Pokémon Detective Case Files.

The policewoman nodded: "There were no claw-like changes at the corners of the eyes, and the eyelashes were charred inside and out, which is a very obvious case of post-mortem cremation."

Before being burned to death, a person will close their eyes tightly, which will cause claw-like folds to appear at the outer corner of the eye. Similarly, the charring of the tips and roots of the eyelashes will also show obvious differences. There were no abnormalities at the outer corners of the eyes of this corpse, and the eyelashes were charred evenly from the outside to the inside, indicating that the eyes of the deceased were in a relaxed state when they were burned. Therefore, the person must have been murdered and then burned.

How was the body discovered?

"Two hours ago, the police station received a report from a public phone booth, saying that they had witnessed an overly intense Pokémon battle. A thug and a college student were battling with Leopard and Piglet respectively. The college student seemed a bit agitated and instructed Piglet to attack the trainer directly. The person who reported the incident felt something was wrong, moved away from the scene, and then called the police."

Officer Jenny brushed her short, dark green hair under her police cap, recalling the moment she received the call.

"The person who reported the crime did not give their name or identity. Although their tone was urgent, they were not very panicked, so they were probably not involved in the murder case," she added.

“Two hours…that’s enough time for the killer to escape to any corner of Feiyun City…” The detective pondered for a moment, then asked, “Apart from the leopard that was taken away, is everything at the scene still as it was?”

"Yes. However, no personal belongings were left at the scene, so the identity of the deceased cannot be confirmed at the moment. Moreover, the forensic doctor has not yet arrived at the scene, so the cause of death cannot be determined. The current direction of the search is to temporarily trust the emergency call and conduct a city-wide manhunt for the college student trainer who was carrying the fried pork. We must not let him escape to another place."

The detective remained noncommittal, cautiously crouching down in front of the corpse. The charred remains before him were less like a corpse and more like a human-shaped lump of charcoal. Not only were fingerprints and palm prints unrecognizable, but even the clothes were burned beyond recognition.

"Haven't the police's on-site investigation team arrived yet?"

"Still on our way here. The police station didn't expect a murder to happen... Hey, Hugo!"

Officer Jenny suddenly realized that Hugo, who was talking to her, had disappeared.

Looking down, I saw the detective bracing himself against the ground with his gloved hands, actually lying down in front of the corpse.

With his face almost pressed against the corpse, the detective snorted deeply.

Before Officer Jenny could reprimand him further, Hugo had already gotten up again, dusted off the dust on his trousers, and a look of pleasure, like that of someone who had discovered prey, appeared on his face.

Seeing the detective seemingly savoring the smell of the corpse, the policewoman sighed, "Now I know why your white suit is always so shabby."

"This isn't the time to worry about what you're wearing. Listen, this isn't some accidental mistake during a battle—"

Hugo stared into the eyes of the senior police officer in front of him.

"It was a murder."

.

"This is the third trash can we've seen along the way. Are you going to empty it out and check it again? What exactly is this thing that the killer insisted on throwing away?"

Officer Jenny helplessly crossed her arms and watched the detective's performance. Behind her, two trash cans on the roadside had already fallen victim to the detective's cruelty.

Hugo had just taken off his gloves and was touching his cleanly shaved chin as he carefully examined the metal trash can in front of him.

Following the direction of the sewer outlet, the trash cans along this road are located at the junction of wasteland and residential area. The killer couldn't have fled to the inaccessible outskirts of the city, if the deduction is correct…

"Officer Jenny," the detective called out to the policewoman, pointing to the end of the alley. "What do you think of this bucket?"

"What do you mean, how?" Officer Jenny was completely confused. She began to regret leaving the scene with the detective. She searched the streets for trash cans. Were they tattered bags that fed on garbage?

"First, it's broad daylight, and the trash can should be in use, yet the lid is tightly shut; second, although this area is remote, there are regular cleaning services, but there's some scattered wet garbage next to this trash can, with undried water stains on it. These issues weren't present in the first two trash cans we checked..."

"This trash can has been rummaged through!" Officer Jenny realized.

“Smart. Remember to test the fingerprints on the handle of the bucket lid later,” the detective instructed. “But the murderer is on the run now, so allow me to be a little rough.”

He put his new gloves back on, handed the round lid that was tightly covering the top of the trash can to Officer Jenny beside him, and then grabbed the side handle of the trash can without any hesitation and flipped it over completely!

Various kinds of household garbage were scattered all over the ground, emitting a stench that made people turn pale.

"……what!"

This was the third time she had witnessed this scene, but Officer Jenny still instinctively turned her head away from the stench. However, when her peripheral vision caught sight of an object rolling out with the dumping garbage, she choked on her words and exclaimed in shock.

Avoiding the surrounding trash, the detective carefully picked up the object—

A red and white Pokémon Poké Ball, just like the one in Cynthia's suitcase at the coffee shop.

"It's Fried Pig! The Pokémon that killed the victim. It seems that college student deliberately discarded it to destroy evidence!"

Officer Jenny, with her sharp eyes, immediately recognized the Pokémon inside the ball and shared her guess with Hugo.

"The Fried Pig is currently unconscious, likely due to exhaustion after the battle... The case is basically clear: the Fried Pig lost control during the battle, killed the victim, and then burned the body. The college student, out of fear, abandoned his Pokémon while on the run, especially since it had killed someone."

"Completely wrong!"

Hugo put the Poké Ball into the evidence bag and tossed it to Officer Jenny without ceremony, interrupting her flawed reasoning.

"The one who killed the man wasn't Fried Pig, and the one who burned the body wasn't Fried Pig either."

The detective bent down again and picked up something that had fallen from the trash can along with the Poké Ball—a rectangular water bottle.

Unscrew the cap, Hugo sniffed the opening, and revealed an expression of certainty.

"It wasn't a Pokémon move that burned the corpse—"

With the bottle opening facing down, a few drops of yellow, transparent, viscous liquid slowly dripped down.

"It's actually burning gasoline."

Chapter 007 The Misconceptions on the Road to the Truth

Officer Jenny used a walkie-talkie to contact her subordinates, informing them to come here to take over the follow-up investigation of the trash cans.

At the same time, the detective began to explain his reasoning.

"You have two misconceptions about this case."

Hugo seemed to be in a good mood, tossing and catching the empty gasoline bottle, which was important evidence in his hand, while chatting with the policewoman... Such dangerous behavior made Officer Jenny's eyelids twitch.

"First of all, the deceased at the sewer outlet was undoubtedly murdered. The fact that the perpetrator had prepared gasoline for incineration beforehand shows that the perpetrator had anticipated the victim's death. As for the gasoline, there was actually a faint smell of gasoline on the body at the scene. Combustion caused by Pokémon moves usually does not have a odor, so the only explanation for this is that the trainer brought the gasoline as fuel himself."

Officer Jenny then recalled the scene of Hugo lying on the ground face to face with the dead body, which was to check for the strange smell on the charred corpse.

"But why do you think the deceased didn't die in a Pokémon battle? The trainer could have died in a battle accident, and the opponent could have bought gasoline to cover up the crime. Other moves by the Pokémon, such as 'Push,' 'Slam,' 'Pursuit,' or 'Double Headbutt,' which are more powerful, could also have been the cause of death for the thug."

"This involves a crucial question, which is also the second cognitive bias you've fallen into—why did the murderer burn the body?"

“At first, we thought it was an accident during the battle that caused the Fried Pig to go berserk…” Officer Jenny recalled, “but this theory has been overturned by new evidence. The burning of the body was actually the work of the trainer who ran away… Could it be that he prepared gasoline to erase the traces he left behind and buy himself more time to escape?”

“This explanation is contradictory,” Hugo said. “If the murderer wanted to hide himself by erasing information from the victim, he wouldn’t have burned the body, because that would have drawn the police’s attention directly to people who own Fire-type Pokémon. That would have been very unwise for a Pokémon trainer.”

The detective pointed in the direction of the crime scene: "The body was burned at the entrance of the sewer. If the murderer really wanted to disrupt the investigation, he could have simply thrown this body, which died from injuries sustained in a Pokémon battle, into the dark sewer. That way, when the body was discovered and retrieved, the police would be faced with a body whose time of death was unknown, and whose cause of death was an attack that any Pokémon could use. In this situation, it would be even more difficult to identify the murderer."

"We are faced with this contradiction—why would the murderer both burn the body to hide himself and simultaneously expose himself by holding a Fire-type Pokémon?" Hugo asked, holding up a gasoline bottle.

"Could this be an oversight by the culprit? He might simply have thought that burning the body would be advantageous to him, without considering these more complex reasons?" Officer Jenny asked casually.

“A good guess. There’s folly and accident in every crime.” The detective praised, then shook his head. “But this kind of folly is unlikely to occur during the preparation stage of a crime.”

Hugo finally put away the gasoline bottle, spread his hands, and began to explain like a criminology lecturer at a police academy:

"In the vast majority of murders, the perpetrator's ultimate goal is only two things—to commit the crime, and to escape punishment. The former is a breakdown of reason; the murderer has lost something that sustains their humanity and, driven by murderous intent, commits a heinous crime. The latter is a return to reason; the murderer hopes to escape punishment and once again don the cloak of civilization to return to daily life."

“If a murderer begins planning to escape punishment while conceiving how to commit the crime, it indicates that he is planning the murder in a relatively rational state. Therefore, in cases of premeditated murder, at least in the preparation stage of the crime, all the actions of the criminal have specific purposes and reasons.”

"So his real purpose?" Officer Jenny awaited the detective's answer.

"Reconstruct the crime scene! The killer completely disrupted all the evidence left at the crime scene in order to mislead the police investigation."

The detective's tone was absolutely certain.

"Think back to the emergency calls you received. Anonymous calls, coincidental witnessing, being able to accurately identify the Pokémon and their identities while watching remotely, calling the police using a public emergency phone that's almost extinct in this era instead of a cell phone... With all these strange factors combined, do you really think this was a simple emergency call?"

Officer Jenny exclaimed in surprise, "You mean, that call to the police was actually made by the murderer himself?"

“That’s obvious,” the detective nodded.

“A well-meaning passerby who had no connection to the case would never have dialed the police in that way. At the scene of the crime, the only person who had the ability to make that call was the murderer.”

Ignoring Officer Jenny's surprised expression, Hugo continued to offer his insights—

“Your previous understanding of the case was entirely based on the lies of the real culprit. Therefore, the identity of the deceased, the Pokémon he owned, and the situation at the scene should all be overturned and you should start reasoning again based on irrefutable evidence.”

“Speaking of irrefutable evidence, we’ve found an unidentified charred corpse, signs of a fight at the scene, an empty gasoline bottle, a Poké Ball containing an unconscious Fried Pig…” The policewoman pondered deeply, “Oh, right, and the Leopard that was taken to the hospital!”

"Don't forget the 911 call made by the murderer himself. Truth can be found within lies too," Hugo reminded him.

“Hmm…” Officer Jenny took out her notebook from her police uniform pocket and began to draw diagrams that looked like gibberish.

The policewoman tapped a dark stick figure with her pen and hesitated before saying—

"Judging from the condition of the body, the murderer prepared gasoline in advance and burned the body after the victim died. But this was not to buy time for his own escape, but to disguise the scene as an accidental fight... By the way, Hugo, do you think the murderer might have had a second purpose, such as to hide the victim's true identity? I had already explained the identities of both parties in the emergency call and assumed the victim was a thug, so I hadn't thought about it in that direction yet."

"Very good, you've completely overcome your misconceptions. Having achieved this, Officer Hugo is already competent for the position in the Criminal Investigation Department," Hugo praised sincerely.

"It's such a pity that you're not the police chief, otherwise I would have been transferred to the criminal investigation department, where overtime is the most demanding."

Officer Jenny dismissed the detective's praise and circled a large circle next to the stick figure's label, "The deceased's identity."

"And since you already know everything, stop keeping me in suspense and answer me! I didn't invite you here as a detective to give me a lecture."

Hugo scratched his black hair somewhat awkwardly: "My reasoning is still a step behind. Although I can go on and on about detective jargon like methods, motives, and tricks, it won't help much in arresting the criminal. Explaining it now would just be a waste of time. If Miss Officer Jenny could summarize some of the circumstances at the scene, it might give me some inspiration."

Officer Jenny gave the detective, who hadn't done anything useful, a disdainful look before continuing to organize the intelligence.

"Then the second clue is the signs of a battle at the scene. Besides the charred areas of the body, there are still several burn marks from flames. We can assume that this was caused by Fried Pig. The claw marks that also appeared must have been caused by Cool Leopard, because we examined Cool Leopard's claws before it was taken away, and there was dirt from the ground inside. Its skin also had flame marks..."

"The on-site inspection has been very thorough; the two elves have undoubtedly fought each other." Hugo nodded.

“The empty gasoline bottle. You’ve already mentioned that. Its existence shows that the murderer had planned to kill and burn the body, so we won’t discuss it again… Then the fourth item is the fried pig in the trash can. Why would the murderer throw the unconscious pig into the trash can? Why would the murderer abandon his accomplice when he was the one with murderous intent?”

With only the fourth clue, Officer Jenny's reasoning had already reached a deadlock.

"The murderer must have had a reason to discard it. Besides, the Poké Ball also served to distract them. You almost missed the gasoline bottle because you were so focused on the Poké Ball, didn't you?" the detective interjected.

Officer Jenny was speechless for a moment, and wrote down the entry "have to be discarded" in her notebook.

"Then there's the unconscious Cool Leopard. According to the killer, this Cool Leopard belonged to some petty thugs. However, all the information on the phone is now unreliable, so we can only assume that the Cool Leopard belongs to either the killer or one of the victims."

“A fairly solid conclusion.” The detective nodded.

"Now, the only clue left is the emergency call. What message does this call, full of lies, contain? Does the real culprit want the police to arrive at the crime scene as soon as possible?"

"Correct!" The detective snapped his fingers. "No wonder he's a future head of the criminal investigation department."

"Don't fantasize about me getting promoted!"

"Your notebook contains all the information needed to solve this case. Now, all we need to do is connect all the clues, and we'll find the truth..."

Hugo paused here, as if he had thought of something.

The clues are complete.

"What's wrong?" Officer Jenny asked, looking up from her notes.

Why was the body burned? Why did the murderer call the police? What does the abandoned elf represent? Suddenly, the detective realizes that the truth is laid bare before him.

Although the killer's actions were chaotic and contradictory, if we follow this explanation...

"I've figured out the place the killer is most likely to be right now!"

The murderer was on the run, so Hugo did not elaborate on his reasoning but simply stated the conclusion.

"He's not hiding! He has to get there! Quick, quick, to the Pokémon Center to treat the Cool Leopard!"

Chapter 008 Unusual Changes Inside and Outside the Hospital

Officer Jenny was hesitating about how to convey the inexplicable order to her subordinates that "the prisoner is right next to you," when Hugo snatched the walkie-talkie away.

The detective deftly pressed a button, contacting a police officer at the hospital and issuing orders swiftly and professionally.

"Pay attention to suspicious individuals at the Pokémon Center No. 2 in Flying Cloud City, especially those around twenty years old who smell of fuel, show unusual concern for Leopard, and seem more like delinquents than students. Remember, remain silent after spotting a suspect. The area around the hospital is crowded; follow the person's movements and make your move when they reach a secluded spot!"

After saying that, Hugo handed the walkie-talkie to Officer Jenny and frantically winked at her. Officer Jenny immediately understood and said to her bewildered subordinate on the other end, "Take this as my order and execute it immediately!"

After receiving an affirmative answer from her subordinate, Officer Jenny put down the walkie-talkie and cast a suspicious glance at Hugo.

“The Pokémon Center No. 2 is the closest Pokémon Hospital to here, so I’m guessing Lizard will receive treatment there,” the detective explained.

The policewoman shook her head, indicating that this was not the answer to the question she wanted to know.

“The keypad on the police radio isn’t hard to remember. I noted down the numbers representing the officers going to the hospital when I saw your subordinates contacting them earlier, so I just used it as I was,” the detective continued to explain.

Officer Jenny admired Hugo's shamelessness, so she had no choice but to ask, "What I want to know is, why was the murderer a young hoodlum in his twenties, and why did he follow the leopard to the Pokémon Center?"

“Explaining this is very easy, but I suggest we go to the Pokémon Center now. After all, it’s more appropriate to have an officer like you in charge of the case present when arresting criminals. And as a detective, I’ve always cherished the ideal of reviewing the entire case in front of the criminals.”

“Building happiness on the suffering of others, that’s a terrible ideal.” Officer Jenny sighed and sent messages to the evidence-gathering team and the officers who came to investigate the trash can, quickly sharing their intelligence.

The policewoman then took out her Poké Ball from her police belt, pressed the button in the center, and a black and white Zebra immediately appeared in front of the two of them.

The policewoman mounted her horse and called to Hugo, "Sit behind me and hold on tight to the mane. Don't worry, the electric zebra isn't electrified when carrying passengers."