Pokémon Detective Case Files.

"Is that Cynthia's Milotic? I even met her at the entrance of the Featherwood Mansion before! She's such a kind-hearted champion, willing to lend her Pokémon to those in need."

The gardener visibly became excited—

"Speaking of which, did you guys watch Miss Cynthia's title defense match a couple of days ago? The scene where she sent out Rotom with the Ghost attribute to dodge 'Big Bang' was so cool! Her opponent with the red afro turned green right then and there, and our support group members almost died laughing when they saw that..."

Azure nodded: "We watched the battle on our phones on the ship. To not use a Water-type substitute to face the challenge of the Fire-type Elite Four, Cynthia Champion really surprised everyone. Fortunately, Rotom's participation disrupted all of their plans, and Venusaur, Garchomp, and Rotom performed very well."

Why did Azur Lane only mention four Pokémon in what was supposed to be a six-on-six all-out battle? It's because Cynthia's victory was so smooth that the remaining two Pokémon didn't even get a chance to appear...

"Opportunism doesn't make one a hero," Hugo joked with a touch of self-deprecation.

Rena glared at the detective, but remembering that he had once boasted about the champion's autograph and claimed that he intended to resell it, she swallowed her anger.

She then asked Azure, "So, was the whale king also released back into the wild in the end?"

"It's a long story," the assistant said. "After the wounds were healed, we originally wanted to release the roaring whale directly, but the little one was like a lost child in the sea, and then it swam with the Victini for a long time on its own."

"That whale king has been separated from its pod for many years. It's worried that it won't be able to integrate into the other whale king groups. Simply put, it's suffering from social anxiety," Hugo added, probably finding it an interesting point worth explaining.

Azure continued its narration—

"Then something magical happened. One night on the way back, Captain Doug suddenly went off to chat with Wailord. When he returned at dawn, he had already captured the Wailord. However, Pokémon of Wailord's size don't like the cramped space of a Poké Ball, so Doug released it into the waters near Castelia City. From then on, every week, the old man would take Wailord for a 'walk' in his whaling boat."

"So even in Feiyun City, I'll have a chance to see this giant whale?" Rena asked.

“Indeed. It’s quite a story,” Miss Azure said with a smile.

"What else did you do during the days you were on your way back, besides watching Miss Zhu Lan's competition?"

"Yes, we've started reinvestigating those backlogged cases in the firm's mailbox and promised to give the fees for those cases to Mr. Naoki as compensation for his absence from work these past few days."

“It’s quite interesting,” Hugo said again. “After uncovering this smuggling case, many strange requests in the mailbox were inexplicably resolved.”

During his investigation, Hugo discovered that the mastermind behind bribing numerous media outlets within United Media Group and orchestrating the landing of the "fake president of United Media Group" was actually a news company called Fengyuan Media.

After asking Elder Tie Xuan to investigate, everyone was surprised to find that the person in charge behind Fengyuan Media was actually the famous media mogul in Fengyuan area—the director of Fengyuan TV Station!

This is the person who funded the entire scam! This is also the person who continuously funded Team Aqua in the Hoenn region, helping this evil organization establish a global underground smuggling network! The Corsola that led to the "Sandstorm Team Murders" was transported from the Galar region to Unova via this network!

The origins of the dark web have now been uncovered!

The rest was easy. Officer Sera, who was having tea and chatting at the Hoenn City Police Department, received Hugo's urgent report and immediately dispatched officers. They led a large contingent of police to seal off the coastal areas of the United States, and sure enough, they found the United States' dark web servers on several ships owned by the Hoenn TV station director!

Having uncovered irrefutable evidence, the United Alliance acted swiftly. Overnight, the Alliance blocked all media outlets within the United Alliance controlled by Fengyuan TV—radio, television, newspapers, magazines, and the main website were all targeted. Fengyuan Media's empire, which had just gained a foothold in the United Alliance, collapsed in an instant!

Meanwhile, Elite Four member Adebayo, who was handling league affairs as acting champion, also responded strongly, highly praising the police's work and issuing a formal warning to the Hoenn League on the same day.

Beware of Hoenn TV! This organization is highly colluding with illegal forces, and its director may be a key figure in Team Aqua!

Before the news even reached Hoenn, the Hoenn League, alerted by the old man, had already begun its operation. With the strong support of the current champion, Daigo, the purge of the Hoenn media was even more thorough than that of Unova, and the news tycoon was instantly disgraced.

No amount of public opinion could withstand the alliance's top-down efforts to rectify the situation. After this battle, the atmosphere in the media in both places was greatly improved.

Unfortunately, just as police cars were blocking the Hoenn TV building, a group of Fleet Aqua thugs broke through the police cordon and rescued the TV station director.

At this point, the status of this news oligarch in the Aqua Team was officially exposed—he was actually the elusive leader of the Aqua Team, Gotouge himself!

While the two alliances launched a whirlwind operation, Hugo's detective agency also pressed its advantage at sea, resolving three cases received Monday morning in one fell swoop:

The request regarding the United Alliance's shady dealings was actually a conspiracy theory deliberately spread online by Hoenn Media to smear the United Alliance while the fake president was on a foreign trip. The aim was to keep the Alliance's intelligence agencies preoccupied and unable to thoroughly investigate the authenticity of President Zvoich. This request came from a United Alliance enthusiast who was obsessed with surfing the internet, completely trapped in the information cocoon built by Archie Tree, constantly worried about the United Alliance's conspiracies and schemes, and thus suffering from severe mental breakdown.

A whistleblower, an ordinary employee at Fengyuan TV, was hired to investigate a large out-of-town company suspected of smuggling. A keen collector of juicy gossip, he stumbled upon the Hugo Detective Agency, a secret hidden away by United Press International, and wanted to ask Hugo to investigate irregularities within his former employer. However, fearing internet surveillance, he wrote the request in an overly ambiguous way. When Hugo called and told him, "Your station manager is the mastermind behind the Water Fleet's sabotage," the young man was genuinely terrified. He became the first employee in the entire station to realize he should start looking for his next job as soon as possible.

The case involved a request for a detective to persuade a cheating husband to change his mind—this wasn't solved by Hugo, but by that old bastard Naoki, who specifically called the cheating husband for his own compensation. One can only say that a dying man's words are often wise; Naoki, half-buried in the grave, spoke with a unique persuasive power unique to those who have been through it all. After listening to the old man's words, the husband suddenly understood and decided to adopt a gentler strategy, continuing to feign compliance with his wife for a while longer.

"You detectives really have it tough..." Rena stuck out her tongue. The amount of information the detective was explaining was so overwhelming that she was already dizzy.

"I'd rather have it tough every day." Azure looked nostalgic as she recalled the happy times on the whaling ship when good news kept pouring in.

This time, they thwarted a sinister global conspiracy and exposed the true face of the evil organization's boss. In terms of scale, it's comparable to Red's destruction of Team Rocket halfway through.

"By the way, what exactly was that shipment you found? Where did it end up?" Rena suddenly remembered that she had another question on her mind and asked casually.

“Those damn things. Neither we nor the police could figure out the purpose of those purple metal armors. And since we did a great job this time, Feiyun Police Station let us handle that pile of goods ourselves.”

Hugo shrugged and said, "It's currently piled up in the storage room of the Feather Residence. Do you want to go take a look?"

The Lingering Charm of Chapter 105

The client finally finished asking all the trivial questions unrelated to the case.

The thought that this complex case was about to be completely resolved and sealed away in the archives on the second floor of the Feathered Residence made Hugo breathe a sigh of relief.

"Alright, now that we've reviewed everything, it's time to make a decision. Rena, Samuel didn't leave a will, nor did he have any close family or friends. You, who found this gem on the street, have every right to keep it. What do you intend to do with this Almost Doll Mega Evolution Stone?"

Rena looked at the crystal-clear pink Super Stone in front of her, but kept her mouth shut and refused to speak for a long time.

Seeing that the client was still hesitant, Hugo added, "If you're planning to liquidate, I can introduce you to some good secondhand dealers nearby. They'll only take about five percent as a commission..."

"No, that's not what I'm dwelling on. How can we just sell such a precious item so easily?"

Perhaps influenced by the overly compassionate Doll, the berry grower sister suddenly began to care about the feelings of the dead, and quickly explained:

"I just think that if we keep the Super Stone for ourselves, it would be too pitiful for Mr. Samuel, who was murdered because of it. Could we return the Super Stone to someone else who was related to the victim?"

“It’s not impossible,” the detective replied casually, showing no surprise.

"Although that geologist spends his days alone in the wilderness and doesn't care about family or social life, he can still find a few distant relatives if he looks for them. Those guys will be so happy to hear that a stranger they've never met has died and that they've gotten a gem that can be sold for a lot of money that they'll throw a party to thank the murderer."

"This isn't quite right..." Rena hesitated again as she listened to the detective's sarcastic words.

“And the geologist’s ex-wife,” Hugo added.

"I heard that she said a lot of bad things about the deceased while cooperating with the police investigation. If Samuel was a kind person who liked to repay evil with good, he would have been happy to give his important property to the woman who abandoned him."

The thought of that scene was incredibly awkward, so Rena made a big X with her arms in front of her.

At this moment, Azure suggested a good idea: "That's right, we can donate the Mega Stone to Devon Corporation in Hoenn and let them continue Mr. Samuel's Unova Mega Stone investigation project. Wouldn't that fulfill the victim's last wish?"

“If you look through the copy of the expedition plan among Mr. Samuel’s belongings, you’ll find that the plan was simply impossible to realize after Samuel’s death. In the entire United States geological community, only the deceased victim had enough academic influence to get Devon Corporation to fund the project.” Hugo shrugged and shook his head.

"The world of capital is very pragmatic. No matter how wealthy the Zvuch father and son are, they would never invest in the unspoken wish of a dead man. Besides, the Hoenn region is not lacking in Mega Stones, so there is no need to risk losing everything to search for Mega Stone mines in the Unova region. What they value more is the geological and archaeological significance behind the discovery of Mega Stones in the Unova region. If they really find a large deposit of Mega Stones here, they might even have a headache over the devaluation of the company's Mega Stone inventory."

Ironically, his irreplaceable role in academia was only truly realized after this reclusive geologist was murdered.

Apart from Samuel, no one else has the ability to investigate the secrets of the Unova Superstone Mine.

“Doesn’t Mr. Samuel have any students? Perhaps his graduate students can take over his work?” the assistant suggested.

“Geological research in the Unova region is declining, and no graduate students are being admitted. Samuel has taught a few archaeology students, but they know nothing about Mega Stones.”

Hugo turned to Rena: "So you should keep the Mega Stone. You can sell it for money or keep it for a rainy day. No one in Unova is more deserving of it than you. After all, if you hadn't brought this gem to the Feathered Residence, the murderer who killed Mr. Samuel would have easily returned to Hoenn and gone unpunished."

“Hugo is right,” Azure added. “Miss Rena, although we can’t make the deceased’s last wish come true, if Almost Dolls can obtain the power of the Super Stone, you can save others better. Isn’t that equivalent to extending Mr. Samuel’s life?”

"This metaphysical continuation is meaningless to the dead, but it can certainly benefit society," Hugo commented, holding a neutral opinion.

"Even so, I don't have the money to buy the Evolution Key Stone to go with the Mega Stone. I'm just a berry grower; saving people is too far-fetched for me. Even if I used the Mega Stone, it wouldn't be of any use..."

The gardener was deeply troubled and unable to extricate herself from the situation.

"There's no need to worry about the Evolution Keystones. As I said before, one or two Super Stones are nothing to Devon Corporation. We've done them such a big favor this time, so I reckon we can just give them a heads-up and they'll be able to buy the Evolution Keystones from President Zvoich at a super low price."

At that moment, the little doll jumped out of the Poké Ball on its own.

"Tabu! Tabunai!"

Almost Doll threw a "Healing Pulse" at the trainer, then stood in front of Azure and Hugo, patting its chest confidently.

"It seems that Almost Doll is quite confident in his ability to save people." The assistant couldn't help but laugh as he looked at Almost Doll, who was making such a confident promise.

"Almost a baby..."

Seeing her partner's determined gaze, Rena finally stopped hesitating and solemnly picked up the precious gem, worth several years' salary, from the table.

The doll blinked its big blue eyes, its face showing an expectant expression.

"I will definitely use it well."

In the gardener's hand, the pink Mega Stone began to shimmer with a soft and beautiful colored light again without anyone noticing.

……

The client chatted with the detectives for a while longer before finally leaving.

Hugo saw Rena to the door, then turned to Azure, who was standing in the living room: "You didn't tell her about that in the end, huh? How kind and considerate of you."

"You're the same way, deliberately acting impatient to distract the client." The girl pouted.

The detective sighed deeply: "That matter has nothing to do with her. Bringing it up will only make the atmosphere heavier."

Their gazes fell simultaneously on the resting room where the elves usually lived, a door that had remained tightly closed during their meeting.

Azure opened the door to the lounge. The curtains were drawn, and the room was pitch black. Eevee and the starter Pokémon were not inside, and a gloomy and sad atmosphere filled the air.

In the corner, a small yellow bird with blue tail feathers huddled up, motionless.

It looks like a fossil from ancient times.

"The Archaeopteryx still doesn't want to see people... So many days have passed, and it still hasn't recovered from the trauma of its companion's death..."

It turns out that Hugo and Azure deliberately omitted a detail during their conversation with Rena about the return voyage—

After Mr. Samuel was killed, all the Pokémon he carried fell into the hands of Team Aqua. In their fierce resistance, the remaining Pokémon were brutally killed by Team Aqua, their bodies sinking into the sea, never to see the light of day again.

Only one young Archaeopteryx remained. Because it was relatively rare and weak, and young enough to be tamed, it was kept by the villains...

"Are you really going to adopt it? This child has suffered severe trauma and may develop a negative attitude towards Pokémon battles."

Hugo asked his assistant for confirmation.

"Archaeopteryx's innate characteristic is 'weakness,' causing it to uncontrollably lower its attack power when in a disadvantageous situation. Its current mental state and characteristic could very well create a negative chain reaction..."

"I don't know which virtuous person told me this," Azure interrupted Hugo.

"The so-called bond between humans and Pokémon is essentially a relationship of mutual hindrance—so, as long as I'm happy with it, that's all that matters."

Before she finished speaking, the girl strode into the lounge.

Unlike other professions where experience often translates into glamour, in the detective profession, the more capable the practitioner, the clearer their understanding of this world filled with suffering.

Many people choose to remain indifferent to these untold sufferings, but there are still those who are willing to step forward to help, to save, and to heal.

Hugo sighed softly and quietly walked into the lounge.

Chapter 106 Hugo's Portrait

Following the Super Stone incident, Hugo Detective Agency entered a long holiday.

Early that morning, Assistant Blue, along with Eevee and Ditto, were busy trying to open up the heart of Archon Bird, attempting to help the poor little bird overcome its autism.

Hugo, quite unusually, took his Sinnoh starter Pokémon out for a walk.

Autumn is the best season when it doesn't rain. Detectives especially love the cool and dry weather at this time of year; a shirt and suit jacket are particularly comfortable to wear during this season.

Watching the little fire monkeys frolicking and playing under the golden shade of the trees, feeling the crisp autumn breeze, Hugo felt that there was no greater joy in the world than this.

Of the three little creatures, the grass turtle was the happiest.

Recently, Hugo gave it a very fun battle item called "Shell Bell". This fist-shaped bell, made of a pair of shells, will make a pleasant sound when shaken gently, and can also absorb the opponent's lost health remotely during battle.

Although it was just a trophy seized from the Aqua Team, the little turtle was very satisfied. He never expected that he could get a reward while staying at the office.

It's worth mentioning that during this righteous exploitation of Team Aqua, Azur Lane chose the "favorite scarf" that was originally worn by Crawdron and gave it to Ditto.

"A Ditto must wear its 'favorite scarf'!" The chestnut-haired girl declared emphatically at the time.

Ditto wearing a scarf does have a significant advantage in battles, and there's a common saying in the battle arena: "Speed ​​contest? My scarf Ditto will win."

Ditto in Azur Lane has the "Transformer" ability, which allows it to transform into the opponent's Pokémon the moment battle begins, with all its abilities being identical to the opponent's except for its HP.

Therefore, the "Choice Scarf" which can directly increase a Pokémon's speed can help Ditto gain the upper hand. The cost is that it can only use the same move after entering the battle, but in battle, the first move is often enough to be fatal.

While reminiscing about his experiences on the whaling ship, Hugo found a bench on a street corner directly opposite the Feiyun City Art Museum. It was made of wood with red paint, practical and beautiful, complete with a backrest and armrests.

The detective's eyes lit up; the roadside bench perfectly suited his aesthetic taste. So Hugo let his three pets play around the area, sat down on the bench, and started reading on his tablet.

Sometimes, the perfect amount of white noise from the street is more relaxing than the quiet of the office. Hugo's fingertips kept flipping through the corners of the electronic screen, his eyes sometimes half-closed, sometimes focused, completely immersed in the world of the book's structure.

About two hours later, Hugo let out a long sigh and slowly put down his tablet. It wasn't because he had finished reading the book, but because he noticed that the sounds around him were gradually becoming more and more noisy.

Frowning, the detective in the white coat looked up and saw a somewhat familiar figure in the distance. That figure drew the attention of the passersby, and the noise around him was coming from there.

However, while Hugo might recognize the other person, the other person might not necessarily recognize Hugo.