Pokémon Detective Case Files.

The high school girl and Mr. Lanju got off the bus at Qibao Town, the transit station, after earning their travel expenses.

Unlike the two men who remained silent after making their secret deal, Touko seemed to have formed a strong bond with the girl from Fukiyo High School, and they even hugged each other goodbye before she got off the bus.

"I never expected that such a casual trip could actually lead to some serious business. It's quite an unexpected surprise." After Yueju left, Hugo visibly relaxed, stretching and remarking with a sigh.

The girl with the high ponytail nodded in agreement, instinctively clutching the pocket of her pants where her heavy wallet was hidden: "Yes, the profits are unexpectedly high. I've taken another step closer to my goal of setting up a studio."

The detective, suddenly realizing he was talking at cross purposes, felt awkward and quickly changed the subject: "Looks like you won the competition very easily."

"Yes, the girl who teamed up with me later was an elite trainer assigned by the League to the Seven Treasures Gym for assessment. Her Cuckoo is excellent. Her battle level is quite different from that of a certain famous detective."

Hugo seemed used to such provocations and showed no anger whatsoever. He calmly stated, "I am not good at this kind of activity where I order my men to fight each other. In a distance like in a train carriage, it would be more efficient to throw this cane out and knock the other person unconscious before they can react."

Thinking of the Poké Ball Hugo had thrown at the Dark-type Elite Four member's face earlier, Douzi couldn't help but shudder. The detective next to him seemed capable of doing something like that.

"No legitimate competition allows this kind of behavior," the girl immediately warned Hugo, fearing that her tenant would be imprisoned for such a foolish act.

“Nothing is absolute,” the detective said leisurely. “Like this match, I broke the default rule by throwing a Poké Ball into the opponent’s field, but even if the referee went through all the rules of the match, he couldn’t find my behavior to be illegal. There are just too many gray areas like this that skirt the edge of the rules.”

Douzi felt that continuing to listen would definitely not lead to anything good, but her curiosity made her ask involuntarily, "What are they?"

"Take this competition in the train carriage as an example. Because the venue is extremely small and the trainer's command space is cramped, a participant familiar with the rules can bring some large Pokémon. After putting the Pokémon into the field in the way I just described, without both feet leaving the field, the participant can 'accidentally' 'touch' the opponent with their large body. If the opponent loses their command ability as a result, the referee will not be able to determine that this side has violated the rules."

Hugo casually uttered something extraordinary.

"For example, in league matches where both sides stand in opposite stands, these seemingly formal matches are actually full of loopholes. You see, the control platform in the arena is usually open to the public. If you agree with the Pokémon beforehand to use a move slightly off-target..."

"Please stop talking." As if facing a demon's whisper, Douzi covered his ears tightly. "I feel that your strategies will lead people down a path of no return, and they will definitely, definitely end up in prison."

"Tsk, it's clearly a reasonable strategy within the rules." The detective clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction.

“Mr. Hugo,” Douzi said cautiously, “your bad luck is indeed a cruel trick of fate, and it’s incredibly troublesome. But you can’t take your anger out on us trainers, can you? The trainers are innocent!”

Hugo shrugged, as if trying to ease the tension, and released the Chimchar from its Poké Ball.

Looking down at the orange-furred monkey perched on his lap, Hugo asked, "What do you think? Is this tactic reasonable?"

The little fire monkey tilted its head, seemingly deep in thought, its paw rubbing its chin incessantly. This was a habitual gesture of its owner, Hugo, when he was contemplating.

Douzi watched the little fire monkey's actions with curiosity. Just then, the fire monkey, who was deep in thought, became increasingly erratic in its breathing. Suddenly, it shuddered, and flames on its tail shot up, almost burning Douzi's nose.

In Hugo's eyes, his little Chimchar, the Chimchar that had just performed terribly in the competition, was shaking its head firmly at him amidst the rising flames behind it, its eyes full of encouragement, just like a homeroom teacher seeing off a student to a juvenile detention center.

"Honestly, why are all the people around me so morally upright?"

.

While Hugo, Douzi, and Chimchar were discussing the rationale behind the gray areas in the battle, Cranberry walked alone into a secluded alley.

All the alleys at night look the same. In the pitch-black darkness, the evil king took out the phone Hugo had given him and dialed a number.

"Wanlong, I've decided to accept your outrageous plan, which's like something out of a spy novel."

The sound of a teacup shattering and a woman's exclamation came from the other end of the phone.

Is this self-proclaimed novelist queen working on her manuscript again in the middle of the night? I really hope she could use that energy on handling alliance affairs. Yueju shook her head, listening to Wanlong's excited words.

"There's no particular reason. I met a strange guy who changed my mind... No, not the type you're describing. If I had to describe him, he's like a character from one of your detective novels."

Ms. Wanlong on the other end of the phone seemed even more excited, speaking rapidly.

"Anyway, use your useless novelist talent to come up with a plot for me that makes me deserted by everyone in the alliance... Don't try to hide it from them, you can't hide it from them anyway, and I'm also afraid that if things get serious, Boss Lianwu will beat me to death."

The two discussed this over the phone for a long time. Finally, after hesitating for a while, Yueju asked, "How is Mr. Adek?"

A heavy sigh came from the other end of the phone.

"Even the most splendid gambles eventually come to an end. As a gambler, one should indulge in pleasure even if it means living a short life—I have no right to offer Mr. Aldeck any advice. All I can do is participate in one exciting gamble after another. Team Plasma has gone too far this time. Since they've been flaunting their power under the name of the King for so long, why don't they try to be the house this time? That might be more interesting."

After the call ended, Yueju broke the phone containing the document "Investigation and Hazard Analysis of Plasma Clusters in the United States Area," carefully breaking the memory card into several pieces before throwing them into a roadside trash can.

Then he took out the business card that Hugo had given him last time, his gaze lingering between the card and the trash can for a long time before finally stuffing the small piece of paper back into his suit pocket.

The moonlight appeared late in the alley, and Lingju strolled alone in the night, her suit black, but her bright red front placket was neatly arranged, as if she were about to attend a grand banquet.

The evil-type king's vision leads to his destination: the Qibao Museum, a landmark of the city, with its white walls, black tiles, and ancient and grand architecture.

Chapter 037 Four suspects in the research institute

"Madam, these are the infidelity investigation reports you requested. I'm glad there's no actual infidelity involved. The indecent photos used to blackmail this lady's husband have been confirmed as computer-generated forgeries; there are obvious signs of splicing in these two locations. The rumors about that lady's fiancé having an affair are untrue; he has a definite alibi from his company during the alleged time they were supposedly together. As for this gentleman and lady, they only had normal social contact; this scanned document proves they only had business dealings. On the night the gentleman didn't come home, the lady had already flown to another town..."

In Touko Town, at Touko's house, Touko, the daughter, was left out in the cold while the detective and his wife whispered suspiciously to each other.

"...And this one you specifically asked me to speak to, I swear on my career, he has absolutely not done anything to betray you while he's out of town. This is his recent timeline and a list of women he's been in contact with... Rest assured, all this evidence was obtained legally, and the investigation will not be discovered by anyone..."

“Detective, you’re really reliable. When Touko just spent money recklessly to buy that mansion in Yuxi, I thought she had acquired some bad assets. But now that a detective with exceptional abilities has chosen that place as the location for his office, I don’t have to worry about not being able to collect rent or anything like that.” Touko’s mother covered her mouth and laughed happily.

The daughter complained loudly, clearly unhappy: "Mom, when did you become so close to Hugo? Did you secretly hire him to investigate some shady business again? Hey! Don't blatantly take out your wallet to pay the commission in front of me!"

Since Douzi made a lot of money through competitions, her mother naturally entered the social circles of wealthy women in the Unova region. Having been adept at navigating the Pokémon trainer community since her youth, she quickly accumulated considerable connections in the upper echelons of the wealthy society.

Since meeting Hugo, this lady has taken it upon herself to assume the role of the social expert on relationships, with her catchphrase being, "Leave this to me, I know some very capable detectives," and she has indeed brought Hugo quite a few cases.

As the middleman, the lady herself naturally received a substantial cut.

In Douzi's living room, Hugo counted his money with satisfaction, not bothering to hide it from Douzi, and boasted, "Leave all similar infidelity investigations to me. Some say that women in love are the best detectives, but intuitive guesses can never compare to solid evidence. Hiring a professional detective is definitely the best way to put ladies at ease. And I am the best detective in the United States. Please trust me completely! Hugo Detective Agency can definitely uncover the truth about infidelity in the fastest, most accurate, and most discreet way within the legal framework."

"Please don't get too cocky about your tracking and eavesdropping skills," Douzi reminded him irritably. "I remember you're going to the Yew Research Institute to investigate early tomorrow morning, so why don't you go and rest in our rarely occupied guest room?"

Douzi's mother suddenly became interested and blinked as she interjected, "Dr. Yew is an old friend of mine, and I know everything about the area around Deer Town. What do you want to investigate? Maybe I can help you."

Hugo and Douzi exchanged a glance, and the latter sighed helplessly, having no choice but to tell his mother about the strange thing that sixty trainers in a row had chosen water otters as their initial partners.

“I think this is perfectly normal.” Douzi’s mother was completely unaware of the strangeness of the situation and instead said something surprising: “Look how cute the water otter is! I really like the water otter’s self-righteous yet somewhat clumsy manner.”

“But that’s over sixty people in a row! Hugo and I both think this isn’t a matter of preference; someone is definitely pulling strings behind the scenes!”

"I see. But if it weren't for a coincidence, I couldn't think of any way to make people choose the otter." The mother shook her head regretfully.

The detective suddenly spoke up: "Madam, do you know all the staff at the Yew Research Institute?"

Douzi pricked up his ears. Had Hugo already narrowed down the suspects to members of the research institute?

"Yes, I know them. Besides her, Dr. Yew's research institute has three resident graduate student assistants and another scholar who studies elf ecology. Almost everyone in Deer Town knows them."

What impressions do you have of the four of them?

"Let me think... That scholar uncle is a bit reclusive, I don't run into him often, but I'm quite familiar with the other three student assistants."

Douzi's mother said happily, probably feeling that she had been useful in the investigation.

"These three students are all boys. One of them is named Matsubara, the second son of a wealthy family. He seems to treat his work at the research institute as a hobby and is somewhat cynical. Another is named Yamashita, who is the most cheerful of the assistants and is very good at raising Pokémon. The third is named Furuya, who is the worst student in the research institute and is often scolded by Yew for his carelessness, but he doesn't seem like the kind of person who would do bad things."

"Then, Madam, if the water otters are taken in large quantities by the trainers, is it possible that any of these four people could profit?" Hugo asked while taking notes.

The lady shook her head instinctively, but then felt that it would be unfair to the detective, so she racked her brains for a while before saying, "Speaking of which, the Matsubara family seems to be involved in some water conservancy project. Maybe there are water otters living there, so they could come into contact with quite a few water otters? Could it be that Matsubara deliberately gave the water otters to the trainers to help his family's business?"

Hugo listened attentively to the information provided by Douzi's mother, nodding his head like a pheasant pecking at rice, but in his heart, he already had a huge question mark over this guess.

As the second son in his family, Matsubara was not the direct heir to the family business. Given his circumstances, he shouldn't have had the ambition to risk developing the otter market.

“This guy from Yamashita might also be the culprit behind this strange case.” Douzi, who was listening in while eating snacks at home, suddenly interjected, “He must really like raising Pokémon, right? He probably didn’t want to hand over his starter Pokémon to those novice trainers of unknown origin, so he used some kind of trick to make all the newbies choose Oshawott.”

"That doesn't make sense, does it? Weren't the water otters also bred by him? Why would he let the water otters leave with people?" the detective immediately retorted.

Toko was speechless, while her mother continued to analyze the possibility that the old house was the ultimate beneficiary—

"The old man must have found common ground with Oshawott in his carelessness, thus becoming a devoted follower of Oshawott. He probably often promotes the benefits of Oshawott to every trainer who comes to the city. Under the influence of this behavior, it's natural that people who come to this city to get Pokémon tend to choose Oshawott, right?"

“Uh…” Hugo asked awkwardly, “You just said that the old man often tries to sell the benefits of Otter to trainers, right? But those novice trainers don’t have any obvious identifying marks, so he should be talking to all the unfamiliar faces he hasn’t seen before. Have you ever witnessed such a scene?”

“Never,” Toko and her mother answered in unison.

Hugo looked on with a headache as the mother and daughter made wild and whimsical guesses. In many ways, the two were remarkably alike.

Chapter 038: Questions and Answers with Dr. Yew

On his second day in Deer Town, Hugo got up very early.

Although they had agreed to go to investigate together, Touko was as lazy as ever, so Hugo ignored her and entrusted the somewhat cumbersome elves he was carrying to Touko's mother before setting off for the area where the Yew Research Institute was located.

There were still two hours before the research institute's normal opening hours. The detective had already contacted Dr. Yew, and the two agreed to meet at a nearby tea restaurant that opened very early.

The tea restaurant was much more upscale than Hugo had expected. The moment he entered, Hugo saw Dr. Yew, leisurely sipping her tea. She wore a light mint-colored lab coat and had her long brown hair styled in a bun, looking exactly like her in the photograph.

Upon seeing the detective, the other person immediately greeted him with a smile.

"After receiving the call yesterday, I followed the detective's instructions and announced at the research institute that a new person would be coming to collect their Pokémon the next day. That way, we just need to wait for the informant the detective arranged to report everything she's discovered, and this problem will be solved, right?"

After Hugo sat down, the doctor asked him in a relaxed manner.

"If all goes well, of course, but such a perfunctory and simple plan cannot fool those who are truly interested."

Hugo glanced at the tea restaurant's menu, searching for the cheapest breakfast set meal, and answered absentmindedly.

"Huh?" The doctor's calm smile began to twitch. "Why is this happening? Did I give myself away? I was so confident in my acting skills... Or was this plan inherently destined to fail?"

Hugo handed the menu to the waiter and replied to the professor, "There are various reasons, but the most crucial one is that trainers who come to the research institute to collect Pokémon must be approved by the League, and this information is already registered. So as long as the criminal thinks of this and checks the public files, he will definitely see through this scam."

Seeing Dr. Yew's hesitant expression, the detective quickly made a reassuring gesture and then said—

"But in reality, there is still a high chance that the criminal will fall for it. After all, if that person really manipulated the sixty initial starter family collection ceremonies by some means, when it comes to this time, he probably won't have much patience left. He might skip the investigation procedures and repeat the previous interference activities with his eyes closed."

"It really is a limbo situation." Amidst the ups and downs, the usually serious female PhD student opposite me sighed without any grace. "I thought we could finally solve that inexplicable mystery."

Hugo's breakfast arrived: fried eggs, bread, and orange juice. The detective skillfully began to eat with his knife and fork.

Watching the detective eat so methodically, the professor couldn't help but ask, "Since you're so calm, Detective, you must have already come up with a countermeasure besides that plan, right?"

"Of course, I'd consider myself a detective, and I don't need these tricks to find the truth."

The detective swallowed the small pieces of bread and, as expected, spoke confidently.

"However, I still need the doctor to provide me with some information about the research institute."

"As long as it doesn't involve confidential matters, I can disclose anything, and our research institute doesn't have anything worth hiding." The doctor readily agreed, quite readily.

"Then let me begin my question. What research topics are the other members of the research institute, besides yourself, currently conducting?"

"Mr. Eric is investigating the distribution of Pokémon around Deer Town. In addition, Matsubara is researching the possibility of wild Pokémon assisting humans in their work. Yamashita's research topic is the restrictions on the use of sound-based moves. As for Furuya, he still hasn't decided on his research topic."

Yew readily listed the research topics of the people in the research institute, truly befitting a top scholar in the field of Pokémon studies.

After taking a sip of orange juice, Hugo asked for confirmation, "Is Mr. Eric the scholar uncle from the research institute?"

"Yes, he is the second-in-command of the institute and a researcher at the same level as me. However, because he often needs to go out to conduct investigations, I am still in charge of the institute's daily work."

"I remember Dr. Yew, you yourself often go out to conduct research, right? And you frequently appear on television programs. What does the research institute do in situations like this?"

The doctor frankly stated, "The students will help take care of it."

"In that case," Hugo asked seriously, "have any novice trainers come by and receive an Otter at this time?"

“Yes. About a third of the water otters are sent out while I’m not around. What’s the point of asking this?” The doctor didn’t quite understand the direction of Hugo’s question.

"No, I'm just a little curious," the detective replied vaguely.

This question actually rules out the hypothesis that "Dr. Yew himself is the criminal," but it's better to keep that conclusion to ourselves for the sake of everyone.

"Besides everyone at the research institute, are there any other people who come to the research institute regularly?"

"This research institute is basically open to the public. People who have visited the institute include trainers who collect Pokédex entries, children from the town, and Douzi's mother. However, they only visit occasionally, so I don't think it's related to the incident."

As if he were to tentatively agree with Dr. Yew's statement, Hugo posed a few final questions.

"I have a few more questions for you: First, how did Matsubara conduct his research on wild Pokémon replacing humans in work? Second, is Yamashita's research project related to his personal experiences? Third, given Furuya's current academic level, will he be able to successfully complete his graduate studies?"

After a moment's thought, Yew answered one by one: "Songyuan always goes back to his hometown to conduct field surveys. The subject of his survey is the wild savage perch in Boshi, Qinghai. He believes that a system for processing aquatic timber can be established by utilizing the powerful bite force of this creature. Although his idea is far-fetched, his plan is surprisingly feasible."

Hugo imagined a scene of swarms of wild perch darting back and forth, tearing at the trees...

"By the way, there are absolutely no wild water otters in Songyuan's hometown. All the water otters at the research institute are provided by the Alliance's specialized breeding base; there's absolutely no suspicion of smuggling," the professor added, then moved on to the next student—

"Yamashita was an excellent battle trainer before joining the research institute. He later voluntarily transferred to the institute to study. His research topic was inspired by his battle partner, Rolling. There are relatively few scholars in Unova who specialize in studying moves. I hope that this student can fill the gap in academia in the future."

"I see. And what about the third student?"

"Furuya is actually the most talented of the three graduate student assistants, but he's a bit ambitious but lacks practical skills. He always goes overboard with his research topics, almost like he's determined to make a splash, but he's careless when it comes to actually doing the research. Nevertheless, I think he should have no problem completing his studies," Dr. Yew said.

The detective nodded with great satisfaction: "I have a general understanding of the situation. Next, I would like to take advantage of the fact that the people in the research institute have not yet arrived to check the internal structure and terrain of the institute."

After paying their respective bills, the two left the restaurant and went to the nearby research institute.

Dr. Yew's research institute is actually very simple in structure, and can be roughly divided into two areas: the research institute and the backyard.