Scorch marks and puddles littered the emerald stones comprising Sky Tower's roof. The fierce winds raging around Torchic, Mudkip, and Absol wrinkled their scarves to the point they looked more like grimy, dirt-covered collars. Absol stood in front of his teammates, eyes wide and glowing blue. "He's getting ready for something! Should we attack?"

Above the trio, Rayquaza thrashed about in the air, golden eyes flaring up with rage while a distorted aura flared up from his scuffed-up scales. His roars filled the air, producing enough force to bristle Torchic's feathers. His crinkled scarf nearly wound up in his beak and he had to tighten his core to stop his bag from flying off his shoulder.

"Y-Yeah! We've gotta try and muck up his focus," Torchic squawked, voice straining. Embers built up in his beak and gave way to a large Flamethrower. Absol added his own Dark Pulse to the mix. Red and purple smacked Rayquaza's midsection, pushing him higher into the air. It didn't faze him, however. The aura grew more vibrant, as did the glow in Absol's eyes.

"He's charging up a devastating attack. I… I'm sure of it!" Absol dug his claws into the ground. "What should we do? I… I'm not sure simple dodging will work!"

Torchic's mind raced. So far, Rayquaza had stuck to ranged attacks save for the occasional Dragon Claw. This looked nothing like a Dragon Claw, however. "We… we should…" He looked over to Mudkip. The fear on his partner's face was as evident as the snot bubble trickling down from one of Mudkip's nostrils.

"T-Torchic… I don't… we can't keep this up, can we?" Mudkip's head fin drooped. "The meteor's gonna hit. Ev… everything we did was all in vain!"

"No, that's not true!" Torchic huffed, watching Rayquaza spiral higher into the air. "We've been backed into countless corners ever since we started this journey. And we've always overcome the odds. Why should this time be any different?" He flapped his tiny wings, thinking about the grueling struggles against the likes of Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres.

Torchic looked Mudkip dead in the eye. "What's the team motto?"

"Guys, should we really be doing this right now?" Absol cried, looking at Rayquaza with fear in his eyes. "He's about to attack!"

"E… even when things are looking grim… T-Team Go-Getters will never give in!" Mudkip squeaked, the snot bubble popping as a renewed sense of focus spread over his fearful expression. "Okay, Torchic, what's the plan?"

"Form up by me!" Torchic stood tall. As his teammates rushed to his side, the aura surrounding Rayquaza filled the sky with magnificent golden light. "Wait for my signal… then we all move in separate directions. I'll go forward. Mudkip'll go left. Absol, you go right. Got it?"

"Got it!" his teammates replied in unison.

"Then brace yourselves!" Torchic said, crouching down. Above them, Rayquaza filled the skies with a deafening roar. The golden markings on his body lit up. Rayquaza dove straight for Team Go-Getters, tearing through the air.

"T-Torchic?" Mudkip glanced at his partner.

"Now… run!" Torchic cried, then sprinted forward, eyes squeezed shut and tiny wings fluttering in a panic. He made it about halfway across the roof before Rayquaza struck. The ground shook and a shockwave knocked Torchic onto his belly.

"Waaah!" Mudkip squealed, but Torchic couldn't see his teammate with all the dust Rayquaza's blow had kicked up.

Torchic's world spun, but though his head throbbed, he wasn't hurt all that much more than he had been before the attack. He staggered to his feet, trying to keep from hurling. At the same time, the dust cleared, revealing Rayquaza lying in the middle of an impact crater. His groans were loud enough to make Torchic's disheveled feathers stand on end.

It didn't matter, though. The gambit had worked and Rayquaza was wide open. "Hit him with everything we've got!" Torchic ordered, before spewing the biggest Flamethrower he'd mustered in his time as a pokémon.

A dark purple beam came in from one corner of the roof, followed by a torrent of water. All three attacks hit Rayquaza from different sides, turning his groans into angry roars. However, the most he could muster was thrashing on the ground like a beached magikarp. "Keep… it up… gang!" The Flamethrower muffled Torchic's encouragement, but his teammates picked it up nonetheless.

They continued pushing until Rayquaza's roars turned to one last anguished squeal. His head collapsed onto the ground with an audible thud and he lay still. Torchic cut off his Flamethrower and approached the crater, trembling with… well, he wasn't really sure if it was fear, excitement, or some strange mixture.

"We did it!" Mudkip cheered, hopping over to the crater only to trip and tumble down it until he bonked into Rayquaza's neck. The mighty dragon stirred and Mudkip scrambled back up the crater, squealing in fright.

Torchic hunched over. Rayquaza couldn't still be up for fighting after that, could he? Torchic looked over at Absol for any sign they were in trouble, but his teammate seemed relax, looking pensively at Rayquaza.

Sure enough, when Rayquaza coiled up, he groaned and starched at his neck. "What the—" He blinked and looked around the roof. "What happened to my lovely altar?" His golden eyes flashed red. "Are you whelps responsible for this?"

Torchic took that as his cue. "W-Wait! Rayquaza… you have to help us. There's a meteor barreling toward the planet and we climbed this tower to get you to intervene."

"Y-Yeah. But when we got here, you attacked us!" Mudkip added. "You were all like 'grrr, roar, graaah!'" He snapped at the air with his mouth.

"Hrmph. Is that why I've got such a killer headache?" Rayquaza crossed his small arms and thumped his tail against the ground. "No, that's impossible. Puny mortals like you couldn't possibly lay a paw on my powerful vestige."

Torchic wanted to roll his eyes, but resisted the urge. They had Rayquaza talking and that was better than nothing. "If you don't believe us, why not go up into the air and look for yourself?"

"There's no need. I can sense distortion in the air. Something is clearly wrong," Rayquaza said, huffing out blue-violet embers. "But this headache… nrgh. How am I supposed to face a meteor head-on feeling like this?"

"H-Here!" Mudkip produced an oran berry and an elixir from his bag. "These can help you get your strength back."

Rayquaza turned to Mudkip. His head was even bigger than Mudkip was and that made Mudkip's head fin stiffen. Rayquaza leaned over and sniffed at the items. "Hrmph. As if those meager pieces of sustenance are really good enough for the likes of me," he scoffed. Rayquaza turned to Absol. "You there. Go to the nearby pillar. There should be a hidden compartment with a meteorite shard in it."

Absol cocked his head, but ultimately obliged. Sure enough, he found a sparkling shard hidden in a portion of the pillar. Rayquaza snatched the shard up with his tail and scarfed it down like it was a delicious piece of fruit. His golden emblems lit up once again. Rayquaza flexed his talons as he rose up into the air.

"Thank you. I shall take care of whatever is plaguing the skies!" he declared. Bright orange energy surrounded him.

"W-Whoa!" Torchic squeezed his eyes shut and looked away. When he opened his eyes back up, Rayquaza had completely transformed. Torchic stared transfixed at the golden tassels dangling from Rayquaza's sides.

"How did you do that?" Mudkip wondered, head tilted.

Rayquaza ignored the question. The tassels stiffened at his sides and he shouted, "Dragon Ascent!" Then he shot up into the sky with enough force to push Torchic onto his rear and leave him with his legs kicking wildly at the air.

"Eep! I-Is he faster than when we were fighting him?" Mudkip said.

"It sure seemed like it," Torchic replied, getting back to his feet. The moment he did, a huge explosion rocked the sky, with emerald energy giving way to clear, blue, cloudless skies.

Absol's eyes brightened. "The disaster… I'm not sensing any upcoming disaster anymore!" He looked at Torchic, tail wagging. "We… we did it! We actually did it!"

"Yipee!" Mudkip hopped around joyfully. "You were right Torchic! I never should've doubted you for a second!" He dashed over to Torchic and tackled him in a hug.

"Oof! Aha ha… t-thanks, Mudkip."

"Ginji? Hey, Ginji, you still with us?"

Blaziken Ginji snapped to attention to find Swampert waving his fin in front of his face. "What's the problem, bud?"

"You've been spacing out on us, that's what," Swampert said, pouting. "You feeling okay?"

"Yeah. Guess I was just lost in thought." Ginji scratched the back of his head.

"Well, you'd better find your way, because we reached Destiny Shores, like, five minutes ago." Swampert gestured behind him to a beach that was wider than it was long. The beach gave way to grassy slopes leading up to a nice, level, grassy field. Two sets of staircases were under construction along the hill. Ginji recognized Absol Gallian working on one set of stairs with a conkeldurr. The other set had Latias Blossom levitating several stones around it.

"Hmm. Looks like this place is coming along." Ginji stepped off his lapras ride's back. "Pretty impressive considering they've only been working on it for a couple of weeks."

"Absol and Team ACT are already checking out the village." Swampert jerked his head in the direction of the stairs. "Come on."

Ginji followed Swampert, hands at his wait. "The old Horizon Guild is working on this place, then?"

"You didn't here? They converted into a construction crew. Aeon Builders is what they're calling themselves," Swampert explained. "Kind of surprising that a pack of heroes would do something so simple."

"Mmm… I think it's a holdover job," Ginji said, rubbing his chin. "Tessa had mentioned they have plans to join the Ultra Recon Squad whenever our world gets linked up to that fancy network Seraph babbled on about in the meetings."

"Oh, really? I, uh, might've dozed off for that part." Swampert grinned sheepishly.

"I know. Seraph made it clear the linking process could take a while. Like, possibly years," Ginji elaborated. "So, it'd make sense Team Radiance would want to find something to do in the interim. Don't you remember how stir crazy we'd get when there were hardly any jobs available?"

"Fair point," Swampert said. "And I suppose their status will get them a lot of clients… like Arceus, for example."

They reached the hill and Ginji noticed Arceus standing in the middle of the field with Selene perched on his back levitating several scrolls of parchment in front of him. Arceus pointed a forehoof to his right and Silvally Nero walked over, wearing two bags filled with wooden planks. The dragonite and milotic from the old guild were there to help Nero unload the planks.

"Client? Are you sure Arceus isn't supervising them? It kinda looks likes he is." Ginji quirked a brow as he walked up the hill.

"Dunno. Maybe Arceus decided to pick up architecture now that he's not, y'know, trying to keep order or whatever." Swampert waved a flipper dismissively.

"There you two are! I was starting to think you'd somehow gotten lost."

Charizard lumbered over to the duo. Alakazam and Tyranitar stayed back with Absol, both checking out completed houses that sparkled with fresh coats of tan paint.

"Sorry, Charizard. I did get lost… in a manner of speaking." Ginji laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Meandered a bit too much down memory lane, if you catch my drift."

"Oh? Let me guess… you were thinking back to your own big adventure." Charizard stopped walking and smirked at Ginji.

"Guilty as charged," Ginji said, raising his hands up. "What can I say? Seeing Absol again got the ol' noggin stirring. It's been a while."

At the mention of his name, Absol turned away from the houses. He approached his old teammates. The ocean breeze ruffled his graying fur and his chipped, withered claws parted some of the grass.

"Perhaps. Though I hear the two of you had a sizeable role to play in this latest ordeal," Charizard said.

Ginji shrugged. "I guess you could say that."

"Mmm. I'm sure Whiscash would be incredibly proud of you two if he was still with us," Charizard said, then bowed his head silently. Ginji and Swampert did the same, only to straighten up when Absol reached them.

"I was beginning to think you two wouldn't show," he said.

"We, uh, took things a bit slow," Swampert said.

"Heh. And you call me the old one." Absol started to laugh, only to descend into a coughing fit. Ginji stepped to his side and rubbed his shoulder blades. "Ah… thanks. I've been feeling quite winded as of late. I think… the cold mountain air finally got to me."

"Well, you won't have to worry about that here. Should be pristine weather." Swampert inhaled deeply… and took in a loose blade of grass drifting about in the breeze. He doubled over, eyes welling up with tears until he managed to cough out the grass. "Blech! Well, hopefully they'll put in dirt roads soon." Swampert wiped his eyes.

"After all these years, you've barely changed," Absol said, smirking.

"What are you talking about? I've totally changed! Look how big and strong I am now!" Swampert flexed an arm.

"No, I mean you're still such a dweeb." Absol chuckled.

Swampert's jaw dropped. "I… I'm not a dweeb!"

Before Absol could issue a retort, a loud splash echoed through the town, followed by an, "Augh! Seriously?!" Team Go-Getters turned to their right in time to see a sopping wet Shane step out of a pond. "Come on… mystery dungeons are gone! Why is my fur still getting messed up?"

"Sorry, Shane. I didn't see you there," Tessa said, holding a paw to her muzzle to stop herself from laughing.

"Oh yeah? Well, take this!" Shane hunched over to shake himself out and sprinkle water on Tessa, but two of his golden wings emerged from his back. One smacked him in the face and sent him tumbling back into the pond with a startled yip. Tessa turned away and burst out laughing when Shane popped up with a lily pad draped over his head and eyes.

"Well, gee, that sure looks familiar," Absol mused, glancing at Swampert. "Maybe you passed your dweebishness onto the Guiding Light." When Swampert pouted at Absol, he added, "I seem to remember you falling in plenty of mud traps and the like during our time together."

"Yeah, but the difference is I like water and mud, so I didn't whine about it like Shane does," Swampert protested.

"I'm not whining! I'm compla— auugh!" Shane's shouts came to an abrupt end as he slipped trying to climb out of the pond and fell back in.

"Like I said… total dweebs." Absol chuckled.

"If you ask me, you're all a bunch of dweebs!"

Ginji's feather's bristled. He whirled around and his brows raised when he found a lopunny, gardevoir, and medicham walking up toward them in unison.

"G-Gardevoir? Gosh, it's been ages!" Swampert said, vocalizing Ginji's shock for him.

"Yes, I suppose it has," Gardevoir said, putting a hand to her chest. "Dialga was certainly kind to you two, wasn't he? You both look well."

"Oi! Don't you go forgetting about me!" Medicham said, stomping her right foot down and throwing her arms to the side to strike a pose. "Just because you were always one step ahead of me back in the day doesn't mean you get to pretend I'm not here!"

"Easy, Medicham." Lopunny waved her teammate off. "Even the great Team Go-Getters can't help but be flustered when in the presence of… Team Charm!" She threw her right arm up in a pose. Gardevoir and Medicham hopped to either side of her to join the pose, earning applause from Swampert and confused looks from Absol and Charizard.

"Huh. So, the rumors were true after all?" Ginji muttered. "Guess you two held true to your promise to make new lives for yourselves over in the Grass Continent."

"Eh? Rumors?" Swampert scratched his head. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, it was a while back, but I remember reading in a gossip paper that a famous all-girl treasure hunting team had taken the Grass Continent by storm," Ginji explained. "There were lots of pieces about you three. Like how you were supposedly close friends with Guildmaster Wigglytuff."

"Friends? We helped make him famous!" Lopunny declared, striking her pose once again.

"And there was a bit about a feud between former rescue team members," Ginji continued, unfazed by Lopunny's showboating.

"Also true. Turns out Ekans found new teammates. Our teams were rivals for a bit before his team became obsessed with exploring some place called Zero Isle," Medicham said, shrugging and shaking her head.

"Yeah. Wonder how Team AWD's doing, anyway? They're around our ages, so maybe we'll end up seeing 'em here," Lopunny said, shrugging.

"And Gengar? Either of you two speak with him?" Swampert wondered.

"We exchange letters now and again," Gardevoir replied. "He wound up heading to the Mist Continent and becoming an assistant to an audino at her bakery."

"Seriously? I never would've thought he'd have the patience for something like that." Ginji chuckled and shook his head.

"You'd be surprised what some folks are capable of. I mean, I turned an underhanded rescuer and a timid wallflower into expert battlers and ace treasure hunters," Lopunny said, punching an open palm with a fist. She then turning toward the village and watched Arceus, Nero, and Selene levitating wooden planks into formation and using a paste to stick them together. "Boy is it weird to see all these crazy-strong pokémon out and about like it was nothing."

"Agreed. There are going to be a lot of changes to get used to," Gardevoir whispered.

"Well, we adapted to the Grass Continent, so we can adapt to living here, too." Medicham tapped Gardevoir's left shoulder reassuringly.

"Speaking of changes… when the heck are you two gonna find some special someones, huh?" Lopunny asked, hands on her hips and leaning forward.

Ginji stepped back, feathers frazzled. "E-Excuse me? Pot calling the kettle black much?"

"Bold of you to assume I don't have a mate, Feathers." Lopunny pivoted to give Ginji a better view of her hips and winked at him. Ginji thanked the stars he had orange feathers to hide his blush.

"W-Well, uh…"

"Ginji has a date lined up… with the blue houndoom from the meetings," Swampert said, grinning.

"S-Swampert, that was supposed to be our secret!" Ginji huffed, face burning up.

"Oops. Guess it just slipped out." Swampert grinned innocently and Ginji rubbed his temples.

"Good for you, Feathers. A famous world-saving hero deserves a doting mate," Lopunny said, crossing her arms and smirking.

"You're going to tell gossip writers about this, aren't you?" Ginji said, narrowing his eyes.

Lopunny's smirk widened. "Of course."

Ginji groaned. Gardevoir stepped between them. "Perhaps we'll catch up more after we've taken a tour of the town," she said, nudging her teammate in the direction of a fountain that was under construction.

"Goodness. I didn't expect Gardevoir of all people to acquire such… rowdy company," Charizard said, rubbing his horns.

"Yeah, well that rowdy company will be our future neighbors." Absol sighed and shook his head.

"Look at it this way. The next chapters of your stories will have plenty of excitement!" Swampert flashed them a smile.

Charizard groaned. "That's what I'm afraid of."

"How about you save the worrying for the future?" Ginji said, reaching into his bag and pulled out a large basket. "I brought enough lunch for our teams to share if you're up for it."

Charizard's stomach growled in anticipation. "I think you have your answer."

"Looks like it. So, grab your teammates and meet us on the beach," Ginji said. Charziard nodded and walked away from them. Ginji arced his back, yawning loudly.

"Tired?" Absol asked.

"Yeah, but I'm also thinking," Ginji replied.

"About what?"

"About all of this." Ginji gestured out across the town. "When Swampert asked me to join his rescue team, I never imagined things playing out the way that they did. Sometimes it's a lot to take in."

Absol walked up to Ginji's side. His eyes had lost most of their youthful vigor but they still managed to sparkle under the sun. "But you've managed it well. You and Swampert are a fine pair and I'm proud to call you my teammates."

Ginji slung an arm across Absol's shoulders. "Same here, dude."

"Aww, I want in on this group hug!" Swampert hopped in front of them and wrapped each teammate up in a flipper. "How about the motto for old times sake?"

"F-Fine by me," Absol grunted, surprised at the strength of the hug. Swampert let him and Ginji go and the trio cleared their throats in unison.

"Even when things are looking grim, Team Go-Getters will never give in!"

Here's to old places and familiar faces! Welcome back, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon!

Surprise! I decided to throw this extra part together after 2020 started off with the reveal of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX. I know some folks are iffy on these remakes of the first game, but I'm happy to see them and hopeful they could lead to something new down the road.

I'd also like to apologize as I know I owe a lot of review responses, but exams followed by holiday chemotherapy left me exhausted and I just kind of... ignored FFN the entire time. Hopefully this bonus makes up for it. Let me know what you thought and perhaps we'll see more of these in the future!