32: Fleeting Hope

What… What happened? Is this… Is this what heaven feels like? Or hell? No… I can… Feel something pressed against my back… I have a sense of gravity… I’m lying down. My eyes are closed. I’m… I’m alive? I’m actually alive? I open my eyes and am immediately assaulted by the bright light of the outside world, prompting me to close them back up again. I let out a grunt in response to the mild pain my eyes experienced.

“Alex?!” I hear Thunder’s voice call out from my side, sounding hopeful. “Please tell me that was you…”

“Thunder?” I open my eyes a sliver, trying to get myself acclimated to my surroundings.

“Alex! You’re alive!” I immediately feel a furry mass contact me and wrap around me. “I was so worried… I thought you were dead…” His voice is cracking, he’s on the verge of tears. I return the hugging gesture to comfort him. 

“I thought the same thing myself. But I’m here now.” Looking around I realize I recognize the room I’m in. Our room. We’re back in Paradise. “Quick question. How did we get back to Pokemon Paradise?”

“Those little… Pieces… Of Hydreigon. The floating lights. They seem to have had a mind of their own. One of them apparently led Emolga and Dunsparce right to us.” That’s right… Hydreigon…

“Yeah… But with Hydreigon dead, I just don’t know. We lost a valuable ally in this fight. Is it still possible?”

“Well we’re going to find out. One way or another. I’m not just going to stand by as the world is destroyed. I hope you feel the same way.”

“…you’re right. Laying around moping won’t do anything for us. We should update the team and begin drawing up an attack plan.”

“You think you’re well enough to move?” I walk around a bit to see how I’m doing.

“Still a little sore, but I can manage.”

“Good. Let’s hurry. Who knows how long we have left…”

We gathered the team in Paradise Center to bring everyone up to speed. An uncomfortable silence falls across us as our words sink in.

“Armageddon…” Virizion says in a somber voice. “So you’re saying everything will die in a matter of days…”

“Sadly, yes.” I respond. “There has got to be a way to stop it…”

“…maybe we should just let it happen…” Umbreon says, causing the entire team to lock eyes on him.

“You’re kidding, right, Umbreon?” Emolga asks, nervously.

“Think about it. This day has come because the world has grown dark. Evil is a prime force. Perhaps… Perhaps it’s best that the slate is wiped clean.”

“Besides…” Espeon interjects. “This is our fate. It was meant to be this way. Fighting against it will do nothing. There’s no point.” A somber atmosphere fills the air. Are they just… Giving up? Why? 

“Guys, we’re called New Hope for a reason.” I say. “Shine as a beacon in the darkness, remember? This world needs that beacon. Now more than ever. If we give up, then the last hope for Pokèmar is snuffed out. We are quite possibly the only ones left who can even stand a chance at stopping this. And if it is all just futile at least we died knowing we did everything in our power to survive.” Disturbingly, my words feel hollow. Without actual meaning behind them. Am I just spouting words that I don’t truly believe? I feel tempted to just give in. No. Not now. It’s too crucial a moment to throw in the towel.

“Hang on a minute… I have an idea.” Thunder says. “The Bittercold feeds on negativity, right? So what if we remove negativity from the equation?”

“Thing is, that means we have to tell people about it.” I say. “And that runs the risk of causing a panic. Or worse, anarchy. But every little boost we get makes success that much more reachable.”

“…well… It’s worth a try.” Umbreon concedes.

“Then let’s head to post town. Hopefully word will spread fast.”

This is a mistake. This is a serious mistake. I should have known. Fear is the natural response to a disaster of such scale. The reactions to the news are mixed. But none of them are what we need.

 “Why fight it? It doesn’t matter. We’ll die anyway…”

“Why, Arceus?! Why are you dooming us to destruction?!”

“Well, we may as well make our last moments good ones. The rules don’t matter anymore.”

“Everyone! Please!” I yell. “We need to stay positive! The Bittercold will be weaker if it can’t feed on negative emotions! It’s our best chance to stop it! We-” the ground rumbles. Oh no… Is it starting?

“Look! The Great Glacier!” One of the residents calls out. We rush to the hill to see what’s happening. And the sight before us strikes fear into my heart. The Glacier Palace is… Flying. It has broken through the icy peak of the Great Glacier. And at the top spire there is a black and purple vortex, slowly expanding and getting larger. And it’s actually moving towards us?! The sight of it fills me with dread. Are we too late? Has the end begun?

As to be expected, the town’s reaction is to panic and flee. “Wait! No! Everyone calm down!” I call out. “We need to be strong! We… We… What’s the use… They’re never going to listen to us…” I lower my head in defeat. That’s it… I can’t do this… I can’t bring myself to do it… The fate of the entire Pokemon race was put on my shoulders and I couldn’t take it. Not against something as deadly as this.

“Alex… We can’t just… Just…” Thunder tries to console me, but I can hear it in his voice. Despair. The absence of hope. If he of all people has lost faith, Pokèmar is truly doomed.  I absentmindedly take off my badge and look it over. The Moltres. Or possibly the Phoenix. It’s supposed to be a symbol of hope. But now it’s about as meaningful as a sand grain on a beach.

“So much for new hope…” I say quietly to myself.

“So that’s it, then…” Umbreon says, sadly. “We’ve lost before we even began…” We have gathered in Thunder’s and my home to discuss the events. The sun has since gone down, adding to the dreary mood.

“…I can’t believe it…” Emolga mutters. “We were supposed to help this world… But… Now everyone I know… Is just going to be wiped out… I hate feeling so helpless!”

“There’s only one thing we can do. Wait. Wait for the end…” Virizion says. A deathly silence fills the room.

A knock on the door breaks the silence. “Guys? Are you in there?” Lillipup? What’s he doing here? I get up and open the door.

“What is it?” I ask.

“I… I just wanted to say… we   wanted to say… Sorry. We shouldn’t have ran and panicked. It’s just… Emotions were high. But now that we’ve calmed down, we realize that you are right. If there’s even a sliver of a chance that we can survive, we should hold onto it.” 

“There is darkness in this world, yes.” Gurrdur says from behind him. “But if there’s one thing I learned, it’s that it takes a few good people to reform the lost.”

“There are still many innocent people here.” Yet another voice says. This time it’s Leavanny. “To wipe them out when they have done nothing wrong… We can’t just let that happen.” This was the last thing I expected. Do we actually have support? And just as we need it the most. I feel that spark. That optimistic side of me reignites. Without hesitation I grab it, fed it. Let it grow. There is still a chance. We will survive. And if we fail, we will die on our feet fighting. I turn to the rest of the team.

“We shine as a beacon in the darkness…” I begin repeating the mantra I came up with so very long ago.

“…give hope to those who have none…” Thunder chimes in, looking ready to fight.

“And protect those who cannot protect themselves!” I yell the next line. And in unison, we say the final words.

“We are Team New Hope!” We repeat it, again and again and again. Hyping ourselves up, energizing ourselves for the coming battle.

“Now,” I say. “Let’s figure out how we’re going to stop this thing.”