Chapter 4: Taking the Leap

Once everyone had finished their preparations, the guild members all set out for Sky Peak. Like their last expedition, they traveled in a few separate groups: Team Sunrise traveled as a duo, as did Wigglytuff and Chatot. As for the rest, Sunflora, Loudred and Diglett were one group, and Corphish, Chimecho and Bidoof were the other group. Croagunk and Dugtrio volunteered to stay at the guild and keep an eye on things.

By the time Team Sunrise had made it to the Shaymin Village, it was late afternoon. Flynn took a moment to just look around. There were dozens of pokemon around, most of them an unfamiliar species that he assumed were the Shaymin they’d heard about. The rest were explorers, presumably. He recognized a few of them as teams they’d met back in town. He also noticed Wigglytuff, who was balancing a perfect apple on his head as he excitedly talked to a very confused Shaymin.

“Ah, there you are!” Chatot’s voice rang out, and the two turned to look at him as he flew closer. “You’ve made good time! The Guildmaster and I got here a short while ago, but otherwise you’re the first group to arrive. Well done!” He flapped his wings once for emphasis.

“Thanks,” Melody replied.

“Now, you’re free to rest a bit and look around the village, while we wait for the others to arrive. Just don’t wander off too far, alright?” Team Sunrise nodded in response, and Chatot flew off, leaving them to decide which part of the village to check first.

The Shaymin of the village were friendly. One was selling some nice-looking pink flowers, which were apparently called gracideas. Another told the group about a special item called a Sky Gift. Apparently, they could be found throughout Sky Peak, and they could contain all manner of useful things… but only if they’re given to someone else. If they’re opened by the same pokemon who found them, they will always be empty.

“How does that work?” Melody wondered out loud. “Although… I suppose creating items like that isn’t really that much weirder than anything else that mystery dungeons do.”

After a few hours, the rest of the guild had all reached Shaymin Village, but by then it was nearly nightfall, so it was decided that everyone would start climbing the mountain tomorrow. The village didn’t have a proper inn, since they weren’t used to having visitors after the path was inaccessible for so long, so the guild members simply camped out on the outskirts of the village. Thankfully, like with the prior expedition, the Guildmaster and Chatot had brought tents, and had gotten them set up during the day.

The next morning, everyone started bright and early climbing the mountain. Well… the apprentices did, anyway. The Guildmaster seemed content, at least for the moment, to continue looking around the village. He assured the rest of the guild that he and Chatot would catch up later.

Apparently, there were several small mystery dungeons strewn along the path up Sky Peak, and rest stations had been built in the stable areas in-between. There was also a Drifblim Gondola service, which had been quickly set up over the last few days by Team Frontier. It could fly explorers between the base of the mountain and the second, fourth, or sixth stations… but where was the fun in that? Few explorers would want to just skip halfway up the mountain, at least on their first visit. Though it would likely be a nice time-saver on the way back down, at least.

Team Sunrise got off to a pretty good start, breezing through the first two sections without much trouble. Most of the delays they did encounter were from simply taking a moment to appreciate the surroundings, or stopping to help some other explorer who needed some assistance.

They decided to rest for a little while after reaching the second station. Before long, the other members of the guild started to show up. Sunflora’s group appeared first. Loudred called out, “HEY, Team Sunrise! Good to see we’ve caught up to you.”

Melody smiled at the group, before responding, “Everything going well so far?”

“Yep!” Sunflora nodded. “And I take it you haven’t had any trouble either, since you got here before us.”

“Nope. So far Sky Peak has been fairly easy, not that I’m complaining.”

Within another minute or two, the other group of apprentices arrived. Corphish looked around at the rest of the pokemon present, before noting with a bit of disappointment, “Hey hey, are we really the last ones here?”

“Looks that way,” Chimecho said.

“To be fair, we didn’t really get here that long ago,” Melody responded.

“Still, we’re gonna have to pick up the pace, hey hey. Don’t want to be the last ones to reach the summit, right?”

Bidoof fidgeted uncomfortably. “Uh… S-Sorry if I’m holding us back or anything. Shucks, I know I’m still, uh… not quite as good at all this as most of you all…”

Chimecho shook her head. “Not at all, Bidoof. You’re doing fine, don’t worry.”

“Yeah!” Sunflora gave Bidoof an encouraging smile. “You’ve improved a lot since you first joined, you know. You’re a solid explorer in your own right, now, and you’re catching up, one step at a time.”

“G-Golly…” Bidoof blushed a little at the kind words. “Thanks, Sunflora. I’ll keep working at it, yup yup!”

“That’s the SPIRIT, Bidoof!” Loudred chuckled. “Sheesh, I’ve got to step it up, or I’m gonna get shown up by ALL the rookies.” He gave Team Sunrise an approving look, though there was a bit of competitive fire in his eyes as well. “They’ve already at LEAST caught up to me, and it feels like they just joined YESTERDAY.”

Melody looked around sheepishly. “I don’t know that I’d really go that far… We’ve definitely gotten a lot stronger, but we still have a long way to go.”

“Don’t be so modest,” Chimecho said. “I don’t think any of the rest of us have saved the world before, or fought a Legendary and lived to tell about it.”

“EXACTLY! You know, I actually OVERHEARD the Guildmaster and Chatot the other day, while working sentry duty… It sounds like they’re CONSIDERING having you two take the graduation exam before long.”

“Really?” Melody gasped. “But we’re still the newest members of the guild! Haven’t most of you been here for way longer than us?”

“Yeah, hey hey!” Corphish said. “I mean, no offense to Team Sunrise, but the rest of us have been working hard too. Shouldn’t we get a shot at graduating first?”

Shrugging, Loudred replied, “Hey, don’t ask ME, I don’t know for sure what the Guildmaster’s planning. But honestly… it hurts my pride to ADMIT it, but those two would probably have the best shot of PASSING, out of all of us.” He shuddered briefly. “I KNOW how rough the exam is, and I’m not eager to go through THAT again.”

“Oh my gosh, I agree.” Sunflora said. “Knowing what the exam is like… eek! I’d still like to get a bit stronger before I try to deal with that.”

Corphish nodded reluctantly. “I suppose you’re right. I guess we’ll each get our chance when we’re ready for it, hey hey.”

All this talk of the exam, and how difficult it apparently was, was making Melody nervous. “What is the exam like, exactly?” She’d heard vague rumors of how tough it was to graduate from Wigglytuff’s Guild even before she’d joined, but she never heard anything specific.

Loudred shuddered again. “Sorry, you two, we’re NOT allowed to talk about it. You’ll find out whenever it’s time for someone to attempt it.” That wasn’t encouraging. But if they weren’t allowed to say anything about it, Melody supposed she’d just have to wait.

After a few more minutes of chatting, everyone decided they’d rested long enough, continuing onward up the mountain.

“WHOA! Aw, dang it, this ain’t good…”

Flynn and Melody were nearing the end of the fifth dungeon section when they heard Loudred’s voice from up ahead. The duo exchanged a glance, nodding at each-other before running onward.

Loudred, Sunflora and Diglett were surrounded by several wild Carnivine, which were trying to snap at them with their huge jaws. Diglett dug into the ground, escaping the danger for the moment. Loudred and Sunflora were managing to mostly avoid getting hit, and landed a few solid hits in return, but they were still outnumbered and in a bad spot.

Until a Flamethrower blindsided one of the Carnivine, knocking it out and startling the others. The other four Carnivine were split between focusing on the new arrivals or the two they’d been attacking before.

…Correction, the three they’d been attacking before. Diglett took advantage of the distraction, popping back up long enough to toss out a Rock Throw, before burrowing back down again. He couldn’t do much against floating opponents, but he’d do what he could.

Now that the numbers were evened out, and with Flynn’s type-advantage, the battle went fairly quickly. Once the Carnivine had all fainted or fled, the explorers all let out a sigh of relief. Sunflora gave Team Sunrise a grateful nod. “Thanks, you two. That would have been quite a bit tougher if you hadn’t shown up.”

Melody smiled in return. “You’re welcome. I know you’d have done the same to help us.” She cocked her head, curious about something. “How did you end up surrounded like that, though? That didn’t seem like a monster house.”

Sunflora huffed in annoyance, and she glared over at Loudred. “They were all sleeping, when we got here. We were trying to sneak through without waking them up, but oh my gosh, someone on this team does not do stealth very well.”

Loudred chuckled nervously, a guilty look on his face. “SORRY about that…”

Sunflora kept glaring at him for a few seconds, before her expression softened. “…It’s fine. I probably shouldn’t have tried to have us sneak through in the first place, considering you’re here. We probably have something in our supplies that would have made for a way easier solution.”

Diglett popped back up a few seconds later, looking up at his teammates. “S-Sorry I couldn’t help much, you guys. I-”

“Ah, don’t sweat it.” Loudred waved dismissively. “You were at a BIG disadvantage there, and you’re not as practiced in battle as us ANYWAY.” Diglett still seemed to feel a little guilty, but he nodded.

“Ooh, I have an idea!” Sunflora chimed in suddenly. She started looking through the treasure bag that Loudred was carrying, quickly pulling out a small, sky-blue box. She set it down in-front of Melody. “We found a Sky Gift earlier, but we weren’t sure who to give it to. You two should have it! It’s the least we can do after you helped us like that.”

Team Sunrise gladly accepted the gift. The box glowed slightly as Melody placed a paw on it, which she guessed was probably just part of how Sky Gifts worked. She opened it up, taking out a long band of cloth, seemingly a scarf or bandana or such. It was mostly red, with a bit of white on either end. Searching the cloth for an identifying label, she eventually found one. “It says here it’s… a detect band?” She didn’t remember having seen one of those before, and wasn’t sure what it did, off-hand.

Sunflora had an answer, though. “They’re supposed to boost your evasiveness, making it easier to dodge attacks. They’re not very common, so that’s a pretty nice find!”

That sounded useful. It seemed to be about the right size for either Melody or Flynn to wear, too. They exchanged a glance, silently asking which of them should have it. Flynn’s answer wasn’t surprising. He pointed a paw at the Skitty, and gave her a silent smile.

Melody giggled, not having expected anything different. “Alright. But the next time we find something rare like this, it’s going to you, okay? You don’t get to argue that I should have both.” Flynn let out a faint chuckle of his own, but nodded. She decided to wear the detect band as a scarf, and he helped her get it tied properly, after taking off her usual defense scarf.

Sunflora gave them an approving smile. “It looks nice on you, Melody!” Her smile turned a bit mischievous as she turned to the Cyndaquil. “What do you think, Flynn? Doesn’t she look pretty?” Flynn froze for a moment at the question, glancing away in embarrassment.

The Skitty felt her face heat up a little, and she tried to deflect the question for Flynn. “I-It’ll be helpful when we’re exploring, which is more important. I’m not really that concerned with how it looks.”

There was a brief silence, which was eventually broken by Flynn, surprisingly. “It, um… does look nice on you.” He was still averting his gaze a little, and there was a faint bit of pink visible on his cheeks.

Melody hadn’t expected him to say anything, and after a moment for his words to sink in her blush deepened. “Oh, uh… t-thanks.” She meant what she had said about the item’s utility being more important, but… she had to admit it felt nice to hear Flynn say that.

“Oh my gosh, you two are adorable.” Sunflora said gleefully, further flustering Melody and Flynn.

Loudred gave a hearty laugh, shaking his head at the grass-type’s antics. “C’mon, Sunflora. If you REALLY want to thank them for their help, maybe spare them the teasing?”

“Aw. If I must.” Sunflora said with an exaggerated pout. Though she quickly shook it off, and smiled warmly at Team Sunrise. “We probably should get going, I suppose. The fifth station should be pretty close, now.” She started leading the way, closely followed by Loudred and Diglett. Melody took a deep breath, trying to shrug off her embarrassment, before walking after them alongside Flynn.

Sky Peak got tougher as Team Sunrise pushed onward. The air grew colder, and there was even a bit of snow on the ground, in some places. The wild pokemon also got stronger, and Fighting-types started to appear, which wasn’t ideal. Melody’s new detect band was already proving its usefulness, helping her avoid taking any hard hits. They still didn’t go entirely unscathed, however, and were glad for the chance to rest as they reached the end of the eighth dungeon section.

As they entered the eighth station, their attention was immediately drawn to the crackling campfire in the center of the area, and the tall Ampharos that was sitting next to it. The electric-type noticed the duo as they approached, raising a paw in greeting. “Hello there. I’m guessing you two are explorers, like the others I’ve been seeing lately?”

“That’s right. We’re Team Sunrise, from Wigglytuff’s Guild. I’m Skitty, and my partner here is Cyndaquil. And you are?”

“I am Ampharos. I live up here, helping out pokemon that get injured while climbing the mountain.” He chuckled a little. “As you can imagine, the Shaymin from the village were pretty much the only ones to visit for a long time, until just the other day. It’s been nice seeing some new faces, after so long. Though, ironically, despite all the new explorers coming through…” He gestured towards a Shaymin who was laying on a makeshift bed nearby. “…the only pokemon I’m taking care of at the moment is a Shaymin. Though she’s mostly recovered now.”

Melody looked the Shaymin over with a bit of concern. “What happened to her?”

“I’m fine,” the Shaymin answered, getting to her feet. “I just… got a little over-confident, I guess. With all these explorers around, excitedly checking out Sky Peak, I was feeling nostalgic. It’s been a long time since I saw the summit, so yesterday I decided to climb the mountain again myself.”

“…Alone?”

Shaymin sheepishly smiled at the duo, rubbing the back of her head with a paw. “…Like I said, maybe not my best decision. I ran into trouble after the sixth station, and I only made it this far because a group of explorers brought me here so Ampharos could help me.” She let out a quiet sneeze, shivering as she inched a bit closer to the fire. “It doesn’t help that it gets so darn chilly up here. I knew I should have just flown straight to the top, but silly me, I had to take the scenic route.”

Both members of Team Sunrise tilted their heads in confusion. Melody was the one to ask the obvious question. “You can fly?”

“All Shaymin can. Well… in our sky form, anyway. But I didn’t bring a gracidea flower with me, so I can’t change form now. So I’m just gonna have to keep climbing the rest of the way on foot, I guess. Or give up and climb back down.” A thought occurred to her, and she gave Flynn and Melody a hopeful look. “Actually, I don’t suppose I could tag along with you two, could I? I promise I can hold my own, and there’s not too much left until the summit.”

The two explorers silently looked at each-other for a moment. Flynn shrugged, and Melody turned back towards Shaymin. “We’d be fine with that. You’re sure you’ve recovered enough, though?”

Nodding, Shaymin replied, “I’ve been here since yesterday evening, so I’ve had plenty of time to rest.”

Melody set the team’s treasure bag down, taking a seat a short distance from the fire. “Well, my partner and I would still like to take a short break here, but after that, I guess we can continue on together.” Shaymain smiled gratefully, thanking the duo as she sat down as well.

After a short silence, other than the crackling of the fire, Shaymin decided to pass the time by asking about Team Sunrise’s adventures. She’d never really been outside of the Shaymin Village and the surrounding area, so she enjoyed getting to hear stories about other places. And Team Sunrise certainly had no shortage of stories they could share, after all their adventures at this point.

Finally, after a long climb, they’d made it to the summit. Melody stared in amazement for a moment at the sight in front of her. A vast field of gracideas spread out across most of the summit, and several small, pink petals were drifting in the breeze.

Melody took a deep breath of the clean, refreshing air, while Flynn stood beside her, gently smiling as he took in the scenery. It had taken them several hours to climb the whole mountain, but they’d both say it was worth it. It always felt satisfying, reaching a new place like this, and the surroundings and company made it even better.

Behind them, Shaymin giggled at their reaction. “Yeah, this summit is something else, huh? Isn’t this just the most beautiful place you’ve ever seen?”

“It’s… certainly up there,” Melody responded with a hint of awe in her voice. She still didn’t think this quite topped Fogbound Lake, but that was a very high bar. And she admittedly might be a little biased, considering Fogbound Lake’s significance to her.

Shaymin seemed almost surprised to have gotten an answer other than simply ‘yes’, but shrugged it off. Walking up to the field of gracideas, she reached out a paw to touch one of the flowers. A bright glow enveloped her for a brief moment, and when it faded, she had transformed.

At first, Melody almost thought Shaymin had evolved, but that wouldn’t make sense. Considering what Shaymin said earlier… “That’s your sky form, then?”

“Yep!” Shaymin happily replied. She leapt into the air, taking off and flying far off the ground. After flying a couple of quick loops in the air, she came in for a landing, slowing to a stop in front of a surprised Melody and Flynn.

“Ah, that felt good! I really prefer this form, honestly.” Once Shaymin noticed the duo’s expressions, she laughed, flashing them a light-hearted smirk. “What? Didn’t believe me when I said us Shaymin can fly?”

Melody shook her head to clear it. “It’s not really that I didn’t believe you. It was just surprising to suddenly see it, is all.”

Shaymin nodded. “Anyway, you’ve got to check out the view from up here. They call this place ‘Sky Peak’ for a good reason.” Shaymin eagerly took off again, stopping near the edge of the summit and gesturing for the explorers to follow her.

They carefully followed, getting close enough to the edge to look over the side. They were greeted by a view of a thick layer of clouds, with hardly any gaps to reveal the ground, so far below. A few other mountain peaks were visible in the distance, just barely poking through the clouds as well.

Melody glanced to her side, seeing Flynn was just as immersed in the view as she was. This was all really reminding her of that amazing night at Fogbound Lake. She closed her eyes, feeling the memories come flooding back. A familiar pressure started to build in her chest, and she could feel her heart speed up.

In that moment… she wanted so badly to finally say the words she’d been bottling up for so long. This would be a great place to finally tell Flynn how she felt.

(But… we’re not alone, here. Shaymin is still here, and the rest of the guild could easily start showing up any minute n-)

“Hey hey! Looks like we finally made it to the summit!” Right on cue, they could hear Corphish’s voice coming from behind them. It was a little faint, considering the distance, but he was getting closer.

Flynn and Melody got up, backing away from the ledge and turning to look at the approaching pokemon. As expected, Bidoof and Chimecho were still with Corphish. Melody was blushing slightly as she called out, “H-Hey, you guys. Glad to see you made it…”

Bidoof raised a paw in greeting. “Howdy, Team Sunrise! Golly, this place is even prettier than I expected, yup yup.”

“Yeah, it really is…” Melody responded, still a little distracted.

Meanwhile, Chimecho had noticed Shaymin, who was standing off to the side a bit. “Oh? Who are you?”

“I’m Shaymin, from the village.” The new arrivals were a little confused at that, considering she didn’t look like the other Shaymin, but she continued. “I ran into a bit of trouble earlier, and these two helped escort me the rest of the way up the mountain.” She gestured towards Flynn and Melody, giving the duo a grateful smile.

The six of them continued to chat for a while about how the journey up the mountain had gone. Before too long, the rest of the guild arrived as well, including the Guildmaster and Chatot. They all spent a while there on the summit, resting their tired legs, having a bite to eat, and talking among themselves.

It was still nice, getting to relax and enjoy the view with everyone from the guild. But, again… it just reminded Melody even more of their visit to Fogbound Lake. And the wonderful memories, combined with the beautiful surroundings… she had a strong urge to finally bare her heart to Flynn.

But with the entire guild around… she just couldn’t. She’d have to wait for another opportunity, she supposed. And… by then, she’d probably be doubting herself again. She’d tell herself to play it safe, and not risk ruining their friendship and their team.

(…No. I’m… I’m tired of second-guessing myself about this. I’m still scared what might happen, if Flynn doesn’t feel the same way. But… I need to know. I need the closure. I regretted not telling him how I felt before he disappeared. And if I keep putting this off… someday it’ll be too late. I… I can’t deal with that again. I won’t let that happen!)

Melody nodded to herself in determination. She’d made up her mind.

(…I’m going to tell him.)

Eventually, everyone started to make their way back to the village. Shaymin thanked Team Sunrise again for their help, flying down on her own after telling them she’d send them a Sky Gift when she had the chance. The guild members all climbed back down to the Sixth Station, riding the Drifblim Gondola the rest of the way.

Melody spent the whole trip back down the mountain trying to plan out how she was going to do this. She considered waiting until they got back to town, and going down to the beach around sunset. It would be a perfect place to confess how she felt, between the beautiful view and how significant that spot was to both of them… But she was afraid that if she tried to wait that long, she’d lose her resolve by then. Besides, there was no guarantee that they’d be the only ones there.

No, if she was going to do this, it was best to go for it sooner rather than later. Unfortunately, trying to plan out what to actually say hadn’t gone very well. She had an idea of where to start, at least, but from there… she’d probably have to play it by ear.

By the time everyone got back down to Shaymin Village again, it was already well into the afternoon. After a bit of discussion, it was agreed that the group would stay at the village again that night, and set out for Treasure Town again in the morning. The guild members dispersed, as they all decided how to pass the time.

At Melody’s request, Team Sunrise took a walk around the outskirts of the village. She was hoping to find a nice, private spot for them to talk, and eventually, they stumbled across a secluded little pond, with a small patch of gracideas nearby. Thankfully, no-one else was around. While there were many explorers visiting the village now, they were mostly focused on Sky Peak, rather than looking around the village and its surroundings.

Melody sat down near the edge of the pond, and Flynn followed, sitting a few steps away. Melody took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves… with little success. (Come on,) she thought. (I’ve faced my fears so many times at this point. I’ve explored dozens of mystery dungeons, taken down dangerous outlaws, and even battled Dialga himself! This… should be easy by comparison… right?)

Before she could bring herself to say anything, Flynn actually spoke up instead, concern on his face. “What’s wrong? You’ve been… oddly quiet, ever since we reached the summit.”

Flynn’s words snapped Melody out of her thoughts. “N-Nothing’s wrong, exactly. I… I’ve just been… wanting to talk with you about something.”

Another couple seconds passed, Flynn patiently waiting as the Skitty tried to gather her thoughts. “…We’ve come a long way, haven’t we? Since we met, I mean.” Flynn wasn’t sure what he expected her to say, but it wasn’t that. Still, he nodded. “It feels like so long ago, now… Back then, I… couldn’t even manage the courage to enter the guild, or stand up to Koffing and Zubat when they stole my Relic Fragment.

“But… then I met you. You helped me get my treasure back, and you formed an exploration team with me, helping me chase my dreams. I’ve… gotten a lot stronger and braver, since then. And it’s mostly thanks to you.”

“I didn’t really do much,” Flynn replied, smiling warmly at her. “You’ve got a lot of courage deep down. I just… helped you draw that courage out.”

“That’s what I mean, though!” Melody said earnestly. “You’re… always so brave. It feels like you’re never scared of anything… and you make me feel braver just by being with me. You pushed me to never give up, no matter how bad things get. When we’re together, I… I feel like I can stand up to anything. You bring out the best of me…” She knew she was blushing terribly, but she resisted the urge to look away. Her nerves were beginning to get the best of her, though.

Flynn blushed as well, not sure what to say. After a few moments, he finally replied, “You’ve… done a lot for me too, you know. You’ve been… by my side, ever since I woke up like this, with no memories and nowhere to go. I’ve relied on you a lot. Especially early on, but even now. You’re… my trusted partner… and my most cherished friend.” There was more that he wanted to say, and felt like he should say, but he didn’t have the words. He wasn’t good at this kind of thing, it was hard enough just to say what he had.

“F-Flynn…” Melody looked her partner in the eye, feeling a surge of confidence after his words. She could do this. “I feel the same way. You’re a great friend, a-and the best teammate that I could ever ask for. But… you’re more than that to me. A lot more.” Melody could feel her heart beating out of her chest. “W-What I’m trying to say is, I… I love you.” The last three words came out as barely more than a whisper, but Flynn was close enough to hear them just fine.

For a while, Flynn just sat there, with a bright blush and a dumbstruck expression on his face. He opened his mouth to say something, but couldn’t decide what to say. He’d gotten more comfortable with how he felt about Melody, since that trip to Midnight Forest, but he still hadn’t been quite ready to try and do anything about it yet.

Melody averted her gaze, staring into the pond. She had a brief feeling of relief at finally getting those words off her chest, but it was quickly replaced by a different tension as she waited for Flynn to respond. She hung her head, starting to fear she may have made a mistake after all.

Eventually, the silence was too much. Melody meekly spoke again, still unable to bring herself to glance at her partner. “I-I understand if… if you don’t feel the same way. Especially since… you used to be human. Please, j-just… forget that I said anything…”

While she was talking, Flynn finally snapped out of it, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. Rather than say anything, he simply walked over, sitting down right next to Melody and just nuzzling her cheek. She locked up briefly, not having expected that. After a moment, she relaxed a bit, returning the nuzzle as a bit of hope returned to her.

Several more moments passed before Melody broke the silence again. “So, um… Does this mean that you…?”

“…Yes.”

Melody leaned against Flynn’s side, letting out a breath that it felt like she’d been holding since she made up her mind on the summit. After all of her worrying and second-guessing over how this would go, hearing that one simple word… felt almost blissful.

Flynn continued after a moment. “I’ll admit, it still feels… a little weird, thinking about… being in love with a pokemon. But… I can’t remember anything from when I was a human. Honestly, after all this time… it almost doesn’t feel real anymore.”

He stood up, stepping closer to the pond and looking at his reflection. “I’m… a Cyndaquil, now. And… I have no regrets about that, anymore. I’m happy with this life… and you are… an irreplaceable part of it.” He turned back towards his partner, giving her a gentle smile as he walked back over and sat by her side again.

“Oh, Flynn…” Melody could feel moisture starting to well up in her eyes as she nuzzled Flynn, her tail wagging uncontrollably. Flynn rested a paw on her back, drawing a contented purr from the Skitty. They stayed in that embrace for a long while, both of them happy to just silently enjoy the moment.

Eventually, Melody quietly spoke again. “Hey, Flynn?”

“Hm?”

“We should probably head back to the village soon, or everyone’s going to wonder where we are. But… when we get back to Treasure Town, can we maybe… head down to the beach, and just… watch the sunset together?”

“…I’d like that.”