Chapter Seventy-Six: The Phantom Thief Appears

May 5th, precisely nine o'clock in the evening.

The Moonlight Exhibition Hall at the Nibi Museum began to clear out…

Ordinary visitors were pressed outside the hall by a human wall of Officer Jennys. Sometimes, if a show was canceled, Kaito Kid would use the excuse of “no audience” not to perform—a situation absolutely intolerable to Jirogi.

But tonight, this was neither unexpected nor a trick, for the Nibi Fossil Museum’s opening hours ended at nine anyway! The fact that only this hall was being cleared was already an extension of business hours, and Kaito Kid had surely anticipated as much.

At the same time, aside from the many Officer Jennys stationed at the entrance to block the crowd, plenty more were deployed on the rooftop—obviously, Kogoro’s “deduction” was being taken seriously!

Only Conan felt that something was off. Taking advantage of his small stature, he managed to stay inside the hall, hidden at just the right angle—a little trick he’d mastered to perfection.

Amu, Misty, and the others weren’t treated as ordinary guests and cleared out, but they kept to one side, careful not to interfere with the officers’ work or give Kaito Kid any chance to disguise himself as one of them and get close!

At that moment, as if from a textbook, the hall was plunged into darkness. The power cut, and instantly, everything was pitch black.

Meanwhile, the moonlight streaming through the windows became stark and prominent, like a natural spotlight.

“Kaito Kid! Kaito Kid! Kaito Kid…”

Shouts echoed from outside, and the officers present grew tense.

But…

While everyone focused their vigilance “outside,” Ran suddenly saw something and cried out, pointing toward the pool. Everyone turned to look and saw—

A figure, clad in a white suit, had appeared in the water!

He seemed to have materialized out of the moonlight itself…

No sign of diving gear, standing calmly on the pool’s floor, moving as if he were in open air, with not the slightest hindrance from the water, his motions perfectly fluid. Even the white cape fluttered gently around him.

Kaito Kid strode leisurely toward the underwater platform as if walking on solid ground!

“Not good! Stop him!” Ginzo Nakamori shouted immediately.

Several beams of light instantly shot across the water as aquatic Pokémon emerged—Officer Jennys had, of course, prepared water-types for any underwater confrontation.

But Yumi quickly cried out, “Wait—tsk!”

She was just a second too late! Seven or eight aquatic Pokémon—Poliwrath, Golduck, Seaking, and the like—were already diving into the pool.

At once, Gyarados Oka roared furiously at the intruders. With a swift twist of its body, it generated a violent current!

The sudden turbulence threw the other Pokémon into chaos, and the churning water made it even harder for those outside to see what was happening.

Conan muttered under his breath, “This is bad”—the officers had acted too rashly!

That “Kaito Kid” might not even be the real one or just a decoy, and even if it was, approaching the platform guarded by Gyarados wouldn’t be easy. And even if he managed to seize the “Wrath of Gyarados,” the officers could have focused on sealing his escape.

Sending all their Pokémon into the pool at once only added to the confusion!

Seeing this, Yumi immediately gestured to try and calm Gyarados Oka.

But the effect was minimal…

The other water Pokémon were quickly swept to the edges of the pool—their strength no match for a Champion-class Gyarados!

As the currents slowly settled, everyone saw Kaito Kid still walking toward the platform beneath the surface.

But now Oka had noticed him too, turning to confront the intruder.

Kaito Kid slowed his approach…

“Easy there, let me take a look at your Mega Stone. I’ll send it back to where it truly belongs,” Kaito Kid murmured.

From his perspective, there was no water around him at all!

It was as if an invisible barrier kept the pool’s water at bay, moving with him as he advanced.

From Gyarados’s point of view, the figure of Kaito Kid gradually morphed into an illusion of Mina, leaving it momentarily stunned…

Then, a strange current surged around Kaito Kid—the illusion distracting Gyarados, while his real body began to “dive” toward the “Wrath of Gyarados.”

No need to completely fool Gyarados—just distract it for a moment!

“He’s got the Wrath of Gyarados!” Conan, who had been watching closely, shouted as the artifact shimmered and Kaito Kid revealed himself—true invisibility was far more difficult than mere disguise, for it required projecting illusions that adapted to every change in the environment…

But what Kaito Kid hadn’t expected was that, at that moment, a glass wall began to descend, even as he snatched the “Wrath of Gyarados” before him.

What happens when you remove a plank from a barrel of water?

Water from the pool suddenly poured out through the lowering glass wall!

“What’s going on?” Ginzo demanded.

“Mr. Daigo… you…”

One of the officers immediately realized that Daigo was at the control panel—since he was the artifact’s curator, he’d been allowed to stay in the hall.

“If you can’t operate in water, then let’s drain it! What are you all waiting for? Hurry and catch him! Don’t let my ‘Wrath of Gyarados’ get stolen!” Daigo said, perfectly justified.

But Conan cursed inwardly—the chaos of the swirling waters and the now-agitated Gyarados only gave Kaito Kid more cover.

“Where’s Kaito Kid?”

“Above! He’s on the roof!”

“Rooftop team, stop him!”

Kaito Kid had already fired his grappling gun and hooked a portable cable to the skylight, swiftly ascending.

At the same time, Gyarados leaped up in a Waterfall attack to pursue him!

Though modern Gyarados can no longer fly long distances, when using Waterfall, it can still hurl itself high into the air, surrounded by a surge of water energy.

Kaito Kid was truly tempting fate—if Gyarados actually struck him, he’d be in mortal danger.

Yet the two maintained a narrow gap of less than a meter, and he seemed to revel in the thrill of the chase…

“Huh? Amu?”

Just then, Misty noticed that Amu, at some point, had reached the spot where the underwater platform had been, now standing in the pool with water up to his chest since it had not yet fully drained.

Above the water, they could see Amu mimicking Yumi’s gesture, one palm extended toward Gyarados, and in his other hand—the Key Stone pendant that had once hung there!

To Mega Evolve, a Pokémon must hold a Mega Stone, the trainer must possess a Key Stone, and—most importantly—there must be a deep bond and perfect harmony between the two to resonate and unleash that power.

But now…

Amu wanted to see if it could all be done with pure technique, without a shred of emotion…