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“Oh my gosh, hi Loudred!” Sunflora says, skipping towards the entrance of the Guild and peering down the footprint analysis grate.
“HI SUNFLORA,” comes the booming voice from below.
“Listen, Loudred,” she says, “could you do me a favor? I have some important business in Treasure Town later in the day, and it might take a while, so could you please not tell the others that I’m gone?”
“UM, I SHOULD PROBABLY FIRST CHECK WITH – ”
“Eek!” Sunflora cuts him off. “That’s sooo sweet of you, thanks!”
She hears Loudred yell in protest, but she runs away before he can stop her, petals fluttering in the morning breeze.
Sunflora has never considered herself a particularly strong Pokémon. In fact, when she was still a Sunkern, other Pokémon didn’t tire of telling her just how weak she was, and it has not gotten much better with evolution. They tell her she has other qualities, of course – kindness, optimism, enthusiasm. But Sunflora has never felt strong.
That is, not until Spring Cave.
It’s a good feeling. Like the thrill of a burn.
She has tried to feel it again – has taken missions to Steam Cave where she faced off against two, three, four Fire Types at once, has journeyed to Mount Mistral and even the Giant Volcano. Every time, she came back accomplished and proud of herself, but it isn’t enough, not quite.
She wants to do something that no Sunflora has ever done before.
Everyone knows that Sunflora are only active during the day. They absorb sunlight, transform it into energy; they can be quick, hectic even. But as soon as the sun sets, their petals close, and they become immobile. No Sunflora has ever seen the night sky and come back to tell the tale.
Not yet, at least.
Come late afternoon, Sunflora sneaks into the kitchen and stuffs her satchel with Plain Seeds. She wanders out of the Guild – thankfully, Diglett doesn’t try to stop her – and plants herself at the beach, just out of sight of the Krabby and their bubbles, roots buried in the sand.
And then, she waits.
It’s nice, at first. The sun glows bright even in the evening, especially with the reflection of the light on the water and the wet sand, and the air is moist, perfect for her leaves. Soon, though, the saltwater in the ground makes her roots itchy; the sand picked up by the breeze feels too coarse on her soft leaves; and of course, eventually, the sun starts dipping below the horizon.
A full-body chill runs from her topmost petals all the way down to her roots. Sunflora expected this: she grabs a Seed from her satchel and stuffs it in her mouth just to get a little bit of energy back, but already her movements are slow, sluggish. As the light starts to disappear, so does her vision; she has to fight her body to keep her petals open, stop them from closing over her face. The sun sets much quicker than she thought, and while the sky burns in warm reds and oranges, all she feels is cold. The heat of the Giant Volcano was nothing against this.
And yet, she keeps her eyes open.
After – painstakingly, slowly – chewing down another Plain Seed, she can hardly feel her cold, wet roots anymore, and her vision starts to darken. Or is it the sky that has darkened? Is she about to faint, or has she reached her goal already? With one final last-ditch effort, she cranes her neck back and sees –
Stars. A whole array of pinprick lights scattered across the sky’s black canvas, twinkling like the most beautiful of gems, and amongst them, bright and pointy, the crescent moon. Sunflora feels a last burst of energy – a last sliver of sunlight, reflected by the moon – and stares in awe.
“Oh my gosh,” she whispers, and faints.
When she wakes up, it is, of all places, in Wigglytuff’s office.
“Eek!” she exclaims. “Guildmaster Wigglytuff! How did I get here?”
“Oh, I was just on a walk~” says the Guildmaster, spinning around their office and waving their ears back and forth. “But then I saw a friend in need of help! So I helped.”
Sunflora feels her roots tie into a knot. She managed to see the night sky, yes, but she was too weak to get back on her own.
“I see,” she says, fighting to keep the disappointment out of her voice. “Thank you, Guildmaster.”
“Don’t worry about it~” Wigglytuff says.
Sunflora sighs, defeated, and picks up her satchel. “I should go back to bed, then.”
“Wait!”
She stops, one leaf already on the office doorknob. Wigglytuff is staring at her with bright green eyes, keen and piercing. Suddenly she know she couldn’t move even if she wanted to.
“You saw it,” Wigglytuff says, more serious than they’ve ever been before. “Didn’t you?”
“I did,” Sunflora whispers.
“And how was it?”
She swallows. “It was beautiful.”
Wigglytuff nods. “Then your mission was successful. There is no shame in relying on your friends. You should have this!”
Sunflora stares at the bright red apple that the Guildmaster has seemingly produced out of thin air. “Oh my gosh! A Perfect Apple?”
“Yes~” Wigglytuff sing-songs. “Now take it and leave before I change my mind! YOOM-TAH!”
Sunflora does as she’s told and hurries out of the office to her dorm room. She stuffs the Perfect Apple under her pillow and falls into a blissful sleep, pinprick lights all over her dreams.
“YOU LOOK HAPPY TODAY,” Loudred says the next morning while he’s getting ready for sentry duty and she’s getting ready for another Steam Cave mission. “DID YOUR BUSINESS IN TREASURE TOWN GO WELL?”
Sunflora closes her eyes. She has known the thrill of a burn, the chill of the night; she has tasted the moon and seen the stars. She has not quite reached her goal, and earned a Perfect Apple for her troubles anyways.
“It did,” she says.