manynovel Chapter 101 "Safe Distance"
Chapter 101 "Safe Distance"
The naval officer ignored the old man and the child's antics, raised his hand, and the iron-clawed lobster's sharp pincers extended, instantly pressing against Naoki's throat.
"Don't move, or you'll die instantly."
While uttering cold pirate lines, the officer also deliberately glared at the white-coated detective whose behavior was extremely suspicious.
The latter spread his hands innocently: "But I still have two elves that I haven't put back into the ball."
Chimchar and Piplup were standing beside the detective. For some reason, the two little guys, like Hugo, showed no sign of resistance, simply staring at their enemy with incredibly innocent eyes.
Perhaps feeling that the scene before them was too bizarre, since the detective's side was offering no reasonable resistance whatsoever, the other side had become even more vigilant.
The officer gestured behind him, and three more members of the naval fleet entered the captain's cabin through the pried-open hatch.
Hugo's eyes flickered slightly: the three people captured on the surveillance footage, plus the one who came to pick them up aboard Wailord, it seems that the entire Aqua team for their visit to Unova has arrived.
Under the leader's command, three henchmen, also wearing headscarves, tied up the detective and the old man's hands and feet, searched their bodies for Poké Balls, and used the empty Poké Balls to retrieve Hugo's two Pokémon, which were then handed over to the leader.
During this process, the shrewd and cunning old man Naoki offered no resistance and followed Detective Hugo's lazy pace.
His long-haired dog, however, was a bit restless and wanted to release the Poké Ball on its own, but the officer immediately noticed the strange thing about the Poké Ball.
The iron-clawed lobster ruthlessly used its sharp pincers to scrape a bloody gash across its trainer's throat, but the force was measured, only causing a minor graze. Only then, under its owner's constant gesturing, did the long-haired dog finally settle down, reluctantly accepting its fate.
However, for some reason, when Chimchar and Piplup returned to their Poké Balls with the red light, they both had strange smiles on their faces. They were not worried about the situation at all, but rather seemed to be watching some farce with great interest.
Faced with the Poké Balls handed to him by his subordinates, the leader probably thought that these two guys who surrendered without firing a single ball couldn't raise any outstanding Pokémon, so he didn't bother to check them and stuffed all the Poké Balls into a specially made wire sack.
Inside this bag, Pokémon don't have enough space to grow larger and will automatically bounce back into their Poké Balls.
"Now you should take us hostage and demand that Azure and the others stop resisting, right?" the detective asked the hostage-takers in a relaxed tone, as if he were not a hostage, but a superior officer who had come to the crime scene to guide the Aqua Fleet in seizing the ship.
"Shut up and stay in the back."
The Fleet Commander had Golduck, who was hiding somewhere, remove the "Light Wall," and immediately the sound of shattering glass echoed in the captain's cabin.
Azure, who was engrossed in the one-sided battle, suddenly turned around and her expression changed instantly when she saw the view inside the room.
The incredibly powerful Wailord outside was still stirring up waves, but that was just a diversionary tactic by the Fleet Aqua squad! Unbeknownst to them, Hugo and Naoki had already been captured by enemies who had infiltrated the ship!
The situation reversed so quickly that even with Azure's sharp mind, she couldn't help but feel a little dazed.
"Hand over all your Poké Balls now, and your friend won't die immediately."
The cadre's voice was flat, yet cold and cruel. He paced back and forth, using the rhythmic sound of his footsteps to amplify his oppressive presence.
"How did you get on my ship?!"
A furious roar erupted from the old man Doug beside the girl. All his elves were still outside the whaling ship, and the powerlessness of not being able to control his fate nearly drove the old captain mad.
Hugo then inappropriately interrupted—
"Before Wailord appeared, they had already approached the Victini in a Water-type Pokémon, then took advantage of the chaos caused by the battle to board the deck and gradually infiltrate the captain's cabin. Judging from their somewhat worn sailor trousers, they were likely riding Sharpedoes with the 'Sharkskin' ability when they landed."
Huh? Hugo, who is being held hostage, seems to be handling things quite well?
Azure noticed a hint in the detective's unusual behavior.
A detective's tendency to explain things usually only occurs during downtime when the case is not urgent. The fact that he can talk so much while being a hostage suggests that the current situation is under the detective's control.
Should we trust Hugo to resolve the crisis in his own way?
Considering that the enemy not only has a formidable Iron Claw Lobster in charge, but also a strange Pokémon with psychic abilities lurking in the shadows, even if Eevee is immediately dispatched and uses Quick Attack repeatedly, it cannot completely resolve the crisis.
The girl released her right hand from the Eevee Poké Ball and calmly observed the situation.
In a flash, Azure's eyes lit up; she had discovered the anomaly.
"Alright, I surrender too."
Azure tossed her hair with a carefree air and raised her hands as she spoke.
Captain Doug looked at the girl beside him in disbelief, and even the opposing fleet of Marines were stunned—wasn't this ship from the port of Unova? How come all the passengers on board have inherited the fine traditions of the Carlos region?
The officer didn't understand what was happening, but even with his cautious nature, he couldn't just stand by and watch. He made the only reasonable move befitting his position at that moment—he stepped forward and searched the girl for the Poké Balls.
One step, two steps, three steps... the officers of the naval fleet slowly walked towards the front of the ship's cabin.
Just like the chain of kings that checkmate the opponent in chess, a necessary action will trigger a necessary reaction, ultimately leading to a necessary outcome.
The Poké Balls inside the steel wire sack rubbed and collided with each other as the sea swayed, making restless noises.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Only one of them belongs to the old man Naoki.
Come to think of it, the "safe distance" for Hugo's aura of misfortune seems to be more than five meters...
.
Sinnoh region, Sinnoh town.
Champion Cynthia took some time to go back to her hometown, intending to use this opportunity to rebuild her team of Pokémon to defend her title.
Unlike previous years, in this year's title defense challenger selection tournament, Psychic-type Elite Four member Gossip stumbled and narrowly lost to Fire-type Elite Four member Dale, giving the latter the opportunity to challenge for the Sinnoh League title.
Normally, for Cynthia, whose ace is the Ground-type Garchomp, cooking Fire-type monsters would be a piece of cake. However, this year is a little different—
In this tournament, Da Ye, the Fire-type Elite Four member, actually used the team composition he used when he first started out, and put a Ghost-type Tayrule into the team!
This change caused Wusong, who was known for his composure, to suffer a great loss. Caught off guard, the purple hot air balloon completed its "shrink" enhancement on the field and used the "baton" move to pass the enhanced ability to the ace Infernape.
"Garuda can interrupt the opponent's buffs with 'Roar,' but that gives the opponent the chance to use 'Will-O-Wisp' first. So, how about bringing a Berry to heal burns? But that takes up another item slot..."
The blonde woman sat in an armchair at home, resting her chin on her hand as she pondered her battle strategy for defending her title.
Countless possibilities swirled and danced in the champion's mind, and Zhu Lan had to find the perfect strategy among them.
A crisp snap of the fingers rang out, and inspiration struck.
"Speaking of which, Gastrodon has also mastered 'Roar.' If we make it focus on special attack moves this time, we won't need to worry about burn status. Hmm, it's a good time to let Gastrodon try out its newly learned 'Cold Water' move. Although the damage is a bit less, it can reliably lower the opponent's physical attack, which should be surprisingly effective against Fire-type speed masters like Leafeon."
The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. A tactical plan centered around the Gastrodon instantly took shape in the mind of Champion Bamboo Cyan, and the equation for victory was already written.
She got up and went to the backyard, preparing to gather the elves and assemble the newly formed team to begin training.
However… when she looked at the large pond in the backyard, she found it completely empty. Milotic and Gastrodon, who were supposed to be substitutes, were nowhere to be seen.
Upon closer inspection, the retired Garchomp and Roserade had also disappeared.
Zhu Lan vaguely guessed what was going on. Suppressing the urge to fly to Feiyun City and beat up that white-coated detective, she calmly asked Rotom on her phone—
"Rotom, have you received any mail from out of town recently?"
“There’s a Roto.” A red phone flew out. “It’s an email from an agency called Hugo Detective Agency. Because the website marked it as advertising, they blocked the Roto.”
"Add him to the whitelist." Zhu Lan sighed, rubbing her forehead. "And tell me the contents of the email while you're at it."
"The following is the text: Loto: Sis, I'm so sorry! I borrowed Milotic, Gastrodon, Roserade, and Garchomp urgently. I'll return them in half a month! As an apology, the Unova-style sweets are already on their way via international mail. Please don't be angry!"
After hearing about the special dessert, Zhu Lan's anger subsided considerably, but Rotom's broadcast was not yet over.
"P.S. This time in the championship battle, Da Ye has revived the Dribou shrinking tactic, and Wu Song is likely to suffer. However, when he battles you, Da Ye will definitely use a different tactic. After trading away his Pokémon at the start, he'll have Dribou use Tailwind and Explosion to quickly retreat, followed by a brute-force attack. This best utilizes his skill advantage. If you also include a second Ghost-type Pokémon in your team, it might have a surprising effect."
The letter was sent a week ago, when the challenger selection battle had just entered the elimination stage. At that time, no one would have thought that Da Ye, this reckless man, could bring down Wu Song.
Hugo actually predicted this much? Cynthia clicked her tongue in dissatisfaction—if you're so good at analyzing matches, why don't you raise a few more Pokémon yourself?
At this point, the water-type battle strategy was no longer usable due to the lack of members. Even if we didn't believe Hugo's speculation, the only main Pokémon we could use were those few familiar faces, making our tactical arrangements even more restrictive.
But who is the second Ghost-type Pokémon that Hugo is referring to? There aren't any in the backyard at my old home...
Zhu Lan narrowed her eyes, her gaze fixed on the bewildered Rotom phone before her, as if it were her prey.
It would be interesting to watch your opponent's reaction when the "Big Bang" explodes into the air, wouldn't it?