thank you and lestatdark :)

hows the second run through going?

There's two ways to defeat the Neochu.

Cheap way - Have a SEN (preferably Snow) with over 15K HP and a MED. Use Vanille as your party leader and continuosly cast Death on the Neochu. Use a Belladona wand (Malboro Wand if you have it) for improved Debilitation.

Hard way - Be prepared for arguably one of the hardest fights in all FFXIII. You'll need to not only deal with the 5 microchus that start the battle with the Neochu, but he will summon 8 additional ones when he goes to 50% and 25% health.  Always take care of the Microchus first, since their combined attacks can decimate your SEN in an instant if left alone. And also, be on the lookout for his Screech attack. It can easily do over 10K damage if you're caught unnaware. Your best bet is to have a SEN/SEN/SEN configuration and whenever you see him roar, switch to that paradigm as he will launch Screech next time he attacks.

Start the battle with COM/RAV/SEN and use Fortisol and Aegisol prior to the battle, also consider giving your SEN (preferably Snow once again) a big amount of Physical Reduction items (General Belt * is preferable, for 25% physical reduction) and Deprotect resistance. After dealing with the microchus, put on SAB/SAB/SEN and give Imperil to the Neochu (this is very important, or else you won't even make a dent on his chain link bar).

After giving him Imperil, switch to RAV/RAV/SEN and Wail away at him. You should aim to have 700 chain before he gets to 50% HP. After reaching that step, he will summon the 8 microchus for the first time.

Now two things can happen. Either you're very lucky and your SEN uses provoke and provokes the entire microchu party to attack him, shielding your other characters from getting instant killed by the massive onslaught of microchus, or it doesn't. Consider this second case, and immediatly switch to MED/MED/SEN. This will guarantee survival for your other party members while your SEN provokes them all. Be mindful of Neochu's chain link, and attack him whenever you see it dangerously low.

After getting them all provoked, switch back to COM/RAV/SEN and destroy the microchus. Then, it's just a matter of RAV/RAV/SEN him until you hit 888% chain. Be sure to cast Imperil on him once again. It's very important that you stagger him before he gets to 25% HP. Another onslaught of microchus is pretty much fatal at that point. Once he's staggered, switch to COM/COM/RAV and smash him to pieces XD.

Your best bet for stats are 15K for Snow, 12K for everyone else. I had 2200 magic on Vanille when I fought him and 2600 Strength on Fang. Snow stats doesn't matter, but 1.8K strength is enough I guess. 

IMO, the "cheap way" is the way to go. By the time you're strong enough to defeat neochu 'legit", you probably wont need the growth egg anymore so the reward becomes rather useless.