Part 1: Tricking Little Kids To Save Your Hide
Alright, lets get this party started! Lots of talking/exposition in this update, next update will be where the first Robattle happens.
After you’ve pressed Start, you’re taking to a deceptively important screen
The first two are fairly self-explanatory, and the last thing in the options box is simply choosing the battle music. However, its the first two things that you should be aware of.
First up is the Robattle Time. It decides how long Robattles can last until time is up and a winner is decided based on how many Metaparts were destroyed on either side. The default is Long, I’d highly recommend switching to Normal. Short is a bit more of a gamble, particularly early on in the game. It will make more sense once we actually start Robattling, and we can change it later on as we wish (Its actually a smart tactic for a few particular battles), but Normal is where I’d recommend keeping things.
Robattle Message determines if there’s a pop up after every action in a Robattle describing what is about to happen. It disrupts the flow of the fights a bit, but particularly during your first time playing it can be handy to keep on for reasons that will make more sense a few updates from now when I get into the details of Robattles.
With that out of the way, lets move onto the game proper!
We start off with a boy entering some sort of lab. Scientists all around by the looks. Typical place an elementary school kid would be hanging around and marching up to the front desk.
Good afternoon!
Good afternoon. Did you come by to see Dr.Aki again?
Yep!
Well, then you should go check his office all the way in the back.
Okay, thanks a lot!
Now that we have control, lets do what any good RPG protagonist would do: go bug every NPC around instead of the objective. Besides, looks like the kid has been here multiple times before, the other scientists probably at least recognize him as that weirdo who keeps bugging them. Lets start with the one just beyond the entrance lobby:
That’s… reasonably self-evident but sure. The other two further to the left (one off screen) say more or less the same thing in different words. The second one mentions sending off the data to Medabots Corporation, sounds as if there’s at least one company responsible for Medabots.
Nothing interesting from the scientist to the North, so lets go all the way East and into the next room.
Oh hey, this looks more interesting. What we’ve entered is the Medabot Museum. Don’t know why its in the exact same building as a fully functional research facility, but it is pretty small. Lets poke around a bit, shall we?
Let’s start here.
Can it be… The ultra-rare “?” Medal!?
Some sort of rare Medal? Well, makes sense for that to be in a museum. Bit of a weird name though: “?” is its actual name. Next one over is a “CAT” Medal, which gets the same reaction out of the kid.
Let’s look over here now, check out the generic looking sprites.
Its “Sailormate”… The one Erika has is “Brass”, which is the improved version of this Medabot. They don’t even sell this anymore.
Ah, so antique models. Not sure if the kid is reading off of an info card or if he just knows all of this stuff. He identifies the upper three models as Moon Dragon, Natural Color, and Betty Bear.
Enough of the generics, lets check out the two unique sprites, one that looks suspiciously similar to a robot in the intro video.
I wanna touch it…
That’s so cool!!
Product placement in a museum now? Guess the Medabot Corporation is the sponsor or something. Would make sense: people come in to see the rare and antique things, see new shiny things coming soon.
Alright, back to the lab! This time we head North from the main lobby.
Good to know, I’ll be sure to do that last.
Beyond the doors is of course, more computers and scientists. They explain that they’re about to start a test Robattle and that they can’t stop to talk when you bug them.
And this here is the Robattle in question, with the two generic Medabots. If you go to the far West between the two computers you can enter Dr.Aki’s lab, but there’s another door to the North. I wanna see what’s in there!
Nonsense. Everything else has been open to the public. What happens if I try to just waltz in?
I told you this room was off limits, kid!
…Did he just deck an elementary school kid?
Why yes, yes he did. Complete with a punch sound effect and everything. Clearly a reasonable response to a curious kid!
Lets go see that Dr.Aki, report his staff for abusing children. This cannot stand!
There’s the old geezer now. Lets march up and give him a piece of our mind!
Bah, who are we kidding. This is a Japanese RPG. Besides, its not like we were forced to try to go into that door. Kinda our bad… sorta… not really… we’ll just go with it.
Hmm? Oh, it’s you. you come here quite a lot.
A kid that bugs a laboratory a lot. That sure sounds conducive to a good work environment. No wonder that other scientist decked him, the kid has probably tried to enter multiple times before!
Don’t you know I’m always busy? Um… uh…
Dr. Akiii! You always forget my name! I’m…
Protag naming screen get! Default is Ikki, which is what you’ll see for the rest of this update at least. If the readers decide upon another name before the next update I’ll change it. But at least Dr.Aki has a good reason for not remembering the kid’s name.
Of, of course! you’re Ikki. But I’m busy so I can’t spend too much time with you.
But I wanna learn more about Medabots!
Okay, okay. IF you really mean that, then it’d be best to go visit my granddaughter Nae’s research room.
Smart idea. Dump the kid onto your granddaughter. Her turn to babysit.
My granddaughter Nae has been helping me ever since she was little. She knows almost as much as I do about Medabots.
Really? Yay! Okay, well, I guess I’ll be going!
Successfully pawned off, Ikki rushes away. Since we haven’t ran into a female scientist yet, she clearly must be behind the door we couldn’t get in before. I’m sure if we tell the scientist there that Dr.Aki told us to go in he’ll just let us in-
That would be a no.
Um, is this room…
We’ve got some very important research in progress here. Only those with proper clearance are…
Speaking of Nae, that must be her. Clearly she heard the sound of a child being beaten for a second time and came to investigate.
What’s going on here?
Ah… my apologies, Miss Nae. This kid was trying to get into the room without permission so I was just…
That’s right, you look sheepish-yet-smug you jerk! I bet she’s going to fire you!
Pleased to meet you. My name is Nae, what’s your name?
-sigh- She’s not going to fire him, is he?
Nae is Dr.Aki’s granddaughter. She’s well known throughout the Medabot world as the authority on all things that are related to Medabots.
Wow, that’s amazing!
Let us drop the formalities, shall we? So, do you like Medabots?
Yup!
Well then, do you want to come see my research lab?
Wha!? Are you sure it’s okay?
Miss Nae! Surely you can’t be serious about showing such important research to a kid!
I really don’t mind. So, shall we go Ikki?
Okay!
Ah, that’s how she’s handling the situation. Letting him actually see inside of the lab, hope he only talks about that and not about the beating he took. Got it. I only give it about 50/50 odds of actually working though.
We enter the lab and meet Nae up past her computer.
developing now.
Elemental Series? I’ve never heard of that on “Medabots Weekly”.
Actually, it’s still a secret♥︎
Holy Medaroli! I get to see them before anyone else!
…Make that 90% chance that her little plan to avoid the lab getting sued succeeds. Well played Nae, well played.
And that we shall! From right to left they are:
- Earthkrono, a Tank Type Medabot that can transform its Medaparts to protect allies.
- Saldron, a Floater Type Medabot that can transform its Medaparts to attack.
- Windsail, an Air Type Medabot that can transform its Medaparts to lower enemy abilities.
- Aquacrown, a Sea Type Medabot that can transform its Medaparts to help out allies.
Pretty cool stuff I suppose, getting to see the new models before they’re announced. But what’s in that room behind Nae?
We’ve hit the Medal motherload! I’ll quickly run through them:
- BAT - very compatible with Medaparts that target Air Type Medabots
- CHAMELEON - very compatible with Medaparts that hinder an enemy’s attacks
- KAPPA - very compatible with Medaparts that target Sea Type Medabots
- RABBIT - very compatible with Medaparts that control a Medabot’s speed
- MONKEY - very compatible with Medaparts that confuse Medabots
- MOUSE - very compatible with Medaparts that assist an allies attack
I swear this will all make more sense in an update or two. Just keep in mind for now this cache of medals in the back of your head. But with that, lets leave the lab!
So, this is the outside world huh. Finally get to see it. To the bottom left you can see the school, and to the bottom right the local store, Riverview City Hopmart.
Oh no! Look at the time! I’d better hurry up and get home! “Medabots Weekly” is gonna to start!
Before we do that, lets quickly point out the buildings in town.
NPC lady to the North is blocking a path out, in front of Ikki is an abandoned warehouse.
The blue house belongs to somebody, but there’s no name out front. Below from left to right we have Samantha’s, Spike’s, and Sloan’s houses. I’m sure we’ll get to know them soon.
Erika’s house, the person who has the Brass model of Medabot. And the dark blue house is Ikki’s. Let’s race inside, the show is about to start!
Looks like Ikki’s mom was waiting for us to return.
Where did you go? You always just disappear on me.
Later! I’ve gotta run!
Hold on!
No time to hold on Mom, TV awaits! 'side you’d think the lab would have told her by now that Ikki is constantly bugging them so she knew where he was. Pretty tiny town after all.
Upstairs we’re greeted by our dog, Salty. He’s a good boy, but we have more important things to do in our elementary school mind. Must. Watch. TV.
For my sanity’s sake I’m not going to quote the show word for word. I’ll go over what it covers in more detail in an update or two. Here’s the main take aways from it though:
- Medabots start with a Tinpet. Its a blue or red metal frame that Medaparts go onto, male or female respectively.
- First up is a Head Medapart. Metabee’s is called “Missile”
- Next is Right Arm. Metabee’s is “Revolver”
- After that is Left Arm. Metabee’s is “Submachinegun”
- Final Medapart is Legs. Metabee’s is “Ochitsuka”
- You also need to include a Medal to make the robot activate. That’s why they’re called Medabots.
Mom has had quite enough of our crap for one day though, and has decided TV time is done.
Wha? Mommmm!
If you’ve got time to sit around and watch TV, then you’ve got time to go down to the Hopmart and pick up some Spice-a-roni for tonight’s dinner.
Maaaan.
Do you have a problem?
Okay. Okay.
I’m just going to use $ instead out of convenience when I talk about money in this game. But boy, talk about a large sum of money for a little kid like Ikki. Well, nothing else to do but head North to the store I suppose.
Here’s the store. Like the rest of the town, small. To our left is where we can normally buy Medaparts but they aren’t set up yet. Top right the magic staff holding lady is where you could link two GBAs together to trade Medaparts or Robattle. Let me tell you, the trading of parts was slooooow. Had a painfully long animation and you had to do it one at a time, ugh. But directly in front of us, an employee is getting ripped a new one by his boss.
You’ll have to forgive me for not giving some generic NPCs their sprites. Scientists come up just enough in the plot that I decided it was worth uploading theirs. That, and that goofy sheepish/smirk combo mugshot had to be seen.
Boss NPC: You idiotic fool!! Why in the world did you buy such expensive Medaparts without permission!? Just WHAT are you gonna do with them!?
Boss NPC What do you mean “Well”!? I said “What are you going to do!”
Yeah, I wonder what I should do with them.
Boss NPC If you want to keep your job, you’d better figure it out!
-Boss NPC storms out of store-
Man, my boss can be such a jerk sometimes.Hey, you’re the loser who bought apparently some rather expensive parts without permission. Kinda stupid of you don’t you think? Ah well, lets go ask him where the Spice-A-Roni is, I don’t see it around here…
Oh, can I help you? A Medabot? I have a a great one for you!
Oh no. No, no no no no no. Oh no you don’t. Don’t dump your dumb mistake on me.
Um… no, I need Spice-A-Roni…I’ve got a sweet deal on a totally awesome Kabuto model here! Your friends definitely won’t have THIS! You’ll be the coolest kid in town!
Wait, Kabuto? As in the one we saw in the museum? Like maybe not that exact model, but maybe like the one that was shown on Medabots Weekly today? Hmm… maybe we could buy both things…
Um… I…So how much do you have? $50? Perfect! I’ll give you a great deal on the whole set for $49.80! Okay, all set! I’ll even throw in a Tinpet.
Wait, hold on, we can’t afford that we need Spice-A-Roni-
Ah crap. Sure enough, we get each piece listed on Medabots Weekly along with a male Tinpet. I think we just got tricked to save his job. Now you’re a Medafighter! So what’s your name anyway? Mine’s Henry. What’s yours?
Well, I’m Ikki, but…
Ikki huh? That’s a great name for a Medafighter, don’t ya think? Well, now you’re all ready to make your big debut in the Robattle world!
Welp. That ended uh… poorly. As Ikki leaves though:
Wait, what? Did the Professor and Henry set up a scam for tricking kids out of their money? Actually, who is this Professor anyways? We know a Dr.Aki, but I don’t know if he’s actually a professor or just a researcher. Suspicious either way.
Either way, I guess we gotta go home and face the music. One thing we could try I suppose…
But, Spice-A-Roni is not the kind of thing that you ask neighbors for…
Worth a shot. Home we go.
Um… uh…
What’s that box you have there?
Waaah! T-that’s!
I can’t believe you did this! You don’t mean that you bought a toy with our dinner money!?
I did…
Go think about it in your room!!
Okay…
Well uh, that went well. Sheesh. Stupid Henry.
Salty tries to cheer Ikki up. Since he’s stuck up there, Ikki decides he might as well build the silly thing. A few moments later:
All done!
Huh? It’s not moving? What’s wrong?
Oops! I forgot the most important part!
Sniff… sniff…
Well, that sucks. Can’t even play with the toy that for some reason Ikki’s mom let him keep. Dad should be home soon, let’s see how this is going to turn out.
There he is now. But then from off screen:
What?
Cue the sinister/mysterious music here!
W-who are you! I-if you want money, I’m broke!
Do not fear. It is I! The Phantom Renegade! I have come to bring you a present.
??? The Phantom who?
Bwa ha ha ha ha! It doesn’t matter! Take this Medal!
Give this to your child! Present this to your boy!! Put this near his pillow while he is alseep!!! Any way you want, just give it to him! Farewell!
Your thoughts match mine.
Oh! Isn’t that a Medabot?
Dad…
Could this be the reason why your Mother is all bent out of shape?
Yeah…
Let me see. Oh, there’s no Medal inside. He can’t move without a Medal. Its called a Medabot because of the Medals, you know. See, we put the Medal inside just like this… Tah dah!
Its alive! Woah! It moved!
Next you need to have a Medawatch to command your Medabot. Here, look what Daddy got you.
Wowwwwwww!! Thanks a lot Dad!
Ha ha ha. Looks like you’re all better now.
Welp, we got our first Medal as well! Medabot names are tied to the Medal, not the machine itself. Default here is Metabee, every other time the default is the name of the Medal itself. Like with Ikki, I’ll let the thread rename the Medal if they like. You can expect to see this Medal in every single fight I do, its an excellent one to use.
And now we have access to the menu by pressing the B button! We’ll get into that, and actual Robattles next update! I know this was a long one, but I wanted to get all of the introduction out of the way in one go so we can get to the more interesting stuff quicker.