Pokémon Detective: Cynthia Forces Me to Adopt a Pokémon

Chapter 6 The Stir-fried Pig Incident

Hugo eventually escaped from the café.

Although Cyndaquil Champion was ruthless and decisive, she still had a conscience and did not order Garchomp to attack her younger brother.

At that moment, the detective, who was in trouble, suddenly stood up, grabbed the back of the chair and flipped out of his seat, breaking free from the encirclement formed by Cyndaquil, Garchomp, and the wall, and ran out of the cafe door, fleeing in a sorry state like a Pokémon with the "Escape" ability.

The blond champion calmly watched this scene without saying a word. He simply picked up the glass of shaved ice, drank it expressionlessly, and then gave the dumbfounded waiter a generous tip.

Cynthia opened the suitcase and looked at the three Pokémon inside.

These are the three Pokémon with the best personalities that she personally selected from the Yamanashi Research Institute. How can she get Hugo to accept them?

The Garchomp tilted its head, completely oblivious to the current situation. After all these years, it still hadn't figured out the subtle dynamic between the siblings...

……

Outside the coffee shop.

After many twists and turns, the detective, having finally shaken off his champion sister's pursuit, was panting in the deep alley.

Just then, my phone vibrated in my pocket, and a melodious yet strange ringtone sounded.

Upon opening the screen, I saw it was a call from the police, Ms. Officer Jenny from the Feiyun City Police Department.

"Hey, cough cough cough... This is Hugo."

"This is Officer Jenny. There's been a murder near Sewer Exit 3. The body was burned beyond recognition, and there are no valuable clues at the scene. Is it convenient for you to come to the scene now? Hello, you sound unwell?"

Hugo glanced quickly at the timetable next to the subway station and replied, "Very convenient, I'll be there in eighteen minutes. I'm panting because I just sprinted out of the house to buy a limited-time discounted ice cream."

"Ice cream? Is it Feiyun Ice Cream? But today isn't Tuesday."

Officer Jenny's voice came through the phone, seemingly distracted by the ice cream.

Due to its popularity, the local specialty Fei Yun ice cream is usually only available on Tuesdays, the day it is supplied. In addition, ice cream shops close in winter, making the already scarce Fei Yun ice cream even more difficult to obtain.

"No, it's just a common variety from street vendors. Do you want me to get one for you?"

Out of politeness, and also to curry favor with his valuable connections at the Feiyun Police Station, Hugo casually asked a question.

"…………"

The policewoman on the other end of the phone was caught in a deep psychological struggle.

After a twenty-second pause, the phone clicked its tongue in frustration: "No need. It wouldn't look good if a policeman was eating ice cream next to a charred corpse."

"I've hesitated for too long!" Hugo thought to himself.

.

Eighteen minutes later, the detective, dressed in a shabby white suit, arrived at the crime scene via the Flying Cloud City subway. He saw Officer Jenny in her beige police uniform from the Unova region, and the charred corpse inside the cordon.

"There was also an injured leopard here, which was also injured by the fire, but it was only a minor injury and has been sent to the Pokémon Center for treatment."

Stepping away from her colleagues who were gathering evidence, Officer Jenny explained the case to the detective who was putting on white rubber gloves.

Ms. Officer Jenny is a senior police officer at the Feiyun City Police Department. She usually handles public security cases, but for some reason, she is here today to oversee a murder scene.

"There have been an unusually large number of clashes in the city today, and the police department is unable to spare any personnel."

Officer Jenny noticed Hugo's confusion and kindly offered to explain.

"Forced duels, retaliatory battles, capture rights disputes, the use of powerful moves in public places... Feiyun City has become increasingly chaotic lately, with trainers often fighting over trivial matters."

The policewoman shrugged and continued explaining the current situation.

"At first, we only heard that there was a vicious Pokémon battle here. When we arrived at the scene, we found that someone had died. The investigators haven't arrived yet. The identity of the deceased is unknown, and the murderer is likely on the run, so we thought we'd have you come and assist with the investigation of the scene."

Officer Jenny's decision was very wise, and the detective who was invited nodded in agreement, while looking around.

The crime scene was near the sewer entrance, surrounded by wasteland, with obvious signs of fire in the vicinity.

A charred male corpse lay sprawled in front of the stairwell entrance, its body completely blackened. On the ground in front of the body were claw marks, craters from an impact, and fan-shaped scorch marks from a Pokémon's fire breath.

Hugo looked at the body again, his gaze lingering on the deceased's face for a moment, and asked Officer Jenny, "Creation after death?"

The policewoman nodded: "There were no claw-like changes at the corners of the eyes, and the eyelashes were charred inside and out, which is a very obvious case of post-mortem cremation."

Before being burned to death, a person will close their eyes tightly, which will cause claw-like folds to appear at the outer corner of the eye. Similarly, the charring of the tips and roots of the eyelashes will also show obvious differences. There were no abnormalities at the outer corners of the eyes of this corpse, and the eyelashes were charred evenly from the outside to the inside, indicating that the eyes of the deceased were in a relaxed state when they were burned. Therefore, the person must have been murdered and then burned.

How was the body discovered?

"Two hours ago, the police station received a report from a public phone booth, saying that they had witnessed an overly intense Pokémon battle. A thug and a college student were battling with Leopard and Piglet respectively. The college student seemed a bit agitated and instructed Piglet to attack the trainer directly. The person who reported the incident felt something was wrong, moved away from the scene, and then called the police."

Officer Jenny brushed her short, dark green hair under her police cap, recalling the moment she received the call.

"The person who reported the crime did not give their name or identity. Although their tone was urgent, they were not very panicked, so they were probably not involved in the murder case," she added.

“Two hours…that’s enough time for the killer to escape to any corner of Feiyun City…” The detective pondered for a moment, then asked, “Apart from the leopard that was taken away, is everything at the scene still as it was?”

"Yes. However, no personal belongings were left at the scene, so the identity of the deceased cannot be confirmed at the moment. Moreover, the forensic doctor has not yet arrived at the scene, so the cause of death cannot be determined. The current direction of the search is to temporarily trust the emergency call and conduct a city-wide manhunt for the college student trainer who was carrying the fried pork. We must not let him escape to another place."

The detective remained noncommittal, cautiously crouching down in front of the corpse. The charred remains before him were less like a corpse and more like a human-shaped lump of charcoal. Not only were fingerprints and palm prints unrecognizable, but even the clothes were burned beyond recognition.

"Haven't the police's on-site investigation team arrived yet?"

"Still on our way here. The police station didn't expect a murder to happen... Hey, Hugo!"

Officer Jenny suddenly realized that Hugo, who was talking to her, had disappeared.

Looking down, I saw the detective bracing himself against the ground with his gloved hands, actually lying down in front of the corpse.

With his face almost pressed against the corpse, the detective snorted deeply.

Before Officer Jenny could reprimand him further, Hugo had already gotten up again, dusted off the dust on his trousers, and a look of pleasure, like that of someone who had discovered prey, appeared on his face.

Seeing the detective seemingly savoring the smell of the corpse, the policewoman sighed, "Now I know why your white suit is always so shabby."

"This isn't the time to worry about what you're wearing. Listen, this isn't some accidental mistake during a battle—"

Hugo stared into the eyes of the senior police officer in front of him.

"It was a murder."

.

"This is the third trash can we've seen along the way. Are you going to empty it out and check it again? What exactly is this thing that the killer insisted on throwing away?"

Officer Jenny helplessly crossed her arms and watched the detective's performance. Behind her, two trash cans on the roadside had already fallen victim to the detective's cruelty.

Hugo had just taken off his gloves and was touching his cleanly shaved chin as he carefully examined the metal trash can in front of him.

Following the direction of the sewer outlet, the trash cans along this road are located at the junction of wasteland and residential area. The killer couldn't have fled to the inaccessible outskirts of the city, if the deduction is correct…

"Officer Jenny," the detective called out to the policewoman, pointing to the end of the alley. "What do you think of this bucket?"

"What do you mean, how?" Officer Jenny was completely confused. She began to regret leaving the scene with the detective. She searched the streets for trash cans. Were they tattered bags that fed on garbage?

"First, it's broad daylight, and the trash can should be in use, but the lid is tightly closed; second, although this area is remote, there are sanitation workers who come to clean, yet there's some scattered wet garbage next to this trash can, with undried water stains on it. These issues weren't present in the first two trash cans we checked..."

"This trash can has been rummaged through!" Officer Jenny realized.

“Smart. Remember to test the fingerprints on the handle of the bucket lid later,” the detective instructed. “But the murderer is on the run now, so allow me to be a little rough.”

He put his new gloves back on, handed the round lid that was tightly covering the top of the trash can to Officer Jenny beside him, and then grabbed the side handle of the trash can without any hesitation and flipped it over completely!

Various kinds of household garbage were scattered all over the ground, emitting a stench that made people turn pale.

"……what!"

This was the third time she had witnessed this scene, but Officer Jenny still instinctively turned her head away from the stench. However, when her peripheral vision caught sight of an object rolling out with the dumping garbage, she choked on her words and exclaimed in shock.

Avoiding the surrounding trash, the detective carefully picked up the object—

A red and white Pokémon Poké Ball, just like the one in Cynthia's suitcase at the coffee shop.

"It's Fried Pig! The Pokémon that killed the victim. It seems that college student deliberately discarded it to destroy evidence!"

Officer Jenny, with her sharp eyes, immediately recognized the Pokémon inside the ball and shared her guess with Hugo.

"The Fried Pig is currently unconscious, likely due to exhaustion after the battle... The case is basically clear: the Fried Pig lost control during the battle, killed the victim, and then burned the body. The college student, out of fear, abandoned his Pokémon while on the run, especially since it had killed someone."

"Completely wrong!"

Hugo put the Poké Ball into the evidence bag and tossed it to Officer Jenny without ceremony, interrupting her flawed reasoning.

"The one who killed the man wasn't Fried Pig, and the one who burned the body wasn't Fried Pig either."

The detective bent down again and picked up something that had fallen from the trash can along with the Poké Ball—a rectangular water bottle.

Unscrew the cap, Hugo sniffed the opening, and revealed an expression of certainty.

"It wasn't a Pokémon move that burned the corpse—"

With the bottle opening facing down, a few drops of yellow, transparent, viscous liquid slowly dripped down.

"It's actually burning gasoline."