In the aftermath of Gates to Infinity, a chance encounter with a buried frism leads Emolga, Dunsparce, and Virizion to try something new.

A short and fluffy piece suggested by  DayBreakShifter ! I had a lot of fun with this one. I haven't played Gates since it came out so I hope I did all the characters justice.

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Dunsparce wasn’t one to get jealous.

Honestly, he was happy for Emolga and for Virizion too. Sure, perhaps he might’ve crushed on Virizion more or less since the moment he’d known her, but he’d always thought that she deserved a mon who could make her happy. And Emolga was just the right pokemon for the job! He was brave, stalwart, passionate, eager… he made for a great pair with Virizion. The two of them—her quiet stoicism and his hot-blooded humor—complemented each other perfectly.

Still, it was hard not to feel a bit lonely. His best friend and his crush were now dating, and he was left third-wheeling it. They were good pokemon and still hung out with him and the rest of their friends, but it just wasn’t the same. He took to quietly spending his time in Post Town at the local berry smoothie place, drinking away his worries with succulent, creamy berry smoothies.

Finally, after one night spent in a particularly harsh bit of self-pity, Dunsparce had enough. With the berry juice burning in his cheeks, he took a frism and wandered to the outskirts of Post Town, close to Paradise. Here, he unburdened himself with the frism:

“M-My name’s Dunsparce and I, gosh, I l-love Virizion… I know it’s j-just not right since she’s dating my best friend! And I should be happy for them! I’m more upset at m-myself for not supporting them than I am at them for getting together! I’m a, gosh, b-bad friend! I said it! I’m a bad friend… Starting today, I’m not gonna pine for Virizion anymore! N-Not one bit! I’ll support them both and be a happy pokemon. I’ll keep this frism buried behind the rock near the entrance to Paradise. That way if I e-ever start to doubt, I can dig it up and listen to myself. You hear me, Dunsparce? Be strong! You can do it!”

Perhaps wondering if he would find the sentiment as compelling in the future as he did right now, Dunsparce nevertheless felt his mood greatly improve once he got his feelings out. With his drill tail, he dug a hole just where he said he would, covering it with packed earth and thick grasses. Right! It was time to become a new mon.

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The following few months, Dunsparce greatly improved. He made more of an effort to be outgoing and sociable, and his friends all noticed the change in his demeanor. He worked hard to help improve Paradise, and other pokemon all supported him. All the more, he quickly found that he didn’t feel sad or resentful around Emolga or Virizion anymore. The two of them were happy? Good for them! He supported them utterly. He didn’t foresee himself backsliding soon, and therefore didn’t have any need for a frism to give himself a pep talk. So he quickly forgot about it.

Until, one day, Emolga approached him after dark.

“Heya, Dunsparce!”

“Oh, golly Emolga! Hi there! What can I do for you?”

Emolga, curiously, looked a bit distracted. The flying squirrel pokemon rubbed the back of his head. “Well, uh… y’know how Quagsire had me help set up a new sign near the entrance to Paradise? Well, we had to move a rock as part of that and… I, uh, found something…”

He held out his paw, in which glimmered a single shiny frism. Dunsparce stared at it. Kept staring. Then turned and desperately tried to wing away.

“AUGH guuuhhhhhhh!” Dunsparce cried out. Oh no; Emolga had found it! He’d found the frism! This was the worst of all possible worlds! He couldn’t possibly go on like this! He—”

“Whoa, hey!” Emolga soared past Dunsparce and held out his arms to stop him from going any further. “Dunsparce, calm down! We need to chat!”

Dunsparce flopped down to the ground, defeated. He couldn’t possibly outpace Emolga. “Listen, I’m real sorry about my feelings. I c-c-couldn’t control ‘em! But I’ve put those behind me now. You and V-Virizion don’t need to worry about me getting in your way or anything…”

Emolga smiled. “So uh, that’s just the thing. I showed this to Virizion and we both had a listen—”

Wait, what? He did what?! “Waugh nooooooooo!” Dunsparce cried despondently, flopping into the dirt. “It’s over, it’s the end!”

“Dunsparce, please, calm down!” Emolga said. “So it turns out that… Virizion actually was kind of interested in you.”

Dunsparce raised his head from where he was at. “Wait… really?”

“Yeah. But with the Great Glacier and everything else going on, it was hard for her to say… and then she and I ended up together. But she still has some interest. She asked if I’d be interested in sharing her with you and… well, I just couldn’t say no, y’know?” Emolga leaned over and offered a paw to his friend. “You’re my best buddy, Dunsparce! We’ve been through thick and thin together. I don’t think I’m interested in guys at all, but I’m interested in helping my friends feel better, y’know? So why not give it a shot? A little polycule, heheh.”

Dunsparce tilted his head. He wasn’t familiar with that word.

Emolga, thankfully, seemed to pick up on that. “Oh, you’re not familiar? Basically a ‘polycule’ is a romantic relationship involving three or more pokemon instead of the usual two. It can be all of them dating each other, or some dating others. There’s all sorts of different kinds! The one we’re interested in is sometimes called a ‘V’ since you can imagine the parties as three dots. Party A and B are both interested in party C, so you draw a line connecting A to C and B to C, but not A to B. That leads to a shape kind of like the letter V! In this case, Virizion is party C.”

“Wooowww…” Dunsparce had never heard of a polycule before, but it sounded super neat. And he supposed it made sense, since plenty of pokemon out there could be interested in multiple partners! “But uh… you and Virizion are really interested in that sort of relationship?”

“Well, we can at least give it a shot!” Emolga said. “So c’mon, buddy, chin up. Honestly, I figure me findin’ this frism is something to be glad for, heheh! After all, I’d hate for you to be sad forever!”

“Ah… but I wasn’t sad! I really got over it and—”

“Ohhh, shut uuuppp,” Emolga said lackadaisically, pushing Dunsparce off towards the burrow he shared with Virizion. “Now c’mon. Let’s go meet Virizion!”

Dunsparce couldn’t help but gulp at that, even after all that Emolga had done to put him at ease. Sure, his friends were not the kinds of pokemon to play cruel pranks or jokes on him, but part of him still told himself that it was simply a joke or a prank that he would be humiliated with. At least, up until Emolga led him into the burrow and he saw Virizion seated there.

Golly, she was still so lovely… smiling beautifully with those knowing eyes of hers, her leaf-textured coat, her graceful, elegant demeanor. She was absolutely wonderful.

And she turned her attention to him, smiling warmly. “Dunsparce! So, looks like Emolga brought you up to speed, did he?”

Dunsparce gulped again. “Uh… y-yes he did, um, V-Virizion. I hope listening to my frism wasn’t t-too embarrassing for you…”

Virizion rose with a languid stretch and meandered over to him. Golly, even when she was just moving around like any ordinary pokemon, she seemed graceful…

“It wasn’t embarrassing at all,” she said comfortingly. “After all, how could I spurn your earnestness and kindhearted nature? Especially from a mon who didn’t want to get in the way of his friend’s happiness.”

Dunsparce shuffled his wings a few times, confused. “But, uh… w-why me? I mean, you’re the most favored pokemon in Post Town. All sorts of mons must’ve come knocking at your door…”

Virizion knelt in front of him so that they could see eye-to-eye. (Golly, and she was tall too!) “Well,” she said, “it had to do with your bravery—how you wanted to be an adventurer despite your doubts. And your eager friendship, and the way you supported everyone around you. Why shouldn’t I admire a mon like that?”

“Well, jeez, ‘cus you’re… you.”

She smiled, though it didn’t meet her eyes. “And do you still think that’s the case?”

Did he? Well… “I know you don’t like pokemon putting you on a pedestal,” he said. “And frankly, I think that now that I know the real you, rather than the one I worshiped from afar, I like her better—and I guess I do deserve a shot with her. If she’ll have me, that is.”

Virizion smiled wider and leaned in to bunt her forehead against his own, as Emolga clapped behind them. “She will indeed, Dunsparce.”

---

The following day, Dunsparce took Virizion on a date to a juice stand. Some of the Post Town pokemon whispered and followed them with their eyes, and Dunsparce felt an inkling of panic—what if pokemon thought that Virizion had broken up with Emolga? What if he ruined his friend’s reputation?—but Virizion was able to calm him with her gentle presence.

Over tall glasses of berry juice, Dunsparce and Virizion chatted together, sharing stories of adventures and strange and colorful characters that they’d encountered over their journeys, along with the pokemon they’d met here in Post Town.

“A-A-And Victini tried to pay me with a spin of the V-wheel! Can ya b-believe it?” Dunsparce said. Virizion laughed in response, holding one hooved foreleg up to her mouth.

“That little scamp! He’ll do anything to get out of paying. I wonder if he thinks that spinning the V-wheel is all that anyone cares about in this life? But you did get your payment, didn’t you?”

“Yup… e-eventually, heh.” Dunsparce found that Virizion didn’t mind his stammer. He’d worked hard on it, but it probably wouldn’t ever go away—but Virizion was able to look over it and see the pokemon underneath. A lot of pokemon, even some of Dunsparce’s best friends, had been put off by it at first, but not her.

“Say, you hear about that kerfuffle a few years back on the Grass Continent?” Virizion said.

Dunsparce fluttered his wings again. “N-No, what was it?”

“Well, I heard from a friend of a friend who was involved. There were these things called Time Gears…”

Dunsparce listened, enraptured. “Wow! That seems like almost as exciting an adventure as the one we went on!”

Virizion’s eyes twinkled. “Almost?”

“Um… y-yeah! Almost!” Dunsparce puffed out his chest, trying to showcase how impressive he was for going on such an adventure. Virizion laughed good-naturedly and finished her berry juice.

“You truly are a dear heart, Dunsparce,” she said affectionately. She leaned over and gave him a peck on the cheek, and Dunsparce could feel himself turn beet red, his wings fluttering with delight. She laughed again, her voice warm and gentle.

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Over the coming few days, Virizion and Dunsparce went on several dates together. They explored remote dungeons, visited places in Paradise to play games and spend time together, and even saw a traveling play. During each of those visits, Dunsparce found himself feeling truly free, as if he had found a piece of himself that he hadn’t known was missing. It was beautiful and joyous, and their friends, once they got over their confusion and realized the polycule that Virizion had formed with the other two, were supportive. All in all, it was like a dream.

Of course, like any dream, Dunsparce secretly expected to wake up any time now; for the other shoe to drop. He gave the relationship his all, of course, but it couldn’t be real. It couldn’t last. Right?

And so he thought, up until he and Virizion had dated regularly for nearly a year. He, Virizion, and Emolga all met up at their favorite café, each swapping tales and telling jokes. Virizion was in especially high spirits, kissing both of her boyfriends playfully on their lips in between servings of dessert.

Finally, Emolga cleared his throat and spoke up. “So, uh, Dunsparce?”

“Um… y-yeah?”

Emolga leaned on the table, shooting his friend a smile. “You and Virizion have been at this a while now.”

Aw, shucks. Was it finally time? “Um, yeah! It’s been a great time! B-but if it’s time for it to be over, then—”

“Dunsparce, dear heart, calm yourself,” Virizion said, cutting in with her mature voice. “What Emolga is getting at is simply that it doesn’t seem fair for us to share a burrow when you also date me.”

“Oh. Oh!” Dunsparce found himself blushing. “Um… d-do you wanna spend some time at my place instead, Virizion?”

She laughed. “While that is a tempting proposal, we had something rather different in mind. Emolga’s burrow should be more than enough to house a third pokemon. What do you say? Would you like to move in with us?”

Dunsparce felt floored. Him? Move in with his girlfriend and best friend—the two most wonderful pokemon in the whole world? “Y-Yes, yes most surely! Thank you! Thank you!”

Virizion smiled and kissed him again and Emolga grinned, folding his arms with smug satisfaction. For his part, Dunsparce was over the moon. Finally, he had a place where he felt he belonged—a lovely polycule with his two best friends.