-FLASHBACK-

The brave and well-regarded Captain Charlie was out running errands. On his way back home he decided to stop at Koppai Lawn and Service to buy a plant for his pet duck, Elizabeth.

He picked out some plants that would be suitable for his backyard pond.

As he waited for the cashier to check out the plants, someone had caught his eye. It was a young woman with captivating pink hair, studying the plants diligently and taking down notes.

He stealthily asked the cashier as he watched her, "Who's that?"

"Hm?" The peppy cashier turned her head where he was looking for a split second, "Oh! The pink haired girl with the glasses?"

The Captain nodded the affirmative.

"Her name is Brittany, she's one of our scientists."

"Is that so?" Charlie answered, "Wow she's really… pretty."

Just then, the beautiful woman he was infatuated with suddenly looked at him curiously. His heart skipped a beat, but he kept his composure. He gave her a smile, complete with a wink. Then he paid for the plants and walked out.

Brittany watched the revered Captain Charlie leave, a bit surprised that he acknowledged her in such a way.

-END OF FLASHBACK-

Exploration Day 5
Alph's POV

The next morning we were quite happy despite the fact we haven't found the Captain yet.

"That sure was a close call yesterday huh?" I mentioned while scoping out our plan for the day.

"Indeed." Brittany agreed, "I never would have made it if it weren't for those Yellow Pikmin. That's not something I'll ever forget. You know, if our mission is a success. We should have a party to thank all of the little Pikmin!"

"We should! After all these guys sure are helpful! Let's get going and find the Captain."

Brittany went to her landing position, "Don't crash into anything this time!"

I chuckled, "Don't worry, I got sleep this time. I won't."

We soared our way back into the Distant Tundra. Luckily for us, the weather was much calmer than it was when we came here the first time, so vision was no problem and we landed without incident.

After calling out a team of Pikmin, we set off to follow the Captain's signal.

Brittany said something that had startled me, "We lost someone very dear to us: our esteemed Captain Charlie."

My heart sunk, "Brittany don't say that! I know he's still alive!"

"Calm down I was just joking Alphie."

I felt a little mad, I can't believe she would joke about something like that, "Right, well I was joking too. So you can stop joking, and never joke like that again."

The Pikmin made anxious noises.

"I'm sorry Alph." She apologized nervously.

I sighed, "Just don't say things like that."

"Okay… Hey look at that!"

"Hm? What?" I perked up.

"Look at that up there!" She pointed at something a few ledges up.

I saw what looked like a face fixed in the snow made out of twigs, leafs, and dead branches. The face looked a tad like the Captain…

What I noticed next was covered in snow, burrowed under the sharp edge, "Hey look…"

"Hm?"

"Check it out Brittany." I approached it, plucked it out of the frozen dust, and brushed it off, "It's a data file."

I read it in my Koppad,

We've found a snow sculpture in this frozen tundra. It looks like the face of a middle-aged man. One that I know all too well. The more I look at it, the more I think it looks like the president of Hocotate Freight. Especially that nose…

- Captain Olimar

"It's another note from that Hocotation." Brittany cited.

I nodded, "I guess the strange figure up there reminds him of someone he knows too. Come on, let's keep moving."

The signal led us to the inside of a cave, which was really dark. I could faintly make out something round raised in the air by two thick cords. In the distance I could see the plugs sparking.

Brittany took the yellow Pikmin, "Alph, check this out."

She walked off into the darkness, What is she doing?

I could hear her tossing the Pikmin, next thing I know, the Pikmin are lighting up like Christmas lights! Once they connected the two wires with their bodies a colossal light bulb blinded me.

What neither of us expected, these large buds across an opening in the ground suddenly bloomed large and fluffy.

"Wow that's so cool!" I caught up with Brittany by walking on the puffballs.

"I forgot to tell you yesterday. I found a data file in the cave I fell in, it said that Yellow Pikmin can conduct electricity." Brittany clarified.

I was amazed, "That's really something."

We continued on through another exit, finding ourselves in the snow again. This is where more started to stand out to us. We had come across a split in the paths, we could go left or right.

We looked to the left and saw a broken path through some mushrooms.

"It looks like someone has been through here Brittany."

Brittany had started going right, "Hey Alph look at this!"

She ran ahead leaving me and the crew to catch up to her.

She stopped next to a tiny body of water, "Look it's another data file!"

"What does it say?" I said with impatience.

In her Koppad the data file read,

It looks like someone took a tumble here in the fresh snow! Perhaps someone else is stranded here? If anyone is reading this, be very careful up ahead. There are hostile life forms up ahead! My colleague and I managed to escape by the skins of our noses, but I've detected something off about that monster…

- Captain Olimar

It was another warning from the Hocotation named Olimar, again the Pikmin made conversation.

"Something off?" Brittany questioned.

"Could be…" I just happened to glance up, "Hey Brittany look!"

I ran to a patch of snow that had the impression someone had fallen, "Do you suppose this is where the Captain crash-landed? We could be getting close! Let's go!"

Without waiting for Brittany's reply I took off to where we saw the path cleared through the mushrooms, with Brittany and the Pikmin steadily falling behind.

"Come on Alph slow down!" Brittany implored.

I stopped edgily, "The signal is just down the road! If what the Hocotation said is true the Captain could possibly be in big trouble! We have to hurry!"

When she caught up we both continued, we hurried across a log that was distantly above a rushing river, leading into a cave. There I could hear the cold wail of the wind.

The inside of the cave was dark, except for two glowing mushrooms in our sight. We stopped within the bright light.

I looked at my radar, "It looks like this is where the signal's source is coming from. The Captain is in here somewhere."

"Alph… I have a bad feeling about this…"

"Me too… it's always unnerving when it's dark."

She suddenly jumped.

"What's wrong Brittany?"

"I saw something moving in the dark…" She stared intently upward.

I looked into the darkness, "What are you talking about Brittany I-" I was cut off by a loud flapping noise, "What was that?"

"I don't know Alph, it sounds huge though…"

I noticed the same circuits that we encountered in that cave, on top of the ledge I could see a light bulb.

"Let's get some light in here." One by one I tossed the yellow Pikmin on the small jutting edge where the cords were broken. It took ten Pikmin to reconnect the flow of electricity.

The light bulb popped and shone brightly, a painful roar frightened us from behind. We turned around and noticed the scariest and colossal winged bug I have ever laid eyes on. It plopped on the ground and roared again releasing these odd purple spores. We all ran under the bloomed fluffy mushrooms out of its sight when it decided to inelegantly flap its way out of the light.

"What WAS that!?"

Brittany glanced at her Koppad, "What is going on here? The Captain's signal is coming from that creature!"

"Well that's definitely not the Captain." I argued.

Brittany gave a small throat scoff, "Not unless he's REALLY let himself go."

"Let's follow it and find out!"

We chased after that moth monster into the dark, glowing mushrooms popping all around us as we move around.

Because the flapping was reverberating all around us, we had difficultly telling where the monster was.

Brittany walked in front of me, "Where is that thing?" Just as she finished talking the monster glowed out of the darkness behind her and opened its gigantic mouth.

"Watch out!" I tackled her and we both went tumbling down a slope. The Pikmin had scattered all around hoping to avoid getting sucked into the beast's mouth.

We skidded to a stop under two glowing mushrooms.

Brittany was astounded, "Alph what just happened!?" she cried out under me.

My attention went to the panicking Pikmin, I pulled Brittany to her feet, "Come on let's round up the Pikmin before the monster comes back!"

"Okay!"

I ran about like there was no tomorrow all around sounding my whistle, rounding up all the Pikmin I could get. The flap and whoosh of the monster's wings made me more anxious.

"Alphie!" I heard Brittany from the dark.

I followed her voice under three glowing toadstools, she was on her Koppad.

"Check it out! I found another data file."

Sure enough, she was checking out the information,

The Vehemoth Phosbat hates light! Take shelter in brightly lit areas!

"That's what that thing is called? Vehemoth Phosbat?" I wondered.

"Whatever it's called." Brittany put her Koppad away, "It's still freaky ugly."

She's right, it really is. Where did this thing come from anyway? No matter, we had to kill it somehow because the Captain's signal was coming from it!

"Well if this thing hates light." I pondered, "We need to find some kind of light source to weaken it."

Despite that we were taking cover in light, the Vehemoth Phosbat was hovering around. Just waiting for us to make a run for it.

"Alphie, look!" Brittany pointed up at the celling, "Is that a light bulb?"

Very faintly I could see the outline and barely noticeable reflection of a light bulb. I strained my eyes following the cord to a nearby ledge. Now what would be the best course of action?

"Okay Brittany, here's the plan: I'll distract the monster, while you toss the yellow Pikmin onto the ledge."

Brittany paused and appeared worried, prompting me to give further encouragement, "Brittany we have to try. We have to rescue the Captain."

"Hmm… Okay, Just be careful Alph."

I ran in the line of danger looking all around for that sneaky monster, meanwhile Brittany took off for the ledge and began chucking the Pikmin to the wires one by one as fast as she could. It crossed my mind that the wires were so far apart who knows if we had enough yellows to connect.

I heard the Pikmin making that noise when they get thrown, for me it just couldn't be fast enough. As planned the monster was hovering around me trying to get in a spot to where it could swallow me and my Pikmin up. When I heard the Pikmin noises stop from Brittany, I got even more anxious.

"Brittany!" I called to her, "Have you connected the circuits?"

"Alph! I threw all of the yellows we have up to the wires! But I can't see if they've fully connected!"

I feared that we may not have enough to light the giant bulb, I didn't have much time to think about it. I had suddenly tripped and toppled down another slope.

"Whoa!"

When I came to a stop I was faced with the horror of that monstrous beast appearing from the shadows. It opened its gigantic mouth and I frantically scuttled to my feet and out of the way of the appearing vortex.

But I wasn't fast enough. Me, and several Pikmin were lifted into the air and we began spinning while gradually picking up speed.

I just so happened to look up and noticed a flickering spark, it only appeared for a second.

All of a sudden I was blinded by a bright flash, the light bulb had lit and the creature cried out in pain. Sending us all back down into the dirt.

The Vehemoth Phosbat was flopping all over the ground like a fish out of water.

"Alphie!" Brittany was running for me with the yellows.

"Brittany! Now's our chance!" I then ordered the squad to, "ATTACK!"

The Pikmin pounced all over this beast, latching on and smacking repeatedly . The rock Pikmin can't latch on, so Brittany and I ran all over grabbing the rock Pikmin and throwing them at the moth monster.

The monster roared again and sent all of the Pikmin flying before clumsily taking off into the air, releasing these nasty purple spores in the process. It flapped again and again until it bumped into the blaring light bulb, sparks went flying and a strange object collapsed from the roof.

It shivered from the electricity and fell down again. It struggled and squirmed for a moment before finally falling still.

I could hear Brittany breathing, "Did… did we beat it? Is it dead?"

"I think so… I hope so." I looked at my Koppad, "Hey look, the signal is still coming from that monster."

I crept closer to the body, signaling Brittany to stay back. Once I got within a foot of the corpse it started to wiggle. I rose my gaurd, perhaps it wasn't dead yet!

The mouth opened up and… out came our Captain! I couldn't believe it there he was! Inside the belly of this monster the whole time! Geez with all that fighting, being in there must have been quite a wild ride. To a bigger surprise he looked completely fine! He stepped over the jaws and landed on the dirt with a proud stance.

"Captain!" I instinctually said.

He was calm, "Ah, good to see you Alph! I'm unharmed, but I must apologize for my stench. The inside of a beast's belly is no flower garden. Hahaha!"

As he laughed, I shook my head and sighed,

Sheesh.

"Until I have a chance to clean up, just breathe through your mouths."

He started looking behind me, "Now, where is…"

About that time Brittany had approached us, "Captain? Were you inside that mon-"

"Brittany!" He cut her off, "Thank goodness your safe!"

"Um…" I tried to say something. But he had walked away from me to her.

"Don't worry Brittany." He says, "Now that I, Captain Charlie am here, there's nothing to fea-"

I could see her cheeks growing rosy. It was now her turn to interrupt him, "Captain! Stay focused! The cosmic-drive key is gone!"

He paused, "What did you just say!? But without that we're stranded here! Koppai will starve!" He thought for a moment, "Wait… That reminds me! I found a data file in the belly of that monster. Check it out! I thought it was junk data, but see for yourselves!"

In his Koppad the file read,

I found a key today. It says something about a cosmic drive on it. I doubt it's worth much, but it'll be a nice souvenir for my kids if I ever get back to Hocotate. Who knows? It could be a key to a chest of ultimate riches! So my search for treasure continues… I'll stop at nothing to find that hidden grove of gold! I know it's out there somewhere!

- Captain Olimar

Charlie continued, "This Olimar fellow filed this report only recently. That key he's talking about must be OUR cosmic-drive key! He must have landed here shortly before we did. We must find him or we'll be stranded here forever."

"Right Captain!" I responded.

Charlie's POV

Just as I expected, my team had come to my rescue! They even brought along a backup of those little guys that helped me before I got ate!

Anyway, it was great to be finally free from that belly and to be able to see my crew again! Especially Brittany, I felt much better just by seeing her lovely face…

With me back in action I took control of the squad. First things first we seized the dark red fruit that was near the dead monster. Next was the body, the Pikmin (as I learned they were called), lifted it and we carried our findings back to base.

Luckily we managed to find a shortcut and we happily took this route back. So convenient too, the sun was just barley touching the horizon.

"Come on crew! Let's hurry it up the sun's about to set! We need to take off into low orbit!"

The red fruit was put in the Drake for analyzing, and the Vehemoth Phosbat body was put in the Onion (The Pikmin ship) where Pikmin seeds of multiple colors were sparkled out of the Onion and planted themselves into the snow.

We speedily plucked the sprouted Pikmin out of the ground and sent them into their so-called Onion. Then we boarded the Drake and launched into low orbit.

Alph's POV

"Captain! We're so relieved that you're all right!"

He cleared his throat, "I have you two, my faithful crew, to thank for that."

"I really thought that ghost moth was you." Brittany couldn't resist pointing that out, "You have very similar faces, did you know that?"

"Brittany, when I was trapped in the belly of that beast, the only face I thought of was yo-"

I was NOT going to let him complete that sentence, "Right! Now that we've got the Captain back, our next priority should be finding the cosmic drive key."

"And food!" Brittany mentioned, "Don't forget food!"

Captain Charlie hesitated, "Um… yes, of course."

Thanks to the Yellow Pikmin, we were able to defeat the Vehemoth Phosbat! And, much to everyone's surprise, we found our captain inside the beast! Wow! Can you believe our luck? He found a data file from that Hocotation named Olimar… who we now know, has our cosmic-drive key! But where in the world is this Olimar? Where?! We need that key!

Author's Note: Oh my gosh for this chapter I had struggled with writer's block like you would NOT BELIEVE! UUUGGHHH! But I'm quite happy with this chapter :D Haha now that Captain Charlie (or DJ Rubber Ducky with that jam of his, haha!) is back in the picture there will be more comical scenes! Tee hee! I can already tell I'm gonna be so mean to Brittany! XD haha!

So anyway, Fav, review, follow, whichever. Or all if you want :D and look forward to future chapters!

As always, Stay Flying!