Pokémon Detective Case Files.

Chapter 082 Uninvited Guest

Hugo turned around and glanced at the three little ones who looked sad.

Chimchar clutched the purple evolution stone tightly, while Piplup and Turtwig gazed at each other sadly. The little creatures huddled together like conjoined twins, as if losing any one of them would cause all three to collapse from the overwhelming psychological blow.

But the detective in the white coat showed no embarrassment or fluster; instead, he spoke in an almost cold tone—

"What a surprising and dazzling entrance. But putting that aside, Azure, guess what I saw when I looked out the window just now?"

"Hey, Hugo," the assistant couldn't help but interrupt Hugo, "This isn't the time to talk about these things, is it? Go and comfort these three children."

Hugo ignored Azure's advice and continued speaking to himself—

"Eevee asked you for a gift before, right? That behavior isn't unusual, but I still find it strange. That Eevee has been with you every day for a long time, and it's pretty carefree outside of battles and play, not even bothering to think about what form it should evolve into. When it sees its companion receiving a gift, it would at most wag its tail to give you a hint. Isn't it a bit too eager to ask for it so aggressively like before? That doesn't fit Eevee's usual laid-back personality."

Eevee? Azure wondered why Hugo was bothered by such trivial matters at this moment. Didn't he see that the three little guys, ignored by their trainer, were almost crying with sadness?

"I'll let you explain these things to me later. Right now, the most important thing is to comfort them..."

“No.” Hugo coldly interrupted his assistant’s advice. “I’m not a qualified trainer, but I’m a detective. The most important thing a detective should do is to distinguish right from wrong.”

"This isn't the time for deduction games!" Azure said, sounding a little anxious, and her voice rose slightly.

“No, now is the time to put an end to this game,” Hugo replied calmly.

The assistant's raised voice carried deep into the Feather Residence. As if in response to the girl's voice, a soft rustling sound came from the room where the Grass Turtle and the others had come out.

An astonishing scene unfolded—

Under the watchful eyes of the detective and Azure, another group of Sinnoh starter Pokémon emerged from the room.

Unlike the little creatures who looked forlorn and huddled together, the elves who appeared at this moment initially had a bewildered expression. Then, upon seeing the elf that looked exactly like them, they were immediately terrified and scrambled to run behind the detective.

"The drawback of psychological profiling is its inability to explain unknown variables in the environment. Therefore, even renowned criminal profilers often stumble when handling real cases, arriving at conjectures that are completely inconsistent with the actual situation. I mentioned this point when I introduced psychological profiling to you, didn't I?"

Surrounded by the three elves, Hugo seemed to feel a bit safer. His previously tense and serious demeanor dissipated somewhat. He simply climbed onto his desk, crossed his legs, and began to deliver his verdict—

"At this point, the whole story is crystal clear. The culprit behind all the strange occurrences in the Feather Residence is none other than Ditto, the Pokémon that stands there, playing three roles and performing a vivid and lifelike transformation!"

"A Ditto?!"

Amidst Azure's exclamation, the three starter Pokémon, which had been standing motionless like stone sculptures at the doorway, instantly transformed into some kind of soft substance as if they had lost their souls. They then began to melt and recombine until they became a whole pillow-sized purplish-red clay!

"The reason I kept facing the window was very simple. It wasn't some complicated feeling of melancholy. I just felt that the gate of the Feathered Residence seemed to have been tampered with by someone after Officer Jenny and the others left. The last person who used the double iron gate was walking outwards, but now the iron gate is slightly bulging inwards—this is obviously caused by some kind of small Pokémon squeezing through the gap in the iron gate."

Ditto shook like a lump of clay, its beady eyes fixed on the detective who was talking at length.

"Once I realized that there might be uninvited guests in the Feathered Residence, I began to pay attention to the various situations inside the house," the detective continued.

"Then, I noticed Eevee's unusual behavior. I had just given Chimchar an Evolution Stone, and afterwards, I clearly saw Eevee and Chimchar go back to the rest room to play together. But in the blink of an eye, I suddenly saw Eevee aggressively demanding a gift from you, Azure!"

"You guessed Ditto's true form back then?" The assistant asked the detective, speechless.

"No, this is the Unova region, so my first suspect is the Phantom Pokémon Zoroark. This Pokémon can create phantoms and transform itself into the appearance of other Pokémon. Its evolved form, Zoroark, is even said to be able to create a phantom space the size of a football field, allowing humans to live in it."

“So you deliberately make yourself appear vulnerable and sentimental. If the other party is a hostile Zoroark or Zoroark, they will definitely focus on this aspect when they want to deal with you. Being prepared will allow you to deal with it easily.” The assistant immediately followed Hugo’s train of thought.

"After all, it's a Pokémon that sneaked into our house, so we can't afford to be careless," Hugo nodded.

"However, after seeing the starter Pokémon appear as conjoined twins, I immediately realized that this was not Zoroar, but a mischievous Ditto. Only this kind of Pokémon needs to be close together to play multiple roles. Now, seeing your reaction, Azure, I understand even more clearly that this Ditto is not hostile. It just wants to test my true nature in this way."

The Ditto, having been thoroughly analyzed, shrank even further, its purple clay body wriggling shyly. It seemed the detective had really caught it red-handed.

"As for why Ditto appeared at Feather Residence, Azure, you should know better than I do, right?" Hugo looked at his detective assistant with a playful smile, clearly having already figured out the reason.

The chestnut-haired girl sighed deeply, walked up to Ditto, and picked up the lump of purple clay.

"This is a partner I met in the Kanto region, a Ditto that loves to play pranks. I don't know how it ended up in Unova, but Hugo, I'm sorry to have caused you trouble."

Then Azure fiercely held Ditto up to its face: "Tell me! Where did you hide Eevee?"

Before Ditto could answer, Chimchar and Piplup behind Hugo pointed towards the room, and Turtwig tilted its head, making a sleeping face with its eyes closed.

"Looks like Ibrahimovic is sleeping soundly in his room," Hugo shrugged. It was getting late.

Chapter 083, Second Half of the Night: The Detective's Exemplary Fairy Tale Research

Even after the Ditto incident ended, the still-shaken detective and his assistant were wide awake.

“I checked with my hometown and found that Ditto had actually gone missing a month ago. However, it usually transforms into other Pokémon to play around, so Professor Oak, who manages the backyard, thought that Ditto would reappear on its own after a while and did not investigate further... I never expected that it would actually cross the ocean and smuggle itself to Unova.”

"Don't underestimate the power of Pokémon," Hugo kindly reminded him. "Looks like you're not planning to send Ditto back?"

"Yes," Azure sighed.

"Regardless of whether my profile of you, Hugo, is accurate or not, I did notice some previously unseen psychological details during this observation. My decision to travel alone with Eevee was essentially abandoning my companions who remained in Kanto. From this perspective, I'm not actually criticizing your stance, Hugo..."

"Don't forget the promise to give the gift," the detective suddenly said. "Even though Ditto has turned into Eevee, it's still a promise between you and Ditto, so be sure to keep it."

Azure didn't know why Hugo insisted on this point, but she nodded nonetheless.

Then, for some reason, Hugo began to tell a story: "Perhaps due to some misfortune in my family, I was forced to read many myths and legends from the Sinnoh region. Among them, an ancient mythological book recorded a fable that resembled a fairy tale, the content of which was about giving and bestowing..."

Unlike his usual style of readily sharing obscure facts, the detective closed his eyes, recalled for a moment, and then slowly said—

"Long, long ago, when Sinnoh was born, Pokémon and humans exchanged gifts and supported each other."

"Later, one Pokémon told the other Pokémon that in order to help humans at any time, Pokémon should appear in front of humans more often."

"From then on, whenever humans enter the tall grass, Pokémon will jump out."

The detective stopped speaking with a meaningful look.

The fable, though only three lines long, explains why wild Pokémon appear in the grass.

Azure blinked, feeling a sense of healing.

She began to understand the detective's purpose in telling the story and couldn't help but exclaim, "What a heartwarming story."

At this point, Hugo had entered his usual mode; simply finishing the story wasn't enough, so he began to ramble on about it—

"Regarding this fable, the mainstream academic view is that the Pokémon that admonished the Pokémon was Mesprit. It is a legendary Pokémon, one of the protagonists of the legend of Lake Sinnoh. It is said to have taught people the pain of sorrow and the preciousness of joy, and is also known as the god of emotions. According to the myth, it sleeps at the bottom of a lake, but will appear and move through astral projection."

"Mesprit? Is it a legendary Pokémon? Maybe it really exists."

“It’s real,” Hugo suddenly said. “Two years ago, Team Sinnoh was rampant. They drained Lake Sinnoh with a pump and found this Pokémon in a cave at the bottom of the lake. According to a photo taken by a researcher who was present, it was a small, gray, fairy-like Pokémon with two tails, a purplish-red head, four mushroom-shaped drooping ears on its head, and a ruby ​​in the middle.”

The thought of the villains draining the lake with pumps left Bilan speechless, while Hugo continued explaining the story—

"Contrary to the mainstream view, in my opinion, the kind-hearted Pokémon in the story is not Mesprit."

"Why do I say that? If Mesprit is a kind and intelligent Pokémon as described in mythology, it could very well be the protagonist of this heartwarming story."

“No.” Hugo slowly shook his head. “I admit that the legendary Mesprit is a very powerful and intelligent Mythical Pokémon, but precisely because of this, it is impossible for it to make the statements in the story.”

"how you said that?"

"Common sense dictates that the more powerful a Pokémon is, the less it trusts humans. It prefers to roam freely rather than form a bond with its trainer. So how could a Pokémon as powerful as a Mythical Pokémon possibly suggest that its companions take the initiative to contact humans?"

Azure wanted to refute, but after calming down and thinking about it, she realized that she had never seen a wild Pokémon that was both powerful and willing to be close to humans.

Generally speaking, it's already considered very friendly that those powerful elves who claim territory and rule over their own land don't actively attack humans.

Speaking of which, Crimson did mention encountering a Mew that liked to play with people, but that was ultimately just an isolated case…

Seeing that the assistant did not object, the detective continued—

"Furthermore, if that Pokémon's goal was truly to make humans and Pokémon love each other, this approach is hardly wise. After the advice in the story took effect, ordinary grasslands became dangerous places, making them even more dangerous for humans. Objectively, this exacerbated the conflict between Pokémon and humans, completely contradicting the intended purpose. This is hardly something a Lake God with such high wisdom would do."

Still seemingly unsatisfied, Hugo added another point—

"Furthermore, the authority established by a single Pokémon is ultimately limited. So far, we have only discovered the Mesprit at the bottom of Lake Heartbeat. Can the views conveyed by just one Pokémon really affect the ecology of the entire world? You know, not only in the Sinnoh region, but all the Pokémon in the grass on the entire planet will pounce on humans."

"So, what is your own conclusion? What kind of spirit would actively encourage its companions to get close to humans? Why did it choose such a clumsy and reckless method? And how did it spread its influence throughout the world?"

As Hugo explained his analysis in detail, Azure also became interested in the conclusions of this research.

"The answer is not complicated, but it cannot be confirmed. After all, this is just an ancient legend, and it is hard to say whether its content is an actual event or a work of literature."

"Could it be another mythical Pokémon from the Sinnoh legends? Or perhaps a legendary Pokémon that travels to different continents?" the girl wondered wildly.

“No.” Hugo shook his index finger. “I think the protagonist of the story is an ordinary Pokémon, a regular Chansey.”

"Chicken Egg?"

Upon hearing the familiar name of a Kanto Pokémon, the girl was taken aback, as this was a Pokémon that had absolutely no connection to mythology or legend.

"Isn't this a logical conclusion? Judging from the Pokémon's personality, it's entirely possible that the kind and single-minded Chansey would do such a thing. Even today, they still occasionally appear in the tall grass to heal passing humans and Pokémon."

"So, Chansey is distributed all over the world, which certainly makes it easier to spread similar ideas around the world." Azure thought for a moment, then nodded and shook her head. "However, there don't seem to be any wild Chansey in the Unova region, right? How do you explain that?"

"There's a Pokémon in the Unova region called Almostdoll, which probably inherited Chansey's concept."

The detective, as if he had already prepared the answer, effortlessly filled in the gaps in his theory.

"I'd like to ask a question," the assistant raised her hand and asked, "Did Hugo's theory ultimately gain widespread acceptance among researchers?"

"Although an article was published, it does have some supporters. However, the Sinnoh Pokémon research community has been completely taken over by mythologists. The emergence of one legendary Pokémon after another has provided them with incredibly solid theoretical support, so this little piece of research denying miracles was conveniently thrown into the trash can." The detective yawned and said dismissively.

It's getting late; it seems it's time for the detective to deliver his closing statement.

Chapter 084 The History of Civilization Behind Fairy Tales

"In short, as this story illustrates, in the history of Pokémon-human interaction, humans have always been the ones receiving gifts. Regarding the interpretation of the texts, experts believe that the root of this problem lies in the primary driving force of some divine being; while I believe that it is a spontaneous behavior born from the good intentions of a certain type of Pokémon."

It was clear that Hugo thoroughly enjoyed explaining his reasoning and discoveries. The detective, leaning back in a comfortable armchair, had his hands clasped in a pyramid shape, gesturing to his assistant—

"The truth of history is often like an iceberg in the polar regions, where the visible part above the water is far smaller than the part below. This fairy tale actually points to a startling fact that could overturn the history of human civilization—of course, since I'm saying it here, it means it's already a well-known discovery in academia. Azure, have you heard of that 'earthquake in the study of ancient civilizations' a few years ago?"

The assistant shook her head repeatedly, as this was not within her area of ​​expertise. However, she was quite interested in listening to Hugo talk about history and continued listening.

"Alright, let's re-examine this great discovery in the history of civilization!"

The detective happily stood up from the rocking chair.

"The problem begins with the fairy tale we just analyzed. Leaving aside my disagreement with the experts on the issue of the protagonist, there is also a huge question hidden elsewhere in the story."

"Could it be the story of 'humans and Pokémon exchanging gifts'? What truth is hidden behind this ancient custom?"

Azure used the process of elimination to quickly pinpoint the direction of the problem, but she still couldn't see what kind of surprising reality was hidden behind it.

“Exactly.” The detective snapped his fingers happily, the crisp sound particularly loud in the night.

"Regardless of the interpretation, we all assume one premise: the first line of the fairy tale, 'Long, long ago, when Sinnoh was born, Pokémon and humans exchanged gifts and supported each other'—we unanimously believe that this is not a fabricated statement to whitewash the truth, but a true historical fact."

Azure was somewhat surprised, and she couldn't help but recall her childhood experiences in Pallet Town.

Back then, she often played with Red and Green at Professor Oak's lab. Sometimes, when the professor was in a good mood, he would impart some Pokémon knowledge that trainers didn't need.

The girl remembered that Professor Oak had also been involved in the research of ancient Pokémon history. The professor believed that humans and Pokémon had lived in harmony in ancient times, but he struggled to collect any relevant evidence.

Back then, Red, still a child, arrogantly comforted Professor Oak, saying that he would catch a Pokémon that had lived for hundreds of years and have it tell Professor Oak its history. But Professor Oak frowned and said that hundreds of years wasn't enough; it would have to be at least hundreds of thousands of years, which terrified Azure and the others.

However, at this very moment, the detective before Azure, equally oblivious to the immensity of the situation, declared—

"Countless pieces of evidence suggest that this utopian history is real. In the early stages of human civilization, humans, who were unable to use skills and were at a disadvantage in the struggle for survival, began to coexist peacefully with Pokémon with great goodwill. The fact that humans and Pokémon eventually moved towards cooperation rather than confrontation is, to some extent, thanks to the existence of this history."

Without a doubt, there are absolutely no Pokémon in Feathered Residence that have lived for more than 10,000 years.

"But how did you prove it?"

Azure spread her hands and asked questioningly, but her eyes were full of curiosity, and her sleepiness had been completely swept away.

"The fairy tale we mentioned above is a relatively weak piece of evidence. The fact that healing Pokémon like Chansey and Almostbear actively approach humans is one type of example that can support the argument."

“These aren’t enough to definitively conclude the case.” The girl shook her head vigorously, knowing that the detective must still be holding back some crucial evidence.

Azure stared intently into Hugo's gray eyes, waiting for the detective to unravel the mystery.

“We do need a definitive piece of evidence. But this evidence isn’t some newly unearthed mythological relic, nor is it some divine ruin that suddenly appeared at the ends of the earth, nor is it some Pokémon professor who traveled back in time with a Pokémon that can travel through time…” Hugo shook his finger, ruling out one possibility after another.

"That's a more commonplace reality that everyone would notice. The only strange thing is that this phenomenon is so common that we forget to ask why."

Like an apple falling from the sky.

Azure pondered deeply, even covering her ears, unwilling to let the detective reveal the truth before she figured out the answer.

Time ticked by, and just like on the train back from Qibao City, Azure fell into deep contemplation.

However, the mystery she faces this time is far more difficult to guess than the true purpose of the King of Oranges.

That was a problem that had puzzled countless historians and elf scholars for many years, and many even believed that the truth of this history had been lost to time.