dmims Chapter 163 What Humans Can Do
Chapter 163 What Humans Can Do
Chapter 173 What Humans Can Do
"As expected, cases where no one dies are the most relaxing and satisfying!"
Watching the police officers from Liyong City busily filling graves and moving empty coffins in the cemetery, Toko, acting as the client's representative, happily remarked to the detective and his assistant.
No matter what kind of death it is, it will leave an unfillable void in reality. No matter how perfectly past cases were solved, once life was involved, there will always be a bitter and sorrowful lingering echo at the end.
Upon learning that all 71 Electric-type Pokémon had survived their severe injuries, the case, which unfolded amidst the explosion and rain, instantly became clear and bright, like a rainbow appearing after the rain.
"Phew, I really want to see N's expression when he finds out the truth."
Thinking back to her friend who had left Liyong City, the girl sighed dramatically, but didn't seem to feel much regret.
She probably knew that N wouldn't change his mind just because the ending was different...
Humans and Pokémon may never fully understand each other, but the bonds built through living together are never meaningless. Even when hindered by misunderstandings, Pokémon that support each other can always find a way to overcome obstacles—the spontaneous actions of the factory workers perfectly illustrate this point.
However, this does not change the nature of the relationship between the two species. In the eyes of that green-haired youth, his ideals obviously cannot be based on such a miraculous coincidence.
“That guy should already know what’s going on here,” Hugo shrugged, making a startling statement.
"During my speech this morning, I spotted a police officer in the crowd whose movements and expressions were extremely stiff. It was obvious at a glance that he was a counterfeit. Based on your previous experiences, that should be Zoroark, the officer you fought against before."
"Zoroark? It infiltrated the cemetery too?" Douzi asked, blinking.
"Calling it infiltration is an understatement; it's more like infiltration. They're probably continuing their investigation in this area to help N figure out the aftermath of the explosion. As for how Zoroark knew the location of the gathering, I guess it secretly followed you and Azure. Speaking of which, the 'Illusion' ability can be really useful sometimes; even if you noticed Zoroark's footsteps, turning around would only reveal a Bug Sac crawling in the grass."
"Ah, that's true. We saw insect treasure packs in the grass on our way here!"
Douzi, a local from United States, exclaimed in surprise, his expression instantly revealing a look of sudden realization—
"I knew something was off! In winter, Bug-type Pokémon usually evolve into Pokémon Cocoons to hibernate, or they'll go into hiding and reduce their outdoor activity. It's not normal to see one in the grass during this season—oh dear, I thought it was the torrential rain from the explosion, but it turns out it was Zoroark in disguise! I've been tricked!"
Hugo hadn't expected his casual analogy to hit the bullseye, and shook his head with a wry smile: "I think your trainers' ability to spot small Pokémon hidden in the grass at a glance is even more impressive."
Is Zoroark still in this area?
Douzi looked around curiously, her hands unconsciously making a kneading motion like an air ball, indicating that she was very impressed by the soft fox face of this Mirage Pokémon.
It feels so silky smooth.
"Before our lunch break, that strange police officer hurriedly left the scene. At Zoroark's speed, it should have reunited with its owner by now. After all, it's a canine Pokémon, and it can find N's trail just by its sense of smell—but I don't think that green-haired youth will change his lofty ideals."
Hugo was unconcerned about the situation on the side of the Plasma King.
A detective is not a teacher; he is neither good at using debate to change other people's extreme ideals, nor does he like to impose his own values on others—he is only good at solving cases or cases when they arise.
The idea that a few words could sway the leader of an evil organization to change his mind is just wishful thinking.
"Hugo, aren't you bad at identifying Pokémon? How come you're so good at dealing with Pokémon like Zoroark and Ditto?"
The girl in the baseball cap, having considered the trivial matter, became curious again without any hesitation.
Logically speaking, it's quite impolite to pry into other people's weaknesses, but that's just Douzi's personality—she says whatever comes to mind. She truly lives up to her reputation as a woman who believes in speaking without thinking...
The detective in the white coat, however, began to explain without a care in the world—
"If Zoroark were to disguise itself as another Pokémon, it wouldn't be easy for me to tell. Although I can identify a Pokémon from its fur and footprints, that's just an encyclopedic memory. I'm neither a Pokémon researcher nor a professional Pokémon trainer, and I'm no better than any ordinary person at distinguishing the subtle differences between Pokémon of the same species... But this time, Zoroark is disguised as a human."
"What's wrong with humans?" Douzi tilted his head, puzzled.
"Man is an incredibly complex being," Victor Hugo said.
“Even the most professional actors will inadvertently reveal flaws that contradict the character's established traits when they play roles other than themselves. Zoroark and the Ditto have a far worse understanding of humans than professional actors, so when they play roles, they often exhibit inconsistencies that are hard to ignore.”
“But Pokémon also have different ecological habits, right?” the girl asked a matter-of-fact question. “Ditto and the others can’t perfectly imitate another Pokémon; they will also reveal flaws.”
“Indeed, I can make simple identifications in this way. For example, I identified Azure Ditto by this method when it first came to Feather Residence. But that was just a coincidence, a flash of inspiration from an amateur, and it is far less accurate and perfect than when identifying humans.”
Hugo cast his gaze toward the distance bathed in the midday sun: "I am a private detective who makes a living by studying human behavior. I can discern a person's identity and profession from the dust on their shoes, and deduce their family situation from the folds in their shirts. In my eyes, those non-humans who have human forms but cannot exhibit corresponding behaviors are particularly conspicuous. The more lifelike their transformations, the more terrifying and glaring their unnaturalness becomes."
"Like those monsters from horror movies coming into reality?" Douzi used an analogy that aligned with his understanding.
"Pretty much. A similar theory seems to be called the 'uncanny valley effect,' but there's no need to elaborate on it here."
"A seemingly real but actually false fear? Hmm, that seems like an interesting subject for a movie..."
Douzi finished the conversation with satisfaction, then suddenly turned his gaze to the side, noticing something—
"By the way, why hasn't Sister Xiaolan said anything?"
The girl with the high ponytail noticed that Azure, who had been silently pondering things since lunchtime, was standing to the side.
She seemed to be pondering something, and occasionally used her phone to search for information online.
"Sister Lan, what are you thinking about? Is there still something suspicious about the explosion?"
Douzi first waved his palm in front of Bilan's eyes, and when there was no reaction, he gently shook his senior's shoulder.
Shaked by her junior, Azure snapped out of her daze. She looked around, and seeing only Hugo and Touko beside her, she relaxed and spoke seriously to the detective—
"Hugo, I feel there are some parts of the reasoning behind Mr. Telt and the Electabuzz's first aid for the elves that don't quite make sense."
"Please speak," the detective replied casually, without a trace of surprise or displeasure on his face, as if he had expected Azure's actions.
"It seems a bit too much to rely on the duo of Talbot and Electivire to save those Electric-type Pokémon."
The detective's assistant frowned and voiced his concerns—
"Seventy-one Pokémon is no small number. The coffins displayed in front of us today are as densely packed as desks in a large classroom. If they were real Pokémon patients, the scale would be enormous. But Electivire managed to pull all seventy-one Pokémon back from the brink of death and bring them all back to life! Not a single one was left behind! Even if Telt is the best breeder in Liyu City, it is still incredible that he could do this."
"But didn't the encyclopedia say so?" Touko thought for a moment and began to argue for the detective's theory—
"An Electabuzz can generate enough electricity for an entire building for a year. If it has that kind of power, it wouldn't be surprising if it could use electroshock therapy on seventy-one Pokémon at the same time, would it?"
"Because of a friend, I have some knowledge about training Electric-type Pokémon to their limits," Azure said, shaking her head.
“Powerful Pokémon like Electivire do indeed possess a large amount of electrical energy within their bodies, but it takes time to release all of that energy. The more properly trained a Pokémon is, the higher the power of the electrical energy it can unleash at the moment of releasing a move. If the instantaneous discharge is insufficient to revitalize a dying Pokémon, the subsequent electrical discharge will be exhausted before it can even save the Pokémon, and adding more electrical energy will be useless—if Telt had Electivire discharge at all the Pokémon present at the same time, the dispersed instantaneous electrical discharge would be completely insufficient to revitalize a dying Pokémon.”
"How about activating them separately? For example, using 'Discharge' to heal the Pokémon in batches?"
"There wasn't enough time. The police would be arriving soon, and there wouldn't be enough time to perform multiple first aid procedures. Besides, Telt testified that he connected the elves together before starting the first aid."
"Hmm... Electivire could use a skill like 'Charge' first, so it can compress more power into its next skill before discharging." Douzi, who was familiar with battles, came up with a good idea and immediately objected.
“That’s exactly what I was thinking about,” Azure said.
"Even if you use 'Charge' in advance, instantly activating all the Pokémon is still extremely difficult. Even top-tier Electric-type trainers can't guarantee success, so it's hard to imagine that trainer Talte could do better. Besides, Talte's stay at the scene isn't long. Officer Jenny will be arriving with her officers soon, and Electivire needs to move those Pokémon, so there won't be enough time for 'Charge' to charge up."
"Ah, this..." Douzi opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything.
“There’s something even more suspicious, and that’s ozone, which Hugo considers the ultimate mystery!” Azure pressed on, her gaze sweeping over Douzi and looking directly at the detective.
"Back in Kanto, I also witnessed the aftermath of an extremely high-intensity electric shock—there was indeed the smell of ozone there, but it was definitely not so strong as to be offensive. A trace amount of ozone would only create a fresh and distinctive odor in the air, and it would disappear immediately with the airflow—but at the scene of the explosion, there was still such a strong odor lingering until the bomb arrived!"
"Thinking about this, I couldn't help but question the truth of the whole case again. Hugo, what exactly was that smell?"
Faced with his assistant's questioning, Hugo nodded in satisfaction: "It's already quite remarkable that you've been able to reason this far. Further solutions are beyond human capabilities."
"What's going on?" Bilan and Douzi asked at the same time.
"Let's get to the conclusion first. The strong smell at the scene is still ozone, it's still that Telt and Electabuzz rescued the elves who had escaped death, and the rescue took place in the short time before the police arrived at the scene—the nature of the case has not changed in essence."
"But that doesn't answer the questions I raised," Azure reminded her.
The shapes match, but there are many suspicious points.
It seems plausible but is actually wrong.
—Like a terrifying trough.
“If only the two partners were providing treatment, it certainly wouldn’t explain the problems you mentioned. However, Telt received assistance during the emergency treatment,” the detective said slowly.
"Help?" Even Douzi was dumbfounded. "At that time, apart from Mr. Telt who specifically ran back to the scene, all the factory workers were outside the factory being called by Manager William. Those colleagues who infiltrated the police station to create the empty coffin trick were also found by Telt afterward. At the time of the explosion, Telt couldn't have received help from anyone else!"
“Human help is useless,” Hugo replied. “The helpers are guys who can ionize high concentrations of ozone with lightning in an instant. I don’t believe there are such powerful trainers hiding in the power plant.”
"Not human..."
"This is just my guess, without any concrete evidence. Maybe it really was Telt and his Electabuzz that unleashed unprecedented energy at that moment—but there is another explanation."
The detective held up one finger, both to represent the number one and to point straight to the sky.
This action serves as both an explanation and a hint; for the detective's assistant, who is just one step away from success, this reminder is clear enough.
Azure's eyes widened slowly as she recalled her past experiences traveling through the Whirlpool Islands—a Zapdos had gone berserk on the sea, and as a top-tier trainer passing by, she had to do everything in her power to stop the commotion…
Once the floodgates of memory were opened, a natural flow of reasoning immediately swept through the girl's mind.
Legendary Pokémon.
Approaching mythology, indistinguishable from phantoms, like hidden legends, spirits roam the world...
They are called "Legendary Pokémon" because there are sighting reports of them in various regions, and it is not surprising that these mythical creatures appear quietly wherever they are.
The girl recalled the scene when she led her main Pokémon to fight Zapdos on the sea of the Whirl Islands.
The enormous bolt of lightning at the time, and the peculiar smell in the air that I only recall now—weren't they foreshadowing the true truth of the explosion?
Before him, Detective Hugo had already opened the mobile version of the Pokédex—
No. 642, Thundurus, the Thunder Pokémon.
This Pokémon flies through the skies of the Unova region, causing thunder and wildfires, and is therefore disliked. It attacks with electric shocks from the spikes on its tail, leaving countless scorched marks in its wake. When it appears in the clouds, it can summon wind and rain, or even storms and lightning strikes. Legend has it that because it stirs the atmosphere, the seasons cycle endlessly…
"On the day the power plant explosion occurred, there was a torrential downpour, which is especially rare for winter..."