novel-bin Chapter 222 This is my calling
Chapter 222 This is my calling
The world is the world, without black or white, without appearance or reality—Hugo did not think that his view of the world was any different from that of ordinary people.
If there's anything different, it's that Miss Joey, who's currently glaring at him, has an expression that's a bit too fierce...
This is understandable, given that Hugo brought over fifty heavily injured patients to the hospital, further exacerbating the already strained bed occupancy rate at the Pokémon Center in Fuyuki City. Naturally, Nurse Joy, who had arrived with the ambulance convoy to work overtime, wasn't going to give him a very friendly look.
"Head Nurse, you don't have to be so pessimistic."
In the ambulance's medical room, Hugo deduced the nurse's rank from the style of her cap. Facing the unfriendly-looking nurse, the detective carefully laid out the facts, attempting to comfort her.
"These trainers should be transferred to regular hospitals for treatment. Even if some patients are assigned to Pokémon Centers for treatment, the number will not be too large. It will not affect the normal operation of Pokémon Centers."
Joey sighed, shook his head with an expression that said, "Looks like you don't understand anything," and replied to the detective in black—
“As someone who has worked in Fuyuki City for over a decade, I’ve met almost every Pokémon Trainer in Fuyuki City, but you’re a complete stranger. No wonder you don’t know the inside story. In fact, most of the patients you’ve brought here are renowned Trainers in the local battle arena, including several elite Trainers with the potential to collect all the Gym Badges.”
She pointed to the trainers lying side by side on stretchers inside the vehicle. Although they had been defeated by Yorgus's Landorus, they were still elite trainers qualified to challenge Ardek, and it was only natural that they were somewhat well-known in Blowtree City.
"Since these trainers themselves have fallen into such a miserable state, their Pokémon must have suffered the same fate and are probably already unable to battle. And now there are fifty trainers lying in ambulances, which means that the Pokémon Center has to prepare to receive at least three hundred injured Pokémon at the same time... Sigh, just imagining that scene makes my stomach cramp."
"Then your stomach pain was for nothing," the detective considerately reminded the head nurse. "The Pokémon Center won't be crowded with dying Pokémon, at least not today. None of these injured trainers have a single Poké Ball on them because all their Pokémon were taken by the attackers."
"what?"
“I’ve already explained the details to the hospital over the emergency call, but your subordinates probably forgot to tell you,” Hugo explained patiently.
"As far as I know, the one who attacked these trainers was an executive from Team Plasma, and his subordinates were in charge of cleaning up the mess. Those guys are unusually obsessed with freeing Pokémon, so after defeating these trainers, they wanted to take those Pokémon to the wilderness to release them—or rather, their goal was to release those Pokémon, and defeating the trainers who were their owners was just a side task."
"Team Plasma? They're going to take the injured, dying Pokémon back into the wild? Are they just letting the Pokémon die there?"
Head Nurse Joey raised her eyebrows and couldn't help but raise her voice, as if she was about to explode.
"Not necessarily. Judging from past cases, that organization has done a decent job in this regard." Having already conducted thorough research, Hugo shook his head and answered truthfully.
"Before releasing them, the members of Team Plasma will use items like healing potions to restore the Pokémon's stamina, so there will be no malicious releases. The release sites are also categorized according to the Pokémon's type and ecology. Generally, they are open areas with few natural enemies and abundant food and water, which can basically ensure that the Pokémon can live a self-sufficient life."
"No, even that won't work. Pokémon injuries can't be healed by just applying some high-grade medicine. Otherwise, what's the point of having our Pokémon Center?"
Miss Joey calmed down a little, but still shook her head firmly in rebuttal.
"Strained muscles need to be treated, worn-out joints need to be maintained, and displaced fractures must be treated promptly, not to mention the wounds caused by other Pokémon moves. Those areas need to be treated one by one with the right remedy—what kind of idea is it to just apply some medicine and release them back into the wild? This is not liberating Pokémon, it's simply killing lives!"
The other party's statement is actually somewhat exaggerated. This is perhaps a stubborn belief that only medical workers who take protecting patients as their responsibility would insist on.
Using convenient medicine instead of medical treatment isn't a mistake only Team Plasma makes. After all, Pokémon Centers aren't everywhere, and many League Trainers treat Pokémon injuries this way during their travels.
In fact, while the medicine is not as good as the treatment in a professional hospital, it is enough for the Pokémon to recover from their injuries on their journey. Pokémon are creatures with extremely strong regenerative abilities. Otherwise, wouldn't those wild Pokémon that were knocked unconscious by their trainers in the grass be in even worse shape without any human treatment?
However, Hugo did not voice his rebuttal, because doing so would make him appear to be defending the Plasma Group's atrocities, and being misunderstood would be a terrible mishap.
"Anyway, I've already informed the local police station about the specifics. I sent them a bunch of photos of trainers lying on the scene. Even the most oblivious officers should start taking this seriously now. If those Team Plasma members in charge of cleaning up the mess are just minor characters, I believe they'll be able to recover those Pokémon in a few days."
"Really..." Joey breathed a sigh of relief, then looked at the detective with some skepticism.
"Speaking of which, why did all those trainers gather at the foot of the Tower of Heaven? So many powerful trainers were defeated, how did you manage to escape?"
"It seems the Unova League was going to hold some kind of event at the Tower of Heaven, and Team Plasma came out to cause trouble after hearing about it, and casually knocked out the trainers gathered nearby," Hugo explained, half-jokingly.
“I arrived at the scene after the attack, which is why I escaped it. Because of my profession, I was able to deduce the general outline of the incident from the traces at the scene, and while waiting for the ambulance, I even chatted with some weird guy who had wandered in.”
"Was it that green-haired guy? I saw him. He seemed to ask you for something at the end."
"It's a professional habit, I guess. I'll take on any suitable case." Hugo casually took out a small box of business cards from his pocket and slowly opened it.
"What's your profession?" Joey asked curiously.
"A detective who specializes in solving mysteries and troubles."
With a flick of the fingertip, a piece of cardboard fell out of the box.
Yuqi Residence, Feiyun City, Hugo Detective Agency. The detective's signature leans against the corner of the business card, the font being a serious and elegant Gothic style.
Joey took the business card, looked it over, and suddenly seemed to understand something: "In that case, I'll give you a commission as well."
"What a prosperous day! Please tell me, I can handle almost anything within the scope of detective work. Or would you like to see the price list first?"
"All I can offer in return is pocket money and free medical skills, but the requests are quite simple." The head nurse had a brilliant idea on her face—
"Please help us find the Pokémon that Team Plasma stole."