Pokémon Detective Case Files.

Lian Wu's voice came from the darkness, deep and firm. His old craftsman was already exhausted, but he used the last bit of strength he had just recovered to aim at Regigigas's weakest point.

Because of the distance, he did not use the "True Spirit Bomb" move, which was effective against the Titan but had an even more unreliable hit rate—and this attack became the last straw that broke the Titan's back.

at last.

Regigigas, who seemed capable of supporting the entire continent, lost his balance the instant his ankle was pierced.

It tilted to one side, slowly and irresistibly, and then crashed to the ground.

Dust rose and lingered for a long time.

The heavier the body, the harder it is to stand up again.

"Did we...we won?"

Wanlong's voice involuntarily escaped her lips.

She had just barely managed to get Chandelure back to its feet using a Spirit Shard—due to the excessive energy expenditure from the battle, the Pokémon was struggling to recover its strength, and the candle flame formed from ghostly energy flickered precariously, as if it might go out again at any moment.

As soon as she uttered those words, Wanlong immediately covered her mouth.

In novels, such lines are never considered unlucky.

As if echoing her words, five Braille patterns lit up simultaneously around Regigigas who had fallen to the ground—

Regice, Regirock, Registeel, Regidorago, Regielechi.

The opponents they had just defeated reappeared before the Heavenly Kings like ghosts.

At the same time, a pale yellow "electric field" spread out with the crackling sound of electricity, covering the entire stage of the cave in the blink of an eye.

The air was filled with the pungent smell of ozone, and countless tiny sparks of electricity danced and flowed among the crystal clusters.

Behind the venue, three familiar figures emerged one after another from the light: a pink halo under a green hue, a fluorescent yellow glow emanating from the texture of the rock, and an S-shaped antler radiating a ghostly blue light.

Iron Rock.

Iron-spotted leaves.

Iron head shell.

Three absurd Pokémon have shamelessly reappeared.

Their armor showed no signs of damage from the previous battle, as if the fierce fighting had never happened.

"Hey...you can't do this to me."

The signature wicked smile on Lingju's face had long since vanished.

He looked at Lian Wu and saw that his usually calm and steady friend now showed a hint of undisguised wavering on his face.

Something's not right here.

Lian Wu lowered his head, his voice low and strained, each word seeming to be squeezed out from between his teeth—

"It seems... we should consider breaking out and retreating."

"It can be confirmed that these spirits are definitely not the original forms of the legendary spirits..."

Wanlong gritted his teeth and analyzed, his gaze sweeping over the five Braille patterns and the three Paradoxical Pokémon that had stood up again—

"There are clearly no energy harvesting devices here, so how can they simulate such a massive scale at the same time? This completely violates all the previous rules!"

The enemy is closing in step by step.

The heavy footsteps echoed on the ground covered with crystal shards, each step seeming to pound on everyone's hearts.

What's even more despairing is that Regigigas, which had just been defeated by everyone's exhaustion, is now climbing back up from the crater created by the attack.

On its massive white body, the wounds previously torn open by the "metal explosion" and the "electromagnetic cannon" are healing and disappearing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Despair, as tangible as a physical entity, transformed into an invisible pressure, enveloping everyone.

The air seemed to freeze, and even breathing became sticky and difficult.

"Uh... excuse me."

A cough echoed in the darkness.

"Over here, the little fire monkeys seem to have made a new discovery."

In this atmosphere of life and death hanging by a thread, the handsome man suddenly felt that his words seemed a bit inappropriate.

Chapter 474 Eyes Witnessing Miracles

The profession of detective is, in essence, a paradox.

After all, the so-called "event" has already become the past the moment it happens.

When the detective received the case and finally arrived at the scene, all that remained were a pile of silent physical evidence, a few pairs of terrified eyes, and the cold traces left by the passage of time.

Detectives don't solve cases; all they can do is work backward to deduce what has already happened.

Detectives are not gods; they cannot go back in time to prevent tragedies. Nor are they prophets; they cannot warn future victims in advance.

More often than not, they are simply a group of latecomers, professional "better late than never" types. All they can do is observe and think, nothing more.

However, the allure of the paradox lies precisely in this: because the past cannot be changed, the detective must be the one who "sees most clearly."

Therefore, while everyone's attention is focused on the battle before them, and adrenaline drives the instinctive reaction of every pair of eyes, there must be a few pairs of eyes that pay attention to those "absent" things.

Let's see what happened before the battle began.

See what inappropriate traces are hidden behind those flashy moves.

Examine the crystal's texture to see if it looks natural—is it naturally formed or artificially implanted?

Check if the airflow is abnormal—is there a spot where the airflow shouldn't be disturbed, but is moving anyway?

Go and see those who should have been there—why they were absent.

Because sometimes, the opportunity to defeat the enemy does not lie in the flames of battle.

It may be hiding in some unnoticed corner, quietly waiting for a pair of eyes that have not been blinded by the flames of war.

At this moment, while the three Heavenly Kings and Lila are fighting with all their might against the legendary giant, three pairs of such eyes are taking action.

Chimchar was the first to stop participating in the battle.

At first, it stayed with the other Pokémon, dodging and weaving through the aftershocks of the legendary Pokémon's attacks, helping to absorb the impact. But after the aftershocks of one particular explosion swept over, its actions suddenly changed.

It no longer looked up at the battlefield, but began to run back and forth in the safe zone, sometimes squatting down and tapping the ground with its fingers, sometimes sniffing around in one spot, and then running to another corner to dig through the rubble, as if searching for something lost.

The grass turtle on the side was much quieter—it stretched out its slender grass knots and gently reached towards the huge crystal pillars in the cave.

Grass blades brush against the crystal surface, sometimes cutting off a small fragment, sometimes just lightly touching it. It will move closer to observe the texture of the cut surface, then step back a few steps to examine the growth direction of the entire crystal column, tilting its head from time to time, as if the crystal in front of it were evidence urgently needing examination in a detective agency.

Bogarman's behavior was almost exactly the same as usual. It did nothing, just stood there quietly, staring blankly at the air.

He wasn't looking at the battlefield, nor at his teammates; he was just staring at a fixed point in the void, his round eyes unblinking, occasionally shifting slightly to reveal an expression as if he were reading.

And so, the three beginner Pokémon, after each completing such a perplexing activity, suddenly came together.

There was no sound, only the exchange of glances. They huddled together in a tight little circle, exchanged a few hand gestures, and then dispersed in perfect unison, each finding their place and preparing their moves—the focus was no longer the tension of passive defense, but the predatory gaze of a hunter locking onto its prey.

The handsome guy closest to the little fire monkeys noticed this unusual scene.

He didn't understand what these starter Pokémon were planning to do. But they were, after all, Hugo's Pokémon, the trusted detective's partners.

Moreover, given the current strength of Chimchar and the others, whether they participate in the battle or not, they probably won't make any difference to this brutal fight.

Rather, the fact that they are now staying quietly in the back has actually helped the defenses of Frog and Espeon quite a bit.

Thinking this, the handsome man turned his gaze back to the battlefield where the legendary giants had ravaged the land.

—Until the moment when Regigigas finally collapsed.

Just as the Heavenly Kings had no time to catch their breath, new enemy silhouettes emerged from the depths of darkness, and despair surged back like a tidal wave.

The three small figures moved.

"Flame Vortex!"

"Magic Leaf"!

"Tide Whirlwind!"

Three attacks of different colors, originating from the frail body, erupted simultaneously.

The target was the spot where Bogarman had been staring for so long—the empty air near the rock wall!

The handsome man was too late to stop them. He watched helplessly as the three attacks traced their own trajectories and flew towards the void.

Then, he saw it.

Just as the attack was about to strike, the seemingly empty space suddenly began to ripple visibly. The air rippled like water, and something transparent was twisting and vibrating there—

Something's there!

Now, even the handsome guy finally understands what those three little things have been doing.

Ultimately, everything the group experienced from the moment they stepped into the castle was shrouded in mystery.

Iron Rock, Iron Leaf, Ironhead—how exactly were these paradoxical Pokémon created?

How exactly did the Plasma Group manage to replicate an entire legendary army, including Regigigas?

Where does the energy that drives all of this come from?

Why would Geralt, the "Fortress Builder" renowned for building castles, allow a natural crystal cave, so incongruous with steel, to appear at the center of his meticulously designed creation?

And why crystal? Where do these crystallized pieces come from?

All these questions were finally answered the moment the Chimchar and the others' attack hit its target.

First, the Grass Turtle's "Magic Leaf" arrived.

The emerald green leaves did not strike the rock wall behind them in the air, but rather disappeared into an invisible barrier as if they had plunged into water.

Immediately afterwards, Piplup's "Tidal Whirl" and Chimchar's "Flame Vortex" swirled around it, water and fire intertwining to firmly trap the "invisible thing".

The collision of water and flames slightly diminished the power of the attack, but unexpectedly produced a large amount of white steam. It was this spreading steam that gradually revealed the outline of the trapped object—

That was an "eye".

A jet-black, round eyeball darted and darted around in fear amidst the disproportionately large white portion of the eye.

A black body surrounds the eyeballs, growing into strange linear shapes, resembling some kind of ancient symbolic writing.

Unknown totem.

The handsome man's pupils suddenly contracted. He recognized this Pokémon—or rather, this type of Pokémon. Its black body formed a shape resembling a steering wheel, extending out incomplete arcs to the left and right... If the handsome man remembered correctly, it should represent the ancient Chinese character "H".

However, such minor details are no longer important.

The real problem is—

An unknown totem was hidden inside the cave!

Moreover, there is likely far more than one.

At that very moment, countless fragments in the handsome man's mind suddenly pieced together. The absurd Pokémon manufacturing techniques, the sudden appearance of the legendary army, the limitless energy powering the entire castle, the unnatural crystals in the cave…

If these unknown totems have been silently interfering with everything using their superpowers...

From the moment they stepped into this castle, what they saw, perceived, and believed—

How much of it is true?

Shocked, the Interpol agent didn't even care about the legendary legion lurking ahead. He strode forward and loudly showed Lila and the Elite Four their discovery of the little fire monkeys.

And that's how that somewhat awkward scene happened—

On a battlefield surrounded by legendary giants, a group of besieged humans suddenly turned their heads and looked at three tiny beginner Pokémon in the corner, as well as an "eyeball" trapped in steam, its head spinning in terror.

"This Pokémon is... an Unown?"

Upon seeing the prisoners, Wanlong's voice sounded as if something was choking her.

She stared at the black symbol that was bound and trapped, its eyes darting around in terror, and a look of utter shock crossed her face.

“I see… So they are the true hidden core of the ‘City Defense Master’ castle?” The novelist’s voice was slightly unsteady as his gaze slowly swept over the surrounding crystal pillars. “In that case, could the crystals in these caves be the crystallization phenomenon that was witnessed in the Johto region?”

"Miss Lila."

Without turning around, Yueju gave the detective beside her a very brief look.