Pokémon Detective: Cynthia Forces Me to Adopt a Pokémon

Chapter 207 The Solution - The Interpretation of Dreams

Chapter 217 The Solution - Dream Interpretation

Momonga is a legendary Pokémon that shares a common ancestor with Baku, a creature that is in a state of semi-consciousness.

Like its unevolved form, Dreameater, it eats the dreams of humans and Pokémon as snacks. The dreams it devours turn into purple smoke that rises from its head; the smoke is pink when it eats a happy dream, and blackish-gray when it eats a nightmare.

Although startled by the sudden appearance of the detective, Kuribayashi, being a professional actor who plays superpowered individuals in the circus, quickly understood the situation.

Looking at the elf that the detective had knocked out and tamed, the father pondered for a moment and then asked naturally, "Are you saying that it's this Dream Eater at school that caused my daughter's strange behavior over the past year?"

So-called dreams are not just mental fluctuations generated in the brain during sleep. Dreams, wishes, fantasies, hallucinations... anything that is so ethereal can be categorized as "dreams" under general conditions.

If Mengmengshi mistakenly takes Sachiko's reality as a dream and consumes it, it's not impossible that Sachiko might end up not being able to see her parents at home.

So, the culprit behind everything was this Pokémon?

"No, this Dream Eater isn't the cause of the little girl's abnormality. I just have some personal grudges with this guy."

As if she could read the man's mind, Azure denied it directly.

She put the twirling glasses into her pocket, then held Mengmeng tightly in front of her with both hands, continuing her explanation like a puppet show—

"This Pokémon only started appearing near the school in the last month, while Sachiko gradually stopped seeing her parents starting in the middle of this year. Although the time overlaps, the starting times are not the same, which is a decisive contradiction. Besides, this Dream Eater is so big and doesn't have any moves related to optical invisibility, so it's impossible for it to just appear in the school and devour your daughter's 'dream'."

Seemingly feeling that this still wasn't enough to clear Mewtwo of the suspicion, Azure thought for a moment and then added, "The children in the preschool should know more about its appearance. Although the staff haven't discovered this Pokémon yet, it's impossible for it to have escaped the sight of so many children."

"Have you ever heard of this pink Pokémon?" Kuribayashi asked his daughter.

"Hmm. Starting this month, it would appear outside the window when we took our afternoon nap, and sometimes we would see it on the playground. It seems like all the students know it, although we all agreed not to tell the teacher." Sachiko said, pressing her index finger against her cheek as she tried hard to remember.

"Me too, I often see them on the playground." The little boy, who had just arrived at the scene and was panting, nodded repeatedly, following behind Bilan.

“Of course.” Azure patted the pink body of the Pokémon in her hand and led everyone towards a secluded spot in the school—

"Although the Dream Eclipse that I captured wasn't the culprit behind the anomaly, it doesn't mean it was completely unrelated to the incident. To be honest, I almost got completely fooled by this guy."

The personal grudge that Azure mentioned earlier with Dream Eclipse refers to everything she saw through the telescope from the clock tower—the heartwarming scene of the whole class having an outdoor activity class together.

Seeing that scene meant that the substitute detective had "witnessed" a scene from her imagination—the "parallel universe" that Sachiko went to when she disappeared from the class.

In fact, the reason we were able to discover the truth behind this was largely thanks to the homework Professor Oak had prepared in advance.

Even when it is unconscious, the Pokémon Momonga will continuously emit mist from its head. When it falls asleep, the mist will continue to flow out, and at this time, what will appear in the mist is Momonga's own dream.

Dreams aren't always bizarre and fantastical. Between pleasant dreams and nightmares, people and Pokémon also dream of the mundane scenes of everyday life. This ordinariness is so natural that it is often simply forgotten, leaving no noteworthy memories in the mind.

It is said that the more comfortable and pleasant the sleep environment, the easier it is for people to fall into such ordinary and quiet dreams.

Everyday places, everyday people, everyday actions. In such dreams, the brain acts like a projector, unconsciously replaying the most insignificant parts of daily life.

However, if the dream is a dream eclipse that can create illusions through smoke, then this metaphor about a projector becomes quite apt.

In fact, when Bilan set up her binoculars, the playground she was facing was completely empty.

What she saw was merely the dream smoke of Dream Eater—a past scene that this Pokémon had witnessed in the same location.

That was a few days earlier, in the morning, before the young client had even made a request to Bilan, a fleeting image of Sachiko and her entire class playing together on the playground.

This morning, while Azure was struggling to climb the hole by clinging tightly to the rope, this wretched Dream Eater was leisurely wandering around, drifting out of the school basement, which it had been using as a temporary resting place, preparing to fly to the warmest spot in the winter sun for a nap.

The spot where Mengmengshi took her afternoon nap was directly below where Bilan had set up her telescope.

Sweet dreams are pink, nightmares are blackish-gray, and ordinary dreams, which come and go day after day, are colorless and tasteless.

Just as Azure was first struck by the deafening roar of the clock tower's bells, a colorless, transparent dream quietly floated up in front of her.

Azure was almost misled by this dream of everyday life.

In Pokémon battles, "Light Screen" cannot completely block sound wave moves, but if the target of the defense is just an ordinary bell, it's really not that easy to block out the school bell so you can take a nap.

Even a bell that is deafening to humans can be easily and completely blocked by a thin "light screen" for a psychic Pokémon.

In comparison, it is much more difficult to hide one's height of over one meter at school.

The clock tower is too noisy and chaotic to allow people to rest, so no one sets foot in it. But it is precisely because no one sets foot in it that the clock tower becomes the ideal place for Mengmeng to rest in the sun.

"That's why I said, no matter how sharp a child's eyes are, or how reflective the lenses are, they can't possibly notice the portable binoculars set up on the clock tower across the playground..." the detective muttered to herself.

"The only correct answer is that the boy's gaze toward the clock tower had a hidden meaning. He was waving at something more conspicuous—like the Misty Eclipse floating in the sky. It's perfectly normal for a little boy born into a family of aerial combat masters to greet a Pokémon floating by in the sky."

"Um... You used to hide in the clock tower and spy on the children at school with binoculars?"

Mr. Kuribayashi's focus seemed to shift subtly as he began to re-examine the detective before him.

"That's completely unimportant." The acting detective waved her hand dismissively, skillfully changing the subject, and continued speaking on her own—

"In short, while the children taking their afternoon nap at school can provide Dreamweaver with sweet dreams, letting it roam freely in the academy for too long is definitely not a good thing. After learning about Dreamweaver from the children, I went to explore the places where it was most likely to live and caught this mischievous fellow deep in the underground parking garage. However, it seems to have a trainer's Pokémon, so I don't know what to do with it yet." At this point, Azure scratched her cheek in annoyance.

However, after listening to Azure's long speech, Mr. Kuribayashi began to get impatient: "In the end, what do all these things you've said, and this spirit, have to do with my daughter?"

"Don't rush me. Didn't I say we're gathering all the people involved in the incident? Besides you and Sachiko, isn't there another very, very important person who hasn't shown up yet?"

You mean, Mom?

Sachiko asked timidly. As far as she could remember, this was the first time she had spoken directly to Azure.

"Of course, I have already informed Mrs. Kuribayashi, and your mother is on her way here."

"Are you trying to test whether Sachiko will ignore us when she's outside the house? We've tried this before. We're parents too, and we've tried everything we know to treat Sachiko's strange illness, but it's all been useless." Mr. Kuribayashi looked at Azure with a serious expression.

“Of course I know, that’s precisely why we need a detective, isn’t it?” As if she had discovered a valuable clue, Azure smiled with even greater confidence.

"Sachiko!"

Just then, a woman's voice came from the school gate.

It was Sachiko's mother. After receiving Bilan's call, she rushed to the school without stopping. The security guard at the gate remembered Mrs. Kuribayashi's face, so he didn't stop her from entering the school.

Mr. Kuribayashi, the acting detective, and the young client who was following Azure all looked in the direction of the approaching person.

Only the little girl, Sachiko, remained stunned, not turning her head.

It was as if they hadn't heard the call at all.