Chapter 165: Walking the Tightrope
Xiu walked through the neon-lit but shadowed streets of Viridian City, his mind racing, dissecting the implications of Fushun's information and his own observations. 'The Pokémon Center's food reserves... Sachiko said half a month under normal conditions. But with the festival quadrupling the population and supplies already choked?'
He scoffed inwardly. Forget half a month— and that's assuming Team Rocket doesn't target the reserves directly.
'Oh sh*t,' he realized. Targeting the Pokémon Center's emergency stockpile – the most obvious symbol of stability and support – would be a devastating psychological blow. Combine that with the already disrupted supply lines and food shortages... 'How long before the desperate, frightened populace turned their anger towards the authorities who failing them?'
'That's the play,' Xiu concluded. Manufacture a crisis, leverage the influx of insecure tourists who have no loyalty to Viridian, incite panic, and overwhelm the official forces with widespread civil unrest. While the police and League officials were busy managing riots and trying to maintain basic order, Team Rocket could act more freely, perhaps consolidating their control over black markets, seizing assets, or carrying out other objectives under the cover of chaos.
Drive up prices, sell stockpiled goods at exorbitant rates for initial profit, then further destabilize the city. Could the authorities risk using harsh, potentially lethal force against starving, rioting civilians, especially with the media present for the festival? Unlikely.
And with Team Rocket having operated in Viridian for years, how deep did their infiltration of the official system run? Could police response be deliberately hampered from within? A thief can strike a thousand times, but can the guard remain vigilant for a thousand nights?
Xiu felt a cold certainty settle over him. Team Rocket wouldn't have made these preparatory moves without intending to see it through. Something significant was going to happen in Viridian City, likely within the next day or two, before the festival crowds dispersed.
'And chaos,' he admitted grimly, served his interests. A destabilized market, distracted authorities... it created openings, opportunities for his own fledgling enterprise to gain a foothold, to launder funds, and to expand. The greater the disruption caused by Team Rocket, the greater the potential profit for someone positioned to exploit the aftermath. That was the cold logic of it.
'But at what cost?' The faces of Fushun, Sachiko, the ordinary vendors, the crowds in the square... How many innocent people, already struggling, would suffer immensely in the ensuing chaos? People living hand-to-mouth couldn't withstand supply disruptions and price spikes.
He stopped walking, wrestling with the dilemma. He needed Viridian to be disrupted, but not utterly destroyed. He needed control in the chaos, limited to the struggles between the upper echelons – Team Rocket versus the authorities – or contained within the trainer community.
He couldn't allow it to devastate the general populace. That meant ensuring basic necessities, particularly food, remained available and affordable. Keep the prices down, prevent mass starvation, keep the riots from boiling over into total anarchy.
'So that's why, he realized, clarifying his own subconscious motives, I fed information to Nurse Joy. Not just to manipulate the timing, but to ensure the authorities weren't completely blindsided. To give them a chance to mitigate the worst outcomes.'
He needed to balance the scales, subtly guiding events. Force Team Rocket's hand early, while ensuring the officials were prepared enough to prevent total collapse, but not so prepared they could instantly crush the threat. Find the equilibrium point where both sides were entangled and distracted... leaving space for him to operate.
'It's like walking a tightrope,' he acknowledged, the image stark in his mind. One misstep, one miscalculation in balancing these powerful, opposing forces, and he would fall into the abyss, likely taking Xiaoyuan and everything they'd built with him. Only a fool or someone truly desperate would attempt such a gamble. He was both.
Resolved, Xiu ducked into a dark alleyway. When he emerged moments later, his appearance was transformed. He now wore nondescript, dark, close-fitting sportswear, the hood pulled up, and a featureless mask obscuring his face. He moved silently, hugging the shadows.[1]
First objective: verify Fushun's information. Confirm the warehouse locations.
"The first address should be nearby," he murmured to himself, consulting the note Fushun had provided. "Likely guarded. Need to be cautious." He melted back into the darkness, Abra's invisible presence a faint psychic hum beside him.
The warehouse district was starkly different from the festive city center. No bright lights, no crowds, just dim, widely spaced streetlamps casting pools of weak yellow light onto deserted streets. The warehouse itself loomed ahead, a large, squat building silent and imposing in the gloom.
There were five major food distributors Fushun had identified, controlling most of the city's legitimate channels. Xiu knew from his earlier research that these companies often competed fiercely, sometimes driving prices down to the detriment of farmers like Fushun. Yet now, they were apparently acting in concert. Evidence of Team Rocket's influence, forcing cooperation.
Xiu circled the target warehouse from a distance, scanning for guards, cameras, any sign of security. Finding none, he frowned. 'Too easy...' He approached cautiously, Abra materializing briefly from the shadows beside him. They stopped near a corner wall, the building's interior just meters away.
Placing a hand flat against the cool concrete, Xiu closed his eyes, focusing his senses, extending his awareness through Abra's psychic field. A faint blue shimmer emanated from Abra, spreading outwards like ripples on a pond, probing the space within.
After several seconds, Xiu opened his eyes, withdrawing his hand. He shook his head slightly. "Empty. Just a shell." They wouldn't be stupid enough to keep the stockpiled goods here, in an officially registered location. Too vulnerable if things went wrong.
This warehouse is likely just a decoy. Maybe spreading rumors about its contents is part of their plan to mislead the authorities?
But where did they move the goods?
Undeterred, Xiu continued his reconnaissance, methodically visiting each warehouse location Fushun had provided. The results were consistent: all were either completely empty or contained only minimal, regular stock. The vast quantities of hoarded goods were nowhere to be found in these official locations.
'Doesn't matter,' Xiu concluded. He hadn't truly expected to find the main stash. His goal was confirmation of the pattern, verification of Fushun's intel. He had what he needed to proceed with his own plans.
He checked the time again. Past midnight. And he still hadn't found anywhere to sleep. "Forget it, he sighed internally. Just find a quiet alley somewhere." He stripped off the mask and hooded gear, reverting to his normal appearance, and began wandering back towards the more populated areas, looking for a suitably inconspicuous spot to rest for a few hours.
Meanwhile, back in Xiu's room at the Pokémon Center...
Xiaoyuan sat hunched over the computer terminal, diligently catching up on company affairs. Having vented her earlier frustrations and received Xiu's... unique form of reassurance, she had thrown herself back into work with renewed focus. She finally accessed the business proposal Xiu had emailed earlier, her eyes widening as she absorbed the scope and audacity of his plan for Viridian City.
'He thought of all this already...'
A sudden knock on the door interrupted her concentration. Glancing at the clock, she frowned. 'Must be Xiu,' She got up and walked to the door, muttering under her breath, "Took him long enough..."
She opened the door. Standing outside wasn't Xiu, but a tall figure wearing a familiar white lab coat... and a simple face mask.
"Excuse me, is Xiu..." the masked man[2] began, then stopped abruptly as he saw her.
Xiaoyuan also froze, recognizing the voice instantly, despite the mask.
Professor Oak took an involuntary step back, glancing instinctively at the room number, then back at the unfamiliar young woman standing in his assistant's doorway. Even through the mask, his confusion and suspicion were palpable.
Xiaoyuan recovered quickly, her business instincts kicking in. "Good evening," she greeted him politely, maintaining her composure. "Xiu stepped out for a while. I'm a friend of his, visiting. Can I take a message for him?"
[1] imagine Ezio Auditore pilgrimage outfit + a mask
[2] the face mask y'all used for COVID