Pokémon Detective Case Files.

"Everyone, I'm pretty tired of being on this staircase. Shouldn't I go upstairs for some fresh air?"

"Oh? Is it alright to take this guy upstairs?"

Lanju casually asked Hugo for confirmation, but Pachira, who was standing in front of him, raised an eyebrow at the question.

"Of course, no problem."

Hugo led the way out of the building, urging the others behind him with a carefree smile—

“Miss Pakira came here for this very reason, otherwise she wouldn’t have visited the Alliance at such a convenient time, nor would she have stubbornly confronted you in the hall for so long. And since the Alliance’s authority cannot prevent her from intervening in the investigation, there is no need for us to obstruct her.”

“Oh dear, what are you saying, Mr. Champion?” Pachira immediately feigned surprise. “Has something happened at the United States branch of the League? I have absolutely no idea.”

"No need to pretend. I met the champion of the Carlos League before. She told me that the two Elite Four members visiting Unova have their own things to take care of and will not attend the exchange meeting until it officially begins. As for the two of them, Elite Four member Pachira's original plan was probably to interview the leader of Team Plasma in the Unova region, that green-haired youth named N."

Walking through the intricate corridors of the Alliance headquarters, Hugo passed through corner after corner without hesitation, as if he knew the building inside and out.

"However, Miss Pachira willingly sacrificed her precious time for outings and interviews today, personally coming to the United Federation headquarters before the exchange meeting even started, only to bump right into the King of the Blueberry, whom she dislikes... It seems that the Plasma Group provided Miss Pachira with quite a bit of information."

Everyone except Hugo stopped in their tracks. Azure and Blueberry's gazes were fixed on Pachira, whose face was bowed.

"Hey."

The Fire-type Elite Four member defended himself—

"I did interview the King of Team Plasma a few days ago, but that has nothing to do with my actions today. I simply finished some personal business and came to the League headquarters to await orders. It was just an interview. Detective Hugo, isn't it a bit unbecoming of you to make baseless accusations of someone colluding with an evil organization?"

The detective ignored Patricia and continued speaking to himself—

“Yesterday I received two reporters from Hoenn. From them, I received an important item that I needed to deliver personally. So on my way to the League headquarters, I used social media to inform the recipient of the item about it. I heard something very interesting from her.”

"Is it about Ms. Reina? What did she say to you?" Azure asked curiously.

Reina… Hearing this somewhat familiar name, Pachira felt a sense of foreboding.

"This female cultivator recently went to a place far from home to purchase tree fruits, but unexpectedly encountered a strange thing on her journey."

The detective shook his finger—

"Because she got lost, she wandered into a remote forest last night, where she and her Pokémon partner witnessed a horrific scene of carnage. Strangely, when she awoke from her coma the next day, all the blood-soaked corpses had vanished, and a pink-haired woman claiming to be a news anchor appeared beside her... Miss Pachira, do you have any clues about this?"

"........."

Seeing the news anchor fall into an awkward silence, Hugo took the initiative to steer the conversation—

"In the end, it's impossible for that young lady, who's visiting the forest for the first time, to be able to distinguish between different forests, right? If you want her to think that what she saw was a non-existent nightmare, you just need to move her to another forest nearby while she's unconscious. And if you want to make it more convincing, you can also fabricate some evidence that she was there before in the new area, and then find a way to shut up her partner Pokémon. The whole disguise will then be flawless."

"My breeder friend is a genuine ordinary person. The imposter's elaborate scheme must be to cover up some tragedy that happened in the forest."

"As far as I know, Team Plasma is currently troubled by a mysterious poisoning incident. The victim was Voodoo, a former evil trainer wanted by the Hoenn League and known by the local police as the 'Poison Mage'—you've probably already seen his body."

"Although I didn't see the scene of his death, I did see photos of his body. 'Poison Mage' Voodoo... that trainer actually had such a nickname?"

Realizing that her activities assisting the Plasma Group had been exposed, Ms. Pachira decided to stop hiding it.

"As expected of a renowned private detective in the Sinnoh region, he remains so well-informed even in the Unova region. Indeed, to obtain firsthand interview material, I have been working with the king of Team Plasma since I arrived in Unova. It was wrong of me to deceive Ms. Rena, but it was for her safety. As an ordinary person, getting involved with an organization like Team Plasma is far too dangerous."

“I don’t mean to condemn you for that. However, you also got the news about Akromar being poisoned at the Alliance headquarters from Team Plasma, right?” Hugo pressed.

Pachira nodded: "Yes. I also know that he is a member of Team Plasma."

"Very good. We've reached a consensus on the known information in advance. It seems that the detective work ahead will be much easier."

Hugo stretched.

Before they knew it, the scene of Akromma's poisoning and murder was right before their eyes.

Upon seeing the face of the Champion and the pass held by Hugo, the police officers guarding the scene immediately understood and allowed Hugo and his group to pass. The police officers and league officials who had gathered nearby to discuss the case also left early, as instructed by the Champion beforehand.

The yellow cordon tape was removed by the guards.

What now stood before the four of them was the Alliance meeting room, exactly as it had been at the time of the incident—even the coffee cup that had been knocked over while Akroma was unconscious was still placed in its original, overturned position.

"An unknown poison that can't be found anywhere? It would be too embarrassing for the United Alliance to be fooled by something like this. It's time to solve this mystery."

The detective, dressed in a white coat, stepped into the meeting room and made the following declaration with utter disdain.

Chapter 340 Detoxification Begins

Have you come up with any ideas yet?

Hearing the detective's confident declaration, Azure, who had been mingling among the champion kings as the detective's assistant, quickly asked—

"Could it be that, just like Mr. Greta's locked-room incident last time, you received a breakthrough inspiration when you stepped into this meeting room?"

The premier reception room in front of us, exclusively for the league champions, is spacious yet monotonous, with a predominantly off-white modern style.

Although the details of the tables and chairs and the wall patterns look high-end, the overall color scheme is no different from other rooms in the Alliance headquarters.

Due to the previous champion's personal habits, this meeting room did not even undergo any multimedia facility renovations.

In this vast, enclosed room, resembling an ancient arena, a huge rectangular black wooden table is placed in the center, with two rows of armchairs sitting in a solemn, almost identical fashion, like cut-and-paste templates. The only thing that disrupts the overall rhythm of the space is probably the crime scene where Mr. Akromma was attacked and collapsed.

Could we really find clues to solve the case from this? Azure couldn't help but wonder.

Unlike the Sandstorm Squad murders, in this public place where there are few personal belongings, both the perpetrators and the victims are merely passersby in this room, and it is impossible to discern much of their personal characteristics... not to mention that this is a poisoning incident without any bloodstains or signs of struggle.

"No, absolutely no inspiration." Faced with his assistant's question, Hugo shook his head without a trace of shame, denying it.

"In fact, the Alliance had already sent me photos of the surrounding area right after the poisoning incident occurred. To be able to grasp the progress of the investigation even before the police is truly a first in my detective career. I must say, the taste of this power is really hard to give up..."

Pachira frowned: "Since we haven't found any useful clues at the scene, how can we solve the mystery? Mr. Hugo, men who love to boast are never popular."

“You can’t be afraid of offending people when you’re a detective. Evidence and clues are fair to everyone. Unless there are extremely rare exceptions, there’s no reason why a large group of police officers would spend days without finding any useful clues, while we can find the answer simply by stepping into this room.”

The detective tapped his head with his index finger.

"Let's have a little more trust in the Alliance and the police. In this case, their investigation and search have been almost perfect. All that's left is to be skeptical and thoughtful—think about it, what's the difference between what we saw when we arrived here and the crime scene as seen by those diligent police investigators?"

"Is the victim's body still in the room?" Carlos's Fire King asked. "Could there be some clues left on Akromma's body?"

“That’s probably the place that was searched most thoroughly. I don’t think we’ll find any new clues on the victim,” Blueberry objected. “Besides, if the clues are on Akromma, what would we be searching this room for? The air?”

"Hmm... When the police arrived at the scene, Mr. Akroma, who was unconscious, should still be there, right?"

As Azure pondered and deduced, she approached the crime scene in the reception room—

"Could it be that the victim's fallen body obscured any traces left by the murderer? Or perhaps some important clues were concealed by the perpetrator—for example, Pokémon moves, like 'Light Wall' which refracts light to create blind spots, or 'Sneak Attack' which drags evidence into another dimension to hide it. If it's one of those mechanisms that only reveals the hidden object after the skill expires, it might have been overlooked by the officers investigating earlier."

“It’s unlikely,” said Yueju, standing behind the group. “After all, this case happened at the Alliance headquarters. This room has been searched repeatedly since the incident. There’s no way we would leave evidence hidden by a body. Besides, the possibility of someone using superpowers or spiritual power to tamper with it is also extremely low.”

"Why are you so sure?" Pachira turned around and questioned the Dark-type Elite Four member who didn't like her.

Yueju shrugged: "Not long ago today, the League asked some superpowered and psychic individuals who have regular cooperation with the police to assist in the investigation. Naturally, they found nothing. If you don't believe me, you can send out your own Pokémon of those attributes to check it out."

Before the King of Mischief could finish speaking, Chandelure reappeared in the room, followed closely by a fox Pokémon with red and yellow fur resembling a priestess, holding a burning branch in its hand. It was none other than the Fire/Psychic type, Fiery Fox.

"The truth never grows on the tongues of others, especially gamblers." Placing the two empty Poké Balls back at his waist, the Fire-type Elite Four member's face appeared particularly cold amidst the interplay of red and blue flames.

The crystal chandelier spirit flickered its pupil-less yellow eyes, while the demonic red fox gripped its wand with both paws. Although it couldn't be seen with the naked eye, there was no doubt that there were two parallel fluctuations in different dimensions, scanning the entire room without interfering with each other.

A few seconds later, the search stopped.

Chandelure swayed slightly, while Fiery Fox turned its gaze to its trainer, a flash of red light in its eyes indicating the activation of telepathy.

Pachira sighed, "Elite Four member, it seems your subordinates are a bit incompetent. There are indeed no signs of Ghost-type moves being used in the room, but the psychic energy fluctuations are as conspicuous as a coal-colored turtle shell in the sunlight."

"If you had examined it more carefully, you wouldn't have said that. The 'coal tortoise shell' you found is probably here, isn't it?"

With an indifferent expression, Lingju strolled to the vicinity of where Akromma had fallen unconscious, lightly tapping the ground with the tip of her pointed leather shoes—

"Unfortunately, this is the very place where Mr. Acromega received emergency treatment. Since ordinary antidotes were ineffective against the poisoned Acromega, after trying various methods, the doctors in charge of the emergency treatment finally decided to treat the patient using a Pokémon healing move—including the Psychic-type 'Heal Pulse'."

The gambler shrugged and spread his hands mockingly at Pachira: "The superpower fluctuations that your Fiery Red Fox sensed should have shown no signs of being deliberately concealed, right? This energy even revealed a certain benevolence, yet you regard such traces as a trap set by criminals to rob and kill—is this the empirical spirit that journalists tout?"

Pachira remained silent, seemingly having been struck where it hurt.

"It was just a momentary judgment. If Elite Four member Pachira continues his investigation, he will likely reach the same conclusion soon." Hugo smoothed things over for the guest from the Kalos region. "Putting aside personal grudges outside the case, the League Medical Department did indeed use the power of Pokémon during the emergency treatment. Acromuma's poisoning symptoms were significantly relieved after receiving Pokémon treatment, but he is still not fully recovered—this seems to reveal some nature of this 'nameless poison'."

"Could it be a compound toxin?" Azure asked.

"It might be, it might not. We haven't reached the end of our rope yet, so there's no need to jump to conclusions. Since the doctors can't determine the type of poison, it's best to respect their expertise and not speculate." The detective waved his hand at his assistant.

"The real question, as I said before, is: what are the differences between the crime scenes at the two points in time? Believe me, this is not a difficult question to answer."

"I understand."

The news anchor's clear, crisp voice rang out in the meeting room. She smoothed her hair and returned the two Fire-type Pokémon beside her to their Poké Balls.

"That is indeed an overly simplistic question. So that's what you were suspecting. No wonder you drove away the nearby Alliance guards beforehand. As expected of the new champion of the United States Alliance, you are not to be underestimated."

Pachira walked up to the detective, looking directly into his gray eyes through her tinted glasses.

"The difference between the crime scene that the police investigators saw and the scene that we saw was quite obvious."

She smiled and announced the answer in perfect standard Mandarin—

"At the crime scene we saw, the large group of paramedics and investigators who were diligently working around the scene were missing, and if nothing unexpected happened, there were also coalition officials supervising the search at the scene."

Chapter 341 Detoxification – The Invisible Poison

stab-

The detective pulled out an armchair from the row of chairs next to the long table and, like a dark raven taking over its nest, unceremoniously sat down.

"As Miss Pachira said, those who arrived at the scene immediately after Douzi and the others discovered that Akroma had been poisoned are my prime suspects."

"Could the murderer be hiding among them?" the news anchor asked impatiently after receiving an affirmative answer.

“It’s not only the murderer who should be suspected, but we can’t rule out that possibility either.” Hugo shook his head.

"Although poisoning generally does not require the perpetrator to be present in person, every crime inevitably involves some unintentional oversight. Many criminals will deliberately return to the crime scene for fear of missing some clues. However, my suspicion of those present was not based on this reason."

“Of course I understand that, but why is that?” asked the detective’s assistant, Azure.

"Number of people".

The detective in the white coat spoke succinctly, his gaze as deep as the hardwood table before him—

"Do you remember how Miss Touko described the scene of the crime when she was on the phone?"

Azure recalled: "She seemed to say... this place is like an underground nest of iron ants, it's packed with people."

“Don’t you find it strange?” Hugo spread his hands. “This exclusive champion’s reception room is already more than spacious enough that twenty people could sit comfortably without feeling cramped, but Douzi still felt crowded in that environment… How many people actually entered the reception room at that time?”

"Forty... no, at least fifty people. That includes the first aid equipment they brought, as well as the space occupied by the Pokémon assisting in the investigation."

Lingju squinted and looked around the room, drawing her own conclusion.

He tossed a gold coin between his fingers, the golden disc moving up and down between the gambler's fingers like a living thing—

"But Your Excellency, do you also have doubts about the medical staff who came to provide emergency care?"

"No, judging from Akromar's near-death condition at the time, if any of the emergency personnel had had malicious intentions, that guy would probably be dead by now."

Hugo shook his head regretfully.

"What I want to point out is—does the rescue and on-site investigation really require so many people to rush in at the same time? Putting aside the medical personnel and alliance officials, those responsible for the on-site investigation and evidence collection personnel must have understood the importance of protecting the crime scene as soon as possible, right? But at the time, no one stood up to point this out. Everyone let the crowded people, like leaf-eating gnaws, constantly destroy the traces and evidence at the scene."

During the conversation, Hugo gently tapped the long table at the crime scene with his knuckles, producing a monotonous sound like the ticking of a second hand. One couldn't help but wonder what stance he had on that allowed him to so brazenly criticize others' awareness of protecting evidence.

However, no one criticized the detective's actions at the moment.

There is only one reason—Hugo's current title is Unova Champion. Even if he is not well known, even if he has some unspeakable secrets about his fighting ability, even if even Azur Lane sometimes forgets this setting... he is still a genuine League Champion.

Even though a murder had occurred there, this meeting room remained his private space, and he undoubtedly had the right to use any of the equipment there.

"Could it be a case committed by one of the high-ranking security officials here?" Pachira speculated with interest.

"To cover up their crimes, the perpetrator deliberately caused chaos and disturbance, letting too many outsiders into the meeting room to disrupt the scene... No, in this situation, wouldn't it be more advantageous to sneak into the crime scene and destroy the evidence personally?"

"As I've already said, my focus isn't on guessing the murderer," Hugo Award winner retorted.

"While screening based on the 'opportunity to control the number of people entering the scene' would likely significantly narrow down the pool of suspects, there are still quite a few people within the United Federation who could do just that. Even if we find the person who first proposed the intrusion investigation, they could be pawns or bait deliberately manipulated by the real culprit to achieve their goal. After all, this was an open poisoning incident. Even if there's a high possibility of insider involvement, if we try to identify the perpetrator by eliminating suspects, the process will become endless."

"So that's why we need to start with the criminal's motives and methods?" Azure asked.

The detective, seated in his chair, nodded: "Yes. And the key point is—why would the culprit put so many people into the room at the crime scene?"

"Isn't it to destroy evidence?" The Fire King raised his eyebrows in confusion.

"A large number of people will certainly bring some chaos and may also destroy easily overlooked criminal traces such as footprints... But on the other hand, more intruders will also bring more eyes."

The second hand, which had been tapping on the table, stopped ticking. The detective, his gaze deep and unfathomable, said—