Part 34: Day 15 - Great Canyon
Morning, Jake! Let's keep doing our best... Actually, I need to ask you something.
Remember what Xatu said yesterday? Does it bother you?
This is another conversation that can take some strange turns. There's an 'official' story, which I will tell, but I can't just leave the weirdness out, so...Choose your own conversational adventure!
If Jake says 'yes, it bothers me' (the official answer), keep reading; otherwise, skip to the next of me.Yeah, I guess so. It would bother you too, Jake. He said that there is a link between the world's balance being upset and how you became a Pokémon... And how the upset balance is causing natural disasters... And, worst of all, he said how our world will be ruined if the balance isn't restored.
If Jake said 'no, it doesn't bother me' (the goofy answer), keep reading; otherwise, skip to the next of me.
Hah?! It doesn't have anything to do with you? Jake! That's not funny! The world might be destroyed! And how you became a Pokémon, Jake... that's all supposed to be related!Oh! ...I get it. On second thought, you must be more worried than I am, Jake... You're in the middle of this. Of course you're worried... Sorry, Jake. I wasn't thinking.
Xatu said the world will be destroyed if nothing's done...Just keep reading.I want to do something... But I don't really get it... Tell me. The world's balance... What is that? Jake, do you know? What the world's balance is?If Jake says 'I don't know' (the official answer), go to the two smart Dittoes below; otherwise, keep reading for the wackiness.Oh, really?! Jake, you know?! So, what is it? What is the world's balance?To end this silliness now, have Jake say 'Sorry, I don't know.' and go to the three dumb Dittoes below; otherwise, keep reading.
It's in space!In space...? Like where the stars and the moon are? That space?Hmm... I'm getting even more confused here... So, the world's balance is where out in space?To end this silliness now, have Jake say 'Sorry, I don't know.' and go to the three dumb Dittoes below; otherwise, keep reading.If you go, you'll see!Hah?! Go out to space?!How are we supposed to do that?!To have Jake say 'On guts!', go to the four partying Dittoes below; otherwise, keep reading.Fly there!Hah?! No way! I can't fly!Just then, a Pelipper flies up.Hey! Pelipper! You came at the right time! We want you to carry us out into space...
No way! Not a chance!...and the Pelipper flies off again.
...Jake can choose to say either 'It appears to be impossible...' or 'It's impossible, after all...' here. The choice makes no difference.What is it with you?! Goofing around like that! Think a little more before you say anything!Skip to Jake's face.
This is the correct place to go for four partying Dittoes.What do you mean, guts?! If that's all it took, we wouldn't be talking about it!
...So, you don't know anything at all, Jake...Skip to Jake's face.This is the correct place to go for three dumb Dittoes.What?! That's really lame! Cut it out!...But, yeah, I guess it's impossible to tell what it is...Skip to Jake's face.This is the correct place to go for two smart Dittoes....Okay. Yeah, I guess so. It'd be impossible to know.......I don't have a clue what the world's balance is about... Honest, I don't know what to do...I guess we'll just have to do what we can. One thing at a time...Congratulations, you survived the adventure!A word of warning for those playing along at home: going into town at this point triggers some plot, and if you follow up on that plot some major events happen. For narrative reasons, I'll show you that plot in the next update. However, if you don't follow up on the plot, you can continue to play and do random missions, which is what we're going to do. A quick trip into town to organize our supplies...
...and we're off!
No! Stay back! I don't want to turn evil!
Relax, we're not one of those crazies.
We're Rescue Team Hugs, and we're on an important mission!You're a rescue team? Please, take me with you! It's so scary here...
Sure, we can do that. Welcome aboard!But you better be ready to do your part!(Usually he's the cheerful one... he's taken losing Alt Eisen harder than I thought.) Uh, Jake, aren't you forgetting something?Oh yeah!
Skidamrink (Phanpy, #231) is hugged! Pokémon hugged: 27. (Thanks, I_is_barbeque (art) and VengefulKiwi (name)!)
(Whew. If he hadn't wanted to hug a Pokémon, I'd be really worried.)
Now let's go!I'll bump the bad guys with my trunk!
Phony, is that you? What're you doing down here?
Oh, hey there! After Jake found that statue down here, we thought we'd look around and see if we could find any more of them. What's going on?Zira sent us to rescue you!Well, that was nice of her, but as you can see, I'm just fine.Well, we're glad to hear that, at least.We've got to keep going, though. Pokémon are in trouble!Sure, sure. You folks take care!
Hey, it's Zuta. You doing okay?
Not really. I heard about the Xatu here-- Natu evolve into Xatu, you know, or should-- and I wanted to find out why nobody's evolving. But I'm too weak to handle this....well, we can send you back to town.I'd appreciate that. Thanks.(I'm not sure I want anyone else talking to him after that bombshell yesterday anyway... wait, how did he hear about Xatu?)
Ah, excellent, excellent! You must be Team Hugs.And you must be Blunt the King.BklynBruzer sent us to rescue you!Good of him to do so, very good. I've been holding my own, but getting out has been another issue entirely. If you wouldn't mind using your rescue badge?No problem. Just hold still a moment.
...so dry... everything's going dark... tell my wife I--M-MissileWaster?Huzzah! Salvation at last! In my most desperate hour, you, good sir, come to slake my thirst and transport me from this barren environment!Yeah, Frankomatic sent us after you. Let me get you something to drink--No need, friend Squirtle, for the mere sight of friendly faces in this barren landscape is like an oasis in the desert! Swiftly now, bestow your magical power so that I may be reunited with my loved ones!Sure, hold still a second.
He was sure energetic for someone about to die.What was wrong with the water right behind him, anyway?
Hi, mister Rooreelooo!Your friend Bitsy is looking for you.
Well, that's odd. I'm looking for Bitsy.You don't have much luck with meetings, huh?We'll send you back to town so you can hook up.Or try to.Jake, look out!
Yaaaa!Have a big bump, you big bug!
Wait, don't hit him!Hah?
It's Alt Eisen! You're alive!What happened to you?
Forgive me. When that Houndoom attacked me, the pain unleashed some of my memories... my partner is in this cavern still. I tried to run to her side, but collapsed from the pain. When I came to, I realized I had abandoned you, but it was too late to find you.
I'm just glad you're alive!Me too; I thought you'd been vaporized or something. It's good to have you back!...I can't.What? Why?She is still here somewhere. I must find her.Then we'll help you! That's what rescue teams do!Right. Stick with us, and we'll find your partner together....very well.Welcome back, Alt Eisen!...no.'No'?You can call me... Kyosuke....okay, sure. Kyosuke it is.I was prepared to savestate abuse to get 
It's Grapplejack! Hi, Grapplejack!
Boy am I glad to see you. You've gotta get me out of here! What was I thinking?Don't worry, we'll have you out of here in a jiffy.Why did you come here anyway?Well, you know my friend Minotaurus, right?Uh huh.Well, I heard that all Tauroses are male, and...And?I wanted to see where the baby Tauroses come from.............perhaps we'd better get you home.Yeah, you'd better. Uh, don't tell Minotaurus about this...
Hey, Sheldon? Where do--
Don't know. Don't wanna know.
Oh, a friendly face at last!Panic, right? McDragon sent us here to rescue you.It's the least he could do after dropping me here in the first place! That's the last time I trust him to fly me anywhere.I was wondering how you got here.Are you all right?Yeah, sure, I'm just peachy. Surrounded by complete psychopaths! Fewer stupid questions and more getting me out of here!
He was sure grumpy.He was just scared. I'm sure he feels better now!
Excellen!
Kyosuke!Look out, bad guys right behind her!
Whew! That was close.Let's get out of here before more come back!Good idea. We've done everything we came here to do. Jake, hit us all this time.Okay!
Let's look at the fruits of our labors!
Zira and Phony were reunited, and even though we didn't have a lot to do with it, Phony let us keep the statue he found.
It's a Mime Jr. statue, another Diamond/Pearl reference.I like it. It's cute!Cuter than the other one, at least.They also gave us a Facade TM and a Reviver Seed, as well as...
Zira (Drowzee, #096) is hugged! Pokémon hugged: 28. (Thanks, Zira!)
Quinn and Zuta gave us 600 Poké and Goggle Specs for our trouble. They also gave us 40 Rescue Points (the standard for rescues of this difficulty), which is enough to bump up our Rank...
BklynBruzer and Blunt the King gave us 600 Poké and... Grimy Food. Which is a bit of a gag gift, because though it does restore some nutrition, it also inflicts a variety of status ailments. Normally you wind up with Grimy Food when a trap spoils normal food. Gee, thanks, Blunt the King. 
Frankomatic and MissileWaster do much better. We get Ginseng, a pink gummi, and a sky gummi.
Bitsy and Rooreelooo, not to be outdone, give us an Ice Beam TM, a Secret Power TM, and a yellow gummi.
Minotaurus and Grapplejack give us a Shadow Ball TM, a silver gummi, and a royal gummi.
By comparison, McDragon and Panic's gift of a Chestnut, a Heal Seed, and a gold gummi may not seem like much, but we'll need to collect Chestnuts in a dungeon later, and since they randomly spawn, we don't always get enough in one trip. This ought to save some time, so we're keeping it. Finally, Kyosuke and Excellen give us a Hidden Power TM, a green gummi, and a pink gummi, in addition to Kyosuke's continued service as part of Team Hugs.We've already covered the effects of Hidden Power. Facade is a Normal type melee attack that does double damage if the target is poisoned or burned. Unfortunately, it only has 12 PP, so it'll get sold. Ice Beam is a ranged Ice attack with a chance of freezing the target; it only has 8 PP, but it is extremely powerful, so we'll leave it in storage for now. Secret Power is a move like Hidden Power; instead of its type varying with the dungeon, it can cause added effects depending on the terrain (like freezing in icy terrain). Unfortunately, it only has 10 PP. Finally, Shadow Ball is a ranged Ghost attack that can also lower the target's Special Defense; if it didn't have only 10 PP, I'd be putting it on Jake pretty quickly. Sadly, between the limits on team size and the length of dungeons, we're not getting to use too many cool attacks.
And with that, we bid the day an end... the last peaceful day Team Hugs will know for quite some time.Team Hugs' newest members:
Next time on Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: it all starts going horribly wrong.