Pokémon Detective Case Files.

"Secondly, there are the memories that Miss Mia sees in her strange dreams. Although I am not yet sure what factors triggered Mia's guilt personality, multiple personalities often become active when the main personality loses consciousness—that is to say, when Miss Mia is sleeping, the secondary personality will begin to dominate the dreams in her brain, and correspondingly, the main personality's control over the dreams will decline."

The detective in the white coat said to his assistant—

"Did you notice that in Miss Mia's description of the dream, she never mentioned her own performance in the dream? In this strange dream that lasted for nearly a year, she was like an audience member sitting in front of a movie theater screen, only able to passively watch her past memories with Aiya Mushroom again and again, personally intervening in the memories but unable to change their course. This shows that what Mia experienced in the 'strange dream' was not the complete dream, but a glimpse of the dream."

"Is this... the shadow projected by another personality in the dream?" Azure murmured.

"If we take dual personality as a premise, this is the only answer," the detective said confidently. "In the dream connection experiment, Mia was able to dream two dreams at the same time precisely because of this: one was the dream of the alternate personality, and the other was a phantom of that dream."

“In addition, there’s the reason why Azure’s perspective changes during the dream connection.” Hugo methodically advanced the reasoning, taking the notebook containing Azure’s dreams from Miss Truffle’s hand.

The assistant was overjoyed: "What? This can also answer that question?"

"Although I didn't listen carefully to your conversation just now, I vaguely heard some discussion about the issue of perspective. I think that if we take dual personality as a premise, there is a way to explain the strange phenomenon that you saw, Azure."

"So what exactly happened?"

"According to Miss Truffle, Azure's perspective has shifted from the player mode of intervening in Miss Mia's dream to the god mode of observing the entire world, right?" Hugo asked the girl with her hair in a bun.

Truffle nodded hurriedly: "Yes, otherwise it would be impossible to explain the scene that Miss Azure saw at the end of her dream—that rapidly zoomed-in overhead view."

"However, the premise of our discussion has changed. The Azure Dream is not connected to Miss Mia, but to a secondary personality within her."

As the detective spoke, he glanced at the oral report in his hand, his brow furrowing slightly, just like Dr. Makomo had done before.

"Unlike Miss Mia who lives in reality, the alternate personality has lived in Mia's dreams since its inception. And in the strange dreams over the past year, that personality must have grown to some extent—you tell me, if someone grows in a dream, in what way would that effort manifest itself?"

"Could it be... the ability to freely manipulate dreams?" Azure asked uncertainly, her tone tinged with doubt.

"Yes, dreams are places where wishes can come true. Many people who have had lucid dreams claim they can freely switch between dream sequences. Spending a year in such a world would surely make one a god-like being in the dream realm..."

For some reason, the detective's voice grew softer and softer.

But having said all that, the conclusion of the reasoning, which is only a sheet of paper away, is already within reach.

"Oh, oh, oh... that means!" Miss Truffle's eyes widened in surprise—

"Miss Azure's perspective has never changed! She didn't transform into a god observing the world midway through the dream. Instead, from the very beginning of the dream, she has been possessing the original god in the dream—Miss Mia's alternate personality!"

The alternate personality can soar through the heavens and dive into the earth like a god in its own dreams, or wander slowly through the void like an ordinary person. Although Azure initially mistakenly believed that it was acting freely according to its inner will, it was merely a sense of déjà vu caused by the connection between dreams.

In reality, from beginning to end, Azure simply followed the perspective of her alternate personality—like a viewer wearing virtual reality glasses to experience an immersive movie.

"But... why would Miss Mia's alternate personality show me such strange dreams?"

Just as Azure was once again confused and unconsciously turned her gaze toward the detective in the white coat, she met Hugo's extremely stern gray eyes head-on.

"Azure, are you sure this is a dream you actually experienced within the dream connection?"

Hugo's tone was extremely serious as he showed the oral report recorded by Miss Truffle, which was indeed Azure's own.

Although he didn't know what had happened, the detective's assistant could only nod and say with certainty, "Yes. Although the memory has become very blurry, this account does match my impressions from the dream."

"What's wrong? Is there a problem with this report that I copied?" Miss Truffle tugged at the detective's sleeve curiously, her face full of confusion.

"No, the report is fine, the problem is with me."

Hugo said—

"The premise of dual personality is wrong."

Chapter 336 Call the emergency number as soon as possible

Azure's dictation of her dream was recorded immediately after she woke up in the laboratory. Therefore, this was the first time Hugo had read Azure's description of her dream so comprehensively.

The moment the detective in the white coat realized what kind of report he was reading, he decisively and thoroughly overturned his previous judgment without the slightest hesitation.

"Wrong? What does that mean?"

Upon hearing Hugo's statement, Azure and the Doctor exchanged bewildered glances, while Truffle leaped directly in front of the detective, blurting out her question like a bubble squirrel's tail-slapping motion—

"Could it be that Miss Mia's other dream wasn't caused by her second secondary personality? Then what about all the previous reasoning? If it's not a case of dual personality, then what caused the anomalies in the dreams and experiments?"

Hugo gently shook his head and pressed down with his palms, asking the girl to be patient for the time being.

Afterward, he read through Azure's dream record again from beginning to end, sorted out his thoughts, and then turned his gaze to Miss Mia, who had been standing quietly beside everyone—

“Miss Mia, before we reconstruct this case, I would like to ask you a few questions.”

Sensing the change in the atmosphere around her, the already introverted Miss Mia looked uneasy, but still nodded in response to the detective who had brought her here from the coast of Feiyun City: "Um... I, I will answer properly."

“Don’t worry, I know that you, Miss Mia, have never lied in this incident and have never deliberately hidden anything from us. The reason I’m asking you again to confirm is simply to clear up some misunderstandings caused by my own arbitrary speculation.”

Misunderstand?

The detective's assistant, who was listening to the conversation, tilted his head. So far, in the questioning of Mia, was there any element that could be misunderstood?

Hugo, in a gentle tone, asked Mia a question—

"Miss Mia, you once said that ever since you started having that strange dream, you've inexplicably had a desire to end your life. And driven by that strange emotion, you ended up standing on the beach in Feiyun City with sleeping pills, is that right?"

"Yes...yes, I really didn't lie..."

“I understand,” Hugo reassured. “What I want to know is the specific process by which that suicidal impulse propelled you all the way to the shore.”

"The specific...process?"

"Hugo, could you explain this in more detail?"

Seeing that Mia still seemed somewhat confused, Azure stepped in to assist her, asking questions on behalf of the person being questioned.

As if flipping a switch, the detective snapped his fingers and cheerfully began to explain—

"Generally speaking, even if people experience suicidal impulses without reason due to some kind of inner distortion, these impulses are usually brief and mild—"

"Just like when you stand on a high place, you might have the thought of jumping off; when you see a sharp blade, you might have the thought of using it to hurt yourself; when you stand in front of a traffic light, you might have the urge to rush into the traffic. Most of the time, these emotions are just thoughts."

“In the absence of other external interference—that is, without a clear motive for suicide—these impulses are quickly suppressed by opposing emotions such as fear, resentment, and responsibility, and then completely forgotten in the midst of a busy life… Miss Mia said before that she ‘can control herself’ and ‘would not do anything similar dangerous again,’ which is probably for this reason, right?”

"Yes, that's probably it..."

Mia herself wasn't quite sure, but she felt that what the detective said seemed to make sense.

"But this presents a contradiction: since Miss Mia's suicidal impulses are both brief and mild, and can be easily suppressed by herself as she has today, then why would that impulse lead Miss Mia to do such an unusually troublesome thing as 'taking sleeping pills to the beach'?"

"Is this really that complicated? Isn't it enough to just bring the medication with you when you go out?"

Truffle looked puzzled.

She still doesn't understand the connection between things like suicide and abnormal dreams.

Hugo wagged his index finger: "Miss Mia, who lives alone, doesn't have the resources of your Dream Research Institute. I mentioned this to her on the day I first met her—hospitals have strict restrictions on the use of sleeping pills. You need a doctor's prescription to buy the corresponding medication in small quantities from the hospital pharmacy each time. And if you want to accumulate enough for suicide, you need to repeat the process many times, which takes a considerable amount of time."

"Ah, that's contradictory!" Azure realized.

"Since Miss Mia's suicidal impulses are short-lived and can be suppressed, then these impulses cannot support a long-term and complex plan like accumulating sleeping pills."

“Yes.” The detective in the white coat nodded in agreement. “To be on the safe side, we must also consider that Miss Mia may have been trying to alleviate her suicidal impulses, and thus unconsciously adopted this roundabout and unlikely method of seeking death. However, if that’s the case, Mia’s psychological problems would be much more serious than they are now, and the psychiatrists in the hospital who prescribe medication certainly wouldn’t prescribe sleeping pills to a patient like that.”

"Well... at first, I was a little uneasy because of the nightmares, so I went to the hospital for a checkup. At the hospital, I didn't dare to say that... I wanted to end my life, I just described the strange dreams. So, the doctors prescribed me sleeping pills regularly."

"Mia said timidly. It's true that people with her personality find it very difficult to lie to a professional psychologist."

"Regarding this, although my dream research has little to do with drugs, there are many kinds of sleeping pills."

Dr. Makomo, adopting the air of a seasoned medical professional, earnestly advised Mia—

"The medication you received is likely a tranquilizer, but some types can worsen nightmares. It's important to note that sleeping pills can have negative effects such as impaired memory and cognition, and regardless of the type, they should never be taken in excessive amounts over a long period."

Mia nodded repeatedly in shame and quickly explained—

"However... at home, I didn't take the sleeping pills I got from the hospital. Although I would go to the hospital to buy medicine because of anxiety, every time I got the medicine and came home, for some reason, the anxiety caused by the strange dreams would suddenly subside, and the unused medicine would just accumulate little by little."

"Why do you keep buying sleeping pills?" Bilan asked matter-of-factly. "If you have them at home, why not just take them when you're troubled by nightmares?"

Mia lowered her head blankly: "I don't understand either, but at the time I felt that I couldn't feel at ease if I didn't do it..."

Yes, this could not possibly be a simple suicidal impulse.

The detective's assistant thought—this phenomenon could easily be explained by the theory of multiple personality disorder. But given that Hugo rejected that theory, if one had to put it into words, Miss Mia's behavior seemed more like the influence of hypnosis or mind manipulation…

"Yes, just as I expected. It seems this was also caused by that 'strange dream'."

At this moment, Hugo showed a satisfied expression and smoothed things over for Miss Mia—

"Alright, now we know where the medicine you had on the beach came from, Mia. So why did you choose that particular beach back then?"

"I guess it was just a random choice... I think."

Mia said hesitantly—

"Although I can only make a living by taking on painting commissions online right now, I still want to find a formal job in Feiyun City... So, sometimes I go out to look for a job. And on the way, I saw the sea."

"I see. Feiyun City is a port city after all, and its most prosperous commercial districts are located in the southern coastal area. When you're out and about, it's actually difficult to completely avoid the sea," Azure commented objectively.

Mia continued, "I don't know when it started, but when I look at the ocean outside the city, I feel like that blue color has some kind of attraction for me. Sometimes I get lost in thought and start walking towards the sea without even realizing it."

"Indeed, when I saw Miss Mia at the beach, you also had that dazed expression on your face."

The detective in the white coat nodded.

“I saw you standing in the sea, opening a medicine bottle to take pills, and I subconsciously assumed that you were planning to commit suicide and drown yourself in the sea with the help of sleeping pills—and this is my most fundamental misunderstanding in this incident.”

"Eh?"

Surprisingly, the person most shocked by the detective's account was Mia herself, one of the parties involved in the incident.

"Why do you say that? When I went to that sea, wasn't it to commit suicide?"

"No, based on the previous reasoning, Miss Mia, your suicidal impulse caused by the strange dream and the emotion that led you to approach the coast with sleeping pills are similar, but they are not the same thing—it's just that Miss Mia confused them because they appeared in you almost at the same time."

"Is this...is this real?"

"Yes, back then you simply wanted to take sleeping pills in the seawater. There was no direct causal relationship between that and your suicidal impulse. Mia, do you remember what I told you at the beach?"

Hugo pointed to his head—

"Even if you take sleeping pills in the water, the body will experience a strong jolt the moment you fall into the water, forcibly waking you up. Therefore, no matter how much you take before sinking into the water, you will not drown while you are asleep due to the drug."

Then, the detective asked a question that went straight to the heart of the matter: "Since she didn't drown, what would have happened to Miss Mia if she hadn't coincidentally run into me, after she took sleeping pills in the sea?"

“Uh… just like the detective said, Mia might wake up feeling suffocated and then leave the beach,” Truffle said matter-of-factly.

“However, there is another possibility,” Azure said from the side. “After all, Miss Mia took the medicine at the edge of the water on the coast. Given that the water is not deep, we cannot rule out the possibility that she fell asleep in the seawater.”

With a snap, the detective snapped his fingers again—

"That's right, this is it!"

Standing amidst the clutter scattered throughout the Dream Research Institute, and before the bewildered crowd, Hugo once again pointed his finger at his own head—

"You know, people dream when they fall asleep. Making Miss Mia fall asleep in the sea outside Feiyun City is the real purpose of the being called 'Strange Dream' in giving her all sorts of psychological guidance!"

"The existence known as 'strange dreams'?"

Azure opened her eyes wide, a sense of foreboding rising in her heart.

Could it be that some kind of ghostly Pokémon, capable of infiltrating human hearts through seawater, is hidden deep within Miss Mia's mind?

As if noticing Azure's suspicion, Hugo gently shook his head at his assistant with a reassuringly calm expression.

"The truth behind this incident is vast and complex, and has been intentionally or unintentionally interfered with and distorted by various forces. The only thing we can be certain of right now is that what is parasitic in Miss Mia's mind is not a split personality—but some kind of individual with independent consciousness. Azure, who has connected with this individual through dreams, should be the one who understands this best, right?"

The detective raised the dream dictation he was holding.

Seawater... Dream...

Thinking of this, the assistant couldn't help but shudder: "Could it be that the emptiness I felt around me when I first regained consciousness in the dream wasn't the void of the dream world, but rather the ocean in the memories of the person I was connected to?"

"Yes. In that dream, there was no powerful superhuman with an omniscient perspective overlooking the world, nor was there any dream space created based on mental power. What you saw, Azure, from beginning to end, was the real world as witnessed from that individual's perspective."

Azure, along with the two dream researchers who had also read the dream report, were all speechless with shock at the detective's words—

That deep ocean, that discolored stone tablet, that purple smoke, and that final series of overhead zoom-in images like movie scenes... Could all of this really exist?

"Then...why did that strange dream come back to me? Did I do something wrong?"

Hearing news that was far beyond her comprehension, Mia covered her head in fear and asked the detective with some excitement.

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Miss Mia,” Hugo said to her in a comforting tone. “The strange dreams you experienced weren’t caused by the vengeful spirits of Ghost-type Pokémon, nor by the malice of a powerful psychic. In fact—”

The detective flicked the dream report in his hand—

"After all, this is just a warning notice."