It's time to begin the post game story of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Sky starring Leon the piplup and Blaze the chimchar of Team Poképals. Once again, expect some dialogue changes and alterations to how the story may play out. However, the outcome will be pretty much be the same like the game itself. This also features a familiar heroic team from a past animated special, so I hope you enjoy reading this story!
Pokémon and the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series belong to Nintendo, Game Freak, and Spike Chunsoft.
Songs listed in the Music Recommendations sections belong to the respective owners.
Music recommended to listen to for these segments...
Good Luck With That! - Whoa! (Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon)
Exploration of Mystifying Forest - Mystifying Forest (PMD: Explorers games)
We're Trapped in the Dark... - Growing Anxiety (PMD: Explorers games)
It's All Of You?!, The Members Run Off!, It Had To Be You, Right? - It Is What It Is (Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon)
Weird Battle With The Members - The Gatekeepers (PMD: Explorers games)
The Spring Is Awakened! - Temple of Time (Zelda: Ocarina of Time)
You May Not Evolve... - In The Depths of the Pit (PMD: Explorers games)
Graduated from the Guild!, Celebrating in the Café - Graduation (Vitamin C), or Canon Rock (Jerry C.'s or Cole Rolland's version, whichever you prefer)
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon – Explorers of Sky Post-Game Story
The Continuing Adventures of Team Poképals
Starring Team Poképals With Special Guests Team Go-Getters
Chapter 1
Graduation Exam
Several months after the combined heroism of both Leon the piplup and Blaze the chimchar, the leaders of Team Poképals who stopped the destruction of time, peace had returned to the world of pokémon. However, not everything got back to normal just yet. Some places still had unstable time in their areas, but overall, things were becoming better everywhere. As for Team Poképals, they were getting ready to get back to regular work at Wigglytuff's Guild, along with the recently arrived Team Go-Getters, which would be a friendly rival team, and would also start taking jobs to raise their exploration team rank. Both of the teams were currently at the diamond rank level.
One morning, Team Poképals and Team Go-Getters, wearing their respective signature items, along with the rest of the guild, attended the briefing outside Guildmaster Wigglytuff's chamber. Chatot had a special announcement to make to Leon and Blaze…
"Team Poképals," the parrot said, "both of you are close to graduation~!"
The leading duo, along with the rest of those attending the briefing, jumped up in surprise!
"What?! Graduation?!" Leon and Blaze both said.
"That's right! Graduation from the guild, that is~!" answered Chatot. "If you graduate, you can leave the guild, which also means that you'll be rid of the harsh daily training program as well. Of course, that will all depend on whether or not you pass the grad exam."
"Hey, hey, hey, Chatot!" Corphish said, as the parrot turned to him. "We've been around a lot longer than Leon and Blaze, so why do they get to take the exam before we do?!"
"They've already proven themselves to be worthy countless times, and after all, they saved the world~! It's only natural that they've earned the right to be tested." Chatot turned back to Team Poképals. "...And that's how it goes. We will commence the graduation exam later today, so I hope you're prepared for it~!"
"Loudred took it last year..." Sunflora began.
"...But hey, hey, he promptly failed!" Corphish finished.
Loudred appeared to get embarrassed of being reminded of his failure.
"G-g-get LOST!" he said.
"So what do we have to do for this graduation exam?" questioned Leon.
Wigglytuff stepped forward to explain.
"I want both of you to explore the depths of a wood named Mystifying Forest, where you should find a place called Luminous Spring there."
"Luminous Spring?" questioned Blaze.
"Yup~!" answered Wigglytuff. "It was where pokémon once went to evolve, but maybe because of the time troubles we had...no sunlight shines on the spring now. Nobody can evolve there anymore."
"We want you to travel to Luminous Spring," Chatot said, "and return with its treasure~! If you can bring it back to the guild, you'll pass the exam. You will then be recognized as a fully trained exploration team...and will be able to graduate from the guild with full honors~!"
"Bring back the treasure, huh?" Leon said. "That won't be a problem for Team Poképals!" He turned to Blaze. "Let's get 'er done, Blaze!"
"Yeah!" the chimchar responded.
They high-five each other.
"However," Wigglytuff said, as Team Poképals turned back to him, "both of you must watch out for one thing. You will find...a frighteningly strong enemy living there awaiting for your arrival. This foe is known as the grand master of all things bad."
Leon and Blaze were alarmed by the unexpected warning!
"The grand master of all things bad?!" they said.
"Yup. It's terribly wicked, and such a horrifying presence that no one ever wants to meet." Wigglytuff, for an odd reason, then cheerfully wished Team Poképals good luck. "Good luck with that~!"
Leon and Blaze was confused by his nonsupporting tone, as they could only sweat-drop. Chatot, meanwhile, dismissed the guild members. Team Go-Getters, however, stayed on the floor, while Team Poképals turned to each other for a quick chat, with Blaze a little panicked from the sudden warning of their enemy awaiting them.
"What'll we do, Leon?!" he said. "We're dealing with, of all things, the grand master of all things bad for the exam!"
"Don't worry, Blaze!" the piplup assured, as he turned to his right. "We'll go and ask Team Go-Getters over there for some advice!"
The duo went to the trio of Ian the squirtle, Charmander, and Chikorita to have a talk with them.
"Hey, guys!" Blaze said. "I'm kinda freaking out about this whole 'grand master of all things bad' situation here! I'm sure all of you heard it!"
"Yeah, we've heard it all!" Ian replied. "I'll give both of you guys some advice. We've faced many a terrifying enemy boss pokémon before, and I'm sure you did too! It just comes to bravery and tactics when it comes to battling strong foes!"
"He's right," Charmander said. "You just need to be brave like you always are and get through the terrifying thought of it, otherwise you'll be sorry and, more importantly, unprepared for the battle ahead!"
"Being the girl of our team here," Chikorita said, "I of course get scared easily in my mind, but thanks to my trusted teammates here, I know that we'll all have our backs when it comes to tough boss battles! Like both of 'em said right here, just go with the flow and everything will be fine!"
"Thanks, guys," Blaze said, now having calmed down from their advice. "I just need to be brave, like Leon has suggested to me many times before. That grand master guy shouldn't have to scare me!"
"That's right," Ian replied. "Remember, just stay calm and be brave so you'll win the battle! We gotta go now so that we can get to our first exploration jobs somewhere here in the Grass Continent. Hopefully you'll be able to graduate by the time both of us are done today! See ya later!"
The squirtle and his two teammates made their way up the ladder to the boards floor to pick out their first jobs on their first real day of the exploration business. Leon and Blaze, meanwhile turned to each other.
"See, Blaze?" the piplup said. "There's nothing to worry about! We've done this before, and we can do it again to graduate from the guild today and move into your cool home at Sharpedo Bluff! Not to mention, Team Go-Getters will have company later there!"
"You're right, Leon! Let's get to Treasure Town first and prepare for our trek into Mystifying Forest!"
Team Poképals went up the ladder and made their way out of the guild.
As Leon and Blaze made their way into the town's main square, they met up with a teddiursa and a ursaring, who were bear pokémon. They greeted them, and had a quick talk.
"What's going on, guys?" Leon began. "Are you going somewhere?"
"Yup," the teddiursa answered. "We're going to Mystifying Forest now."
"What?! Mystifying Forest?!" Blaze responded, jumping up in alarm. "Isn't it dangerous there?"
"Yeah, both of us were told that the grand master of all things bad was supposed to be there!" insisted Leon.
The cub and bear seemed confused by this revelation.
"The...grand master of all things bad?" questioned the ursaring. "We've never heard of anything like that! Are you sure you're not making a mistake?"
"We go play in Mystifying Forest often," the teddiursa said, "and have never seen or even heard of a grand master."
"Both of you must've misheard a bad rumor or something." The ursaring and his little teddiursa brother turned to each other. "Let's get going."
They waved bye to Team Poképals as they made their way out of the town. Leon and Blaze turned to each other afterwards.
"Something's not right about this..." the chimchar said.
"Yeah, it doesn't sound anything like what Wigglytuff said at all," replied Leon. "But still, it shouldn't bother us. We still gotta get ready around here so we can get to the Mystifying Forest!"
Blaze nodded in agreement, as he and Leon went around Treasure Town to organize their item supply in their team's bag, and later, they made the trip to the Mystifying Forest.
Team Poképals arrived at Mystifying Forest. The two leaders themselves only entered the dungeon, and were not allowed to recruit the pokémon here during their graduation exam. The dungeon itself had ten to fifteen floors of grass, poison, and bug-type pokémon, so both Leon and Blaze had to know their offensive and defensive types of advantages.
When they got near the clearing of the forest, they ran into a big circular patch of grass that was colored slightly different than the grass around it. Before they could examine it, a voice of the teddiursa was heard behind them.
"Hi, Leon and Blaze!"
They turned around to see him and his big ursaring brother arrive as well.
"Hi to you too, Teddiursa and Ursaring!" greeted Leon.
"Have both of you seen your grand master of all things bad yet?" questioned Ursaring.
Blaze seemed nervous by being asked this question.
"Uh...no! Nothing like that," he answered.
"See? It was nothing more than a rumor," insisted Ursaring.
"Are you still searching for that grand master, though?" questioned Teddiursa.
"Nope," answered Leon. "Definitely not. We're searching for Luminous Spring."
"It's just up ahead behind you!"
"Really?"
"Yup. We're on our way there right now. Wanna come with us?"
"Yeah, come with us if you want!" said Ursaring.
He and Teddiursa made their way around Team Poképals and the mysterious patch of grass to get to the spring. Leon and Blaze then turned to each other.
"What are we waiting for, Leon?" the chimchar said. "Let's catch up with 'em!"
The two attempted to follow Teddiursa and Ursaring, but they stepped onto the patch of grass below them. It fell into the hole below, while Leon and Blaze looked down, then at each other for a quick moment!
"Uh...oh!" they could only say.
They then fell into the hole as they screamed! After a few seconds, they landed on their stomachs with a thump. Leon and Blaze groaned in a little bit of pain, but luckily, they didn't appear to be harmed too much, as they got up with very little trouble.
"Man, that was unexpected!" the piplup exclaimed.
"At least it wasn't too far down," Blaze replied, "otherwise, we'd be in a world of hurt!"
They had a little laugh, then they looked around the area around them.
"This must be some sorta pitfall trap," Leon said.
"Yeah, it has to be!" replied Blaze.
All of a sudden, the room was getting dark! They looked up to the hole above them!
"The opening's closing!" the piplup exclaimed.
The hole closed up, leaving the area completely dark.
"Ahhh!" Blaze screamed. "It's pitch black in here! I can't see anything!"
"We might be trapped here after all!" Leon replied.
Suddenly, an evil laugh sounded within the room!
"What the…" the piplup began. "Someone's here!"
He directed his attention to the unknown voice.
"Whoever you are, come out and show yourself, coward!"
"Welcome...to the world of darkness," the deep male voice said. He introduced himself… "I am the grand master of all things bad."
"What?!" Team Poképals exclaimed in alarm.
"Y-you're the g-g-g-grand master of all things bad?!" questioned a nervous Blaze.
"Yeah! Not only the grand master, but more of us besides~!" another voice said.
More voices followed, which sounded oddly familiar to the duo…
"A BUNCH of us minions of the grand master are here!"
"Even though you can't see us in the dark...you're completely surrounded!"
The grand master evilly laughed for a few moments, before he spoke again.
"Coming to our lair is the last mistake you will ever make. You're not getting outta here alive. Prepare to meet your..."
Suddenly, the hole at the top of the room opened up, returning light to the area. Team Poképals was then able to see who the grand master and his minions were, and they were bewildered at who they actually were! It was Wigglytuff and the guild members!
"What the heck?!" Leon exclaimed. "Wigglytuff, what're you doing here?!"
"...And what about you guys?!" Blaze said, referring to the guild members. "I can't believe what I'm seeing here! What in the world is going on?!"
The members themselves panicked a bit, as Chatot looked up to the hole.
"H-hey, Bidoof!" he said. "Why did ya take the cover off?!"
"Oops!" Bidoof replied. "I thought it'd be too dark down there for y'all, so I opened it up! M-maybe I shouldn't have done so! I was just trying to help out with the grad exam, that's all! It's all so new to me, so I don't have the foggiest idea about what I should be doin'..."
Chatot could only sweat-drop and grunt in frustration.
"What a farce!" he said.
Leon and Blaze turned their attention to Wigglytuff.
"Okay...'grand master' Wigglytuff," the piplup said. "Please tell us this isn't some kinda joke here!"
Everyone else turned to the balloon pokémon, as he pretended to be confused.
"Who's...Wigglytuff?"
"C'mon, knock it off already!" Leon replied with a hint of annoyance on his face.
"I am the grand master," insisted Wigglytuff. "I know nothing of your so-called Wigglytuff."
"Oh boy, here we go now..." Blaze said.
Chatot flapped his wings, going along with the act of playing minion.
"Uh...that's right! We're his minions also!"
The other guild members decided to follow suit.
"Oh my gosh, that's so right! I don't know any pokémon named Sunflora!"
"Hey, hey, hey!"
Team Poképals could only sweat-drop in embarrassment.
"Man alive!" Leon exclaimed. "Can this get any more weird?!"
"Like I said before..." the "grand master" said, "...coming to our lair is the last mistake you will ever make. You're not getting outta here alive."
He raised his arms in a menacing but playful matter.
"Prepare to meet your doom at the hands of the grand master of all things bad!"
He jumped up and let out his battle cry.
"YOOM...TAH!"
Wigglytuff and the guild members got into their battle stance.
"Oh well...looks like we'll just have to play along with 'em, pal!" Leon said, as he and Blaze got into their own stances.
"We still gotta graduate from the guild, after all!" the chimchar replied. "Let's do this!"
The unusual and weird battle between Team Poképals and the guild had begun!
Leon and Blaze were surrounded by nine of their opponents, all of which of course were in fact from the guild, although they continued to deny it. The battle layout was similar to a monster house in which the duo caught themselves in while adventuring in other dungeons, meaning that multiple pokémon would jump in and ambush them. Team Poképals would have to stay calm and focused for this battle like those situations so that they could get one step closer to passing the graduation exam. They did so by utilizing the items that they had in their team's Treasure Bag.
When all of the foes but Wigglytuff were defeated, Leon and Blaze turned their attention to him next. They tried attacking him to knock him out last, but his speed increased when he was running low on energy.
"Man, he's fast!" Leon said.
"Wait, Leon!" Blaze replied, as he got an idea. "I've got something in our bag that could distract him!"
He pulled out a Perfect Apple, an apple that was abnormally large than any of its other kind, and was the guildmaster's favorite food to eat, and to play with at times. Blaze threw it towards Wigglytuff and he caught it.
"Oh! Perfect Apple~!"
He put it on his head and started playing with it. Leon started to wonder where Blaze had gotten that apple, but ignored it. Meanwhile, unknown to Wigglytuff, Team Poképals had begun to charge up their double finish technique to end the battle.
"Sorry, Wigglytuff," Leon said, "but the game's over now!"
He and Blaze shouted out their moves.
"Hydro Pump!"
"Flamethrower!"
The water and fire beams shot out of their mouths and made contact with Wigglytuff, sending him back to the wall behind him! His back landed on the wall with a loud thud, then after a few moments, he slid down to the surface and collapsed onto his belly with his eyes swirling, indicating his defeat. The Perfect Apple, meanwhile, sat beside him and was burnt to a crisp from Blaze's Flamethrower move.
Team Poképals had finally won the strange battle, as Leon and Blaze turned to each other to congratulate themselves.
"All right, we did it!" Blaze exclaimed.
"Awesome!" Leon replied.
They jumped up in the air to give each other a high five. After they came down, they turned to see a dazed Wigglytuff get up slowly, as he groaned in pain.
"Owwww...they got me good..." He shook it off and looked up to the opening. "Everybody, let's get outta here!"
Wigglytuff and the guild members made a beeline out of the pitfall trap, with Team Poképals the last ones to climb out of it. They were still confused by the whole situation.
"Man, that was so weird," Leon commented.
"Yeah," Blaze replied, "I still have no idea what that was all about, exactly..."
"At least it's over and done with. Let's get ourselves to Luminous Spring and get that treasure!"
They turned to where the spring was and headed there.
After running for a few moments, Team Poképals arrived to see both Teddiursa and Ursaring examining a little yellow box that was on the ground near the Luminous Spring itself. They greeted the cub and the bear.
"Hi again, Teddiursa and Ursaring!"
"It's you, guys!" Ursaring said, as he and Teddiursa turned to them. "I thought both of you were tagging along right behind us! What happened back there?"
"Uh...something held us up," replied an embarrassed Blaze. He shook it off and continued. "Anyway, what's going on?"
"We found this treasure box here." Ursaring turned to the box.
"This wasn't here before," insisted Teddiursa. "I wanted to open it, but I felt scared to do so."
Ursaring turned back to Leon and Blaze.
"Yeah, it could be a booby trap or something. We decided to leave it be for now."
"That's not a problem for us!" said Blaze. "We can open it, then! You see, we got sent here for the guild's graduation exam, and were told to bring back the treasure from here."
"That's it!" Ursaring replied. "That box must have something to do with your exam. Go ahead, open it for yourselves!"
Blaze nodded, then he and Leon turned to each other.
"Can I get you to do this, Leon?" questioned the chimchar.
"Of course!" answered the piplup. "I'll get my Dimensional Scream ability to activate itself so I can see whether the box is safe or not!"
He turned to the box and made his way toward it. Upon touching it, the dizzying sensation came back to his head.
Okay...here goes nothing…
The vision began.
Leon could see Wigglytuff going to the same spot he and Blaze were currently at, as the guildmaster put the box down on the ground. He turned around and made his way out of the forest.
The vision then came to an end.
Leon had a thought to himself about the recent vision he had.
It was the guildmaster himself that put this treasure here. I know what must be inside this treasure box, then…
He opened the box up, and a Perfect Apple came out of it.
"It's a Perfect Apple!" Leon said out loud. "It's the treasure of Luminous Spring! It must suit Wigglytuff, I guess."
Blaze picked it up and put it in his team's bag, then waves of energy emitted from the spring itself! Everyone jumped up in surprise.
"W-what was that?!" the chimchar exclaimed.
He and the others turned to the Luminous Spring as a vertical beam of light shone in the center of it, indicating that light had indeed returned to the spring.
"Look at that spring!"
"Light...is shining down on it!" Ursaring commented.
"That must mean…!" Teddiursa said. "Luminous Spring must have regained its power!"
The four pokémon went toward the spring itself and into its water to get a closer look. When they got close enough, they stopped to a sound of a voice.
"Those that seek awakening..."
"Ahhh! Who said that?!" exclaimed Blaze.
"The resumption of time...has brought light here again. If you seek evolution, please step forward."
"I knew it!" said Teddiursa. He and Ursaring turned to each other. "I knew that Luminous Spring would be revived!"
"Good for you, Teddiursa! I know you've been looking forward to evolution for a long time!"
"Yup!"
Blaze seemed puzzled by something said in their discussion.
"Evolution?"
The three turned to him, as he realized something.
"Wait, I got it! Wigglytuff mentioned this Luminous Spring before! He said it was where pokémon once went to evolve. When the time troubles occurred however, no sunlight shone on the spring, meaning that nothing could evolve there. But now, with the light returning, maybe evolution is possible again!"
"I've got a question, though," Leon said. "What is evolution?"
"Oh, you don't know what it is," Ursaring replied, as he and the others turned to the piplup "and what it means to evolve?"
"Some kinds of pokémon can evolve if specific conditions are first met," explained Teddiursa. "When a pokémon evolves, his, her, or its appearance changes, sometimes dramatically."
"Really?!" exclaimed Team Poképals. "Your appearance changes?!"
"That's right," answered Ursaring, "and it may not just be how you look that changes, either. When you evolve, sometimes your form and abilities can even change. Sounds cool, right?"
"Really?!" Leon and Blaze said, with their eyes sparkling at the prospect.
"Yup!" insisted Teddiursa. "I've always wanted to get stronger, so I've been hoping to evolve for a long time. I'm gonna try it out now!"
He turned around to the spring and went into the shining light. He turned back to the gang, and the voice above spoke out.
"Those that seek awakening...this is Luminous Spring. Do you wish to evolve?"
"Yes, please!" answered Teddiursa.
"Do you need an item to do so?"
"Nope!"
"So be it...seeker of awakening. Let us begin."
Teddiursa's body began to shine a bright white, as it grew in size and shape. After a couple of flashes of light, he was completely transformed into a ursaring, looking just the same as his big brother!
"Wow!" exclaimed Blaze. "Teddiursa, you look just like your big brother Ursaring now!"
"Yay!"
He went out of the light, going to his now identical brother.
"Hey, big brother! I've evolved!"
"Congrats! All the leveling up you went through finally paid off!" The other ursaring got nervous of having his little brother looking completely similar to him now. "Now it's hard to tell us apart...but anyway, good for you!"
Team Poképals turned to each other.
"We should try evolving too, Blaze!" suggested Leon, as the two ursaring brothers turned to him and the chimchar.
"Yeah!" responded Blaze. "I'll go first."
The two bears moved aside to let the chimchar go into the shining light. The company turned to him, as the voice from above spoke out once more.
"Those that seek awakening...this is Luminous Spring. Do you wish to evolve?"
"Yup! This will be exciting!"
"Do you need an item to do so?"
"An item?" Blaze seemed unsure about whether needing one or not. "I don't know...ummmm…no. No item for me."
"So be it...seeker of awakening. Let us begin."
The chimchar waited for a few moments for his evolution to take effect. However, nothing had happened.
"...No. Impossible...you may not evolve," the voice said.
Blaze, along with the other pokémon, were alarmed by this.
"What?! Why not?!" demanded the chimchar. "Why can't I evolve? Is it maybe because I haven't met my requirements for evolving?"
"No," insisted the voice, "that is not it… It is not merely a problem of not meeting requirements..."
"Then...why?" Blaze turned to one particular ursaring. "Teddiursa there was able to evolve," he turned back to the light, "so why can't I evolve?"
"Why can you not evolve? It may be influenced by a distortion in the fabric of space..."
"Distortion...in the fabric of space?"
"Why that should be, I do not know...but your presence...is somehow related to the distortion of space itself. As a result of that, you cannot evolve..."
The voice paused for a moment.
"No. It is not only you… There is yet another… The one behind you...is also forbidden his evolution."
Blaze and the two ursaring turned to the piplup.
"What?! Me too?!" exclaimed Leon in alarm.
"That is all that I can tell..." the voice continued. "This is Luminous Spring. If you seek a new evolution, then you shall return..."
The light from the spring then no longer shone on it. Leon and Blaze turned to each other, understandably stunned at how they were not able to evolve.
"Man, this stings..." the piplup commented with a sad look on his face. "Not only can you not evolve, Blaze, I can't, either..."
"I don't understand why we can't evolve, though!" the chimchar replied with a little hint of annoyance.
"Well, nothing we can do about it for now, Blaze!" Leon had a smile on his beak, forgetting about the disappointment. "We have the Perfect Apple that was in the treasure box, so we should get back to the guild with it!"
"You're right, Leon!" The chimchar also managed a smile. "Let's get back home!"
All four of the pokémon made their way out of Mystifying Forest.
Later on, Team Poképals had arrived back inside Wigglytuff's Guild. The members, including Team Go-Getters, surrounded the graduating duo to congratulate them on passing the exam. They threw confetti at them, as they clapped for their success. Leon and Blaze, however, felt confused by today's unusual events.
"How come both of you are not celebrating?" questioned Wigglytuff. "Aren't you happy?"
"Well, yes, we're happy," insisted an unsure Blaze. "But it hasn't really registered yet..."
"Yeah, I don't think we've accomplished anything that special," said Leon.
Wigglytuff jumped up in alarm.
"That's not true at all!" he insisted. "Don't you understand that what both of you did was incredible? You went and brought back a fantastic treasure in a Perfect Apple! Even better than that, though...you defeated that horrifying grand master of all things bad, didn't ya?!"
"That's what we don't understand, though!" replied Leon. "Wigglytuff, how could you know that we defeated the grand master of all things bad?"
"Uhhhh...we heard it somewhere?"
"Besides that...that bad grand master...had to be you, Wigglytuff! Right?"
The guildmaster once again pretended to have no knowledge that he played the grand master, while Team Go-Getters seemed surprised by the revelation.
"What?!" the trio said.
Meanwhile, Wigglytuff, along with the members, continued to pretend denying the fact to no end.
"I...don't know..." he insisted. "I don't know what you're talking about! G-grand master of all things bad?"
Chatot flapped his wings in alarm, as Leon and Blaze turned to him.
"Me too! I know nothing about the grand master's minions! What are they?"
The guild members confessed.
"Hey, hey, me too!"
"Eek! I don't know any minions!"
They laughed in embarrassment. Team Go-Getters, though still confused, couldn't help but laugh also.
"Guys...what's going on?" questioned a bewildered Leon.
Everyone stopped laughing as Chatot flapped his wings again, wearing a wide smile on his face as he spoke again.
"Never mind that! Both of you have now officially graduated from the guild~! From now on, you will no longer be bound by the guild's strict regulations. You'll be free to operate as an exploration team totally on your own~!"
Team Poképals finally saw the light of the benefit, as they got excited.
"Awesome!" they both exclaimed.
"Does that mean from now on," Blaze began to question, "that we get to keep all the reward poké money from our jobs that we take, not having to share with the guild anymore?"
"Nope," answered Chatot. "Unfortunately for you, that aspect doesn't change at all. As before, you will still have to give most of that money to us."
"What?!" exclaimed Leon and Blaze. "Why?!"
"Even though both of you graduated from the guild, it still means that you're affiliated with us. You, Team Poképals, can only continue operating because of this guild, so you'll need to accept that as part of being an exploration team~!"
"Awww man!"
"I guess that means nothing has changed from before..." said Leon.
The guild members each insisted about the positive of graduation, as Team Poképals turned to one of each that spoke.
"Eek! You don't understand! Graduating from the guild is extraordinary!"
"That's right! I should know! Even I couldn't pass the grad exam!"
Team Go-Getters also had their say.
"You also get to move into Sharpedo Bluff to live with us!"
"Anyway," Wigglytuff announced, as Leon and Blaze turned to him, "both of you have passed the exam with flying colors~! I hope you'll keep up your great work as explorers~!"
The members each congratulated Team Poképals on their graduation. They finally got emotional, as Leon and Blaze had tears in their eyes while they still smiled.
"G-guys...thank you so much for everything!" said Leon.
Everyone threw more confetti at the duo as they cheered for them.
"HOORAY FOR TEAM POKÈPALS!"
Not only were Leon and Blaze emotional at this celebration, they were also sad at the fact that yesterday was their last night at staying within the guild. Although they were no longer able to stay at their old beds here, they would surely enjoy their new base of operations at Sharpedo Bluff. As a special sendoff present, they were given a whopping 10,000 poké as a startup bonus for their new base. Being the kind team that they were, they also decided to give half of the money to Team Go-Getters.
The celebrations kept going on into Spinda's Café later. Most of the town got word of the heroic Team Poképals graduating from the guild, so they attended their party over there and gave them congratulatory letters and gifts. They had drinks made from fruit and had a special meal later on, while a complimentary concert had played by a visiting pokémon band who also got invitations.
Sunset had arrived once the party was over, as Team Poképals arrived at their new base of operations and home at Sharpedo Bluff. Team Go-Getters was also there, excited about them living there as well. They already had two straw beds out for both Leon and Blaze to sleep on near them.
"This is so awesome!" exclaimed Ian. "Both of you guys now get to live with us here!"
"Yeah!" replied Leon. "Although we will miss our old home at the guild, we will all surely enjoy living in this cool bluff!"
"It's an exciting new chapter for us here, that's for sure!" said Blaze.
"We'll have great nights spending time and fun with each other living here!" said Charmander.
As excited as everyone was, they all yawned together, feeling worn out from the party they had from the café.
"But right now," Chikorita said, "we're getting sleepy. We'll have time tomorrow night to do all that fun stuff. We gotta get some rest so we'll all feel refreshed by the morning."
"Let's give our all like we always do by then, guys!" responded Leon.
Everyone said good night as they headed into their respective beds to sleep for tonight.
This was indeed the start of a great new chapter in their already amazing exploration lives.