Pokémon Detective: Cynthia Forces Me to Adopt a Pokémon

Chapter 202 The Substitute Detective Infiltrates the Campus

Chapter 212 The Proxy Detective Infiltrates the Campus

Schools are essentially synonymous with isolation and exclusion. One of their purposes is to separate children, whose minds are not yet mature, from the adult world, to prevent them from getting in the way or hurting themselves.

This is especially true for preschool education for young children.

In the fearless gaze of children, even the slightest abnormality can trigger endless shouting and screaming. In this sense, infiltrating a preschool that manages young children is sometimes more difficult than infiltrating a heavily guarded prison—at least the prisoners inside don't cry and scream at the slightest disturbance.

Although it's called preschool education, it doesn't mean that children learn nothing. In most areas, because many children leave home at a young age to embark on the path of becoming Pokémon Trainers, education before the age of ten becomes especially crucial.

No one wants to see a large group of semi-literate children who can barely read a few words swaggering through the streets, and parents certainly don't want their children to be deceived or cheated during their adventures.

Therefore, educational institutions must accelerate the learning progress of these future Pokémon Masters before they embark on their journeys, at least ensuring that they acquire literacy, arithmetic, moral character, and common sense sufficient to stand on their own in society.

This arrangement might seem like excessively advanced learning, and in the long run, it could potentially dampen children's curiosity and lead to a dislike of school. However, considering that most of them will soon be on a long vacation, their understanding of learning will be reset to zero, for better or worse, so this slightly advanced learning doesn't seem so unacceptable.

Of course, not everyone will eventually become a trainer and embark on a journey away from home; more than half of the students will choose to give up the adventure and continue their studies.

However, basic education should be equal. Instead of going through the trouble of assigning all children under ten years old to different schools in advance, building two different schools for these children, and then matching them with two different groups of teachers and teaching materials, it would be better to make the learning plan more compact and uniform.

Therefore, in addition to primary school, even preschool will assign children the most basic learning content. Once they fall behind in their studies, they may not be able to keep up with the learning progress. This is why, even when Sachiko is caught in a vortex of fantasy and reality and her parents are at their wits' end, the little girl still has to go to school every day as always.

.

"Well done, Ibrahimovic."

The day after talking with Professor Oak, Azure went out early in the morning to conduct a detective investigation.

At that moment, Ibrahimovic, with the end of a rope in his mouth, lightly leaped down from the tree next to the back door of the preschool.

The surrogate detective took the threading rope from her partner, tugged on it to make sure it was secure, gave Eevee a thumbs-up, and then put it back into its Poké Ball.

High in the sky, the Archaeopteryx hopped out from among the branches of the old tree. Although it still had that listless expression, it was doing a great job of its sentry duty—it would make noise among the leaves as a warning if anyone passed by.

Judging from Archaeopteryx's unhurried demeanor, it seems there's no danger of being discovered.

Azure took one last look at the street behind her. Since it was a weekday morning, the street was deserted. The only traffic camera that used to face the back door of the preschool was now perfectly blocked by Ditto, who had transformed into Dove.

It was the perfect time to infiltrate, when everything was ready.

Initially, Azure intended to infiltrate the school peacefully. Unfortunately, she discovered that a small preschool offered virtually no opportunity for an outsider to infiltrate.

In the preschool, the teachers don't wear fixed uniforms and know each other; there are only a few staff members, making it impossible to sneak in; the security office refuses entry to outsiders, and even parents can only enter the school briefly during dismissal time; furthermore, since it's just a preschool, there aren't any decent external activities. If Bilan wanted to pretend to be a scholar giving a lecture or a performer, she would probably just be politely asked to leave the school; she certainly couldn't pretend to be a young child. It would have been understandable when she first embarked on her journey in Kanto, but now, trying to act young would be a bit too self-deceptive.

Left with no other option, in order to observe how Sachiko "disappeared into thin air" on campus, the substitute detective had no choice but to illegally infiltrate the school.

"This mere preschool is harder to get into than the Rockets' headquarters..."

While complaining, Bilan mentally prepared herself and pressed the switch on the device on the hole-piercing rope.

Suddenly, a pulling force came from her hand, and Azure quickly climbed up the tree trunk, stepping on the thicker branches to reach a height of the Archaeopteryx.

The ropes laid out by Ibuki were far from over; the slender yet strong steel wires extended toward the clock tower on campus, with a horizontal distance of about ten meters remaining.

Originally designed to help people escape caves, this device is made of steel fiber. One end has a sharp grappling hook that can embed itself into rock, while the other end has a rope that can be several kilometers long. When the user presses a switch at the end, the rope automatically retracts from the grappling hook.

According to the advertisement, equipping oneself with this rope before exploring caves would allow trainers to be knocked unconscious by a wild Pokémon that jumps out, and then automatically pulled back to the surface by pressing a button while still conscious. Unfortunately, no trainer has yet personally verified the advertisement's accuracy. Those knocked unconscious are usually rendered speechless on the spot, unlikely to press the rope's button. Furthermore, the rope's slow retraction speed would preclude escape from the pursuit of fierce wild Pokémon – the supposed automatic return only works in the highly idealized environment described by the advertiser.

However, this does not detract from the practicality of the hole rope; as a sturdy steel cable that can provide tension, it is useful enough.

"Alright, the next target is the top of the clock tower!"

Azure recalled its Archaeopteryx into its Poké Ball and reached out from the treetop to signal. The Dove, which had been blocking the camera's view, took flight and soared higher above Azure.

During the flight, Ditto's ever-changing form shifted again in the air. As if a flash of purple light had appeared, the tiny Beandove transformed into the vulture Natasha, its pink talons grabbing the backpack on Azure's back and pulling her into the sky.

Ditto's "Transform" ability is powerful, but it's not without its flaws. Without a nearby reference point, even if it can transform into the desired Pokémon, it can't use their moves and abilities. Therefore, like Archaic Bird, Ditto can't use the "Fly" move to take its trainer into the sky, although it can easily pull Azure into the air.

"okay."

The girl gave a soft shout and, while continuing to activate the rope through the hole, jumped off the tree branch.

The rope tightened rapidly, and Azure and Ditto swung across a horizontal distance of more than ten meters, successfully climbing to the outer wall of the school clock tower. The girl continued to climb upwards, gripping the wide-open clock tower railing, and flipped over to enter, finally reaching her destination.

The school's clock tower has been upgraded to an electric bell system, but because it makes a deafening noise when classes end, it is usually unattended. The classrooms under the clock tower are only used as an auditorium when the preschool holds rare assemblies.

"Isn't this bell a bit too big for a preschool?"

Looking at the huge hanging clock in front of her, which was clearly decorated in the shape of a bronze bell with a copper-green patina, the female detective was puzzled. She reached out to check the feel of the metal on the surface of the clock.

And the next second—

"Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang..."

get out of class is over.

The electric bell-ringing mechanism inside the bell started working violently, causing the bell to sway from side to side and produce a deafening sound.

Why build a skyscraper specifically for a bell? This question, which had flashed through Bilan's mind while rock climbing, was instantly answered—

That's because the bell is too loud!

A perfectly good alarm clock is enough to ruin a sleeper's wonderful mood for the whole day, but what bursts into the girl's eyes is the ringing of a huge bell that is hundreds of times louder than an ordinary alarm clock and whose sound can be heard throughout the entire campus.

The moment the bell rang, Ditto was instantly forced back into its original form from Vulture's form, turning into a trembling pool of purple slime.

Azure covered her ears in anguish and curled up in a dusty corner of the clock tower. However, as the bells continued to ring, the deafening sound seemed to subside considerably.

Huh? Is it because your ears have gotten used to this loud noise?

No, Azure, who had regained some energy, immediately rejected her own idea.

Opening his eyes, he saw very familiar yellow and blue feathers; Archaeopteryx was using its wings to protect the trainer's ears. Besides it, Eevee and Ditto hadn't retreated back into their Poké Balls either; they were perched on Azure's head, trying to shield their owner from the sound waves with their own bodies.

In Azure's perception, the ringing sound seemed to last for an eternity. The deafening noise made the acting detective dazed, leaving him unable to pay attention to anything else around him.

That's why she missed the purple streak that drifted past the playing children in the distance.