Pokémon Detective Case Files

Chapter 449 All the raindrops will fall

Chapter 451 All the raindrops will fall

Whether Cattleya cheated or not, the answer is actually quite obvious.

Hugo couldn't tell whether the dice were moved by telekinesis or rolled naturally—and even if he could, that round of checks would have already ended. At that time, apart from Wanlong, everyone's view was completely blocked by the host's screen, leaving them no chance to uncover the truth.

Even so, as an old acquaintance of Gadria, Hugo could tell at a glance whether she was being stubborn and lying—she was even more conspicuous than Snorlax lying in the middle of the road.

However, at this moment, directly revealing the answer would only embarrass someone. Simple logical reasoning is meaningless here; what is truly needed is basic social etiquette.

"King Wanlong," Hugo said to the host, bypassing the parties still arguing over the dice, "neither Ms. Luna Silvia nor I are very familiar with this type of board game. Why don't we take this opportunity to demonstrate to us what exactly the 'Grand Failure' mechanism is?"

Since it's a game, as long as it's fun, that's enough. Whether you strictly follow the rules or adapt when necessary, in the face of this supreme principle of "fun above all else," they are nothing more than ritualistic means.

"Oh dear, is it really appropriate to be so considerate of a newcomer like me?"

Agent Luna said this, but her eyes gleamed with even greater curiosity. Seeing this, Wanlong clasped her hands together and broke into a bright smile.

"What's so special about that! That's a great idea—hey, Blueberry, it's time to show your manliness and give these two audience members a proper demonstration, isn't it?"

Lian Wu nodded in agreement, and Jia Deliya also quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Only Lingju, with an expression as if betrayed, stubbornly continued to argue, "Hey, don't switch sides so quickly! Since it's a demonstration, isn't it more interesting to show the possibility of a 'major success' than to show the disastrous state of a 'major failure'? The points difference is only a tiny bit, isn't it?"

In the board game rules selected by Wanlong, two ten-sided dice can be rolled to get numbers from 1 to 100. Therefore, if you roll a single-digit number (0, 1) and then turn one side, it will become a number 100 representing a big success - (0, 0).

"You said it yourself, our esteemed intermediate mage."

The host pushed up her signature round-framed glasses, a shrewd smile spreading across her face like someone seizing an opening in a Pokémon battle. "Heh, you should know very well, right? The consequences of throwing a 'Critical Success' at a prominent woman in the Royal Capital Tavern, a challenge with a difficulty level of 4 stars—"

There's an old saying in the board game world: you haven't officially started your role-playing career until you burn down your first tavern.

Taverns have been the main stage for fights since ancient times, and as one of the main buildings in the kingdom's capital, the waitresses at the Black Crocodile Tavern are certainly no ordinary people.

"Friendly reminder: this lady is not easy to persuade, and she is the kind of person who can single-handedly push out Lian Wu, a thief who is increasingly developing a strength-based style—she is not someone a traveler like you, who is practically a vagrant, can afford to mess with."

"It seems that lethal magic is forbidden in the royal capital. By the way, did the Unova Kingdom have the custom of holding wedding banquets five hundred years ago?"

"I think I can see a future where someone will settle down in the capital after tonight—"

Seeing this, the other two "travelers" abandoned their usual serious demeanor as the Alliance Kings and began to gloat and comment.

"Heh heh, it seems our renowned prodigal son of the alliance is finally finding his harbor. So—"

Wanlong's fingers reached across the screen behind the host, seemingly about to pick up the chess piece representing the magician, Cranberry—"—Wait a minute!"

Seeing that her created character was about to lose her freedom in the Black Crocodile Tavern, Yueju finally couldn't sit still any longer. "I've changed my mind! Taking a loss now and then isn't such a bad thing. Let's stick to the original points and honestly accept the failure judgment!"

"I thought that, given your style, you'd sell your body and abscond with the money in the middle of the night. Why are you being so obedient this time?" The Ghost King blinked, his tone teasing.

"Leaving aside the circumstances, I would never do something so tasteless using a character bearing my own name."

"Such words lose all credibility the moment you use the [Charm] skill."

Ignoring the host's complaints, the "Evil King" straightened his clothes, preparing for a major defeat.

Ultimately, when the magician, played by Cranberry, tried to seduce the waitress, his tongue got tied and he mispronounced the spell, causing the [Charm] spell to hit the humanoid Pokémon, Jynx, who was in charge of making ice in the tavern's kitchen.

The guilty mage felt a chill run down his spine and tried to flee, but it was too late. Jynx pounced with astonishing passion, and unable to use offensive spells, Blueberry could only engage in a brutal hand-to-hand combat—he underwent a rigorous [Fighting] check here, but no miracle occurred.

The magician was eventually turned into an ice sculpture in the latter's embrace, and his wicked intentions were also discovered by the waitress. He ended up with the same fate as Lian Wu, and even more tragically, he was blacklisted by the tavern.

"Actually, because of her superpowered abilities and ability to sense human emotions, Jynx's personality is even gentler than that of the Frost Fairy, who is also an ice-type. The former might at most occasionally make someone who accidentally sees her start dancing involuntarily, while the latter has real-life examples of directly 'inviting' humans she takes a liking to to her lair as guests."

As Hugo browsed through the battle damage reports from various places, he interjected without looking up, feeling that the description of the Lady with the Mistletoe was a bit stereotypical.

"It's all an accident, an accident! A so-called 'major failure' is when everything that was originally impossible becomes possible."

Wanlong waved his hand, forcefully using his power as host and board game author to explain everything.

Incidentally, in the board game she designed, the ancient Unova from 500 years ago did not have methods like "Poké Balls" for catching Pokémon. Therefore, the Pokémon that appear here are not like close partners to humans in reality, but rather a group of independent NPCs who have infiltrated human society on their own out of various interests—each with unpredictable temperaments and free behavior, depending entirely on the host's mood and the will of the dice that day.

After the commotion subsided, the game continued—compared to the two men who were constantly making mistakes, the monk lady Cattleya was clearly much more clever.

Just as Lanju was being kicked out of the tavern by the wolf-fox, she successfully passed a round of [Inspiration] checks, bypassed the unassuming waitress, and quietly walked to a corner of the tavern—where a suspicious-looking man wearing a cloak was sitting.

"Wow! Are we finally about to find the crucial intelligence we've been searching for?"

Agent Luna immediately got into character, excitedly lowering her voice, "Who is this person? Is he an information broker? Or someone who possesses royal secrets and is currently in hiding?"

She might just be the kind of person who's "naturally suited to role-playing games," getting immersed in them faster than anyone else.

However, given Wanlong's consistent literary style, he probably wouldn't arrange such a coincidental encounter—such a twist would be too abrupt. Just as Hugo was thinking this, he saw the Ghost-type Heavenly King chuckle and shake his head.

"Our group of travelers came to the tavern to investigate a recent royal rumor circulating in the capital. It is said that the king here is possessed by some kind of evil dragon of unknown origin, and the source of this rumor is this Black-Eyed Crocodile Tavern."

"I see, that's why you asked the waitress who works at the store for a long time, right?" Luna suddenly realized.

"However, you can also get the answers you want by directly asking this mysterious cloaked man."

Wanlong took out a chess piece representing a character from the new storyline and twirled it meaningfully between his fingers.

Caldelia silently made a [Negotiation] check and passed the threshold without using any superpowers—it turned out that the cloaked man was the tavern waitress's suitor, and had been secretly observing her in the Black Crocodile Tavern for half a year. Compared to the waitress who had to worry about her work, this guy, who had nothing to do all day, knew more about the various happenings in the tavern.

"Cattleya, you successfully gained this 'stalker's' trust by warning him about the magician who tried to use 'charm' on the waitress. Now, he's willing to tell you everything he knows."

"This is disgusting—" The psychic king fiddled with the end of his hair, revealing a look of disgust.

"But that makes sense, doesn't it? Who else would spend all their time in a tavern besides this kind of guy?" Yueju, a member of the tavern's blacklist who had become a bargaining chip, chimed in. "Instead of dawdling, let's hurry up and continue investigating the truth behind the rumors."

Just then, the thief Lian Wu returned to the tavern and joined in the questioning, helping his companions to investigate the clues that led to the initial spread of the rumors.

"'He was a big bearded man, a bad drinker, and not very mobile—'" Mr. Stalker seemed lost in memories of that night, his voice lowering.

Wanlong began her prepared narration with great emotion, her tone rising and falling: "This person suddenly appeared a month ago. No one had ever seen him before, but like a drop of water dissolving into a barrel of wine, he inexplicably became a regular at the Black Crocodile Tavern. Until that night—when it happened. One second he was laughing loudly with the other patrons, the next he suddenly froze, his eyes becoming vacant, staring blankly at the flickering flame in the oil lamp in front of him. A man who was laughing suddenly became like a puppet with its strings cut. In an instant, the noise miraculously subsided, and the air in the entire tavern seemed to freeze. Then, he spoke—his voice was no longer his usual rough and bold tone, but a smooth, hoarse tone with an inhuman tremor, like rusty metal scraping against glass."

"'Have you heard?' the bearded man whispered, but the whisper pierced everyone's ears clearly, 'About our—King.' No one dared to answer; an almost instinctive fear gripped them all. The man's eyes moved slightly in their sockets, his pupils shrinking to pinpoints in the firelight—then he continued..."

The quiet, deserted café at night was perfect for telling such eerie stories, and the torrential rain outside the window added a real chill to the host's words.

"‘I once had a friend who worked in the palace—’—this was the last thing he said—‘That king is no longer him—no longer. The one perched on the throne—is something else. Those scales, you surely haven't seen them before, have you? In the shadow of his neck—occasionally flashing, a ghostly purple, seemingly otherworldly shimmer—flowing like venom. And those eyes, when he thinks no one is watching—the pupils are vertical, splitting blood-red—like the oldest dragons—but—twisted, filled with hunger.’ He took a sharp breath, his voice lower yet sharper, like a viper's hiss— ‘It's an evil dragon, we don't know what it is, perhaps from the deepest rift—or the shadowy side of Zekrom? Or something even older, darker? Whatever it is, now, that dragon is perched on the kingdom's throne, gnawing at our nation—.’"

With a bang, Wanlong slammed his hand on the table in front of him, seemingly mimicking the sound from the scene. "Then, as if all his strength had been drained, the bearded man swayed violently and collapsed onto the table with a thud, snoring loudly as if nothing had ever happened."

"Wow!"

Everyone cooperated well, clapping sparsely.