Chapter Twenty-Four: The Cautious Conan

A divine beast entering Viridian City and even “ambushing” someone to turn Shinichi into a child... Such things were simply too incredible to believe!

Sonoko and Ran both took it as a joke from Am.

“So, where is Shinichi?” Am pressed on, unwilling to let the matter drop.

“Shinichi has an important case to deal with!” Conan immediately piped up. At that moment, he felt a twinge of anxiety—why did this guy seem so utterly convinced he was Shinichi? Even Ran had already been convinced...

“Is that so? By the way... where’s his Cleaning Rotom? Don’t tell me you have it?” Am continued to regard Conan with suspicion.

Conan’s expression stiffened. “Y-yes, Shinichi asked me to take care of Rotom for the time being!” Noticing Ran’s doubtful look from the corner of his eye, Conan quickly added, “He said the case he’s working on right now isn’t convenient for him to bring Rotom along!”

“Is that so?” Am scrutinized him with a measuring gaze.

It was then that Conan recalled that when he’d secretly contacted Professor Agasa earlier, Agasa had suggested that, aside from the mysterious powers of the divine beast, his current condition could also be due to some kind of medication.

If it really was a drug...

Conan looked at Am with an uneasy grin—after all, Professor Agasa’s expertise lay in mechanics, electronics, and software, not pharmaceuticals!

Maybe he could ask this expert pharmacist to help examine his situation?

He weighed the matter over and over. On one hand, since Am knew Professor Oak and had a clean background, it seemed unlikely he was involved with those mysterious people; on the other hand, after his previous attack, Conan had vaguely sensed that even among the real Jennies, there were those connected to that secret organization. It wasn’t impossible that this young pharmacist, Am, might be one of them. He also considered that if he rashly revealed his identity, he might be putting Am in danger as well.

But seeing Am still staring at him so suspiciously, Conan realized that if he didn’t “settle” him soon, his identity would be exposed at any moment!

So, he suddenly grabbed Am’s hand and, pretending to be desperate, exclaimed, “Ah! I need to use the bathroom, I can’t hold it anymore! Am, can you take me there?”

Am: ...

“Conan! Don’t be so rude! And you can go to the bathroom on your own, can’t you?” Ran chided him from the side, ready to teach him a lesson.

But Am said, “It’s alright. I need to go as well... I’ll take him to my room. Maybe he’s embarrassed to use the bathroom in a girl’s room.”

“Sorry to trouble you,” Ran apologized.

Am then led Conan to his room. Even in the elevator, with just the two of them, Conan continued to act as though he were about to wet himself.

Once inside Am’s room, Conan rushed straight to the bathroom, and only after flushing did he emerge, looking content.

“Thank you, Am.”

“Actually... Ran hasn’t even introduced me to you yet,” Am said calmly.

Conan’s expression froze—wasn’t this the very method he often used to catch others lying? Damn, he’d been too nervous just now...

Even Shinichi himself would be flustered in such a situation.

“W-well, actually, Ran mentioned you to me before,” Conan forced an explanation.

“Really? Then I’ll ask her later if she told you that I’m much more reliable than that arrogant Shinichi...” Am said deliberately.

At this, Conan finally calmed down. Lowering his head, the light glinting off his glasses, he said, “So, you really are one of them, aren’t you? What are you people trying to do?”

“Huh? Who’s ‘them’? So you really are Shinichi, then?” Am, of course, would not take the blame for this.

“That’s right! What have you done to me?” Conan finally admitted.

Yet, from his words, it seemed he didn’t know why he had become small?

“So who exactly are ‘they’? Were you shrunk by some criminal? Did you see which Pokémon it was?” Am was convinced it must have been a Pokémon’s ability.

Seeing that Am still harbored no hostility, Conan finally relaxed a little and—

“Rotom, you can come out now.”

With that, the bathroom door opened, and the Cleaning Rotom floated out.

“Cleaning, cleaning!” it chirped, and Conan soothed it.

It seemed Conan had taken advantage of his bathroom break to release his Rotom, just in case Am turned out to be one of “those people,” ready to counterattack at any moment.

As for Rotom...

Not all of them could speak! In fact, being unable to speak was the norm. Unless they possessed machinery equipped with a sound system, they couldn’t use it to talk.

The Cleaning Rotom in the washing machine could only make its own unique sounds; after all, washing machines didn’t have vocal equipment.

And Rotom couldn’t possess just anything at will; it required acclimatization, and depended on the individual Rotom’s capabilities.

“You’re certainly cautious...” Am remarked with some admiration.

Conan quickly replied, “You mustn’t tell anyone about me! Otherwise, you could be in danger too.”

“So... have you told Professor Oak?” Am figured Professor Oak could be trusted.

“No, you still don’t understand. Even if Professor Oak isn’t with the organization, that doesn’t mean there’s no one in his lab who is... I might as well tell you: after I was attacked, when my mind was still foggy, I vaguely saw... there were Jennies—not just regular ones, but from the true Jenny lineage—who had contact with those people!” Conan emphasized.

In this world, “Jenny” referred both to the Jenny family and to the police profession, much like the “Officer Jenny” in their world.

Both the Jenny and Joy families collaborated with the major leagues, and were key forces in the alliance’s formation. These two clans each dominated their respective departments, thanks to their unique talents—Jenny’s power could persuade Pokémon used by criminals to abstain from evil temporarily, while Joy’s gift could heal Pokémon...

When Pokémon were used in crimes, they generally had no malicious intent, simply following their trainer’s orders. Normally, it was difficult for others to sway a criminal’s Pokémon from a human perspective, but Jenny’s power allowed them to do so—much like Aura, it was essentially an ability to communicate with Pokémon.

Of course, not every “Jenny” belonged to the Jenny family; as with Pokémon Centers, most “Jennies” were just ordinary people. Still, in larger police stations, there would always be at least one true Jenny with awakened powers on duty.

It was perfectly normal to be recognized. Even though, unlike in the anime, not all Jennies and Joys looked exactly alike, those in the Jenny and Joy lineages who awakened their gifts were all women—and bore a certain resemblance to each other!

What Conan had seen was evidently a true Jenny. Yet, with so many Jennies in Viridian City, and his mind so muddled at the time, he couldn’t tell who exactly it was.

This discovery made Conan wary of trusting anyone too easily...

“Am, you’re an expert pharmacist, aren’t you? My condition... could it be caused by some sort of drug?” Conan asked nervously.