Pokémon Detective Case Files.

“But there’s nothing here.” Mr. Kuribayashi looked around in confusion.

The podium, desks, activity area, hygiene corner, picture book shelf—all common sights in a preschool classroom. Apart from all the items being made to fit the small size of young children, there is nothing out of place.

"This routine is exactly the kind of disguise that troublemakers are good at."

Azure smiled happily, and a Poké Ball had appeared in her hand without her noticing.

"Show off the results of your training! Archaeopteryx, 'Clear the Fog'!"

A fossil Pokémon with dead fish eyes was released from the Poké Ball, flapping its distinct yellow and blue wings—instantly, a huge gust of wind began to echo throughout the room.

"Clearing the Fog" is a skill that Archaeopteryx mastered after it awoke from the fossil. After several trainers changed, this move, which does not require any power, became its main training exercise.

Azure firmly believes that the key to Pokémon moves is quality, not quantity. Even a Pokémon that is proficient in just one support move can play an irreplaceable role in battle.

Therefore, she doesn't need Archaeopteryx, whose talents are sealed by itself, to become an all-around jack-of-all-trades. Since its "weak" characteristic makes it difficult for its attacks and special attacks to reach their full potential, she can simply shift her focus from offensive moves to becoming a supportive disruptor. As for initiating attacks, she can confidently leave that to the trainer and other Pokémon.

At this moment, after a long period of specialized training, the Archaeopteryx's wings, which could originally only produce a gentle breeze, can finally stir up a raging gale like a warrior eagle.

Inside the classroom, plastic desks and chairs were blown over in large numbers, picture books were scattered all over the floor, and the classroom windows, which had been closed, began to whistle mournfully.

As the "clearing of the fog" was successfully performed, something different began to appear inside the classroom.

"That's it!" The little boy's eyes widened as he looked in surprise at a corner of the ceiling.

"As you can see—" Whether it was because the correctness of the reasoning was verified, or to celebrate the successful release of the Archaeopteryx skill, Azure clapped her hands together in satisfaction.

"This Pokémon is the culprit that gradually distorted Sachiko's fantasies."

What everyone saw was a light pink head and a pale purple back. The creature's eyes were closed, and it had three short black eyelashes. Its body was spherically compressed, and its pointed snout, like that of a tapir, was wrapped around its limbs. A barely perceptible purplish-red smoke rose from the top of its head.

The second one is Dreamy Eclipse.

However, it was much smaller than the one that Azure was holding in her arms.

"Mengmengshi, are you planning to come down yourself, or do you want to be beaten up and captured by me like this senior?"

While everyone was wondering what was going on, Azure called out to Dreamy Eclipse, who was hiding in a corner of the ceiling.

Previously, it had been curled up and floating in that spot, concealing its form with the colorless and odorless dream of everyday life.

Using a fog of vague cognition to conceal one's whereabouts is not optical invisibility, but rather closer to the conceptual invisibility of psychology and brain science.

Seeing its companion's miserable state, the second Dream Eater trembled with sympathy. However, when it noticed Azure approaching step by step, it was so frightened that it dared not move.

"what!"

The detective gave a low shout and stomped her foot sharply, making a loud, blunt sound.

Then, witnessed by four people involved in the incident, the small Dream Eater fell to the floor with a "plop," its eyes bulging like mosquito coils, and it passed out.

"Miss Azure, are you a superpowered individual?"

Despite having countless unanswered questions in his mind, Mr. Kuribayashi couldn't help but ask Azur Lane this question as soon as he opened his mouth.

"No, I just startled it. This Dream Eater was actually exhausted long ago. Its 'synchronization' ability probably allowed it to empathize with its companion's plight, causing it to have a mental breakdown under immense pressure and simply pass out."

Azure stepped forward, picked up the second Dreamy Eclipse, and held it in her arms, one on each side, in response.

This was both to control the Pokémon in time and to prevent the two parents from acting impulsively and retaliating against the Pokémon that caused their daughter's misfortune.

Fortunately, even when Momoshi is unconscious, she can still provide buoyancy with her superpowers, so Azure doesn't feel too strained while holding the two giant pink balls.

"Now let me tell you the whole story."

Azure found a chair in the classroom that had remained upright even after somersaulting a few times, and leisurely sat down.

"Although this may be the willful words of an outsider, to be honest, I really understand the reason why this Dream Eater devours Sachiko's dream."

"What exactly happened?" Sachiko's mother asked.

"In short, it's about emergency avoidance. Mengmengshi is trapped in this classroom for some reason and can't get out, so she has to devour your daughter's dream reality. Because of the cold war between you two a year ago, Xingzi has divided the reality she sees into two worlds that don't merge. She has been immersed in this dreamlike self-deception for a long time and has become someone who can dream even with her eyes open."

Azur Lane reveals the final truth—

"That's why Sachiko became the only food that this Dream Eater could come into contact with in this classroom."

Chapter 209 The Solution - Dream-Eroded Prison

"By setting aside the mysteries nested together by misunderstandings and eliminating various fantastical theories without any real basis, the truth behind the scenes becomes clear. By simply listing the following key points of doubt, we can roughly outline the overall shape of the event."

After revealing the most important mystery, Azure began to methodically explain her reasoning—

"First, it is known that some kind of anomaly is altering Sachiko's cognitive abilities over a long period of time, causing the little girl to disappear from the classroom from time to time. So how exactly is this being done? Given such a long-term effect, does this mean that the source of the effect is located in Sachiko's daily life?"

"Secondly, if we make a reasonable inference about the first point of doubt, we will find that Sachiko's daily activities are limited to only two areas: home and preschool. However, the disappearances only occur frequently within the school, while the inability to see her parents is a constant occurrence. Does this mean that the real abnormality lies in the 'disappearance' rather than the 'ignoring,' and that the real distortion of the incident lies in Sachiko's intermittent disappearances at school, with the inability to see her parents merely an indirect side effect? ​​Is the problem occurring within the school rather than at home?"

"Third, if the source is within the school, then another obvious question arises—how did the person influencing Sachiko get close to the girl without her noticing? And how did they change her perception?"

"Fourth, if we make a reasonable speculation about the third point of doubt, we can easily guess that it might be caused by some Pokémon with superpowers, since altering cognition and teleportation are the specialties of superpowered Pokémon. So, if the culprit is a Pokémon with the ability to alter cognition, what is its purpose in doing so?"

"Fifth, and the final mystery—why, among hundreds of children in such a large school, was only Sachiko the one who encountered the anomaly? What unusual qualities did she possess that attracted this Pokémon? Is there some connection between these qualities and the habits of that mysterious Pokémon?"

Now that the Kuribayashi couple knows the truth, they naturally understand Azure's reasoning with ease.

Sachiko's "dream" attracted Dream Eater, who feeds on dreams.

This Dream Eater has long resided inside the classroom, concealing its presence with colorless smoke that obscures perception.

When Sachiko disappeared, she was still in the classroom, but she was dragged into the mist by Mengmengshi, so she could not be detected. Mengmengshi did this in order to devour the "dreams" accumulated on the girl.

Because Sachiko constantly fantasizes about living in two separate worlds, she unconsciously divides her cognitive world into two halves, each carrying her perception of her father and mother. Therefore, when she is "devoured" by Mengmeng, she develops a cognitive disorder that prevents her from recognizing her parents.

This cognitive impairment was initially intermittent, but the effects of "dream eating" only confirmed the girl's fantasies, creating a vicious cycle that intensified. As Sachiko became more convinced of her fantasies, her dreams and reality merged more thoroughly, and her cognitive world was increasingly eroded.

So why does the Dream Eater only target Sachiko? Another Dream Eater can float to the window of a student dormitory to absorb dreams, or fly to the clock tower to sunbathe and take a nap. Why does this Dream Eater only target Sachiko?

This is because it was locked up, locked in a classroom that only students would enter for classes.

Therefore, apart from the dreams on Sachiko's body, the smaller Dream Eater had no other food to satisfy its hunger.

In many contexts, "safety" and "freedom" are antonyms—safety means restraint, while freedom means danger.

In this incident, the various architectural designs originally intended to protect children's safety became prisons blocking Mengmengshi's path to freedom.

Ironically, in the Warriors Eagles incident, the sloppy safety design of the residential building became the root cause of the tragic fall, while in this incident, the overly comprehensive safety design of the preschool became an indirect factor that prevented Sachiko from seeing her parents.

"The whole thing started when Momo entered this class—just when Sachiko was in a state of turmoil because of the cold war between you and your husband, the little girl emitted a dreamlike aura that attracted Dream Eater Pokémon, and Momo was lured into the preschool."

Azure released the two Eevee Pokémon, allowing the pink Pokémon to float on either side of the ground, and explained the cause and effect she had deduced to everyone.

"Of course, even this smaller version of Misty would have no chance of getting through the classroom window bars in its current state. The security bars here are specifically designed to prevent children from climbing over them; even small children can't squeeze through, so these chubby Pokémon certainly can't get in. And this school is so focused on security that teachers lock the classroom doors after school or during outdoor activities. Misty doesn't know the 'Teleport' move, so trying to walk through the classroom door and swagger in during school hours is simply wishful thinking. But—"

The detective raised her right index finger.

"What if Mengmengshi wasn't Mengmengshi when she entered the classroom?"

Beyond the old clock tower, the city is changing rapidly, with brand-new school buildings rising from the ground, where groups of different children spend their precious childhood—while the clock tower remains as steadfast as the world's anchor.

Similarly, within the prison-like confines of a classroom, nothing can remain unchanged forever. A tiny sprite that accidentally slips through the barriers may, through a series of coincidences, undergo a transformation as vast as the changing of the world.

A flash of inspiration struck me atop the clock tower, and that was exactly what came to mind.

Evolution – A strange phenomenon that occurs in most Pokémon during their growth process, except for a few whose evolutionary methods have not yet been discovered.

Whether by chance, naturally, or through the accumulation of experience under certain conditions, evolved Pokémon can gain a new form, enhance their abilities in various aspects, and learn new skills.

However, while there are exceptions like Mega Evolution, Pokémon evolution is generally irreversible.

Once a Pokémon has evolved, it cannot revert to its pre-evolution state.

"Before entering the classroom, this Dream Eater had not yet evolved and was just a Dream Eater. Judging from its current size, which is much smaller than its kind, its size during its degenerate stage should also be much smaller than other Pokémon of the same kind. Perhaps it had just hatched from its Pokémon egg not long ago. In any case, at that time, as a Dream Eater, it could have easily squeezed through the window railing and silently floated into Sachiko's classroom."

Azure squeezed the small version of Dream Eclipse beside her and continued—

"Following the scent of dreams into the classroom, and discovering that Sachiko could dream even while awake, Dream Eater, driven by gluttony, curiosity, or perhaps simply a desire to help Sachiko trapped in her fantasies, used her 'Dream Eater' skill—a skill capable of erasing nightmares—on the girl—and just then, an accident occurred."

The detective pointed to the amulet that Sachiko was wearing.

"In order to help your daughter wake up from her fantasy as soon as possible, you gave Sachiko a moonstone amulet that could calm her mind and ward off evil spirits. It was this item that trapped Dream Eater in Sachiko's class."

"Moonstone, is this the condition for the evolution of Dream Eclipse?"

Mr. Kuribayashi's voice trembled as he looked at Sachiko beside him with a face full of regret.

He was the one who gave the amulet to his daughter in the first place. At that time, his daughter hadn't shown any unusual behavior; she simply naively believed her parents' words and mistook her fantasies for reality. He, however, hoped to use the power of the special item to restore everything to normal—but instead, the situation only worsened...

“Yes.” As a seasoned Picoshi animal breeder, the detective nodded.

"In the Kanto region, there is a Mt. Tsukimi, where moonstones are abundant. Clefairys that live in Mt. Tsukimi avoid the stones scattered throughout the caves before they grow up. Only when they reach a certain age will they evolve together with their companions during a special ceremony on the night of the full moon, becoming Clefairy with pink wings. Most other Pokémon that evolve using special items are similar. Although evolution makes Pokémon stronger in a short time, evolving too early can easily lead to malnutrition and slow growth. Therefore, they suppress their growth urge and only go out to find evolution items after they reach adulthood."

Azure sighed and concluded her speech—

"However, during its contact with Sachiko, this Dream Eater accidentally touched the Moonstone Amulet, causing itself to evolve. Now nearly a meter in size, it can no longer escape from this classroom."

Just as a clenched fist can no longer pass through the narrow opening of a bottle when reaching into it to grab something, the evolved Dream Eater's size increases instantly, making it unable to freely pass through the gaps between security fences like Dream Eater.

Beyond the gaps in the window bars were locked doors and the watchful eyes of the teacher during class. For Mengmengshi, this place had become a classroom chamber from which she could neither escape, climb over, nor get out.

"But..." Sachiko's father still asked, somewhat unable to understand—

"Besides the window, doesn't it have any other way to leave this classroom? Isn't Momonga a Psychic Pokémon? Even if it can't teleport, couldn't it use psychic powers to turn the door latch or use hypnosis to make the people inside open the door for it?"

"I'm sorry." Azure shrugged.

"As you saw when we entered, the classroom door isn't a bolt-lock mechanism, but a sturdy and complex padlock. Little Dream Eater has only recently evolved and is completely incapable of manipulating the mechanisms inside the door—contrary to your imagination, unlocking is not a skill that can be easily learned without instruction; it's really difficult. As for 'hypnosis,' with its current power, it might be effective on young children who are prone to drowsiness, but it might not work on determined adults. Getting the entire class to fall asleep is absolutely impossible."

"Moreover, this Dream Eater evolved too early. Not only is its experience in using moves not fully mature, but its personality is also not fully mature. Its mind is still in the infancy stage, no different from Dream Eater. Faced with the predicament of being imprisoned, the only solution it can think of is to escape—hide in a corner on the edge of the ceiling and use the fragments of dreams it has digested to cover its body."

This should have been a clumsy attempt to deceive oneself, since Mengmengshi's dreams were mostly either black and gray or pink, and colorless, transparent everyday dreams were even rarer in the dull classroom.

However, both fortunate and unfortunate, the dream it ate from Sachiko was a projection of reality, allowing it to hide perfectly in the classroom—until it was completely blown away by Archaeopteryx's "Clear Fog," leaving it nowhere to hide without the cover of the dream.

"Of course, relying on the meager amount of dreams that Sachiko consumes every day is not enough to meet the growth needs of this Dream Eater. It even has to go hungry on weekends and holidays. It seems to be completely malnourished now, otherwise it wouldn't have fainted from being startled by my sudden stomp when we first met."

At this point, the incident has been fully explained.

Before the silent Kuribayashi couple and their curious children watching the two dream-eating creatures, Azure stood up again.

“The dream that has been devoured by the Dream Eater cannot be returned. Even if images are exhaled from the smoke, Sachiko will probably only think that they are fragments recording images of a parallel universe, no different from normal video recordings. Therefore, although I am extremely helpless, my part of the performance in this incident has to end here.”

"Miss Azure, what does this mean?"

Lady Kuribayashi asked anxiously, her tone somewhat agitated, which drew the little boy's attention in that direction.

Sachiko quietly watched Mengmengshi, seemingly more interested in the smaller one, perhaps realizing the ill-fated connection between this Mengmengshi and herself... As always, she did not turn to look at her mother.

"Dream Eater is the culprit behind this abnormal event. Now, as long as I release it from the classroom, it will never again devour Sachiko's dream of reality. Sachiko's perception of her parents should be able to recover someday. But that's all I can do. Recovery from cognitive impairment cannot be achieved overnight. Just like I said near the school gate, if you want your daughter to rediscover the fact that her parents live in the same world, you will need your whole family to work together in the future."

Lady Kuribayashi opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say something more, but her husband stopped her.

"Thank you, Detective Azure. We, the Kuribayashi family, are extremely grateful for your help. The Hugo Detective Agency truly lives up to its reputation for uncovering the truth in just one day. As for the commission fee, we will definitely pay it in full in person afterward."

"I just did my best. It was all thanks to everyone's cooperation that we were able to resolve it so quickly. We can pay the service fee after Sachiko's condition improves."

Azure picked up the two Dream Eaters again and prepared to leave the classroom with the little boy.

"Miss Azure, can Sachiko really get better?"

Even though she already knew that the detective was not a doctor and could not predict her daughter's recovery, Mrs. Kuribayashi still couldn't help but ask Azure again.

However, this time, the detective turned around and said with a strange smile—

"I guess it might recover soon. The world is full of incredible things... Hmm, I have a feeling about that."

Chapter 210 Miracles Sometimes Come to Earth

"Do you think what Detective Azure said at the end was true?"

The wife looked at her husband with a worried expression.

As the sun set, a seemingly harmonious family of three walked under the newly lit streetlights, their three shadows stretched long and thin.

However, the little girl in the middle of the three, whose hands were being held by her parents on both sides, looked confused.

Her mother's grip on her right hand was stiff. The girl kept tugging at her right hand in distress, her eyes filled with tears as she looked to her father for help, as if she were being held back by a mischievous ghost Pokémon...

"...That was probably just to comfort us."

After hesitating for a long time, Mr. Kuribayashi finally told his wife his thoughts.

He patted Sachiko's head and, speaking as if to himself to the spouse who didn't exist in his daughter's eyes—

"Just like treating an illness, even after ruling out the causes that worsen the body, the patient still needs a long time to recover; if treatment was delayed, or if the illness was particularly severe, there's a possibility of developing a lifelong, incurable condition. If this is true for other organs, the brain, with its most intricate structure, is certainly even more vulnerable—so even that detective couldn't guarantee that Sachiko's cognitive impairment would be cured, and instead chose to comfort us with an ambiguous blessing. Her final suggestion that we not rush to pay the commission fee was probably because she thought of this and felt guilty..."