#champion interlude

[pmdobt]

and now we're entering a new era of pages sketched/lined exclusively in CSP, rather than sketching and lining in autodesk sketchbook and living the dual program life!

[pmdobt]

a shame that the sentry tower doesn't accommodate pokemon with hooves

[pmdobt]

What does a champion leave behind?

And we're back! OBT is now continuing on its M/W/F update schedule, wahoo! This final part of the chapter is very long (150+ pages), so buckle up.

And hey, wait a minute... Is it just me, or is something funky going on with all three covers for the chapter parts? That's because there is! This trio of covers can be lined up to connect for a fun mega-cover (that I'm putting under the cut so this post doesn't become "do you love the color of the sky" lol)

[pmdobt]

damn, that sucks........ anyway, wanna find out about the monster house mechanic introduced in this dungeon?

[pmdobt]

if you squint, you might see his sins more clearly

[pmdobt]

yeah but you didn't see him in that open field when you were unconscious, checkmate atheist

[pmdobt]

there is no "I" in "TEAM", but there is "M-A-I-M" in "MALACHI" (if you count "m" twice)

[pmdobt]

… and so, we've reached the fabled "cartridge bump" some of you may have heard whispers of!

Back in 2020 when I was playing through the Amp Plains segment, I did a quicksave in the dungeon as I do with many dungeon runs in the game, I often only play in short bursts. And then made an oopsie. For those unfamiliar with Explorers, a quicksave allows you to save in the middle of an adventure so you can turn off the game and later pick up where you left off, with one caveat— the save is just a quick "checkpoint" that will not be honored if you reset the game after resuming gameplay. So if you're on floor 12 in a dungeon and quicksave, and quit playing for a bit, when you resume the game you leave right where you left off on floor 12. If you need another break later at, say, floor 15, you need to do another quicksave. But if you're on floor 15 and lose an important item and decide to reset to go back to your quicksave, the game will instead treat the reset as any old "loss" in a dungeon, and you'll lose items and money accordingly. It's basically a way to allow you to take breaks without allowing you to savescum. But what happens when you quicksave, and then later bump and dislodge your cartridge? Well, it counts as a loss all the same. In OBT's playthrough this happened here in Amp Plains, and I lost quite literally everything except for exempt items (like the aura bow, which can never be lost), and… A single pecha berry. No pokemon fainted during my initial run of Amp Plains, so I didn't count this loss as any sort of death (other than to my inventory, rip). But did anyone faint in the subsequent run(s)? We'll see! This depiction is a bit anticlimactic compared to some theories folks had before this point, but I hope it's a fun little thing to interpret either way!