pdf-ebookys Chapter 83, Second Half of the Night: The Scholarly Detective's Research on Tong Zhang
Chapter 83, Second Half of the Night: The Scholarly Detective's Research on Tong Zhang
Even after the Ditto incident ended, the still-shaken detective and his assistant were wide awake.
“I checked with my hometown and found that Ditto had actually gone missing a month ago. However, it usually transforms into other Pokémon to play around, so Professor Oak, who manages the backyard, thought that Ditto would reappear on its own after a while and did not investigate further... I never expected that it would actually cross the ocean and smuggle itself to Unova.”
"Don't underestimate the power of Pokémon," Hugo kindly reminded him. "Looks like you're not planning to send Ditto back?"
"Yes," Azure sighed.
"Regardless of whether my profile of you, Hugo, is accurate or not, I did notice some previously unseen psychological details during this observation. My decision to travel alone with Eevee was essentially abandoning my companions who remained in Kanto. From this perspective, I'm not actually criticizing your stance, Hugo..."
"Don't forget the promise to give the gift," the detective suddenly said. "Even though Ditto has turned into Eevee, it's still a promise between you and Ditto, so be sure to keep it."
Azure didn't know why Hugo insisted on this point, but she nodded nonetheless.
Then, for some reason, Hugo began to tell a story: "Perhaps due to some misfortune in my family, I was forced to read many myths and legends from the Sinnoh region. Among them, an ancient mythological book recorded a fable that resembled a fairy tale, the content of which was about giving and bestowing..."
Unlike his usual style of readily sharing obscure facts, the detective closed his eyes, recalled for a moment, and then slowly said—
"Long, long ago, when Sinnoh was born, Pokémon and humans exchanged gifts and supported each other."
Later, one Pokémon told the other Pokémon that in order to help humans at any time, Pokémon should appear in front of humans more often.
From then on, whenever humans entered tall grass, Pokémon would jump out.
The detective stopped speaking with a meaningful look.
The fable, though only three lines long, explains why wild Pokémon appear in the grass.
Azure blinked, feeling a sense of healing.
She began to understand the detective's purpose in telling the story and couldn't help but exclaim, "What a heartwarming story."
At this point, Hugo had entered his usual mode; simply finishing the story wasn't enough, so he began to ramble on about it—
"Regarding this fable, the mainstream academic view is that the Pokémon that admonished the Pokémon was Mesprit. It is a legendary Pokémon, one of the protagonists of the legend of Lake Sinnoh. It is said to have taught people the pain of sorrow and the preciousness of joy, and is also known as the god of emotions. According to the myth, it sleeps at the bottom of a lake, but will appear and move through astral projection."
"Mesprit? Is it a legendary Pokémon? Maybe it really exists."
“It’s real,” Hugo suddenly said. “Two years ago, Team Sinnoh was rampant. They drained Lake Sinnoh with a pump and found this Pokémon in a cave at the bottom of the lake. According to a photo taken by a researcher who was present, it was a small, gray, fairy-like Pokémon with two tails, a purplish-red head, four mushroom-shaped drooping ears on its head, and a ruby in the middle.”
The thought of the villains draining the lake with pumps left Bilan speechless, while Hugo continued explaining the story—
"Contrary to the mainstream view, in my opinion, the kind-hearted Pokémon in the story is not Mesprit."
"Why do I say that? If Mesprit is a kind and intelligent Pokémon as described in mythology, it could very well be the protagonist of this heartwarming story."
“No.” Hugo slowly shook his head. “I admit that the legendary Mesprit is a very powerful and intelligent Mythical Pokémon, but precisely because of this, it is impossible for it to make the statements in the story.”
"how you said that?"
"Common sense dictates that the more powerful a Pokémon is, the less it trusts humans. It prefers to roam freely rather than form a bond with its trainer. So how could a Pokémon as powerful as a Mythical Pokémon possibly suggest that its companions take the initiative to contact humans?"
Azure wanted to refute, but after calming down and thinking about it, she realized that she had never seen a wild Pokémon that was both powerful and willing to be close to humans.
Generally speaking, it's already considered very friendly that those powerful elves who claim territory and rule over their own land don't actively attack humans.
Speaking of which, Crimson did mention encountering a Mew that liked to play with people, but that was ultimately just an isolated case…
Seeing that the assistant did not object, the detective continued—
"Furthermore, if that Pokémon's goal was truly to make humans and Pokémon love each other, this approach is hardly wise. After the advice in the story took effect, ordinary grasslands became dangerous places, making them even more dangerous for humans. Objectively, this exacerbated the conflict between Pokémon and humans, completely contradicting the intended purpose. This is hardly something a Lake God with such high wisdom would do."
Still seemingly unsatisfied, Hugo added another point—
"Furthermore, the authority established by a single Pokémon is ultimately limited. So far, we have only discovered the Mesprit at the bottom of Lake Heartbeat. Can the views conveyed by just one Pokémon really affect the ecology of the entire world? You know, not only in the Sinnoh region, but all the Pokémon in the grass on the entire planet will pounce on humans."
"So, what is your own conclusion? What kind of spirit would actively encourage its companions to get close to humans? Why did it choose such a clumsy and reckless method? And how did it spread its influence throughout the world?"
As Hugo explained his analysis in detail, Azure also became interested in the conclusions of this research.
"The answer is not complicated, but it cannot be confirmed. After all, this is just an ancient legend, and it is hard to say whether its content is an actual event or a work of literature."
"Could it be another mythical Pokémon from the Sinnoh legends? Or perhaps a legendary Pokémon that travels to different continents?" the girl wondered wildly.
“No.” Hugo shook his index finger. “I think the protagonist of the story is an ordinary Pokémon, a regular Chansey.”
"Chicken Egg?"
Upon hearing the familiar name of a Kanto Pokémon, the girl was taken aback, as this was a Pokémon that had absolutely no connection to mythology or legend.
"Isn't this a logical conclusion? Judging from the Pokémon's personality, it's entirely possible that the kind and single-minded Chansey would do such a thing. Even today, they still occasionally appear in the tall grass to heal passing humans and Pokémon."
"So, Chansey is distributed all over the world, which certainly makes it easier to spread similar ideas around the world." Azure thought for a moment, then nodded and shook her head. "However, there don't seem to be any wild Chansey in the Unova region, right? How do you explain that?"
"There's a Pokémon in the Unova region called Almostdoll, which probably inherited Chansey's concept."
The detective, as if he had already prepared the answer, effortlessly filled in the gaps in his theory.
"I'd like to ask a question," the assistant raised her hand and asked, "Did Hugo's theory ultimately gain widespread acceptance among researchers?"
"Although an article was published, it does have some supporters. However, the Sinnoh Pokémon research community has been completely taken over by mythologists. The emergence of one legendary Pokémon after another has provided them with incredibly solid theoretical support, so this little piece of research denying miracles was conveniently thrown into the trash can." The detective yawned and said dismissively.
It's getting late; it seems it's time for the detective to deliver his closing statement.