Pokémon Detective Case Files.

Immediately afterwards, he and Lian Wu gave the same order, and the old craftsman and the servant general took a step forward in tacit agreement, assuming a deterrent battle stance, and stared intently at the legendary legion ahead that had not yet made a move—in case they launched a surprise attack in the moment when their side was distracted.

Lila understood instantly. With a flick of her wrist, the Poké Ball containing Metagross was launched again, glowing red.

The Iron-Footed Pokémon's heavy body landed on the cave floor.

This Pokémon had exhausted its strength protecting the Blueberry Pokémon, and had only just regained a little strength in the Poké Ball. Its alloy body was still covered with shocking scars and cracks.

"Metamorphosis... can it still move with some effort?" Lila's voice carried restrained concern.

Her response was a dull, resolute clang of steel striking the metal.

The battered and bruised Megalodon struggled to regain its footing by bracing itself on all fours.

“Okay.” Lila took a deep breath. “Then—the Eye of Miracles!”

This is a relatively rare move in combat.

It can detect a Pokémon's true form, nullify the target's evasion boost, render Ghost-type Pokémon vulnerable, and even allow Psychic-type moves to hit Dark-type Pokémon that should be immune. Basically, only a handful of Pokémon can learn it, and Lyra's Metagross was able to master it because her teammate Alakazam taught it to her in his spare time.

At this moment, this obscure move, forgotten in the corner of Pokémon battle tactics, is about to have its true moment of glory.

Metagross sank its four massive steel feet deep into the ground, and the alloy cross on its forehead suddenly glowed with a blinding light. Its red eyes began to gather all the remaining Psychic-type energy in its body, causing the surrounding air to slightly distort due to the shockwaves of the attack—

Suddenly, a bright light flashed!

Pure super-energy light swept outwards like a tidal wave, penetrating the air, the crystal, and every inch of seemingly solid rock.

This move has no offensive or destructive power, only an almost tyrannical insight—before this light, any demons or monsters, any disguise or illusion, will have nowhere to hide.

The light swept across every corner of the cave.

The light illuminates the back of each crystal pillar.

The light penetrated every ray of air that seemed empty.

Thus, the illusion was dispelled.

Then--

They saw it.

More "eyes".

eye.

Eyes, eyes.

Eyes, eyes, eyes.

It was a sight that would make anyone with trypophobia faint on the spot. Compared to the Pokémon horde encountered in the maze corridors, the scene before them was nothing.

Inside the crystal pillar. In the crevices of the rock walls. In the shadows of the cave ceiling. In the void that the kings and detectives had initially thought was just "air".

Countless dark "eyes" are silently and uniformly staring at them.

Not dozens, not hundreds.

Are there several thousand? Tens of thousands? Or even more?

No one can count them all.

Because they are overlapping.

A single unknown totem might seem somewhat endearing, but a large number of them changes that. Countless jet-black eyes dart within disproportionately large, almost morbidly large whites. Their rhythms vary, yet they strangely maintain a kind of overall synchronization. These eyes reside on diverse black bodies, each twisted into a different ancient script symbol. They are densely embedded in every inch of the cave, the black symbols intertwining, stacking, and spreading like tangled tentacles. It's not arrangement, not gathering, but a covering closer to the instinct of living organisms—like living moss, like breathing mold, layer upon layer clinging to every surface that can be clung to. The rock walls, the spaces between crystal pillars, the shadows of the dome, the cracks in the ground—nothing is spared. Each crevice may contain more than ten unknown totems, twisted by insufficient space, their bodies squeezed, folded, and deformed, yet stubbornly still pointing their single eye outwards. The sight instinctively evoked images of the compound eyes of Bug-type Pokémon—no, this was worse. At least compound eyes exhibit an ordered geometric arrangement, but the creatures here completely disregarded the laws of plane geometry, exhibiting only endless, impenetrable repetition. The sheer number of these Pokémon was terrifying; no one could find a corner without hidden gazes, no empty space where the gaze could linger. Every inch of space was filled, every inch of space was staring, making it hard to breathe. Those gazes surged in from all directions, heavy, damp, relentless, enveloping one in an inescapable cage of stares…

What's even more terrifying is that they've been there for who knows how long.

As for all the legendary Pokémon that the group has been fighting so hard against—

Iron rock, iron-spotted leaves, iron-headed shell.

Regirock, Regice, Registeel.

Regigi, Regigidorago, and even the Regigicas who had just risen again.

Their forms, too, began to distort, blur, and become transparent in the light of the "Eye of Miracles"... eventually melting into the terrifying "eyeball" background before them.

Like a group of creations made of bubbles and illusions, they finally awaited the needle that would puncture them.

Chapter 475 Even the deepest abyss begins on flat ground

"City Defense Master" Jero slowly lifted his finger from the control panel.

On the screen, the intruders finally discovered the truth.

Given Jero's personality, he should have been anxious and furious at this moment—after all, the defenses he had painstakingly built over the years were being breached layer by layer by these uninvited guests.

But at this moment, Jero simply stared at the scene quietly, a slight smile even appearing on his lips.

"Finally found it." He muttered to himself, "As expected of the King of Unova, even three hours earlier than expected."

His gaze swept over the mountain of documents piled up beside the control panel—rubbings of stone slabs salvaged from underwater ruins, ancient kingdom inscriptions unearthed from beneath the Path of Champions, and ancient knowledge about "how unknown totems can transform imagination into reality," which Joggs had spent seven years deciphering.

Quixote was right—that sunken ruin was the most precious treasure ever obtained by the Plasma Cluster.

For Zero, the strength of this order did not lie in the faith built by the young king, nor in Vio's daily fortune made through business operations, nor in the public opinion that Smura painstakingly created for Team Plasma, nor even in the legendary Pokémon that Acromuma obtained deep in the Giant's Cave.

Rather, they are.

Those symbolic Pokémon that have existed quietly on this land since times older than human dynasties.

Even in those long-forgotten ancient kingdoms, they were still regarded as even more ancient beings, and were devoutly decorated in the deepest parts of altars and palaces to create the mystery of priests and the majesty of kings.

Their bodies are symbols. Symbols signify writing, and writing carries ancient, taboo knowledge.

With modern archaeological discoveries, a vague connection has begun to emerge between the symbols carved on stone slabs and real legends.

In the Johto region, in a tightly sealed accident record, someone witnessed how these creatures dragged the "images" in people's minds into reality—it was a disaster that affected an entire town. Fortunately, the outcome wasn't too bad, but it proved the extraordinary power within these spirits.

Unknown totem.

They don't fight. They don't even have the concept of fighting.

They do not resist. Most of the time, they are just a group of symbols floating aimlessly in the air.

They almost never move. If left undisturbed, they can cling to a rock face and sleep for centuries.

But they possess an ability that no other Pokémon can match—

Transforming the "image" existing in consciousness into "existence" in reality.

Quidditch initially intended to use them to make weapons. But Geralt saw further.

At that time, he said the following to the other six of the Seven Sages—

"Team Plasma's network can transport supplies, smuggle Pokémon and weapons, and allow the Order to operate freely in the shadows—but that's ultimately just 'operation.' We need a base." His finger tapped on the unfolded blueprints. "A truly impregnable base."

The engineer paused, his gaze sweeping across every face in the room.

“I will not use simple building materials to build this castle. That would be too clumsy. Too fragile. The kind of building that mortals can build—the Alliance can breach it, the Heavenly King can destroy it, geological changes can shake it, and long periods of time can weather it away.”

His voice lowered, carrying a kind of almost devout fervor—

"And I—I want the unknown totem to imagine this castle."

"I want to let their superpower fields weave every wall, every mechanism, and every body and will of the Pokémon that guards it."

"Under the illusion, the Alliance cannot find it, the Uranus will be devoured by it, it will change its form according to the terrain, and exist forever as a symbol of the Plasma Group!"

"Give me the materials—steel frames, concrete, alloy plates, stone slabs bearing ancient writing, rubbings of inscriptions forgotten deep within ruins, and all the mediums that allow the unknown totems to 'understand' what I am about to build."

"Give me the money—let me bribe everyone I need to bribe: the overseers beneath the League headquarters, the tight-lipped construction workers, the smugglers, the Pokémon hunters, and as many archaeologists as possible."

"Give me knowledge—let me know how to use those unknown totems, and to what extent, so that I can integrate them with my castle."

“Give me enough time—let me design and build the most perfect ‘city defense’ for you.”

He opened his arms as if to embrace the unfolded design drawings, the map marking the excavation sites, the densely packed numbers, and the knowledge deciphered over seven years.

Then--

"Give me enough unknown totems."

His gaze swept over his six colleagues in turn, and he spoke slowly and deliberately—

“I can show you a castle built by God.”

Of the other sages besides him, only Quixote cast his vote in favor without taking it seriously, the remaining four remained neutral, while Vio resolutely opposed it.

“This is insane,” he said. “Unknown totems are not bricks and stones; they can die, they can run away, they can go out of control. To entrust the survival of a castle to them—this is a huge gamble.”

“All construction is a gamble,” Gerald replied calmly. “The only difference is that you gamble on the durability of materials, while I gamble on the limits of human intellect.”

Unlike their later irreconcilable relationship, they did not argue when the meeting ended.

The engineer silently packed up his blueprints, then got up and left. The financial expert simply watched the scene unfold.

But after that, Geralt changed his allegiance and joined the "King's faction" within the Order. He used his stance and tireless lobbying to win Asura's vote of approval.

Including Gerald himself, there were three votes in favor, three neutral votes, and one vote against.

Three against one.

The Council of Sages passed.

And so, the project began.

.

The first batch of Unknown Totems came from Team Plasma's origins—an ancient ruin buried deep in the seabed, the source of the Ghetsis family's treasure. Three thousand of them. They were carefully placed in specially made Poké Balls and transported from thousands of meters below the surface.

not enough.

The second batch came from the ruins of an ancient kingdom, completely forgotten by history, beneath the Path of Champions. Two thousand. When the archaeological shovel broke through the final sealed stone door, those eyes clinging to the rock walls had been waiting in the darkness for thousands of years.

It's still not enough.

Ghettoss mobilized all the resources the Order could muster. Excavation teams traveled day and night throughout the United States, intelligence networks extended to every corner where ruins might exist, and they even went so far as to engage in numerous costly transactions with the Navy and the black markets of other regions.

Ultimately, they gathered enough unknown totems to power the castle.

Twelve thousand three hundred.

These are almost all the unknown totems that Team Plasma can find within its entire global range of activity. If the Poké Balls containing them were categorized by symbolic form, they would form twenty-eight exceptionally magnificent hills in the warehouse—each hill corresponding to a letter, a special frequency of psychic energy fluctuation, or a symbolic representation carrying ancient forbidden knowledge.

And Jero, much like computer programming, placed them all in the castle beneath the Alliance headquarters.

No, that probably doesn't qualify as "placement".

That's inlay.

Each unknown totem is fixed in a precisely calculated position—some are embedded deep in the wall, some are suspended between layers, and some are attached to the core nodes of the load-bearing structure.

Their superpower fields intertwine and resonate with each other, eventually weaving into an invisible superpower network that covers the entire castle.

That's the castle's nervous system.

The lungs that allow this "divine castle" to breathe.

Then, the "City Defenders" began "creating" the castle guardians.

It didn't go smoothly at first.

While unknown totems can transform images in consciousness into reality, they require clear and stable "anchor points".

Creatures created purely from imagination—even if they are legendary Pokémon known to every household in Unova—are still unable to function properly.

Let alone being indistinguishable from the real thing, those newly formed forms, even if they only take one step, will silently disintegrate, collapse, and disappear like bubbles in the sunlight.

The solution came to mind almost immediately.

The Plasma Group's engineering department worked overtime to create three remotely controllable metal shells modeled after the images of Gopaloon, Terakion, and Vilgion.

Embedded within its core is a life-giving orb, capable of continuously receiving energy from various battlefields via energy harvesters laid beneath the castle. This purified and compressed energy becomes the auxiliary energy source for triggering the superpowers of unknown totems—working in conjunction with tens of thousands of unknown totems to construct the will and bodies of those "bionic machines."

Whether by fate or coincidence, Akroma rejoined the plasma cluster at that very moment.

The mad scientist, later known as someone who pursued his "personal hobby," still possessed a degree of restrained fervor at that time. The moment he joined the project, he sent back a wealth of valuable data to Zero from the ocean off the coast of Hoenn—precious records of legendary Pokémon, as well as even stranger, unheard-of Pokémon forms.

Among them is even the "paradoxical form" of the three holy swords of Unova, which is said to be found in the urban legends of Padia.

Based on the information he gathered in the Padia region—partially true folk tales, eyewitness accounts scorned by scholars, and hand-drawn illustrations from a gossip magazine called "Supernatural Science Gazette"—Acroma not only presumptuously affirmed the existence of those paradoxical Pokémon, but also took it upon himself to deduce the attributes and appearance of the three Pokémon for Zero.

"Iron Rock, Iron-Spotted Leaf, Iron-Head Shell..."

At that moment, as Jero looked at the hastily copied manuscripts that had been faxed over, and compared them with the similar-looking metal creations beside him, he murmured these still unfamiliar names, feeling inexplicably moved... as if those fantastical creatures were created by his own hand from another world—but of course, that was just unrealistic imagination.