Writing PMD: Explorers of Time - PokéBeach Edition! Final Chapter! Help Me Decide The Next One!

Tails said:
As you progress through the game, you find more and more "lookalike" items that are nearly identically spelled to other items (ie. Oran and Sleep).

These lookalike items will punish you if you eat them, and they can also punish the CPU if you throw it at them.

However, there are two beneficial lookalike items; the Slip Seed (lookalike of Sleep Seed) and the Dough Seed (lookalike item of the Doom Seed). Eating these gives you transparency over water, sky and lava and Dough Seed will cause more Poke to spawn on the next floor of the dungeon after being eaten.
Click to expand...

I think the lookalike items only exist in Explorers of Sky. Since Athena is playing Time, she shouldn't encounter any.
 
Chapter 8: Guess who gets to be on the Expedition Team? HINT: the main characters of the game do​

Keeper and I worked hard for the next few days, working our way through sentry duty and regular jobs skillfully and without complaint. Finally, after a long mission guiding a Wooper throughout the Waterfall Cave, we made our way to the Silver Rank! We were chatting with our friends about our adventures and progress right before dinner, when Tails showed up to make an announcement.


<Tails> Everyone, I'm here to make an announcement!
<Zyflair> Can we at least eat while you talk?
<Tails> No. :|
<Teal> Awwww.... *stomach grumbles*
<Tails> I wanted to announce to you that tomorrow we will be making an announcement about how has been chosen for the upcoming expedition?
<Athena> You really just made an announcement about making a future announcement?
<MtC> Who cares! We're finally going to get to know who goes!
<Tails> Alright, you can go back to your eating now.
<Everyone> Yay!​


We chowed down our food quickly and Keeper and I headed off to our room for bed. Although he had been silent throughout the meal, I could see the thoughts warring inside his head, and had a feeling he would spill when we got to our room.


<Keeper> So, tomorrow we'll finally figure out who the expedition members are.
<Athena> Yep.
<Keeper> I know that the others all encouraged us to keep working hard, but I still doubt we'll be chosen. After all, we did make that huge mistake with the Perfect Apples, and even if we're at a higher rank now, we're still the noobiest noobs of the whole Guild.
<Athena> Yeah, true.
<Keeper> But, even with all that... I don't have any regrets!
<Athena> None?
<Keeper> Not a single one. Sure, we might not get picked, but I've been having a lot of fun working with you, Athena! Even without a fancy expedition team, we still have a blast going through dungeons and completing jobs.
<Athena> Yeah, true, we're getting better at it every day.
<Keeper> So, even if we don't get chosen...
<Athena> Oh, I wouldn't worry too much about that.
<Keeper> You wouldn't?!
<Athena> Of course not. We're the main characters; we'll get in for sure.
<Keeper> You really think so? :D
<Athena> It's practically a given.
<Keeper> Oh, wow, that's great! I'm super excited! :D It'll be so much fun! I bet your ability will come in handy, too!
<Athena> My ability?
<Keeper> You know, touching things and getting visions about them. Would probably be super handy to learn about things we find on the expedition.
<Athena> Oh, yeah. It's been a while since we've touched the main plot of the game so I kinda forgot that was a thing.
<Keeper> Yeah, I guess it does only seem to happen for plot stuff, doesn't it?
<Athena> Yep. Oh well. Maybe we'll get some new plot soon. The expedition seems like a good place for it.
<Keeper> Well, I'll hope so! I guess we should get some sleep; we have a very busy day ahead of us!
<Athena> True that. Good night~ <3
<Keeper> <3​


Meanwhile, as we were sleeping, in a different part of the world... a shadowy figure sneaks into a very familiar-looking underground lake area, and steals a very important-looking snowflake-shaped object...


<???> Mwahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha, only 3 Time Gears left....​


The next morning, Keeper and I awoke bright and early, eager to get to the meeting and hear the results. Despite my reassurances the previous night, I could tell Keeper was still a bit anxious about the results.


<Tails> *ahem* I'm sure you're all anxious to hear the names of those picked for the Expedition. IA, the memo, please?
<IA> *hands over*
<Tails> Yes, now, let's see.... the first member is... WPM!
<WPM> I DID IT! EXCELLENT! :D
<Tails> And next up is... Luispipe8!
<Luis> Hey, hey, hey! I made it! :D
<Tails> And also.... Zyflair!
<Zyflair> Really?! I didn't see that one coming... I'm so nervous I can't move ~_~;
<Tails> Next is Teal and Machamp the Champion.
<Teal> We did it! :D *high five*
<MtC> Hell yes! :D *high five*
<Tails> And that's everyone!
<Keeper> ... I knew we wouldn't make it... ._.;
<Vom> Ahahahaha, the losers didn't get in.
<bbninjas> Of course not, they're losers. :Y
<Celever> Lame losers, even.
<Tails> I guess that's all, so.... oh, wait a moment... it seems there are some more names written down here... Oh, huh, I guess there are some more members still coming. Peer, Shining Raikou, BigfootAUS, Keeper of Night, and Athena are all also coming.
<Keeper> Hurray! We made it after all! :D
<Tails> Wait a minute.... *counts on his fingers* That's everyone in the whole guild!
<IA> Yep! ^_^
<Tails> So the whole selection process was meaningless and we're leaving the guild empty?
<IA> We can lock the door when we leave; it's cool.
<Vom> Are you sure you really want to have this many members in the expedition, Guildmaster?
<IA> Why is that a bad thing? >.>
<Vom> I'm just wondering what the good is in having everyone participate is all.
<IA> If everyone goes, it'll be more fun! ^_^
<Vom> ... facepalm.jpg
<IA> So I hope everyone is ready for tonnes of fun!
<Everyone> HURRAY! :D
<Tails> Well, I guess that's that. Anyway, you guys now get to listen to me explain some more stuff. After this meeting, there will be a detailed explanation of things. So, go get ready and then some listen to some more bland exposition. Oh, and you can't bring any non-guild members, so no filler Pokémon! When you're ready, come back. For now, you're dismissed. *flies off*
<Teal> Ohgeez, ohgeez, I'm so excited I could poop seeds.
<MtC> Everyone is going! This is the best of all!
<Keeper> I still didn't expect to get picked even though Athena told me it would happen, so I'm super shocked!
<Athena> I told you man, main characters, they wouldn't leave us behind.
<Luis> Hey, hey! ... Man, I need a better catch phrase. >_<
<Zyflair> You guys I am just so emotional right now.... ;~;
<SR> You know, it's going to be hard work out there in the expedition. All of us apprentices should stick together!
<WPM> THAT'S THE SPIRIT! :D
<MtC> Everyone, let's do our best! :D
<Everyone> *giant group hug/glomp/highfive/pile/thing*​


Team Awesome:
Athena: Lv. 17 Charmander (Ember, Growl, Scratch, Smokescreen)
Keeper: Lv. 17 Totodile (Leer, Scratch, Water Gun, Bite)

Available Teammates: Oddish (11), Paras (13), Psyduck (10), Poliwag (9), Machop (6), Geodude (7), Doduo (10), Spinarak (10), Hoppip (13), Wooper (11), Lotad (11), Budew (12)


Player Notes:

Kind of a short, interim chapter since I don't have a lot of time to play today. I was doing filler dungeons last night. It ended up not taking me all too long to gain rank, actually, since I was able to get some nice, high point jobs, including 50 points just for having a Wooper tag-along for a few floors. We finally handed off the Sleep Seed to get that job out of our queue, too, though I still have a suspended job in Waterfall Cave for a Scanner Orb that I haven't even seen yet. OH WELL. :U When I saw the rank gain I figured I would stop playing for the night since that apparently is a signal that plot is happening. Yay plot!

And so, to the surprise of absolutely no one, Keeper and Athena are allowed to go on the expedition after all. Hurray!

I'm not sure why, but I was under the impression that there were only 3 Time Gears, so when Groyvle says "3 Time Gears left" I kind of did a double take. I think it's because, back when Keeper was talking about them in the first place, he only had 3 mental locations pop up where they were. I guess it's probably a good thing in in-universe terms that there are more, though, since that means he has less than half of them instead of all but one. :U
 
I'm late to the party, but this line is my favorite from all of the chapters so far:

<Tails> He said.... "Oh, memories of my youth, like the scent of fresh lemon.... YOOM TAH!" And then he danced around for a bit.

I knew you'd sneak an Ace Attorney reference in there somewhere!
 
Athena said:
<Tails> Wait a minute.... *counts on his fingers* That's everyone in the whole guild!
<IA> Yep! ^_^
Click to expand...

IA, always looking out for the little guy. :)

I do remember the next dungeon giving me some trouble, only because of Bidoof's AI and how it's programmed. Sometimes he'd split up or go in the opposite direction if he lost sight of me and my partner and that lead him into a messy situation that he'd get really hurt or KO'ed in.
 
Chapter 9: No time to stop and read, we have dungeons to do!​

Everyone dispersed to go prepare for the journey and so Keeper and I did as well. We made our way to town and pulled some items from storage to make sure we'd be well stocked, primarily food and a couple max elixirs and gummis. I didn't want to be completely without funds, either, so we withdrew some money from the bank for an even 1000G. Once everything was set, we made our way back to the Guild and settled in to listen to Tails's long-winded exposition briefing.


<Tails> Welcome everyone!
<Everyone> Yay!
<Tails> Are you all excited?
<Everyone? Yay!
<Tails> I can't hear you....
<Everyone> YAY!
<Tails> That's the spirit! Now, who here knows where we'll be traveling to.
<Everyone> ...
<Tails> Of course you don't know; I haven't told you yet. We'll be traveling to a place called Fogbound Lake, out in the far east.
<Everyone> Ooooooooooooh.
<Tails> Of course, no one's actually been to the lake, so we don't even know it exists; it's just a legend.
<Athena> If no one's been there, how do you know there's a lake there? >_>
<Tails> The whole area is covered in dense fog, but there's a legend that there's some fancy-ass treasure there.
<Everyone> :D!
<Tails> If you look at the map of this region.... the area where the Lake is supposed to be is over here, in this uncharted territory over to the south east. Because it's uncharted and we don't really know much about the area, we'll be forming a base camp over here by these hills. *points*
<Everyone> *nods*
<Tails> Because the game isn't really set up to have large parties traveling and working together, we'll instead be splitting into small groups for the journey to the base camp, then we'll all reconnect once we're there. Keeper, Athena, and Zyflair will all be traveling together. The rest of you... well, it doesn't matter because you're just NPCs. See you at the base camp! *flies off*
<Zyflair> So I guess we'll be traveling buddies, buddies! I'm so excited!
<Keeper> You are?
<Zyflair> Of course! All the action is going to happen around you guys, being the main characters and all. I can smell it.
<Athena> Well, we're happy to have you around... so long as you aren't a super low level and don't go running off and getting yourself killed or anything.
<Zyflair> Nope, nope, I'll be good, scout's honour. Let's go pick our route!
<Keeper> How about we follow this path along the seacoast?
<Athena> Any path's as good as another to me. I figure we'll be exploring a couple new dungeons soon no matter what. So, take your pick, and let's be off!​


Zyflair was also already packed and ready, so the three of us shouldered our bags and made our way. We started off following a similar path to the beach where Keeper and I met, but instead stuck to the rockier coast rather than going down into the sand. Soon, we were up on a large cliff over the ocean, sounds of waves against the shore following us on our trek. Before too long, the path led into a cave.


<Athena> Is that... a Kangaskhan statue?
<Zyflair> Oh, yup. You can save and access your storage from those things!
<Athena> What is this, some kind of weird Pokémon magic?
<Zyflair> ... I dunno! I guess I never stopped and thought about it before.
<Athena> If I'd known we have storage access I wouldn't have spent so much time agonizing over what to bring...
<Keeper> Well, better too much stuff than not enough!
<Athena> Unless you find new things you want to keep, anyway. If we can store here, we'll probably get more storage on the way, too, so let's put some of our stuff back so we have room for loot.
<Zyflair> Wow, I must admit, I'm kind of nervous....
<Keeper> It's okay! We'll work together and do everything the best. :D Our next step is to figure out what path to take.... *pulls out map*
<Zyflair> Oooh, look, that must be where we are now! *points*
<Keeper> Yep, and that means we'll need to go.... through this cave here.
<Athena> Awww, Keeper, you're acting like such a good leader!
<Keeper> *mumble* >.>
<Zyflair> Hmmm, it looks like the cave actually splits up into 2 here.... which one should we take?
<Athena> That one. *points*
<Zyflair> Why that one?
<Athena> Because I'm impatient to get to adventuring so I'm hitting A a lot and that one was at the top of the list. :D
<Keeper> Good enough for me!​


And so we entered into the Craggy Coast. Once again, we were stuck in a dungeon filled with Water-type Pokémon, but I had Keeper and Zyflair at my back. I saved my stronger moves for the Pokémon that had powerful attacks that hurt me a lot, and Keeper helped with clear up and back up. Zyflair had a tendency to wander off and do his own thing, which I guess kind of made sense since he wasn't used to working with us, so I mostly just tried to make sure he didn't get hurt or lost. Eventually we made our way through and back to sunlight, though it was beginning to fade. We decided we'd gone far enough for one day and made a small camp, eating dinner and sleeping under the stars.

The next day, we pulled out our map and determined our next route.


<Keeper> So, we've made it to.... here, it looks like.
<Zyflair> Oooh, about halfway already!
<Keeper> Yep, just to make it through these hills to the base camp on the other side. There's two potential paths we can take... Athena?
<Athena> Do you even need to ask? First one again, obviously.
<Keeper> Alright, we'll head to Mt. Horn then. Let's pack up!​


Finally moving away from the coast, we entered an area significantly less dangerous to me. I was setting things on fire left and right as we made our way through. Again, we tended to focus on keeping an eye on Zyflair to make sure he didn't run off into danger, but he behaved himself for the most part. It was a very long dungeon, and we were all running low on PP for the last few floors, so we ended up rushing through a bit at the end to make our way out. Finally, we hit the exit and found ourselves at the base camp. It was basically a super foggy area filled with some plants and tents and surrounded by trees, but... it felt super familiar to me!


<Athena> This places feels super familiar to me!
<Keeper> Now who's the one stating the obvious things from the narrative.
<Athena> Shush. I'm repeating it so I can actually talk about it with you.
<Keeper> Oh, okay.
<Athena> I wonder... do you think I've been to this place before?
<Keeper> Well, it's possible, you did lose your memory and all. Maybe you used to be an explorer!
<Athena> Maybe... I'll let you know if I remember anything important, okay?
<Keeper> Sure thing! But for now, I think Tails wants to hold another one of his long explanation meetings.
<Athena> Well, at least we can end this chapter on some good long plot bits.
<Tails> Welcome everyone! You've all finally made it to the base camp!
<Everyone> Yay!
<Tails> Right now, we're in the closest charted territory to the location of the lake. Supposedly, the lake is concealed somewhere in this forest, but no one's found it yet.
<Luis> So, uh... if no one's ever found the lake... what if it doesn't actually exist?
<Teal> Shush, Luis; you're ruining the spirit of adventure!
<MtC> Well, you see, while we were traveling... I actually heard a legend about this lake!
<Everyone> Oooooooooh....
<MtC> According to the legend, this lake here is the home of a Pokémon called Uxie! If other Pokémon come to the lake, Uxie wipes their memories to keep the location of the lake a secret!
<Tails> Oh, pish-posh. Every place has a legend. That rock your butt is sitting on has a legend. Part of being an explorer is discovering the truth about places that are protected by these so-called legends and mysterious happenings and other insensible folklore.
<IA> Don't worry, guys, everyone will be cool. ^_^
<Tails> So, yes, everyone, it's now time to disperse and explore. Your mission is twofold: find the lake, and find a way to get rid of this bloody fog. If you succeed in finding out anything about either one, please come back and report to us. For now, you're dismissed!
<Athena> Keeper... if the legend is real... I wonder if I ran into Uxie and that's what happened to my memory...
<Keeper> Well, the way I see it, there's two possibilities.
<Athena> Oh?
<Keeper> The first possibility is that that is exactly what happened and that's why the plot has led us here.
<Athena> Makes sense. What's the other?
<Keeper> The other possibility is that that answer is much too obvious and there's something even deeper that caused your memory loss. Really, it depends on how cagey the story wants to be and how important to the plotline discovering the reason for your memory loss is.
<Athena> Welp, I guess all we can do is plod along and figure out the answer when we get there.
<Keeper> For now, we have a new dungeon to explore! :D​


Team Awesome:
Athena: Lv. 19 Charmander (Ember, Growl, Scratch, Smokescreen)
Keeper: Lv. 19 Totodile (Leer, Scratch, Water Gun, Bite)

Available Teammates: Oddish (11), Paras (13), Psyduck (10), Poliwag (9), Machop (6), Geodude (7), Doduo (10), Spinarak (10), Hoppip (13), Wooper (11), Lotad (11), Budew (12)


Player Notes:

I actually played through this Friday night. Took a bunch of notes, but my handwriting sucks, and it's been a few days, so I'm probably glossing over stuff. I kind of wonder if you guys can tell when I'm writing stuff from memory/notes or when I'm writing stuff with the DS open and playing in front of me. I know *I* sure can, but obviously that's just me. :p

No new friends during this trip; probably programmed that way on purpose since we can't have any extras while we're out on the expedition. I hope to come back and snag a Dratini at some point, though. Just because hell yes Dratini. We did at least get some good exp, enough for a level for each dungeon, and we snagged some fancy loot, too; a couple TMs and some of those fancy-ass boxes that I guess you need to pay Xatu to open.

I'm mostly writing this up tonight because I hope to play some more tomorrow and post up a new chapter then, so stay tuned! Keeper earned a new move, too, one that I kept this time, but I don't remember which one so I'll check and fix it when I play tomorrow. :3
 
Ah yes, Fogbound Lake and the upcoming dungeon;

Steam Cave and Upper Steam Cave.

Can really put the squeeze on you. Fogbound Lake with it's...well...fog...and the dungeon after that

With its boss.
 
I was hoping we'd get more bosses eventually. The dungeons feel a bit too easy just going to the end and nothing.
 
Chapter 10: Boss Fight! :D​

And so Keeper and I headed out to explore the Forest.


<Keeper> So we have 2 paths we can follow and.... I'm not even going to bother asking. You're just going to pick the first one again aren't you?
<Athena> Of course!
<Keeper> Alright, Foggy Forest it is.
<Athena> ... you mean there was an option that wasn't a forest full of fog? >_>
<Keeper> Oh, Athena, look, I found a shiny thing!
<Athena> A shiny thing? :O :O :O
<Keeper> Yeah, I think it's a gem. *yoink* Finders keepers!
<Athena> Awwww...
<Keeper> It's kind of... weirdly warm.
<Athena> Ewww. Well, uh, you can keep it then. >_> It's probably just some plot thing anyway. Let's go!​


We fought our way through the forest pretty handily. We didn't exactly have a destination in mind, but we figured we'd know when we found something interesting. After all, that's when the background would suddenly look more interesting, and the music would probably change, too. And that's exactly what happened when we stepped into a clearing and found a place filled with waterfalls coming... from the sky? It was kind of hard to tell with all the fog around, but it certainly looked cool, in any event.


<Luis> Hey guys, 'sup?
<Keeper> Luis! You found your way here too, eh? Any idea where we are?
<Luis> Not a one. How about you guys?
<Athena> Well, we figure there's gotta be something important here, but...
<Luis> Well, I'm not sure if this is important or not, but I did find something kind of interesting. Follow me, I'll show you!​


Luis led us through the clearing and around the waterfalls to the back of the open area to... a partially fallen statue of a Pokémon?


<Keeper> What's this?
<Luis> It seems to be a partially fallen statue of a Pokémon.
<Athena> *facepalm*
<Keeper> Yeah, but... what kind of Pokémon is it? I couldn't identify his footprint, that's for sure.
<Luis> *shrugs*
<Keeper> *looks it over* I think I found an inscription...
<Athena> What's that? It looks like a bunch of hieroglyphics.
<Keeper> These are footprint runes.
<Athena> That is the dumbest communication form I've ever heard of.
<Keeper> Let's see if I can make out the text.... hmmmm.... "Reignite the life that burned within Groudon... Then the sky shall blaze with the sun's heat... The path to treasure shall be revealed."
<Luis> Ooooh, treasure!
<Keeper> This could be the secret to finding Fogbound Lake! I have no idea how to 'ignite life', though... Athena, maybe you could touch the statue and see if your power helps us?
<Athena> I don't think we need my power. How about you just try using that weirdly warm rock you suspiciously found right before coming here? I mean, this is elementary video game plot stuff here.
<Keeper> .... :|
<Athena> Fine, fine, I'll use my dumb power. *touches statue*
<Keeper> And? :D
<Athena> Huh, that was different. It was just a voice talking to me instead of a full-on vision this time.
<Keeper> What did it say? :D
<Athena> It told me to do the exact same thing that I told you to do: use the dumb plot rock! *fwaps* It should get rid of the fog for some reason. Look, there even a conveniently-placed hole in the statue.
<Keeper> Alright, well, let's give it a try then!
<Athena> *mumbles* You won't listen to my idea but you'll pay attention to the dumb voice inside my head.... *grumbles*​


Keeper stepped forward and put the red gem into the hollow in the statue's chest. Suddenly, it's eyes starting glowing red and the ground started shaking!


<Keeper> Ohshi- Everyone, run!​


We all ran from the statue with our hands covering our heads just in case, hudding together for protection. Suddenly, the shaking stopped and we peeked out from behind our hands. The sun was shining and the fog was all gone!


<Keeper> The sun is shining!
<Luis> And the fog is all gone!
<Athena> *facepalm*
<Keeper> Hey, you guys, look up.... o_o;
<Athena> Yes, I know the sun is up there...
<Keeper> No, seriously, look up...
<Luis> What the hell is that? o_o;
<Keeper> I guess that's what the fog was hiding... No wonder nobody could ever find the lake!​


Looking up, I was finally able to see the source of the waterfalls around the clearing. There was a huge island in the sky! At first I thought it was floating, but the large outcropping of rock was actually attached to the ground with a very thin base, then broadening outwards the higher up it got. The lake itself must be up on the island.


<Luis> Alright, well, since you guys were the ones who actually figured this out.... you should go on and explore it, while I go back to the base camp and tell everyone and get all the credit.
<Keeper> Sounds good to me! Let's go, Athena. :D
<Athena> But how are we supposed to---
<???> HOLD IT!​


Suddenly, Team Skull appeared, darting from behind a tree. They sauntered over, parking their butts right in front of the Groudon statue.


<Keeper> Oh, geez, not these guys...
<Vom> Nice job figuring out the secret, wimps!
<Celever> Now we'll claim all the treasure for ourselves, please and thank you. :3
<Keeper> Is that why you joined the expedition, just to get all the treasure for yourself?
<Athena> Of course. Don't tell me you're surprised by that, Keeper.
<Keeper> I guess not, but still....
<Vom> But still nothing! We'll just have to show you guys a lesson.
<Keeper> No! We'll be the ones teaching you a lesson. So, THERE!
<Vom> Oh, please, do you really want a repeat of the Perfect Apples all over again?
<Keeper> Oh, yeah, ugh, can we just talk about th--
<Vom> No talking, more spraying! *lifts tail*
<Keeper and Athena> *brace themselves*
<???> Wait! Wait for me!​


An apple rolled between us, bouncing, and eventually coming to a halt between us and them.


<bbninjas> What's that? o_o;
<IA> Perfect Apple! Wait up! *runs in, huffing*
<Everyone Else> *stares dumbfound*
<IA> *catches up to the apple* There you are! Silly Perfect Apple, running away from me like that. *looks up* Oh, hey guys, 'sup?
<Vom> Oh, uh, greetings Guildmaster! What brings you here?
<IA> Exploring, of course, you silly! ^_^ In fact.... *looks at Keeper and Athena* ... shouldn't you guys off doing your job and exploring, too?
<Keeper> But--
<IA> No butts! Go do your job! Shoo!
<Athena> Alright then... >_> *exit stage left with Keeper*
<Vom> My team and I should probably be off, too....
<IA> Oh, no no no, my friend. Let's leave those kids to do the work. You can sit here and wait with me for their report. We shall sing songs in the meantime!
<Vom> *grumble*
<bbninjas> *whisper* Boss, they're getting away!
<Celever> *whisper* They're going to beat us to the treasure...
<Vom> *whisper* Don't worry, we'll just have to take out IA.
<bbninjas & Celever> *whisper* !!?
<Vom> *whisper* Come on, he's such a pansy. Besides, he probably has a bunch of treasure on him, too. I was planning on mugging him before we left anyway. Celever, prepare yourself; bb, get out of the way.
<IA> La la la~~
<Vom> *whisper* And now it's time for IA to get it.... >:3
... ... ...​


Keeper and I made our way to the base of the rock formation. Surprisingly enough, there was an entrance at the base leading up into a cave. Steam was shooting from from openings in the rocks and bubbling the water around us. We used the nearby magic storage rock to switch up our gear and headed inside. The enemies inside were the toughest yet, but Keeper and I were skilled, so for us it mostly just meant extra exp. Eventually, we climbed up to the final floor.


<Athena> Ohshi-
<Keeper> What?
<Athena> Magic storage statue.
<Keeper> ... so what?
<Athena> We've never seen one of those in a dungeon before. That has to mean a boss fight is coming.
<???> ROOOOOOAAAARRRRRR.
<Athena> Told ya.
<Keeper> Eep! Are you sure we need to go up there?
<Athena> Of course we do! This is major plot stuff.
<Keeper> :\
<Athena> Besides, remember how I think it might be linked to my memories?
<Keeper> Oh, yeah... I guess we don't really have much choice then. Let's go!​


And so we both steeled ourselves and walked forward.... into another dungeon.


<Keeper> I thought you said there'd be a boss fight!
<Athena> Well, even geniuses can be wrong sometimes. He's probably just at the end of this dungeon.
<Keeper> Well, I must admit... I'm kind of glad we have some extra time to level up and stuff before the boss.
<Athena> And we got our PP restored, too, woohoo!​


And so we progressed onto Steam Cave Pt. 2. It was mostly the same as before, except with even tougher enemies. Keeper and I got ganged up on at one point and we had to use a Revive Seed to keep him in the action, but at least we weren't forced to restart the whole bloody thing. Eventually we found ourselves in a large, un-dungeon-like room without music.


<Keeper> Well, we made it now... I suppose this is where the boss battle is hiding?
<Athena> Gotta be.
<Keeper> It's making me feel weird...
<Athena> That, Keeper, is the feeling of.....
<Keeper> ... ?
<Athena> ... anticipation.
<Keeper> :|
<???> RRROOOOOOAAAAARRR!
<Athena> Or danger.
<Keeper> Yeah, I'm leaning towards danger sense myself.​


With deep, shaking steps, the boss fight came straight for us. It was Groudon! He was very huge and very pissed.


<Equinox> Geez, guys, did you really have to wake me up like that?
<Keeper> But we just wanted to visit the lake....
<Equinox> The lake?! Like hell I'm going to let you go there! I AM EQUINOX. YOU WILL NEVER LEAVE HERE ALIVE.
<Athena> Yep, definitely pissed.​


Meanwhile, down at the bottom....


<Vom> Man, I totally didn't see that beatdown coming.
<Celever> To think that IA could shake off the poison gas...
<bbninjas> And then beat us all up...
<Vom> Man, it's a shame all that happened off camera.
...
<Luis> Here it is!
<Tails> Well, that sure is some statue! But where's IA?
<Zyflair> I guess he must have gone up to meet up with the other guys.
<MtC> Let's go help out !
<Teal> Definitely, we need to go up through this dungeon and discover all the cool stuff!
<Everyone> *runs in*
<Luis> Do you know anything about the Pokémon Groudon, Tails?
<Tails> He's a legendary Pokémon from Hoenn or whatever.
<peer> Ooooh, legendary, sweet.
<Tails> According to myth, he's the one that brought the land up from the sea.
<Zyflair> Eep! I can't even imagine battling that guy.
<Tails> Oh, yeah, totally not. He'd rip your head off.​


Meanwhile, back up top....


<Keeper> Oh, yeah, totally thanks for the support guys.... -_-;;;
<Athena> Well, it's not like they could know.
<Equinox> Prepare for my wrath!​


Keeper and I dove into battle. Whereby "dove" I mean "tiptoed carefully". We both mostly focused by beating him back with strong attacks, with me providing support as necessary. The battle was actually... significantly easier than I expected. It only took a couple dozen hit and one healing berry to take him down.


<Keeper> That was.... not nearly as tough as I was expecting.
<Athena> Yeah, kind of a lame boss, especially for a legendary.
<Equinox> *disappears*
<Keeper> ... wut. Where'd he go? o_o;
<???> Pfft, that wasn't really Groudon. He's just a fake one that I made up. I'm the actual guardian here.
<Keeper> And who and where are you, exactly? >_>
<???> So rude.
<Athena> Look, we just came here for some information.
<???> Oh?
<Keeper> Yep! Well, we're also an exploration team, and we wouldn't say no to a nice pile of treasure--
<Athena> *elbows Keeper*
<Keeper> *oof* But, uh, we can do without the treasure.
<???> Hmmmm..... alright, fair enough. *majestically appears* Greetings, I'm Uxie! But my friends call me Cinesra. I'm the guardian of Fogbound Lake.
<Keeper> No way!
<Cinesra> Yes way! I'm guarding a very important thing that's in this lake. But you guys seem cool enough, so follow me and I'll take you there! *flies off*​


Team Awesome:
Athena: Lv. 24 Charmander (Ember, Ice Fang, Scratch, Smokescreen)
Keeper: Lv. 24 Totodile (Leer, Scratch, Water Gun, Bite)

Available Teammates: Oddish (11), Paras (13), Psyduck (10), Poliwag (9), Machop (6), Geodude (7), Doduo (10), Spinarak (10), Hoppip (13), Wooper (11), Lotad (11), Budew (12)


Player Notes:

Wooo, quite a lot happens in this chapter! I'm kind of leaving off on an awkward spot a bit, but there was a save point and I need to leave to go make dinner soon, so this will have to do.

I really was disappointed in how easy the Groudon battle was. Like a dozen moves maybe and he was dead. I used an Oran Berry once, mostly out of paranoia, but I could have gotten by without it. Are we like over-leveled or something? We haven't exactly been doing any grinding or anything, just playing along, but I suppose if I used larger teams more the exp would get split up more, too.

Would share more, but, like I said, I need to get to making dinner. :p So, prepare for another chapter tomorrow! <3
 
The Groudon boss fight gave me trouble; only because I was slightly underleveled and had Pikachu as my partner who kept getting knocked around silly by Groudon. I also had little to no helpful items to use in battle which only made the battle even more difficult.

It took me about 3-4 tries to get past him.
 
It actually gave me so much trouble my first playthrough. [But I was about 5 years old, so...]

Athena, have you lost your RPG OCD yet? Because the Northern Desert is coming soon...
 
Maybe I'm just too used to tougher RPGs and/or over-prepping for bosses. :p We went in against Groudon with full HP, full PP due to the boss refill, and like 4 Oran berries, a Sitrus Berry, a few Heal Seeds for good measure, and a couple Max Elixirs, too. Then again, we also gained like ~5 levels just in that dungeon alone. I'm not sure what kind of level is typical at this point.

My RPG OCD-ness is slowly dying away. I'm now at the point where I'm content with not completely filling my map if I know I've at least gotten all possible rooms, and there have been a few times where I've even skipped hitting all of the rooms and headed straight for the stairs to either conserve on berries (due to status effects) or food (due to hunger).
 
Chapter 11: This lake really ties the island together​

Cinesra led us forward, up out of the cave and to the surface of the lake. It was beautiful! It spread out over the entire rock formation island thing, and the setting sun was reflected in its surface. There was also a weird glowing blue thing in the center.


<Keeper> Whoa! Awesome! :D
<Cinesra> Water comes up from the ground here for some reason and that's how the lake formed. *shrugs*
<Athena> What's that weird glowy blue thing?
<Cinesra> Oh that? It's a Time Gear.
<Keeper> Whoa, for reals?!
<Cinesra> Yep. Guarding that thing is why I'm here, after all. Fake Groudon usually scares most people off, though. Psychic powers are pretty sweet. *creates another illusion Groudon*
<Keeper> Ack! It's still terrifying, though. :<
<Cinesra> Yeah, it's much more terrifying than tough, which is how you managed to beat it. That's happened in the past, too. Stupid trespassers. I had to steal their memories to protect the lake. Don't worry, though, you guys are cool. For some vague, unexplained reason.
<Athena> Speaking of stealing memories... *cough*
<Cinesra> ...?
<Athena> Yeah, I used to be a human but then I turned into a Pokémon and all my memories were wiped.
<Keeper> I don't suppose you'd happen to know anything about that, would you?
<Cinesra> Hmmm... can't say that I do! I've never seen a human here. Besides, I only erase people's memories of the lake, not, like, their whole lives or anything. And no way could I turn a human into a Pokémon.
<Athena> Well, damn.
<Keeper> Was worth asking, anyway. I guess the reason for your memory loss is just going to keep being a plot point for some time.
<Athena> Oh well, plenty of game left.
<???> A Time Gear! Dammit, we can't take that. :\​


We all looked over to the entrance to see none other than IA standing there looking up at us. He strolled forward and made his way to the lake front.


<Athena> IA? o_o;
<IA> Still, nice view. Fantastic, event!
<Cinesra> Uhhh.... you guys know this dude?
<Keeper> Yeah, it's our guildmaster, IA.
<IA> Nice to meet, you friend! ^_^ Amazing place you have here.
<Cinesra> ...​


As IA took in the sights and the rest of us stood round in awkward silence, the remaining members of the expedition team (minus Team Skull) finished making their way up to the lake as well.


<Luis> Aah, it's a monster! D:
<Teal> It's Groudon!
<MtC> I just dinged myself...
<IA> Oh, hey guys, 'sup?
<Tails> Guildmaster, did you see the... the....
<IA> Oh, don't worry, he's cool. Here, come check out this view! Oooooh, it's spouting now. ^_^​


Sure enough, a huge jet of water was rising into the air like a majestic fountain above the center of the lake lit with the shining glow of the Time Gear below. Volbeat and Illumise flew around it, creating a nice scene.


<Zyflair> Ooooooooh....
<MtC> Ahhhhhhh....
<Cinesra> Oh, yeah, that's the lake geyser. Pretty cool, isn't it?
<IA> Truly, the treasure of Fogbound Lake is this amazing view! T_T
<Keeper> You know, we may not have learned anything about your past, Athena, or gotten any sweet loot... but I'm still glad we came.
<Athena> Yeah, me too. Though, I'm still not completely satisfied. Even if Cinesra says he's never seen me before, I still feel like this place is familiar to me, and that Time Gear is calling out to me like it's my precious or something.
<Keeper> Oh well. I'm sure we'll figure everything out in due course.
<IA> Thank you so much for letting us come here, Cinesra!
<Cinesra> No problem. You guys are pretty chill. I won't even erase your memories or anything. Just, uh, don't go tattling about the Time Gear or anything, okay?
<IA> Oh, yeah, totes. We'll keep your secret. ^_^
<Tails> I guess that means we're all heading back to the guild now then, eh?
<Everyone> Yay! More filler dungeons! :D
<Tails> And you all get bigger bags, too!
<Everyone> Yay! More loot! :D​


And so we all said our goodbyes to Cinesra and used our badges to teleport back home and get back to our normal routines. Keeper and I spent the night in our regular bed again and were about to start on another fun day of filler dungeons the next morning when....


<WPM> WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T IDENTIFY THE FOOTPRINT?!
<peer> I can't identify what I don't know... :<
<Tails> What seems to be the trouble?
<Athena> Maybe it's my human brain that makes me so good at understanding situations, but I think the problem is that there's a Pokémon who wants to enter the Guild but that peer cannot identify.
<WPM> EXACTLY.
<peer> Well, let me go talk to him. *tunnels down* *tunnels back* He wants to meet with IA, says his name is TwistedTurwtig.
<Tails> TwistedTurwtig?!
<WPM> TWISTEDTURTWIG?!
<Athena> ... who's TwistedTurwtig? >.>
<Tails> TT is a world-famous Dusknoir!
<Athena> So... another Pokémon named after a different Pokémon, got it.​


TT was invited in warmly and was soon meeting with IA within the guild.


<IA> So nice to have you visiting us, TT. ^_^
<TT> But I'm the one that's happy to be here! Your guild is pretty famous now, IA. Thank you so much for having me! ^_^
<Keeper> *psst* WPM.
<WPM> WHAT DO YOU WANT?
<Keeper> Geez, keep your voice down. So, who is that guy?
<WPM> WEREN'T YOU LISTENING BEFORE? THAT'S THE WORLD-FAMOUS TT.
<Zyflair> He's a famous explorer! And so dreamy...
<Teal> I guess it's not that surprising that you don't know him, though. He kind of became world-famous overnight. Literally. Yesterday no one knew about him and now everyone does.
<Zyflair> He's super talented, though.
<Keeper> Kind of a big deal, huh?
<WPM> I ALSO HEARD HE SOLOS ALL OF HIS DUNGEONS. AND HE'S SUPER SMART.
<Teal> And now everyone looks up to TT because he's such an intelligent, funny, talented, handsome guy with all of the achievements.
<Keeper> So, uh, does he come around often then?
<Athena> I'm guessing not, otherwise peer would have recognized him.
<WPM> YEP, THIS IS HIS FIRST VISIT.
<Keeper> I wonder why IA is being so friendly to him then....
<Athena> Dude, it's IA. He's make friends with a rock if it rolled into his office.
<TT> I was hoping to learn about your expedition to Fogbound Lake...
<IA> Well, sorry to disappoint you friend, but we didn't find squat.
<TT> Really? That's so lame. :\
<IA> I know, right? Such a bummer. :/
<TT> Well, at least it finally gave me an excuse to stop by for a chat. I'll probably be in town for a few days. I hope you won't mind if I pop in occasionally for news and to chat?
<IA> Of course not! We host other exploration teams all the time. You're very welcome here. ^_^ Let's introduce you to the team! Hey everyone, meet TT!
<Everyone> Hey TT! :D
<TT> Hey everyone, 'sup?
<Tails> Now, I know our guest is famous and all, but please be respectful of him. And no asking for autographs!
<TT> I don't mind giving out autographs... >.>
<Zyflair> *swoon*
<Teal> Such an honour to meet you, sir!
<Tails> Alright, everyone's dismissed!​


And so we all split up. TT left the Guild and went off to visit the town, and the rest of the teams went off to their tasks. Keeper and I went upstairs as well to take a look at the boards.


<Athena> Wow, jobs for Mt. Horn? Didn't it take us over a day of traveling just to get there?
<Keeper> Don't worry, it'll be faster this time due to video game logic.
<Athena> Fair enough, I guess.​


We picked out a nice handful of jobs to do over at the Craggy Coast and then headed off to town. The first thing I wanted to do was appraise some shiny, fancy boxes we'd picked up while exploring. The suspense was killing me! We withdrew all the boxes from storage and spent some of our careful hoarded gold to have Xatu take a look at them and figure out how to open them up. We ended up with: a Shinx Claw, a Heal Seed, a Munch-Claw, a Delcat-Hair, a Calm Mind TM, a Bonsly Dew, a Reviver Seed, and a Char Claw. We ended up selling most of the stuff, though the Char Claw was a nice find! We also saw that Chansey had set up shop to watch over any Eggs we find, which was cool. We bought and sold some stuff, rejiggered our inventory, stored a bunch of money in the bank, and then we were off.

The dungeon itself was something of a cakewalk, though we did pick up some more friends, and of course a good amount of loot, too. Once all 5 jobs were completed, we made our way back to the Guild for a relaxing dinner and then bed. The expedition was nice and all, but it was also good to get back to routines and treasure hunting.

Meanwhile, outside the Guild....


<Celever> Well, we finally made it back.
<Vom> That stupid IA. I'd love to get revenge on him for owning us so badly... but there's no way we can beat him. He's just too tuff. :<
<bbninjas> Well, if we can't take down IA... why don't we just go mess with those losers in Team Awesome some more?
<Vom> Sure, why not. It'll make me feel better at least. Let's go do some plotting...​


Team Awesome:
Athena: Lv. 25 Charmander (Ember, Ice Fang, Scratch, Fire Fang)
Keeper: Lv. 25 Totodile (Leer, Scratch, Water Gun, Bite)

Available Teammates: Oddish (11), Paras (13), Psyduck (10), Poliwag (9), Machop (6), Geodude (7), Doduo (10), Krabby (12), Spinarak (10), Hoppip (13), Wooper (11), Lotad (11), Barboach (1), Budew (12), Gastrodon (East Sea) (13)


Player Notes:

More plot than action in this chapter, but I figure it's long enough as it is. I mostly expected that Athena's memory issues would be a bit more difficult to solve than right after the first real boss of the game, so that was really no surprise.

We're both 25 now and I swapped out Smokescreen for Fire Fang... and I'm not quite sure yet if that was worth it or not but OH WELL. I can always go to the dude in town and swap out.

Having Gastrodon on the team was nice for Storm Drain. It really meant that I wasn't in nearly as much danger from Water-type attacks as usual. However, it was kind of hilarious when we were taking down mini-boss bounties and Keeper would use Water Gun and Gastrodon would absorb it so it didn't do anything. Silly game. :U I'm mostly planning on accepting one of each Pokémon type, but not really specifically trying to get any of them since I'm not really using them much anyway.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter! :D
 
I used to collect one of each species, kinda like filling a Pokedex. I also kept pretty much all of the Pokemon specific items, as collectibles.

Keep tryharding :).
 
Athena said:
<Tails> I guess that means we're all heading back to the guild now then, eh?
<Everyone> Yay! More filler dungeons! :D
<Tails> And you all get bigger bags, too!
<Everyone> Yay! More loot! :D
Click to expand...

This is 100 percent accurate. LOL, this had me laughing my butt off.

The story really begins to pick up the pace after this point and can really go by in the blink of an eye.
 
Tails said:
The story really begins to pick up the pace after this point and can really go by in the blink of an eye.
Click to expand...

I'll keep this in mind when I'm slogging through 29,318 filler dungeons to get the next rank. :p
 
Haha, that last chapter was definitely the best so far, IMO. There was some really great humour there.

Except....
Athena said:
<Vom> That stupid IA. I'd love to get revenge on him for owning us so badly... but there's no way we can beat him. He's just too tuff. :<
Click to expand...
Shame on you. :p
 
Athena said:
I'll keep this in mind when I'm slogging through 29,318 filler dungeons to get the next rank. :p
Click to expand...

It's been ages since I completed the main story, but I think you over-estimated the number of dungeons needed to rank up.

It's actually 29,317.
 
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