Pokémon Detective Case Files.

He sighed softly.

"But for me, trapped in endless boredom, this was a kind of comfort. After all, there was more time to kill—to my rational mind, all this analysis and memory was just a means to kill the emptiness. I was just using the name of 'revenge' to keep myself from breaking down."

"As for the result, when the time-marked symbols had covered just a third of the wall, I had already reconstructed the location of the ancient ruins in my mind. I even tried to deduce the true purpose of these ruins in ancient times, but ultimately gave up because there was too little known information. All I could do in the end was reconstruct a map."

"Moreover, at that time I couldn't confirm how accurate the space reconstructed from the report was. After all, I'm not a geological expert. Even if I could recall every word in that report, I still couldn't be sure that the strata piled up in my mind actually existed on the real land."

"But it was at this time that I met Mama Little Fish."

He reached out and gently stroked the head of the little white fish beside him. The little fish comfortably squinted its eyes, its tail swaying gently.

"Its existence not only gave me someone to talk to and confide in, dispelling my loneliness, but also gave me a way to connect and verify the information in my mind with reality. Mama Fish can estimate distances by calculating the time it takes to pass each corner—it was with its help that I finally figured out the exact location of my cell in the underground ruins. At that moment, I realized that a pillar in the illusory maze in my mind had fallen onto the real ground."

"Did you memorize the entire terrain around here?" Wanlong couldn't help but ask, her tone filled with amazement.

Holt smiled calmly, with the serenity unique to those who have experienced the abyss.

"That's something we already accomplished in the first year."

“Since forming a bond with Mommy Fish, we’ve explored even farther places. Since we don’t know when Team Plasma will come back to check, I didn’t draw a map of all the information I remembered—but rather…”

He raised his hand and tapped his temple.

"It's memorized."

"So, can you see through the structure of this plasma cluster castle?" Lila asked tentatively.

Holt shook his head.

“I only know what it looked like before it transformed. The internal structure of the castle is probably completely different now.” He glanced at the group behind him, and Mama Little Fish had swum up to them again. “You guys must have found this little guy in the core area, right? The reason it was there was to confirm this fact for me.”

"but--"

He changed the subject, his gaze becoming focused.

"Even if the appearance of the castle changes, the base that supports it, that is, the original outline of this ancient ruin, can never change. The overall stability of the building requires that the foundation must remain the same. This is a basic principle of architecture, which even the 'Fortress Master' himself cannot violate."

Before they knew it, the group had arrived at a fork in the road.

Two paths stretched out in the darkness, one to the left and the other to the right, like a fork in the road of fate.

Holt stopped in his tracks.

"To be honest, when I was building those maps in my mind, I never thought they would actually come in handy. I even felt like I would be imprisoned in that place forever until I died. Everything I did and thought... was really, really just to pass the time."

He took a deep breath.

"Therefore, although the path I've pointed out to you has undergone countless calculations and simulations, even I myself have no confidence in it. Damn it—I don't even know if meeting you all now is part of the 'City Defense Division's' scheme. Maybe it's all an illusion, maybe I've already gone mad, maybe you don't even exist..."

He glanced around at everyone, his eyes flashing with weariness and confusion. The rambling that had developed from being alone for so long, the shock of being suddenly rescued, and the momentous decision he was about to make seemed to have pushed his spirit to its limit.

“I confess,” his voice lowered, “that I am merely a prisoner who doesn’t know if I’m suffering from paranoia. Now, I hand over the power of judgment to you.”

He raised his hand.

"Turn left, and follow that narrow pipe with the metal railings. It leads to the drainage system that was abandoned before the Alliance's first renovation. If you follow that, you should be able to get to the outside world."

"Turn right, go straight to the end, and you'll find a downward passage that looks like stairs. Follow it—"

He paused.

"We can find the altar area of ​​this ancient ruin. I'm not a historian and know nothing about archaeology, but I think that a building constructed in that shape could not possibly have served any other purpose than ritual. It is the center of the entire underground ruin, the starting point of all the structures. If the Plasma Group wants to completely control a massive building—whether from a mystical or engineering perspective—that place is the only choice."

The former official withdrew his hand, his gaze sweeping across the faces of the group.

There was expectation, fear, the pent-up desire of years of imprisonment, and deep worry about misjudging the situation in his eyes.

Which path will you choose?

“Mr. Holt.”

The blueberry spoke.

The gambler's voice carried a contagious calmness, like the soft rustling of cards rubbing together during shuffling.

"I think you've misunderstood a fact."

Holt was slightly taken aback.

"In your opinion, we must have suffered a serious setback in our attempt to conquer this castle—the enemy is stronger than we imagined, and we can't win unless we use tricks. So we're hesitating whether to retreat or risk our lives and take a gamble."

Blueberry shook her head.

"But that's not the case."

"We are the Heavenly Kings of the United States." Lian Wu rubbed his fists, his body appearing exceptionally tall in the backlight of the corridor. "On this land of the United States, no matter when or where, no matter how many adverse conditions we encounter, we have never been weak."

“Or rather,” Wanlong continued, adjusting his glasses, “team Plasma’s attempt to find a trainer stronger than us while their king is away is even more incredible.”

The novelist's tone carried a hint of self-righteous pride.

"Since entering the castle, we haven't encountered a single trainer along the way. This in itself shows that the illegal organization is weak in terms of combat strength. Those legendary Pokémon simulated by Unknown Totems are indeed a threat, but after understanding the principle, they also found a way to deal with them. Now, even if we fall into a trap like Crystal Cave again, we still have a way to get out at any time - we've already paid our tuition and won't be fooled a second time."

"Did you understand?"

Blueberry raised her index finger and looked directly into Holt's eyes.

"Standing before you are three Unova Elite Four members, a Frontier Brain from the Battle Frontier, and an elite detective from Sinnoh."

"We don't need to worry about missing the mark on the first try, nor do we need to be afraid of getting stuck in a quagmire. Even if we make a mistake, we can get out of trouble with our own strength and then try again."

"After all, it is not us who should be worried about our future, but our enemies. We are the elite squad sent by the champion to conquer this castle. In this place, we have always come and gone as we please."

"As long as someone can show us the way," Wanlong added with a smile. "The reason we couldn't find a way before was simply because the terrain was too complex, and we couldn't find a way to break through the castle for a while."

Lian Wu looked at Holt, his tone as steady as a mountain: "You seem very worried about whether the map in your mind is reliable. But please relax—as long as you have a backup plan, even if you miss one punch, you can throw the next one at any time."

Blueberry reached out her hand to Holt.

"how?"

A slight smile appeared on his lips, the calm and confident smile that only a gambler would show when certain of victory.

"Interested in a relaxed and carefree revenge journey?"

Chapter 479 The Wise Men of Ancient Times

Just as the Elite Four were advancing into the deepest part of the ancient kingdom ruins, Hugo, the Unova Champion, arrived alone at the entrance of the small tavern at the end of the Champions Road.

Although it's called a tavern, it's more like an appendage of the Alliance headquarters.

A few hundred steps further on is the testing room where trainers have their eight Gym Badges checked before challenging the League. Every year during the various League tournaments, trainers from all over Unova line up in front of that testing room.

While Unova trainers generally perceive the badge test as a solemn ceremony—with each badge passed, eight gates symbolizing a trainer's strength open in sequence—the actual verification process is conducted beforehand in a small room, requiring both human and machine authentication. Only after all verifications are complete does the theatrical process begin to avoid any mishaps. When there are many people, several people even have to go through the process together in batches. According to Douzi, who experienced it firsthand, the entire process was incredibly tedious, completely lacking the sacred feeling that young trainees dreamed of.

That being said, the annual League Grand Finals remain the largest festival in the entire Unova. At this time, the small tavern, which is just a stone's throw from the headquarters, welcomes its busiest season of the year—people waiting for the results, people celebrating their advancement, and people drowning their sorrows after being eliminated, crowd the small shop to the point of being packed.

If it weren't for this flow of people, how could this secluded tavern located on the road to victory possibly stay in business? Does it rely entirely on the civil servants from headquarters coming over for a couple of drinks after get off work?

As for now, with all staff at the league headquarters on "vacation" and all competitions at all levels suspended, this little tavern has naturally also closed down.

It was lucky—at least it still stood there intact. The building further away, which tested the badges, along with the entire Alliance headquarters, was reduced to ruins the moment the Plasma Group castle broke through the ground.

Hugo stood at the badge inspection gate that had once been used for interludes, looking at the mess of metal debris, his expression somewhat complicated.

He came here, of course, not to reminisce.

The Heavenly Kings' surprise attack plan took an unexpected turn. What was expected to be a blitzkrieg turned into a war of attrition.

Thus, the battle reached a strange stalemate—the Plasma Team members remained huddled inside the castle, refusing to emerge, while the Alliance lacked sufficient high-end combat power for another offensive. The two sides were like chess players who had exhausted their pieces, separated by the center line of the board, neither willing to make the first move.

On the edge of this sit-in war, the only ones still keeping their spirits up were the media reporters desperately trying to squeeze through the blockade to cover the events. However, the path to victory was inherently fraught with peril, and with Hugo's prior instructions, these outside eyes never truly reached the foot of Team Plasma's castle. All publicly released information underwent rigorous vetting by the League and the police—otherwise, given the "propaganda" skills of that Sage Smura from Team Plasma, who knows what they might have done to exploit this moment of panic.

Of course, this stalemate couldn't last forever. The Alliance couldn't maintain a news blackout indefinitely with its headquarters fallen, while Team Plasma could rely on its long-established fortress to wage a war of attrition. Time wasn't on the Alliance's side.

So, Hugo's current job has become wandering around aimlessly.

To put it more politely, it's called "acting as bait for fishing".

The ideal prey, of course, is Ghetsis, who possesses the superpowered ring. If he were to attack invisibly, Gadriya, lurking in the shadows, could immediately subdue him—frankly, if things went that far, the war between Team Plasma and the Alliance could essentially be declared over sooner rather than later. Even if they came up empty-handed, capturing other Sages, or key members of elite Team Plasma units like the Dark Triangle, would still be a perfectly acceptable outcome.

Just as Hugo was hesitating about whether to take the risk and walk a little further towards the Plasma Group's castle, a thin mist suddenly enveloped the ruins in front of him.

The alliance headquarters is located on a mountaintop, where the air is always dry and the wind never stops—this is definitely not naturally formed fog.

Hugo immediately became alert.

However, just as he was about to send the coded message, the telepathic connection he had been maintaining with Cattleya suddenly broke down.

Suddenly, a cold wind swept in without warning, swirling with mist.

Hugo squinted instinctively, and when he opened his eyes again, there were two figures standing side by side in the thick fog.

One had cherry-blossom-colored hair flowing down her back, while the other had her blonde hair tied into a long braid. Both wore simple, sleeveless long robes with a clean cut and a beautifully draped fabric that made almost no sound when they moved. The style didn't resemble commercially available clothing; it was more like some kind of religious attire.

Although he had lost his backup, Hugo looked at Gardevoir and Lady Gothic standing side by side behind the two men and did not panic. Instead, he spoke first.

"To appear here at this time, in this way—you must be from Group Plasma, right?"

The blonde woman bowed slightly. "Hugo, the champion of United Nations, we came specifically to remind you."

“We know this suggestion may be a bit presumptuous, but at this critical moment, it would be unwise for the League to confront the Order.” Another girl chimed in, “You are the one who has the ability to change all of this, and you should act as a champion.”

The two did not refute Hugo's question—which could be considered an admission of their agreement.

But their demeanor unconsciously reminded the detective of a certain green-haired youth—that almost naive certainty that emanated from his very bones, that sense of entitlement that "I am doing the right thing."

Were they trying to persuade us to surrender? Or was it something else?

"Barbena and Holina".

Hugo probed with his words while carefully observing the other person's expression—it seemed he hadn't guessed the name wrong.

"You two must be those two non-blood-related sisters from N, right? You can hear the thoughts of Pokémon too?"

Hugo's whereabouts were decided on short notice, and almost no one, even within the League and the police, knew about them. The fact that these two were able to find him here so accurately the moment he was alone made him immediately think of N's innate talent for obtaining information from Pokémon.

"Our abilities are far inferior to the King's." The cherry-haired woman understood Hugo's unspoken meaning and replied earnestly, "Unlike him, who can hear all of a Pokémon's thoughts, we can only vaguely sense their emotions. The reason we were able to find you this time—"

She turned slightly to the side, gesturing to the two Pokémon standing side by side behind her.

"It was only by the combined efforts of the two of us, Gardevoir, and Lady Gothic that we were able to barely manage it."

After saying this, she lifted her skirt and gave a solemn bow.

"Nice to meet you, I am Barbena. This is Holena."

“I’ve heard the rumors about you.” Hugo didn’t return the greeting, but simply crossed his arms. “Just as N is the king of the Plasma Group, you are respectively the ‘Goddess of Love’ and ‘Goddess of Peace’ of that cult. I must say, these titles seem a bit out of place for people outside the religious circles these days.”

Observing two people simultaneously, while doubling the workload compared to observing a single person, is actually simpler—because there is a point of reference for comparison.

For example, right now, both "goddesses" maintained their composure, but Barbena, with her cherry-haired hair, had a noticeably more expressive face, and she became slightly shy when mentioning her title. Perhaps because she was younger, she didn't hide her unease as completely.

Hugo naturally steered the conversation toward the interior of the plasma cluster—

"After becoming the league champion, I gained access to investigate more information. According to the household records left by Quixote in his early years, you were originally his adopted son and daughter. In this light, after he found N, the most suitable puppet to be the king, he kicked you out of the candidate position and turned you into religious symbols representing God's assistance to the king and stabilizing the hearts of the cult members—quite a harmonious family relationship indeed."

These probing questions worked—they were even too effective. Even the Psychic-type Pokémon behind the two "goddesses" turned hostile.

Holina raised her hand to gently soothe him, her movements as practiced as if she had done it many times before.

“We know what you mean. In fact, we don’t entirely agree with Father’s approach either.”

She brushed aside her bangs, which were styled like four flower petals, and spoke calmly—

“Unlike our brother N, we two were not completely isolated from the outside world from childhood. Therefore, we can vaguely understand the various anomalies within the cult—which is why we are here.”

Hugo abandoned his tentative stance and became serious.

"What are your demands?"

“Please stop the conflict with the Order immediately.” Barbena’s tone became urgent, her neatly trimmed pink bangs, resembling those of a pumpkin monster, swaying gently with her movements. “Because of the pressure from the Alliance, our father is plotting something terrible.”

"Which of the things your Plasma Group is planning isn't terrifying?" Hugo swallowed those words.

In order to communicate with him, the other party not only gave up this golden opportunity to seize the Unova Championship, but also broke away from Team Plasma's control without authorization. This act, which is tantamount to betraying the organization, has already demonstrated enough sincerity.

As the "goddesses" of Team Plasma, Barbena and Holena couldn't possibly be unaware of the Seven Sages' actions over the years. They had witnessed countless crimes and endured countless injustices, yet only now had they finally decided to stand up—which suggests that what Team Plasma was plotting was likely far beyond their tolerance.

The “horrible” they speak of is perhaps completely different from the evil that ordinary people perceive.

"Do you know exactly what that matter is?" Although he had anticipated the other party's answer, Hugo still asked, "Is it related to the legendary spirits controlled by Team Plasma?"

Both of them shook their heads.

As expected. All they could offer were vague hints, not concrete information.