Part 31: Day 13 - Hugs Team Base

The next morning...



Hooray, we got a little Zapdos icon! We'll get additional icons as we hit interesting points in the plot.



I did a little checking around yesterday. The Hill of the Ancients is in the Great Canyon. So let's roll! Off we go to the Great Canyon!



Huh? What's up with you?

The game gives us a series of conversational choices here, but what you choose only has a minor effect on the conversation. We'll follow the most Jake-like path.

...It's okay, it's nothing.

Huh? Didn't you want to ask me something?

So what's the matter? Get it off your chest.

Why do you try so hard?

Why...? What, you need to ask?

It's for someone else...

For someone else? Now that's cold. You and me--we're friends, right, Jake?

I want to do my best because it's for you, Jake. That's what it's about. So anyway, let's give it our best as usual!

And with that taken care of, it's off to town!

I must say, I'm very impressed. Your team is surprisingly courageous. It casts you in a new light!

I'm glad that Shiftry is safe.

Jake, your team is fantastic! It's shocking to hear that you've beaten Zapdos!

Xatu? I wouldn't know. There's really a Pokémon named that?

Yay, Metapod! What'll we do next?

Let's play battle!

Okay, I use String Shot!

Then, I use Harden!

Ahahaha!

Ahahaha!

Seeing children at play is what I most enjoy now.

You know what? The jobs on the Bulletin Board... You can do several rescue jobs at the same time. Did you know that?

Yes!

Oh, you already knew? That's okay, then.

If you say 'no', he gives you a long explanation about how you can do multiple jobs in the same mission as long as they're in the same dungeon and on different floors. Then he tells you Alakazam told him all that and not to tell anyone else his source.



Hm. Where'd Dugtrio go?

...Papa said they've gone to sea before... (Does that mean Papa can swim...?) Jake. Jake, can you swim?

Um, not really...

Oh. So you can't swim either, Jake... But that's natural. Swimming isn't very easy. My papa is special! I'm going to try hard to swim too!

If you say 'yes', Diglett just feels left out and decides to learn to swim too. At any rate, the only thing left to do in town is stock up--



we're taking more food this time, but otherwise it's the usual load-- and it's off to adventure!





We've accumulated a ton of Gravelerocks-- in addition to the 74 we took on this trip, we have 99 more in storage-- so it's time to start chucking them a bit more freely.



In case anyone was wondering, you can recruit more than one Pokémon of a given species. We choose not to, though, which causes the Nidoran♂ to vanish.



After some deliberation, we discard Dig for Pay Day.



Hey, it's Frankomatic! What're you doing here?

Actually, I'm kind of lost. I was supposed to meet up with my friend Mesonychoteuthis and do some training, but I haven't seen him. I don't suppose you could give me a lift back to town?

Sure, no problem! If we see him, we'll be sure to send him back too!



(Oh great, it's a Skitty.)

Oh, you're Team Hugs! Thank heavens you've found me. I've been fending off lewd propositions from those Nidoran for hours. Honestly, why don't they just live with their own females?

(Whew, it's not the same one.) We'd be happy to get you out of here, ma'am.

What's your name?

You can call me the Wayward Kitty. Now, if you don't mind? I simply must get home and bathe.

Okay, just hold still a moment!



When we finish an enemy with Pay Day, it drops money; the amount is drawn from the same random tables used to generate money piles in the dungeon. It's a decent attack in its own right, with plenty of PP, so there's no reason not to use it.



Hello there! Are you lost?

...Fool.

Huh?

Only a foolish fool would foolishly wonder why an elegant beauty such as Franziska should be mingled with such foolish rabble.

Hey, you do wanna be rescued, or do you wanna insult us?

Oh, very well. I tire of this foolishness anyway. Use your rescue badge if you must.



She wasn't very nice.

Note that if we finish something off with Pay Day and it was already holding something else, the money pile created bounces to the nearest empty square.



Please, don't hurt me!

It's okay! We're Team Hugs. We're here to rescue you!

...really? Yay! My name's Supo! Thanks for saving me!

Just hold still, and we'll have you out of here in no time.







Ah, very good. You look like sane chaps. Could you direct me to the exit from this dismal place?

We're a rescue team! We can send you right back to town!

Yes, that would be ideal. Master Haberdashery will be in a proper tizzy in my absence.

What's your name?

Gre Nade at your service, sir.

(I still don't know why... oh, never mind.) Okay, we'll send you back now!



Neeksy? What are you doing here?

After I heard the story of your discovery of the legendary bird Zapdos, I had to see it for myself! But... even with Transform, I'm no match for these crazed Pokémon. I need to get home to Golden Zucchini before I get hurt!

We can handle that for you!

Thanks, Jake. This time it's me you're saving.



Hey, it's our first TM to just be lying around! It's the Taunt TM. A Taunted Pokémon can't use any move that doesn't deal damage, so they can't, for instance, Leer at us or use Protect. It's situationally useful, but probably not worth a slot for either Jake or Sheldon. In fact, we find three more TMs on this delve: another Taunt and two copies of Thief.



Thief does damage even if they're not holding anything, which is most of the time, so it could be worth using. Once we get back, we'll take a look.



We got your letter, Jake. What's up?

I found something interesting here, but I can't move it by myself. Help me get it back to town, and you can have it.

Whoa, it's big! You sure you don't want it for yourself?

I'm not a big statue person. Besides, I thought your rescue base could use some sprucing up. What do you say?

We'd be glad to help!

Lemme just figure out where we can grab this thing...



...well...

...hmm...

...it sure is... something!

...it looks kind of scary...

This Weavile statue is one of a few Diamond/Pearl references in PMD; it and one other statue can be received through Wonder Mail rewards, like Jake the Psyduck's rescue, and others can be earned in-game.

Well, we did a lot of good today, didn't we, Jake?

Uh huh!

Let's review our accomplishments...

Mesonychoteuthis and Frankomatic gave us 400 Poké and a blue gummi, preferred by water types.

Wayward Kitty gave us 400 Poké and the Earthquake TM, which we'll talk about more momentarily.

Franziska gave us 400 Poké and a Stamina Band, which causes the wearer to get hungry slower. It's a useful item for long dungeons.

flatluigi and Supo gave us 400 Poké and, appropriately enough, the Thunderbolt TM.

Haberdashery and Gre Nade gave us 400 Poké and some Ginseng, which is always useful.

Golden_Zucchini and Neeksy gave us 400 Poké and a Tight Belt, which is even better than the Stamina Band in that it almost completely eliminates hunger. Still, as only the leader gets hungry and Jake's not getting rid of that Friend Bow, we don't have much use for it right now.



No, Bitsy's request for a Gold Gummi wasn't forgotten. We get 400 Poké and the Hidden Power TM for our trouble. Hidden Power is a move whose type and effect change from dungeon to dungeon; Sheldon had it briefly before swapping it out for Bite.

Finally, Jake the Psyduck gave us the previously mentioned Weavile statue and 400 Poké.

Let's take a moment to look at our TM haul. Between found TMs and reward TMs, we wound up with several:

• Thunderbolt is an Electric attack that hits every tile next to the user and has a chance of causing paralysis. Unfortunately, it only has 10 PP, and only Jake can use it.
• Thief, as previously noted, is a Dark type melee attack that swipes the victim's held item. It has 20 PP, a good amount. However, Jake, the only one who can use it, already has a good Dark attack in the form of Bite+3, which has 19 PP. The thieving effect will also only work if Jake doesn't have a held item, and he's using a Friend Bow.
• Taunt is a Dark type melee attack that causes the 'taunted' status. While it does have 20 PP, it doesn't do any damage, and its usefulness is limited. Jake's the only one who can use it.
• Hidden Power is an untyped melee attack whose effects vary by dungeon. Although it's certainly an interesting attack, it only has 12 PP, and while Jake and Sheldon can both use it, both will get more mileage out of attacks they already have.
• Earthquake is a TM neither Jake nor Sheldon can use. Which is a shame, because even though it has only 10 PP, it hits an entire room.

Which means there's only one use for all these TMs...


So we come out of the dungeon with 7,742 Poké: 3,200 from rescue rewards, 1,970 from using Pay Day, and 2,572 lying around in the dungeon. We get another 11,315 Poké from selling those TMs and other things we don't need, like a Gold Ribbon we found, for a grand total of 19,057 Poké. Not a bad day's work.

We didn't get any recruits, though...

Aww, we'll get some tomorrow, I'm sure.

Yaaay!

Next time on Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Team Hugs ventures toward the Great Canyon!