Sometime after Lan goes to bed, we’re shown Protoman reading one of the message boards in the Square. The message that’s gotten his attention is a threat, a post claiming to be from Gospel claiming that tomorrow many people will die and the country will see its might. Chaud dismisses the post as a hoax and has Protoman delete the message. He does wonder if Gospel has any connection with a certain secret file…
Like the rising of the sun, the new day is heralded by Lan oversleeping, and on the day of the camping trip, no less! Mayl, Dex, and Yai are waiting for us at the bus stop by the Metroline station. We’re going by bus to an outdoor campground located in a place called Okuden Valley.
Once we arrive, the group encounters Chaud hanging out around the campground’s entrance. Lan thinks that he was just being shy about wanting to do camping, only to get the expected heated rebuff. Though the group manages to strike a truce and he ends up tagging along anyway. And then in an unexpected appearance of conventional RPG tropes, everyone walks into Lan.
Okuden Valley’s a very linear area, and the pathway leading to the campsite is split into two levels – a riverbank, and a raised path. Interesting thing to note is that a few generic NP Cs have had their sprites edited so that they’re wearing hiking outfits instead of dress shirts or what have you. At the end of the first pathway section, we find that our way is blocked by a swarm of bees, leading to a little scavenger hunt for items that we can use to get rid of them. This is going to be a recurring thing with Okuden. Nearby is an outdoorsman complaining about litter, so that’s our cue to examine the scenery for pieces of garbage. Doing so we find a thrown-away newspaper, a stick, and a cigarette lighter. Lan drives the bees away by wrapping the paper around the stick, lighting it on fire, and then waving his makeshift torch around like a maniac. Yeah, not even going to begin going into why that’s a bad idea.
The second area has a waterfall and a Shinto statue that we can jack in to, it really being an air quality monitor. Inside is an HP Memory. We can’t get to the campsite though, because a bear is blocking the way. A big, noisy, angry-looking bear reared up on its hind legs. How we get past this obstacle requires a bit of moon-logic. Going behind the waterfall (yes, we can do that) and examining the grounds enables us to find a pair of binoculars. Returning to the path, Lan uses the binoculars to see that the bear is actually a robot. Yep. Dex thinks that it might still be able to attack a person, so it’s up to Megaman to get in there and take care of it. Inside is a Regular UP 1, and talking to the Program inside reveals that the bear is supposed to be a mascot of sorts, but it’s been infected by a virus, which we are promptly thrown into battle against. With this the bear is shut down and we can access the campsite.
Once at the campsite Lan promptly disgorges the rest of the party who go about getting ready to cook dinner (except for Chaud, who up and vanishes). Each member of the group gives Lan an item to find to speed things along. Dex wants kindling, Mayl wants a knife, and Yai wants fish. We can jack in to one of the grills on site for a Mini Energy and a Bubbler R. Ribitta is also at the campsite, apparently lost, and her TV van is parked nearby with access to the Net in case you’re one of those people who start to get jittery when they’re away from their electronics for more than a few hours. Admittedly I use it so I can get the Power UP that’s in the PMD just outside her homepage. There’s also another area beyond the campsite, a dam, but we’re not allowed to go there. The scientist stopping us gives us a Bubbler G to compensate.
Anyway, back to getting the items. We can get the kindling by talking to an old man across the river, borrow the knife from a hiker, and get the fish from another hiker standing in the stream. We don’t even have to leave the area.
With the items delivered, everyone gathers around the grill to eat. Everyone but Chaud, who’s still missing. Just when the group is starting to wonder where he is, the sound of an explosion rings out. Megaman realizes that it came from the dam and that everyone should evacuate lest it burst and the valley becomes flooded. But Chaud is still nowhere to be seen, so we have to go looking for him. The scientist guarding the entrance to the dam is gone, so that’s clearly where we’re supposed to go. We can’t get in to the dam itself, but that doesn’t matter because as soon as Lan tries he gets a call from Chaud. He’s inside the dam right now investigating, apparently having changed his mind about the threat posted on the message board from before. He’s found a time bomb inside the dam, and he wants Lan to go search out four remote detonators hidden around Okuden and deactivate them. Before we leave, there’s a Sub Chip dealer here with the following:
- Mini Energy – 50z
- Sneak Run – 200z
- Unlocker – 4000z
There are four detonators to find, and they’re all scattered around Okuden’s overworld. The first is easy enough to find, a rogue PET lying on the ground in the campsite. Jacking in takes us to the first Bomb Computer. The layout of the place is generally grid-like, but we can’t just run straight to the end. Certain sections of the path will explode if Megaman gets too close to them. The explosions don’t damage him, but they break the path forcing us to take the long way around. It’s pretty simple, really. At the end of the area’s a round monitor that Megaman will deactivate.
The second detonator’s a little harder to find. It’s not in a dropped PET but rather disguised as a thermos lying around the campsite. This area follows the same general layout of the previous one, only larger. Occasionally bombs will start to appear on the ground in battle, and if a Fire attack hits it the bomb explodes, damaging the whole field. There are lots of Fire viruses in here, so one needs to be careful. Can’t forget the HP Memory in here, either. The third detonator is located inside of a PET that’s hidden out of sight behind the waterfall from earlier. The area inside is even bigger that the other two, but there’re no new tricks. There’s a Regular UP 2, though. After deactivating this one, we get a call from Chaud telling us that we have to now find the bomber himself, as he likely has the last detonator on his person.
The bomber would obviously have to have a unique design, and the only other NPC currently in the area that fits the bill is the outdoorsman who was complaining about littering. He denies knowledge of what’s going on, but after pressing him a bit he reveals that his name is Dave
◊ and that he is indeed the bomber. What’s more, he wants to destroy the dam as a punishment for the people who despoil and pollute nature. Yeah, if we ever encounter an environmentalist in this series who isn’t named Sal, they’re guaranteed to moonlight in eco-terrorism. He challenges us to jack in to his PET and see if we can stop his Navi, Quickman, from activating the bomb. In we go.
Aside from picking up a Power UP that finally lets me use Megaman’s Charge Shot, this area once again has nothing new to offer save size. At the monitor at the end is Quickman who’s all too eager to just leave and screw us over, but of course we have to have a boss fight and Dave convinces him to take Lan and Megaman on since they’re just kids. Okay, if you wanna be Genre Blind, be my guest.
Quickman
◊
HP: 400
Element: Normal
Attacks:
- Quick Boomerang – Quickman hurls the spikes on his gauntlets down one row and back for 40 damage.
- Double Boomerang – Quickman hurls two Quick Boomerangs one after the other on two adjacent rows for 40 damage.
Oh Quickman can be a giant hassle. Like Protoman from the first Battle Network, frontal attacks are useless as he will simply block any attack thrown at him whether it be a cannon blast, bomb, sword slash, Navi attack, anything. The only time he can be hit is right after he launches an attack, but the window of opportunity is slight. Chips that break guards can hit him regardless, but we don’t have any available at the time being.
Winning gives us 1500z.
Well, it turns out that deleting Quickman makes him automatically activate the bomb, but fortunately Protoman shows up to finish him off before he can do so and send things even further south. Dave has a rather amusing breakdown, wondering how two kids could beat him, the future leader of Gospel (IQ: 170)? Chaud simply replies that his IQ was of no help to him and places him under arrest on the spot. The day is saved.
Elsewhere, Gospel’s unseen leader mutters to himself over Arashi and Dave’s defeats, but since they were bottom-rung he isn’t too concerned. Besides, he has a new agent ready to go, the fearsome mercenary Dark…
Virus Listing
- Spikey
- These canine viruses are essentially Fire-element Shrimpys, only they're not limited to a single column for movement. Like Shrimpys, the fireballs they spew will damage additional panels from the point of impact. Spikeys' affect the panel behind the point of impact, Spikey 2s' explode in a > shape, and Spikey 3s' hit an X-shaped area.
- Flamey
- These floating oni remain immobile until Megaman aligns with them, whereupon they will launch themselves into the air and shoot through each of the panels on the row one at a time, breaking them.
- Handy
- These disembodied hands place time bombs on Megaman's field.
- Met Fire
- These little wizards will hide behind an obstacle on their side of the field such as a boulder and rain meteors down on random panels of Megaman's field.
Soundtrack
- At Okuden
- A rather quirky outdoor theme.
- Time Limit
- Suitably frantic and tense given what you're trying to stop.
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