Pokémon Detective Case Files.

The traces of the torrential rain a few days ago have completely disappeared. Now, the cold winter wind blows over Liyong City, and countless plumes of smoke stretching into the sky change direction with the wind, but the one belonging to the Liyong Power Plant is no longer among them.

Inside, the hint of bewilderment that had lingered in the green-haired youth's eyes had vanished. He stood tall before the two young girls and the bankrupt businessman, proclaiming his verdict on the old world, as if standing at the very center of the universe—

“Smura and his team did the right thing. Compromise and tolerance can never earn respect.”

The world needs a little noise.

Chapter 158 The Problem

"Smura?"

Azure felt that the name was somewhat familiar, as if she had seen it somewhere before.

Then she remembered that in a corner of the Feather Residence, in the intelligence list compiled by the detective and the Grass Turtle, this name was located near the center.

That old man is the propaganda chief of Team Plasma, responsible for thought control throughout Unova. Many inflammatory incidents are related to him!

Azure couldn't help but jump up from her seat and ask N, who was standing in the middle of the living room, "N, is Group Plasma also involved in this incident?"

The green-haired youth calmly replied, “I know the cult has been sending people to follow my travels. After listening to your account, I began to piece together the cause and effect of the entire explosion and realized a reality—this protest and explosion would never have happened if there had been no external interference. There was deliberate manipulation behind the incident, and as far as I know, the only person who could do this so quietly is one of my seven teachers, Smura, who holds a doctorate in public relations.”

"Aren't you angry? Because of your teacher's actions, seventy-one Pokémon have died. Mr. William's factory has been destroyed, and the energy industry in Liyong City will be set back ten years. Aren't you searching for the culprit behind the explosion? Are you going to give up now that Team Plasma is involved?"

“I understand your feelings. The sacrifice of innocent elves is always a tragedy worthy of weeping and sorrow. But my feelings are now being overwhelmed by a more intense rage,” N said.

"If we recall and think about it for a moment, we will realize that in this industrial city where energy is the mainstay, there were in fact two heinous terrorist crimes."

"One crime was the instigation of suicide by certain individuals driven by paranoia, while the other was the indifferent and almost deliberate oppression and slaughter of another species by the entire human race. The former crime occurred over a few words, while the latter lasted for thousands of years. The former resulted in the deaths of seventy-one Pokémon, while the latter has claimed the lives of tens of millions of Pokémon and left hundreds of millions of Pokémon living in misery. But why are you only angry about that small-scale, short-lived instigation of crime, yet indifferent to the latter's overwhelming discrimination and oppression?"

N Junsu's cheeks were trembling, as if he was desperately trying to suppress the emotions surging within him.

"If this incident was indeed Smura's doing, then his and the Plasma Group's actions are truly outrageous... However, can the death brought by deception and lies in an instant compare to the slow slaughter of hunger, cold insults, cruelty, and grief? Can the death brought by lightning in an instant compare to the slow slaughter of the torture of branding?"

"Of course I know that the Elven liberation movement launched by Team Plasma has left countless atrocities on this land, but... the coffins filled by this brief period of terror could be contained in a single cemetery in a city, yet people keep telling us to tremble and lament over it. But the true terror that has existed since ancient times, that indescribable, inhuman horror, the coffins filled by it... even the entire Unova region cannot contain it! Yet no one tells us to see the sheer scale of this terror, to show it the compassion it deserves!"

Then, disregarding all etiquette, the green-haired youth pointed his long, slender finger at Factory Manager William and said contemptuously—

"Stop being delusional. Your power plant can't possibly bring about real energy reform in Liyong City. I've calculated the production capacity of your factory, and you should know better than me how much of the so-called new energy portion is actually valuable—that leading enterprise that was reduced to ashes in the explosion was nothing more than a castle in the air built on the remaining value of Pokémon."

“Mr. William, your greatest achievement is nothing more than finding a highly efficient way to exploit Pokémon. Pokémon cannot obtain equal rights with humans in factories. You take advantage of their ignorance and kindness, forcing them to work day and night in jobs that harm their physical and mental health! You use the money you gain from exploitation to buy people’s hearts, and rely on the admiration of others to satisfy your own moral fastidiousness, thereby balancing your guilt for ignoring Pokémon!”

Faced with the stern accusations, the middle-aged man remained silent, frozen like a stone statue. If judged solely by the outcome, the young man's words were entirely accurate.

N was about to continue his accusations when Azure interrupted him, the girl trying to defend Mr. William—

"But the factory manager is completely innocent in this incident! He had no intention of harming the Electric-type Pokémons. All his actions were within the bounds of the law. He even provided the Pokémons with treatment above the average level of other factories... You can't just put all the blame for the accident on the factory owner because he chose a controversial production method, can you? On the contrary, if Dr. Smurf really was manipulating everything behind the scenes, then that person should be the murderer who killed seventy-one Pokémon!"

“When I was a child, learning various subjects in the church, my father once told me about a moral dilemma…”

In response to Azur Lane, N did not answer directly, but instead spoke about something unrelated to the incident—

"A train rumbles in the distance, its path branching off onto two tracks. On one side, five children are playing on their designated track, oblivious to the approaching train; on the other, an abandoned railway lies where an innocent child is strolling. You are now in the control room at the fork, and with a single push of a lever, you could change the train's course. The lives of six children rest on your decision… Do you think you should push the lever, sacrificing that innocent child in place of the five?"

“This is a classic moral paradox,” Azure said after thinking for a moment. “There is a difference between positive and negative morality, and different people will make different moral choices. Duty, benefit and other factors are intertwined, so no matter which side you choose, the person who makes the choice will be caught in a knot of conscience.”

They were simply being played by the question setter.

“That’s right, that’s exactly my opinion too.” N nodded emphatically.

"Whether or not you choose to push the lever, there will be sacrifices. The only difference is whether you actively push innocent people to their deaths or watch more lives die before your eyes without doing anything. Both have their own reasons and difficulties. No matter which side the people in the control room choose, we, as outsiders, cannot praise or criticize them. Don't you think this analogy is similar to the social reality we face?"

Azure understood what N meant at that moment, and her expression immediately turned ugly: "Do you think the plasma cluster is the one who pushed the lever in the control room? Those people are the real criminals."

"Law and morality are always products of compromise with reality. Within these shackles, the rights of Pokémon are not protected at all. People like William are endless on this continent and will continue to emerge. If we want to fundamentally change the status quo of this world, we can no longer continue to drift along within the existing framework."

N narrowed his eyes, revealing a glint of green light.

"A surging avalanche can engulf everything in its path, but the source of all disasters lies in the slope that supports these snowdrifts. More than the problem itself, I want to solve the train."

Perhaps in response to the young man's analogy, a cold wind began to blow through the living room, which had been tightly sealed with doors and windows, and the temperature seemed to drop several degrees.

Two black-clad ninja figures suddenly appeared out of thin air beside the green-haired youth.

“Lord N, please forgive our inadequate precautions, which have led you to such a dangerous situation. As you said, this city is beyond saving, and there is no need for you to stay here any longer.”

Amidst the astonished gazes of the other three in the living room, a ninja with a somewhat strangely shaped forehead spoke these words.

"Where is Smura? Where is my protector now?"

N's eyes were indifferent, like those of a true king.

The ninja was stunned for a few seconds, clearly not expecting N to have foreseen this extent, and then quickly said, "That sir failed to update the intelligence in time and is now being pursued by the police. We have already sent one person to rescue him."

"That's settled then. Team Plasma still needs his abilities. Although Smura committed the crime of instigation, it's not time for him to go to jail yet."

N's gaze shifted to a corner of the living room, looking at Douzi who hadn't spoken a word, before she managed a weak smile.

"I'm sorry, Miss Touko, I think it's time for our journey to come to an end. I have found the answer I was looking for on this trip."

"I don't quite understand the profound principles you and Sister Xiaolan are talking about."

The girl with the high ponytail had her eyes hidden in the shadow cast by her baseball cap, and her tone was somewhat heavy.

"However, I really don't like you right now. If we were in the wild, I would teach you a lesson in Pokémon battles."

"I always enjoy my matches against Touko. I hope I'll have another chance to compete against you in the future."

As if recalling his past journey, N smiled gently and walked towards the door.

"Sir, there are still many reporters outside. Won't showing up like this cause unnecessary trouble?" another ninja hesitantly advised.

"When did Team Plasma become so protective of its reputation?" N said nonchalantly, now finally accepting his place as the king of Team Plasma.

"It's just an explosion, isn't it? The best way to resolve this is for Group Plasma to take responsibility for it, and the incident itself is inextricably linked to Smura's own actions."

The young man walked through the entrance hall and stood just one door away from the reporters' cameras and microphones.

"It's time to let the world meet the king of the Plasma Group."

“N, or rather, Mr. King,” William, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke in the living room.

"You once said that I've been using my protection of humans to balance my disregard for Pokémon, and I can't deny that. But right now, aren't you doing the exact opposite?"

N seemed not to hear and opened the door directly.

As the night grew darker, the sound of camera shutters rained down, and the flashes were as bright as day. The young king, like a burning insect throwing himself into the flames in hopes of rebirth, stepped into the white light.

Chapter 159 Even the detective couldn't have foreseen this

Just as chaos was breaking out in front of William's apartment, and reporters were stunned as they watched the strangers emerge from the room, the Liyong City Police Station was also in complete disarray.

Officer Jenny had just restored communication with her subordinates when she received the regrettable news—

The elderly man who infiltrated the police station to cause trouble was met by his accomplices. Despite the efforts of the little fire monkey and the later police officers in the chase, the man still managed to escape.

"I'm not surprised at all by the failure of the arrest operation. If the old man disguised as a police officer was a member of Team Plasma, it would be perfectly normal for someone to be there to meet him. Although we didn't catch the mastermind, the presence of the person who was there to meet him can still provide useful clues. What was he dressed like?"

At the detective in the white coat's prompting, Officer Jenny impatiently waved her hand to shut Hugo up, as this was standard procedure during a police search.

Sure enough, before Sergeant Officer Jenny could give any orders, a report came through the radio, with the officers involved in the manhunt quickly providing the physical characteristics of the enemy's accomplices.

The accomplice's clothing, physique, and the Pokémon Agility Bug he used to escape all matched the ninja involved in the Saitama City Museum sabotage incident.

In the Shippo City incident, the ninjas dressed in the same outfits clearly appeared as the leaders of Team Plasma's operation, so it can be almost directly concluded that this secret infiltration is inseparable from Team Plasma—however, Hugo is a little curious about what kind of self-righteousness led those guys to insist on wearing eye-catching ninja outfits and swaggering around the streets...

However, what truly threw the police into chaos was what happened next.

The officers recovered six Poké Balls from the corridor where the chaos had occurred. Inside were the handheld Pokémon that Smurf had stolen and discarded by Chimchar and the others.

These Pokémon seem to have inherited the meticulous thinking of their owner, Smurf. Surrounded by the police, they all chose to remain cautious and observe, never daring to jump out of the ball, as if they had given up on escaping.

This almost surrender-like approach is actually the safest course of action. Although the police station has devices that can prevent Poké Balls from opening, the police do not have the authority to deploy these Pokémon restraining devices until the identity of the Smurf intruder is confirmed.

Therefore, as long as these Pokémon do not actively jump out of their Poké Balls, they can stay inside and wait for the best opportunity to break out.

However, just as the officers escorting them were taking them to Officer Jenny's office, things took an unexpected turn.

The police officer with the Poké Ball was about to report the new discovery to Officer Jenny, but as he passed the detective in the white coat, the Pokémon that Smurf had left behind suddenly started to move.

One of the Poké Balls containing Gliscor activated on its own, and a giant Gliscor with black wings leaped out of thin air, suddenly charging into the officers' encirclement despite having no advantage in the situation!

This jump triggered a chain reaction. The other Pokémon, who were already on edge, also leaped out of the ball and joined up with the leader, Scorpion King. In their view, Scorpion King would not make a meaningless move, and this proactive attack must be well-founded.

Officer Jenny and the officers, thinking the Pokémon were about to retaliate, quickly pulled out their Poké Balls. However, the Gliscor that emerged was completely stunned. The five Pokémon that followed it out of the ball looked at their leader in confusion, and seeing that he made no move, they looked at the menacing police officers, staring at each other for several seconds.

"Kuwaggle from Kanto, Poliwrath from Hoenn, Mismagius and Gliscor from Sinnoh, and Momonga and Chandelure from Unova... their resumes basically match Smurf's. It seems that the old fox has really taken action in person this time."

Hugo nodded to himself, calmly crossing his arms and deducing the trainer's identity from the Pokémon he was holding, as if the events unfolding on the scene had nothing to do with him.

"Truly worthy of being one of the seven sages of Team Plasma, one can glean his rich experience simply from the types of Pokémon he wields... However, this old man seems to have a particular fondness for Pokémon with a purplish hue. Is it just a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder?"

Regardless of Detective Hugo, who couldn't be considered a combatant, Officer Jenny was the first to recover from the awkward standoff. Before the other party could lash out, she immediately gave orders to her partner who was present at the scene—

"Miss Goth, activate 'Trick Space'!"

Miss Goth, dressed as a waitress in a black dress, bowed and nodded, her eyes emitting a white light. In an instant, the walls of the office were covered with translucent, pixelated glass-like cubes.

Smura's purple team didn't have any particularly slow Pokémon. As soon as she stopped, her speed dropped drastically, and the window that seemed so close suddenly became incredibly far away!

This is the effect of "Trick Space"—creating a bizarre space that alters the rules of speed over a period of time, causing the concepts of "fast" and "slow" to be reversed within the space it covers.

This tactical skill, commonly used in battles among trainers, has now become a shackle restricting these Pokémon from breaking through.

At the critical moment when its speed was restricted, Smurf's Pokémon displayed amazing organizational skills—Weezing deliberately spewed out a thick "smoke," and Gliscor used the "Sandstorm" move indoors, completely disrupting everyone's vision in the office.

Meanwhile, the belatedly aware police officers finally dispatched their own sprites in an attempt to suppress these uncoordinated opponents.

The air in the office had become unbearably stuffy, and the officers were coughing incessantly, barely able to open their eyes, which naturally greatly reduced their ability to command the operation.

However, the police had the advantage of numbers over the weak, and the speed limitation imposed by the "Trick Room" prevented the six rampaging Pokémon from breaking through.

If their trainers were present, they could surely devise a strategy to have Pooppo and Mismagius use Trick Room again to restore their speed to normal. However, Smurf was far away, under the protection of the Dark Trio, and about to face the King's punishment, so it was impossible for them to give commands remotely.

With Hugo thoughtfully withdrawing from the office that had become a battlefield, the officers were finally able to subdue the six Pokémon.

Officer Jenny, unable to bear witnessing the chaotic scene in her office, came out into the hallway after the dust had settled. Seeing the detective stroking his chin, seemingly lost in thought, she couldn't help but complain—

"Although we captured the enemy's Pokémon, we still can't prove the connection between Team Plasma and the explosion. The evidence that the old man used to frame the League was also burned by your Pokémon. Now we have to treat the explosion as an accident as originally stated."

As she brushed the dust off herself, Officer Jenny said to Hugo with some apology.

"That's not necessarily true," the detective said nonchalantly. "In any case, Team Plasma's final plot has failed miserably. I believe it won't be long before the cult itself claims responsibility for the conspiracy. As for that old man..."

Hugo pulled out a piece of paper with writing on it from somewhere.

“The little fire monkey wouldn’t burn evidence so easily. Before burning the file folder, the documents inside had already been transferred to Piplup. It has a layer of blue, cape-like fur on the back of its neck, and folded pieces of paper can be hidden inside it. I just examined this document, and putting aside the veiled content, there seem to be many clear fingerprints on the paper, which are very likely left by the other party carelessly.”

Officer Jenny's eyes lit up: "If we can collect the fingerprints of the person you mentioned, we can formally file a lawsuit against the mastermind for conspiracy and sedition!"

“That makes sense,” the detective nodded.

However, watching the busy police officers coming and going in front of him, Hugo once again fell into deep thought.

He felt that the case should have reached the point of being closed, but there were still many inconsistencies in the incident, and the layout of the plasma clusters alone could not fully explain the strangeness of the matter.

Suddenly, Hugo thought of a question and froze.

"What's wrong, Detective? You don't look well. Are you too tired?" Officer Jenny asked with concern.

It was already quite late, so she naturally assumed that the detective needed to rest.

However, Hugo's expression was more serious than ever before, and he frowned as he asked, "Officer Jenny, can I confirm with you again what the police saw when they arrived at the scene of the explosion?"

"Didn't I already say that?" The sheriff, though puzzled, answered Hugo's question anyway.

"When we arrived at the scene, we saw the corpses of seventy-one Electric-type Pokémon. They were charred black and showed no signs of life, scattered haphazardly around the crater. The scene was a complete mess from the explosion. Fortunately, although the explosion later caused a violent secondary explosion, it did not cause a fire in the bio-powered area, perhaps because there was no fuel or power generation equipment stored in that area..."

Officer Jenny shook her head and said self-deprecatingly, "Now, looking at the evidence suggesting William uses Pokémon self-destruction to generate electricity, there's just so much of it. I really don't understand why we haven't noticed this simple fact before..."

The detective interrupted the other person's reflections and continued to press, "Are there any other circumstances at the scene? I need to reconstruct the most realistic scene in my mind. Use your five senses and memory, and don't omit any details."

"Well... it rained immediately after the explosion, so the search and firefighting operations went relatively smoothly. The fire brigade that accompanied us also rescued a lot of equipment from the factory. On one side was the residual heat of the fire, and on the other side was the refreshing rain. To be honest, exploring the scene was quite a strange feeling."

"Is there anything else?" Hugo asked impatiently.

"And also..." Officer Jenny hesitated for a moment, then shared Douzi's initial impressions when he first arrived at the crater—

"I also think I can smell a foul odor."

Upon hearing these words, Detective Hugo was struck dumb.

Chapter 160 The Final Answer - The Gathering in the Cemetery