Pokémon Detective Case Files

Chapter 42 The Exaggerated Coincidence

"As the assistant revealed, there's a weirdo among you who's been trying to recommend Otter to beginners in a strange way. ✌👣 69ˢ𝓗Ǘ𝓧.ᶜᗝΜ 💛🍭 Honestly, I don't think this is a crime. I asked Professor Yew before, and there's no rule in the lab that prohibits taking certain types of Pokémon out for walks regularly. So, theoretically speaking, this strange behavior shouldn't be punished."

Hugo explained to the researchers in a seemingly amiable manner.

"You knew about this method back then?" Dr. Yew felt surprised by something strange. It seemed that her surprise when faced with Azure's reasoning earlier was not an act.

"I'm quite surprised that even after being reminded to that extent, you still haven't discovered the truth, Doctor." The detective shook his head at the Doctor with an air of complete control, then turned back to his assistants.

"At the beginning, I suggested that the doctor carry out a normal exchange of researchers. As long as all of you were packed up and sent to other places, the strange events that appeared here would naturally disappear. Unfortunately, this Dr. Yew refused without hesitation."

"This won't do. Their research is already in the middle of its stages. It's unreasonable and cruel to interrupt their research without understanding the situation," the PhD student next to him reiterated earnestly.

"But I remember there was another student named Furuya who hadn't decided on a topic yet," the detective said, resting his index finger on his chin as he recalled.

The youngest researcher present quickly explained, "Although we haven't finalized a research topic yet, I've already been conducting field research in Deer Town for quite some time now. If I were transferred to a distant location, it would cause a lot of trouble for my work. 👊😂 ❻❾ᔕ𝓱𝓤x.ⓒ๏𝕄 ☹🍭 By the way, my next research project will focus on the legendary Pokémon sightings in the surrounding area."

"Rejected. Even if we go back five hundred years, we wouldn't find such a relic in Deer Town." The professor rejected the student's topic without any mercy.

Hugo, seeing the doctor struggling with a headache and Furuya in despair, had no choice but to loudly steer the conversation back to the case at hand—

"Dr. Yew asked earlier why no one found anything during the follow-up investigation, right? This is actually quite easy to understand."

The doctor resumed his attentive listening posture.

"In the study of human psychology, there is a phenomenon called selective amnesia, which means that people consciously forget some experiences they do not like. Among these forgotten things, there is an order of difficulty in forgetting them, from most difficult to easiest: things done but not wanted to be remembered, words said but wished to be taken back, things seen but wished to be ignored, and ideas that were formed but rejected by the mind. Undoubtedly, the reason for choosing the otter belongs to the last category, which is the easiest to forget."

"Does the detective think the reason no one remembers why they chose the water otter is because everyone has forgotten about it?" a bespectacled student asked in surprise.

"You must be Matsubara, right? Trainers do think differently from ordinary people. As the second son of a wealthy man, you naturally can't empathize with this because you chose to pursue a career as a scholar," the detective replied.

"For trainers who are determined to hone their battle skills, none of them want to fall into the quagmire of regret from the very first step of their journey. They must create a reason that is worthy of their conscience for choosing Otter, a reason full of dreams and hope."

"This behavior is less about forgetting and more about deliberately concealing one's true motives for choosing a Pokémon. These lying trainers, out of pride, hide their hasty decisions. Of course, as time goes by, lies and truth will eventually become blurred and interchangeable, until they themselves forget the real reasons for their choices."

The people at the research institute weren't so easily fooled. An uncle named Eric shook his head and questioned, "But this only happened in the last six months. I still don't believe that all sixty-three trainers had this idea."

"Your suspicions are entirely valid. Psychological factors cannot definitively make people lie in unison. Just like novice trainers making choices among the starter Pokémon, whether they tell the truth or not depends entirely on their own uncertain feelings. However, in reality, there are countless subtle driving forces that ultimately lead these trainers to choose to seal away that part of their memory."

Beside Azure, who seemed somewhat flustered by the questions, the detective spoke fluently and confidently.

"First of all, these newcomers who have embarked on their journey are still in a stage where they are very dependent on their initial partner. Now these trainers have developed a friendship with Oshawott that is far greater than it was back then. If their partners were around when they were interviewed, the current trainers would naturally not admit that they chose their partners for some trivial reason, such as 'seeing two other starter Pokémon on the roadside.'"

"This situation is indeed embarrassing." The assistant thought of his Blastoise, put himself in the other person's shoes, and nodded in agreement.

Hugo walked over to the otter that had been released from the ball, squatted down, and looked directly into its bright black eyes: "Otter, how would you feel if a trainer said that he chose you by process of elimination and only reluctantly picked you at the end?"

After hearing this, the little blue and white otter held its head and thought hard for a while, then shook its head vigorously.

"You mean this is an unacceptable insult, and it's better to leave you at the research institute than to take you away like this?" Hugo put on an act, communicating as if he could understand the elves.

Having grasped the detective's general meaning, the otter nodded again.

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Even upon witnessing this scene, some remained incredulous. One of the most skeptical was Yamashita, the tallest researcher among them.

Yamashita, who was also a trainer, shrugged: "Detective, your guess is indeed refreshing, but trainers' partners aren't always by their side, are they? Based on that alone, it's impossible for all sixty-odd trainers to be lying."

"Of course, that's not the only reason," the detective replied immediately and decisively.

"There are many other reasons besides that—the institute's questionnaire isn't a police interrogation. How many trainers would actually be willing to recall memories from so long ago? Besides, your questionnaire didn't even cover all sixty-three trainers, did it? Maybe a trainer who remembered the situation and refused to lie was unreachable and was therefore overlooked. And maybe some trainers really did completely forget the events of that time? After all, what they saw and heard before entering the institute was overshadowed by the immense joy of getting their first Pokémon, and they might really have taken their choice of one of the three as fate or intuition."

The detective, with an air of mystery, pointed the rounded end of his wooden cane at everyone present, like a sorcerer performing an evil ritual—

"No one remembers that the situation at the time was just a coincidence, but various subtle circumstances raised the probability of this coincidence to a counterintuitive level. As a result, you witnessed a miracle in which sixty-three trainers in a row chose the same Pokémon."

"Boring, uninteresting, utterly meaningless. Man-made miracles are nothing but exaggerated coincidences. Just like the sensational statistical conclusions drawn up by third-rate statisticians," Hugo sighed.

"Now, my patience has run out. Quickly reveal your dark motives! This is Yamashita, who used to be a trainer but is now utterly useless."