Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky Part #4

Part 4: Chapter 3: The Scream Part 1

The next morning...

UP AND AT 'EM! IT'S MORNING!

Loudred has become the team's official alarm clock. Time for another day of training.

Everyone: AND... THREE! SMILES GO FOR MILES!

OK, Pokemon! ♪ Time to get to work! ♪

So today, we'll--

Well, come with me.

You can walk right up to him, and he'll still do that. Welcome to Chatot.

Huh? Last time we did a job, it was from the board on the other side...

Correct! ♪ Today, we'll have you do a job listed on this side. ♪

How is this different from the board on the other side?

Take a closer look! ♪

Oh, look, Michael! There are posters up here that show a variety of Pokemon! Wow, they all look pretty cool! Are they famous explorers? Who are these Pokemon, Chatot?

The Pokemon posted here... are outlaws. They're all shady characters. And they're wanted for committing crimes.

They're outlaws?!

Correct. So there are bounties on their heads. In other words, there is a cash reward if you capture one. There are so many aggressive Pokemon around these days that everyone's finding it hard to keep up with the problem.

Wait! You're telling us to go catch these outlaws?

You can't be serious! That's not possible!

Just joking! ♪

The bad Pokemon out there come in all shades of badness! ♪ Some of those Pokemon are completely wicked, through and through... But there are also bad Pokemon who are merely petty thieves. So you've got evil to naughty... and everything in between! ♪ So I'm sure we can avoid giving you a job catching a superbad Pokemon...

Hee-heeeee! ♪

Chatot has issues.

So look over these posters, then pick a Pokemon that looks weak enough for you to bring to justice! ♪

You say some are weak... But they're still bad Pokemon, aren't they? I'm scared of dangerous Pokemon!

It's all part of your training. You'll work through it, I'm sure! ♪ But I suppose you do need to be prepared to confront a tough opponent... So I'll have someone give you a tour of the facilities.

Hey! Bidoof! Bidoof?!

Bidoof: Yup yup!

Huff-puff-huff... You called?

Ah, Bidoof! ♪ These are the new recruits that just joined us. Take them and show them around the town. ♪

Yes sirree! By golly, I'll do just that! Yup yup!

This is Bidoof. He's one of your fellow apprentices. I want you to pay attention to what Bidoof has to say and follow his orders. Off you go! ♪

Aw, shucks! I'm overjoyed!

Why's that?

I'm glad to have members junior to me! I'm almost overcome right now... I might just blubber with happiness! Before you all signed on, I was the most recent rookie...

Well, I'd best show you around. Come with me, please.

First things first!

But to tell the truth, I don't have any idea what that Pokemon's up to... He always seems to be fiddling around with that big cauldron back there. It's all a mystery to me! Yup yup!

Next, I'll guide you both around places outside the guild.

I hear you can make a record of your adventure at that Watering Hole. Usually, you make a record of your adventure by going to your bed at the guild, yup yup. Seems you can make a record of your adventure over there too. By golly, it's a handy spot when you want to record your adventure frequently.

This is a new feature in Explorers of Sky. Along with one of the newer translators at the time who worked on this game, who apparently couldn't translate the same phrase a different way over four consecutive sentences. I'll have more complaints about them later.

This is the main square for the local Pokemon... It's called Treasure Town.

Oh, I can tell you about Treasure Town too.

We can save our money there.

Chunsoft-wise, banks are a feature that started way back in the old Dragon Quest games, as well as previous Mystery Dungeon titles. In DQ, you could only store money in increments of a thousand, but in this game, you can store as much or as little as you want. The point of banks in either series is the same--if you get wiped out, your on-hand cash gets cut in half, but your bank deposit remains untouched.

That's where you can do thing like link moves together, but it looks as if Electivire isn't here today.

This shop returns from the first PMD, now run by Electivire instead of Gulpin. I'll explain it in detail once it opens.

On the west side of town...

Super Kecleon Bros. are back to take your money. The purple one isn't shiny; he just wants to be that color.

If you have precious items that you can't afford to lose, store them here before you go on an adventure.

I think storehouses are in every Chunsoft dungeon game. In Shiren the Wanderer, storage was invaluable, as dying not only sent you back to the first town and de-leveled you, it also took all your items.

And those are the basic places that exploration teams visit.

And that should do it.

You sure know a lot, yes sirree! And that's good to know! All right, then. Come find me when you're ready to go. I'll give you a helping hand with selecting the right outlaw for you.

Thank you, Bidoof. You've been really nice.

I'll be waiting at the guild's upper underground floor for you.

I'd like to see what kinds of items are available! Let's go to the Kecleon Market! Before we head back, a visit to the Kecleon Market is a must!

Looks like we have to take Babar shopping. First, let's get to know the various patrons of Treasure Town.

Seedot and Pidgey form Team Seedgey. Like Michael and Babar, they're an exploration duo. Unlike Michael and Babar, they have no interesting story whatsoever.

Hey, hey! My name's Corphish! I'm an apprentice at Wigglytuff's Guild too. Hey, hey! If you don't know what's going on or whatever... you come ask me! You got that, hey, hey?

Corphish's verbal tic comes from his name in the Japanese version, Heigani. So in that one, he's always saying the first part of his name.

You can understand Pokemon now, but they're still goofy weirdos.

Oh my gosh! The new guild recruits! Delighted to meet you!

Sunflora is like everyone's big sister among the apprentices. We'll get to know her pretty well later on.

That cool name was thought up by my partner Wurmple next to me! What do you think? Cool name, am I right?!

Excuse me? Why did I pick the name Team Tasty? Well... Er, um... I think that's how my partner will think of me eventually... Y-y-yeesh...

Way better than the forgettable Team Seedgey, Team Tasty's dynamic is Swellow's obliviousness clashing with Wurmple's paranoia. They're sort of an unintentional comedy duo.

Vigoroth's always hanging around town. It's not clear exactly what he does, but he's probably a solo explorer or something.

I keep telling my partner that we should seek out flashy baubles and glamorous glitz, but Shuppet always reacts coolly to my suggestions. But she seems not to hear! Or she just won't listen! Arrgh, it's aggravating!

Team Ebony, the treasure hunters. They clash too much to really get anywhere, though.

Sharpedo Bluff stands at the west end of town.

Nothing here but a nice view of the ocean.

Let's see what storage is like.

Our bag holds 16 items, and storage can hold a total of 64. Storage in PMD used to be infinite, but starting with Time and Darkness, it became limited based on your team's rank. We're Normal Rank, so we get 64 to start with. That's not as much as it sounds like, because most items don't stack.

It's a good idea to keep a stock of healing items, like Max Elixirs, so you don't have to buy them from Kecleon all the time, or hope they show up in a dungeon.

Time to finally do what Babar wants.

The green Kecleon sells essential items for dungeon-crawling, like food, throwing items, and hold items. He also sells Gummis, which are a bit out of our price range right now.

Kecleon's inventory changes daily, and is finite; you can clean him out for the day if you have enough money.

I decide not to buy anything for now, though.

Welcome, my young friends! ♪

Hello. May I buy an Apple?

Oh, most certainly!

Thank you, Misters Kecleon!

No, thank you, my young friends! You are to be admired! ♪

Lately, their poor mother has fallen sick. So those youngsters come and do the shopping for her. It's quite remarkable. Though very young, they've stepped up and taken charge. ♪

Oh? What's the hurry? What makes you return in such a rush?

There was an extra Apple!

We didn't pay for this many.

Oh, yes... That, young friends, is a gift from me and my brother. Please, share it among yourselves and do enjoy.

Yay! Thank you, Mr. Kecleon and Mr. Kecleon!

Oh, not to worry, my friends. Do take care on your way home. ♪

Awww. I'm gonna throw up.

The cheery music cuts out as Azurill trips, and his Apple goes flying. It lands at Michael's feet, and she picks it up.

W-were sorry to bother you. Thank you so much.

(Huh? What was that?)

(D-dizzy? Or am I...?)

(What was that? I'm sure I heard a shout for help just now...)

(Did that shout come from you?)

Is something the matter?

Yup! I'm coming! Wait up!

Yup!

We're done with our shopping... Now we gotta look for an item we've lost! Let's get going.

Yup! I'm coming!

Ha! Those little guys are cute.

What's the matter, Michael?

Huh? Did I hear a shout for help just then? Uh, no... I didn't hear anything like that!

Did you hear anything strange just a moment ago?

No, nothing out of the ordinary.

I didn't hear anything odd either.

It sounds like the Kecleon brothers didn't hear anything odd either. You must have imagined it, Michael.

(I definitely heard it! That shout I heard... There's no mistaking it... That was Azurill's scream!)

Let's move it, Michael!

Now that we've visited Kecleon Market, and convinced everyone we're crazy, let's see what the purple one has to sell.

TMs are out of our range for quite a while, at least as far as buying them goes. Since this came out before the 5th generation of Pokemon, TMs are not infinite-use, but it's not a huge pain to get more.

Orbs have the same function as staves and scrolls from other Mystery Dungeon games. Drought Orbs dry all liquids on the floor, like puddles and lava, but it won't work if it's a dungeon where the normal ground is watery. Sandy Orbs change the weather to Sandstorm. The Foe-Hold Orb, which I buy and store for later, petrifies all enemies on the floor. That stops them from moving or acting until they get attacked.

Preparations are complete, so let's go see Bidoof about that outlaw mission.

Oh! What's going on there?

Thank you!

Please! It's nothing.

Oh! Hi!

Some time ago, we lost an item that's pretty important to us... We've been looking all over... But we haven't found it yet!

And he says he may have seen our lost item somewhere! He even offered to help us look for it. We're so happy about this!

Yeah! That's great for you!

Thank you, Mr. Drowzee!

Oh, please... I'd have to have a cold heart to ignore kids in need! I can't turn a blind eye! Let us be on our way to begin our search!

Yup!

(Urk... Wh-what is this...?)

That Drowzee sure is a nice Pokemon, isn't he? I'm impressed. With more and more bad Pokemon around... it's hard to do good deeds.

(It's happening again... Another dizzy spell...)

If you keep being difficult, it will mean big trouble for you!

(What was that?!)

It would be nice if those little guys found their item soon.

Huh? What's the matter, Michael?

...Hmm? You want to tell me something?

The music fades, and Michael drags Babar a few feet over, so the Duskull banker can eavesdrop on them.

You had a dizzy spell? Then you saw Azurill being threatened by Drowzee?! So you want to go rescue Azurill right away?

It's an... emergency?!

Well, what you describe does sound like an emergency, but... Well, it's not like I don't trust you, Michael, but...

"It's not like you're completely bonkers, but..."

I just can't believe it! After all, Drowzee seemed to be a sincerely nice Pokemon, didn't he? I watched the three of them go off earlier... They looked like they were having a good time, didn't they?

You're probably just tired, Michael. Maybe that's why you just had that bad daydream.

(Was that it...? Just a bad daydream? But come to think of it... That Drowzee didn't seem like a bad Pokemon.)

Like an amnesiac can tell. An amnesiac with the audacity to hallucinate in public.

Sure, it's worrying, but... We have to concentrate on our guild work for now. Let's get ourselves ready to explore. Then we should find Bidoof. Bidoof's supposed to be waiting on the guild's upper underground floor.

Let's go, Michael!