Just a few weeks ago, I was only a botanist with a part-time job in my aunt's flower shop. The idea of going into space had never even crossed my mind. As the Koppai food crisis was on the rise, I made it my personal mission to create a natural preserve that could double as an insect repellent. A small contribution, but it was my own, and I had to help out somehow. Plus, just imagine the profits I'd make, even after the crisis was over!
Then it happened. Out of nowhere, an old friend decided to contact me. Charlie had been like a mentor to me when I was studying botany, long before he went off to become a "legendary" space captain. He came to me hoping that I would join him on what was supposed to be a simple mission. All we had to do was fly over to this newly discovered planet, grab some food that we can bring back and grow here on Koppai, and that's it! We're heroes! I'll never know why he chose me of all people, but he did.
Then came the training. It was rigorous, but I had a duty to my planet. For a while, I thought I wouldn't make it. Charlie and his engineer, Alph, were trying to encourage me, but what really kept me going was my Auntie Bea. The thought of her not having enough food was pure torture for me. She'd been like a mother to me, since I'd spent most of my childhood with her. My parents were always far too busy with work to spend much time with me, but Auntie Bea was always there for me. She ran a quaint little flower shop, and I think that's where my love of plants started. She'd let me make flower arrangements, teach me all about fertilizing, and my favourite part, growing the best fruit! The dishes she'd make for me straight from her garden were the best part about visiting her! I wanted more! I had to know everything about plants, and the idea of studying alien plants and new fruit was just too big of an opportunity to pass up!
But now that I've been here for a few days, I realize how little the training helped. It typically takes at least a full year before being qualified to go to space, but time is running out on Koppai. I don't know what I expected when I got here. A few new plants, maybe some small, primitive lifeforms...I couldn't have been more wrong. The problems began as soon as we reached this planet's atmosphere. Our ship, the S.S. Drake ran into some technical difficulties and crash landed. The crew was split up, most of our food reserve was destroyed, and our cosmic-drive key was lost. I was lucky to have survived and been relatively unharmed, but things originally looked bleak...
Stranded.
Alone...
279,000 light-years away from backup...away from home...
That's when it got even more astounding. Alph came to my rescue with the aid of these strange creatures, some sort of hybrid between plants and animals. Pikmin! Their strange behaviour, loyal nature, and surprising efficiency could be just what we needed. They've already helped us bring a few fruit back to the Drake, which is perfect because we hadn't prepared for everything to be so big! But even more amazing than that...They've saved our lives! At first some of the dangerous creatures we'd encountered were relatively small, at least compared to what else we'd seen, but then we came face to face with a horrible, massive creature with a crystaline shell that tried to kill us. The Armoured Mawdad as it was called. Utterly terrifying. We would have been dead for sure if not for some data files we'd recovered from a Hocotatian named Captain Olimar. I like to think that he's still alive on this planet somewhere, but this too looks rather grim...
My excitement over discovering new fruit, and surprising myself by standing up to alien creatures, is mostly stifled by impending doom. It took several days before Alph and I were able to find the captain. Even more horrifying than the Mawdad was what we know as the Vehemoth Phosbat. The captain took shelter in its cave, and later exhausted all his strength to avoid the beast. When Alph and I entered, we could barely see the invisible creature until it lit up before us with its gaping mouth, trying desperately to suck us in, much like it did the captain. We're all extremely grateful for its slow digestive tract, and the protective qualities of our spacesuits, or he would've been a goner.
I think that's what it really took to make me feel like I don't belong here...Alph and Charlie have been to space before. Charlie's been all over the galaxy and has faced danger greater than I can imagine, or so he says at least. Alph is far less experienced, but still remains calm enough to analyze every situation carefully. He has told me about one time in which he had to repair the Drake's engine while it was on a direct collision course with a meteorite. Strangely enough, I'd sooner believe his story than Charlie's.
But what about me? The most daring things I have on my resume would be chasing customers out of the flower shop as we're closing, trying a new smoothie recipe, or planting some seeds with a fertilizer I'd developed. Hardly as daring. Sure, I've taken on a few of these monsters, but I mostly take a more passive role. I know I'm vital to the mission, but I'm sure Charlie and Alph could easily identify fruit, even alien fruit, if they had to...
My point is, in the short time I've been on this planet, I've come closer to death than ever before, and yet, I've never felt more alive. I wish I could fully enjoy the adventure, but at the moment, we have no way home...We've successfully discovered fruit and reunited the crew, but now we're in pursuit of a Hocotatian named Captain Olimar. If he leaves the planet before we find him, he'll have our Cosmic-Drive Key and we'll be stranded here, leaving our planet to starve...But I didn't come here to chase down a Hocotatian. I came here to identify what was edible and what could be cultivated back home. I came here to make my Auntie Bea proud, and to save my home planet. I just hope that, even in this wild goose chase, I can prove my worth to the team, as more than a botanist, but an interplanetary explorer, Pikmin leader, and most importantly, a vital asset. I am a global hero!