Pokémon Detective Case Files.

The detective and his assistant immediately had a bad feeling...

Chapter 98 The Song of the Wailord

The Victini sped off at full speed and reached the sea boundary the detective had mentioned in less than four hours.

However, the crew paid a heavy price. After a grueling and turbulent voyage, there was no one left in the captain's cabin except for Captain Doug.

With her long, disheveled hair, Bilan barely opened her eyes, then groped to untie the ropes securing her to the pillar behind her, attempting to take a few steps to sit on a chair in the cabin. All the living quarters on the ship were welded to the floor, so there was no need to worry about changing positions.

But the lingering dizziness was too intense, and she could only stumble and stagger out of the irregular zigzag path like a drunkard. In the end, she had no choice but to give up and plop down on the wooden floor, disregarding her image.

The girl looked around—Captain Doug was ruddy-faced and in high spirits; the four hours of rough seas seemed like a leisurely stroll in a park to him. Old Man Naoki was also doing well; he hadn't died from a heart attack, but was currently leaning against the cabin wall, coughing loudly and forcefully, apparently choking on his own vomit. Azure felt a deep empathy for her, for this was a tragic experience she herself had gone through.

As for the detective in the white coat, Hugo, well, that guy's already passed out.

The detective's incredibly sharp senses, which were usually keenly aware of everything, finally gave way under the jarring, jarring motion, and he lost consciousness.

Upon noticing their master's unconsciousness, Piplup and Chimchar jumped out of their Poké Balls and busied themselves with first aid.

The two little ones performed the rescue very well, so it seems there's nothing to worry about over there.

"By the way, why was Hugo so certain that the Wailord, controlled by Team Aqua, would definitely pass through here?"

Azure left the cabin and went to the deck. Looking at the sea around her, which was no different from before, she couldn't help but feel confused—would Wailord really pass through here?

"That detective is quite capable."

Suddenly, a somewhat unwilling voice sounded beside her. Azure turned her head and found that Mr. Doug had also arrived outside the cabin.

The old captain, who was once a senior trainer, lit his pipe with a match, fiddled with it for a while, and then choking secondhand smoke began to billow out of his nostrils.

Seeing this, the girl couldn't help but think to herself—this old man who had spent half his life dealing with the sea looked more like a fire-type Pokémon when he smoked.

Doug then exclaimed, "I've been chasing Wailord in the outer seas of Unova for two or three decades. It's a Pokémon that's found all over the world. They usually roam in groups in the deep waters of the outer oceans of various countries, enjoying the cold seawater in the deep sea. But they also occasionally approach the mouths of continental rivers to forage and reproduce."

A lone whale roarer is a rare exception, and generally exhibits one of two behaviors: One type is driven out due to being ostracized within the pod; such whale roarers become extremely ferocious, rampaging through shallow waters. The other type consists of whale roarers nearing the end of their lifespan; they silently swim to the deepest parts of the ocean and sink quietly and alone.

The girl understood: "So, the target we're chasing this time doesn't fit the gregarious habits of Wailords, nor does it belong to either of the two types of Wailords. It's swimming along the warm current towards Hoenn—a direction that's quite far from the center of the ocean."

Doug snorted: "Only human ships and weak fish follow the currents. A huge and proud creature like the Wailord would never stoop to doing that."

"Will the guy we're chasing really come here?" Azure couldn't help but ask.

“If there really were tiny people living inside the whale’s mouth, it would definitely come here.” Doug exhaled a smoke ring. “This area is the boundary between the Unova-Hoenn route and the Alola region. Apart from that, there are no other entrances to the archipelago that can be entered by following the ocean currents.”

"Why can't they just swim directly to the Hoenn region? Why do they have to come all the way to Alola?"

"United States and Fengyuan are too far away; they need to replenish their supplies." The old captain's answer was succinct and to the point.

"Food, fresh water, and the sense of security of standing on the ground. Humans aren't Water-type Pokémon after all; even the most passionate seafarers have to rely on the land. Didn't that detective say they were trapped in a small bottle inside Wailord's mouth? That means their living space isn't much bigger, not to mention smuggling goods, which would take up a lot of space. So if we don't resupply in the Alola Islands during our voyage, those scum who rely on Wailord for smuggling will starve to death inside Wailord's belly."

"Even a fleet that worships the ocean needs the power of the land?" Azure pondered the old captain's words, and for a moment felt a sense of irony in them.

The sea shimmered, and the evening sun dyed the clouds in the sky crimson. The setting sun appeared enormous against the backdrop of the sea. Before the yellow fireball had completely sunk into the water, another white crescent moon had already eagerly appeared in the sky.

Did I hear something?

Azure seemed to sense a fluctuation in the air, as if a distant and ancient voice was entering her ears.

"They've arrived." The old man with a pipe in his mouth sighed slowly. "This is the song of Wailord."

The colors gradually deepened, and a huge black reflection slowly appeared on the sea surface before us, as if the Victini was about to arrive at a new island, with the island extending into the deep sea beneath the water.

But there are no islands in sight.

In an instant, about two hundred meters ahead of the Victini, the sea surface swelled up as if distorted by a poorly edited photo editing software, forming a huge water bubble.

Immediately afterwards, the water sluice approached the whaling ship at an astonishing speed, and soon split into two giant waves in the middle, revealing a lake-blue mountain ridge in the waves.

"It's the whale king! It came over on its own!"

Before anyone knew it, the old man's pipe had slipped from his mouth. He grabbed the blue-eyed girl's shoulder, pushed her into the cabin, and then ran in himself, locking the cabin door behind him.

Immediately afterwards, a deafening roar, as if the heavens and earth were splitting apart, erupted from the top of the mountain ridge, and a massive column of water, nearly capsizing the whaling ship, slammed mercilessly onto the spot where the two had just stood.

The entire Bictini began to shake violently with an intensity that made it seem as if it were about to disintegrate; compared to this moment, the turbulence of the previous hours seemed insignificant.

Wailord's signature move is "water spray".

The higher the HP of a Pokémon using a move, the more powerful its "Water Spray" will be—and Wailord, which is tens of meters long, has so much HP that it could be sold off at a clearance sale.

The lake-blue mountain ridge then disappeared, replaced by the massive crescent-shaped tail of the Whale King.

When it is raised, the view of the azure outside through the porthole is reminiscent of the sails of a giant sailboat.

Meanwhile, the enormous sail was trying to lap against the hull of the Bictini.

Fortunately, the captain had already restarted the whaling ship, and the jet propulsion devices on both sides activated instantly, immediately moving them away from the Whale King's attack range.

"Drink! Hahahaha!!!"

Before the coughing old man, the unconscious detective, and the bewildered young girl, the dark-skinned old Doug burst into maniacal laughter.

"Come, come, come! The largest and oldest species on this planet! Does your massive body bear a noble soul commensurate with it? Prove it with battle! Ignore the petty sins in your giant mouth! Come! Let us weave the elegy of the ancient Unova amidst the intertwining of lightning and fire, like the battle between the heroes of black and white in ancient times! Like the myths of Hoenn, let the gods who rule the seas and the gods from the lands duel and slay each other! Ignite the seas! Conquer the oceans! Extinguish the volcanoes! Transform the land! Come and witness with me the insignificance and glory of life!"

The old man took out six Poké Balls and put them all into a device on the control panel. Then he adjusted the orientation of the whaling ship, pointing the bow at the blue giant that had resurfaced.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Six cannon shots rang out in succession, and six red and white Poké Balls struck the world's largest target with perfect accuracy!

Chapter 99: Boarding Battle and Chaos

Faced with the enormous Wailord, Captain Doug employed the ancient boarding tactic, using the anti-aircraft gun at the bow of his ship to launch all the Pokémon on his body, bringing them close to the giant whale's body for a close-quarters melee.

As the Poké Ball landed, about a hundred meters in front of the Victini, a red figure in a karate uniform appeared abruptly like a boulder on the water's surface.

The wrestling demon that the detectives had seen before landed first on Wailord's huge blue head.

The moment it landed, this sturdy humanoid Pokémon used the momentum of its fall to deliver a shoulder tackle. This is a variation of the "Mountain Slam" move, delivering a powerful blow to the opponent with a high probability of hitting a vital point.

The moment the Throwing Demon launched its attack, another blue Pokémon dressed in a karate uniform arrived on the battlefield.

The sprite named Strike Ghost abruptly abandoned all its defenses and went into full-scale attack mode.

Fists, feet, joints—every part of the body that could be used as a weapon moved in a storm. With a whooshing sound, the attacks rained down on Wailord.

This is a high-powered fighting technique called "close combat".

As a result, even though he still had enough energy to sustain himself, the whale king no longer had the leisure to sing whale songs or unleash its "water spout".

Under the combined attack of two Fighting-type Pokémon, the giant whale let out a low roar in pain, trying to dive into the water to escape the enemy's attack.

"Want to escape?"

In the captain's cabin, the old captain, like a beast about to pounce on its prey, shouted commands into the radio in front of him: "Mama, King Eel, Geometric Snowflake, use 'Discharge' and 'Freeze-Drying' to block the target's escape route!"

A long, dark gray figure floating in the distant sky appeared in response, its strange, serpentine arms outstretched, releasing a burst of bluish-white lightning into the sea below. This caused Wailord, who was trying to dive away to escape, to momentarily freeze in place.

Then another hexagonal crystal-shaped Pokémon emitting a ghostly blue glow appeared in the broken waves. It exhaled a large blast of cold white gas at the rear half of Wailord's body. The gas immediately adhered to Wailord's tail and instantly condensed into a large patch of ice crystals.

"Alright, now's the time! Toad King, Constructor! Deliver the fatal blow! Use 'Earthquake' on Wailord!"

A giant blue toad and a burly humanoid Pokémon wielding two concrete pillars—two Pokémon of different but equally robust builds—posed in the same charging-up pose.

In normal land-based battles, the "Earthquake" move attacks the opponent by destroying the terrain, primarily causing damage. In reality, it's just rocks flying everywhere after the skill is executed.

However, the battle against Wailord is completely different. The damage that would normally be absorbed by the field will now be borne by Wailord alone. Even if this giant whale has a lot of health, it absolutely cannot withstand the "Earthquake" cast by two Pokémon at the same time.

Old Doug's combo left Azure in awe.

The battle strategy was shrewd and clearly divided into three phases: cover, disruption, and output. The six Pokémon had distinct roles: first, they used fast-paced Fighting-type moves to disrupt Wailord's attack rhythm; then, they used Thunder and Ice to deprive the target of its ability to escape the battlefield; and finally, they concentrated their power to output damage.

Most importantly, they have an excellent grasp of timing. Whether it's the six Pokémon or Mr. Doug, they are all veterans who have practiced this tactic for a long time.

However, before Azure could finish her reflection, the situation had already reversed.

The "earthquake" skill used by the Toad King and the Old Builder did not play a decisive role in the battle, because the sound of their skill activation disappeared into thin air over the radio.

"Oh no, Old Doug! A Tentacruel has joined the battle! It's using its tentacles to bind King Toad and Old Master Repairman. Earthquake failed! The enemy seems to have realized we're using radio commands and has attacked the Pokémon's heads with Knock Off!"

Naoki was observing the battle through binoculars through the porthole when, faced with a sudden unexpected situation, he chose to loudly notify the captain.

"Wait, there are more enemies!" The old man's hoarse voice rang out again before it had completely faded. "Another Big-headed Gull is fighting with the Throwing Ghost and the Striking Ghost. In addition, there are two swimming wolfhounds. They dragged the Mama Eel King and the Geometric Snowflake into the sea!"

"It's the little people inside the whale's belly who jumped out! Damn it, there are at least three trainers on the other side!" The old man immediately made a judgment. "I can't command the battle from a distance. I need to move the ship closer to meet the Pokémon."

"No, perhaps it doesn't need to be that complicated."

Suddenly, the assistant beside him spoke up, brushing aside a strand of hair that was obscuring her eyes and revealing a composed smile: "Mr. Doug, do you have any spare radios?"

The girl in front of him no longer seemed to be the detective's assistant who followed Hugo around all day and played a supporting role, but had instead become a Pokémon master that people couldn't help but trust and rely on.

"There's one more." The old captain, puzzled, handed a small spare headset to Azure. "What do you need this for?"

The girl didn't answer. She took out a Poké Ball and released a purple-red, slimy Pokémon. Then she threw the communicator into the mud and used the Poké Ball to recall the purple Pokémon.

Under the captain's astonished gaze, Azure imitated him and stuffed the Poké Ball containing Ditto into the device on the control panel.

"Is this the launch button?"

Doug nodded, and then Azure pressed the launch button without hesitation.

boom.

The Poké Ball containing Ditto flew towards the battlefield like a cannonball, drawing a beautiful arc.

"What can you do with just one Pokémon? There are at least three trainers on the other side, and the battle is taking place on Wailord controlled by the enemy!" Old Doug seemed to realize just then how stupid he had been, and he flew into a rage.

“Some people have a rigorous and ruthless fighting style. They calculate every detail of the battle to the last detail, and achieve final victory with absolute rationality.” Azure recalled her childhood friend with brown hair and a hedgehog-like hairstyle, saying this while remembering his arrogant taunts.

"Some people ignore all the established rules in a match, playing wildly and recklessly, but they always trust their partners. This often allows them to turn the tide in desperate situations and become the final winner." At this point, Bilan couldn't help but adjust his sun hat.

"My tactics are completely different from those two. To me, Pokémon battles are like a grand ball waiting for the main character to take the stage. We use moves to keep the beat, commands to create melody, and exhilarating battles to perform on the stage..."

Ditto's Poké Ball landed in the center of the fierce battlefield.

Below the Poké Ball was the menacing Wailord, along with Pelipper, Mightyena, and Tentacruel that were overwhelming Doug's Pokémon.

"And what I'm best at is heating up the atmosphere the moment the ball starts! Okay, one, two, three, now, everyone look at me!"

Perhaps it had been too long since she'd had a proper Pokémon battle, because the girl's voice was surprisingly cheerful. Accompanying this was the explosive sound of a gigantic object hitting the water!

The azure Ditto transformed into another Wailord the moment it appeared, and with a headbutt, it forcefully slammed the object it was imitating into the deep sea!

Chapter 100 The Detective of Defeat

Although Wailord, the form of Ditto, was smaller than its opponent, its "Mount Tai" attack, delivered from a fall from a great height, still had a devastating effect.

Just as Azur Lane claimed—with Ditto entering the battlefield, the tide of battle turned instantly!

The jellyfish's bindings were broken by the seawater, and the two large wolfhounds that were originally thrashing in the sea were blown far away by the waves. Wailord, which was the battlefield, was directly smashed into the deep water.

Amidst the violent shaking, Doug's Pokémon broke free from their restraints and regrouped towards Ditto.

"Ditto, turn your body to the side to cover our Pokémon's retreat! At the same time, use 'Tidal Whirl' to trap the enemy in the sea, and finally unleash 'Ice Breeze' on the Pelipper in the sky to lower its speed!"

Azure closed the Pokédex containing information on Wailord's moves, and with a single glance, she found the optimal move combination. Now, she was observing the battlefield through binoculars while issuing precise and clear commands into the communicator.

Upon receiving Azure's command, the whale, transformed from Ditto, swung its massive body, creating a huge vortex in the center of the sea; at the same time, it opened its mouth wide, unleashing a devastating "Frozen Wind" mixed with ice crystals, engulfing the beaks that couldn't dodge in time.

However, Pokémon battles are essentially turn-based games, and no matter how cleverly you combine skills, releasing them takes time. When you make your move, your opponent has no reason to stand still.

After surviving Ditto's surprise attack, the two Mightyenas resurfaced and began barking at Ditto from a distance. The sound waves from their barks contained Dark-type energy fluctuations, indicating that they were trying to lower Wailord's Special Attack stat with their "Roar".

However, Azur Lane did not provide any instructions on how to respond to this.

Captain Doug, who was watching from the sidelines, couldn't understand it for a moment—the skill damage was a minor issue, but if the special attack was reduced by "Roar," the battles would be even more difficult in the future.

However, he quickly understood the assistant girl's intention.

As Ditto activated its "Whirlpool" move, Wailord was surrounded by splashing waves, which not only blocked the interference of sonic energy but also dragged the two drowning dogs into the ocean's whirlpool.

In addition, the Tentacruel floating on the sea surface slowly approached Ditto's massive body. It decided to use the same trick again, waving its black stinging tentacles to attack the ear canals behind Wailord's eyes.

But the situation is very different now. The radio is not in Wailord's ear canal, but inside Ditto's soft body.

Therefore, the Tentacruel's "slap" attack failed to knock down the item, only causing minor damage.

"Alright, now transform into our 'Mama Eel King' form and use 'Discharge' on the whirlpool we created earlier!" Azure waved her arm with a dashing air.

Upon hearing this, Ditto slightly turned its massive whale head, glanced at the retreating Eel King behind it, and its body vanished instantly, transforming into a gray-blue electric eel. Two suction cup-like arms were plunged into the deep sea by Ditto, unleashing unparalleled bursts of electricity.