Pokémon Detective Case Files.

Suddenly, I smelled the aroma of coffee.

It was only then that Azure noticed the detective behind the restaurant bar. Hugo was holding a cup of coffee and scrolling through his smartphone, with a stack of newspapers beside him that had already been turned over.

"Is this also a job? Do detectives have to read the newspaper every morning?" the girl asked curiously.

The detective put down his cup. "Good morning, Azure. You're right, this is the incredibly boring detective industry. We have to admit that print newspapers have a depth of information that digital media can't match, and it's also easier to crop out photos of people involved in a case. Most importantly, a private detective with a morning paper at hand looks much more serious than one with a mystery novel."

"I see." Azure took the coffee pot from the detective, poured herself a cup, and as usual, only added sugar cubes without milk. As she began to sip, she mentioned her schedule, "I plan to go out and see the Warrior Eagle who was injured yesterday."

"There's a nice flower shop next to the station. Just be careful not to buy any with flowerpots; it's a taboo in the United States," Hugo kindly advised. "That's because it's said to symbolize a long-term, chronic illness."

"Hugo, I have a question for you. Your reasoning yesterday was quite brilliant, but you probably didn't have any concrete evidence at hand when you made your conclusions, right? Aren't you worried that your reasoning might be wrong, Hugo?"

"To be honest, there is a little bit, but even if I make a mistake, I won't regret it."

"why?"

“In detective novels, there’s often a situation where the detective figurees out who the murderer is, but due to insufficient evidence, he has to let the criminal go until he makes more mistakes before arresting him,” Hugo said seriously, putting away his phone.

"But that's not right. While the detective waits for the right moment to stop the investigation, the criminal may still continue to commit atrocities. If the detective sits idly by just to reduce the possibility of making a mistake, then he is violating the duty he is entrusted with. So my belief is that when something is amiss, take immediate action; if you are really powerless, immediately share your reasoning with the parties involved or someone who is capable of solving the case."

“Great principle,” Azure praised sincerely, then added, “If all detectives were like you, I think it would be a wonderful job.”

"If we disregard the risks, being a detective is indeed a good profession in Unova. Unlike Sinnoh, the League here is extremely lenient towards the private detective industry, much like a rotten fishing net full of loopholes. The laws related to illegal investigations are extremely inadequate, the protection policies for clients are almost non-existent, and the industry tax rate is quite lenient. This is one of the reasons why I was able to live comfortably at the Feathered Residence before you arrived."

“Hugo,” Azure suddenly called the detective’s name solemnly, “I’m planning to meet with the trainer of the Valkyrie Eagles on this trip. If your deduction hits the bullseye…”

Under the detective's surprised gaze, the girl took a deep breath: "Please let me be your assistant!"

"Oh?" Hugo tilted his head and looked Azure up and down. It was hard to tell what kind of complex expression was on his face at this moment. It seemed to be somewhere between being moved and surprised, but for some reason, it was also somewhat bitter.

“I can help you solve cases, conduct detective investigations, deduce with you, and handle miscellaneous tasks in the agency—I hope to join the Hugo Detective Agency!” Azure said expectantly as she took out Detective Hugo’s business card from her pocket and handed it back to the agency’s owner.

“I would be overjoyed if I had the honor.” Finally, the detective regained his composure, but couldn’t help but reveal a slightly smug smile. “In that case, I’ll have to spend the rent I save this month on other things.”

It seems he is not as worried as he previously claimed about his reasoning being wrong.

.

The ward is white.

White walls, white sheets, and nurses in white coats occasionally visiting the ward.

The Warrior Eagle lay quietly on the bed, wrapped in white bandages, with complicated IV tubing inserted into his body—the IV set controlling the flow rate was also white.

Azure is actually very familiar with this kind of scene.

In high-level Pokémon battles, there are often impacts more powerful than a 30-story freefall. Even if the attacker has the same level of stamina and defense as the attacker, unfortunate accidents often happen on the field.

Advanced trainers must learn a skill—that is, to bandage a Pokémon that is too badly injured to continue fighting, while simultaneously commanding the next Pokémon to battle the opponent.

Her team was fortunate enough to never experience these things, but they witnessed such tragedies happening again and again. Over time, she also became a regular at the hospital.

"Mommy, it's the older sister from that day." A childish voice interrupted Bilan's thoughts; it was that little boy.

My mother, whom I had met once before, came out from behind the curtain, looking much more haggard than yesterday.

Bilan handed her the bouquet of pale yellow carnations: "I was a little worried about the Warrior Eagles' recovery, so I wanted to come and check on them. The emergency call operator happened to be the same one from yesterday, and he kindly told me the location of the ward."

The mother held Azure's hand tightly: "I am so grateful for what happened yesterday. You saved the life of the brave eagle. I can't imagine what would have happened if you hadn't been there."

The child hid behind his mother, timidly approaching Bilan, and after hesitating for a while, finally stepped forward with red eyes.

"Big sister, I'm sorry," the boy said, his voice trembling with tears.

"Actually, it was because I accidentally knocked the Poké Ball off the table. And I even said that you were a big sister..." Large tears welled up in the boy's eyes. Azure quickly knelt down to comfort the child, telling him not to say anything more, that she had already forgiven him.

She gently wiped away the child's tears with her fingers, but her azure gaze couldn't help but drift toward someone behind the boy.

The mother turned slightly to the side, covering her face with her hands, as if she didn't want to see her child admitting his mistake. Her hands, which were holding her cheeks, trembled uncontrollably, as if she was hiding her shame.

Azure felt a sinking feeling in her heart.

Chapter 027 The Whispers of the Old Ghosts

After visiting the sick, Bilan did not rush to leave the hospital, but instead found a bench in the lobby to sit down.

As she expected, a little while later, the child's mother also hurriedly came out of the ward, rushing straight to the exit.

Azure clearly understood that the mother was following in her footsteps and had something to say.

The girl stood up from the bench and called out to the other person directly.

Shouldn't we, like the protagonist in a detective story, restate Hugo's reasoning to the parties involved? This action option flashed through Azure's mind in an instant.

However, when she saw the woman's haggard face and swollen eyes, the girl immediately abandoned the absurd idea and simply waited quietly for the other woman to speak.

"Have you ever heard of aerial combat?" Surprisingly, the woman's first question was this completely unrelated one.

Azure tilted its head and answered honestly, "I heard it's a popular battle style in the Kalos region. Trainers in the competition need to wear glider suits and fly in the air to direct the battle. Only Flying-type Pokémon or Pokémon with the Levitation ability can participate."

"Actually, United also has this kind of aerial combat tournament. Warrior Eagle and I used to be such a team that soared through the air in the competition."

The woman gazed intently into the ward of the Warrior Eagle: "We once soared and twirled through the ever-changing air currents, seizing the enemy's momentary respite to unleash 'Divine Bird Strike,' turning our crippled opponents into black dots amidst the cheering crowd; we overcame elemental disadvantages, using the reflection of sunlight to turn the tide of battle; we defeated incredibly powerful foes, overcame countless trials, and even ultimately lifted the championship trophy of the United Sky Battle Tournament—the pinnacle of our professional trainer careers..."

"And after that I retired. No more competitions, marriage, children, a proper job, endless daily routine... I almost forgot what flying felt like. The last time I was cleaning the house, I found my old glider suit, but I couldn't fit into it anymore—that's me now."

Despite always uttering long, impassioned sentences, the woman's narration was not aggressive; she simply recounted her past, her glory and ordinariness, in a quiet manner.

Azure deeply empathized with the sense of bewilderment that comes after reaching the pinnacle, as it reminded her of the scene after that Quartz Conference.

Wanting to take a step forward, one can only see the vast gap between a genius among mortals and a true legend in combat; wanting to take a step back, one doesn't know where to go.

Everyone has their own highlight moments in life. If life is a book, then this highlight moment should be the last chapter. As long as a few words are left as an epilogue, such as "the protagonist eventually lived a happy and fulfilling life," the story can be perfectly concluded, leaving the reader with supreme satisfaction and lingering charm.

However, in reality, this final, hastily mentioned chapter will eventually become the entirety of our lives. Those once thrilling and captivating memories will become like dusty bronze medals and outgrown gliders, leaving us only bewildered and lost.

The mother's confession pulled Azure back to reality—

“I once thought I had long forgotten, buried, and hidden these past events, but I haven’t. Those days of soaring through the air have always lingered in my mind, never stopping… It was these past events, these memories, these ghostly things that gave me that crazy idea…”

The woman in front of her choked up. Bilan stepped forward, took the woman's hand, and encouraged her to continue.

“Our family lives in an apartment building next to that narrow alley. Like most affordable housing here, it’s very tall, but the design is disappointing. There are many shortcomings in the architectural details. I’ve always felt that the windowsill facing the living room is too low, and the window is too big. Because of this, my immature son often sneaks up there to play. We live on the 35th floor. If an accident happens at that height, it’s no laughing matter.”

The girl listened quietly, and she found that the details of the story were exactly the same as the detective's reasoning. The child did indeed live next door in the narrow alley, and his floor was indeed above the thirtieth floor... but the woman's description was more vivid and lifelike.

It was only then that she truly realized that the three of them had been discussing a thought game at the dinner table at Yuqi Residence last night, but rather a real-world event.

“I first received a complaint from my downstairs neighbor a month ago. She said that her windows would sometimes be hit by small stones, making a thumping sound. I immediately realized that it was my child doing this on the windowsill, and those small stones were pebbles from the flower pots on the windowsill. Since then, I have forbidden my child from climbing on the windowsill and have also turned off the deadbolt button on the windows.”

"Did it come in handy?" Azure asked.

The mother shook her head: "The deadbolt is on the inside of the window. As long as you know how, you can open it. The child still always climbs onto the windowsill when I'm not paying attention—but I didn't notice until the downstairs neighbor came to my door."

"Has something fallen down again?"

“The flowerpot, the whole flowerpot,” the woman replied.

“I got a real dressing down from my neighbor, but I was more terrified than angry. You know what? That was the 35th floor! Behind that thin pane of glass was a hundred meters above the ground. He was sitting on that low windowsill, constantly reaching his hand out, and sometimes clumsily knocking over flowerpots… Good heavens, he didn’t even have a parachute!”

"That is indeed very dangerous. But children shouldn't use parachutes, right?"

“They sell toddler sizes online, I’ve looked it up,” the woman added.

"Then, that devilish thought popped into my head. When I came up with that plan, I felt like my past self was whispering in my ear. I had commanded the Warrior Eagle to climb back up from the turbulent air currents countless times. I felt that a height of 100 meters would be enough for the Warrior Eagle to escape safely, so I did that... God, how could I do such a stupid thing!"

Azure decided to play dumb; in fact, she had no choice but to play dumb in this context. The question, which she already knew the answer to, naturally slipped out: "What did you do?"

"I put the Brave Eagle's Poké Ball back where the flowerpot used to be. I told Brave Eagle to fall from the window with the Poké Ball, pretending to be injured to scare my son. I thought that if I put on this show, my son wouldn't run to the windowsill every day anymore. Who knew it would end up like this..."

The woman before him, her voice trembling with tears, gripped Bi Lan's hand tightly, repeatedly murmuring, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

It's unclear whether these apologies are directed at Azure, the little boy, or the Warrior Eagle.

The situation perfectly matched the detective's reasoning, but Azure's state of mind was completely different from yesterday.

"Madam." The girl solemnly cupped the woman's face and saw a woman with her makeup ruined by tears, revealing the most vulnerable and delicate side of womanhood.

Without hesitation, she continued, "I am actually a trainee detective. After listening to your description, I fully understand this incident. In my opinion, although a tragedy has indeed occurred, the damage is not entirely irreparable."

The woman looked at Bilan with a puzzled expression.

“I now know why your son always climbs onto the windowsill. And if you follow my advice, I believe this series of unfortunate events surrounding the window will never happen again.”

Azure looked at the woman in front of her with confidence, her eyes full of self-assurance and pride. Unfortunately, her heart was not as arrogant as she appeared.

If baseless reasoning is an unreliable castle in the air, then she will next unleash a torrent of lies.

Chapter 28 "Common Sense"

Azure tried hard to recall Hugo's demeanor when he presented his reasoning, desperately suppressing her nervousness and feigning a calm chuckle.

"Here is my judgment as a detective—Madam, you can seal away your memories of the past, but you cannot seal away a child's longing for his mother."

The mother, her tears still wet on her face, only showed a confused expression; she did not understand what Bilan meant at this moment.

“Your son often stands by the window, right? That’s because he hopes that one day he can wear a glider and fly in the air, just like his mother.”

Azure made a baseless inference, thinking it would comfort the woman in front of her.

However, the person being comforted immediately retorted: "That's impossible. Neither I nor my partner have ever mentioned to the children that I used to be an air combat trainer."

"But your trophies and gliders must be somewhere in your home. Your child must have seen them by chance, which further fueled his desire to fly."

In truth, Azure was extremely flustered at this moment, fearing that the other party would further investigate the rationality of her reasoning. In her previous life, she had never found that speaking could become so difficult.

"Judging from your inability to stop your child's dangerous behavior in time, you must have other jobs besides taking care of the child. Think about it, children who have to stay at home must be very lacking in entertainment, so it's actually quite normal for them to start exploring and treasure hunting at home."

The woman nodded with some doubt: "There are indeed times when neither my husband nor I are home... Could it be that he saw my old keepsakes during those times?"

"That's exactly right!"

People's thoughts gradually take shape through language, and as communication continues, what was originally vague gradually becomes clear.

After her brain raced, the girl painstakingly crafted sentence after sentence—

"Think about it carefully: when you accidentally find your old items, are they really still in the same place? As far as I know, things that are deliberately hidden don't reappear so easily—of course, these are just my guesses."

The mother fell into deep thought: "It seems...it really is..."

Seeing that her target was gradually being persuaded, Azure seized the opportunity to quickly offer her suggestion—

"Please take my advice: if you want to completely improve your child's bad habits, it will be more effective to let this habit be expressed in a positive way than to rigidly prohibit it or use intimidation to induce it."

The mother understood what Azure meant and shifted her attention to the suggestion: "You mean you want me to take the child to experience aerial combat?"

“Why not?” Azure breathed a sigh of relief. She remembered the woman mentioning that she had browsed online for parachutes that children could use, so she continued—

"It's better to guide than to block. When children no longer have an unknown yearning for the sky, they will naturally stop going to the windowsill to cause trouble. What's more, you can take this opportunity to relive those passionate years of soaring through the sky."

Hearing Azure's advice, the woman was stunned for a moment, then looked at the ward in the distance, and shook her head with a wry smile: "I will no longer engage in aerial combat, but you are the savior of Warrior Eagle, so I will take this suggestion seriously."

Just then, a little boy's head timidly peeked out from the doorway of the ward in the distance. Had he noticed them? Bilan breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that the time to say goodbye was approaching.

The mother rubbed her cheeks, wiped away the tears, and regained her previous strong expression.

"Detective, thank you so much this time. It's our family's good fortune to have your assistance and advice. If you ever need any help and there's anything I can do to assist you, please be sure to contact me." With that, the mother handed over her business card with both hands.

Bilan politely accepted the business card, which listed the woman's name, phone number, and job title. It turned out that the former air combat champion in front of her was a manager of an air transport company, which was probably why the little boy had been neglected.

"I hope the Warrior Eagle will be fully recovered by then." Azure smiled as she bid farewell to the mother.

.

The girl breathed a sigh of relief as she left the hospital. Although the incident was a distressing tragedy, for some reason, talking with the person involved made her feel much better. Being called "Miss Detective" for the first time in her life made her feel like she was floating on air.

Just then, Azure, who was passing by the back door of the hospital, saw a real detective wearing a shabby white suit jacket sneaking into the hospital. It was Hugo.

Hugo pulled out a suspicious white coat from somewhere, changed out of his usual white suit jacket, and then, abandoning his previous lack of confidence, strode confidently into the back door of the hospital. Surprisingly, no one stopped him along the way.

What was the detective doing at the hospital?

The naive girl, bewitched, followed the detective through the corridor and down the spiral staircase.

Then, she saw a crying mask floating in the air in the distance, eagerly doing somersaults in front of Hugo. Then, perhaps due to Hugo's bad luck, this ghost-type Pokémon, which could normally pass freely through walls, crashed solidly into an iron gate with a crisp "bang," and the red tearful eyes on the ghost face became even more obvious.

Azure watched as the person and the ghost she was following pushed open the iron door and entered a room.

The curious girl was naturally not going to back down now. The fact that she didn't have any Pokémon with her made Azure a little uneasy, but remembering that she wasn't following just anyone, but the trustworthy detective Hugo, Azure mustered her courage. After Hugo entered, she quietly pushed open the iron gate and slipped into the room.

She was completely unaware that the iron gate she passed through had a sign indicating the function of the room.

The morgue is a place where bodies are kept.