Pokémon Detective: Cynthia Forces Me to Adopt a Pokémon

Chapter 38: Questions and Answers with Dr. Yew

On his second day in Deer Town, Hugo got up very early.

Although they had agreed to go to investigate together, Hugo ignored Touko's habit of staying in bed as usual. He entrusted the somewhat cumbersome elves he was carrying to Touko's mother and set off for the area where the Yew Research Institute was located.

There were still two hours before the research institute's normal opening hours. The detective had already contacted Dr. Yew, and the two agreed to meet at a nearby tea restaurant that opened very early.

The tea restaurant was much more upscale than Hugo had expected. The moment he entered, Hugo saw Dr. Yew, leisurely sipping her tea. She wore a light mint-colored lab coat and had her long brown hair styled in a bun, looking exactly like her in the photograph.

Upon seeing the detective, the other person immediately greeted him with a smile.

"After receiving the call yesterday, I followed the detective's instructions and announced at the research institute that a new person would be coming to collect their Pokémon the next day. That way, we just need to wait for the informant the detective arranged to report everything she's discovered, and this problem will be solved, right?"

After Hugo sat down, the doctor asked him in a relaxed manner.

"If all goes well, of course, but such a perfunctory and simple plan cannot fool those who are truly interested."

Hugo glanced at the tea restaurant's menu, searching for the cheapest breakfast set meal, and answered absentmindedly.

"Huh?" The doctor's calm smile began to twitch. "Why is this happening? Did I give myself away? I was so confident in my acting skills... Or was this plan inherently destined to fail?"

Hugo handed the menu to the waiter and replied to the professor, "There are various reasons, but the most crucial one is that trainers who come to the research institute to collect Pokémon must be approved by the League, and this information is already registered. So as long as the criminal thinks of this and checks the public files, he will definitely see through this scam."

Seeing Dr. Yew's hesitant expression, the detective quickly made a reassuring gesture and then said—

"But in reality, there is still a high chance that the criminal will fall for it. After all, if that person really manipulated the sixty initial starter family collection ceremonies by some means, when it comes to this time, he probably won't have much patience left. He might skip the investigation procedures and repeat the previous interference activities with his eyes closed."

"It really is a limbo situation." Amidst the ups and downs, the usually serious female PhD student opposite me sighed without any grace. "I thought we could finally solve that inexplicable mystery."

Hugo's breakfast arrived: fried eggs, bread, and orange juice. The detective skillfully began to eat with his knife and fork.

Watching the detective eat so methodically, the professor couldn't help but ask, "Since you're so calm, Detective, you must have already come up with a countermeasure besides that plan, right?"

"Of course, I'd consider myself a detective, and I don't need these tricks to find the truth."

The detective swallowed the small pieces of bread and, as expected, spoke confidently.

"However, I still need the doctor to provide me with some information about the research institute."

"As long as it doesn't involve confidential matters, I can disclose anything, and our research institute doesn't have anything worth hiding." The doctor readily agreed, quite readily.

"Then let me begin my question. What research topics are the other members of the research institute, besides yourself, currently conducting?"

"Mr. Eric is investigating the distribution of Pokémon around Deer Town. In addition, Matsubara is researching the possibility of wild Pokémon assisting humans in their work. Yamashita's research topic is the restrictions on the use of sound-based moves. As for Furuya, he still hasn't decided on his research topic."

Yew readily listed the research topics of the people in the research institute, truly befitting a top scholar in the field of Pokémon studies.

After taking a sip of orange juice, Hugo asked for confirmation, "Is Mr. Eric the scholar uncle from the research institute?"

"Yes, he is the second-in-command of the institute and a researcher at the same level as me. However, because he often needs to go out to conduct investigations, I am still in charge of the institute's daily work."

"I remember Dr. Yew, you yourself often go out to conduct research, right? And you frequently appear on television programs. What does the research institute do in situations like this?"

The doctor frankly stated, "The students will help take care of it."

"In that case," Hugo asked seriously, "have any novice trainers come by and receive an Otter at this time?"

“Yes. About a third of the water otters are sent out while I’m not around. What’s the point of asking this?” The doctor didn’t quite understand the direction of Hugo’s question.

"No, I'm just a little curious," the detective replied vaguely.

This question actually rules out the hypothesis that "Dr. Yew himself is the criminal," but it's better to keep that conclusion to ourselves for the sake of everyone.

"Besides everyone at the research institute, are there any other people who come to the research institute regularly?"

"This research institute is basically open to the public. People who have visited the institute include trainers who collect Pokédex entries, children from the town, and Douzi's mother. However, they only visit occasionally, so I don't think it's related to the incident."

As if he were to tentatively agree with Dr. Yew's statement, Hugo posed a few final questions.

"I have a few more questions for you: First, how did Matsubara conduct his research on wild Pokémon replacing humans in work? Second, is Yamashita's research project related to his personal experiences? Third, given Furuya's current academic level, will he be able to successfully complete his graduate studies?"

After a moment's thought, Yew answered one by one: "Songyuan always goes back to his hometown to conduct field surveys. The subject of his survey is the wild savage perch in Boshi, Qinghai. He believes that a system for processing aquatic timber can be established by utilizing the powerful bite force of this creature. Although his idea is far-fetched, his plan is surprisingly feasible."

Hugo imagined a scene of swarms of wild perch darting back and forth, tearing at the trees...

"By the way, there are absolutely no wild water otters in Songyuan's hometown. All the water otters at the research institute are provided by the Alliance's specialized breeding base; there's absolutely no suspicion of smuggling," the professor added, then moved on to the next student—

"Yamashita was an excellent battle trainer before joining the research institute. He later voluntarily transferred to the institute to study. His research topic was inspired by his battle partner, Rolling. There are relatively few scholars in Unova who specialize in studying moves. I hope that this student can fill the gap in academia in the future."

"I see. And what about the third student?"

"Furuya is actually the most talented of the three graduate student assistants, but he's a bit ambitious but lacks practical skills. He always goes overboard with his research topics, almost like he's determined to make a splash, but he's careless when it comes to actually doing the research. Nevertheless, I think he should have no problem completing his studies," Dr. Yew said.

The detective nodded with great satisfaction: "I have a general understanding of the situation. Next, I would like to take a look at the internal structure and terrain of the research institute before the people from the institute arrive."

After paying their respective bills, the two left the restaurant and went to the nearby research institute.

Dr. Yew's research institute is actually very simple in structure, and can be roughly divided into two areas: the research institute and the backyard.

The backyard, from front to back, consists of a breeding area for the starter Pokémon, a storage area for trainer Pokémon, and a wild area for observing wild Pokémon.

The research institute is a spacious single-story building, divided into a reception area and an office area. Trainers receive their "favorite" starter Pokémon in the reception area, while the office area is where researchers store data, write records, and summarize reports.

Everything was normal.

Eric's office was piled high with data on Pokémon-related issues, including numerous photos of wild Pokémon; Pine's desk was the tidiest, with a square laptop as his only office equipment, though it seemed to be rarely used; at the foot of the mountain, there were some high-end Pokémon food items and several research reports on Drumbat, detailed but not overly complicated; Old House's seat was the messiest, with his desk cluttered with random items and surrounded by crumpled pieces of discarded handwritten paper...

As Dr. Yew was accompanying the detective to inspect every nook and cranny of the research institute, he suddenly heard a soft laugh coming from beside him.

"So that's how it is. The final mystery has been completely solved."