Part 12: Qualifiers are Over!

Back on track with Higsby's errands, we're picking up a system for him. Weirdly enough, Lan makes no effort to clarify the situation, it's just..."Yeah, sure, let's go with that."



Apart from the whole "ex-WWW member" thing, it wouldn't be too bad being mistaken for Higsby.



The OrderSys referred to will be quite useful later in the game when Higsby implements it, I'll explain it later.



Anyway, this chump forgot his briefcase that had the OrderSys in it at an inn he stayed at. Thank god for Capcom being lazy with environments, can you imagine having to check every single "inn" in a given region?

Could you imagine creating every inn for a region for a game?? In this case I'm OK with the laziness. Convenience for all!



Back at the Ura Inn, this family has set up a game of Gin Rummy, or perhaps Mahjong based on the tiles. It gets called Gin Rummy later in the game at any rate. But they'll be here the whole game, weirdly enough, always playing and playing.

The only weird thing about that is that it doesn't involve computers.



The briefcase is under the table right next to them, at any rate, so this is an easy errand.

Invisible briefcases? My god...



Higsby's a great guy, he's probably one of my favorite characters from the series really.



His hair is my favourite character from the series.



As promised, I'll explain the order system, though we won't actually be able to use it until later in the game. Basically, once you get a chip in your library, you can order a duplicate, or even multiple copies depending on the chip, from Higsby's shop. This is a godsend for folder-building, because it means you can convert excess Zenny into extra copies of your best chips. Some chips can't be duplicated, alas, and there is a caveat besides price: Each chip only comes in one code.

Now, what's interesting is that this game let you compare chip libraries with friends who also had the game, either version. So you could not only get library completion by doing so (just comparing libraries would count), but order chips you had never even seen in-game!

Huh, I didn't know about that. This does mean you need a friend, though.



Our next job is debt collection.

Awwww yeah



You can actually talk to Higsby without having done so, and Higsby says something to the effect of "Lan, I know this is your money." I like Higsby too much to make him feel disappointed in Lan, so I'm not showing it.

Aw, that's just 100%



It's never elaborated on which chip it was, but given it's only 1000 Zenny, it can't have been all that spectacular.

I don't think there's any chip you can buy from Higsby for 1000z without using the order system. Maybe he doesn't stock the one he sold to this guy anymore because it was actually terrible. HMMMM.



SnowBlow: These viruses imitate, but do not replace, the VacuumFan viruses from 2. They'll inhale MegaMan to the front column, and after a few seconds they'll blow a few tornadoes down whichever row MegaMan is standing in.



Not sure these viruses are hairy enough. I'm drawing a lot of hair this update??



Roughing up the HeelNavi nets us the 1000z, and that's another very simple request handled.

But don't forget that beating up HeelNavis is also its own reward.



He does have an amusing line if you talk to him again after, though!

Haha, outstanding!



Alright, last of the Higsby side-jobs, and this one is also very trivial. The Navi in question is literally right next to the Square entrance, so just take the shortcut from Yai's page.

Thanks Yai!!



I do wonder what happens if you put this thing into the Chip Trader, now that I think about it.



Well, anybody who'd abuse Higsby's trust should be ashamed anyway! Someone else can demo that, there's being comprehensive and then there's being a jackass!

And then there's "lessons that should have been learned from your playthrough of MMBN4"



To my knowledge, you can get a Ratton1 C from the actual Ratty viruses in SciLab area, or just from green mystery data at some point.

Très Chic



Maybe it's like a misprinted TCG card that becomes a collector's item or something, but even still! 100,000 Zenny!? Higsby, what kind of smooth-talking salesman are you!?





That's all for Higsby's requests!

Aww.



Our reward is the Snake R chip! It functions like the first half of SnakeMan's chip from MMBN2, and if you read MissEchelon's LP of it (why the hell wouldn't you?), she and BlitzBlast both covered how powerful this thing can be.

It creates a 40-damage snake projectile for each broken panel on your side ofthe field. Keep in mind that in a boss fight, that's (3x6) - 2 panels if you panel-lock with AreaGrab. So you're getting a whopping 16 Snakes being fired off, doing 40 damage each. Now factor in things like Wood+40 chips or whatnot and suddenly you have a very scary offense capable of slaughtering damn near anything.

This is a very strong reward Higsby gave us. I don't think you can have more than 2 AreaGrabs at this point in the game, but you could feasibly set up a folder of mostly * chips to burn through the folder until you can AreaGrab twice then use both GutsMan chips to break the entire field, followed by Snake.

Cheapness reigns supreme! The game really does hand you a bunch of things that can destroy everything, if you play around enough to figure it out.

Things that I didn't figure out when I played this game as a kid: all of that




Higsby also mentions that he learned some programming basics on his world trip, so if we need help with anything he can manage, we can always give him a ring! This might actually explain how NumberMan changed in 4 and 5, Higsby actually became able to recode his combat routines.

Higsby is such a goon



MegaMan interrupts with mail from DNN!

And boy does he look excited about it!



So enthusiastic, ain't he? The final preliminary!



Much like finding the Official Netbattler HQ in Netopia in MMBN2, we need to hunt down the location ourselves. We do get a clue though.

Don't fall asleep there, buddy!



"Enemy of viruses" could be various things, including either Navis themselves because they bust viruses or SciLab because they're the frontier of antivirus research.

"Cyber square" narrows things down very quickly, because we only have access to two of those in the game so far.

"Yellow" is ambiguous.

Oh man, this is getting complicated!!



Higsby wishes us well, and we're off!



SciLab Square has a yellow (more orange really) NetNavi. Remember how I told you to hang onto that LongSword E from the start of the game, or else you'd have to S-rank a Swordy? This is why.

Or get some ridiculously lucky with the chip trader? Really that is kind of a dick move, though. But at least it's a chip that is possible to get, so it's not the worst thing ever.





After a bit of fussing, the yellow Navi calls out to MegaMan, requesting the LongSword E chip he has.



In return, she'll give us the CyberMetro pass to Yoka's region of the net.

Yeah, that's a pretty sweet deal.



Naturally, we accept, and she reveals that she's a DNN actor. Being a good samaritan was the test to reveal the final preliminary location! It reminds me of that urban legend of an ethics professor who hired an actor to play a homeless sick person on the way to the testing center, and any students who didn't help him failed the exam.



Anyway, taking the CyberMetro to Yoka, we find out that, conveniently enough, it leads straight into Yoka's square.

CyberMetro is a cool thing. But we really need to bring in CyberCoffee.



First stop, the chip shop! For theme/vanity's sake, given this is the last game to be LP'd completely, I'm building an "E-P-M" tricoded tentative folder build, and this StepSword P and BambSword P both fit delightfully into that schematic. They're also both used in later P.A.s, if I recall correctly. By pure coincidence, E, P, and M codes are all very effective in this game. And to be fair, MissEchelon's initials are included too!

That's a pretty rad coincidence that I never noticed!



That taken care of, it's time for the final preliminary!

OH boy!



Technically, there are two missions to be done here.





Once again, DNN actors are funny to contrast with Lan and MegaMan.

I think there's a comparison to be drawn between certain commentators but-



In hindsight, I should have deliberately tried to get a screenshot of the blink animation on this line.

YAAAAAY!



However, distracting MegaMan with the forced enthusiasm means that the DNN Navi can set up the special restriction for the preliminary!

Oh no! How did he know our one weakness??



Something he's not too keen on!



And of course, this was not even a minute after my wonderful new StepSword purchase. StepSword is awesome, and I don't get to use it!

I'm not sure how he managed to sneakily replace Mega's folder, but I imagine slaps were involved. He just slapped that folder on him. Science!



Anyway, the challenge here is that we have to use a special folder for the final preliminary missions, though it actually isn't that bad. A bit alphabet soupy, but perfectly functional.

When I first played, this folder was a step-up from what I was previously using



I didn't think to screenshot MegaMan's rather startled reaction, but the DNN Navi loves it. I like to think that he's just snarking at MegaMan, however.





Showbiz will be showbiz!



As opposed to "When Viruses Have A TV Dinner"? Viruses, up to this point in the series, have been exclusively hostile, though later in the game we see the trend get bucked.

Well, I suppose that doesn't count the events of Network Transmission.

Absolutely stunning reality TV. It could happen to youuuuuu!!



Anyway, continuing the series' running gag of using Navi sprites in the physical world, there are five DNN employees in costume we must locate and battle.

...Awesome.



You tend to get hints form the local NPCs, however, such as one who says "I saw 2 costumed Navis getting off at ACDC station!" in Yoka square. Additionally, whenever you get close to one of the DNN employees, there will always be an NPC or two remarking about the situation or even how silly it is.

Seems legit. One time I rode a train in a full Venture Bros monarch henchman costume. Nobody said a word to me, but everybody looked confused and mentioned how weird it was to other people on the train (I was riding with normal friends).



This is the only one at SciLab.

How could we have found him so easily?? He blends in super well.



As you can see, the PreFolder isn't terrible, but the codes are a bit jumbled. Even still, you can clear the battles no trouble with it.

At this point in the game, you could probably clear the battles no trouble with your buster.



ACDC has 2 employees, one in the town proper, which this kid points you to, and one in the school's teacher's lounge.

It's always nice when they change people's dialogue to be relevant to where you are in the plot. Even if the "plot" is chasing costumed weirdos around.



Most of the other DNN Employees are perky, but this one is a lot more grouchy about what he's stuck doing.

Yeah actually if you were in a stuffy costume running around on your own in the sun that would suck.



Of course DNN makes the new guys wear the costumes.

I assume something similar happens at Disneyland?



Ooh, bad-mouthing the bossman!

And it's been recorded for us all to see and posted on the internet!! B-b-b-busted!



Then he notices Lan, who responds with a simple "....Yup."



Followed by another ".....Yup." Gotta love BN3 writing.





Cue the employee backpedaling as fast as he can.

He seems legit.



The battle is nothing to note, but he does plead with Lan not to tell anybody what he overheard!

Who would Lan tell otherwise, though? Probably everybody??



Amusingly, one of the teachers has accosted an old man here for trying to enter.



The poor guy. It seems that DNN didn't exactly clear this whole thing with the involved parties!

Well that seems like a properly-organised event!



Apparently the DNN employees were actually told to hide as well as they could. Maybe this guy's an alumni?

Maybe this guy is as good at breaking-and-entering as Lan is.



This girl wants a SonicWave W for an ElecSword P. I'd love to make that trade, so I'm mostly just noting her down in the update so I can refer back to her later.



Yoka has the last 2 employees, one at the zoo and one at the inn. This one tries to be sneaky.

This guy is rad as hell, whoah.



Now, Lan's a gullible moron protagonist.

Nawwwwww



Even HE can see through this one.

He's just a... navi-animal? The deadly navimal, native to uhhh, navopia.



The DNN Navi fervently denies such a claim!



But Lan points out the flaw in the plan.

Lan's having some rare moments of genius today.



And as a matter of fact...



You just got outsmarted by Lan Hikari. The shame you should be feeling is immense.

He's a grown man dressed in a giant navi costume. His shame is immense

_{I would 100% wear a giant navi costume}



And the very last one is at the spring.



You dick. Thankfully, this chip selection worked out: LongSword and Shotgun got rid of the VacuumFan in short order and allowed for the Swordys to be dealt with normally.

That guy's cool. Setting the most jerk viruses available at this point in the game on small children? Aw yeah.



Back to Yoka square, it's time for the last mission of the preliminaries!



SKIP.



We're now guaranteed a spot on TV participating in the N1!

Totally worth whatever number of survival battles EPM has had to do so far.



The others show up too. GutsMan is actually useful in this game, and arguably at his most powerful later on, so it's not much a surprise that he cleared things.

GutsMan always has a chip that destroys random encounter in the early game.



Glide however...to be fair, Yai is established as having ridiculous chips, and I'll be the first to admit that a well-designed folder can flow so well that Navi operation isn't even necessary.

But, this begs the question: How did they do anything at all under the folder restriction?

Bribes. Bribes, and more bribes.

Either that or Glide is secretly great, but only when off-screen. Because Yai wouldn't want to show up her best friend.



Roll managed to do worse than Glide, which has to be an emblem of sorrow and regret.

It... it was unlucky chip draws.



Took you guys long enough to show up in this game!

And you don't sound like somebody who has friends! Bam!



ProtoMan and Chaud arrive!



Chaud is, as usual, a jerk. This is actually the game he gets some development in, so I can say now that he'll mellow a bit by the game's end.

Chaud's alright. In a future game you get to punch him right in his jerk face. Chaud is a cool guy.



Also, during the charity marathon stream, it came up that nobody can agree on how to pronounce Chaud's name. Apparently it's actually French, but MMBN2 rhymes it with "chow", so...I decided to just pronounce it "chode".



Maybe it's "Chod"?? But I always pronounce it like above, except probably with a stronger 'a' sound than you're thinking, what with the accent and all.



Worth remembering: Chaud is younger than everyone else present bar Yai.

Aww, Chauderhead



ProtoMan is more courteous than his operator, as usual, however.



ProtoMan advises MegaMan to not hold anything back just because frineds are involved, and that he'll need to use every trick in the book.

And this is way more important than anything Lan has done previously! So get serious for a change!!



Although he's, as usual, dismissive of friendy-friend stuff. God, why couldn't Chaud be the one to deal with Luna from Starforce? That'd be hilarious.



ProtoMan and Chaud exit, and GutsMan bluntly admits that he hates them.

Aw. You think about how poorly Lan and Chaud get along, that'd be way worse if it was Dex in there instead of Lan. Or... would it be better, because there would be less of a "why are you better at netbattling than me you absolute idiot" thing?



Dex and Chisao (returned from Netopia) will be at an amusement park the next day.



Yai and Glide will be at the opera of all places. So while everyone else has fun doing what they enjoy to some degree...




Mayl conscripts Lan into helping her install a washing machine.

...We can all learn a lot from Mayl.



For whatever reason, perhaps resignation to his ultimate fate, Lan accepts readily. The next scenario is going to be a silly one.