Pokémon Detective: Cynthia Forces Me to Adopt a Pokémon

Chapter 22 The Broken-Winged Eagle in the Deep Alley

Eevee's unusual behavior caught the attention of the two girls.

“That alley is a dead end,” Douzi, who knew Feiyun City like the back of his hand, said. “It’s usually deserted, and there isn’t a single shop in it.”

Azure asked her accompanying Pokémon, "Eevee, has it sensed something?"

Little Ibu nodded frantically, then ran off into the alley in the distance without looking back.

"Douzi, you stay here, I'll go check on the situation."

Having picked up this habit from who knows where, Azure pressed down hard on the brim of her white round hat and quickly caught up with Eevee's trail without a second thought.

Douzi and Yanwu Wang were left staring at each other in front of the magnificent gate of the battle company.

"We seem to be being treated as a burden..."

Douzi reluctantly picked up the milk tea that had been placed on the windowsill and drank it in a self-destructive manner, as if he had swallowed all the bitterness of being abandoned and all his previous boastful words.

"Although I really want to go along and see what's going on, I feel that if I let Little Blue go alone, something more interesting might happen. Yes, my director's intuition tells me that the girl from Pallet Town will encounter trials in the alleys of Cloud City, and thus embark on her journey to become a famous detective in the Pokémon world... Let's stay here and wait, the doubles match is about to start in half an hour."

"Roar..." Emboar looked at its heavy legs with regret, seemingly thinking that Azure and Eevee had abandoned it because they didn't believe in its speed.

Meanwhile, Azure and Eevee arrived at the dead end that exuded an unusual aura.

The alley is nestled between towering buildings, surrounded by high-rise residential towers. It lacks sunlight and is filled with dust. Correspondingly, the glass elevators of the residential buildings facing the alley entrance are covered in dust, exuding a sense of old age and abandonment.

Because it's a dead end, the entire alley resembles a dumping ground for the waste of nearby residents. It's littered with discarded appliances, rusty bicycles, and the remains of broken battle items, Poké Balls, and other consumables. Along the alley's streets, old newspapers and plastic scraps are piled up like small mountains.

At this moment, surrounded by a mountain of trash, is a severely injured Pokémon.

It was a warrior eagle with reddish-brown coverts. Its three white crest feathers, which should have been a symbol of its strength and courage, were now stained and disheveled with blood.

Its legs, covered in dark blue feathers, showed signs of horrific fractures. Its chest heaved violently, accompanied by labored breathing sounds like an old blower. With each breath, bright red blood gushed from its beak.

It was less a serious injury and more a near-death experience.

Azure immediately dialed the Pokémon Center's emergency number on her phone and stepped forward to treat the wound.

Just then—

"Yahahahah!!"

A piercing scream, like glass scraping against glass, rang out at the alley entrance.

Azure turned her head and saw a terrified child.

The boy was about preschool age, wearing ill-fitting loose clothes. His tender face was contorted with fear. At this moment, he was trembling with fear, pointing his index finger at Bilan as if pointing a finger at a criminal.

"You killed Eagle!"

The child's small throat produced a loud volume that seemed disproportionate to his size. "Eagle" was probably the child's nickname for the fallen warrior eagle.

Because of the urgency of the situation, Azure did not rush to argue, but instead continued to squat down next to Warrior Eagle as planned, skillfully treating Warrior Eagle's wounds with the bandages and medicine in her backpack.

"It seems being a trainer can be quite useful in some situations," the super trainer from Pallet Town thought to himself with a self-deprecating smile, looking at the high-grade healing potion in his hand.

While bandaging her wound, Azure held her phone between her shoulder and ear, communicating with the doctor at the Pokémon Center.

"The injured Pokémon is in the alley opposite the Feiyun Battle Company... yes, the dead end. The injured Pokémon is a Braviary, suffering a severe physical attack to the head and multiple fractures... The Pokémon has lost a lot of blood, and I am performing initial bandaging. Please prepare for a blood transfusion in the ambulance..."

"Bad guy! Don't hurt Yingying!"

The boy behind her clearly didn't understand what was going on. He thought that Azure was the culprit who caused the Warrior Eagle's injury, and he even waved his little fists, trying to drive away the older girl in front of him.

"Buyi!"

Without Azure's command, Eevee took the initiative to protect the boy, keeping the aggressive boy out of the alley.

Eevee lived up to Miss Douzi's earlier praise, using its agility and abundant strength to defeat the human cubs one after another.

The little boy was extremely anxious as Ibrahimovic stopped him, and when he saw the Warrior Eagle lying motionless in a pool of blood, he was even more heartbroken.

And so he began to cry even more loudly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Having done everything she could, Bilan stood up again, calmly looked around, and finally fixed her gaze on the child who was standing there crying loudly.

After wiping the blood from her wounds with the remaining bandages, she approached the little boy and asked in a gentle voice, "Is this warrior eagle yours?"

Upon hearing the question, seemingly sensing that the older sister in front of him meant no harm, the boy stopped crying and gradually calmed down. Looking at the solemn-faced Bilan, he nodded and then shook his head.

"Is it a spirit of your family?" Azure asked again.

This time, the boy nodded without hesitation.

"Why do you think I'm the one who hurt it?" Azure's words contained neither anger nor any intention to defend herself; she simply wanted to know the truth.

“I…I’ve been watching this area the whole time. Before that…no one entered the alley.”

"So how did the Warriors' Hawks get into the alley?"

"Eagle... flew in," the little boy stammered, rubbing his red and swollen eyes.

Where are your family members?

"No."

"Have you gotten separated?"

The child nodded.

Azure quickly sketched out the scene in her mind: the child and the adult got separated, and the parents sent a brave eagle with the ability to fly to find them. In the process, the brave eagle flew into an alley for some reason and encountered an accident or attack in a dead end, resulting in the current tragic situation.

So what exactly caused the Warriors' Hawks to be injured? What exactly happened in the alley?

The only eyewitness was the child in front of her, so Xiao Lan continued to ask, "When did you get here?"

"Just now."

"When did the Warriors Eagles enter the alley?"

"Just now."

When did you start observing the alleyways?

"...Just now...just now."

"You're lying." Sensing something amiss, Bilan didn't hesitate to expose the child's lie. "You've been observing the alley for a while now, haven't you?"

The child lowered his head and did not answer. This is a sign of tacit agreement.

Did you know the Warrior Eagles would come?

"I don't know," the little boy quickly shook his head.

"Then why are you monitoring this alley? Is there anything special about it?"

"Nothing special, just a bit boring, so I'm watching," the little boy said, rubbing his fingers together. Azure thought he was telling the truth this time.

She speculated that, probably because he had gotten separated from his parents, the child had been waiting for them across the alley. With nothing to do, he began to observe the entire neighborhood, including the alleyway leading to this dead end.

Bilan continued, "During the time you were observing the alley, was there anything unusual happening in it?"

The boy shook his head frantically.

A young girl who has just arrived in the Unova region is confused: why did the brave eagle who flew alone into the deep alley meet with misfortune?

Could it be the work of a Pokémon hidden in the garbage dump?

As the girl fell into thought, Eevee, after looking around, jumped back in front of Azure, pointed with its little paw at the garbage heap in the street, and then shook its head.

Azure understood her partner's meaning: there were no wild Pokémon in the deep alley!

Azure's confusion deepened—was this just a simple accident?

Just then, a woman dressed in casual home clothes rushed into the alley like a gust of wind; she appeared to be the boy's parent.

The woman was breathing heavily, her face clearly unmade-up, and her anxiety was palpable.

She saw the dying eagle behind the azure figure, and then she saw the boy with red, swollen eyes. Upon seeing her, the boy excitedly shouted, "Mommy! The eagle..."

Just when Azure thought she was about to be suspected again, an unbelievable scene unfolded—

Snapped!

The mother's response to the boy was a resounding slap that showed no mercy.