socalfunplaces Chapter 49 Riddle Competition
Chapter 49 Riddle Competition
Let's rewind to the moment when Hugo threw the Iron Poké Ball, and one of the Iron Triangle members fell to the ground.
Despite losing one member instantly, the remaining two members of the Dark Iron Triangle did not hesitate for a moment and each sent out their handheld spirits.
The two Pokémon they each held were a large, gray, plush-looking Cursed Doll and a red-striped, ninja-like Agile Bug wrapped in a thin membrane. Together with Bisharp, who was already behind Hugo, he was now surrounded by three Pokémon capable of defeating a Gym Leader's main Pokémon head-on.
Hugo's face was extremely grim, for he knew perfectly well that he was in dire straits. He had just tried to take a small step when he felt a chilling coldness behind him—
Commander Cleaver had already pressed his razor-sharp arm against the detective's back. If the other party exerted force, a large hole would be torn open where Hugo's heart was.
The remaining two members of the trio used their respective abilities to control the detective, with one directing the Pokémon to suppress him, while the other paid particular attention to the two heavy-looking Poké Balls remaining in Hugo's hand. Seeing the detective's intense gaze on the Poké Balls, Hugo cooperatively threw the two heavy metal balls to the ground, displaying a submissive and cooperative stance.
Unfortunately, the Poké Ball made two dull, teeth-grinding thuds as it landed, which only made the two opponents more wary.
Another member of the trio, who seemed to be the leader, briefly checked his fallen teammate's breath and then left him lying on the ground unattended. It was unclear whether the fallen teammate was dead or alive—probably still alive? Hugo figured that because he hadn't used the optimal throwing technique due to the urgency of the situation, it probably wouldn't be fatal—unfortunately, this wasn't the time to be happy about upholding the no-kill rule.
"There's absolutely no way you could know our operation plan. Who leaked it to you? Was it someone from the police?" The detective, unusually flustered, asked the Plasma Team executive a question that was impossible for them to answer, as if his emotions were about to break down.
"Those who join us are not insignificant figures..."
"Shut up!"
One of the two tried to give Hugo an ambiguous answer to his question, hoping to use the opportunity to make a sarcastic remark, but was interrupted by the leader of the trio.
"Don't tell that kind of scum, after tonight you'll just be a corpse."
Faced with the intimidation, Hugo suddenly changed his expression, revealing a confident smile as if he had everything under control, and asked the two in a flippant tone: "So, even if I wanted to die before dawn, I couldn't?"
Upon hearing Hugo's inexplicable provocation, the leader was momentarily speechless.
The detective continued, "Long before I finalized my plan, the only other person besides me who knew the location of the Dark Stone, Vice-Gym Leader Muli, had already boarded a direct flight to the Pokémon League headquarters. He's probably off the plane now, having tea and chatting with Mr. Lianwu, who's stationed at the Pokémon League. In this remaining Shippo City, nobody knows the location of this national treasure except for me, the detective. If I refuse to reveal the location of the genuine Dark Stone, your mission tonight is doomed to fail."
"What's so great about you? We could crush you right now, and then we can go find it ourselves," the leader said coldly.
"Hehe, my skill in hiding things is no less than my skill in finding things. I swear on my reputation as a detective, you will pass by the national treasure of the founding of the nation countless times, and witness the true face of the founding stone countless times, but you will not be able to find its shadow at all."
The leader began to hesitate, and Hugo decided to continue to give him a push with his words—
"How about we play a little game? I'll give you a hint about the location of the Dark Stone, and in return, you'll give me a hint that can reveal the identity of the informant. Fair enough?"
"Are you threatening me? Commander, teach this guy a lesson!"
The leader's eyebrows shot up, and the cleaver behind Hugo increased his strength, the sharp blade arm instantly piercing through the detective's white coat and touching the skin below.
Hugo sensed the chilling murderous intent, but instead adopted a dejected expression of resignation, muttering exaggeratedly as if chanting a song—
"Ancient founding stone, may you rest with me forever. Humans will all die eventually, let us all return to dust together in harmony..."
The two members of the trio exchanged glances and couldn't help but sigh. The leader roughly grabbed Hugo by the collar—
"We'll do it according to your conditions, you lunatic! Quickly give me that hint!"
"Why the rush?" Hugo calmly took a step back, shaking off the leader of the Iron Triangle, and spoke only after straightening his collar.
"To show my sincerity, I already gave you a hint just now. Do you remember that line? — 'Hehe, my skill in hiding things is no less than my skill in finding them. I swear on my reputation as a detective, you will pass by the national treasure of the founding of the nation countless times, witness the true face of the founding stone countless times, yet you will find no trace of it.'"
"That line is so annoying, I can't help but want to punch it. Chop off the commander's left hand." The leader glanced at the detective with disgust and gave the order in a cold voice.
But as soon as the leader mentioned the words "Commander of Cleave," Hugo jumped up like a startled boar, scrambling away from the Commander of Cleave's attack range.
"Tsk, they're quite clever." Another member of the trio, disappointed at not seeing the expected outcome, complained.
"It's your turn! Doesn't Team Plasma have any credibility? Everyone has already given you all this hint, the truth is right in front of you. It's like we've already handed over the national treasure-like Founding Stone to you two. Don't you intend to honor the contract?"
The detective, with the cursed doll pressed against his back, stood far away from the cleaver commander, muttering incoherently.
"That informant, he's a person," the leader said, his serious expression unwavering. Such shameless behavior earned him the admiring glances of his companions.
Hugo stared wide-eyed, trying to find even a trace of conscience or morality on the leader's face, but to no avail.
After a few breaths—
"So that's how it is!" the detective suddenly shouted in a high-pitched, pig-like voice, "So that's how it is! It was one person! I understand now, I understand now! It was him! Now I understand everything!"
The volume was so loud that it even startled the cursed doll behind him.
"What's wrong with you?" The remaining two members of the Iron Triangle, or rather, the Iron Triangle duo, glared fiercely at the detective at the same time.
“Mr. Triangle Iron, you are so generous! This is a revelation! The culprit who betrayed my plan is not a Pokémon, not a group, and not someone's carelessness that led to the accidental leak of information—there really is an informant! This is extremely important information!”
Hugo gestured wildly as he presented his detective's reasoning: "Moreover, you, the leader of the Dark Triangle, actually refer to the other party as 'him,' while you've been calling me 'you bastard,' 'you bastard,' haven't you? You actually address that despicable informant as 'him' in a proper manner, so he must have some aspect that deserves your respect."
"Considering that this person was a participant in my plan... and what Mr. Triangle Iron let slip earlier... the answer is obvious."
"You bastard... uh! cough cough cough!"
The leader glared at Hugo with eyes burning with rage, as if he wanted to devour the detective whole, but then realized he had once again revealed his verbal tic. He abruptly stopped talking, but caught his breath and began to cough violently.
"As a return gift for your gift, I'll give you a second hint about the Founding Stone—that Dark Stone is placed in a prominent spot in this museum, where all visitors can see it. I swear this is no exaggeration. Furthermore, I don't need any more hints from you two. If I still can't guess who the informant is after that kind reminder, I might as well quit being a detective..."
As Hugo spoke, he casually changed direction, using his body to block the view of the cursed doll pressed against his back.
Then the detective suddenly launched an attack! Without warning, he pounced on the triangular iron leader, who was still bent over coughing.
The cursed doll behind him was a beat slow to react, belatedly intending to launch an attack on the detective, but for some reason tripped and fell on flat ground, interrupting its attack.
"It took me so long to get close enough for this to happen, you're really reliable." The detective chuckled calmly, landing on the ninja in front of him with a perfect vaulting stance, then leaping over the leader. He casually pulled out a wooden cane from beside the curator's office door and tossed it somewhere.
With a thud, the tip of the cane struck the agile bug moving at high speed with pinpoint accuracy, instantly knocking down the high-attack, low-defense creature. The wooden cane bounced off and miraculously tripped another Dark Triangle Iron that was about to retaliate.
Hugo gave a salute to the bewildered Commander, who was standing there in a daze: "Luckily, I took care of your master with the ball in the first step. Now you don't know what to do, do you? Give me a suggestion, how about letting me leave? Anyway, you can't stop me now."
While spouting nonsense, the detective, as if he had eyes in the back of his head, preemptively kicked backward, knocking the Iron Triangle leader, who was lunging at him again, to the ground. Then, he turned the doorknob and strolled out of the curator's office, which was littered with corpses.
Then, Hugo turned around and politely bowed.
"Please give my regards to Mr. Blueberry, the shameful traitor to the alliance, the infamous villain King, the despicable gambler who bets on both sides. Also, please tell him that the chief detective of Hugo Detective Agency will expose his crimes to the world."