One month later things pick up with Lan at school, listening to Ms. Mari giving a lecture on data compression. He asks if Megaman can be compressed too, but apparently technology isn’t quite at the point where Navis can be easily compressed yet. After class we’re supposed to go around and ask everyone if they’re free for the weekend, but it turns out that everyone but Mayl is busy. However, we do get an email from Higsby
◊, the owner of ACDC’s chip shop. He’s finally back from his traveling around the world, and he wants us to help him with something. Well, we’ve got nothing better to do, so might as well swing by his place.
Higsby’s isn’t currently selling anything, but it’s still got a few nifty features. First is the Chip Trader, where one exchanges three chips for a random new one, and next is a new type of trader, the Number Trader. The Number Trader is a device where we’re asked to input an eight-digit password, and if the password is correct Lan will get some sort of item in exchange, usually either a chip or a program. The codes can be obtained by buying chocolate bars at the kiosk within Yoka Station…or you could just look them up on Game FA Qs for a bit of meta irony. Finally, the giant display board of Numberman
◊, Higsby’s Navi, can be jacked in to for an HP Memory, and the poster of Vile has been changed to one of Sharkman from Battle Network 1.
Talking to Higsby himself, we learn that the reason he called us is because he wants us to run some errands for him since he’s come down with a cold. Lan initially balks at the idea of having an actual job, but he comes around with a little convincing from Megaman and also the incentive of getting paid for his efforts. After this we get an email from Yai revealing that she’s set up a shortcut on her homepage to SciLab Square.
So, our first job is to meet a merchant at ACDC Station to pick up some equipment that Higsby ordered. The man turns out to have forgotten the bag with the equipment at an inn he recently stayed at, so we’re forced to go the extra mile and take the Metroline to Yoka to retrieve the bag from the inn. Lan Hikari, professional gopher.
However, something’s changed about Yoka since we were last here. Standing at the base of the electrical tower is the enigmatic Net Battle expert Mr. Famous
◊. He only appears in Blue (in White he’s replaced by his apprentice, though I don’t know what function the apprentice has), and when one talks to him he’ll dispense a bit of Net Battle trivia, such as how it’s possible to push obstacles around the field through the use of Air Shot or punch battle chips, or how to use certain, more complex chips and combos. He also has a Navi of his own that can be challenged, though it bucks the trend in that it’s not a create-a-Navi contest winner. It’s actually Punk, originally from Megaman III. His Navi incarnation was apparently designed by Keiji Inafune himself.
Punk
◊
HP: 800
Element: Normal
Attacks:
- Mad Roller – Punk retracts into a ball and rolls down one row, one column, and then back similar to the Boomerang chip for 30 damage.
- Wave Mad Roller – Punk retracts into a ball and rolls down the field in a weaving pattern for 30 damage.
- Shield and Chain – Punk blocks an attack with his shoulder and extends and arm behind him which loops around to strike Megaman from behind for 30 damage.
- Double-Go-Round – Punk sends his two pauldrons spinning through Megaman’s field like boomerangs for 30 damage.
- Punk Chain – Immediately following Double-Go-Round Punk appears in front of Megaman and swipes at the column before him for 30 damage.
Punk is a difficult boss. He’s fast, has an erratic movement pattern, and is invulnerable for most of his attack animations. Perhaps the best way to fight him right now is to use the Gutsman chips to limit his movement, since all of his attacks but Shield and Chain need panels available to work.
Punk doesn’t have any chips to obtain, only zenny. The only way to get his chip is through either hacking or having attended a Capcom event held many moons ago. From what I’ve read hit has him use different attacks depending on certain conditions, like how much HP Megaman has or if the Mega Buster is charging or not.
Upon returning the briefcase to the man at ACDC Station we’re given the Order System, and when we report back to Higsby he gives us our second job: we need to go and break the legs of a Heel Navi in ACDC 1 who refuses to pay for a batch of chips. The fellow is right outside of Lan’s homepage, and upon beating his viruses he reluctantly forks over 1000z that we have to return to Higsby. The final job Higsby has for us is to give a Navi in SciLab 2 a Ratton 1 C. While there, Beastman Alpha can be found at a dead end near the entrance to the lower level of SciLab 1. His chip has him use Wild Rush, with the claws targeting three panels ahead of Megaman. Beastman Beta can then be found as a random encounter in the doghouse in front of Lan’s house, of all places. Higsby will give us a Snake R chip as payment for doing those three errands. Laaaame. Afterwards though, we get an email informing us that the final preliminary round for the N1 is about to start, so Lan bids Higsby a quick farewell before preparing to leave.
The email doesn’t actually say where the final preliminary is held, it just gives us a simple wordplay hint. A hint which points us to the SciLab Area. At SciLab Square, conveniently standing right outside of Yai’s shortcut, is a yellow female Navi who will give us Cyber Yoka Pass. Yep, the final preliminary is being held in Yoka Area. Yoka’s Cyber Metroline stop is handily right at Yoka Square, the largest of the squares in this game. The merchants:
- HP Memory – 4000z
- HP Memory – 8000z
- HP Memory – 12000z
- Needler 1 J – 3200z
- Bamboo Sword P – 3500z
- Lance Z – 4000z
- Shake 1 R – 5000z
- Step Sword P – 6400z
- Mini Energy – 100z
- Full Energy – 1000z
- Unlocker – 4000z
There’s a Normal Navi here who’s hosting a new, Simon Says minigame where the player has one minute to input the button prompts that the Navi gives us. Messing up eats up time, and the player must succeed sixty times to pass. Much less frustrating than the gambling minigame for now, but the reward is a meager one Bug Frag, so it’s not even worth it.
The Navi for the N1 is an old-type Navi located on one of the square’s lower platforms. The first part of the preliminary involves finding five people dressed as Normal Navis in the real world and defeating them in Net Battles. The catch is that we must use the Extra Folder Preliminary Folder instead of our regular one. It’s not too too bad a folder – it’s got the Hyper Burst and Life Sword Program Advances at least.
The costumed people aren’t that hard to find. There’s one standing near one of ACDC’s corners and another in the teacher’s lounge at school. A third is at SciLab and the other two are at Yoka, one at the zoo and another in the inn’s bath. All we have to do is beat them all in a virus battle. While at SciLab I decided to do the next three jobs that have popped up. Because this update just doesn’t have enough of them.
Job 3: Help me with my son!
A woman inside Yoka Station explains that her son has gone delinquent and does nothing but pick fights and spread viruses. We’re tasked with straightening him out, which we do by beating his Heel Navi in ACDC 3. Our reward for that punishment-by-proxy is Spin Yellow, which allows us to rotate yellow programs with the shoulder buttons on the Navi Customizer.
Job 4: Transmission error
A scientist at the Virus Lab has accidentally sent some virus data to the wrong place, and he wants us to find and delete it before it causes trouble. The affected computer is the flamingo and hippo display at the Yoka zoo, and examining it throws us into a virus battle. Our reward for deleting these viruses is an HP Memory.
Job 5: Chip prices
A Navi in ACDC Square gives us the skinny: he and his brother in SciLab Square are competing to see who’s the better salesman in the eyes of their father. Both of them are selling the same chip, and we’re tasked with scoping out the rival to see what price he’s set. So we have to go back and forth like this a few times, but each time we do, the rival has the lower price. Turns out the client is bugged, and his father puts the competition to an end. We’re given the chip they were selling, Slasher B, as a reward.
Alright, busy work out of the way, it’s back to Yoka Square, where the final test of the preliminary is a three-round survival battle. Lan and Megaman celebrate their victory and their passage of the preliminaries, and he’s joined by Gutsman, Roll, and Glyde. Gutsman and Glyde also made it to the N1, but Roll wasn’t able to get through the survival battles. A new voice speaks up, chiding the group for being so loose with each other despite being competitors. It’s Protoman and Chaud, who are naturally also in the tournament. The two are their usual baskets of sunshine and joy, accusing their rivals of wishy-washy competitive behavior and taking their leave just as soon. After he’s gone Megaman’s friends jack out one by one as they realize that they have prior engagements. Before Roll jacks out, Mayl tells Lan that she’s expecting a delivery tomorrow of something called a Bubble Wash and that she’d like his help installing it. Apparently Lan really got into the workhorse spirit in this update, since he agrees without resistance.
That was actually a rather productive day, all things considered. Time for bed.
Virus Listing
- Trumpy
- Viruses in the Trumpy family stick to the back row and don't attack Megaman directly. Instead, they play a song that has a variety of side-effects depending on the version. Trumpys make allied viruses invincible. Tubys confuse Megaman, wreaking havoc on the directional controls, and Trompys' songs immobilize him.
- Snow Blow
- This viruses look rather odd, almost like a pile of leaves with a mouth. They will briefly inhale, pulling Megaman to the front of the field, before spewing out a series of tornadoes that travel down the field.
- Vacuum Fan
- Unlike their cousins the Wind Boxes, Vacuum Fans suck in air instead of blowing it, constantly pulling Megaman to the front of his field.
- Yort
- These viruses launch bladed yo-yos three panels forward, hitting the third panel numerous times.
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