Part 10: Chapter IX: The Fighting Tournament No One Saw Coming

o hey guys what you doing nm just got an lp going on.

So good news! My work schedule has officially changed. So instead of a weeks of closing, opening, closing, opening, closing which destroys me and leaves me tired every day, I now only close once a week and open 4 times, which actually leaves me with energy when I get off. So you'll get more updates.

Oh and even better, as of the update after this, I'll be back at the point where I had to quit last time so for that.

Update IX: The Fighting Tournament No One Saw Coming

Challenge: Attack Formation only, only the point member can attack, everyone can heal themselves

So since the last time you guys saw me, I've been training Nina. Here's some highlights.



That AP gain never slows down. Nina's AP quickly surpasses her HP. It's the main reason I like to make her into a dedicated all around magic user.

Also, Momo is knocked out in some of these because I was doing some of this while I was waiting for you guys to vote for her Master.



Simoon, one of the two dual elemental attacks in the game. It packs quite a punch. If anyone on the receiving end of Simoon and they absorb one of the elements, the entire attack is voided and they get 0 damage.



Cyclone. The first of two wind-elemental spells, the other one being Typhoon (learned from Mygas, currently on Momo's Skill list)



Jolt, the basic thunder spell. It hits all enemies, and works wonders against the Lizards in Momo's Tower.

Also, that number shouldn't be 98. I think I snapped the pic while the number was scrolling.



Blunt weakens a targets attack power, but has a low accuracy. It's handy a few times, mostly because of the 1 AP cost.



This is Last Resort. I'll be teaching this to Peco before long and the carnage can begin.



Magic Ball, an incredibly handy 2 AP Skill that was pretty much custom made for Nina. It does damage based on Nina's Intelligence, and does more the dumber the enemy is.



Meditation. It's a self-only Skill that ups the power of your next spell. It can be stacked twice. Can make spells absurdly powerful when exploiting elemental weaknesses. Don't bother using it in normal battles, bring it out for bosses.



Same as Blunt, but lowers defense.



Iceblast is Nina's cornerstone for this next section. Much stronger than Frost, but costs 5 AP.



And with Slow (go ahead, guess what it does), Nina is caught up.





Sanctuary dispels all stat-up/stat-down magic on everything on the screen, allies and enemies. Situational at best for us, but later on bosses love this.

Recall casts a random spell. It will never heal an enemy (barring elemental absorption) or attack an ally. Pass.

Shield ups the entire party's defense for 4 AP. Protect does the same thing for one ally for 2 AP. The only reason to use Protect now is in a solo boss fight.

And that's everything Yggdrasil has. Nina's still gonna be staying with him a while though.



Here's everyone's stats going in. Just look at Nina's defense. JUST LOOK AT IT! Too bad it won't stay that way for long, but it's pretty cool to see.

Now, we're ready to tell Palet we took care of the Mutant. And his baby onion.



Palet: Momo! So good to see you again! Did you take care of our little problem?

: Yeah... But I wouldn't call it little!

Palet: How can we ever thank you, Momo?

: Don't worry about it. See you later, Palet

Palet: W-w-w -wait! Momo! Where are you going? The road is still blocked! Why don't you stay here with us for a while?



The man may be sketchy as hell, but he's got a point.

: But... We have to get to Wyndia!

Palet: Wyndia!? No problem--leave it to me! I'll get you there! Please... don't worry--I have a plan All right then! We'll have everything ready tomorrow, so why don't you rest here at the inn tonight?



There's also a shop at the Inn. Don't buy the Mandrakes. They fully heal your HP, but lower the max by 10%, just like you were KO'd at the end of a battle. Avoid them, especially since Multivitamins (which fully heal you with no drawbacks) only cost 300 Zenny.

And the Inn lets you stay for free, just in case you have no money left since Palet won't let you leave.



You can probably figure out what the plan is from here, but here's the dialogue anyway.

Palet: This cart is headed for Wyndia... If you hide inside, you should be able to get by unnoticed.

: What do you think, Momo?

: Won't they check the goods on the cart?

Palet: Heh heh heh heh... don't worry... Just make sure you hide really well.

: All right then... Let's try it. It's our best bet

And the party goes for a roll in the hay.

Palet: Heh heh... Whew... I was lucky that the people Balio and Sunder are after turned out to be Momo and her friends. Those two will take care of them for me... And no one need ever learn about the mutant plant! heh heh heh heh

I really hate Palet. And this isn't the end of his douchebaginess either. We'll see him again later on.




Sunder: Hoooold it... What's that?

Hooded Dude: Um....This...is a shipment from the plant to Wyndia...

Sunder: Shipment, huh? OK...I'll take it from here...now scram! Don't worry! I'll take good care of it! Ha ha ha ha ha!!




GODDAMMIT PALET!

Sunder: You're in for it now, you little squirt! You won't be getting away this time! Stupid kids! I've had it up to here with them!



Balio: So...kids... I hope this has shown you how the world works

Sunder: In the end... It's people like us who get what they want, right bro?

Balio: The strong get what they want... And the weak can't do anything about it... Just like in the Contest of Champions.

: So...if we enter the Contest and win... we'll be strong, too, and we can get what we want-- to be set free!

Sunder: What!? You want to enter the Contest!? We've been nice to you so far 'cause you're worth a lot o' money to us, but there's a limit to how far we can be pushed!

Sunder: Just give up and stop struggling... We're gonna take care of everyone else, but don't worry, Princess--we won't touch you.

: No way! Let us all go! I won't let you hurt anyone! Let us enter the Contest!

Sunder: Uh-oh...They're all getting uppity, bro We should get rid of 'em now.

Balio: .........Wait a minute, Sunder... It might not be a bad idea after all...

Sunder: But...if they enter, there ain't no one who'll think they can win... Huh? Wait a sec...

Balio: Exactly, bro... No one will bet on them...which means that if they do win, we'll make that much more money... All right, Princess, we'll let you enter. I'll even let you loose until the Contest starts. You can train, or buy weapons, or whatever you want. But don't even think about running away... We've got the road guarded tight... And we'll keep one of you here as a hostage.

Sunder: Boy, you sure are clever, bro... I never would've thought of that... OK, so if we have Ken and the Princess enter the Contest, who stays behind as a hostage?

We leave Momo behind for now because of an amusing dialogue bit, but typically you should leave Peco.



Momo: Don't worry about me... You can go on without me... Even though they said they'll do XX and then XX to me, and after that they'll XXX me...I don't think they'll kill me. But what does XX and XXX mean, anyway?



If you let Momo stay after reading that, you have no soul.

At this point, I'm usually worn out by this arc. It just gets dragged on and on, but it definitely gives Nina a chance to mature and develop. It's pretty good, and you see the results later.



Here's the entrance, and here's the music for the area. The door take us out to Genmel. We can technically leave to train, but we can't go past Mount Boumore or Maekysss Gorge.



This is the entryway. Mostly it's people talking about their bets and whatnot. We're heading the the fighter's area.



This is the Hall of Fire, our first arena.



The Null Magic Hall, our second arena.



And the Hall of Kings, our third battleground.



These are the Dodai, the gimmmick of the Hall of Fire, which I'll get into in a bit. They also serve as a cameo for the HR Director from the Breath of Fire II colosseum (or Dir Hr as he was called).



And these are our first opponents, Team Patrio. Patrio is the dude in armor, Claw is the chick next to him, and Cawer is the fat guy in the corner.



A little further down is the merchant area. I buy Bucklers for everybody, a Scale Mail for Ken and Momo, a Knight's Helm for Ken, and an extra Helm and Buckler for party member number 5.



Normally, I'd say stock up on a few attack items here, but with how I'm playing it, I wouldn't use them even if I bought them. But here's a quick rundown on them anyways.

Firecrackers, Icicles, and Napalm cast the strongest multi-target spells, Inferno, Blizzard, and Sirocco. Sirocco is the other flame and wind attack against all enemies. They're relatively cheap (later on anyway), and work off the users Intelligence. THERE IS NO REASON NOT TO USE THEM IF YOU SO CHOOSE. A Firecracker will always do the same damage as an Inferno spell cast by the same person.

But buy a Multivitamin, just in case.



I call this "Team Goon". All they do is talk about how powerful and unstoppable they are, and then say how cute the ring girls are.



Head back to the Hall of Fire, and talk to the ring girl to get started. She'll offer to explain the rules, but it's easier to explain when you see the set-up so I'll wait. Also, that dresser at the top has another Coin for fishing.



It's a series of 1, 2, or 3 one-on-one matches. The order you go is determined by your formation order. So from top to bottom, our order is Nina, Ken, and Momo.

...Ken and Momo won't be leaving the room.

Anyway, we tell the girl we're ready. Because we are.




Ladies & gentlemen! In this round... Claw VS Nina!



The Hall of Fire. You can go about this one of two ways. You can go after the opposing team one-by-one, Or you can go after their Dodai, the big guy holding the platform up. Your opponents Dodai has 2000 HP, and yours has 1500 HP. They're weak to ice magic. The opposing team also won't attack your Dodai unless you attack theirs.

Since being alone means you can't use formations, the challenge is on hold for this.

Also, a fun fact about them. They technically have the Skill Snap (like Pooch had), but they're Boss Data doesn't let them do anything at all other than stand there.

But to show off everything, we're gonna go after the first two team members, and THEN the Dodai.

Believe it or not, Claw is the biggest problem for Nina, because she's the only one Nina can't EX turn. Fortunately, her attacks aren't too bad. Meditation, Meditation, Magic Ball, Heal. Do that twice and you're good.

And, if you're willing, she drops some Speed Boots at a 1/32 chance. They're very rare.



Cawer is the mage of Patrio's team. Watch out for his Cyclone spell since it'll do 25-30 damage. He can also heal himself.



And this is Patrio. Patrio is a DICK. The first thing you wanna do is hit him with a couple Blunt spells. Patrio gets Lucky Strikes very often, and this will make them very manageable while you get set-up. Follow that up with a Slow spell so you can EX turn him. He also has access to Frost Strike (ice elemental physical attack that puts the target to sleep)



First of all, use that Ivory Dice from Momo's Tower on Patrio's Dodai. Ivory Dice double the experience payout, and can be stacked. AMAZINGLY awesome later on.

(somewhere, I think Leavemywife is creaming his pants after reading those sentences)





And from there, it's simple. Use Meditation on your EX turn, and Iceblast on your regular turn. Patrio won't touch you, and Iceblast will be doing 200-250 damage to his Dodai. He doesn't stand a chance.



Once the Dodai are almost dead, they fall halfway into the lava.

HEY GUYS THE FLOOR IS LA--



And with that, we've won our first match! Go Nina!




BAM. Nina just gained 5 levels in one battle. When that happens, the game only shows the net result of those levels. If you learn ore than one spell, it won't show any of them. But Nina just learned Typhoon, Lightning, and Drain. She's good to go for a looooooooooong time. Her next attack spell doesn't come until level 28.



Aw, look at her giving credit to the dead weight she's hauling around.



Garr is fighting here next.



Against these guys.



And it's about here that I remember the challenge and set up my party appropriately.



This is our next destination, the Null Magic Hall. Simple enough, you can't use magic. However, it still lets you use items and Dragon transformations, so it's not too bad. If you're playing normally, it doesn't hurt to grab a few attack items for Nina to use.




This is Emitai, our opponent.

: You're... Emitai, aren't you?

Emitai: That's right. I know we don't have much time, but I have to talk to you...

: They're getting ready to start, Mr. Emitai.

Emitai: As you may know, my daughter's really sick. If I don't win this contest and get the prize money... She won't be able to have the operation she needs...

: ...I'm sorry to hear that, Mr. Emitai... Are you trying to ask us to lose to you on purpose, then?

Emitai: I know it's a hard thing to ask you... But if you don't, my daughter will die! I know I can win the final match! My magic hasn't been beaten yet! But in the Null Magic Hall, I'm just like anybody else... All I have to depend on are my two boys here...



Golem: Give Emitai win! Please, please!

: I'm sorry, Mr. Emitai, but one of our friends is being held hostage, you see... We have to win too.

Emitai: Oh... I didn't know. I guess that's that then... Oh, Lyla, I'm so sorry...Please forgive your poor father...



Yeah...



Emitai: I didn't want to use this until the finals, but I've no choice... OK, boys, let's go!







Emitai teleports into the ring, with his newly transformed kinda cool looking Golems.

Emitai: Just like I said, I can't do anything I'll just have to let my boys do my fighting for me.



This fight is much easier than it looks. Emitai just stands in the back no matter what, so your target is the Golems.

At least, that's what the game wants you to think.



The Golems has a physical attack and this, Spirit Blast, another Skill. It ignores defense, but greatly decreases your power for the attack. Each one alternates, so you'll see it once each round. It tends to do slightly more damage than the physical attacks.



Here's what healing looks likee, by the way. And a nice shot of Nina and Momo's defense stances.

The Golems are decoys. Go all out on Emitai.




Once he's gone, just start defending every round because...



Once Emitai is critical or unconscious, the Golems turn on each other. Once one is gone, the other falls from one attack from Ken. Easy.







: Emitai...I'm sorry...



Sunder: Hey, brats! Pretty impressive! You actually made it all the way to the finals!

: We don't need your compliments! We just want you to keep your promise!

Sunder: Heh heh heh...Oh, yeah, our promise. That depends on whether or not Ken here can beat Garr in the finals, see?

Sunder: Why you looking so glum? Cheer up! Gotta please your fans, you know. Oh, by the way... Emitai and his family are still in the other room... I'd stay clear of 'em if I were you...



Sunder: What's up, bro?

Balio: Maybe it was the fight with Emitai... But they're getting really popular...

Sunder: Maybe, but when I went to check on them...They looked kinda depressed...

Sunder: I guess they know they won't win the next one, eh?

Balio: That's right... How could they, knowing they have to fight Garr next? I feel a little sorry for the people betting on them, but we're gonna make a lot o' money on this one.

Sunder: Besides, once the Contest's over... We can do whatever we want with them, right, bro?



Guardman: Um... it's not really my place to say, but shouldn't you stop worrying and get ready for the next match?

Yeah. He's got a point. But let's talk to Emitai. Maybe Nina can get the King to help once she gets home.



...



...



WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THE ADULTS IN THIS WORLD?!



Before Ken can decide to nuke the shit out of Emitai, we leave, and meet Garr in his dressing room, where Garr muses that pure luck could never have taken us this far. And he's right. Pure awesomeness did.



And now we're ready for our final fight, in the Hall of Kings. No gimmicks, it's just a straight up slugfest between team leaders.



Balio: What is it, Garr?

Sunder: What would you do if someone caught on to us, huh?

: That kid I'm going to be fighting... Where did he come from? How did he get so strong?

Balio: Well...it's like this... He looks like any other kid... but he's really a dragon.

Sunder: Hey, he's nothing for you to worry about, right? I mean...he's just a kid, yeah? Hey bro... D'you think maybe Garr here's... scared?

Garr glances at Sunder



Sunder: Whoa! H-hold on! It was just a joke!

Balio: Now, now, Garr We's just telling you to be careful, see?

: A dragon...? Are you serious?

Balio: Yeah... But like we said... Nothing for you to worry about, right?



Announcer: Ladies & gentlemen! The moment you've all been waiting for... Today's BIG event! The world-famous Contest of Champions... Final Match! First, here's our challenger! Believe it or not, our challenger today is a child! Ladies & gentlemen, please welcome our superboy... Ken!!!



Look carefully and you'll see one of those cameos that Capcom loves so much. Next picture, too.

Announcer: ............And in this corner...! The one and only... The Wings of Death! The master of the blade! The champion of champions! Mister Dynamite-- Garr!!




How come we didn't get a light show?



Music

: Ken...Let me tell you one thing... Don't hold back. If you don't fight with all you've got, I'll kill you.

Announcer: Did you hear that, ladies & gentlemen? The champion gives no quarter, even against a mere child! This is going to be a show-stopper of a fight, folks! Without further ado, allow me to present to you... The final match of the Contest of Champions! Readyyyyyy.... FIGHT!




I am so much better at timing screenshots than I was last time. That's called growing up.

For all intents and purposes, this is identical to the Patrio fight. Just replace Frost Strike with Pyrokinesis (flame elemental physical attack, but no added attrbutes). He has the same sky high Lucky--




Oh. Yeah, you can't win this fight. Even if you survive a while, after a certain amount of turns Garr will eventually do a normal attack that does tons of damage. And even if you survive THAT, Garr has infinite HP.

Announcer: And so the mighty battle waged by these mighty warriors comes to a fi nish! And the victor is... our champion! The undefeated! The champion of champions! Misterrrr Dynamite! Garr!!! Congratulations, champion! And now, Mr. Garr... We're going to ask you what you want as your prize! And to present the prize... Here's our MC... Misterrrr Balioooooo!



: I can ask for anything I want, right? Then I want Ken and his friends...OK?

Balio: W... what? Are you crazy? That's not what we agreed on!?

: Was I mistaken? I thought the winner of the Contest of Champions was awarded whatever he wanted...no? If that's the case, maybe I could take ..your life, yes?.

Announcer: To the champion Garr... We award...Ken and his friends!? ...I guess...



: I held back on purpose... I'm glad he's all right... So, now I'm going to take care of you, understand? Hmmm... That's right... There's one more hostage, isn't there?

Garr exits, stage left.

: We should go too, don't you think?

She's right. Let's get Peco and vamoose



: These kids are mine now, right? I'm taking them with me. I can do whatever I want with something that's mine, right? All right,
kids... you can all go now.

We grab Peco and get out.

: So that's that.

Garr follows. How does he get through doors anyway?

Sunder: Hey, bro... What's going on?

Balio: Beats me! I don't know what Garr is up to...

Sunder: Do you think Garr has turned on us?

Balio: If so...Things could get a little messy. We can't just let them go... Not after all they put us through...



: Why did you help us, Mr. Garr?

: Humph... Because... there's an ancient race that possesses an indomitable power, called the Brood... I helped you because Ken... Ken... is Brood... Ken... I won't ask for anything in return... But if you want to know more about your kind, the Brood... There's a place east of here called Angel Tower...Go there--I'll be waiting for you.

Garr leaves again.

The way is clear now so let's go to Maekyss Gorge and--



FOR FUCKS SAKE GUYS GET A DAMN LIFE.

Balio: ...Ken I've got to hand it to you... You're one heck of a kid

Sunder: I never would've thought you'd give us so much trouble...

Balio: We've called in all our men from around here...



Sunder: You won't get away this time! Get him!!



Easy. 2 attacks each and they fall.



And Momo learns Sleep. In addition to being a jack-of-all-trades, Momo can also inflict statuses. She even gets weapons that induce sleep, blindness, and confusion.



Balio: These Brood are really something, eh, Sunder?

Sunder: But he can't keep it up forever... We still have plenty of men behind you...





Uhhh...no you don't.

: .........Them? They were in my way...

Sunder: Wh... WHAT!?

Balio: Hey, Garr... What do you think you're doing? Why would you betray us to help these kids!?

: That's my business... Anyway... I thought I told you to leave them alone? Looks like you betrayed me first, no?



And with that, we have party member number 5 . We won't be getting number 6 for a while.

Garr is forced into your party now. You are also given a chance to change your formation, but I don't because I like Ken to be on point for this fight for revenge reasons.

Oh hey! Just realized you guys gave me a challenge that would actually be thematically appropriate for this fight! Go team!



Balio: Garr... The boss isn't going to let you get away with this...

: So? I don't care about your boss or what he thinks

Balio: I see... All right then... we'll settle this here and now. It looks like the time has come... to show them our true power, my brother.

Sunder: What!? You mean we're gonna...? You're all dead!

Balio and Sunder: uuuuurrrrraaaaa





The duo transform into Ultraman Stallion, our first actually challenging fight.



Nina starts off with Shield (you guys said nothing about stat boosting so nyah nyah), and that's the one reason I chose her over Momo for this fight.



Stallion will always start off with Barrier, which greatly lowers magic damage. Good thing Nina won't be attacking. And it's here I decide to show off a glitch in the game.




Pressing R1 pulls up the Escape option. Obviously, this doesn't work during boss fights (this ain't Chrono Cross after all), but it does trigger something...odd.



It'll lock the boss into it's previous action until the AI changes to a new pattern, or after 4-5 rounds. It seems to vary, but it always works. It works on normal enemies too, but most encounters aren't tough enough to warrant that. For the purposes of this LP though, I wait out the glitch so it's a fair fight.



The standard strategy is to turn into a Dragon and go to town with Flame Claw. As you can see, it's pretty effective. Stallion also has Jolt (don't know why Balio's Lightning spell got downgraded, but there ya go), Resist (no damage at all for one round), and this signature attack.



He throws confetti at you for 30-40+ damage. Heal heal HEAL.



I KO Ken towards the end, since I don't want him to gain any levels. He's gained exactly 3 since being apprenticed to Durandal, and that's all he's gonna get.

So Garr finishes Stallion off.



Garr has some of the best sprites in the game.



And with that, Balio and Sunder are dead and gone.



: Thank you, Garr...

: Think nothing of it... I was planning on breaking off from them anyway. More importantly... Once we've taken the princess back to Wyndia, you must come with me to Angel Tower, Ken...

: Wait a minute! Ken's looking for some missing friends of his, named Teepo and Rei...

: Something tells me... You won't find them alive...

: Garr! How can you say that!

: You know who you're dealing with... don't you? They're the kind of people who'll kill anyone... The only reason Ken was all right was because of his power, or am I wrong? First, we should go to Wyndia... We need to get permission to cross the bridge, anyway.

And Garr is officially part of the party. And he's...underwhelming. I'll put his write up in the OP in a minute.



And the Frost Gene is outside this house. Get it.



And here's a cameo of Jean from Breath of Fire II.

Before I finish this update, I stop by Durnadal to get his Skills.





Unmotivate literally makes the character do nothing. Feign Swing is a practice swing, it does no damage. Backhand does damage, but never fatal. It's needed to apprentice to a Master and learn one Skill from an enemy way earlier than otherwise possible.

End of update poll:

We now have access to everything we've explored so far, which means all currently available Masters are back in circulation. Who do I put Ken, Garr, and Momo under? All available Masters are in the OP.

And who do I put in the party? Ken is required, and I need 2 out of Nina, Momo, Peco, and Garr

There will be no gameplay change for this next section. There is something special we have to do, and any gameplay challenges would simply make the surprise I have planned for you guys take that much longer. But keep thinking of them, you guys have come up with some good ones