Pokémon Detective Case Files

Chapter 260 Afterglow - Ancient Fading Lament

Chapter 262 Afterglow - Ancient Fading Lament

At the detective's command, the Turtwig's tender shoots emitted a white light. Before the opposing Pokémon could react, a fist-sized seed had already sprouted between its leaves.

"Scare!"

Obeying its trainer's commands, the grass-green starter Pokémon seized an opportunity and used "Bluff" at the same time.

With a sly move, he made a face at the knight snail facing him, his expression full of mockery.

The grass turtle waved its large head in an exaggerated motion, and taking advantage of the opportunity, the seed generated on its head was precisely swung horizontally towards the opponent's position, exploding in an instant like a flashbang with its fuse pulled.

A white light exploded in front of the Knight Snail's eyes. The blinding effect caused by the "flash" combined with the emotional guidance of "bluffing" to successfully tint the Knight Snail's eyes under his helmet with a chaotic color.

On the other side, Piplup, also a beginner Pokémon, seemed to have its fur standing on end. The originally soft, light blue fur on its body stood up straight, almost making the entire Pokémon look bigger.

Immediately afterwards, the little creature violently flapped its short, small fins and legs, and a large amount of down feathers appeared out of thin air with its comical dance. The light blue down feathers then flew up like snowflakes, guided by the aura of the attack, towards the location of the agile bug.

With its agility, the nimble bug could have easily dodged the slowing effect of the "Feather Dance". But just as it moved to dodge, the nimble bug inexplicably stopped.

The culprit behind this phenomenon is naturally Bogaman. At this moment, Bogaman's mouth is slightly open, and high-frequency sound waves that are inaudible to the human ear are emitted from its not-sharp, pale yellow beak, finding their opponents even before the fluttering feathers.

"Ultrasound"!

The fluffy feathers perfectly concealed the little penguin's deep breath as it gathered strength, allowing this other skill to strike unexpectedly at the agile bug's unprotected cochlea.

The very next second after the "Ultrasonic Wave" hit, taking advantage of the opponent's momentary stagnation, Piplup's "Feather Dance" move descended from the sky on a gentle breeze, successfully sticking to the strip-like mucus on Agile Bug's body, adhering to the opponent, and instantly slowing down the originally swift movements.

Logically speaking, since Hugo had clearly stated the moves he was about to command in front of everyone, it was impossible for Aldeck, as an experienced opponent, not to make any response.

However, the reality is that the two Bug-type Pokémon that were attacked seemed completely unprepared and took full force of the opponent's disruptive attacks.

This was not due to Alder's arrogance or the two Pokémon's carelessness or underestimation of their opponent—but rather to another obvious reason.

A far more brutal clash erupted long before Turtwig and Piplup could even unleash their attacks. In the aftershocks of those frenzied attacks, the harassing moves of the two beginner Pokémon were utterly insignificant!

Garchomp was the first to launch an attack.

Commanded by Hugo to use "Earthquake," it didn't choose to use the technique while remaining in place, but instead unleashed its full power.

Not to mention Piplup and Tortoise standing on either side of it, even Hugo further back would be in danger.

However, Hugo's order was clearly not thoughtless. When Garchomp's dragon eyes noticed the detective's hidden gesture at its side, the last trace of confusion in its heart turned into a surging fighting spirit.

Right before our eyes, isn't there a magnificent piece of land waiting to amaze us?

The Garchomp slammed its feet into the ground, but the expected tremor did not occur. Instead, the deep blue Garchomp soared into the air, like a jet taking off.

Adek narrowed his eyes, ignoring Hugo's other orders, and commanded Volcarona, who was standing in the center of the field, "The enemy wants to fly to the next floor through the burrow. The 'earthquake' there will turn into falling rocks and hit us. We can't give it that chance! Volcarona, 'Charged Flame Attack' and chase after it!"

The indoor temperature suddenly rose by several degrees. Just as Hugo felt this temperature change, the champion's Volcarona suddenly disappeared from the spot. Only when he looked up could he barely see a fiery red tail flame.

If Garchomp leaping from the ground is like a jet plane powered by a high-pressure engine, then a fully powered Volcarona is as fast as an aero-rocket attempting to break through the atmosphere.

The latter's six insect wings fluttered at a speed invisible to the naked eye, catching up with the Garchomp that was about to pass through the hole in the blink of an eye.

Alder waved his hand and shouted, "Flash Charge!"

"Use 'tornadoes' to block the flow and continue the operation."

The detective spoke in a low voice into the communicator clipped to his black collar, which was connected to a miniature speaker attached to Garchomp's head. He had taken the time to check it out during his earlier standoff with Alder, and the device didn't seem to have been destroyed by the Double Ice's "big bang."

"Tornado" is Garchomp's STAB move, dealing double damage to flying Pokémon and sometimes even causing them to flinch. When used by Garchomp, this move can at least slow down Volcarona's attack.

Before such a thought was even lingering in Hugo's mind, reality had already shattered his illusions.

The preparation of the "Flame Charge" move did not slow down Volcano's pursuit of its opponent; on the contrary, it helped it accelerate further.

At the end of its suddenly elongated tail flame, the fiery red meteor crashed through the blue wind blade thrown by Garchomp, and its speed did not decrease at all, hitting the flying Garchomp straight in the middle!

A furious dragon roar echoed through the air, and Hugo's earpiece emitted a mournful beep, signaling the destruction of the communication device.

However, the deep blue jet plane was not destroyed. The smoke and fire dissipated slightly, and Garchomp was half charred black. There were still sparks on its rough skin, but its two scythe-like claws were like steel nails, stubbornly embedded deep in the ceiling, which was still half a step away from the broken pit.

Similarly, its enemies did not retreat.

Even though in theory the reflected damage from "Flash Charge" and "Rough Skin" should put a considerable burden on Volcarona, to the naked eye, this blazing star of fire has no dimming spots and is completely unscathed.

It was as if they could launch another attack at any moment.

Just then, as Volcarona and his trainer were about to continue their pursuit, another unexpected event occurred. From a direction that those involved could not have predicted, directly below an empty battlefield, the energy of the moves "Flash" and "Feather Dance" exploded brilliantly on the ground!

This caused the champion partners, who were about to unleash their next move and give their next instructions, to pause simultaneously.

""earthquake"! "

Not missing the fleeting opportunity, the detective in black suddenly shouted, repeating the initial command once again.

Only in this way could his commands be clearly and accurately transmitted to Garchomp's ears.

Carbohydrate.

The sickening sound of rocks shattering replaced the shouts and answered the detective's command.

Hanging upside down in the air, with its claws deeply embedded in the ceiling, Garchomp revealed a ferocious smile.

A simple deduction is that the Tower of Heaven is an ancient structure that has stood for hundreds of years. Conversely, even if this structure is incredibly sturdy, it has already withstood the erosion of time for centuries. Existence itself is not proof of something's indestructibility; even the Tower of Heaven, which has existed for hundreds of years, cannot guarantee that it won't collapse the next day.

A very simple principle is that objects contract inward when exposed to cold conditions and expand outward when exposed to high temperatures. In the past, when miners encountered rocks that they couldn't mine, they would have Water-type and Fire-type Pokémon take turns using their own type moves on them. In no time, the rocks that couldn't be moved by human power would crack on their own—this is the principle of thermal expansion and contraction.

A very simple opportunity -

It's not only by standing firmly on the earth that one can shake everything. The three-toed claws on the hind legs of the deep blue earth dragon have already gripped the white stone bricks in front of it tightly.

The turbulent ground-based energy flowed into the cracks in the rocks along the dragon's claws. As if one could hear the mournful cries of colliding molecules, this hard and ancient rocky land finally began to rejoice.

The situation had spiraled out of control to this point, and further developments were inevitable. At the spot where the deep blue earth dragon was hanging upside down, the three-story ceiling, which already had a large hole, suddenly developed a dense network of cracks resembling a spider web.

These cracks, like plant roots sprouting from the "Crazy Plant" technique, rapidly multiplied and extended until they covered the entire dome.

This is the moment when the Tower of Heaven will crumble and break.