Pokémon Detective Case Files

Chapter 264 Yang Tui - A Perilous Leap of Vigilance in Times of Peace

Chapter 266 Yang Tui - A Perilous Leap of Vigilance in Times of Peace

The world is full of foolishness and accidents.

However, when an accidental mistake occurs, who can really be sure that it is just a simple error?

The third floor of the Tower of Heaven has now been divided into two battlefields, one in front and one behind. In the very center of the battlefield, Volcarona's "Explosive Flame" mixed with "Hot Wind" crashed down on the spot where the blue Garchomp stood, instantly engulfing its figure.

Meanwhile, on Hugo's side at the rear of the battle line, Sneasel and Agilebug had flanked Detective from both sides, with each Pokémon unleashing their strongest moves.

This is a Pokémon duel with very simple rules.

With both sides tacitly understanding each other, Hugo could summon wild Pokémon to weaken his opponent and use the destruction of the ceiling as a direct attack on the trainer. Alder, on the other hand, didn't hold back at all, unleashing "Giga Impact" and "Hyper Beam" simultaneously at Hugo and Piplup, whom he was holding in his arms.

Flames erupted, emitting a deafening roar, and the stone-paved ground resembled a real inferno, with towering flames rising into the sky.

This is the final song of a dying Volcano Moth, and even in the entire history of the Unova Alliance's battles, such a magnificent flame is unparalleled.

At the same time, the agile insect successfully completed its energy storage, and the extremely violent energy was condensed into a perfectly round sphere.

Then, as if a balloon had been torn open, the force that had been forcibly compressed suddenly burst out and shot towards the black-clad detective who had no time to dodge.

A white beam of light pierced through the air, followed by a deafening sonic boom!

Meanwhile, on the other side, a speeding steel war machine had already arrived in grand style.

The armor dragged across the floor tiles, making a teeth-grinding scraping sound. The high-speed moving knight snail was surrounded by vortexes of air generated by friction, and its two knightly lances were brought together to form a sharp ramming horn, which came straight at the detective's face.

Thump, thump! Rumble, rumble! Crash, crash, crash!

Following the "earthquake" created by Garchomp, the Tower of Paradise trembled once again.

This time, however, the source of the tremor was not the ground-based energy injected into the building, but pure force.

"Ah! I can't believe it!"

"Incredible. How...no, how did they do all this?"

In the spectator area, two female athletes exclaimed in amazement, while Yueju narrowed her eyes thoughtfully.

They weren't far from Hugo's location, so even through the dazzling light of the attack, the three of them still witnessed that miraculous scene—

Volcarona's "Explosive Flame" and "Heat Wave" landed in empty space.

Garchomp disappeared from where it had been standing.

Without any prior action, it simply vanished from the spot without warning, leaving behind only a scorched black ground ravaged by flames, with no trace of any evasive moves such as "digging".

Garchomp can't learn "teleportation"!

Meanwhile, in front of the black-clad detective caught in a pincer attack, the rough-skinned silhouette of the deep blue earth dragon reappeared like a ghost.

With eyes closed and head bowed, body curled up, and scythe-like triangular fins crossed, Garchomp appeared out of nowhere and stood in front of Hugo, taking the double attack from Agile Bug and Knight Snail head-on.

Having just narrowly escaped a potentially fatal attack, Hugo calmly placed Piplup on the ground, speaking in a low voice at lightning speed to Garchomp.

"All of the opponent's items have been identified, and none of them will affect this round of the battle. You can attack with confidence."

Taking advantage of the previous opportunity, he had observed the situation of the Knight Snail and the Agile Bug up close. The item carried by the Knight Snail is "Metal Membrane", which can increase the power of steel-attribute skills.

This prop is like a transparent film, meticulously covering every inch of the Knight Snail Armor.

On the ice staircase, Ardek was able to slide down the spiral staircase at high speed thanks to the smooth surface of the metal membrane.

The item on Agile Bug is "Silver Dust," which can increase the power of Bug-type moves.

It was precisely with the amplification of this silver powder that the "bug chirp" on the Agile Bug side was able to easily tear apart the "Protect" move used by the Grass Sprout Turtle, as if it had pierced through a window.

Volcano, on the other hand, carried no combat items at all, because its body temperature was now far too high. Any items would be damaged or destroyed by the high temperature, becoming useless junk.

The items for the first two can only enhance the power of their own moves, and do not have the effect of replenishing energy or leaving the field, while Volcano is still far away and beyond reach.

This means that... this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

Thoughts flashed through my mind in the blink of an eye, but in the real world, they were gone in the blink of an eye.

Hugo looked in front of him

Garchomp, covered in scorch marks and bruises, was breathing weakly and could barely maintain its standing position.

Escavalier and Agilebug are, after all, the Unova Champion's prized main Pokémon. Under the combined onslaught of their strongest moves, Garchomp was truly battered and bruised. Its stamina, barely clinging to life, was not much more than that of Piplup beside it.

But now, the opponent before us is even weaker.

The two sprites, Knight Snail and Agile Bug, were both frozen in place, exhausted from unleashing their powerful attacks, unable to move even if they wanted to.

"Hang in there a little longer, Garchomp."

Even before the flames created by the Volcano Moth had subsided, and just as Alice uttered her first gasp, the detective had already made up his mind and uttered his next command—"Reverse Scale!"

A low growl rumbled from Garchomp's throat, a sound Hugo knew was only made when Garchomp was extremely satisfied.

It seems that his command had scratched the itch in its proud dragon heart.

The extremely weak Garchomp blinked, and in an instant, its bright yellow vertical pupils turned blood red.

The knight snail closest to the deep blue earth dragon suddenly felt a shiver run down its spine, and cold sweat poured down its face inside its helmet.

"Look, that's the key item that allows Garchomp to use its 'teleportation' magic."

From the stands, the Dark-type Champion, Cranberry, pointed to a charred rag in the corner of the battlefield and said this.

Victini, still radiating light, tried to fly up to see what the so-called "key item" was.

However, after flapping its wings a few times, it eventually gave up due to exhaustion. It simply shook off its little wings and sat back on Alice's shoulder, waiting to hear the opinions of the humans watching the battle.

"Are you referring to that charred piece of cloth? And what was it originally made of?"

Wanlong withdrew his gaze from the Garchomp that had just begun to display its might and asked Yueju.

The latter shrugged: "The answer is actually quite obvious. Now it seems that Garchomp's previous 'Dragon Swarm' wasn't a blunder made out of nowhere, but rather a premeditated plan."

"What do you mean?"

"After all, to perfectly conceal a battle item on a Pokémon, you have to prepare all of this before the battle begins. This means that the detective must have anticipated a similar situation and specifically chose that item."

"Is this your perspective as a professional gambler?"

"No, you might not believe it, but I haven't gambled properly since I became the League's top player. The reason I was able to detect that is just some experience I gained while I was a cheater."

Urged on by Victini, Iris, who had been left standing aside, couldn't help but ask, "Elite Four member, what exactly was that item that Garchomp used? Why could it create a 'teleport' effect, moving Garchomp from Volcarona to the Trainer?"

"Actually, items that can instantly remove you from the battlefield are not uncommon. For example, there is the red card that removes the opponent from the battlefield, and the escape button that allows you to immediately leave the battle after being attacked. As long as the trainer does not use Poké Balls to switch Pokémon after these items are activated, but instead lets them continue to fight, the trainer can instantly pull the Pokémon on the field to his front. The effect is similar to the Pokémon instantly moving to a different position."

"I am," said Lingju slowly and deliberately.

"But that couldn't be a red card or an escape button," Alice retorted.

"Garuda wasn't attacked at all before it moved. And Garuda had already joined the battle beforehand; if it was carrying an Escape Button, it should have activated it as soon as it was hit by the 'Geometry Snowflake's Explosion.'"

"Therefore, Garchomp is carrying a different item."

The novelist, Tianwang, said, clearly having already guessed the answer.

A one-time "instant teleportation".

With the fabric remnant in the room, the answer to the mystery is becoming clear.

"That combat item originated in the Galar region. You, who were born in the Unova region, may not have heard of it. However, given that detective's background, obtaining such an item is not difficult."

Wanlong raised her index finger and said the correct answer: "Refuge Backpack. When an allied Pokémon's stats are weakened, it will automatically leave the field for rotation."