radicalducati Chapter 1 Visitors to Feiyun City
Chapter 1 Visitors to Feiyun City
"It's been a few years since I last came to Feiyun City. It feels like there are even more high-rise buildings now."
Sinnoh Champion Cynthia straightened her wind-blown golden hair, steadily stepped off Togekiss, her flying mount, and gazed with some emotion at the modern city beside her.
The Pokémon ecology in the Unova region is completely different from that of its home Sinnoh. The skies are filled with local species like Dove and Cottonball. The Pokémon that accompany humans on the streets are mostly Yorkshire and Deerclops, which are rarely seen in Sinnoh.
The person Zhu Lan Champion is talking to is named Hugo, a private investigator.
The detective, Hugo, was clearly taken aback when he saw the Sinnoh Champion make a dazzling entrance as he swooped down from the sky.
However, this surprise did not last long. The detective blocked the trolley he was pushing behind him, greeted him, and gave him a polite smile.
"Hey, long time no see, Zhu Lan."
The young detective had messy, artist-like black hair and a decent appearance, but his wrinkled white suit jacket was so shabby that it gave him a casual and lazy impression.
He apologized to the suddenly appearing Sinnoh Champion, saying, "I have urgent business to attend to right now... If you have a request, could you please come to my office and wait for a moment?"
"Is that the villa in the city called Feather Residence? I've already been there. It seems you're doing quite well in the Union?"
Thinking back to that courtyard villa that seemed out of place in the city center, and the huge "Hugo Detective Agency" sign hanging on the second floor, Zhu Lan smoothed her blonde hair.
She looked at the detective in front of her suspiciously, as if she sensed that he was somewhat guilty.
"The gardener named Reina at the entrance told me that you sneak into a certain alley in the city around this time every week, so I came here to check it out, and I didn't expect to run into you on the street. Are you busy with some kind of detective work?"
"Uh... sort of. The agency's business is doing quite well. After all, there are plenty of wealthy people here, and the private detective industry is still a blue ocean."
Overwhelmed by the champion's aura, Hugo unconsciously took a step back, only to bump into the handcart hidden behind him.
The item wrapped in white cloth in the cart rolled around and bumped against the metal frame with a dull thud.
Zhu Lan's eyes sharpened: "Hugo, can I see what's covered under the white sheet in the cart?"
Hugo wanted to shake his head, but was glared at by Zhu Lan.
"How about this, let's make a deal," the detective said quickly, "I can show you what's inside, in exchange you have to listen patiently to my explanation."
The Sinnoh champion stared at the uneasy detective for a moment, then finally nodded.
Hugo felt like he had been granted a pardon. He looked around and found a well-hidden patch of greenery, then pushed his cart inside.
Following behind the detective, Cynthia Champion pressed down on the Poké Ball at her waist and placed her finger on the switch.
She had a vague idea of what was wrapped in the white cloth, because as the cart swayed as it moved, a faint smell began to emanate from the frame—the smell of blood.
"Please don't be too surprised, it's just a corpse."
With Zhu Lan's personal promise, the detective was no longer reserved. He imitated a magician, lifting the white cloth to reveal what lay beneath.
But the only audience member couldn't be happy at all.
A disfigured Sentinel Rat corpse was displayed before Zhu Lan, its back covered in bloody whip marks, and the stench of blood was released instantly, spreading irrevocably around it.
Just when the atmosphere was at its worst, an untimely electronic voice suddenly rang out, and a Rotom cell phone flew out from Cynthia's black coat, broadcasting information about the Pokémon in front of her like an old-fashioned Pokédex—
"Sentinel, the evolved form of Scout, a common Normal-type Pokémon in the Unova region. As a rat, it's extremely cautious, able to see its surroundings even in the dark—a true vigilant Pokémon… Oh my god, Rotom! What's wrong with this Sentinel?! Rotom can't understand what's happening!"
Clearly, the wary Pokémon in front of them had become a corpse, lying face up on the stroller without any warning.
The deceased's appearance could not be described as peaceful and serene; it was more of a gruesome sight.
“Rotom, keep your voice down and listen to this guy’s excuses first.”
The Sinnoh champion kept his finger on the button on the Poké Ball, waiting for Hugo's explanation.
“Zhu Lan, you’ve come at just the right time. This is the moment to witness history.”
The young detective, seemingly more proud than ashamed, suddenly raised his hand beside the corpse—
"Determining the time of death has always been a challenge in the field of autopsy. The key lies in analyzing the differences between the organism before and after death to determine the time of death. Unfortunately, in the estimation of death of Pokémon, the body temperature of different Pokémon varies greatly, and the moves they use can also greatly disrupt the process of post-mortem changes in the body - so for a long time, such estimations have been difficult to be accurate to the hour."
"Rotom, is what he's saying true?"
Zhu Lan's voice was cold and sharp. When she asked the question, she didn't turn to Rotom, but stared intently at Hugo, ready to bring the misguided detective to justice at any moment.
"The information about forensic medicine is accurate, Loto, how could this be...?"
"I can solve problems that existing theories can't!" the detective interrupted Rotom's questioning loudly, continuing to discuss his research—
"I've come up with a brilliant theory to solve the problem of estimating the time of death: attribute resistance!"
“Attribute resistance? Rotom couldn’t understand it.” The red phone flew through the air, circling Hugo once, as if trying to find the answer to the question from the detective, but it failed.
Hugo, like a teacher, explained in detail—
"Fire-type moves will have half the power when attacking Water-type Pokémon—this is called resistance. And the latest research shows that the resistance phenomenon is greatly weakened in the corpse of a Pokémon after it dies, until it approaches a very small percentage."
"Based on previous experimental studies, we can derive a pattern: after a Pokémon dies, its resistance decreases—the damage caused by an attack of the same force will become increasingly severe. If we calculate the resistance of the corpse at each stage, we will see a function curve that first decreases sharply and then levels off, gradually approaching zero."
"This phenomenon applies to all corpses, whether they are fiery horses covered in flames or ice ghosts made of ice. We can use the method of measuring the resistance residue to determine their time of death!"
"If this method were applied to the field of autopsy, as long as the police forensic department could conduct resistance tests on the Pokémon remains left at the scene, the exact time of death of an unknown Pokémon could be estimated down to the second! This would be a revolutionary breakthrough in the field of alibi presumption!"
As he discussed his research findings, Hugo proudly raised his arm.
Rotom, seemingly oblivious to the situation before him, gaped wide with astonishment: "The theory is entirely feasible! There's no similar research in the existing database! It's truly a great discovery, Rotom!"
Only the champion remained indifferent—the detective's research had clearly no connection to the Sentinel Rat's corpse before him.
The detective cleared his throat and continued, "Unfortunately, my research is still missing a crucial piece of the puzzle. Normal types don't have any type resistances. We can use Bug to measure Flying, Poison to measure Ghost, and Ice to measure Ice itself—but we can't measure Normal resistances because that type simply doesn't have any resistances."
"A thought-provoking question has arisen: As we all know, human force often doesn't work well against Pokémon. So, could attacks that don't involve Pokémon power be blocked by the resistance within a Pokémon's body? Therefore, I started testing whether the effect of whipping would be reduced when it came into contact with a Sentinel's corpse, and that's how you saw what happened."
Zhu Lan nodded slightly, indicating that she understood the theory, and then calmly asked Hugo, staring into his eyes—
"So you're saying you murdered a sentry rat in order to advance the field of autopsy science?"
The detective then noticed the tall, blonde woman's expression—a stiff smile on her lips, her brows furrowed, clearly indicating that her tolerance had almost reached its limit.
The faint roar of Garchomp echoed in my ears...
"Don't forget your promise! Please let me explain what happened!" Hugo pleaded, bowing his head quickly.