Pokémon Detective Case Files.

"Oh, Hugo? What do you need me for?"

The Road to Champions is located at the foot of the United Alliance headquarters, with a dense network of base stations and communication lines nearby. Moreover, the caves are mostly situated on the edge of cliffs, so the call signal is hardly affected.

The voice of Ms. Iris, one of the two gym leaders in Twin Dragons City, was clearly heard by everyone.

Chapter 385 Finding the Way is Difficult

When Alice received Hugo's call, she had just finished fighting a wild molten ant beast.

Since the gregarious Iron Ants on the Victory Road nearly disappeared, this Pokémon, which feeds mainly on Iron Ants, has tenaciously adapted to the dramatic environmental changes.

The ant-like creature before her had clearly honed an astonishing fighting instinct through long-term survival competition, displaying surprising resilience even against her powerful Dragon-type Pokémon. Victory in this battle was far more difficult than she had anticipated.

"A kidnapping? During my time training on the Path of Champions, something like this actually happened in Twin Dragons City..." Alice wiped the fine beads of sweat from her forehead with her sleeve, exchanging a knowing glance with the Double-Axe Dragon beside her. Their gazes simultaneously fell on the unconscious Molten Ant Beast.

The girl crouched down and took an empty Poké Ball from her waist.

"Although I've been training around here for a few months, the terrain of the Champion's Road is just too complicated," she murmured to herself. "But you... having hunted here for so long, you should know some secret passages and caves, right?"

Just then, a faint orange-red light suddenly appeared on the surface of the molten ant beast, flickering like embers, as if in response. Although it was not enough to illuminate the entire cave, it at least allowed Alice to see the rugged ground beneath her feet and the outline of the winding tunnel ahead.

"hehe."

The button on the Poké Ball dented slightly under the girl's thumb, making a soft "click" sound.

"It seems that now is the time when your strength is needed."

.

On the basement floor of the Alliance Medical Center, despite the fact that the investigation team sent to the Road to Champions had already departed and the number of people in the data analysis center had been reduced, the center was still maintaining an astonishing level of work—the entire center was like an iron ant nest invaded by natural enemies, presenting a scene of bustling activity.

A subordinate in police uniform rushed up to Officer Jenny: "The patrol officers nearby have already arrived at the entrance to Champions Road and found a suspicious vehicle at the entrance!"

To ensure that no time was wasted due to misjudgment, the police not only dispatched a large number of elite officers to the Champion's Road, but also allocated a small number of officers to search caves such as the training huts. However, in terms of manpower and investigation efficiency, the Champion's Road remained the absolute priority of the investigation.

Deputy Chief Officer Jenny took the photo handed to her by the detective. It showed a gray van that didn't look special, but the parking location seemed rather inconsiderate. There was a proper parking lot some distance away, but it was parked diagonally on the open ground next to the entrance.

“The surrounding area is dry sandstone, it’s hard to find footprints… Did you find any clues inside the car?” Officer Jenny examined the photos, her gaze as sharp as the chilling breath of an ice demon.

"We've found something!" the subordinate reported decisively. "With the help of the elves, the patrol officers forced open the car door. Although the car was empty, they found long female hair in the trunk—most likely a trace left by the hostage!"

Deputy Director Officer Jenny's gaze sharpened. Long hair isn't necessarily exclusive to women... but that detail wasn't important at the moment. "Have you compared it with the hostage's biometrics?" she asked, cutting to the chase.

The investigator was taken aback by his superior's serious attitude; "We haven't received any physical samples yet..."

“The hostages are still trapped; there’s no need to wait for DNA testing.” Officer Jenny’s voice was calm but undeniable. Known as the ‘Alarm’ in the underworld, she tapped her fingertips on the table. “Just compare the photos directly. There should be hair samples left near the hostages’ residence in Shuanglong City, right?”

"Ah! Indeed... the staff at the scene collected relevant samples from the mother and daughter near the entrance of the residence."

"Start the comparison immediately." Officer Jenny's command was succinct and forceful. "Retrieve all relevant evidence and materials, now!"

A colleague quickly handed over a tablet terminal. The investigator's forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat as he trembled and pulled up photos of past hair samples.

Having obtained the second piece of evidence, Officer Jenny held up the hair photograph taken from inside the car, her sharp eyes scanning back and forth between the two images...

"Hair color seems to be the same as her mother's..." the investigator murmured.

“Hugo was right.” The deputy director put down the photograph. “The hostages are in the cave on Champions Road!”

.

"Shouldn't we stay in the analysis center to help out at this time? At the very least, we should be keeping abreast of the progress in exploring the path to the championship, right?"

Fighting-type champion Lian Wu followed behind Hugo, his brows furrowed into a deep frown.

“I’ve entrusted the task of contacting Alice to Officer Jenny and the others, since they are more professional than me in tracking fugitives and dealing with kidnappers.”

Hugo walked down the hospital corridor, checking the latest updates from Officer Jenny on his phone.

"The police seem to have found the vehicle left behind by the kidnappers; they were indeed on Champions Road."

"So you came to find the victim, Morikawa Shigeo, just to tell him this news?"

Lian Wu felt that if he were a family member of the hostage, he would absolutely not want to hear about this half-hearted investigation progress. "Now that you've made some progress, hurry up and find my family!" He would definitely roar like that...

“No, I do have some concerns about the kidnapper’s identity.” Hugo, who was walking ahead, put away his phone and responded to Lian Wu’s question.

"Although Mrs. Morikawa's screams at the beginning of the recording were very impressive and almost labeled the entire kidnapping incident as violent, in terms of time, that happened after the kidnapping... Before that, were the kidnappers really using force to subdue the Morikawa mother and daughter?"

"what do you mean?"

“In a sense, criminals are the most conservative creatures; unless necessary, they tend to use the same method repeatedly when committing crimes.”

Hugo waved his finger in the air—

"The kidnapping happened in the morning, and the Morikawa family's residence is not so remote that it is deserted. If there had really been a disturbance at their doorstep, the people in the neighborhood should have noticed it to some extent. However, the police investigation found the exact opposite; the surrounding residents did not hear a single suspicious exclamation."

"You mean, that mother was also lured away by kidnappers, just like her daughter?" The Fighting King's tone was full of doubt. "If a lost child were abducted by bad guys, that would be one thing, but how could an adult woman so easily believe the nonsense of strangers?"

"So, what if it wasn't a stranger?"

Hugo abruptly stopped, and the conversation abruptly ended.

"What's wrong?" Lian Wu walked up to the detective, completely bewildered. "We haven't even reached the victim's hospital room yet, have we?"

"Uh... I forgot what the ward number was, do you remember?"

Standing on the corridor on the second floor of the inpatient department, one sees an endless sea of ​​white ward doors—at least forty identical rooms are neatly arranged on both sides, and Morikawa's ward is thus submerged in this white ocean.

The champion and the king looked at each other, blinking in confusion.

At this very moment—

"You two are Champion Hugo and King Lianwu, right? Are you looking for Mr. Morikawa? I'll take you there."

The nurse with the young lady in the skirt appeared like an angel in white. She smiled and easily resolved the awkwardness between the two men.

Chapter 386 A Person Who Befriends Justice

Guided by the nurse, Hugo and Lianwu successfully found the private room where Morikawa was located.

Upon opening the door, the scene that came into view was the victim having her gauze changed with the assistance of a nursing doctor.

Upon seeing Hugo and his companion, who had left just hours earlier, Morikawa became visibly agitated, his breathing becoming rapid.

Before the patient's movements could affect his injuries, the detective preemptively explained, "Mr. Morikawa, the police investigation has made significant progress. We have located the hostages, and we should be able to rescue your wife and daughter soon."

With his question defused in advance, Morikawa opened his mouth, momentarily at a loss for words, like a Roaring Bomb that had just evolved and whose temper hadn't yet become volatile.

Under the reproachful gaze of the attending physician, Detective Hugo slowly sat down beside the hospital bed: "I came here to learn more details related to the case, which will help the police to successfully rescue the hostages."

The doctor skillfully bandaged the last layer of gauze on Morikawa's left hand and signed his name in a scribbled manner on the nursing record.

He seemed to want to stay in the ward and was about to say something when Lian Wu blocked his way like a wall: "Sorry, we need some private space."

As the door closed softly, and there was no one else around, Hugo immediately took out his phone and lit up the screen for Morikawa—

“First of all…” Unzun Champion’s tone became serious, “Do you have any recollection of this car?”

The screen shows a van parked in the sand. Apart from the license plate being deliberately removed, there seems to be nothing special about it.

"This car?" Morikawa opened his eyes wide in confusion. As a driver employed by the Alliance, he was no stranger to various types of vehicles. "This is a light van produced in Hoenn Kanaz City. It's an old model from ten years ago, which was very popular in the early days of Unova... Um, does this have anything to do with my kidnapped wife and daughter?"

Your wife may have been tied up in the trunk of this car… Hugo didn’t directly say anything that might worry the injured person, but simply continued showing the photos on his phone with a blank expression.

"Do you remember anyone in your family who you know well driving this kind of car—this gray Toyota van?"

"Hmm..." Morikawa scratched his head with his uninjured hand. "None of my current neighbors drive this kind of car. But... a few of my colleagues do have this model at home."

"Colleagues? Could they also be staff members of the Alliance headquarters?" Lian Wu, who was watching the conversation, frowned even more, and Sen Chuan, who was being stared at by him, shrank his neck in fear.

"I... I'm just telling the truth... Why are you asking these questions?"

Hugo raised his hand to calm the Fighting Elite King down. He reassured the injured man again, "It's just a routine questioning. By the way, do you know any colleagues in the league who are close to your family?"

Morikawa had a bad feeling, but facing Hugo and Lianwu's gazes, he could only bite the bullet and answer, "I don't have any colleagues I'm that close to. But if we're talking about people I know personally, the vehicle management department once organized a department-wide outing. As for acquaintances who are just casual acquaintances, then maybe everyone has some..."

"Thank you for your cooperation." Hugo hurriedly stood up and, just like last time, led Lian Wu out of the ward.

"Hey! Wait a minute!" The patient, snapping out of his daze, suddenly shouted at the detective, "That car... was it the one the kidnapper drove? Do you think the person who kidnapped my wife and daughter is my colleague?"

“We’re just gathering clues. That gray car is a common model, after all. Even if your colleague has driven the same car, it doesn’t mean anything. The perpetrator could have just rented or even stolen someone else’s car.” The detective didn’t turn around, but left these words as he went out.

“Rescuing the hostages is our primary objective. Who the criminal is is not important at this stage. Mr. Morikawa, please take good care of yourself. The United States will still need your efforts in the future.”

As they left the ward, Lian Wu finally couldn't hold back any longer. He quickly blocked the champion's path and asked, "Hugo, according to what Morikawa just said, are there really other traitors within the league?"

"At this point, even if I said no, you wouldn't believe me, would you?"

Hugo shrugged, his voice calm to the point of being cruel—

"My suspicions stem not only from the unusual location of the kidnapping but also from the airport bombing—who else, besides members of the alliance, would target the car carrying Carlos's visitors? How did the perpetrator know the entire itinerary? How did they time the bombing down to the second? How did they obtain the driver's and his family's addresses and phone numbers beforehand?"

Lian Wu fell silent, his fists clenched tightly. The corridor lights cast a deep shadow on his resolute face.

“You seem disappointed with the current state of the United States Alliance, but in a sense, this situation was inevitable.” The detective’s words continued to reach his ears.

"With the Plasma Group spreading and growing among the people, there's no reason why such a large organization wouldn't extend its tentacles to higher positions, and the Alliance's grassroots employees are clearly the group that will be most affected in the entire pyramid."

No matter how precise the analysis, it cannot conceal the reality that the league has already weakened.

Lian Wu once believed that Team Plasma was extremely lacking in high-end combat power compared to the United States League. Even if the lack of fighting spirit of the champion Alder didn't make a move, as long as the four Elite Four members were in charge, the League's position would still be as solid as a rock... But now?

Can his fists continue to uphold this "justice" for the United States?

"boom."

Lost in thought, a muffled thud suddenly sounded in front of me.

Lian Wu looked down and saw the detective's fist smash into his chest.

The hard knuckles pressed against the training clothes. Although the force of this punch was as light as a feather according to Lianwu's standards, it seemed to transmit a kind of heat.

“Even if you are a martial arts master, don’t forget,” the current champion said with an unquestionable tone, “what you are seeing now is just a few isolated cases among many phenomena.”

"What do you mean?"

"Unlike the atrocities of conspirators, 'justice' does not swagger through the streets. This does not mean that it has disappeared or diminished, but rather that it is too mild and widespread to react sluggishly to sudden evil."

Hugo slowly withdrew his fist and calmly straightened the cuffs of his white coat, which were slightly disheveled from the punch.

His movements were unhurried, as if the punch he had just thrown was just a joke between friends.

“Even if we take the most serious recent betrayal incident, the scandal involving Vice President Lionel, the reason that incident was able to be resolved smoothly afterward and not cause too much loss to the Alliance was precisely because of the full support of the United Alliance Chairman and the other three Vice Chairmen. If any of their four high-ranking officials had fully supported Team Plasma like Lionel, the subsequent impact of the scandal would have been far more devastating and severe—but the United Alliance did not fall into such a predicament.”

The champion's face displayed a confident smile that was in no way inferior to that of Aldridge back in the day.

"The same principle applies to the lower levels," he continued.

"Whether it's one traitor or two, has the United States ever implemented tyranny or evil laws in its treatment of its employees and the public? If we believe we haven't, then we can confidently stand tall... Heh, the United States even organizes trips for the drivers' families. Do you really think that many people would choose to betray the United States and join this evil organization that spreads rumors and misleads the public under such treatment?"

Ignoring Guan Lianwu's reaction, Hugo strode off toward the stairs at the end of the corridor.

"We don't have that many enemies. Compared to the Plasma Group, the Alliance actually has more people and strength."

The champion's voice came from ahead.

"If you don't believe it, then take a look at our next investigation. There must still be clues left on that gray car that even the driver himself didn't notice, and the analysis center also needs to investigate the movements of all Alliance employees this morning—these are two huge projects, involving dozens of departments and hundreds or even thousands of people working with us. Nothing illustrates what 'unity of many' means better than that scene."

If immoral people can form a force when they come together, then honest people should do the same.

Chapter 387 Water and Fire Cannot Coexist

Just as Detective Hugo brought a new direction to the hostage rescue department's investigation, Alice's exploration in the Champion's Path Cave also made a breakthrough.

The Molten Ant Beast's injuries had been healed with medicine, and it was leading the way. However, following Alice was not the Axe Dragon she spent every day with, but the dark and ferocious Three-Headed Dragon.

These dragon-type Pokémon, which inhabit the dark abyss, rely entirely on their sense of smell to perceive the world before evolving into a two-headed Tyrannosaurus Rex. Long-term evolution has made their sense of smell far more acute than human vision, and even after regaining their sight after evolution, this talent has not diminished at all—the two additional pairs of nostrils have actually made their sense of smell even more refined.

At this moment, the three-headed dragon was using the faint traces of life remaining in the air to help track possible human activity. Suddenly, a deep growl came from its right head.

"Stop." Alice gestured softly to the Molten Ant Beast.

The molten ant immediately stopped, its slender snout pressed against the right rock wall, and spewed out a cluster of flames just enough to illuminate the area.

"Huh, what's this...?" The girl frowned slightly.

In the firelight, what appeared on the ground were neither footprints nor distress marks left by hostages, but a patch of damp moss—which stood out starkly against the dry cave environment.

The flames spewed by the ant-like creature flickered, and it waved its claws in the air, indicating that it had never taken this path before.

"Three-headed dragon, are you sure you can smell the scent of humans who have passed through here?"