Pokémon Detective Case Files.

If they're lucky, they might even be able to get some information from him about the cause of death of that "Plague Scholar"... After all, Team Plasma is the largest criminal organization in the Unova region, and Servilik, who has been selling deadly poisons since leaving the hospital, is bound to have some connection with them.

"Alright, let's put Mia's matter aside for now. Hugo, what's your opinion on the poisoning and murder case that the police are investigating?"

Seeing Hugo pondering and then slowly turning his gaze back to the documents on the table, Azure sighed helplessly and simply asked the detective directly about the case.

"Have the police done any results from their scientific search of the scene? Like, the Pokémon hair and dust traces?" Hugo asked.

"Preliminary results are already available."

The one who answered was not Azure, but Officer Jenny, who returned from the counseling room.

"Through the examination of Pokémon traces on the deceased's clothing, we discovered that Selvik had been in contact with a large number of centipedes in the weeks leading up to his death. We suspect that he used these Pokémon to poison the wound medicine containing insecticide spray toxins. According to the examination by toxicologist Nurse Joy, there were also physiological traces of a Seviper and a Drapion on the deceased's old clothes, which are likely Pokémon that the 'Plague Scholar' usually carried. In addition, there were traces of other Poison-type Pokémon, but they were varied and faint, making it impossible to identify them all. Perhaps they were wild Pokémon that he encountered by chance in the wild."

"Whether it's the centipede, the rice spoon snake, or the dragon king scorpion, they should all have been taken away by the intruder who cleaned up the scene, right?" Azure asked.

“That’s right.” Miss Officer Jenny nodded. “As for the dust traces, apart from the soil in the wild areas around Flying Cloud City, we also found a very small amount of salt sand in the crevices of items such as suitcases.”

"Salt? The deceased once lived by the sea?"

The detective raised an eyebrow knowingly; this was indeed unexpected new intelligence.

“That is indeed possible,” the officer said. “The air in coastal areas contains a lot of salt that evaporates with the seawater. If you are frequently exposed to the sea breeze, these tiny salt particles will accumulate over time. However, there is something wrong with that. No sand or soil commonly found on beaches was detected on Servilik’s shoes and suitcase wheels, which is somewhat puzzling.”

"Besides the seaside, similar particles can also be produced in salt mines, and chemical plants. Could the deceased have hidden in those places in the past?"

Azure, with a sudden inspiration, said in a connected thought—

"Whether it's manufacturing poison or selling murder weapons to premeditated criminals, it all needs to be done in a secluded corner, right? Could that 'plague scholar' have found a place like that as his hideout for making drugs?"

“Selvilik has been missing for so many years, so there must be a place where he stayed, but it is still too far-fetched to judge whether he lived by the sea or in the mountains based solely on the salt.”

Hugo looked at Officer Jenny—

"Are there any other new discoveries? The police have been working for so long, there can't be only this much to show for it."

Upon hearing the detective's question, Officer Jenny's face fell immediately, and she sighed, "Sigh, I wish it weren't true."

"What's going on?" Azure tilted her head in confusion.

"Although Servilik's cause of death was obviously poisoning, the autopsy showed that no traces of poison could be found in his body. Even the specific method of poisoning was completely unknown... Sigh, I have never seen such a disappointing autopsy report since I became a police officer."

"You mean the autopsy couldn't determine what kind of poison Servić died from, or whether he was exposed to the poison through oral ingestion, inhalation, external injury, or some other means?"

Upon hearing Officer Jenny's account, Hugo couldn't help but frown.

"It's not that it's impossible to determine, but the current situation is completely different from any known poisoning symptoms in the medical community."

Officer Jenny shook her index finger under her white glove and said—

"If the victim dies from an external infection, there will at least be wounds on the body; if the death is caused by oral poisoning, then regardless of whether the poison is encapsulated, traces of the poison's effects will inevitably remain in the deceased's digestive tract and stomach; if the death is caused by inhaling toxic gas, abnormalities will also be observed in the lungs and trachea..."

"However, there was no trace of the poison entering the body from the outside on the 'Plague Scholar''s' corpse. According to Miss Joey, it was as if the corpse had generated a deadly poison in all the blood in its body out of thin air, and then launched a general attack, from the limbs to the brain, causing the body to fall into a state of paralysis evenly and slowly due to the poison, and then die in a coma."

"You said the deceased's blood contained a deadly poison, does that mean the blood samples taken from the body contained toxins?" the detective pressed.

"No, that was just Miss Joey's analogy. In fact, we couldn't extract any known poison components from the deceased's body. Miss Joey even risked letting her poison skeletal frog come into contact with the blood, but it didn't detect any lethal substances. The poison seemed to evaporate instantly after killing the victim."

Officer Jenny shook her head and sighed as she explained the whole situation, then looked expectantly at the director of the Hugo Detective Agency—

"Well, Hugo? Do you have any clues about this?"

"The intelligence is still fatally insufficient."

The detective rubbed his temples, imagining a mysterious poison that appeared and disappeared suddenly, like a spirit using "teleportation."

"I'll have to trouble the police to do some more legwork. It's necessary to thoroughly investigate Servić's movements and lifestyle during the past ten years of living under an assumed name. The investigation into the motive for the poisoning incident cannot be interrupted either. It would be even better if we could find out the specific way the victim obtained the raw materials for the insecticide spray."

"You don't need to tell me that; the police are already investigating. By the way, Miss Mia's psychiatric evaluation report is out. Would you like to see it?"

Miss Officer Jenny held up a document in her hand—

"Aside from the suicidal tendencies stemming from that strange dream, Ms. Mia shows no signs of mental abnormality. But the mere suicidal tendency is already quite alarming. We're planning to contact her family and have them take their daughter back to her hometown to recuperate. What do you think?"

Hugo thought for a moment and decided, "Let's wait a bit. I don't think this incident is simple. Sending Mia out of Flying Cloud City now might not guarantee her safety. I need to investigate the connection between that incident and Team Plasma. For now, let's settle her in... um..."

The detective hesitated.

"How's Dr. Makomo's Dream Research Institute doing?"

Azure had already had this idea in her mind when she chatted with Hugo. It just so happens that she had recently taken the two Dream Eaters there—

"Isn't that device in the research institute designed to solve this kind of problem? It just so happens that Miss Mia is suffering from strange dreams of unknown cause, so Dr. Makomo would definitely welcome such a test subject."

"Yes, that's a brilliant idea. We'll send Mia there tomorrow."

The firm's director readily agreed.

"Alright, since the evidence is limited, our reasoning has to end here. Let's conclude our investigation here for today. It's about time to head back to the office. Strangely enough, I feel like I've forgotten something today..."

Coincidentally, as if in response to the detective's puzzled question, two figures, panting heavily, squeezed into Officer Jenny's office at that moment—

"Detective Hugo, you've forgotten our interview!"

Mary and Dai said in unison.

Chapter 319 The Poison Den - A Letter of Appeal Across the Ocean

These two interviewers from the Hoenn region were not involved in the poisoning incident, nor did they possess the professional skills to assist in solving the case. Therefore, they did not accompany Azur Lane and Officer Jenny to the Flying Cloud Police Station in the afternoon.

After finishing their research work with Mr. Kusanagi, the two left the Hasuu Residence and returned to the hotel they had booked before arriving in Unova.

After settling their luggage and organizing the video footage and travel notes they had recorded during the day, Dai and Mary naturally became interested in the latest developments regarding the poisoning incident.

So they tried calling the Azure Detective they had met during the day—

"...Oh, the poisoning case over there is basically solved. It's just that it has led to an even more serious incident...I have a duty of confidentiality as a detective, so I can't reveal details right now."

"That's what Miss Azure said when she received the call."

"An even more alarming incident... Could it be that the suspect escaped from their hideout? Or is there a deeper conspiracy behind this crime, like Team Aqua or Team Magma?"

Mary couldn't help but press on, driven by her professional instincts. Before she could even finish her sentence, she already regretted her impulsive persistence.

The Azure Detective also sounded somewhat embarrassed—

"Although I'd love to reveal some harmless information, Officer Jenny is glaring at me like an angry Dodori, so let's talk about something less sensitive."

"Ah, I'm sorry, you're right... So, does your agency's Detective Hugo have time for an interview?"

"Well, you never know."

"I'm sorry," said the Azure Detective.

"It seems that the station chief has gotten involved in some inexplicable incident again today, and his planned schedule has been completely disrupted... However, he will be coming to Feiyun Police Station tonight."

Upon hearing this news, the two journalists naturally lost all interest in soundly sleeping in their hotel room.

They raced against time, sneaking out in the dark and heading straight to Feiyun Police Station with their photography equipment.

.

And so—

"I see. The written interview with Violet TV? Speaking of which, there was such a thing. It was indeed my oversight that I forgot. I'm really sorry. Although it sounds like an excuse, there have been so many unexpected incidents lately that even as a detective, I'm a little overwhelmed."

Late at night, in the interrogation room kindly provided by Officer Jenny, Hugo sat facing the two interviewees.

Since the detective politely declined the request to leave video footage, the cameraman Dai had nothing else to do but participate in the conversation with his partner.

"No, no, it's us who caused all this trouble by changing the interview format at the last minute. By the way, Mr. Hugo, Champion Daigo entrusted us to deliver this to you..."

Seeing that the detective's personality was much more easygoing than she had imagined, reporter Mary breathed a sigh of relief and quickly greeted Dai.

The latter took out the props he had commissioned from his camera bag and carefully handed them to Hugo.

"This is... the Key Stone for Mega Evolution?"

The detective looked surprised as he looked at the pendant inlaid with colorful gemstones.

Mary nodded: "This is one of Steven's collection items. It was personally dug, collected, and polished by Mr. Steven himself, and finally made into what it is now. It is a key item that can be used to activate the Mega Evolution of Pokémon. The champion heard that there was someone in the Unova region who needed this stone, so he asked us to pass it on to you."

"What a precious gift!" Hugo exclaimed. "Due to supply and demand, although the mining volume of Evolution Keystones is more abundant than that of their paired Mega Evolution Stones, their market price is several times that of the latter."

“Mr. Daigo said that the stones displayed in the shop window are beautiful, but they are ultimately too lonely. They should be allowed to shine in the right hands, so as to do justice to the brilliance that has been buried deep underground for tens of thousands of years.”

The reporter repeated the message left by the client when entrusting the props to him, but Hugo just smiled and shrugged.

"The lady who needs the keystone may not have accomplished anything particularly remarkable. However, she and her almost-doll share a deep bond, which can indeed make the keystone glow, in a physical sense—we've already tested that."

The detective readily accepted the Keystone, and while pondering what gift to give his Hoenn colleague in return, he continued to question the two interviewers—

“Mary, Dai, you two have traveled all the way from the Hoenn region to Unova. Surely your purpose is not just to deliver goods?”

Hugo calmly crossed his hands and pressed on with his question—

"The Team Aqua smuggling incident happened several months ago. The details of the case and my thoughts as a detective can be easily conveyed through writing or telephone. And if you want to transport such small items safely, you can simply have a messenger Pokémon carry it and deliver it instantly using a Pokémon teleportation device. So why did Mauville TV send you to Unova to conduct a face-to-face interview with me?"

“Detective, you guessed correctly. We do have something else to hide.”

The reporter didn't hide anything and went straight to the point—

"Since it's already late at night, let's save time for the interview and skip the previous incident. Let's get straight to the real reason we came to Unova."

"It concerns two evil organizations in the Hoenn region and the recent unrest they've caused there," photographer Dai added.

"That's right. After the case that Detective solved, the Hoenn League thought that evil organizations like Team Aqua would quiet down after losing the protection of Hoenn TV. But who knew that instead of disappearing after the incident, they became even more arrogant and launched a series of destructive operations in multiple cities in the Hoenn region."

Miss Mary took a stack of crime scene photos and a Hoenn map marked with various locations from her bag and placed them on the table in front of the detective.

"The timber processing center in Gumei Town, the headquarters of the Devon Company in Kanaz City, the shipping base and Nanmu Shipyard in Kaina City, the power plant in Zijing City, the volcanic research institute in Fuyan Town, the grain storage warehouse in Qiuye Town, the meteorological bureau and aerospace testing ground in Green Ridge City, the port in Water Still City, and the seawater desalination facilities in Mumier City..."

"All of these important facilities in the Hoenn region have been secretly sabotaged by evil organizations. Since the saboteurs always operate at night and recklessly destroy surveillance cameras along the way, we don't even know if it's Team Aqua's act of revenge or some dangerous plan being carried out by another organization, Team Magma, under the guise of this smokescreen."

"Such a big event, yet I've barely heard a word about it in the Unova region."

Hugo keenly noticed the problem and pointed it out bluntly to the reporters.

Mary replied, "That's because the perpetrators only damaged the important facilities in those factories, without causing any casualties or Pokémon injuries. The damage was mainly concentrated in the most critical core areas, making it difficult for a layperson to see anything unusual. Places like the Mauville Power Plant also have emergency equipment to deal with sudden situations, and the repair of critical equipment is relatively quick, so it doesn't affect the lives of local residents."

"Therefore, since the situation was not serious enough to be irreversible, the Hoenn League forcibly suppressed the discussion surrounding this matter. The League believes that this may be a tactic used by terrorists to create panic in the Hoenn region, and if the rumors are allowed to fester, it is very likely that we will fall right into the trap of the saboteurs."

"It seems that the Hoenn League has a much stronger control over the region than we do here."

As he compared the details in the photographs, Hugo couldn't help but exclaim—

"However, this also shows that the criminals' acts of destruction over there were not particularly large-scale. When I first heard your description of the situation, I thought the criminals would at least put on some eye-catching fireworks display such as explosions and fires."

The reporter waved his hand, saying, "If there were such conspicuous phenomena, the police wouldn't be unable to find any trace of the criminals. It's precisely because their sabotage operations are silent and highly covert that the League has been unable to deal with them. Especially in the later stages, police forces throughout Hoenn have increased their vigilance. Even under such circumstances, their sabotage operations have continued to succeed repeatedly, and they haven't stopped even now."

"I see, is that how it is?"

Hugo nodded, having roughly understood the situation.

"So, were all the cameras at the scene destroyed? Did any of the more concealed cameras survive? What about the cameras in other areas? Did they capture any footage of the suspected vandals?"

The detective showed no panic despite the enormous scale of the crime; instead, he calmly and methodically asked questions, focusing on the details.

"I'm sorry, my previous expression was a bit vague."

Miss Mary shook her head apologetically and explained—

"The saboteurs did not intentionally destroy every single camera; rather, destroying surveillance was merely a byproduct of their sabotage operations."

"Yes. Those guys used some kind of device or Pokémon that emits strong electromagnetic waves, like an electromagnetic bomb, to completely destroy all electronic products in the vicinity. As a result, the electronic surveillance in those areas was completely ineffective."

Photographer Dai added from the side.

"I see. Electromagnetic interference is indeed a silent and thorough means of concealment. I've heard of cases of theft using this method in other regions as well."

The detective nodded, stroking his chin as he pondered—

"However, why would the Hoenn League focus its suspicions on Team Aqua and Team Magma? Could it be a criminal operation carried out by other individuals or organizations?"

Dai, however, disagreed, saying, "Detective, I think it's highly unlikely that it was perpetrated by an individual or an amateur organization. The destruction of so many facilities would occur simultaneously, and they would be geographically distant. Furthermore, such precise and cunning sabotage of critical facilities requires considerable expertise; simply sending out partner Pokémon would be far too much to accomplish without leaving a trace. Only a large, meticulously planned organization with impeccable discipline could carry out such a large-scale sabotage operation."

"Moreover, all of the facilities mentioned above were institutions that Team Aqua and Team Magma had strongly opposed."

Reporter Mary added—

"The predecessor of the Water Fleet was an extreme environmental organization that advocated for the protection of the ocean. They strongly opposed the destruction of the coastal ecology by the port of Water Seong City and the shipping base of Kaina City; they believed that the sewage treatment of the Purple Violet Power Plant did not meet the required standards; and they felt that the research on volcanoes and abnormal weather by the Town of Fuyan and the Green Ridge Meteorological Bureau exceeded the reasonable limits of human intervention in nature."

"The Lava Team, in contrast, is an extreme group that evolved from a terrestrial ecological protection organization. They believe that the timber center in Gumei Town and the camphor wood shipyard in Kaina City are destroying forests; they believe that the grain storage warehouse in Qiuye Town has led to a large-scale proliferation of local radora, which is the culprit for disrupting the local ecological balance; they insist that the rocket tests conducted by the Green Ridge Meteorological Bureau have caused a large amount of land to be contaminated by rocket fuel; and they condemn the seawater desalination facilities in Mushui Town for further encroaching on the already small land area..."

"And there's also the Devon Company in Kanaz City; their headquarters were attacked too."

The detective pointed to Kanaz City on the map and reminded him.