Pokémon Detective Case Files.

After all, in the intense vortex of a card game, no gambler wants to make a mistake because of drowsiness or miss a fleeting winning opportunity because of a yawn.

Professional gamblers, like professional Pokémon trainers, need a lot of energy. In fact, the former requires even more concentration from the participants—because there are no reliable Pokémon partners to fight alongside you at the gambling table.

No matter how insidious, depraved, corrupt, or dirty gambling may be, it is a game that belongs only to humankind.

Based on the above guiding principles, the Double Dragon Poker duel between Lanju and Vio was scheduled for the evening half a day later.

Besides catching up on sleep, the two also had to spend some time checking each other's casinos and gambling equipment.

The gamblers on the ship naturally complained that they couldn't immediately witness the ultimate showdown between the casino owner and the Plasma Sage.

However, perhaps because the expensive red wine sponsored by Vio was too fragrant, or perhaps because the luxurious late-night snacks provided by the casino were too delicious, such complaints ultimately remained just words.

With the patient persuasion of the bunny girl waitresses, the dissatisfaction dissipated in an instant, like smoke sprayed by Mengmengshi.

.

It was afternoon when Naz saw the blueberries again.

The grass-green kitten climbed onto the Gambler King's shoulder once again, its little face, with its dark, leaf-like markings, tilted upwards as if diligently photosynthesizing.

The sunlight seemed to make the gambler's scheming face appear exceptionally pale and clean. This king of the Hundred Families was accustomed to working in the dark mire, yet when he emerged from the darkness, he showed no signs of discomfort. On the contrary, he appeared enthusiastic about everything in the world, full of vitality.

A person and their pet stood on the deck, gazing up at the super casino towering atop the Royal Union.

"Oh."

Naza walked up to the casino owner and greeted him familiarly.

"I couldn't see very clearly when I boarded the ship at night. I never knew the top floor of this ship was such a magnificent room."

From the end of the actress's line of sight, she could clearly see what the tenth floor of the casino looked like.

The tenth floor has only one room, which, from the outside, looks like a huge, completely transparent water tank.

Just like the "light wall" barrier that Vio built with geometric snowflakes last night, the water tank is completely transparent on all four sides and the ceiling, perfectly reflecting the midday sun's rays, while also tightly enclosing all the furnishings inside.

The builders probably deliberately emphasized the room's location; no matter where you stand on the deck of the Royal Union, you can see the VIP gaming room at a glance.

This "water tank" contains every gambling device you can imagine: roulette, slot machines, baccarat tables. These professional-grade luxury gambling devices are scattered around the transparent room like children's toys.

In the center of the room stood a black and white table, one end of which was simple and white, while the other end was brand new and shiny black, like a king ruling over this spacious room—it was a square gambling table specifically used for the Double Dragon poker duel.

The variety of gambling equipment is certainly not the most important feature of this room; similar decor has appeared repeatedly in the casino downstairs. Nor is the transparent exterior wall; it's merely a slightly sturdier glass enclosure.

Those fish that are truly a spectacle—

Sharpedoed, Megalodon, Needlefish, Savage Bass, and Slug... Inside the square, transparent glass dome, countless aquatic Pokémon from the seabed seemed to float on the walls and above, swimming freely above everyone on the Royal Union.

"If I hadn't ordered those glass water tanks to be used as walls, Vio might have been able to play a round of blackjack last night," Lantana joked as she looked at the Kanto guild master.

However, Sabrina only felt horrified: "Those glass walls are assembled from transparent aquariums? Even the Cerulean City Water Gym in Kanto has never adopted such a bold design."

“The modular glass can’t withstand the weight of seawater,” Blueberry shook her head.

"This is actually a single, continuous aquarium, which I commissioned to build by the engineering team that constructed the Qinghai Bo City Ocean Tunnel. Although it was a project completed within a month, the room has passed the highest standard of safety testing, so there is no need to worry about it bursting open one day."

"An aquarium at sea, what a magnificent but useless feat." The Kanto aquarium owner exclaimed from the bottom of her heart as she looked at the architectural wonder that could only be found in Unova.

“If I were only doing meaningful things, I wouldn’t be standing here,” said the gambler who squandered his life.

Are those Pokémon inside specially bred ornamental fish?

"No, they are the spirits of the sailors on the ship, just temporarily housed there. My Sharpedo is among them. Come to think of it, I'm an ally of Team Plasma now, so I wouldn't do something like imprisoning Pokémon for display."

Lingju shrugged, trying her best to put on a sincere expression.

"Although I'm not particularly good at battling with Water-type Pokémon, I always feel a sense of closeness to those creatures swimming in the deep sea."

The abyss, the ocean, struggling gamblers, and mayfly-like schools of fish—when these images are placed side by side, one can indeed feel a certain mysterious connection.

“I originally wanted to set up such a scene in the King’s room of the League, but that’s where you fight challengers, and the aftershocks of the fight could easily shatter the glass, so I ultimately decided against it. In comparison, the way gamblers fight each other is much more civilized.”

As the two were talking, a figure emerged from among the swimming fish. The outer wall of the connected aquarium was so transparent that the interior of the room was clearly visible.

Wearing a purple robe, with silver hair parted in the middle of his forehead, and eyes that were half-open and half-closed, it was none other than Vio.

Seeing that Naz was a little confused, Yueju explained, "After all, this is a casino that I founded. Therefore, in order to prevent cheating, Vio is free to check everything in the closed ten-story gambling room before the game starts. Otherwise, the game would be far from fair, and Vio would never participate in a game where the odds of winning are not equal."

"Your own Megalodon is in the aquarium behind the glass wall. Wouldn't it be convenient to secretly give you a signal?"

As Naz looked up at the black shark overhead, which seemed to be dancing with the people in the box, she asked a perfectly reasonable question.

“Before the game begins, all the Pokémon inside the walls will be returned to their original owners, so it’s impossible for any Pokémon to help cheat,” Cranberry patiently replied.

"Since the glass is transparent, couldn't the people standing on the deck also send coded messages to the people inside the room in other ways?"

This was also a perfectly reasonable question, and Naz instantly found the explanation—there was another layer of one-way transparent glass on the inside of the wall, so people inside the tenth floor could not see what was happening outside.

“One-way perspective…” The actress looked at Vio, who was inspecting various props in the room, with some surprise. “What is Vio seeing inside the room?”

"It was him," the Dark-type Elite Four member said, while teasing the Newleaf Cat perched on his shoulder.

“When there is sufficient internal light, the one-way glass will present a near-perfect mirror surface. Inside the room surrounding the mirror, Vio will see countless layers of his own reflection. This can also prevent cheating during the game, because the gamblers in the room can simply look up and see the reflection of their backs over their opponents' bodies—no matter how skilled the magician is, they cannot hide or switch cards under such circumstances.”

"But if that's the case, shouldn't I be able to see the mirror's reflection even though I'm on the outside? After all, the other wall is also the inside to me, so why is there such a transparent phenomenon?"

The super-powered girl's statement, which was full of scientific common sense, actually startled Lingju.

"I didn't expect you to discover this problem... In fact, I'm not quite sure myself, but it seems that the design team subtly adjusted the angles of the four side walls of the room by using the refraction of glass on another layer of the aquarium, so that the mirror behind it could reflect the empty sky. In the absence of clouds, the reflected sky can blend with the real sky, creating a transparent optical illusion for the audience below."

“That really is a perfect gambling room…” Naz commented.

"Of course, there are drawbacks too. If a gambler in the room is not careful, his hand will be clearly reflected in the mirror behind him. If you want to challenge the tenth floor of the Royal Union, you should be careful about this."

"Don't talk like it has nothing to do with you," Naz laughed.

"In addition to the one-way mirrors, there are other measures to ensure the fairness of the gambling. Cameras are installed in every corner of the transparent room to record live video. The players' every move will be broadcast live to the audience on the Royal Union, just like a league game on TV. Even if cheaters can fool their opponents and the audience by doing something wrong at the table, people are very likely to notice the cheating when they review the recordings afterwards."

The green kitten thought the conversation had turned to it, so it tilted its head cutely and widened its eyes. When no one paid attention to it, it could only meow twice and stretch lazily out of boredom.

As Naz listened to Lingju's eloquent explanation, her confusion didn't dissipate; instead, her curiosity only grew stronger.

"But King Yue Tachibana, why did you design the tenth floor room like this? As the most well-known gambler in the Unova region, you should be more proficient in gambling cheating techniques than anyone else. Why would you create a special room to restrict yourself?"

"This is a matter of dignity."

The man with a cat on his shoulder spoke confidently.

“Miss Naza, you are a superpowered person, right? But what if some busybody who doesn’t know the details disagrees with this and arrogantly claims to everyone that you are just an ordinary person and that all the superpowers you have shown before were done through magic tricks, and even personally uses magic to recreate your signature skills—how would you react in such a situation?”

"Of course I'll beat him... no, I should demonstrate some kind of superpower that magic tricks can't explain, and make him completely convinced," the actress said with a smile, like a quiet young girl.

"Yes, that makes sense."

The evil-type master ignored the woman's near revelation of her true form, nodded, and continued—

“We gamblers who squander everything at the poker table share the same mentality. We cannot tolerate laymen using cheating as an excuse to distort the poker skills we have honed over the years. That’s why we need this room above us.”

The ten-story gambling room reflected a dazzling white light under the sunlight, where a Megalodon swimming and a Sage from the Plasma Cluster were facing each other.

The former was presumptuously gathering information about the enemy for his trainer, while the latter lowered his eyes, intently examining the material of the glass, completely unaware of the gaping maw behind the multiple layers of glass.

"Mr. Blueberry, I have another question..."

Why are you so sure you can beat Vio without cheating?

That math genius who plays blackjack like a human computer is no pushover. What method do you plan to use to beat him?

Is a bet of 10 billion against a cruise ship really reasonable? Why did both sides agree to such a bet? Is there a darker truth hidden behind it?

Just as she was about to speak, a strong premonition arose in her heart for some reason, and Naz felt a chill. The question she was about to ask was swallowed back down her throat.

Fortunately, at that moment, Blueberry was busy comforting the neglected kitten and feeding it with the tree fruits she had brought, and did not notice the unspoken words behind her.

Instead, it was Shin-chan, who was being comforted by her owner, who noticed the situation and made a face at Natsumi, who was hurriedly shutting her mouth.

The dojo leader from Kanto glanced around, feigning nonchalance, but his gaze naturally returned to the conspicuous "transparent room" on the top of the ship.

Seeing Megalodon and Vio confronting each other, Sabrina felt that the two creatures staring at each other were like mannequins displayed as merchandise in a shopping mall window.

The gambler playing with the cat in front of you is the mall owner who keeps saying "the customer is God" but whose eyes are fixed on his customers' wallets.

In this unpredictable atmosphere, time ticked by. Casino staff busily carried drinks and food, while patrons at the tables moved about with desire and chips.

The final showdown between the mathematical legend and the gambling king has reached its climax.

The time for the duel has finally arrived—

Chapter 174 The Attack and Defense in the Amethyst Castle

Two people are sitting opposite each other at the Double Dragon Poker table.

The sage in purple robes sat at the white end, while the gambler in a dark blue suit sat opposite him at the black end. Both men remained calm, scrutinizing their opponent across the chips.

A member of the plasma team stood awkwardly in the spot that was originally the dealer's seat, shuffling his feet.

His anxiety is understandable, after all, Vio had just taught him the most basic poker rules and dealing techniques an hour before the game started.

The reason for this was that the old man couldn't trust the dealer on the Royal Union, and there had been apostates within Team Plasma who had been misled by the casino. Under the current circumstances, having someone completely ignorant of poker as the dealer was the best way to ensure fairness. In this way, the guy had already exhausted all his efforts just to master the shuffling technique, let alone colluding to cheat.

Furthermore, there's no need to worry about dealer errors. In such a completely public environment with ten display windows, if a mistake is made against either player, both opponents can point it out on the spot and request a re-deal. With thousands of spectators watching the game on board and the rooms equipped with comprehensive video surveillance, there's no need to worry about this rule being abused.

The match began in a predictable manner. Both sides nodded to each other, showing no intention of exchanging harsh words.

The dealer silently shuffled the deck of cards, using the four decks Vio had chosen late last night after disembarking—the most common kind from a roadside convenience store.

The shuffling technique was the most basic alternating cut combined with random shuffling. Because the dealer was a novice, the shuffling was slow and heavy, and he occasionally had to stand on the edge of the table to complete the action. However, no one complained about this; the lengthy preparation made this highly anticipated game exceptionally solemn.

.

Naza, holding the new leaf cat entrusted to her by the jasmine, looked at the screen in the hall, where the betting results were displayed in crystal clarity.

The lady who owned the gambling den, from Kanto, wasn't very good at poker; she only had a general idea of ​​the rankings of basic hands. Yet even she could tell that the two players at the table were playing unusually conservatively.

The duel-style Double Dragon Poker game uses an unlimited betting mechanism, with both players holding the same amount of bets, and each holding a thousand purple chips that are piled up into a spectacular fortress at the edge of the table.

However, right between these two cities, the two men, who possess billions in wealth, tacitly maintained a minimum level of betting.

Whether it's blueberries or Vio, they didn't hesitate to give up call opportunities time and time again, wishing they could split a chip in half to use it.

The bets thrown out were like lone knights venturing out of the city, encountering neither powerful enemies nor reinforcements, only to collide head-on with equally lone opponents, either returning victorious or being captured in defeat.

"Did you see that? The hole cards that King Yueju folded just now were a pair of high cards. If it were me, I would have gone all in with that hand."

A portly gambler commented from a gambling table behind Naz.

Now all the gambling tables on the ship have voluntarily ceased operation and become spectator seats for watching gambling duels.

“So that’s the difference between you and a legendary gambler,” said his companion at the same table. “Right now, Vio and Blueberry are just testing the stacking of the top layer of the deck. With a greater than 50% chance of chance, even if one side throws a big bet, the other side will just fold cleanly and run away. There’s no way you can go all in.”

"Then this gamble will never end until the deck is empty?" a young gambler sitting behind a slot machine asked innocently.

"No, both duelists are masters of probability calculation. As their calculations of the deck become more detailed, their bets will increase. When their calculations show a clear divergence, the real showdown will begin."

As if responding to the sounds from the casino, Vio made his first bet in this game. The aloof Amethyst Knight was aided by two reinforcements, who together captured the citrus chips and brought them back to the castle.

From this moment on, the tide of the game turned.

The sage of the plasma group seemed to have regained his form from the blackjack game last night, calmly throwing out round after round of bets in accordance with the principle of maximizing interest rates.

The chips rolled silently onto the black and white tablecloth, but the old man's card-flipping and betting seemed to follow a rhythmic pattern, making it a delight to behold.

Conversely, the way bilberries are betting on the other side is rather complicated.

Shaking one's head, giving a wry smile, skipping a card, folding – these are tricks often used by bluffers seeking to make a fool of someone.

Like a master of this art, Lingju kept skipping or folding, constantly concealing his hand by voluntarily conceding. In one game, a spectator's perspective revealed Lingju's hand: he had two Queens, and there was another Queen on the table, but he still chose to fold.

The cards that the evil-type king has to play are melting away like an iceberg under the scorching sun.

.

"Booing is not a good habit."

Just as Blueberry was putting up a large amount of chips in a round of calls, trying to force the old man to back down, Vio spoke up indifferently.

The bet didn't forbid conversation between the two, but they had previously kept silent in tacit agreement. Now, however, the mathematical genius seemed to have just finished a complex calculation, uttering his first words with a sigh of relief.

"There's no point in arguing. If you insist on thinking that way, then please place your bets as you see fit," Yueju stated calmly with a standard poker face.

"His imposing manner certainly lives up to the Gambler King's infamous reputation, but bluffing is useless against a true mathematician."

The sage responded dismissively, pushing a third of the way through his castle with both hands.

Watching this scene on the high-definition screen, Naz felt the gamblers around her hold their breath for a moment.