Yuto's quiet question – "What is your dream?" – hung in the cooling evening air. Xiu, despite his outward calm, felt an internal jolt. 'Dream?' The concept felt foreign, almost luxurious, after the harsh realities he'd faced. His initial thoughts raced.
'Did Bao Ba go too far? Did something happen that fundamentally shook Yuto's worldview?' Considering the intense, almost life-threatening training Bao Ba apparently subjected Yuto to, it wasn't impossible. What if Yuto had failed? What if someone, or some Pokémon, got hurt because of his actions during whatever staged incident Bao Ba had orchestrated?
'And if something did go wrong, Xiu realized with a sinking feeling, I'm indirectly responsible. It was my suggestion, my plan.' His mind spun rapidly, trying to anticipate possibilities, the muscles around his jaw tightening almost imperceptibly.
Before Xiu could formulate a careful response, however, Shirley, perhaps misinterpreting the sudden seriousness, jumped in with her own answer, fueled by her recent encounter with Chanel.
"Dream?" she declared fiercely, her earlier fatigue forgotten, replaced by righteous indignation. "My dream is to become a super-strong Trainer! Strong enough to beat everyone who looks down on me!" She finished with a pointed glare towards the empty air where Chanel had stood earlier. Then, perhaps needing validation, she turned eagerly to Xiu. "What about you, Xiu? What's your dream?"
Her question snapped Xiu back from his internal calculations. "My dream?" he echoed thoughtfully, buying a precious second. He forced a calm, slightly wistful smile. "My dream… is simpler, perhaps. Just… to live. To survive in this world. And maybe," he added, gazing towards the darkening horizon, "to see as much of it as I can along the way."
"That's… a strange dream," Shirley murmured, shaking her head slightly, clearly underwhelmed by his lack of grand ambition.
Xiu ignored her assessment, turning his attention back to the still-silent Yuto. "And you, Yuto? You started the question."
Yuto didn't answer immediately. He stared up at the first stars beginning to prick the twilight sky, the juice bottle resting loosely in his hand. Finally, he spoke, his voice quiet, almost introspective.
"I always thought… I knew my dream," he began slowly. "Graduate from the Trainer Academy, travel the regions, collect all the badges, compete in the League Conference… maybe even win it. Then, come back here, follow in Grandpa's footsteps, maybe join the Pokémon Rangers or the Officer Force… maintain peace and stability. Protect people, protect Pokémon." He sighed heavily.
"Growlithe and I… we worked so hard for that. Pushed ourselves constantly. Finished all the core coursework years ahead of schedule, dedicated everything to trainer studies, became top of our class…"
His voice, initially steady, began to waver slightly. "But today… something happened. And now… now I realize… maybe I don't actually like battling as much as I thought. That relentless drive to win the Conference… maybe it's not really my dream, just… what was expected...?
And joining the Rangers, the Officer Force… do I even truly understand what that entails? What sacrifices it requires?" He looked down at his hands. "Most importantly," his voice dropped to a near whisper, "I found out… I'm not as strong as I thought. Not strong enough. I couldn't even…" He trailed off, unable to finish the sentence, his shoulders slumping.
Seeing Yuto spiraling into self-doubt, Xiu quickly intervened, recognizing the fragility beneath the boy's usually confident exterior. "Hey," he said gently but firmly. "Who says dreams have to be fixed? People change, Yuto. Experiences change us. Our dreams evolve with us."
"When I was… younger," he began, carefully choosing his words, drawing on the grim realities of Ka Xiu's past blended with his own feelings of displacement, "stuck in the orphanage… my only dream was getting enough food to not feel hungry. Finding a safe place to sleep without being afraid. That was my entire world." He let the stark image hang in the air. "But now? Now that my situation has changed, should I still cling to that old dream? Does it still define me?"
He leaned forward slightly. "Compared to that environment, you…"
He saw his words hit their mark. Yuto's self-absorbed pessimism began to fade, replaced by empathy— by sympathy for Xiu's past struggles. Even Shirley, usually self-focused, looked momentarily sobered, contemplating Xiu's stark description. The atmosphere shifted, momentarily somber.
Xiu didn't dwell on the past. "Besides," he continued, his tone becoming brighter, more reassuring, "you are strong, Yuto. As a Trainer? Compared to your peers? You're exceptional. Your grades, your skills… you said yourself you're top of your class! That's not nothing. You've already achieved more than most people your age even dream of."
"Yeah… but…" Yuto still seemed hesitant, unconvinced.
"But nothing," Xiu insisted gently. "You're still young! You have so much time ahead of you. Time to explore, to figure things out, to try different paths and see what truly resonates with you. There's no deadline for finding your 'true' dream." He gestured towards Shirley, who was listening intently now. "Look, even Shirley here is starting to take training seriously now! If she can change her path, why can't you reconsider yours?"
Shirley, startled at being used as an example, turned bright red but quickly played along, sensing her brother needed the support. "Yeah!" she chimed in, perhaps a bit too enthusiastically. "Don't forget, you're still number one in the third year at school, Yuto!"
Yuto looked back and forth between Xiu's steady gaze and Shirley's slightly forced but supportive smile— a flicker of his usual confidence seemed to return. He managed a small, genuine smile this time. "Thanks, guys," he mumbled, looking slightly embarrassed. "Sorry for dumping all that on you. I… I guess I'm okay now."
"Good," Xiu nodded, clapping Yuto lightly on the shoulder. "Just remember, if you run into trouble again, or just need to talk… don't keep it bottled up. We're here. We'll figure it out together."
Yuto nodded again, the smile reaching his eyes this time. The immediate crisis of confidence seemed to have passed, at least for now.
— — —
Later that evening, Xiu found Bao Ba back in his workshop, meticulously preparing the next batch of neutralizing compounds.
"Director," Xiu began tentatively, "is Yuto… alright? He seemed quite shaken earlier."
Bao Ba, focused on measuring precise amounts of powdered herbs, didn't look up immediately. He nodded curtly. "He'll be fine." His mood seemed… heavy. Hearing the lack of detail, Xiu felt his earlier unease return.
Sensing Xiu's unspoken question, Bao Ba finally paused his work, sighing deeply. "Your 'scenario'… it worked," he admitted, his voice flat. "Perhaps too well. I didn't expect Yuto to react quite so… strongly."
"You implemented the 'Breeding House' plan already?" Xiu asked, surprised by the speed.
"Not exactly," Bao Ba corrected grimly. "Based on your suggestion, I initiated a quiet investigation into that pet-focused Breeding House you suspected. Your instincts were correct." He put down his measuring tools, turning to face Xiu fully. "It wasn't just negligent; it was a front. A cover for an illegal Pokémon trafficking route, moving stolen or poached 'pet quality' Pokémon out of the region. Connected to the Hunter Organization, peripherally."
He continued, his expression hardening. "I arranged for Yuto to 'stumble' upon some evidence, intending it as a learning exercise, a controlled exposure to the darker side of things. But…" he hesitated, "…he got too involved. Tried to intervene directly, confront the owner. Things escalated. Before my hidden backup could step in cleanly… one of the illegally held Pokémon, panicked during the confrontation, lashed out defensively. Yuto… Yuto accidentally killed it while trying to subdue it."
"Hey!" Xiu inhaled sharply, stunned. "The shop owner…?"
"Is not entirely clean, no," Bao Ba confirmed tiredly. "He facilitates the network, handles the local distribution— but the Pokémon's death… it wasn't his direct fault. Just… a tragic accident born of Yuto's impulsive actions and the owner's criminal negligence."
Xiu processed this, leaning against a workbench. 'An accidental death… no wonder Yuto was questioning everything.' "But what happens now?" he asked. "With Yuto?"
"Like you said," Bao Ba replied pragmatically, though his voice held a note of weariness, "this kind of harsh lesson… it happens eventually. Better it happens now, under circumstances I can still largely control and mitigate, rather than later when the stakes might be higher with irreversible consequences."
But Xiu saw another angle, another opportunity. "Director," he began thoughtfully, "does Yuto know the full extent of the shop owner's involvement? The connection to the Hunter Organization?"
"Not yet," Bao Ba admitted. "He just thinks it was a case of poor conditions and maybe some minor illegal sales."
"Then," Xiu proposed, leaning forward slightly, "perhaps this is another opportunity. Let Yuto participate in the official investigation. Let him work alongside the Officers or the League Rangers as they dismantle the trafficking ring connected to that shop. Let him see the real work involved in maintaining peace and stability, the complexities, the dangers. It could solidify his understanding, give his sense of justice a real, constructive outlet."
Bao Ba looked at Xiu, a sudden, sharp glint entering his eyes. "Trying to steer him back towards the path you think he should take?" he asked shrewdly. "Why don't you join the investigation with him?"
"Perhaps," Xiu conceded smoothly. "But the main concern… investigations like that… they can get messy. Violent. Witnessing Pokémon being injured, possibly killed, during raids… seeing the true ruthlessness of the criminal underworld… it might be too much for someone Yuto's age, especially after what just happened." He adopted a tone of sincere concern.
Bao Ba laughed, a short, barking sound devoid of humor this time. "Nice try, Xiu," he said, seeing through the manipulation. "But leave the actual dangerous work to the professionals. In this situation," he added firmly, effectively ending the discussion, "it's not your place to get involved."