Chapter 144: The Long Road
Xiu walked briskly away from the small park, melting back into the quiet anonymity of Viridian City's early morning streets. He found a secluded alleyway, ducked inside, and quickly shed the dark hooded jacket and the ridiculous Jigglypuff mask, stuffing them into a nearby overflowing dumpster.
He then smoothed down his regular clothes, ran a hand over his head (feeling the unfamiliar stubble of hair starting to grow back), and took several deep breaths, consciously trying to dispel the calculated cruelty of the persona he had adopted for the interrogation.
'It's draining.' He gently rubbed his throat, feeling the residual strain from forcing his voice into that deeper, electronically altered tone.
By the time Xiu returned to the Pokémon Center, the sky was fully light, approaching mid-morning. He checked Professor Oak's room first – empty. Still out visiting old friends, probably. He went back to his own room and immediately logged onto the secure computer terminal.
He needed to connect with Xiaoyuan and assure that the Viridian situation was handled properly.
The video call connected quickly. Xiaoyuan's face appeared on screen. Her background wasn't the usual dusty attic office of the hidden printing factory, but… the small, cramped apartment Xiu had rented before leaving Fuchsia City. "Xiaoyuan? Where are you?"
"Checking on things here," she replied, sounding slightly surprised by his call. "Why? What's up?"
"Nothing urgent," Xiu reassured her quickly. "Just following up. The… personnel issue… in Viridian City has been resolved." He explained the outcome succinctly, omitting the brutal details of the interrogation and Shota's 'abandonment'.
He framed it as Shota being caught red-handed and confessing under pressure with some arrangements for Kurokawa. Enough information for Xiaoyuan to understand the result, without burdening her with the grim specifics.
"Good," Xiaoyuan nodded, accepting his report, though a flicker of unease crossed her face. "He was causing significant problems."
"Which brings us to the next step," Xiu continued smoothly. "Kurokawa is now in charge there, but he needs support, and we need tighter controls. You need to implement the new inventory tracking system immediately." He deliberately didn't mention his leverage over Kurokawa involving his family; Xiaoyuan didn't need to know about that particular matter.
He then outlined the broader strategy again – continue decentralizing, establish the secondary print site, ensure plausible deniability between the operations. Xiaoyuan listened intently, taking notes, and asking questions. Despite her youth and initial inexperience, she had clearly grown into her role, handling the complex operational details with impressive competence.
As they were concluding the business discussion, a familiar yellow blur suddenly appeared on screen, climbing onto Xiaoyuan's shoulder.
"Pichu!" Xiu exclaimed, a genuine smile finally breaking through his serious demeanor. "You actually caught it!"
"Pichu! Pichu!" The small Pokémon seemed to recognize Xiu's voice, chirping excitedly and trying to paw at the screen, clearly confused why Xiu was 'trapped' inside it.
"Yes," she replied, a hint of pride in her voice. "Adopted him, more like. After you left… he seemed lonely. Kept hanging around the store. So…" She shrugged slightly, a soft fondness entering her eyes as she looked at the Pichu now nuzzling her cheek.
"Looks like you've taken good care of him," Xiu observed, genuinely pleased. "He looks healthy."
"Well, I'm not completely idle when you're not around micromanaging," Xiaoyuan retorted playfully, though her tone lacked any real bite.
Seeing her relaxed state, Xiu couldn't resist teasing her a bit, shifting the topic back to Pokémon care and subtly testing her knowledge, referencing points from the Breeder manuals he had left. "So, what about his diet? Have you adjusted the Pokéblock ratio like we discussed?"
The first few questions Xiaoyuan handled easily, but as Xiu's inquiries became more specific and more technical, referencing obscure details from the texts, she started to flounder. Her confident facade crumbled slightly under his gentle but persistent questioning. Seeing the familiar glint of amusement in Xiu's eyes, she realized he was deliberately testing her, perhaps even mocking her slightly for not keeping up with her studies. She flushed, refusing to admit defeat, stubbornly trying to bluff her way through the answers.
The 'quiz' continued for several minutes until Xiaoyuan, thoroughly flustered and annoyed, finally snapped. "Alright, alright! Stop showing off! I get it, you know more than me!"
Xiu chuckled, finally relenting. "Okay, okay." he conceded, holding up his hands in mock surrender. "Just wanted to emphasize that caring for Pokémon isn't simple. Keep studying those books I left. If you have real questions, things you don't understand, ask me. Don't just guess or ignore it. These are living creatures," he added, his tone turning serious again, "a responsibility."
"Hmph," Xiaoyuan replied noncommittally, though she seemed to understand his underlying point. She looked away, her earlier good mood evaporating again.
Noticing her sudden shift back towards weariness, Xiu asked gently, "What's wrong? Still feeling overwhelmed?"
Xiaoyuan sighed heavily, slumping forward, resting her chin on the desk, looking utterly exhausted again. "It's not just the work…" she mumbled, her voice barely audible. Pichu, sensing her mood, hopped down onto the desk and began gently rubbing its cheek against hers. Xiaoyuan offered a weak smile. "At least my Pichu is sensible…"
Seeing the interaction, remembering Pichu's tendency to discharge electricity when emotional or trying to 'comfort' someone, Xiu suddenly recalled something. His eyes widened slightly. "Uh, Xiaoyuan…" he began cautiously, "about Pichu rubbing its cheek against yours… you might want to be careful when…"
Too late. Just as he spoke, Pichu, perhaps trying extra hard to cheer Xiaoyuan up, nuzzled her cheek more forcefully. Its cheek sacs sparked. A burst of orange-yellow electricity flowed directly into Xiaoyuan's face.
"YIIIIIEEE!" Xiaoyuan shrieked, leaping backwards out of her chair as if struck by lightning.
The discharge was brief, thankfully. Xiaoyuan landed in a heap on the floor, sputtering, then slowly sat up, looking completely dazed. Her short hair stood completely on end, resembling a startled hedgehog's quills. One cheek, where Pichu had been nuzzling, was bright red, slightly swollen. Tears welled in her eyes from the shock and pain. Pichu, meanwhile, looked utterly confused by the dramatic reaction, tilting its head.
Xiu stared at the scene unfolding on his screen, utterly speechless for a moment. Then, despite himself, he couldn't hold it back. He burst out laughing.
Seeing Xiu's unrestrained amusement at her expense, Xiaoyuan glared daggers at the screen. She snatched a nearby book off the desk and hurled it futilely towards the camera. "Ah! You jerk! Die!" she yelled, thoroughly embarrassed and enraged.
"Hahaha!" Her reaction only made Xiu laugh harder.
— — —
Shota's perspective.
Miles away, stumbling through the dense undergrowth of the Viridian Forest outskirts, Shota finally collapsed near a narrow dirt track, agony radiating from his burns, and exhaustion overwhelming him.
He had been walking, crawling, and stumbling through the wilderness for what felt like an eternity since escaping the abandoned village. The fear of unseen Pokémon lurking in the shadows had kept him moving long past the point of normal endurance.
He lay there on the cool earth, gasping for breath, watching the first hints of dawn streak the eastern sky. He had made it. Back towards civilization. He waited, drifting in and out of consciousness, until finally, mercifully, he heard the distant rumble of an approaching engine.
A beat-up delivery truck, likely heading towards one of the nearby farming towns, came into view. Shota dragged himself painfully onto the road, waving weakly.
The driver initially looked annoyed at being flagged down so early, in the middle of nowhere— but then he saw Shota's condition – the burns, the torn clothes, the exhaustion. His expression changed to alarm.
Shota offered the man the last Poké dollars of what Xiu didn't take. "Take me… take me to Fuchsia City," he rasped, giving the company address that Xiaoyuan used. "Hurry! All this money… yours… when we arrive."
The driver hesitated, then nodded, greed overcoming caution. "Alright, get in."
Shota practically crawled into the passenger seat. "Drive well," he warned weakly, letting the small utility knife he still carried peek out from his torn pocket. Even injured, cornered animal instincts remained.
"Yes, yes, of course," the driver quickly agreed, seeing the implied threat, wanting no trouble.
The truck rumbled back onto the road. Shota leaned his head back against the seat, enduring the waves of pain, forcing himself to stay awake.
He couldn't collapse now. He had to get back. Had to report. Had to… survive. He thought of Xiaoyuan's face, the masked man's chilling words about her vouching for him. 'I can't let her down again.'
As the truck sped towards Fuchsia City, bathed in the pale morning light, a flicker of desperate hope, perhaps even a chance at redemption, kept him conscious.