Xiaoyu Xifeng first enrolled at the PCA as a combusken. Both of her parents were professional fighters, a long-standing family tradition she intended to follow. She had always been fond of battling, and her skill combined with the support of her parents (both alumni) was enough to meet the entrance requirements without much difficulty. After going through the same bumps that most freshmen go through she began to do well in school, joining a fairly successful team during her sophomore year. Unfortunately tragedy would strike during the summer before her junior year when she was in a serious accident, passing away soon after.

That, however, was twenty-five years ago. She only returned as a ghost a few months ago, with no memory of the time in between. Her parents were overjoyed of course, as was her younger brother who had himself gone on to graduate from the PCA and become a professional fighter during her absence. Nobody is sure why it took her so long to make the transition other than "ghosts are mysterious and unexplained", but she isn't complaining. She's still trying to get used to her new form and trying to get used to a world that has radically changed since the last time she walked on it. She's still living in her own time in many ways, slowly trying to take in the changes in both herself and the world.

As it turned out her enrollment at the PCA was still valid. This wasn't the first time such a situation had come up (though it is unusual for there to be such a long delay) and she's returned to school as a junior, eager to get back into the swing of things. Being from Cherrygrove in Johto she was assigned a dorm, rooming with slugma Leah Fridén who has been a big help in getting her adjusted, as well as a bad influence, letting the ranpuraa learn some things the hard way. Leah had been in talks with a classmate about forming a team and after some discussion the two roommates went along with him, forming an all-fire team by the name of Ember. Though the team is new and suffers the drawback of being a single type, they have a good chemistry and have shown some potential.

Xiaoyu has a very chaotic fighting style that tries to blend the physical fighting of the combusken form she was used to with the strange and unusual abilities she's picked up as a ghost, sometimes to good and sometimes to ill effect. But she'll figure it out sooner or later, and either way she still likes to set things on fire.