Pokémon Detective Case Files.

What's even more ironic is that all the chosen Pokémon came from the fringes of human society and had never been kept in captivity by humans in a proper way for a long period of time. Therefore, they also did not mention the existence of that item to N.

After all, how could mere words possibly describe the function of something if you didn't see it in person?

Quixote raised N's right hand and aimed it at the largest elf in the room. He then tossed the object in his hand out.

That was the Daruma baboon, once imprisoned in a stone cell by poachers for dozens of days without food or water, which caused it to develop a voracious appetite. However, after spending a long time with the boy, it slightly changed its bad habit. Now, if it gets a berry treat after a meal, the Daruma baboon can barely suppress its unhealthy urge to eat. Whenever it manages to overcome its appetite, this huge fire-type spirit will approach N with a boastful air, letting him pat its head as a reward. Although its body is engulfed in flames, its enormous smile always makes people feel incredibly reliable. When the temperature is cold, N and the other spirits will sleep around the Daruma baboon—such nights often bring sweet dreams…

At this moment, the Daruma baboon looked at N's actions with bewilderment. It watched helplessly as the red and white object drew a parabola in the air and crashed into its broad forehead, which was covered with two flame-shaped eyebrows.

what--

N's eyes widened as he witnessed an astonishing scene.

The red and white sphere opened, shooting out a beam of red light. The Daruma baboon was suddenly enveloped in the scarlet light, then began to shrink and fade... until it completely disappeared, transforming into a ray of light and vanishing into the sphere.

The red and white ball closed. At first, it wobbled a few times, as if the baboon was struggling, but the struggle was futile, and it soon went silent.

The enormous body of the Damo baboon vanished in an instant.

The heartfelt words of N's friend that had been lingering in her ears suddenly vanished, leaving only silence.

The gentle baboon seemed to have never existed; all that remained before him was a fist-sized spherical capsule. This time, it appeared to contain something.

N was stunned for a moment.

"Let's choose the rolling bat next."

His father's voice reached his ears, as if he didn't think there was anything strange about what he was doing. A second sphere was placed into N's palm.

The Rolling Bat. It had suffered inhumane abuse at the hands of humans, and if a stranger approaches, it emits high-frequency sonic waves to express its fear. Now, seeing its father and the other seven sages gathered in the room, it's probably trembling with fear... only refraining from screaming for N's ​​sake. The Rolling Bat's eyes are covered in light blue fur, so it loves to sniff the scents of its companions with its heart-shaped nose. Perhaps because of this, it lacks a sense of boundaries with those it trusts. When it wants to show affection, it'll, like a canine Pokémon, use its tongue beneath its fangs to wet the other person's cheek...

The ball was thrown out quickly. The Pokémon that had been happily flying around the room vanished.

Before Quidditch could hand the third Poké Ball to N—

"Wait a minute! Where did the Dharma Baboon and the Rolling Bat go? What are you doing? What is this ball?"

Questions came pouring out of N's mouth like a machine gun, and the metaphor was really ironic in this context.

Quixote released N's hand, stroking the red and white Ethereal Poké Ball in his hand, but showed no intention of answering. Was the look of confusion flickering in his father's eyes?

"Those two Pokémon are fine, Master N. They were just put back into their Poké Balls. Quixote is helping you catch Pokémon."

Sage Simla stepped forward and spoke to the students.

His speech, like his blackboard writing in class, was full of inexplicable technical terms.

"Poké Ball," "recycle," "capture"—which world's vocabulary is this?

Seeing that N still didn't understand, Smura picked up the Poké Ball of the Rolling Bat and pressed the button in the center in front of the boy.

As the red light flashed once more, the previously absent swarm of bats reappeared. The inner voice of the flapping-winged sprite re-emerged, expressing its confusion to N.

It didn't seem to be in much pain. However—

...What...what is this thing? Is life something that can be so easily put into a pocket?

N discovers for the first time that the world outside the enormous room is vastly different from her imagination.

Pokémon were not originally creatures that could live side-by-side with humans.

Seeing that the student didn't react, Smura assumed N understood her meaning and put the Rolling Bat back into its Poké Ball. The unspoken message, barely half-conveyed, vanished once again as if silenced.

...What do they, no, all of humanity, take Pokémon, my friends for?

Seeing N's expression, Joggs suddenly understood and explained—this is the Poké Ball used by humans to control Pokémon. Its history can be traced back to before the League calendar. It is a technological product created using the principle that Pokémon shrink when injured.

Even in N's worst assumptions about humanity, he had not anticipated the existence of such a tool.

For the first time, he realized the true nature of the relationship between humans and Pokémon. It wasn't a partnership of sharing joys and sorrows and supporting each other, nor was it a friendship that sometimes quarreled and sometimes harmonious. Even the relationship between slave owners and slaves was healthier and more equal—humans simply treated Pokémon as convenient tools that could be easily put in their pockets and taken away.

Joggs continued to tell him about the evolution of Poké Balls from rough to refined, as well as the wide variety of Poké Ball types.

...These restraint devices, which are like collars, chains, and bite guards, and are devoid of any respect or friendliness, have been developed and manufactured generation after generation, just like everyday items that are everywhere.

"N, what's wrong?" Quixote looked at N, who was already crouching down with his mouth covered, in confusion.

...Aren't there any humans, Pokémon, who have seen, discovered, and spoken out about the twisted aspects of that thing?

Countless details and truths that I had previously overlooked come together—why can humans, who are weaker than Pokémon, occupy a position where they can bully Pokémon at will? Why do trainers consider capturing Pokémon and keeping them by their side as a daily routine? Why would Pokémon creatures so devoted to helping humans, even assisting them in abusing their own kind?

...Bizarre, strange, twisted, ugly, disgusting, utterly undignified, shameless, nauseating. Stop joking, stop making such jokes. Why? On what grounds? Why don't you understand? Why remain silent? Why treat this as common sense? Why treat your individualistic partners like this? Aren't you ashamed? Don't you realize you're going too far?

The words wanted to come out, but they choked in my throat and, with the surge of anger, turned into something else.

Dizziness and lightheadedness washed over him; his internal organs were being squeezed by the churning blood, and an irresistible force surged upwards, instantly filling his cheeks. His mouth could no longer be tightly covered by his hands, but instead, it contracted again in his abdomen, finally breaking through all barriers—

Ugh, waaaaaah...

Tears, snot, runny nose, saliva, stomach acid, vomit... The boy, a candidate for king, supported himself on the ground with his hands, filth continuously gushing from his mouth and nose.

The vomit soiled the sleeve of some sage, but vomiting it out wasn't enough. N dry-heaved again and again, vomiting air as if weeping blood, but still couldn't relieve his nausea.

After that, N's consciousness seemed to freeze; she couldn't remember anything that happened after that day.

All he remembered was waking up the next day somewhere outside Team Plasma's castle, next to a Pokémon he had never seen before—no, not that he had never seen it before, but that its appearance had changed.

"Zorua, no, Zoroark, have you evolved?"

Instead of its usual long, drawn-out complaints, the black-furred Mirage Pokémon noticed the numerous wounds covering its body—marks left when it was attacked by unsuspecting guards while forcibly breaking out of Team Plasma's base.

Upon discovering that N had awakened, Zoroark—the friend known as the Wild Elf—revealed a relieved expression.

It conveyed its message to N that Darmanitan and Bumblebee had later broken free of their Poké Balls and were stopped by the seven sages while trying to break through with Zoroark, but they should be unharmed. Then, it fainted in the boy's arms.

N stood up silently, the sunlight streaming in unobstructed by the glass dazzling and captivating. Before him lay the blue sky and the vast earth, a sight he was seeing for the first time, both so expansive, yet now, he no longer felt the expectations he once had.

In the boundless distance, there will be countless people, and they will all become the enemies of this green-haired boy.

.

Before the Tower of Heaven, N stared coldly at the detective in black, awaiting his answer.

Chapter 217 Abnormal Personality Test

Hugo took out his phone in front of N and started using it as if no one else was around.

"...What are you doing? Are you using a communication device to seek help from someone?"

After hesitating for a moment, the green-haired youth asked somewhat awkwardly.

Humans are social animals. As a detective serving society, it is perfectly normal for Hugo to seek help from others when he encounters problems that he cannot solve alone.

But what kind of helper could be summoned to stop the blue-robed bishop on the Tower of Heaven? Could that person arrive in time? Could they save Volcarona's life from the combined attack of Victini, the Star of Victory, and Earthcloud, the God of Fertility?

"You seem to have misunderstood something."

Hugo didn't look up from his phone screen, and without raising his head, he corrected the Plasma King's misunderstanding.

"Let me apologize first. My question earlier about whether it was permissible for my subordinates to murder elves was actually just a test. After all, although you said that your ultimate goal is different from Team Plasma's, the differences between people can never be explained by just saying 'different goals.' There are means to achieve goals, motives before means, and human nature hidden within motives. Only a direct and straightforward reaction test can reveal the true nature of the test subject."

"test?"

N recalls that after the detective raised his questions, he barely said a few words, and his only reaction was to ask the detective a question after waiting for several minutes.

Can we really glean anything from this?

"Yes, I can see a lot." The detective, who hadn't looked up, answered lightly as if he had anticipated the other person's thoughts.

The test subject is unaware of his own way of expressing himself, therefore, he cannot hide his true self. One cannot understand a person's personality solely through their self-perception and understanding, but rather through their behavior in specific situations.

"The final evaluation has just concluded, so let's announce the results directly."

The phone screen flips over, revealing a simple and clear spreadsheet.

Objective: 4 points;

Method, 2 points;

Motivation, 1 point;

Human nature, 10/10.

"This is not just the result of the reaction test, but also the final assessment that is based on all the information I have collected about you and your actual performance in the Liyong City incident."

Hugo held up his smartphone and spoke to the green-haired youth.

What are the scoring criteria?

N looked at his score, puzzled. There wasn't a single score higher than 5 for anything other than "humanity"—a strange sequence indeed.

"Personality Abnormality Index, or you could call it, Antisocial Degree."

The detective cheerfully explained—

“Each item is scored out of 10. The higher the score, the more the personality deviates from the norm of human society. This is the scoring model I use when profiling criminal suspects. In more formal settings, I would calculate the score to two decimal places. For each item, there are lengthy case studies of signs for different score ranges, which can be specifically verified and calibrated—however, you probably don’t need that for me.”

This is an analysis that is many times more profound than the one I deduced about their living environment based solely on their clothing when we first met.

A personality evaluation that involves digging into the brain, penetrating to the bone marrow, and refining one's thoughts.

"Of course, this is not a standard for measuring human evil; that's the job of the law. This table is at most a personal research project driven by my interest—besides judging good and evil solely based on experience and intuition, is there a more objective perspective to measure the abnormality of criminal psychology? Out of curiosity about this question, I tried to create this set of 'human testing rules.' Simply put, if all four indicators are 0, then the test subject is a completely ordinary person; if all are 10, then the subject is a completely insane antisocial personality."

"I see." N nodded in agreement. The green-haired youth, who already knew his grades, showed no sign of rejection whatsoever.

In that instant, Hugo became even more certain of his assessment of N's humanity as perfect—if an ordinary human being saw the personalities of their fellow human beings compiled into data and arranged in a table for reference, they would instinctively feel a sense of rejection, but this green-haired youth in front of him expressed his agreement the moment he saw the table.

He recalled a term uttered by apostates in the interrogation records of the Plasma Group—"inhuman monsters."

"Your 'goal' is to liberate all Pokémon from the Poké Balls. Hmm, that's a pretty grand ideal among the villains I've heard of—you've directly targeted a cornerstone that supports human society, launching a rebellion against it without hesitation, completely disregarding the potential upheavals that might shake the higher-ups above. After all, no matter what kind of upheaval occurs, human society will most likely continue to exist, but once that cornerstone is removed by you, no matter how hard those who come after try to restore it, they can never completely piece it back together on its original foundation."

The detective commented on Team Plasma King's lofty ideals as if critiquing a student's essay, and then continued his eloquent explanation—

"Such grand ambitions could have earned you a 7 or even 8 out of 10 in the 'goal' category. However, there's an interesting highlight in your plan: you devised a general strategy of first seizing the state apparatus and then achieving your goal. Under the protection of the Plasma Group's ideal kingdom, you can at least ensure that the Elves you want to protect won't be harmed by the liberation itself—a rather clever calculation. However, this rationality is actually a manifestation of your hesitation. This is not a provocation; hesitation makes one think, and indecisiveness makes one wise. A car must have brakes to prevent it from crashing and killing the driver and passengers. I believe this rationality shows that your goal is still within a controllable range, which is why the anomaly index hasn't climbed above 5."

The green-haired youth still showed no displeasure and nodded in response: "This is probably the influence of the knowledge instilled in me by the sages. Please rest assured, I will not abandon this hesitation."

“That would be perfect,” Hugo replied, then continued—

"The test I just completed was the final assessment of your 'methods' aspect. During the power plant incident, you plotted to drive wild Pokémon to attack the city and then allowed Seraphim, who caused the explosion, to escape. This made me think that you might be a personality type who would stop at nothing to achieve your goals. However, your attitude towards Volcarona just now changed my mind."

"Think about it carefully. If we change the perspective, the reason you dared to let Pokémon and humans clash is partly because you can hear the Pokémon's thoughts and are confident in your ability to prevent any Pokémon from dying or being seriously injured. On the other hand, even if the relationship between the people of Riku City and wild Pokémon deteriorates, you still have Team Plasma as your trump card. For a large organization like the Order, properly settling all the Pokémon involved in the attack is not difficult. Only with this double guarantee can you confidently decide to lead the wild Pokémon across the city to attack the League's armed forces."

"As for the handling of Smura, although the sage deliberately induced the disaster, the power plant's inhumane production methods were also one of the causes of the accident. How should Smura, Plant Manager William, and the employees who knew about the incident, including Telt, be fairly punished? After hesitating, you chose to forgive them all equally—not to show favoritism to your subordinates, but to be fair and forgive everyone who made mistakes in the incident. After all, when you saw that the elves you were supposed to protect had already lost their lives, the outcome of the incident was already determined. You chose to look to the future and there was no need to lose more resources for lives that could not be recovered."

"I was so glad to hear from Miss Douzi that Magnemite and the others were alright," N said sincerely. "Thankfully, I didn't hold a grudge against the people involved. After hearing about what happened next, I have a little more faith in humans."

"Then you'd better be prepared. Whether it's the upper limit or the lower limit, once you set your expectations, all sorts of people will break through them at an astonishing speed. In fact, not long ago, you yourself broke through my expectations once," Hugo said with a shrug.

“Just now, we analyzed the current situation on the Tower of Heaven together. If we're looking entirely from your perspective, either climbing the tower directly or observing from the sidelines are both excellent choices. The former would allow you to immediately free the trapped Victini and then naturally compete with Ardek for the championship title. The latter would allow you to wait for Jogs to complete his plan. Although it would delay the release of Victini, it would also relieve your psychological guilt, allowing you to launch your challenge after the champion's partner's lifespan has ended.”

"This is a 'two-way choice' that would be beneficial no matter which side you choose, but you gave up both options and instead watched me rack my brains, hoping that someone else could come up with a better solution, and even asked questions when I started using my phone—such idealism is a sign of your immaturity."

“Watching Volcano die from murder is something I cannot tolerate. I really hope you can come up with a solution instead of analyzing my personality here.” N’s tone was somewhat stern.

"I understand what your evaluation form represents. My 'purpose' is shocking, yet it also contains a conciliatory fantasy, so 4 points is quite appropriate. My 'methods' are naive and immature; I chose a thorny path but was unwilling to cross any bottom line. Compared to ruthless reformers, I am more fragile and more prone to failure. Frankly, even a 2-point rating is a bit of an overestimation. As for my motive, I simply dislike 'Poké Balls,' a most trivial 'motive,' which I'm sure you, the detective who gave me 1 point, think the same way. As for the full-point twisted 'personality,' of course I know what a terrible and pathetic monster I am."

The green-haired youth finished speaking in one breath and took a step toward Hugo.

“Detective, although I am neither a complete nor a full holder of antisocial personality disorder, I hereby formally request that you intervene to stop the murder on the Tower of Heaven.”

“I refuse,” Hugo answered without hesitation, causing N to widen his grass-green eyes in surprise.

"Although I pointed out the possibility that Sage Joggs might have murderous intent towards Ardek's Volcarona, it was basically just my professional instinct as a private detective. Just like a teacher can't help but step in and scold a bad teenager, I was merely pointing out in advance the possible criminal intentions of the sage who ascended the Tower of Heaven... I never even considered the thought of worrying about Champion Ardek, or fearing that his Volcarona would die from a combined attack by legendary Pokémon."

The detective turned his head, his gray eyes meeting N's gaze.

"Compared to many famous figures, my first half of life was unremarkable. But if I had to summarize any lessons from it, I would only have one sentence to tell the world: We don't need to worry about those who are mentally strong, because they can overcome difficulties even on their own."

Alder would never be crushed by the death of his partner. Even if he were killed in an attack by a Team Plasma executive, Volcarona's glorious life would not be tarnished.

And most importantly—

"To be honest, I just can't imagine it," Hugo said.

"Do you really think you can defeat the undefeated champion who has dominated the Unova region for half a century just by relying on a mythical creature like Landorus, or a hearsay phantom like Victini? You're dreaming, but you should know when and where to start. Even if a three-year-old child were to attack a boxer from behind with a sharp weapon, the chances of success would be extremely slim. Are you trying to get me to stop a murder?"

“But Sage Joggs isn’t a three-year-old. He still has two legendary and one mythical spirit, Landorus and Victini, on his side. And as you said before, he might use the guise of a one-on-one duel to wear down Volcarona’s life with a despicable two-on-one tactic…”

"So what?" Hugo looked down at the Plasma King before him.

"Although you keep saying you're going to challenge the Unova Champion, you've never actually seen what the champion's strength is like, have you? Do you really think the main force of the League Champion is the kind of Pokémon that can be easily defeated by a sneak attack?"

The green-haired youth was speechless for a moment.

At the same time, just as the detective had said, the Tower of Heaven at the end of the tall grass trembled, and a huge crashing sound reached Hugo and N's ears on the wind.