Pokémon Detective Case Files

Chapter 159 The Solution - A Thunderclap in the Dark Room

Chapter 160 The Solution - A Thunderclap in the Dark Room

"That's the whole truth behind the Liyong City explosion. ♘♞ ➅➈ş𝐇𝔲𝓧.ⒸＯм 🍮🎄"

In the Liyong City Police Department, Hugo spread his hands toward Sergeant Officer J.J. and delivered his final words.

The detective had discussed the various possibilities of the truth of the case with Bilan beforehand, and after collecting testimonies and evidence, the two naturally came to roughly the same conclusion.

However, at the police station, Hugo's explanations were more roundabout and took a little longer.

After listening to Hugo's speech, Officer Jenny remained astonished for a long time before finally unable to resist criticizing him: "Your reasoning is brilliant, logically consistent, and fully explains the existing mysteries... However, the latter part of the reasoning completely deviates from the three principles you established earlier, doesn't it? These are merely inferences derived from inferences; where did the unbreakable logic go?"

Is she more concerned with the plausibility of the reasoning than the case itself? This Officer Jenny seems to be quite the mystery enthusiast...

The detective thoughtfully stroked his chin, but then pointed out directly and without hesitation—

"In detective novels, logically sound reasoning can at most lead to identifying the murderer. As for further motive deduction, while the reasoner can offer a rough guess, there's no guarantee that it's the real answer—after all, the human heart is unpredictable, and inferring psychology through behavior is ultimately just seeing through a fog. This is where your police interrogation skills come into play. At least on the level of motive, no matter how airtight the reasoning, it can't compare to the few words spoken by the real murderer in his confession."

"That's true... but to hear a confession, we need to catch the real culprit first." Faced with this paradoxical dilemma, Officer Jenny gave a wry smile.

Hugo comforted him, saying, "That's why I suggested you use a more rigorous reasoning approach to the investigation. Even if this theory isn't accepted by most police officers, it's still very insightful as a way to expand your thinking when facing difficult cases."

"However, there are still some things I don't understand about the truth of the bombing."

Officer Jenny rallied quickly. As if trying to shake off excess information from her brain, she lightly shook her head, regaining her serious and capable demeanor, and resumed discussing the real-world case with the detective.

"Is it true that William used Electric-type Pokémon to generate electricity spontaneously? According to our police investigation at the scene, the factory power generation area where Electric-type Pokémon usually operate only has devices for collecting electricity. There are no steam boilers or similar devices that can convert other forms of energy into electricity at the scene."

The policewoman had already spotted the flaws in Hugo's reasoning, and as soon as she got the chance to ask questions, she couldn't wait to interrogate him—

"And isn't that strange? If the factory simply lets the Voltorb and the others use 'Explosion,' there will be a huge energy loss in converting the energy of a Normal-type explosion into electricity for the power plant. The final amount of electricity generated should be less than that generated by a normal use of Electric-type moves."

"Officer Officer Jenny, do you know Miss Officer Jenny from Flying Cloud City?" Hugo suddenly brought up a strange topic.

Officer Jenny nodded subconsciously: "She is a very promising junior in the family. We met at a dinner party last weekend."

"Then you must have heard of her signature Pokémon's special move, right?"

"Hmm...it seems to be Zebra's 'Plasma Bath' combined with 'Screech,' the two skills working together to create a radar-like effect." Officer Jenny recalled, then looked curiously at the detective. "Is this related to the self-destruction of Electric-type Pokémon?"

"The clue is already quite obvious." The detective shook his head, revealing the answer—

"The 'Plasma Bath' move in the Zephyr combo is a group status move that affects a wide area. Whenever a Pokémon uses this move, all Pokémon around it will enter the Plasma Bath state. For a short time, Normal-type moves will become Electric-type."

"Self-Destruction" and "Big Bang" are both Normal-type moves. They fall within the category of moves that can change type with "Plasma Bath".

Having grasped this point, Officer Jenny's expression changed: "If we use this move on Pokémon that are good at self-destruction..."

With a snap of his fingers, the detective nodded and said, "The full power of the explosion will be converted into 100% electrical energy. Electric-type Pokémon's STAB moves, combined with a specially designed terrain and items, might even have their power amplified further. Seventy-one Electric-type Pokémon's STAB 'Big Bang'—what devastating electrical power that would be!"

"The cost of such a massive lightning attack is merely to station a few employees to release Pokémon like Eelza and Sceptile to use 'Plasma Bath,' and to hire a reliable breeding consultant to prepare the daily meals for Electrode and the others."

Hugo sighed wistfully, then laid out the evidence to prove his theory—

"The trickery of the Liyong Power Plant is not hard to spot. When the power generation area of ​​the plant gathers a large number of Magnemite and Voltorb together, its true intention is already obvious - if it just wants to generate electricity in a normal way, why choose these two Pokémon in particular?"

"Furthermore, the safety setup in the factory is very strange. Generally speaking, when a power plant gathers so many Pokémon that can self-destruct, there should be Pokémon with the 'Damp' ability, such as Swampert or Poliwag, around the factory to prevent explosions. Otherwise, it's easy for a chain reaction of Pokémon explosions to occur. Given the size of that factory, they couldn't possibly have been unaware of this fact, yet there's absolutely no explosion-proof system installed. Does this mean there's a reason why they had to let the Pokémon self-destruct?"

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"Furthermore, looking at the history of the Riyong Power Plant, the factory expansion was a crucial turning point. Before the expansion, Arno, the engineer in charge of the power system design and a Pokémon protector, had a serious conflict with Manager William. From then on, the power plant began to defeat its competitors with cheap and clean energy, establishing itself as Riyong City's number one energy company at a miraculous speed. It was also during this period that Manager William encouraged the original breeding consultant to pursue his musical dreams and hired Tilter, the best breeder in Riyong City, to work at the factory at a high salary. What transformed this factory? What drove Arno to rebel? And what led to the replacement of the breeding consultant?"

Seeing Officer Jenny's speechless shock, Hugo quickly added—

"Besides these blatant hints, I also learned another piece of information from a certain mathematical master—the theoretical capacity of all the equipment at the Liyong City Power Plant, when added together, actually cannot reach the number of electricity the plant transmits to the Alliance each year. How did this discrepancy occur?"

Hugo tapped the table lightly with his knuckles, speaking with an air of authority: "All of this points to the same conclusion—from the very first expansion of the Liyong Power Plant, William has been using the Electric-type Pokémon's signature self-destruction to power his own plant, thereby achieving a shortcut to victory in the local energy race."

"But I don't believe Mr. William would do such a thing!" Officer Jenny still harbored doubts—

"William is a well-known moral gentleman, and even your previous reasoning was based on his upright character. How could such a good person treat Pokémon in such an inhumane way? How could he allow Magnemite and the others to provide power to the factory day and night using 'Big Bang'?"

"Ah, that's the capricious nature of the human heart," the detective murmured. "William is indeed a warm-hearted, very humane gentleman, a staunch advocate of humanistic romanticism. He's polite, fair, and kind to everyone. But..."

Hugo's voice gradually turned cold, so much so that Officer Jenny and Miss Goethe both shivered.

He just said—

"Don't forget, Pokémon aren't human."