Part 9: WHEN I FLEX, I FEEL MY BEST
Posting this update while I still have power.Update 9: WHEN I FLEX, I FEEL MY BEST
Alright, the EMS incident has passed and I'm ready for the massive amount of things we are going to do this update. Let's get to it.
Sigh... How are we supposed to find anything in here!? There's just way too much junk!
Wait, were we looking for something?
Sweetheart Laugh
A Rose By Any Other Name
???: At long last... I've finally found it! After countless hours of digging and digging... This one-of-a-kind, ultra-exclusive Special Mixtape finally belongs to me!
ROSA: Rosa! The #1 Sweetheart fan in the world! With this one-of a-kind addition to my collection, I will finally surpass all those lame posers out there.
That's just what Mole Sprouts smell like, surprised she's not used to it by now.
Hold on... Did she say she found a Special Mixtape? That's what we've been looking for! Oh yeahhhhhhhhhhhh...
Let's go get it!
Sweetheart Laugh
ROSA: What's the matter? Are you jealous?? This Special Mixtape is mine! I'll never give it to you! Not now, not ever!
Hey! We didn't come all the way out here for nothing! If you don't give us that Special Mixtape, we'll have to take it by force!ROSA: EEEEEK!! SUCH SAVAGE BEHAVIOR!! Violence never solved anything, you know.
Stardust Dusting
Wait! Come back here! Hurry, Omori! After her! We can't ler her get away!It's time to chase that doo-doo Sprout! We did not come this way to come empty-handed!
Heh heh, got you now!
Dammit! Why didn't someone stand by the ladder!!
Going to take a quick detour down here to grab this item. It's a Baking pan - an upgrade for Hero's Spatula that also teaches him a new skill called "Snack Time" which heals all 4 party members by 40%. It costs 25 Juice, which is super expensive this early. This is going to be another staple on Hero for quite a while if not the whole game.
How the hell did Rosa drop this on us? She's like 2 feet tall!!!
Welp, she's already gone ahead so may as well take a quick break and grab some more Junkyard chicken.
And the Whatchamacallit! When we go back to the campsite we can turn in this quest now and find out what the hell she needed these items for.
If you're ever feeling weary, don't forget you can always rest up at my picnics! Big sister is always prepared!D'aww... no time for a picnic, but some time to get some words of encouragement from big sis! Now then, let's grab a drumstick and head on! Can't lag too far behind!
Aha! There she is, now just to cross that line that says do not cross and we've got her!
...
What's with her? HEY ROSA, CAN YOU HEAR US!?
Huh? I wonder why she isn't responding. Let's take a closer look.Yeah lets... but before that...
Just gonna check our loadouts real quick, no reason. Just felt like doing that right now.
Download Window
CHAOS ASSEMBLY
After an eternity... I, no... WE can get our revenge on the dreaded Download Window!
So we're going with the usual setup here - Aubrey angry headbutting a sad enemy. Get used to seeing that. There's a slight twist to the formula for this guy, but for this turn and next - just deal as much damage as possible.
After two full turns have passed, you need to guard everyone. This guys one of those that likes to wait and then deal massive damage every other turn or so dudes. Sneaky on your first go since some enemies to this point just like to waste turns, so him wasting a turn may put you off guard.
This is WITH guard. Without and he probably wipes Aubrey at minimum. However, now that he's dealt damage we've got two turns to just beat the crap out of him before he acts again.
Hero does so little damage that getting in a snack time is better than having him slap the enemy for 5 damage.
Bread slice is just the biggest flex move and I love it
Hack away is really good, Omori attacks 3 times to random enemies for a cost of 30 juice. Pretty good move later on. Right now though, just too expensive. Omori also learned Mock at some point during the Junkyard - which is an attack that, if the foe is angry, reduces their attack damage. Omori gets two more abilities like these and the only problem with them is you don't know what bosses are going to need which ability before fighting them.
Twirl lets Aubrey attack an enemy and she becomes happy after doing so. We will be using this ability before the end of this update!
Curveball gives a random emotion to an enemy... never used it. NEXT.
Smile is an ability that always goes first and reduces an enemies attack. Expensive as hell (25 juice) but quite useful.
Who cares!? We gotta take back that Special Mixtape!
A Rose By Any Other Name
ROSA: Huh? What in the world? Hey! That's mine! Give it back!
No way! It's finders keepers. We're putting this back in Space Boyfriend's boombox, where it belongs!ROSA: Hm? Space... Boyfriend... you say?
Sweetheart Laugh
ROSA: Oh, you ignorant child. Haven't you heard the latest news? I have a very reputable source who tells me that Space Boyfriend and Sweetheart have long since parted ways! Why do you think this Special Mixtape is in the Junkyard in the first place? It's because Space Boyfriend threw it away himself!
Space Boyfriend threw away the Special Mixtape himself!? Uh oh... That's not good. But if Space Boyfriend and Sweetheart aren't together anymore, how will we ever wake up Space Boyfriend now? The future of the once-great coalition of Space Pirates is depending on us...ROSA: Hmph. That sounds like your problem, not mine.
Wait just a second! How do we know you're not lying about all this? You could just be trying to get this Special Mixtape back!ROSA: Well... I... never! I may be rude and pretentious, but I'm not a liar!
Like we'd trust you! I think we'll just keep this Special Mixtape and see for ourselves. Now scram, you ugly plant creature! Go bother someone else!ROSA: Oh my! So rude!
Thank God she's finally gone. The music keeps playing so lets get out of here.
How the hell are we getting past this?
...Oh. Ok.
Now that we're done with the Junkyard... there's actually quite a bit we need to do before heading back to Space Boyfriend.
A lot of quests we need to turn in, some new areas that we need to explore... a really cool thing we need to do...
THE VENGENANCE OF THOSE FORGOTTEN IN DARKNESS
But first, we're gonna get caught up in some more trouble.
SPACE PIRATE BUDDY: We've finally found you, Pluto! THERE'S NO ESCAPE!!
???: I can't let it end like this. I need to find a hiding place!
???: HURRY! I DON'T HAVE MUCH TIME!!
You need a place to hide, huh...
You can rest easy now! I got this all under control.
Okay, that should do it! Shoot, they're coming! Quick, everyone... act natural!
SPACE PIRATE DUDE: Hey, you kids! We're looking for a high-profile and very expensive rogue planet named Pluto. He's a big, circular, gray-ish guy with huge, bulging muscles. Kind of hard to miss... Have you seen him?
Uhmmmmm
Ummmmm
N-no? Can't say we have...SPACE PIRATE DUDE: Really? ............ Well, that's life! Come one, dude! Let's keep searching. We'll find him eventually!
Such quick thinking! I'm impressed! You have my eternal gratitude. What are your names, if I may ask?
I'm Hero, and these are my friends Aubrey, Kel, and Omori. I see! Fine names for fine young people! My name is Pluto, and I am a rogue planet... A vagabond if you will. I do apologize for causing everyone so much trouble. But... I feel that it is not my purpose to act as a mere yard decoration.
If that makes me a rogue planet, then so be it. They can call me what they please, so long as I'm free to do as I please! My soul yearns for freedom! You understand... Don't you, children? W-Whoa! Kel, are you crying??
Sniff... Such raw emotion... I'm touched... That was beautiful, Pluto...
Wait, you too Aubrey?? Now, at long last... I am finally free to follow my lifelong dream... of running my own transportation company! I'm going to call it "Pluto's Spaceline"!Now... far be it for me to shit on someone's dream but... you want to run a transportation company???
This realization has reinvigorated me! And since you have helped me in such a selfless way, I must return the favor! Ahem! I am Pluto of "Pluto's Spaceline" now. Please pretend you have just arrived at a transportation station. 
THE VENGENANCE OF THOSE FORGOTTEN IN DARKNESS
WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO TODAY, YOUNG TRAVELERS?? Gah! Oh, was that too much? Hm. I should try to tone it down... Let's try this again! No, it's okay! We'd just like to go back to the campsite, please! So you want to go to the Otherworld campsite? ... Ah, my first request... how exciting! Oh no... Here it comes...
One ride to Otherworld campsite, coming right up! I won't ;et you down, young travelers! Leave the rest to me!
Wait, hold on! I'm not ready yet!
Welcome to the fast travel menu. Sadly, you can't just push a button to call it up - you do have to find specific spots to go to other spots but you run so fast it's not that big a deal. It's not too comfortable for Kel, but eh he'll live hopefully.
How was that for a smooth ride? Comfortable environment and relaxing music. I'd give it five out five stars!
Huff... huff... says you! I can't even feel my arms anymore... Kel, I have to say... You did a great job holding on for dear life back there. You have the potential to be very strong! Let me teach you a skill that might be useful in the future. Ahem... Repeat after me. 
Now you try.
Whoa! That felt amazing! I'm pumped! Hm... it could use a little work. But nevertheless... You've definitely got the power within you! Take this lesson and use it well. Farewell children, until next time.
Enlisting a former planet as our fast travel guy is somehow not even on my list for top 10 what moments we've seen so far.
Flex is a skill that makes Kel do more damage on his next turn and he won't miss. Good for run and gun + happy later on when he's got more juice.
Alright, we've got a lot of things we need to knock out in a short amount of time.
First off, now that we can switch to Hero - he gets discounts when shopping at mailboxes. 10% less clams is useful early on when we're strapped. Now to head to TV Girl to turn in the doodads.
TVGIRL: Ahh... that hits the spot! My old coffee machine broke like forever ago, but I've been too busy to gather the missing parts. Now that this new one is all fixed up, I don't have to drink that gross instant cofee crap anymore. Here's a little something' for helping me out.
Wow, ok. That's a real escalation in battle items from jacks to freaking dynamite. This does severe damage to whatever enemy we throw it at. So of course, like all good RPG items, it will waste away in our inventory from now to the end of time. We can also use the coffee pot to get ourselves a cup of coffee, which raises speed in battle.
Now then, we have the ability to tag out Omori now. So there's been things across the world that we just couldn't do, but now we can. Remember those crows needing someone more charismatic to talk to?
CROW: Caw caw. (Ah, yes. That would be immensely desirable.)
After grabing the other two crows, we head back to the Scarecrow to let him know the good news.
MR. SCARECROW: I cannot thank you enough for your help. Now it is time for me to take my leave. Goodbye, kind stranger. I hope we will meet again one day.
Our reward is a 5-leaf clover. This increases luck by a base of 2, but this increases by a point per energy in battle. Useful to combine with happy, though your hit rate will still fall.
We'll be taking Pluto to head back to the forest now... we've got some unfinished business there.
We passed by this when we were exploring the Vast Forest, the fast travel point is at a good midway point.
Now this... this is why we're back right now.
BERLY: Grumble... grumble... Hey, Van! Come here for me!
VAN: Huh? Did you want something, Berly?
BERLY: Yeah, stand right here and look that way.
VAN: Okies-dokies.
What do you want now, Berly?BERLY: Aubrey! Aubrey, Aubrey, Aubrey... What's with that sassy tone? Come on! We're best friends! Now, you see that big guy over there?
I know who Van is...BERLY: Great! Go on and give him a good whacking for me!
W-What? Why!? What if he gets hurt?BERLY: Always with the questions! Can't you just do something without thinking for once?! Go on! Smash!
Okay, there I did it. Now what?BERLY: Do it again! Do it until I say stop!
Okay... But... what am I doing exactly?BERLY: No questions! Only smash!
BERLY: You're getting somewhere, I think! Come on, you can do it! Stamina! Stamina!
Huff... huff... How long do I have to keep doing this!?BERLY: Until I say stop! Don't slow down now!
Huff... Huff... Help! My arms feel like noodles!BERLY: Keep pushing! You're almost there!
I think... I'm going to pass out.BERLY: Please... just one more smash...
Huff... huff...
Boo fucking yah!
Huff... What was... huff... that all about?BERLY: ... Nah, nothing really. I was just bored. But honestly... this is pretty boring, too.
WHAT!? HUFF... THAT'S ALL!?BERLY: Hey, at least you got something out of it! I'm still bored here! Grumble... grumble... Come on, Van... Let's play some tetherball.
I don't have to get her to know that 50 juice points for Aubrey is just insane at this point in the game. She went from 31 to 81! That's 16 headbutts before she runs out of juice! Every character has a way to earn some points in their worst skill, but the rest have to wait until the endgame to unlock them. Aubrey gets hers super early when its most useful.
Now then, I skipped over this fight earlier... but I think we're ready.
It's a tree. That's it. The toughest fight so far.
...And we still aren't ready apparently. Also Aubrey just headbutted a tree and lived. Do not doubt the hardness of that head.
So yeah... it's just kind of a joke fight since... it's a tree, it never attacks or does anything besides stand there. And you can't damage it with normal attacks. Still... what a weird joke fight.
Ahhh, this item is soooo good. It increases def by 3 and speed by 12! A good item to put on Hero as time goes on since his speed is so slow, but for now I'm putting on Omori for the defense boost and so he always acts first in battle.
As well, since we can switch to Hero, if we talk to one of the guys in line he thanks Hero for singlehandedly putting out the great wildfire and gives us a 4 leaf clover. Which increases luck and HP by 4. Not bad, but I like decking people out in defense early.
Now then... you may recall this ladder. This isn't the ladder to go to Otherworld, this is the ladder that first introduced Omori's fear of heights. Since he isn't afraid of heights anymore, we can climb this ladder now! We could have headed here before even heading to Otherworld... but I wouldn't recommend it.
Poems in the Fog 
Welcome to Pinwheel Forest! This is my favorite area music... and its tucked away in this one spot easily missed! There's 180 tracks on the soundtrack by the way, just in case you needed a reminder that they worked on this game for 7 years.
One reason why I suggest waiting until after the Junkyard to come here is because that bottom platform is a throw spot for Kel to get an item (some spaghetti - a healing item). I will show off the other reason very soon!
C
Another correct key! Not bad to get 3/4 right this soon.
This key left an impression behind... what's inside the hole?
Huh... not very comforting. The bunnies you saw are just the same bunnies we fought back in the forest. Same stats and all.
Hey! A picnic! Always nice to see you Mari... but first.
Another for the scrapbook.
The wind here is stronger than it is on the ground. I wonder why that is... Seems like the perfect weather to fly a kite!
And the perfect weather to snack on some fruits with some friends!
Gah! My ears popped again!
Ah... yeah. That tends to happen with the elevation. WHAT!? DID YOU SAY SOMETHING? I SAID... YOUR EARS POPPED... BECAUSE OF THE ELEVATION!!
Shhhhh... Keep it down! It's not just us here! Can't you see that boy with his kite? He looks like he's concentrating really hard... Oops... Sorry, Kite kid...Huh... oh yeah. I guess we should talk to him before we leave, see if he has anything interesting to say.
Sure! I don't see why he'd be upset that we're disturbing his kite time, it's just a kite after all.
KITE KID: We'll show you how strong we are when we work together!
Kite Kid
Forest Frenzy
Oh... I guess he would mind! We're going with the same setup as with download window. Also, this is the reason I would suggest waiting until after Junkyard to come here... this guy is REALLY tough early on. He easily made me use all my Jam on my first go round.
I go for the usual setup... but here's where the game starts throwing some curveballs. This guy likes to be happy, and he switched over from sad to happy before aubrey attacked. So now instead of doing more damage, shes doing less. Still, if he's wasting turns going happy thats a turn hes not using to attack us. So keep applying sad to him.
Kel's rebound is good here, since it does damage to both the kite and the kid, don't really aim for the kite unless its low though. You'll see why.
Eventually, Kite Kid stops casting happy on himself and really pays the price. Being on the wrong side of an emotion counter really matters!
Out of nowhere highly damaging all-party attacks are just the best! I love em! You may think this is why it's a good idea to take down the kite, and you'd be right except...
At the end of a turn, if the kite is gone the kite kid will just repair the kite anyway. It's why going after the kite isn't really that good an idea. Sometimes he'll waste his turn calling him back in instead, but the kite gets a free attack if he does this so eh.
Our power of friendship >>> Your power of friendship
KITE KID: The wind... it's getting weaker! But me and my kite have an unbreakable bond... How could we lose?
Not really sure where else you'd fly. Maybe Otherworld has some good kiting spots. Speaking of kiting spots...
I love Aubrey's bunny and Omori's mewo
No clue what the hell Kel's flying though.
Turning in the flower puzzle to Daisy gets us... a Daisy! This gives the wearer +10 HP and you start the battle with happy. Not the biggest fan of items that let you start battles with emotions since you're going to use the first turn to setup the battle anyway. There's only a couple niche uses I could see for it, and they revolve around just alpha striking things.
Now, FINALLY, we are ready to turnover the Special Mixtape. We're going in with the same loadout of equipment though I switched out a couple skills... N-no reason to mention this!! Just wanted to say it.
SPACE PIRATE GUY: With this, we'll finally be able to wake up Space Boyfriend!
SPACE PIRATE GUY: W-What did they really? For real this time? Oh no... But that would mean... That there's no point in playing him the Special Mixtape anymore... All hope... is lost.
Hey, Space Boyfriend! We got your Special Mixtape back! Hmph... You can at least thank us. Oh, don't be so down, Space Pirate Guy! It's just a rumor... and even if it is true, it's not the end of the world.
People get over breakups all the time! I'm sure Space Boyfriend will be back on his feet soon. He just needs some time to readjust. 
In that case, we should probably get rid of that Special Mixtape after all. Listening to the songs might be way too emotional for him.
Give it here, Omori. I'll keep it safe. 
Huh? Where is it?
KEL!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?Special Mixtape| I Want Nothing More
Uh-oh... I've got a bad feeling about this...
Darnit, Kel! Look what you did!
FWAHAHAHAHAH!! FEAR ME FOR I HAVE AWAKENED!!!
...Hmph... One sec.
Trouble: NEVER OR ALWAYS
Hmhmhmhmh... FWAHAHAHAHHAHA!!! Much better! Now, where was I...? Ah, yes!
Foolish Children! I must thank you for bringing me out of that pathetic state. I grew tired of lying in bed, pretending to be sick. Like I always say... FEELINGS ARE FOR LOSERS!! That wench, Sweetheart... She's going to pay for leaving me! I did everything for her! I gave everything to her! EVERYTHING! YOU HEAR ME!?!? That ungrateful, little... Aughhhhh...
Hmm... not wondering why Sweetheart dumped this guy now!
JUST FORGET IT!! FORGET EVERYTHING!! I'm going to find Sweetheart... AND I'M GOING TO MAKE HER PAY!! Sorry, but we can't let you do that, Space Boyfriend... or should I say... 
I AM CAPTAIN OF THE SPACE PIRATES! I control all the planets in the solar system and have the ability to fly through space at will! The power of the entire universe is at my command! Blah, blah, blah! Talk all you want... We're not scared of you!
If you plan on going around and causing trouble, you're going to have to get through us first! Hmph... So that's how it's going to be. If you still insist on stopping me... I'm afraid we'll just have to settle this the hard way. I'LL TAKE ALL OF YOU ON!! FIGHT ME, EARTHLY SCUM!!
Space Ex-Boyfriend
You Were Wrong, GO BACK 
Space Ex-Boyfriend is the first major road-block boss the game has to offer. If you don't fight Kite Kid, this boss is the first one the game throws at you to make you truly have to use all the skills at your advantage. Sad then that there's only one other boss like this,normally.
Now that we have smile on Hero, that's going to be our first move in most major boss fights. The cost is steep but I'll always trade juice for more defense. Second move... is making Aubrey happy. This goes against the bog standard strat, and yes thats why I love this fight.
We are also going to make Kel happy as well, we aren't going to make them ecstatic - just happy is good.
And here's our base strat for this fight - Aubrey will be on counter every turn. This means that Space Ex-Boyfriend will be targeting her, and she will attack back in return. That means Hero only needs to target her for healing while Omori and Kel wham on him with no consequence. So why do they need to be happy?
Space Ex-Boyfriend wants to be angry... and there's NOTHING we can do about that. This locks out our usual strat, so we have to refocus by going all happy instead.
Omori can also use Mock - which will lower an angry foe's attack. This negates the strength bonus being angry gives a foe which is really good when a foe refuses to be anything besides angry!
Enraged makes attack go up 2 levels and defense down 2 levels. Mock, unfortunately, only works for the first level. However, that extra defense drop is quite juicy for us...
Furious is the final stage of anger... attack goes up by 3, and defense down by 3. Only Bosses and Omori can reach this level of pure anger. This fight starts to reach a damage race at this point, especially if you have any sad people who will get quickly wiped by the pure anger of Space Ex-Boyfriend.
He also gains access to this move, which fires 4 times at random party members. In this case, Hero took the brunt of it sadly. At this point, drop Aubrey from counter and just go all-in on him.
The anger from being dumped is no match for the Power of Friendship.
