Pokémon Detective Case Files

Chapter 496 That Endless Distance

Chapter 498 That Endless Distance

Officer Jenny certainly wouldn't call her boss in the middle of the night to request an interrogation of important incarcerated criminals at the Raven City Police Department just to verify a detective's offhand deduction.

Moreover, Cresselia has now pointed out the source of this anomaly—these metal plates are clearly of unknown origin and have intricate connections with the plasma cluster, so it is no exaggeration to take them seriously.

"The energy sensing device couldn't detect anything unusual, probably because of Hugo's peculiar constitution. The dream energy that would normally gather and accumulate was silently dissipated during Hugo's daily activities at the Feather Residence."

Meanwhile, Azure's reasoning continues—

"Looking back now, Hugo's Pokémon connection wasn't actually bad. Although we humans often find the various mishaps caused by the Pokémon around Hugo quite amusing, those Pokémon that made mistakes didn't seem to suffer any real harm from being near Hugo. Even when they made mistakes, it didn't seem like their will was being twisted or controlled in some way, but rather that they were too relaxed and careless."

She paused.

"So, we might understand it this way—the reason why Hugo always lets Pokémon make mistakes around him is because he can unconsciously create an atmosphere that makes the Pokémon lower their guard."

"Well, although I feel that the strange things he sometimes causes cannot be explained simply by this theory."

Officer Jenny, recalling the various incidents of being electrocuted by the lightning zebra in the past, subconsciously dusted off the edge of her police uniform. "But—let's just assume that's how it is for now. You mean, these things that are in a dormant state, because of Hugo's presence, haven't accumulated dream energy in their dreams?"

"No," Azure shook her head. "Those nightmarish dream energies didn't disappear into thin air; they were simply 'unblocked.'"

"Unblock?" Officer Jenny tilted her head.

"Don't forget the anomalies we detected on the outskirts of Feiyun City, and the fact that Cresselia sensed this nightmare mutation from afar, far outside Feiyun City. This shows that the dream energy that should have been accumulating in Yuxi Mansion has actually been spread to a much farther place."

Azure paused and flicked the ends of her chestnut hair, as if organizing a more precise metaphor.

"Imagine a sanitation worker cleaning up the garbage. Hugo didn't sweep the dust and garbage into the dustpan and dump it into the trash can; instead, he raised his broom and swept all the bad things outside the house."

"He seems like a very irresponsible guy" — as the officers listened to Azure's explanation, the image of a detective in a white coat, holding cleaning tools, grinning maliciously as he polluted the environment flashed through their minds.

Therefore one

The detective stretched out her hand and pointed to her feet.

"The absence of dream energy accumulation in the Feathered Residence does not mean that these four 'surfboards' are not having nightmares."

"But what kind of nightmares might these 'surfboards' have? Will they sink into the deep sea due to insufficient buoyancy?"

Officer Jenny raised an eyebrow, her tone tinged with amusement as she asked in return.

"Whatever kind of nightmare it is," Azure reminded her earnestly, "these metal plates have finally caught Cresselia's attention. If left unchecked, trouble will inevitably ensue sooner or later."

"You mean we should wake them up?" The officer raised an eyebrow. "After all, the easiest way to destroy Gomeng is to simply wake them up."

"No, no, it's not appropriate to wake them up now. If they cause trouble, the Alliance won't have enough suppressing power." Azure shook her head, recalling the incident with the Aiya Mushroom. "Perhaps, we can borrow Dr. Makomo's dream connection device again."

"Is it a dream about 'entering the surfboard'?" Officer Jenny pondered for a moment. "That doctor should still be on his way here."

"Sir, so these armored vehicles aren't surfboards."

Sera chimed in. Perhaps because of the science fiction movies she'd seen, she felt a pang of sympathy for these potentially deformable metal plates and couldn't help but correct their name.

"We've already determined that they're alive. And, sir, didn't we also get news from Kagome Town yesterday? They said Interpol encountered a strange mechanical Pokémon in Akroma."

"I've heard about that from my relatives too," Officer Jenny nodded, but then added, "However, they didn't keep any video or video footage, so it's hard to say if it's true or not. Besides, the Pokémon they found there were red, right? They're not like these purple metal lumps."

Officer Jenny's gaze returned to Azure.

"Ultimately, these Pokémon are probably similar in nature to artificial Pokémon like Porygon and Mewtwo. Since Team Plasma can mass-produce at least four at a time, they might not be as powerful individually as the latter. By the way..."

The police officer clapped his hands, having come up with a good idea.

"If we isolate one of them for dream connection, then even if the other one temporarily wakes up, the harm should be within a manageable range."

This is indeed a feasible solution. However, seeing Officer Jenny's smug look, Azure fell silent.

She recalled that when Team Mewtwo Rocket, whom they had just mentioned, created it, they probably had a similar confidence that they could "control the risks." However—what happened next, everyone knows.

She swallowed her worries and instead cast her own light toward Cresselia, seeking the opinion of the goddess of dreams on the plan.

However-

She was stunned.

At this very moment, the legendary Pokémon with its iridescent tail feathers was intently drifting toward another corner of the Feathered Residence, its iridescent tail feathers leaving a faint trail of light in the air, completely ignoring the topic they had just been discussing.

"Is it interested in something else in this house?" Officer Jenny's voice immediately became alert. "Could it be—that your firm is really hiding some serious stolen goods?"

"There's no such thing."

Ignoring Azure's protests, the two officers instantly went on alert, no longer caring about the four troublesome "surfboards" on the ground, and their eyes were fixed on the only resident present in the Feather Residence at this moment.

However, not only Officer Jenny and Sera, but even Azure herself, who lived here, was completely baffled.

It might not be her and Hugo; it could be the landlord Douzi or the real estate tycoon who sold the house—but neither of them left anything in the Feather Residence.

"Wait, it seems to be flying upstairs." As the girl pondered, Officer Jenny suddenly nudged the detective's arm, her voice tinged with confusion. "Azure, isn't that where you live now?"

"Then let's go and see," Azure boldly suggested.

She reiterated that apart from Hugo's walking stick, there was nothing dangerous in the Feather Perch residence. This was especially true of her usual sleeping place!

Without any reason to object, everyone had no choice but to leave the heavy purple armor behind and follow the God of Dreams through the corridor and up the stairs.

"No, look in the direction Cresselia is looking."

T

The detective was the first to react.

She noticed that when the legendary Pokémon passed by her bedroom door, it didn't pay any attention to the corner where she usually kept her belongings; its gaze remained fixed on a more distant direction.

It floated lightly past the bedroom door, then casually passed the bookshelf at the end of the corridor, before heading straight for the "balcony." Azure whispered to Officer Jenny and Sera, "It's the second-floor balcony of Feather Residence."

She breathed a sigh of relief. At least it wasn't something wrong with her and Hugo. But then, an even greater sense of confusion washed over her.

"Has something happened outside?"

Officer Jenny followed Cresselia's gaze to the dark night sky outside the balcony. A midnight breeze blew in through the open window, carrying a damp chill.

Before nightfall that day, the three of them had been running around the streets and alleys of Feiyun City all day, and had almost covered every corner where there might be abnormal fluctuations. Although the dream sensing device often issued warnings because it detected inexplicable energy, they did not notice anything strange nearby.

However, Cresselia would never move without a reason.

And sure enough, the Pokémon flew towards the balcony of the Feathered Residence.

Immediately afterward, amidst the frequent exchanges of glances among the three members of Azure, the Crescent Moon Pokémon used "Psychic" to pry open the glass door of the balcony and floated out without hesitation.

Azure and the others had no choice but to bite the bullet and follow.

Outside the balcony, the night view of Feiyun City was as magnificent as ever. Although it was past midnight, the brightly lit high-rise buildings were shoulder to shoulder, and the lit windows were like the sleepless eyes of the city. It was clear that the city center was full of unfortunate people working overtime like detectives and police officers.

In the distance, neon signs forming Poké Balls and various Pokémon designs swayed in the night breeze. The streets nearby were much quieter than during the day; occasionally, a taxi would pass by, its headlights slowly sweeping across the branches of the roadside trees and the low guardrails, as well as the nocturnal scavengers and pickpocket cats, before quickly disappearing around the corner. Inside a ramen shop that was still open, through the steam-blurred glass, several customers could be seen engrossed in eating their noodles. The staff, working alongside the fiery red roly-poly toy, wiped bowls behind the counter. A television hung silently in the corner, broadcasting the late-night news.

However, the god of dreams seemed unmoved by this night scene on earth—or perhaps it had long since become accustomed to it.

Cresselia glanced around once before slowly rising into the sky, the iridescent light on its tail feathers leaving a faint, fleeting trail in the night sky, as if trying to catch up with the real crescent moon.

What is it doing?

Could it be that they've detected some new nightmare anomaly?

Speaking of which, since you, Cresselia, are the God of Dreams, weren't you able to explain to Hugo in your dreams why you came to the Unova? Why are you suddenly so unfathomable when it comes to communicating?

Azure muttered to herself, her gaze following the slowly rising rainbow-colored streak of light. Officer Jenny and Sera also looked up, the three of them standing on the balcony, exchanging glances for a long while.

"ah."

Cresselia's figure grew smaller and smaller in the air, and just as it was about to become a rainbow-colored dot of light, and the detectives and officers were about to lose sight of it, Azure suddenly shuddered and stopped looking around.

"What's wrong?" Officer Jenny looked at the detective with his mouth agape, puzzled.

"It seems like the wind is picking up."

A breeze blew in from the other side of the city, carrying the damp coolness unique to a coastal city night, brushing against the chestnut-haired girl's cheek.

In that instant, Azure felt something indescribable.

It was as if something painful was quietly appearing in the distant distance with this gust of wind.