When we get back to Lan and Megaman, it appears that Flashman’s final attack had something of a delayed effect, for Megaman’s speech is starting to become garbled. Megaman thinks that somethings wrong with the PET itself, so the two decide to visit SciLab and see what Yuuichiro has to say about it. Before they leave, Megaman also brings up that apparently there’s a new little boy in town who’s looking for his big brother, the number one Net Battler in ACDC. Obviously Lan doesn’t have a little brother, so something’s up with that.
Once outside, we’re free to plunder our friends’ houses, as usual. Mayl’s homepage can be accessed via the computer in her upstairs bedroom, and it contains 500z and a PMD with an HP Memory within. In Yai’s mansion we can jack in to her telephone for a Repair A. She seems to have exchanged her Pikachu-skin rug for one in the shape of a Serve Bot from Megaman Legends, and she’s got Mario’s hat and overalls hanging on a coat rack. In Dex’s house, his SNES is too old to have a jack in port, but his PC connects to his homepage, which has 200z and a Guts Punch B inside. Kind of a weak haul this time around.
We find the girls outside of the Metroline station, as the little boy is standing in front of it and refusing to let anyone in until he gets to see his brother. Lan obviously is not who he’s after, and so Lan is roped into finding the “real” No. 1 Net Battler in ACDC by the girls since the kid won’t say who it is. Well, there’s only one person Lan knows who brags like that…
Dex isn’t home, so the only place he could be is at school, where he’s apparently sitting in detention for some unspecified misdemeanor. The little boy turns out to be his little brother, Chisao
◊. Dex explains that Chisao lives with their father in Netopia, and that he hasn’t seen him him in person since he was 1. Chisao then puts Dex in a bit of a bind by asking him to crush Lan in a Net Battle. Oh boy…
Gutsman Alpha
HP: 700
Element: Normal
Attacks:
- Shockwave – Gutsman smashes the ground, unleashing a shockwave that travels down one row for 40 damage
- Guts Hammer – Gutsman smashes the ground, cracking the entirety of Megaman’s field.
- Guts Punch – Gutsman moves up to his front column and punches the panel in front of him, knocking the target back a panel for 60 damage.
Well, Gutsman’s certainly been eating his Wheaties. He’s more than doubled his HP since the last battle and his attacks certainly pack a wallop. However, his attack pattern is exactly the same as before, and once again he has no way of attacking over broken panels. But his high HP can still present an issue, since it’s difficult to get through at this point without having done a bunch of chip grinding. Beating him is certainly doable at this point, but it won’t be quite the cakewalk that Gutsman battles generally are.
Winning gives us Gutsman V2 G.
You don’t have to actually win this battle. If you lose, Chisao joyfully embraces Dex while Mayl thinks it’s nice that Lan let Dex win for once, and if you win Chisao runs off crying with Dex in pursuit. The two eventually make up off screen. Either way, we can now get to SciLab on the Metroline.
SciLab Station conveniently connects directly to the building’s main lobby. Like any self-respecting location in this series, there’re a few jack in points to find. One is a vending machine that contains a Regular UP 2, and the other is a door sensor hidden in the frame of the Virus Lab entrance, which contains 700z and an Air Shoes *. In the vending machine there’s a Navi who’ll let Megaman play a betting minigame. By putting up 100z, we’re allowed to choose between two panels, and if we select the correct one the bet is doubled. The game ends once the wrong panel is selected and we don’t get anything back. According to Game FA Qs you win the Prism chip after several rounds, but I don’t know how many. I only went up to five before backing down.
Also in the lobby is a Sub Chip merchant:
- Mini Energy – 100z
- Full Energy – 1000z
- Unlocker – 4000z
And there’s also the Job BBS, returning from the previous game. The rules here are exactly the same: only one job can be accepted at a time, and there’s no backing out of them until they’re finished.
Job 1: Please deliver this
The client is a female Normal Navi (the red/purple ones are apparently feminine) located on the lower part of ACDC 1 that can only be accessed via either ACDC 3 or Dex’s homepage. She wants us to deliver her husband’s Old Tool. Her husband is inside 5-A’s blackboard. Returning to the client nets us a Yo-Yo 1 D chip.
Job 2: My Navi is sick
A little girl in SciLab Station wants a Recovery 30 *, which can be found in ACDC 3’s GM Ds. In exchange she gives a Regular UP 3.
With those two jobs out of the way, it’s time to take the elevator up to Yuuichiro’s lab. Unfortunately, the doctor is not in, but one of the scientists there gives Lan a Sub PET as backup after hearing what’s wrong. We can jack in to the main computer for 1000z and a Bamboo Sword N from a PMD. We also get an email from Dex letting us know that he’s set up a shortcut to ACDC Square from his homepage. These little capsule teleporters look a lot like the Dr. Light capsules from the X series.
Downstairs Lan encounters Sunayama, who tells him that Round 2 of the N1 Preliminaries are about to start at SciLab Square. He gives us Cyber SciLab Pass before rushing off. In this game, Net areas aren’t interconnected like they are in the others. Instead there’s a Cyber Metroline that provides transport between them, and this pass will let us use it to travel to SciLab’s area of the Net. Normally we can access SciLab Square via the Virus Lab, but since it’s currently off limits we have to take the long way around. The Cyber Metroline is in ACDC 1, just past where Dex’s homepage is. While we’re in the neighborhood, Flashman Alpha can be found on the dead end right next to the teleporter to ACDC Square in ACDC 3. His chip has him hit the entire area with a blinding flash that hits all enemies, pierces barriers and Mercy Invincibility, and paralyzes them. Very useful for setting up combos. Afterwards his Beta form can be fought as a random encounter in ACDC 2 (Navis’ V3/Beta versions in this game don’t appear in the same area as their V2/Alpha versions did).
The Cyber Metroline takes us to SciLab 2, and the teleporter to SciLab Square isn’t far off. The merchant here sells:
- HP Memory – 2000z
- HP Memory – 4000z
- HP Memory – 8000z
- Mole 1 * - 1000z
- Tornado C – 3000z
- Anti-Damage M – 3800z
- Time Bomb K – 5200z
The Navi that we need to talk to is a purple one standing in one of the side areas of the square. The first part of the preliminary is a simply three-round survival battle. The second involves us tracking down a certain Navi in SciLab. The Navi can be found at a plaza in SciLab 1. The Heel Navi (a purple, brutish-looking Navi) introduces himself as the Undernet’s Virus King. Megaman goes on alert, convinced that this’ll be the toughest opponent he’s ever faced, but Lan points out that the guy’s really just an actor for DNN. The Heel Navi drops character and reprimands the two for not playing along since they’re on live TV. He orders the hidden cameramen to cut and says that they’ll try this again in SciLab 2. After we find him again we have to beat his viruses and return to the Navi in SciLab Square, who tells us that the final part of the preliminary will be held in ACDC Area, and we’re given the Cyber ACDC Pass.
The Navi giving the third and final mission is in ACDC 2, and it’s another three-round survival battle. Afterwards, the Net suddenly starts to warp and briefly become distorted. When the N1 Navi takes no notice of it, Megaman realizes that the PET must be on the fritz again. The distortions die down, and Megaman finds that not only can he not contact Lan, but that he can’t jack out. So he has to make the trek back to where he originally jacked in from. Since Lan’s cut off, Megaman can’t use any chips in battle. His “should I run Yes/No” dialogue is also changed during this segment, which is a nice little touch.
Once he gets off the Net, the scene changes to Lan sitting at his dining room table, lamenting the fact that he’s stuck using the Sub PET, which is missing many of the regular one’s features. He and Megaman talk a little bit about their upcoming fieldtrip to the town of Yoka (two fieldtrips so close together? I wish my school did that!), and then the doorbell rings. The person at the door turns out to be Yuuichiro, who for once was able to come home to visit his family since SciLab’s computer systems are currently shut down for maintenance. After exchanging greetings with everyone, Yuuichiro says that he heard that Lan came to visit him, and Lan tells him about his faulty PET. After examining it, his father determines that its transmission system has been fried, but he can’t repair it right away. Because of its customizations, he’ll have to take it back to SciLab to work on. So Lan is stuck with the Sub PET for a little while longer. There’s literally nothing left for him to do but go to bed.
Virus Listing
- Shrimpy
- These shrimp viruses move up and down one column, firing bubbles down one row at Megaman whenever they align. When these bubbles hit an obstacle they will also damage additional panels. Shrimpy's shots also damage the panel behind the point of impact, Shrimpy 2s shots burst into a > shape, and Shrimpy 3s' shots bursts are three panels wide.
- Ratty
- These rat viruses move quickly and do their best to stay out of Megaman's row. They shoot rattons, small projectiles that can make a ninety-degree turn to track Megaman. Rattys move faster and fire more rattons more quickly when low on HP.
- 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 area three panels wide.
- Pengi
- These penguin viruses attack by emitting a snowflake moves down the field in a weaving pattern, covering two rows. Whenever they move onto ice panels they freeze up and become invulnerable to non-breaking attacks.
- Fishy
- These viruses rocket down the row when they align with Megaman. It's evolved form, Fishy 2, is Fire element and leaves a burning trail in its wake, making it much more deadly than a normal virus.
- Quaker
- These viruses have nothing to do with oatmeal or religious sects. Armed with heavy metal balls, Quakers jump around the field and unleash shockwaves that travel down one row when they land.
- Swordy
- These knights have two attack patterns - close range and long range. If Megaman is in the column in front of them, they will swing their sword in a Wide Sword-range slash. If Megaman is not directly in front of them, they will attack with a slash that has a range of two horizontal. Should Megaman persist in dodging their attacks, they will use the Area Grab chip to close in on him. Swordys are Normal element, while Swordy 2's and Swordy 3's are Fire and Aqua respectively.
- Hardhead
- These viruses are immobile and immune to all non-breaking attacks when their mouths are closed. Every five seconds or so they will open and fire a cannonball at Megaman which breaks whichever panel it may happen to land on. In this game there are Aqua and Fire variants that will shoot projectiles that will freeze and turn panels to lava instead.
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