Pokémon Detective Case Files.

As the girl descended the stairs, a series of deep, resonant sounds suddenly reached her ears.

"It seems the Poison Gas Band's afternoon practice has already begun. They won't stop to cooperate with the investigation unless there's a challenger."

The detective spoke casually, glancing back at his assistant. Azure nodded knowingly; she understood her mission.

As the detective pulled open the soundproof door at the end of the stairs, the loud and chaotic sound of punk rock music instantly drowned out the two of them.

The rousing drums, the soaring guitar, the heavy bass, the harmonious keyboards, and—

At the center of the stage, a young female lead singer, her short, snow-white hair swaying, sang syllables in a clear voice.

As the detective and his assistant entered the venue, which resembled an underground concert, the lights behind them suddenly flickered.

The music suddenly changed pitch and stopped abruptly at its climax.

In the silence, the white-haired girl suddenly leaned closer to the microphone and raised her hand towards the man on her right: "Drummer Cook! The best percussionist in Liyong City!"

A bald, burly man named Cook struck his drumsticks twice in the air, followed by a rapid, continuous gong sound in the room, then short snare drum beats, which evolved into a wonderful improvisational drumming performance.

"Guitarist Lu! He's only been practicing for less than three years, yet he's already reached a high level of skill. He's the most promising guitarist in the Unova region!"

The brown-haired woman to the left of the girl raised the electric guitar slightly, her fingers and pick frantically churning the strings. A dense, distinct strumming sound immediately filled the air—the virtuoso technique of the electric guitar.

"And a keyboard! Martin, a top student from Raven Art School!"

From a corner of the stage, in the depths of darkness, came clear and beautiful piano music. Due to the limited visibility, the detective and his assistant couldn't make out the keyboardist's appearance, only knowing that he was a thin man. However, the melodious electronic keyboard music was enough to demonstrate the musician's skill.

"The rest is me, the soul of the band, the gym leader, the wielder of the Toxic Badge, poison is my life, poison is the stage! Homiga is here!"

The white-haired girl suddenly plucked the iron string, and the instrument in her hand emitted a deep, muffled sound.

"Guest, are you an audience member who comes to admire the music, or a challenger who doesn't know his own limitations?"

Azure took a step forward on her own initiative, but was a little uncomfortable with such a cringeworthy conversation. She scratched her cheek and replied in normal language, "Uh... I'm a challenger. I heard this dojo just opened and I wanted to come and practice."

Her lack of assertiveness created an awkward atmosphere. The girl immediately sensed the subtle shift in the mood and tried to change the subject: "Speaking of which, that band's performance was really good, and each member's solo performance was also fantastic..."

Azure's gaze fell on the musical instrument Homiga was holding, and she suddenly became curious.

Ignoring the detective's desperate attempts to signal her, the girl uttered the next words—

"But why isn't the guitar in the lead singer's hand playing?"

The quiet venue suddenly became strange. The drummer, guitarist, and keyboardist all lowered their heads and shrugged their shoulders from time to time, apparently already laughing.

The Poison-type Gym Leader's face immediately turned red, as if he was about to explode like a gas bomb.

"This is a bass!"

Chapter 132 The bass lightly plays during every holiday

After Azure mistook the lead singer's instrument for hers, the singer seemed greatly insulted. She started rambling on about profound and incomprehensible things like "deep tone," "supporting everyone," and "the soul of the band."

The band members looked at their leader, who had broken down, and cast gloating yet pitying glances at him, remaining silent in tacit agreement.

Only Hugo, standing beside Azure, agreed with Homiga's words: "The curator is right. The bass is like the soul in a performance. Normal people can't see or touch it, but if the bass is missing, the band's performance will be as strange as if it has lost its soul."

The Poison Master was speechless. Was this person praising him or subtly mocking him?

Hugo walked to the side of Azure and said to his assistant—

"Do you remember the music we could hear in the hallway when we first entered the dojo? That was actually the sound of a bass guitar. Low frequencies may not be noticeable in a noisy environment and may only play a supporting role, but their penetrating power is the strongest. Even thick soundproof doors cannot completely block out its sound waves."

"So that's how it is, that's the sound of a bass..." Azure finally understood the situation. "It does sound quite different from a guitar."

"Moreover, the bass's rich low notes can form a solid wall covering the entire space. Although it cannot steal the show, it will not be buried by other instruments. It will always stand out in places that are not noticed by others, setting the tone for the entire performance."

Seeing that the challenger's companion was very sensible in taking on the task of explaining, the gym leader of the Beats gym couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

After some twists and turns, the gym challenge finally resumed, and Miss Homiga once again adopted her imposing stance.

"You're the challenger, right? You've never even heard of Bass, yet you dare to challenge my Poison Dojo, which has never been defeated since it opened. Ignorance is bliss, isn't it?"

The white-haired musician pointed with his finger to the azure blue below the stage—

“Unlike other gym leaders who have trained many Pokémon, I don’t send out Pokémon of varying strengths based on the challenger’s ability. Gym battles are tests to explore the limits of Pokémon and trainers, and holding back would be too unpunk.”

This must be why the Liyong Gym is so unpopular, right? The gym leader, who is showing his strength, is not someone that ordinary challengers can handle. Trainers who know they can't gain an advantage here naturally all avoid this gym.

"Trainer who can't tell the difference between a guitar and a bass, are you ready to accept the harsh challenge as severe as deep purple venom? The rules of the Gym Battle are three-on-three singles, with the Gym Leader sending out their Pokémon first. Both sides can freely switch Pokémon during the battle according to their tactics until all three of one side's Pokémon are defeated."

At that moment, someone turned on the switch, and the stage in the venue slowly sank into the ground. The band members carried their instruments and retreated backstage, and a spacious rectangular battleground appeared between Azure and Homiga.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Detective Hugo also retreated to the back, casually walking along the wall around half the venue, and secretly slipped into the backstage area.

Seeing that Hugo had successfully approached the witness, the detective's assistant no longer held back. Ignoring the rule that the gym leader had to send out their Pokémon first, he preemptively threw a black and yellow Great Ball.

"Who's testing whom is still up in the air!" The girl stepped into the challenger's seat without flinching. "Remember, my name is Azure! Azure from Pallet Town in Kanto!"

"So you're from Kanto. In that case, I'll use a gas bomb that's also from Kanto..."

The white-haired gym leader abruptly stopped mid-sentence, realizing that the Pokémon her opponent had sent out was somewhat unusual.

Gengar, having jumped out of its Ultra Ball, simply stood there in the center of the field with a wide grin, exuding an extraordinary aura.

As a poison-type expert, Homiga could see it clearly: the Gengar, a dual poison/ghost type, was unconsciously emitting a thick, purplish-black gas, a sign of powerful toxin aggregation.

The strength of our opponent is self-evident.

We absolutely cannot use any gas bombs! If we don't send out our ace Pokémon to deal with this now, and instead put on this show of fellow countrymen meeting, are we just going to hand the challengers over to us?

"Azure, huh? Looks like you're not a trainer to be easily fooled. But when it comes to using Poison-type Pokémon, I'm second to none! Go, Drapion!"

As Homiga switched Poké Balls and nimbly threw one, a giant, purplish-red scorpion appeared in the center of the field, waving its long, sharp pincers and confronting Gengar head-on.

"Trying to suppress Gengar's Ghost-type moves with Drapion's Dark type?" Azure was not surprised but delighted, because she could feel the serious fighting spirit burning in her opponent.

This is more interesting!

"Smash it down!"

"Hypnosis!"

The two issued their orders at almost the same time.

The scorpion lunges forward, attempting to attack its opponent with its pincers imbued with Dark-type energy. "Knock Off" is a powerful deterrent against Ghost-types, especially since the item Gengar is carrying is still unknown. If it can knock off Gengar, it will undoubtedly establish a huge advantage.

Gengar, however, remained motionless, not even using its agile speed to dodge. It stood still, holding its breath and concentrating, its red eyes growing even more crimson, as if blood would flow from them at any moment!

As the pincers fell, Homiga was prepared to hit the illusion or substitute, thus missing its target, but none of that happened—Gengar took the full damage from the Dark-type move, but only let out a muffled groan and didn't move an inch.

The white-haired gym leader grinned slightly. The person opposite him didn't look like he had been seriously injured. Had even Gengar's weakest point, physical defense, been trained to this extent?

No, the damage was so minor not only because of Gengar's strength, but also because "Knock Off" clearly hit Gengar, yet no item was dropped.

"My Gengar wasn't carrying any items, so your moves couldn't reach their full potential. None of the Pokémon I sent out this time were carrying any items; this is my confidence and my pride."

Azure's voice rang out at just the right moment—

"But right now, shouldn't you be more concerned about the condition of the Dragon King Scorpion?"

Just as the girl had predicted, the scorpion belonging to the museum owner began yawning incessantly.

"Use the 'True Energy Bullet' while the enemy can't dodge!"

"We won't lose to such a simple hypnotic tactic!"

Homiga abruptly swept the bass strings in her hand, but the bass wasn't connected to an amplifier, so no sound came out; it seemed like just a habitual action. The gym leader, ignoring the drowsy Dragon King Scorpion, directly gave the order—

"Dodge it, then counter with a 'Crunch'!"

Both Pokémon acted as commanded. Gengar conjured a brown ball of light and pushed it horizontally towards Drapion. The latter actually shook off some of its sleepiness and managed to dodge Gengar's "Aura Blast," but unfortunately, its subsequent "Crunch" landed in empty space.

However, the missed "Crunch" still came in handy. In order to avoid damage from the move, Gengar and Azure gave up an opportunity to launch a counterattack, giving Drapion a chance to catch its breath.

Seemingly to prevent the Pokémon from becoming more sleepy, Homika chose to switch tactics as soon as Drapion's move missed.

"Come back, Dragon King Scorpion. Then bring in Dust Mountain!"

With a loud bang, a pile of garbage with an unpleasant odor appeared in the arena; it was none other than the Garbage Mountain Pokémon, infamous as stinking mud in the Unova region.

"Hehehe." Azure chuckled and adjusted the corner of her sun hat, simultaneously recalling Gengar.

“Miss Homiga, I’ve seen through your trick.” Azure tossed the Ultra Ball that had been reloaded with Gengar, her face displaying the enigmatic expression that Hugo often wore.

After serving as a detective's assistant for a while, the girl felt that her opponent's tricks were too simple and obvious.

"That electric bass actually has a hidden function. When you play a certain note, Pokémon familiar with the code can execute more tactical actions based on the tone they hear. For example, just now, when you plucked the strings, Drapion made a swallowing motion, probably to temporarily resist the effects of Hypnosis after using the 'Toxic' move. Besides this, how many other sets of codes have you agreed upon with your Pokémon?"

Hearing Azure's words, and realizing that she had discerned his ultimate technique with just one test, the Poison-type Gym Leader was even more astonished than when he first encountered Gengar.

"You saw through my trump card at a glance! And you have such a powerful partner! Just who are you?"

"Just a detective's assistant," the girl announced smugly, while simultaneously taking out another moon sphere and sending out the pink, fairy-like Picoshi—

"Now, that opportunistic method won't work! Piccolo, aim at that guitar-like instrument and use 'Gravity' in the opposite direction."

The pink fairy waved her fingers knowingly, sometimes encountering resistance when controlling the gravity on the enemy Pokémon, but anti-gravity was a piece of cake for a mere musical instrument.

Upon seeing this, Homika immediately hugged the bass tightly. She felt the instrument getting lighter and lighter until she felt as if she were holding a piece of air.

"You think you can stop the bass from making a sound like this?" Holding the seemingly weightless bass, the museum owner laughed in exasperation.

"Music is transmitted through the vibration of strings and air. How much gravity is needed to avoid affecting the timbre and tone? As the best bassist in Unova, you can play the best tune even if you're just holding a wisp of air! You're a complete amateur. Since you've sent out a Fairy-type Pokémon to fight, then let it take Mt. Dust's special move!"

As they were talking, Homiga flicked his fingers, reaching towards a spot familiar to the bass in his hand.

“Picoshi.” Azure suddenly revealed a malicious smile—

"Reverse the direction of gravity! And while you're at it, use 'Psychic Shock' on Dust Mountain."

Piccolo waved his fingers with a mischievous grin.

The white-haired girl's bass suddenly sank, almost falling to the ground. The bass notes that should have been playing became a jumbled mess.

Meanwhile, Dust Mountain, having received neither instructions from its trainer nor the music associated with the move, was momentarily confused and disoriented. It was then struck by Clefairy's follow-up "Psychic Blast" and instantly collapsed unconscious.

Chapter 133 Inquiry in the Backstage Room

Just as Homiga, the gym leader, with a dark expression, placed his beloved bass on the open ground behind him, preparing to switch Pokémon to continue the battle, Hugo finally met his target—the current guitarist who had once served as a breeding consultant at the Liyong Power Plant.

"Aren't you guys going to watch the gym leader's gym battle? I originally thought the band would play some kind of music during the match."

Wearing a slightly worn white suit jacket, Detective Hugo appeared backstage at the underground concert hall, where three band members looked at him with different expressions.

The drummer was surprised, the guitarist looked wary, and the keyboardist seemed somewhat afraid.

"...Our team leader is skilled at using Poison-type Pokémon, and the venue is always a mess after she wreaks havoc...That's why we rushed to hide here."

Surprisingly, it was Martin, the keyboardist who was unusually shy on stage, who was the first to speak. This student-looking musician was exceptionally honest and timidly answered the detective's question.

A deep, muffled voice then rang out—

"And Homiga doesn't like us playing instruments during her competitions, as if it affects her performance or something."

Bald Cook was much more cheerful than he appeared. After finishing his own topic, he immediately launched into a barrage of complaints and questions at the detective, much like a Grass-type Pokémon unleashing its "Seed Machine Gun"—

"Speaking of which, shouldn't we be the ones asking you 'why you hid backstage?' When did you even get in here? Why didn't you stay outside and watch your teammates' matches?"

"Don't you think it's a bit too lonely to go to a performance alone?" Hugo spread his hands, answering quite frankly.

"As you can see, I just entered the backstage area, but I didn't mean to play any pranks. As for the battles in the gym, I'm not particularly interested in Pokémon battles. I was more curious about what was going on here, so I came along."

He's lying.

Hugo's target, the guitarist named Lu, with his long brown hair, which had become somewhat messy during his performance, rudely interrupted the detective's self-introduction.

The woman with a cold expression pointed at the stranger and said to her two companions, "That person is a detective who is here to investigate the Liyong Power Plant incident."

Hugo was momentarily surprised that his profession and purpose had been exposed so quickly. However, after reviewing the people he had met in Liyong City during his trip, he immediately asked, "Did Telt tell you?"

The guitarist crossed his arms and remained noncommittal, seemingly confirming the detective's suspicions.

It is unknown in what circumstances the original trainer met his successor, or how he learned that Telt had met with the detective.

"As expected, intelligence obtained in exchange for a beer always comes with additional risks."

Hugo gave a wry smile and simply took a few steps closer to the crowd.

"Yes, I am a private investigator and I also run an agency. This is my business card."

Hugo never thought that being a detective was a profession that needed to be kept secret. Now that his identity had been suddenly revealed by Miss Lu, the rest was actually easier to handle.

The three of them took the business card from the detective one by one. When they saw the words "Hugo Detective Agency" printed in beautiful serif font, as well as the detailed scope of their cases, the agency's address, and contact information below, they were even more surprised.