Ball Jumping
From the Compendium
The primary movement tech in the run is Mega Ball jumping. This is done by jumping in the air (making sure to continue holding the jump button down), and then dropping a Mega Ball at the peak of your jump. The timing is not precise, and it can be sped up or delayed depending on your needs (gaining height or not).
Another useful form of movement tech are money jumps. These are performed by sliding off of a ledge and chaining into a Mega Ball jump (making sure to keep holding down the button after sliding). You have an 8 frame window to execute this trick after Mega Man leaves the ledge. This saves time more or less everywhere since it extends the duration of your slide.
Slow Motion Example
First jump - hold jump and right, fire mega ball at the appropriate time.
Slide "Money" Jump - Slide (down+jump) and HOLD jump. Continue holding jump as you use the mega ball.
Other Notes
In Jet sled sections (Frost Man, Wily 1), you can perform ball jumps almost any time in mid air by firing a Mega Ball in front of you while holding jump.
There are also spots to use money jumps just above spikes or lava, or just under spikes. These aren't much more complicated than the above explanations, however the timing is significantly tighter to not fall to the spikes before ball-jumping, or to release jump before rising into spikes-and-then-still jumping again We encourage runners to get comfortable with ball jumping before going for these strats.