Chapter 252: Signs of Trouble
"You must be exhausted, Big Brother Xiu," Daisy commented one afternoon, noticing the shadows under his eyes. They were sitting in the shade of the old tree, Xiu ostensibly reviewing his notes, Daisy and Gary nearby.
Xiu merely shrugged, not looking up. "Work is work. Are you not tired from your own studies, Daisy?"
"Not really," Daisy replied brightly. "Schoolwork is far too easy for our Gary here. He skipped several grades in just one semester! If he weren't still so young, he'd probably have graduated by now." She reached over and affectionately ruffled Gary's hair. "Our Gary is just too smart for his own good, aren't you, little brother?"
Gary endured his sister's ministrations with a look of profound suffering, though Xiu detected a some smug satisfaction in the boy's eyes. What a tsundere, Xiu diagnosed silently.
He'd observed Gary's patterns over the past few days. Whenever Daisy and Xiu were engaged in a conversation, Gary would casually wander nearby. Daisy, with a knowing glance at Xiu, would then invite him to join them. Gary would always refuse several times before 'reluctantly,' taking a seat beside his sister.
Xiu found it mildly amusing. He'd even started to engage Gary in conversation, often telling a deliberately intriguing story or posing a complex problem, then abruptly changing the subject at the most critical point, just to watch the boy squirm from his desperate desire to know more— and Daisy often played along in teasing her younger brother even more.
Xiu had been planning to continue this conversation for a while longer, then retreat to research, but the sudden appearance of a figure hurrying up the path towards the institute interrupted his plans.
"Miss Rinko?" Xiu exclaimed, surprised as the woman approached. Her usual composure was gone, replaced by an expression of undisguised anxiety. His own heart tightened. Something's wrong. Is it the purple flower? He quickly stood, walking to meet her.
Rinko's normally steady personality was clearly rattled. For her to show such distress, the matter had to be serious. Before Daisy or Gary could react, Xiu was already intercepting her. "Rinko, what's happened?"
She seemed to draw a measure of calm from his presence. "I'm fine, Xiu," she said, voice a little breathless. "But the forest behind my villa… it's been invaded. Some wild Pokémon became more aggressive than usual." Her next words sent a fresh jolt of alarm through him.
"For some reason, they seem to be heading towards the garden. My Gloom can only hold them back for so long. I'm afraid they'll break through and destroy the specimens…"
"Don't worry," Xiu said instantly, mind racing and already formulating a plan. He kept his voice calm, reassuring. "I'll handle it."
By now, Daisy had hurried over, concern etched on her face. "What's wrong, Rinko? What happened?"
"It's nothing too serious," Xiu interjected smoothly. "Just some agitated wild Pokémon near Miss Rinko's home. I'm going to head over and take a look, make sure everything is secure." He was already turning, heading towards where Abra and Scizor were training.
Rinko offered Daisy a shaky, unconvincing smile. Daisy, however, looked from Rinko's anxious face to Xiu's suddenly serious demeanor. "Rinko, I'll come with you!"
But Xiu's voice cut her off. "No need. It's probably just a few Rattata or Spearow, nothing I can't handle. Besides," he added, already strapping on his backpack, Scizor and Abra now recalled to their Poké Balls, "my motorcycle only has room for one passenger."
Before Daisy could protest further, Xiu continued, "It's almost lunchtime anyway. Why don't you and Gary help Xiaochun prepare something? I'll be back before you know it." He gave Rinko a pointed look, then gestured towards the path leading down the mountain.
Daisy stood at the edge of the training ground, watching with a mixture of disappointment and unease as Xiu and Rinko mounted the battered motorcycle and sped off down the track.
With a motorcycle, the journey to the Murasame garden was significantly faster than Rinko's earlier trek. They soon reached the base of the mountain. This time, however, Xiu didn't stop.
"Hold on tight!" he yelled to Rinko over the roar of the engine, then gunned the throttle up the steep, winding mountain path. The motorcycle bucked and strained, but still managed. They made it about halfway up before the terrain became truly impassable. He ditched the bike amongst the trees and they continued on foot, scrambling up the final, steep ascent.
Living this isolated… it has its drawbacks, Xiu thought, panting slightly as they reached the summit. Too damn inconvenient.
His first priority was the garden— a quick visual inspection confirmed it was, for now, untouched. He let out a breath of relief and did a rapid circuit of the greenhouse and the villa, Rinko at his side, then turned to her. "Alright. Where did you see them?"
"The back mountain," Rinko replied, pointing towards the dense forest bordering the rear of her property. "I heard a commotion earlier. When I investigated, I saw a large group of Pokémon fleeing in panic. It looked like they were being driven by something… I didn't dare get too close."
"Nice," Xiu approved. "Show me." He released Abra, the psychic Pokémon immediately at his side, scanning their surroundings with a faint psychic aura shimmering around it. Rinko, though she'd heard of Abra, had never seen it up close. She looked at the floating Pokémon with a mixture of curiosity and apprehension.
Under Rinko's guidance, Xiu and Abra ventured into the forest behind the villa. They hadn't gone far when Rinko stopped, gesturing ahead. "Just beyond that ridge."
Xiu paused, not wanting to advance recklessly. He scanned the area carefully. The terrain here was different from the dense, old-growth forest surrounding most of the garden. The vegetation was lush, but consisted mostly of low-lying weeds and dense shrubs.
There were no tall trees. It looked less like a wild forest and more like… an abandoned field, slowly being reclaimed by nature. He spotted several stunted, gnarled tea trees, their bark indicating considerable age. This must be the source of Rinko's unique tea blends.
He mentioned his observation, and Rinko explained, "This area… it used to be my family's primary cultivation field for medicinal herbs. But after… after my parents… I couldn't manage it all on my own. It's been largely abandoned for years. Though," she added, a touch of sadness in her voice, "many of the original plant species still persist. I sometimes come here to collect wild specimens, or to gather seeds."