Facing Facts

I was and remain the sole Pokemon who ensures this Guild does not fall into insanity, and times like right now are tests of this role. And I'm simply at my wits' end. The Guild's morale of late has been at an all-time low, and I don't understand how to handle it.

The guildmembers all seem to be falling into a slow state of depression, all over your two newest recruits. Team Calliope: Miranda and Chlora, spirited, enthusiastic but occasionally unreliable. I understand the role that they have filled. They showed such promise for new recruits, making key breakthroughs in the expedition and the search for Grovyle. They were wonderful comrades to certain members, particularly the clumsy Bidoof. Which is why, for Pokemon such as him, I perfectly understand the lack of enthusiasm of late.

But for this previous month, it has taken every bit of patience I possess to try to spurn the Guild into any kind of action. Even the daily routines would be neglected without my interference. Some among the Guild, Corphish for instance – what nonsense, going to the future to try to bring Team Calliope back! - hold onto the hope that they will eventually return.

I think, however, it is time to face facts. It has been a month. If they were to return, they would have done it long before now. We must accept that Miranda and Chlora are not going to return.

Do not misunderstand and think that I don't care about those two. I do a very great deal, and do not like the idea that they are permanently gone any more than they. But unlike the others, I have the Guild's reputation to think about. This will damage it, to be sure. We've had apprentices desert before, of course, but none have ever... simply disappeared during our training. But far more damaging would be a continuance of the dispirited attitude I have unsuccessfully been trying to dispell. We must continue to meet the high expectations that are set for us. Morale may be damaged in the short term, but in the long run, we will finally be able to move past this tragic occurrence.

We must face the facts. It is time... to put them behind us. It is time to move on.

Thanks to ScytheRider for helping me out a lot with this chapter, and in multiple ways. And the whole fic, actually, but I'm going to save the more formal thank-yous for the end.

Speaking of which, every chapter has been written out. So now it's just posting!

Next is one that I expect a lot of you have been waiting to see.