Gigantes notes:

• Story:

• Opening cutscene: I’m in America, the land of my dreams. I couldn’t become a professional baseball player in Japan, despite doing my best in adult baseball. Letter in the mail: “Would you like to aim for the major leagues? This is lucky for all of us.” I don’t know why I caught the eye of a scout for a AAA team, but I can’t let this chance slip by. I’ll definitely punch my ticket to the major leagues!
• Feb. Week 1, start of week: We arrive in town, looking for the Gigantes facilities when we run into Yabe. He’s also looking for the Gigantes facility, and is in the same uniform as us. We introduce ourselves and head to the team facility, where we meet Barclay, the coach. We also meet Morgan, who is the team’s captain. He has some open rooms in his house, so we’ll be living with him. He also mentions that there are a number of shops nearby that we should check out. We, of course, are poor, but Barclay mentions that we could get a part-time job. They don’t have any restrictions on it. Morgan essentially runs the team, while Barclay seems very laid back. We’re a little… concerned, for lack of a better term.
• Feb. Week 2, start of week: We get introduced to the players. First up is Tim, who’s a bit shy and quiet. He just came up from AA, and plays shortstop primarily, but can play utility at second and third. He’s solid defensively. Morgan introduces us and Yabe as the “lucky guys who got to come from Japan”, which makes us a bit skeptical. Morgan then asks where Jonathan got off to, but Tim hasn’t seen him today.
• Feb. Week 3, start of week: A large, blonde guy comes up to us, referencing us as the lucky newcomers from Japan. We introduce ourselves and Tim introduces him as Jonathan, who also just came up from AA. We note his cockiness to ourselves, then set the goal of all four of us to make the majors together. He scoffs at the notion that we can make the bigs, not wanting to be compared to crap players like us. He expects to easily make the majors in a year, but doesn’t think we could make it in a hundred. Obviously that ticks us off. Yabe asks where his confidence comes from, to which Jonathan replies that it should be obvious: He’s a genius and we’re just mediocre. He leaves us to fester in our anger towards him.
• Feb. Week 3, end of week: Morgan says that Tim told him that we and Yabe had a quarrel with Jonathan. We’re quite unhappy with his attitude. Morgan notes that while Jonathan wasn’t blessed with a good team in AA, he has massive potential as both a pitcher and hitter. That said, Morgan recognizes that his attitude and pridefulness are an issue. But we need to get along and try to work as a team. Doesn’t seem like much is gonna be done.
• Feb. Week 4, start of week: Barclay approaches us and Yabe. He asks if we’ve gotten settled in well, to which we reply positively. He asks us to do our best to help the team, but not to overdo it, as lowered motivation and vitality can lead to inefficient practices and injuries. Luck is also a factor. Barclay also values ability to act (actions) and positivity highly. He’ll be watching for this while he’s around.
• Mar. Week 1, start of week: We ask Tim if he wants to go get some dinner, to which he replies that he’s busy, so he can’t. Yabe, being as obsessive about women as ever, asks if it’s a date, and if so, could he follow? We call him out a bit for being weird. Tim clarifies that it’s not a date, but rather that he enjoys drawing and painting, so that’s what he’ll be doing. Yabe is obviously disappointed. We ask where he’ll be drawing, to which he replies that he’ll be at the lake painting the scenery. He mentions that there are lots of beautiful places in town we should check out when we get the chance.

• Play command unlocked in Free Time

• Mar. Week 2, start of week: Tim and Jonathan are discussing the accuracy of a fortune-telling they got recently. Apparently, Morgan tells fortunes. We’re told that Morgan tells fortunes the first and third weeks of every month.
• Mar. Week 3, start of week: Morgan sits quietly in the house. We walk up with Yabe, and Yabe asks why he looks so serious. Morgan replies that he’s concentrating. Suddenly, he yells out. We get concerned, but he tells us he was telling a fortune. It seems every practice has a little bit of good in it, so practices should be more effective. However, there is also something terrible as well. Yabe freaks out that he’s going to destroy the world, but Morgan says he’s joking; however, he says that if we practice, we will get injured. Practice is at our own risk. Yabe asks him to try it again, but it’s mentally taxing, so he won’t. He needs about 2 weeks to recharge. We now have modifiers in play, and can access more info on them by holding the Z button. In this case, practices get a boost, but have an increased injury risk. This increased risk pushes all practices to 99% likelihood for injury.
• Mar. Week 3: We’re strolling through the park when we see Mako from the TV program. The rest of the event plays out the same as encounter 1 of her arc, except she banishes your bad luck (the negative side-effects of Morgan’s fortunes). You can now visit her under the Date command, as well as have her purge your bad luck in a separate Purge command. Both are under the Free Time menu option.
• May, Week 2: Barclay approaches us and Yabe at practice and notifies us that we are now regulars.
• Jun. Week 1, start of week (skipped a couple events that were based on becoming a starter and Jonathan’s gripes at you): Jonathan confronts us while we talk with Yabe about positive reviews from scouts. He bashes our skills, and we lash out. We can’t stay silent any longer. Then Jonathan tells us the truth: we were only recruited due to Morgan’s fortune-telling. He gloats about being able to go to the majors within a year. We snap back that we’re capable of the same. Jonathan, of course, finds that laughable. We strike a deal: if we make it to the majors within a year, he has to apologize to us. He agrees, but says that if we don’t then he never wants to see our faces again. He says we should pack up and head back to Japan. But we’ve won this battle.
• Jul. Week 1, start of week: Jonathan makes sure we remember our promise, and goads us to head back to Japan again. Tim comes over and asks what we’re talking about. Jonathan tells him we’re talking about going back to Japan, which triggers us and Yabe. Tim is confused. Jonathan tells Tim that Morgan is using fortune telling to select players. Tim knew, but is more surprised that Jonathan knows. Tim mentions that when Jonathan was first promoted to AAA, he was concerned he would leave the team. Turns out, he was in the exact same boat too. We laugh at him for it. He retorts yet again. We say we have just as much ability to go up as he does, and Yabe says that if Jonathan can’t make it to the bigs in a year, he should follow the same rules as us and give up. He says he has no need to make that promise, because he’s determined to make it. Then he suddenly says screw it and accepts the challenge. He won’t be bested by us.
• Jul. Week 2, start of week: In discussions with Morgan and Yabe, it appears that we’re in second in the league. We’re shocked, but we really should’ve been following the standings. Morgan thinks it completely possible to catch the Galaxy Sharks before the season’s end. We vow to do our best and win the league.
• Jul. Week 3, end of week: We, along with Jonathan, catch a spy sent by Sittch from the Galaxy Sharks. He drops his notes as he leaves. We apparently don’t have any positives, while Jonathan’s is minimal. The note also mentions that we, along with Jonathan and Yabe, only joined due to Morgan’s fortune telling. We for once agree with Jonathan that the Galaxy Sharks must fall.
• Aug. Week 4, end of week after beating Golden Apples: We see a familiar face outside the stadium. It’s Sittch, and he’s here to declare victory over us. We and Jonathan both object. He claims we should give up, as luck will not be on our side and they are the strongest.
• Sep. Week 1: We get Morgan’s final divination: we’re going to win the title. It’s go time.
• Sep. Week 2: Game time. We vow to do our best and make this a memory for all, as this will be our last game together. Jonathan agrees, saying he wants it to be memorable as he sends us back to Japan. We get peeved of course.

• Win: Sittch doesn’t understand how he could lose. We and Jonathan rub it in that we were “no good”.

• Ending:

• We won the championship. All four of us made it to the majors.

• Menu options:

• These differ a bit from what you’re used to with the Golden Apples.

• Practice: This goes back to the five-card practice system from ‘08. As such, practice results will vary. The Golden Apples practice, in contrast, has a set value for practices that increases/decreases with level.

• This means your practice results can fluctuate to be amazing or awful.

• Rest: Recover from fatigue and injuries.

• Sleep: +50 VIT.
• Hospital: Will appear here if injured.

• Free Time: Constrains what you can do. Only option at the start is to work part-time. Play option unlocked later to go out and do things, with varying amounts of options within that.
• Boost Abilities: Same as usual.
• Items: Bison’s shop is located as a sub-screen within the Items screen, and does not take an action to visit in this mode.
• Player data: The main item of note here is that you don’t have to worry about coach eval, only scout eval.
• System: Same as usual.

• Notable players:

• Jonathan: Formerly of the Wild Jokers, Jonathan is a BEAST on this team. He’s still obsessed with Lucy.
  
  
• Morgan: The captain. He was a member of Gigantes already in ‘08, and is built like a pitcher version of Terry from the Golden Apples.
  
  
• Tim: SS. Well-rounded save for power.
  
• Yabe: Good ol’ Yabe. Gotta love the scamp.
  

• Part-time job:

• We get a choice of where to work.

• Restaurant: -10 VIT, +$50, +3 Energy
• Ducks Hot Dog Shop: -20 VIT, +$50, +1 Energy
• Stop: Don’t work after all.

• Random event: We’re about to go see a movie by ourselves when we see Flo. This kicks off the Flo dating arc (see 1st encounter).
• Random event: We run into Flo again. This corresponds to encounter 2 in the Flo dating arc.
• Random event: We run into Flo again. This corresponds to encounter 3 in the Flo dating arc. Flo’s house now appears as an option in the Play command.
• Tim:

• 1st event: After unlocking Play command, play with Yabe (option 1), then choose to go to the lake. Tim will be there working on his art. He’s concerned his art looks a mess, with a while still needed to finish up the painting. We’re extremely impressed. He offers to teach us. We would rather learn baseball from him, however. We ask him how he defends so well, to which he responds that he slows himself down and assesses the situation at hand first. Yabe feels his defense has already improved a little.

• +9 Technique, +6 Mentality

• 2nd event: We’re back at the lake with Yabe and Tim.

• Is the painting progressing?: He says he’s about a day away from completing it, but was thinking about doing some training while he worked on it. He invites us to join.

• +9 Strength, +6 Technique

• Tell us more about defense!:  He’s unfortunately not made much progress on his art, so he isn’t in a great position to talk. We feel bad.

• -1 Motivation

• 3rd event: We’re back at the lake with Yabe and Tim. He’s finished his painting and it is GORGEOUS. Yabe says it looks professional. We comment that even if Tim were to quit baseball, he’d be able to succeed as a painter. Tim retorts back that there’s no way he would quit, and that he has to get to the majors. We internally realize that he’s come across a lot stronger about something for once. Yabe asks why Tim chose baseball, to which Tim replies that his father was a major leaguer. We’re shook. Yabe wants to hear Tim’s father’s story, but Tim is saving it for another time. He’s going to head to the mountains next to paint some more, and tells us how to get there.

• Can now visit mountains while playing with Yabe

• 4th event: We head to the mountains with Yabe and meet Tim there. He’s pretty cheerful. We ask if he’s painting/drawing the beautiful mountainscape, but he replies no. He’s doing a portrait. We and Yabe are impressed. Yabe comments on the quality of it. We’re unsure who it is, but Tim tells us it’s his father. Yabe apparently did some research, and it turns out Tim’s dad was a big-time home run hitter. We comment that we have some amazing people on our team, but Tim refutes that, saying his dad is the one who’s amazing, not him. Tim gets annoyed and leaves.

• +1 Carryover(?), +1 Energy

• 5th event: We head to the mountains again with Yabe and meet Tim there. He’s drawn a lot more of his dad. Yabe comments it’s almost as cool as Gundar Robots. Tim tells us that he used to practice there with his dad a lot as a kid.

• What did Tim’s dad used to practice?: He responds that there had to have been a lot of power practice, but it wasn’t really for him. He thinks his dad may have left a notebook somewhere at home. We’re obviously curious, so we all hunker down and practice.

• -15 VIT, +1 Motivation, +2 Energy, +16 Strength

• What did Tim practice as a kid?: While his dad focused on power, he focused more on agility and certainty. Yabe says it’s a massive difference from us, who didn’t do any of that as a kid. The nerve. Tim says it wasn’t anything that crazy, but he wrote down his workouts and reviewed them as part of his process. We’re curious. We get to practicing.

• -20 VIT, +1 Motivation, +2 Energy, +11 Technique, +11 Quickness, +6 Mentality

• 6th event: We head back up to the mountain with Tim. We note that his art is getting even closer to completion, and that Tim has a large amount of respect for his father. Yabe says it’s a big difference from us, since we abandoned our parents in Japan. This dude about to get it. Tim says that while he does respect his father, both as a person and as a player, it leads to a lot of pressure on him. He notes that he doesn’t hit many home runs, unlike his father who was a great home run hitter. We note that it makes sense people would expect the same from him. He says he’s used to it by this point, but we wonder if that’s actually true.

• +1 Carryover(?), +1 Energy

• 7th event: We’re back in the mountains. Tim has finished his drawing. Yabe is impressed yet again, though we feel there’s something missing privately. We ask if Tim’s dad pushed him to play, but he replies no. He watched his father play, and fell in love with it himself. His dad found out and started practicing with him. He had a lot of fun, and we comment that his dad must have done the same. Yabe throws out that we don’t often say good things. Imma wring his neck. Tim feels like he’s forgotten about the most important part of playing baseball, but Yabe interjects that we have one more thing to consider. We and Tim both ask what that is, and Yabe replies that we’re professionals that have to produce results. We and Tim both reply that Yabe said something unusually good for once, which triggers him (he deserved that). Tim decides to redraw his portrait a little.

• +2 Carryover points, +2 Energy

• 8th event: Back to the mountains. Tim has completed the portrait. It blows us away. His dad’s smile is fabulous. Tim is blown away, and it’s thanks to the two of us. He’s no longer worried what people think. Tim lets us read through his practice notebook.

• +16 Mentality, Contact Hitter (gained +66 strength by choosing dad’s workout earlier, or +55 Technique for choosing Tim’s)

• Morgan fortune telling:

• Morgan tells fortunes the first and third week of every month. These fortunes come with modifiers, both positive and negative.

• Positive:

• Practice boost
• Reduced vitality consumption in practice
• Likability boost
• Reduced injury rate
• Injury-proof
• Specific practice boost
• May meet a cute girl (denotes important random events)
• Better recovery when resting
• Easier to improve abilities (cheaper cost on upgrades)
• Increased money luck (increases odds of money-giving events)
• Increase odds of getting items from the team
• Increased odds of getting bonus from team
• Boost team morale during match
• Better gambling odds
• Gambling fever
• Increased Goodjob odds
• Increase carryover recovery
• Temporarily improve baseball sense
• High probability of 5 OK cards in practice
• Scout eval boost in practice
• Increased abilities during games
• Easier to get abilities from games
• Discount sale at shop

• Negative:

• Injury guarantee (99% injury chance on all practices)
• Can’t gamble
• Shop prices rise
• Poor sense
• Self ability decrease during game
• Scout eval gains reduced during games
• Harder to gain abilities from games
• Specific practices less effective
• Excessive energy consumption
• Easier to lose motivation
• Carryover recovery down(?)
• May be removed from starting lineup
• High probability of 4 NG cards in practice
• Lower recovery from rest
• All practices less effective
• Teammates morale drops during match
• Harder to improve abilities (increased cost)

• Mako spirit cleansing:

• You can visit Mako using the Purge command to change your fortunes.

• Cleanse negative effect ($40): Clears out any negative fortune associated with fortune.
• Change fortune: Change your positive effect. You get a choice of categories for your change.

• Practice-related
• Match-related
• Money/item-related
• Health/physical condition-related
• Other

Once you’ve selected one of these, you can choose which effect you want at different price points. All effects are listed further down.

• Morgan:

• 1st event: Use free time with Yabe to go to the amusement park. Morgan is there. He asks why we’re there, to which Yabe replies that we didn’t come to play baseball, that’s for sure. We then ask why he’s there. He replies that he’s there for the coasters, and that the Scream Machine is the best one. Unfortunately, it seems to be really crowded, so it doesn’t look like he’ll get to ride. It seems like he’s going to keep coming until he gets to ride it.

• +1 Motivation, -3 Mentality

• 2nd event: We’re back at the amusement park. Morgan says he was hoping to see us there again. Yabe mentions that there’s a spinning ride that seems interesting, but Morgan suggests we ride a more normal coaster first since this is our first time riding anything here.

• Keep it normal: Even though there wasn’t anything crazy about it, it was still fun.

• +1 Stability (Pitcher)

• Challenge the spinning ride: He told us not to. We should’ve listened.

• +1 Energy, +9 Mentality

• 3rd event: Since we picked last time, it’s Yabe’s turn. He selects the Super Speed Coaster. Morgan claims it can go 300 km (or 186 mph in American), which freaks us out. Yabe, however, is not fazed. We ride and get hurt. When the coaster took off, it was faster than anticipated, so we hit our head.

• +9 Quickness, Fat Pitch (Pitcher)

• 4th event: At the amusement park. Yabe asks what Morgan recommends, and we get a choice between a swaying coaster and a sparkling coaster. Yabe pushes Morgan to join, but he declines. Yabe then mentions that he hasn’t even seen Morgan ride anything since we’ve started coming here. Morgan makes the excuse that he doesn’t feel well, but maybe next time. We get off the ride and Morgan asks how we feel.

• Swaying: We reply that it almost felt like drifting through outer space, for lack of a better term. Morgan asks if we’re secretly an alien, and Yabe gets offended that we didn’t tell him sooner. We deny that, just saying that it’s what we would imagine it feeling like.

• +2 Energy

• Sparkling: While it seemed like a slow start, it ended up taking off quickly. We were blown away by how sharp the corners were. Yabe replies that it’s normal for us, since we get blown away by so many batters and runners. The nerve.

• +2 Energy, Sharpness

• 5th event: Back at the amusement park. We tell Morgan that this time we’re all going to ride. He starts to try and squirm out of it again. Yabe calls him out and asks him what the heck he’s doing. He asks why he’s even at the amusement park if he doesn’t ride anything. Morgan gets serious, asking if we can listen without laughing. We, of course, say we can. He confesses that he’s actually quite scared. We (and Yabe) do the obvious: laugh. He says we promised not to laugh, so we apologize. Yabe does the same, saying that the comment seemed so uncharacteristic for Morgan that it made him laugh. He’s daring in baseball, but when it comes to this, he just can’t. He comes to try and test his courage, but squirms away from it every time. Yabe pushes him, saying he’ll ride with him going forward. Morgan tries to make excuses again that he’s not prepared, and Yabe calls him out on it. We chide Yabe for being a bit gruff with Morgan, and tell Morgan that we’ll be ready to ride with him when he’s mentally prepared.

• +5 Mentality

• 6th event: Amusement park. He asks if the time has come. Yabe tells him to stop talking like it’s the end of the world. We get to choose the ride.

• Normal coaster: He wonders if we just tried to choose the safest option. We ride, and he was able to keep it together, but doesn’t want to ride it again. We ask what he’s talking about, cause there are even larger coasters to go. He doesn’t think his body can take it, but we call out that we have to work our bodies in baseball to get stronger, so why not here too? It makes an impression.

• +4 Energy, +9 Mentality

• Spinning ride: Morgan is a little freaked out that we’d pick something that strong to start, but we tell him it’s rough therapy. He ends up being fine and having a good time, unlike us.

• +1 Energy, +5 Mentality

• Coach Barclay

• 1st event: Random. We run into Tim in the locker room, and he invites us to the gym. We head over and get ready to start working out when Jonathan appears, shouting that working out is a waste of time. He thinks he should be sightseeing for the short time he believes he’ll be here, not working out. Tim asks what he means, because we’re all aiming to get promoted. He responds by telling us to have fun with our faint dream and leaves, pissing us off further. Yabe seems motivated, but says we should start working hard tomorrow. This surprises Tim (and us), so Tim asks why start tomorrow. We say we start today.

• -5 VIT, +9 Strength, Training Center added to Play options

• 2nd event: Training Center. Jonathan sees us training together and wishes us luck. We go over to the weight bench he was using, but we don’t have the strength to lift it. We realize we need to work harder. Jonathan isn’t just talk: he has the strength to back it. Yabe says he’ll start working at it tomorrow. We get annoyed at him.

• -5 (prob more) VIT, +18 Strength

• 3rd event: We head to the training center. Barclay is there. He asks why we’re there. We reply that we’re there to train, while privately thinking that he’s kinda stupid. He asks if it’s kind of hard, to which Yabe asks why Barclay is there. He comes sometimes to keep his body active, and mentions that even though it may not look it, he does have major league experience. We’re surprised. He says he didn’t make a big name for himself, but he gave his best and that’s what counts. He says to ask if we have any questions.

• +5 Strength

• 4th event: Random. We run into Barclay at the beach. He says it reminds him of the old days, and that he used to be a good surfer. He notes that surfing is all about balance.

• +2 Carryover points, +3 Mentality

• 5th event: We see Barclay at the training center again after the random beach event. He’s going to teach us the art of balance. The center of gravity is the most important part. While we feel we’ve improved, he claims there’s a long way to go.

• +9 Technique, Heavy Ball (Pitcher)