Pokémon Detective Case Files.

Only the deep hum of machinery starting up again came from deep within the walls, along with the subtle creaking sounds of structural stress being released.

"Trying to use the same old tricks to turn the maze back into a trap for me?" Yueju scoffed. "Too bad, it's too late."

He turned and ran towards the area behind where Ironhead Shell had been guarding.

Yueju clearly remembered how long it took for the maze to collapse from a complex network into this narrow passage. Therefore, he understood that disassembling and reassembling this simplified structure would certainly take at least a similar amount of time.

And so, before the wall, which had just begun to reshape, had fully risen and before the ground slabs had flipped, the Servant of the Blades, running behind the trainer, had already swung its blade once more. The Dark-type energy that had once severely damaged Ironhead was now highly concentrated, transforming into a deep black arc of light, slashing towards the alloy wall that hadn't had time to add more protective layers!

boom--!

The wall shattered with a crack, sending fragments flying inward. A far more concentrated energy aura than that in the corridor rushed out from behind the breach, even carrying a faint, palpable temperature fluctuation.

"Looks like we're really close to the core area." Blueberry perked up. The direction Hugo's little tortoise had pointed out was indeed correct.

Almost simultaneously, two neat square holes suddenly and silently slid open on the previously seamless alloy walls on both sides of the corridor. Two steel figures, identical to those in Ironhead Shell, shot out from the darkness—it was Iron Spotted Leaf and Iron Rock, who had fought against Wanlong and Lianwu.

One green and one yellow, one to the left and one to the right, precisely blocked the path ahead of the blueberries.

"Heh, looks like you guys aren't at your best..."

Blueberry's gaze swept over the minor dents on their bodies that hadn't fully healed, and she whistled—

"You've already clashed with my colleagues, haven't you? What kind of twisted sense of humor led Team Plasma to create the Guardians in the likeness of the Three Holy Swords?"

The two artificial Pokémon simply answered with their actions.

With their forelegs stomping the ground, energy rapidly condensed above their heads—two blazing white blades, different in color but sharing the same aura, slashed out fiercely! They were imitations of the legendary holy swordsman's fighting technique, "Holy Sword."

Because the "electric field" left by the iron shell is still in effect, their movements are so swift that they leave afterimages, and their slashing trajectories are so sharp that they can almost cut through the air.

Seeing this, the Servant General bravely blocked the Trainer's path with his sword, and the "Protect" barrier instantly opened.

However, the combined power of the two holy swords far exceeded that of ordinary swords. Upon impact, the barrier surface rippled violently, emitting a groan of unbearable strain. While the Dark Steel-type Servant could resist both of their STAB attacks, it was still helpless against Fighting-type moves that were four times super effective against it.

The enemy behind the monitor was obviously aware of this as well. Iron Leaf and Iron Rock showed no intention of changing their tactics—energy gathered, and two more "Holy Sword" strikes followed!

Just as Yueju's pupils constricted, calculating whether to retreat and temporarily avoid the brunt of the attack...

"Thunder God—'Divine Speed'!"

"Old craftsman, 'Sonic Fist'!"

Two sharp shouts and the sound of something cutting through the air suddenly erupted from behind Yueju—the path he had taken to sneak into the maze—almost simultaneously!

Golden lightning and a fist wind that tore through the air, like two violent torrents, swept past the sides of the blueberry tree and crashed hard into the iron-spotted leaf and iron rock! The explosion of the energy collision shook the corridor.

The sudden pincer attack caused the two mechanical guards to pause, and the trajectory of the "Holy Sword" was momentarily disrupted.

The voice of the Ghost-type Elite Four member followed closely behind, clear and decisive—

"There are no energy harvesting devices in this area! Take care of them now! Chandelier Spirit—use 'Purgatory' to counter 'Misfortunes Never Come Alone'!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a dark purple flame surged from behind like a tide, carrying a temperature so low it could burn away souls, merging with the attacks of the Thunder God and the old craftsman into a destructive torrent.

Chapter 471 The End of the Maze

"It seems that Zero is hiding something from those artificial Pokémon. Even though they have been completely defeated, he still sent out a tidal wave of Pokémon to retrieve the unconscious Pokémon—probably because he was afraid that we would find out something we shouldn't know from them while they were down."

At this moment, the group of five had broken through the last line of defense formed by the Iron Leaf and Iron Rock, and truly stepped into the core area of ​​this plasma cluster castle where energy was most concentrated.

The handsome man recalled the large number of gear monsters and molluskine swarms that suddenly appeared during the breakout, and stroked his chin as he exchanged views with his superior, Lila, in a low voice.

"Hmm, something I shouldn't know... Could it be the operating principle of the energy harvesting mechanism on Iron Rock's body?"

Lila's voice was a little muffled as she held a hair tie in her mouth, gathering her long purple hair, which had become disheveled during the previous battle, back together.

"Since the other side is so wary, it could also be a device that is easy to deal with once its mechanism is figured out. It's a pity that King Lantana was unaware of this device when he defeated Ironhead. Perhaps we should pay more attention to this next time we encounter them."

As she spoke to her subordinates, her gaze swept over the exposed metal structures around her, which had been damaged by Lian Wu's old construction workers.

Although it is not yet possible to determine whether this vast space filled with pipes and energy conduction patterns is the control room where "City Defender" Zero is located, Raikou and Espeon's senses tell that the area in front of them is undoubtedly the heart of the entire castle.

Right now, everyone is making final preparations before the attack.

Opposite the handsome guy and Lila, Wanlong was explaining to Bilberry, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground with General Pudao, how they discovered the hidden passage, how they met up with Lianwu who had broken through from another route, and how they finally located Bilberry by using the fresh leaf left by the grass turtle.

Meanwhile, King Wu was half-squatting on the ground, applying PP supplements to an old construction worker who was sitting against the corner of the wall.

In the breakout and continuous wall-breaking operations just now, this fighting king's main force undoubtedly bore almost all the pressure of the frontal breakthrough. Its signature "True Qi Fist" move has exhausted all the energy of its moves and now urgently needs to recover.

Meanwhile, the three heroes who led the Elite Three through the maze in this operation – Piplup, Chimchar, and Torkoal – were gathered nearby.

The three starter Pokémon of Hugo Detective didn't seem tired at all. On the contrary, they were excited because they had just worked together to defeat the powerful Paradox Pokémon. They happily formed a small circle, with their saplings, claws, and fins gesturing to each other, as if they were also discussing their discoveries in the castle.

"...Yes, I understand the general situation."

After listening to Wanlong's brief explanation, Yueju patted her knees, stood up, and turned her gaze to the two detectives who were discussing the matter, naturally joining their conversation—

“But compared to what you two have said… to be honest, I’m more concerned about something else right now. You see, Jero can control this transforming castle to this extent, but he has never directly crushed us with his heavy architectural structure. That’s what’s bothering me.”

“It’s not hard to explain,” the handsome man replied, his gaze sweeping over the exposed sections of the surrounding wall structure.

"Gero is ultimately a 'city defense specialist,' not some weapons expert. In fact, to achieve its complex transformation capabilities, this castle extensively utilizes hollow frames and modular splicing structures, aside from the alloy interlayers that isolate 'teleportation.' While the castle can indeed move walls and rearrange passageways, it lacks a centralized, large-scale hydraulic system to generate the immense force needed to crush us instantly."

He paused, then pointed to the interior of a wall that had been exposed due to the previous battle—

"Even if he forcibly caused a room to collapse, with the strength of the Pokémon that each of the Elite Four members paired with, they could easily dig and create a space large enough to survive in the ruins. After all, a hollow structure means that there is a limit to compression, and forcibly continuing to apply pressure would only destroy the stability of the castle itself first. In addition, the castle's airtightness is far from being able to cut off oxygen."

“That’s right.” Wanlong nodded in agreement. “If it really comes to that, the visual illusion created by the maze will disappear. We will certainly be temporarily trapped, but it will also be easier to deduce the location of the core area from the exposed pipes and load-bearing structures. That would be riskier for the ‘City Defense Division’.”

"He deliberately isolated our Interpol follow-up forces, probably for the same reason."

Lila, who was standing to the side, had already finished getting ready and added—

"He was worried that too many Alliance forces entering together would generate enough power to continuously break through the labyrinth's walls. Of course, considering the existence of those three artificial Pokémon, our team was never strong enough to get through this labyrinth. The real reason he isolated the space... was probably to focus on dealing with you Elite Four members."

"But relying solely on the maze and those three artificial spirits is not enough."

Lian Wu spoke first, his words concise and to the point—

"They couldn't have lured us into the castle just for this."

“Indeed.” Yueju scratched her head thoughtfully. “Although the design of the entire castle is full of meticulously calculated malice, it is somewhat restrained in terms of lethality. Rather than saying that Zero wants to defeat us with those Pokémon, it seems more like he is just stalling for time.”

"What is he waiting for?" the handsome man frowned.

"The answer," Wanlong pushed up his glasses, his gaze falling on the last and thickest alloy partition wall at the end of the corridor, "is probably behind this wall."

Is it an even more troublesome mechanism, or some kind of trump card hidden by the plasma cluster? Before the novelist could finish speaking, Lian Wu had already stood up.

The street fighter, discovered by the former champion, looked around – Wanlong's Crystal Lamp Flame was steady, Yueju's Servant General's blade had been re-polished and was bright, Lila's Pokémon were all ready to rest, Frog and Espeon stood guard on either side of the handsome man, and even the three beginner Pokémon that could not be called combat power all had burning eyes.

Without needing to say more, everyone understood the instruction from that one glance.

“Then,” the Fighting King’s voice was calm and powerful, “let’s move forward.”

The moment he finished speaking, the old construction worker who had been standing behind Lian Wu released the concrete pillar.

Lila's Espeon and the handsome guy's Scoundrel swiftly moved to its side, each bracing against its arms—the energy of the "Help" move flowed in like a warm current.

The Pokémon with muscular physique lowers its waist, inhales, and slowly pulls its right fist back.

The immense fighting energy rapidly collapsed and condensed at the edge of its fist, as if it were holding a miniature star about to explode.

Then, it blasted out—

"True Qi Fist".

The moment the fist made contact with the final, cold-glowing alloy wall, time seemed to freeze for a moment.

Immediately afterwards, the fist shadow crashed into the final steel wall that seemed to isolate everything, like a meteor!

Amidst the deafening roar, one could hear the piercing noise of metal tearing apart, but even more so, a crisp, clear sound like crystals shattering.

Light shone through.

The old craftsman looked at the fist that had been withdrawn from the hole in the wall with some confusion. Where its fist had struck, a hole had been blasted open in the thick alloy wall, its edges shimmering with crystalline fragments of light.

But the sight that appeared behind the cave startled everyone—

That wasn't the castle control room where Geralt was supposed to be, nor was it the massive Plasma Legion army sharpening their knives.

On the contrary, it wasn't even a man-made space.

Following the "True Qi Fist," the slash of the Servant Blade General and the ghostly flames of the Crystal Lamp Spirit erupted simultaneously, completely tearing apart the alloy wall that had become fragile due to the force of the qi.

At this moment, what is fully revealed to everyone is a deep and vast cave filled with clusters of natural crystals.

The faint light refracted and flowed between the prisms, and the air was filled with some ancient, pure and almost sacred energy pulse, which formed a suffocating contrast with the cold and austere steel castle outside.

“This structure…it’s a bit like the crystal veins in a tourmaline cave,” Wanlong murmured unconsciously, but her voice abruptly stopped.

Because deep within the cave, something more noteworthy than the changes in the environment has appeared.

Those three figures.

Unlike the mechanical creations of Ironrock, Ironleaf, and Ironhead that deliberately imitate legends but feel artificial, these three Pokémon have a clear place in the Pokédex and historical records.

How did they get here?

Lila, from the Hoenn region, frowned, while Raikou beside her lowered its body, letting out a wary growl.

Bathed in the crystalline glow, the three Pokémon stood silently, towering like ancient pillars.

One statue has a rugged body like an ancient rock mountain weathered by wind; another is covered with smooth and translucent ice crystals, with a chilling aura silently emanating from its surface; the last one gleams with a cold metallic luster, its structure round and precise, filled with a kind of inhuman sense of order.

In the dim light of the cave, the indicator light-like patterns on their faces, arranged like Braille, flickered at a slow rhythm, as if the creatures were breathing in their slumber.

Wanlong suppressed the wavering in her voice and called out their names one by one—

"Regirock...Regice...Regiskill."

A giant from the Hoenn legends, a guardian sealed away in ancient history.

Yes, why are they here?

Chapter 472 The Legendary Giant

"Crystal Chandelure - Mega Evolution!"

The moment Wanlong saw the three legendary Pokémon, she immediately pulled out the pen clipped to her notebook.

The colorful keystone at the top of the pen cap suddenly shone brightly, echoing the superstone hanging below the crystal chandelier.

Just as the rainbow cocoon of light enveloped the Crystal Lamp Spirit, two destructive beams of pure white energy burst forth in front of Regice and Registeel!

It's "destroying light"!

Moreover, their orbits point directly at the breach where everyone is!

"Big Character Explosive Flame!" Wanlong gave the order without the slightest hesitation.

Although the Ghost type makes Chandelure immune to all Normal-type moves, if the two Hyper Beams are allowed to pass through, the trainer and teammates behind it will also become targets of the attack.

Just as the Ghost-type Elite Four member gave the order, Mega Chandelure, now empowered, emerged from its evolutionary aura, and eight more clusters of purple flame lamps swayed around it.

It raised its body high and concentrated all the candle flames into one point—a blazing, purplish-red "大" character burst forth and collided violently with two pure white beams of light in mid-air!

In an instant, the violent energy surge split into two streams that tore each other apart, causing the entire crystal cave to tremble!

"Arm Hammer!"

"Hell Thrust!"

Of course, Lianwu and Yueju wouldn't be idle at this time. Their offensive and Ghost King's counterattack were launched simultaneously—the Old Craftsman and the Servant General darted out from the left and right like two sharp blades, attacking Regice and Registeel, who were briefly stunned by the release of "Destruction Ray".

At the same time, Lila's Raikou also used the "Lightning Strike" move. While closing the distance with the enemy, she deliberately let the bursts of electricity spread out in a net-like pattern—she was using this radar-like method to probe whether there was an energy harvesting device like the one before in this area.

The probe immediately yielded results—the area had no artificial extraction devices, but was simply a crystal cave rich in energy.

But along with this news came an even more pressing crisis: all the offensives launched by the two superstars and Lila failed to reach their intended targets.

Because Regirock, the rock giant among the three pillars, had already stepped forward before their attack began, using his body to form a barrier as solid as an insurmountable chasm.

The Regirock had clearly used the "Iron Guard" move beforehand, maximizing its defense to the extreme. Even the rocks on its body surface had a cold, hard luster, almost like metal, thanks to the move.

Before this terrifying city wall, not to mention Lei Gong's "Lightning Strike" which had negligible damage, even the construction master's "Arm Hammer," which was of a type that was advantageous against him, only left a dull echo and a few pieces of broken stone in the cave, and could not cause any real damage.

"General Servant, 'Cannon Beam'!"

Of the three attackers, Yueju reacted the fastest.

As if he had anticipated it, he instantly changed his move. The General of the Servant Blade, who was charging forward, suddenly stopped, braced himself with one hand on the ground, and the giant blade on his head immediately shone with a dazzling silver light. A condensed steel-attribute energy cannon shot out!