Part 13: Moral of the Story: Never Give Epee Em an Excuse to Open MS Paint.

This update will be split in half, the next to be released 5 days or so from now. Why? Election season in Australia and MissEchelon is doing volunteer work. Good for her. Maybe she can help get the insane video game censorship repealed!

Also, due to the split, I'll be adding tertiary commentary in some places to the update, these will be after ME's secondary commentary lines and underlined. So text like this is me speaking after MissEchelon has added her text to the update.



Before we scuttle off to bed to end the day, I chose to grab a few chips from Yoka area and otherwise dink around a bit.



Mr Progs know what's important!



By the way, be sure to re-equip your main folder, as the game doesn't automatically do so for you.

Luckily it's the sort of thing you notice in your first random encounter.



Anyway, time to begin the dreaded Bubbles scenario...



Lan just looks so excited, doesn't he?

I can fix this.





Lan asks MegaMan what the plan for the day should be, and MegaMan reminds him that it's a Slave For Mayl day.

Every day is Slave For Mayl day!



Yuuichiro interrupts with an email, though not one with a goodie, sadly.



It's never established what he's doing precisely, but hey, it's probably important. Maybe he's finally returning chng.bat to YumLand or something.

Ha ha, we both know he's hanging on to that one like Lan-...

I bet Lan still has Yai's fan from the start of MMBN2



It's a price to pay, I guess. We've all wished we could be important in the world at some point, but Yuuichiro demonstrates what happens when you're literally the most reliable person regarding the major element of a given setting.

The more important stuff Yuuichiro's doing, the less time he's on-screen. Yuuichiro is rad as hell, so that's kind of a bummer.

..Then again, if he was here, he'd have to put up with all that what's going to be happening soon. ...Then again again, he'd probably get it solved immediately.

So you're saying Yuuichiro is a universal solvent, perhaps?



Anyway, off to Mayl's house. It begins.





Cinnabun Hair is around too, Lan rather reasonably asking why.

God dammit



The reason is, simply, that Ms. Mari was thinking about buying a BubbleWash herself and wanted to see one first.

Ladies in videogames. DEPTH OF CHARACTER, THEY HAVE IT. Although Yai's not here. Points to her.

She's at the opera, as the game stated before!



She also elaborates on what's so special about it.

As if there's honestly anything in the MMBN-verse that isn't computers.

There's...um. Trying to think of something not-computers in this game. Nope, nothing. MMBN5 has a beach trip, but that segues into computers shortly after.



Now, this doesn't explain how you're supposed to LOAD the thing while away from home. So it doesn't seem to do anything that any other washing machine couldn't, in that you can stick dishes in it and wander off while it runs.

Naw, I think "computers" and Capcom science have that covered.

Amusingly, virtually every male NPC you can talk to during this part of the game expresses similar amounts of disbelief and exasperation towards the fad. I'll show a few.



Higsby also arrives! Yay for Higsby, I guess.



Always yay for Higsby!



It's implied strongly in this game, stated outright in MMBN5: Team Colonel, that Higsby has a huge crush on Ms. Mari. It's worth remembering what her first impression of him was, but to his credit he's genuinely done his best to reform. 6's epilogue doesn't say whether or not they ever got to together, but I'm sure THAT'D be an awkward "how I met your mother" story in the future.

Maybe she's into th-
uh nevermind



Lan himself is less than enthusiastic about the BubbleWash too.

It's a freakin' dishwasher, he's exuding exactly the right amount of enthusiasm for it.

Well, Japan has always been a few decades behind when it comes to demographic sensitivity. They still draw things in blackface for crying out loud. 50's house roles for women probably still apply in Battle Network.



"Oh, hey, it's Lan! Hi!"

Huh!



Higsby is singlemindedly focused on Ms. Mari, sorry Lan.

To be fair Lan is hell of short

He's a 6th grader, to be fair, though it's odd you bring that up in 3. For the first 3 games in the series, everyone was mostly the same height, and if you compare Higsby and Lan you see only Higsby's hair is what makes him taller.



However, Higsby also came here to broker some sort of arrangement he made with Mayl beforehand.



Not again... First the Zoo passes, now this.



It keeps happening



Anyway, Mayl agreed to run an errand for Higsby in exchange for a chip Higsby gave her. Basically what we did last update in reverse.

Higsby is rather impressive at scoring low-cost child labour!



Higsby does not tolerate Mayl's attempts to put it off for a later date.

Really, rather impressive!



I like to think that Ms. Mari is remembering the events of MMBN1's school scenario now that he's said that.

Hahaha, Higsby is the best.



Some people wonder why I hate Mayl. I wonder why those people wonder. Still, commentating on Astro Nut's Starforce 1 LP has taught me that yes, there are in fact worse characters Capcom has written.



I ignore Mayl's written characterisation and replace it with my own! That makes Mayl my favourite character.

_{although I don't like her being in my avatar tbh it creeps me out}

Do I detect an opportunity? I wouldn't want to get rusty with my MS Paint, would I? Weeeeellll~!



Enjoy the new avatar: BubbleProgMayl! With bonus YaiDucks background.



Lan, to his credit, isn't a total doormat this time.

He asks an excellent question we should all be asking ourselves re: work



Higsby! Aaaagh! You traitor!

Higsby has correct opinions, though.



Oh god, perfect screenshot timing, I swear that wasn't intentional.





This is an abusive relationship!

She's closing her eyes to the situation, man!



Poor, poor Lan. He just concedes that he's not getting out of it.

Lan is often all about running errands for people, so he might as well deal with it.



This is like how Peach motivates Mario (sometimes Bowser) with cake promises.

Sometimes people motivate me with cake promises, but then there is no cake. There had better be cake this time, Mayl!!



Deja vu, Higsby? If you weren't so likable I'd be mad at you.

It's all the same result for Higsby! ...except, Lan might possibly be a smidge more capable than Mayl, just putting that out there. This might be a better deal for Higsby.



Anyway, this is slightly annoying if you're playing this for the first time. I'd forgotten where to get it, so I decided that rather than look up what to do, I'd "go natural" and play as if I were for the first time.

Just like with the nut progra- eheheh I'll stop!

Yeah, enjoy BubbleProgMayl.



And so, a hunt across the game world ensued! I figured that you'd get some sort of direction from the NPCs or BBS boards, as the games usually do that, but all the NPCs are busy talking about the BubbleWash and how amazing or stupid it is, usually depending on the NPC's gender.

Whoah. Wind *! Not as exceptional as they were in the last game (oh I miss you, Gater), but I still got a place for them in my heart...



A run-in with FlashMan V3 leaves me at 1 HP and I don't even get a chip. It was a blow to my self-esteem as a NetBattler, I confess, it seems I've gotten a bit rusty between this and the MMBN4 charity stream last week.

That said, it's just been so damn long since I've had to take a fight seriously. Not since the fight with Raven in the Chrono X demo, I believe. I'll need to stop coasting and actually try. I'm happy, actually.

That said, my folder is still a bit gimpy due to my recurring habit of building folders with the endgame/postgame in mind and not taking into account what the game makes available in the interim. I've still got SHOTGUN chips in the folder, for crying out loud.

Running around with the fast-forward button held down'll do that for ya, as anyone here who's done a MMBN LP will attest! ...I'll attest to it.




Basically every NPC is talking about the BubbleWash. What is this, Bieber Fever!? (Way to date this LP, self) Everyone is talking about a DISHWASHER. To be fair, half the dialogue regarding it is "why is this such a freaking big deal".

OK, earlier in the LP I said it's nice that people change their dialogue depending on what plotpoint you're up to but yeah I think this takes it a little far.



In a bit of a cute moment, this purple Navi bemoans the loss of the yellow Navi, as he had a crush on her. Navis feel love too!

And yet they can't drink coffee..... _yet



And this guy brings up a very good point: Who designed Yoka area!? Navis themselves can't actually traverse the tiny paths! I guess the implicit reason is that the network is optimized for data transfer, not Navi convenience.

I have an alternate theory, actually. Mild spoilers ahead! The closer you get to the UnderNet, the more these paths appear. Logically, then, they have something to do with keeping the UnderNet under lock and key.

Why was that one path designed to look like water? Why is anything anything in this crazy world? Computers, man. Why do they?



Amusingly, the Navi right there brings up the very good point that a natural hot spring shouldn't NEED a water heater. The implication is that the hot spring is fake!





Anyway, once you hit Yoka 2, you start running into WindBox viruses, and if you qualify for a chip drop in fights against them, you have a high chance of getting a Wind *.



Case in point. Alright, back to Higsby.

WindBoxes have such a goofy design. Oh right, all viruses in this game have goofy designs. Moving on!



Higsby confirms this is the chip he was looking for. Heck, it would be entirely in Higsby's character for him to collect chips that form defunct P.A.s for collection's sake. I would not be surprised if Higsby has entire crates full of chips from previous games that aren't usable anymore. Ah, a vintage Gater, every true chip geek needs one of those for the mantlepiece!

I know what I would have on my mantlepiece if I had a mantlepiece! ....Alas, either way, I don't think I can easily get felt in the right colours for a GateMan, otherwise HOO BOY my commentary on this update would suddenly be cut short!



Tea time! Our reward for going through all that was...absolutely nothing.

A warm feeling knowing we helped our good friends?

Nah who am I kidding, tea is an awesome reward. Cups of tea for everyone!

nah who am i kidding, i've already had a dozen cups of tea today i think i am past my limit



The BubbleWash arrives at that moment, and Mayl demands Lan's help.





Nothing I can say will add to the magic of this line. So, so true.

Lan's not always completely oblivious. Except to his role as a shounen protagonist.



Lan sets the dumb thing up, and it's all set for going.

He's confused as to why it looks so weird. That's a weird-looking dishwasher, Mayl!



Surprisingly, a character offers rationalization for this oddity rather than leaving it to me.



Wireless connections for jack-ins didn't exist en masse until MMBN4, and it's a plot point in 5. And yet the Wireless item existed in 2, as MissEchelon's avatar can attest.

Mayl is all about the wireless. The future is now!



It's a little thing, but I like that they actually bothered to draw tea set sprites. I've said it before about these games, but it's the little things that show a game's quality and how much effort was put in sometimes.

God, why isn't my tea set as pink as that? I want Mayl's tea set.



Anyway, time for the amazing BubbleWash to earn its place in the hearts of the world!



Speaking of tea, that sounds oddly English for Ms. Mari to say.

Just the right thing after a nice cuppa!



Higsby points out the obvious. Good for him.



Always check before you put your nice tea sets in a dishwasher, kids!



Though, both he and MegaMan explain the enthusiasm to Lan the same way. By extension the player too: You get something new, you want to try it out.

A dishwasher being the most exciting thing ever,? I'm sorry you seem to be a minor character in a videogame.



Yet another perfectly timed screenshot by accident. I swear, there's only one time I'll deliberately grab a blinking mugshot in this game, and that's for a throwback gag's sake. "Smug Lan"!



And now, time for things to go wrong. Things have been too stable for Battle Network lately!



It's the Scrubbing Bubbles' revenge!

Seriously though what happened. What is this. MegaMan Battle Network what are you doing.



Yes, bubbles. This is just silly.

This is the zaniest dishwasher EVER.



However, it seems that these bubbles are produced using some sort of liquid plastic or something, that's my best idea. Worth remembering that plastic is a hydrocarbon polymer.

What kind of dishwasher would do this?! WHAT KIND OF GOD WOULD ALLOW THIS?!



YumLand is basically South Asia/Thailand's equivalent, so I think a different martial art would have--, well, I guess it'd lessen the joke to be accurate.

Higsby is the best, most gooniest nerdburger.



He even has a pose just for this!

S-such resolve! Such skill! So goon.



Roll chimes in that email arrives, taunting everyone.



It amazes me that BubbleMan's (yeah, huge surprise that's the Navi behind this) speech tic shows up in written text.



Anyway, the weird liquid-plastic bubbles will change colors to red eventually, and then...




Way to announce to the world that Wily is alive, BubbleMan. But yes, they'll explode. Though, one has to wonder, wouldn't suffocation be a more immediate threat? And I guess BubbleMan is intending to "clean" the world very literally. Anyway, since the plastic is likely a hydrocarbon, as plastics are, I guess it's not a stretch to imagine them detonating violently if given the proper stimulus or chemical reaction.



...I have so many questions that I know there are no legitimate answers to.



Quick, where's a priest, Higsby can at least solve that aspect of the problem!

Well if that's the only problem that needs solving-



This is an update rich in these moments, it seems. I've figured out a more efficient way to produce updates, so each update from here on will typically hold more content. My new process loads each image in IrfanView itself while I type commentary in a txt file on NotePad, then I fill in the numeric blanks with the actual image URLs over the course of a few extra days, appending new commentary as well in some cases. As a result, commentating becomes much easier, though I think also a bit bloated.

I found large updates a pain, or at least a bit daunting, when it came to co-commentating for Astro Nut, however, so if MissEchelon finds it annoying, I'll split them up after I write them and send them in halves.

Whatever works! I'll be sure to bitch and moan if I ain't like it~