First off, before you begin reading this story, I know that there are many novelizations of this great game, but rarely have I seen Team Poképals of Piplup and Chimchar from the animated specials in any of them or other stories. I like this combination very much, and decided to begin their story a little differently than the one from their first animated special. There might be some differences in terms of dialogue and the story format, but I included a few references to other PMD games as well. I hope you'll enjoy reading it!

DISCLAIMER: Pokémon and the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series belong to Nintendo, Game Freak, and Spike Chunsoft.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky

Adventures of Team Poképals

Chapter One

A Storm at Sea

It was a dark and stormy night in the Grass Continent, one of the many lands that occupied the world that was inhabited only by creatures called Pokémon. So far, a human had yet to be seen on this particular land. A few flashes of lightning occurred, and two unknown voices are apparently trying to get across a stormy sea to safety, when…

"Whoa! Are… you alright?!" one voice, belonging to an older male had said, concerned for his companion.

"No! Don't let go! We're almost on land, just hang on!"

The younger male was struggling to hold on, however.

"I can't… I'm… slipping!"

Another flash of lightning, and the helpless passenger screamed, being dragged out to sea…

Hours later, the passenger's eyes attempted to open. He caught a glimpse of a clear blue sky, with white sand below him, and water occasionally being wash ashore. He should have known he was on a beach when he opened his eyes, but struggled to think so otherwise.

"Owwww… Where… am I?"

He struggled to stay conscious.

"I can't... stay awake..."

He then drifted off to sleep, closing his eyes.

Later during sunset, a fire monkey Pokémon known as a Chimchar was pacing back and forth in front of a gate built on a tent that had a shape of a pink Pokémon. He was trying to get in, but his own fear was preventing him from doing so.

"No way! I refused to be paralyzed by this any longer!" Chimchar said. "I have to be brave, starting now, and get in!"

He then attempted to walk up towards the gate, but when he stepped on the grate, he jumped up in fear by a sudden voice!

"Pokémon detected!"

"Whose footprint?" another voice had said.

"It belongs to a Chimchar!"

"Ahhhh!" screamed Chimchar, as he quickly stepped back out of the way.

"That was too close!"

He then breathed a sigh of relief, but quickly bore a sad look for not getting in.

"I can't gather my courage to get in. I keep telling myself that today's the day, but I just can't do it..."

Chimchar then removed his necklace that held a relic with an odd pattern on it, and looked at it.

"I thought that holding on to this personal treasure of mine would inspire me..."

He put it back on around his neck and then shook his head in disappointment.

"But nope, I still can't get it done and over with. I'm such a coward… This is so discouraging."

He sadly walked downstairs off the cliff, not knowing that there were two Pokémon watching him. They struck a conversation on Chimchar's failed attempt to get in.

"Hey, Zubat! Did you see all of that?" a purple Pokémon that was spewing out gas said.

"You bet I did, Koffing!" Zubat, a blue bat Pokémon with purple wings had replied.

"That little wimp that paced had something good, right?"

"He had it, that's for sure. Kinda looked like treasure, there."

"Should we go after it?"

"Of course."

Koffing and Zubat followed Chimchar, who was heading to the beach, not far from here.

The beach looked absolutely gorgeous, as a majestic sunset was on scene, along with Krabby, crab-like Pokémon, blowing bubbles into the air to make the peaceful atmosphere more incredible to witness. Chimchar arrived at the beach, amazed by the sight.

"Wow! What a great sight!"

He stared into the sunset sky sitting above the ocean, taking in the wonderful sight.

"When the weather's good like this, the Krabby come out at sunset to blow bubbles. These bubbles that catch the setting sun's rays off the waves is what makes this scene so beautiful."

Chimchar stared at the scene with silence for a few moments before he continued.

"This is where I always go to when I'm feeling sorry for myself. It always makes me feel good to be here. It's uplifting, and it cheers me up."

He turned left of the sight and noticed something unusual on the beach…

"Huh? What's that over there?"

He walked over to the figure and noticed that it was a Piplup, a penguin-like Pokémon. It was laying on its back unconscious, making Chimchar worried.

"That Piplup's not getting up! I have to help it somehow!"

He ran over to the blue Pokémon and tried to wake it up.

"Hey, are you OK?! What happened?!"

The Piplup thankfully managed to get up. He groaned a bit as he did, and was amazed by a sight of a Pokémon like Chimchar helping him!

"Whoa! You're a Chimchar! You're just about the same size as me!"

"Well, all that matters is that you're awake! What a relief!" Chimchar replied.

The penguin Pokémon looked around and wondered where he was, until Chimchar snapped him out of his thoughts.

"You weren't moving at all, and that really worried me sick! Do you know how you ended up unconscious here?"

I was unconscious? I wonder how that happened… thought the Piplup.

"I'm Chimchar! It's so nice to meet you!" said the monkey Pokémon with a big smile, and continued, "Who might you be? I've never seen you around before."

"Oh, I'm a human, and my name is..." the Piplup said, trying to figure out his name before Chimchar spoke up.

"Huh? You say you're a human?! You look like a totally ordinary Piplup to me!"

The penguin Pokémon, claiming to be a human, looked at his reflection on the water, surprised at the fact that he did, in fact, turn into a Piplup! He had a yellow beak for a mouth, yellow feet, a blue and white body, and flippers for hands.

"Whoa! It's true! I did turn into a Piplup! But I wonder how this happened… I can't seem to remember anything about it."

"You're a little odd..." replied Chimchar. "Are you pulling some kinda trick on me?"

The penguin quickly shook his head. "Uhhh, no! Not at all! I'm telling the truth! I used to be a human!"

"You're telling me the truth?" Piplup nodded. Chimchar thought it over for a second, and answered, "OK, I believe you! Do you have a name at least?"

"Yes, I do!" said the penguin Pokémon. "Now what was it..."

For a few moments, he tried to say his name, but couldn't remember it.

"Aw, man, I don't know! I'll just go with Piplup for now."

"OK then, Piplup." Chimchar said. "At least you don't seem to be a bad Pokémon by the look of things. Sorry that I doubted you. It's just that more bad Pokémon keep turning up lately! Many of 'em have gotten aggressive recently, and that has made things somewhat worse than before..."

He tried to continue, but Zubat and Koffing came up from behind him, with Zubat pushing him from behind!

"Yowch!"

Piplup gasped at this mean gesture.

"Well, I do beg your pardon," Koffing said sarcastically.

"Hey! Why'd you do that for?!" Piplup angrily replied for what Zubat did to Chimchar. The penguin Pokémon helped his friend up, while the bat simply laughed.

"Can't you figure it out? We wanted to mess with ya! Got a problem with that?!"

"What?!" both Piplup and Chimchar said, surprised.

Zubat stared at Chimchar's treasure that he wore around his neck.

"Is that yours?"

"Yup, what do you want with-"

"Sorry, kiddo. We'll take that!"

Zubat yanked the necklace with the treasure off Chimchar's neck with his fangs! This shocked Chimchar and Piplup, who only stared back.

"What's wrong, guys? Scared?" Koffing mockingly replied. "I didn't expect the both of you to be such cowards!"

He turned to Zubat.

"C'mon, let's get outta here."

"See ya around, losers! Hahaha!"

Koffing and Zubat went into the nearby cave near the beach. Piplup could not believe what had happened, and Chimchar wore a sad look.

"Oh no..." Chimchar said. "What should I do? That's my personal treasure. It means everything to me." He had tears in his eyes at this time. "If I lose it, then..."

He gathered himself quickly though. He shook it off, and had a determined look on his face as he turned toward Piplup.

"No! There's not a second to waste! I've gotta get it back! Can you help me, please?"

"Of course, pal!" Piplup proudly replied.

"R-really?" replied Chimchar, with shining eyes. "You'll really help me?! Thanks so much! Let's go after 'em!"

Piplup and Chimchar decided to head into the cave.

As soon as they got in, Chimchar decided to inform Piplup on something important…

"OK, Piplup. You should know that the cave we're in has floors that change in layout constantly, almost never remaining the same. Places like these are called mystery dungeons. They're wonderful to explore, but they can be rough at times. You'll encounter wild Pokémon which you'll need to battle with. Pokémon like us that go exploring in dungeons like this have moves that we can use in battle. Every type of Pokémon has different sets of moves that they can use. For example, you are a water-type, so you'll use moves that are mostly related to water, and since I'm a fire-type, I'll use some moves related to fire instead. Every time we win a battle, we'll gain experience and eventually get stronger so for tougher future battles. Not only that, we'll be able to learn more moves! Do you understand all of this, Piplup?"

"Yes, Chimchar! I'll remember this from now on."

"OK, now if I can recall, this cave has five floors. We're obviously on the first floor, so those two guys should be on the fifth floor, waiting for us! Let's get going!"

Piplup nodded in agreement, and he and Chimchar made their way through the floors, battling Pokémon along the way to strengthen themselves for the battle against Koffing and Zubat. On the fourth floor, prior to the meeting of the thieves on the immediate last floor, Piplup picked up an orange seed next to the stairs and Chimchar explained what it was.

"That's a Blast Seed, Piplup! If you eat it, or throw it to a foe, you can do serious damage to your opponent right in front of you!"

"Awesome! Let's try it out when we get to those thieves!"

So Piplup held onto the Blast Seed and he and Chimchar went ahead to the last floor where Koffing and Zubat awaited them. The four arrived at a dead end.

"Hey guys, we're here!" Piplup cried to Koffing and Zubat. The thieves turned around and recognized the two pals immediately.

"Well, well," replied Koffing. "If it isn't the little Piplup and his pal Chimchar, the big chicken."

Chimchar was offended more by the insult and yelled, "Give me back what you stole from me! That's my personal treasure! It means everything to me!"

"Treasure, you say?" replied Zubat. "That thing is really valuable, huh?"

"It could be worth more than we'd hoped for, I'd say," Koffing continued. "We oughta try selling it though. Who knows? It might get a good price. That's all the more reason why we're not giving it back!"

Chimchar was shocked at this statement, prompting Piplup to get upset at the thieves. Piplup knew that he and Chimchar needed to take action!

"All right, you thieves! That's enough! We'll take it back by force if we have to! C'mon, Chimchar! Let's take them down!"

"Right, Piplup!"

The four Pokémon got into battle stances, and away they went! Piplup used a water-type move that he recently learned on Zubat and followed up by eating the Blast Seed he had to put the bat out of commission! He then assisted Chimchar in battling Koffing and before they knew it, the battle was over. Piplup and Chimchar were victorious!

"Awesome!" cried Piplup.

"Right on!" Chimchar exclaimed proudly, and did a high-five with his pal.

The defeated thieves who were both covered in smoke, Zubat from the Blast Seed, and Koffing from Chimchar's moves, groaned in pain.

"Ugh… We got roughed up..." said Zubat weakly.

Piplup and Chimchar decided to help them up. As soon as Chimchar put the treasure back around his neck, which was luckily unharmed, they quickly distanced themselves afterwards so that Zubat and Koffing could shake off the smoke. They then washed themselves with water, and turned back their attention to the victorious pals.

"Blast it!" cursed Koffing. "How did we get wiped out by puny wimps like them?"

"OK, you got your treasure back!" said Zubat, realizing that the treasure was no longer in his possession. "Are you happy?"

"Don't think you're so awesome just yet! Your victory is only a fluke!"

"Yeah, just remember it!"

The two thieves scurried out of the cave, leaving Piplup and Chimchar alone.

"I got back my Relic Fragment!" cried Chimchar, as he embraced his personal treasure. He had a gigantic smile on his face. "Am I ever glad to get it back!" He then turned to Piplup, with tears of joy falling from his eyes. "It's only because you agreed to help me, Piplup… thank you!" Chimchar proceeded to hug the helpful Piplup, catching him off guard at first, but was extremely heartfelt to receive the thanks and embrace.

"Awww, you're welcome, Chimchar! Anything for you, my sweet pal."

After a few moments, the two decided to leave the cave together, and get back onto the beach.

"Seriously, Piplup! I can't ever thank you enough!" Chimchar cried with a big smile, still overjoyed to get back his Relic Fragment. He hugged Piplup again, surprising him once more, but had a heartwarming smile as well. The blue Pokémon closed his eyes and decided to have a thought on this recent happening.

I only helped because I just happened to be here. Was it the right thing to do? He answered it right away with a bigger smile. I suppose so. This Pokémon is clearly grateful! It's so nice to be appreciated!

The two separated themselves from the embrace and sat down on the beach together. Chimchar took off the Relic Fragment around his neck and gave it to Piplup so that he could examine it closely.

"This is a Relic Fragment," said Chimchar. "Well, at least that's what I started calling it, but this is really my precious treasure. You see, I've always liked legends and lore, and because of it, I always get so excited when I hear tales from the past! Don't you ever feel the same way?"

"Hmmm… I don't know… I lost my memory, remember?" answered Piplup.

"Oh, right! Anyway, there are hidden troves full of treasure and strange relics, uncharted territories veiled in darkness, and new lands just waiting to be discovered that I want to find! These places must be full of unimaginable gold, treasure, and not to mention, history! Wouldn't it be amazing to make such historic discoveries?"

"Yeah! I'd love to experience that someday!"

"And that's what I always dream of, exactly. It's all exciting to me!" Chimchar then got back to the conversation of finding his Relic Fragment. "So one day, I found this Relic Fragment. I know it may not look like much, but take a closer look."

Piplup looked at the patterns on the Relic Fragment.

"There's an inscription here that forms a strange pattern, doesn't it?" he said.

"Yes, that's true!" answered Chimchar. "I've never seen a pattern like this, either. There has to be some significance to it. This Relic Fragment must be the key to legendary places and areas where precious treasure lies! That's the feeling I get at least, and that's why I want to join an exploration team. I want to discover where that fragment fits into, and solve its mystery! I tried joining an exploration team as an apprentice..." He bore a look of shame for what he was about to say next.

"...but I chickened out. I was too afraid then."

Chimchar then focused the conversation towards Piplup. "What about you, Piplup? What will you do now? You lost your memory, and somehow got transformed into a Pokémon. Do you have anywhere to go and stay after this?"

Piplup shook his head in response.

"OK then," Chimchar continued, "can I ask a big favor?" Piplup nodded. "Would you be willing to form an exploration team with me? I'm convinced that I can form an effective one with you, Piplup. So will you? Please?"

Piplup rose in surprise. Whoa! What should I do? I'm getting recruited outta the blue! I'm not sure what an exploration team is, but since I have nowhere to go, I might as well find out by joining one with Chimchar. He calmed himself, assuring that Chimchar had indeed asked the right thing. I haven't got a single clue what I should do next, but I guess it won't hurt to team up with him for now. Maybe I'll eventually discover who or what I am by hanging out with him!

"OK, Chimchar! I'll form a team with you!"

"Really?!" Chimchar said with a big smile. "You'll form one with me?! AWESOME!" He jumped in the air punching upward with one fist. He landed on the ground, stood up straight, and continued. "Thank you so much! We're gonna be a great combination! Let's make this work!"

"By the way, Chimchar," Piplup said, "I think I have a name for our team. Let's go with Poképals!"

"Sure thing! First, we should go to Wigglytuff's place, sign up as apprentices, and tell him to name our team as Team Poképals. That's when we'll need to train in order to become a first-rate exploration team. I'm sure it'll be very tough, but I know we'll give it our very best, Piplup!"

"Right, beacause..." Piplup answered.

"...we'll be..." continued Chimchar.

"TEAM POKÉPALS!" they both finished as they raised their fists into the air. They had a laugh afterwards and had big, excited smiles on their faces.

"All right, Piplup! I'll show you where Wigglytuff's Guild is. Follow me!" said Chimchar. Piplup went with his newfound partner off the beach and into the small forest, leading to the guild close by.

Thus, Piplup and Chimchar had formed an exploration team called Team Poképals. They had indeed taken their first step toward the many fantastic realms of adventure that would await them upon their arrival.