Chapter Text
I have finally recovered all 30 parts of my ship and succeeded in escaping this strange world! To think, all the times I almost gave up hope... On the now distant surface, the brave Pikmin that aided me in my perilous quest are running about as if I had never come. Will our paths ever cross again...?
At any rate, I can finally return to my home world. I feel relief, of course, but also a certain sadness. I can't exactly say... Perhaps, I am just thinking of the long journey through space that still lies before me. This time, I shall set my ship's navigation system so that I encounter no more meteors, and I shall enjoy a long relaxing sleep. I shan't forget you, Pikmin!
Olimar breathed a sigh of relief as he closed his journal. It had been a grueling thirty days, and he collected all of his ship parts at the very last second. Still, he had done it. He could finally return home to Hocotate, and more importantly, see Louie. His main concern aside from survival this past month had been how Louie was doing. He knows that if Louie suddenly disappeared on a work trip, Olimar would be beside himself with worry. And his boyfriend wasn't quite as.. level headed as him.
Well, that wasn't of concern now. Soon he'd be home, and could spend as much time with Louie as he wanted. He certainly needed a long vacation after this. Leaning back in his seat, he figured he should sleep. It would be about another nine hours before he got home, and it was nighttime according to the pikmin planet's time cycle. Although he wasn't sure how similar the two were. Still, he needed rest. He reclined his pilot chair back and relaxed, folding his hands over his stomach. He exhaled as he closed his eyes. This would hopefully be the last night he'd need to sleep alone for a long time.
BZZZRT! TOUCHDOWN AT HOCOTATE IN TEN MINUTES
Olimar shot up, woken up by the alert from the ship. They always startled him. Checking the monitor in front of him, the map showed how close he was to Hocotate. Stars, he was almost giddy. He was close enough now to be able to sync the ship's clock to Hocotate- searching for his town on the map, he selected it and.. Roughly 11:40 AM. Perfect, at least Hocotate Freight won't be deserted when he arrives.
Olimar stretched and readjusted his seat as he prepared to take over control from the auto-pilot to land. There was about eight minutes now. Olimar simply watched the stars around him as he waited. As much as he loved them, it will be nice to not have them as his only comfort in the night.
With only a few minutes left, Olimar took over control and prepared for the landing sequence. As he entered the planet's atmosphere, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of anxiety. All seemed to be well with the ship, and there were no asteroids in sight. Still, he was uneasy. He definitely needed a break from space travel after this.
After a few minutes of fiddling with the controls, he finally felt the Dolphin touch down on the ground. Stars, he was home. Not hesitating for even a moment, he quickly unbuckled himself and made his way to the exit. Throwing open the hatch, he climbed out and felt such relief when his feet tapped onto the ground. He had made it. Looking around, he was aware of the fact that he had landed in Hocotate Freight's ship docking station. He wondered what his next course of action should be, deciding to check in with the President, and then look for Louie. He knew that he was meant to be at work that day, but there was truly no telling with that man.
Making sure that the Dolphin was completely shut down, he quickly made his way to the building that housed the President's office. Some of his coworkers turned their heads at him, some tried to greet him, but he brushed them all off. Entering the building, he made his way over to the staircase that led to the office. As he approached, he heard some muffled voices coming from upstairs. Pushing on, he reached the top of the stairs, the President's office sitting directly to the side of him. Inside, he could hear two people arguing. It was mostly muffled, but he was able to pick up the words 'ship', 'debt', 'dangerous', and a few others. Though he didn't care to try to put the context together. Without hesitation, he knocked on the door, before letting himself in without waiting for an answer.
"Sir." He said as he entered. In front of him sat the President behind his desk, sitting down, and a taller blond man standing, hands slammed down on said desk. His back was facing Olimar, but he still immediately recognized the man.
"Olimar!" The President exclaimed, very clearly shocked to see him
The taller man shot up, turning to face him, his eyes wide open burning a firey orange. One hand still rested on the desk, the other was turned towards Olimar, as if it was going to reach out to him.
"Louie!" Olimar exclaimed, opening his arms and rushing in to hug him. Before he could, he felt himself be scooped up into an embrace, immediately identifying the feeling of his partner's hoodie. Louie had lifted him slightly for a moment, before leaning down into him. Olimar wrapped his arms around the man's neck, squeezing him with all his might.
"Oli.." He heard him whimper, clearly through tears. Olimar realized that he himself was crying a bit, but he didn't care. He just pressed his face into Louie's chest. He can deal with a wet hoodie. After what felt like only a moment, the two pulled away. Louie's eyes were now closed, but still tear-filled, the same as Olimar's.
"Y..'re okay.." Louie mumbled, still choking up
"I'm okay." Olimar reaffirmed, grabbing his cheeks and placing a peck on his lips. "Oh! I almost forgot, here." He mumbled, grabbing something out of his pocket. It was a small soda cap. Previously, it was as big as their heads, but the Dolphin was able to shrink it down to store in its cargo hold "I know you like collecting caps- I grabbed that for you before I left. Had the Dolphin shrink it down, but it should wear off soon." He explained as he handed it to Louie, who then promptly pulled him in for another hug. Once more, the two finally separated, after far too short of an embrace.
"How'd yo..?" Louie questioned, wiping his eyes with his hoodie sleeve "What happened?"
"Oh stars.." Olimar mumbled, wiping his own tears "It's a long story. I crashed on an unknown planet, and I found these.. alien creatures. They helped me to defend myself and repair the Dolphin." He decided to just leave it at that for now. He could show Louie his notes at a later date. Right now he just wanted to go home and..
"About the Dolphin.." The President began. Oh, right. The President. Louie turned over to him, his eyes now wide open again, his gaze burning a hole through their boss, as Olimar tilted his head in confusion.
"It would seem that our company has found itself in a horrible debt. Yes, we're finished!" He explained dramatically, blubbering like a baby "I've had to sell off every asset to even make a dent in it.." He began "Including the S.S. Dolphin." He mumbled, turning in his chair so that the two could see the window behind him. He saw his ship being dragged away to be repossessed.
"Excuse me?" Was all he could muster. Olimar was quite a level-headed man. But this was certainly a little more than irritating. "Erm, how deep exactly is this debt?" He asked
The president just sighed, grabbing his Hocopad and turning it to face Olimar. 100,100 pokos.. are you kidding me?
Olimar just gaped at the number in front of him. That was more money than he had seen in his life- how on earth did they manage to lose that much?
"It's simply horrible, I know.." The President sighed. Suddenly, his Hocopad began beeping and flashing red, displaying the text "MONETARY VALUE DETECTED". What? Turning to Louie, he had been fidgeting with the cap, inspecting the label.
"Louie! What is that?" The President asked, as if he wasn't in the room when Olimar gifted it to him. "Let me see!" He exclaimed, leaning over the desk and snatching it from him, striking a tad bit of anger inside Olimar. The president sat back down in his chair, inspecting the cap, before grabbing his Hocopad and scanning it. Olimar couldn't see the screen, but could tell that it had turned bright green based off of the reflection on the President's shirt.
"This is worth.. 100 pokos?!" The President exclaimed, catching both Louie and Olimar off guard
"Woah.." Olimar mumbled. It was worth that much? It was just a bottle cap. It was a nice collectable considering its alien origin, but to the average person, it looked like any other cap. At least, until it had returned to original size.
"Olimar! You said you got this from the planet you crashed on? Is there more there?!"
"Eh.. Yes-"
"Then it's settled!" He exclaimed, standing from his chair. Olimar didn't like where this was going. "You will return there to find more. And Louie will join you!"
...
What?