Pokémon Detective Case Files

Chapter 481 Fist and Labyrinth

Chapter 483 Fist and Labyrinth

Since stepping into this steel maze constructed of plasma clusters, Lian Wu has been following behind Bogarman, wandering around inside for almost half an hour.

This Unova Champion's Pokémon explores dungeons in a way that is completely different from any other Pokémon Lianwu knows.

It neither sniffed the smell left by the structural deformation of the room nor listened to the sound of the wind coming from the corridor. Instead, it was like an art critic immersing himself in the exhibition. With the limited halo of light cast by the flashlight in Lian Wu's hand, it would sometimes get close to the wall and carefully examine the geometric patterns etched on the metal surface; at other times, it would take a few steps back, cross its short arms, squint its eyes, and measure the width of the corridor and the splicing angle of the floor tiles.

Its composed and deliberate demeanor made it seem as if this were not a perilous enemy's lair, but rather an art gallery run by its trainer.

Of course, even Wu himself isn't good at navigating mazes.

Although this place used to be the headquarters of the United States Alliance, which he visited almost every week, it has long been unrecognizable after Team Plasma's castle rose up and covered and reconstructed the original building.

Now, standing in this cold, orderly, yet endlessly repetitive metal corridor, if he were alone, he would probably only be able to smash his way through with his fists, or he would just spin around in place like a dangling speck.

In fact, he had tried the former, but the alloy inner wall of the castle was indeed a bit tricky. With Lian Wu only having one main Pokémon left, it was really difficult for the old craftsman to carry out such a huge project.

However, in this fighting king's mind, the normal way to explore a maze should be more rigorous, such as marking the path, drawing a sketch, or leaving a code that only one side can recognize.

But the little guy didn't do any of these things.

However, despite Pogaman's "unprofessional" way of leading the way, Lian Wu and his group rarely went back along the way.

Well, it was Hugo's partner after all—perhaps it really did have some unique way of finding its own path.

call out-

The sudden whooshing sound interrupted the Fighting King's thoughts.

Suddenly, a familiar green blur emerged from the shadows of the fork in the road ahead.

"A veteran repairman!"

This wasn't the first time they'd been attacked, and Lian Wu immediately roared in anger.

Almost simultaneously, the burly figure of the old craftsman flashed to the side and in front of Pogaman, and a heavy concrete pillar swept out, accurately blocking the cluster of "magic leaves" that came at him.

The blades struck the concrete, making a soft, crackling sound.

The old craftsman was naturally prepared to continue the pursuit, but the green figure had already retreated into the shadows like a ghost.

Just like its previous actions: harass, probe, then withdraw.

If Wanlong were here, she should have recognized this elf—Ironleaf—from their very first encounter.

The Paranormal Science Gazette of the Padiya region also published a sketch of it: its shape was highly similar to that of the Virigion in Unova legends, but its entire body was covered with cold, hard metal armor, and artificial light sources like fluorescent tubes were embedded in its joints.

It's obvious that such a futuristic industrial design could not possibly appear on the swordsmen of Unova, who were active hundreds of years ago. It is most likely a biological weapon secretly developed by Team Plasma.

However, unlike the Ghost-type Elite Four members he worked with, Lianwu, who was in battle, did not know the true identity of the attacking Pokémon.

He didn't even consider Virizion, one of the three legendary swords of Unova—after all, there are just too many green Grass-type Pokémon. And Lianwu himself wasn't a trainer adept at using information superiority to suppress his opponents.

His only strength has always been in one thing: facing the enemy head-on.

"Sonic Fist!"

Unlike the previous tentative probes, this time the enemy seemed particularly interested in the clues discovered by the Piplup, launching their attack from a much closer distance. Therefore, Lian Wu didn't intend to let this opportunity slip by and chose to take the initiative in pursuit.

Following the trainer's command, the old builder suddenly released his grip without warning, and two heavy concrete pillars, which were like parts of his body, crashed to the ground.

Almost simultaneously, the old construction worker, now unburdened, transformed into a blurry afterimage, charging towards Iron Leaf with his bare hands!

boom!

This "sonic punch" released no energy; all the force was compressed into the fist's tip. At the moment of impact, the air was rapidly compressed and pierced, unleashing a short, sharp sonic boom!

Bang—crash!

The moment fists clashed with metal, the green sprite was blasted away, its back slamming into the corridor wall and smashing the Gothic patterns that Piplup had been admiring just a minute before.

But Ironleaf reacted with astonishing speed—using the recoil from the impact, it pushed off the wall with both feet, its body instantly changing from green to red, its superpowers highly condensed, forming a crimson spiritual blade above its head—

"A spiritual blade!"

The slash aimed straight for the old craftsman's neck!

"Hold on."

Lian Wu's voice was calm and composed. There is no such thing as an opponent who can only take a beating; he had certainly anticipated this counterattack.

"Psychic-type Pokémon?"

The opponent appears to be a Grass/Psychic type.

Fighting-type Pokémon are at a disadvantage against Psychic-types, a fact he, as the Fighting-type Elite Four member, knew all too well. And his method for dealing with this type was remarkably simple: "Pounce!"

It's neither the Dark-type move "Knock Off" which counters Psychic-type moves, nor "Brick Break" or "Hand Hammer" which have STAB boosts, but rather a Normal-type move that even pre-evolutionary Crafty can learn.

The moves were mediocre in power and not even fighting-type skills, but for this fighting king's partner, they were actions that had been honed millions of times and had become second nature.

Without any pause, the veteran construction worker removed the concrete column with lightning speed.

Those massive hands, powerful enough to split rocks and shatter stone, now displayed exquisite control, striking the joints and balance points where the iron-spotted leaf exerted its force with just the right amount of force and angle.

Unable to break free, Iron-spotted Leaf simply pointed its horns at the old craftsman. The luminous organ in the center of its head suddenly lit up, and emerald energy extended into a sharp, vertical "leaf blade," slashing fiercely towards its opponent's vital chest!

"Bear the blows, through sheer hardship!"

The essence of combat boils down to two things: to withstand or avoid attacks, and to ensure that your attacks hit their mark.

Lian Wu raised a thick eyebrow.

In the center of the battlefield, the old craftsman, with perfect timing, crossed his arms, grunted, and took the brunt of the leaf blade strike. Grass-attribute energy splattered across his muscles, sending blinding sparks flying. But it also seized the opportunity, splitting its arms to precisely clamp down on the iron-spotted leaf's horns, using the momentum of its charge to twist its waist and generate power—

A perfect over-the-shoulder throw! Slamming Iron Leaf hard into the ground!

"A low kick!"

In street fighting, there's no such thing as "leaving a way out," and Lian Wu certainly wouldn't stop his pursuit there. The immediate priority is to deprive the opponent of mobility, and moves that can slow them down are the most suitable.

The old craftsman braced himself with one hand on the ground, and his legs, which seemed rather short compared to his muscular arms, swept out like whips, aiming straight for the lower limb joints of the iron-spotted leaf—

But just as it was about to hit, the attack was suddenly stopped.

Because the figure of the iron-spotted leaf had already disappeared into the pale blue ripples of space.

Instead, the old craftsman was replaced by Bogaman, who was holding his head and looking completely bewildered.

It's exactly "changing venues"!

"Tsk, what a troublesome skill."

Lian Wu scratched the back of his head in frustration.

In the distance, the green figure had already disappeared into the depths of the corridor with several consecutive leaps, as if it was trying to avoid a direct confrontation with the Fighting King's Pokémon.

Lian Wu was unaware that it was precisely because of his extreme focus on minimizing energy dissipation and pursuing pure physical attacks that the Iron Leaf, responsible for interception, was unable to draw sufficient energy from the battle. Without external energy harvesting support, continuous combat was too taxing for it, so it could not rashly activate the "Electric Field" feature and could only resort to harassment and delaying tactics.

The battle was temporarily over, but Bogarman picked up his short fins and stared thoughtfully in the direction where Iron Leaf had disappeared.

"Poga, Poga!"

It suddenly cried out, its small fins pointing firmly to one side of the corridor—not the corner where Ironleaf had previously launched its harassment, but another seemingly intact wall on the side.

"You said—we're going this way?" Lian Wu asked, pointing in the opposite direction from where Tie Banye had fled.

"Bobobo————"

The little penguin shook its head vigorously, its two flippers making an "X" sign.

Then, he spat out a thin but precise "water gun" from his mouth, the water jet shooting straight in the third direction—to a certain spot in the middle of that wall.

"Is there a problem here?" Lian Wu raised his flashlight with suspicion, carefully scanning the area with the beam.

Where the spot of light swept across, the Fighting King's pupils suddenly contracted.

At a certain height, the exquisite yet repetitive Gothic etched patterns on the wall exhibited a subtle misalignment, almost imperceptible to the naked eye. It was as if two similar wallpapers had been carelessly pieced together, resulting in a millimeter-level break in the continuity of the patterns.

"Po-Ga!" Pogaman flapped his wings and made an exaggerated punching motion.

Lian Wu understood immediately and nodded to his partner behind him.

There, the old construction worker had already picked up the two concrete pillars again and silently stepped forward.

Although limited physical strength prevented them from brute forcefully carving a path through the maze to the core, there are currently no architectural walls in the world that can completely block the ace partner of this fighting king.

After all, demolition is the old profession of construction craftsmen.

boom!

The concrete column slammed heavily onto the vicinity of the misalignment point, piercing straight in.

First came the muffled thud of the surface cement crumbling, followed by the ear-piercing screeching of the twisting and deforming inner metal layers, and finally—

Boom! Thud!

The two-meter-long column was deeply embedded in the wall. Just hearing the hollow echo, Lian Wu was already certain of Pogaman's judgment—

There's nothing behind the wall!

Seeing that the attempt was effective, the experienced craftsman exerted force with both hands, using the embedding point as a fulcrum and the concrete column as a lever to pry it up and down. The wall creaked under the strain, and cracks spread like a spider web. Just then, another concrete column delivered the fatal blow, slamming hard into the already deformed and weak point of the wall.

Crash—Boom!

Suddenly, the entire wall collapsed inward, revealing a large, jagged hole.

However, the corridor behind the cave was not the one Lian Wu had anticipated.

Instead, it was a rough space with a completely different style, seemingly forcibly pieced together into the main body of the castle.

Countless unpolished concrete beams and columns were exposed, pipes hung haphazardly overhead, and the ground was even more than half a meter lower than where Lian Wu was standing. All the materials and craftsmanship were incompatible with the castle's exquisite Gothic style, as if they were foreign objects hastily integrated in when the construction was only halfway done.

This is precisely where the irreparable "errors" were accommodated during the reconstruction of this mechanical castle; it is a flaw that must be hidden in the meticulous blueprint of the "city defense master".

At the other end of this chaotic space, on a wall that had clearly been rotated before, Lian Wu saw a familiar mark.

A crooked mark deliberately scorched by some kind of corrosive liquid.

That was a mark left by someone using the poison-attribute move "Venom Impact".

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