Part 64: No, Professor Oak! Fill Your Own Damn Pokedex!

I can't put this off any longer.

Hey, just be glad you're getting this before the hurricane hits where I live.



It's time to finally get off our lazy asses and complete our PokeDex. There are a total of 9 Virus Chips we can acquire. We've already received the Bunny Chip from doing a fetch quest a few updates back.

Hey now, I'm just the co-commentator. Any delays are on your sorry ass.



How do we find these viruses? Well, on random tiles throughout the Net there will be special virus fights. You must fight and win these fights to subdue the virus. The only way to figure out where these special tiles are is to use the BBS boards at the square, or otherwise look them up. Like here, the first special virus fight is located behind the WWW door that used to be here in ACDC 1.



And this is what one of them looks like, it's just a fight against all 3 levels of the virus family at once. Pretty simple.

I don't know why, but these are always fun fights. Well, more fun than usual.



When you win, there will be a cutscene.





You may notice the lack of specific names here, that's just so they can copy and paste this scene several times.

Saving space and/or laziness! Yay! ...I'm just glad they didn't write 'viruses'.







And you know what that means!

We have acquired more methods of murdering things.



Virus #2 acquired. Once again, use the signs to figure out where your viruses are located in the comp.



Giving them BugFrags increases thier attack power. All virus families can only have a maximum of 100 BugFrags allocated to them. And each virus in that family can only have a max of 100 BugFrags! So, if I choose to give 100 BugFrags to Met3, I'll have none leftover for the other 2. I could also split this up into something like 20-20-60, but I won't do that just yet.



Each time MegaMan puts a BugFrag in their food box, your BugFrag counter decreases by 5. Since the max amount I can give to any family is 100, I have to repeat this step 20 times per virus.

Whine, whine, moan. Suffer for your art.



MegaMan will say this once you maxed out a virus family.







Once you've done so, talk to the Mr. Prog, and we'll get something neat.







Right, feeding any virus family 100 BugFrags lets us unlock their Omega-level versions for the chip we can get. You get them the same way as you would the basic family: search and destroy. But take a look at this hint: it does not repeat! You get a one-time hint for the Omega's location, and that's it. I hope you don't forget the hint!

So, make sure you don't mash through the text box like every player ever does when a Mr. Prog starts talking. Hell, I had no idea that half of the dialogue featured in the LP existed.





Congratulations, this is somehow more challenging than most of Secret Area's monolith virus rounds.

personified.





What I like to do is put all my BugFrags on the strongest variant. Each virus in the family can increase its attack by up to 100. So, the Mettaur can go to 140, Mettaur2 180, Mettaur3 220. Mettaur Omega starts out with a base power of 150, which is upped to a fantastic 250 after I apply all my BugFrags. What's great is that Mettaur Omega creates cracked panels with its shockwave, much like the BigWave chip. What we now have is a 250 damage, timestopping BigWave. And since it's a Standard, you could conceivably have 4 of them in a folder if you convince your friends to give up their chips.

Or if you had another cartridge and were willing to spend enough time. Remember, the Mettaurs were locked behind a WWW door.



Now we need to repeat the process for each of the viruses.





Bunny Omega is a solid choice to get as well. Can't say no to high-damage paralysis chains.



Not gonna bother with this one. It's a bunny. No one likes bunnies.

Bunnies are cute. That being said, I'm a big fan of lapin a la moutarde, so fricassee the little bastards!



Our next virus is hidden inside the Principal's computer!



Hello KillerEye family. Your chips are delightfully OP. Is your virus chip just as good?



The flavor text for feeding some of these viruses is glorious.

The virus is flirting with you. It's trying to avoid having its entire species go extinct because you're a chip-hungry murderous bastard.



What kinda hint for the Omega is that? Some of these hints are pretty vague, so you'd be searching for quite a bit. The funny thing about this hint?



Remember how MissEchelon never found this jack-in spot? Yeah, you'd never find this if you don't try to jack into everything.

Okay, I guess I've been there before. Probably when I was using a guide to find all the viruses, because I'm fully aware I'd never find that thing if playing normally.



So, KillerEye's Virus Chip is one of the best Standard chips in the game. It's basically a free Sensor chip, but timestops, deals potentially high damage and can hit in multiple directions! This encounter was the one room in Secret Area 1 that I was forced to use my shield to get a Rank S++ on. But now that we have this baby...



We can absolutely destroy it. While the other virus chips are hard to time, the fact that you can see the red dots change angles makes timing this a bit easier. KillerEye is also about 50 MB, so you can even preset it. Killer Eye Omega hits for 150, so that's 250 base power with all BugFrags. KillerEye is broken, man.

I'm just pointing it out, its name is KillerEye. Only incredibly useful or incredibly obnoxious monsters have Killer in their name.



Next up!



This isn't exactly an interesting mash-up

I'm going to stab you for that pun. Fucking DIE



GEE THANKS GAME!



Mushy Omega is sitting behind the spawn point in Hospital Comp 1. I had to search everywhere for it.

Somebody hasn't played a Platinum game. Everybody knows that the goodies are hidden behind the start.



Out of all of the locations, this is one of the more obvious ones.



Oh hey, a virus family that differs with its attacking element! This could mean you have a reason to use each of the variants, rather than stacking your BugFrags on the strongest one.

These guys are jerks. I hate them.





I hope you knew you could jack into this. The flavor text for it doesn't specify you can.

Second verse same as the first. Rub R button on everything - it's like a Zelda dungeon that lasts the entire game.



As fun as getting new chips can be, this is honestly getting a bit boring.



The big problem is that you feed viruses 5 BugFrags at a time. It takes one button press to start the process, one to Select Yes, and 2 more to navigate through the rest of the text boxes. That's 4 presses of the A button to feed a virus 5 BugFrags. That comes out to 80 presses of the A button to max out a single virus! Since there are 9 viruses, that's 720 presses of the A button just to max out every virus in the game. That's not counting all the BugFrag farming!

Alternatively, you could not be a nutcase and only max out one or two viruses.



I understand that a feature to feed viruses by inputting a set amount of BugFrags would have been too much to cram in this cartridge with all the content there is. Would an option have been too much? You know, like allowing me to feed them 5,20,or 100 BugFrags as options. Seriously, why do I have to increment their attack power slowly!?



Of course the fucking Momogro Omega is located right where BubbleMan was located. As if I hadn't equipped Press enough.

...Nah, too easy. At least the Mole family have some sweet mustaches.



Fuck you, I got the hammer bitch!



I FORGOT IT DOESN'T WORK

BWAHAHAH GET FUCKED



720 presses, guys.



I'm slacking. I forgot to take a screenshot of the Spikey encounter. Oh well, no one cares about dogs.



Instead, you get this.

I'm perfectly okay with seeing this instead of *Insert virus family name here* fight #5.25







Props for using the dungeon locations though. They are typically underused in these games. Spikey Omega also creates a 3x3 explosion when it hits something. A high damage, fire Spreader. Indeed, a lot of the Omega viruses are worth getting.



Second to last virus here.

Honestly, you might stumble into this one by accident if you're just wandering around around looking aimlessly for V2 ghosts.



SWORDYZ



This one is pretty hidden, too. There was a broken alarm, if you recall.



It's time to throw GeneralYeti a bone. Since he loves LifeSword so much...



The Swordy Omega variant of the chip attacks in LifeSword range. Keep in mind that the actual virus does not attack in LifeSword range, so this was made exclusive to the chip!

See? Even the game knows LifeSword is amazing!



The last one is all the way in Secret Area 1.



Damn. This one is actually a little tough. The fire Scuttlist can shoot fire that homes in on you, the yellow one shoots homing lightning bolts, and the blue one shoots Ice Cubes that limit the amount of squares you can run to. I've seen quite a few players run into Secret Area, do this fight first, and get absolutely destroyed.

From my experiments, the hardest thing is to pay attention to both the Red Scutt and the Yellow Scutt at the same time. Yes, the ice-blocks hurt when they ram you, but the others attack so quickly that it's rarely a problem - and when it's the only one left you shouldn't ever get hit by the thing.

That being said, I'm bad at paying attention to too many variables at once, so I tend to get hit often The easiest thing to do is to figure out a way to neutralize one of either the Red or Yellow virus, and then take out the others one at a time. I'm not Giver, I can't double-delete.

In the video, I put a hole in the panel in front of me - stopping the flames from reaching me - and then all I had to do was pay attention to where the lightning was striking. A lot easier than trying to dodge all the bastards at once.

Give GeneralYeti a hand, guys. It only took him 10+ years to figure out how NoBeam works!



Since Scuttlists are the most powerful family of viruses, they get their own little section at the top.



Oddly enough, giving them 100 BugFrags doesn't unlock their Omega variant. Huh.

Surprise! This one needs 200 BugFrags.

Note: this is not true.



That's a little weird. And the chip art shows 5 Scuttlest viruses instead of 3. I wonder why...

Yeti! It's morphin' time!

Go go power rangers~



Even the Virus chips have about 5 different codes for them, even though you can only get 1 code. Since we can get an alternate code from Higsbys, this means the other 3 codes are from cheating only. Keep in mind you have to Chip Trade away your Virus chip in order to acquire a different code of it. You only ever get one virus chip, so don't do this, even if it's for an alternate code.



We have obtained all the virus chips, making us a loving rearer of many...apparently. I'm the evil stepdad, MissEchelon is the divorced wife and GeneralYeti is the cranky neighbor who lives nearby complaining about everything.

GET OFF MY LAWN



Wait, where does EPM fit in for our little sitcom cast?

The Fonz. Charismatic, but irrelevant.



FUCK YOU BUBBLEMAN

Honestly, I just leave Press equipped nowadays. Nothing in this game should be dropping your health low enough to be saved by UnderSht besides bosses. Even the viruses in Secret Area 3 shouldn't be doing this to you unless you just aren't paying attention.



Oh, a crossroad. Let's take the right path.

Remember, if you come across a fork in the road...

take it. Forks are useful tools, and you can never have enough silverware.



Verrrryyyy suspicious.



A special virus fight! The Scuttlest chip was split into 2 sections to find. You don't need to get the second section, but not getting it means not getting more power and who doesn't want more power.

Jerks. Jerks don't want more power. Jerks and hippies.



Now, I'm going to leave Secret Area, instead of exploring the rest of it.

...Have we broken Giver?





So not only do we need to feed them 100 BugFrags, we have to get all 5 viruses in the Virus Breeder.



Scuttlest Omega is at Wily's castle, which had the Life Virus in the first game, which used an Aura. This is where you get the Collect NCP too. The references, man.



Wow. Their attack isn't any different than the White one, though. Just a simple laser down your row.


And that's all the Virus Chips, folks! Now, I think it's finally time we took on Serenade and finish this damn game up.

..

..



Actually nevermind, it's time for more virus busting!

I'm so glad you have the time. Also, your clock is broken if the hour and minute hand are pointing at the same digit and that digit isn't the twelve.



Going back to the Virus breeder, I'm actually going to be putting all my BugFrags on a different variant that isn't the Omega! Also yes, these Scuttles have high base damage.



Remember this encounter? One of the Top 3 for hardest to S-rank in the game? 3 nigh-invincible viruses (1 of which is immune to something way different than the other two)? A super rare encounter in an electric area? Now that we have the Scuttlest chip, we can actually go for a Rank S++ with my own requirements here.

Solution: (Green) Then

The Green Scuttlest variant uses vines just like PlantMan. That means they can break certain defenses. They can also destroy obstacles and attack from anywhere. It's a pretty solid attack, and it's usually not banned in PvP like PlantMan is. Your follow up attack needs to be in the same code as your Scuttlist chip and must be a fire attack that can eliminate the Vinert.

Scutts - broken no matter whose side they're fighting on.

_{yes I know the correct plural is Scuttlists but I don't give a damn}



Volcano A or Burning A would suffice.



And now this one. I couldn't find a 100% consistent method with the chips I had. Fortunately...

Solution: (Yellow)

The yellow Scuttlest's lightning bolt cracks any panels it lands on. And because this game factors in panel breaking before panel damage modifiers, it means we can deal true damage to the MoBlow. Strangely enough, the yellow Scuttle's (virus) lightning bolt doesn't break the panel, only the chip. All I needed to do was re-allocate enough damage to knock out the MoBlow.



I love how it's basically 'Press A, win'. I also find it interesting that you've practiced these timing enough to know how to get the one you want exactly. Not that it really surprises me anymore.



With Scuttlest, all these viruses in Secret Area 3 can be done with my requirements. NorthWind A can be gotten from Higsby's Chip Order. White Version gets access to NorthWind * in UnderSquare's shop, so they don't need to bother! Luckily, the codes for Scuttlest and NorthWind line up perfectly. It's almost like the developers knew what I was going to do.



REVENGE WILL BE MINE!

Solution: (Green) Then

Yes, the vines do hit the moles. What you also need to remember is that when you use the Green Scuttle, it will deal its set damage initially, then deal 4 extra hits of 30 damage apiece, holding the enemy in place while doing so. Those 4 hits of 30? That damage cannot be halved on a Holy Panel!

Wait shit what? I thought that was hard-coded into the damage calculation that it checked if the monster was on a Holy Panel.



My attack only did 100 because I did not allocate any BugFrags to the green Scuttlist in this GIF. But you can see what I'm talking about here: the 4 hits of 30 damage aren't halved, so we can use that to our advantage. I used Volcano to finish them off just so we can stay in under 5 seconds.

If I dealt 200 damage to the Breaker, the Mole would be dead, the Breaker would have 40 HP, and the remaining virus would have 100 HP. Then, the 30 HP "squeeze" would kick in, putting Breaker at 10 HP and the other one at 70, which is enough to get killed by 1/2 damage Volcano (75 damage). So, it doesn't really matter in this case. Calculus.

That's not calculus

This is calculus (trigger warning: math)



Solution: Then (Black)

Powering up the Omega level virus makes the laser increase to 300 damage.



Also, I basically played the frames to perfection with that vine there. Any longer and the Scuttlest would have been blocked and then the summon would have failed.

"Frame-perfect timing? Yeah, no biggie" god FUCK YOU

you monster

Don't be mad, get Glad.




Solution: (Black)

Man, now I'm just imagining Gangster Dex using the Mettaur chip.

Remember what I said about the Omega level basically performing a BigWave? It cracks panels, so it hits the Mole (strangely enough, the Yellow Scuttlest cannot do this). And it's 250 damage if you power it up.





I chose Totem in the picture, but the solution requires NorthWind.

Solution: Then (Green)

The "squeeze damage" takes a small bit to kill the enemies, and Rank S++ have to be under 5 seconds, so I need something that can instantly kill the Aura to give me enough time.





Solution: Then (Green)

I use the volcano to instantly kill the Auras and (hopefully) damage the Breaker. If you're really quick with the A button, it's possible to get damage off on the Shaker just before it jumps, lowering his HP to 90. The reason for this is because the yellow Scuttlest will die in one blow to our attack. We need a maxed Green Scuttlest to kill the Scutz in the back column. Ergo, we lower the Breaker's HP so that a double delete is possible.



I compensated with the Shield, because I wasted frames using FullCust, hence why I think this solution still works. It's worth learning the timings for some of these things, you know.

Readers, note that learning the timings is only truly worth it if you're the worst kind of perfectionist.



Final virus encounter.

Solution: (Green)

It's the end of an era, folks.

Sweet. I don't really get to commentate much on these, if only because Giver's being useful for once and so I'm not going to discourage that.



I'm crying right now. No more viruses to bust. How will I live now?

...

Nerrrrrrd



Hanging a left from here...



...leads us to another Blue Mystery Data. It's Sanctuary!

Fears and lies have just melted away.



This first appeared in Battle Network 2 and was only available once you beat Hard Mode. As you would expect, it just makes your entire field into Holy Panels. It's a Standard chip, so if you can Chip Trade enough times, you'll get 4 copies for your folder. Hey, wait a minute, we got this new chip and all of the virus chips this update. That means...!



200/200

Oh shit maybe that door will open and we'll get some super awesome prize! I bet there's a fantastic reward behind that door.