Pokémon Detective Case Files.

"I...I'm not hungry..."

Mia lied weakly, saying that she hadn't eaten or drunk anything all day.

"Miss Karune will be performing her original Pokémon Dance over there at the venue. It's said to be a fantastic performance that could win you the Contest of Pokémon."

Hugo stood by the door and continued to coax and persuade—

"You, who graduated from an art college and are still an illustrator, couldn't possibly be indifferent to such a performance, could you?"

A melodious piano concerto suddenly rang out from outside the venue, and Mia's eyes lit up with anticipation for a moment.

"Then what are we waiting for?"

Hugo left without a word, and Mia felt two forces pushing and pulling her from the lounge, leading her stumbling into the world of lights.

It was Chimchar and Piplup, two beginner Pokémon from the Sinnoh region, who were once again released out of their Poké Balls by Detective Hugo without anyone noticing.

Chapter 317 Poison Sprout – A Confession of Abandoning a Partner

Fine snow, summoned by the ice dragon, drifted across the stage at the center of the banquet, while the "Aurora Curtain," like colorful silk, distorted light and color.

The pumpkin monster's singing harmonized perfectly with the live piano ensemble. The originally eerie tone gradually became elegant and grand through the coordination of the "round" technique.

At the center of all the guests' attention, Gardevoir, dressed in a pure white dress, danced with its trainer.

The "power of the moon" created a magnificent stage backdrop. Under the radiant moon created by the fairy's power, their movements were as light and airy as feathers, as if they could truly ignore the Earth's gravity, with each dance step treading on the void.

Graceful and ethereal, her dance is both dreamlike and elegant, perfectly capturing the romance and splendor of this Carlos dance.

In a dimly lit corner far away in the banquet hall, Mia stared blankly at Champion Karuni on the stage, motionless.

So engrossed was he that he didn't even notice the mountain of food piled up on his plate thanks to the waiter's enthusiastic distribution.

“Miss Mia, I’m a little sorry to disturb your performance, but Miss Karuni’s solo show will be uploaded online later. As far as the viewing experience is concerned, rather than watching from our remote spot right outside the restroom, it would be better to wait a few more days and watch the official version on your phone or computer. It will be much clearer.”

As Hugo spread the whipped fruit mousse onto the dessert crisps, he casually reminded the lady in front of him in a voice only the two of them could hear.

"Ah..." Mia finally came to her senses, reluctantly looked away, and sat up straight.

"Yes, I'm sorry, I was just spacing out. Seeing Ms. Karune and Gardevoir dancing together, I felt... very envious."

"Oh, are you envious of how closely they can dance together?"

The detective handed the assembled dessert to Bogarman beside him and then asked the person opposite him in confusion.

"Well, I guess so." Mia nodded hesitantly.

"While I'm a little better off than Aiya Mushroom, I'm still extremely timid. I've hardly ever participated in sports with my peers since I was little. Activities like dancing, which involve being in front of people, are like groundbreaking feats for me..."

"Using light and dance steps to depict the effect of walking on the moon does indeed give a sense of creating the earth—even though it's on a satellite."

The detective glanced at Champion Carlos, who was engrossed in the charity performance, nodded in agreement, and then casually asked Mia about the previous topic—

"By the way, Miss Mia, did you really release that Auricularia into the wild in the end? It must have taken a lot of courage for you to return your only starter Pokémon to the wild, right?"

Mia fell silent for a long while before finally speaking…

"I don't know if that was courage. But in the end, I really did release Agaric. Not during that release event, but a few days later, I secretly released it away from its Poké Ball on a deserted mountain."

"Is it because you're worried about Aiya Mushroom's feelings?" Hugo asked.

The woman nodded and then shook her head.

"I...I don't know. Apart from the basic activities to maintain its life, Agaric doesn't react to the outside world at all—except for that release event at school. Because of that look in its eyes, I felt at that time that Agaric probably...also wanted to be free from human constraints, just like those released Pokémon..."

Perhaps, leaving human care and settling down in a quiet, humid place, growing quietly and naturally like a real mushroom, would be more in line with the nature of that agaric mushroom—that's what Mia thought at the time.

"So, have you explicitly announced this decision to Pokémon?"

Hugo put down the knife he was using to spread the berry mousse, looked into the other person's eyes, and asked seriously.

“Announcing to your Pokémon with words like, ‘You have been released back into the wild, I no longer need you, go and enjoy your freedom’—some trainers who want to release Pokémon may intentionally or unintentionally skip this step because they feel ashamed, unilaterally abandoning the Pokémon in the wild and then leaving it alone. This may cause the Pokémon to harbor illusions about its original trainer and be unable to return to the wild normally.”

Mia quickly shook her head in denial: "Of course, of course I told Aiya Mushroom about this. But... just like countless other things I've said to it in the past, I still haven't received any response from it."

"Sigh, what a unique mushroom!"

The detective sighed.

Based on the information he knew from the Pokédex, although Breloom has a Grass-type attribute similar to plants, its personality should usually be quite lively before evolving into the giant Breloom.

These tiny, mischievous mushroom Pokémon sometimes gather together in dark, damp corners, just like Clefairy under the moonlight, bouncing and hopping around with their Poké Ball-like caps.

Even within the *Ayakiniku* population, there exist some individuals with a more introverted and timid nature. When faced with external threats, these individuals will still fiercely release poisonous spores, launching a fierce and tenacious resistance against the invaders.

This is not a matter of individuality, but rather a biological instinct.

As for Agaric, Mia's starter Pokémon, which is indifferent to the outside world like a plant, it is a strange thing even in the entire Pokémon research community.

"By the way, Miss Mia."

Hugo suddenly realized something, something he hadn't subconsciously considered before, due to the detective's own actions—

Have you ever sent out Agaric to battle other trainers' Pokémon before?

"Never."

Lost in her memories, Mia looked up and shook her head as she answered the detective.

"I... as I just said, I rarely participate in those sports activities, and Pokémon battles are even more impossible for me."

Hugo pressed further, "Even if it's a general school that's not geared towards trainers, shouldn't the curriculum include lessons on Pokémon battles?"

Mia shook her head, gazing at the two elves beside the detective who were happily eating, and said dejectedly—

"The schools I attended provided Pokémon for rental during battle practice classes, allowing students to command pre-trained Pokémon. Also, my classmates could clearly see the condition of my Agaric Pokémon at school. So, they wouldn't specifically come to battle me."

"Does this kind of *Agaricus bisporus* really have the ability to survive in the wild? Will it be unable to adapt to the wild environment after being released?"

Hugo asked the question with a bit of a headache.

Although the case of the agaric mushroom is not typical, even if they are kept growing for a long time, the cultivation cost is not much, as they are only about 20 centimeters in size.

However, just as the question of whether humans have the right to restrain the nature of wild Pokémon is a controversial one, the question of whether humans have the obligation to support Pokémon lacking basic survival skills and whether they should let wild individuals that would be eliminated by nature die is also a controversial topic.

“I…can’t be sure. But my father told me that when he first caught the Ayak-type mushroom in the wild, he encountered resistance from it and was sprayed with spores. So I was thinking, could this motionless personality have suddenly appeared after I adopted it?”

"I see. So, when you truly feel you're in danger, you still put up a fight?" The detective nodded thoughtfully.

"My father may have misremembered, or he may have kept the truth from me to comfort me... In any case, I have never seen the mushroom squirting spores with my own eyes, so I cannot guarantee whether that event actually happened."

Mia seemed to have opened a floodgate of words, talking on and on—

"On the day I released it, I wasn't really that determined. I put the Agaric in a forest near Route 16, which was quite far from the school. I looked it up online and heard that the forest was not only sparsely populated, but also had very few bird Pokémon because of the many Electric-type Emolga. In addition, according to a scholar from the Yew Research Institute, there were already many Agaric populations around Route 16. So... I released the Agaric there. I placed it in a hidden spot under the roots of a huge old tree, surrounded by the damp soil that Agaric likes."

“That must be Mr. Eric’s research on the habitat of elves…” Hugo said with a touch of nostalgia.

“What I was thinking at the time was… if Aiya Mushroom was still in the same motionless state as before, and hadn’t left the release site at all, then of course I couldn’t just leave that little creature in the wild. So, I left a mark on the trunk of that big tree and decided to come back to the forest the next day to check on Aiya Mushroom. If it was still under the marked tree, I would take it back and pretend that the release had never happened… That’s how I convinced myself.”

"You've thought things through thoroughly enough, and no one can criticize you for it."

The detective spoke softly and calmly, offering words of comfort to the woman before him.

Regardless of the outcome of that release, since Mia ultimately attributed it to her suicide attempt at the beach, it means she regretted her past actions—even though it might not have been her fault.

"When I came to that forest the next day, I didn't see Aurelouracus under the marked tree trunk... nor did I find any trace of the child in the nearby bushes. It seems that after leaving me, it started to act on its own again and chose to leave... That's how I released my starter Pokémon."

Mia lowered her gaze and fell silent. It seemed that the guilt she felt back then still troubled her to this day.

"So why are you thinking about this again now, many years after you left university?"

Under the cover of melodious music in the distance, Hugo cautiously asked his question.

He was extremely cautious, as if afraid that his question might touch a nerve with the suicide survivor.

“I…” Mia looked dazed.

"Recently, I dreamt of Agaric, as if a voice was calling to me, reminding me of the starter Pokémon I once abandoned... and then..."

The piano and vocal duet came to an abrupt end at the final climax, and the stage lights in the distance went out. The guests, admiring Carlos's magnificent performance, erupted in thunderous cheers and applause.

Amidst countless cheers, Mia revealed a deathly pale expression, her indifferent gaze piercing through the detective, as if staring at a distant time and space on the other side of the world.

She said something abruptly—

"Then, I started thinking about suicide."

Chapter 318 Corpse Poison – A Memo of the Case's Progress

"Dream?"

At midnight, in the brightly lit Feiyun Police Station, Bilan stared in surprise at the detective in the white coat standing in front of her.

Not long ago, this boss had just bid farewell to Carlos, the champion who was visiting Unova, and left the charity gala. He brought Mia to the Flying Cloud Police Station and told his assistant what had happened.

The woman who intended to end her life was currently in the police station's psychological counseling room, receiving mental health support from police professionals.

However, judging from Officer Jenny's expression that said, "Look how much trouble you've caused us again," the emotional support she was giving seemed to have had little effect...

Hugo placed his hand on the desk beside him, sorting out the situation while rhythmically tapping the edge of the desk.

According to him in the past, this repetitive and simple action helps him maintain a calm and steady pace of reasoning amidst complex and intricate mysteries.

"Miss Mia released the Aiya Mushroom during her sophomore year of college, when she was around twenty years old. That's at least six years ago. And according to her description, the strange dream about the Aiya Mushroom only started appearing in the last year. This five-year time gap undoubtedly means that some things are still unclear."

"The dream she had seemed to be a montage of fragments, akin to flashbacks. Miss Mia couldn't recall its exact beginning, much like how we often forget dreams we had days ago—it's all too vague and ethereal. According to her testimony, the strange dream wasn't initially perceived as a concrete dream or image, but rather as an extremely abstract thought—an impulse to die. Her lingering on the beach in Feiyun City seemed to be influenced by that impulse."

"In other words, she first developed a suicidal tendency without any apparent cause, and then, as this emotion intensified, she gradually began to have strange dreams. In these dreams, she saw fragments of her past life with Aiya Mushroom, and from this, she realized the connection between herself and Aiya Mushroom..."

"A dream that makes someone want to commit suicide... Are there really such terrifying dreams in the world? Could it be that Miss Mia has offended some kind of Pokémon like Gengar or Misdreavus?"

Seeing the detective's expression gradually become troubled, Azure Assistant tentatively asked—

"I remember that Ghost-type moves like 'Dark Shadow' seem to have a similar effect, causing the victim to see their deepest fears."

Hugo shook his head: "The 'Shadow of the Night' does indeed reveal one's deepest, most pressing fears, but those fears are not unfounded."

This is Officer Jenny's office. The detective scans the stacks of documents scattered on the desk, including search reports on the suburban poisoning case and analytical notes on the Servilik poisoning incident.

He took a deep breath, looked away from the fascinating documents, and then spoke to Azure—

"Miss Mia didn't do anything wrong by releasing the Agaric. The release was out of good intentions, and she not only fully respected the Pokémon's wishes but also went back to the forest to check on it the day after the release. After that, she adopted a new Pokémon, Electivire, as her partner, so it can be said that she has almost completely moved on from the shadow of the past."

"She may still have some regrets about the 'Aiya Mushroom' incident, but it's definitely not serious enough to become a deep-seated problem or a nightmare."

"So, if her strange dreams and suicidal tendencies are caused by the Ghost-type Pokémon's 'Dark Shadow,' she'll probably dream of things more closely related to her current life, like rising rents, an employment crisis, a deteriorating economy, or the hardship of not being able to stay in Suicune City."

"But Hugo, that's not necessarily true, is it? Perhaps some event triggered her guilt and nostalgia for releasing Pokémon, like she might have recently discovered what happened to Agaric after it was released?"

The detective's assistant pressed on with a nitpicking tone—

"If such an event really happened, even without the ghost Pokémon's interference, Miss Mia might still be driven to despair and attempt suicide."

"But that would make it impossible to explain the strange dream. Could it be a lie made up by the other party? Judging from Miss Mia's personality, lying must be quite a difficult challenge for her."

The detective in the white coat pointed out the blue-clad woman's oversight and shrugged.

"Besides, if Mia knew about these things, she wouldn't have any reason not to tell us, would she? I can't imagine why someone who's about to commit suicide would still want to keep a secret at this point..."

As he spoke, Hugo himself began to have doubts—

"However... it's true that we can't completely rule out that possibility. After all, as a detective, you can never underestimate a client who comes to you. Although Miss Mia didn't make a request, let's wait and see if the police's psychological counseling is effective."

"Hugo, do you think Mia's dreams might be related to plasma clusters?"

Azure changed the direction of her reasoning and then asked.

"Indeed, this method of manipulating minds does resemble the work of the mastermind behind Team Plasma, and the origin of this incident is also related to the Pokémon liberation movement that Team Plasma strongly promotes. It's hard to believe that the two are completely unrelated."

Hugo agreed with his assistant's opinion, but then asked—

"However, mere suspicion is meaningless. Even if we pinpoint the suspect, we still face a huge problem—what exactly is the connection between Mia, who once released the Aya Mushroom, and the Plasma Cluster? Azure, can you come up with any clues?"

Seeing that the detective had thrown the question back into her hands, Bilan held her head and pondered for a long time before finally shaking her head in resignation.

That's true. Who could guess what kind of sinister and wicked scheme that evil organization entrenched in the United States might be plotting this time?

"By the way, maybe... we can ask that guy."

Hugo suddenly remembered the contact person assigned by the Plasma Group to monitor him.

Although he was called a monitor, Hugo hadn't officially met the other party yet. He had previously sent that guy to deal with the controversy caused by the handover of the championship under the pretext of testing his abilities, and he was currently at the United States headquarters at the end of the Champions Road.

If we interrogate that guy carefully, we might be able to extract some clues about the internal workings of the Plasma Cluster from its members.