Author's note: Heyo! How's it shakin'?

Well, this chapter is the last one that I had saved in backup, so that means I actually need to start writing it again! Regardless, I hope this chapter tides you all over, until I can write more!

Also, last chapter, I tried my absolute darndest to turn Wynaut and Wobbuffet into the comedy routine they were supposed to be (you know, in the original Japanese version) but... good lord, it's almost impossible to translate that joke into English. XD I tried my best, though...

Regardless, I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Chapter Five: To Discover and Try

A week passed, with Team Fledge getting back into doing missions. They'd fallen a bit behind while looking after Manaphy, but they tried their best to make up for it. They threw themselves into their work, vowing to always do their best, and, gradually, their moods began to improve.

One morning, they decided to start the day in Spinda's Café. Piplup ordered them an oran berry au lait each, getting a straw for Torchic, and they sat down at a table.

Picking up his small teacup by the handle, he gave it a quick sip. It was far too hot to drink yet, though, so he placed it back down.

He was just about to discuss with Torchic what sort of missions they should do for the day, when a beautifly approached them with a letter.

From the description she gave, it sounded like it had come from Scizor, the explorer they'd saved from Crevice Cave. Perplexed, yet curious, Piplup read the letter once the beautifly had left. As he learned about the mission that was on it, his face lit up in wonder.

"What's it say?" Torchic asked.

He lowered the letter, smiling at her in excitement. "Well-!" he began. The letter promptly disintegrated, causing him to shriek in surprise. He stared at the remaining ashes that had fallen on the table. "... Ummm..."

"... How on earth did it do that?"

"I... have no idea." He continued to stare at it. Realising that he hadn't answered her question, he shook his head to clear it. "Uh, yeah, anyway..." He looked up at her. "It said to check out a place called Mount Avalanche. Apparently, there's something called an icy flute there!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah! One of the 'seven treasures'! Doesn't that sound exciting?"

She smiled at him. "Yeah, I guess so."

He stared back down at the ashes in disbelief. "... It also said it would self-terminate, but I thought that was a joke..."

Torchic snorted in amusement.

He looked up at her. "Anyway, yeah," he continued. "Wanna check out Mount Avalanche? It sounds like a super secret mission just for secret rank!"

She chuckled. "Yeah, sure."

"Great!" Piplup rummaged around in his treasure bag and pulled out his wonder map. He spread it on the table and looked it over. "Okay... Mount Avalanche is..." Once he found it, he placed his flipper on it. "Here!" He paused. "... Oh, hey! That's pretty close to Blizzard Island."

Torchic leaned over the table to look. "... Huh, you're right."

"Huh... all that time, I lived really close to a legendary treasure?" He pouted. "Darn."

He saw Torchic's beak curl up in amusement, which only made him pout more.

Team Fledge made their way up Mount Avalanche. Sometimes, it snowed, doubling the speed of ice-types. Other times, it was cloudy, weakening all but normal-types. Despite being so close to Blizzard Island, though, Mount Avalanche was surprisingly bright. Piplup could easily see his flipper in front of his face as he walked, which was more than he could say for his homeland.

He loved it dearly, though he'd always wished it was less dark and scary. Though he supposed it was much less so with either his parents or Torchic around.

Eventually, they made it to the peak, where they met and battled Articuno, the guardian of one of the seven treasures they were seeking.

Later, back in Treasure Town, Piplup was admiring the icy flute they'd won from their battle with Articuno. It was a baby blue colour, practically transparent, was dotted with crystal shapes and looked like it was made of ice.

"Wow..." he said. "It's so pretty, isn't it?"

Torchic nodded. "Yeah," she replied.

"It's so cool that we found it!" He paused. "I wonder how we can tell Scizor we found it. He didn't leave us any way to contact him..."

Torchic huffed in amusement, then shrugged.

"Ah well," he continued. He smiled, holding the icy flute aloft. "We found it and that's what matters!" He lowered his flipper, staring at the flute. "... So what do you think it does?"

"... Dunno."

"I... don't remember the letter saying anything about it, so, uh... should I try playing it, or... something?"

Torchic smiled, nodding. "Sure."

"Okay... though I've never played an instrument in my life, so I dunno if anything'll happen." He held it up to his beak. "Here goes!" He blew into it.

It made a very strange sound. It was kind of pleasant, he supposed. He placed his flippers over various holes, creating different notes, but that was about all that seemed to happen.

He took it out of his beak and frowned thoughtfully at it. "Hmm..." he said to himself, wondering if maybe he really did need to be good at playing the flute for something to happen.

"What... what was that?" a voice from nearby asked.

"Huh?" Piplup turned around, only to see Sneasel behind him. He was staring at him and Torchic with a look of awe on his face.

Piplup smiled. "Sneasel!" he said. "We haven't seen you since Sky Peak! How've you been?"

Sneasel blinked, shaking his head slightly. "Yeah, yeah, I've been fine." He strolled over to them, staring at something the entire time. "... What is that?"

"Huh?" Piplup looked where he was looking. He held up the icy flute. "You mean this?"

Sneasel's gaze didn't waver. "Yeah."

"Well, it's called an icy flute! Not sure what it does, but it's pretty!"

"It played the most... beautiful song..."

Piplup shared a glance with Torchic. She seemed just as confused as he felt.

"Uh... it did?" he asked, looking back at Sneasel.

"Yeah..."

"Well... glad you liked it!" He couldn't say he agreed, but whatever floated the guy's boat, he supposed. He paused as he thought of something. "Oh! And thanks for the sky gift back at Sky Peak!"

"Huh? Yeah, yeah, no problem." Sneasel continued to stare at the icy flute for a minute. Once the silence got a bit awkward, he shook his head again, looking like he was clearing it. "Anyway, yeah. Nice flute." He turned around. "I'm gonna head off home now."

"Okay! See you around, Sneasel!"

"Yeah, see ya," Torchic added.

Sneasel lifted a claw in acknowledgement as he walked away.

They watched him leave. Once he was out of sight, Piplup suddenly thought of something. He took a quick look around Treasure Town.

"... Huh," he said. "Doesn't look like anyone else reacted to the icy flute." He looked at the treasure again. "That's weird."

"... Maybe... because it's for ice-types?" Torchic suggested.

Piplup's head jolted up to gaze at her. "Hey, there's a point! It's an icy flute, so maybe it's for ice-types?" He paused in thought. "Do we know any other ice-types? You know, to test it on?"

Torchic also paused in thought. "... Lapras?"

Piplup gasped. "Lapras! You're right! Let's go see if it works on Lapras!"

After heading down to the beach, Piplup tested the icy flute on Lapras. He reacted in much the same way as Sneasel, staring intently at the flute, as if it had played the world's most melodic and beautiful tune.

Piplup couldn't say he understood. He was barely playing the instrument, yet ice-types seemed to be entranced by whatever passed for a tune from it.

As he and Torchic headed to Spinda's Café for an evening drink, they discussed what the icy flute's power could possibly be, throwing suggestions back and forth between them. They also discussed other possible instruments that might have similar effects on other types. The icy flute was only one of the seven treasures, after all.

Maybe, eventually, Scizor would give them missions to get the other six, too. Piplup certainly hoped so. The mere thought was making his heart race with excitement.

This was the sort of thing he'd become an explorer for in the first place, after all. Discovering new places, and finding rare treasures and ancient relics.

Of course, saving the world had been nice, too. He couldn't deny that.

Piplup sipped his pecha berry smoothie through a straw. It was deliciously sweet, and his second favourite after blue gummi smoothies. Opposite him at the café table, Torchic was sipping a chesto berry smoothie, her second favourite after red gummi smoothies.

As he drank, though, his eyes couldn't help but drift over to the empty seat in-between them. Now that he thought about it, this was the table they'd been sitting at with Manaphy that one time.

It felt very empty without him there with them.

As his mood dipped, he tried to think of something more positive. His thoughts instead drifted to Mount Avalanche, where they'd had a very successful exploration and gotten themselves a rare treasure.

He remembered the snowy landscape that looked very similar to Blizzard Island. His homeland, and also the place they'd been sent to look for Scizor, who'd been held prisoner by Froslass for several decades.

Froslass was currently in jail, but still. In that moment, it gave Piplup the cold, harsh reminder of how much of his life Scizor must have missed out on.

Glancing back at their smoothies, he again tried to think of something positive, but he couldn't help but be reminded of the smoothies he and Torchic been drinking with Manaphy not long ago.

... He couldn't deny that his heart ached for the little guy. He missed him terribly, but nothing could be done about that. Manaphy was living a new life in the sea with Walrein, where he belonged, and wouldn't get horribly sick.

Before he realised it, his eyes had wandered over to Torchic, who was sipping her smoothie with a thoughtful look on her face.

... She, too, had disappeared once. His heart had crumbled into a thousand pieces, and he'd never thought he could fix it again.

Now that he thought about it, a lot of pokémon had disappeared, it seemed. Manaphy had disappeared from his life, Scizor had disappeared for several decades, and Torchic had disappeared from existence. Nothing short of a miracle had brought the latter back.

It made Piplup realise that time was precious. It was important to live in the here and now, before the chance was ripped away from you. Just like with Torchic, Manaphy and Scizor.

... He wondered if Scizor had wanted to confess his love to someone before he'd disappeared. If so, it was possible that he'd missed his chance, thanks to Froslass. Maybe the girl he loved was even dating somebody else now.

His breath caught in his throat. He didn't want that happening to him. He didn't remotely have the courage to confess to Torchic, but things could be far worse if he didn't. If he left it too long, and she disappeared for real, then he wouldn't be able to take it. Picturing her with someone else was no better. It made his heart contort into painful knots.

He didn't want to confess, but he didn't want to lose her, either. Not to time, or to another pokémon.

He took a deep breath as he made his decision. He was going to do it. He was going to confess to her tonight.

... That thought was very overwhelming, but he knew that he had to do it tonight. If he left it for another day, which was very tempting, then he'd completely lose his nerve again. He had to act now.

The only question was how to go about it. He thought for a while as he sipped his smoothie.

Sometime later, his eyes widened as the answer eventually came to him. It was perfect.

"Say, Torchic?" he asked, putting on a smile, "you wanna go down to the beach?"

Torchic looked at him, tilting her head curiously. "Hmm?" she asked.

He faltered slightly. "I, uh... wanna see the sunset. Haven't seen it in a while!"

Torchic's eyes widened in understanding. "Oh!" She smiled at him. "Sure."

He beamed. "Great!"

Okay. So far, so good. Piplup was currently walking down the path to the beach, with Torchic in tow.

His heart was pounding in his chest, his nerves frayed to the absolute maximum. It would be make or break tonight.

Either he'd end up the happiest man alive, or things would be incredibly awkward from now on. He couldn't possibly imagine it going any other way.

Oh no, now he'd made himself even more nervous. He wasn't sure he could do this at all. He was about ready to bail and call it quits any moment.

... No. He had to be strong. Even though every single part of him was screaming at him to run away, he had to be strong. Purely because it was make or break.

If the end result was positive, he'd do anything to attain it, because he wanted it more than anything.

As they reached the shoreline, he saw that the krabby were blowing bubbles across the sunset, as they usually did at dusk. It looked as beautiful as it always did. Not only that, but he and Torchic were alone. The krabby were too far away to hear anything and Lapras had gone home for the night.

The atmosphere was perfect, just like he'd hoped.

Okay. He swallowed the nervous lump in his throat. It seemed it was go time.

... But just where would he start? He couldn't just open with the confession. That was far too sudden. Perhaps he should gently lead into it.

He glanced sideways at Torchic, who was staring out at the sunset in awe.

"... It's beautiful, isn't it?" he asked.

She looked at him, smiling. "Yeah," she replied.

"I've always liked the sunset from this beach. Especially with how the bubbles catch the light juuuust right."

"Heh, yeah."

He watched as her blue eyes caught the light, shimmering in the sunset. He smiled warmly.

"... This was where I met you, remember?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

"Right over there." He pointed to a large rock jutting out of the sand.

She turned around to look. "Yeah. That's right."

"You were right by that rock, out cold." He paused. "... That was also where you reappeared after... disappearing."

"... Oh yeah. You're right."

He lowered his flipper, and she turned back to face him. "Heh," he said. "Come to think of it... both times where I found you were on the beach at dusk. It's kinda weird, isn't it?"

She chuckled. "Guess so."

He felt a boost of confidence. This was it. His heart was filling up, swelling and overflowing with emotion. It was the pure, unbridled power of being in the one place that he cherished the most.

"And... it's also where... I wanna tell you something."

She blinked at him. "Hmm?"

He took in a deep breath, trying his best to steady his nerves. "I..." He paused. "We've... been through a lot together, haven't we? Exploring, rescuing pokémon, arresting outlaws... going to the future, saving the world..."

She smiled again, nodding. "Yeah."

"And... all throughout that, you stuck by my side. You cheered me up when I was down, and... gave me courage when I was scared."

Her smile warmed. "Well... of course I did."

He stared at her, her eyes shimmering in the sunset more than ever. His confidence had been wavering a bit, but now it was back with full force.

"Yeah... and... because of that... I've... grown really fond of you."

"Hmm?"

"Yeah. More... fond of you... than I should have."

After a few seconds, her eyes widened. She said nothing in response.

"It..." Oh no, his nerves were returning again. He took another deep breath to calm himself. It rattled in his throat. "It... goes beyond friendship. Way beyond it. I... I..." He felt the skin on his face grow hot. "I like you... Kathryn." A wave of fear and embarrassment washed over him all at once. He clenched his eyes shut. "I really like you, Kathryn!"

He kept his eyes closed, afraid of what he might see if he opened them.

He was greeted with silence.

Slowly, timidly, he began to crack an eye open. He saw Torchic still staring at him, wide-eyed. Even her beak was slightly open.

"... Um..." he said, "Tor... Kathryn?"

She blinked, then blinked again. Giving her head a quick shake, she looked him in the eyes.

"... Um..." she replied, "really?"

"Y... Yeah..."

Opening both eyes, he looked down at the sand. Her response seemed negative, though he wasn't entirely sure. Now, though, he had no courage left. He'd spent it all on the confession.

There was a long pause. "... Even though I'm a human?"

He looked up, not expecting that question. "Y... Yeah."

She blinked at him. "... Really?"

"Yeah..."

"Oh..." She paused, her face reddening. After a moment, she looked down at the sand. "Well... thank you."

"No... problem..."

There was another awkward silence.

"It's just..." she said, "well... it's been on my mind for a while now."

He blinked at her. "... What has?"

"Us. Being together."

His eyes widened in shock. "R... Really?!"

"Yeah... but I... didn't think we could, since... I'm a human and all."

Excitement and hope built inside his chest. "But... but I don't care about that! You barely feel like a human anyway, most of the time!" He paused, thinking over what he'd just said. "... Wait... was that insensitive?"

She chuckled lightly. "Not really. I barely feel like one myself anymore." She glanced out at the sea. "Besides... I don't remember anything about being human. Just my name." She paused. "I don't remember my friends, my family... anything." She looked back at him. "I only remember you... and everything that came after you."

He stared. It was rare for her to say so much at once, but he was hanging onto every word.

She continued. "I'm basically a torchic now, in every sense." She paused. "... So you really like me?"

He felt his face grow hot again. "Y-Yeah. A lot." He looked at the sand. "You're strong, and brave... and... and you're always there for me, even in the hard times. Even when I wanna give up, when I say it's hopeless, you... you're there to make me feel better. You're like a... a shining light in my life." Realising what he'd said, he slapped his flippers over his beak. "... Oh... wow, that was cheesy."

He heard Torchic's rare and beautiful giggle. He looked up to see her bright, warm smile. "Yeah, it... kinda was."

He averted his gaze, embarrassed. "W-Well..."

"... I liked it, though."

He looked back at her in surprise.

She continued. "And I like you, too."

His eyes widened. She'd been hinting at it, but now she'd actually said it aloud. She'd confirmed it.

"You do? E... Even though I'm a pokémon?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I... thought it was a bit weird at first, but... how can I not?" She paused for thought. "... You're kind... and cute..."

He blinked. "Cute?"

"Yeah. Your smile can light up a room." She paused again. "... You're pretty timid, but you really pull through when it counts. Plus... you were my first friend, after I... lost my memory." She looked down at the sand, a nostalgic expression on her face. "You stuck by me... and you... always believed in me and trusted me, despite... well, my story sounding crazy." Looking up, she smiled at him. "So of course I like you. A lot."

Piplup felt tears sting at his eyes. "Kathryyyyn!" He dashed forwards, wrapping his flippers around her. Her warm feathers felt so nice against his colder ones. "... I was so lost when you were gone. I... I didn't know what to do!"

She chuckled. "Don't worry. I won't leave you again. I promise."

The tears fell in his happiness. "Thank you."

"... You know, I... I kinda pitied you when we first met... but... now I don't." He felt tiny wings try to embrace him. "You've grown a lot."

He sobbed out a laugh. "Th-Thanks... though I never could've done it without you." He hugged tighter. "I... I love you."

"P... Piplup..." After a stretch of silence, she continued. "... I love you, too."

His insides exploded with joy. The smile on his beak widened as far as it would go. He loved her, and she loved him. It was more than he could've ever asked for.

He sobbed again. "Kathryn!"

"Hey, hey... it's okay..." Her tiny wing patted him comfortingly.

They stayed in a comfortable silence for a while, until Piplup finally calmed down.

"So... we're dating now, right?" he asked.

"Yeah," she replied. He felt her stand on her tiptoes and nuzzle her cheek against his. It sent a wave of elation through him. "We are."

Unable to keep the smile off his beak, he nuzzled her back.