Pokémon Detective Case Files.

"That's because the secrecy policy has been quite effective. As a result, the police department is divided into two groups: one group believes that maintaining the status quo is better, while the other believes that the investigation should continue. Just as the two groups were arguing, officials from the alliance expressed their opinion—Liyong City is in a critical period of energy supply, and it would be best to put the case on hold for a while longer."

"That's exactly the kind of tactic politicians always use... He probably wants to drag out the investigation until after his term ends, right?"

"Because I am hesitant due to the divisions within the police department, I am also not qualified to comment on the opinions of the League officials. Moreover, from a purely security perspective, I do not want news of a Pokémon riot to appear in the eyes of the public, as that would seriously tear apart the trust between humans and Pokémon."

"Wasn't that trust already torn apart the moment those Electric-type Pokémon decided to self-destruct?"

The detective spoke sarcastically, seemingly expressing some dissatisfaction with Officer Jenny and the Alliance officials' passive approach to the investigation.

“That’s beyond my control.” Officer Jenny shook her head helplessly, then glared at Hugo with displeasure.

"So, Mr. Detective, since you yourself have arbitrarily raised the difficulty of the reasoning, claiming to doubt everything, yet unwilling to continue collecting more evidence in a high-profile manner—under these two inexplicable constraints, what kind of answer can you provide?"

Chapter 147: Lecture Notes on Later Detective Problems

"In mystery novels that pursue unexpected twists, the solutions often falter and collapse as information is updated, which is far removed from the logical reasoning sought by perfectionists. But I want to prove that although there are no perfect mystery novels in the world, there are perfect deductions."

The detective begins like this.

"Blind men touching an elephant might stumble upon the truth by chance, but the 'perfection' I'm referring to doesn't just mean the cheap concept of 'correctness' that's readily available, but rather a more rigorous, elegant, and even perpetually accurate methodology."

Hugo delivered his speech with unbridled confidence, his outstretched hand waving in the air like a pointer, drawing Officer Jenny's attention.

“The difficult cases laid out before us are like locked treasure chests. While you are all busy rummaging through the trash in the room looking for the key, I only need to take out an ordinary wire, move the teeth in the keyhole in sequence, and the chest will obediently open automatically, revealing the truth inside.”

"Then let's start by unpacking the box related to the bombing, Detective."

Officer Jenny urged impatiently—

"In addition to your investigations, I will provide you with all the details that the police already know, but all of this is contingent on the existence of the master key you speak of, and not just some big-mouthed fraudster."

The reason this high-ranking woman in the police department patiently sat there listening to Hugo's nonsense like a student was partly because she admired the detective's achievement in exposing the Aqua Team, but more importantly, she was also helpless to uncover the truth behind the Liyong Power Plant explosion.

Why are the Electric-type Pokémon staging a demonstration? In terms of the treatment of Pokémon, William's factory is well above the city's average standard. The Electric-type Pokémon have no reason to target the Liyong Power Plant like this. Is there some kind of conspiracy behind this?

What happened between the Electric-type Pokémon and William the Factory Manager during their negotiations? Why did the former ultimately choose to self-destruct, while the latter remains silent to this day? If it were a normal failed negotiation, William should have reported it to the police as usual.

Judging from the factory manager's past reputation and his initiative to contact the police immediately after the "kidnapping," William is an upright and rational factory operator. What made this normal person do such a strange thing?

What did his phone call with Arnault signify? No one knows the content of their conversation, but the minute-long call was undeniably recorded in William's phone call log.

Officer Jenny knew far more than the nine clues the detective had listed. In addition to having an intimate knowledge of the local area, she also possessed social information on all the employees who had escaped from the factory and their whereabouts, as well as a roster of energy companies hostile to the Li Yong Power Plant, and surveillance footage from several important intersections near the crime scene.

However, the various complex clues intertwined and the sense of strangeness they converged did not lead to a decisive conclusion; the accidental occurrence of the accidental event remains the most reasonable explanation at present.

As Hugo said earlier, the truth did not surface as more clues appeared; instead, it was buried even deeper.

"That's why I said you made a mistake right from the start of your investigation."

This time, Hugo was impatient.

“The first step in solving a case is to identify the victim. Officer Jenny, you've even missed such a basic step, let alone the subsequent investigation.”

Under the sheriff's astonished gaze, the detective continued—

"You've been mistakenly treating Manager William and his power plant as the victims of the incident, which is a fundamental error. The seventy-one Electric-type Pokémon that died in the explosion were not the still-living capitalist boss."

“Isn’t this just a difference in perspective?” Officer Jenny couldn’t help but argue. “In the trial, anyone who suffers losses in a case can be considered a victim. From this perspective, the police’s thinking is not wrong.”

Hugo shook his finger: "William's factory was really the victim? Once you accept that, your reasoning goes astray. After that, no matter how much you doubt the factory manager's actions, you can't escape the premise that his factory was completely destroyed and suffered serious losses."

"The first rule for solving late-stage detective problems: only death is irreversible."

The detective, with his legs crossed, said confidently, "I'm not saying there's no room for faking a corpse, but rather that once death occurs, it cannot be repeated. In this modern society where miracles have vanished, the miracle of Ho-Oh reviving the Pokémon burning under the tower hundreds of years ago is impossible to replicate. Therefore, even a detective who doubts everything can only treat the victim's death as an undeniable reality."

"Is it really necessary to be this rigorous?" Officer Jenny was still puzzled. "Using death itself as the basis of reasoning..."

“Anyone who isn’t dead is likely to lie,” Hugo said coldly. “In the end, is the information William gave to the police necessarily true? I recently heard someone say that William colluded with other power companies in Liyong City to exploit the elves, defraud them using clean energy policies, and then used an explosion to cover up the crime.”

"That's impossible." The sheriff pondered for a moment, then immediately realized what kind of trick this was, and gave a wry smile—

"Putting aside the fact that those factory owners wish they could tear William apart alive for cutting off their source of income, the clean energy subsidies allocated by the alliance are not even a fraction of the actual turnover of the factories. How could those factory owners possibly make such a fuss over such a small amount of money?"

"The method of eliminating possibilities is still wrong. You are still relying on evidence obtained by chance to make inferences, which is not logically sound. The factory owners may just be putting on a show to deceive the police, and the subsidies may also be used by those ruthless capitalists in all sorts of ways."

The detective, being overly critical, pointed out: "To understand the logical origins of the case, we can't focus on the details; we must start with the victim's death—what kind of Pokémon corpses did the police find at the explosion site? How many kinds were there? What was the condition of the corpses?"

“It’s a combination of two species, Voltorb and Magnemite. The bodies are charred black and show no signs of life,” Officer Jenny said without hesitation.

"And there are photos from the scene..."

Just as Officer Jenny was about to open her police tablet, the detective stopped her—

"There's no need to provide further proof. Since we're working together to deduce the case, there's no need to doubt each other. Although I will conduct a rigorous analysis of the evidence you present to investigate whether it could have been forged, I will not question the evidence itself."

"This is the second rule for solving later detective problems—evidence of interaction with the detective must actually exist. Just as death is irreversible, the fact that an object exists cannot be easily shaken. Even if it is deliberately destroyed, traces of its existence will remain."

"Is there something after death...?"

Officer Jenny seemed to be desperately trying to digest these profound and unfathomable concepts; rather than solving a case, the two of them were more like studying philosophical questions.

Hugo clapped his hands: "That's it. Based on the evidence of the body that you personally confirmed, Officer Jenny, we have verified that the victim is indeed dead."

"Your reasoning is really impressive..."

"But the logic it establishes is unshakeable. No matter what new clues emerge, it is impossible for a single misstep to ruin all the previous reasoning. The inferences and solutions we put forward based on this logical chain can never be overturned. Moreover, if you follow this path of reasoning to the end, you will find that by advancing steadily step by step, you can reach the truth sooner and faster."

"Next, I will introduce the third and final detective principle to you. This principle can connect evidence and clues like gravity pulls stars and chemical bonds connect atoms, ultimately forming the standard answer that we usually call the solution."

"You're not suggesting that only scientifically unbreakable laws, like equations and physical laws, are worthy of belief, are you? While some Pokémon's abilities can temporarily distort the rules, in the long run, those eternally existing laws of nature cannot be faked."

Upon hearing Hugo mention stars and atoms, Officer Jenny's thoughts also opened up, and she asked uncertainly.

A crisp snap of fingers immediately echoed throughout the office—

"Congratulations on learning how to answer first!"

Chapter 148 Resolution – The Liyong Power Plant Explosion Incident

"Compared to scientific rigor, this rule actually emphasizes the application of the scientific spirit, in other words, the supremacy of experimentation. Logical reasoning that can be repeatedly verified and is supported by a complete theoretical system of knowledge is the only reliable approach."

Hugo continued rambling on about whether it was a mystery novel or a real-life case.

In fact, his and Officer Jenny's discussion on "false evidence" and "false solutions" in reasoning has transcended the realm of reality and genre fiction, almost degenerating into philosophical empty talk. Even for readers who are somewhat interested in detective novels, it is too profound and boring.

No one knows why Hugo used such a roundabout way to analyze the case with Officer Jenny, and it's almost a miracle that Officer Jenny was able to follow the detective's train of thought for so long.

Miss Goth, who was standing guard by the door, even secretly yawned.

After finishing his explanation, the detective began to analyze the specific details of the case, nodding and shaking his head.

He pointed to the corner of his desk and said calmly—

"Regarding this case of the mass deaths of Electric-type Pokémon, there is one detail we need to confirm first: Is the location where the Pokémon died really the same bio-power generation area of ​​the factory where the bodies were found? It is not difficult to determine this. Anyone who has investigated the scene should be able to provide evidence that complies with the rules."

"Hmm, do you mean physical evidence that can be reproduced and cannot be forged?"

Officer Jenny closed her eyes, recalling her detective's reasoning notes, then opened them; the answer was already on her lips—

“I’ve come up with some evidence: in the crater created by the explosion, the ground beneath the Pokémon’s corpses showed fewer signs of blast damage. This is a fact that cannot be faked in a short time and should prove that the Pokémon was at the center of the explosion.”

Hugo shook his head and denied it, saying, "The evidence is not wrong, but the logic of the proof is somewhat weak, because killing Pokémon and moving their bodies to the explosion site can also create the same effect."

Seeing the sheriff's furrowed brow, the detective proudly displayed his reasoning logic—

"As explained in Rule Three, scientific theories are trustworthy. I wonder if the Sheriff is familiar with the principles behind the resistance residue found on Pokémon corpses?"

"You mean that new forensic discovery that uses the sentry mouse curve?" Officer Jenny seemed to have some strange way of remembering the detective's paper.

"When Pokémon are alive, they spontaneously develop resistance to external impacts, and when facing moves, they will spontaneously develop different levels of resistance depending on the type of the move."

As Hugo spoke, he took out his phone, opened several pictures in his album, and displayed them to Officer Jenny.

These are the images captured by the detectives and their assistants while they were investigating the explosion site.

"These are the ground marks I found while investigating the crime scene. The site had been washed away by rain and had been initially cleaned by the police, but the uneven surfaces near the explosion crater still show traces. These shallow, relatively clean areas are probably where the elves originally lay dead, right?"

Seeing Officer Jenny nod, Hugo scrolled to the next image, which showed a pile of shattered mechanical devices, their metal surfaces blackened and twisted, their internal structures completely burned out.

"This is the horrific state of the non-biological matrix left at the scene; even something as hard as steel has been reduced to this state. Based on the comparison method, we can imagine that if the scene had contained the corpses of Pokémon that had already died and lost most of their type resistances, those soft biological matrixes would have been completely defenseless against this level of explosion, turning into dark shadows on the ground. The police would not even have been able to clean up the scene as perfectly as they have now."

"Yes. When the police processed the Pokémon's bodies, although they had lost all signs of life, they still looked as they did when they were alive. This certainly proves that they were killed at the epicenter of the explosion."

Officer Jenny nodded, recalling yet another piece of evidence supporting the detective's reasoning. So, once the key points are grasped, logical clues really do emerge one after another, like mudfish after a rain?

"Very good. Next, let's analyze whether these Electric-type Pokémon died by suicide, homicide, or accident."

Hugo's fingertip moved a step on the table—

"To an ordinary investigator, whether the Pokémon collectively used 'Explosion' and were killed by an attack from their own comrades after exhausting themselves; died from an explosion in a factory; or were killed by pre-planted explosives in an external attack—all these deaths are caused by violent explosive injuries, and their bodies would bear scorch marks from flames, making it impossible to determine the true cause of death from an autopsy. Continuing to reason while the cause of death of the Pokémon is still unknown leads to logical divergences, resulting in different and ambiguous solutions—leaving gaps in the reasoning that can be refuted."

“But if that’s the case, with Director William exercising his right to remain silent, the existing intelligence won’t be enough to determine their true cause of death. Not to mention your rigorous reasoning,” Officer Jenny couldn’t help but say.

“No, in fact, it is possible to distinguish them,” the detective said, raising his index finger. “It uses the resistance principle I just mentioned.”

The power plant contains five Pokémon: Magnemite, Magneton, Exploding Magneton, Voltorb, and Electrode.

The first three are composite properties of electricity and steel, while the latter two are purely electrical...

Hugo asked meaningfully, "Officer Officer, when the police moved the Pokémon away from the scene, did they notice that the ground beneath the Magnemite was in a much more intact state than other areas?"

"If that's the case, it does seem so..." Officer Jenny desperately tried to recall the scene of the entire department mobilizing to move the bodies.

"Don't rely on such vague memories to make inferences," Hugo reminded the other person, turning to the next page of the photo album.

"This is an aerial photo of the scene. Because it was buried by the collapsed roof, there are no other traces visible except for the outline of the explosion's epicenter. But if we mark the shallow platforms that were found on the map, we can see the clear distinctions..."

"Arranged in a dot matrix pattern!" Officer Jenny exclaimed, her mouth agape in surprise. "This is different from what we saw on site! The Pokémon we saw were scattered haphazardly around the pit!"

“Now our reasoning is proving useful.” The detective in the white coat spread his palms, staring intently into Officer Jenny’s eyes. “Do you believe the logic behind our reasoning, or do you believe your own eyes?”

"If it were a murder or an accidental explosion, the impact from a specific direction would have thrown the Pokémon away from their original positions, making it impossible to leave such a neat array of dots—only when they lined up and used 'Big Bang' simultaneously, with the power of their moves balancing each other, could the scene shown in this photo have been created."

"So it was suicide! That matches the testimony given by Factory Manager William!"

Officer Jenny added excitedly, "The factory manager wasn't lying. It was the demonstrating elves who chose to blow up the factory with a suicide attack, which led to this tragedy."

She had considered this possibility before, but the accumulation of too many answers and doubts buried the answer that was about to emerge in the endless discussion.

But then she became confused again—

"But why did these Pokémon choose such an extreme method? If they felt oppressed working in the factory, why not just leave? Even if they were dissatisfied with the work environment, losing their lives would mean the end of everything! No matter how extreme the Pokémon are, they would never express their demands by self-destructing. And why did Factory Manager William, who had previously reported to the police that some Pokémon were about to self-destruct, remain silent after the incident? Given William's noble and upright character, this is completely illogical."

Hugo slowly shook his head: "The answer actually ends here. The elves did die by suicide during the demonstration, but the murderer who forced them to commit suicide was the noble and upright character of the factory manager you mentioned."

Chapter 149 The Solution – Epitaph for the Noble

Where am I?

N struggled to lift his eyelids and found himself in a dark, narrow space.

Being unconscious is not a pleasant experience, especially when he finds himself waking up in a side-lying position, sitting in a very uncomfortable way on a hard leather chair.

"N, you're awake."

A relaxed voice came from beside him. The green-haired youth looked up, and the first thing he saw was Zoroark's distorted face—

The phantom spirit that had been by her side before its evolution was now being held and vigorously rubbed by a girl with a high ponytail wearing a baseball cap. Its fluffy black fox face and dark red mane were constantly changing into various shapes in the girl's hands, like dough.

There's no need to probe its thoughts; just by seeing Zoroark's resentful eyes, N could already sense the Dark-type Pokémon's anger that it dared not express.

Meanwhile, the king of the Plasma Group was already aware of his predicament. Looking past the figure of Douzi sitting beside him, he could see the scenery rushing past the window—he was inside a car.

"Where are we going?" N asked, glancing at the front of the car.

The detective assistant, who seemed to be named Azure, was sitting in the passenger seat, talking to the driver, seemingly giving directions.

"Factory Manager William's house. Didn't you want to uncover the truth behind the explosion? The exciting case-solving episode is about to begin!"

Not long ago, he had been confronting his friend, but now he looked excited and triumphantly announced the solving of the case, a statement usually reserved for the second half of a mystery drama. At the same time, he continued to playfully play with Zoroark's face.

Does it really feel that comfortable?

In the complete chaos of not knowing the situation, the first thing that came to N's mind was this question.

.

"We've arrived."

Upon arriving at a certain location, Azure reminded the two people in the back seat in a clear voice, then turned to the driver—

"Yes, it's this street corner. We can stop here. The road ahead is packed with media reporters and their vehicles, so we plan to walk there."