.

“Unlike the two Heavenly Kings you have already defeated, I am more severe than them. When dealing with opportunistic guests, I will repay them with an even more opportunistic fighting style.”

Lingju walked slowly forward, her leather shoes making a clear tapping sound on the floor.

“Mr. N, as a superstar, I have an obligation to accept your challenge. But as the challenger—” he sneered, “are you really ready to step into the game?”

"...I see, so this is what your inner stage is like?"

Looking at the blueberry standing under the spotlight, N merely squinted slightly and spoke softly.

—The next instant, the darkness shattered like a torn curtain!

The heavy metal gate vanished into thin air, and blinding sunlight poured in like a tidal wave, illuminating the entire space. The rogue crocodile was bewildered, while the blueberry's pupils suddenly contracted—

The female bodyguard who had been standing outside the door was nowhere to be seen.

Instead, a red and black fox Pokémon appeared. It sat lazily in place, its blue vertical pupils gleaming with a playful light.

"...Zoroark."

The Dark-type Elite Four member struggled to utter the name of this Dark-type Pokémon.

For the first time, his voice wavered under the "phantom" created by Zoroark.

Everything that just happened was actually an illusion created by that Dark-type Pokémon, merely a projection of Cranberry's own mind...

"Please rest assured, the security guard was not injured; she simply fainted from Zoroark's 'Strange Light.' I've already taken her to a room downstairs to rest."

N slightly raised her head, her eyes beneath her green hair staring directly at the lingonberry.

At this moment, the atmosphere between the two had reversed—the young man was calm and composed, while Yueju's eyes showed surprise.

“Your actions of luring me to follow you on the street were too deliberate, which made me realize something was wrong. In addition, the building’s structure is a bit unusual, so I had Zoroark make some… necessary preparations in advance.”

He paused, his tone still gentle, yet carrying an undeniable firmness—

"Furthermore, you seem to think that I defeated Lianwu and Elite Four member by relying on an attack from wild Pokémon or some other opportunistic means. But that is not the case."

Sunlight streamed through the glass, casting a faint golden rim on this king of plasma clusters.

"As a challenger, I have never underestimated the strength of any of the kings, just as I have the same respect for the current champion."

"Therefore, I will not win by despicable means. What I will do is to win in the most honorable way—"

"Defeat the United States Alliance."

Before he finished speaking, the king of the Plasma Group slowly closed his eyes.

—In an instant, a cacophony of flapping wings and howling winds came from outside the building.

Cranberry suddenly turned her head and saw five figures hovering outside the floor-to-ceiling window—

Light as a feather, a wind sprite; an elegant swan with outstretched wings; a lightning-fast flying squirrel; a cold and ruthless iron-faced ninja; and an artificial cell egg radiating a mysterious light.

Then, as the artificial cell egg triggered a fluctuation of mental energy, space slightly distorted.

The next second, the five Pokémon had already passed through the tempered glass without any steel plate protection, "teleported" into the room, and lined up neatly behind N.

With the addition of Zoroark, which entered the battle arena, there are exactly six Pokémon in a full-scale battle at the Elite Four level.

N opened his eyes, his gaze sharp and piercing—

"Now—let's begin an equal battle."

Chapter 378 Loosening Cracks

In the United League's championship office, Hugo put down the printed report sent by Azure, his brow furrowed.

The intelligence provided by the trusted aide was identical to the monitoring data from other cities, which only made the situation more complicated—the alliance's intelligence department's speculation was fully confirmed, but the truth revealed by the data was more unsettling than expected.

As it turns out, the church established by the Plasma Group is not a true brainwashing organization; it does not distort people's minds to make them believe things they did not originally believe in.

However, it has constructed a more sophisticated operating system. Through carefully designed group identity mechanisms and cognitive reinforcement methods, an invisible information cocoon has quietly taken shape.

Here, followers are immersed in the illusion of self-realization, and whether or not they have unconsciously and gradually accepted the core ideas of the Plasma Group, the mutual influence between the groups makes these people more susceptible to incitement.

According to Azur Lane's investigation around Stellaris City, these so-called "churches" have almost no religious elements—the book corners are sparsely filled with a few fairy tale picture books about N, a few popular books on the history of the Unova Kingdom and the Pokémon liberation movement, and that's all.

The daily activities of the believers are neither meditation nor worship and prayer; instead, they resemble a typical community center: the elderly play chess and chat, the unemployed learn skills, and housewives exchange parenting experiences...

However, as compensation for the organization's abandonment of religious aspects, the activities of these churches fostered a strong sense of collective consciousness among their followers.

Here, believers find not only spiritual solace, but also a shared destiny. When the church becomes their entire support in life, the honor and disgrace of the collective naturally become closely linked to their personal gains and losses—they share the same glory and the same loss.

The Qibao City Museum incident is the best example of this mechanism—most of the "thugs" who followed the dark trio to storm the exhibition hall came from small, seemingly harmless churches in the surrounding area.

These people had no idea why they attacked the museum. They simply believed the carefully crafted lies of the officials—"The United Federation stole the sacred relics passed down through generations of the church and hid them in the museum's underground warehouse"—and this naive rumor alone transformed a group of normally mild-mannered community residents into instigators of a fanatical riot, driven by collective emotion.

This differentiation strategy perfectly inherits the traditional methods of the Plasma Group—they use sharp ideology to cleave apart the originally diverse and symbiotic social relationships from top to bottom.

Alliance forces versus religious forces, conservatives versus liberation organizations, diehards versus progressives, human rights advocates versus Pokémon liberationists… Under Team Plasma’s careful manipulation, these people who had no fundamental conflicts were forcibly divided into opposing camps, and they consumed each other in the artificially created friction.

Meanwhile, the plasma cluster, perched atop the pyramid, reaps the benefits from this meticulously orchestrated social division.

Like bloodthirsty megalodons, they plunder resources wantonly in the turbulent waters of group conflict; like the roots of a troll, they constantly absorb new followers in the fog of ideological clashes.

This is the true terrifying aspect of Smura, one of the Seven Sages of Team Plasma, known as "Rift Mobilization".

His plan was meticulously crafted and flawless. To completely eradicate Team Plasma's roots among the people, a social revolution comparable to the Pokémon liberation movement would be necessary—which was clearly impractical; or another approach would be to directly address the core issue and completely dismantle Team Plasma itself.

Ironically, if we strip away the inflammatory elements of the Plasma Group, these grassroots church organizations might actually become a bond that maintains social stability.

They provide a sense of belonging for marginalized groups and create value for the disillusioned, and could have been a remedy for healing social trauma.

But now, these organizations have become Smura's most dangerous pawns, stirring up trouble in the "Rift Mobilization" game, pushing the Unova region step by step into the abyss of division...

As Hugo pondered this, his thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Come in," he said, closing the folder cover.

The office door was carefully pushed open, and Khaki, who had recently become the Alliance Affairs Officer, strode in, his uniform cuffs still dusted from checking equipment.

"Champion Hugo, the special communications room you requested is ready," he reported in a low voice. "We've not only checked and removed all conventional listening devices, but we've also had our Pokémon repeatedly use the 'Light Screen' move to ensure we're not spied on by anyone with malicious intent."

"Thank you for your hard work." The champion finally stood up, straightening the wrinkles on his brand-new white jacket. "Lead the way."

.

The makeshift communications room, only a few square meters in size, was dimly lit and its mottled walls made the cramped space resemble a solitary confinement cell. But Hugo didn't seem to care.

He dragged over the only metal chair in the room, skillfully operated the encrypted communication device in front of him, and dialed the pre-arranged number.

The communication was established almost instantly.

"Champion Hugo, it was really not easy to get in touch with you."

An old but strong voice came through the receiver, and the familiar teasing immediately conjured up an image of a wrinkled but vigorous face in Hugo's mind.

The detective unconsciously straightened his back.

The elderly man on the other end of the phone was none other than the legendary head of Interpol—a key figure who had fought against the Rockets at their peak for many years in the previous era. Hugo had previously had contact with this Interpol leader when he was a detective.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Hugo adjusted the frequency of the communication equipment to ensure the security of the call. "It took some effort to set up this temporary anti-eavesdropping communication room."

"It's okay, being cautious is never a bad thing."

The old man's hearty laughter came through the encrypted channel. His gentle tone made it hard to connect him with the "Iron-Fisted Police Superintendent" who once struck fear into the hearts of underground organizations. Time seemed to have smoothed out his rough edges, but it had not diminished his composed demeanor.

"What brings you to me? Is it about the United Alliance, or is it related to my detective work?" Hugo asked directly.

"Hehe, I guess you could say you've got both sides." The old man's low, slow laughter came from the other end of the phone. "Whether as a champion or a detective, you're an important ally of our organization. Team Magma's operation really owes a lot to you. If we had allowed Crimson Pine to establish a secret base outside of Hoenn, our colleagues in Hoenn would have had a lot of trouble."

He paused, his tone slightly serious: "I'm contacting you this time for two reasons. First, to formally express my gratitude, and second... to share some information with you."

"Intelligence?" Hugo raised an eyebrow. "Has something gotten into trouble again recently?"

"Detective, the world isn't just in your place where things are turbulent. Remember that prison near Mount Harshness? That little Officer Jenny from the Sinnoh Intelligence Department seemed to have consulted you. Did what you feared happen?"

"The severe volcano has been triggered? Someone used it as an excuse to escape from prison?" Hugo frowned. "How could the Sinnoh League's news department completely block information about such a large-scale disturbance?"

"That's not how it is." The old man paused, as if shaking his head.

"Because of your reminder, Elite Four member of the Sinnoh League arrived at the scene in time. Although he was unable to prevent Heatran from waking up, he managed to drive away the Pokémon and stop the eruption of the dormant volcano... However, the awakening of that Pokémon still caused an earthquake in the area, and several senior executives of Team Galactic escaped in the chaos. You should be very familiar with the list—Gross, Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluton."

"Why those few people of all people?" The champion looked puzzled. "I should have advised the Sinnoh League not to transfer those criminals to the Volcano Prison. Why did this mistake happen?"

"Heh, it's just a trick to lure the snake out of its hole."

The old man chuckled softly, his tone tinged with amusement.

"Giving advice is one thing, whether others listen to it is another. The young minister of Sinnoh has a tendency to be overly suspicious. Rather than keeping the criminals locked up in prison, he wants to know what forces are threatening the security of the Sinnoh region. I even suspect that the escape of those four prisoners was itself a step in his probe of the enemy forces."

"Persecution complex" is truly a fitting name... Hugo couldn't help but facepalm upon hearing this. Indeed, there are no wrong nicknames, only wrong names.

"Sigh..." came a sigh from the other end of the phone. "As soon as the back office opens its mouth, the front line has to run itself ragged. That minister's 'luring the snake out of its hole' has forced our Interpol to redeploy a large number of people to Sinnoh, and even the handover of the Team Magma prisoners has been delayed."

"So that's why Interpol couldn't provide support back at sea?" the detective suddenly realized.

"After all, we don't have that many people. Speaking of which, the Hoenn region hasn't been very peaceful lately..."

The old man's tone suddenly changed—

"While you were still on Mushroom Island, the barrier around Mount Songshen was attacked by the Water Fleet. That guy, Wutong, led his entire force out to try and seize the precious pearl that had been worshipped for generations in the shrine of Mount Songshen, but they were successfully stopped by the Heavenly Kings and the Masters who stayed behind."

"I hope things go smoothly."

Hugo responded casually, but his fingertips unconsciously rubbed the edge of the communicator.

He knew this all too well—because it was he, the detective, who had anticipated the movements of Team Aqua and advised Daigo to strengthen the protection of special ruins during his departure, and to keep the remaining three Elite Four members ready to provide support at any time. Unexpectedly, they ran right into Team Aqua's surprise attack.

"The crisis in Hoenn is over, but you're probably in trouble—that's the main reason I contacted you this time." The head of the criminal investigation organization's tone suddenly turned serious.

"What's going on?" Hugo asked.

"Members of the Hoenn regional police organization noticed that after their defeat, Team Aqua boarded a large ocean-going vessel and headed towards the Unova region. The abandoned Team Aqua base later seen in Hoenn confirmed this—Champion Hugo, they're clearly after you."

The champion sighed and said with a wry smile, "I did know that Team Plasma was colluding with Team Aqua, but I didn't expect them to act so quickly..."

“Then, my dear ally,” the old man’s gentle yet powerful voice rang out, “do you need reinforcements?”

Chapter 379 A title is just an empty name

"Oh?" Hugo's interest was piqued upon hearing the old man's suggestion—

"Can Interpol still spare personnel?"

"If this had happened two years ago, we would have been in a bit of a bind, but things are different now."

The old man spoke as if in a good mood, his voice rising slightly at the end.

"Thanks to the tireless efforts of a certain detective, the pressure on the police force in the Sinnoh and Hoenn regions has been greatly reduced. Now is the time to redeploy manpower and put them into more meaningful work. This matter should have been discussed with the chairman of the corresponding regional league. However, since you, the champion of Unova, are a professional detective, I think it's okay to break the rules a little. This might be better for maintaining secrecy."

Upon hearing this good news, Hugo gave a wry smile instead of amusement: "Even you can see the problems facing the Unova region right now?"