Pokémon Detective Case Files

Chapter 230 Powerful and Treacherous Ministers

Chapter 232 Powerful and Treacherous Ministers

When Joggs came down from the tower and knelt before the king to beg for forgiveness, Detective Hugo, who had been with N, had disappeared.

The elite trainers who had been lying haphazardly among the tall grass had all vanished without a trace.

"Your subordinate is too incompetent to clear the obstacles ahead of you for the championship title."

The disheveled sage in blue robes looked ashamed. The symbolic bird that had carried Jogus down from the tower earlier now lowered its one-eyed head, which resembled an unknown totem, almost disappearing into its colorful feathers.

"Even with the help of legendary Pokémon, I still couldn't shake the Volcarona of Champion Alder... No, it's precisely because I witnessed it with my own eyes that I can assert this—even if the four Unova Elite Four took turns challenging it, they couldn't completely defeat that Sunbug at the peak of its power. Considering the overall level of Unova trainers, it's unlikely that any Pokémon will be able to defeat it until Volcarona dies of old age."

"Isn't this a good thing?" N shrugged, unconvinced.

"The warrior remained undefeated until his last breath, protecting his comrades as they faced death. Although I don't approve of the twisted bond between Pokémon and their trainers, for Volcarona, that's what happiness is. I have no intention of disrupting that atmosphere."

"Yes." Joggs didn't argue, lowering his head even further, his attitude extremely respectful. ☜✌ 6❾ˢ𝐇Ǘ𝕩.ᑕ𝑜𝐦 ♠♔

However, it was precisely this sage's honest demeanor at this moment that made him seem all the more suspicious.

Among the sages of the Plasma Group, Rhodes, who, like Jobe, belongs to the volatile faction, remains neutral and holds minor financial power because of my outstanding abilities and sincerity, which have earned me the trust of both the "King's Faction" and the "Papal Faction." Jobe, on the other hand, remains neutral and has been sent to a remote desert for archaeological research because she is too cunning and thus trusted by both factions—that historian would not hesitate to betray even her own allies in order to achieve her own goals.

For my own purposes, Joggs will be like Alder, who possesses the "changeable" property, sometimes as narrow as the earth and sometimes as fierce as a flame, sometimes upholding the loyalty of a holy warrior and sometimes betraying like a villain.

A colossal lie. A lie that could be exposed in a second. But Joggs uttered it without any attempt at concealment.

Yue Bai'e quickly shook her head: "Absolutely not."

Despite the green-haired youth's tense, almost conversational tone, small beads of sweat trickled down Joggs's forehead.

Words that were half-soft and half-hard were like a ribbon wrapped around the neck; among all the wise men, only Jogus dared to utter such threatening words to N.

"Your Majesty is discerning, yet there is one matter for which you have no power to help."

"During the peaceful battle with the Pokémon Champion, you carelessly lost this Poké Ball, which could bring the Pokémon to their doom, at the foot of the Tower of Heaven. Therefore, I have no choice but to offer it to you. If Your Majesty wishes to release this Mythical Pokémon, I implore you to personally ascend the tower and open this Poké Ball."

In that case, even if N is willing to battle Volcarona, whose lifespan is nearing its end, I will still have to climb the tower once. Pokémon that are occasionally hostile to Team Plasma might miss that opportunity. I will definitely take the initiative to challenge N when he climbs the tower. As long as that battle can take place, no matter what the outcome is, I can steer the situation in a way that is not favorable to Team Plasma.

"But you are not entirely satisfied with the teacher's actions either."

"Professor Joggs, you can't allow him to use you as a pawn to achieve his own goals, but in Team Plasma, there are some rules that can't be broken. He used a modified Poké Ball to torture Alder, which crossed the Order's bottom line—to achieve an ideal, sometimes the means are unacceptable, but to use that as a reason to arbitrarily distort that ideal is nothing but pure madness. Team Plasma is that kind of organization; when it becomes redeemable, it will be condemned by reality."

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So N asked, "Professor Yorgos, isn't it time to hand over the Poké Ball that's sealing this Ardek? He should know why you've been waiting there all this time."

I stumbled, lost my balance, and managed to brace myself with my hands on the ground as I replied—

Watching the sage depart, N simply rubbed his temples and muttered to himself, "The events that unfolded exactly matched this detective's reasoning. With just such a meager amount of information, he could predict things to that extent... How exactly does this guy see the world?"

Instead of directly answering the king's question, Joggs cautioned, "When manipulated, this Poké Ball releases a weak electric current into Alder inside it every other day. If Your Majesty wishes to ascend the tower, please proceed with caution. Otherwise, by tomorrow, the Whitebeard you wish to protect will suffer the torment of joy."

"So that's what he was planning?" N frowned and looked at his teacher seriously.

Just like those conspiracies that are glossed over in the corners of history.

"Fine, just go along with your teacher's arrangement that time—Joggs."

"You are willing to be punished. You are willing to temporarily revoke the title of a sage like Vio and be confined outside the base to reflect on your mistakes."

To say that Quixote was an ambitious puppeteer, Smura was a charlatan and a schemer, and Vio was a greedy opportunist... well, then Joggs was not a treacherous minister who spent his life studying the darker and whiter aspects of history.

Joss, who was kneeling on one knee in a respectful posture, trembled. Clearly, even I had anticipated that my king would say such a thing at that moment.

The voice seemed to come from the depths of the earth. Before the door, the old man continued, head bowed—

"Sigh." The green-haired youth sighed. "Sometimes, do you ever wonder if you've ever been trapped outside a giant Poké Ball?"

The plan wasn't simple; it just required a bit of courage. While the seven Elite Seven were still reeling from the faint impact of Volcarona's appearance, I pretended to be in a sorry state and secretly hid Victini's Poké Ball in the cracks between the old bricks of the Tower of Heaven.

N stood up again and waved his hand: "Let's leave there now. Return to the castle and let Father decide his guilt."

What matters is not victory or defeat, nor words, but the trend of following the tide of history—before discovering that the Pokémon Champion's chances were far greater than imagined, that mad historian had already laid my first trick at the foot of the Tower of Heaven.

N squatted down behind the sage in blue, gazing at the old man's graying beard and hair with the same low-key gaze, and said calmly—

"Yes……"

Joggs kept his head down, letting the symbolic bird beside him grab his shoulder and flap its wings to fly away from the ground—until the man and his pet flew to a place where N could see them, Joggs did not look up and look directly at the king he served.

"Yes."

"You will summon the faint spirits dwelling in the distance and use their power to ascend the Tower of Heaven. Your primary objective will be to find Poké Balls, and you will try your best to avoid direct confrontations with Pokémon. Even if a battle occurs, you will do everything in your power to ensure that this Volcarona dies in the battle—wouldn't that satisfy you, teacher?"