On Borrowed Time: Chapter 6, Pages 23-24 (Patreon)

... and that's the first death in this run, believe it or not! Azrael was recruited in Foggy Forest shortly after the expedition arc, and I was super excited to have a Smeargle recruit. After all, the possibilities with Sketch are endless! He could have Roar of Time! Or he could die immediately to a Pinsir. That's fine too. Long story short, I couldn't find a way to incorporate him and an actual death in the story in a way that felt natural with timing and tone, and wanted to prioritize other recruits that lasted through at least one dungeon. There is a longer version of this that I could talk about though, so I'll save that for a future Backstage Pass! (When I get around to doing those again, oop)EDIT: Now released for Normal Rank+! A bit delayed because I sometimes try to update releases for pages while at work, but Patreon hates mobile and sometimes doesn't process the update >:(