8: Cold Heart

When we got back to Paradise, Emolga was there, waiting for us. He vaguely resembles a flying squirrel with his rodent-like appearance and thin membrane under the arms. He also sported yellow cheeks that were not unlike Thunder’s red cheeks. Their species must be related in some way.

“Emolga!” Dunsparce calls out. “I’m here! I’m alright!”

“Dunsparce!” Emolga responds. He runs to his friend’s side. “I was so worried! I’m so glad you’re safe!” He turns to Thunder and me. “Thank you. Both of you. You have my gratitude.” I smile in response. I’ve always loved helping people. There’s just something about hearing their gratitude or knowing that I made their lives easier in some way that makes me feel good. And this is my job!

Emolga hands us the promised reward. It’s not much, but, like an old saying goes, “virtue is it’s own reward.”

“I wish I could give you more for this. But we’re a bit low on money.” He says.

“I know what you mean.” Thunder replies. “And it’s just fine. We’re just glad he’s not hurt.”

“What was he doing there in the first place?” I ask.

“I don’t know.” Emolga responds. “He left without letting me know.”

“I was looking for one of those crystals that grow in those caves.” Dunsparce answered. “Sadly I didn’t find any.” Crystals? Like the ones we found? Thunder and I exchange glances. I could tell he was thinking the same thing.

Thunder takes the crystal out of our bag and shows it to them. “You mean this?”

“Yes! Yes! That’s what I was looking for!” He exclaimed in excitement.

“Wait… Why do you…” Emolga started to say, then he apparently put two and two together and figured it out in his head. “Ohhhhhhh… You cheeky little land snake! I should have guessed.”

Meanwhile Thunder and I just stood there, confused. “Does someone want to fill me in on this?” I ask.

Well… Let’s just say that I get what they were referring to. Dunsparce appears to be smitten with a really attractive Pokemon. Her name is Virizion (no relation to the wireless service provider). And fricking heck, if she isn’t one of the most stunning creatures I’ve seen in my entire life. She’s quite a bit larger than us, a quadruped, green, and graceful to top it off. Apparently, she’s a legendary. Legendaries apparently are among the most powerful Pokemon on Pokèmar. Sheesh, is there anything she isn’t?

As she strolls through Post Town, everyone becomes captivated by her beauty.

“Oh… I’m not so sure about this…” Dunsparce says nervously.

“Come on.” Emolga says. “You’ve been waiting for this forever. I’m not going to let you fail because you’re nervous.” As Virizion enters the inn, Emolga starts pushing Dunsparce into the inn as well.

“No! Wait! Emolga! Stop! I’m not ready!”

“I’m not letting you wuss out on me, buddy. It’s time to do this.”

With nothing else to do, we decide to follow them.

Inside. Virizion is ordering a drink. Here’s hoping she doesn’t make the same mistake I did. That Heatwave’s a menace.

“Emolga. I can’t do this. Please, I can’t.” Dunsparce begs his friend.

“Relax, Dunsparce. I’m here for you every step of the way.” Emolga says, smiling.

“…alright… I can do this… I can do this…” Nervously, he bounces over to her. “V-Virizion?”

“Hm?” She turns to look at him, causing the poor Dunsparce to sweat with anxiety. Emolga walks up to Dunsparce’s side, resting his hand on his back. Feeling his friend’s presence, he calms down somewhat. “I have s-something for you.” He takes out the crystal and gives it to her. The entire dining hall goes quiet, everyone watching this go down. “Please accept this as a token of my… My… My friendship!” He finally gets the words out. “I want you to be with me. As a friend, companion, and maybe even something more.” We wait in bated breath for the response. Finally, after what felt like forever, she responds.

“…No. I will not.”

“What?! B-but…” Dunsparce stutters.

“How am I to trust you? For all I know you would stab me in the back the moment you got the chance. You’re not even strong enough for me to even consider you as a potential ally. I have no interest in doing anything with you.” Oh… Wow… That was so callous! Her words went deep. They tore him to pieces. And she doesn’t even care. I watch, saddened as Dunsparce fights to hold in his tears and dashes out of the door.

Emolga’s shock turns to rage. “How could you be so cold-hearted! Do you know how much your words hurt him?! He opened his heart to you and you just spat in it without so much as an apology! I can’t believe this!”

“I don’t see why I should care. He let himself be affected by my words. It’s no one’s fault but his own.”

“Right. And I’m sure that if I thunderbolted you right now, it wouldn’t be my fault you got hurt!” He turns to look back towards the entrance. “I’ve got to go after him now. Thanks to YOU! I don’t want to ever see that face of yours ever again!” With that, he runs off to find his friend.

The cafeteria is punctuated with an awkward silence as everyone tries to absorb what had just happened. Eventually, though, everyone just goes back to what they were doing.

“I feel so sorry for the poor fella. The least she could have done is be polite about it.” I say.

“I know… Come on. Let’s go help find him.” Thunder replies.

“You hear that?”

“Yeah. He certainly looks heartbroken.”

“And desperate. The best part is he’s new here. He hasn’t heard of us. He’s naive. The perfect target.”

“I like the way you think. So, what’s the plan?”

“We take him to where no one can hear his screams and…”

“No need to continue, my partner in crime. I know what you mean.”

“Then let’s get to it.”