Chapter 173: Atmosphere of Unease
Despite his internal pessimism about the unfolding situation in Viridian City, Xiu knew inaction wasn't an option. His own plans required careful navigation of the chaos, not passive observation. As the Pokémon Center vehicle sped towards the reported incident, a fleeting, absurd thought crossed his mind – Hopefully, no random car chase or shootout erupts. This isn't a movie.
He considered Team Rocket's tactics. Direct, high-profile attacks on figures like Nurse Joy or Professor Oak would certainly damage morale and official prestige. But such moves were incredibly risky.
The authorities, while perhaps slow to react initially, still possessed significant power. A direct assault, successful or not, would bring their full, concentrated wrath down upon the perpetrators.
Team Rocket might be ambitious, but they aren't suicidal, Xiu reasoned. They wouldn't risk it unless they were truly desperate. This suggested that their current strategy, while disruptive, was likely calculated to remain below the threshold that would trigger an overwhelming, city-wide crackdown.
They arrived at the site – one of the Pokémon Center's designated emergency food storage warehouses, located in a semi-industrial area on the city outskirts. The scene was grim. Thick, acrid smoke still hung in the air. One entire section of the large warehouse was a blackened, collapsed ruin. Firefighting Pokémon and human crews were dampening down smoldering debris, a sense of weary futility hanging over their efforts.
Nurse Joy, who had maintained remarkable composure until now, visibly stiffened upon seeing the devastation. Her face hardened, radiating cold anger. Even Xiu felt Sachiko shrink back slightly, intimidated by her superior's palpable fury.
"Sachiko!" Nurse Joy snapped, her voice sharp. "Find the facility manager. Now." Without waiting for a reply, she strode purposefully towards the ruined warehouse entrance. Sachiko scurried off immediately.
Xiu followed Professor Oak as he trailed after Nurse Joy. As they neared the damaged structure, Xiu subtly detached himself, circling the perimeter, observing the pattern of the damage, the direction of the smoke stains, the state of the remaining walls. He rejoined Oak and Nurse Joy just as the facility manager arrived, looking pale and terrified.
"Report," Nurse Joy commanded curtly.
The manager, clearly panicked about the disaster occurring on his watch, stammered out the details. Normally, the warehouse had two guards on duty. Due to the festival requiring extra personnel elsewhere, only one guard had been assigned today. That guard was now missing.
The warehouse's remote location meant the fire had burned unnoticed for over an hour before being spotted, likely only when flames breached the roof. It took another two hours to bring the blaze under control. Initial estimates suggested over ninety percent of the stored food supplies – primarily grains and non-perishables – were destroyed. Lost.
Xiu listened silently from the edge of the group, cross-referencing the manager's report with his own observations.
Nurse Joy issued a series of rapid-fire orders: locate the missing guard immediately, secure the site, begin a full inventory of salvaged goods, and initiate an internal investigation protocol. Her efficiency in crisis was formidable.
As she directed the manager and coordinated with emergency services arriving on the scene, Oak turned quietly to Xiu. "What do you think?" he asked, his voice low, expression unreadable.
"The fire appears to have started from inside," Xiu murmured back, equally quiet. "Concentrated near the northeast corner, which eventually burned through, alerting passersby." He paused, then added, a hint of cynical amusement in his voice,
"But based on the scale of the remaining structure and my knowledge of standard storage capacities... I'd wager a significant portion of the inventory was already missing before the fire even started. Theft, maybe?" Covering their tracks with arson? Or Team Rocket securing supplies before destroying the rest?
Oak's expression tightened almost imperceptibly. "Don't speculate without proof, Xiu," he warned, though his tone lacked real heat. "Keep those thoughts to yourself."
Xiu offered a faint, knowing smirk. "Of course, Professor. I wouldn't even dream of it." Especially not when internal corruption within the League is a possibility. He knew the Joy Family was vast; but rooting out internal issues would be complex, and not something an outsider should meddle in lightly. Let them handle their own dirty laundry.
Before their conversation could continue, another staff member rushed up, delivering an urgent message to Nurse Joy. Her expression grew even more grim. After a brief, hushed exchange, she turned back to Oak. They spoke quickly, voices too low for Xiu to overhear, then Nurse Joy gave Oak a curt nod and hurried towards her vehicle, Sachiko trailing anxiously behind her.
"What now?" Xiu asked Oak as Nurse Joy's car sped away.
"Trouble at the train station," Oak replied distractedly. "She needs to handle it personally. Told us to carry on as we see fit."
"Aren't you going with her, Professor?" Xiu asked, testing his reaction.
Oak hesitated, looking towards the departing vehicle, then back at the smoldering warehouse. "What help could we do there?" he deflected unconvincingly. His earlier sense of urgency seemed to have evaporated, replaced by a desire to disengage.
Xiu didn't push. He knows. Head Nurse Joy likely asked him to come, and he refused. The Professor clearly wanted to distance himself, despite his earlier involvement.
Too late for that now, Xiu thought wryly. You're already tied to me, Professor.
The drive back towards the central Pokémon Center felt markedly different. The normalcy Xiu had observed just an hour earlier was fraying at the edges. The streets weren't empty, but the festive crowds had thinned noticeably.
Many remaining pedestrians hurried along with anxious expressions, glancing nervously over their shoulders. The setting sun cast long, unsettling shadows. Tourists, lacking local roots and likely spooked by the now-spreading rumors of trouble, were clearly starting to leave or hunker down. The underlying unease was palpable.
Xiu observed the shift silently from the passenger seat. Professor Oak stared grimly out his own window, his jaw tight. The cheerful, eccentric researcher persona was gone, replaced by worried contemplation.
Upon reaching the Pokémon Center, Oak didn't immediately get out. He turned to Xiu. "I have... other matters to attend to," he stated abruptly. "You head back up." Without further explanation, he put the vehicle back in gear and drove off, leaving Xiu standing alone at the entrance.
Running his own errands now, Xiu surmised. Trying to leverage his own contacts? He knows following Head Nurse Joy from crisis to crisis is would only fix things now but not prevent them in the long run.
Xiu entered the lobby. It was sparsely populated. The entrance leading towards the battle arena was now cordoned off with barriers. The few staff members visible looked tense, whispering amongst themselves. The confidence and efficiency of the Pokémon Center network seemed shaken. News travels fast, especially bad news. And for the staff, whose entire identity revolved around safety and reliability, these incidents struck at their core foundation.
Xiu ignored the nervous atmosphere and headed upstairs to his room. He found Xiaoyuan back at the computer, Pichu curled up asleep beside the keyboard.
"Pichu!" The small Pokémon woke at Xiu's entrance, chirping happily and leaping nimbly across the furniture to greet him.
"Hey there," Xiu murmured, scooping up the small electric mouse before sitting down on the edge of the bed. He looked over at Xiaoyuan. "How are things progressing?"
Xiaoyuan looked up, worry etched on her face. "The initial grain shipment is secured and is en route from Pewter," she reported. "Fushun's drivers are reliable. But... are you sure this is enough? The scale of what might be happening..." Her voice trailed off, doubt creeping in.
"It's enough for now," Xiu stated firmly. "Don't mistake Team Rocket's ambition for omnipotence. They can cause chaos, but overthrowing the entire established order in Viridian within three days? Unlikely. The authorities aren't that incompetent." He gestured towards the sleeping Pichu. "Our focus isn't solving Viridian's problems. It's securing our position amidst the chaos."
"So... what do we do now?" Xiaoyuan asked, still looking uncertain, staring helplessly at the complex logistics plans on the screen.
Xiu gently took Pichu and placed the sleeping Pokémon in her lap. "Right now," he said, his voice softening slightly, "your job is to take care of Pichu." He smiled faintly. "And perhaps... I can finally teach you a few things about being a proper Pokémon Trainer."
Time to shift her focus, build her confidence in a different way.