Chapter 133: Super Criminal!

Just as Edward was about to get off work, he received a reply from the author Grey Crane, who was willing to meet. Edward wasn't surprised—after all, when it comes to potential copyright collaborations, authors are usually quite proactive. After all, there's big money involved.

Although Edward wasn't planning to collaborate directly with Crane's works, it was only natural to ask for his opinion and offer a consultation fee.

At the appointed time, Edward arrived at a designated cafe and finally met with the writer known as Crane.

The man had average looks, but his dark circles were heavy. He didn't look very old, but those dark circles gave him the air of someone who'd overindulged a bit in life.

"You're Grey Crane?" Edward walked over and asked politely. The man quickly nodded.

After sitting down, Edward explained his purpose for the meeting. Crane didn't mind that Edward wasn't here for copyright collaboration. In fact, when he heard Edward wanted to shoot a detective suspense drama, he became quite enthusiastic and began chatting with Edward about story creation.

"Do you know what kind of crime is the hardest to solve?" Crane asked, his eyes gleaming with excitement. The aroma of coffee lingered in the air of the small cafe, and the swirling steam made Crane's face seem a bit blurred.

"Spontaneous random killings. Like being stabbed in a crowded mall and dying on the spot," Edward answered. Crane froze for a moment, giving Edward a rather curious look.

"Why?" he asked, clearly intrigued. He had expected something like locked-room murders or some other elaborate killing method, but not this.

Edward took a sip of tea before explaining.

This was actually something Grace had told him.

Modern criminal investigations usually start with mapping out the victim's social relationships, followed by analyzing surveillance footage to look for clues. In most cases, these relationship investigations alone can solve the crime. After all, it's rare for someone to commit a murder with absolutely no motive—most people kill with strong intent, whether it's revenge or financial disputes.

Once that kind of connection is found, investigators can follow the trail. Most ordinary murder cases are solved at this stage, since most offenders have some irreconcilable conflict with the victim. Relationship mapping is highly effective.

If physical evidence is found, it can speed up the process. The elaborate setups in detective novels often don't hold up in real investigations—professional detectives see them as flawed because the more elaborate the scene, the more likely it is that evidence will be left behind. Fingerprints, biological samples, sweat residue—all of that can expose the perpetrator.

The more they do, the more they risk messing up. Edward remembered how in his previous life, someone once tried to commit a murder using methods from novels or anime, but was arrested within 24 hours. The guy was dumbfounded, saying, "This should've been the perfect crime!"

But in fact, it just left a ton of evidence.

The cases that really give police headaches are those where the victim is walking on a street with no surveillance and is suddenly killed by a random attacker who then tosses the weapon into a river and burns the clothes. These kinds of crimes are incredibly difficult to solve through ordinary means and often require massive investigations—and even then, they may turn up nothing.

"I didn't think of that... but now that you've explained it, it makes sense," Crane replied thoughtfully. However, such cases don't translate well into novels—they're not exciting enough and don't give the detective much to work with. There's no brilliant deduction—just gathering evidence and piecing together the crime.

"Well, that's real-life crime. Novels and scripts obviously need to be more dramatic," Edward shrugged. Modern forensics has made classic detective reasoning mostly obsolete. However, in cases that can't be solved through normal procedures, detectives can still play a role.

Edward knew there were detective agencies in Rustboro, but they mostly handled cheating partners or missing Pokémon. Grace had told him that most police cases were solved internally without involving private detectives.

But that wouldn't work in dramas or films. What are you supposed to show? A bunch of cops gathering clues? So now most crime dramas focus on police solving cases with a little reasoning and a lot of high-tech tools—like the classic American show Bones.

Edward hadn't watched much TV, but he'd seen clips of Bones on social media, and every time one popped up, he'd watch it to the end—completely hooked.

The future of detective shows would likely move in that direction: high-tech investigations combined with some deduction.

But in the Pokémon world, there's one more unique element—Pokémon. Grace had already mentioned some examples to him, such as criminals using Pokémon to assist in their crimes.

One case involved a suspect who trained a Hypno. The method was to have Hypno hypnotize victims into handing over their money, then erase the memory. If the victim's family hadn't noticed something was off and reported it, the perpetrator could've gotten away with it for a long time.

"In this world, there are countless creative ways for criminals to commit crimes. When it's just humans, it's manageable—but once Pokémon are involved, things get really tricky. Thankfully, we have psychic Pokémon on our side too," Crane said with a sigh.

"Whenever I write, I keep discovering Pokémon with abilities that could be perfect for committing crimes—it's amazing," he added excitedly.

Edward gave him a weird look. This guy isn't secretly trying to be some real-life criminal mastermind, is he?

Still, Edward had to admit the man had a point. In the Pokémon world, with Pokémon in the mix, crime becomes absurdly easy.

It's only because Team Rocket is incompetent—if Edward were in charge, he could instantly become the greatest criminal the Pokémon world had ever seen.

If he ever returned to Earth, he might even write a novel called I Built a Criminal Empire in the Pokémon World—maybe it'd be enough to pay for a nice rack of ribs.

The existence of Pokémon really does make crime more diverse.

Flying-types could steal things and escape instantly into the sky. Tall buildings aren't safe anymore—they could be looted from above.

Psychic-types? Don't even get started—they're totally broken.

Every type has its own unique crime potential.

Only problem is… writing about that kind of stuff could get you censored.

(End of chapter)