Pokémon Detective Case Files.

Surprisingly, the colossal lie the three initially told was not exposed by Captain Doug. This unrestrained old man, as free and unconventional as the sea, became more and more excited each day, as if he had truly caught a trace of Wailord's presence.

"Oh, this."

Hugo scratched his messy hair and said casually, "I dyed my hair black when I was in United States for the sake of investigation. I haven't had a chance to dye it recently, so my original hair color is showing."

"Oh, I see." Azure responded listlessly, then shuddered. "Wait, what did you say?"

"I mean, I haven't used hair dye in so long that my hair has faded." Thinking his voice was being drowned out by the sea breeze, Hugo raised his voice and repeated himself, then sighed heavily. It was really tiring to repeat what he had said before.

"Why have you never mentioned something so important?"

"You didn't ask either, did you? Besides, my hair dye has been in the office restroom for a long time. I heard that girls are very good at recognizing these kinds of makeup and skincare products, so I thought you already knew."

"I don't know. I've only been in Hezhong for two months. How could I possibly recognize all the cosmetic brands here?"

"Then you'll have to work harder. This kind of knowledge is quite useful when investigating cases." Hugo yawned, got up from the deck again, patted Azure on the shoulder reassuringly, and continued to fiddle with the high-powered ocean telescope beside him.

Azure was still sitting on the deck, gazing at the swaying sky, and then at the golden hair on the detective's head. She felt even more tired after resting.

"How's the investigation going?" the girl suddenly asked.

Hugo shook his head: "Still nothing. All the ships we've seen on the sea have all gone through the proper procedures with the Alliance. Officer Jenny and Sera have a clear understanding of their whereabouts. Apart from one ship that is violating the Alliance agreement by going to the no-fishing zone to catch wild elves, we haven't found any suspicious ships yet."

"Could that boat you mentioned, the one heading to the no-fishing zone, be it?" Azure had a bad feeling.

"That's right, it's the Bictini right beneath our feet."

Chapter 96 Chasing the Murderer Across the Sea

Victini is a legendary Pokémon in Unova that brings good luck and victory. Doug named his whaling ship after it, presumably hoping to use the power of metaphysics to help him avoid risks at sea and encounter the rare Wailord.

However, Hugo, standing before the ocean telescope the size of a mobile cannon, could only stare blankly at the vast ocean, feeling no sense of good fortune whatsoever.

"According to Captain Doug's plan, this ship will soon deviate from the Unova-Hoenn route and head towards the no-fishing zone. After that, we will no longer be able to track down the ship carrying the criminals."

The detective looked desperate and said to his assistant in frustration.

“Hugo.” Azure racked her brains, trying to ask the detective some thought-provoking questions—

"Is it possible that the murderer never even set sail? Look, we're already sailing this fast. If it were a normal ship, even if he set sail a whole night ahead of us, we should have run into them by now, right?"

"No, they will definitely travel by water, because those people have an extraordinary obsession with the ocean."

The detective spoke without hesitation, then revealed the murderer's true identity—

"When it comes to the secret organizations in the Hoenn region, we have to mention Team Magma and Team Aqua. The former's style of doing things is close to that of the underground mafia. With their strong sense of territoriality, they would not make such a plan to collude with Team Plasma from other regions; while Team Aqua is different. The ocean they sing praises to is like a vast net connecting the entire world."

"You mean Team Aqua is the mastermind behind this incident? But if that's the case, they could just be ordinary people hiding in the containers of passenger or cargo ships, right? That imposter could impersonate President Zuvoki, so he could probably impersonate someone else too, and sneak back to Hoenn without anyone noticing. Why do you say they would definitely be on one of their own ships?"

"Because their purpose in coming here is to conduct some kind of transaction. The navy fleet has gone to such lengths to come to the Union, and it is impossible for them to return empty-handed. Moreover, with a large amount of goods obtained through the exchange in hand, they are unlikely to trust other people's cargo ships to transport their goods."

Hugo continued operating the telescope, and it seemed that another ocean freighter had appeared in his field of vision.

The detective adjusted the focus of the lens, trying hard to see the ship's exterior clearly.

"But how can you be sure that the exchanged goods taken by the Navy Fleet were large quantities of cargo, and not small but valuable items?"

"The reason is simple: the bodies of the victims we found were buried in the sand at the mouth of the sea. This means that the fleet that successfully completed the transaction set sail from that place back to Hoenn. Choosing such a secluded destination must be because the scale of the cargo transport was so large that it could not be easily carried."

As he spoke, the detective couldn't help but shake his head with a wry smile. The cargo ship he had just seen through the binoculars was actually a ship he had observed not long ago. It was probably Mr. Doug adjusting his speed to change course, which was why the ship that had been left behind had caught up.

"Actually, judging from the modus operandi, the person who devised this transaction plan and the person who executed it have slightly different personalities. The former is meticulous and has a certain artist-like talent for crime. He must be the legendary leader of the Water Fleet, Water Archie. Apart from him, no one else has the ability to perform such a large-scale substitution under the noses of the two alliances."

"And who was the one who carried out the plan?" Azure pressed for details. "How did you analyze his personality?"

"The other party should be a short man, enough to disguise himself as an old man, and he holds a position in the organization second only to the leader. However, he has achieved his current success mainly through ruthless and absolute violence. By the way, he should have a Crawdron among his Pokémon."

The detective spoke casually, drawing undisguised admiration from his assistant.

"I won't go into detail about the Iron Claw Lobster and its ruthlessness. The wounds on the corpse's back clearly demonstrate these two characteristics. With your current level, Azure, you should be able to understand the logical relationship at a glance. The reason I believe this executive member holds a high position in the organization is because of the existence of that Almost Doll Mega Evolution Stone."

"A Mega Stone for Pokémon? Yeah, since Samuel already brought out the stone, why didn't this Team Aqua member steal this very expensive jewel along with it?"

"A very insightful question," Hugo remarked.

"The gem didn't just roll into the sewers along the wasteland by itself, and among everyone here, the only one who had the chance to throw it down the drain was that imposter who received the Superstone. Samuel must have frankly stated the value of the stone before handing it over, yet the Superstone was still thrown down the drain. Azure, do you see anything in this?"

"I understand." Azure clapped her hands excitedly, seemingly having figured it out as well.

"It must be because that executor also has the authority to dispose of such valuable materials within the Water Fleet that he was able to determine that this super stone was useless and discard it into the ditch."

The girl recalled the fairy tale Hugo told that night at the Feathered Residence—whether in ancient or modern times, Doll is essentially a kind-hearted healing Pokémon. It's easy to imagine that such a Pokémon would have no place in a harsh organization like Team Aqua.

Therefore, the Mega Evolution Stone of the Pokémon became a useless item that was neither useful nor worth discarding. On a dark and stormy night, it was unhesitatingly thrown into the sewer by the ruthless senior officers of Team Aqua.

"Furthermore, throwing the Superstone down the drain also carries a sacrilege connotation towards the dead," Hugo suddenly blurted out, delivering a scathing remark.

"Samuel is a geologist who is obsessed with rocks and the earth. Naturally, the members of the Navy Fleet, who are passionate about the ocean, would not like Samuel's research. He must be quite happy to throw his research results into the sewers and let them flow away like garbage."

The assistant looked disgusted; compared to this fanatic, even the money-obsessed Rockets seemed somewhat endearing.

"But if that's the case, why haven't we found any suspicious ships on the sea yet?" The girl returned to the original topic. "I completely understand the enemy's personality and abilities. Just as you said, Detective, their only way back is to return to the giant ship to Hoenn. So why can't we find them?"

"I had considered the possibility that the other party might use a submarine to transfer cargo, but if that were the case, Doug, who has been in control of the underwater sonar, would have detected them long ago. Moreover, the speed of an object in water is affected by water resistance, so the speed of a submarine is generally similar to that of a conventional cargo ship, and it is no match for the Bictini."

"Is it possible that we missed it? After all, the sea is so vast..."

“Absolutely impossible.” Hugo waved his hand and pointed to the telescope beside him that looked like a white cannon. “This instrument can see the patterns of a savage perch emerging from ten kilometers away. It’s impossible for it to miss something as big as a ship.”

“Alright.” Azure shrugged. “It seems that the Aqua team will either be traveling in an incredibly fast warship or in an equally elusive submarine, while we’ll have to follow Mr. Doug to catch a wild Wailord before returning to Unova.”

"Unless there's something that's always been in our sight, but we've always ignored it..." The detective continued to mutter to himself, burying his head in his hands in thought.

"Ah—ahhhhhh."

The sky seemed to collapse in an instant. Suddenly, the detective and his assistant felt an incredibly violent tilt.

Having barely managed to suppress her screams, Azure looked at the compass at the bow of the ship and couldn't help but gasp again—

"Hugo, Captain Doug has turned the course back to the Hoenn Passage. What's going on?"

Hugo, leaning against the ship's side as if nothing was wrong, simply waved his hand impatiently when he heard Azure's question.

"It's probably that wild whale king he's looking for has come back. You'd better be prepared, the closer you get to the target, the more frequently it will adjust its direction... Ah! Ahhhhhh."

The detective suddenly screamed, just like Azure had a few seconds earlier.

"I'm such an idiot! It's the one I've been looking for all along!"

When using lighting fixtures, due to the principle that light travels in straight lines, the fixture itself will also create a large, dark shadow near the light source. However, people often only follow the direction of the light and miss the dark shadow behind the light source—this is the so-called "darkness under the lamp" phenomenon.

What Hugo consistently overlooked was the darkest place beneath the surface of the sea.

Chapter 97 The Secret Under the Fish's Belly

The Victini had now moved far away from the Unova region and entered the waters where different regions meet, and the number of Pokémon that were rarely seen in Unova began to increase.

Besides the dancing swans unique to the Unova region, the silhouettes of gulls gliding in the sky can now be seen from time to time, and the creatures floating on the water have gradually changed from chubby and light to giant flying fish and agate jellyfish.

Old man Naoki sat quietly outside the engine room of the whaling ship, just as he usually did when he was on duty as a gatekeeper, his eyelids drooping listlessly as he watched the situation inside the engine room. His job on the ship was to constantly monitor the parts and determine if any malfunctions had occurred.

At first, Azure was a little worried, wondering if this unreliable old man would mess things up. However, within the past week, Mr. Naoki had astutely discovered several malfunctions in the power room. He even personally took charge, participating in emergency repairs of the power equipment alongside Doug.

It seems that appearances can indeed be deceiving.

Although both were resting, Captain Doug was much more active than the elderly Naoki who was resting with his eyes closed.

He remains in the captain's cabin, intently observing the real-time detection images obtained from the underwater sonar, occasionally rubbing his hands together and tapping out a restless rhythm with his rain-booted feet.

Suddenly, the old captain, who was obsessed with Wailord, raised an eyebrow. Besides the sound of footsteps, he heard a series of unusually chaotic footsteps.

Looking back, I saw that it was the two young passengers, a man and a woman, who had come to my door.

Seeing this, Doug opened the cabin door of the captain's cabin and let the excited detective and his bewildered assistant into the room.

Before the two could speak, the old captain shouted sternly at the top of his lungs—

"I said before we set sail that the Victini would not return unless I caught that mischievous wild whale king or the ship ran out of supplies. If you really want to go back, there is a small lifeboat at the stern. Just paddle that thing back to land."

“No, Mr. Doug, you misunderstand. We are not here to disembark.”

Hugo was not intimidated by the old man's voice. He responded calmly and then spoke frankly—

“I’m here today hoping that Mr. Doug will maneuver the Victini at full speed in a certain direction, because I have predicted the movement of the wild whale king that you have been tracking.”

Not only old Doug, but even Azure, who was next to the detective, was startled.

What exactly did Hugo discover from the clues above? Why did he suddenly become like that crazy old man and start tracking Wailord? And how did he know the location where wild Wailords would appear?

The old captain looked with interest at Hugo's faded "black hair," unmoved by the detective's crazy talk, and calmly asked, "What do you think the whale will do?"

“It will travel along the continent in a large C-shape,” the detective replied without hesitation.

"That whale will soon leave the Unova-Hoenn route during its voyage, heading towards the closer Alola region, where it will rest for a while before setting off again towards Hoenn."

"Oh? But that wild whale, wandering aimlessly alone, is unpredictable. How do you know what's going on in its huge head?"

Hugo took a deep breath, looked directly into the old captain's eyes; it seemed it was time to lay his cards on the table—

"Doug, the Wailord you're chasing isn't a wild Pokémon. A Pokémon Trainer is controlling its direction. That Trainer is a fugitive murderer, and we boarded this whaling ship to capture him."

That's it!

The moment Bilan heard Hugo's explanation, she understood the crux of the matter.

The whale roaring king, which lurks underwater, is a more convenient and agile means of transportation than a submarine!

The reason Samuel's body was abandoned on the wasteland was precisely because it was a place where wild Pokémon could freely approach, and it was the most convenient place for Team Aqua to leave Unova.

Hugo, on the ship, kept tracking the fleet's vessels, but completely ignored the enormous whale that the fanatical captain was chasing!

That "wild" whale king is the one the detective has been searching for but has been overlooking!

However, even though Azure instantly understood Hugo's thoughts, could the detective convince this fervent Wailord enthusiast with just a few words?

If what Hugo said is true, then it means that Old Man Doug's voyage was a waste of time. Will he be angry?

The dark-skinned old captain indeed lost his temper. He angrily pounded his fists on the table in the captain's cabin, making a deafening thud.

"That's impossible! A whale king that can carry people can only float on the surface of the water. Even if it uses the 'diving' skill, it can only stay in deep water for a short while! You've never seen a whale or the ocean, so what makes you think you can just stand here spouting nonsense!"

The detective remained calm: "The other party is an organization that has been using Wailord for smuggling for a long time. They have built a sealed vehicle that can be fixed in Wailord's mouth. Taking advantage of the phenomenon of Wailords traveling to and from various regions in groups, they have established secret and unspeakable connections with other malicious organizations in other regions."

"Do you think I'm an idiot? How can a person hiding under a fish's belly breathe? Even submarines need to surface periodically to breathe. Are you suggesting that the Wailord should surface and open its mouth to breathe?"

"No, Wailord breathes differently from fish Pokémon that filter oxygen from seawater through gills. It breathes with its huge lungs. The organ we are familiar with that spouts water into the sky is Wailord's nostrils. Trainers who have it hidden in its mouth can use the air that Wailord inhales to breathe."

"Do you think I'd believe such nonsense? That someone would live inside a Pokémon's belly for a year, like the child in the fairy tale who was swallowed by Wailord, only to be spat out by the whale?"

Old Doug let out a roaring, stormy laugh, his bloodshot seaman eyes glaring menacingly at Hugo.

"At ten o'clock, if we leave the shipping lane and travel at full speed for five hours, we will reach the boundary of the Alola Sea ahead of us by evening, where we will see the whale that swallowed the 'child'."

The detective exuded an aura no less imposing than the old man's, as if a prophet chosen by the gods were proclaiming a prophecy that was about to come true. His gray eyes calmly gazed into Doug's bloodshot eyes.

Azure anxiously glanced back and forth at the two people whose atmosphere was not harmonious, clutching Eevee's Poké Ball tightly in her hand, ready to make a move at any moment.

The assistant's intervention wasn't simply to mediate the fight.

Having already heard the detective's entire reasoning, she now fully understood Hugo's reasoning for making that decision—if necessary, immediately send out Eevee to use "Quick Strike" to take down the captain and seize control of the Victini!

Just as the girl was plotting a mutiny to seize the ship, a sloppy, hoarse voice came from behind the detective and his assistant—

"Doug, what are you putting on an act for? You noticed that Wailord's behavior was abnormal a long time ago, didn't you?"

Old man Naoki appeared by the cabin door at some point, rolling his eyes at the old captain.

"Tsk, I'm a trainer who once received the title of Senior Trainer in the Pokémon League. How could I not help with something like hunting down a murderer?"

Captain Doug's imposing aura vanished, his demeanor completely changing. He picked his nose with his little finger and looked at the three with disdain.

"I'm just angry, why didn't you tell me something so important sooner?"

"Isn't it all because of you, Doug, who's always yelling about catching whales? Anyone would think you're a crazy old man looking like this!"

Naoki, not to be outdone, responded to his old friend with a mocking face.

Azure was stunned by the change in the situation, while Hugo had an "I knew it" look on his face and touched his chin.

It's unclear whether he genuinely anticipated how things would unfold, or if he was simply good at managing his facial expressions.

"Ten o'clock, right?" Old Doug asked Hugo to confirm, and the detective gave him an OK sign.

Without any preamble, the old captain immediately began operating the helm in the center of the room, muttering to himself, "Speaking of which, none of you have ever seen the Victini at full speed, have you?"