Part 24: The Egg Hunt (1)

I guess you could say we're around the half-way point of the game since we're starting Chapter 5 of 8, though this "half" is probably longer.

At any rate, no big fancy chapter intro here, just a tower of thunder. We're probably going to be going there, huh?















I think I went through it and hid the egg somewhere on the other side. So let's head for that area first.



Full party at last!



When you pass the bridge, you'll see Item Guy moving to and fro. What a great guy!







Up here is a cave with a hot spring and a mole.



Some worms, perhaps? Will you take a look?

Couldn't find a down-facing sprite for this guy, and I can't make him look down myself, so here's a similar sprite from Earthbound.



This guy sells some weapon and armor upgrades, including much-needed ones for Duster and Kumatora. I get Kumatora the new gloves and equip the Sparrow Bandana on Duster, and the Azure Ribbon on both Boney and Kumatora, plus Fly Charms for Duster and Kumatora.





At any rate, our mission is to find the egg before the enemies grab it and destroy the world or something horrible like that.

Which is why I'm spending this entire update hanging out in Tazmily.



As you may expect, having double the party size makes the enemies around the forest significantly easier.

In case you're curious, we started this chapter right above where the wall staple path led up at the waterfall, which itself is directly east of the way to Club Titiboo. You know, where we saw the first fireworks show.







You can come back to Titiboo, but it's deserted. Well, except for the woman and the frog in the bathrooms, I suppose nobody thought to tell them it was time to vacate.

There's also supposedly more DCMC swag here, but I forgot to grab it. Maybe next update.



You can also go back to the factory and work if you want to. I don't want to, but I do want to talk to people.

You seem way more mature than before. I've grown more than you have, though. Understand?

Doofus! I turn around every time someone says that.

If only I could run the factory how I want, it'd be so much more like how I want it to be. But no one besides me will listen to me.

I get you, man.

Oink oink. (The stray dog behind me has become such an ambitious guy since he started running here.)

Bow-wow! (I have absolutely no intention of spending the rest of my life here. Ultimately, I want to go into the big city and build a doghouse so gigantic that it'll make everyone jump in shock. No, "house" isn't the right word for it at all. That'd be a palace. Yeah, a dogpalace.)



I assume if I bothered working, I'd get the discount and could just ride the train back to Tazmily. But screw that, I'm a free man!









You may remember these from the last chapter, being too much to handle for just Lucas and Boney. That's why I'm facing them now.





And that shows why I had to wait until I had four people to take this thing down. Just gotta take the thing down with PK Love/Freeze.



On the way back to Tazmily, Kumatora picks up Paralysis. It numbs an enemy for a few turns, as you'd expect.





And we're back at Tazmily! Obviously, there's some new dialogue floating around. Let's get to exploring!



Doesn't it seem like officers patrolling the train station area have to do a lot more work than officers in the mountains? That seems a bit unfair to me.



so I've been keeping watch this whole time. He's not very suspicious, though.
Being an annoying onlooker is actually pretty tough work. I have to stand in this one spot for a really long time, for example.



I guess Flint never dusted off the other sheep.

Baaa. (Just in case you've forgotten, I'm a charred sheep, not a black sheep. *smile*)

Baaa. (You'll get dirty if you touch me. *smile*)

Right, let's check out the old-school citizens.

Can I come with you, too? Oh. I guess not...

I wish I could visit the big city... I bet it's way cooler than Titiboo, even!

Welcome! Check out this top merchandise, straight from the big city!

Right now Thomas is running the shop. He sells the same stuff Nichol did in Chapter 4, which is pretty outdated by now.

Did you make it to Titiboo?

That look of yours is really bugging me...

Over at the Yado Hotel...

Oh, Duster. Has your memory returned yet?

You guys seem kind of outta place here. Maybe it's because you're too classy for it... Or unclassy...

Oh... You're here too, Duster? P-please, could you not come in here anymore? I'd prefer to avoid rumors that we have thieves coming and going here...



No, it'd actually be more efficient to just take a quick five-minute break.



It really helps soothe my throat.

This guy is my new favorite NPC.

Oh, Duster. When did you come back? You have some nerve.

There's no telling what's going to happen next, so be careful.

Fuel's been helping out around the store, but sometimes I feel like he's getting in the way. I don't have the heart to tell him, though.

Actually... Uhhh.... Actually... I was about to say something, but now I forget what it was.

For some reason, working at the factory just isn't my thing.

Did you try your hand at hauling Claymen? Pretty tough work, huh?



From what I can tell, you have about 0 DP. Way more than me. That's no fair.

Nosy.

It looks like you guys've been through a lot.

The village's progress is my progress. I get bigger and more important by the day. Understand?

Oh, if it isn't Lucas. Everyone's talking about how you've been living it up at clubs instead of coming home. And then there's Flint, always wandering around in the mountains, aimlessly. You're such a weird family.



There's also these two guys now.

Stroke! Stroke! Stroke! I'm Paddel, president of the Tazmily Boat Club. Aside from the fact we don't have a boat, everything is going great. Stroke! Stroke! Stroke!

Stroke! Stroke! Stroke! I'm Rowe, the newest member of the Tazmily Boat Club. Aside from the fact we don't have a boat, everything is going great. Stroke! Stroke! Stroke!

Bow-wow. Bow-wow. (I'm a charred dog, not a black dog. Actually, there are some sheep like me, too.)

Working at the factory, then relaxing at Titiboo. That's what regular folk look forward to. They even got a band there.





This retirement home doesn't have much of a budget to work with, so everything is worn out or broken, like the floors and such.

Are you here to check the leaky roof? It's really dripping away today.

While we're here, may as well check up on Old Man Wess.

Duster... No, Lucky or whatever is fine. You have legs, right? I see you're the same... The same as ever. You didn't need to come see me... But thank you for remembering me, Lucas. Princess... You're too kind to me. Thank you very much. Say, you there... Don't you still have something left to do? We can hang out afterwards. You should really take care of your health. Well, see you. Oh, that "See you" just now was meant for Boney...

Thank you for acknowledging Boney. I'm also impressed you saw through his clever disguise.

You shouldn't dawdle, Lucky or whatever your name is! Go on! Get going...!

Now let's check out the west side of town.

Keep your nose out of police business. Especially at tension-filled places like this! 'Cause you're a nuisance. I know things may not seem all that tension-filled here, but trust me, they are!

Reggie never discouraged. Reggie usually never discouraged. Reggie sometimes discouraged.



This has to be a joke! A 20 million year prison sentence?!

Bow-wooow. (Wherever * we * stray * dogs * go... * ...That's as far as the song goes so far.)

I see you still wander around as scatterbrained as always. I'm busy sorting letters.

That woman over there... She still keeps looking this way... And she was looking at me at Club Titiboo, too. I guess she must like me, huh? Oh, I'm so nervous. *thump* *thump*

That man over there... He still keeps looking this way... And he was looking at me at Club Titiboo, too. I guess he must like me, huh? Oh, I'm so nervous. *thump* *thump*

Oink. (While I just layed [sic] here like this... I managed to forget all the bad things in life... But now the good things start to seem even worse now... *sizzle* *sizzle*)

Happy Boxes are wonderful, you know! Just looking at one makes you feel happy. Lucas. Why don't you try looking at one, just once?



Boney will mourn even in disguise, that's how loyal he is.







That's it for the town. Next we go back to Osohe Castle, again. This trip is pretty much the only reason to backtrack to Tazmily in the first place besides the new dialogue.



Nothing has changed since Lucas visited, except that now we can use Duster's Rope Snake to revisit the rest of the castle.



The other hallways are empty besides the pathetic Barrel Guys.





Well, look who's back.



The music I am playing is "Ode to Ancestors, 8th Movement". Listen thoroughly.

Sure.

Yes. I thought you would like it. Actually, my music isn't the only thing that's splendid. I've added two new curls to my hairstyle.



Nah.











Lord Passion is an optional boss, and if you go ahead with the plot you'll miss this guy.

He has 2897 HP.



The guides I see suggest buffing Duster and Boney's offense while lowering Lord Passion's, which I agree with. They also suggest using PK Love and Fire, which I disagree with, as this is going to be a long enough fight that they'll run out of PP before then. I instead boost Lucas's offense as well and have Kumatora focus on spamming Lifeup while the other three attack.





Lord Passion's kind of a one-trick pony. All but one of his attacks this fight was heavy party-wide damage. You need to debuff him with Attack Down from either Duster's Scary Mask or Kumatora's PSI. Using the Smoke Bomb to inflict crying also helps a ton and gives a lot of breathing room.



This is after being debuffed. Still a lot, but much more manageable now.





He's weak to PK Fire, but it still doesn't do enough for my tastes. Lucas's physical attack boosted is around 80ish, which isn't too bad compared to PK Love's 150ish and 10PP cost, and it goes up the rare time I can get a combo attack off. His PP's more useful as back-up healing. Of course, I'm still not afraid to have Boney or Duster throw items if needed.





Sometimes Lord Passion will do a significantly weaker attack that only hits two people. I don't know, either.





Overall, not too bad a fight if you remember your debuffs.







Our reward are these crazy-awesome shoes that significantly boosts Duster's offense. He's by far the best attacker right now.





We can also make our way back up to the top, but all we see are a lack of brooms and that there are indeed traps set around the former egg location.



On the way down, Kumatora learns Defense Down. Yep.





We're done with Osohe Castle. Let's end the update by revisiting the forest. Note that there's no reason to be here, as there's no new loot here. With a full party, it's easier to show off the rest of the enemies here.







We ran past these last time because they will murder you at Chapter 4 levels.



As seen here.







And here. Of course, now they're not a big issue.

We can also check up on Lighter while we're here.

Heya, Duster. Haven't seen you in three whole years. Have you gotten a little condor-- Wait, that's not the word. Have you gotten a little balder? Gahahaha.







These guys hit decently hard (enough to be kinda scary in Chapter 4, especially since they like to attack in groups) and can use Hypnosis.



They will also use Lifeup Beta to heal themselves, making it kinda futile to fight them until at least you pick up PK Love, and even then you're better off grinding on the other end of the tunnel.













It's important not to step on the ants.





At the top is what remains of Alec's house.



All the Dragos are gone now. Bye, Dragos.



Finally, Lucas learns PK Shield, which halves physical attacks. Handy to have, though I'm pretty sure enough damage will break it, as will Thunder attacks.



Everybody needs a break from saving the world.

Next time, we'll get back to the plot.