Pokémon Detective: Cynthia Forces Me to Adopt a Pokémon

Chapter 65 Martial Arts Detective in the Melee

As long as you're in the Pokémon world, you can't escape Pokémon battles—Hugo had long understood this old saying, whose origins are unknown.

Today, he is no longer annoyed by unexpected and sudden battles.

"I was so stupid, so incredibly stupid. I shouldn't have let my guard down just because I was investigating a case in the city center and had police protection..."

While reminiscing about the metal cane in the shoe cabinet by the entrance of the Feathered Residence, Hugo rummaged through the guard room, searching for a suitable weapon. He paid no heed to the astonished look of the old man beside him, who seemed to have seen a ghost.

Meanwhile, the detective also turned on his phone, dialed Officer Jenny's number, and put it on the table with the speakerphone on.

"Hugo, listen to me, your Pokémon did a great job this time! Corsola was about to jump out the window to escape, but your Chimchar and the others stepped forward and subdued the enemy first!"

Officer Jenny's somewhat excited voice reached the detective's ears, but Hugo found it noisy. He patiently waited until Officer Jenny's incessant praise subsided before speaking in a calm tone—

"Officer Jenny, listen to me. There are six young men suspected of being the perpetrators right in front of the main entrance on the first floor. Our forces can't hold them off for long. Have you and Azure gotten on the elevator yet?"

Silence fell on the other end of the phone, followed by a bright blue voice: "Hugo, all the elevators in the building are on the ground floor, and for some reason they're taking a very long time to come up..."

The detective glanced in the direction the group of six had come from and immediately understood what was going on: "This is a trick those prisoners are using to buy time. They've pressed every floor button in the elevator. Azure, don't take the elevator now, run down the emergency exit quickly, I'll see if I can stall them for a while."

"it is good."

The assistant's answer was concise and clear, and then she added, "We will try to contact Officer Jenny's superiors to send someone to assist us when we go downstairs."

"Hugo, are you crazy? You don't have a single Pokémon on you, and there are six people on the other side! Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Officer Jenny was far less composed than the detective duo, and her huge roar seemed to shatter eardrums.

However, the detective ignored it, reached out his arm, tapped the screen with his fingertip, and hung up the phone.

The apartment manager, who overheard the entire conversation, stared wide-eyed, his eyeballs almost popping out of their deep sockets. His old face was long and drawn, as if he had never been so surprised in his life.

The old man's voice was severely distorted, all traces of his previous cunning and composure gone. He shouted at Hugo, "You mean those people are... are murderers?! They killed Greta? Those six young men?"

"They didn't kill anyone themselves, but they are definitely dangerous individuals."

As Hugo was speaking absentmindedly, his eyes suddenly lit up. A blunt, entirely red weapon stood quietly in a corner of the duty room, emitting a faint, matte sheen.

"What a handy attack tool!"

Hugo immediately picked up the dry powder fire extinguisher from the corner and placed it on the table in front of the old man with a dull thud.

"The size and weight are just right, and the pressure gauge is showing normal readings. You're quite competent as the apartment manager; at least your fire safety awareness is excellent." The detective even nodded approvingly at the manager.

"Kid, are you really planning to go head-to-head with those guys outside? The person on your phone seems to have said you didn't bring any Pokémon, right?" the apartment manager asked the detective nervously.

Hugo fiddled with the heavy fire extinguisher, feeling the weight of the blunt weapon in his hand, while nodding to the gaunt old man—

“We have no choice but to do this. Once that group rushes out of the building, they will immediately split up and run away. It will be very difficult to catch them all then. Look, the young man who is in charge has already started arguing with the police officer who doesn't know what's going on. A fight is about to break out. Sir, could you go to the back door and call the other officer over there?”

Seeing that he had been assigned an easy task, the administrator nodded hurriedly, got up and ran towards the side door away from the center of the storm, waving to Hayok to follow him.

However, the old dog did not move. It stared intently at the six suspicious young men, its fur standing on end, its eyes fierce, and the wrinkles on its mouth all folded together, looking as if it might pounce and bite at any moment.

"Sigh, stay if you want!" Seeing that the Pokémon wouldn't listen to his commands, the old man stomped his withered old leg on the ground in exasperation. He then stopped trying to persuade his partner and ran off to call for help as ordered by the detective—not forgetting to press the button to completely lock the apartment building's door with the electronic lock on the duty room side.

Hugo glanced at Hayok beside him, and, with a "nothing to lose" attitude, explained the current situation to the old dog—

"That short policeman is trying to stall the criminals, but this won't last long. Police authority means nothing to desperate criminals. Those young men are desperate to escape right now, and once they realize their situation, they'll immediately become aggressive. At that point, you'd better jump out and cover the policeman, buying him time to release his Pokémon..."

Just as the detective was talking to a dog, the young man who was the leader of the group suddenly shoved the police officer who was trying to persuade the resident not to go out, knocking the unfortunate short policeman to the ground near the duty room.

Then, whether in response to the detective's plan or simply out of instinct, the elderly Hayok leaped out of the duty room at just the right moment, his piercing, fierce gaze fixed on the group of six. His "Stare" skill was activated, and the criminals seemed to become even more flustered.

"Ignore these guys, smash open the building doors, and then we'll split up and escape."

The leader spoke in a slightly sinister voice, directing the five people behind him, while simultaneously slamming the Poké Ball in his hand onto the ground.

"Meow." A cute little purple kitten appeared in everyone's sight.

"Ambush the vitals!" The leader commanded the pickpocket cat to attack Hayok. The old dog, who was left unattended, was unable to dodge in time and was scratched solidly by the other party. Fortunately, it was not hit in a vital spot.

Meanwhile, the leader's companions behind him sent out all sorts of random Pokémon: Rockruff, Dove, Sneasel, Tadpole, and Dwello Crab—all common Pokémon found along the roadsides in the Unova region.

These little creatures worked together to unleash their skills on the apartment building, but whether they were too weak or the door was too sturdy, they couldn't break through it for a while.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Hugo left the duty room. Besides the fire extinguisher, he also stole the old fan that the caretaker had used for many years…

"Pickpocket Cat, use 'Frenzied Scratching' now!"

Hiding behind a sofa outside, the detective in the white coat, lying prone on the floor, pressed his throat and mimicked the leader's tone to give commands to the pickpocket cat. The imitation was remarkably lifelike.

The young leader, enraged, shouted, "Pickpocket Cat, that order wasn't mine..."

Hugo: "Use 'sha' instead."

The detective deliberately interrupted the trainer while he was speaking, leaving the already confused pickpocket cat completely bewildered and unsure how to react.

The purple kitten had just withdrawn the preparatory action of "frantically scratching" that it had subconsciously performed, but its hind legs were unconsciously raised and lowered again, unsure whether it should use "sand swiping". The light symbolizing the activation of the skill appeared and disappeared, gradually becoming unstable.

As the detective predicted, the kitten eventually lost its balance in a bizarre posture and fell to the ground in a comical manner.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, the detective leaped onto the sofa and tossed the dusty iron fan into the air, accurately hitting the ragtag group of Pokémon lined up and unleashing their moves, disrupting their formation.

For a moment, the disoriented Pokémon lost their aim and their skills went awry, causing them to fall over and some even got injured by their companions' skills.

Having succeeded in his attack, the detective did not retreat but advanced, choosing the nearest lucky trainer and using his other hand to raise a fire extinguisher, decisively knocking out the young man who was trying to resist.

"Who the heck is that person in the white coat?!"

Faced with the suddenly out-of-control situation and the still chaotic pickpockets under his command, the leader was so angry that he almost ground his teeth to powder.

However, the detective wasn't the only one bringing bad news.

Just as Hugo was displaying his prowess, the short police officer finally got back on his feet under Hayok's cover and decisively sent out his Pokémon—a Grass-type Prairie that looked quite powerful.

Victory seemed to be tilting in the detective's favor, but this situation crumbled instantly with the leader's next command—

"Everyone, release all the Pokémon!"

In an instant, countless roadside monsters nearly flooded the first floor of the luxury apartment building.