Oh, blubbity blub blub...

"Here we are! Yoka Net!" SplashMan surveyed his surroundings. The hot springs theme really made him feel at home, since he was aquatically attuned. "Ahh, it's even warm here like a hot springs!"

All his operator could do at this point was grimace. "Yeah, rub it in, why don't ya?"

"Hey, you could always go to Yoka and warm up yourself!"

"I could, but that'd take money. Money I don't want to spend. And Dad would get real suspicious if I asked for money for hot springs..."

"You could make something up, you know..."

"I've told you before...never underestimate a Jetto's ability to find out random stuff!"

"well, suit yourself...I'm gonna start looking around now, okay?"

"Okay. Just be careful, okay? I'm still a little nervous from that last battle..."

"Relax, I doubt Yoka's Net attracts many Elec viruses!" The Aqua Navi began walking at a leisurely pace, in search of viruses. "Nope, not with this theme! And it feels great here, too!"

(searching for Battle #1)

(Bump numero one)

Virus Attack!

MagneakerA: 70 HP
MagneakerB: 70 HP
MagneakerC: 70 HP
MagneakerD: 70 HP
MagneakerE: 70 HP

Terrain: 100% Normal

Splashman.exe: 140 HP

-BATTLE 1, GO!-

(ALL HAIL THE RETURN! Now let's hope I recall how to do this correctly...)

The last words of the Navi rung very, very loudly in the minds of operator and Navi as they stared at the viruses. What seemed like minutes seemed to turn into hours, which seemed to turn into days, which seemed to turn into months. And finally, the latter snapped out of it.

"...Okay, okay! I goofed! So, how about we bust them up or something?"

Sabrina blinked, then vigorously shook her head. "Oh man...I feel like I've standing here staring at my PET screen for four months straight or something..."

"Like that could ever happen!" SplashMan apprehensively looked over his opponents, before reluctantly assuming a more battle-ready pose. "So...how are we going to fight these guys?"

"Uhh...good question. I mean, unless we can beat several of them in one shot, there'll be more than one left...oh, right!" The operator removed a single chip from her folder and carefully held it in her hand. "The 10000z chip!"

"That could work! I just need to make sure I don't miss!"

"Right. Just be careful!" The chip, which happened to contain a blue Swordy on it, was gently inserted into the PET. "Battlechip, AquaSword! Slot in!"

The Navi's right hand vanished, and was replaced with a water-infused blade. "Ooh boy...feels like a while since I did this!" He took one more good distanced look at the Magneaker, then raised his newly acquired sword high. "Here goes!"

While blazing wasn't exactly an accurate term for SplashMan's speed, he raced over to the Elec viruses quickly enough that he almost surprised himself. Almost. He then lowered his weapon, and used a wide horizontal slash at a trio of viruses. He moved a bit to the right, and repeated. And this was done one final time. Unable to see what he had done due to the steam the AquaSword was now producing due to the Net's environment, he grew apprehensive as he became less certain that every last Magneaker was now permanently deleted from the Net.

His operator sensed this quite easily. "What's up? Need some protection?"

"Yes please! I just got a bad feeling..."

"Don't worry, I got a feeling about your feeling, so I'm already on it!" A chip containing a Mettaur in a defensive position was inserted. "Battlechip, Guard! Slot in!"

The yellow shield with a green cross suddenly appeared in front of SplashMan, who promptly let out a sigh of relief, despite his apparent lack of a respiratory system. "Phew! Now I'm getting a feeling about your feeling about my feeling! And it feels good!"

"Yeah, and now I'm getting a feeling about your feeling about my feeling about your feeling!"

"...What?"

[Order of Turn:
1-AquaSword chip attack on MagneakerA, MagneakerB, and MagneakerC (80+10, Aqua)
2-AquaSword chip attack on MagneakerB, MagneakerC, and MagneakerD (80+10, Aqua)
3-AquaSword chip attack on MagneakerC, MagneakerD, and MagneakerE (80+10, Aqua)
4-Guard1 chip attack (60-, Reflects an attack)]

The electric buglike viruses are pretty much squashed by Splashman's mighty Aquasword; only one of them managed to skitter out of the way. It then tries to lob a bomb at the Aqua Navi, only for the orb to bounce off and crack it over the head.

MagneakerA: SPLASHED
MagneakerB: BISECTED
MagneakerC: SLICED
MagneakerD: SWORD'D
MagneakerE: 60

Terrain: 100% Normal

Splashman.exe: 140 HP

As the Guard faded and its counter-attack nailed the enemy virus, SplashMan wiped his brow, thankful that it was a single virus left. "Whew, doesn't look like I'll be getting zapped today!"

"Yep. Just make sure you don't screw up with the last one! And I'll help you with it!" Four identical chips of a Mettaur being shot with some sort of odd buster were registered as inserted in Sabrina's PET. "Battlechip, Shotgun! Quadruple slot in!"

The aforementioned blaster replaced the Navi's right arm, and became trained on the final Magneaker. Almost instantaneously, a flurry of yellow energy shots were released, all towards the single Elec-element virus. Smoke erupted in the area, though whether it was all from the virus or if some of the blasts simply hit the ground was unclear from that perspective. "...I can't tell if I got it or not..."

"Oh, of course you did! You only needed two to hit, anyway! Now go get some reward data!"

"...Uh, okay..." SplashMan warily headed towards the remaining smoke, just in case the odds were defied and a sphere of electromagnetic energy made its way towards him...

[Order of Turn:
1-Shotgun chip attack on MagneakerE (50)
2-Shotgun chip attack on MagneakerE (50)
3-Shotgun chip attack on MagneakerE (50)
4-Shotgun chip attack on MagneakerE (50)]

Yeah, yeah, it dies. Did you really expect a different result?

MagneakerA: SPLASHED
MagneakerB: BISECTED
MagneakerC: SLICED
MagneakerD: SWORD'D
MagneakerE: M-M-MONSTER KILL

Terrain: 100% Normal

Splashman.exe: 140 HP

-GAME SET AND MATCH-
Rewards: 550z

A sense of relief flowed over SplashMan as it was revealed that he, in fact, had blasted the Magneaker to deletion. He happily processed the reward data, revealing that it was simply cash this time. "Just cash this time, Sabrina! Not that we really need whatever those things give out, anyway!"

"...Uh-huh." Sabrina watched her cash total rise above the halfway point to her goal. "I told you you didn't have to worry at all! Why don't you ever listen to me about stuff like that?"

"You're not the one that takes double damage from Elec attacks..." The Aqua Navi looked left, then right. "So, which way do you want me to go? Doesn't look like there's anything special nearby."

"Um...whichever way you're looking at now, I guess? Does it really matter?"

SplashMan tapped the side of his head for a moment, before suddenly stopping and using his finger to point straight ahead. "Right! Movin' on!" He happily marched on, keeping an eye out for viruses.

His operator seemed to be more focused on something else. "Well, aren't we Mr. Sunshine today?"

"What can I say? I like it here! It's so...watery!"

(Searching for Battle #2)

<(Modlocked until Battle 5 is over.)>

Splashman stumbles across a few more viruses. A couple of what appear to be tidepools dot the area, but it's otherwise a fairly straightforward arena.

PuffyA: 100
PuffyB: 100
PuffyC: 100
ShrimpyA: 100
ShrimpyB: 100
ShrimpyC: 100

Splashman: 140

Terrain: 80% Normal, 20% Sea (Scattered tidepools)

Ready or Not?
-LET'S GO!-

Woohoo! Kindred spirits! Granted, they were just viruses that wanted to delete him like anything else, but what could he say? It was nice to find something that was just as Aqua-based as he was. "I've got a good feeling about this match!"

"You're just excited that this is an all water-based battle! Ah well, can't say I don't blame you. Let's see...Shrimpy gives out Bubbler, and Puffy gives out AquaNeedle, right? So we can expect those kinds of attacks from them!"

"Yep! But, the readings I'm getting say they have a lot of HP...how are we gonna handle this?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

SplashMan shook his head, not having a clue.

"Those pools of water, that's how!"

"...I don't get it..."

"You'll see in a little bit. For now, we're gonna weaken them down!" Naturally, since everyone involved in the fight was Aqua-elemental, Sabrina went with Aqua-elemental chips. The first two, however, featured a type of virus not featured in the present battle. "Battlechip, WideShot! Double slot in!"

As if a reflex, the Aqua Navi's arm became pointed at the trio of Puffy before the water gun could even materialize on it; he certainly had plenty of experience with the move. Even after it appeared, he barely had to readjust it before being satisfied with the angle and direction. He proceeded to fire the wave of water, before turning his attention to the Shrimpy trio, and repeating the aiming and blasting whatever got in the way of the WideShot with water. Which, hopefully, was everything he shot at. "I guess that'll do it. Next chip, please!"

"Roger!" It was unlikely anyone would've mistaken the other chip; after all, the virus picture was that of a red shrimp. "Battlechip, Bubbler! Slot in!"

Naturally, the wide mouthed gun of WideShot made way for the more narrow, hose-like gun of Bubbler. After a moment, he decided to focus on the second Puffy, and trained his focus (and device of destruction) at the puffer fish virus, and let loose a compact torrent of bubbles at it. However, almost immediately after the third attack, SplashMan looked around nervously. "So, uh...how do we use these pools of water?"

"Oh, it's actually pretty easy. First off, find the one nearest to you."

"Okay..." After a few moments of frantic looking, the Navi decided on one to his left. "Found it, I think. Now what?"

"Race over there and jump in!"

Though hesitant, he ran over towards the tide pool, and leaped in. To his surprise, he found himself completely underwater. "Huh? What happened?"

"I read up on panel types. Aqua Navis can submerge themselves underwater, making them really difficult to hit! Of course, it's probably smart to get out when you're attacking..." Sabrina leaned against a nearby wall, proud of herself. "Though...wonder if viruses can do the same thing?"

"Ssh! They'll hear you!" SplashMan shuddered at the thought of coming out of the water, only to find that everything else he was fighting just followed suit...

[Order of Turn:
1-WideShot1 chip attack on PuffyA, PuffyB, and PuffyC (60+10, Aqua)
2-WideShot1 chip attack on ShrimpyA, ShrimpyB, and ShrimpyC (60+10, Aqua)
3-Bubbler chip attack on PuffyB (50+10, Aqua, may hit another virus)
4-Jump into the nearest tide pool]

The first Wideshot successfully hits the three immobile Puffys, dealing some decent damage to all. He then goes on to attempt the same with the Shrimpys, but being capable of movement, two of them move out of the way. Then Splashman bubbles a Puffy and his buddy into oblivion. ;.;

He then jumps into a nearby tidepool, submerging himself. The Puffys attempt to follow his example only to fail as they're too light to sink beneath the surface. The Shrimpys too try, but once again fail. They're all your's, Splashman!

PuffyA: 30
PuffyB: BUBBLE'D
PuffyC: SPLASH'D
ShrimpyA: 100
ShrimpyB: 30
ShrimpyC: 100

Splashman: 140 (Submerge)

Terrain: 80% Normal, 20% Sea (Scattered tidepools)

SplashMan peered out from the water, to see that the viruses were, in fact, either above water or deleted. Whew. "Whew, they're too floaty to submerge!" Deciding it was safe for, he climed out of the pool, and back onto dry land. "Hmm...who should we get rid of next?"

"Uh..." Sabrina hesitated to answer; her plan called for at least two Shrimpy to get hit by WideShot. "Hey, why do I always have to come up with the plans? You do it yourself for once!"

"Okay!" The Aqua Navi leaned over, and prepared to take matters into his own hands...or, in this case, his own back. His water cannon suddenly erupted with a devastatingly powerful blast of water, aimed towards a Shrimpy who thought it was too good for WideShot. Nope, it wouldn't stand a chance against the watery attack...that is, assuming the user didn't screw up the aiming process. "That's what you meant, right?"

"Well, uh..." The young woman sweatdropped, since she had actually been serious about him coming up with a plan. "Sure, why not? ...Oh, I know something that oughta help out! SplashMan, sit tight!" A chip containing a fully inflated Puffy became the latest victim of the black hole known as the chip insertion slot. "Battlechip, AquaNeedle! Slot in!"

Though he didn't really have to do anything with AquaNeedle, the Navi could feel his Aqua-based powers being tapped in by the chip. "Okay, guess I'll just hang out here while you do that!"

Sabrina looked over the remaining viruses's HP once again, and promptly picked a weakened Puffy and Shrimpy as two of the targets. Of course, there was still another Shrimpy to deal with, so she picked that as well. "Well, that's three. Fire in the hole!" She pressed a button to confirm the selections, and almost immediately, three needles materialized and dropped from the sky towards the viruses.

However, SplashMan wasn't exactly watching the show, as he was already jumping back into the water from which he came. "Cannonball!" With an appropriate splash, he found himself in the depths once more. "No getting hit for me! Better safe than sorry, right?"

"Right." The operator knew they could, in theory, end the battle around now. But still, she knew her Navi was right. "Okay, hang out there until it's safe again, and then we can finish things!"

"Okay!" The Navi relaxed as he waited from below the surface, as if he didn't have a care in the world. And really, he didn't. After all, he didn't have to worry about getting poked or shot, and he didn't even have to come up for air. What could possibly go wrong?

[Order of Turn:
1-Return to drier land
2-Water Splash sig attack on ShrimpyC (140, Aqua)
3-AquaNeedle1 chip attack on PuffyA (20+10, Aqua), ShrimpyA (20+10, Aqua), and ShrimpyB (20+10, Aqua)
4-Return to the depths of the tide pool]

<(Just so you know, Submerged Navis can attack from under the surface.)>

The Shrimpy, err, makes some kind of frightened sound only hearable by other Shrimpys as it's quickly wiped off the face of the Net by the powerful blast of water. Another Shrimpy quickly follows suit being deleted by a barrage of needles. The only remaining one gets stuck by the needles too, but remains standing. It then fires a bubble of water at Splashman, connecting!

The last Puffy manages to blast the last needle out of the sky with a well-aimed bubble of it's own. The orb of water follows Splashman as he retreats for the tidepool; just as he touches down and submerges it pops on the surface, spreading suds everywhere. It would be a bit of a better idea to stay in the water.

PuffyA: 30
PuffyB: BUBBLE'D
PuffyC: SPLASH'D
ShrimpyA: 70
ShrimpyB: BALEETED
ShrimpyC: WIPED

Splashman: 110 (Submerge)

Terrain: 80% Normal, 20% Sea (Scattered tidepools)

(OOC: Ah, wasn't sure if that applied here.)

"...Ow!" SplashMan rubbed his leg, which happened to be the unlucky body part that had been, for lack of a better term, bubbled. "Next time, I'm not leaving the water!"

"Huh? You can attack from down there?"

"Er, yeah. I just remembered that Aqua Navis can stand on water as they attack!"

"...What do you mean, remembered? This is the first time we've ever seen Sea panels!"

"...Can I have chips now, please?"

"...Oh, whatever. Not like we can't fix something little like that!" The PET's screen became a bit more pink as it displayed a circle with a '+80' on it, with a pink background behind it. "Battlechip, Recover80! Slot in!"

The Aqua Navi glowed for a moment, as the damage from the pufferfish's attack promptly vanished. "Good as new! Now, how about we finish this?"

"All right, but the only Aqua chip I've got left is AquaSword, using that every battle gets boring. So I'm going to send over something else. That okay?"

"I was kinda hoping it'd be just water moves of this...but okay! I don't really want to get out of the water, anyway..."

"Thought so. Well, let's get to it!" The chips inserted this time featured green and gray cannons with crosshairs in front of them. "Battlechip, MarkCannon! Double slot in!"

The cannon quickly formed over the Navi's right arm, who then leaped above the water...and landed on it as though it were a regular panel. As he pointed it forward, the lock-on cursor appeared, and swept back and forth, back and forth...until it found itself beneath the Puffy, and froze. As if on cue, the cannon automatically fired a single blast towards the pufferfish, but instead vanishing or staying, it shifted immediately to under the Shrimpy. A booming noise signaled that the second shot had been expended, and so the cannon faded back into an arm shape.

"...I'm not staying up here any longer!" SplashMan suddenly acted like the water below him was, in fact, water, and dove into the drink. "Tell me if I got 'em!"

[Order of Turn:
1-Recover80 chip on SplashMan (80, Recovery)
2-MarkCannon1 chip attack on PuffyA (70, locks on)
3-MarkCannon1 chip attack on ShrimpyA (70, locks on)
4-Goof off in the H2O]

<(Err, I meant they can attack while they're still Submerged.)>

Splashman heals off what little damage he'd aquired, then deletes the remaining viruses with little difficulty.

PuffyA: SNIPE'D
PuffyB: BUBBLE'D
PuffyC: SPLASH'D
ShrimpyA: ALSO SNIPE'D
ShrimpyB: BALEETED
ShrimpyC: WIPED

Splashman: 140 (Submerge)

-OUTCOME: DETERMINED. SURVIVOR: SPLASHMAN.EXE-
Rewards: Spreader1, 400z

(OOC: Or did you...? Eh, it's how it worked in BN 5. The Navi stood on the water, used the attack, then went back to being submerged. And since I'm a bit of a stickler for the games...yeah.)

After a few moments, SplashMan decided to peer above the water's edge, to see that everything was completely and utterly decimated. With that, he leapt out, and began going over the data. "That was pretty easy! ...Huh?"

"What's up?"

"There's chip data to go with this zenny, but...it's not anything I've ever come across..."

"So, it's not a Bubbler. Does that mean we got whatever that pufferfish thing gives out?"

"Well, you know how when its bubble hit me, and it spread all over the place?"

"Yeah...ooh! Did we get that?"

"Not exactly..." The data vanished, headed for a nice, safe haven in Sabrina's PET. "See for yourself!"

"Um, okay. ...This is...Spreader? Huh. Oh well, it's not like we got a terrible chip!"

"Based on what I saw from it, it's pretty weak. What's it do?"

"Well, going by the PET's desciption, it causes an explosion around what's hit by it."

"So does Shotgun, but it does more damage!" SplashMan began walking, deciding that he'd like to soak up some Yoka scenery while he talked.

"Can Shotgun hit 8 other enemies at once?"

The Aqua Navi stopped in mid-step. "...8?! I didn't even know they made chips like that!"

"It's what it says. Also says Spreader's been around since the early days of Navis. Guess people like it. And I think it's worth using, too!" Sabrina removed one of her many Cannon chips from her folder, shoved it in a side pocket, then put her brand new Spreader1 in a nearby spot. "Okay, Spreader's in our folder! It's not an Aqua-chip, but anything that improves that folder is okay with me! ...Unless it's Fire or Elec. Then that'd just be weird."

"Yeah...plus, I don't like non-Aqua elemental chips, anyway!" SplashMan finally finished the step he had taken a while ago, and proceeded to head deeper in the Net, ever vigilant for prowling viruses. By his standards, anyway.

(searching for Battle #3)

More viruses appear blocking Splashman's path; their somewhat humorous appearances an attempt to distract him from the ones appearing behind him. Surrounded!

The tidepools also seem to be getting more numerous....

--In front--
LarkEXA: 150
LarkEXB: 150
LarkEXC: 150

Splashman: 140

--Behind--
MagneakerA: 70
MagneakerB: 70
MagneakerC: 70

Terrain: 60% Normal, 40% Sea (Scattered tidepools)

-BATTLE ROUTINES: UPLOADED!-
-COMMENCE BATTLE NO.3-

"Ack!" SplashMan stopped as he realized he was roadblocked by a trio of EX viruses. "These aren't regular Lark, are they...?"

"Nope, the PET says they're EX viruses."

"Yeah...well, there's only three of them! It won't be tough at all!"

If question marks could form over the heads of people, one would've formed over a certain young lady in Yoka. "...Huh? What are you talking about? The PET says there's six!"

SplashMan looked right and left, but saw nothing else. "Well, I'm actually here, and I only see three! I mean, it's not like viruses are smart enough to attack me from behind..." As a sort of reflex, he turned around...

"Ah, the PET just registered the others! They're-"

"Ack! Magneaker!"

"Right! See them?"

"Yeah...they're behind me..." The Navi repeatedly turned back and forth, trying to figure out who he should be looking at first. "Darn! I'm surrounded!"

"Well, that's a new one...I guess the smart thing would to get take either all the Lark out or all the Magneaker out in one go. So, we're taking out some Magneaker!"

Well, at least he had a direction to face now. "Okay! And how are we gonna do that?"

"With the most accurate chip we have!" Sabrina grabbed three identical chips, and prepped them for use...

"Okay, but how do we take them all out with Guard?"

...And she promptly nearly dropped them at her Navi's idiocy. "...MarkCannon! You know, that thing we used in the last battle?"

"Oh...oh, right! MarkCannon's accurate, too!"

"...Accurate, too? ...Ugh, forget it. Just start blasting stuff!" The green and gray cannons were stuffed into the PET with surprisingly little care, considering how carefully Sabrina had taken them out. "Battlechip, MarkCannon! Triple slot in!"

As would be expected, the cannon formed on SplashMan's arm, and instantly placed its crosshairs on the floor in front of it. It scanned furiously across the area, looking for viru-

Magneaker detected! Boom!

As was being said, it scanned furiously across the area, looking f-

Magneaker detected! Blam!

It scanned furiously across the area, looki-

Magneaker detected! Kaboom!

...At any rate, it seemed to detect three viruses, and fired corresponding blasts at them. Which would still leave three viruses of more significant strength to deal with. In a change of pace for the Navi, he realized this rather quickly, and leaped into a nearby tide pool. "Phew, I'm safe!"

"Um..." His operator actually seemed rather nervous at the action. "Actually...if any of those shots missed...you're toast..."

"What do you mean? I'm underwater!"

"Uh, yeah. And guess what? Water conducts electricity, so Elec attacks can hit even things that are underwater. And you're an Aqua Navi anyway, so...yeah. If they made it and shot one of their bomb things at you, we're talking quadruple damage..."

Of course, by then it was too late to do anything about anything. And as a result, there could only be panic beneath the surface. "No!! Please, oh please don't let any Magneaker survive and zap me..."

[Order of Turn:
1-MarkCannon1 chip attack on MagneakerA (70, locks on)
2-MarkCannon1 chip attack on MagneakerB (70, locks on)
3-MarkCannon1 chip attack on MagneakerC (70, locks on)
4-Fun with tide pool jumping into]

(bumpity)

The Magneakers are toasted, but one just barely managed to let loose a bomb before it gets sniped. Thankfully, the shaky situation it had been in means the bomb landed far off, but it had still been a close call.

The closer call, however, occurs when one of the Larks follows Splashman's example and dives into the tidepools. It appears that the pools are much deeper than Splashman thought, as they connect mazelike at their bottoms. As a result, the Lark comes up underneath Splashman and point-blanks him with what seems to be a wave of pressurized water.

The second Lark follows suit and also dives into the maze, while the third just kinda floats there looking dopey.

LarkEXA: 150 (Submerged, right next to Splashman)
LarkEXB: 150 (Submerged)
LarkEXC: 150

Splashman: 90 (Submerged, right next to LarkA)

Special: Use one action to swim further into the maze, two actions to find LarkB

--Behind--
MagneakerA: SNIPED
MagneakerB: DOUBLE KILL!
MagneakerC: TRIPLE KILL!

Terrain: 60% Normal, 40% Sea (Scattered tidepools, all connected)