Part 11: April 18 Part 1: Regrouping

Too much stuff happened yesterday. I hope she's back to her usual self...




Did you sleep well?
Yep. I was out cold until this morning.
...Um...Thanks for everything yesterday. It's kinda embarrassing, ya know? You two were right there to see my hidden feelings and all...
Don't sweat it.
The same thing happened to Yosuke, right? Sooo...What was it like?
Huh? Uhhh, how should I put this...
Oh, I nearly forgot! None of that happened when yours awakened, huh? Hmmm, could that be because you've got nothing to hide?
Oh? So nothing happened for you? I gotta agree that you seem like a pretty open guy. There's a funny air about you...I dunno, I guess that's what draws people to you, or something like that.
Was that a compliment?
Haha, yep, it's a compliment.
Uh, if you say so...
Anyways, what's most important right now is to rescue Yukiko. I'm dead set on coming. Remember--you promised.
Morning bell: *BING BONG*
Oh crap, I still haven't gone to the bathroom!
It's nice to see he's getting better about that.


Th-Thanks for saving me...Yosuke's cool and all, but there really is something different about you. I feel like you won't let me down...

> You sense Chie's gratitude to you...

-Strength of Heart-





Chariot: symbolizes stern command, willpower, and victory.

For most of Sanzo's dialogue in this game, I'm going for the "best" choice--one that either boosts a social stat, advances a social link faster, or requires a social stat. Like this one right here: the first choice requires a level of Courage that I'm pretty sure is impossible to have at this point in a new game. You know, since talking to girls is so scary and all.



So what does all that Courage get you?



Nothing! Not a damn thing.



Even Chie's responses are hardly any different from the second option, except now she's all blushy and flustered about it. Hooray, I guess?


We have to be careful of the fog that sets in after the rain, right? Let's save her before that happens!

> After the rain continues for a while, it may become foggy. You must train yourself as much as possible until then...

-Specialist-



Mr. Kondo: My name is Mr. Kondo, your P.E. teacher! But since no one at this school teaches English, I'll be doubling up my roles!...Don't be so disappointed. In fact, I've spent some time overseas! One week of vacation time, to be exact! But that's more than enough to teach a class! Hahaha! We'll start with the basics of the basics: the English alphabet! It starts with the letter A, then B, then C, and then...23 more! Maybe that was a little too basic? Hahaha! All right! I'll give you an alphabet-related pop quiz, then! Let's see...Genjo!


Beta.
Mr. Kondo: Good! That's correct! It comes from the first two letters of the Greek alphabet, alpha and beta! By the way, any set of western European characters in a specific order is called an alphabet. In Japan, when we say "alphabet" we're talking about the English alphabet, but it doesn't always mean the English one!

-Your Affection-



> The fog will come after several days of rain...You must prepare to take action.

Here is where the intro ends and Persona 4 lets you off the leash.

Let's just bask in it for a moment.

You still have to be mindful of that time limit, but otherwise you're free to explore Inaba and spend your days as you wish from here on out.

You can also see how everyone else is spending theirs.



The PlayStation Network gives you a couple extra options. This is the Vox Populi: a sampling of the five most popular activities for the day. You can see that most people have either gone to save Yukiko, or hung out with Marie. Some more have raised their social stats by studying or having dinner in the northern shopping district, and a few even just said "Hell with it" and ended the day early.





The only Social Links we have right now are unavailable, because they're too worried about Yukiko. Let's put their fears to rest. Teddie said she'll be fine until the fog hits, but I don't think he understands about things like food and water. Besides--we don't leave our people in there. We can get her out today, and we will.

But before we go, we need provisions.



Funky student: I don't know you, and you're coming up, so it's 50-50 that you're a second-year! Deductive reasoning like whoa, son! Now I, the OG third-year, will challenge you, the second-year youngblood, with a riddle! And no, it isn't because I'm trying to avoid studying for entrance exams! I'm just doing you a favor, man! If you answer correctly, I will present you with a "key."
I accept your challenge!
Funky student: Looks like your spirit is willing, let's see if your mind can vibe to this! Riddle time! I'ma drop some stuff into two distinct categories. At the end you gotta drop the last item onto the proper category. Can you dig it!? Red's group A. Grey's group B. White's puttin' it down for group A. Orange has a group B tattoo. Green's A for sheezy. Pink is group B times infinity. Aight, so which group does "black" belong to, A or B? Holla!
Group A.
Funky student: Oh yeah! So tell me what all those items have in common! Give it to me!
They're top 6 flag colors.
Funky student: Yay ya-y! Your mind is a beautiful thing and you are not letting it go to waste, yo! Way to be! Since you're down with vexillology, you knew that group A was four of the six most prevalent world flag colors. The other two to round out the top six are blue and yellow. I must say that I wasn't expecting a second-year to have such trenchant insight. But you have passed, and I now dub you my riddle brother. Here's a little sumthin' sumthin'!

> Obtained Chest Key x 3.

Your skills are strong, o Riddle Master, but I know your weakness: blind, lucky guesses.

Chest Keys are a good start, but what we really need is SP recovery. Restoring HP is simple, but without SP you're dead in the water.





All the sodas from this vending machine at the very north end of the shopping district restore 5 SP each...



...and cans of TaP, from the machine outside Shiroku Store, restore 10. You can only buy five sodas a week from each machine, but an extra 75 SP is not to be sneezed at.


Bug-catching kid: I really want some Dr. Salt NEO! But I spent all my allowance...Oh well, I'll just drink water!

Make that 70 SP. This kid looks like he's going places.

Bug-catching kid: You're giving this to me? Really? My grandpa always says to thank people who give you things! Um, this is to show my thanks.

> You received Tatsuhime Ladybug x 2.

Why, I can nearly think of a thousand and one uses for a pair of ladybugs.

Bug-catching kid: Thank you very much. Hehe!

Chie needs better gear as well. Let's stop in at Daidara's.

-How Much?-







Shiroku Store now has grenade items for sale. It'll be useful for the team to be able to attack outside their own personal elements. Let's stock up.





-Junes Theme-

We can't actually shop inside Junes, because Sanzo supports his local businesses, but there is this lady hanging out at the entrance.



Housewife in farming clothes: How about you, mister? I don't have that many left. Right now, I can give you Tiny Soul Tomato x3 for 800 yen. How about it?

These have 20 lycopene-rich SP each. Along with those Mage's Marks from Daidara, some nice cola-and-tomato snacks will keep the team going strong.

Housewife in farming clothes: Thank you. Here you go. That's it for today. I'll restock after a while, so feel free to hit me up then.





It's just the three of them, but let's take a minute to check anyway.
First Saki-senpai, and now Yukiko-san. I never thought we'd get involved in a case like this...
Hey, what about Mayumi Yamano? Man, these people really do forget that easily.
Don't talk like Yukiko's already dead!
I know, I know. Calm down. Unfortunately, there's a time limit--we have to save Yukiko-san before the fog sets in.
I think the weekly forecast was...


Hey, you're sure, right?
Yeah. There's no way I made a mistake. I double-checked!


Yeah, let's go!

There's another Velvet Room entrance just inside the TV world. This'll be our most important stop.

-Aria of the Soul-



Igor and company are STILL yammering goddamn tutorials at us. Here's the gist:







Igor can fuse two or three of your Personas into a single new one of your main character's current level or lower, like so:







And voila! A pantsless nymph.



Every Persona belongs to one of the twenty-two Major Arcana, just like Social Links. If you have ranks in a matching link, it grants bonus XP to your Fusions. In addition, your equipped Personas will make their matching Social Links take fewer days to advance. On some days, Fusion has extra benefits--usually stat boosts, extra XP, or bonus skills for specific fusions.



Skill Cards are also handled here. These are items that you can get from Shuffle Time. You can use a Skill Card once to immediately grant a new skill to one of your equipped Personas, or you can give it to Marie and add that skill to her card shop.



Marie also handles the Rescue Request, another PSN feature. I'll go into that more next time, but basically you can call an SOS while dungeon crawling and other people playing the game can send you a bit of HP and SP, with an attached message. Here in the Velvet Room, you can customize your own message from a selection of words and phrases...



...as well as view messages sent to you. All but one of them will be this:



The last one will be something along the lines of "Yukiko's Meat Dimension is Sweetdiculous AWWW YEAH."


Whatcha want this time? A Persona? A Skill Card? It doesn't matter to me.
...Excuse us. Marie, you must learn to restrain yourself.
Huh? What's that supposed to mean? Stupiduptightblockheadtwerp.
*sigh* I apologize sincerely. She is far too unruly for me to handle.
I feel for you.
*chuckle* You are quite right. However...This is all to help you on your journey.
What do you mean?
This room is inseparable from your fate. Nothing in this room happens without purpose...It seems that you and Marie had already met before you encountered her in this room. Encountering one who is not of man, and communicating with her...Your fate has led you to this meeting.
"One who is not of man?"
Indeed. This room is the crossroads of your fates. You, the customer, and she who is not of man, who has wandered into this place. Where will this meeting lead? Excuse me for saying so, but we, too, are a bit interested in the outcome. Though she was in this land before you, in the end, Marie is not of man...In other words, her understanding of the world in which you live is incomplete. Therefore, I ask of you to please take her outside this room, if you would. But, of course, you are occupied at the moment, visiting the interior of the television world. Please ask her to go with you when you have time on your hands.



Wh...Whatever...

...Never mind.

> It seems Marie is interested in leaving this place. You should speak with her once you have left the TV world...
Sanzo's ultimate destiny: giving Margaret a few hours of peace and quiet.

And finally, the real reason why the Velvet Room is our most important stop today: Margaret's Persona Compendium.



Clear Data's greatest gift. Any new Personas you get through Fusions or Shuffle Time are automatically registered here. You can re-register Personas as they level up and gain skills, and you can buy back registered Personas at any time. While Fusion is limited by your own level, the Compendium has no such limits.

We win.



Yukiko's Shadow wanted a hot stud. Here's a real hee-man who gets all the hos.



He'll need a good wingman, too.

-Studio Backlot-


Let's play! Huh? No time?
Oh, yeah, that's right!
Let's go save the lost girl! I'll take you to the castle! Let me know when you're ready, Sensei. Leave it to me to show the way!
I wonder if Yukiko's okay...She's all alone now, isn't she?
No matter what happens, we gotta keep calm. 'Cause we're the only ones who can save Yukiko-san...




Evidence? I haven't heard of that kind of food...Ah, that's right! Here, take this.

> Obtained Goho-M x 3.
These let you warp out of a dungeon to its entrance, and warp back to the floor you were on later. Pretty handy.
If it's ever too hard to return, use those.


Chie's definitely serious, though.
Well, she is Yukiko's best friend, so of course she'd be worried. Well, it's...you know...It's at times like these that you and me gotta stay calm.
Between you and me, we can handle anything! Right, Sanzo?


Don't worry so much! She'll be just fine.
But we need to save her soon...
She's safe until the fog comes back, isn't she? There's no reason to rush things and try to save her this instant. We don't want to go out for wool and come home shorn.
But it's okay! We'll definitely save her.