As soon as the game loads after the preview of the next story arc, we see Gohan studying and Chi-Chi “looking” over him. You’ll be allowed a little breather and end up outside, where Krillin will call you and have a new menu added to the Training Grounds. You’ll receive one more call after that, this one from Bulma, who mentions that the Dragon Balls have been restored. You are now allowed to collect the seven Dragon Balls, which are scattered across the world map. Once you’ve collected all seven, go to your menu and choose Dragon Balls, where you can make a wish.

There are a number of things you can wish for, like reviving some of the enemies you’ve already fought, which will open up a new Substory. Other wishes include getting a large amount of Zeni (30,000 at the moment), a large amount of Z Orbs, or a bunch of rare items. Upon making a wish, the Dragon Balls will scatter and you will have to wait 20 minutes in-game time before they will become available again. Note that when they do finally become available again, Bulma will call you and tell you they are available.

You will know the general locations of the Dragon Balls by going to your world map and if you look in the lower left corner of the named locations, you will see a small, orange ball. Enter that area and when looking at the map, you should see the same orange ball on there. Note that if it’s overlapping with an ingredient/resource location, the game will cycle through them, so wait and look at those spots for the icon. Place a custom map marker over the orange ball and the in-game marker will bring you straight to the Dragon Ball. The Ki-searching ability doesn’t highlight the Dragon Balls, like it does with other items, so the above is the best way to find them.

The following are the Substories that unlock as a result of reviving dead characters with the Dragon Balls:

• The Pride of the Warrior Race
• Saiyan Power
• Power is Justice!
• Power is Beauty!
• Ginyu Force Tryouts

Your best bet would be to collect the Dragon Balls, revive one of the above former enemies, do the Substory, then go ahead and do something else while the timer resets. On the good side, there are a few other Substories to do, but that’s about it, since this intermission has no “story” content for you to do. All you have to do before moving on with the main story is speak with Chi-Chi back at Goku’s house and choose to continue. Before you do that, though, let’s tackle some of the other Substories.

The Mystery of the Missing Tail¶

You cannot have Vegeta in your party for this Substory, so remove him if he is; you also need to be controlling Gohan. The first Substory you will be going after is from Oolong, who’s at Roshi’s house. Oolong is curious what happened to Gohan’s tail, so he sends you to Kami to see if he knows anything. Open your world map and look for Kami’s Lookout on the left side, choosing to go there. Speak with Kami, who didn’t do anything to your tail. Mr. Popo chimes in, though, saying it might be best to speak with another Saiyan, which turns your attention to Vegeta.

Vegeta is located in the Gizard Wasteland section of the Central Plains Area, so travel to there and upon speaking with him, you will be forced into a battle with him. By now, you should have a good understanding of what Vegeta can do, but if you’re having trouble, here goes some of the things. He has a few melee Super Attacks, like Mach Slash, Body Smash and Meteor Smash. Sometimes, he will do a Galick Gun right after one of these, so be a little bit defensive. Upon winning, you don’t get the info from Vegeta, but Gohan has a theory as to why the tail isn’t growing back. You’ll automatically return to Oolong, relaying what you think, completing the substory.

For the next substory, let’s head to West City on the world map. Standing right in front of Capsule Corp is Puar, who has the new substory for you.

One Cool Dude¶

Puar is worried about Yamcha, as he seems to be enjoying himself with his dates ever since he has been revived with the Dragon Balls, so Puar wants you to check up on him. Check the first location, which is on the road northeast of town. You see him on a date and everything seems to be going well, except another girl shows up and things escalate. They end up spawning some robots that Yamcha got them for self-defense, pushing you into a battle. While the robots are nothing new, there’s a good chance Yamcha is likely underleveled, so he’ll be useless as a support character. Upon winning the battle, you will be done with this substory.

Leave the region, then re-enter West City to see that another substory has popped up, from Puar again right in front of Capsule Corporation.

Yamcha: the Man, the Myth, the Legend¶

Note that you need to be playing as Gohan for this substory, so switch over to him as your playable character if you’re not. Puar is waiting for Yamcha, who is taking long to get ready. He comes out of Capsule Corp and asks you to spar with him, as he wants to test what he learned from his training with King Kai. Yamcha is probably a fairly lower level than you, meaning the fight shouldn’t really be much of a problem. In fact, if you recall the one time you fought him during Survival 101, then he’s pretty much the same, only slightly stronger. The only move you have to watch out for is Spirit Ball, but it’s easily avoided. To add insult to injury, you can have support characters with you, but you don’t really need them. The substory is over as soon as you win.

For the final, normal substory, head to the Southeast Mountains Area and look at the small bridge not too far from Goku’s house. There, you will see the kooky chef from earlier in the game being harassed by some enemies.

Attacked Villager¶

For some reason, the kooky cook is being attacked by some Kaiwaremen, so you agree to help her out. There’s not really much to say here, since you’ve fought the Saibamen-type enemies a lot, plus they don’t really have much to them besides the Ki blasts. Make short work of them and you’ll automatically return to the lady, who will hand over the Seafood Course Recipe, some Rice and Bean Paste, in addition to the normal rewards below.

Villanous Enemies¶

There’s not really much else for you to do right now, other than wait around for the Dragon Balls to do the rest of those substories. Actually, remember those Villainous Enemies in the Central Plains Area? Well, now is a good time to take them out, as you should be a higher level than them (they are around level 30). Not only will you receive some good experience and Z Orbs, but upon defeating them all, a stronger Villainous Enemy will spawn. This one won’t be the usual robots, like you just got done fighting, but rather, it will be Raditz and Nappa.

They will be a little more challenging, since they have a lot more health, plus they are around level 38. That means, depending on your own level, it might prove to be a little bit of a challenge. Either way, you definitely want to bring along two support characters to help things go faster, plus they can interrupt their Super Attacks. Unlike their normal fights, it appears these two are not prone to knocking you away with Bursts, meaning getting a full melee combo on them will happen more frequently.

Once you defeat the pair, you will witness a short cutscene involving two characters you’ve never seen before (players of Xenoverse might recognize them). One more Villainous Enemy will spawn in the region, but this one is level 50, so you might want to wait until later on, when you’re level appropriate. The other Villainous Enemies in the area with Roshi’s house are a bit too much for you right now, so ignore them until a little bit later.

That about wraps up this intermission, so in order to continue the story, return to Goku’s house and speak with Chi-Chi.