r18novel Chapter 306 A Friend Comes from Afar
Chapter 306 A Friend Comes from Afar
"Although I heard from Officer Jenny that you were seriously ill, you seem to be doing quite well now."
A familiar voice rang out from afar, and the guests who had traveled from a distance gracefully entered the booth.
The other person took off the wide-brimmed sun hat from their black suit, straightened their skirt, and sat down before raising their sunglasses, which concealed their identity, to their forehead.
"How does it feel to be at the top, Hugo? Although I know you're unlikely to enjoy it."
The voice of Sinnoh Champion Cynthia reached the detective's ears, but the latter could only manage a wry smile—
“Miss Karuni, although you are a very skilled actress, please don’t imitate other people’s sister’s voice so vividly.”
Standing before the detective was not the blonde champion who had dominated the Sinnoh League, but another League champion who was renowned worldwide as an actress.
The Officer Jenny she was referring to was not the "regression hypnosis" lady from the Sinnoh intelligence agency, but rather a well-informed police chief in the Carlos region, who had met Hugo a few times.
"Oh dear, don't be so formal."
The slightly intimidating voice vanished instantly, replaced by a completely different, light laugh—
"It was just a joke that didn't even qualify as a prank. When you visited Carlos with Zhulan before, didn't you also ask me with great interest about techniques for changing the tone of your voice?"
"A thirst for knowledge is very important. What's more, it's a tricky skill that can send chills down your spine if criminals use it cleverly. Even just for the sake of my career, I have to figure out the limitations. But it seems that most people in this world don't have your uniquely gifted voice."
Hugo helplessly shrugged.
"To be honest, if I were in your shoes now, it would be quite admirable that you, with such cheating skills, have managed to refrain from imitating your opponent's voice to interfere in championship matches."
"This is the first time I've ever seen a trainer who has already become a champion still thinking about cheating in battles."
Karen raised her eyebrows, revealing her signature smile that has gone down in film history.
"It's just bad luck," Hugo sighed.
Ultimately, before the championship challenge a few days ago turned into its final outcome, former champion Adek was just looking for one last big fight with his old partner.
He was perhaps overly modest, thinking that under those circumstances, no matter which trainer passed the championship to, they couldn't possibly do worse than him, who had been wandering the world for years and was already disheartened. That's why he acted in a way that bordered on self-destructive.
If Team Plasma hadn't interrupted Volcarona's final dance, driving away all the Unova Trainers at the foot of Heaven's Tower, the grand spectacle at the top wouldn't have needed him, the detective, as an afterthought.
However, just as people always hope to savor a memorable dessert at the end of a feast.
It would be too pitiful to see a fire moth that had spent its entire life in battle facing an empty plate at the end of its life.
Coupled with some emotional reasons, Hugo finally gritted his teeth and completed the preparations, climbing the Tower of Paradise under the cover of night.
Unfortunately, Hugo isn't exactly a great chef in the world of Pokémon battles, so he has to rely heavily on the unexpected elements of his meals.
In the end, both the chef and the diners got carried away and, in a moment of impulsive playfulness, Alderk ended up with the most unbearable champion trainer in Unova's history.
As Hugo and Champion Carlos exchanged greetings, the little fire monkey steadily leaped onto the table carrying a tray of coffee.
Except for the latte art on the detective's side being scattered, all the movements were absolutely perfect.
"I owe you so much for what happened in the hospital ward back then," Hugo said, patting the little guy's head.
While confronting the "Foolish Carnival," it was this little fire monkey, perched outside the window and hidden in Ghiccups' blind spot, that received the message the detective relayed through a cough. It returned to the hospital and woke the sleeping Ghost King.
The sage from Team Plasma seemed to have some misunderstanding about Hugo's special abilities, as if he believed that no matter what move a Pokémon used against the latter, it would all fail and be ineffective.
However, the reality is not like that. As long as the Pokémon using a move reaches a certain level of strength, even if the move cannot perfectly exert its original effect, it can still have a certain degree of effect.
"That's true..."
Upon seeing Hugo vanish into thin air, Quixote immediately activated the ring again, using the chaos in the hospital to escape... After all this chaos subsided, Wanlong Tianwang, who had returned to Hugo's side, said apologetically to the detective—
"The Dream Demon's original target for 'Sneak Attack' was the Sage from Team Plasma. But somehow, the skill, launched through a wall, misaimed, resulting in Detective Hugo being transported to another dimension."
Well, avoiding a direct conflict with the Plasma Group during this sensitive period of champion handover is, to some extent, a good thing.
"Is the Unova region still locked in a stalemate with the Plasma Group?"
Karuni inhaled the aroma of the coffee and asked—
"I remember Zhu Lan once reported a warning about that organization to the Alliance headquarters. Has the situation improved since then?"
"Thanks to the Dark Elite Four's activities, the League has drawn most of the United States' financial conglomerates to the opposite side of Team Plasma, and has also broken the organization's invincible religious divinity to some extent. However, I think it will take a long time for this influence to translate into a real shift in the balance of power between the two sides."
Hugo said—
"However, at the same time, the activities of that cult among the people have not been hindered, and the number of people who agree with the Plasma Team's ideas continues to grow day by day... So the current situation is that both the politicians of the United States and the high-ranking officials of the Plasma Team believe that time is on their side."
"Team Plasma's influence is indeed significant. Even in the Kalos region, there are no shortage of followers who support their ideas. On our social media, there are often highly viewed videos of them. Sometimes it's a recording of Team Plasma's king listening to the voices of abused Pokémon and condemning irresponsible trainers; other times it's emotionally charged speeches by Team Plasma executives who call themselves sages."
Karuni gave Hugo a meaningful look—
"To those outside the Unova region who are unaware of the inside story, Team Plasma's ideology, at least in its starting point, is completely reasonable and correct. The Unova Federation has not yet used the power of its authorities to openly suppress Team Plasma's missionary activities, which is probably not just because a few bribed high-ranking officials are interfering."
“That’s true. We can’t go against public opinion and stop the right thing from happening,” the detective sighed.
"The Pokémon Liberation Movement was so popular not just because of Team Plasma's persuasive speeches and overwhelming propaganda, but because it actually hit a common pain point for all Pokémon trainers—buying a Poké Ball only costs 200 yuan, while raising a Pokémon requires hundreds or thousands of times that amount. After the initial excitement faded, trainers had to face this real economic problem... and Team Plasma created a new solution to this problem."
"In the name of freedom, are we releasing Pokémon back into nature?" Karune asked with a serious expression.
“Yes,” Hugo commented, setting aside any differences in opinion and offering a fair assessment.
"In the original trainer culture, releasing unwanted Pokémon is a despicable act that lacks responsibility. But N and the likes of Ghetto have added a new meaning to this release—in the new concept system, humans and Pokémon are not born with a dependent relationship, but are independent individuals. So releasing is not a kind of abandonment, but a return to the natural state."
“As a trainer, I simply cannot agree with this view,” Champion Karune shook her head.
“Abandonment is abandonment. Careless release will not only leave Pokémon with irreparable emotional trauma, but also kill the possibility of building a further emotional bond between the two.”
"So, Ms. Karene, if you were in my shoes right now, as the new Unova Champion, how would you handle this Pokémon liberation movement led by Team Plasma?"
The detective took a sip of his hot coffee and threw the question back at the champion across from him.
The actress pondered for a moment. Then, taking a deep breath, she suddenly changed her tone, speaking to Hugo in a serious and deep male voice—
"The most important thing is to separate the Elf Liberation Movement from the Plasma Group. We must prevent the movement from escalating under the instigation of the cult, and we must also be wary of the deep-seated conspiracies hidden by the Plasma Group under the guise of the former."
She picked up the spoon from the tray and slowly stirred the creamy coffee that had become cloudy in front of her.
"Secondly, there's public opinion. I've always felt that a powerful institution like the Alliance has consistently lacked a media agent commensurate with it—which is why the world is filled with noise. Now that the United Alliance is already mired in this quagmire, there's no need to continue cherishing its reputation. It should quickly wrest the banner of elven liberation from immature social organizations like religious groups, turning the people who were originally dancing around the king and priests into prisoners of short videos and social media accounts, firmly grasping public opinion in its hands."
"This is a method I never imagined."
Hugo was somewhat surprised and looked at the champion Carlos with admiration, who seemed to have changed his personality.
"Finally, we need to start by attacking their internal factions. Just by looking at the contradictory behavior that the Plasma Group exhibits externally, it's not hard to imagine the chaotic ideological struggles within... As a detective, Hugo should know this best, right?"
In the end, Karuni regained her normal voice and tone.
Acting, in essence, is about immersing oneself completely in a new role through facial expressions, demeanor, tone of voice, vocalizations, subtle movements, and body language.
Unlike Ditto's "Transform" move and Zoroark's "Illusion" ability, Pokémon's mimicry can only simply reproduce the appearance and abilities of the object. However, an actor's performance can be like a psychological profile, extracting the emotional intentions and behavioral logic of the person being imitated from the depths of their soul—at least, Ms. Karune can do this.
"You were just imitating Mr. Vladari from the Vladari Laboratory, weren't you? In your mind, he was such a dangerous guy?"
Hugo comforted the little fire monkey, who was stunned by the famous actor's performance, and then asked him a question.
“I’ve always felt like he’s hiding some kind of secret, but I can’t find any evidence.” Karuni stirred her coffee in frustration.
"If you weren't the Unova Champion right now, I'd really like to hire you, detective, to travel to the Carlos region."
"Unfortunately, I'm currently overwhelmed. In addition to dealing with the United States' bureaucratic system, the spies sent by Team Plasma, and the countless challengers who covet the championship title, I also have to properly handle the trouble you've brought—a cross-regional exchange group consisting of a champion and two United States Champions."
“Oh dear, I’m not taking advantage of you. This trip was arranged two years ago,” Karuni said, shaking her head.
"After all, the champion of Unova at that time was Mr. Alder, who was very fond of teaching the younger generation. Therefore, whenever there was an exchange activity, the leagues liked to go to the Unova region. However, later Mr. Alder fell seriously ill, and the visit was postponed until now. After hearing that a new champion had taken the top spot in Unova, the Carlos League became even more concerned about this visit and insisted that we come to Unova to find out your strengths and weaknesses."
"You don't have any Elite Four members with you right now. I suppose the ones who came to participate in the visit are Water Elite Four member Shimi and Fire Elite Four member Pachira?"
“Very perceptive, no wonder you’re Detective Hugo. If it were Yan Kai or Ms. Dorasena, they would definitely be with me,” Champion Karuni nodded.
"Currently, Shimi has gone to Sanyo City first to exchange cooking skills with the three brothers. Pachira, on the other hand, has gone around conducting interviews. She is very interested in the King of Plasma and wants to take this opportunity to do a special interview program."
"He really is the king of the league, all free and easygoing," the detective remarked.
"In our Kalos region, this is called 'romance.' But for us, this visit is really no different from a leisurely trip. The only serious matter is that routine exhibition match, which I, as the champion, will be in charge of this time... Oh dear, Gardevoir isn't going to battle Chimchar and the others, is it?"
Miss Karen put down her coffee cup; the liquid inside was gone. The actress interlaced her fingers and looked at the detective before her, awaiting his reply.
Hugo, however, gave a vague response.
"Hmm... I'm not really useful in battles for now. Considering that Fighting and Dark types are weak to your Mega Gardevoir, in open tournaments, it'll probably be Elite Four's Chandelure or Cattleya's Artificial Egg facing you head-on. Champion Alder has been teaching you for so many years, it's time for a guest from afar to teach the Unova Elite Four."
"Is that so? I'm not dissatisfied with the result. However, as the champion, you can't keep shirking your responsibility to accept challenges, can you?"
Karuni leaned forward, getting closer to the detective—
"Detective Hugo, how do you plan to resolve the crisis as numerous challengers surge towards the championship title?"
"That's an interesting question. Ever since I opened my eyes in my hospital bed, everyone I've met has asked me that question, not even the Seven Sages of the Plasma Group. But sometimes, all it takes to solve a problem that even the smartest people find difficult is a little bit of genuine stupidity."
Hugo looked up at the old-fashioned clock hanging in the shop. "Hmm, it's about time. The Alliance's announcement is about to be released."
"An announcement? If the league were planning to release news about the champion's true identity, you would definitely be dragged into the press conference. But since you're in this coffee shop, it means... did you voluntarily give up the championship title?"
"Why must things be so black and white? The Unova region is an inclusive continent, and they are already mentally prepared for the capriciousness of those at the top."
Outside the coffee shop's floor-to-ceiling windows, many people suddenly looked at their phone screens in surprise, then began calling to their companions and whispering among themselves.
"Did they see any interesting news? Could it be that announcement Hugo mentioned?"
Karuni, still somewhat skeptical, also opened her own phone.
Having just arrived in Unova, she hadn't specifically downloaded any local news apps. However, even though the champion's phone could only receive news from the Carlos region, she still saw the eye-catching breaking news immediately—
[Breaking News! Unova's New Champion Refuses to Reveal His Identity! He Intends to Win the League Championship and Reclaim the Title Under Official Rules Before Revealing His Name!]