stonecrandall Chapter 201 The Champion's Message, The Conman's Legacy
Chapter 201 The Champion's Message, The Conman's Legacy
Chapter 202 The Champion's Message, The Conman's Legacy
"How are Mr. Alder and Volcarona doing now?"
After explaining the coin toss, Yueju turned to Lianwu and asked.
The once deserted tavern private room has now become the meeting room for the four Heavenly Kings of Unova to hold a secret meeting.
Champion Aldridge has two Volcaronas, one old and one young, but without needing to say more, the four Elite Four members present all know which one is being referred to by "Blueberry".
"Vulcan Moth has fully recovered, as if all its years of injuries and illnesses have vanished, and its momentum is even stronger than in its past peak. Alas... this day has finally come."
These should have been words of joy and encouragement, but Lian Wu's face was filled with sorrow as he recounted the facts.
Born from a cocoon of flames, the fire moth brings light to humanity when dust obscures the sun, and shines upon the world in place of the sun in the cold, icy lands.
These Pokémon live a life as flamboyant and dazzling as a raging fire. Compared to other Bug-type Pokémon, they are much stronger on average, and their longer lifespans give them greater potential—but life eventually comes to an end.
In ancient murals, people revered the fire moth with its fiery wings as a deity; in the ruins of ancient kingdoms deep in the desert, there have also been eyewitness accounts of fire moths that have been dormant for hundreds of years...
However, a life spent in dust and sleep is worthless—at least for Ardek's original partner, it would have preferred to become a burning flame, illuminating the path ahead for the chosen one for less than seventy years.
As the intense heat of life within their bodies begins to wane, the Volcano moth exhibits symptoms of lethargy, sluggishness, and excessive sleepiness. During this period, its previously invulnerable "flame body" loses its effectiveness, and diseases dispelled by the flames during its prime return.
Just like other Bug-type Pokémon that enter their aging period, Volcarona, which was once as bright as the sun, will also become weak, with withered wings, cloudy eyes, and extremely frail. It will be sore all over just by releasing a move, hoarse just by making a chirp, and will be prevented from seeing the outside world by a sudden wave of sleepiness just by wanting to take another look.
However, even this agonizing period of aging will eventually come to an end.
Different elves exhibit drastically different behaviors when facing the end of their lives—but the Volcano is undoubtedly the most mythical of them all.
When on the verge of death, the fire moth bursts forth with unprecedented life force, fully recovering its health within a few short days.
The blazing flames transformed into new wings, dispelling the disease once more, allowing them to soar into the sky once more, shining as brightly as the sun and a god...
But everyone knows that this kind of "recovery" comes at a price.
—The price called "death".
This is less a miracle of a final burst of energy before death and more a final act of mercy bestowed upon life by eternal nothingness.
After its final burst of energy, the fully restored body of the Volcano moth will become increasingly hot. If you observe closely, you will see its original insect shell gradually disappearing, replaced by a materialized flame within its body, until it finally becomes a burning flame that vanishes suddenly in a dazzling light.
This phenomenon was discovered and recorded by the Pokémon Professor in the Unova region long ago, and it is also an important reason why Volcarona was deified in ancient times and regarded as the embodiment of the sun.
Clearly, Ardek's longtime partner in the championship has finally reached this point.
Yueju sighed. The Fighting King didn't mention his master's current situation at all, which was to be expected.
The volcano, his childhood companion, has turned into this state. How that loyal and devoted old man will react is beyond words, and even more unbearable to say. 💣☆ 6➈sⒽᑌ�.ςᗝ� 🍩♤
"Blueberry, you don't need to feel guilty at all. Avoiding a direct confrontation with Team Plasma was definitely the right decision."
Seeing that Lanju remained silent, Lianwu mistakenly thought he was regretting not taking the opportunity to destroy the plasma cluster, and hurriedly racked his brains to explain—
"Under the current circumstances, neither Master nor Volcarona can be an effective fighting force against the enemy. If Team Plasma were to completely transform into an illegal organization overnight, the League's power would be insufficient to guarantee the safety of citizens in all areas where the cult is located. Moreover, Volcarona, which is gradually transforming into flames, may become uncontrollable, and in the event of unforeseen circumstances, there is even a risk of it going berserk and destroying the city—although I don't think such a thing will happen."
The Fighting King's expression was stiff when he said this, and only the last supplement came from the bottom of his heart. As for the first half, he was obviously relaying someone else's evaluation report.
Given this street fighter's usual personality, he would never have considered the cause and effect of the matter so thoroughly. It must have been the novelist who was pretending to be nonchalant who helped him.
"Even if there is no risk involved, I don't want to disturb Mr. Ardek's last moments with his partner."
Blueberry replied with a bored expression, tapping her fingers on the table in turn.
"Destroying plasma clusters is a trivial matter; you can do it whenever you want, so there's no need to worry about it."
"Although this line sounds cool, if you think about it carefully, it's not much different from my usual excuse when I'm late for work, is it?"
As if trying to lighten the mood, Wanlong deliberately tried to sabotage the situation with jokes, but to no avail.
I'm sorry, but in real-world social interactions, no one is interested in wordplay or pedantry.
"So..." Yueju looked around at the three Heavenly Kings beside her, "What is the purpose of our gathering here today?"
He became increasingly confused.
The fire moth is on the verge of death—shouldn't it, according to common sense, visit Mr. Alder and offer him some emotional support?
Even though such support cannot alleviate the grief of the person involved, it still has its significance. It allows people to feel that they are in the context of interpersonal relationships and that they are not alone even when they are suffering.
Aside from the Gambler King, the three Alliance Kings exchanged glances and decided to tell Yueju the truth.
"My master... plans to resign from his champion position."
Lian Wu was once again the one to answer on behalf of the group. His brows were lowered, and for the first time, a look of hesitation appeared on his resolute face.
"At a time like this?" Yueju raised an eyebrow, but didn't seem too surprised.
Since Volcarona fell seriously ill, Alder has been in semi-retirement. Apart from necessary league events, he no longer participates in any Unova League affairs, entrusting all the power of the championship to the remaining four Elite Four members.
To his shame, even though Aldek was disheartened by his partner's serious illness, the four Elite Four members—Wu, Yueju, Wanlong, and Cattleya—were still no match for him in the league matches. The four showed no mercy in their battles, and even harbored a sense of mission to help Aldek shed the burden of the championship title, but unfortunately, they failed even once.
This might not be a lack of experience or ability, but rather that the four of them lacked something that Adek called "enlightenment".
What exactly is "enlightenment"? — Even the old man himself couldn't explain it. He always wore a mask-like, cheerful smile, hastily offering a few words of advice after the match before striding away from the field. Then, he would return to his hospital ward, gently stroking his old friend's red wings by the bedside, boasting animatedly about his achievements in the league. ✩ 🎀 60M.K.❤🎀 ✩
Thus, with the champion "reigning but not ruling," the League's control over the Unova region has weakened considerably, to the point that this Dark-type Elite Four member had to personally act as an undercover agent in order to find an opportunity to deal with Team Plasma.
The fact that the powerful yet suffering old man is about to step down as champion is not surprising; rather, it gives one a sense that it has finally come.
"There's still a long time before the Championship Challenge. Is Mr. Ardek planning to let you temporarily assume the title of champion?"
Yueju looked at Lianwu, believing this to be the solution that best satisfied the wishes of all parties.
The four Heavenly Kings present were evenly matched in strength, but in terms of personality, Lian Wu was the most suitable candidate.
The fighter shook his head: "My master plans to make the person who defeats him the Unova Champion."
What does this mean?
The Dark-type Elite Four member frowned. He almost immediately had a bad feeling and asked pointedly—
Where is Mr. Adek right now?
It would be better if it were in Woody Town or the League headquarters. The former is remote and far from Team Plasma's territory, so even if trouble arises, it can be controlled in advance. If it were near the League, the four Elite Four members would be there, and they could also screen out unscrupulous challengers for Alder...
"The exact location is currently unknown." This was Wanlong's response.
"However, he left a letter at his home in Suanmu Town, saying that he would be with Volcarona at the Tower of Paradise in Fukiyo City to face any challenge from anyone."
"The news has been made public."
Cattleya, who had been silent until now, spoke up and added—
"In the inspiration of the prophecy, Champion Ardek is walking towards the Tower of Heaven, where many elite trainers have already gathered."
69🅂🄷🅄🅇.🄲🄾🄼
Adek's intentions were quite clear: he would stand quietly atop the Tower of Heaven, like the final boss in a role-playing game, defeating every challenger without exception—and if anyone could defeat him, he would bestow the championship upon that person.
Although the method of bestowing a position was somewhat irregular, the old man, as the long-time champion of the United States, possessed such arbitrary prestige and power.
Pokémon battles serve many purposes: defeating enemies, honing skills, and deepening bonds. But for a trainer of Alder's caliber, the purpose and means of battle are no longer important.
Climbing to the pinnacle of Pokémon battles is of unparalleled significance in itself; everything else is secondary, because battles speak for themselves.
Only strength can prove strength, and only the peak can prove the peak.
More than sixty years ago, when the red-haired boy reached out his hands to the still-evolved Flameworm, Volcarona decided to make "fighting for him" her life's pursuit.
And that boy from back then was determined to repay his partner's feelings with the best battle at the end of Volcano's life.
The Volcarona's peak lasts only a few days; there's no need to invite champions from all over the world. Witnessing the pinnacle of the Unova region is enough—it's a kind of passing the torch. However, if those champions can make it, it wouldn't be a bad idea to fight them.
For Volcano, this match, whether won or lost, felt like the completion of a decades-long project.
—From the very beginning until the very end of life.
The Vulcan worm, which is transforming into the sun, will leave its glorious mark on the summit of its eternal resting place.
This is a ritual for a dying king.
"Speaking of which, if no one defeats Arderk by the time Volcarona dies, who will claim the championship?"
As Yueju reviewed the information she already knew, she asked Wanlong as if to confirm her suspicions.
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"The comments mentioned that under these circumstances, he would also step down as champion and hand over the position to the challenger he favors the most."
"So..."
A smirk played on the gambler's face.
"This message probably doesn't contain any clause prohibiting the four of us who were defeated from participating in the challenge, right?"
The other three Heavenly Kings looked up at the same time. Although their appearances and side businesses were very different, their expressions were exactly the same at this moment.
"No, and that's precisely why we're gathered here."
Adek's top disciple answered in a deep voice, his words containing an unwavering determination.
The collaborative operational meeting then began.
.
In Raven City, Detective Hugo stepped off the subway alone.
The fact that Lanjus voluntarily withdrew from the bet is a bad sign, indicating that there may be some unrest among the top small groups in the United States Alliance.
Anyone who follows the United States alliance knows that at this point in time, one thing is inevitable: the death of Aldak's original partner.
According to Unova's custom, Alder will travel to the Tower of Paradise in Blowtree City to bury his partner. Since Volcarona, a Pokémon, has an incredible period of activity before its death, something dramatic could very well happen there.
Hugo had no choice but to set off for there because it was a promise he made to Cynthia, the Sinnoh champion—as a price for borrowing Cynthia's candidate Pokémon in the case of the geologist's murder, Hugo owed her a favor.
It's disheartening for siblings to be so calculating about personal feelings; it's better to say they help each other. Cynthia had been taught by Alder in the past, so she asked her brother Hugo, who was in Unova, to attend Volcarona's funeral in her place.
Detective Hugo wasn't wearing his signature white suit jacket; instead, he was dressed in clean, black. He wasn't so obsessed as to brazenly wear garish white to someone else's funeral—though it certainly gave Douzi and Bilan quite a fright before he left.
"Really, there's no reason to attend a funeral on someone else's behalf."
He grumbled and complained, but he actually knew why Zhu Lan had given him such an order.
The detective harbors a deep-seated unresolved issue, which is why he had never adopted a Pokémon before coming to Unova—Cynthia knows his hidden secret and therefore believes that attending the ceremony will be helpful to him.
"I don't need you to do anything, just stand by and witness all of this for me." — This is a message from the champion of Bamboo Orchid.
As for why Hugo was in Raven City at this time instead of going directly to Blowfield City, where the Tower of Paradise is located, it was for a reason based on personal interest.
When it comes to a detective's interests, it must be verifying their own reasoning!
Counting the streets he passed, Hugo had arrived in the city center of Raven City. After turning through several alleys, Hugo finally found his target.
It was a shop located between two rows of residential buildings, its storefront obscured by the shadows of the buildings. If you were to find the most inconspicuous grocery store in Raven City, this would definitely be it.
Upon entering the store, I was greeted by a young sales clerk playing on his phone. His salary was clearly insufficient to motivate him to demonstrate much professionalism. He didn't even greet customers as they entered, continuing to hunch over the counter and tap on his phone screen.
The detective rudely called him over—
Do you sell playing cards in your shop?
The shop assistant pointed to the shelf next to him, which displayed different styles of decks of cards, all cheap street vendor items.
The plastic sleeve containing the card box was relatively dust-free, which made the detective's gaze sharpen.
Unlike his sister, Hugo did not hesitate at all when buying things. He selected four different decks of cards and decisively paid the bill.
"Oh, right."
As he was leaving, the detective casually asked—
"How's the safety around here? I think I've heard there have been some thefts lately?"
The shop assistant, who picked up his phone again, thought for a moment: "It's not good, but it's not bad either. I heard from the colleague who was changing shifts that the lock on this shop was broken into not long ago, but nothing was stolen. It was probably just a prank by bored kids."
"There are kids who pick locks in the middle of the night and think they're so great," Hugo said, continuing the conversation.
"You bet he's watched too many crime movies, that's why he finds this kind of thing so interesting." The shop assistant nodded in agreement.
Upon leaving the grocery store, Hugo immediately unwrapped one of the decks of cards.
He didn't even look at the suits and numbers on the front, but instead laid the entire deck of cards face down in his palm and started flipping it over quickly.
Just like flipping through business cards in the Feathered Residence, like a film reel playing in sequence, like the principle of film imaging, Hugo stared intently at the back of the card that was both moving and still in his hand.
He flipped through it once, and then again… He flipped through it with such concentration hundreds of times, and just as Hugo’s eyes began to ache, he saw it.
—The truth behind the trick.
In a pattern slightly above the center, within a completely inconspicuous diamond pattern, there is a pixel whose position changes as the card is flipped.
A rhombus has four sides, corresponding to four different colors, and different positions represent different numbers of dots.
This is precisely the source of Lanju's brilliant gambling skills.
He opened three more packs of cards. Although the patterns were different, there was still a diamond in the same position. As the cards were flipped, the inconspicuous pixels slowly crawled along the four sides.
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Hugo pressed his lips together, his shoulders twitching slightly, trying to suppress the urge to burst into laughter.
The shop I just visited was the most inconspicuous general store in all of Raven City. Even the signs in the store had been tampered with, which meant—
The entire city of Raven, where the Royal Union docked, had all the playing cards sold replaced by that gambling king.
Moreover, just in case, it is likely that the playing cards on the Royal United Ship and within the Plasma Group also met the same fate.
Hundreds of different styles of playing cards, thousands of shops selling playing cards along the street, tens of millions of perfectly counterfeited magic playing cards—how much would it cost to carry out such a trick?
Hugo was too lazy to calculate, but the result was certainly much smaller than an astronomical figure in a business war like 10 billion in cash.
Raven City was peaceful, with smiling people walking towards the football stadium and opera house. No one noticed the gambling scheme brimming with devilish madness in the roadside grocery store.
These playing cards will spread to every corner of the world as the product is distributed, and will silently disappear when their expiration date is over. Apart from Blueberry and his collaborators, and a detective dressed in black, no one will know the truth behind it.
"If I weren't in such a hurry to get somewhere, I would have loved to find a casino in Raven City and make a fortune."
Hugo, speaking in a jest that even he himself didn't believe, once again embarked on his journey to the funeral.
Even a detective cannot predict what will happen in the future—he had no idea that he would become the new Pokémon League Champion of the Unova region in a few days.