Pokémon Detective: Cynthia Forces Me to Adopt a Pokémon

Chapter 261 The Secret of the Forest Mansion

"The champion of bamboo orchids is this Western-style mansion."

Sinnoh region, Eternia City, Eternia Forest.

Officer Jenny, dressed in a blue police uniform, put down the map, pointed to a lush forest, and said to the Sinnoh Champion beside her.

Zhu Lan stared intently at the forest before her for a long while, finally managing to discern a faint trace of human intervention among the towering treetops—

It was a black spire that was noticeably taller than all the other trees, but it was so dilapidated that it looked like half a dead branch.

Looking down from the spire, one could vaguely make out the outline of an old-fashioned mansion from the dark woods.

"Does anyone really live here?"

The champion, dressed casually, looked at Officer Jenny with a suspicious expression.

Not to mention the long and arduous journey the two had taken since entering the Hundred Generations Forest, the dense trees surrounding the mansion left no gaps for anyone to pass through.

No matter what, no normal person would live in such an abandoned house, right?

"Hmm, it should be inhabited..."

Miss Officer Jenny looked on with a disbelief in her own eyes as she repeatedly compared the mansion with the old map in her hand.

"It is indeed this building. According to the housing transaction records registered in the Alliance database, this mansion changed hands two years ago and has been occupied ever since. Moreover, during this period, people have been paying their electricity and gas bills on time."

"That's really incredible."

A gray teardrop pendant swayed on her chest. Zhu Lan looked up at the mansion and changed the subject—

"So, the police and the Alliance's security departments both believe that this mysterious building surrounded by trees is related to the missing leader of Team Galactic, Sun?"

"exactly."

The policewoman nodded hurriedly—

"Thanks to your brother, after the Spear Pillar incident, all the mid-to-high-level executives of Team Galactic were arrested, and the police obtained a complete list of this illegal organization. As a result, it didn't take much effort to almost completely eradicate the organization's influence in the Sinnoh region. And just a few days ago, Pluton, a former Team Galactic executive who was imprisoned, revealed some new information about Red Sun during interrogation."

That Pluto once headed the research department under Team Galactic, but the organization's chief scientist was not him, but the leader, the Japanese man named Akatsuki, a rational to the point of being ruthless super genius and the most dangerous person in the Sinnoh region.

Perhaps due to his character issues, Hades did not seem to be fully trusted by Aurora. Therefore, his research often focused on auxiliary aspects and he was unable to access the core content, which deviated from the final plan devised by the Galactic Group.

Nevertheless, while working for the Galactic Group, Pluto managed to obtain a copy of the Crimson Sun's research notes, attempting to peek into the inner world of his stern-faced superior.

"The original manuscript of the notes was lost in the chaos of Team Galactic's destruction. However, according to that Hades' confession, in his youth, Red Sun encountered Rotom, an Electric-type Pokémon that was not yet registered in the Pokédex, in a mansion. At that time, he began to have a strong interest in this Pokémon that could move between various electronic devices."

At this point, Miss Officer Jenny glanced meaningfully at the dark mansion in front of the two of them, and then continued her narration—

"After peeking at the Red Sun's manuscript, Hades made up his mind to try to make this secret of Rotom his own. With the Red Sun's permission, he mobilized the manpower and resources of the Galactic Group to continue to advance the research on Rotom."

Seemingly because it heard its name mentioned repeatedly, a red cell phone became restless and secretly poked its camera out of the champion Zhu Lan's pocket.

"Yes, I remember that secret research institute. It's in Baidai City, the building where the bicycle shop owner was kidnapped, right? It was really thrilling back then. I never expected that such an unassuming research institution would be besieged by dozens of elite members of Team Galactic. But thanks to that experience, I met this Rotom."

Zhu Lan calmed herself down and took the Rotom phone out of her pocket to show it to Officer Jenny.

The Galactic Group is undoubtedly a heinous extremist organization. Both their goals and methods have exceeded the bounds of morality and law.

However, it is equally undeniable that in the study of Rotom's ecology, the mad scientists of Team Galactic still demonstrated their pioneering spirit, taking a big step forward for the stagnant Pokémon research community.

When Cynthia led Garchomp to break through the laboratory's iron door, Hades and his companions had already independently discovered Rotom's heating, cleaning, cutting, rotating, and freezing forms.

If the champion had arrived even a moment later, the Rotom currently residing in the Zhulan phone would have been stuffed into the integrated mainframe of the supercomputer.

It was after this incident was exposed that research on Rotom Pokémon saw explosive progress—Rotom Pokédex, Rotom phones, Rotom bicycles, Rotom drones, and even Pokémon communication devices specifically developed with Rotom as the main body... All sorts of "Rotom" products sprang up all over the world like mushrooms after rain.

Zhu Lan then asked Officer Jenny, "So, what is the connection between Red Sun's Secret Notebook and this mansion?"

"This is the new intelligence that compels us to take action."

Officer Jenny rolled up the old map in her hand and said—

"According to Hades in prison, after analyzing the contents of the notes, he is more than 90% certain that the mansion that Akari saw in his youth is the Forest Mansion in front of us."

"I see."

Zhu Lan nodded, not at all surprised.

Even in the Sinnoh region, Rotom isn't a common Pokémon. The reason Pluton conducts Rotom research at his secret base in Eternal City might be because a sufficient number of Rotom colonies can be found nearby. And since this is also a place where Rotom once existed, this Forest Mansion might actually be the location where Red Sun witnessed Rotom in the past.

"If it is the place where Chi Ri once lived, we may be able to find some traces of that person's past, and thus figure out why a rational genius would degenerate into such a crazy antisocial person."

"Yes, that's one of the reasons, and it's also the original intention of the police getting involved in this matter."

Seeing the champion of Bamboo Orchids pondering, Officer Jenny replied somewhat embarrassedly.

"On another front, some in the Alliance believe that this house may hold clues about legends and myths. They think there might be something special here that inspired Crimson Sun to forge the Crimson Chains and try to manipulate Dialga and Palkia."

"I see. So that's why I received this mission."

The champion tossed his long golden hair, wearing an expression that said, "I knew it."

As a renowned mythologist in the field of Pokémon research, Cynthia is definitely one of the most suitable candidates to participate in the investigation, and her status as the League Champion makes her entry into the mansion much more legitimate.

"Uh, there's something else. It's not related to today's mission, it's about your brother Hugo..."

Perhaps it was the previous conversation that opened up the topic, but Officer Jenny mustered up her courage and said what she had wanted to say to Champion Bamboo from the beginning.

Unfortunately, Officer Jenny lost all courage before she could finish her sentence, her tone becoming hesitant and revealing an embarrassed and awkward expression.

"Regarding what happened to him, we all feel very sorry. Even though the detective bore no responsibility, that still happened..."

The champion of Bamboo Orchid competition remained calm.

“That’s not a responsibility you need to bear either, Miss Officer Jenny. You don’t need to take it to heart. It’s just a change of residence, and Hugo himself seems to be quite enjoying it.”

Then she remembered something and mentioned it to Officer Jenny—

"Speaking of which, when we were getting ready to leave from the Pokémon Center, that guy called me once and asked me to lend him my Garchomp. He seemed to be in a hurry, and I don't know what he wanted to do."