blogombal Chapter 342 Detoxification – The Uninvited Guest
Chapter 342 Detoxification – The Uninvited Guest
The detoxification treatment for Akromar has made little progress.
On the other side of the United Alliance headquarters building, a pure white medical room was filled with the mingled smells of disinfectant and anxiety, where several exhausted doctors looked gloomy.
It was evening, the time for shift changes, and the nurses who cared for Akromma had all gone to rest. Only these Alliance elites, who possessed top-notch medical technology, were still wrestling with death.
"The results of the local blood reaction test on the patient are in. The antidote serum for snake-type Pokémon also failed to cure the patient, just like the previous bee venom serum and scorpion venom serum. In addition, the fourth option discussed earlier—using Fairy-type Pokémon such as Whimsicott to transfer life energy to the patient—was also ineffective."
A male doctor, with a Pokkigu perched on his shoulder, solemnly announced the results of his treatment.
"Based on current test results, the patient does not have enough physical strength to undergo chemotherapy, and I do not believe that existing chemical treatments can be effective against this unknown toxin."
Sitting in front of the hospital bed, the female doctor, who was adding information to a test report, adjusted her glasses. Her expression was indifferent, and the lenses reflected the pale blue light of the monitor.
"But the blood test results after the blood draw were relatively normal."
An older doctor reminded everyone that he was a leading expert in pharmacology at the Alliance Medical Department and the most senior expert present.
"The blood showed no abnormalities, at most only mild symptoms similar to common inflammation... Radiation and heavy metal tests also yielded negative results, perhaps this toxin is only targeting the patient's nervous system."
Are you implying that electroconvulsive therapy might be effective?
On the other side of the ward, a tall doctor observing the vital signs data turned around, the hem of his white coat casting a messy reflection on the glass surface of the sterilizer.
“I object to this idea. Didn’t the director already reject this approach when determining the treatment direction? Besides, it’s too hasty to start electrical stimulation before finding the lesion. Humans aren’t computers; you can’t just turn them on and off and restart them when problems arise.”
“But… there’s no other way.” The older doctor looked at Akroma, who was lying paralyzed on the hospital bed, with a grim expression. “We can’t just watch him die weakly, can we? Even if we don’t consider principles like treating and saving lives, what will happen to the reputation of our Alliance’s chief medical department if the patient dies here and this gets out?”
“I do have a solution.” The female doctor seemed to have finished recording her observation report, so she spoke coldly, “Due to personal interest, I am quite interested in the progress of biomedicine in the field of bionic engineering. Recently, there seems to be some incredible news circulating in this circle.”
"You mean Sinnoh's bionic neural connection technology?"
The tall doctor seemed to have heard the rumors as well, but he just sneered dismissively.
"Do you really believe that a TV presenter who is obsessed with evolutionary theory, a retired biology professor, can create a bionic robot that can perfectly replace the human body in the deep mountains and forests in just ten years? Don't be delusional and turn patients into semi-mechanical monsters. Instead of believing such rumors, you might as well go to the Temple of Sinnoh or the Bell Tower in Johto and burn some incense for the patient. That way, the chances of a cure will be much higher."
Even if that were the case, there probably wouldn't be enough time.
The male doctor in charge of the Pokémon therapy shook his head, taking a rather neutral stance, and said—
"The patient has not simply lost the ability to move; the unknown toxin is still relentlessly eroding his bodily functions. Even in the most optimistic scenario, if we cannot find a practical antidote by tomorrow, the patient will likely stop breathing tomorrow night."
"I'm going to see the medical director again." The pharmacologist stormed out the door. "What kind of time is this, still so rigidly focused on the patient's post-operative health? He's almost dead; what does it matter if he's a little demented and drools a bit after he recovers? He'll thank us then. I don't want to be ruined at my age by this kind of inexplicable accident..."
The old man was furious, but as soon as the door opened, his words came to an abrupt halt, like a "true qi fist" interrupted by an attack.
Is anyone home?
Two young faces appeared at the doorway. The young man in the white shirt wore a spotless red silk tie, a stark contrast to the casually worn sports jacket of the girl in the baseball cap beside him.
The two seemed to be about to knock on the door when they saw a doctor come out of the ward. The restless-looking girl immediately peeked out and peered into the room.
"Ahem, are you two relatives or friends of the patient?"
Thanks to the soundproofing of the doors purchased collectively by the Alliance headquarters, the doctors' discussion inside did not seem to have reached the outside. The old doctor straightened his collar and asked the two in a dignified, old-fashioned tone.
"The Mr. Akromar inside is a friend of the new league champion, and we are here on behalf of that champion to conduct a special examination on the patient."
The speaker was the young man in the red tie. He spoke methodically and clearly, like a teacher—
"Due to the special nature of the examinations to be conducted, which may involve some confidentiality obligations, we hope that the doctors can temporarily leave the examination room during our examinations. Of course, we also know that it is difficult for strangers like ourselves to gain the full trust of the doctors, so we have brought a token representing the champion. If you still have any doubts, you can contact the head of the medical department or Ms. Gloria, the vice president of the league."
Black Lian showed the other party a gold card with a crown pattern printed on it—it looked exactly the same as the one Hugo had used to get through the inner passage.
In fact, this was the champion's pass that the detective had specially applied for for the champion's agent. However, because he was worried that if the card were held by the eccentric Touko, it might not be convincing enough, so Hei Lian was asked to communicate on her behalf.
“Wow, it’s the ‘King’s Proof’… You guys go in first, I’ll make a call to those two people you mentioned.”
The elderly doctor yielded with neither arrogance nor servility, holding his head high as he placed Douzi and Heilian into the ward. In reality, he didn't have the vice president's phone number at all; his claim of needing to confirm with the two men was merely a pretense of authority.
"Hey, are you Hei Lian and Dou Zi?"
Upon entering the ward, the doctor, who was sitting on Pokkigu's shoulder, looked surprised.
"I served as the medical advisor for the Higaki Tournament three years ago, and I was deeply impressed by your duel. What are you two doing here?"
"They must be the two eyewitnesses who were supposed to meet the patient. I saw them when we were at the scene for the emergency treatment." Before Douzi and the others could answer, the tall doctor had already walked up to them and looked Heilian and Douzi up and down.
"You said you'd be conducting some kind of special test. What exactly is it? Can it identify the type of toxin?"
“The specific details need to be kept secret, but—” the girl with the high ponytail wore a mysterious expression, “some toxins are like the illusions of dream demons; the more people watching, the harder they are to manifest. Perhaps this is a poison that can be immediately neutralized once its true form is recognized.”
"Hehe, are you Googer or Sableye?" Togekiss with two cute little wings darted past Douzi, and its trainer joked, "However, we're currently in a dilemma and don't know what to do. If you could help identify toxins, that would be really great."
"Do you need these test reports?" The female doctor, who had been sitting next to the hospital bed, stood up and waved the documents in her hand.
"Thank you for your kind offer, but we plan to try other methods," Blackie politely declined.
It was at this moment that he and Douzi finally saw the plasma cluster scientist again, whom they hadn't seen for half a day.
Akroma's face was much paler than when she had seen him in the reception room that morning, like a blank sheet of paper that had been inexplicably erased many times. Her once distinctively dyed hair, which resembled satellite orbits, now lay listlessly in a messy ball.
"As mentioned above, there are no issues with the identities of these two individuals, so let's allow them to undergo that so-called special examination for now."
The ward door opened again, and the pathologist walked in, waving the smartphone he had just hung up on.
"Thank you for your hard work, doctors. Our examination will take about an hour. Please go and rest for a while. I will let you know if anything changes."
Hei Lian politely bowed to the medical staff to express her gratitude, while her childhood friend was rolling up his sleeves, eagerly looking at Akroma on the hospital bed, as if he was about to pounce on her and unleash his fists.
Seeing the girl's actions, the doctors seemed to have something to say, but in the end, they were asked to leave the ward by Hei Lian and the old doctor.
Before leaving, the pathologist hesitated for a long time in front of Hei Lian, and finally asked in a low voice, "Have you... figured out the type of toxin? What are your plans for next?"
Seeing the old man's self-doubting gaze, the young man, who was still a candidate for the position of museum director, could no longer continue to stall. He had no choice but to whisper a few words in the doctor's ear—
“Your methods for detecting poison are comprehensive and thorough enough. So, after ruling out all other possibilities, the one that remains is Akromma’s true lesion.”
After saying that, the door to the ward was tightly closed.
The sound of a lock being turned on came from inside.
"The remaining one..." the old doctor murmured, falling into deeper doubt.
But behind that door, the girl appointed as the champion's substitute bluntly revealed the final answer—
"Mr. Akromma wasn't actually poisoned, was he?"
In this windowless and soundproof ward, the girl's clear voice shattered against the metal walls, the echoes reverberating throughout the room.
Hei Lian watched his childhood friend's solo performance in silence, his fingers touching the Poké Ball hanging at his waist, like a dutiful guard, never leaving the door that had just been closed.
"You planned to kill Mr. Akromma when all the doctors and nurses had left, or when only one or two remained, so that they wouldn't be looking."
Douzi's boot heels tapped crisply on the ground, each step coinciding with the intervals between the monitor's pulses. Her speech was delivered with conviction, as if a real criminal were standing before her.
"It wouldn't have been a problem to let Akromar die weakly like that, but the situation has changed. The two Champions and the Champion himself arrived at the League headquarters at the same time, which made you nervous."
The atmosphere around them seemed to have changed in some way, but the girl remained unmoved.
“We can’t wait until tomorrow night any longer. If the Champion and the two Heavenly Kings discover something in the League and then figure out the true nature of this poison, all our previous efforts will be wasted… That must be what you were thinking, which is why you took advantage of the chaos during the treatment and quietly came here alone while the Heavenly Kings and Champions went to the crime scene to investigate.”
Do you really think your plan is foolproof?
Douzi jumped onto the chair the female doctor had just sat on and raised his voice.
"A toxin that leaves no trace, haha, how utterly ridiculous! This is nothing but a facade you created using Pokémon moves. The real toxin is within you, flowing through your wicked brain circuits! Two ordinary moves that were originally completely harmless have been transformed into an unknown poison that harms people invisibly by your combination. How despicable and shameful!"
The ward remained silent, with only the monotonous and faint echo of the instrument monitoring Akromma's heart rate.
"It seems the murderer isn't planning to come forward until the trick is completely exposed," Hei Lian reminded his childhood friend.
"You think we're bluffing you?" Douzi's expression was a mix of amusement and exasperation. "It's time to end this farce! Using 'Immobilization Spell' to lock down movement, then simulating poisoning symptoms with 'Electromagnetic Waves' to evade the search for psychic energy—did you really think you could fool everyone with the Kecleon's 'color-changing' ability?"
"........."
Silence...
The silence was like the darkness before dawn, leaving one wondering how long it would last.
But suddenly, the electrocardiogram monitor recording Akromma's vital signs burst with ripples, and the sudden burst of energy in the room caused the monitor to emit a mournful cry.
Almost simultaneously, the Poké Ball that Blackie threw drew a silver arc in the air—
"Clang!"
The Zangoose Slash's claws collided with the dark purple energy blade, and the exploding Ghost-type energy splashed viscous, ethereal water droplets in the air.
In the void reflected in the crimson pupils of the feline Pokémon, there is a red pattern.
Centered on this pattern, ripples of scale-like light spread out, and the outline of a pale green lizard gradually appeared—the shadowy claws at the tip of the cloaked dragon's tail still shone with a faint glow.
It is the cloaked dragon with the "color-changing" property!
Blackie pulled a new Poké Ball from his waist again, his gaze fixed intently on a corner deep within the room: "Your breathing rate when commanding Pokémon is far more noticeable than Kecleon's heartbeat, so why continue to hide?"
After a long silence, a voice as cold as winter suddenly rang out from the corner where Blackie was looking—
"That guy is from Team Plasma. It would be beneficial for you to let him die at my hands. Why don't we each take a step back?"
Hei Lian was stunned for a moment, and just as he was about to choose his words to refute, his childhood friend shook his head decisively first: "Stop with the sweet talk, we will not let you kill someone in front of us."
A Poké Ball landed, and a vibrant green Serperior appeared beside the girl. It glided its body like flowing water and coiled itself around the unconscious Akromar's hospital bed.
"Well, there's nothing more to say then."
With a long sigh, the light in front of the two people distorted.
Swish, swish... Like silk threads strung together, another green figure revealed its true form where the voices came from.
It was a huge bird, as tall as a person, with emerald green head feathers, a black neck, and patterns on its body that resembled complex ancient totems.
It raised two white wings that looked like flags—and in the shadow of the fluorescent lights, a figure emerged from the Pokémon's embrace.
Douzi's eyes widened in surprise—
"It's you, the vice president of the alliance."