"As Miss The Assistant reveals, there is a geek among you who tries to recommend Otters to newbies in strange ways. To be honest, I don't think it's a crime, I've asked Dr. Yew before, and there's really no rule in the institute that prohibits taking certain types of Pokémon out on a regular basis. So, in theory, there is no need for sanction for such outrageous behavior. ”

Hugo explained to the researchers in a kind manner.

"You knew about this back then?" Dr. Taxus was surprised at the strange place, and it seemed that her surprise when confronted with Azure's reasoning earlier was not acting.

"I'm surprised that I've been reminded to that extent, and you still haven't found out the truth, doctor." The detective shook his head at the doctor with a look of control, and then faced his assistants again.

"At the beginning, I suggested that the Doctor carry out a normal researcher exchange, as long as you all pack up and send it somewhere else, the strange events that appeared here will disappear naturally, but unfortunately the Taxus Doctor did not hesitate to refuse."

"That's not going to work, they're all in the middle of the research work, and it's too unreasonable and cruel to interrupt their research indiscriminately." The doctor on the side reiterated earnestly.

"But I remember that there was another classmate named Furuya who didn't have a project to decide." The detective said as he pressed his index finger to his chin.

One of the youngest researchers present hurriedly explained: "Although I haven't decided on a topic, I've been in the field here in Luzi Town for a while, and if I am transferred to a distant place, my work will cause a lot of trouble." By the way, my next project will be themed around the Legendary Pokémon Trail in the surrounding area. ”

"Dismissed, even if you go back five hundred years, you can't find such a relic in this Luzi Town." The doctor ruthlessly vetoed the student's topic.

Hugo helplessly looked at the lady doctor who was in a headache and the classmate of Furuya who was in despair, so he had to speak loudly to bring the topic back to the case in front of him-

Dr. Yew asked why no one found it in the follow-up investigation. It's actually quite understandable. ”

The Doctor put on a deaf face again.

"In the psychology of human beings, there is a phenomenon called selective amnesia, which means that people consciously forget experiences that they don't like. And among these forgotten things, there is a high and low order of forgetting, from difficult to easy - things that have been done but do not want to recall, words that have been said but want to take back, things that have been seen but want to ignore, thoughts that have been produced but are rejected by the heart - there is no doubt that the reason for choosing the otter is the last one that is the easiest to forget. ”

"Could it be that Mr. Detective thinks that the reason why no one remembers choosing the otter is because everyone has forgotten about it?" A bespectacled student asked, surprised.

"You're Matsubara-san, aren't you? The trainers' ideas are indeed a little different from ordinary people, and as the second son of a rich man, you naturally can't empathize with this when you choose to develop as a scholar. The detective replied.

"For trainers who aspire to hone their skills in combat, none of them want to be mired in regret at the first step of their journey, they must create a reason worthy of their conscience, a reason to dream and hope for their choice of otters."

"This act is not so much forgetting as a deliberate concealment of one's true motives for choosing elves. Out of self-esteem, these lying trainers conceal their rash choices. Of course, as time goes on, lies and truth eventually become blurred and replaced, until they themselves forget to choose the true reason. ”

The people in the institute were not so easy to fool, and an uncle named Eric shook his head and questioned, "But this is only what happened in the past six months, and I still don't believe that all sixty-three trainers have this idea." ”

"Your suspicions are completely valid, and psychological factors don't make people start lying in a word, just like novice trainers make choices in the Misan, and it's up to them to tell whether they are undecided or not. However, in reality, there are countless and many small impulses that make these trainers choose to seal their memories in the end. ”

Beside Bilan, who was a little panicked in the face of doubts, the detective talked with ease.

"First of all, these newbies are still very dependent on their initial partner. These trainers have now developed a friendship with the otters that far exceeded their time, and if their partner was by their side at the time of the interview, it is unlikely that the current trainers would have confessed that they had chosen their partner for the boring reason of 'seeing the other two original elves on the side of the road'. ”

"It's a really humiliating situation." The assistant remembered his Blastoise and thought about it, nodding in agreement.

Hugo paced up to the otter that had been released from the ball earlier, crouched down, and looked into its dark eyes: "Otter, how would you feel if a trainer said that he chose it according to the method of elimination, and finally reluctantly chose it?" ”

After hearing this, the little blue and white otter hugged its head and thought for a while, and then shook its head desperately.

"You're saying it's an unacceptable insult, and it's better to stay at the institute than to take you like this?" Hugo used his acting skills to communicate as if he could understand the elves.

The otter, who understood the general meaning of the detective, nodded again.

However, even when they see this scene, some people are incredulous. The Doubter is the tallest of the researchers.

The former trainer Yamashita spread his hands: "Mr. Detective, your conjecture is indeed refreshing, but the trainers' partners are not always by their side, right?" On that alone, the more than sixty trainers couldn't have lied. ”

"Of course, that's not the only reason." The detective answered immediately and categorically.

"There are many other reasons for this—the Institute's questionnaire is not an interrogation by a police officer, and how many trainers are really willing to recall a long memory of it? Besides, your questionnaire didn't fully cover all 63 trainers, did it? Maybe a trainer who remembers the situation and doesn't want to lie happens to be unable to contact him, so you've ignored it. Also, there are trainers who really forget about the incident at that time, right? After all, what they had seen and heard before entering the research institute had long been overwhelmed by the great joy of receiving the first Pokémon, and they might really have taken the result of their choice of three as providence or intuition. ”

The detective pointed the round end of his wooden cane at everyone present, as if he were a magician performing an evil ritual—

"No one remembers that it was just an accident, but various subtle circumstances raised the probability of such an accident to a counterintuitive level, and as a result, you witnessed a miracle of sixty-three trainers choosing the same Pokémon in a row."

"Boring, boring, meaningless. Manipulative miracles are nothing more than exaggerated accidents. It's like the eye-catching statistical conclusions written by third-rate statisticians. Hugo said with a sigh.

"Now that my patience has run out, tell me about your dark motives! This former trainer, now a good-for-nothing Yamashita classmate. ”