Part 13: Chapter 6: Team Skull Part 3

Let me introduce our new allies. ♪



Golly, I wonder what kinds of Pokemon they are?







Ugh! What stinks?!

Eek! It reeks like rotten cheese! Ewwww!



Note that in the Japanese version, Bidoof insists that he is not responsible for the smell.







It-it's them!

These three are our new partners. ♪

Whoa-ho-ho! I'm Koffing.

Heh-heh-heh! Zubat here. Glad to meet you.

And I'm Team Skull's leader. I'm Skuntank. Remember it.







That simplifies things. ♪



They will be joining our expedition to lend us their assistance. ♪



Whaaaat?!





Hm. Very well, then.



He has decided that having this trio take part will make us stronger on the expedition. However, it would be impossible to coordinate teamwork if we were to begin working together right away. Therefore, we've decided that the trio should live with us for several days. Though it will be only for a short while, I ask everyone to treat our guests with hospitality. ♪



...Doesn't Chatot think something stinks about this? Literally?

...Eww. How can the Guildmaster stand this?

Do you see a nose on that guy? I don't.

I sure hope this expedition ends soon! Yup yup!







You gotta be KIDDING! This STINKS! How do you expect us to be cheerful when...



WH-WHAT?



YOOOOOOM...









The screen's still shaking, so he can't be wrong!

Everyone! Come on! Be cheerful, even if it hurts! All right, everyone. ♪ Let's get down to today's work. ♪







And just like that, the screen stops shaking, and the apocalypse is averted. The other apprentices go to their posts and start their days.









I don't know what they're scheming, but we'd better be careful, Michael.



We've got work to do, as well.



But maybe we should watch our backs.



Special in all sorts of ways...





It's another thing that makes me happy. Meh-heh-heh.

Poison types. :shrug:

Oh, by the way...





You'll finally learn what I'm up to here. Meh-heh-heh.

It's good to have something to look forward to, after the way this day started.



Hell yes, our guildies are already drawing lines in the grass. Team Wigglytuff versus Team Fartypants! Fight, fight!



We'll put up with you, whoa-ho!

Or trade snarky remarks, whatever.

Heh-heh-heh! Nice to see you again.

The expedition should be a joke. I'm looking forward to it. Chaw-haw-haw! Of course, there's just one little thing... Will you wimps get picked for the expedition? Chaw-haw-haw!





Well... complaining about the smell doesn't help.

We're going to have a putrid time, hey, hey...



But I won't be overcome by it!

The giant window nearby probably helps.

After loading up on missions, let's see what the townies are up to.





Want proof? Fewer exploration teams are visiting Treasure Town lately! I bet the stench is keeping them all away.

There's been a terrible stench lately. Or am I imagining it?

Unwashed skunk ass is bad for business.



If you were to ask me... You'd have to be pretty soft to let a little smell put you off! You two keep up with your training!

Vigoroth can't sleep. Maybe he can't smell, either.



But it hasn't affected us.

Yeah. How could we get any less motivated than we are now...?

This is what it's like to stop learning new things. Terrifying, isn't it?

On that note, Spinda's Cafe!





This is a pretty nice shop...

It's like this shop just sprang up overnight...



Last time, Michael got this skill. Now Babar won't waste turns using stuff like Odor Sleuth over and over on already-affected enemies.



It's not a miracle drink, but this is a good message to get.





Because "good feeling" drinks always give an extra IQ boost.



A White Gummi Draft with chestnut tones gets Michael another useful IQ Skill. Nontraitor keeps Pokemon from hurting allies in their confusion, since that status effect randomizes their aim. Nullifying the friendly-fire aspect of confusion is nice to get early on.



Also, I scored a Max Elixir from the lottery. To the missions!





While on the job, I keep track of Michael's experience points. Fun times are coming.



But let's slap around this bird criminal first.



First, set Babar to only use his supereffective-against-Flying move.



Next, perform '80s dream pop.



Third, dispense justice.



Outlaws ain't shit.



One floor later, it finally happens.



The moment I've been waiting for.



In the main Pokemon games, this would not be a good sacrifice.



But in PMD, it's totally worth it.



Multi-hit moves in the PMD games easily do tons of damage. Don't let the low number of stars fool you--DoubleSlap is devastating.



Soon, you'll see why.



This mission has an unspecified perpetrator. We're supposed to beat everyone up, until somebody drops the stolen item. Police work at its finest.



A Mt. Bristle Geodude surviving that much damage at once is suspicious.



That probably means he's the perp. Who do you work for?!



Even with damage reduced by type affinity, hitting even twice with DoubleSlap (which can connect up to 5 times) makes enemies cry.



Okay, definitely not your average Geodude. He'd have to be at least level 18 to know that move. Unlike the main games, moves like Selfdestruct and Explosion don't make the user faint. Instead, they halve the user's HP, and the HP of all enemies in the blast radius.



It also destroys surrounding walls, and items lying on the floor.



Let's just shut that down.





And that's how you spot the mystery thief.



Next!



It goes pretty much the same as the Staravia fight. Rock 'em to sleep.



And now for the finale.





Monster House, more like fun house, am I right?









After vacuuming up all the items, I go back to finish the job.



Here's DoubleSlap doing neutral damage.



STAB Confusion hurts too, but it only hits once per use.







That's the last job for today, but I decide to stick around a little longer...





...So Babar can get his multi-hit move. While similar in power an accuracy, Rollout differs from DoubleSlap in two ways. First, it's Rock-type. Second, it keeps going until it misses. For comparison, in PMD, other multi-hit moves can be like miss-miss-hit, or hit-miss-hit-hit, and so on.





Team America's masterful exploration skills get them some more cash and Gummis for wild drinking parties.



Oh, and Silver Rank.



If you were wondering about those three empty spots at the dinner table, wonder no more. Now we have to share breathable air and food with these jerks.

But we're awesome. We just made Silver Rank, and they're like, what? Turd Rank?



Next time, Team America further cement themselves as perfect choices for the expedition crew.