Summer mornings arrived early, the warm glow of dawn already present before six o'clock.
Shirley, deeply asleep after the emotional rollercoaster of the previous day, stirred. Her internal clock, reshaped by the recent, unaccustomed discipline of early morning training sessions, began to pull her towards wakefulness, despite her exhaustion.
Groggily, she fumbled for the small alarm clock beside her bed, squinting at the hands. 'Just past six. Ugh, still early…' she mumbled vaguely, letting her head fall back onto the pillow, ready to drift back off…
But then, a jolt, like a faint electric current, snapped through her mind. Something felt… wrong. Missing. Her sleep-fogged brain struggled for a moment, then clarity hit. Xiu. He always knocked precisely at six for their morning run. Always. 'Why hadn't he knocked today?'
Suddenly wide awake, she threw off the covers and scrambled out of bed. The nagging feeling intensified. She quickly dressed, then hurried out of her room and down the hall to the guest room Xiu had been using.
"You're not actually late for once, are you?" she called out playfully, knocking on the door, expecting his usual dry retort. "Get up, lazybones!"
Silence. No response from within.
Shirley frowned, a knot of unease tightening in her stomach. She knocked again, louder this time. Still nothing. Hesitantly, she tried the doorknob. Unlocked. She pushed the door open slowly.
The room was empty. Spotless. The bed was neatly made, the few belongings Xiu possessed gone. The portable training device, the scattered notebooks, the backpack – all vanished. It was as if no one had ever occupied the room at all.
"Where… where is he?" Shirley whispered, standing frozen in the doorway, staring at the empty space. It felt unreal. Like waking from a vivid dream only to find the lingered feelings were the only proof it had happened.
Panic surged. She spun around, rushing back downstairs, bursting into the backyard where Yuto was already starting his morning warm-up routine with Growlithe.
"Yuto!" she cried out, her voice choked with rising anxiety. "Xiu! He's…" The words wouldn't come out properly. Her brain felt stuck, overloaded. Tears welled up in her eyes, blurring her vision.
"Whoa, Shirley! What's wrong?" Yuto stopped his stretches immediately, concern flooding his face at his sister's obvious distress.
"Xiu's gone!" Shirley finally managed to sob out the words, the tears overflowing now, streaming down her cheeks. "His room is empty! Everything's gone! Was he… was he even real?" The thought, absurd yet terrifyingly plausible after all the strangeness, echoed in her mind.
"Xiu?" Yuto looked genuinely confused for a moment, then his expression cleared with understanding. "Oh! Yeah, he left. Didn't he tell you?"
"Left?" Shirley's crying stopped abruptly, replaced by stunned silence.
"Yeah," Yuto confirmed, seemingly oblivious to the emotional storm brewing in his sister. "He left really early this morning, said he had to go. Didn't wake you up because you were still sound asleep."
Shirley stood there, dumbfounded. 'Left?' She thought back to their conversation last night, his talk about her needing to take responsibility, his advice, his deflection of her pleas for him to stay… it hadn't been hypothetical. He had been preparing her for his departure.
'But why didn't he tell me directly? Why sneak away?'
The hurt quickly turned to anger. "Why didn't he tell me he was leaving?" she demanded, her voice rising again, trembling now with indignation instead of fear.
"Uh…" Yuto looked helpless, caught off guard by her shift in emotion. "Well… I only found out myself just before he left. You were asleep," he repeated lamely, offering the only explanation he had.
Hearing this, Shirley's face contorted, flushing red with fury. Her hands clenched into fists. She took a deep, shuddering breath, then let out a furious, teeth-gritted scream.
"XIU~~~!"
Yuto watched her outburst, finally understanding why Xiu had chosen to depart without saying a direct goodbye to his sister.
— — —
Earlier that morning, before six o'clock
Xiu stood near the front door, backpack secured, ready to leave. Bao Ba and Yuto stood with him, the pre-dawn light casting long shadows in the quiet hall.
"So, you're really going?" Yuto asked, his voice subdued.
"You know I have to," Xiu replied quietly, adjusting the strap on his pack.
These past few days, living in Bao Ba's house, training alongside Yuto, tutoring Shirley… despite everything, a strange sort of camaraderie had formed among them. Xiu had impressed Yuto with his sharp mind, his unexpected knowledge, his sheer determination.
Learning about Xiu's difficult past only deepened Yuto's respect, and seeing him leave now felt… but Yuto also understood Xiu couldn't stay indefinitely, so he forced a smile.
Xiu offered a faint smile in return. "Don't look so glum," he teased gently. "Anyone would think you were Shirley, the way you're moping."
Yuto chuckled, used to Xiu's occasional dry wit.
Xiu held out a fist towards Yuto. "See you around, Yuto. Keep training hard."
"Yeah," Yuto smiled, bumping Xiu's fist lightly with his own. "You too. Safe travels. Goodbye, Xiu."
"Alright, let's go," Bao Ba intervened quietly. He released Alakazam from its Poké Ball.
"One last thing," Xiu said, turning back to Yuto. He clapped him firmly on the shoulder, his expression suddenly serious, his gaze intense. He leaned in slightly, his voice low but clear. "You are you." Just that. Three simple words, imbued with unexpected weight.
Before Yuto could even process the cryptic remark, Xiu stepped back towards Bao Ba and Alakazam. With a faint shimmer of psychic energy, all three vanished instantly. Teleported away. Leaving Yuto standing alone in the silent hall, stunned, pondering the meaning of Xiu's final words.
— — —
The sensation of teleportation via Alakazam was disorienting. Not the instantaneous shift Xiu experienced with Abra, but a strange stretching and compressing of space-time that left his head spinning, nauseous, like stepping off a particularly violent roller coaster.
When reality snapped back into focus, he found himself standing on a dusty roadside, the early morning sun warm on his face. Bao Ba stood beside him, looking completely unaffected by the psychic journey. Alakazam was already gone.
"Why did you say that to Yuto?" Bao Ba asked immediately, his eyes sharp, analytical. "'You are you.' What did you mean by that?"
"Say what?" Xiu feigned disorientation, pressing a hand to his forehead. "Whoa, that teleportation… it's stronger than Abra's…" He deliberately avoided the question.
Bao Ba just chuckled softly, seeing through the act. "Alright, keep your secrets." He gestured towards the road ahead. "This is as far as I go. Pallet Town is just over that rise. What happens next… is up to you."
Xiu looked pained for another second, then straightened up, his earlier dizziness vanishing instantly. "Where is this place, exactly?" he asked, looking around, then answering his own question as he spotted a familiar landmark in the distance. "Wait… Pallet Town?"
Bao Ba didn't reply. With a final, knowing nod, he vanished – Alakazam teleporting him away, leaving Xiu truly alone this time.
Xiu watched him go, unsurprised. He knew Bao Ba wouldn't accompany him further. Their transaction was complete. Bao Ba had provided shelter, resources, crucial information, and even a new identity.
In return, Xiu had offered insights, suggestions, perhaps even helped nudge Yuto and Shirley towards a healthier dynamic. Debts paid, favors returned. Relying on others, especially powerful figures like Bao Ba, was unrealistic and unsustainable.
From here on, he was truly on his own again.
He turned towards the direction Bao Ba had indicated. As he walked along the quiet country road, the town gradually came into view. And then he saw it – unmistakable, iconic, rising above the scattered houses at the far end of town: a large, traditional windmill, its sails turning slowly in the morning breeze.
Seeing it, Xiu couldn't help but quicken his pace, a surge of unexpected excitement rising within him. Oak's Lab. The windmill. It was exactly like the images 'printed' in his mind from countless hours watching the anime in his past life. Pallet Town. The starting point of Ash Ketchum's seemingly endless journey, a journey that had accompanied Xiu throughout his own childhood. 'To be here, really here…' it felt surreal.
He observed the town as he approached. It was small, peaceful, sparsely populated. Houses were set far apart, most with gardens bordered by low, rustic fences. It felt quiet and idyllic— a world away from the bustling intensity of Fuchsia City.