Pokémon Detective Case Files

Chapter 497 The Old Man and the Sea

Chapter 499 The Old Man and the Sea

The essence of wind is the difference in air pressure.

Wind is generated when air flows from a high-pressure area to a low-pressure area.

Typhoons or hurricanes are the ultimate manifestation of this phenomenon—initially, it is just a cloud of water vapor over a warm ocean surface;

As the first wisp of warm, moist air rises and condenses, the released heat, like toppling the first domino, triggers a violent cycle that expands exponentially. It compresses a massive pressure difference over a range of hundreds of kilometers, creating the most intense winds on the planet.

The coastline of Ripple City is being caressed by such a wind at this moment.

Ripple City in the Unova region is usually quiet during spring, autumn, and winter. But in summer, it comes alive – the beaches are packed with vacationers, the streets are teeming with people, and even the corner convenience stores have to stock up on extra boxes of ice cream. However, it's currently springtime, late spring that's almost early summer, but the rainy weather during this seasonal transition has dampened the residents' enthusiasm for travel. Not to mention the recent rumors of riots spreading across various regions – although the Alliance has tried its best to suppress much of the news, rumors such as "new troublemakers have appeared in a certain city" still quietly spread among the people.

This has made people who originally planned to travel during the holidays more cautious.

There were very few tourists.

Joggs stood on the beach, the sea breeze ruffling his blue robes. He summoned his only remaining Pokémon besides Landorus—Symphony. His Rhyperior, Aerodactyl, Crabtree & Evelynn, and Volcarona had all been defeated in the battle against Hatchling, and he hadn't had time to retrieve them during his hasty escape.

The reason why this blue-robed bishop did not return to the Plasma Group castle, which the cult had turned into its headquarters, at this time was, of course, because he had another goal—the underwater ruins that had once been mined by Quetzs and his large forces.

He hadn't planned to come here in the first place. Who could have imagined that the situation would change so quickly in just a few days?

An attack meticulously planned to destroy evidence left behind in Snowflake City, and even with an overabundance of combat power, resulted in an unprecedented and devastating defeat for Team Plasma simply because the Alliance had made advance personnel adjustments.

It's worth noting that Team Plasma has done countless similar "dirty jobs" on its path to rise over the past decade—the nickname "Soul Thief" for Asura isn't without reason. Yet this once invincible order, just as it was about to reach its zenith, was suddenly kicked to the ground by the forces mobilized by the Alliance.

It's no wonder that Quixote was so furious in the communications after learning the news. Even after calming down and re-analyzing the pros and cons, he still recklessly launched the Plasma Group's "Final Plan".

After all, news arrived at the same time that Vio and Acromura's project in the Giant's Cave had been completely shut down by Interpol agents who had crossed the border. Vio and all the people on site were arrested, while Acromura disappeared alone with the sealed Pokémon. Compared to this, the fact that the King had arbitrarily disposed of the rebellious and deserted Team Aqua was nothing more than a trivial matter.

Moreover, in this series of events—

The league didn't even use the four elite players.

There are many things in the world that seem worthless when left unmeasured, but once their true power is revealed, they become incredibly heavy. There are also many things that appear glamorous and prosperous, but once placed on a scale, their hollow nature is exposed.

Between the plasma cluster and the alliance, does it belong to the latter or the former?

Regardless of the outcome, in the current situation, all Joggs, as a sage, can do is choose to add a few more weights to the side of the scale that belongs to the plasma cluster.

Many people would assume that if this historian, who only knows how to bury himself in old books, wanted to take a gamble, he would use the Landorus he had already captured as bait to lure the remaining two legendary Pokémon that could control the weather.

At least that shrewd detective from Flying Cloud City must have anticipated this possibility. Therefore, with Team Plasma and the Alliance now at the height of their war, the Alliance forces, which have already disbanded from their headquarters area, must be laying a trap near the Shrine of Abundance south of Mountain Road Town.

After all, that was the ancient battlefield where the Earth Cloud defeated the Thunder Cloud and the Tornado Cloud. Later, people built a shrine there to worship the Earth Cloud, and the village gradually grew around the shrine, continuing to this day.

Even today, that place still experiences sudden strong winds or thunderstorms on certain special holidays. It is said that this is caused by tornadoes and lightning clouds, unwilling to give up, returning to try and defeat the land clouds again.

However, Joggs was not the first genius to capture the land cloud.

He had indeed visited the Shrine of Abundance several times in the past, but had never been fortunate enough to encounter the remaining two legendary cloud gods. But this did not mean that the keeper of the "Exiled Shards" had not obtained anything of sufficient value from that town.

As the symbolic bird took flight, the sage in blue robes took out an ancient mirror from his bosom.

The sea breeze swept up into the historian's sleeves, the blue fabric fluttering in the wind, while he simply gazed silently at the hazy sky reflected in the mirror.

The edges of the mirror are engraved with ancient kingdom inscriptions that are now little known to most people, and something seems to be slowly flowing deep within the smooth surface of the mirror.

That luster is not something that any known process in the world can reproduce.

Its name is "The Mirror of Revealing Form".

Upon reaching their destination, Joggs gestured for the symbol bird to release its black claws on either side of its body. He then landed on a mechanical platform suspended high above the sea.

This area was once the site of Quigish's excavation of underwater ruins. The founder of the Plasma Group purchased and modified an underwater mining platform to salvage treasures from the underwater temple ruins marked on his family's secret treasure map. In those years, this place worked day and night. Artifacts and gold were hoisted up, their seaweed wiped away, registered, and then quietly transported away under the cover of night.

Today, this fixed platform has completely lost its original use. The huge elevator hangs in mid-air above the wellhead, never to be lowered since some unknown operation; two of the four winch towers are jammed, with thin barnacles growing between the gears. But dismantling it would be too troublesome, so it was simply abandoned. Given the current power of the plasma cluster, no one would specifically point out the problem of such disposal in terms of polluting the marine environment.

However, this place is indeed quite convenient.

Location, altitude, tides, ocean currents—every condition surrounding this platform is just right.

After firmly establishing itself on the platform, the Blue-Clad Sage put the Symbol Bird back into its Poké Ball and then released Landorus. Due to the excessive energy expended while escaping the League's pursuit, the legendary Pokémon's wounds had not yet fully healed.

Without hesitation, Joggs picked up the mirror and shone it on his partner.

Nothing happened.

Only the land cloud showed a rather disgusted expression.

"As expected, this ancient artifact can't function without gathering the three legendary Pokémon together or drawing out enough energy."

Joggs, on the other hand, seemed to have expected this and nodded to himself.

The Mirror of Revealing Form can bring out the ferocious side within the three cloud gods, including Land Cloud, transforming them into spirit beast forms symbolizing the pure, primal power of nature. For Land Cloud and the others, who have now grown into their avatars, that state of being out of control is probably like a dark chapter in their history.

"If only Bictini were here."

The blue-robed bishop sighed. Based on the information Team Plasma later gathered, in retrospect, the white-coated detective was most likely able to defeat the former champion at the Tower of Heaven thanks to the power of the Pokémon that brought him victory. He could—

He had unwittingly created a terrible enemy for himself.

If Hugo hadn't become the champion of the Unova region, what would Team Plasma be facing now?

The sage shook his head vigorously.

It's pointless to waste your intellect on guesswork that will never yield answers. History, in many ways, is created through chance.

"Besides, there are alternative methods."

He slowly turned his head—

"Is that so, Your Excellency Quixote?"

In the sea breeze, the dim light began to distort slightly, and a figure draped in a magnificent robe slowly emerged from the transparency.

Joggs remained unmoved, while Land Cloud raised one eye in surprise.

The newcomer gave a disdainful snort, seemingly venting his displeasure at Joggs's unauthorized arrival, and spoke in his signature unpleasant tone: "You sent me these coordinates, so don't pretend you have some kind of prophetic ability."

"Lord Quixote is the one who should pay the price for relying too much on that ring, isn't he?" Since there were only the two of them on the mining platform at the moment, Joggs' tone became a little more presumptuous.

"If you're so concerned about even the interest, then the money in other people's pockets will just stay where it is forever."

The newcomer, also known as "The Fool's Carnival," walked around to stand in front of Jogus, his footsteps causing the rusting iron platform beneath his feet to creak.

"You called me here because you want these things, right?"

He took two hard stone tablets from his robe with one hand and waved them in front of Jogos without any hesitation.

"Burned within the underwater ruins of the ancient kingdom are three divine stone tablets—the emerald stone tablet symbolizing life and grass-like energy, the steel stone tablet representing resilience and steel, and the rock stone tablet embodying unwavering will."

Quixote said—

"It was because of these three stone tablets that the royal family of Old Unova was able to establish a connection with the legendary Three Swords Pokémon after the departure of the Black and White Dragons. After retrieving them from the sea, we traded the first tablet to Team Magma. You probably intend to use the remaining two to activate the power of Landorus, right?"

"One of them is enough."

Joggs looked at the yellowish-brown rock slab.

"It's currently the rainy season, between spring and summer. The moist, warm winds from the ocean will first reach this place at the easternmost tip of Unova—"

Ripple City. This means that hurricanes and tornadoes, often associated with lightning and storms, will likely linger in this area. At that time, simply using a stone slab to activate Landorus's Rock-type move Sandstorm will immediately detect the presence of this legendary Pokémon by the other two Cloud Gods.

"Unlike the Shrine of Abundance, this coastal region is considered the territory of two other legendary elves. If the Earth Cloud displays its power here, the Thunder Cloud and the Tornado Cloud will inevitably attack this old enemy who has provoked them—after all, their relationship was never good to begin with."

Quixote nodded and continued—

"You plan to use that item you have to take advantage of the situation and wipe out the remaining two Pokémon in one fell swoop?"

"Heh, there's no need for you to test me." 'Exiled Osmanthus' waved his hand. "If I only wanted to do this much, Lord Quidditch wouldn't have come here personally, would he?"

Instead of him, the three ninja trio who have recently started to slack off should have taken the stage.

"Alright, let's be frank."

The leader of the Seven Sages lowered his feigned confusion and looked scrutinizingly into the historian's eyes—

"The architectural mechanisms that Jero set up in the basement of the Alliance headquarters are not entirely original; they have a much older source of inspiration—the underwater ruins we once explored. In those ruins, anyone who enters by any means will have a wave automatically rise up inside the structure to wash them back to the surface if they stay inside for more than a certain period of time—and this level of warning is far beyond the limits of what this device can achieve."

“Yes.” Joggs nodded in agreement. “If that base is pushed to its limit, the entire ruin will emerge from the seabed like a bamboo shoot after rain, just like the cult castle that destroyed the headquarters of the United States Alliance. At that time, the true function of this ruin will be put into use.”

"According to ancient texts, to activate that function, one needs to gather the three cloud gods who wander throughout the land and represent the climate and celestial phenomena."

Quidditch's gaze swept over the Earth Cloud before settling back on the blue-robed sage—

"Then tell me now, Jogus."

Even the most cunning and ambitious person couldn't help but take a deep breath before asking the question.

"Why do you intend to destroy Unova?"

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