Part 16: Chapter 6: Team Skull Part 6

Well, here we are. The day after Team Skull got away with ruining Team America's super-important Perfect Apple mission.





Tomorrow or the day after... Or perhaps in several days' time... We plan to announce the members of the expedition party. ♪



By golly, the members are finally going to be picked!

Oh my gosh! It will be so fun!



Work hard and impress us if you want to be chosen. ♪ All right, everyone. ♪ Let's get down to work as usual. ♪





Team America missed the only proper meal of the day the night before, and the guild doesn't serve breakfast.





We're counting on you. ♪

Yesterday sucked, but we ought to keep going like usual, and put that unpleasantness behind us.

There's one other thing. About the expedition... You should give up on being chosen as expedition members.



Huh?! Wh-why?!

Your failure yesterday weighs heavily. As you know, it is difficult to tell what our Guildmaster is thinking from his demeanor... But there's no doubt that he must be seething with anger inside.

Last I checked, you're not a Psychic-type, you projecting ass.

It's unlikely that he would bother to choose you for the expedition. So when the time comes to announce the members, don't get your hopes up. That's all.



Haha just kidding. The unpleasantness was right here with us all along!







Huh? I heard a voice somewhere...

Michael and Babar look around for the source.





Oh! Bidoof!

Shhh! By golly, not so loud!

Bidoof and Sunflora look around all shifty-like.









Well... here you go.









Oh! Apples!

You must be very hungry.

We all set aside a little bit of our dinners last night for you.

Now, eat up!







They tear through the Apples in seconds.



Great!



Every one of us needs to be able to work hard in order to be picked for the expedition. Yup yup!



Sniffle... Thanks, everyone...

But about the expedition... Chatot just came and told us... We're probably not going to be chosen...

How could you say that?! There's no telling what might happen! No sirree!



Everyone... Thanks for trying to cheer us up, but... Doesn't everybody want to go on the expedition? What if we were chosen to go? If that happens, someone here might not get to go. Would you all be OK with that?

No, I wouldn't like that...

But, of course, if someone is chosen... Then someone else can't go. That's just the way it is!

If you don't get picked for the expedition, you should cheer for those who did.



Team America is loved.

Sniffle... Everyone, honestly, thank you.



We'll keep on trying to the end!



Yup yup! That's the spirit!

Yes! Let's all do our best!

We've got to try hard so we can all go!

Yes!



We have the best guildies.



If Chatot's on your shit-list now, I don't blame you. But having great co-workers makes it easier to tolerate terrible managers, so I think we'll live.







I suppose it's got nothing to do with me, but... Meh-heh-heh.

Croagunk, of course, is too cool to snitch on us.



It's about my shop. Meh-heh-heh! The Croagunk Swap Shop is back in business!



Meh-heh-heh! You heard right. I finally finished repairing my Swap Cauldron, which means that I'm finally back in business again! Meh-heh-heh!



And those items get swapped for an item offered up by another Pokemon somewhere around Treasure Town. There are some Pokemon around that have pretty rare items for swapping. So you could end up with a stupendously great swap. Get it? Meh-heh-heh! So if you two feel like swapping items, you bring them to me, all right? Meh-heh-heh!

We'll learn the nature of these swap items later on. The Swap Shop got an upgrade in PMD Sky, making it accessible a whole lot faster, but we won't be using it today.



...I was worried about you two... Anyway, here's to all of us! Let's work on being picked for the expedition...

Even shouty old man Loudred cares.



Nothing! Nothing at all! Heh-heh-heh!

Whoa-ho! Gonna whine again? You gonna say that you don't want us around? Whoa-ho-ho!

Oh, come on! You're suspicious about us guests? Chaw-haw-haw! You're not suggesting that we raided your stock, are you? Chaw-haw-haw!





Doesn't look angry to me. I think we know what Wigglytuff's like when he's angry.



Michael used Snoop!

Oh my gosh! Something happened that was totally uplifting!

Tonight, Team America had to go without dinner for some silly reason... While we were eating (oh my gosh!), Bidoof was leaving a part of his dinner untouched! And this is Bidoof, right? The one we call the "bottomless barrel" because of his big appetite! Whatever could have caused that?! Maybe he's heartbroken!

Well, I guessed that at first. But then I figured out what he was really doing. He was leaving some of his dinner for Michael's team. Then (oh my gosh!) the others noticed too. So we all did what Bidoof was doing. We left bits and pieces of our dinner. (Though Loudred agonized over the decision to the end.) Yippee! Everyone pitched in to help! How sweet of them! Oh my gosh, I am getting emotional!

In the end, we decided to share the smaller things ourselves and leave them with one whole Apple each! Chimecho, Bidoof, and I will keep those two Apples for the night. Tomorrow morning, we'll give them to Team America. They must be hungry now, but they have to endure it just a little longer... We all have to stick together and try to make it into the expedition party!

Bidoof: Guild member of the year.



There was sort of a scene today! Those Team America members were denied dinner tonight. They went to bed hungry. I reckon they goofed up something bad to be punished that way. Yup yup!

Still... going without dinner's a rotten thing. I know that I surely can't last a night without a full belly. Yup yup! So I decided that I'd save a bit of my dinner so I could share it with them. Turns out that everyone had the same idea! We all saved a bit of our dinners, it seems.

So we all met up that night, and we talked it over. Yup yup. And we decided we'll share our food with Team America. We reckon we'll sneak them the food tomorrow morning after the morning briefing. Yup yup!

The older apprentices are usually really strict, but it turns out they're awfully nice at heart... Oof... This is making me all emotional, by golly.

When Bidoof and the others herded my team into their room the first time I played PMD Explorers, I thought something bad was going to happen. I suspected the game was about to pile on more hardship after the Perfect Apple debacle, and Chatot's demotivational bullshit.

What actually happened changed my perception of Wigglytuff's Guild for the rest of the game.



We all want to win a place on the expedition, hey, hey!



We must never give up! ♪



Let's get it done!

I like to think this was a "git-r-done" reference that didn't survive quality-checking intact.



I hope everyone does their best!

Chimecho will get some actual party-forming business from me. Someday.

Heading into Treasure Town, something catches Babar's attention.





I wonder what's going on.





I wonder what kind of wonderful news.











Excited chattering replaces the usual cafe music.









Everyone claps and cheers.





Thanks to your kind patronage, this cafe has been quite popular... We've been fortunate to have so many wonderful customers! This shop's pride and joy, the Recycle Shop, is fully operational and has collected many items. We would like to thank you for your kind patronage...

By opening a new service!





Confetti must mean Project P is a big deal.

Project P?

What's that?



Allow me to explain.



Thanks to everyone's continued recycling efforts, we have gathered a lot of items here at the shop. The service will continue to operate in the same manner... And now with Project P established...



We'll use the accumulated items to explore unexplored areas! There are still so many places around the world that are waiting to be found and explored. So many secret treasures and challenging puzzles waiting to be discovered... So let's go out and find them! That's what Project P is about!

Ah, the pursuit of knowledge... And continuing exploration...



And if you bring your discoveries back to the cafe...



This should keep items circulating through the Recycle Shop. The items at the Recycle Shop will become more and more amazing! What do you think? Do you understand?

We get a Yes/No choice here, but the whole spiel boils down to: feed the Recycle Shop items to unlock more trade-in choices and extra dungeons.







It seems so economical!

We've already sent out an exploration team to find unexplored areas! There should be new discoveries before long! So, everyone! Please keep recycling, more and more every day!

Let's all work together and find unexplored areas!





Recycling leftover items, trading them around... They're bound to turn into unbelievable treasures! And being able to explore unexplored areas! Wahoo! I'm so excited! We should recycle more!

Babar abhors a hoarder.



I'm not being deceived, right? This is OK?

Yes, Spinda's Cafe is actually this awesome.







These guys get it.





Spinda's Cafe actually isn't in business for today, due to the big announcement, so I'll have to save drinks and recycling for next time.