Pokémon Detective Case Files.

Were there any casualties at the time? Were a couple surnamed Kuribayashi among the victims?

Azure interrupted the sigh of the policewoman, now known as the detective of the Criminal Investigation Department, and continued to press her for answers without any politeness.

"No one was killed!"

Officer Jenny's voice came through the other end of the phone, firmly denying it.

"That was a false report by the local news media, a false report. In the entire circus, only one acrobat, who performs high jumps, injured his leg in an accident. No one died at all. It was a fabrication by unscrupulous news media, and we've been troubled by it for a long time!"

It's only natural—although this happened a year ago, the Unova media, after Team Plasma's meticulous cultivation, had long become a stronghold of extreme Pokémon protectionism. When an accident occurred in a circus that controlled Pokémon performances for profit, it goes without saying how the writers in various media outlets would kick them while they were down.

"So, Miss Officer Jenny, do you remember the name I just mentioned?"

The news the little girl saw on TV turned out to be a misreport by United Media; no one had actually died at the circus. Hearing this news, which was enough to overturn everything, Azure suddenly realized… so that's how it was.

"Hmm, the couple named Kuribayashi..."

Officer Jenny only hesitated for a few seconds before replying immediately, "I remember, I remember. It's a family consisting of a psychic and a superhuman. They're quite popular in the White Tree Hollow Circus. I even saw them perform recently. Both of their superpowers are exceptional. In the past, there were even rumors that they were about to leave the group and go solo. However, after the riot, it seems they no longer have such plans."

It turned out to be the case.

With that, Azure finished piecing together the last piece of the puzzle and made up her mind to call Sachiko's house.

.

"I am a private investigator hired by the Feiyun City Police Department. I am conducting follow-up investigations on past security cases. To be honest, it's just a routine questionnaire survey. If it doesn't take up your time, could you answer a few questions for us?"

Azure asked in a deliberately casual tone, "If the maximum score is ten, how would you rate the police's performance in the circus incident a year ago?"

The United States police would naturally not commission detectives to conduct opinion polls in the middle of the night, but as long as they concocted a complete and convincing process, they could lower the guard of people who were not familiar with government affairs—many criminals who run telephone scams do the same thing, but Azure is doing a good deed now.

The man fell silent, and after a long while, he spoke in a low, dry voice—

"Miss, are you a professional detective hired by the Feiyun City Police Department?"

"Yes," Azure lied without batting an eye.

“Detective, I have a matter that is unrelated to the incident a year ago that I would like to consult about… No, saying it is unrelated is not quite right. In short, we have encountered a problem here that we cannot solve on our own, and I hope that I can entrust you with the task of solving the case.”

"Oh, what kind of incident was it?"

The man fell into an even longer silence—

"My daughter, she seems to be acting strange lately..." He stopped mid-sentence, hesitating.

"Understood. I will discuss the matter with you in detail later. But for now, please complete this questionnaire first—how has the police performed in serving the public? Have they adhered to the principles of timeliness, efficiency, and approachability in maintaining public order?"

Over the phone, Bilan spoke kindly with a blank expression.

As Victor Hugo said, if you're going to act, you have to go all the way.

Chapter 199 A World Where Truth and Falsehood Are Reversed

"My partner and I are both swindlers who make money by deceiving others."

The man, who appeared to be Sachiko's father, said this on the phone, explaining that he had been asked by the detective to recount all the events in chronological order.

"We work at the White Tree Hole Circus in Feiyun City. In the troupe, I am a psychic who can see the ghosts of the dead, and my lover is a fortune teller who can foresee the future. Day after day, we perform miracles for the audience, such as mediums summoning ghosts and communicating through telepathy—but these are all fake. To put it bluntly, we are nothing more than charlatans who rely on mystifying rhetoric and a few fragmented magic tricks to scare ordinary people."

So they were just ordinary humans disguised as having special abilities. Azure nodded knowingly; such people were not uncommon even in her hometown of Kanto.

If Naz were to see them, she'd probably be furious. But since the couple already worked in the circus, questioning the authenticity of their abilities is pointless. A performance is only important if it brings joy and excitement to the audience; calling them frauds is a bit of an exaggeration… Could they really have such a strong sense of inferiority about this?

All that could be heard was a deep sigh from the man—

“Now that our daughter has suffered like this, perhaps this is our retribution… We deceive our audience every day with suspense and exploit their ignorance to make a living, and now, something equally unbelievable has happened to our own daughter…”

It seemed that this touched a nerve, as the other person's deep voice became choked with emotion.

"No, the so-called cause and effect cycle is mostly just an illusion of consequentialism."

Words are spoken without thinking, just blurting out.

This idea is utterly absurd and illogical, and even if one feels guilty, it should never be for this reason.

As a substitute detective, Azure felt she had to say something, so she continued in Hugo's usual tone—

"No matter what you call yourself, faking miracles on stage is not an illegal act that needs to be atoned for. It is impossible for a person to have never done anything wrong in their life. In fact, even if you and your spouse were not working as people with superpowers, you would find countless reasons to repent in your past. Please face your past and future lives without any excuses."

Then, Azure made a declaration into the telephone receiver.

"We detectives will handle the trivial matter of settling the cause and effect; the task of stating the facts and providing clues will have to be left to our client, Mr. Kuribayashi."

Unable to see the other person's expression over the phone, Bilan only knew that after a moment of silence, the man's voice became much more invigorated, and even his tone rose a little.

"Thank you so much, Miss Detective. I think I can trust you now," the client said sincerely.

"It all started in the first half of last year, before the White Tree Hole Circus had its accident, when our career was at its peak. Back then, thousands of spectators would buy tickets to the circus every day, most of them just to see our superpowers. A month's income back then was equivalent to a year's income now. It was during this period that my partner and I had a disagreement about our careers."

Does the disagreement here refer to leaving the circus to go solo?

Azure recalled the information Officer Jenny had revealed, but since she was now playing the role of a detective from a third-party perspective, she did not reveal it directly to her.

Indeed, psychic and fortune-telling performances are a separate category and don't perfectly fit the style of a circus. Given the couple's popularity at the time, they could have earned much more money if they had formed a new troupe specializing in supernatural performances.

“My partner advocated leaving the troupe to start their own business, but I hesitated, which caused us to have a conflict. The problems of a workplace marriage became apparent at this time. With each argument, our conflicts escalated. What was originally just a disagreement about work direction was brought into our home, and we started to dislike each other... until the day the accident happened at the circus.”

"What happened that day?" Azure asked knowingly.

Neither the girl's father nor her mother, nor anyone else in the White Tree Hole Circus, had lost their lives... The acting detective had already guessed the answer, but the information coming from the other end of the phone gave her new doubts.

Something strange happened, and the clues became distorted.

It was as if a knot that had been untied had been rolled back into a pile.

“On the day of the accident, neither my partner nor I went to work at the theater troupe. Instead, we both took the day off. We went to a coffee shop and tried to talk things out with each other about our family and work issues all at once. We naively thought that this way we could clear up all the pent-up resentment that had accumulated between us over a long period of time—but of course, that was impossible.”

The man on the other end of the line sighed softly.

“We had another huge fight, and neither of us could convince the other. We thought the other was incredibly stupid and repulsive, and our dissatisfaction with each other was stronger than ever before. If the law allowed it, it wouldn’t be surprising if we had divorced on the spot. In this awkward atmosphere, we went home and then…did the stupidest thing I’ve ever done in my life.”

"What is it? Is it related to the incredible situation your daughter is in?" Azure asked cooperatively.

“We…” His deep voice became dry, as if he were recounting something unspeakable.

“We pretended the other person didn’t exist in front of our daughter. When she asked about him, we said he was dead. Neither of us had planned it beforehand; it was just something we said in anger. I started it, and he mimicked me without hesitation. In this way, we indirectly expressed our disgust for our other spouse through conversations with our daughter…”

Yes, the intersecting timelines that Sachiko inhabits are essentially a distorted game.

It wasn't even a joke; it didn't make anyone laugh.

An extremely malicious, vicious, and disgusting prank.

You should just die, it would be better if you died—the couple attacked each other with such clumsy lies and acting in front of their innocent child, expressing their hatred in such a subtle yet blatant way.

That's how it is.

"..."

Taking a few breaths to calm herself, Bilan tried to remain as unemotional as possible in her comment: "If it were a child, she probably would never have imagined that her parents would put on an act in front of her for such a reason."

After all, it's something even harder to understand than "parallel universes," "quantum physics," "wormhole travel," and the "grandmother paradox."

"Yes." The man on the other end of the phone said with shame, but couldn't help but defend himself, "We just felt that we were talking in anger at the time, and we didn't mean to deceive our daughter. The lies we told and our acting were all very stiff... We never expected that Sachiko would take everything she saw as real."

"But that's just how young children are, isn't it?"

Azure's face was cold, and she uttered words no less harsh than "Ice Breath"—

"Being afraid of everything, feeling uneasy about everything, surrounded by people taller than themselves, having to look up when talking to anyone, and starting to wonder if they did something wrong whenever an adult speaks with their hands on their hips in a bossy manner—this is probably the position of all young children. It should be the responsibility of parents to care for such children."

"Furthermore," the detective added, "you two are both actors who make a living performing in circuses. What you consider to be incredibly stiff acting skills may appear lifelike to others, and it would be a piece of cake to fool a child."

When people talk about talent, they often compare it to a gift from heaven, but talent can sometimes also become a curse. Talented people can accomplish what others cannot with ease, but at the same time, they may also blur their own perception of mediocrity and incompetence.

If we must talk about the karmic consequences of counterfeiting miracles, then this is probably what it refers to.

There was no response for a long time on the other end of the phone, but the detective could vaguely hear sobbing.

What's the use of shedding tears now?

.

"After that night, we learned about the accident at the circus on TV, so we rushed to the circus to help. The detective accepted the police's request, so she should know the details. The circus was damaged in many places because of the rampaging giant coconut tree, and its reputation was also negatively affected. My lover and I were busy at the troupe for several days. Even when we went home to take care of Sachiko, one of us would always go back alone."

After a long while, the deep male voice rang out again.

“It was during that time that Sachiko’s misunderstanding of us deepened. At first, we explained to Sachiko that her partner was simply busy with work at the circus and therefore couldn’t come home. But our daughter comforted us instead, telling us not to worry about her, saying that she was in a world where her parents were still alive and therefore wouldn’t be sad. Later, the two of us went home together and tried to clear up our daughter’s misunderstanding, but her mind was already deeply ingrained. No matter how we explained, she took it as an act we put on to make her happy.”

Reality and illusion are confused, black and white are reversed.

When falsehood is presented as reality, reality naturally becomes a fantasy in the eyes of children.

“This is not the worst of times. We originally thought that as long as my husband and I lived a normal life at home together for a while, Sachiko’s delusions would improve. But recently, the situation has become even more serious. Even if my husband and I stand in front of our daughter at the same time, she can only see one of us at a time. No matter what the other person says to her or how loudly they shout, she will ignore it all. If we pick her up, Sachiko will become like a puppet and become completely still.”

"Is this considered a mental illness? Have you seen a doctor?" Bilan asked.

“Yes,” the man replied. “The doctor said it’s probably auditory and visual hallucinations caused by schizophrenia, but there aren’t any similar cases in existing medical records. He suggested that instead of medication, we should try to communicate with Sachiko first. The illness is caused by us, and maybe we can help her resolve her inner conflicts—however, in the meantime, no matter how hard we try, things will only get worse…”

Sachiko's dual world is heading in opposite directions, and one day she will lose one of her parents.

"What about the argument you and your husband had? What happened afterward?" Bilan asked again.

"The circus fell into a financial crisis after the accident and has not recovered since. The ringmaster was kind to my wife and me. It was understandable that he left when the business was booming, but now that the circus is in crisis, we naturally can't kick him when he's down, so the plan to go solo has fallen through. The source of the argument has disappeared, and our daughter has become like this. The disputes have also quickly disappeared from the house—it's as if the previous arguments never happened."

"I see. So that's why you asked me to help you resolve the girl's inner turmoil."

"Yes, please, please save our child."

“Hmm…” Azure rested her index finger on her chin. “Before accepting the commission, I have one last question to ask.”

"I will answer all your questions without reservation."

"From the night of the circus incident to the time you watched TV the next day, there should have been plenty of time for you and your husband to clarify the misunderstanding with your daughter. What did you do then?"

For some reason, the female detective became fixated on one of the most insignificant details of the entire incident.

In the story the boy recounted, Sachiko's parents confirmed the fact that the other person was dead, and Sachiko completely believed in the theory of parallel universes.

Why did the couple continue their pranks the next day, even after a whole night of calming down?

"...Because at that time, we discovered that Sachiko had already taken what happened yesterday as true."

His deep voice carried obvious regret, which was natural, as he had missed the best opportunity to clear up the misunderstanding.

"Lying is very easy, and a clumsy lie can be exposed in an instant; but getting a liar to admit to the lie and resolve the misunderstanding caused by it is an extremely troublesome and humiliating thing. That's probably how we felt back then."

"I see, I can definitely empathize with that."

Azure nodded a second time.

"Yes, once you lie at the beginning, it's very difficult to turn back."

The detective's tone suddenly became exceptionally meaningful—

"Is there anything else you'd like to add on this point? Lady Kuribayashi, deliberately lowering her voice and pretending to be her husband?"

Chapter 200 Correct Proxy Format

"You were absolutely right... Miss Detective, how did you figure that out?"

The voice behind the receiver changed instantly, becoming melodious and delicate. The somber, deep male voice was gone, replaced by the voice of a woman who seemed to be bitterly laughing at herself.

“You never actually intended to hide your identity, did you? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have used gender-neutral pronouns like ‘lover,’ ‘partner,’ or ‘other half’ to refer to your husband in your narrative.”

Ambiguous pronouns, a switch of identities, hearsay that is deceiving, yet the truth becomes crystal clear once revealed... Although the other side probably didn't intentionally confuse the issue, this is precisely the narrative trick that film buff Douzi once raved about.

Azure said slowly, without any surprise—

"Receiving a suspicious phone call with a specific name late at night would make anyone wary, right? As an entertainer who has played the role of a psychic for many years, Mrs. Kuribayashi, you are naturally proficient in techniques such as voice modulation and ventriloquism. As we discussed before, the so-called curse of talent is that it makes people unconsciously do things that deviate from the norm. With the corresponding ability, wouldn't it be quite logical for you to pretend to be someone else at this time in order to get rid of those with ulterior motives?"

It's not a man, but a woman.

It wasn't the husband answering the phone on her behalf, but the wife herself.

Using a technique she often employed in spiritual performances, like a chattering bird, she "invited" her husband's voice from his abdomen, allowing "him" to speak according to her wishes.

To deceive the genuine and fabricate miracles.

Just as the other side said at the beginning of the narrative, "she" and "he" are both swindlers who make a living by deception, and they really live up to their reputation.

If it were Azur Lane before she came to Unova, she definitely wouldn't have been able to see through such a prank...

"Although it might be somewhat inappropriate for me to ask..." the client asked hesitantly—