Pokémon Detective Case Files.

She looked into the bottomless darkness at the other end of the corridor.

"...The 'thing' you brought in."

The two had barely exchanged a few breaths when Iron Rock's next offensive had already begun, unfolding like a meticulously woven program.

Suddenly, the giant horn on the Pokémon's head transformed into a blade of light, solidifying into a blazing white energy sword—the Fighting-type move "Holy Sword"!

It lowered its head and fiercely slashed at Lucario, whose type was weak to its own!

The instant the attack was completed—without even acknowledging its opponent's reaction—Iron Rock's body began to twist vertically in a bizarre manner, pivoting on its feet. In a flash, the heavy metal torso completed a 180-degree turn in mid-air, crashing back like a runaway battering ram into Raikou, who was gathering "Rampage" power behind it!

Legend has it that the Pokémon let out an angry roar. You should know that the benefits of "Electric Terrain" are not exclusive to the Pokémon Ironrock. In theory, this pure Electric-type Pokémon should be the king who reigns supreme over the thunder.

The next second, a massive golden thunderstorm erupted around Raikou. The power of "Raging Volt" was amplified by the Electric Terrain, and in an instant, this Thunder Pokémon transformed into a torrent of lightning that pierced the corridor, colliding head-on with the heavy "Tackle"—

boom!!!

The loud noise shook the walls.

Where the light exploded, there was a stalemate where everyone was evenly matched.

On the other side, Metagross used its massive body as a shield, allowing its heavy alloy armor to meet the "Holy Sword" beam head-on, forcing it to withstand the attack at the cost of a great deal of its stamina. Meanwhile, its ally, Lucario, had already shot out like an arrow from Metagross's side, fearlessly heading straight for Iron Rock's side!

"Comet Fist!"

The Aura Pokémon's right fist gleamed with a cold metallic sheen; the Steel-type energy, which was super effective against Rock-types, was already highly compressed—

Clang—!

The metallic groan pierced the eardrums. That punch had struck Iron Rock squarely in the lower back joint!

However, Iron Rock's body remained motionless, only the orange light flowing from its horns and hooves trembled violently before brightening again, its radiance becoming even more dazzling in the darkness.

"Wait! Lucario, watch out!"

Wanlong shouted loudly, her warning almost simultaneous with Chandelure's action. The latter immediately stopped its attempt to imbue Iron Rock with "Will-o'-the-Wisp" and quickly floated to the ground. It blocked Lucario's path, creating a light barrier and using the move "Protect".

—But it was still a fraction of a second too late.

Before their eyes, Iron Rock, using its right hind hoof as a fulcrum, spun its massive body clockwise like a top, precisely bypassing the edge of the "Guard" barrier. The energy accumulated around it—including the force of the "Comet Fist" it had just endured—was gathering, reversing, and expanding at a terrifying speed!

"Double the return!"

Before the energy of the counterattack could be fully unleashed, the resulting gale had already forced Lucario back half a step.

“It’s too late…” Wanlong’s hand gripped the pen in the notebook tightly, and a barely perceptible light began to shimmer on the stone cap of the pen.

However, at this critical moment, Iron Rock stopped.

Its frenzied forward momentum suddenly came to a halt.

As if bound by invisible shackles, the energy of the counterattack that was about to be unleashed twisted and dissipated in the air.

When the strong wind swept past Lucario, only a lingering aftershock remained.

at the same time--

"Don't use any attacks in this corridor! There are energy extraction and wireless transmission devices in the walls behind you! Every attack you make is just charging them!"

The handsome man's voice came from the other end of the corridor, sounding breathless and urgent.

His figure and that of the scoundrel emerged from a distorted halo—a brief visual disturbance created by Espeon's "Illusion Ray".

The Interpol agent had just sneaked up behind Iron Rock with the Bad Frog. Judging from his hurried appearance, he had just discovered the energy transmission mechanism hidden inside the wall structure.

However, it wasn't the handsome guy's partner who saved Lucario in the critical moment.

Another, smaller, yet exceptionally agile figure stood with its head held high directly behind Iron Rock.

It braced itself on its feet, the flames on its tail burning even more fiercely in the electric field, one finger pointing straight at the steel behemoth, its wide-open eyes filled with undisguised disdain and anger—

"provocative".

That was another Pokémon that was inside a Poké Ball and sneaked into the back with the handsome guy.

That starter Pokémon that the Unova Champion gave to the three Elite Four members other than Cattleya before the battle began—

The little fire monkey stood there, its tail flames casting its earnest shadow onto the cold metal ground.

What it hates most is cheaters.

Chapter 466 Follow Me

"Gero hid the energy harvesting device in a wall cavity. Although we've temporarily isolated it with 'Mud Throw' and 'Light Wall,' we don't know if similar devices exist elsewhere—and this guy definitely still has a lot of previously absorbed energy stored inside him!"

Seeing the Iron Rock slowly turn towards the Chimchar, the handsome man had a bad feeling. While warning Lila and Wanlong, he sent out his Scorbunny and Espeon to his left and right, trying to rebuild their defenses.

However, Iron Rock ignored the two Pokémon blocking its way.

It simply lowered its head slightly, its orange eyes, like traffic lights, silently meeting the gaze of the little fire monkey standing proudly below. In that instant, all sound in the corridor seemed to vanish.

"Fast defense!"

The alarm bells in the handsome man's mind were ringing wildly. Almost at the same time he shouted the command, the wicked frog had already spun around and unfolded a semi-transparent arc-shaped barrier.

The next second, the bad frog was blasted away along with the barrier!

That orange-red afterimage, like lightning tearing through space, smashed through the "Rapid Defense" defensive zone with pure, brute force—

"A flash of lightning!"

Although the Frog was indeed injured, this attack was faster than the usual range of a preemptive move, and its power was unbelievable!

At this very moment, Espeon had just recovered from the exhaustion of maintaining "Psychic Beam" for so long and was struggling to keep up with Rocksteady's speed. As for Chimchar, it hadn't even lowered its "Taunt" gesture yet!

"Little Flame Monkey, get out of the way!"

The handsome man's shouts were almost futile. Faced with this attack, which was faster than any preemptive defense, there was no time to dodge.

But the little chimpanzee did not obey his command.

It didn't even try to turn around—exposing its back to the enemy at a time like that would only hasten its demise. It would have been better to try using the "Hold On" move instead.

So, the little Chimchar just stared intently at the oncoming orange-red light, its limbs slightly bent and its center of gravity lowered, as if it were gathering some kind of determination... or as if it were observing and calculating something.

Just as the giant horn of the Iron Rock was about to touch its nose—

The space in the corridor was subtly distorted.

At the same time, the little fire monkey's figure suddenly disappeared like a projected image that had been powered off.

Instead, there is the Metagross's heavy, mountain-like steel body!

The armor, reflecting a cold metallic gleam, unexpectedly filled the spot where Chimchar had been standing, now shimmering with the pale blue glow of a Psychic-type move activated.

"Exchange venues!"

Clang—!!!

The deafening clang of metal colliding was deafening.

Ironrock's "Quick Strike" landed squarely on Metagross's prized cross armor, sparks exploding in the darkness like cheap fireworks.

The latter was pushed backward several meters by this enormous force, but its body remained standing like a mountain.

After all, this move is a Normal-type move with little effect on Steel-types, and it's practically insignificant compared to the previous "Holy Sword".

The little fire monkey, who had narrowly escaped death, was now standing behind Metagross, its feet landing lightly on the ground, the flames behind it dancing energetically—as if it hadn't just brushed past death.

A smile spread across the little fire monkey's face.

It had been waiting for this opportunity from the very beginning.

No matter how fast a preemptive skill is, it can't outrun a move that has already been activated.

As soon as Chimchar used "Taunt," Detective Lila gave the order to Metagross, who had just recovered from the damage from "Holy Sword," to switch places.

Iron Rock's reaction was equally frighteningly fast.

When its attack missed, it immediately changed tactics without hesitation. Its body sank slightly, and the color of the energy ring under its hooves suddenly changed, bursting out with a dazzling purple light—this was the prelude to activating the Dark-type move "Abyssal Thrust"!

Lucario – "Look at me!"

Lila's command cut in during the energy surge, precise as a surgeon's scalpel—Iron Rock's previous storm-like suppression was essentially built on extreme yet fragile speed dominance. Now, the sudden appearance of the handsome guy and Chimchar bought her team a crucial, complete tactical window.

Now, it is time for the truth of the power of the masses to take effect.

Lucario's "Look at Me!" exerted a force far exceeding that of "Taunt," forcibly changing the direction of Iron Rock's about-to-strike hoof, forcing it towards the distant Aura Hero—but this was a minor issue; all that was needed was to change the prepared move back to the Fighting-type "Holy Sword"...

Just as Iron Rock was trying to change its moves halfway through, it ran headlong into a huge, gaping maw that had been waiting for a long time.

Thunder God!

This authentic legendary Pokémon didn't use fangs or claws this time, but instead displayed its power in a more primal way—

"Roar!"

A tremendous roar erupted from the depths of Lei Gong's throat, the sound waves striking the iron rock's metal skull head-on like a thunderbolt.

Since the start of the battle, the steel behemoth's fluid and unstoppable offensive was finally interrupted for the first time. It halted its attack, staggered back half a step, and its movements froze for a moment.

That one moment of error was enough to be fatal.

A ghostly blue flame, as if possessing a life of its own, silently coiled around the back of the Iron Rock from the shadows behind it. The flames of the Crystal Chandelier flickered silently, like a malignant infection clinging to the bone.

"Oh, I see..."

Wanlong pushed up his round-framed glasses, his gaze behind the lenses as sharp as an owl's in the night—

"Only direct attack moves release a large amount of energy that can be harvested by the device. That's why this guy, like an editor with obsessive-compulsive disorder, will stop at nothing to interrupt every attempt we make to use support moves—it's not a tactical preference, but a necessity for its survival."

Before the words were even finished, the chilling "ghost fire" and the dazzling "strange light" had already climbed up the steel joints of the Iron Rock.

On the other side, the handsome guy, along with the bad frog and Espeon, had already completed their encirclement.

This experienced detective also saw through the essence of the current situation—the only way to defeat this war machine that could run indefinitely by absorbing the energy of its opponents was to refuse to provide it with fuel.

protracted war.

This is the correct answer to the question of completing the game without taking damage.

Use the most annoying disruptive moves to whittle down the opponent's mobility, replace offensive moves with cautious defense, constantly rotate your Pokémon using a rotation tactic to share the damage, and rely on healing items and recovery skills to maintain your own battle line.

In this kind of attrition battle, every Pokémon that can still stand is a precious asset—of course, Hugo's overly weak but unexpectedly crucial Chimchar needs to be carefully excluded from the direct confrontation on the battlefield.

At this moment, Iron Rock finally lost its domineering aura of triumph and was surrounded by six elves.

The orange-red light on its surface flickered, like an energy furnace beginning to overload.

The steel Pokémon's eyes scanned its surroundings—Raikou's fangs, Lucario's fists, Metagross's weight, Chandelure's ghostly flames, Croagunk's poison claws, Espeon's shimmering light...

And in the distance, the little monkey with its tail on fire was quietly watching it.

The game has entered its most grueling and agonizing phase.

The iron rock remained motionless for several seconds, a rare occurrence.

Its mechanical head slowly rotated in an almost stiff posture, scanning every pair of eyes surrounding it and every energy that was poised to be unleashed.

Finally, those burning orange-red eyes fixed on the edge of the encirclement—on the little fire monkey with flames flickering behind it.

The next moment, heavy footsteps rang out again.

It started slowly, then began to accelerate, screeching as it rubbed against the smooth surface of the electrical field.

Iron Rock launched its frenzied attack once more, the orange-red light trails left by its four hooves stretching longer and longer in the darkness, aiming directly at the location of the little Chimchar!

"Hold on!"

"Fast defense!"

Lila's and the handsome man's commands almost overlapped.

Their Lucario and Scorbunny responded immediately, blocking Chimchar's path like iron gates from the left and right, instantly creating a double energy barrier.

"This isn't right—"

Wanlong's pupils suddenly contracted—

"This guy is trying to run away!"

The crystal chandelier's eerie blue flames suddenly blazed, whipping around the charging iron rock like a long whip, but only managing to ensnare a burst of energy afterimages—

It's a "stand-in"!

The orange-red clone disintegrated into specks of light the moment it was touched, while the real Iron Rock, taking advantage of this brief cover, completed a sudden right-angle change of direction.