Day 4: Wherein Joat discovers what makes him so special.
The next morning…
Well, looks like someone found the intercom.
???: Hello? Uhh… You are Joat…
I was aware of that, yes.
???: Aren’t you? …Oh! You can’t see us, of course! How very rude of us!
I’d make comment about Dugtrio ruining the floor, but I’d have to throw in some qualifications on whether this counts as a floor, exactly.
Why do Pokémon without nicknames bother with introductions?
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Geez, don’t look at me like that, I didn’t cause it.
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Because Poochyenas are natural-born mountain-climbers! Apparently.
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“So just beat up the first Skarmory you see and hope it’s the culprit.”
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“Ruffian” is simultaneously quite sophisticated and goofy. Like “fop.”
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Help us, Obi-Wan Kenobi.
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Well, okay, to be fair, at least this one, er, three, have a valid reason for not coming along.
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“It’s too bad”? Implying you would have said no? You are such a jerk, uh… me.
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Puppy-Pikachu Cherithe is adorable.
???: Yes!
Were you eavesdropping this whole time?
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My sentiments exactly, Cherithe.
Though, first, I must go store items and buy some things.
Oh.
Oh dear.
Turns out money really is the root of all evil.
Anyway…
I think the game wants us to go to Mt. Steel, guys.
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Y’know, just in case the player forgot already.
???: That’s right!
Oh, geez…
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Oh. Huh. Actually useful information. Alright, then.
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Yeah, tall climb, I know.
And so, two Wonder Tiles directly diagonal to each-other, also known as the Starbucks approach.
Woo!
I… I learned a new attack!
I LEARNED A NEW ATTACK!
I DON’T EVEN CARE THAT IT’S JUST A DINKY SAND-ATTACK!
I’m finally kinda-sorta catching up! Except, still not really.
Cherithe sure can’t beat my sense of smell, though!
She can sure beat my everything else, though. Surely, though, there must be SOMETHING remarkable about me, right? Let’s check my summary screen!
…*sigh* At least I’m an ADORABLE ineffectual coward…
I made jokes about it before, but seriously, I’m only two levels behind, so I kinda AM catching up.
I forgot to take a screenshot of it at the time, but as you can see in the log…
I learned the tactic Get Away! So, y’know, I can share my running-away-with-your-tail-between-your-legs secrets with my teammates.
As for what tactics are, the idea is that each AI ally (once again, except escorts) has a certain tactic activated which defines how they behave on a broad level.
The default behavior is Let’s Go Together, which has the partner following close to the leader where possible. There are two others available at the start, one of which is similar but causes them to prioritize attacking foes over following the leader, potentially breaking off from the rest of the group to do so. The third default one is like Let’s Go Together, but the AI tries to avoid moving adjacent to an enemy and instead lets the enemy come to them. This latest one has them fleeing from any visible enemies. So, basically splitting the party, which is rarely a good idea.
Anyway, now for the final showdown…
You mean in this area where we were told we’d find ver?
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Let’s hope one of us is REALLY good at jumping, then.
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Unless you came over here super-fast (like, The Flash fast), I do not believe you were out of hearing range when we loudly declared our intentions.
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So you bring one of them closer to you, logically making the problem worse.
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Threatening an electric type and a dark type. Bold, I shall give ver that.
Yes, I know said dark type does not have a dark type move to bypass steel-type defenses, but Skarmory does not.
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Boss battle summary: I throw a rock, Cherithe uses Quick Attack, Skarmory uses Leer, I throw a rock, Cherithe uses Thunder Shock, we win.
Speaking of rocks, the Gravelrock item deals a fixed amount of damage, 20 with every hit, and is unaffected by weaknesses or resistances. For that matter, the normal attack is also “typeless” in this regard.
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By “keep up,” of course, ve means “deal a single point of damage.” Really, all ve did was glare at Cherithe for a bit.
Y’know, in case you couldn’t see what happened a few feet in front of you.
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…
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And also, not stating Diglett is a bad Pokémon, but I imagine it is a pretty bad Pokémon at JUMPING.
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You just now noticed this?
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What kind of adventurer doesn’t bring rope?
Then again, how would they use rope, as Pokémon?
…Then again, how do I keep throwing rocks at everything?
…How long have you been following us?
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Ah yes, I’d recognize those faces(?) anywhere.
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How? I think the only one who isn’t currently here who knows about this predicament is Skarmory. Did ve really stop in front of two random Magnemites to give a summary of what happened?
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How convenient.
With what?
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You realize Ground types are immune to electricity, right?
Anyway, one fade later…
I noticed that, yes.
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“I’m walkin’ on sunshiiine…”
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Okay, with Cherithe, I can understand, presuming we started exiting before we could see Diglett plucked from the ground, but how does Magnemite not know this, exactly?
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???: Oh! You’ve been rescued! Great! Great!
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By the same token, I can understand Magnemite and Magnemite being confused, but how have Cherithe and Joat not figured out who is speaking yet? Heck, even if their pattern recognition is poor, they would still recognize the voice(s), right?
???: Whoops! You can’t see us? That’s terribly rude of us!
Does Dugtrio interact with society so little that they’re not used to this?
We noticed.
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Singular. Somehow.
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According to their portait, this angers them, apparently.
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“Too,” yes. “Instead,” no.
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I think you’re confusing “rude” and “not clairvoyant.”
Then again, the two Magnemite somehow “GOT WORD” of our situation out of thin air, so I don’t know what to think anymore.
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That’s a rather odd basis, but alright.
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“And you, the player.”
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From where? They left.
The team also received the item Pecha Scarf
Fashion!
Also, it’s a hold item that renders the holder immune to poison.
On the topic of hold items, a hold item is an item “equipped” to a Pokémon. As in the main series, depending on what it is, it may have an intrinsic effect on the holder as long as it is held. Other items (such as berries) will be used by the Pokémon when certain conditions are met, though the list of such items is rather short in the main series games, as most consumable items were presumably too complex for Pokémon to use on their own. In the main series, the hold items are used even if it isn’t the Pokémon’s turn. In this game, the item is used during an AI ally’s turn if appropriate, as AI allies cannot otherwise use items.
The team also received the item Ginseng.
…’Kay.
Actually, I didn’t know this at the time I initially received it, but Ginseng is awesome. It gives a permanent boost to the leader’s currently set move. These are really rare and, so best to use it only when you are certain that the move in question will never become obsolete.
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Or if we bothered to bring rope.
Or we could have tossed over one of our many Escape Orbs we found.
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I think Cherithe is finally catching on to my power level.
To be fair, though, I do not disagree with her on that point, even if we are kinda doing redundant electric types, here.
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Yeah, being pummeled by angry Pokémon is a blast.
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…Really? I was given this house for free without a second thought, but not ver? Was it the last one? Or is it a matter of nobody wanting a noisy Magnemite as a neighbor?
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Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Real Estate!
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That bodes ill for the prices.
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And, y’know, perhaps also rescue folks.
Anyway, now to turn in for a nice, restful…
DAGNABBIT!