Pokémon Detective Case Files

Chapter 510 Desperate Situation and the Heavenly Kings

Can the Unova Elite Four alone fight against the entire Plasma Team's forces inside the castle?

Theoretically, it is possible.

Otherwise, Hugo wouldn't have chosen the four Heavenly Kings as the elite squad to carry out the mission of retaking the United States headquarters.

However, that was under the condition that all four Elite Four members were gathered together, and that they had plenty of Pokémon with them.

At this moment, neither of these two premises holds true.

With Cattleya absent, the powerful superhuman who excelled at using her superpowered barrier to cover the entire team and turn ranged attacks into one-sided attrition was currently on another front, far from here.

The remaining three Elite Four members each only had one Pokémon left to fight.

Although the replacement added Lila as an immediate combatant, it's hard to say that the two configurations are better than the original when weighed on a scale.

The terrain is also less than ideal.

In the previous battle outside the castle, the Heavenly Kings were at least in the air, using the floating bridges they built with their superpowers to control their options of advancing or retreating. They could retreat to create distance and reorganize their formation, or advance to concentrate their forces and tear open a gap. If all else failed, they could immediately use "teleportation" to escape.

But at this moment, they stood together in the very center of the temple, surrounded by arched walls. The enemy, like the inner wall of an eggshell, covered them from all directions at the same time, leaving no blind spots or cover. Every attack could simultaneously lock onto the same area beneath their feet.

Although the group of Yueju had boasted to Holt about their "king-level combat abilities".

But even the most inconspicuous spiky worms, if gathered in sufficient numbers, can use their "silk-spitting" ability to bind a soaring Salamence into a ball and slam it to the ground.

The former inspector nervously glanced around, trying to find a reason to calm himself down from the faces of those Heavenly Kings.

However, he was standing at the back, and all he could see was the profile of the Interpol agent who was supposedly the one who was fighting against the Great Khan. At that moment, a fine layer of cold sweat was beading on her forehead, and her lips were tightly pressed together.

The detective, who had a better understanding of group operations, seemed even more serious than I was.

How exactly should we break through this predicament?

Holt swallowed the meaningless words that were about to come out of his throat.

At the top of the temple, the sage in the yellow robe slowly raised his arm, revealing a slender wrist as his sleeve slid down.

Below, the Pokémon of Team Plasma lowered their center of gravity almost simultaneously, poised to strike.

It's easy to imagine that once that hand falls, countless ranged attacks will rain down like a storm.

No matter how you look at it, it's an unsolvable dead end.

However, at this tense moment—

"Wow, the castle really does have such a large space—I never imagined it would end up like this."

Wanlong let out a stunned sigh.

He doesn't seem very nervous?

Holt couldn't help but stand on tiptoe and peek, only to see King Yueju absentmindedly scratching his back, then turning to Lian Wu beside him and saying, "I've already had my turn in the Hoenn Sea, so I'll give you this chance."

"Play"?

The conversation contained words that seemed out of place with the current atmosphere.

"Is the energy source ready?" Even the Martial King joined the conversation. He seemed to be raising one wrist, operating something.

"It's been ready for a while now," Wanlong said from the other side. "Thanks to those unknown totems, this castle is now filled with almost inexhaustible energy. Of course, because the nature of the energy is different, you have to adjust the receiving frequency of the bracelet if you force it to be used. And this thing is still a sample in the testing phase, so it's best not to expect it to work as stably as it does in its place of origin."

What exactly are these three Heavenly Kings discussing?

Even Lila couldn't help but glance to her side at such a crucial moment.

And it was as if they were seizing this moment of carelessness from their opponent to "attack!"

The "city defense master" at the top of the temple suddenly swung down his raised arm.

While there are no fixed formations in warfare, there are established methods. Once a force reaches the size of the Plasma Group, the tactics available become relatively limited. After all, there are only a few excellent tactics, while the ways to fail are countless.

The first wave will inevitably be a barrage of ranged attacks.

This phase will last for several seconds. To prevent friendly fire, the vanguard will only begin to advance when the target is pinned down and gaps appear in the formation.

The latter often uses a Pokémon that excels at defense, such as Gigantamax, as a front shield, paired with two assassin-type Pokémon like Leopard that excel at close-range attacks, forming a basic unit of three to steadily and ruthlessly surround and kill the wounded soldiers who have been battered and bruised in the bombardment.

After that, the ranged units that had previously used ranged attacks will undergo a synchronized regrouping adjustment.

Some were converted into melee fighters to support the front lines with more troops, and also to take turns replacing the Pokémon that had already been defeated.

The remaining group continued to maintain distance and engage in long-range fire. Pokémon with excellent targeting abilities, such as the Artificial Cell Egg, provided sustained fire, while those with keen eyesight, like the Arrogant Pheasant, engaged in single-target sniping. This maintained a strong suppressive firepower against the enemy without hindering frontline operations.

In addition, Team Plasma also has Pokémon specifically designed to buff allies and heal them. While it's possible to use them to harass enemies with status ailments, the current confined space means that even if such moves were used, they would likely disrupt the friendly units already engaged in combat at the front, making this strategy impractical.

After several rounds of this cycle, the physical strength and combat power of both sides will inevitably fluctuate. No matter how strong the opponent is, under such a full-speed, juicer-like crushing, they will eventually be ground to a pulp and exhausted.

At this very moment, this large, well-trained plasma squadron of thousands is preparing to fully implement this strategy.

However, their efforts were destined to be in vain.

Because even the Heavenly King of Martial Arts had already taken action.

With a whoosh.

A beam of red light from Lian Wu's hand abruptly pulled the old craftsman back into the sphere.

Just a second before the enemy was about to launch their final attack, he managed to remove what was arguably the strongest defensive force on the field.

But this action is meaningful.

The evidence is the light that's shining on Lian Wu's wrist right now!

Wearing it there was a white wristband.

The red cross pattern in the center of the wristband flashed briefly, and then the Poké Ball containing the old craftsman in Lian Wu's hand rapidly changed colors in a burst of white light before expanding.

Just as Team Plasma unleashed its first wave of ranged attacks on the Pokémon, this Fighting King, like a skilled volleyball player, suddenly threw the Poké Ball, which was covered in purplish-red mist and had expanded to the size of a gas canister, upwards.

With tremendous force, the enormous Poké Ball shot straight into the air, crashing head-on into the impending barrage of attacks.

"Master Builder - 'Max Guard'!"

For some reason, the moment he shouted out this move, Lian Wu thought of Hugo's figure on the Tower of Heaven.