Part 6: Day 2 - Thunderwave Cave

Hey, guys. How's it going? Yeah, I'm beat. You know how I was gonna make a rescue team, right? Well, I wound up making it with this kid, a Meowth who calls himself Jake. Yeah, I know, weird. He's a good kid, but, uh, not the sharpest crayon in the box, you know? Anyway, we got our kit in the mail today, and the next thing we know, we've got someone wanting us to rescue his friends. Well, that's what we do, so off we go.



So we went up to Thunderwave Cave-- you know the place-- and right as we go in, there's a Rattata. First words out of the kid's mouth are

Yay! Rattata!

And then he runs right up like he's gonna give him a hug, only I can see the guy's got a case of the crazy go nuts that's been going around. So of course it bites him, and he's all

Owww! It bit me!

So of course I tell him to hit him back, and he does, but he, uh, doesn't really look like he wants to, you know? I mean, I know some Pokémon don't much like fighting, but this kid acts like he'd rather get beaten up. I think he only fights 'cause I tell him to.



After the rat runs off, he looks in the corner and asks me,

What's this?

Did I tell you he's got amnesia? Yeah, apparently doesn't remember a thing before yesterday. And I mean a thing. You'll see what I mean. Anyway, I tell him it's a Wonder Tile, so he steps on it, but of course nothing happens.

This is because Wonder Tiles, while technically traps, have a generally beneficial effect: they clear any stat boosts or penalties. If we get our accuracy reduced a couple of times and know where a Wonder Tile is, we'll probably want to head there.



So in the next chamber, he walks up to something else and says 'what's this?' I can't see, so I move around to look, and I am not making this up, it's an apple. For a second, I think he's gotta be pulling my leg, but he just looks at me all blank-like. How can you forget what an apple is? I mean, he's not asking me about rocks or trees or Pokémon.

Apples refill 50 Belly points when eaten. These early dungeons are short enough they aren't necessary, though.

Oh, something cool did happen, though. We beat up another crazy Rattata, and afterwards I levelled and learned Bubble! So that was pretty sweet.

Bubble is a ranged attack, though we can use it up close; it does damage and occasionally slows the Pokémon in front of Sheldon.

Anyway, we got through the first level okay, another couple of rabid rats. Second level, Poochyenas start showing up. Jake gets in a good hit on one--



--and he takes off running. It was good to see the kid getting into the swing of things.

That puff of smoke effect indicates that the enemy Pokémon has panicked; they'll run away until they heal up a bit, then come back. You can generally run them down and finish them off, or hit them with a ranged attack, though.

Anyway, there wasn't much more of interest there; another apple, some Poké, a couple of berries. We each got another level from the fighting, though.

Different Pokémon have different experience required to level, which is why Sheldon's now a level ahead of Jake. The details are outside the scope of this LP, but Sheldon's going to continue to outlevel Jake, though the actual difference should stay small.

So then we hit the third floor and ran into Voltorbs and Nidoran. Fortunately they were too young to know any electric or poisonous attacks, so we were able to handle them okay. Jake was really getting the hang of fighting, but he still looked kinda sick whenever he had to do it; I guess they don't have these kinds of problems wherever he came from. You guys haven't heard anything about a missing Meowth, have you? How about a 'human'? I didn't figure, but... never mind. Anyway. We keep going, and on the fourth floor we see an Elekid. Jake's just standing there, trying to talk him out of hitting us, and--



--well, anyway, it was a dirty thing to do to the kid, and I'm glad he stood up for himself!



...so, uh, on the fifth floor we ran into a Plusle, and he... well, I know they're dangerous, but he just sounded so cute, it was hard to hit him, even with him trying his darnedest to kill us. I kinda sympathized with Jake then.

As you can see, Growl has an area effect in PMD. We can recover from the effect by stepping on a Wonder Tile, boosting the affected stat, or going to the next floor in the dungeon.



We did what we had to do, though, and wouldn't you know it, the first words out of Jake's mouth after the Plusle ran off were 'what's that?' He'd dropped a Sleep Seed, so of course I had to tell him what it was. I think I'm just gonna start explaining anything new we come across, save him the time of asking.

Sleep Seeds can be eaten and give a little nutrition, but obviously they put you to sleep. In the grand tradition of Roguelikes, though, there's a way to make this bad item good; we can chuck it at enemies, who will obligingly chow down and fall asleep most of the time. Note also that, in Nintendo's kid-friendly spirit, we don't have to eat the seed to find out what it does.

We also found a Blast Seed, and I told him what that did. He put it in the Toolbox like he thought it was gonna explode.

Blast Seeds can also be eaten for a little nutrition-- and then cause you to burp up an explosion in the square in front of you. We'll probably wind up selling these, but if we're hungry anyway and there's an enemy right there...

Fortunately, it turned out the Magnemites we'd been sent to rescue weren't much farther ahead...



Oh, hey, there they are. Let's get them out!





OUR BODIES SEPARATED. BZBZBZZ. REJOICE! BZBZBZZT!

YAY! BZBZBZZT!

YAY! BZBZBZZT!

BE THANKFUL, YOU TWO.

YOU ARE OUR HERO. THANK YOU. BZBZBZZ!



...so we headed back.

Reviver Seed, as the name suggests, revives a Pokémon from fainting. If you have it in your toolbox when one of your team is defeated, that Pokémon will be immediately revived with full health and Belly. The seed isn't eaten; it's just maaaaaagic. After it's used up, it turns into a Plain Seed, which can be eaten for minimal nutrition.



Boy, I'm sure glad our rescue went well today.

I have to admit, since that was our first job as a rescue team, I was really nervous. I'm wiped out. I'll go home and get some sleep. Let's do this again tomorrow. See you.



That kid... I think maybe he got hit on the head and it did more than unjog his memory. Or maybe he was always like this, I dunno. But he's so... so nice. What happened to him? Why would he just be lying out in the open like that without any parents or anything? I hooked him up with a place to live, and I'm keeping an eye on him, but... I'm worried about him, you know? Kinda like the little brother I never had. Ah, I've bent your ear about this long enough. I gotta get home. You guys take care, okay? I don't want you coming down with a case of the crazies.



Um... I don't know if you're listening, but... I don't know why I'm a Meowth now, or why I don't remember my life before, but... I just wanted to say... it's nice that I can help Pokémon that need help. But I wish I didn't have to hurt Pokémon. So, um, if you could make the mean Pokémon nice, I'd really like that. And, um, I hope you listen to Pokémon. And if you don't, I'm sorry to bother you.

...I want a hug...



Jake (Meowth, #052) is hugged! Pokémon hugged: 2. (Thanks, Shaezerus!)

Next time on Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Welcome to Pokémon Square!