socalfunplaces Chapter 115 Azure and Archaeopteryx
Chapter 115 Azure and Archaeopteryx
After bidding farewell to Officer Jenny and Artie, Hugo returned to the Feathered Residence. But upon opening the door, he was greeted by a startling sight—
The second tenant of Yuqi Residence, Hugo Detective's capable assistant, and ace trainer, Miss Azure, is currently strolling around the first-floor living room with a small yellow bird on her head.
Eevee and Ditto followed carefully on either side, afraid that the thing on the girl's head might fall down.
"Hugo!" Seeing the detective open the door and walk in, the oddly-looking Azure waved happily: "Archaeopteryx is willing to come out of the room! I'm showing it around the agency!"
"..."
Hugo looked at the Archaeopteryx lying motionless on the girl's chestnut hair, staring into the void with its lifeless, dull eyes, and wondered whether he should voice his doubts—was it really not Azure who forcibly moved the Archaeopteryx onto her head?
“No, it flew up by itself!” The girl guessed Hugo’s thoughts at a glance and said smugly, raising her chin slightly.
That chin-raising gesture is quite something.
Because of the tilt, the Archaeopteryx, lying on its soft mane, gradually slid outwards without any resistance, and was about to fall off.
Azure quickly adjusted the angle, like playing with a balance ball, and let Archaeopteryx slide back onto the top of her head, barely managing to keep the Pokémon on her head.
Isn't this still completely unconvincing...? The detective felt his gaze gradually becoming like that of the Archaeopteryx, increasingly resembling a dead fish's eye.
"It's true. Today, Archaeopteryx acknowledged me as its trainer, and now it can execute any commands I give it smoothly."
Azure, unwilling to give up, pointed her finger at Hugo's nose and shouted, "Archaeopteryx, use 'Stare'!"
The detective in the white coat was taken aback. He saw the thing on the girl's head slowly adjust its orientation and stare at him with its calm, dead-fish eyes.
The living room seemed to fall silent for a few seconds, then Archaeopteryx silently turned its head back.
"How's it going? Do you feel like you're being watched by a predator? Do you feel like your defenses are getting weaker?"
Azure, accompanied by the little yellow bird, approached the detective and asked questions with great interest.
"Yes... a little." The detective lied guiltily, not wanting to undermine Azure's confidence at this moment. In any case, the Archaeopteryx was willing to move, which was ultimately a good thing.
"Oh, right, Hugo." The girl seemed to remember something and asked casually, "Why were you out all day? Didn't you say you were taking the elves for a walk? Why are you only coming back now?"
"What else could I do? I read a book on a bench by the roadside this morning, had lunch at the police station, and got swindled out of a large sum of money in the evening." The detective counted on his fingers, then carefully recounted the day's events to his assistant.
He really spent a lot of money that evening!
The silk portrait painting gifted by Mr. Yatti was indeed free, but for a painting to be considered complete, it was missing one essential element – a frame.
The masterpiece by the museum owner could not be paired with cheap, ordinary goods. On the advice of the museum director, Hugo finally chose to commission the museum to create a frame that was basically the same as the style of "The Four Virtues".
To make matters worse, Yati used an extra-large canvas for this sketch, which necessitated an even larger frame, naturally driving up the price. Even if the sketch would appreciate in value in the future, the current hefty sum still stung the detective.
Hugo still remembers the look of sudden enlightenment on the middle-aged curator's face. It seems that after the opening of Feiyun Gallery, there were quite a few ways to generate revenue.
"Oh, so that's what happened. Flying Cloud Dojo? Let's go check it out once Archangel Bird has recovered." Azure smiled as she sat down in the usual spot for clients, Archangel Bird still listlessly resting on her head.
The detective casually released the starter Pokémon from their Poké Balls, letting them roam freely. Then he sat down on the sofa opposite Azure, took out his tablet, and sighed, "Thanks to that Gym Leader, I haven't been able to study properly today."
"Reading a mystery novel again today? Didn't you say that you can guess the murderer just by looking at the character list in the latest books? How come Hugo the Great Detective was reading it all morning? What kind of book is it?"
Azure recalled their casual conversations at the Feather Residence and couldn't help but ask.
Hugo pressed the power button on his tablet: "This time it's not a novel, it's a popular science book. The reason I've been able to read it for so long is mainly because the author doesn't have much writing talent. He just piled up hundreds of thousands of words with dry content. I'm actually quite impressed with myself for getting this far."
"What kind of book is it?" the girl asked, becoming increasingly curious.
With a smile, the detective asked his assistant with amusement, "Azure, the radius of the planet we stand on is 6400 kilometers. Guess how deep the deepest hole we humans have ever dug on land is?"
"Huh?" Azure was caught off guard. "We can now travel to space in spaceships. Even if we can't dig to the deepest point, we can at least dig to a little over half, right? Two thousand kilometers? One thousand kilometers? It can't only be a few hundred kilometers, can it?"
"The correct answer is 12 kilometers, which is about one-thousandth of the Earth's diameter, equivalent to a small dent on the surface of an apple, not even a scratch. The deeper you go underground, the higher the temperature of the rock layers becomes. If you explore any deeper, the rock will turn into hot, flowing mud, making it impossible to dig any further. Therefore, the deeper underground is a complete mystery to us humans, and there is no environment suitable for Pokémon to live in. Perhaps only mythical Pokémon like Groudon can glimpse its true face."
Hugo happily shared his newly acquired knowledge with Azure, appearing to thoroughly enjoy it.
"Okay, I guess I'm just ignorant, but this is related to this book... eh? Archaeopteryx!"
Just as Azure was about to ask further questions about books, Archaeopteryx suddenly jumped down from Azure's head.
A small bird with red, yellow, and blue feathers hopped around on the table between the sofas a few times before coming to Hugo's tablet.
"That book, could it be..."
Upon seeing this scene, the girl immediately understood and covered her mouth.
The tablet screen was lit up, displaying the homepage of the reading app that had been opened. The bookshelf was filled with all sorts of books that the detective had read.
Archaeopteryx stared with its dead-fish-like eyes and poked one of the books with its claws.
The cover was instantly enlarged, the title font was thick and bold, and the design was simple and outdated. It was clearly a slow-selling book that was not valued by the publisher and was casually given to an intern to design.
"The Complete Illustrated Guide to Subsurface Minerals in the Unova Region," by Samuel.
Only then did large tears finally flow from the dead eyes of the Archaeopteryx. This Archaeopteryx, resurrected from a fossil, silent like a fossil, and having escaped death like a fossil, cried out loudly for the first time in the Feathered Residence.
The detective and his assistant watched all this in silence. The latter was determined to read through the entire illustrated book as well... If she couldn't get into it, she would have the detective explain it to her. After all, that guy loved to quote classics and show off his knowledge.
While death may extinguish a lamp, it leaves its mark. Books are far more than just physical objects; they carry the soul of the author and the longing of the reader.
Friends near, far, present, and future.
I hope that seeing this letter will feel like seeing you in person.