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Part 14: Hero for a Day
Well, it certainly has been a while. Between taking a break to play Battle Network 4 - 6, the release of Shadowbringers, getting a new job, and some less than pleasant issues at home, I've been distracted with quite a bit.
Let's see if I can't get things back to speed now that I'm all caught up, though.
Time has passed since Mamoru's operation, but everyone still misses Dex.
Yai mentions she can see him easily on her jet, but a few hours? It took Lan 10! I guess that was a commercial flight, but still.
Suddenly, Ms. Mari shows up.
Apparently, SciLab is going to be holding a ceremony commending him for his service in stopping the WWW's attack on the hospital.
That's nice and all, but what about the commendations for all of the other times he stopped the WWW? I mean, the hospital thing was a big deal, but there were multiple other instances where Lan saved a ton of lives. 
Then again, I suppose a number of those instances were credited to Chaud or SciLab. But there was that instance of Lan stopping a dam from bursting in 2!
Before Lan takes off to head to the ceremony, Ms. Mari mentions that while she's proud of Lan, she's terrified to think he's getting involved with the WWW so much and cautions him not to risk his life.
And while I am glad that someone is having this talk with Lan, it feels very very very VERY late to be giving it.
Lan also seems to have missed the entire point of Ms. Mari's concern, apologizing for making her worry rather than doing the thing that made her worry.
She seems content to let the matter go, though, so it's off to accept the award. After checking with NPCs, of course.
Except I accidentally erased some of my pictures before saving the update and my computer reset, so I lost everything from ACDC Town. Including some blatant foreshadowing of the upcoming problem. 
Basically everyone is happy for Lan, Yai is a little jealous, and at least one person is spoiling who the upcoming villain is.
The TV Station is now featuring a game show rather than bad stand-up. That's an improvement.
This person in the audience needs to chill, though.
Also, it seems like Wily may have seriously hurt the hospital's reputation with that last stunt.
There's also a girl near the beach that gives a Spin program, but I doubt you guys care about that stuff too much, so I'll save those locations for the big LP.
The hospital is really not doing too well, even if there are some people sympathetic to the fact that they aren't to blame for Anetta's attack.
At least Mamoru is doing okay.
Are you suggesting that we shouldn't hook everything to the internet?
Because that's heretic talk, and I won't tolerate it.
At SciLab station, Lan runs into a familiar beard and thanks him for his assistance with BubbleMan.
Curious.
Lan questions whether the bearded man is a scientist and gets this as his response. It seems that there may be some connection between him and SciLab, but he's not really willing to speak about it at the moment.
"I'm sorry, but I can't reveal my name until it's dramatic enough."
Mysterious JRPG characters, am I right? Though, to be fair, you can probably guess who this guy is at least, though you likely won't get his backstory.
A quest to catch the condor pops up around this time, among a few others (and no, that's not drug rehab).
Sure enough, the condor will be back at the zoo afterwards.
Helping this guy with his Net Battling rehab gets you these two gems. The WWW-ID opens the skull doors around the Net, and the Humor program is a goofy thing that causes MegaMan to tell bad jokes to an increasingly aggravated Lan with the L button while it's installed instead of giving advice on how to progress the story.
This wound up being so popular that it was included in the next three games. 
Speaking of Humor, wasn't there some Navi who was talking about wanting to hear some jokes?
...
I'm going to assume he's laughing at the blink animation.
In exchange for helping him get his comedic muse back, he rewards this Battle Chip that I have never used ever.
Anyway, let's go get that award.
Lan is commended by a group of scientists for his job in saving the hospital from a deranged ecoterrorist. But, I mean, this isn't the first time Lan has done something worthy of commendation.
It's not even the first time he's stopped an ecoterrorist!
Turns out Mamoru wants us to visit, so we'll go look after him following the ceremony.
Yuichiro gives his parting words before we go, though.
LAN, PLEASE
Everyone proceeds to praise Lan some more. Very perceptive readers may notice the size of Lan's head slowly increasing in-between screenshots.
That's a joke, by the way.
Also, despite PlantMan outright telling MegaMan and Lan what the WWW was up to at the Hospital, neither of them see fit to tell Yuichiro or anyone else about this.
You can see why I said this is arguably the best game in the series, but certainly not the best written one.
Lan continues to boast about how great he is while MegaMan unsubtly foreshadows cautions him about letting things get to his head. I'm sure that won't be a problem in the near future, though.
On an unrelated note
this guy.
At least Lan remembers his name this time. Still not sure what that was about, Battle Network 2.
Lan, of course, is suspicious of the guy who got away with possibly burning people alive not too long ago.
As it turns out, he's the only one as SciLab gave him a job.
Yes, Yuichiro (or at least someone who works with him) gave the man who tried to murder his wife and sons a job. 
At any rate, the WWW attacks Yoka 2 at this moment. Lan, for his part, immediately suspects Mr. Match.
Mr. Match swears he has nothing to do with it, though, and lets Lan go to solve the problem.
Why can't you just send HeatMan to help us, you jerk?
I don't think Wily would be happy to hear this.
quote:
SciLab Square (Battle BBS)
|--------+-------------+-----------------------------------------------------|
|Heylon |Floater virus|I notice this a little while ago, but some viruses |
| | |seem to float, don't they? Shrimpy, Boomer and others|
| | |just pass right over fractured panels without |
| | |breaking them! makes sense when you think about it, |
| | |how the panels wouldn't break if you were floating. I|
| | |wish my Navi could do that! |
|--------+-------------+-----------------------------------------------------|
|Maki |RE:Floater vi|There are also some viruses like Fishy that can fly |
| | |over squares without panels. I wish my Navi could do |
| | |that! Oh, wait. He could if he had some AirShoes! |
|--------+-------------+-----------------------------------------------------|
|Takken |Half damage! |Dude! I just discovered the craziest thing! I was |
| | |gonna keep this to myself, but since we're both Net |
| | |Battlers, it's only right that I tell you all about |
| | |it. You know how attacks like AreaGrab work when the |
| | |screen goes dark like Navi Chips? If you get hit by |
| | |one of those, press back on the Control Pad when you |
| | |get hit to reduce your damage by half! What'd I tell |
| | |you? Crazy, huh?! |
|--------+-------------+-----------------------------------------------------|
|Shira-bo|Me, too, then|That's amazing Takken! You know, I made a discovery |
| | |of my own! You won't believe this, but I found a |
| | |defensive Program Advance! Unlike Takken though, I'm |
| | |not telling its combination. Ha ha! |
|--------+-------------+-----------------------------------------------------|
Please forgive me if my formatting is off. It's been a while and I'm kind of tired.
Opening doors!
The Navi who reported the WWW agents is in Yoka Square and blocking it off so they can't flee on the Metroline.
I guess that means that they're independent Navis since they could just jack out otherwise.
Really? That's all it takes to convince you? I mean I know you're like 11, but...
Fights follow in Beach and SciLab Areas. They are boring and unmemorable.
Even Lan and MegaMan think so.
Three Heel Navis show up to fight MegaMan. Despite the fact that we have literally been in this exact scenario before and, spoilers, will be in the exact scenario (+1 Heel Navi) later in the game, MegaMan is suddenly helpless.
Ahh. The horror. Etc.
Naturally, who should come to our rescue, but Mr. Match and HeatMan.
Oh, excuse me, he seems to have a new Navi for this game. Make that Mr. Match and Flam(e)Man.
The Heel Navis are not a fan of Mr. Match's treachery.
He doesn't seem to care very much.
FlameMan doesn't seem to be the talkative sort, but Mr. Match saved MegaMan in a cutscene so he must be a good guy.
And that's how Mr. Match became BFFs with Lan.
After FlameMan and Match leave, Lan gets a message telling him to come to the ACDC BBS. There is no listed sender.
How curious.
quote:
Yoka Square (Chat BBS)
|--------+-------------+-----------------------------------------------------|
|Poteno |Oh, come on! |What's the deal?! I tried my hand a bunch of times at|
| | |a Chip Trader, but every single time I got a |
| | |"Spreader *"! Who's responsible for this?! I lost |
| | |some good chips! |
|--------+-------------+-----------------------------------------------------|
|Nukky |You bad girl!|It doesn't matter what chips you put in, Poteno. It's|
| | |all random! I got a "Recov150" for 3 "Cannon" chips. |
|--------+-------------+-----------------------------------------------------|
|Poteno |RE:You bad gi|Arrrgh! Somebody's going to pay! |
|--------+-------------+-----------------------------------------------------|
Never put anything good into a Chip Trader. That's just common sense.
A good point on the harrowing existence of being a Navi.
quote:
ACDC Square (Chat BBS)
|--------+-------------+-----------------------------------------------------|
|U-pon |RE:Number Tra|Hey Haru, I know about that! That's where you win if |
| | |you enter the numbers that come with nut-wafer |
| | |chocolates. They were selling them at a stall in |
| | |Yoka, so I bought a bunch! You know, the chocolates |
| | |taste pretty good, too! |
|--------+-------------+-----------------------------------------------------|
|MEGAoka |RE:Number Tra|Buying Yoka candy isn't the only way to get numbers. |
| | |There are other ways to get them. For example, you |
| | |can... Well, you'll find out soon enough. Hee hee |
| | |hee... |
|--------+-------------+-----------------------------------------------------|
|Higsby |RE:Number Tra|You're pretty good! But there's still a lot more to |
| | |Trading! gather lotto numbers from all over and enter|
| | |them, y'know? You're sure to win even better things. |
| | |Y' know? |
|--------+-------------+-----------------------------------------------------|
|Haru |Seriously!? |Cool! I can win even better items?! All right! I'm |
| | |gonna get numbers from all over, and stick them in |
| | |randomly! Thanks for your replies, U-pon, MEGAoka & |
| | |Higsby! Still, MEGAoka's post kind of makes me |
| | |wonder. Hmm... |
|--------+-------------+-----------------------------------------------------|
quote:
ACDC Square (Battle BBS)
|--------+-------------+-----------------------------------------------------|
|Cartan |MetalMan? |Your friendly moderator Cartan here! That N1 was |
| | |something, huh? I have a question. The other day a |
| | |friend of mine used a MetalMan Navi chip. Can you |
| | |change the place where he appears? I saw my friend do|
| | |it, but I couldn't figure out how. |
|--------+-------------+-----------------------------------------------------|
|Tamako |RE:MetalMan? |Heya there! My name is Tamako! MetalMan is my Navi! |
| | |I gave him to my best friend, so you must be a friend|
| | |of a friend, Cartan! Nice to meet you! Actually, you |
| | |can change his position when he appears by moving the|
| | |Control Pad while holding down A. That way the enemy |
| | |can't escape! |
|--------+-------------+-----------------------------------------------------|
|Cartan |Thanks!!! |Thank you, Tamako! May I ask you just one more |
| | |question? Can MetalMan hurt guarding enemies with his|
| | |punch? I saw him defeat HardHead even his mouth shut.|
|--------+-------------+-----------------------------------------------------|
|Hassy |Breaking |Hello, my name's Hassy. I'll answer Cartan's question|
| | |for Tamako. Some Navis, such as MetalMan, can carry |
| | |BattleChips that can break enemy guards. Hammer and |
| | |CannBall from HardHead are two examples. There are |
| | |plenty more, so keep your eyes peeled! |
|--------+-------------+-----------------------------------------------------|
From Battle Network 3 onward, some Navi Chips have special commands that let you affect the range or ability used. It's a nice addition.
Mysterious Official Navi meets us at ACDC. I've theorized that he may belong to the Bearded Man, and I don't think anything necessarily contradicts this in-game. After all, BeardMan did give Lan that Navi Customizer program to help with the N1, so he had to have been keeping tabs to some degree.
Regardless, this guy's existence is one of the things in Battle Network 3 that shows sloppy writing, for reasons I'll explain later.
That said, he does dump this on us right now, so I can complain about this instead!
Yes, Mr. Match is still evil, still working for the WWW, and was the one responsible for those Heel Navis. If the game is just going to basically come out and say it here, I see no reason to hide it.
That said, I don't understand why the game decided to come out and say it here. There was a much better moment that would've worked for the people that might've been uncertain about his allegiance. For goodness' sake, he actually was neutral and nonthreatening in the last game; there could've been merit to what he was saying!
This, by the way, is what someone in ACDC was foreshadowing. "There's a fierce looking guy with red hair at SciLab." or something like that. And another NPC who says that there's no way something bad could ever happen there.
Naturally, Lan immediately ignores what that Navi said, because he is a very smart boy. 
Tune in next time when things probably go up in flames quite literally.