Pokémon Detective Case Files.

"Since you're from Kanto, you must have heard of a card trick called 'Ditto Cards,' right?"

"I've heard of it, but not in the Kanto region..."

To be precise, I heard it from Yueju on the Royal Union account a few days ago.

"So, can you rule out the possibility that the entire table is actually a Ditto 'transformed'?"

"..."

"Maybe Ditto could grow eyes on the bottom of the face-down cards to peek under them, and then use its sense of touch to write the card's name—Azure—on the palm of its hand where Blueberry is lying flat on the table. Is such a trick possible?"

"It's a bit bizarre, but... it seems like it might be okay, I guess."

The assistant glanced at her Poké Ball and answered hesitantly.

"Don't use Ditto to do such strange things!" Azure's facial expression was screaming.

"Alternatively, you can create the same effect using Ghost-type Pokémon that are good at passing through walls. Although Vio will check the Ghost-type energy fluctuations at the venue before the game starts, as long as you estimate the time it will dissipate, you can have your Pokémon hide inside the table beforehand. However, it must be a small Ghost with fingers to operate..."

The detective is like an arsonist who has stumbled into a powder keg, gleefully lighting one fuse after another, causing all sorts of bizarre deductions to explode, without any regard for the audience's feelings.

"Alright, I understand how Blueberry won, please stop talking."

Feeling increasingly nauseous, Natsume asked the detective to stop reasoning.

"Is that all? I have a few more very interesting hypotheses..."

"No need, my curiosity has been completely satisfied, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say I'm stuffed... Please don't continue to pollute my mind."

Faced with his resolute client, Hugo shook his head regretfully.

Among these final tricks, there's a cheating method that requires neither accomplices nor Pokémon assistance—a rather insane and brilliant solution...

.

"Oh, right, Naz."

Pulling his thoughts away from the Double Dragon poker game, the detective spoke to the Psychic Hall Master without warning.

“At the beginning, you said that Blueberry is a real gambler who would not surrender in the face of risk; and I refuted your argument by saying that Blueberry was committing fraud rather than gambling, right?”

Sabrina blinked her red eyes and looked at the detective in confusion, not understanding why he wanted to bring up the old story again.

"But when we were discussing psychological suggestion earlier, I suddenly had a new inspiration."

What kind of inspiration?

"The transmission of emotions has a recoil effect—when provoking an opponent, the provocateur is also affected by the combative mindset; when staff members dressed as ghosts in a haunted house scream and frighten tourists, they themselves feel fear; similarly, in the gambling game, Lanju intensely plays the role of a gambler obsessed with the game, doing her best to stimulate Vio's desire to win. Under this level of emotional reaction, there is no reason for Lanju not to be blinded by her competitive spirit."

Gambling is highly addictive and extremely difficult to quit.

Even the most famous gambler in the United States, the King of Gamblers, could he really resist the temptation to go all in?

"Then why did Yueju ultimately choose to surrender and admit defeat to that green-haired youth? For a gambler in a frenzy, tearing up one or two pre-contracts should be an easy task, right?"

The detective's expression was more serious than ever before.

"Naza, since losing the bet, Blueberry hasn't said a word until she disembarked and left, right?"

“Yes,” the superpowered girl replied softly. She felt that the detective’s expression at this moment was somewhat similar to that of the blueberry back then.

Hugo let out a long sigh, and then spat out this baseless inference—

"The situation may not be as easy as we previously anticipated. The reason why Bilberry decisively gave up should be due to an off-the-books event that made him restrain his playful nature. This event also led to his long silence in the casino - generally speaking, people will always complain a bit when they lose a game that they have to lose, but Bilberry King on Royal United Daily News is not in the mood for that."

Outside the Feathered Residence, the sun was at noon, but to Hugo it seemed as if the sun was setting.

"A storm is brewing, insects are chirping, something extraordinary is about to happen."

Chapter 191 Resolution - The Return of the Dark-Type Elite Four

"You've worked hard this time, welcome back."

"Hmm, well done."

Scattered applause could be heard from a private room in a small tavern hidden in a deep alley near the headquarters of the United Alliance.

The tavern is located at the end of the rugged Champion's Road, a mountain road that is usually deserted, especially during the day when it is not mealtime.

The owner, who also served as the chef, had gone out to do something, leaving only the kapok ball responsible for cleaning the floor, lazily drifting around, rubbing cotton the size of a rag between the leaves, and idly dusting off the dirt on the floor.

"As expected of Cranberry, it can create such a wonderful victory without relying on Pokémon battles. It's truly inspiring."

A muscular man dressed as a fighter rose from his seat to greet Yueju as she entered the private room, saying apologetically—

"I'm sorry, if it weren't for what happened with Master, I should at least have opened a barrel of good wine to celebrate for you this time."

"No need for alcohol, even Boss Wu, there's plenty of that stuff on the Royal Union." Yueju stepped into the room and bumped fists with the man. "What I miss most right now are my reliable colleagues."

Lian Wu, the Unova Fighting King, is a disciple of the champion Alder.

In the face of the Champion's semi-retirement and the Dark-type Champion's "betrayal" of the League, he, like Regigigas in mythology who supports the sky with his shoulders, gritted his teeth and endured the pressure from all sides, maintaining the reputation of the Unova League.

"It's okay to say we're friends."

The novelist, wearing round-framed glasses, waved and teased, her neat purple short hair covering her ears, making her look like an unevolved polka doll.

Wanlong, the Ghost King of the Unified World, a popular bestselling author, and the initiator of this undercover operation.

When the Union Alliance needs her, she is always battling against the novel's deadline; when the editor chasing the novel comes to her, she is always busy dealing with heavy Union affairs.

"When you have time, you'd better tell me everything that happened on the gambling ship. I don't want to miss out on such great writing material." The Ghost-type King held a notepad and shamelessly stared at the Blueberry.

“I remember that the plan for this operation was devised with you, Wanlong, right? Is it necessary to repeat it again?” Yueju shrugged and asked rhetorically. “Besides, what’s the use of all the inspiration you’ve accumulated? Don’t you have a wildly popular work being serialized online, and the ending is still a long way off?”

"Tsk." The novelist clicked his tongue unhappily. "Even the medium itself is a symbol of constraint. A true writer should be free to do as he pleases, reciting poetry at sunrise, getting into the flow of a fantasy novel, and only picking up his pen to create when the typewriter becomes endearing; depicting love in spring, writing ghost stories to cool off in summer, writing down weighty history in the autumn wind, imagining the world a thousand years from now while snuggled in bed in winter, sculpting the heavy reality on rainy nights, and writing about passionate battles under the clear sun..."

"Such a lazy writer probably couldn't write a single word, could he?"

Facing Wanlong, who was lost in her imagination, the evil king launched a merciless attack: "Don't use serialization as an excuse. Even when you were publishing novels as single volumes, you had the glorious experience of being forced by editors who were rushing you to write, hiding in the king's room and staying up all night to write the manuscript, right?"

Wanlong shuddered, then shook her head violently: "Even if you try to change the subject by bringing up my dark past, I won't fall for it! Inspiration is inspiration, the more the better! You never know when you might need it. Besides, when you were discussing the plan with me, you concealed all the traps and tricks in the casino. This time, I'm making you spill them all!"

"These are just tricks to fool children, nothing to brag about. The reason the scam succeeds is only because the people who fall for it are too stupid; everything they do is exactly what we expected."

The gambling king still refused to give a direct answer, drawing a piercing gaze from the novelist.

"Blueberry, three months ago... what did you do with my Pokémon?"

At the far end of the room sat a blonde girl, wearing a wide-brimmed hat like a cream cake, her eyes half-open as if she hadn't woken up yet.

The one who questioned Lantau was this girl—Cattleya, the youngest of the Unova Elite Four, a psychic-type Elite Four member.

A Poké Ball floated out from beside her hand, and through its translucent red part, a copper-green disc-shaped creature could be seen.

"This is the Bronze Mirror Pokémon that Woosong gave me when I went back to Sinnoh last time," Cattleya said lazily, yawning. "Why did Blueberry borrow it when it's not even fully trained yet?"

"Ah, it was the item you borrowed on the day the turmoil at the Seven Treasures Museum just started, right? I ran an errand for you at the time to Cattleya's villa. It turns out that the life-or-death item you mentioned was actually the Poké Ball containing the Bronze Mirror."

Even Wu looked at Yueju with interest: "I'm also a little curious, why didn't you use the Pokémon Center's teleportation system back then, and instead had me send someone to meet you?"

"This Mirror Mirror is really good. It helped me win my first bet against Team Plasma," the Dark-type Elite Four member replied casually. "If it's teleported through a Pokémon Center, wouldn't its existence be known to others? It would also be recorded in the Pokémon Center's system."

Lingju sat down next to King Lianwu and began to explain—

"Generally speaking, when people see me, they only think of a fierce and vicious Dark-type Pokémon, right? That's the same for the Dark Trio who were responsible for monitoring me. So when I suggested that we use gambling to decide my reward for joining us at the meeting place, none of them expected that I would use superpowers to manipulate the game."

"I remember you used a coin toss game to gamble against Team Plasma back then, right?"

As Wanlong recalled the details of the events from three months ago, she asked, puzzled—

"Even if the bronze mirror monster can use 'telekinesis,' wouldn't it be too much of a stretch to expect it to perfectly simulate the motion and spin of a coin?"

In a bet with the Dark Triangle, Bulbasaur and the ninjas tossed a coin ten times in a row. They agreed that if all the tosses landed heads up, Bulbasaur's reward would be increased tenfold; otherwise, he would receive nothing.

“As I said before, those are just tricks to fool children. The actual operation is much simpler than Wanlong guessed.”

Rather than using complex telekinetic techniques to simulate the coin's trajectory in the air, it's better to gently nudge the coin just before it hits the ground to determine its final orientation.

The bronze mirror monster did not control the coin the entire time. It only needed to apply "gravity" to one end of the coin at the last moment when it landed, and it could silently make the outcome of the coin toss completely reversed.

The leaked superpower fluctuations were so faint as to be almost imperceptible.

One problem was solved, but another question immediately arose—

For the cheating method to work, Bronze Mirror Monster must be present with Blueberry. How did this bronze Pokémon, which can neither turn invisible nor transform, manage to evade the vigilant gazes of three elite ninjas?

"This brings us to the real reason why I chose Copper Mirror," the Dark-type Elite Four member said, shaking his finger. "The reason I chose Copper Mirror instead of the other Pokémon in Cattleya is because it is the most patient among those Psychic-type Pokémon."

"Most skilled at patience?"

"This all started with the robbery in Shippo City—after the first robbery, Team Plasma moved the museum's collection to the cult's secret warehouse, but that was just a cover. The important cult leaders were actually hiding in an even more concealed place. They thought their safe house was well hidden, but my Raven leader had already discovered the location of that hidden spot. That night, while the team members launched a surprise attack on the Shippo Museum, I secretly sneaked into the building and buried the Bronze Mirror Monster under the floor tiles in the center of the room."

In the midst of the museum incident, despite searching all night, the Dark Trio failed to discover the Dark Stone that the detective had buried beneath the museum's floor tiles. Naturally, they couldn't possibly have guessed that the floor tiles beneath their feet had also been tampered with.

"A few days after the museum incident was resolved, Team Plasma finally made up their minds and decided to accept my so-called 'surrender'. By this time, all the warehouses where they had previously hidden the museum's collections had been searched by the police, leaving only a handful of places available for secret meetings. So, naturally, I was invited into the most secluded safe house to discuss my future treatment with Team Plasma."

The three ninjas never expected that the "first" ninja to enter the building, Yueju, had already planted an accomplice beneath their feet.

Lian Wu looked utterly shocked, and Wan Long's mouth formed an "O" shape.

"This trick is very similar to Wusong's 'switching sides' tactic. Hmm... what a strange coincidence."

The Elite Four member examined the Poké Ball containing the Bronze Mirror Pokémon in his hand, his sleepiness completely gone, replaced by a thoughtful expression.

“But there’s still one problem,” the novelist suddenly said, nitpicking.

"Unlike the blueberry, the bronze mirror monster buried underground can't see whether a coin is heads or tails—even with 'telekinesis,' it can only sense the presence of a round object about to fall from the sky. Through the thick floor tiles, it can't possibly discern the pattern on a spinning metal plate. How can it ensure that the coin it alters will land heads up?"

"That's easy."

A naive smile appeared on Lingju's face, as if he were truly playing a childish trick on a little kid. He then lifted his toes and lightly tapped the ground.

Tap tap—the sound of barely audible footsteps echoed on the ground.

“Every time I tap the ground with my toes, the bronze mirror monster under the floor tiles changes the orientation of the coin.”

That's how it is.

Chapter 192 The Champion's Message, The Conman's Legacy

"How are Mr. Alder and Volcarona doing now?"

After explaining the coin toss, Yueju turned to Lianwu and asked.

The once deserted tavern private room has now become the meeting room for the four Heavenly Kings of Unova to hold a secret meeting.

Champion Aldridge has two Volcaronas, one old and one young, but without needing to say more, the four Elite Four members present all know which one is being referred to by "Blueberry".

"Vulcan Moth has fully recovered, as if all its years of injuries and illnesses have disappeared, and its momentum is even stronger than in its past peak. Alas... this day has finally come."

These should have been words of joy and encouragement, but Lian Wu's face was filled with sorrow as he recounted the facts.

Born from a cocoon of flames, the fire moth brings light to humanity when dust obscures the sun, and shines upon the world in place of the sun in the cold, icy lands.

These Pokémon live a life as flamboyant and dazzling as a raging fire. Compared to other Bug-type Pokémon, they are much stronger on average, and their longer lifespans give them greater potential—but life eventually comes to an end.

In ancient murals, people revered the fire moth with its fiery wings as a deity; in the ruins of ancient kingdoms deep in the desert, there have also been eyewitness reports of fire moths that have been dormant for hundreds of years...

However, a life spent in dust and sleep is worthless—at least for Ardek's original partner, it would have preferred to become a burning flame, illuminating the path ahead for the chosen one for less than seventy years.

As the intense life force within their bodies begins to wane, the Volcano moth exhibits symptoms of lethargy, sluggishness, and excessive sleepiness. During this period, its previously invulnerable "flame body" loses its effectiveness, and diseases dispelled by the flames during its prime return.

Just like other Bug-type Pokémon that enter their aging period, Volcarona, which was once as bright as the sun, will also become weak, with dry wings, cloudy eyes, and extremely frail. It will be sore all over just by releasing a move, hoarse just by making a chirp, and will be prevented by a sudden wave of sleepiness just by wanting to take another look at the outside world.

However, even this agonizing period of aging will eventually come to an end.

Different elves exhibit drastically different behaviors when facing the end of their lives—but the Volcano is undoubtedly the most mythical of them all.

When on the verge of death, the fire moth bursts forth with unprecedented life force, fully recovering its health within a few short days.

The blazing flames transformed into new wings, dispelling the disease once more, allowing them to soar into the sky once more, shining as brightly as the sun and a deity…

But everyone knows that this kind of "recovery" comes at a price.

—The price called "death".

This is less a miracle of a final burst of energy before death than a final act of mercy bestowed upon life by eternal nothingness.

After its final burst of energy, the fully restored body of the Volcano moth will become increasingly hot. If you observe closely, you will see its original insect shell gradually disappearing, replaced by a materialized flame within its body, until it finally becomes a burning flame that vanishes suddenly in a dazzling light.

This phenomenon was discovered and recorded by the Pokémon Professor in the Unova region long ago, and it is also an important reason why Volcarona was deified in ancient times and regarded as the embodiment of the sun.

Clearly, Ardek's longtime partner in the championship has finally reached this point.