Outskirts of Treasure Town/MDPF HQ
Team Pokepals after walking a good distance, themselves at the outskirts of their HQ. The team had decided to take one last look behind them before continuing on their mission

"The view is amazing from here! You can see HQ in all its glory" Eve stated as looking at the place she called home with slight tears in her eyes

"I hope we return after this. We never know when it will be our last time after all and with this mission... there is a good chance not all of us might return" Leaf said with a monotone

Chic turned to Leaf with a confused look "What do you mean by that? We aren't going to die... right?" she asked the medic with a scared look slowly forming on her face

Pika shook his head as he sent a small glare towards his medic "No one is going to die on my watch, Chic. You have nothing to worry about. I would rather have something happen to me than to let any of you get hurt or worse killed in action"

Rio placed a paw on his leader as he turned towards his second in command "You're right, but one thing you forgot to mention is that none of us are gonna allow you to die either. You're our leader and our friend. We'd all kill ourselves if we didn't do anything when we knew we could"

"We're Team Pokepals! This is our mission and time to show everyone back home what we're made of!" Eve chanted

"What's that saying again? 'One for all and all for one'!" Chic added with a wink

Turning to the medic of the team, Leaf shook her head as she moved closer towards her team "Well, what are we waiting for? Don't we got a mission that needs to be done"

Pika's eyes were seen gaining a few tears, but he quickly wiped them away and pointed forwards with narrowed eyes "Let's get this show on the road team!"


Vibrant Forest

"Where are we?" asked Chic as she looked at the forest they were currently traveling through

"Hmm if we go according with the map... then I'd say we're in the-"

"Vibrant Forest!" Eve cut in as Rio turned towards her sharply

"How did you know that? You're not even carrying a map" he asked confused until Eve tilted her head towards a tree they had just passed and much to Rio shock and annoyance, there was a sign with there exact location "Of course!" he said throwing his hands in the air

Pika and Leaf were both trying hard not to laugh at the poor Emanation Pokemon, who sulked towards the front of the group

"Next time I'll check for signs instead of tormenting myself trying to find our location" he was heard mumbling, cause the youngest two to burst out in laugher

"Not all forests are nice to have signs though, so I trust your judgement more than some old sign that could just as much be outdated" Pika stated, trying to make his second in command feel better

"Besides Rio, without your sense of direction... none of us would be here today" Leaf added as she stopped to look at a few of the nearby leaves

"I'm going to take your word for it. I still can't believe Chic was the one to have been able to lead you guys out of the mission when I was sick and Pika was unconscious" Rio said with a chuckle at the memory of that day

"Robin showed me a thing or two when it comes to reading maps and also how to tell which way someone should go" Chic seriously said, showing her mature side. When push comes to shove, Chic can be mature

"Anyway where are we heading to once we cleared the Vibrant Forest anyway?" Eve asked

Pika sighed at this as he stopped walking, making the others stop and look at him in worry "We need to retrace every step the ace team made and first on the list is Baram Town"

"Baram Town? Isn't that like a settlement on the air continent?" Leaf asked in confusion

"I take it you've been there?" Pika said turning towards her

"You could say that. It was before I become part of MDPF and where I originally wanted to become a medic... before well you know" Leaf revealed as Pika gave her a look of understanding

"Why did my uncle need to go their in the first place?" Rio wondered out loud

"There's said to be a contact there that has information about everything you need to know... but it comes at a price"

"Of course" Eve said in a monotone

"What's the price exactly?" Chic questioned

"It depends on the amount of information one wants. For an item, you just need to money, for a location, you need to either do a favor or trade a rare item... but for the sake of our mission, it's a battle"

"The price is a battle?" Eve said as she tilted her head. Who would make it so a battle would be the price for information? Maybe there like Team Shadow back at MDPF, who do something similar

"Yes and based on what Sensei Akira told me before we left, it's a knockout battle and we need to have 3 wins if we want any sort of information as to where the Ace team went after this" Pika continued

"Who are we to judge Sensei Akira, after all she's the strongest psychic back at HQ and also the youngest to have risen to the rank of diamond without ever joining a team" Rio stated with a clear awestruck look present on his face

"Wake up fanboy, we still got a long ways to go and if possible I'd like to sleep in a nice bed instead of a forest on our first night" Leaf said moving past the frozen Riolu, as he turned a shade of red at being called a fanboy of Sensei Akira as the group continued their way

Unbeknownst to the group, the same lone blue Pokemon who had been there the day Team Pokepals left HQ, was still following them

"Baram Town... this is turning out more interesting than I thought" they said as they disappeared into the shadows once more as to not be seen "Better let the boss know once they reach their destination"


Man, this chapter took a long time to write! I didn't expect me to take so long with it... but anyway this is a sorta filler chapter since the next one will be taking place in Baram Town and also the Pokemon following the group has returned and just who is this boss they are taking about?
Oh also Akira is a Gardevoir just to let you know. She became a diamond rank as a Kirlia without the need of a team and once she became a Gardevoir, she retired from mission and is instead a teacher at MDPF