Work Text:
Julian had only been working for the Hoenn Safari Zone for a few months when the Xatu first showed up. She (as identified by the number of stripes on her "skirt" feathers) had taken up residence on a spot that was inaccessible even with a bike and seemed perfectly content there, so he didn't pay her much mind. Pokémon did strange things all the time, after all, and Xatu was stranger than most.
He started to worry when she'd been there for three straight days, staring at nothing and not seeming to move. The berries and Pokéblocks he left for her always disappeared when he wasn't watching, and she seemed to be doing fine, but when a week had passed, Julian decided to bring it up with his supervisor, Ann.
She thought about it. "You said she seems to be eating and isn't in any danger?"
"From what I can tell, yeah. Xatu are pretty common in Area Two, she's just acting a little odd."
Ann nodded. "We'll leave her be, then. Keep an eye on her and make sure she's healthy, but otherwise, let's not worry too much. Xatu are known to stand in one spot sometimes, so they can better observe the future and past together; this may be one of those cases."
Julian took Ann's advice to heart. For the next few years, he kept up with his duties, checking in on Xatu when he was in the area. There were never any changes that he could detect, and the Xatu seemed perfectly content, so he continued to leave her to her own mysterious devices.
It was on an afternoon in August that Julian noticed a change: Rather than staring out into the middle distance as usual, Xatu was looking up at the sky. Fighting back a sense of unease, Julian finished the rest of his duties before reporting on it to Ann.
"Xatu's looking in a different direction today," he said, a thread of worry creeping into his voice despite his best efforts.
Ann, recently promoted to head of Zone Two, set down her paperwork and frowned. "She's never done that before?"
"This is the first change I've seen since she got here. Do you think that she saw something distressing in the future?"
His supervisor sighed. "There's no way to know. Still, it might be a good idea to have a squad keep watch tonight."
Julian nodded, relieved. "Roger that." He didn't know what might be coming, but it couldn't hurt to be prepared.
That night, a group of five Safari Zone staff, including Julian and Ann, set up camp not far from where the Xatu made her home. They chatted nervously and shared around Pokéblocks, offering crumbs to the occasional Gloom or Buneary who approached.
Two hours after the sun set, Julian saw it. "Look!" he cried, and pointed up to a bright light streaking across the night sky. His fellow staff stared up in awe, watching as stars seemed to fall from above—only to land in Zone Two! Before long, they were surrounded by drifting Minior.
"This is amazing!" Ann exclaimed. "They must have migrated with the Perseids!"
"I wonder if this is what Xatu saw," Julian said.
"I think it might be," said Ann.
By the next day, Xatu had returned to her original position. Everything went back to normal in Hoenn's Safari Zone, aside from the addition of a new species in Zone Two.