Part 36: Day 18 - Hugs Team Base

The next dawn...

Morning, Jake! It's early, but I guessed you would be up!

Are you ready to roll?

Um, not yet.

All right, I'll wait while you get ready. Tell me when you're set. We'll roll out then.

By answering 'no' to Sheldon's question, we've gained control of Jake. Trying to walk past him leads him to say...

Are you going to the square? Be careful if you are. There are other Pokémon in the square. It's still early, so I think everyone's still asleep, but... but make sure you don't wake anyone up.

And, amusingly, all the shops are still open, staffed by their usual shopkeepers...



...except they're all sleeping. And, apparently, fully capable of sleep-shopkeeping, which is good if you got sucked into the plot unawares earlier and aren't exactly equipped to go delving. (The only business not open is the post office.) Team Hugs is prepared, though. If, on the other hand, you try to head to your Friend Areas, Jake stops, saying...

This will be a dangerous journey. I'd better leave without telling the others.

And if you try to head south, toward the dungeons, Sheldon interrupts...

Huh? Are you ready to leave?

To actually advance the plot, you need to talk to Sheldon again and say...

Hey! You all ready to go?

All set!

Yep! Looks like we're all set. From now on, we're fugitives. This is going to be one rough trip... I want to keep our team members out of this... Let's not tell our friends... and we'll go, just you and me. You know what we have to do, right? We've got to run and keep running from the rescue teams chasing us.

(...Yes. We have to escape. Who am I? Until I discover that truth, I have to run and survive. Even if it means going to the edge of this world...)

Okay! Let's roll out!

Jake!



Caterpie! And Metapod too! Oh, and even Jumpluff!

Wow, I'm glad! We made it!

We wanted to see you off, Jake.

M-me too!



Good morning. It's me, Diglett. I wanted to send you off too.

Everyone...



It's a letter. Jake, can you read it?

Jake began reading the letter.

Take care! It's farewell, but only for now. Until the day I can deliver mail to you again... I'll always be waiting. -The wandering postal carrier, Pelipper-

Even Pelipper...

Sniff... Everyone, thank you!

The other Pokémon will be waking up soon. You have to go! Hurry!

Yup. Jake! Let's go! Hit the road!

Take care!

We'll be waiting for both of you to return!

Okay! Thanks! We'll be back! Count on it! Until then, you guys be good!

Thus began Jake's cruel and arduous journey as a fugitive. Over forbidding mountains...



Across fields of fire...



Nature's gone savage here too... The forest fires are still burning out of control...

But throughout it all, Jake's team kept their heads held high. Without a complaint, they marched on.

Day 26 - Lapis Cave



Whew! We sure came a long way out. But I was thinking... while we were on the way...

So many places are hit by the natural disasters... I bet there are many Pokémon that need help. I'd really like to get back to doing our rescue work...

Sorry, I shouldn't complain. We have to get away now, period.

Huh? I hear voices...

I think they went this way. They can't get away. Not from all of us. We have to get rid of Jake quickly...

Whoa! They're catching up to us already? Jake, we have to roll.



Lapis Cave is a deep dungeon (14 floors), but not a broad one; each level only takes up the left half of the map. So we get through it pretty quickly, especially since...



...Jake's borrowed Sheldon's X-Ray Specs. With them, we can see where items (blue dots) and enemies (red dots) are at all times on our minimap, saving a lot of time exploring pointless rooms. Since we can't recruit until Jake clears his name, not a lot actually happens in this dungeon.



Jake learns another IQ skill that's only relevant for partners. 'Weak-Type Picker' means that, given multiple targets, the Pokémon will prefer to attack ones that are weak against it. (I'm not sure how good this is; Sheldon is a Water type, but he has a Dark attack, and I don't know if this would cause him to prefer to attack Pokémon weak to Dark attacks or not.)



(Not shown: me dithering over which attack to drop for Rapid Spin and finally dropping Bubble.)



Whew... We finally got through that cave. Where are the Pokémon who are chasing us?

Hey, look! There they are! Over there! Catch Jake!

Whoa! Here they come! Run!

Stop right there! Don't let them get away!

Sure. Like we're really going to wait because they said so.



The editing here makes it look like we ran quite a ways, but if you compare this screenshot to the last one, we actually moved, like, ten feet. Way to go, Nintendo.

Gasp... gasp...

Oh, no! Look!



It... It's a mountain of fire!

Look at all that lava pouring from the crater... can we even make it through there? But they're catching up to us... What'll we do, Jake?

Look! There they are! Get them!

There's no choice now! Let's go, Jake!

Look at them go! They're running for Mt. Blaze! Are they insane? Mt. Blaze is doomed desolation! No one's ever come this far before!

I don't wanna go anywhere like that.

It can't be helped. Only those brave enough will give chase!

Next time on Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Team Hugs is out of the frying pan...