Pokémon Detective Case Files.

The taxi driver reluctantly stopped the meter after slowly pulling the car to the side of the road, and Bilan paid the fare with her smartphone.

"Remember to get the detective to reimburse the bill afterwards..." The chestnut-haired girl silently reminded herself as she got out of the taxi.

Not far ahead was the detached apartment building where Factory Manager William lived. At this moment, it was surrounded by a barrage of cameras.

"Why are there still so many reporters today? The bombing happened a long time ago."

Douzi pouted, looking at the crowd gathered in front of the apartment, and complained unhappily.

Azure explained with an expression that seemed perfectly natural—

"The collapse of Li Yong Power Plant is a major event that can shake the social ecology of the entire city. The aftermath is naturally a complex and multifaceted matter. How to compensate the shareholders for their investment in the power plant, which insurance company should share the plant's losses, the subsequent arrangements for the laid-off employees... all sorts of issues need to be addressed one by one, and each of them is a major event that is worthy of making the local news."

"I see. Reporters staking out this place can not only get firsthand information about the factory's aftermath, but also have the opportunity to capture scenes of William meeting with guests!"

Douzi immediately understood the reporters' intentions amidst the crowd.

"How are we supposed to get through the crowd and see the factory manager? That area is surrounded by reporters, so the factory manager shouldn't have any reason to open the door for us..."

N couldn't help but interrupt the two girls' conversation, asking what he considered a crucial question, which resulted in Bilan and Douzi exchanging bewildered glances.

Douzi shook his head with an expression like that of someone looking at a disappointing child, then counted on his fingers and said to the green-haired youth—

"Think about it. We have a Ditto that can freely transform into a human, a Gengar that can walk through walls, and a Zoroark that can create illusions. How do you think we're supposed to get into that house without anyone noticing?"

.

Ten minutes later.

A commotion suddenly broke out among the reporters. It turned out that Mr. William, who had been out, had returned home with three guests in suits.

"When did Factory Manager William go out again?"

Many reporters who were waiting had this question, but they quickly put this feeling of unease behind them.

These reporters aren't like police officers arresting criminals, constantly monitoring the situation without blinking. It's not surprising that they might miss something or make a mistake. Right now, it's more important to listen carefully to what the four people are saying.

Unfortunately, William and his group had no intention of talking at the door. A weekly magazine reporter mustered up the courage to go up and interview him, but was glared at by the former factory manager with a cold look.

"Can you tell who the other three people are?" a young journalist asked his senior colleague. "They seem to be unfamiliar faces I've never seen before in the area."

“Those three people looked too ordinary. From a distance, I vaguely recognized them, as if I'd seen them before, but upon closer inspection, they didn't quite look like them.” The veteran reporter, when asked, frowned. “However, judging from their uniforms, they seemed to be employees of some insurance company, and perhaps they even had their legal counsel with them. They're probably about to start discussing bankruptcy liquidation…”

"Another insurance company? That's hardly news."

The reporter covered his face in disappointment, then suddenly noticed that the Pokémon carrying the camera behind him looked quite shaken.

"Hey? Clay doll, what's wrong with you?"

The Pokémon, resembling a rock doll with its body made of stones of varying shapes and sizes, carrying a camera on its shoulder, trotted over to its trainer and pointed out the scene in the viewfinder.

"Why is it foggy? Our visibility was perfectly fine here... Is there something wrong with the camera? Oh no, I didn't capture anything of the two people behind William!"

Just as the reporter was holding his camera in shock, "Factory Manager William" fumbled around at the door for a while, then successfully opened the door and went inside. The three people behind him followed closely behind.

This means that their newspaper lost its last chance to capture the faces of the three guests.

"Forget it, it's not big news anyway."

The veteran reporter comforted the younger colleague, then took the camera and snapped a few pictures of the surrounding scenery. After confirming that the lens was working properly, he decisively abandoned the story.

He sighed slightly, wondering which media outlet would ultimately benefit from this unprofitable but ultimately worthless opportunity to take a snapshot.

What he didn't know was that just moments before, dozens of different cameras had all malfunctioned at the same time.

In the camera lens, the grayish-white smoke, like a persistent ghost, lingered over the three "insurance employees" dressed in suits.

.

The reporters watched with their own thoughts as "Mr. William" entered the room. The man, who had tried so hard to maintain a serious demeanor, turned into a lump of purplish-red mud the moment he closed the door and disappeared from everyone's sight.

The three people behind Ditto also subtly changed their forms. The unremarkable-looking suited office worker disappeared like mist, revealing the figures of two girls and a green-haired youth.

"Gengar, well done."

Azure whispered to the shadow of the shoe cabinet, using a Poké Ball to retrieve the ghost in the shadow that had sneaked into the room beforehand and opened the door from the inside.

The three intruders made no attempt to conceal the noise of their arrival, which naturally alerted the people inside.

Soon, the middle-aged man, whose disguise was exactly the same as Ditto's, arrived at the entrance. Upon seeing the unfamiliar faces of Azure and the others, his expression immediately turned serious.

"Who are you? What is your purpose in breaking into my home?"

William, the former factory owner, remained relatively calm upon appearing, refraining from any impulsive actions beyond questioning the others. This relieved the assistant.

...Is the equipment all ready?

Recalling Hugo's earlier analogy about evidence and fantasy games, Azure took a deep breath and looked at the person at the center of the explosion incident—William, the plant manager of Liyong Power Plant.

The middle-aged man before me had a haggard look on his resolute face, with unhealthy bloodshot eyes, but he still stood up straight. His beard and hair were neatly groomed, making him a completely different person from the Talter I had met before.

Compared to the great demon king in the game, he is more like the village chief of the beginner village.

Whether it was his willingness to hire Talter, demonstrating his personal charm that earned him the respect of punk guitarists, or his leniency towards the rival engineer Arno, both of these actions indirectly show that William was a good person with ideals, kindness, integrity, and good character.

It was precisely this kind of character that enabled the Liyong Power Plant to completely change the landscape of the city's energy industry in just a few years, but it was also this noble character that made the tragedy of the explosion irreversible...

"We are private investigators investigating the truth behind the explosion, and we're here to confirm some things with you."

Azure spoke in this way, as direct and to the point as a charging bear using "Quick Strike".

"Please leave. I think I have the right to remain silent," the man replied with his eyes closed, as if he had heard the same question countless times before.

N was about to speak, somewhat excited, but was stopped by Touko, who was prepared, and whispered a warning: "Leave this to the professional detectives."

As expected, Azure was not surprised by William's response and immediately replied, "Go ahead and exercise your right to remain silent, but if possible, I hope you can listen to the findings of our investigation that we have now verified."

Perhaps it was because this trio of young men and women was so unusual and audacious that it was hard not to trust them. William didn't immediately kick them out. After shaking his head helplessly, he said nothing more, invited the self-proclaimed detective trio into the living room, and found a seat at the dining table.

"I originally thought the factory owner's house would be more luxurious... but I didn't expect it to be quite ordinary, even less luxurious than the Yuqi Residence, which has never been renovated since it was bought."

Douzi looked around rudely, and then made his comments even more rudely.

However, her words actually relaxed the stiff factory manager somewhat, and William responded proactively, a smile seemingly appearing on his marble-like face—

“This apartment was originally where my wife, daughter, and I lived. We didn’t really like those superficial designs, so we simply went to the furniture store and picked out these furnishings ourselves, which made it more comfortable to live in… However, since the explosion, reporters have been surrounding this place every day, so we have had to live separately.”

"Speaking of the bombing, Mr. William, we already know the true nature of the bombing from the police."

Seeing that the atmosphere had eased slightly, Bilan interrupted the conversation without saying a word—

"The power plant explosion was caused by the Electric-type Pokémon that were originally in the bio-power zone using 'Explosion' en masse. These Pokémon wanted better working conditions, so they threatened you, the plant manager, with a riot. Either you give in to their demands, or they will destroy the factory with 'Explosion'."

Upon hearing this, N pursed his lips with a heavy expression and clenched his fists, while William, the person involved, remained silent once again.

Azure ignored the reactions of others and continued speaking to herself—

"The final outcome of the event is now well known: negotiations broke down, and the demonstrating spirits ultimately fulfilled their promise with their lives. Meanwhile, the power plant, a symbol of innovation and progress, was destroyed in an explosion."

The girl shook her head regretfully and continued, "But there are two suspicious points. First, if it was just a demonstration, why would the elves choose to self-destruct, a method that would endanger themselves? With their power, they had countless other ways to completely destroy the power plant. Why would they needlessly sacrifice their lives?"

Under the factory manager's astonished gaze, Bilan raised her second finger—

"Second, why didn't you accept the Pokémons' suggestion to improve their treatment? Although compromising in this regard would cause you to lose a lot of profits, even the largest investment is insignificant compared to the complete destruction of the factory. If the factory goes bankrupt, all the profits will vanish in an instant. The severity of the two is so disparate that there's no need to weigh them on a scale!"

The chestnut-haired girl grew increasingly agitated: "And frankly speaking, the so-called improved treatment is nothing but an empty promise. Only Pokémon who know nothing about human society would express their opinions in such a clumsy way! You can easily exploit the loopholes in the agreement, pretend to agree to the Pokémon's request, and then release them back into the wild after the incident—that way, your factory can be preserved, and the Electric-type Pokémon won't have to pay the price with their lives!"

Factory manager William lowered his eyes and remained silent for a long time before finally speaking in a hoarse voice: "Did Officer Jenny only tell you the truth about the explosion? Is there anyone else who knows about these things?"

"No way! We conducted our own investigation and discovered the truth!" Douzi blurted out, trying to answer quickly.

Bilan secretly clicked her tongue in amazement. This junior clearly knew nothing about the incident before entering the room, so how could she be so brazen...?

“I see… Then it’s alright to tell you the truth, but I hope this news can stop with you. At least keep it from one more person, no, just half a month. That’s my only request.”

The middle-aged man looked earnestly at Douzi, while the girl with the high ponytail didn't know how to answer, so she could only look pitifully at her little blue sister.

“There’s no need to use the answer to the question as leverage, Mr. William. I already know that kind of thing.”

Azure raised her voice, answering confidently. It was remarkably similar to the detective's declaration at the police station.

"The reason the Pokémon chose 'Big Bang' as a deterrent is because they don't perceive any danger in a mass self-destruction. Since the expansion of the Liyong Power Plant, your factory has been using the enormous energy generated by the self-destruction of Electric-type Pokémon to produce electricity. Those Pokémon themselves have been self-destructing day after day in special devices, so naturally they don't perceive any danger in a simultaneous explosion."

"The reason you didn't grant these Pokémon's request is due to your upright and noble character—in your view, the options of breaking a promise or using tricks to drive these requesting Pokémon out of the factory are nonexistent—just as you determined the engineer who was your enemy to be innocent in the Arno incident in the past, you wouldn't kick someone when they're down simply because she didn't make a mistake. At the time, you witnessed the incident firsthand, and the employee who died lost her life due to her own mistake. Since that's the case, there's no need for you to, and absolutely no way, to hold a grudge against others, otherwise it would violate your principles—the right and wrong of the facts are above all else."

The girl pointed at the man: "Your life, your ideals, your reality are all built on this black-and-white principle. That's why employees of all kinds of personalities will see you as a good person—a colleague, a friend, a mentor, an idol. They attach all sorts of shining labels to you because you are always fair and upright."

"Isn't this kind of personality good? An impartial and good person will naturally get everyone's support, so why would an electric-type Pokémon self-destruct because of it?" Douzi couldn't help but ask.

"Because most Pokémon are simple-minded creatures—especially those like Voltorb and Magnemite that use 'Explosion' to commit suicide. They can't understand what helplessness or bargaining means. While William was giving the Pokémon a long explanation of why he couldn't fulfill their demands, those Pokémon, who had lived in factories for so long and were isolated from the world, lost patience and began their self-destruct countdown with a completely reckless attitude. After all, self-destruction had long been their instinct."

The assistant, who was acting as the detective, sighed regretfully.

"Finally, the reason why the plant manager was unwilling to disclose the truth of the case was quite simple. At a time when Group Plasma was launching the Elf liberation movement, if the practice of making the Elf spontaneously generate electricity were made public, it would immediately be met with condemnation from all sides. As a result, the bankruptcy liquidation of the power plant would be much more difficult, and even the severance pay of the employees would be hard to guarantee; if the production practices of the old factory that were questioned were exposed, those employees who lost their original positions would also be caught in a media storm, making it even more difficult for them to find jobs at other companies—therefore, Plant Manager William had to remain silent no matter what, so that the truth would continue to be buried in the unknown darkness when it should not be revealed."

Chapter 150 The Solution - A Thunderclap in the Dark Room

"The above is the whole truth behind the Liyong City explosion."

In the Liyong City Police Department, Hugo spread his hands toward Sergeant Officer J.J. and delivered his final words.

The detective had discussed the various possibilities of the truth of the case with Bilan beforehand, and after collecting testimonies and evidence, the two naturally came to roughly the same conclusion.

However, at the police station, Hugo's explanations were more roundabout and took a little longer.

After listening to Hugo's speech, Officer Jenny was astonished for a long time before finally unable to hold back her complaints: "Your reasoning is brilliant, logically consistent, and fully explains the existing mysteries... However, the latter part of the reasoning does not follow the three principles you set beforehand at all, does it? These can only be considered inferences derived from inferences. Where did the indestructible logic go?"

Is she more concerned with the plausibility of the reasoning than the case itself? This Officer Jenny seems to be quite the mystery enthusiast...

The detective thoughtfully stroked his chin, but then pointed out directly and without hesitation—

"In detective novels, logically sound reasoning can at most lead to identifying the murderer. As for further motive deduction, although the reasoner can make a rough guess, there is no guarantee that it is the real answer—after all, the human heart is unpredictable, and inferring psychology through behavior is ultimately just looking at flowers through a fog. This is where your police interrogation skills come into play. At least on the level of motive, no matter how airtight the reasoning is, it is not as good as a few words from the real murderer's confession."

“That’s true… but to hear a confession, we need to catch the real culprit first.” Faced with this paradoxical dilemma, Officer Jenny gave a wry smile.

Hugo comforted them, saying, "That's why I suggested you use a more rigorous reasoning approach to the investigation. Even if this theory isn't accepted by most officers, it's still very insightful as a way to expand your thinking when facing difficult cases."

"However, there are still some things I don't understand about the truth of the bombing."

Officer Jenny rallied quickly. As if trying to shake off excess information from her brain, she lightly shook her head, regaining her serious and capable demeanor, and resumed discussing the real-world case with the detective.

"Is it true that William used Electric-type Pokémon to generate electricity spontaneously? According to our police's on-site investigation, the factory power generation area where Electric-type Pokémon usually operate only has devices for collecting electricity. There are no steam boilers or similar equipment that can convert other forms of energy into electricity at the scene."

The policewoman had already spotted the flaws in Hugo's reasoning, and as soon as she got the chance to ask questions, she couldn't wait to interrogate him—

"And isn't that strange? If the factory simply lets the Electro Giant and the others use 'Explosion,' there will be a huge energy loss in converting the Normal-type explosion energy into electricity for the power plant. The final amount of electricity generated should be less than that generated by a normal use of Electric-type moves."

"Officer Officer Jenny, do you know Miss Officer Jenny from Flying Cloud City?" Hugo suddenly brought up a strange topic.

Officer Jenny nodded subconsciously: "She is a very promising junior in the family. We met at a dinner party last weekend."

"Then you must have heard of her signature Pokémon's special moves, right?"

"Hmm...it seems to be Zebra's 'Plasma Bath' combined with 'Screech,' the two skills working together to create a radar-like effect." Officer Jenny recalled, then looked curiously at the detective. "Does this have anything to do with Electric-type Pokémon's self-destruction?"

"The clue is already quite obvious." The detective shook his head, revealing the answer—

"The 'Plasma Bath' move in the Thunder Zebra combo is a group status move that affects a wide area. Whenever a Pokémon uses this move, all nearby Pokémon will enter the Plasma Bath state. For a short time, Normal-type moves will become Electric-type."

"Self-Destruction" and "Big Bang" are both Normal-type moves. They fall within the category of moves that can change type with "Plasma Bath".

Once she understood this, Officer Jenny's expression changed: "If we use this move on Pokémon that are good at self-destruction..."

With a snap of his fingers, the detective nodded and said, "The full power of the explosion will be converted into 100% electrical energy. An Electric-type Pokémon's STAB move, combined with a specially designed terrain and equipment, might even have its power amplified further. Seventy-one Electric-type Pokémon's STAB 'Big Bang'—what devastating electrical power that would be!"

"The cost of such a massive lightning attack is merely to station a few employees to release Pokémon like Eevee and Slugma to use 'Plasma Bath,' and to hire a reliable breeding consultant to prepare the daily meals for Electrode and the others."

Hugo sighed wistfully, then laid out the evidence to prove his theory—

"The trickery of the Liyong Power Plant is not hard to spot. When the power generation area of ​​the plant gathers a large number of Magnemite and Voltorb together, its true intention is obvious - if it just wants to generate electricity in a normal way, why choose these two Pokémon?"

"Furthermore, the safety setup in the factory is very strange. Generally speaking, when a power plant gathers so many Pokémon that can self-destruct, there should be Pokémon with the 'Damp' ability, such as Swampert or Poliwag, around the factory to prevent explosions. Otherwise, it's easy for a chain reaction of Pokémon explosions to occur. Given the size of that factory, they couldn't possibly have been unaware of this fact, yet there's absolutely no explosion-proof system installed. Does this mean there's a reason they had to allow the Pokémon to self-destruct?"

"Furthermore, looking at the history of the Rikyu Power Plant, the factory expansion was a crucial turning point. Before the expansion, Arno, the engineer in charge of the power system design and a Pokémon protector, had a serious conflict with Manager William. From then on, the power plant began to defeat its competitors with cheap and clean energy, establishing itself as Rikyu City's number one energy company at a miraculous speed. It was also during this period that Manager William encouraged the original breeding consultant to pursue his musical dreams and hired Tilter, the best breeder in Rikyu City, to work at the factory at a high salary. What transformed this factory? What drove Arno to rebel? And what led to the replacement of the breeding consultant?"

Seeing Officer Jenny's speechless shock, Hugo quickly added—

"Besides these blatant hints, I also learned another piece of information from a certain mathematical master—the theoretical capacity of all the equipment at the Liyong City Power Plant, when added together, is actually insufficient to reach the number of electricity the plant transmits to the Alliance each year. How did this discrepancy occur?"

Hugo tapped the table lightly with his knuckles, speaking with an air of authority: "All of this points to the same conclusion—from the very first expansion of the Liyong Power Plant, William has been using the Electric-type Pokémon's signature self-destruction to power his own plant, and in doing so, he has achieved a shortcut to victory in the local energy race."

“But I don’t believe Mr. William would do such a thing!” Officer Jenny still harbored doubts—

"William is a well-known moral gentleman, and even your previous reasoning was based on his upright character. How could such a good person treat Pokémon in such an inhumane way? How could he allow Magnemite and the others to power the factory day and night with 'Big Bang'?"

"Ah, that's the capricious nature of the human heart," the detective murmured. "William is indeed a warm-hearted, quite humane, and romantic gentleman who upholds humanism. He is polite, fair, and kind to everyone. But..."