Pokémon Detective Case Files

Chapter 504 A Great Wind Rises

Chapter 506 A Great Wind Rises

At the very moment that the lingering cloud emerged from its Poké Ball, bringing with it the warm spring breeze and colliding head-on with the thundercloud's lightning, Unova Champion Hugo was sitting in a familiar temporary command center converted from a hospital basement, deliberating on how to deal with the other two legendary Pokémon.

The alliance officials sat around the long table, their eyes fixed on the young man in the white coat at the head of the table, like a group of sailors waiting for their captain to speak in a storm.

Ironically, even during Mr. Ardek's years as champion, the elder statesman known for his seniority and prestige never had the power that Hugo has now, to directly mobilize all available resources across the league.

Team Plasma's years of infiltration and provocation have dismantled the United States' bloated bureaucratic system into dozens of mutually restraining factions and interest groups. Among them, there are definitely quite a few voices that argue that "the champion should stay quietly in the final room of the league like a mascot, and should not and should not participate in the distribution of the power pie," which, upon closer examination, makes some sense.

Perhaps due to the corruption of the former, violent agencies like the League Investigation Bureau and the police system have developed a natural barrier between themselves and the League's bureaucratic system, effectively operating independently. After all, their path to advancement lies solely in specialized police academies and internal assessments, creating a transparent wall between them and ordinary trainers in the League who lack formal education—the so-called "League Champion" is nothing more than a title in a competitive event for them.

In this situation, the plasma clusters actually did Hugo a great favor unintentionally.

After all, the fireworks display those guys put on at the Alliance headquarters was far too educational.

After this battle, even the old bureaucrats who were most dismissive of the newly appointed young champion had to admit that the "temporary leave" had saved their lives.

The fact that the headquarters was bombed into ruins also physically broke down the invisible wall between the various departments of the alliance. Under the extremely convenient pretext of "temporary mobilization," Hugo could bypass the reviewing officials and middle-level clerks who were only responsible for managing the seals and directly contact the individuals in charge of specific matters.

The former is crucial for upholding procedural justice in the name of the United States and has greatly alleviated regional employment pressure, but it is clearly useless in the current situation.

Even more fortunately, Hugo had already figured out the general outline of the "list of responsible persons" in the two months after he became champion—the compilation of which was largely thanks to a certain beginner Pokémon who was currently in Team Plasma's castle and was very good at using the "Grass Knot" move.

As for the Bureau of Investigation and the police force—to be honest, there, the title "Detective Hugo" is far more useful than "League Champion." And even if some people haven't heard of his detective exploits in other regions, the fact that Hugo accurately predicted the Plasma Group's attack on headquarters is enough to shut everyone up.

Moreover, even if we take a step back, it would be difficult to find another person in the current United Alliance who possesses both a publicly recognized legitimate identity and internal credibility, and also has a proven track record of dismantling large-scale illegal organizations in other regions.

The most crucial point is that, in a time when the league is constantly at risk of more unexpected terrorist attacks and every bit of fighting power is precious, the current champion only needs to make a phone call to bring in at least one more champion from across the ocean—a capability that has been proven in previous incidents in the Far East.

Who could be more suitable than him?

The answer to this question is self-evident to the Alliance leaders who know more about Hugo's background.

After all, not everyone can have a relative who has won consecutive championships in the Sinnoh League.

"Everyone————"

At this moment, the champion, who embodied the hopes of the entire United Federation, raised his head, and everyone eagerly awaited his next decision.

Has the chaos in Ripple Town subsided? Will he be able to predict the exact location of Team Plasma's next disturbance? How many troops should be deployed this time? Should the police be called in? Or the Gym Leader? Or perhaps the remaining Elite Four member, Cattleya, who hasn't yet joined the battle?

Has his detective's mind already devised a brilliant plan to counter Team Plasma's mysterious king? Will Cynthia Champion be able to come? How's the battle between the three Elite Four members in the headquarters ruins going? Isn't it about time to settle things with that illegal organization?

The detective in the white coat scanned the expectant eyes of everyone present, finally choosing to look at Vice President Gloria. "When was the most severe natural disaster the Unova region has ever experienced?"

"Natural disaster?"

Gloria was taken aback, clearly not expecting the question to fall in this direction.

"The most severe natural disaster—if we include records from before the alliance was formed—was the great tidal wave three hundred years ago."

"6

She paused to recall, her tone gradually calming down—

"According to records from the late Old Kingdom period, there was a seven-day, seven-night torrential rain that caused three major rivers in the Unova to overflow simultaneously, flooding most of the eastern plains and turning the capital city into a floating city. However, the most severe event since modern meteorological records began was a hurricane about forty years ago. That storm made landfall in Trisolaran City and swept north across the entire Unova, causing enormous economic losses and casualties. It was after that that the Alliance formally established a regional meteorological monitoring network and disaster emergency response system."

"And what about sandstorms?" Hugo then asked.

He asked Gloria because he had heard that she had been in charge of the Alliance Archives for a period of time before she was promoted to vice president, but he did not expect her to know so much about it.

The latter answered immediately, as expected: "It's in the current wilderness scenic area. Three years ago, a huge sandstorm broke out, which was later found to be caused by the activity of the Plasma Group—the one Hugo asked me to investigate before."

"Then—" Hugo took a deep breath, "be prepared for the three of them to arrive at the same time."

"What?"

'

For a moment, the league's officials wondered if there was something wrong with their ears.

"Considering the direction the tornado is coming from, the Path of Champions is no longer considered safe."

The champion in the white jacket continued—

"You don't have to believe it, but you must transfer the necessary on-site command and disaster relief personnel to the front lines in various cities and take defensive measures. In addition, the battle between Lianyi Town and the thundercloud is still undecided, so we must be prepared for communications to be cut off by thunderstorms at any time."

"Why?" Gloria, who had provided the intelligence, was the first to ask in confusion. "According to the reports from the people on the ground, shouldn't the chaos in Ripple Town have been contained by that pink Pokémon reinforcement? Or is it because there aren't enough people to stop the remaining two?"

Even though the gym leader and the Elite Four members hadn't all mobilized yet, she didn't voice the second half of her question. Because when she subconsciously looked around the room, she couldn't find the Psychic-type Elite Four member anywhere.

"No, we have enough manpower just to deal with the lightning clouds." Contrary to the detective's words, Hugo's expression was extremely solemn.

"Elite Four member Caitlin is already on her way to Qinghai Po Town. Even in the worst-case scenario, she can control that Pokémon to prevent it from going too deep into Unova. On Landorus's side, Champion Agent Douko will also put up a fight. If there's enough time, my assistant will also bring a legendary Pokémon to reinforce Karakusa Town."

The purple armors in the office showed no signs of reviving. In this critical situation, the friendly Cresselia would naturally not hesitate to contribute its strength to the impending disaster in Unova. However, unlike Cynthia, which was defeated by Cynthia, the God of Dreams was unwilling to use the convenient means of transportation like the Poké Ball to instantly move to the front line of the disaster. She could only hope that Miss Douko could hold out in Karakuri Town for a while longer.

Hugo's thoughts raced, but within the command center, his speech was only paused for a moment.

"The biggest problem right now is not those three legendary Pokémon that are attacking."

United Champions slowly flipped the tablet he had been holding over – the screen displayed a satellite weather map overlaid with wind field vector analysis.

"This is the weather situation over United States that I urgently observed using a space satellite borrowed from Devon. The technical data has been submitted to the Alliance Weather Bureau for analysis, but to put it simply, we are in grave danger."

Ignoring the tense whispers of the officials, Hugo continued—

"Due to the actions of the three Cloud Gods east of Ripple Town, three massive, independent low-pressure systems have appeared on the sea surface east of Unova. Currently, they are only in their nascent stages. As these low-pressure systems develop into cyclones, they begin to draw in warm, moist air from the surrounding sea. The rising air cools and continues to release enormous energy, which in turn lowers the pressure at the center, creating an even stronger and more intense suction. Before long, they will evolve into a self-reinforcing positive feedback loop. According to experts in Hoenn, within forty-eight hours, all three will develop into super-massive hurricanes, each capable of destroying an entire city."

In an instant, the air in the room seemed to freeze.

"At that time, these three super hurricanes will crash head-on into the Unova continent. Accompanying them will be unprecedented torrential rain and tsunamis—storm surges will engulf all low-lying coastlines, and torrential rain will submerge a city until only rooftops remain. If this is combined with the tornadoes, lightning strikes, and sandstorms brought by the three legendary Pokémon—the consequences will be unimaginable."

If they hadn't anticipated this situation, how could the Plasma Cluster have let go of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and remained safely huddled within the castle's defensive barriers?

"Wouldn't defeating those cloud gods be enough to resolve this situation?" someone in the audience asked hesitantly, raising their hand.

Hugo slowly shook his head.

"Can we interrupt or intervene in the formation process of those hurricanes?" Gloria asked.

Hugo still shook his head—

"It's too late. In fact, even if we could have predicted the source of this storm in advance, with the current level of technology, we would most likely still be powerless to stop it. From the moment that pyramid rose from the seabed, this disaster was already irreversible."

He pointed again to the three low-pressure air masses on the tablet that were beginning to separate. "These low-pressure systems were already formed when the three legendary Pokémon changed forms. What's happening there now is simply a natural phenomenon. The reason the three legendary Pokémon stopped fighting in Ripple Town and began to move in different directions is essentially a reaction to the different paths of the three hurricanes; it's a result of their instinct to follow the climate. At this point, simply defeating Landorus and the others will only prevent the disaster from escalating further."

Unless a power stronger than the three cloud gods in their transformed forms intervenes, this crisis cannot be avoided.

That "Exiled Ceramics" from the Plasma Group has truly presented the Alliance with a formidable challenge.

Hugo surveyed the entire temporary command center and emphasized, word by word, "Please begin acting immediately according to your respective duties. This is the most urgent matter."

The Elite Four and Gym Leaders might be able to stop the legendary Pokémon from invading Unova.

But who can stop the winds blowing into United States?

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