Pokémon Detective Case Files

Chapter 18 The Real Criminal

"Is that detective putting on a brave face like a Snorlax?" The turn of events was too bizarre for Azure to bear, prompting her to question. 🌷🐙 ♪♟

"That's not the case. Detective Hugo solved the whole case brilliantly in the end," said the junior, Touko, wagging his index finger like a Pokopf, speaking in a profound and enigmatic manner.

Bilan rested her arms on the table, pressed her index finger to her head, and pondered for a long time. Finally, she gave up and had no choice but to ask the girl in front of her, "I really don't know what's going on. Please tell me."

"Hehe, let me tell you!"

Despite not being a detective who solves cases, the girl with the high ponytail was quite smug. She finished the remaining fruit tea in her cup in one gulp and continued to recount the incident.

It turns out that after forfeiting the commission, the detective immediately turned his attention to investigating his employer. And what he did uncovered was astonishing information.

"What is it?" Azure's curiosity was piqued, and she leaned forward, eagerly awaiting Douzi's next words.

"The Pokémon favored by that wealthy man was actually a Salamence from the Hoenn region!"

Luckily, Sister Xiaolan wasn't drinking coffee at that moment, otherwise she would have definitely spat out her drink.

"I was so sure the Pokémon that this rich guy was kidnapped was some small and cute Pokémon like Babydoll or Bonzap... I never expected it to be Salamence, which is known for its violent temperament..." she said, speechless.

"Isn't it amazing? By slightly concealing information from an event, such a dramatic effect can be achieved. In some novels, this seems to be called a 'narrative trick,' which is a word game that the narrator deliberately plays by exploiting the blind spots of the information recipient."

Douzi showed off the terms he had learned from who-knows-where, feeling pleased with himself for having tricked Sister Xiaolan.

However, under the latter's glare, she finally added, "This trick didn't just fool you, Xiao Lan. In fact, the information the detective initially received, and the events I first heard when I entered the rich man's house, were all described in the same way as before."

"Did that wealthy man deliberately withhold information?"

"That's exactly right. The detective gradually discovered clues during the investigation, which is why he deliberately admitted defeat and gave up the commission fee, so that he could begin investigating the wealthy man himself with an innocent and neutral identity."

"So that's how it is..."

Just like the twists and turns of the case, Bilan's opinion of the detective gradually reversed. The image of the man carrying a fire extinguisher walking out of the room in her memory seemed more composed and dashing than before.

"What happened next was even more impressive. Just a few days later, the detective pieced together all the intelligence he had gathered. At that country villa, he first pulled out several copies of airline travel itineraries and questioned the wealthy man about why he had gone to Hoenn so many times. He then took out a voice recorder containing the statements of staff from the bodyguard company the wealthy man had previously hired—the people in the recording admitted that the wealthy man's purpose in going to Hoenn was to poach a certain large Pokémon."

"Poaching!" Azure was shocked by the newly revealed information. "Is the poacher's target that Salamence?"

"That's right." Douzi snapped his fingers dramatically. "It turns out the rich man didn't actually capture Salamence. Instead, he kept it as a collectible, caged in a huge, dark room in a villa. He later admitted that he believed no interior decoration could compare to having a living, incredibly powerful Dragon-type Pokémon, so he took his bodyguards to Hoenn to capture one and kept it in a magnificent cage to admire every day. 🍭💜 ➅❾𝐒卄Ｕx.Č𝐎𝔪 🐜★"

Azure recalled the deeds of Team Rocket's henchmen who had wreaked havoc in Kanto in the past, and couldn't help but utter two words of comment in anger: "Scum."

Douzi nodded in empathy and continued the story: "Then the detective began his deduction in front of the rich man and me, and the scene was exactly like the deduction sequence in the climax of a crime movie!"

"The rich man didn't kick you out?"

"Of course, but I secretly went back to that conference room." Douzi chuckled.

Azure took a deep breath, deciding to refrain from criticizing her junior's behavior for the time being, and pressed on, "What did the detective say at the time?"

"The detective said that he actually knew the whole story from the very beginning of the case—from the moment he saw the first extortion letter."

The real story is this: A young man living near the villa where a rich man kept Salamence witnessed the rich man's evil deeds of imprisoning and keeping Salamence. After the rich man left the villa, he secretly sneaked into the rich man's house, found the key to the Salamence's cage, and released the Pokémon.

The dragon, now free, smashed through the window and flew into the distance, leaving the rich man forever.

At this point, this commendable act of bravery should have come to an end. However, the young man who had let the Flying Dragon go looked at the wealthy man's lavishly decorated villa and a wicked thought arose in his mind.

He found paper and pen in the rich man's study, wrote down the contents of the extortion letter, and left the note in the now empty cage that housed the Wyvern.

The detective stated at the time, "The first threatening letter demanded only one million dollars. This amount might be a huge sum for ordinary people, but it's a drop in the ocean for a real estate tycoon like him. A skilled kidnapper wouldn't act without knowing the target's financial situation. Therefore, it can be concluded that the person who wrote the extortion letter was a novice kidnapper, and the entire crime may have been committed on a whim."

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The detective also said that he later subtly probed the wealthy man under the guise of chatting, and eventually became convinced that the wealthy man, as the client, was actually hiding something. The reason he hired a detective instead of the police was because he was afraid that his poaching crime would be exposed.

So here's the question: What can happen between a complete novice in the kidnapping world and a Pokémon that's been poached?

Even at this point, Hugo was still unsure, because he didn't know if the other party, as a trainer, was strong enough to forcibly take away a Salamence.

"So that's how the day came about the detective monitoring the bench?" Azure asked.

"That's right. The detective said he didn't actually miss the moment the suitcase disappeared. The moment the Pokémon's little paw, using 'Dig,' emerged from the ground, the detective identified the Pokémon—it was just an ordinary Krookodile. Therefore, the person who wrote the threatening letter must be a complete novice."

Douzi, who aspires to be a director, tells a story that is magnificent and full of ups and downs, and you can almost see the detective himself speaking eloquently.

"It's impossible for a trainer with this Crocodile to kidnap a poached Pokémon," the detective instantly concluded. "In that case, the one who let the rich man's Pokémon go isn't really a bad person, and it seems like a good direction to let the rich man who was actually involved in the poaching crime suffer a little."

"So the detective just let the millionaire's million be taken by the kidnappers?" Azure's eyes widened in disbelief.

"This is another reason why the detective insisted on returning the commission fee given by the rich man. As Detective Hugo once said: What a detective should do is not just solve cases, but when and how to solve them."

"So what did the detective mean when he said at the beginning that 'the real criminal has been punished'?" Azure thought of a detail and cautiously asked her junior.

"Just as you guessed, the real criminals aren't the young people who wrote the extortion letters, but rather the real estate tycoons who committed the crime of poaching wild Pokémon!"

Azure finally understood Touko's assessment of the detective and couldn't help but sigh, "Looking at it this way, that detective does seem somewhat reliable..."

"Then, when the young man sent the extortion letter for the second time, the detective realized that the time had come for him to really take action. It was clear that the intimidator had not appreciated the detective's mercy and had become even more greedy. If he continued to let him enjoy the fruits of his labor at this point, it would be tantamount to letting an originally kind young man walk down the path of crime."

"Therefore, he sought an audience with the wealthy man, confessed what had happened, and hoped to use the wealthy man to properly punish the young man. Presumably, at that time, the detective used the fact that he had reported the wealthy man for poaching as leverage to blackmail him, right?" Azure speculated.

"As expected of Sister Xiao Lan, that's just how she is!" Douzi said admiringly.

"You've said 'As expected of Little Blue Sister' countless times today." Azure smiled wryly, then looked out the window at the Feather Residence. Was that the place where she would be staying? Thinking of the detective's story, she couldn't help but look forward to her future life in the Unova region.

I guess it won't be boring?