The Story of Ash, Chapter 2 - Let's Play Monster Rancher Advance 2!

[The Dark Fiddler]

I... I know it doesn't excuse my actions recently, but... I guess I just wanted you to see why.
: ...
...you can still leave if you want, I suppose.
: ...do you really expect me to believe that, Ash?
...not really.
: And despite how ridiculous your story is, I can't help but believe you.

: I suppose... I'll give you one more chance.
Thanks Holly! You won't regret it, I'm a new man! Doughnut, you deserve a break! Take a nice long nap, okay?
Dough!

Sorry I was such a jerk before, Doughnut. I promise I'll make it up to you.
----
You ready to go back to training, Doughnut?
Dough!
Good! Let's ease into the training with some defensive practice!

Good job, Doughnut! Now let's try a bit of accuracy, ok?

Good, good!
: Hey Ash, we uh... got a discount for the sparring. I wanted to keep it from you until I was sure you were back to normal, but I think it's safe now.
Thanks Holly. You ready to go spar again, Doughnut?
Do!
Don't worry, I'll tell Strong to be a bit more careful this time.

Some strength and endurance training, ok Strong? Just don't send him through the wall again.

Doughnut had improved since last time. I wasn't sure how much better he'd do this time, but I knew he would do better.

The fight started out, and he smartly backed away from Strong, avoiding danger.

Of course, that couldn't last forever, so when Strong got too close, he headbutted him.

Strong countered by putting his foot up. That's... pretty much it.

Still, at least he didn't faint from just hitting him.

Good job, Doughnut. Rest a bit, and we'll go back to training when we go home, okay?
Dough!

...that's ok, Doughnut... I know you tried. Just try again, I'm sure you'll get it!

Ha! I knew it! A bit of Strength training, now?

Doughnut was training hard, but his condition was much better than how it was before.

I let him have free time now that I was back to normal.

Oh, that's great! I don't know if Doughnut's ready yet, but whatever he wants to do is okay with me!

----
Okay folks, official tournament. I wouldn't say Doughnut's ready, but it's your decision. Just take this into consideration:


I'll be back tomorrow to update again, hopefully. I hope you all have a wonderful Single's Awareness Day!

[Starbuck_II]

I appreciate the memo: Hope you have a good Single Awareness Day too.

So do we ever find out the secret? Is Ash Pregnant and Holly is the Father!

[The Dark Fiddler]

So do we ever find out the secret?

Do you really need me to tell you? Remember sarcasm doesn't travel well.

Is Ash Pregnant and Holly is the Father!

You'll see.

[Draconi Redfir]

just read the whole thing... i miss Pixie :( (im still wondering what her and Zest were doing missing for half the night )

is it possible to breed two monsters together in this game? maby when Dohnut is old enough you could breed him and Pixie together :P

[The Dark Fiddler]

(im still wondering what her and Zest were doing missing for half the night )

Huh, I had forgotten about that. Foreshadowing for an abandoned plot line where Pixie tried to seduce Ash and that's why she got frozen.

is it possible to breed two monsters together in this game? maby when Dohnut is old enough you could breed him and Pixie together :P

No, you cannot. You CAN, however, combine two monsters together. If that's what ya'll want, I suppose we could do that at some point.

Also, I want to apologize about not updating the past two weeks. No real excuse I suppose, unless you wanna hear stupid whining. Promise I'll update this week though.

[Cute_Riolu]

Stupid whining is good if it makes you feel better.

[The Dark Fiddler]

I think the tournament can wait, Doughnut. You're a bit too exhausted right now, and you need your rest.


Huh. The weather sure changes quickly around here.
: It doesn't do that where you come from?
No. In fact... I don't think it ever changed.
: Weird. Anyway, there's another tournament today. It's not an official tournament or anything, but it could be a nice start for Doughnut's career.

Huh... you ready, Doughnut, or should we wait?
Dough!
Cool. I know you'll do well!

I wonder what reason they'll come up for this name.

Uh... I suppose that's a surprise.

Doughnut's first clone opponent was Alex, a red and blue fashion disaster. I had to give Doughnut the advantage as far as stats went.

It was a bit unnerving to see him stare down Doughnut like that. More so because of the clone thing, not the staring down.

When the fight started, Alex jumped into the air and threw around huge clouds of petals.

Doughnut was not amused. From Alex's reaction, I'd say Doughnut's attack packed quite a punch for his size.

But of course, Doughnut, being his lovable self, tried apologizing to Alex with a hug. A very strong hug.

Time ran out before the match could finish, and Doughnut was declared the winner.

The next opponent was Marco. All of these monsters had suspiciously human names... I'd have to investigate this. The match looked like it would be a bit closer this time.

...it's still unnerving...

Doughnut started the match with a tackle. I think he was starting to get freaked out too.

Marco responded by slapping him around.

But Doughnut managed to get another good head-butt in, winning the match handily.

The final opponent. Judging by Morgan's stats, this would be the closest match of them all.

...it's like we went into the Twilight Zone.

Doughnut seemed to be getting the hang of fighting.

That one hit was all he managed to land during the match, but the judges still declared him the winner.

I think a few kids wanted to come hug him as we left. Doughnut wasn't that popular yet, but I knew he'd get there.
You did great, Doughnut.

You seemed to improve a lot too!
Dough

: Doughnut's reached a very crucial time in his growth. We need to be very careful with how we train him.
More monster puberty? As long as it isn't like Pixie's, we should be fine.
--------
Alright folks, any changes in the training, or keep the Power/Accuracy/Life/Defense training?

Stupid whining is good if it makes you feel better.

Perhaps whining wasn't the best term (something like expecting more than I deserve would have been better), but if you really wish to know, it's a bit disheartening to not get any comments when I update. I was planning to update the day after the last update, as I promised, but that was assuming I got some response as to whether or not to go through with the tournament. I didn't, so I didn't really have the motivation to update. Which kind of led to the lapse. Probably my own fault since I don't update very often, but eh. [/SmallNameBigEgo]

[Uncle Festy]

*dodges the TV tropes link*
Jeez, be careful with those things! They're dangerous!
Anyways, I really like these and have been following them, but I tend not to pop into a thread after every update to say, "great job, keep up the good work!" Which is pretty much how I feel after all these updates.

[chiasaur11]

I worry about a lack of comments sometimes as well.

Then I just watch the view counts. They go up, means somebody's reading, and thus, I should probably remember to update before midnight.

[The Dark Fiddler]

Huh, that's the complete opposite reaction I was expecting. Huh.

I worry about a lack of comments sometimes as well.

Then I just watch the view counts. They go up, means somebody's reading, and thus, I should probably remember to update before midnight.

You know, since you've said this (you being perhaps the most successful (or illogically persistent) LPer at the forum), I feel as though I should look at the view count. It can't be much, I me- HOLY CRAP.

I feel bad for not updating as much now, but at least I'm back to being motivated. I should be updating more often now, hopefully. (Just not tomorrow... Pokemon Heart Gold and Soul Silver are coming out and I have them pre-ordered).

[Vorpal word]

I feel bad for not updating as much now, but at least I'm back to being motivated. I should be updating more often now, hopefully. (Just not tomorrow... Pokemon Heart Gold and Soul Silver are coming out and I have them pre-ordered).

Was that a hint as to what Part 3 of this LP series will be?

[The Dark Fiddler]

Was that a hint as to what Part 3 of this LP series will be?

...now it is.

Although it's more likely to be the originals, because I actually have a way to get screenshots for those.

Or it could be a completely different game and I'm just messing with your minds!

[Zeful]

Or it could be a completely different game and I'm just messing with your minds!

Final Fantasy. Preferably either the First or Third ones.

[RationalGoblin]

This is... interesting. Need to read through all of it, but I read the first LP, and the concept of an obssessive pokemon trainer in the Monster Rancher world seems cool.

[The Dark Fiddler]

That's right, folks; I'm actually updating on time! And it's even a super-long update (47 pictures, assuming I don't cut any out)! I felt the pacing was getting a bit slow, so I plan on bumping up the size of updates. Also, I think the recent updates may have been a bit bland, lacking some of the... I dunno, charm of the earlier. I hope I've managed to bring it back.

Final Fantasy. Preferably either the First or Third ones.

An interesting idea, but seeing as the only Final Fantasy games I've ever been able to beat are the Tactics Advance games, not very likely. (Yes I suck).

This is... interesting. Need to read through all of it, but I read the first LP, and the concept of an obssessive pokemon trainer in the Monster Rancher world seems cool.

Well, I've been largely ignoring his obsessive Pokemon training because you're only allowed one monster in this game, although if you look at it right, you could say now he's just focusing it all on one monster instead of a team of 6.
-----
So, Doughnut. You're getting older now, and I think you're ready for tougher training. Do you think you're ready?
Dough!
Great! We shall train and train, and then we shall train some more! The training shall be potent, and you shall have MORE POWER!
Do...?
*Cough* Nevermind, let's get cracking.

Some strength training to start out. It's kind of charming how he pushes the rock by walking into it.

But it works, I suppose. The lower body strength should help when he runs head first into his enemies

Hi, Ayase. I suppose you're here to deliver a coupon for training?
: Yes, I am... how did you know that?
It's the only thing you ever bring us.
: Oh. Well, have fun training, I suppose.

More strength training, this time a bit more potent.

I see nothing has changed much since last time.

But the results were good. I figured Doughnut deserved a nice rest after that.

And he ended up resting for the next two weeks.
Wow... Doughnut can be pretty lazy.
: I think I can explain why.

: Apparently we've been feeding him a bit too much, so now he's always hungry.
Huh... how do you suggest we fix this? I suppose feeding him more often would be good?
: No, I think working harder and making sure we don't overfeed him will work just fine. Besides, if we fed him more often than we do now, we'd go broke.
Yeah, I suppose we already do drop enough on food as is; feeding him more than once a month could bankrupts us. Let's put Strong to work training him.

Okay, why the hell are we paying him so much to just beat up Doughnut in a single hit and stand on weights?

Holy crap, them's good results. More training

Which is apparently accomplished by trying to beat Doughnut to a pulp.

But hey, whatever works.

: Doughnut managed to gain some resistance to Earth-based attacks from that training.
What? How?
: Don't question it.
Bu-
: Look Ash, a tournament!

Hmm... are we ready?

Yeah, we're ready.
: What, no comment that sounds vaguely like you're asking someone their opinion?
What? I don't do that!
: If you say so...
----

Ladies and gents, our opponents. Except for the utterly non-threatening pink cat doll, they all look pretty tough.

Our first opponent, the lion thing with a really lame name. And pretty dull colors too, which I think is a first for anything in this world.

Doughnut of course started of the match with his mighty headbutt...

Holy crap, that's actually kind of awesome. A shame it's stuck on such a lame monster.

And then it launches into a wild spasmy flurry of scratches. Respect lost. (As a side note, the game kept freezing when it used this move. Really, REALLY annoying)

In the end, it just ran out of energy and passed out. An anti-climactic end to a pretty boring battle.
: That battle was pretty interesting.
Oh absolutely. Assuming interesting has a different meaning in this world than it does in my world.
: No, not like that. I meant as an example of how utterly boring some things could be. Really makes you wonder about the world...
Actually, now that you mention it, i- BATTLE STARTING.

Marco again. I remember him. Vaguely.

Mighty Head Butt! (Patent pending)

Marco was too scared from his memories of the previous battle with Doughnut to do anything during the rest of the battle.

The next opponent was a crab thing!
It's been a while since we've seen one of those, hasn't it?
: Well yeah, it's a pretty big monster, so most ranches don't have the proper housing for monsters like that.
Wait, we can get bigger monsters by expanding our ranch?
: ...yeah, you didn't know that?
No! This is a new priority!
: This isn't going to be like the Rank B thing, is i-
Nothing will ever be like the Rank B thing!

Wait, did we just miss the battle?
: Yes, I think we did. But the next one is starting now.

Easiest match in the entire tournament starting in 3... 2... 1...

And Doughnut, rather than using his (patent pending) MIGHTY HEAD BUTT, hugged the doll thing.

A bit too strongly, actually. Poor thing, all that fluff flying everywhere...

They cleaned up the arena and threw the doll to a doctor to try and save its life, but it turned it was actually just a doll. That wasn't really important though, because the last battle of the tournament was here, and it would surely be the toughest of them a-

Or the easiest. Let's go with that.

Does this mean what I think it means?

Yay!
: Good job, Doughnut!
Dough!

The money was nice, since we were running a bit low.

And I think I saw a few people wanting autographs after this battle.

AND Doughnut managed to get some nice training in. We threw a party for him, his first official tournament and he trumped the competition! I was careful to avoid the punch this time, but I think I may have failed.

Hey hot stuff.
: Uh... thanks Ash.
: Dammit, Ash!
: Damn, Ash.

At least I knew where Zest was, this time.
----
: Hey, Ash...

:...there's rumors of stray monsters attacking nearby ranches again.
And of course the laws of the universe now demand tha-
GRAAAAGH
Murphy's Law in action.
:
Have I mentioned how much I miss people getting my jokes?
Next time on The Story of Ash:

Doughnut fights an emo cat thing! STAY TUNED!

[Starbuck_II]

Wow, we have glutton on our side vs a emo on theirs.

[The Dark Fiddler]

Wow, we have glutton on our side vs a emo on theirs.

A battle for the history books, no doubt.

[Zeful]

Five Bucks says Doughnut eats his opponent.

[Weimann]

Hooray update!

Doughnut is getting stronger. I like.

[The Dark Fiddler]

Right, sorry about the late update folks. My best friend and I just started dating, and she's even more distracting as a girlfriend than she ever was as a friend (in a totally non-perverted way I swear). Hope you can forgive me.
-------------


You can do it, Doughnut! Scare off that weird emo, walnut carrying cat!

Ah, consistent, predictable Doughnut.

Holy crap, is it... is it trying to crush Doughnut's head with its thighs?

Apparently being emo gives you super ninja powers.

In the end, though, Doughnut managed to scare off the cat. Yay for us!

Really? Is it something cool?

: ...what?
I'm honestly confused, Holly; how could you tell that it dropped the leaf during an intense fight when it landed on the green grass. Also, why did you think I would care?
: I don't know, it's just one of those things.
Oh well. You ready to go back to training, Doughnut?

Erm... okay then...

This is more like it!

And those results are pretty good!

Okay then...

...I'm really not going to ask...

At least the results are still good, though!

And so Doughnut trained... long into the winter.

And all was fine until one day, another stray monster attacked.
Go get him, Doughnut!

It might be tough, but I'm sure Doughnut can handle it.

That thing's pretty quick for a giant stone statue.

Wow.

...that was a pretty anticlimactic battle. The thing just walked off laughing.
Are you okay, Doughnut?
Do!
Well that's good.

At the end of this month is the official contest for the next rank. I think we're ready.

[Uncle Festy]

Right, sorry about the late update folks. My best friend and I just started dating, and she's even more distracting as a girlfriend than she ever was as a friend (in a totally non-perverted way I swear). Hope you can forgive me.

No problem, and congrats!

[Starbuck_II]

Pictures, or it doesn't count. (just kidding)

Congrats.

[Draconi Redfir]

Huh, I had forgotten about that. Foreshadowing for an abandoned plot line where Pixie tried to seduce Ash and that's why she got frozen.



No, you cannot. You CAN, however, combine two monsters together. If that's what ya'll want, I suppose we could do that at some point.

Also, I want to apologize about not updating the past two weeks. No real excuse I suppose, unless you wanna hear stupid whining. Promise I'll update this week though.

lol. it DID seem like she was flirting with Ash for a while. and it looks like you even brought up Zestmissing in one of the updates :P

also: combining Pixie with dohnut ASAP would be win XD

[Cute_Riolu]

Heya, congrats! Sorry I haven't been reading lately, my computer went kersplode. But anyway, great to hear! Wish ya both the best. ^^

[The Dark Fiddler]

also: combining Pixie with dohnut ASAP would be win XD

If you want them combined (I don't blame you, that seems pretty fun), the order matters. The first monster is the species, and the second is the subspecies (effectively coloring).

Also, update tomorrow. Family dinners prevented earlier updating.

And thanks, Riolu.

[Olorin Maia]

Well, I don't actually play this game, so I vote for Pixie's personality over Doughnut's. But hey, I'm just the reader, your the creative input behind it all.

[The Dark Fiddler]

Well, I don't actually play this game, so I vote for Pixie's personality over Doughnut's. But hey, I'm just the reader, your the creative input behind it all.

Hey, this is a Let's Play, not a Watch Me Play. I mean, it's technically the same thing, but your opinions matter to me!
--------


Alright guys, time for the next official tournament. Now Doughnut, this is probably going to be the toughest series of battles you've ever had, but I believe in you. You ready?
Do!
Alright then!

Here we are guys. Good luck, Doughnut!
: I know you can do it!

: Wow, those look like some tough opponents.
Well, I did warn him it'd probably be the toughest battles he's been through.

Heh, Bogger... what kind of name is Bogger?

Seriously, where are they getting all of these crabs? I want one, dammit!

For a change, Doughnut didn't actually get the first attack. Bogger moved quickly and tried to crush Doughnut in its claws.

And then Doughnut countered with the super powerful, opposition destroying HEAD BUTT FROM HELL.

The two exchanged blows throughout the entire battle, but in the end...

Doughnut was the victor. He did pretty good, I must say.

Next opponent was a dinosaur named Risinger. Looks kinda like Charmander. Kinda.
What's with these names? They're so stupid.
: Says the guy who named his monster Doughnut.
...I'll be quiet now.

Pretty fly for a dino. Started off the match by breakdancing.

HEAD BUTT FROM HELL.

Silly Risinger, Tail Whip doesn't do any d-

...that looks like it hurt.
: Yeah, Tail Whip is a pretty powerful move.
...everything I know is wrong.

Not-Charmander then finished the match with a flying kick from halfway across the arena.

The judges ended up giving Doughnut the victory after time ran out. He took quite a beating, but he seemed perfectly fine.
: Good job Doughnut!
Do!

...is it just me, or is Doughnut in much better shape than all of these monsters?

Oh well, not the point. Next is some weird thing-a-majig named Agito.

And it started the match by summoning a swath of lighting... that hit itself.

Which I guess wasn't as bad a move as it might have seemed, because Doughnut charged into the lightning. With his HEAD BUTT FROM HELL.

And then hugged Agito. But it didn't seem as friendly as it was earlier in his career, so I suppose he was learning.

To the judges again, and Doughnut still seemed pretty unscathed, despite getting HIT BY LIGHTNING.

That's a pretty smart cat.

Why are all the monsters getting awesome attacks while Doughnut is stuck with hugs and HELL BUTTS.

Which, by the way, Doughnut used again.

And... knocked out the cat in one hit. I swear, Doughnut is like... I don't even know how to describe it. And still hardly a scratch. I think he could survive a nuke at this point.

Last battle. I think I'm going to take back what I said about this being difficult for Doughnut, cause he's just kicking ass all around.

Yeah! Physically manifesting music notes! That's the power of music for ya!

And Doughnut just started dancing with the thing.

And still, the judges gave Doughnut the win. I'm not gonna ask why, since all either of them did was dance the entire match.

But hey, Doughnut won!
: Good job Doughnut!
Yeah! I take back what I said about this being tough, you were awesome!
Do!

His fame (still wonder how the hell that's measured) doubled from this tournament alone. Wow. I think now we'll be training a bit more, but I'm hoping we can get to rank B soon. I'm really starting to miss home.

[Uncle Festy]

Laughed out loud at the "everything I know is wrong" line.

[Draconi Redfir]

If you want them combined (I don't blame you, that seems pretty fun), the order matters. The first monster is the species, and the second is the subspecies (effectively coloring).

Also, update tomorrow. Family dinners prevented earlier updating.

And thanks, Riolu.

i vote pixie for the spicies, dohnut for the color. it'll look weird, but meh :P


also: Ash should make some comments on the two of them "makeing out" and how the resulting monster is their "child" :P just my opinion.

[The Dark Fiddler]

also: Ash should make some comments on the two of them "makeing out" and how the resulting monster is their "child" :P just my opinion.

Pixie's a bit frozen for that, right now.