Complete and utter darkness. That was all that Flynn could see, no matter which direction he looked. His body felt weightless, as if floating in an empty void.

The Cyndaquil tried to ignite the flames on his back to light up his surroundings, but it didn't seem to have any effect. For a long moment, he could only float there, staring out into the darkness.

Eventually, some terrain finally materialized around him. All too familiar terrain, at that. Dull, monotone stone cliffs. Lifeless gray trees. Rocks floating, suspended in midair. It didn't take very long for Flynn to recognize his surroundings. This dark, paralyzed future was impossible to forget.

As he slowly wandered the barren landscape, the realization gradually sunk in that this had to be a dream. It wouldn't be the first time that his dreams had drudged up bad memories of this place, after all. But something felt... off.

Flynn couldn't shake the feeling of eyes on his back.

Sure enough, only a few moments later, a strange, unfamiliar pokemon appeared in front of Flynn. It had a blue and yellow body, with odd pink crescents of light on its sides and back that resembled wings. Its body in general had a lot of crescent shapes to it, giving off the appearance of a graceful waning moon.

Although, that gracefulness was undercut somewhat by the abject hatred that smoldered in the being's deep purple eyes as it stared straight ahead at Flynn. Its mouth moved as if it was talking, but no words seemed to come out. From the look in its eyes, Flynn wasn't certain he wanted to actually know what it was saying at all.

Eventually, a very faint noise started to break through the tense silence. But it didn't seem to be coming from the strange pokemon. Flynn glanced around, tilting his head as he tried to figure out where the sound was coming from.

The strange pokemon's scowl grew even more fierce, and for a moment Flynn thought that it was going to attack him. But instead, the pokemon simply turned its back to him, its visage slowly flickering out into nothing. A moment later, the terrain flickered out too, leaving Flynn alone in the void once again as the dream slowly faded away.

The sound grew louder, allowing Flynn to make it out more clearly. It seemed to be... crying?


Flynn slowly cracked open his eyes. It was still too dark out for him to see anything, but his other senses were enough to tell him that he was indeed back in bed, right where he'd gone to sleep last night. He could feel Melody still cuddled up against his side, her head leaning on his back like she'd grown accustomed to lately. He could clearly hear Manaphy crying now from elsewhere in the room.

A distant rumble rang out over Manaphy's crying, which Flynn groggily recognized as thunder after a moment. That, in turn, brought his attention to the steady drumming of raindrops on the clifftop overhead.

Flynn couldn't help but let out a soft groan, which his partner echoed a moment later as she too started to wake up. "What..." Melody started, only to be interrupted by a yawn. "...What time is it?"

"...No clue," Flynn answered, still blinking the sleep out of his eyes. But Manaphy's urgent bawling continued to fill the air, which finally spurred Flynn to move. He gently slipped out from under Melody, standing up and letting the fire on his back ignite so he could actually see what was around him.

Manaphy was still laying right where they'd left him last night. The tiny hatchling clutched the soft cushion as hard as he could as he continued to sob into it. Flynn slowly walked over, sitting down next to Manaphy's bed and pulling him into a hug. "Shh... It's alright..."

"What's wrong?" Melody asked as she sat down beside Flynn. "Is he hungry?"

Another loud rumble of thunder cut through the air, and Flynn felt Manaphy shiver. "...Could be. But I think he's also scared of the thunder and rain. Doesn't know what's going on."

Melody nodded in understanding, and she joined Flynn in trying to calm Manaphy down. The hatchling obviously couldn't understand a word they were saying, but their soothing tone and presence slowly managed to comfort him. Manaphy's crying gradually slowed to a stop, and he nestled into the pair's embrace.

Once they managed to mostly calm Manaphy down, Flynn dug around in the team's treasure bag until he found the pouch of blue gummies. He groaned a little as he noticed how much of the bag's contents they'd already gone through. They would definitely need to buy more before long, it seemed. But that was a problem for later. Manaphy eagerly scarfed down the pair of gummies Flynn offered him, seeming to perk up just a little more. Then another thunderclap filled the air, causing Manaphy to whimper and hug Flynn tightly again.

Long minutes slowly ticked by one by one as Flynn and Melody continued to comfort the scared hatchling. Eventually, the worst of the storm seemed to move on, and the thunder faded out into silence. But the rain still showed no signs of relenting.

Flynn let out a yawn, fighting the urge to doze off again. This was a little early even for him, especially after how yesterday had gone. But it wasn't as if he and Melody could just crawl back into bed and go back to sleep, at this point.

Finally, after over half an hour, the sky started to brighten ever so slightly. It seemed the sun had finally come up, though it was likely still concealed behind a layer of clouds. Not that they would be able to see it from down in here anyway.

Manaphy, who had nearly been lulled back to sleep by now, started to gently stir again as daylight finally lit up the den. He stared out the opening of Sharpedo Bluff, his previous fear beginning to shift into curiosity again. He reached out a feeble hand as if to try and touch the falling raindrops. He still didn't truly know what he was looking at, but now that he could see the rain, some part of the water-type's instincts likely told him that it was a good thing.

Flynn and Melody shared a quick look and silently nodded to each other in agreement. After Flynn gently settled Manaphy down onto Melody's back, the Skitty slowly trotted up the stairs to leave the den, as Flynn cautiously followed a couple steps behind.

As soon as Melody stepped out into the rain, Manaphy let out a gleeful cry of surprise. He stared up at the sky, utterly transfixed by the feeling of the rain falling on him. Melody helped the hatchling down to the ground after a moment, and Manaphy happily wandered around in the rain for a while, just taking it all in.

Flynn smiled softly to himself as he continued to watch from the safety of the doorway. A little bit of the rain still managed to find its way onto him, but it wasn't too bad. His flame vents were securely out of the way, at least.

Eventually, though, Manaphy spotted the Cyndaquil idling there. The tiny hatchling cheerfully waddled closer and gestured out at the rain. Flynn frowned, frozen in indecision for a moment.

A thought struck him. Flynn carefully backtracked down the steps, ignoring the disappointed whine he heard Manaphy let out. Flynn dug around in the team's treasure bag, eventually pulling out the passho band they'd found in the Surrounded Sea just the other day.

He still wasn't completely certain this would actually work... but this was about as good an opportunity to test this thing out as he could get. And if it didn't work... well, it's not as if he had never dealt with rain before.

After securely tying the scarf around his neck, Flynn made his way back up the stairs again. He paused briefly at the edge of the doorway, before taking a deep breath and marching out into the rain.

The Cyndaquil instinctively tensed at the feeling of water on his back, and his inner fire quickly flared to life in an attempt to keep the rain out of his flame vents. But... it didn't seem to sting as much as Flynn would have normally expected. Much of the rain seemed to just evaporate on contact, without his fire even needing to do much. A very faint tingle ran along his neck as the scarf's effects coursed through him.

...It still didn't exactly feel pleasant, of course, standing out in the rain like this. But it was... bearable, at least.

As soon as Manaphy noticed that Flynn had come outside, he tried to gently tug on the Cyndaquil's paw to get his attention, before gesturing excitedly at the rain as if it was the best thing in the world. "Phee!"

"...At least someone's enjoying this," Flynn remarked with a soft chuckle.

Melody, meanwhile, gave her partner a mildly concerned look. "You alright, Flynn?" She eyed the strip of cloth around his neck. "Does that scarf you found work after all?"

Flynn nodded slightly. "...Still won't want to stay out here too long. But for now, it's... not too bad, surprisingly."

The Skitty continued to eye him uncertainly for a moment, not sure if he was just putting up a tough front. But then her expression softened, and she gave a nod. "Alright. As long as you're sure, Flynn."

"Phhwiih... Phweeen!"

Flynn cocked his head slightly in surprise. He looked down at Manaphy again, who merely smiled back as cheerfully as ever.

"Aww..." Melody cooed, loosely hugging the hatchling with her tail. "I think he just tried to say your name, Flynn."

"Phween!" Manaphy mimicked again, a little more cleanly this time.

Flynn let out a chuckle. He was a little surprised Manaphy could learn something like that so quickly. Though, then again, he seemed to just be slightly changing a syllable of his species name. Maybe that was simply how pokemon hatchings started to learn how to speak? Flynn gently tapped Manaphy on the forehead with his snout, causing the hatchling to giggle happily, before turning to his partner. "...Think he could manage your name?"

"Probably not," Melody giggled. "At least not very well. Your name just happened to come a lot more naturally for the little guy."

"Hm... you're probably right." Flynn raised a paw to his chin thoughtfully. After a moment, though, a wry grin settled on his face. He leaned in a bit closer to whisper something to Manaphy. "How about 'Mama'?," he asked, just loud enough for Melody to hear.

A bright red blush erupted on the Skitty's face, and she lightly swatted Flynn with her tail. "F-Flynn!"

Undeterred, Flynn tapped Melody on the side with his snout, before repeating, "'Mama'."

Manaphy tilted his head a bit, raising a hand to his mouth in confusion as he looked up at the Skitty. "Mmm... Mah-mah?"

Melody's flustered blush deepened, but Flynn noticed her mouth curl upwards just a bit all the same. Flynn gently patted Manaphy on the head, smiling proudly at the hatchling. "...Good job."

Before long, Manaphy's attention shifted back to the falling rain again. Flynn and Melody took a bit of cover under a nearby tree to ward off some of the rain, but they still made sure to stay close enough to watch over Manaphy.

After a while, a thought occurred to Flynn. "...Speaking of names... should we name him?"

From the look on Melody's face, she didn't seem to have thought of that before now either. "...We could, I suppose. Though, u-um... it could also make sense to just leave that to whoever is going to raise him in the long-term."

Flynn hummed thoughtfully. "I think we should do it. That way, even after he leaves... he'll still have something from us."

Melody was silent for a while, thinking it over. Eventually, she turned to look Flynn in the eye. "...I don't suppose you have any ideas?"

"Not yet," Flynn responded, shaking his head. "You'd know more about pokemon names than me." From what Melody had told him in the past, most pokemon only used their personal names with their family. Which was all well and good, but it did mean that Flynn didn't really know any pokemon's personal names other than Melody's.

...Actually, on second thought, that wasn't quite true.

"You mentioned your sister's name is Aria, right?" Flynn asked, thinking back to part of their conversation back at Fogbound Lake the other day.

Melody gave him a slightly curious look, but nodded. "Mhm. Mom picked out both of our names. She probably thought the theme naming seemed fitting, considering..." She trailed off, slowly realizing where Flynn was going with this. "...You aren't really thinking...?"

Flynn chuckled. "...No reason you couldn't keep the theme going." Perhaps it was a little silly, but it didn't seem like either of them had any suggestions for a good 'traditional' water-type name anyway. So this felt appropriate enough to Flynn.

The Skitty frowned, not seeming quite as convinced. Though she didn't dismiss the idea either. The two of them stood there in silence for a little while, both brainstorming potential names.

Eventually, Flynn spoke up again. "...How about Tempo?"

Melody blinked. "Tempo?"

Flynn gestured out at Manaphy, who was still cheerfully playing around in the rain. "Certainly energetic enough for it. Slows down for a while whenever he gets tired, but he's constantly on the move the rest of the time."

"...It does kinda fit," Melody admitted. She continued to visibly debate with herself for a few seconds, her tail swaying thoughtfully behind her.

Before she could come to a decision, Manaphy began waddling his way back over towards the pair again, a soft yawn escaping his mouth as his eyelids started to droop. Melody smiled down at the hatchling before scooping him up and settling him on her back again.

As Manaphy got comfortable on the Skitty's back, Flynn gently patted him on the head. "What do you think, Tempo?" he asked quietly, knowing he wouldn't get an answer. "That name sound alright?"

"Phee," Manaphy mumbled softly in response.

Melody giggled. "I-I guess Tempo it is, then." She turned to Flynn. "W-We, um... if we do come up with something better in the next couple days, we could probably still change our minds. But, in the meantime... Tempo's a nice name, I think." Flynn nodded.

The two of them made their way back down the stairs into their base and set Manaphy down on his bed once again. Barely a minute later, the hatchling was already fast asleep, his hands gently tucked under his head as he softly snored away.

Flynn tiptoed his way over to the 'jaws' of Sharpedo Bluff and stared out at the early morning sky. "Well, this morning's certainly been... interesting," he quietly commented, earning another soft giggle from his partner.

"That's one way to put it," Melody replied as she stepped over to stand beside Flynn. She shivered slightly, still cold and wet from the rain.

Without a word, Flynn let the flame on his back intensify a bit, and Melody eagerly leaned in closer to let the fire dry her off. Flynn glanced out at the blanket of clouds still covering the sky. "Doesn't seem like the rain's going to let up anytime soon."

"Yeah." Melody glanced over at the team's treasure bag, a frown forming on her face. "...Still, rainy weather or not, I should probably go out and buy some more blue gummies at some point today. We wouldn't want to run out."

"Doesn't have to be right this minute, though," Flynn said. "Could stay here and rest a while, first. Try to make up for some of the sleep we missed."

"...It is a little tempting," Melody said, stifling a yawn. She lightly shook her head. "But as much as I'd like to, I don't know if I'd be able to fall back asleep now anyway. And besides, if the rain's going to last most of the day anyway, I think I'd rather get it over with early."

Flynn fiddled with his scarf a bit, untying it and setting it aside to dry off. The odd tingle faded away, and he suddenly felt a little more conscious of the lingering dampness in his fur. "Should probably at least warm up and dry off first, anyway."

Melody didn't argue with that, eagerly curling up by the Cyndaquil's side and basking in his warmth.


About a half-hour of lazy snuggling later, Melody was about as ready as she would likely get to head back out into the rain again.

The dirt roads that ran all throughout Treasure Town were now muddy and uneven, so Melody mostly stuck to the grass along the sides. Not many other pokemon were out and about in this weather, unsurprisingly, but the few that were waved to her in greeting as they passed by.

Soon, Melody reached her destination. The Kecleon brothers didn't seem to be too put off by the current weather, still manning their shop with all of their usual enthusiasm.

The elder Kecleon brother waved a claw in greeting at Melody as he noticed her approach. "Ah, hello there, Skitty!" A few steps over, the purple Kecleon was busy talking to another customer, but he still took a moment to shoot a short nod in her direction as well.

Melody tried to wave back as she stepped up to the counter, though she had to pause partway through to hide another yawn behind her tail. "Hey, Kecleon."

"Rough morning?" the shopkeeper asked, a sympathetic look on his face.

The Skitty let out a tired laugh. "You could say that." Her eyes briefly skimmed over the items on display for a moment, before she simply asked upfront, "Do you happen to have any blue gummies in stock?"

Kecleon tapped a claw on his chin in thought. "I believe so. Give me a moment to check." He stepped back into the shop tent and began searching through the mass of supplies back there. Barely a minute later, he came back out holding a small cloth bag. "Yes, we just got a new shipment of assorted gummies in the other day, so we're fairly well stocked on nearly every color right now."

Melody gave a quiet sigh of relief. She set the treasure bag down on the wet ground and started to dig around for their money pouch. "How much?"

"A small pouch of fifteen like this goes for four hundred poké. Does that sound acceptable, or-"

He abruptly cut himself off as Melody plopped the team's money bag down on the counter and started separating out coins with a paw. "I'd probably better take two pouches, if that's alright."

Kecleon, ever the professional, simply turned right back around and headed back into his shop again to grab a second bag of gummies. By the time he returned, Melody had already counted out the appropriate amount of poké. Kecleon smoothly gathered up the coins into a neat pile before placing the pouches of gummies into Team Sunrise's treasure bag.

As Kecleon stored away the coins with the rest of the shop's earnings, he opted to keep up the small talk. "I take it these are for that little blue hatchling that you and your partner were walking by with yesterday?"

Melody blushed a little, but nodded. "Yeah. We're, um... taking care of him temporarily, until Chatot can find someone to raise him long term."

"Sounds tough," the younger Kecleon chimed in sympathetically, seemingly having taken care of the customer he was helping earlier.

"It definitely has been, so far... but it does feel rewarding, in its own way." Melody still stood by her words to Flynn last night. She didn't regret offering to take care of the Manaphy like this.

"That's good at least," the green brother said. After a short pause, he glanced pointedly back into the storeroom. "You know, since you're buying gummies anyway, you could always pick up some red and white gummies as well, just to treat yourself and your partner. By the sounds of it, you'd probably deserve it."

Melody hesitated briefly at that, before shaking her head. "Maybe another time. For now, I should really start heading back."

Kecleon shrugged. "Was worth a try." After waiting for the Skitty to gather up her coin pouch and settle the treasure bag onto her back again, Kecleon gave her a friendly wave goodbye. "Take care, then. And give your partner our regards."

Just as Melody was about to walk away, the purple Kecleon brother seemed to perk up suddenly in realization. "Ah, I just remembered something!" he called out to her. "We got something in the other day that I think you might be interested in."

"Oh?" Melody turned back towards him, her curiosity peaked.

Kecleon quickly flipped through the stacks of TMs he had on display, searching for one in particular. "Aha!" He pulled out a bright red disc and placed it on the counter, raindrops slowly splashing against the TM's waterproof case. "I seem to recall you looking for one of these, a while back? Said your partner was interested?"

Melody leaned in to take a closer look. Her tail perked up a bit as she read the label on the front. "Sunny Day... Yeah, Flynn has said a few times that he'd like to learn this."

The purple Kecleon gave a satisfied nod. "Normally, this particular TM sells for four thousand poké. But for such loyal customers, and world-saving heroes at that... we could let it go for only three thousand."

"Hmm..." Melody stared contemplatively down at the disc. That was still a fair bit of poké, all things considered. They could still comfortably afford it, if she dipped into their savings just a little... but she would feel a little bad doing that without consulting Flynn about it. It was both of their savings, after all.

But, on the other paw... it would make for such a good gift for Flynn. And she had been hoping to find something to surprise him with sometime soon, anyway, considering a particular date that was coming up...

Eventually, Melody made up her mind. "...I'll be right back," she said as she started in the direction of Duskull Bank.

Around ten minutes later, Melody finally started the trek back to Sharpedo Bluff, now with a shiny new Sunny Day TM for her troubles. She made sure to bury the TM all the way at the bottom of the treasure bag, where Flynn hopefully wouldn't see it. She'd have to figure out a more suitable hiding spot once she was properly back home, but for now she simply wanted to get back out of the rain already.


As the pair had expected, the rain continued to last until well into the afternoon. It slowly petered off into a light drizzle, before finally stopping altogether.

Tempo was of course disappointed to see the rain stop, having continued to play around in it for pretty much the entire time he was awake that day. But almost immediately, the Manaphy simply switched to splashing around in the puddles that had been left behind, much to Melody's chagrin.

Flynn and Melody briefly debated whether they still needed to bring Tempo down to the ocean again today, or if playing around in the rain for so long might have been enough to keep the Manaphy hydrated for the day. But ultimately, they decided to play it safe.

Knowing that there was a chance Lapras might not be down there this time, the pair decided to seek out a different water-type to help keep an eye on Tempo while they were swimming.

"Thanks again for agreeing to this, Marill," Melody said as they walked along the path down to the beach.

"It's no trouble at all," Marill replied with a cheerful grin. "You guys have helped me and my little brother enough times at this point, it's the least I can do to return the favor."

Flynn felt Tempo shift a little atop his back. He glanced back to look, and found the Manaphy curiously reaching out towards the ball on the end of Marill's tail.

After a while, Marill himself noticed the hatchling's antics, and let out a chuckle. "Do you mind if I hold him just a moment?"

Flynn and Melody shared a brief look, and Melody nodded. "Sure."

Marill scooped Tempo up off of Flynn's back and held the tiny hatchling up to his face. "Hi there, little guy." The Manaphy simply stared back in silence, one hand reaching up towards one of Marill's ears. "You remind me a lot of my little brother when he was still newly hatched."

"Where is Azurill at the moment, anyway?" Melody asked.

"Hanging out with some of his friends from school, I think," Marill responded.

A part of Flynn almost wished that Azurill had come along, just to see how he and Tempo would have interacted... but as cute as it no doubt would have been, having two energetic little kids bouncing around would have maybe been a little more than the three adults would be ready to handle at the moment.

After a while, Tempo seemed to get a bit restless, and started to wriggle around in Marill's grasp. Marill took the hint, and gently returned him to Flynn.

"Phween," Tempo said firmly as he settled in on the Cyndaquil's back again.

Marill couldn't help but smile at that. "Aw, that's really cute." He glanced over at Melody. "Has he picked up how to say your name at all, or anything?"

Flynn opened his mouth to respond, but Melody quickly cut him off with a flustered "N-Nope!", a faint blush spreading across her face. Marill cocked his head slightly, clearly curious why she'd reacted so strongly, but he decided not to pry.

When the four of them eventually arrived at the beach, they found that Lapras was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps he was busy ferrying some other team somewhere, or maybe he simply was doing something on his own. Either way, it seemed they'd made the right call bringing Marill along.

However, while Lapras was gone, there did turn out to be someone else already here at the moment. Dugtrio was waiting by the shoreline, staying almost perfectly still as he stared out at the ocean.

Evidently, he must have heard them approach, as he slowly turned to face them just as they got close. "Ah, hello, Team Sunrise," Dugtrio's three heads said in unison. "Have you come to speak with the vaaast sea as well?"

"Er... Not exactly," Melody replied, giving Dugtrio an odd look.

"Hmm... A shame." Dugtrio turned his focus back towards the ocean again. "We really recommend trying it yourself, sometime. It is quite enlightening. The sea has much wisdom to share, if one takes the time to listen."

Melody just tilted her head in confusion at that, before nodding slowly. "A-Alright, then. I'll... think about it."

Flynn silently grinned in amusement. He had wondered every now and then if Dugtrio still did this kind of thing. Team Sunrise used to see Dugtrio shouting at the ocean from up on Sharpedo Bluff sometimes, but he'd seemed to have stopped ever since they'd moved into the den there permanently.

Tempo didn't pay much attention to Dugtrio, surprisingly enough, instead rushing out to the water as fast as he could manage. Marill followed closely behind, and Melody reluctantly swam out as well a few moments later, leaving Flynn and Dugtrio alone on solid ground.

Marill quickly took the lead among the three. He seemed to be trying to demonstrate some simple swimming techniques for Tempo, who was all too eager to follow along. Flynn wasn't sure how much of it the Manaphy would be able to learn, this soon after hatching, but he supposed there wasn't any harm in Marill trying.

"Ah... This brings back some memories, we must admit."

Flynn jolted in place slightly, not having expected Dugtrio to suddenly speak up again.

"Not the swimming, to be clear," Dugtrio clarified, his gaze still pointed out towards the sea. "But we remember when Diglett was this age, and he was only just learning how to burrow around." All three of Dugtrio's heads shared the same wistful smile. "They grow up so much faster than you expect. Be sure to cherish the moments like this while you and Melody can."

Flynn hesitated a bit. "We're... only taking care of Manaphy for a little while, anyway," he eventually responded.

Dugtrio chuckled. "We are aware. But the advice still stands, for the future. You never know where the currents of life will take you, after all."

Flynn blushed a little at the implications of that. He silently shrugged, not quite sure what to say.

Several moments passed by quietly, as he and Dugtrio continued to watch the others. Tempo playfully splashed water at Melody, before quickly swimming away as the Skitty pursued. Melody admittedly still looked a little out of her element, as most feline pokemon probably would in this situation. Flynn doubted she would choose to swim like this on her own if it wasn't for Manaphy's sake. But it did seem like she was genuinely managing to enjoy herself a bit in the meantime.

After a while, Dugtrio spoke up again. "You know, we actually did attempt to swim once, many years ago. It was... not pleasant."

Flynn raised an eyebrow at that, and he looked over at the ground-type in confusion. "Why?"

"Looking back, we are not quite certain ourself," Dugtrio responded candidly. "We were young and foolish, back then. And we did not have the same admiration for the sea that we do now. We suppose... we probably just wanted to prove to ourself that we were strong enough to overcome our type-weakness, or something else equally foolhardy. Thankfully, someone else happened to be down here at the time, and was kind enough to save us from our own recklessness."

"Someone from the guild?" Flynn guessed.

"No, actually. It was a Floatzel. She was very quick to scold us for our little stunt after she pulled us back onto dry land. Told us it was 'the dumbest thing she'd ever seen in her life', as we recall. Not that she was wrong." Dugtrio chuckled, shaking his head slightly at the memory. "Despite that first meeting, however, we actually became... very close, over time. She was the one who taught us to show the vast sea the respect it deserves."

Dugtrio gave a bittersweet sigh, a distant expression on his face as he stared out into the horizon. "She was... quite the pokemon. We will always be grateful that the ocean was kind enough to cross our paths that day."

A heavy silence filled the air after that. There was clearly a lot that Dugtrio wasn't saying. Flynn had a feeling that he could guess at some things, at least. He had never seen or heard anything about who Diglett's mother was, after all. But considering the way that Dugtrio was referring to this Floatzel in the past tense, he knew better than to press any further.

Eventually, Dugtrio managed to shake off his reverie, and let out a faint sigh. "...Our apologies. This is probably not the time or place for such stories."

Flynn shook his head solemnly. "...It's fine."

Neither of them said another word for a while after that. Several minutes passed, with only the occasional splashing of the waves to break up the silence. But after a while, the others finally made their way back to shore. Both Melody and Tempo seemed to be fairly tuckered out, the latter clinging gently to the former's back as she stepped back onto solid ground.

Marill, on the other hand, appeared to be more upbeat than before, if anything. "It's been a while since Mom or Azurill have wanted to come down here and swim like this. I'd almost forgotten just how nice this feels." He gently patted Tempo on the back, before smiling warmly at Team Sunrise. "If you two need someone to help with this again, just ask, alright?"

Melody gave a tired nod, returning the smile as well as she could. "Thanks, Marill. That would be a big help, if you don't mind."

Tempo let out a yawn, already seeming to be settling in for another nap right there on the Skitty's back. Melody giggled quietly as she glanced back at the hatchling, before turning back to Marill again. "For now, though, we really need to start heading back."

"That's fine," Marill replied. "I should probably get going too. Mom could probably use a hand with dinner."

Before the three of them started the walk back towards town, Flynn turned to look at Dugtrio one last time. "...Take care, Dugtrio."

For a moment, Dugtrio didn't respond, simply continuing to stare out at the sea as if he hadn't heard Flynn. But eventually, Dugtrio glanced over in the Cyndaquil's direction. "Take care, Team Sunrise. And may the currents of life continue to favor you."

Flynn blinked silently, before giving a slow nod. "...You too."

Melody cocked her head slightly, no doubt curious about that little exchange. But she seemed content not to ask about it for now, as Team Sunrise started the long walk back to Sharpedo Bluff.


The next couple days continued to pass in much the same sort of rhythm. There were plenty of rough patches along the way, but Flynn and Melody were slowly getting the hang of taking care of Manaphy. Feeding him, bringing him down to swim in the ocean, getting him to settle down for bed at night... each time seemed to go ever so slightly smoother than the last.

Of course, there were still some things that had not gotten any easier. Manaphy still tended to get into trouble as soon as they let him out of their sight for a moment. He still woke them up at unbearably early hours, sometimes. At this point, Flynn and Melody's sleep schedules were both completely out of wack, and would likely take days to fix even after Tempo was gone. But all things considered, they were handling the situation well enough, overall.

All of this time spent here in Treasure Town these last few days had also given the two of them a chance to do things they'd been a bit too busy for lately. Melody certainly didn't seem to mind the chance to read a bit more, and she also took some time to write to her family again. Though Flynn had a feeling that she may have omitted some details about their... current situation.

Flynn, for his part, decided to take this chance to finally learn how to cook properly, beyond simply using his fire to roast apples and berries directly. He'd picked up a simple, cheap pot and pan, and some basic utensils as well, from a shop in town. He also asked Chimecho for a couple of easy beginner recipes to start with.

The first few times, he'd opted to try a simple vegetable stir fry, which turned out pretty well overall. The first attempt had been just a little bit bland, admittedly. But over the next couple tries he improved on that by adding a couple sliced berries for flavor, as well as a little more seasoning. And even the first attempt had still been a welcome change of pace after so many roasted apples.

This evening, he decided to go with something different: pancakes. Admittedly, they would probably be a little more fitting as a breakfast rather than dinner. But he doubted that Melody would complain. Flynn carefully eyed the pan as he held it over a small fire, trying to gauge when the first pancake was ready to be flipped over.

"There you go, Tempo! Just like that!"

Melody's voice, followed by a bout of Tempo's cheerful giggling, drew Flynn's attention to the other side of the room for a moment. Melody was currently busy keeping Tempo occupied with a simple set of wooden blocks they'd picked up in town. Every now and then, the Manaphy started to glance over towards Flynn, but Melody continually managed to keep him distracted. This way, Flynn didn't need to worry about Tempo's curiosity getting the better of him, and ending up burning himself with the hot pan or open flame.

A faint burning smell quickly snapped Flynn back to what he was doing. He hastily moved to flip over the current pancake, not wanting it to get too overcooked... only for it to slip off the pan and into the fire below. Flynn blinked slowly, let out a sigh, and started working on a new pancake.

Eventually, two small plates had been loaded up with a few pancakes each, with a decently generous amount of syrup drizzled over top of each stack. After putting out the fire he'd used to cook, Flynn made to call Melody over, only to find that she and Tempo were already coming. Tempo eyed the unfamiliar food curiously, while Melody simply sat down by a plate, a slight blush appearing on her face as her stomach let out an unprompted growl. "T-Thanks, Flynn. This looks good."

Tempo tried to reach out and prod one of Flynn's pancakes, but Flynn gently nudged the curious hatchling away. "No." Flynn and Melody had already fed Tempo not half an hour ago, so Flynn doubted the Manaphy was already hungry again anyway. He probably didn't even recognize it was food at all, and was simply curious as always.

For a while, the Manaphy continued to hover nearby, simply watching Flynn and Melody as they quietly started to eat. But soon enough, Tempo crawled back over to continue playing with his blocks. All the while, Flynn and Melody made sure to keep an eye on him even as they ate.

Melody tried her best to eat as cleanly as she could, but given her inability to hold a fork, there was no real way for her to avoid getting a lot of syrup on her face. Still, while a faint blush persisted on her face for most of the meal, it didn't seem to slow her down much. By the time Melody finished her stack, Flynn was only just starting on his last pancake.

Flynn chuckled. "Glad you enjoyed it."

Melody's blush intensified, but she nodded. "Mhm. Thank you again, Flynn."

A cozy silence settled over the pair for a while. Flynn slowly finished off the rest of his plate, while Melody began slowly trying to clean the syrup off of her face.

After a while, though, Tempo seemed to get bored of playing with his blocks. The Manaphy crawled around the small den, investigating whatever caught his eye. Eventually, he started poking around with the little music box that Team Sunrise had gotten back at Sky Peak.

Melody let out a quiet groan. "Tempo, please don't mess with that..." she called out warningly. Both she and Flynn started to make their way over, wanting to make sure that Tempo didn't break something or get himself hurt.

Tempo was in the process of trying to pull the music box's crank off when Flynn intervened, moving the music box away and scooping the hatchling up onto his back.

"Uh!" Tempo pouted. The Manaphy leaned out over the edge of Flynn's back, watching as Flynn picked the music box up and opened the lid. Flynn carefully started turning the crank, causing a dainty tune to chirp forth from the music box and earning a soft coo of surprise from Tempo.

Flynn glanced back at the little Manaphy, smiling gently at him before turning his gaze to some of the other items that were laying nearby. Team Sunrise had chosen to use this corner of the den to keep some of the more personal items they'd obtained in their travels. Things that they'd rather keep here with themselves, rather than simply storing away with Kangaskhan.

There was a small set of the nicer looking treasure boxes they'd found, their locks long since broken by Xatu but still perfectly capable of storing things if the team needed. There was the Secret Slab that Scizor had given them, which they still needed to investigate further at some point. There was even the old blue ribbon that they'd gotten from Wigglytuff, way back when they first made their team.

Feeling a little wistful, Flynn picked up the ribbon to take a closer look. He'd worn it for the first few missions they took, but he'd stopped using it very early on. Technically, it could boost all of the wearer's attributes by a small amount. But the effects were very slight compared to a more focused item like a special band. And besides, it just felt... a little too special to risk letting it get damaged or lost in a dungeon.

On a whim, Flynn reached up to hand the ribbon to Tempo. But the Manaphy simply stared at it curiously, unsurprisingly not sure what to do with it. It would be far too big for Tempo anyway, of course... though the darker shade of blue actually looked fairly nice alongside the Manaphy's own colors.

Flynn hummed in thought, a contemplative look on his face, before shaking his head and moving to put the ribbon back where it had been.

As Flynn went to replace the ribbon, though, he narrowed his eyes as he spotted something odd. "Hm?" Mostly hidden underneath the set of treasure boxes, there was a red-tinted TM that Flynn definitely didn't remember putting there. He reached down, pulling the strange disk out to take a closer look. His eyes widened slightly as he read the label on the front, and he turned to glance over at Melody in confusion.

"O-Oh... darn it." Melody cringed a bit as she saw him pull out the TM. "I'd... r-really hoped to keep that a secret for a while longer, b-but oh well..."

A light thump sounded from beside Flynn as Tempo decided to climb down from the Cyndaquil's back on his own. Thankfully, the short fall didn't seem to have hurt the tiny hatchling at all. Tempo waddled over to inspect the TM too, his eyes widening a bit at the unfamiliar feeling of the material.

Melody looked down at Tempo for a moment, her expression softening as she gave the hatchling a gentle squeeze with her tail. "I-It was supposed to be a surprise," Melody continued eventually. "It's, um... I-In about another month or so, it'll be the anniversary of the day we met. A-And by extension, the day you turned into a pokemon. S-So I figured, well... since you probably don't remember when your actual hatch-day would have been..."

"...Then the day I became a Cyndaquil is the next closest thing?" Flynn finished for her. Melody nodded.

Flynn hummed in thought. It was... a fairly sensible idea, he had to admit. His life as he knew it now had pretty much started on that day. And Melody was right that he couldn't remember what his original birthday was. Considering the time-stopped future he was originally from, he probably wouldn't know that date even if he'd kept all his memories.

"...I take it you found this at Kecleon's?" he asked.

"Mhm. I'd mentioned to them at some point that you were interested in that move, and apparently they remembered." She glanced over at the team's treasure bag for a brief moment. "I'd thought about trying to look for a different scarf for you. Something that would be as good as the detect band I've been using. But if that passho band really does work, then that idea's probably not necessary anymore. So when the Kecleon brothers pointed out that TM... it seemed pretty much perfect."

Flynn looked down at the TM in his paws for a moment longer, before raising his head to smile warmly at Melody. "Well... Thank you." He hesitated for a moment, his face heating up a bit, before leaning in to plant a kiss on Melody's forehead. A bright blush spread across the Skitty's beaming face, and she quickly reciprocated with an affectionate lick on Flynn's snout.

A faint cough snapped the pair out of their thoughts, and brought their attention back down to the Manaphy still resting nearby. Tempo let out a second cough, frowning slightly as he glanced over at the small spring of water off in the corner of the den. He looked up at Melody, gently poking her leg to get her attention. "Muh."

Melody set a comforting paw on the hatchling's head. "You need some water again, huh? Come on, we'll get you some water." Flynn gently picked up Tempo in his paws, and the pair brought him over to the spring to get a drink.

Just as the Manaphy finished eagerly drinking his fill, a loud knock at the door made Flynn and Melody jolt slightly in surprise. They turned to glance over at the den's entranceway.

"Team Sunrise?" Chatot's voice squawked from up above. "I would like to speak with the two of you for a moment. I have news to share regarding Manaphy."

"O-Oh! Come in!" Melody called out, quickly recovering from her surprise. Flynn gently scooped Tempo up onto his back again and followed Melody over.

After making his way down the stairs, Chatot nodded curtly at the pair. "Hello, Team Sunrise." He glanced pointedly at the hatchling resting on Flynn's back. "I take it Manaphy is still doing well? No major problems have come up?"

"T-That's right," Melody confirmed. "It hasn't exactly been easy, but we're managing. We've made sure to bring him down to the ocean regularly, like you suggested, and so far he seems to be faring perfectly well."

"Good, good." Chatot continued to inspect Tempo carefully for a couple more moments, before turning his gaze to the opening in the side of the bluff. "Now, as for the reason I'm here... I have managed to get in touch with that retired explorer I told you both about before."

"Walrein, you mean?" Melody asked.

Chatot nodded. "He has agreed to raise Manaphy on a more permanent basis. According to the message I received back from him, he should hopefully be arriving here sometime tomorrow to pick Manaphy up."

Melody's ears drooped ever so slightly at that. "O-Oh. That's... that's good." She and Flynn shared a brief look, both of their faces rather conflicted as they looked down at the hatchling.

Chatot stared silently at the pair for a long moment, his eyes cold and appraising, before he let out a sigh, and his expression softened just a little. "I understand that you've grown attached to Manaphy. But this is simply how it has to be. We are lucky that he has fared this well for this long on land, but he needs to grow up in the ocean."

He cleared his throat, straightening back up again as his face went back to its usual stern expression. "I wanted to let the two of you know, so you could have time to prepare yourselves before tomorrow." He made his way over to the jaws of the bluff, stopping right before the edge to glance back at the duo one more time. "I will drop by again tomorrow when I know more about when Walrein will arrive. In the meantime, be sure to let me know if any complications arise with Manaphy. And... take care, Team Sunrise."

With that, Chatot spread his wings and flew away, leaving Flynn and Melody alone with Tempo once again. Tempo let out a soft coo, cheerfully oblivious to the conversation that had just occurred as he watched the flying-type go.

Flynn silently looked over at Melody. The Skitty sighed, her ears and tail drooping sadly. "I-I know. Chatot... Chatot's right. This is... for the best, for Tempo's sake." She glanced back at the Manaphy resting on her back. "But... I'm really going to miss the little guy."

Flynn leaned in to nuzzle Melody's side. "...I will too."

The rest of the evening was fairly subdued from there, a bittersweet melancholy settling over the group. Tempo, however, remained just as chipper as before, which kept things from feeling too somber.

As the evening wore on, though, Tempo's energy gradually waned. By the time the sun fully set below the horizon, it barely took any convincing to get the Manaphy to settle down for bed. It felt just a little bit strange, considering how much of a struggle that could be on some nights, but neither Flynn nor Melody were going to question it much.

Flynn let out a yawn, sprawling out onto his bed and trying to get comfortable. A moment later, Melody curled up right beside him, a soft purr rumbling in her throat as she leaned against his side.

It took a little while for the pair to fall asleep, both of their minds preoccupied with thinking about Tempo. But soon enough, the long day caught up with them, and they both drifted off into an uneasy slumber.


The next morning started off surprisingly quiet and peaceful, for perhaps the first time since Team Sunrise started taking care of Tempo. Melody purred contentedly to herself, nuzzling her head against Flynn's back as she drifted on the edge of wakefulness.

The sun had come up quite a while ago, judging by how bright the bluff looked through her mostly closed eyes. She knew she should probably get up soon... but she just couldn't bring herself to move just yet. After several mornings of waking up to Tempo's crying, Melody wanted to enjoy this peaceful morning, while it lasted.

Eventually, though, the silence started to feel... off, somehow. Melody sleepily glanced over towards the Manaphy's bed, just to make sure that he hadn't woken up already and started looking for trouble.

The bed was empty.

Melody's heart seemed to stop for a moment. The Skitty stumbled to her feet, groggily blinking the sleep out of her eyes before taking a look around the room. She managed to spot the hatchling pretty quickly... but he was leaning up on the edge of the natural spring near the corner of the room, completely unmoving.

"T-Tempo!?" She ran over to Tempo's side, gently nudging him to lay flat on the ground. He was breathing, thank goodness, but his eyes were closed tight and he was quietly groaning in pain. Melody raised her paw to the Manaphy's forehead. He was burning up.

The hatchling coughed, forcing his eyes open just a bit. He seemed barely lucid as he looked up at Melody. "Mmm... Mah-Mah?"

Quiet footsteps sounded from behind Melody as Flynn got up and walked to her side. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, concern plain on his face as he took in the situation. "What happened?"

"I-I don't know!" was all Melody could muster. "H-He's got a fever, a-and he was probably trying to get water, b-but I don't know what-"

A paw settled on her side. "Breathe." Flynn's relatively calm voice snapped her out of her frantic thoughts for a moment. She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, feeling just a little bit of the panic dissipate.

Once she had calmed down, she glanced over at the stairway out. "I-If Tempo is sick, then we should go bring him to Chansey. O-Or maybe Chimecho, over at the guild. Hopefully one of them will know how to make him better." Flynn nodded in agreement.

Tempo coughed again, a little worse this time. Melody leaned in to gently nuzzle the Manaphy's forehead. "I-It'll be alright, Tempo," she whispered, not sure if she was trying to comfort him or herself. "It'll be alright."

After carefully settling the Manaphy onto her back, Melody exchanged a quick look with Flynn, and the pair set off as quickly as they could afford.


A/N: As usual, I'm really sorry for how long this has taken. I keep thinking that each new chapter will be easier for some reason, but I always find some way to get stuck regardless.

Big thanks to Jusmove for looking over this chapter early for me. He gave some very helpful feedback and helped polish up the prose a little in some spots, particularly the dream section at the beginning.

I'm hoping that the little cutscenes with Dugtrio from the actual game are as well-known by the fandom as I think they are, otherwise some people are going to be a bit confused by that whole section. I liked the idea of fleshing out Dugtrio's past and his obsession with the vast sea a bit.

Also, Chapter Two has been revamped, now. Both to bring the quality up a bit, and also to fix some parts that were rendered redundant and repetitive by my revamp of the first chapter. Again, if you've read the original version of Chapter Two, there's nothing new there that you need to go back and look through. But it's there if you're interested.