“You seriously think Barry is going to tell you?” Dawn fumed.

Hop had never seen Dawn mad. It was rather unsettling. Despite this, Hop acted calmly. “Yes,” Hop answered. “Yes I do.”

“Logical,” Dawn responded, regaining her composure, “but he’s probably going to get some things wrong on the summary. You’ve met Barry before. You know what I’m talking about.”

Hop thought the ‘logical’ part was a polite way of saying ‘I thought you were a complete idiot.’

“He can tell me more than you will,” countered Hop. “He’s really open and also really smart.”

“We are not debating Barry’s intellect here,” reasoned Dawn, “We are talking about how much he’ll tell you about the renegade Pokemon.”

“Fine!” Hop ended, “I’ll find him myself!”

Dawn smiled in a sly manner and waved as Hop slammed the door on her. The smile and the passive-aggressiveness reminded him of Bede. Bede was unofficially Galar’s king of passive-aggressive remarks. That was one of the reasons Hop hated the entitled boy so much. Maybe Dawn was secretly the Bede of Sinnoh?

Hop stood outside door 410 and door 411. Which one contained Barry? He was guessing door 410 since Lucas would want to be closer to Dawn. Hop knocked on the door. No response. He knocked again. Nothing. He knocked very aggressively the third time. It was odd that Barry wasn’t answering the door. Maybe Barry was in door 411 after all. Hop went to the next door and knocked. Rather than Barry opening the door, it was Lucas who did that task. Hop realized he was right on his first guess.

“How are you doing, Hop?” Lucas asked. “I heard you talking with Dawn.”

“I’m doing great, thank you,” Hop lied, “But my day would be much better if I could talk to Barry.”

Lucas let out a small ‘oh’ and stepped two steps closer to Hop. “You don’t, you know…” Lucas started.

“Know what?” Hop queried. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Lucas’s sense of tranquility was splotched with a little bit of embarrassment. “You don’t like-like him, correct?” Lucas spluttered, obviously ashamed that he even had to ask that.

Hop stepped back. He was not expecting a question like that from Lucas. “No! Why would you even say that?” he shrieked.

“Well, you said he would make your day better, so I thought-” spilled Lucas. Maybe Hop should’ve reworded his sentence. Now that he thought about it, his word choice sounded like he did like Barry in a romantic light. Which was very far from the truth. Barry was merely his acquaintance.

“So, why would finding Barry make your day better?” Lucas added, sounding a little less shy and embarrassed at that question than the other one.

“Well,” Hop said, “he’s funny and I’m feeling rather blue.”

“I thought you said you were doing great,” puzzled Lucas.

“I meant decent, not great,” Hop corrected.

Lucas raised one of his eyebrows. “Are you not feeling good because you don’t get to see Barry or because of the threat that’s not letting us go outside?” he inquired.

Hop paused. If he said he wasn’t feeling good because he didn’t get to see Barry, then Lucas would think that Hop was some lovesick little kid. But if he said that he wasn’t feeling good because of the mysterious Gira-thingy threat, then Lucas wouldn’t give him the directions to Barry. Hop needed to avoid either of those to get to Barry without hurting his reputation.

“My friend from my hometown is terribly ill,” Hop fake sobbed.

“That’s unfortunate,” Lucas stated, completely void of emotions.

Hop had to make it more tragic and believable. “He was my dearest friend,” Hop sniffled. “He was a kind lad, inflicted with a disease most painful.”

“And you’re feeling ‘decent?’” Lucas questioned.

“Oh, did I say decent?” fake cried Hop, “I meant despicable!”

Hop knew Lucas could see right through his facade. Hop felt like Lucas was about to slam the door on him just when…

“Hoppy, that’s awful!” Barry exclaimed as he bounced through the hallway with a bag of food. “Will some grub make it better?”

Hop pretended to cry again. “No, my dear friend is sick and dying!” Hop lied.

Barry gasped. Hop didn’t know if Barry was trying to do something or if he genuinely believed that Hop had an ill friend. “We must all comfort you! Lucas, you grab Dawn and meet in Hop’s room! We must help Hop get through this sad moment of his life!” Barry declared as he grabbed Hop by the arm and dragged him into room 413.

Barry had laid out some nice food with a flavorful aroma. Hop really wasn’t hungry due to Barry’s food tour earlier, but the smell enticed him. Barry noticed him gazing at the food and said, “See? You’re not that sad anymore, Hoppio!”

There was no need to play the part of a miserable person anymore. Lucas wasn’t back with Dawn yet, either. He thought this was the best time to ask Barry what he knew. “Barry, do you know about a certain Gira Pokemon?” Hop asked.

“Giratina? Yeah, that one’s familiar!” Barry exclaimed and then shoved some bread in his mouth.

“What is it? And is it strong?” Hop wondered aloud. If this Giratina was strong, then he could use it against Gloria! But… was that necessary? She didn’t seem mad or snotty when she picked up her friend’s misdialed phone. Hop snapped himself out of that. Of course it was necessary! If he wanted her to truly respect him, he would have to beat her in battle! That was the only way!

“Oh, it’s so strong! But it’s also evil!” Barry shivered.

Hop smiled. A Pokemon can’t be evil! The only way a singular Pokemon could be ‘evil’ is because of their trainer! Hop could befriend this Giratina thing! It would be as easy as pie!

Suddenly, Dawn and Lucas walked into the room. Dawn looked at Barry, then Dawn, then scowled. “Barry, you didn’t tell Hop anything, did you?” she questioned.

“Of course I did!” exulted Barry.

“Barry!” chastised Dawn. “What if the kid took your information to heart and-”

Barry burst out laughing. Dawn and Lucas exchanged confused glances. Hop was very confused, but he needed to play along. Barry could be scheming something. “You thought we talked about Giratina?” Barry chuckled. “No, our conversation was about bread! Right, Hop?”

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Hop felt both Lucas and Dawn’s eyes glare at him. He was so nervous he could hardly move. A simple ‘yeah’ was all Hop could muster out.

“Very well then,” Dawn huffed as she sat down. Hop wondered if he had caused her bad mood. He was usually the bringer of smiles and joy, so being the source of another’s misery happened very seldomly. Yet she was so energetic before he visited her. And now she was almost as miserable as Hop pretended to be earlier. Hop wanted to fix her mood, but he didn’t know how.

The rest of the day was spent watching TV in room 413 and reading books. Well, to be more precise, Barry and Hop watched TV while Lucas and Dawn read their books. Hop tried to lift one up and was not surprised when it was as heavy as a large brick. Nothing really happened since they couldn’t go outside, but that meant nothing bad happened. Hop preferred an uneventful afternoon to a disastrous one.

By the time they had stopped watching TV and reading, it was six in the afternoon. “I’ll go out to retrieve some food,” stated Dawn as she walked out of room 413. Lucas went over to Hop and Barry.

“Is it just me or was Dawn a little frustrated?” he queried.

“She must have a case,” started Barry, “of the frowny faces.”

Hop stayed silent. He knew what she really felt. She wasn’t melancholy just to be melancholy, nor was she grumpy. She was stressed that he would go out and try to catch Giratina.

Which is just what Hop intended to do.

Victor didn’t really enjoy last night. He had an unintended guest (as Gloria and Marnie went to Gloria’s house to sleep at) who he had to prepare a room for and food for extremely short notice. Then, at four in the morning, he was woken up by his guest. “Hey idiot,” Bede greeted his host. “It’s time to get out of here. Get your things ready.”

So then Victor had to pack his bags in a rather chaotic way and rush down the stairs of his house. Bede was going through his pantry. “What are you doing?” Victor exclaimed.

“We need rations,” Bede stated.

Victor sighed. He was so tired and shy to really do anything. People were able to walk all over him. He knew he needed to do something about it, but he was never able to build up the courage to protest. He usually had either Gloria or Hop to stand up for him. Well, he used to. He felt much more isolated ever since Gloria left for Wyndon and Hop left for Sinnoh. He just stayed in his house all day. Leon was the only person he really socialized with, as his father had a busy job in another region and his mother was long dead. Leon brought him food because Victor didn’t get any himself. With a brother like Leon, Hop had no reason to leave. At least in Victor’s opinion he didn’t.

“Are you just going to stand here?! Help me find food, you lazy nobody!” Bede ordered.

Victor grabbed all the nonperishable food he had left and put it in a bag. He didn’t want to give anybody any sort of food aliment. Hop had once joked about giving Bede moldy cheese, but Victor wasn’t Hop. He wouldn’t be able to do that without his guilt weighing him down. Even if Bede was a rather big jerk.

Suddenly, the two boys heard two knocks on the door. “Go get it, lazy,” Bede growled at Victor. ‘Is it wrong to not feel safe in your own house?’ thought Victor as he opened the door for Marnie and Gloria.

“Guys,” Gloria announced, “you won’t believe who called Marnie.”

“Piers,” Bede stated.

Gloria shook her head. Victor wondered if she noticed him. She hadn’t acknowledged him yet. “It was Hop!” chirped Gloria.

Victor froze. Hop called MARNIE? Did Hop call Victor, too? With a bit of anxious excitement, Victor turned on his phone. Sure enough, there was a voicemail. From Hop. Victor almost squealed with joy. Hop remembered him! However, as he was about to listen to it, he was noticed by Gloria.

“Oh, Victor, you’re up!” Gloria grinned, but then her grin twisted into a frown as her eyes landed on Bede. “Why did you make Bede do all the work?”

“I didn’t-” Victor started.

“He overworked me all night! I got no sleep!” Bede cried out. Gloria glared at Victor.

“Glory, you know Bede lies a-” Marnie started to point out.

“I can’t believe you let your jealousy rule your actions!” Gloria yelled at Victor. “You really changed a lot, huh.”

“Gloria, you’re being-” Marnie started.

Victor didn’t know how to react. He was too nervous to stand up for himself. Yet Marnie was also very shy and she was standing up for him! But why? If Gloria unfriended Victor right now, what did Marnie have to lose?

“I can’t believe you used to be friends with that liar,” Bede scoffed.

Victor could feel his eyes starting to water. No, not this again! As a young child Victor had cried so much that he was dubbed “River Eyes” by some of the other kids. Of course, in front of his old friend and her new friends, he would cry. Victor tried his hardest to hide the tears in his eyes.

“Victor, with the way you just acted, you’re lucky you have friends at all!” Gloria yelled.

Silence. Nobody dared to move or speak. Bede looked at Victor with a satisfied smile. It reminded Victor of a predator in a picture book. Gloria looked at Victor with a fire burning in her eyes. She wasn’t dubbed the “Infernal Gal” for nothing. She used to be the hothead of Victor’s friends. It looked like she still was. And then there was Marnie. She looked at Victor with soft, empathetic eyes. It was nice that somebody had his back. But it was not enough. He felt the dam breaking. Suddenly, there was no barrier between his cheek and the tears. They started streaming from his eyes, like a river. Apparently the other three noticed as their faces morphed into different expressions. Bede displayed no emotion, while Gloria and Marnie seemingly swapped emotions. Gloria was looking at Hop as if she was saying ‘sorry,’ and Marnie was looking at Gloria with anger that reminded Victor of a controlled wildfire. Victor, not wanting to be in any conflict, ran out of the kitchen. He was halfway up the stairs when he started to hear the bickering.

“I didn’t know-” Gloria explained.

“You didn’t know this was all BEDE’S doing?!” Marnie countered. “He’s done this so many times before!”

“I’m not the bad guy here!” Bede hollered. “I didn’t make your crybaby friend-”

Victor shut the door on their argument. He wished he was invisible so he could sneak out of there without alerting the arguing people downstairs. Except he didn’t need to be invisible to escape. He opened the window in his room and went to the other side of it. There was the balcony Leon had installed for him last summer. Victor shut the window and leaped off the balcony… while he was holding on to the rope he had tied to it. All he had to do was silently climb down and run to Hop's house. There, he could talk with Leon.

His watery eyes made it hard to see well. That and the fact that it was dark outside. He climbed down the rope, though, and made it safely on the ground. He decided to sprint to Hop’s house, just in case anyone heard him and chastised him for leaving. When he was finally at the door, he knocked. There was a doorbell, but if Leon or a member of his family was asleep, he didn’t want to wake them. Leon opened the door with a smile.

“Victor! What’s up, buddy?” greeted Leon. “I didn’t expect you to come over here this early!”

“Sorry for disturbing you,” Victor sincerely apologized.

“It’s alright, kiddo,” Leon remarked, “Why are you up so early? Did your dad come back early?”

Victor shook his head. Only Leon knew about Victor’s rocky relationship with his father. Victor really didn’t like thinking about it. That alone would bring tears to his eyes. But if you add the argument he had with Gloria… before he knew it, he was crying again.

“Hey, little buddy, I’m sorry for mentioning it,” comforted Leon. “Are you okay?”

Victor nodded as he wiped his tears away with his handkerchief. Could he not tear up FOR ONE SECOND? Victor wondered why he was so sensitive and meek. If he had a little more bravery, he could’ve stood up for himself. If he had only done that, he would be at his house right now with Gloria, Marnie, and Bede. If only things had played out differently.

“So, Victor, why aren’t you in bed again?” inquired Leon.

Victor decided there was no wrong in telling Leon the entire story. He started with Gloria pounding the door of his house to Bede’s wrongful incrimination of him. Leon listened through the entire thing. “So the three of them broke into your house and accused you of being lazy?” asked Leon.

“Yeah,” Victor sighed.

“Well, if you guys are going to find Hop, I’m coming with you!” Leon declared. “I can drive the Flying Taxi to get you guys there!”

“No need, Delivery Boy,” Bede snarled. Victor turned around to see Marnie, Bede, and Gloria right behind him. Victor subsequently jumped up in terror. Why were they here? Neither Marnie nor Gloria looked angry anymore. Maybe they sorted something out? Hopefully?

“I’ve already called for someone, so keep your loser face out of our business!” commanded Bede.

“Bede, you act all wise, but you failed to think about one thing,” Leon countered, “each Flying Taxi can only fit two people.”

“But!” argued Bede.

“So I propose that you and Marnie go with the person that you called for,” negotiated Leon, “and I’ll take Victor and Gloria.”