Part 11: Chapter 6: Team Skull Part 1

There are many aspects of that lake that remain mysterious. We hope to unravel those mysteries. And so, our guild is planning to mount an expedition for the first time in a while. ♪



It's been a long time since we went on an expedition!

But... That means you're going to be picking members for the expedition from ALL of us again, right?



We will depart in several days. Over these next few days, we will choose the most worthy apprentices. The chosen members will form the expedition party. Everyone, work hard so that you may be chosen for the expedition!



Yup yup! I've yet to go on an expedition. I would surely love to go this time!

Let's work at it and get picked as members!

Chatot flaps for order.

All right, everyone. ♪ It's back to work as usual. ♪





Of course, that means business as usual for Team America, as well.



All right! Look SHARP, Diglett!

Foot-staring will totally make you expedition material.



As opposed to diary-sneaking, which will make you... creep material?

Oh my gosh! I had a nasty scare the other day! While exploring a dungeon, I was careless and took a hit from a Fire-type move! Silly me! I'm a Grass type! So I ended up taking a lot of damage! Eek!

I should really explain what all this is about. As you know, Pokemon come in many types, like Fire and Water. All moves have types too! The matchup between the attacking move's type and the defending Pokemon's type affects damage! As a Grass type, I should really watch out for Fire-type moves! Knowing how types match up is so important.

Sunflora getting her petals fried is just the tip of the iceberg. Pokemon types get complicated enough in the main series that even people who have been playing for a year or two haven't mastered the type chart. And whenever a new generation comes out, type matchups can be slightly altered, or new types are added, changing the balance of the entire game.

P.S. When I got into trouble because of all this... It was Loudred who saved me. Thank you, Loudred. That other time I yelled at him! I said, "Oh my gosh, Loudred! I never want to go exploring with you ever again!" But... eek! Am I ever sorry for saying that! I take back everything nasty I said!

I wonder if he would go to a dungeon with me ever again? I think I will go apologize to him sincerely tomorrow. Yes, that's what I will do. I'm sorry, Loudred. I hope we can keep on being teammates.

That's nice. It would also be nice to know more of this story outside of the diary pages, but that's for another time.



Because right now, we have more privacy to invade!

Well, seems there's another thing I was clueless about! When you use moves instead of regular attacks to defeat an enemy, you get more Exp. Points. Did everyone know that but me? I didn't know that! But there's more! You need to hit the foe only once with a move. Other than that one move, you can strike it with regular attacks. And you still get the boosted Exp. Points. How about that, by golly?

It has to be a direct-damage move, though. Even if something like Poison Powder makes a Pokemon take damage every turn, it's a Status move, and doesn't qualify for the experience boost.

Moves also have higher critical-hit rates than the regular attack. So you're cheating yourself if you're not using moves! I'll be using more moves! Starting tomorrow! Yup yup!

P.S. So... I did exactly what I promised I would! I used lots of moves while exploring! But I used my moves so often that I ran out of PP for my moves almost right away... Oof... Exploring is never as easy as it looks, I reckon.

Baby steps.



Let's try to do as many jobs as we can. Then they'll have to pick us for the expedition party! Let's go check now, Michael!

That sounds legi--



Look! Those Pokemon...



Hey!

You two?!

Huh? That duo... Wait, haven't we seen them before?

A flashback happens.

I... I remember! They're those two crooks who stole my Relic Fragment!

Then we pushed them down and kicked sand in their mouths.

What are they doing here?!



Whoa-ho-ho! I'll have you know that we're an exploration team too.

Heh-heh-heh. What's so funny about an exploration team checking out the Job Bulletin Board?

What?! You're an exploration team?!

That's right. Though the way we operate isn't always... by the book. But what a surprise! Why would you be here?

We wanted to become exploration team members. That's why we're training at this guild.



Whaaaat?!

You want to become a real-deal exploration team member?!







You! Come with us for a second.

Wh-what is it?







What?! Why?!

Well, you're timid. You scare easy. A scaredy-cat like you can't cut it on an exploration team.

B-but!





But that's why I'm in training! So I can overcome my own shortcomings! Even now, I'm working hard to be picked for the guild's expedition!

Oh? An expedition, you say?

Heh-heh. Well, effort only gets you so far. You won't get picked for the expedition party if you don't have talent, right? It all comes down to talent... pure talent!

B-big talk! You sure talk a lot about talent, but what kind of skills do you have? You were so weak, we even beat you!

Whoa-ho-ho! Well, we didn't have the Chief with us.

Ch-Chief?

Heh-heh. That's right.

Team Skull, our exploration team, has three members.

Our Chief is incredibly talented.

To put it bluntly, he's brutally tough.

Heh-heh. If the Chief were around, we'd snap you like a twig.



Smell?

Here's the Chief!











Ugh! What's this awful stench?



Eek! It reeks like rotten cheese!



That is foul, yes sirree!



In the Japanese version, this part goes:

"OMG who farted?!"

"It wasn't me!"

"Then who was it?!"





Oh no...



Chief!

You showed them, Chief! You're the best!

Yeah, yeah, whatever. So, you two, did you sniff out any jobs that'll bring in the cash?

The Job Bulletin Board only posted cheap tasks, but...

There's something else, Chief. It's got the potential to go big...





What? An expedition from this guild? That does sound tasty.

Doesn't it?

Let's get out of here. We need to do some plotting. Come on. We're going.

Yeah!













Michael gets to her feet.





I couldn't work up the courage to challenge him to his face! Even though he hurt you, Michael... I'm ashamed of myself...



The king of elephants is not wimpy. You can choose the mean answer if you want, but all it does is prove you're a meanie.

Thanks for trying to cheer me up, Michael...

But... But I really am a wimp...



But it's nothing new for me... I've decided that I can still do my best even if I'm not very brave. I'm not going to give up over something like this.

Getting things done despite an all-consuming anxiety over not knowing what the hell you're doing is what adulthood is all about.



I'm going to be cheerful and keep trying. Thank you, Michael!

For now, we'd better keep working like we've been doing.



Let's keep at it, Michael!

No doubt the older guild apprentices are outraged at the rough treatment of their junior members by some Poison-type punks.



It's a mystery! Eek!

Oh, come on.

Hey, hey, hey! Those guys you were talking with... They looked like some rough customers, hey, hey?

Ewww! What an eye-watering stink cloud!

Now don't you all look at me like that. Gosh, it's not nice to stare! By golly, I tell you it has nothing to do with me, no sirree!

I wonder why Bidoof would be so defensive? Anyway...



We'll be cleaning out some lawless trash, making these our first real outlaw missions.



I thought I smelled something awfully ODD coming from over there... Did something happen on the other floor?



I don't mind it at all. Nope, it's quite all right with me. Meh-heh-heh.

Poison-types. :shrug:

Upon leaving the guild...





...We are met with two familiar blue faces.



The new shop, Spinda's Cafe, is now open! This wonderful shop is overflowing with hopes and dreams, is it not?

Hopes and dreams?







Michael nods. Hopes and dreams totally can't be a metaphor for illicit and therefore fun activities, after all.















Hello and welcome to Spinda's Cafe! My name is Spinda. I am the owner of this cafe. This is a cafe for explorers who enjoy finding new things every day and who are constantly challenging themselves.

A cafe for explorers?

That's right. It's natural to want to refresh yourself with a hearty, delicious drink after exploring... So we are delighted to provide this service to explorers, and we trust it will bring them happiness. Today is our grand opening! Allow me to show you around the premises.





You've undoubtedly collected Gummis and Apples during your explorations, am I right? Here, those edibles can become delicious drink sensations. I, Spinda, will take your ingredient and use my incredible skills to create a delectable drink for you.

Really? So if we brought you an Apple, you'd make some Apple Juice, is that what you're saying?



While you're enjoying a nutritious drink, you can sit back and share exploration stories. Here's the next facility...





I'll bet you have a bunch of items in storage that you picked up in your travels and have little use for, am I right? Sometimes you have to throw out your extra items to make room...



There could be explorers in dungeons out there who are desperately in need of the very things you have locked in storage.



That's what we thought too. That's why we established this facility. You can bring your extra items here and trade them for items you want. How does that sound? One Pokemon's trash is another Pokemon's treasure, am I right? I thought it would be fun for explorers to gather and trade items with one another. You'll never have to throw out another item. You'll never have to say, "What a waste!" That's my goal.

Between mixing drinks and recycling, you have no excuse to hoard in PMD Sky.

So if you've got a collection of items you don't need, please make use of our Recycle Shop. You can even get a bonus Prize Ticket when recycling items. It's a lot of fun.



Wow. Seems like a really fun shop.



It is my goal to have a cafe of hopes and dreams, where many explorers can gather. I hope to see you again soon here at Spinda's Cafe.



Let's see what the patrons think of one of the best additions to the updated version of PMD Time and Darkness.



It's like a paradise for exploooorers!!





I've got too many Oran Berries, so I've been thinking of trading them in.



The drinks were so fresh and juicy... and delicious... But that was it... I thought my Belly would be filled and my HP would be restored... It seems like a drink made from an Apple or an Oran Berry has no effect. Well, at any rate, it was delicious, so I'm not too disappointed. I wonder if there's an effect when you use a Gummi...



Hmm... What should I do...? I should splurge and have a drink made with my Yellow Gummi...

These two barflies are basically saying "Use all your Gummis here. DO IT."



So that's just what we're gonna do.



In a perfect world, I would have about fifty-thousand White and Brown Gummis to power up Team America with. But for now, I have to settle for type matchups as they pertain to Gummis.



Blue=Water, and Water=super-effective to Ground, making it the next best thing to a Brown Gummi for Babar.



That's right!









Of course, there's more to making drinks than just Gummi Smoothies. A variety of things can happen.





Like the miracle drink. It's pretty rare, and I got it here on my first try.





Unbelieeeevable!! Never before has a heavenly, super-special, incredible, miracle-combination flavor like this been experienced! Right now, right here, Babar is enjoying a flavor that is out of this world!

When drinking a Gummi at the cafe, aside from IQ going up, one of the four non-HP stats will also rise by one point.



And when it's a miracle drink, another random stat will raise a little higher. These are permanent stat-ups, by the way.



Clear Gummis are for Ice-type Pokemon, another type which is super-effective against Ground.





Yellow is for Electrics, so Babar would get less of an IQ boost from it compared to Michael.



After exhausting our on-hand Gummi supply, it's time to check out the Recycle Shop.





You almost always want to choose one of the ticket options, because they don't need specific items. For now, that's gonna be the Prize Ticket.



Then I go through storage and select the extras I don't want to keep.







Save-scumming the lottery has shown me that some color cards seem to lose a lot one day, and win the next. I'm not gonna do that for this LP, though.







Wobbuffet shakes herself.



Wobbuffet shakes again.



Another miracle on my first try?!



...

...Don't tell me... It's a loss, right?



Hey... Why not calm down...?





Even if you lose, you still get an item. Which can then be recycled to get more Prize Tickets, so it's not that big a loss in the end.

There are more Gummis to drink in storage, so Team America leaves the cafe to go get them.



Chimecho floats over just as they emerge.



All this does is let our other party members chill at the cafe instead of the sign post. I think it's a nice touch, and there's no reason to say no.

Next time, we'll get some more drinking in, and stomp some outlaws.