Getting back to Lan and Megaman, we find them in ACDC’s park, trying to decide what he should do his summer project on. Lan, never being one for academics, has trouble deciding what he should do until he finds a balloon stuck in a nearby tree. Attached to the balloon’s string is a chip containing a message from a foreign country asking the recipient to become the sender’s pen pal. Megaman identifies the country of origin as Yumland, and Lan hits upon the idea of doing his research project on international cuisine and says that they should go visit Yumland’s Net so that they can meet the sender. Really though, he just wants to be invited over to Yumland so that he can try out their food. I’m sure there are many, many more practical ways to try out foreign food but eh, roll with it.
I guess this is a good chance to exposit a bit about the Battle Network world. The Earth that Battle Network takes place in is the same as our Earth, with the same landmasses and countries that we have, yet they are of course renamed. Electopia is Japan (it’s still called Japan in the original translation), the country of Netopia is an amalgamation of Europe and the Americas, Yumland seems to be India and South Asia, Choina is China, Sharo is Russia, and Netrica is unsurprisingly Africa. And going by what I remember from the maps that were shown in the anime, the geography is a little mixed up too. Like Australia is further south-west than it is in actuality, and South America is rubbing shoulders with the Kamchatka Peninsula. So yeah that little balloon traveled at the very least nearly three-thousand-six-hundred miles to get to ACDC. Either that thing was released months ago, or that sucker was moving.
Yumland Area can be access via one of the two branching pathways in Den Area 3, but unfortunately it’s blocked off by a security cube that requires an A License to pass. Megaman suggests that they visit a different country instead, but Lan is adamant on Yumland so Megaman agrees to go take the A License exam, under the impression that Lan’s excited about research.
So we have to go back to Marine Harbor. Before we do that though, there are a few new places around ACDC that we can jack in to. The first is a doll lying at the base of the playground’s climbing hill. Inside is a Regular UP 1 and 3000z. The second is the control panel in Lan’s house next to the TV. This contains an Unlocker and a Bug Frag. We can also trade a Dash Attack J for a Spreader * with a little boy in one of the town’s corners.
Once inside the Center, we get an email about Chip Traders from an unknown /coughHigsbycough/ sender. Yep, there’s a Chip Trader installed in the Center’s lobby now. It works exactly the same way that it did in Battle Network 1, except that we can no longer save scum it, the game’s automatically saved whenever we use it. Still, I got an Elec Sword for three Guards, so I’m not complaining. There’s also a new character hanging around, Mr. Famous
◊. Mr. Famous is a recurring minor character who is usually the operator of the winner of a create-a-Navi contest that was held in between each game. Supposedly he’s designed after one of the scenario writers for the series, Masakazu Eguchi. We can freely battle him.
Gateman
◊
HP: 600
Element: Normal
Attacks:
- Gate Soldier – Several tiny soldiers are released from Gateman’s chest portal and march towards Megaman for 30 damage.
- Gate Cannon – A cannon fires from Gateman’s chest portal down one row for 60 damage.
- Remote Gate – Gateman summons a gate in his front column. This gate will mirror Megaman’s lateral movements and occasionally fly up in front of him to grasp him with a claw for 40 damage.
Gateman’s first form isn’t really that difficult at first until he uses Remote Gate, as it will constantly get in the way of your attacks. While Gate Soldier can be annoying in the future, right now the soldiers moves slowly and can be easily destroyed. Gate Cannon packs a wallop, but he doesn’t use it all that often in this battle and it’s relatively slow-moving too.
Winning gives us 500z.
After the battle, having broken his sixty-nine win streak, Mr. Famous gives us an HP Memory as a reward.
Going into the side room where we have to register for an A License exam, we’re told that we can’t do so immediately. We need to solve a few requests on the Job BBS before we can. There are three missions that we have to do, but there are two others available as well that I’m also going to take care of. One has to keep in mind that once you select a job, you’re committed to it. You can’t cancel a request and take another instead, so make sure that you can get the job done before choosing.
Job 1: Need help
For this job we have to meet a girl inside Lan’s classroom. Her cousin has gone missing and we have to find her. Easy enough. We just have to talk to a little girl in the upper corner of Marine Harbor and return to the requester for a Regular UP 1.
Job 2: At the café
The client is a young Official standing by the entrance to Marine Station who wants us to delete a certain Navi who’s spreading viruses. He’s hanging out right outside the teleporter in Den Area 2 that leads to the Square’s entrance. After taking care of him, return to the client for an HP Memory.
Job 3: Mission 1
The client is a scientist standing right outside of ACDC Station. He wants us to delete three Navis that are hiding in ACDC’s electronics. They can be found inside Dex’s GBA, the doll in the park, and the classroom’s blackboard. The reward is a Regular UP 1.
Job 4: Mission 2
This time the client is a Navi who’s in Koto Square. Koto Square is the square for Koto Area, a place that we haven’t been to yet. We can access it through the upper path of Den Area. Koto Area is rather small, but it does introduce one-way conveyers, which we’ll be seeing a lot of in the future. Quickman V2 can be fought on a small dead end halfway through the area. His Navi chip has him using Quick Boomerang on one row.
Koto Square’s entrance is through a teleporter at the end of the area. Koto Square’s shops are located in a little side room. There’s a regular merchant, a Sub Chip dealer, and a Bug Frag exchanger.
- HP Memory – 4000z
- HP Memory – 8000z
- HP Memory – 12000z
- Power UP – 10000z
- Panel Grab * - 1000z
- Fire + 40 * - 3000z
- Fire Blade R – 3800z
- Aqua Sword N – 5000z
- Mini Energy – 50z
- Sneak Run – 200z
- Unlocker – 4000z
- Cross Gun * - 1 Frag
- Spreader M – 1 Frag
- Recovery 80 * - 2 Frags
- Air Shoes A – 4 Frags
- Attack + 30 - 8 Frags
- Zeus Hammer Z – 16 Frags
The client is the mean-looking Navi over near a door blocking off another part of the area. He wants us to jack in to the Center lobby’s coffee machine and take back some data from another Navi. When we talk to the Navi he’ll give us Odd Program, but then immediately attack us, forcing us to delete him (or at least his viruses). Returning to the client nets us a Recovery 30 *.
Job 5: Mission 3
We have to go to the Okuden campsite and meet with a hiker who’s by the stream. He wants us to find a Program that’s lost in Den Area. Since Ribitta’s van is no longer here, we have to go allll the way back to Marine Harbor or the Center itself to access the Net. After finding the Program in Den Area 3, returning to the hiker gets us an HP Memory.
With that job done, we can finally get in to the exam room at the Center to jack in to take the A License exam. Like the B License exam, this one has multiple parts to it. The first is a five-round survival virus battle. The second part has us taking down two malicious Navis located in Den Area 2 and Koto Area. The third and final part is another five-round survival battle. Beating this one earns us our A License. That’s the last license that we’ll need for the story. There are three more to get, but those are for the postgame. We’re also given a Regular UP 2.
With the A License in hand, we can get past the security cube in Den Area 3 and finally access Yumland 1.
Virus Listing
- Sparky
- These small satellites moves down the field in a weaving pattern. If their way is blocked by an obstacle they will begin to orbit around it.
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