20: Wrench in the Works

“Alex? …what are you doing?” Thunder asks me, confused.

“Sunbathing.” I reply, laying belly down on a grassy hill. “I learned that Snivies can photosynthesize. So I decided to try it out myself.”

“Photo… What?

“Photosynthesis. Using sunlight to feed myself. All green plants do it.”

“Wait, you can eat sunlight?”

“In a sense. It’s more complicated than that but for all intents and purposes, yes. Plus it’s actually quite relaxing.” 

“Hey, Alex? Thunder?” I hear Emolga’s voice call us. 

“Emolga?” Thunder responds. “What’s up?”

“You’re needed back in Paradise.” Emolga says. “Quagsire says he has something important to tell us.”

“How important?” I ask.

“Like ‘involving serious consequences’ important.”

“…tell him we’ll be there as soon as we can.” 

Emolga nods in response, making his way back to Paradise Center. We follow a short ways behind.

“What do you think’s going on, Alex?” Thunder asks.

“Whatever it is, I get the feeling I’m not going to like it…

“Are you serious?! Someone has to stay behind?!” I exclaimed, surprised. Apparently Quagsire has friends who work for HAPPI. And they have a strict rule regarding long distance missions. At least one member must stay behind. 

“Hmmm… I’m afraid so. Hmmm… There was an incident a while back. Hmmm… A team’s base was ransacked by thieves who destroyed some expensive things provided by HAPPI. Hmmm… Since then they’ve established that at least one member must stay behind if the team goes on a long mission. Hmmm… If you don’t, they will disband the team.” 

“That’s ridiculous!” Emolga shouted. “They can’t expect to exclude one of us from going on this trip! It’s not right!”

“Emolga, we can’t do anything to change that.” Thunder says. “We have no choice but to leave someone behind. The question is… Who?” We all look at each other, not wanting to prevent anyone from going. This is a historic trip. It would crush anyone’s spirit if they were told they couldn’t come.

“I’ll stay.” Virizion was the first to speak up. We all look at her, surprised. Was she actually volunteering to stay behind? 

“Virizion…” Dunsparce said, surprised.

“It’s fine. Don’t you worry about me. You all go enjoy yourselves.”

“Well… Alright.” I finally say. “Thanks for making this easy for us. Thunder and I will inform Umbreon and Espeon.”

“Ok. You go do that. I’ll see you later.” Somethings off about her. Like she’s hiding something personal. Probably best not to bug her about it.

“Good morning you two.” I call out to Umbreon and Espeon.

“Hey, Alex.” Umbreon responds. “What’re you and Thunder up to today?”

“Well… We came to inform you of a recent development. We have to leave at least one team member behind to watch Paradise. Virizion volunteered. So she won’t be coming with us.” In response to this, they look at each other with worried expressions.

“What? What’s wrong?”

“…she really shouldn’t be left behind.” Espeon finally says.

“Huh? Why?” Thunder asks.

“…do we tell them? She’d probably hate us if we did.” Espeon asks.

“She can’t just keep it hidden. I don’t care if she objects. I’ll tell them.” Umbreon says firmly. “You see… Virizion had a friend. A close friend. Not unlike you two. His name was Keldeo. A bright mind. If a bit on the eccentric side. He took particular interest in our research with ley lines and the Entercards. He said that he’d like to go up to the glacier someday. Afterward they went to the edge of the crevice that prevents passage to the glacier. They got separated somehow and Virizion eventually had to leave.

“When she got home she found a note written in his hoofwriting. It said that he went to the crevice to get away from her. That he never liked her. That he never wanted to see her again.”

“Oh wow… That’s harsh…” I said to myself. “No wonder she struggles to trust others. If someone that close to you did that, I’d be less trusting as well.

Umbreon continues. “Keldeo was definitely smart enough to reverse engineer his own Entercards. So it’s possible that he made it over.” Oh… Well so much for the “historic mission” thing. “Virizion still cares for him and she wonders if he ever made it. It’s important to her.”

“But if she comes… Who stays?” Thunder asks.

“I don’t know… I can’t make that decision. Only you can.”

“Also…” Espeon interjects. “Non sequitur, but can we… Join New Hope?”

 “What?” I say in surprise.

“I think it would be fun to… Explore with you. We can handle ourselves in a fight… Usually… Plus we could get information on the dungeons we explore. Further our research.”

“What’s your opinion on this Thunder?” I ask.

“Sure. They’re coming to the glacier anyway. It couldn’t hurt to have them as teammates.”

“Alright then. It’s settled. You’re officially members of Team New Hope. We can get you your badges tomorrow. “

“Thanks guys!” Espeon cheers. “We won’t let you down!

“Wow. That’s… That’s awful. I’m sorta ashamed to say but… I feel bad for her.” We had told Emolga about what had happened to Virizion regarding Keldeo. To say we did not expect this reaction would be a gross understatement. “But if she agrees to stay, should we really force her to come?”

“This has been plaguing her for a long, long time. She needs to know.” I answer. “We should at least have a fair way to choose who stays. Like rolling a die or something.”

“…well… Uh… W-why should I help her after what she did… Did to… I can’t. I can’t hate her like that. As much as I’d love to. You’re right…she deserves a fair shot.” This is so… So… Weird. Emolga actually showing empathy towards Virizion? It’s almost unnatural. “Tomorrow we’ll draw straws to see who stays. Will that work?”

“Yeah. Yeah that will work. Man… This is such a hard thing to deal with… It’s like choosing one person to be locked away.”

“Yeah. I know, Alex. But we do need to make the choice. At least this way everyone has a fair shot.”

“You’re right, Thunder. That doesn’t make it any easier though.”