Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky Part #9 - Chapter 5: The First Official Exploration Part 1

Part 9: Chapter 5: The First Official Exploration Part 1

Far to the northeast, then farther into its outermost reaches, there lies a place named Treeshroud Forest. In Treeshroud Forest, time has apparently stopped...

The cheerful guild theme cuts off as everyone jumps in shock.

Huh?!

Eek! What did you say?!

You're saying time has stopped?! Hey, hey, hey!

Yes, that's correct...

Time has come to a standstill in Treeshroud Forest... The wind has stopped... The clouds are motionless...

Dewdrops on leaves won't fall... They just hang there, suspended. In Treeshroud Forest, time itself has truly stopped.

T-time has stopped?!

But... How could something this awful happen?

It's unthinkable!

Yes, the unthinkable has happened.

Well, it's because Treeshroud Forest's Time Gear was... stolen!

The Time Gear was s-stolen?!

That's what made time stop! Hey, hey, hey!

I'd heard it was possible! But now it's really happened.

I don't get it, though! Why would ANYONE take a Time Gear?!

Chatot flaps for order.

Quiet, everyone!

It's hard to believe that anyone would dare steal a Time Gear. But if one Time Gear can be stolen, the others may also be in danger. The officer asked to be notified immediately if we notice any suspicious characters. So keep that in mind. Let us know if you notice anything. That is all.

Sure, no problem. Let's just form a neighborhood watch to find the Pokemon who's breaking the world.

All right, everyone! Here's to another busy day of work! ♪

You two, come here.

I'm impressed with your capture of Drowzee. That was very admirable! ♪ So! You all will finally be assigned a mission worthy of a proper exploration team.

R-really?! Hooray!

We earned it!

Let me see your Wonder Map.

Michael opens up her Wonder Map.

Treasure Town is here. And... over here is where we would like you to investigate.

See? There is a waterfall flowing here. ♪ By all appearances, it's just an ordinary waterfall. But we've received intelligence that the waterfall may contain a secret. And that's where you come in. We want you lot to investigate the waterfall and determine what's there.

I heard "go to dungeon." Simple enough.

Good! ♪ All right, I'll leave you all to thoroughly investigate the waterfall! ♪

Huh? What's wrong? You're shivering.

...

A-are you all right?

Yes. I'm OK. It's just the anticipation that's making me nervous. This will be the first time we get to do a real job as an exploration team. I'm feeling a little worked up...

Let's do our best, Michael!

Hey sentry nerds, guess who's going exploring today? Not you!

Chimecho's not around. Maybe she's out today?

More importantly, it's time to snoop.

I promised, and now I'll deliver! Here's my report on exploring with Bidoof!

Oh my gosh! I was amazed at how little Bidoof knew about exploring. An example! If an enemy stands beside you, pushing Y will make you face it. Easy, right? He didn't even know that! But all he needed was a little coaching. When I taught him, Bidoof picked things up quickly. He's not so bad after all! Oh my gosh!

We got the job done too! ♪ Another fun day!

Sunflora's very much the big-sisterly type. Let's check on Bidoof's most private, secret thoughts.

Sunflora is some kind of awesome! Yup yup! I went exploring with Sunflora the other day. It turns out Sunflora's a real expert at fighting in dungeons. When an enemy is just out of reach, she doesn't move toward it! Instead she uses A to launch her regular attack, striking at nothing! Then the enemy usually spends that turn closing the distance on her. And then, on her next turn, she's the first one close enough to hit!

Yup yup! She sure knows what she's doing, by golly! Why, I wanted to whoop and holler when I saw her use that trick. So thrilling! Sigh... As for me, I always rush into a fight... That's why I end up being first to get hit! But it's all right, I reckon. I know the way to do it now and can explore better now. Yup yup!

In the main games, Sunflora's not a very strong Pokemon at all. So it makes sense for the Mystery Dungeon version to be a smart and careful fighter.

It's also nice to see Bidoof growing as an apprentice.

Oh, there she is, in that little corner we've totally ignored up 'til now.

I just started an Assembly here. Today, in fact.

Assembly?

Yes! For assembling your team! Have you ever considered adding members, Babar?

Other members? Well, sure! It'd be cool to add other members! If there were more than just the two of us, it sure would help when we explore dungeons!

Well then! You need to start recruiting new members!

Oh? How do we start?

I'll just ring the Friendship Bell for you, Team America! Here goes! Hey-yah!

Chimecho rang the Friendship Bell!

R-really?

Yes! From now on, while battling Pokemon in dungeons, you may earn respect from some of them... and those Pokemon will then ask to join Team America.

Once recruited, you can go to Chimecho to switch party members in and out. It's pretty simple, and pretty great.

Oh, wow! Thanks, Chimecho!

It's Christmas for Babar.

Currently...

...Team America is just Michael and Babar. The leader can't be changed, and Babar has to always come with us. But that's fine, because leading with a Skitty is awesome, and Babar is our buddy.

We'll worry about changing up the team formation later.

It'll be your first exploration! I'm pulling for you to succeed, by gosh! Now, you all dig into that challenge really hard now!

Look at this guy. Not a shred of jealousy.

So I'm happy to support our leader through thick or thin.

We leave swirling fire in our wake as we fight... and that scares our leader. I think our leader has lost confidence because of this... But I don't know what we can do about it.

I don't like to admit it, but I'm very timid... When my team members start fighting with fire, I can't do a thing but stand back and hope I don't get hit... Ugh... I feel so pathetic...

I have trouble recalling if Team Flame ever moves past this dynamic. I can only imagine how they got into it in the first place. I bet they drew straws to decide the leader after realizing they didn't have enough fingers to do rock-paper-scissors.

It's even more mysterious how this team formed at all. At least they have a more interesting theme than Team Flame.

Just checking on Babar. Yep, he's still pumped to go to a waterfall. But before we head out on our trip, we need snacks, I mean supplies.

Who could've predicted a set of stairs appearing where a big conspicuous rock used to be?

"Spinda's Cafe! A Shop of Hopes and Dreams, Opening Soon! Win Big!" it says.

But "Hopes and Dreams"? I wonder what kind of shop this will be...

Let's come back after it's open and find out.

It will be the best shop.

I wish it would open sooner, but for now, we have important exploration business to attend to.

Also, we don't have to go into the guild every time we want to change party members. We can just do it from the watering hole.

Let's go to the beach for no reason!

Only for a reason to conveniently appear.

Ahoy! Are you headed to the beach? Well, would you keep an eye out for something, if you could? Recently, there have been Bottles washing up on the beach. It looks as though there's something inside those Bottles. If that sounds interesting, you might want to look for Bottles on the beach.

He crabwalks away, never to be seen again.

Bottles with something in them... I'm interested. Sounds like they're only washing up now and then. Whenever we head to the beach, we can look for a Bottle!

Yet another thing unlocked today. Let's check our first Bottle.

To start with, Bottles give out ordinary missions, same as the ones you can get from the bulletin boards. You can add Bottle missions to your job list to complete whenever.

Back in town, we meet a trio of badasses.

I like Team Razor Wind (a move Sandslash can't learn, incidentally), just because it has cool-looking Pokemon I like in it. The slice-and-dice theme isn't bad, either.

So which items should we buy today...?

The shop down from here looks unoccupied now... Not in business yet, I guess...

He means this shop here. No clue who on earth could be the owner.

...The sea... is so vast... We wish that we were like the sea before us. Expansive. Deep of heart. O sea, hear me! O sea, teach me! O sea, understand me!

Is it possible to experience three midlife crises at once?

Dugtrio's got issues.

We got an exploration to do.

Babar goes up to investigate.

With his face.

Try getting close to the waterfall, Michael.

Being a Ground type, Babar's weak to water. Here, though, it's more the force of the water than the water itself.

(I can barely stay standing near this deluge!)

Michael does what any curious kitten would do: facial investigation!

I didn't think it would be pouring down this powerfully! Where should we even start looking?

(Something seems familiar. It's that dizziness I felt before.)

In this vision, a strange silhouette stands before the waterfall.

It walks back...

...Runs at the waterfall...

...Jumps through...

...And rolls into a cave hidden behind it.

The silhouette heads further in.

(It happened again! I saw something... But what did I just see?)

What?! You had another vision? This time, you saw a lone Pokemon leap into this waterfall?! And not only that... There's a hidden cave behind the waterfall?!

But it looks like that water is coming down really heavily. Imagine if there was actually a solid cliff wall behind that waterfall! Ouch!

We'd be pounded badly!

Babar has good reasons to be skeptical, at least.

So Michael... What do you think?

Are you really convinced that there is a cave there?

I'm putting my faith in you, Michael! Yes! I totally believe in you, Michael.

Babar is the long-nosed, four-legged definition of trust.

Yikes!

He shakes himself.

OK, I gotta be brave now! If I get scared and fail to leap through at full speed, I'll be smooshed no matter what I do! If I'm doing it, I have to do it without hesitating.