Pokémon Detective Case Files.

Officer Jenny and Sera looked at her, completely bewildered.

Behind them, Cresselia floated lightly in the entrance hall in front of the Feathered Residence, below Hugo's magnificent silk painting.

It was this legendary Pokémon that, the moment it entered the detective agency and began to fully perceive, detected a nightmare aura in the storage room of this house that even the sensors couldn't detect.

Do we have to get this close to discover it?

The detective girl glanced back at the god of dreams, mentally ranting and raving.

Azure remembered that when this Cresselia came to see Hugo, it had been in a café just across the street from the Feather Residence.

She subconsciously felt that this legendary Pokémon had probably already checked the nearby offices with Hugo—who knew that the busy detective, like her, hadn't returned after arriving in Flying Cloud City. This was also one of the reasons she subconsciously overlooked the fact that the source of the anomaly was at the Feathered Residence.

Otherwise, how could she have made such a serious mistake!

“Um… Miss Azure.”

Finally, Officer Sera broke the deathly silence of the Feather Residence.

"What are these four strangely shaped purple metal plates...? These things, which were pressed under the yoga mat and the small Pokémon exercise dumbbells, don't seem to have anything to do with dreams at all, do they?"

“These are the pieces of evidence we found in Samuel’s case.” Azure looked at Sera’s superior. “Miss Officer Jenny should remember, right? When Hugo and I brought these things back from the open sea, the police station sent you to verify them.”

The woman at the pedestrian crossing was awkwardly grinning. As a detective, she hadn't forgotten what happened just a few months ago: "I was just going through the motions back then..."

"In fact, the fact that the police station sent me, a detective who was not a professional evidence collector and knew Hugo, to investigate the case at that time itself expressed an attitude that they did not want to handle the matter in a special way."

She then added—

"Back then, Team Aqua's dark web black market in Unova had just been discovered, right? The forensics department was incredibly busy. Because of that case, they had to examine hundreds of dangerous items, like the Galar Coral from the locked-room mystery, that could potentially be used as murder devices. Even though they had sent extra people from other cities, given the scale of that case, even if they brought in all the forensic experts in Unova, they would still be working day and night for over half a month. There simply weren't enough people to handle the unexpected finds from unofficial detectives—that's what my superiors told me. Besides, I figured that since even that guy in the white jacket couldn't figure it out, even if they gave it to the forensics department, they probably wouldn't get any results."

"The only thing that is particularly obvious is that 'no clue was found'."

Sera watched as Azure, taking advantage of Officer Jenny's explanation, moved a purple metal plate from the pile of clutter. Azure blew on one of the metal plates, kicking up a cloud of dust.

To be honest, with so much stuff in the junk pile, Azure, the former detective's assistant, really has to bear more than 90% of the responsibility.

Although the Feather Residence was spacious, the addition of another resident made the office feel cramped, and many items that were inconvenient to sell ended up piling up in the storage room—after all, that's what the storage room was for. The newly arrived Azure also needed to buy supplies for herself and her Pokémon, including the recently moved exercise equipment.

And so those purple trophies, resembling surfboards, were buried little by little in this dark little storage room—right in the very heart of the two detectives' daily activities.

And yet, for something so close to her, she spent an entire day and night searching for it, even dragging Officer Jenny and Miss Sera into the mess!

"Now that I look at them closely, these surfboards do look pretty strange..."

Azure crouched in front of the purple armor, her eyes scanning the scene before her intently, trying to figure out something to save face.

"It's not even a surfboard, you might as well say." Officer Jenny banged on another metal plate without any politeness. When she inspected the area on behalf of the Flying Cloud Police Station, she had already confirmed with trace testing strips that there were no traces of explosives, so she wasn't worried now. "This is such a heavy piece of iron. If you threw it into the sea, it would probably sink with a thud. Besides, what surfboard is this shape?"

Indeed. Although these four purple armors are oval-shaped like surfboards, their surfaces are not smooth. There are many gaps that look like metal seams, and a streamlined, slender ridge along the central ridge. To put it bluntly, they look a bit like an enlarged iron. The other side of the armor is flat, but it also has many seams. In short, it has a very mechanical feel.

And look at the distribution of those seams...

Sera squinted behind her glasses.

For some reason, those seams reminded her of the old-school transforming robot cartoons she watched on TV when she was a child. In the recently released movie "Mechanical Bangalore's Counterattack," the villain's mecha also had a similar spliced ​​structure. Normally, it looked like ordinary armor, but once activated, those gaps would move like joints.

Just then—

Let's get straight to the conclusion.

Azure seemed to have finished her research and looked up at the metal plate that had been wiped clean of dust.

"These purple metal plates—may be alive."

"Alive?" Officer Jenny's aimless tapping of the metal plate abruptly stopped.

"Of course it has to be alive—after all, only living beings can dream. But that's not all the reason I'm making this deduction."

The detective glanced at Cresselia floating in the distance, then said—

“These boards were seized by Hugo when he was tracking down the Navy’s smuggling ships. At the time, we thought they were some kind of supplies that the Navy had taken with them when they left the United States, but now that we think about it carefully, the true value of these purple armors is probably much more than that.”

She slowly stood up from the ground and crossed her arms.

"In that Team Aqua smuggling incident, Team Aqua brought an entire modified destroyer disguised as a giant cruise ship from the Hoenn region to Team Plasma—the wreckage of that ship is still underground in Giant's Cave. However, for illegal organizations like Team Plasma and Team Aqua, it's difficult to establish a normal business relationship based on mutual trust. In a situation where both sides could betray each other at any time, transaction models like advance payment or pay after use are simply impossible. Therefore, large-scale transactions like this often need to be conducted by both sides simultaneously."

“In other words,” Officer Jenny stroked her chin, seemingly following Azur Lane’s train of thought, “if Team Plasma wants to acquire Fleet Aqua’s ships, they must simultaneously pay Fleet Aqua something of equal value?”

“That’s right. When we were investigating the cargo that Fleet Aqua had placed inside Wailord’s mouth, we only found these four metal plates.”

Azure held up one finger.

"After eliminating all the impossible options, the last one left is the truth—although Hugo always said that the options in reality cannot be completely eliminated, at least in this case, we have no other more reasonable explanation."

She reached out and pointed to the four silent purple metal plates.

"These things are the payment Team Plasma paid to Team Aqua. Considering the technological capabilities of that evil organization and their ability to cause abnormal dream energy—they are most likely a kind of biological weapon, like Mewtwo developed by Team Rocket in Kanto. The reason they have been piled up in our storage room for so long without any signs of activity is because they have entered some kind of dormant state."

The detective's gaze lingered intently on Officer Jenny and Sera.

"Of course, if we want to verify this answer, it's actually very simple—just call the police station in Raven City. The leader of Team Aqua should be locked up in their detention center by now, right?"

Chapter 482 That Endless Distance

Officer Jenny certainly wouldn't call her boss in the middle of the night to request an interrogation of important incarcerated criminals at the Raven City Police Department just to verify a detective's offhand deduction.

Moreover, Cresselia has now pointed out the source of this anomaly—these metal plates in front of us are obviously of unknown origin and have intricate connections with the plasma cluster, so we cannot take them too seriously.

"The energy sensing device couldn't detect anything unusual, probably because of Hugo's peculiar constitution. The dream energy that would normally gather and accumulate was silently dissipated during Hugo's daily activities at the Feather Residence."

Meanwhile, Azure's reasoning continued—

"Looking back now, Hugo's Pokémon connection wasn't actually bad. Although we humans often find the various mishaps caused by the Pokémon around Hugo quite amusing, those Pokémon that made mistakes didn't seem to suffer any real harm from being near Hugo. Even when they made mistakes, it didn't seem like their will was being twisted or controlled in some way, but rather more like they were too relaxed and careless."

She paused.

"So, we might understand it this way—the reason why Hugo always lets Pokémon make mistakes around him is because he can unconsciously create an atmosphere that makes the Pokémon lower their guard."

"Well, although I think that the strange things he sometimes causes cannot be explained simply by this theory."

Officer Jenny, recalling the various incidents of being electrocuted by lightning-zebra leaks in the past, subconsciously dusted off the hem of her police uniform—

"However... let's assume that's the case for now. You mean, these things that are in a dormant state, because of Hugo's presence, haven't accumulated dream energy from the dreams they generate?"

“No.” Azure shook her head. “Those nightmare-like dream energies didn’t disappear into thin air; they were simply ‘unblocked’.”

"Unblock?" Officer Jenny tilted her head.

"Don't forget the anomalies we detected on the outskirts of Feiyun City, and the fact that Cresselia sensed this nightmare mutation from afar, far outside of Feiyun City. This shows that the dream energy that should have been accumulating in Yuxi Mansion has actually been spread to a much farther place."

Azure paused and flicked the ends of her chestnut hair, as if organizing a more precise metaphor.

"Imagine a sanitation worker sweeping up garbage. Hugo didn't sweep the dust and garbage into the dustpan or dump it into the trash can; instead, he raised his broom and swept all the bad things—outside the house."

He seems like a very irresponsible guy... As the officers listened to Azure's explanation, the image of the detective in the white coat, holding cleaning tools, grinning maliciously as he polluted the environment came to mind.

"therefore--"

The detective stretched out her hand and pointed to her feet.

The absence of dream energy accumulation in the Feather Residence does not mean that these four 'surfboards' are not having nightmares.

"But what kind of nightmares could these 'surfboards' have? Would they sink into the deep sea because of insufficient buoyancy?"

Officer Jenny raised an eyebrow, her tone tinged with amusement as she asked in return.

“Whatever kind of nightmare it may be,” Azure reminded her earnestly, “these metal plates have ultimately attracted Cresselia’s attention. If left unchecked, trouble will inevitably ensue sooner or later.”

"You mean—to wake them up?" The officer raised an eyebrow. "After all, the simplest way to destroy a nightmare is to just wake the person up."

“No, no, it’s not appropriate to wake them up now. If they cause trouble, the Alliance won’t have enough suppression power.” Azure shook her head, recalling the incident with the Ayaka Mushroom. “Perhaps, we can borrow Dr. Makomo’s dream connection device again.”

"Entering the 'surfboard' dream?" Officer Jenny pondered for a moment. "That doctor should still be on his way here."

"Sir—so these armors aren't surfboards."

Sera chimed in. Perhaps because of the science fiction movies she'd seen, she felt a pang of sympathy for these potentially deformable metal plates and couldn't help but correct their name.

“We’ve already determined that they are alive. And, sir, didn’t we also get news from Kagome Town yesterday? They said that Interpol encountered a strange mechanical Pokémon in Akroma.”

“I’ve heard about that from my relatives too.” Officer Jenny nodded, but then added, “However, they didn’t keep any video or video footage, so it’s hard to say if it’s true or not. Besides, the Pokémon they found there were red, right? They’re not like these purple metal lumps.”

Officer Jenny's gaze returned to Azure.

"Ultimately, these Pokémon are probably similar in nature to artificial Pokémon like Porygon and Mewtwo. Since Team Plasma can mass-produce at least four at a time, they might not be as powerful individually as the latter. By the way—"

The police officer clapped his hands, having come up with a good idea.

"If we isolate one of them for a dream connection, then even if the other party temporarily wakes up, the harm should be kept within a manageable range."

This is indeed a feasible solution. However, seeing Officer Jenny's smug look, Azure fell silent.

She recalled Mewtwo, whom they had just mentioned—the Rockets probably had a similar confidence in "being able to control the risks" when they created it. However… what happened next is well-known.

She swallowed her worries and turned her gaze to Cresselia, wanting to ask the goddess of dreams for her opinion on the plan.

however--

She was stunned.

At this very moment, the legendary Pokémon with its iridescent tail feathers was intently drifting toward another corner of the Feathered Residence, its iridescent tail feathers leaving a faint trail of light in the air, completely ignoring the topic they had just been discussing.

"Is it interested in other things in this house?" Officer Jenny's voice immediately became alert. "Could it be... that your firm is really hiding some serious stolen goods?"

"There is no such thing."

Ignoring Azure's protests, the two officers instantly went on alert, no longer caring about the four troublesome "surfboards" on the ground, and their eyes were fixed on the only resident present in the Feather Residence at this moment.

However, not only Officer Jenny and Sera, but even Azure herself, who lived here, was completely baffled.

It might not be her and Hugo, it could be the landlord Douzi or the real estate tycoon who sold the house... but neither of them left anything in Yuxi Mansion.

"Wait, it seems to be flying upstairs." As the girl pondered, Officer Jenny suddenly nudged the detective's arm, her voice filled with confusion, "Azure, isn't that where you live now?"

“Then let’s go and see,” Azure suggested frankly.

She reiterated her point—aside from Hugo's walking stick, there was nothing dangerous in the Feathered Abode. This was especially true of her usual sleeping quarters!

Without any reason to object, everyone had no choice but to leave the heavy purple armor behind and follow the God of Dreams through the corridor and up the stairs.

"No—look in the direction Cresselia is looking."

The detective was the first to react.

She noticed that when the legendary Pokémon passed by her bedroom door, it didn't pay any attention to the corner where she usually kept her belongings; its gaze remained fixed on a more distant direction.

It floated lightly past the bedroom door, then drifted nonchalantly past the bookshelf at the end of the hallway, and then headed straight for—

“The balcony,” Azure whispered to Officer Jenny and Sera, “the second-floor balcony of Feather Residence.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. At least it wasn't something wrong with her and Hugo. But then, an even greater sense of confusion washed over her.

"Has something happened outside?"

Officer Jenny followed Cresselia's gaze to the dark night sky outside the balcony. A midnight breeze blew in through the open window, carrying a damp chill.

Before nightfall that day, the three of them had been running around the streets and alleys of Feiyun City all day, and had almost covered every corner where there might be abnormal fluctuations. Although the dream sensing device often issued warnings because it detected inexplicable energy, they did not notice anything strange nearby.

However, Cresselia would never move without a reason.

And sure enough, the Pokémon flew towards the balcony of the Feathered Residence.

Immediately afterward, amidst the frequent exchanges of glances among the three members of Azure, the Crescent Moon Pokémon used "Psychic" to pry open the glass door of the balcony and floated out without hesitation.

Azure and the others had no choice but to bite the bullet and follow.

Outside the balcony, the night view of Feiyun City was as magnificent as ever. Although it was past midnight, the brightly lit high-rise buildings were shoulder to shoulder, and the lit windows were like the sleepless eyes of the city—it was clear that the city center was full of unfortunate people working overtime like detectives and police officers.

In the distance, neon signs forming Poké Balls and various Pokémon images swayed in the night breeze. The streets nearby were much quieter than during the day; occasionally, a taxi would pass by, its headlights slowly sweeping across the branches of the roadside trees and the low guardrails, as well as the nocturnal scavengers and pickpocket cats, before quickly disappearing around the corner. Inside a ramen shop that was still open, through the steam-blurred glass, several customers could be seen engrossed in eating their noodles. Behind the counter, a staff member, working alongside a fiery red roly-poly toy, wiped bowls. A television hung silently in the corner, playing the late-night news…

However, the god of dreams seemed unmoved by this night scene on earth—or perhaps it had long since become accustomed to it.

Cresselia glanced around once before slowly rising into the sky, the iridescent light on its tail feathers leaving a faint, fleeting trail in the night sky, as if trying to catch up with the real crescent moon.

What is it doing?

Could it be that they have detected some new nightmare anomaly?

Speaking of which—since you, Cresselia, are the God of Dreams, weren't you able to explain to Hugo in your dreams why you came to the Unova? Why are you suddenly so unfathomable when it comes to communicating?

Azure muttered to herself, her gaze following the slowly rising rainbow-colored streak of light. Officer Jenny and Sera also looked up, the three of them standing on the balcony, exchanging glances for a long while.

"what."

Cresselia's figure grew smaller and smaller in the air, and just as it was about to become a rainbow-colored dot of light, and the detectives and officers were about to lose sight of it, Azure suddenly shuddered and stopped looking around.