Epilogue

Reunions and Stories

After several days in a row of having to deal with and foil the space distortion madness that was caused by Darkrai, Team Poképals, along with Team Go-Getters, got a much deserved rest. While Leon and Blaze rested with Ian, Charmander, and Chikorita for a few days at Sharpedo Bluff, their respective recruited teammates took jobs for them in order to raise their ranks. Life was finally peaceful at the Grass Continent, and the whole pokémon world for that matter, now that there were no more evil threats that would threaten everyone for a long time.

During one of those days, Cresselia visited the bluff to ask if she would be of service to both of the teams, and they happily accepted. Since her service to them for saving the world was very grateful, despite for only a few days, they figured that having her for exploration duties for the rest of the way would be exciting.

Days later, Leon, Blaze, Ian, Charmander, and Chikorita had decided that they had gotten enough rest from saving the world again, as they gathered their items, put their signature ones on, and headed out of the bluff. Suddenly, just as they were about to make their way into Treasure Town, Chatot came running to them, as he appeared to be out of breath.

"Whoa! What's the rush, Chatot?" asked Leon.

The parrot, gasping for breath, tried to explain himself to the piplup and company.

"The beach...at the beach..."

"What's wrong with the beach?" Blaze wondered.

Chatot gathered himself and revealed his news to them.

"It's Manaphy! He came back!"

The two teams jumped up at this amazing news!

"What?!" exclaimed Ian in alarm. "You mean the Manaphy we looked after?!"

"That's him! That's the one!" replied Chatot.

"Then what are we waiting for, guys?!" Leon said to the gang behind him. "Let's hurry on over to the beach!"

Everyone nodded in agreement as they ran across the town towards the beach.

When they got to the beach, they recognized the figure of the little guy, though he had grown just a little by size. The one pokémon the two teams had tried so hard to raise despite being in a wrong environment...Manaphy. He stared out at sea, until he turned around to everyone that made footsteps towards him. His eyes rose, and his mouth opened wide in amazement, by seeing the pokémon he was raised by again. He had not seen them around two months or so, as they approached him.

"Manaphy," Leon began, "is that really you?"

"Y-yes, it's me, g-guys!" the seafaring pokémon answered, with tears in his eyes.

Blaze, along with everyone else, had tears threatening to pour from their eyes as they approached Manaphy.

"You're really...that little Manaphy?" asked Ian.

"Yup!" the seafaring pokémon answered. "I grew big in the sea! It's all because of you, Leon, Blaze, Ian, Charmander, and Chikorita!"

"Oh, you do remember us!" Blaze replied, as tears began to stream down his face.

"Of course! I didn't forget all of you guys! Not once...and not ever! I missed you all!"

Everyone else started to cry happily as they ran up to Manaphy to give him the biggest hug they had waited for since he left with Walrein months ago. Not caring for anything else in the world at the moment, they held onto each other like there was no tomorrow for several minutes. Eventually, they separated themselves and the two teams and Chatot followed Manaphy to Sharpedo Bluff.

When they all arrived there, the seafaring pokémon looked around the familiar bluff that he was raised in from when he first hatched from his egg.

"Boy, oh boy...I remember this place very well," he began.

Manaphy turned to Team Poképals and Team Go-Getters to ask them a question.

"I hatched here, didn't I?"

"Yup, you're right," Leon answered. "This is where we all came to know each other."

"I'm surprised you still remember that," insisted Blaze.

"We manaphy have the ability to remember where we hatched," replied Manaphy. "After we grow up in the sea, we go back to where we hatched by instinct. That's what Mr. Walrein taught me."

"That's awesome!" Ian said.

"I felt the urge to come back here because it's where I hatched, of course," Manaphy said.

"And now that you've returned, Manaphy," Chatot began to ask him, as he turned to the parrot, "what will you do now?"

"I was told that I have to decide that on my own."

Manaphy turned back to the two teams to ask them something very important.

"So guys, I thought really, really hard about this and other things...and I'd like to return the favor to all of you. Don't you travel and explore all over the world? I really wish I could help you when you go out on your adventures. So, ummm...may I please be a member of both Team Poképals and Team Go-Getters?"

The five pokémon looked to be unsure of what he just requested.

"D-don't worry, I'm grown up! I won't get sick like before!"

They stayed still again, as Manaphy had a somber expression on his face.

"You don't...want me?"

The five pokémon had tears streaming down their faces again, as they smiled.

"N-no, of course not! We want you to stay with all of us!" Leon began.

"You're welcome to be a part of both of our teams from now on!" announced Ian.

"Really?!" Manaphy replied in joy. "Yay, I did it!"

He floated around in circles, looking as if he jumped around in joy. He was very happy indeed to now be a part of both of the teams.

"I'll do my best to make all of you guys proud!"

With that said, both Team Poképals and Team Go-Getters got the spare bed that Manaphy slept on back out.

"Thanks for saving my bed after all this time! I really appreciate it!"

"Not a problem, little bro!" Leon replied.

"Does that mean…?"

"Yeah! You're officially a part of our big family now, Manaphy!" Blaze announced.

"You get to have four big brothers and a sister to look after you now!" Ian said.

"We'll be a loving family, no matter what!" Chikorita spoke next.

"You'll get to have a great time with us from now on!" Charmander said last.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Manaphy replied with pure joy.

He gave each of the pokémon a hug, overjoyed by not only being a member of both Team Poképals and Team Go-Getters now, but by being a part of the extended family in the bluff. Next, he requested that he see the members of Wigglytuff's Guild again, so they agreed and took him to the guild.

Before they arrived there, everyone at Treasure Town was also overjoyed that Manaphy had come back here. They knew that he would be sticking around for a long time now, as he and the two teams, along with Chatot, made their way into the guild. The members there could not wait to play with Manaphy once he arrived, so they spent time and took turns playing with him for a few hours.

Once their stay at the guild was done, Team Poképals and Team Go-Getters took Manaphy over to Spinda's Café so they could make a special drink for him.

"Hey, Manaphy," Leon began. "Guess what time it is!"

"Yummy drink time?" asked the seafaring pokémon

"Not just that, little pal," Blaze replied. "It's from your favorite food..."

"You're having a blue gummy smoothie!" Ian answered.

"Hooray! A blue gummy smoothie, just for me!" Manaphy exclaimed.

Leon took a blue gummy out of his team's bag and gave it to Spinda, who put it in one of his juice bar mixers to make a smoothie out of it. He put it in a cup and gave it to an excited Manaphy, who grabbed it and took a sip from it. Once it went into his body, he tasted it and was very happy about the results.

"Yay! What an awesome drink I had from my favorite gummy in the world!" he announced. "Thanks, you guys!"

Team Poképals and Team Go-Getters had wide smiles thanks to Manaphy enjoying the special smoothie he had in honor of his return. They would stay in the café to have supper later on.

Once everyone's supper was done, they went to the beach at sunset to enjoy the rest of their remaining day they had left. While Leon and Ian swam with Manaphy in the water, Blaze, Charmander, and Chikorita built sand castles that the seafaring pokémon could admire and enjoy later on. While all of this was happening, a dimensional hole suddenly appeared near the spot where Leon first came, and when he was revived after saving the world once. He, Ian, and Manaphy came back onto the sandy surface to watch the portal, as everyone looked to it in amazement.

"Whoa!" Leon exclaimed. "It's a dimensional hole!"

"I wonder who might be coming out of there?" Blaze wondered.

They waited for a few moments, then later, two familiar pokémon to Team Poképals came out from the dimensional hole. It was Grovyle and Celebi, both of whom Leon and Blaze thought they would never see again.

"Grovyle! Celebi! It's so good to see you again!" they shouted, with wide smiles on their faces.

"It's not just us," Grovyle replied, "we brought someone else who owes an apology."

He and Celebi turned to the portal while they stepped aside, as Dusknoir had also came out from the dimensional hole. The portal behind them closed, as Dusknoir himself spoke to Leon and Blaze.

"Team Poképals, I believe I have some explaining to do. Not just to you both, but to everyone else."

"Of course, Dusknoir," Leon replied. "We'll listen to what you have to say for yourself. First, we'll get to Sharpedo Bluff first for tonight so that you can explain to us first, then tomorrow, you can explain it to everybody else."

"It might be tough to explain, but I'll do my best. Besides, both Grovyle and Celebi here will help me out as well."

After Dusknoir finished talking, Leon and Blaze ran up to Grovyle to give him a heartfelt hug first before everyone made their way to Sharpedo Bluff.

As they made their way to the bluff, they were relieved that no one was in Treasure Town at the time, since someone seeing Dusknoir meant that they would approach him with a not-too-friendly atmosphere, considering that he had deceived them several months ago. He would have to apologize to the pokémon around here tomorrow, as night had arrived. Everyone put away their straw beds so that they could gather around a small campfire in the bluff to begin listening to Dusknoir explain his story, with Grovyle and Celebi helping him do so.

"When we got back to the future," he began, "my sableye minions had betrayed me, and began working for my former master Dialga. He ordered them to bring me and Grovyle for our destruction, and it was at that point that I had no choice but to team up with Grovyle so that we could find out what was the reason behind this."

"Dialga wanted the Passages of Time destroyed so that time would completely go out of control not only for the future, but for all other time periods as well," Grovyle said. "He destroyed the first one already, and that was when Dusknoir himself considered if what he was doing was right at all. I told him that it was not, since he was following his former master's orders to preserve the end of the world. I also told him that there would be no meaning and shine to his life if he lived long by following the out of control Dialga, rather than living a short one by saving pokémon and being remembered for his bravery."

"I eventually listened to what Grovyle said to me, and he, Celebi, and myself, teamed up to stop Dialga from destroying the second Passage of Time at the Vast Ice Mountain to prevent the unimaginable from happening. We were able to defeat him at the last possible moment, as we began to fade from history. Before I faded away, I asked Grovyle if my life shined..."

"I said yes to Dusknoir. It did extraordinarily shone for him, and was glad to hear so. He had no regrets in finally doing the right thing, as he faded away. I turned to Celebi next, as time began to resume in the future. We saw the morning sun, as I held onto her while we were the next ones to presumably fade away."

"I did see the sun with my own eyes," Celebi said, "and it was the first time in a while, if ever, that I saw the beautiful sight for myself. I had no idea that it felt so warm, and I was very glad to witness it. Before Grovyle and I thought to have faded away...I told him that I loved him with all my heart."

Team Poképals, Team Go-Getters, and Manaphy had tears threatening to pour from their eyes, but they gathered themselves and still smiled as the story continued.

"The next thing we knew," Dusknoir said, "we all came back to existence and woke up at that same mountain. I was honestly shocked to discover that I didn't disappear, but on the inside, I knew that I felt grateful that I had a second chance in life so I could redeem myself for what I've done earlier."

"We all thought that if history was changed," Grovyle inserted, "it would be the end of all of us..."

"But thankfully, it never happened!" Celebi exclaimed happily. "It was very wonderful to see that everyone was alive and doing well!"

"It was then that Dialga told us that a being higher than him used his power to stop all of us in the future from being erased from history," explained Grovyle. "I wondered how Team Poképals was doing, so I sent a message within the wind to tell them that we were truly alive."

"Oh yeah!" Leon exclaimed in realization. "Blaze and I heard your message, Grovyle, when Team Go-Getters first settled into the bluff when they arrived! We knew by then that all of you were safe and sound!"

"And now," Blaze said, "it's been confirmed right before our eyes! We're so glad that you came back to us!"

"I couldn't agree more," Grovyle replied with a big smile on his face. "Once we were mostly done rebuilding the world of the future, Dialga allowed us to travel and live here so that the pokémon back in the future could continue the efforts. It was the first thing that came to our minds when it was all said and done."

"Now we're one big happy family!" Ian announced. "There's nine of us living in the bluff now!"

"Our home here might be kinda small, considering how much more of a family we have here right now," Leon replied, "but it doesn't matter! We're all grateful to have each other at last!"

Everyone agreed to his heartfelt statement. They all yawned in unison, finally getting tired from the story and the conversations they had for tonight. The piplup began to wrap up their chat.

"Well, guys...it's getting late for all of us. It's time to hit the hay."

"Yup. I agree, big bro," Blaze replied.

"Let's have another exciting day in explorations tomorrow, everybody!" Ian announced.

Everyone put out the campfire and got out the straw beds. They realized that since there would be so many beds around, that there would not be enough room in the bluff. They decided to combine some into a big beds so that a group slept close to each other. Team Poképals and Team Go-Getters had three of their own beds combined, while Grovyle, Celebi, and Dusknoir only needed two small ones to sleep on. The end result meant that while Dusknoir slept on a bed himself, Grovyle and Celebi could sleep together on one themselves. Ian slept in between Charmander and Chikorita, and so did Leon in between Blaze and Manaphy. Everyone took off their held items, put them aside, then they said their good nights as they all went to sleep...except for the piplup, who remained awake while he stared at the night sky.

Whoever you are, he thought, thanks so much for bringing us all together. I couldn't be more happier than I am right now.

Leon had the widest smile on his beak than he ever had before, as he was the last pokémon to fall asleep.

He knew that the being higher than Dialga himself had indeed brought everyone closer than ever before.

I'm sad to say that that's the conclusion of the entire Explorers of Sky story.

It's been an emotional, humorous, and action-packed ride for Team Poképals, including their friends.

I've really enjoyed writing this story and the other stories in the series, and I hope you enjoyed reading them all.