Part 45: Bonus fanart extravaganza! Now with extra background information!
First off, my apologies on how long it took to get through this part of the game. I was worried that I'd burn out playing the levels, but it turned out that playing them was a doddle. Trying to come up with interesting plot for each and every new recruit was the hard part and, furthermore, was turning into an exercise in fanfiction rather than an LP; I think we're all better served by the route I've taken. That said, people did like the bits I wrote about the trips before I wound up scrapping them; expect to see that material as a 'bonus feature' after the LP is done.
Now, some people did notice that you can't actually do what I said I was doing here, namely take Jake and Sheldon out of the party. You can't make an arbitrary team until after the credits roll. What I was actually doing while going out and recruiting was taking along whichever member of the team needed the most help getting to the point where they could evolve. (Pokémon who don't evolve or who evolve by some means other than leveling stayed back at base.) How many levels were gained? Well...
Initial Current Final Level Level Evolution Name (Species) ------------------------------------------- 03 04 20 Nicodemus (Rattata) 06 07 20 Little Mac (Tyrogue -> Hitmonchan) 06 07 20 Jet Alone (Tyrogue -> Hitmonlee) 11 12 24 Cŵn Annwn (Houndour) 08 10 10 Mr. Pointy (Weedle) 10 12 25 Hypnotoad (Poliwag -> Poliwrath) 10 12 25 Robin (Poliwag -> Politoed) 13 16 16 Nicky (NidoranM) 08 15 15 Rugby (Sentret) 26 33 28 Jake (Meowth) 26 35 36 Sheldon (Squirtle) 07 18 18 Madam Dot (Ledyba) 04 16 16 Nelly (NidoranF) 03 16 18 Nigel (Poochyena)
Jake also chowed down on a lot of Gummis, picking up several new IQ Skills. Exp. Go-Getter is a partner skill that tells them to prioritize enemies that give the most experience; this indirectly translates to 'hit the strongest guy', more or less. Energy Saver makes the Pokémon get hungry slower; unfortunately, Jake can't have it and Self-Curer on at the same time, so it's not likely to come in handy until we reach a really long dungeon. Finally, Lava Evader is a partner-only skill that prevents your partner from stepping on lava; however, (a) you have to be able to travel over lava in the first place, (b) you have to be a non-Fire type who'd be burned by the lava, and (c) the Burn condition isn't that bad. Have patience, folks; there are good IQ Skills waiting in the wings.
We also earned enough rescue points to advance a rank! Team Hugs is now Gold Rank.
Yaaay! 
And now, fanart! We start with a non-goon submission from someone who saw my Vimeo videos.
It's his first fanart, and it shows, but I appreciate the sentiment.
It took a while to get through the Great Dungeon Offensive, as noted, and some people got impatient with the delay. Cryptobotanist expressed this with his doodle, which I'm including here because it amuses me. (For those of you wondering why there's a Waddle Dee in the picture, looking at my very first LP may prove instructive.)
Let's take a look at some quality art, shall we?
Desty provides this amusing look at Jake and
As well as this tale of what Desty and Molly were up to on their trip to the Frosty Forest, thumbnailed for huge. (The Spheal is apparently on vacation.)
And what if Jake wasn't so careful when he met Nicky? Silly Jake; that's what Pecha Scarves are for!
Desty isn't the only one with fanart, though.
Phelix must be a Kyosuke fan. He looks pretty awesome here.
Shaezerus highlights a possible hazard of hugging a Voltorb...
...while Neeksy has a cautionary tale about Exeggcutes. (No Pokémon were harmed in the making of this LP. Well, except for all the ones Jake beat up.)
Speaking of Neeksy, this is officially my favorite piece of the update. If I were a Ditto, I would totally do that.
And to top it all off, a few ditto smilies that people have made for the thread. Yaaay
Tune in next time to find out what the plot's been up to while we were away!