Hamtaro: Rainbow Rescue Part #6 - Sports, Science and Searching.

Part 6: Sports, Science and Searching.

Now that we’ve met Inspector Hams, we’re able to head into the science room in search of Pashmina and that elusive wish-granting clover.

Climb that chain to find a hand that leads to the shoulder.

I think if a sink plug can reach all the way to the floor, the chain might be just a bit too long. Helpful in this instance, though.

I’m sure it was the mice who hid it as a prank!

If we could get the sponge, we could clean up the milk.

It’s not a great hiding place he’s chosen, but I suppose body-blocking us from getting the sponge is a decent alternative. We’ll have to come back with a little more hampower.

For now, let’s take a look at one of the counter tops and see what science the human kids have been getting up to.

There’s some very pretty experiments going on up here, though the young one there is too busy being scared by the skeleton to appreciate them. Speaking of, we were just told to climb the arm…

It’s so far away I can’t get a good view, but you’re probably right!

Pashmina should be around here somewhere. Let’s go!

After that brief reminder of where we’re going, the NPC down below moves aside and lets us clamber over the test tube rack like a bridge. Sure hope none of these solutions are giving off dangerous fumes…

It’s an experiment using a saline solution to make crystals. Put a piece of fabric in salt water, and crystals form on it.

Really? Thanks for telling me!

A nifty little introduction to the wonderful world of science. Though if it doesn’t involve at least a little bit of fire, can you really call it an experiment?

Which genius set up a test tube rack between two counters? They need to lose some serious marks for this.

All seven rainbow colors!

But if you look closely, the colors are not in the correct order.

I’m not sure you have to look closely. It’s fairly obvious, especially when the labels on the rack are in the right order.

What?

The colors of a rainbow are always lined up in a specific order.

Can you imagine just how much I wish the forums supported coloured text by now?

Oh! Uh...but it’s not like I was really done just yet. Yeah...so, go ahead and arrange them for me. I don’t mind.

You’re welcome, jerk. And no, this is not the telescope guy from outside. That’s just the generic scientist headshot.

Anyway, let’s make Maxwell do some ~~magic~~ science! You get fifty seconds to swap everything around, and you can only swap two test tubes that are side-by-side.

Oh, and if you don’t bump into this guy when he appears, he swaps two test tubes himself. Of course, he always does it wrong.

Once you’re almost done, the coloured solutions all begin to bubble. I don’t think they should be doing that just by being in the same area as each other…

Wow! It’s pretty!

Let’s hurry and find the ingredients to make the rainbow for Bo!

With a very pretty and hopefully not dangerous bridge all in order, let’s continue on with Maxwell in the lead.

Seems they’re doing more than one crystal-based experiment in here today. The kid just goes ‘waaaaah’ at us, so let’s continue through the glass tube (between counters again, even less visible).

The next screen presents us with only one option for moving forward, and that’s making Penelope leap between swaying test tubes in a sink full of water.

Mind you, I like that she uses their buoyancy as a way to launch herself upward for that candy.

Ookwee!

How this tap turns off just by being lightly jumped on by a tiny hamster, however… And who left both the tap on and the sink unplugged?

With the sink drained, we can continue on and just catch a glimpse of Pashmina running across the windowsill.

We had better catch up to her, see what the story is.

I’m glad you’re OK, but I was worried about you!

I’m sure she was hiding because of the snake.

You must’ve been so scared, Penelope. I’m sorry! When we lost you, we looked in the school building.

‘We’? Pashmina and Penelope are the only two clubhouse hams that came here originally. I think someone might have gotten confused.

Umm...what’s everyone doing here?

You see… and then… but…

-------

Thanks for finding Penelope, everyone! I’ll help, too!

Right, Penelope?!

Ookwee!

And with the reunion of Pashmina and Penelope, we finally have a full party. Eight Ham-Hams is our absolute limit, so no feat of strength is beyond us right now.

Then, everyone, let’s go that way!

Oh, Maxwell. You really don’t get how this works, do you?

We have just a little more exploration to do before moving on with the plot.

But...I don’t see anyone. How strange.

Well, there’s a whole lot of nothing in this sink and no other paths, so there’s really only one place the unfortunate soul could be.

Being stuck in a science lab drain must smell just fantastic, by the way.

All I saw was a thin ray of light in the darkness!

...When inspiration strikes, I guess! Or so I assume; I haven’t got an artistic bone in my body.

_{Unless you consider LPs to be art, of course.}

What do you think? It’s my masterpiece. Look at it!

Ah, a spot the difference minigame. Naturally, you only get to see the original for a few moments before being presented with the edited version instead.

It gives you a generous ten seconds for looking at the first picture, and since this is a repeatable minigame, the changes aren’t always the same. I’ll let you find them yourselves, since you have the luxury of seeing both images together. The reward is 10 points + 10 per life + 1 for every two seconds remaining.

What even is this sticker.

All in all, I think this artist would do better with paint than chalk.

He does give us a pretty great picture of this lovely couple, though.

Back in the direction of progress, the scientist blocking our way backward says that he’s lined up the next set of test tubes himself.

I suspect he may actually be colour-blind.

Using a simple transfer pipette this time around, Maxwell has to hop back and forth to the beaker so that he can swap the solutions around. You can’t just swap the pipette’s contents with the test tubes, because that would be too easy.

Oh, and this jerk is also throwing stuff into the test tubes. You have to transfer the bubbling solution elsewhere before its countdown ends, or it’s automatic failure. The timer is pretty generous though, so you might be able to just power through.

Actually, I’m honestly not sure what this sticker is. Possibly a crime against nature.

On the other side of the test tube bridge…

Yeah! It’s the clover!

This is what we were all looking for, right?

Ookwee!

Everyone…

Mustard sprout?!

Ookwee?

Um… Simply put, this is not...a clover.

How disappointing! Right, Penelope?

Ookwee…

Uh-huh! It’s got to be somewhere at this school.

And then, seduced by the promise of wish-granting, the clubhouse Ham-Hams proceed to ignore an entire tray of very green mustard sprouts and continue looking for the four-leaf clover. Since we’re here though, let’s talk to that hamster hanging out on the windowsill.

We thought a mustard sprout was a four-leaf clover.

You guys are looking for a four-leaf clover, too? A Ham-Ham with an umbrella just came by looking for one, too.

It’s got to be Bo! Where did he go?

Don’t really know. The hamster in the principal’s office mentioned clovers. Ask him about the four-leaf clover if you want.

Ah, a new lead! Also, as far back as entering the science room, Snoozer will spoil the fact Bo is around.

On our way back through the science room, Pashmina can perform her task to calm down the two crying kids.

These peanuts may be good for preventing adult diseases. Oh! I want to run tests on the peanuts of the world.

Aiding the first child leads to nothing more than this… unique individual.

The one back by the skeleton hand, however… That path leads to another minigame!

Teeter-Beaker is much like Penelope’s minigame from earlier, except instead of having to jump when both tubes are tilted toward each other, the two beakers have to be side-by-side. It’s not very difficult.

Draining the sink this time around earns us another five-star sticker. Come to think of it, I wonder where those two got to…

Back down on ground level at last, we can scare away the snoozing mouse and claim the sponge for ourselves. Which of course goes on this spilt milk…

Now we can go in there!

...and opens up another path for us!

Well, maybe you shouldn’t stand near it then. Now, exploration calls!

No doubt about it. This has to be it.

The mice were playing a prank.

How about this! Let’s all take the shoe to Inspector Hams.

So much for the Inspector’s theory! Let’s find out how he reacts when we solve the case for him.

It seems the mice were playing a prank, and they took it!

Mmmm… To tell you the truth… that was my next theory! Ha ha hrr…

I’ll get to the bottom instantly! Ha ha ha.

Oh, you colossal charlatan.

Mmmm? Aren’t you the child that was reported missing?

Penelope helped a lot as we looked for the shoe!

Ah, thank you.

What’s that? You want me to find something else?

Mmmm… Mmmm… I see… I see…

What’s Penelope doing?

Looks like Penelope wants something. She’s been looking allll morning long.

So that’s why she was at the school!

I understand! I, Inspector Hams, will find what you are looking for!

Do you think we can trust him?

Ookwee! Ookwee!!

Leave it to me! Well then, everyone! I appreciate your help!

This is for the hamster near the principal’s office.

Oh, right. There was that guy blocking the way into the office until the investigation is completed; now we’ll be able to continue our search for the four-leaf clover.

Put that shoe back where it belongs. So long! I will excuse myself for now!

And with a quick fade cut, Hamlin’s problem is resolved before he ever even learns about it. Such is the power of Ham-Hams working together for a common goal.

...Well, I can’t say the description of the memo is inaccurate.

Youth today! They don’t listen to the elderly at all.

Ummm, I see. It’s important to listen to everyone.

At least one of the police hamsters learned something here today. Now, how about their colleague?

Oh wow! What a mystery he solved! Egad! He fought with the culprit? Amazing how he was able to solve such a big case!

Big case? I don’t recall anything major happening.

He’s Inspector Hams, yes indeed! Well, I will be going now!

...What a massive con artist that Inspector is. It’s honestly kind of impressive.

You got it, chief. We’ll make sure not to damage any of the principal’s stuff.

Even with eight Ham-Hams, the sliding door to the office takes a good bit of effort to open up… but now we can access one more part of the school.

The principal’s office has quite a lot of sunflower seeds on the left side of the table, a full sixty to give the player a nice boost. After spending everything I had at the ranch’s store, it’s very much appreciated.

You can also get onto another screen back here, but both paths are blocked off at the moment.

The bean-toss prize is now a card? Man, I wanted that! The last prize was a silver spoon. Gahaha!

At least it’s very clear what we have to do to get through here. The competition must be back on the last screen somewhere.

To the right of the office entrance, we can climb up onto this very ratty-looking couch. So much for this place being full of valuable things… though I suppose that is a gold spoon over there.

Bouncing to the table and walking over the spoon lets us get up on the back of the couch, and wander over to this interesting sight.

Everyone, there’s a clover here!

Yeah! Let’s look for the four-leaf clover!

We are looking for the four-leaf clover.

Ohhh. Well then, the four-leaf clover’s in the room there. When I find clovers, I press them into a book. But right now, the book’s locked, and you can’t open it.

Wh-what? Well, that is a problem.

If you unlock it, you can have the four-leaf clover.♪

OK! Let’s try to unlock the book!

Use the left side of the table to get to the back room.

And now we know the clover is definitely here, and we have an open invitation to take it. It can’t be that hard to crack the lock on a book.

Continuing to poke around, there’s an odd fellow here if we cross the previous bean-toss prize.

I thought about going somewhere I hadn’t seen… so, I went out on a journey again. Right now, I’m taking a rest.

Omar appeared in one of the earliest Hamtaro episodes, a traveller of the world who happens to look exactly like Snoozer. He’s the pet of a king of a far-away land, but prefers to travel instead of living in the lap of luxury.

While it’s nice to see old friends out and about, we have a certain competition to complete. So, let’s check out the middle of the coffee table.

It’s your favorite game, the “Coffee-Bean Toss”! For this, the 86th tournament, we have a fabulous prize! Whoever wins this game gets a lucky silver card!

Oooh, fancy.

Ookwee!

Two-player mode, engaged! Yes, some minigames call for you to have more than one specific Ham-Ham in your party.

Sadly, Coffee-Bean Toss is not a very good game. Hitting the alien is almost certainly a matter of chance, and getting the meters to behave enough to hit the deceptively small target areas is dicey at best. Oh, and you can’t back out to have another shot at setting the vertical meter once the horizontal one starts.

The alien is worth 100, the smaller targets 30 and the bigger ones 20. So you can get a score of 310 at most… which translates into 62 sunflower points, because the point reward is equal to your score divided by five. Just beat the game and move on.

This is what you’ve won! Take it!

Let’s go show this to that body-building hamster.

...Thanks?

Climbing the principal’s potted plant lets us clamber up onto his desk, where that locked book awaits us. Finally, the four-leaf clover is within reach!

Ah, there he is! I was wondering where he’d gotten to…

Hamsters were talking about a clover, and then it hit me! There’s a four-leaf clover in the pages of this book!

We heard it too! It’s in the pages of this book, right?

But I can’t get the book to open.

Ummm, I have no idea how we can open this book.

Do you not understand how locks work, kid? You find the right shaped key/emblem/statue and put it in the hole.

Hmm? Penelope’s freaking out over there.

Um… Is this the key that will open this book?!

The shape doesn’t look right!

No! Look closely! Pieces of the key are scattered all around! Put them together to make the key, then use it to open the lock!

As usual, Maxwell! You’re really smart.

Maxwell! We need you to try hard to get this book open!

And so it comes down to this, Puzzle Scramble. The pieces can be rotated 180 degrees with L and R, but it’s otherwise fairly straight-forward. At least it’s pretty. (You get 10 points + 1 for each three seconds remaining from this minigame.)

It’s done! It’s now open!

This is it! The four-leaf clover! There’s no mistaking it!

We did it! We finally found the four-leaf clover!

Its color is perfect for the green ingredient!

…

Huh? You really think so?

Oh, well!

I’ll go back to the Clubhouse first to get ready! See ya!

But as Bo flies away, it seems all is not well.

What’s wrong, Penelope? Are you saying your wish wasn’t granted, Penelope?

Hmm, we heard a lot of different wishes from the other Clubhouse Ham-Hams. But what might Penelope’s be?