So... this encounter sucks. Seriously. In all of the February explore encounters, this is the ONLY one I skip every time, unless I'm at 0% energy. Every single other encounter has at least something useful that doesn't require losing energy for. They may not all give Heart Shells, but the ones that don't give Heart Shells give EXP, Impression, Energy, etc. without costing Energy itself.

When you find this guy, there's one option: Demand Shells. It initiates a standard battle, and upon winning, you get... 1 Heart Shell. ONE. I mean, look at his damn pile! This stingy asshole could at least give a couple Heart Shells when we kick his butt. He can afford it. I know for a fact that if I had $1000 in my wallet and some guy came up to me demanding my money, and I'm laying in a heap on the ground by the end, he isn't walking away with just one dollar!

I'd like to propose a rework to this encounter, heavily inspired by the "Boss" battle mechanics from the July event.

First off, I'd want to add an option to Ask Nicely. Maybe he'd be kind enough to take pity on your poor, Shell-less king as long as you were nice about it? Or maybe not! This option would give a chance to gain up to 3 Heart Shells, but he may decide to not give you any.

But if you DO want to Demand Shells let's make it worth it! This initiates a "boss-type" battle. For those who have not played the July event or who don't fully remember, these types of battles are a bit tougher than standard battles, cannot be auto-won with the use of a Lucky Foot, and give a larger bounty upon victory. High-risk, high-reward. Winning this battle could give +10 Heart Shells, or perhaps just +5 if he's not made to be too difficult to beat.

By having both a non-fighting option that could give 0-3 Heart Shells and a battle with a potentially greater reward, it can be left entirely up to the player if they want to try risking it even if they may walk away with -5 energy and 0 Heart Shells upon losing.

(I'd also want his art updated to make him buff and awesome-looking - why does this plain-ass lion have more Heart Shells than my sexy kings? Unfair :P)

Thank you for reading! I'd love to hear your thoughts if you agree or disagree, or what you might change about it.

----------------

My other suggestions:
Masterpost here