Pokémon Detective Case Files.

The casino owner interrupted his employee's report: "There's no need for further explanation. As a gambler in the United States, I've known Dr. Vio's name since the day I first stepped into the casino."

The ability to create myths is a uniquely human talent, especially for ruthless gamblers. Whenever something astonishing or inexplicable happens in a casino, people eagerly seize upon it, weaving up all sorts of myths and believing them with fanaticism and blind faith.

As a pioneer in using mathematical concepts to crack casino probabilities, this sage from the Plasma Cluster remains a legend in casinos to this day. Many gamblers will take out his picture and pay homage before placing their chips.

Of course, Yueju couldn't remain indifferent to the casino legend's visit. He used a green nest ball to recall the still-sleeping Newleaf Meow back into the ball, and as he got up, he issued an order to his subordinates: "Notify everyone that the casino will remain open as usual, and I will personally receive these guests."

"King of Blueberries, you seem to be having a great time," the actress reminded Blueberries with interest.

"is it?"

The gambler glanced at the golden wall outside the bar, and through the dim reflection of the gold paint, a man with an exaggerated hairstyle and wearing a dark blue suit came into view.

He then realized that the corners of his mouth had somehow turned up into an exaggerated arc, and he could vaguely see sharp, fish-like teeth inside his mouth, as if he were about to devour someone alive...

It was a perfectly standard, arrogant, and greedy gambler's smile.

Chapter 169 Lend Me a Chip

As the elderly man in a long robe with silver hair parted in the middle stepped into the Royal Union, the gamblers in the lobby all turned to look at him. He was surrounded by his subordinates dressed in silver-white religious robes, and he had his eyes half-closed, exuding an air of high status.

Some people immediately recognized the newcomer, and whispers began to rise and fall among them. Eventually, a kind of fanatical emotion, like the flu during seasonal changes, gradually amplified as the words spread.

In mere seconds, the chaotic whispers coalesced into a rhythmic, orderly chorus, culminating in a name that everyone repeated over and over—a name etched into the collective memory of the United Gamblers, a name once revered as a legend in the casinos—

"Vio, Vio, Vio..."

No one was shouting hysterically; everyone was calling out to the guests in the quietest voices. Gamblers weren't fans in the stadium stands, and the appearance of their idols wasn't enough to ignite their frenzy. This wasn't a welcoming cheer, but rather a urging.

The gamblers' intentions were very clear: they were urging this former casino legend to sit at the gambling table.

This was a kind of malevolent worship; under the shifting lights of the hall, the gamblers' green pupils gleamed like demons from hell urging the gods to perform miracles.

Amidst the clamor of his own name, Vio smiled amiably, then ignored the King of Oranges who had come to greet him, abandoned his subordinates, and went straight to a blackjack table.

"Sir, could you lend me a chip?"

This sage from the plasma cluster seemed to have rediscovered his state of mind when he was a university professor, politely yet uncompromisingly making demands of the gamblers around him, as if asking students to come up to the podium to cooperate with his teaching.

Blackjack is a game between the player and the house, so there is no competition between gamblers. The uncle who was approached by Vio was taken aback at first, but then realized that he had no reason to refuse the casino legend's suggestion. So he turned over his pocket of chips and handed Vio a white chip as requested.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it may seem a bit unromantic to say this here, but I am about to reveal the secrets to how I made money in casinos thirty years ago, and the following sentence is a warning I would read to my students before every probability class involving gambling when I was a teacher—"

Before the game began, the old man leisurely began to give a speech. However, the once noisy casino hall was now as quiet as a classroom on campus. Even more gamblers who came down from the upper floors to see what was going on immediately perked up their ears and gathered around the gambling table when they heard Vio's words.

"There are only two kinds of gamblers in the world: the poor, and the poor of the future."

"In probability theory, as long as a person continues to participate in risky gambling, the probability of him losing everything is infinitely close to 100%—that is to say, gamblers are destined to lose everything."

A faint hiss came from the crowd, but the old man ignored it.

"Nevertheless, if the scope of gambling is limited to a certain number of times, certain mathematical analysis methods become meaningful—just as Pokémon trainers increase the catch rate of Poké Balls by weakening wild Pokémon's stamina, we can use these mathematical methods to increase the probability of profiting, thereby profiting in the duel with the casino."

Behind Vio, members of the Plasma Group somehow pushed a blackboard over and placed it behind the old man—now he looked exactly like a university professor.

"It seems this old gentleman's goal isn't just about winning money. If all gamblers become card masters like Vio, your casino will go bankrupt, won't it? Aren't you going to stop him?"

Miss Naz appeared behind Lingju at some point, fanning the flames with a mischievous glimpse of the drama.

"Making guests feel like they can increase their winning odds is one of the ways casinos increase revenue. Now, please enjoy the ultimate lesson from a legendary gambler."

As the casino owner, Yueju maintained his composure, observing the situation calmly despite being completely ignored by Vio, who had stormed in aggressively.

"Is she truly so magnanimous, or has she simply accepted the reality that she is powerless to change anything?" Naz asked meaningfully, glancing around.

She had already noticed something amiss in the casino—just as Vio was giving his grand speech, the Team Plasma members who had boarded the ship with the old man had dispersed in front of the casino staff, all of them placing their hands on the Poké Ball switches at their waists, seemingly ready to take action at any moment.

It seems that if the jasmine and casino staff try to obstruct Vio's performance, they will not hesitate to resort to violence in the lobby. Not only will the order inside the cabin be thrown into chaos, but the gamblers who are eager to see Vio's skills will also be enraged.

The old man with the middle-parted hair had no intention of leaving Yueju any way out from the moment he boarded the ship.

.

At the gambling table, the blackjack game began. The dealer, with his sleeves tucked into his upper arms, dealt cards to the dealer and each player as usual.

The core rules of this gambling game are very simple: the player's goal is to get as close to 21 as possible. The player's hand is compared with the dealer's, and the player with the most hands up to 21 wins. However, if either the player or the dealer's hand adds up to more than 21, it is considered an undisputed loss—a situation known as "busting."

The old man drew two 8s—a rather dangerous hand.

The dealer's revealed card is a King—which is considered a 10 in Blackjack.

"All in."

Despite being at a disadvantage, Vio gave up on drawing more cards and lightly tossed his chip onto the table. The lone white chip bounced and lay flat on the empty table, creating a scene of dark humor.

“I am not a seasoned cheater. In an isolated game, my probability of winning is the same as everyone else’s. At this moment, I have no other means than to take the cards I am entitled to according to the rules. I can only pray that the fifty-fifty odds will turn in my favor—most people would probably think so.”

Vio gave a shrewd smile, instantly refuting his own argument: "But the truth is not so."

The dealer quickly revealed the dealer's hole card: 4 points.

The latter's gaze turned serious. Anyone with a basic understanding of card games knows that if a player's score is less than 16, the dealer must ask for another point.

The new cards were dealt to the dealer, and with 10 points, the dealer busted—a gasp rippled through the casino.

"No need to make a fuss, my friends in the casino," the old man said casually. "Blackjack is a game that can be calculated. By counting the high cards that have appeared, such as 10, J, Q, K, and A, the fewer high cards that have appeared before, the greater the chance that the dealer will bust."

“From the moment I boarded the ship, I kept an eye on the game at this gambling table. There had been several rounds where big hands were scarce. So when I entered the game, I didn’t aim for a hand close to 21. Instead, I patiently waited for the dealer to bring about their own downfall. This wasn’t a 50/50 gamble, but a precise calculation with an 80% chance of success.”

Even after all that, Vio was still not satisfied and picked up the chalk again to start writing mathematical formulas on the blackboard behind him—

“如果我们将前面说过的大牌记作+1，7、8、9这样的中立牌记作0，剩下的记为-1，则完全可以得到一串并不复杂的公式……”

The grid-like table took shape in the old man's hands, and rows of formulas were listed. The gambling winning method that gamblers had always dreamed of was now being presented to everyone in a dignified manner.

The dealer and the banker watched helplessly as the old man, spitting as he spoke, and the gamblers around him, their faces beaming with ecstasy.

According to casino rules, they cannot shuffle unused decks. All the guests at the table were captivated by Vio's explanation and, at their request, patiently listened to Vio's complete casino instruction course.

This is a scheme that is infinitely worse than simply causing a disturbance—physical vandalism and provocation will not affect the casino's long-term revenue, but such gambling instruction can drag the Royal United into a black hole of losses.

On Vio's gambling table, two white chips, seemingly multiplied by themselves, reflected the light shining from the ceiling, glaringly bright.

Chapter 170 The Ditto Card

There is a well-known exaggerated analogy: when human ancestors first picked up bone clubs from the ground to use as tools, they were only one step away from piloting spaceships and roaming in space.

Leaving aside the question of whether the more skilled Marowak, adept at using bone clubs, will one day inherit the torch of civilization and follow in humanity's footsteps to the stars… this romantic metaphor actually offers some inspiration—

Once an intelligent being has mastered effective ways to improve itself, whether it can ultimately succeed is only a matter of time.

.

Splash, splash, splash.

In the early hours of the morning, on the ninth deck of the Royal Union, Vio, who had been battling it out all night on the gambling ship, waved his arms and shoved over a mountain of chips of various colors, flashing a cold, wintery smile at the dealer in front of him—

"All in," the old man said, raising his eyebrows proudly.

"My bet is placed, Mr. Dealer, please deal the cards."

Stud Poker, originally the name of a poker game, later came to mean "all in," which means betting all your chips on the outcome of the next game, a scenario most loved by people in casinos.

"Mr. Vio, this is the first time tonight that you've bet all your chips on the table, aside from the one you borrowed at the beginning. Are you sure you want to do this?"

Amidst the scattered chips like trash, the ninth-floor casino manager, his back already soaked with sweat, finally mustered his courage. Ignoring the stern gazes of the audience, he cautiously descended the tiered stands and approached the old man, interrupting Vio's confident aura of victory—

"The game is ever-changing, and a single misstep can lead to certain doom. Our casino is willing to offer an excellent guest like you the opportunity to back out. Even if you disembark now, you can still receive a staggering bonus of 5 billion Alliance Coins. There is no need to risk losing everything in the next round of gambling—you can simply give up this round."

Despite his lack of confidence, the casino manager maintained a facade of composure and tried to persuade this formidable guest to leave the table.

"risk?"

Vio narrowed his eyes, feigning hesitation to create a certain atmosphere. The sages of the Plasma Cluster seemed to relish such manipulative tactics.

As expected, boos and jeers gradually rose from the surrounding crowd, and the casino manager, surrounded by enemies, became even paler.

"As long as you're alive, you have to take risks, Mr. Casino Manager."

The old man then spoke leisurely: "Everyone has a 1 in 3000 chance of being in a car accident every day, a 1 in 600,000 chance of being hit by lightning, and a 1 in 75 million chance of dying from an asteroid impact—compared to such slim probability events, the dealer's next card is much more real... and much easier to predict."

At this point, Vio extended his wrinkled index finger and pointed to the blackboard behind him, which had been carried up nine layers along with it. It was now filled with intricate mathematical formulas, resembling a primeval forest.

After boarding the Royal United, the old man began to tirelessly add new content to the blackboard, much like a math teacher giving a basic lesson to his students.

Among the mathematical symbols he wrote down, there were no records of Vio's own card counting; a mathematical master like him could have easily done that in his head. The notes he wrote down were all pure gambling principles, card game probability models simplified into mathematical equations.

Vio generously shared his legendary card-counting skills, a hallmark of the casino world, with everyone present. Once gamblers mastered these techniques, they became invincible at the gambling table—in fact, many guests on the Royal Union who had only attended half of Vio's lecture had already returned to the game.

To the casino's relief, these individuals were clearly no match for the legendary casino players who dominated the field. Although their winning percentage had improved slightly, they were still only able to break even with the house. However, if these customers were allowed to continue practicing, this delicate balance of income and expenditure would crumble.

But there are priorities, and the real crisis that's pressing right now is the card game the old man is playing—

"If you could understand the formulas I wrote down and have recorded the past hands at this table, you would understand my current odds of winning..."

Vio stroked the cuffs of his purple robe, completely ignoring the livid faces of the casino staff in front of him, and shook his head to reject the casino manager's offer.

A new round of gambling began under the old man's stubborn insistence. The players, who should have been extremely nervous, kept babbling on and on—after the previous gambling games, everyone knew that this was not a self-deceiving act of feigned composure, but a display of unwavering confidence.

On the ninth deck of the gambling cruise ship, Mr. Vio's 21st blackjack game officially began.

Yes, Vio is still playing blackjack; he's been playing blackjack all night.

From the first to the ninth floor of the gambling cruise ship, the betting chips have grown from a few to a mountain, and the gambling environment has changed from a noisy lobby to a grand stage resembling an opera house. This casino legend, proficient in mathematics and logic, continues to play the same game over and over again.

According to his calculations, blackjack is the most advantageous game for gamblers in casinos. By memorizing cards and strategically placing bets, players have a base win rate of 50.1% against the house—a terrifying number in casinos, even higher than the success rate of Pokémon using the "Protect" move repeatedly.

A certain formula, like a hibernating bear in a cave, brazenly occupies the very center of the blackboard—

F = (bp - q) / b.

Where p is the win rate, q is the odds, and b is the profit/loss ratio—the F calculated from this is the optimal betting ratio.

People were amazed to see that even in the most unfavorable hands, the old man would at least place a chip, and whenever he placed a small bet, the game would become a tightrope walk; while when he placed a large bet, it was often a sure victory for the player. Of course, there were wins and losses, but Vio's chips steadily increased round after round.

After each round of gambling, Vio can recalculate the probabilities of the remaining cards based on the cards already drawn. After repeated operations, the originally chaotic deck will become clear.

"For your casino, using a mechanical shuffling device is a complete mistake. Even the most complex pseudo-random algorithm can be cracked."

Looking at the cards being dealt and the dealer's revealed cards, the old man became increasingly spirited—

"Now, based on the formula deduced from the blackboard marked H3, I have completely mastered your shuffling patterns. This means that in this round of gambling, every card the dealer draws is an open card for me—there is a 100% probability that my next hand will form a perfect hand of 21, while the dealer is destined to choose a more dignified way to lose between continuing to draw cards and self-destructing or drawing a hand of lower value than mine."

Just like in a two-variable equation, once the first variable is substituted into the formula, the second variable will also be revealed. As the old man thoroughly understood the deck of cards, he also began to calculate the shuffling mechanism—and this was the time to obtain the result.

.

"This old man also looks arrogant."

In a spectator section with a good view outside the gambling table, the Psychic-type Gym Leader from Kanto curled his lip in dissatisfaction and said to the person next to him—

"Hey, King of Blueberries, if you let Vio keep gambling, your casino will go bankrupt soon, won't it? Do you need me, a superpowered person, to help you turn things around?"

Vio's flamboyant behavior displeased Naz, who, unusually, showed mercy and offered to help. However, a long time passed without any response to the actress's suggestion.

The casino owner turned around and saw that the casino's owner, Yueju, was staring intently at the blackboard behind Vio. He had found a notebook somewhere and was writing formulas with great speed, his face showing the same excitement as any other gambler.

Natsume immediately facepalmed—she had almost forgotten that the man next to her, the King of Blueberries, was the most fervent and obsessed gambler in the casino. Compared to the onlookers, he was the one most fascinated by Vio's formula.

Suddenly, Lingju let out a long sigh and wrote a number heavily on the manuscript paper in her hand—

"The dealer's next hand is a 3, which is no match for the player's 21-point hand... It's truly amazing mathematical magic. I thought that using the high-low card counting method was the limit of this casino legend's skills, but I didn't expect that he could even deduce the pseudo-random algorithm of the gambling table - indeed, the old fox is still the spicier."

Then, Lanju shook her head at Sabrina: "The reason this ship is able to attract a constant stream of guests is because of our absolute fairness within the rules. If we deliberately target guests to minimize losses, then what's the difference between us and a con artist who puts a Ditto card in a deck of cards?"

"The Ditto Card?" Upon hearing this strange term, the Kanto Gym Leader immediately became curious.

“This is an ancient cheating technique I heard about from your hometown, the Kanto region,” the Evil King explained.

"It refers to turning Ditto into a playing card and mixing it into the deck. When someone draws a card, the trainer can use subtle actions to hint at it, thus turning it into the card with the desired value. In this way, the Ditto trainer can freely control the outcome of the bet at will."

“You can use the same technique when gambling with coins,” said Yueju with a wink and a smile.

"However, this kind of cheating technique is completely ineffective against someone like Vio who is skilled at card counting. He can predict the next card using mathematical methods, so it's impossible for him not to realize the trick. The Ditto card will be exposed in an instant. Casinos do not reject cheating techniques, but the premise is that they must not be discovered by anyone. Blatant cheating is tantamount to ruining one's own reputation."

"I see." Natsume also looked enlightened, understanding why Cranberry had done nothing.

"Even if I could use my superpowers to shuffle the cards under the gambling table for you, Vio would immediately realize that it was done by a superpowered person. At that time, he only needs to send out a Psychic-type Pokémon to check the psychic fluctuations in the vicinity to prove his correctness."

"exactly."

The moment the evil king finished speaking, the audience erupted in cheers. They saw the cards in Vio's hand: a 10 and an Ace, making a perfect 21.

The dealer, with a dark expression, flipped over the dealer's face-down card.