Final Fantasy VIII – Playstation 1

Final Fantasy VIII - Platform: Playstation 1

PlayStation FAQ
by Dragon Fogel(knearey@ualberta.ca
v 1.0
The most recent version of this FAQ can be found at:

Other places this FAQ can be found:
GameFAQs - 

Contents:
1. Revision History
2. Triple Triad Guide
3. Walkthrough
-Trial By Fire
-Final Exam
-Talk About Your Long Days...
-Forest Owls
-Escape
-Obligatory Fetch Quest
-The Sorceress
-It's Laguna Again...
-KABOOM!
-Fisherman's Horizon
-Checking Up on Things
-Warring Gardens
-Setting Up The Rest Of The Plot
-Esthar Ho!
-Out Of This World!
-Down To Earth
-The Time Is Nigh
-Kurse All SeeDs!
4. Side Quests
-Rare Card Locations
-Timber Maniacs Locations
-Diablos
-Dollet revisited
-Brothers
-Winhill
-Shumi Village
-Chocobo Forests
-Centra Ruins
-Doomtrain
-Jumbo Cactaur
-UFO Chase
-Lake Obel
-Deep Sea Research Center
-CC Group
-Queen of Cards
-Omega Weapon
-Miscellaneous Tips and Tricks
-Beginning of a series of long lists-
5. SeeD Written Test Answers
6. Character Info
7. Spell List
8. Junction List
9. GF List
10. Abilities List
11. Learning List
12. Card List
13. Shop/Refinement List
14. Item List
15. Monster List (very incomplete)
16. Disclaimer
17. Credits

***REVISION HISTORY***
Version 1.0 
4/23/00

First version; walkthrough and side quests sections more or less 
complete, as well as several lists. However, there is still a lot of
work to be done; any help with the following would be greatly
appreciated.
-Items dropped by bosses if you don't Mug them
-Draw Point locations, particularly on the overworld
-Selling prices of items
-Just about anything for the monster list (like suggestions on how to do it. =P)
Thanks in advance to anyone who can provide information.

***INTRODUCTION***

I suppose you're wondering why I decided to write this FAQ when there 
are already so many FF8 FAQs out there. Well, there are three major 
reasons. The first, and most important, is that while there are many FF8
FAQs out there, there are very few _good_ FAQs. I won't mention any 
names here, but I find that most of the guides on GameFAQs are either 
poorly organized or incomplete. The second reason is that I want to
write a FAQ at least once, just for the experience. The third, and least 
important reason, is that I can sneak some spam in. =P And here it is: 
. Okay, that's it for the spam, and it will 
not be mentioned any more. Now read the FAQ.

***TRIPLE TRIAD GUIDE***

-Section under construction-

I decided to put this in here so those of you who want to know about 
Triple Triad can look right at the beginning of the FAQ, instead of 
scrolling through the walkthrough section and possibly seeing some 
spoilers. This section has a description of the various rules, and some 
(hopefully) useful tips for playing this addictive - and sometimes 
frustrating - minigame.

I won't mention the basic rules, since you can see them in the Tutorial 
and they're pretty easy to understand, but I'll discuss the various 
special rules here.

Open - You can see your opponent's hand, and they can see yours. I don't 
know if it affects the computer's strategy much, or at all, but it's 
definitely to your advantage. I recommend spreading it to every region 
you can.

Same - When at least two sides of a card match in numbers with two 
adjacent cards, (at least one of which is an opposing card) both cards 
will be turned over.

Plus - This is a bit tricky to explain. I'll use a diagram to illustrate 
it.
3 8
5 (6+1) 5
4 2
+
3
2 A
7

6 + 1 = 7, 4 + 3 = 7. These add up to the same number, so Plus is 
activated and the (8152) and (32A7) cards are turned over. (For the 
record, I made up the card numbers, and have no idea if there are 
actually cards with those configurations.) This rule can be very 
annoying, especially without Open...

Combo - Some people have trouble understanding this rule, but it's 
actually pretty simple. It works with the Same and Plus rules. It's 
easiest to illustrate, so here goes...

3 7
4 4 4 3
5 6
________
5 | 2
3 1 | 4 3
2 | 6

The (3445) card has just been placed. The "Same" rule is in effect. The 
(3445) card turns over the two adjacent cards. Now, here's where Combo 
comes into play. One of the cards affected with Same is the (7436) card. 
The 6 on the bottom beats the 2 on the top of the card below, so the 
(2436) card is turned over. (Again, I'm just making up these numbers.)

In other words, a card taken with Same or Plus is treated like it's just 
been placed in a game without Same/Plus. If it beats an adjacent card of 
the opponent's, that card is turned over, and can take other adjacent 
cards. One side effect of this is that when one player gets a combo, the 
other player has a good setup for making a combo of their own...

Same Wall - Used with the "Same" rule. The border of the playing field 
is considered to consist of "A"s for the purposes of using Same.

Elemental - Some squares have elemental symbols on them. The squares and 
symbols seem to be chosen at random. If an elemental card is placed on a 
square with the same element, the value the numbers on each side of the 
card is raised by 1 for the purposes of normal matches. If a non-
elemental card or a card of the wrong element is placed on an elemental 
square, the numbers on each side drop in value by 1.

Sudden Death - If there's a draw, each player takes the cards they've 
won and the game restarts, with elemental squares moved if that rule is 
in effect. This continues until one player wins. This can work to your 
advantage if you've got a good hand, as you're pretty much guaranteed to 
win in the end, but it can be annoying to play through over and over.

Random - Each player's hand is chosen at random. One of the most-
despised rules in the game.

Trade Rules:

One - Choose one card from the opponent's hand.

Diff - Choose a number of cards from the opponent's hand equal to the 
number of cards you won by.

Direct - Keep the cards you turned over, lose cards turned over by the 
opponent. The most hated of the trade rules.

All - Win all of the opponent's cards.

Affecting the rules:

Adding a rule to a region is easy. Just play in a region that has the 
rule you want to add, then go to the region that you want to add the 
rule to. Play cards with someone, and they'll usually ask you if you 
want to add in the rules from the other region. Accept, and the rule may 
be added after the game. Removing rules is done in pretty much the same 
way, but it's rarer to see a rule removed. To make it easier, first 
choose "Yes" when they ask you to play, then, when the screen with the 
current rules pops up, select "Quit". The rules can be changed this way 
as well, and rules seem to be removed more often. Also, sometimes rules 
will be added and removed at random after a game. If you're having 
trouble in a region, try messing with the rules.

Rule sets:

Balamb - Open

Galbadia - Same

Dollet - Random, Elemental

FH - Elemental, Sudden Death

Trabia - Random, Plus

Centra - Random, Same, Plus

Esthar - Elemental

Lunar - Open, Random, Same, Plus, Same Wall, Elemental, Sudden Death

Strategies for playing:

The first trick to winning at cards is to get a good hand. Since you 
start with only Level 1 cards, this won't be easy. So, the first order 
of business is to get good cards from the main game. There are two ways 
of doing this; the first is to defeat GFs for their cards. You can get 4 
GF cards this way before the end of Disc 1, all of them strong corner 
cards. The second way of getting good cards without playing Triple Triad 
is to learn the Card ability and use it to turn enemies into cards. Most 
of the time, enemies turn into their own cards, but sometimes they'll 
get turned into Boss cards instead. If you want a _real_ easy time with 
the card game early on, wander around the grass areas of Balamb and use 
Card on Glacial Eyes until you have 5 Jumbo Cactaur cards. It takes a 
while, but once you have them, the only players you have to worry about 
are the ones with rare cards.

Okay, so you've got some good cards. Now what? Now you need to know how 
to use them. Personally, I play defensively. I get strong corner cards 
(ones with two adjacent sides with a value of 8 or higher) and always 
put them where only the strong sides are showing. Playing offensively is 
also an option, but it doesn't work too well in Sudden Death. The other 
important thing to do is alter the rules if at all possible. This is 
especially important in Dollet, as the Random rule makes the Queen of 
Cards side quest rather tricky. I'll try to have more strategies in a 
future update.


***WALKTHROUGH***

Before I get into the actual walkthrough, there are two useful functions 
that aren't described in the manual or the tutorial. First, to undo 
Junctioned spells, use the Magic Junction option, select the spell you 
want to un-Junction, and push the Square button. (or whatever button you 
assigned to Play Cards) Second, to discard unwanted spells, go to the 
Magic menu, select either Use or Exchange, move the cursor on the spell 
you want to get rid of, and push Square. You'll be asked if you want to 
discard the spell. These are useful features, remember them.

Also, I personally found the default control layout awkward; I recommend 
changing it as soon as you can. I personally use Circle to talk, X to 
walk, Triangle for the menu, and Square to play cards. Of course, you 
may prefer another layout.

Another thing: the titles for sections (which look something like this: 
| TRIAL BY FIRE |, and are typically followed by a sarcastic comment in 
parentheses) are my own names. Therefore, I assume full responsibility 
for how dumb, uncreative, etc. they sound.

Finally, a note on Draw Points. When I list Draw Points in an area, I 
put an "r" in brackets next to the Draw Point if it recharges after a 
while. If I have a question mark after the "r", it means I'm not sure if 
the Draw Point recharges. Hopefully, I'll be able to eliminate most of 
the question marks by the next version.

-Disc One

| TRIAL BY FIRE |
(I warned you. I'm bad at coming up with titles. Hey, I can be even less 
creative that this.)

-Balamb Garden
Draw Points: Cure(r), Esuna, Blizzard(r)
Rare Cards: Quistis, MiniMog
Rule Set: Balamb
GFs: Quezacotl, Shiva

After an impressive FMV, sequence, you'll see Squall wake up in the 
infirmary. Dr. Kadowaki will ask Squall how he is, and you'll be given a 
choice. I'm not sure if the choice you make affects anything. Then 
you'll be asked to name Squall. Change his name if you want. After some 
more dialogue, Dr. Kadowaki will call Squall's instructor, Quistis. Then 
you'll see a mysterious girl talk to Squall through the window... she'll 
prove to be an important figure in the game. Then Quistis will come to 
take Squall back to class.

Walk down the hallway with Quistis; there will be some dialogue along 
the way. After a while, you won't have to walk. There will be a short 
FMV, then the scene will shift to the classroom.

Quistis will talk to the class briefly about the field exam in the 
afternoon, then tell Seifer he should be more careful not to injure his 
partner in training. After she dismisses the class, she'll tell Squall 
that he hasn't gone through the Fire Cave yet, and won't be able to go 
on the field exam until he has. Quistis tells you to meet her at the 
front gate, and says that you should review the study panel if you have 
any questions. 

Note: After completing the field exam, Squall's rank will be determined 
by what he did prior to and during the exam. You'll gain and lose points 
for various actions; I'm not sure how points are determined, though, so 
I can only give small suggestions in this version. Hopefully, I'll have 
a more thorough breakdown of how to get points later on.

Go to the study panel and select Tutorial; you'll receive two GFs.

GF Quezacotl's Stats:

Level 1
Starts with Mag-J, GF, Draw, Magic, Item

GF Shiva's Stats:

Level 1
Starts with Spr-J, GF, Draw, Magic, Item

Note that if you don't get Quezacotl and Shiva from the study panel, 
you'll get them automatically when you talk to Quistis at the front 
gate. You may lose points for this, though; I'm not sure.

Anyways, after getting your GFs (or not), leave the classroom. You'll 
literally run into another student; after some dialogue, she'll ask you 
to take her on a tour. Personally, I agreed; I'm not sure how this 
affects your points later, though.

On the next screen, talk to the guy near the elevator to get 7 Triple 
Triad cards. It may not be a good idea to start playing just yet; you'll 
find it much easier to win the card game once you've gotten the Ifrit 
Card in the Fire Cavern. However, there are two rare cards you can win 
by playing cards here; the MiniMog card, from a little kid running 
around on the first floor (he doesn't use it often, though), and the 
Quistis card, which can be one from any of the Trepies. The one in the 
cafeteria uses it the most, though. (When you get asked which one you 
want to talk to, choose the one in the back. You'll understand when you 
do it.) Note that the Trepies only have one Quistis card between them.

Anyways, once you take the elevator, you'll show the student the 
directory if you agreed to give her a tour. Head to the front gate to 
meet Quistis, who'll give you a tutorial on how to use GFs, then join 
your party. If you want to skip the tutorial, hit the Cancel button; 
this may cause you to lose points, though. Also, Squall will ask who the 
girl at the infirmary was; Quistis will say she didn't see anyone.

Note that there's a Draw Point with Cure on the screen before the front 
gate; just remember, you need the Draw command set in order to use Draw 
Points. There's also a Draw Point with Esuna in the library (walk near 
the bookcase and you'll come to a new screen with the Draw Point clearly 
visible) one with Blizzard in the Training center. I'll say some more 
about the Training Center later, when you have to go there.

Anyways, after Quistis joins, leave the Garden. Now you'll want to 
Junction GFs; I recommend giving Quezacotl to Squall and Shiva to 
Quistis. Next, set your command abilities; since you don't have any 
spells now besides a handful of Cures from the Draw Point, choose GF, 
Draw, and Item for both characters. Have both GFs work on learning Boost 
first; it only takes 10 AP to learn and is quite useful when you're 
summoning. After that, I suggest HP-J and then Card for Quezacotl and I 
Mag-RF, then Str-J for Shiva. After getting those abilities, get 
whatever other ones you want.

Before going to Fire Cavern, it's a good idea to fight enemies in the 
surrounding area to stock up on spells. In the plains, you'll find lots 
of Bite Bugs; you can Draw Fire and Scan from them. The latter isn't 
that necessary, so you can skip it if you want. You'll also occasionally 
run into Glacial Eyes; you can draw Blizzard, Cure, and Scan from them.

In the forests, you'll frequently find Caterchipillars; you can Draw 
Cure and Thunder from them, and they occasionally drop Spider Webs. If 
you get one, use it to teach Quistis the Ultra Waves skill. Also, you'll 
sometimes find T-Rexaurs in the forest. If you do, RUN. They're REALLY 
strong and have over 10000 HP, so they're quite a pain to kill right 
now. They don't have anything special to Draw either. If you'd prefer 
not to run, try to Card it; its card is pretty good.

Finally, on the beach you'll find a lot of Fastitocalon-Fs. You can Draw 
Blizzard, Scan, and Sleep spells from them (the latter is a good 
Junction for Magic at this point) and you get 3 AP for each one. Since 
you always fight 2, that's an easy 6 AP. I recommend fighting them until 
Shiva learns I Mag-RF, then using that to turn the Fish Fins you'll be 
winning almost constantly into Water spells. Water is the best Junction 
you can get at this point without playing cards. After getting 100 of 
all the spells you want for both characters, (some extra Fish Fins and 
M-Stone Pieces would be good, too) head to the Fire Cavern.

*****

-Fire Cavern
Draw Points: Fire(r)
Rare Cards: Ifrit
GFs: Ifrit

When you reach the Fire Cavern, Quistis will give you a tutorial about 
Junctions, (again, you can skip it with the Cancel button) and then 
offer to give you a refresher about your Gunblade. If this is your first 
game, you might as well accept. After that, head to the entrance.

At the entrance, you'll be asked to choose a time limit; go with 20 
minutes, you'll easily finish in that time. If you're replaying, though, 
go ahead and choose 10 minutes. Choosing a shorter time limit will 
affect your points later on. (I don't know exactly how, though.)

The path through the Fire Cavern is fairly straightforward; there's one 
intersection a few screens in. Go straight to reach the boss; there's a 
Draw Point with Fire on the right and a dead end on the left, neither of 
which is very helpful. You can fight or run from enemies on the way, 
depending on how you're doing for time. At the center of the cave, 
you'll find Ifrit...

----BOSS BATTLE----

Ifrit
Absorb Fire
Weak against Ice, Water

This is fairly easy; have Quistis summon Shiva while Squall casts 
Blizzard spells. (They'll do a little more damage than Water does.) The 
timer stops after you win, so don't worry about not having time to get 
out afterwards. When you win, you'll get 20 AP, a bunch of G-Returners, 
the Ifrit Card, and the Ifrit GF.

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

GF Ifrit's Stats:

Level 1
Starts with Str-J, Elem Atk-J, (Elem Def-J?), GF, Draw, Magic, Item

Quistis will give you a tutorial on how to use Elem Atk-J and Elem Def-J 
once you win. Since Quezacotl and Shiva are probably at a higher level 
than Ifrit, have both of them equipped on one person and Ifrit on the 
other so that the GFs level up more evenly. Ifrit should learn Boost 
first, then HP-J. After that, it doesn't matter much.

Leave the cave, then return to Garden.

| FINAL EXAM |
(Told you. This one isn't even mildly creative.)

-Balamb Garden
New Items: Occult Fan I

Quistis will leave. If you want, go to the Library and check the 
bookshelves for Occult Fan I. Then, head to the Dormitory; go to 
Squall's room and change into your SeeD uniform. Now head over to where 
the Directory is and Headmaster Cid will brief you on your mission. 
You'll then drive out of Garden in a car. Take the car to the nearby 
town (Balamb) and then watch the short scene where you drive to the 
docks. Get in the ship; there will be a short scene. After a while, 
Seifer tells you to look outside; agree. (you'll probably lose points 
otherwise) Leave the small area you're in, and watch the FMV. Then 
you'll land on the beach in...

*****

-Dollet
Draw Points: Blind(r)
GFs: Siren

Cool music, huh? Anyways, at the moment you've got Squall, Zell, and 
Seifer in your party. (Seifer's not following you around, but he _is_ in 
your battle party.) Give each character one GF, and give all of Quistis' 
magic to Zell. If you've got some spare Fish Fins like I recommended, 
make some Water spells for Seifer. Give everyone the Draw command; this 
way, you can Draw from the Galbadian soldiers when you need healing. 
Don't talk to any of the other students; I think you lose points for 
this. Head up the stairs to find a Save Point, then move towards the 
next screen. You'll fight two Galbadian soldiers. They're easy to beat, 
but it's a good idea to have Seifer Draw some spells for himself before 
doing so. Keep going; after a while, you'll fight two more Galbadian 
soldiers. If Seifer still needs some spells, Draw some here, too. When 
you come to the fountain, you'll have to fight one G-Soldier; no 
problem. Then Seifer will tell you to scout the area for enemies. Head 
to the northeast section of the screen, and a G-Soldier will attack.

After defeating the Galbadian Soldier, the rest should be 
straightforward. Take the northwest exit off the screen, then just keep 
going forward. After a while, an injured Dollet soldier will warn you 
about monsters, then...

----BOSS BATTLE----

Anacondaur

Actually, the Anacondaur isn't even a real boss. It is, however, quite 
strong compared to the other enemies you've fought. It has around 1200 
HP; if you've got some good Strength Junctions, though, it shouldn't be 
a problem. Seifer will tell you to let him finish off the Anacondaur; 
doing so may affect your points later.

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

After defeating the Anacondaur, keep going some more. The path is 
completely straightforward. After two more screens, Seifer will run 
ahead and leave your party; then Selphie (the girl Squall gave a tour to 
earlier) will appear and jump down the cliff. You can do this too, but 
it may cost you points; instead, head east and walk. When you reach 
Selphie, she'll join; she inherits Seifer's spells, but just in case 
you're paranoid, you might want to Junction Exchange Seifer with Quistis 
before he leaves, then Quistis with Selphie.

Anyways, after Selphie joins up, head into the communications tower. 
(that's the building right ahead of you, in case you weren't paying 
attention) There's a Save Point here, as well as a Draw Point with 
Blind. Save, then go up the elevator...

There's a short scene with a Galbadian commander, Biggs, talking to a 
soldier named Wedge. Then there's an FMV of the communications tower 
activating. (looks more like a big gun than a communications tower...) 
Then, Biggs notices you and tries to get away, but Seifer stops him. 
Cornered, Biggs attacks.

----BOSS BATTLE----

Biggs
Weak against Poison

Wedge (appears after some time)
Weak against Poison

So easy you don't need a strategy. If you want, draw some Esuna spells 
>from Biggs. When you do enough damage to one of them, they'll be blown 
away by some wind and you'll have to fight...

Elvoret
Flying Monster

This can be a long battle. There are two notes here; first, you can Draw 
the Siren GF from the boss. Second, you can Draw Double spells, which 
are good for Junctions and allow you to cast two spells in one turn. The 
quickest way to beat Elvoret is to have everyone summon their GFs; when 
Boosted to around 125%, they'll do around 300 damage to it. When you 
win, you'll get some Cottages or Elixirs, some G-Returners, and the 
March Issue of Weapons Monthly, as well as Siren if you Drew it.

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

GF Siren's Stats:

Level 3
Starts with Mag-J, ST Atk-J, ST Def-J, GF, Draw, Magic, Item

After you defeat Elvoret, Selphie says that you have to get back to the 
shore by 1800 hours. Seifer says that leaves only 30 minutes, and a 
timer counts down. You can equip Siren if you want, but I don't 
recommend it, as the clock's ticking. Go down the elevator, save if you 
want (I _highly_ recommend using a separate file) and then leave the 
tower. However, Biggs sends a huge spider-like robot to attack you...

----BOSS BATTLE----

X-ATM092
Weak against Thunder

If you've got Str-J on, you can probably knock it out quickly. Once it's 
down, run away.
-------------------

Head to the right quickly. On the next screen, you'll see the robot 
shortly; move quickly. When the screen fades, hold left and the control 
pad IMMEDIATELY. If you don't move immediately, the robot will catch up 
to you and you'll have to fight it again. On the next screen, WALK when 
you come to about the middle. Otherwise, the ground will shake and 
you'll be forced to fight X-ATM092 again. Next screen... no problem. The 
bridge is after that. After you move far enough to the right, the robot 
will jump over you; immediately turn around until you hear it jump 
again, _then_ run to the right and off the screen. This lets you avoid 
another battle with it. From here, it should be easy to make it to the 
shore, and when you do, you'll see an FMV of Quistis blasting the robot 
with a gatling gun.

Note: Apparently, it's possible to destroy X-ATM092. I'll have a 
strategy for that once I do it.

| TALK ABOUT YOUR LONG DAYS... |
(Be warned. My titles are going to get worse.)

-Balamb Garden
New Rare Cards: Zell

You'll arrive in the town of Balamb. With Zell in the party, you can 
play cards with his mother; she has the Zell card. Leave town and save 
before trying it, though. Win the card (or don't) and go back to Garden. 
You can get into a few fights before you go, though. If you're going to 
build up Siren, I suggest Boost first, then L Mag-RF, then Tool-RF, and 
pretty much whatever you want after that.

When you go back to Garden, Zell and Selphie will leave. Head to the 
main lobby; Cid, Xu, and Quistis are standing in front of the directory. 
Talk to them if you want, then head to the right and talk to Seifer. 
After a brief scene, head to the elevator; I don't remember exactly 
when, but at some point you'll be told to go to the 2nd floor hallway. 
Go there and wait; after a while, one of the Garden Faculty will tell 
Squall and Zell they've been chosen as SeeDs. You'll automatically go to 
Headmaster Cid's office and receive your SeeD Rank report; in addition 
to Squall and Zell, Selphie and another student have been chosen as 
SeeDs. (You'll later find out that the fourth SeeD's name is Nida.) 
After regaining control, talk to Cid and he'll add a "Battle Meter" to 
the tutorial. You may have to talk to him again to play cards with him 
later; I'm not sure.

After talking to Cid, leave the room. You'll automatically take the 
elevator to the second floor walkway. Talk to the others, then head to 
the hallway. After a short scene, your SeeD Rank Report will be 
displayed. I'll have a full explanation in a future update, provided 
someone gives me the information.

Now you're in the Dormitory; Selphie tells Squall to go to his room and 
get his SeeD uniform. Do so, then leave the room and go to the dance. At 
the dance, Zell and Selphie will talk to you; Selphie asks if you'll 
join the Garden Festival committee. Answer either way, then she'll 
leave; then, a girl in a white dress asks Squall to dance. After some 
more dialogue, you'll get to see a rather amusing FMV of the dance. =) 
After the dance, the girl leaves... but you'll be meeting her again soon 
enough...

Quistis then appears and compliments Squall on his dance, then tells him 
about the "secret area" at the Training Center. She tells Squall to 
change into his regular clothes, then meet her at the Training center; 
leave the screen and you'll automatically be in Squall's dormitory. Go 
into Squall's room and change. Now leave and head to the Training 
Center. Quistis will give you a Tutorial about Status Junctions, and 
tell you that Junctioning Sleep on your weapon will make it easier to 
defeat T-Rexaurs.

In the Training Center, you'll mostly encounter Grats; you can Draw 
Sleep and Silence from them. You should have plenty of the former, but 
the latter are good to have too. Draw 100, because there's going to be a 
Boss that uses Silence soon, and you'll want them for status defense.

You'll also find T-Rexaurs occasionally; you can run, or you can be 
prepared by giving Squall Ifrit and Siren, with 100 Blizzards on Elem 
Atk (T-Rexaur is weak against Ice) and 100 Sleeps on ST Atk, as well as 
a good Strength junction (like Water). Quistis should summon Shiva and 
use Boost. You can also try Carding T-Rexaur once its HP drops below 
about half. You won't get any Exp that way, but you will get 10 AP.

At any rate, getting through the Training center is fairly simple. Go 
either left or right; there's a Draw Point with Blizzard on the right 
path. Also, a man sometimes appears here and sells you items, but I'm 
not sure when he firsts shows up. Anyways, the "secret area" is near the 
save point. At the secret area, Quistis explains that she's been demoted 
>from an instructor to a normal SeeD; Squall doesn't care. This scene 
pretty much tells you what to expect of Squall for much of the game...

After the scene, save, then head out of the Training Center. When you 
try to leave, you'll see the girl from the infirmary being attacked by a 
huge insect; she'll recognize Squall and Quistis, then the monster 
attacks you.

----BOSS BATTLE----

Granaldo
Flying Monster

Raldo*3

This battle is EASY. Draw Sleep from Granaldo and cast it on him; it 
works rather often. The Raldos won't attack, Granaldo will just whack 
you with them. Kill two of them, (they only have a couple hundred HP) 
then Draw Protects from the last one, putting Granaldo back to sleep 
when necessary. You can also draw Shell and Blind from Granaldo; you 
don't need a lot of Blinds, but Shell will be quite useful. Once you've 
got all the spells you want, kill the last Raldo, then kill Granaldo 
with your strongest attacks. You'll win a bunch of Wizard Stones.

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

After the battle, some strange troops will take the girl with them, and 
Squall and Quistis will wonder who she was...

I suggest turning the Wizard Stones into Curagas with L Mag-RF, then 
Junctioning those to HP. Anyways, once you leave the Training Center, 
Quistis will talk to Squall briefly and then leave. Head back to the 
Dormitory; when you go there, Zell tells you that as a Seed, you've got 
a new room. Squall will head off to sleep, thereby ending one of the 
longest days in RPG history.

| FOREST OWLS |
(Yes, I believe I've already told you about my amazingly creative 
titles.)

-Balamb Garden
New Rare Cards: Seifer, Diablos (See Side Quests)
New GFs: Diablos (See Side Quests)
Items: Magic Lamp, Pet Pals Vol.1, Weapons Mon Apr

You'll wake up in Squall's new room the next day. Check the desk for a 
Weapons Monthly issue. Then head out of the Garden; Cid and a Garden 
Faculty will tell you about your first mission; to go to Timber and meet 
with a resistance organization. After the scene, talk to Cid and he'll 
give you a Magic Lamp; even if you don't talk to him, he'll give you the 
Lamp when you try to leave. The Magic Lamp will allow you to challenge 
Diablos; see Side Quests for more information.

Before heading to Timber, there's one more rare card you can get; head 
back into Garden and go to the elevator. You'll be allowed to take the 
elevator to the third floor, where Cid's office is. Here, you can play 
cards with him; he has the Seifer card, a VERY good card. Try to win it 
now if possible.

Anyways, to get to Timber, you'll have to go to the train station in 
Balamb. To get there, go to Balamb, and go left at the second screen. 
The Queen of Cards is at the station; see the Side Quests section for 
more about her. Even if you don't want to do that side quest just yet, 
you can still play her to get a better trade rule, like Diff or All. 
This will make your future card games more rewarding; be careful of the 
Direct rule, though.

You'll have to pay 3000 gil for a train ticket. Do so, then get on the 
train. There's a short scene; when it's over, follow Zell into your 
cabin. Zell gives you a Pet Pals magazine; (more on those later) then 
Selphie comes in, and everybody falls asleep...

*****

-Laguna Flashback 1
Draw Points: Cure(r), Water(r)

You're probably wondering what the heck just happened. You're now in 
control of three Galbadian soldiers named Laguna, Kiros, and Ward. 
You'll notice that your items and abilities have been transferred to 
these guys; Laguna has Squall's abilities, Kiros has Zell's, and Ward 
has Selphie's. Their Limit Breaks are different, though. Anyways, just 
follow the path; it's completely straightforward, but you'll see some 
grayed-out text in the dialogue boxes... those are Squall's thoughts. 
You'll be fighting Funguars and Geezards here; they don't pose much of a 
threat. Once you reach the car at the end, you'll arrive in Deling City 
automatically.

Laguna parks the car in the middle of the street, despite Kiros' 
protests; then he offers to take Kiros and Ward for a drink. Head to the 
right, then up one screen. You'll come to the Hotel. Use the Save Point 
if you want. Now, go downstairs; the waitress will offer to show you to 
your table. Pick the greyed-out choice a few times for some laughs; 
eventually, you'll want to accept. Once Laguna, Kiros, and Ward are 
sitting down, Julia will come on to play the piano; Kiros and Ward will 
tell Laguna to go and wave to her. Walk towards Julia. After some 
dialogue, Julia will come to Laguna's table and sit down; she'll then 
invite him to her room to talk. (I said to talk, you sickos.) Talk to 
people if you want, then head upstairs. Talk to the guy at the front 
desk and pick the option refering to Julia. You'll be taken up there; 
Julia will offer Laguna a seat. After you regain control, talk to Julia 
for some more dialogue. The scene ends with Kiros telling Laguna they 
have a new assignment...

After that, Squall, Zell, and Selphie wake up. Selphie said she had a 
great dream, then mentions Laguna's name; Zell says there was a Laguna 
in HIS dream too, and then they realize that the three of them must have 
had the same dream. After some more dialogue, the train will arrive in 
Timber.

*****

-Timber: Forest Owls' Base
Rare Cards: Angelo
Items: Pet Pals Vol.2

When you get off the train, you'll be met by somebody. If you payed any 
attention at all to the mission briefing, you know that the correct 
response is "But the owls are still around". Pick the wrong one and 
you'll see a rather amusing scene. ^_^ However, if you pick the wrong 
one, I think you'll only gain 1 SeeD rank from successfully completing 
the upcoming mission. Anyways, the man will lead you to a train. This 
train is the base of the Forest Owls, one of many resistance groups 
dedicated to the independence of Timber. On the train, another man 
introduces himself as Zone, leader of the Forest Owls, and introduces 
the guy who brought you here as Watts. They'll tell Squall to go and 
wake up "the princess". Note: You can play cards with Watts. He has the 
Angelo card. If you're wondering "Who's Angelo?", you'll see soon 
enough.

Anyways, head up the stairs. On the next screen, there's a Save Point in 
the room to your left; be sure to make full use of it during this part. 
Head up one more screen and into the next room to find the "princess". 
It turns out that the "princess" is the girl from the dance; you'll 
quickly find that she's very enthusiastic (to say the least) about 
having SeeD helping the Forest Owls. She'll leave, then realize she 
forgot to tell you her name; you'll be able to name her. Rinoa is the 
default. She'll then introduce you to her dog, who you can also name; 
the default name is Angelo. Then you'll get a Tutorial about how to use 
Rinoa's Limit Breaks. You have a Pet Pals magazine, so read it and 
you'll be able to have Rinoa learn Angelo Strike. Anyways, head to the 
meeting room for your mission briefing.

Rinoa, Zone, and Watts will go over the plan. The explanation is long, 
but what you actually have to do is fairly simple. BTW, if you don't 
understand how to enter the codes, you have to push the appropriate 
buttons on the controller. Anyways, after the briefing's done, save. 
(Sidenote: You can look at the dummy president in the Save Point room 
and talk to the Forest Owls in the room for more details about it.) 
Also, head to Rinoa's room and you can find Pet Pals Vol.2, which 
teaches Angelo Recover. When you're ready to start the mission, talk to 
Watts and tell him you're ready.

You'll now start on top of the Forest Owl's train. (Note: This is some 
pretty cool music.) Move left and talk to Rinoa. The President's train 
will show up, and a timer will appear. Rinoa jumps over to the other 
train; do the same by pressing the X button. I'm not sure if you can 
mess up the timing on this one, or what happens if you do. Anyways, on 
the next car you'll have to deal with the sensors. This isn't that 
tricky; if you move quickly, you don't have to worry about the sensors 
at all. However, if you _do_ have to worry, in case you don't remember 
your briefing, stay still if the blue guard is below you; if it's the 
red, move.

Once you're on the next screen, you'll meet up with Rinoa. The timer 
disappears and freezes during this part. After a scene showing what's 
happening in the President's car, you'll be on the 1st escort car. Zell 
and Selphie will keep an eye on the guards for you; you can also take a 
look for yourself with the L1 button. Anyways, Rinoa asks if you 
remember how to enter the codes; the timer's stopped, so there's no time 
penalty for hearing it again. (It might affect the rank increase later, 
though.) Just go down, (note: the timer starts up again when you're able 
to go down) and when Rinoa calls out the codes, enter them quickly. You 
can _probably_ enter all 3 codes before the guards reach you, but play 
it safe and stop after the second if you need to. After entering all the 
codes, you'll automatically climb back up. Head to the right. After 
another scene, you'll be uncoupling the 2nd escort car. This one takes 5 
codes, and you won't have Zell and Selphie watching the guards, so it's 
a bit trickier and you'll _have_ to climb back up at least once. I 
suggest climbing up after entering the second code, waiting for the 
guards to pass, then entering the last 3 codes all at once. After 
entering all the codes, you're done; head to the left.

Note: If you get caught by the guards, you'll have two choices. The 
first choice is something along the lines of "No big deal". The second 
is "It's all over...". If you pick the first choice, you'll start back 
at the section you were at with about an extra minute. However, you 
won't get the rank increase. If you pick the second choice, you'll get a 
Game Over.

You'll now be back on the Forest Owls' train. If you did everytyhing 
correctly on the train and gave the correct password when you met Watts, 
your SeeD rank will go up by two; if you did everything right on the 
train but gave the wrong password, your rank will only go up by one. (As 
far as I can tell, anyways.) Anyways, Rinoa will say that she's going to 
enter "serious negotiations" with the President. You'll go to the menu 
screen to re-equip GFs; Zell's and Selphie's have been unjunctioned, so 
make sure to set them up again. I suggest putting 100 Silences on ST Def 
for the character with Siren; it'll be quite helpful.

Save, then talk to Rinoa and tell her you're ready. You'll go into the 
President's car, only to find you kidnapped a fake. Then the fake 
attacks you.

----BOSS BATTLE----

Fake President

This is easy. The Fake President attacks you, but he doesn't do much 
damage. Draw Cure spells if you need to restock. After taking some 
damage, he turns into...

Gerogero
Undead monster
Very weak against Holy
Weak against Water, Ice
Immune to Poison

(You knew he was going to turn into a monster. Admit it.)

If you didn't get a whole bunch of Esunas and Doubles from the battle at 
the Dollet Communications Tower, now would be a good time to Stock them. 
Gerogero mainly uses status ailments on you; Berserk, Slow, and Silence 
are the major worries. If he casts one of these on you, Draw Esuna from 
him and cast it on the afflicted member. (The reason I suggested putting 
Silence on Status Defense was to prevent Silence on one character, which 
may make the battle go faster.) He also hits you with Blind and Curse, 
but these are less of a problem. Heal when you need it. In addition to 
Esuna and Double, you can Draw Zombie and Berserk from him; however, 
these aren't very useful for now, so you can go without if you want. 
After you're satisfied with your spell stock, you can kill him quickly; 
just Draw Double from him, cast it on yourselves, and cast two Cure 
spells on him every turn. Since he's undead, Cure will damage him, and 
with 100 Waters on Magic, it will hit him for about 400 HP each time. No 
problem. You'll win some Zombie Powders and 20 AP.

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

After defeating Gerogero, you'll be back in the briefing room. Watts 
will come in with some new information. It seem that Deling is in Timber 
to make a broadcast from their old TV station, which seems to be why 
they fixed up the Dollet Communications Tower. After some more talking, 
you'll gain control of Squall. Talk to Rinoa. After some more dialogue, 
you'll make a party with Rinoa in it to go to the TV station. When you 
want to get off the train, talk to Watts and tell him you're ready. 
Note: This is your LAST chance to get the Angelo card and Pet Pals Vol.2 
for quite a while, so be sure you have them before getting off the 
train.

There will be a short scene, then you'll be in Timber.

*****

Note: Most of the following section (after the first three-and-a-half 
paragraphs) was written by Matt Hobbs, since I was past Timber and 
didn't feel like replaying it. However, he missed a couple of things, so 
I've added in my own notes. I've also tried to fix most of his typos.

-Timber
Draw Points: Cure(r), Scan(r)
Hidden Draw Points: Blizzaga
Items: Girl Next Door, [Buel Card], [Tonberry Card] or [Forbidden Card]
Enemies: G-Soldier, Elite Soldier

Head back towards the train station. Here, you'll find a Pet Shop. This 
sells some useful items, such as Amnesia Greens (make a GF forget an 
ability, allowing you to teach it a different one) and two Pet Pals 
magazines, which teach Invincible Moon and Angelo Reverse.

BIG TIP! The Pet Store sells GF, Draw, Magic, and Item Scrolls. The 
purpose of these scrolls is to reteach the appropriate ability to your 
GFs if you used Amnesia Greens to forget it. However, they have another 
use; with Siren's Tool-RF, each scroll can be made into 10 Wizard 
Stones! That's 50 3rd-level spells. This will be especially useful to 
keep in mind once you get the Call Shop ability later on.

Anyways, the train's not running now, so you can't go back to Balamb. 
You also can't leave Timber; if you head to the gate, you'll see a pair 
of Galbadian soldiers harrassing two guards and you'll get into a fight. 
The guards will be grateful if you defeat the soldiers, but they won't 
be able to let you through. You also can't stay at the hotel (the owner 
warns Rinoa that there are Galbadians staying there), but there's a Save 
Point in there, so be sure to use it. Next to the inn is a junk shop 
where you can remodel your weapons if you have the parts. Since you 
probably don't (unless you've been playing a lot of cards), just ignore 
it.

Anyways, head back to where the Forest Owls' train was and leave the 
screen by the Northeast exit. You'll see the Timber Maniacs building 
right ahead of you; go inside. Examine the magazines in the first room; 
in one pile, you'll find the "Girl Next Door" magazine. Hold on to this; 
it'll let you get the Shiva card later on. (DF's Note: Here's where 
Matt's part of the walkthrough begins.) That yellow magazine laying on 
floor in the back room is an old issue of "Timber Maniacs" (the 
magazine); get it. In this same room, you can talk to the man in the far 
back for some rather amusing scenes. (No matter which option you pick, 
the guy starts rambling on about nothing, and Squall gets angry. ^_^) 
Before leaving, go in the small 'closet' left of the front desk. You 
can't see it (even with Move-Find set), but there's a Blizzaga draw 
point somewhere behind the shelves; just feel around for it, you're 
bound to find it eventually. Unfortunatly, this particular draw point 
never recharges... Once you've gotten everything, leave Timber Maniacs.

The house next door isn't of any real importance. Talk to the lady 
wearing the apron to learn that you can get to the TV Station by way of 
the back alley behind the pub. She says you can see the alley from the 
window upstairs, and suggests you take a look. Might as well... Well, 
it's not much of a sight, but it gives you an idea of what to do next. 
Oh, and despite what the kids say, you don't lose any money. Speaking of 
those kids... Notice how they seem to be speaking in "AOL" language? =P 
(It's not r kitty u know!)

Back in the city, head right. The pub that you're headed for is 
downstairs, but go into the tunnel to the right first. At the entrance 
is some strange girl who's willing to give you 'secret information'. 
It's not at all useful, though, so you can just ignore her and go right 
into the tunnel. You'll come out on some train tracks in a back part of 
the city. Climb the stairs and go into the small house. Talk to the old 
man sitting on the couch, and he'll ask if you like beverages; say yes, 
and he'll allow you to drink some water from the tap on the opposite 
wall. This seems rather pointless at first, but try taking him up on his 
offer and having a drink. This is no ordinary water, but rather the 
"Owl's Tears" that Watts spoke of. Your HP will be restored to full. Oh 
yeah... Should you wanna be a heartless jerk, you can steal 500 Gil from 
the old man by repeatedly examining the cupboard below the mirror. If 
you do this, however, you lose access to the Owl's Tears...

Anyway, across the bridge just outside the house is a save point. Use it 
if you need to, but don't waste time taking either of the lower roads 
here, as they just lead to pointless dead ends; go back through the 
tunnel you came from, and head downstairs.

Just outside the pub, you'll hear two Galbadia Soldiers gloating over a 
card they swiped from one of the town citizens, and when they spot you, 
they attack. After beating them, you'll get the card they stole: a Buel 
card. In the area near the pub are two points of interest: an item shop 
and a 'Cure' draw point. Buy stuff if you want, then enter the pub. 
(Finally...)

There's some drunk here ranting about the town's situation, who mentions 
that some soldiers stole his card. Well, that door behind him that he's
convienient blocking is the way to the back alley, so you might as well 
talk to him... You have two options here.

(DF's Note: Matt hadn't tried buying him a drink, so I've altered this 
part a bit.)

1) You can offer to buy him a drink for 100 gil, at which point you'll 
get 6 choices for what drink to give him. If you give him the right 
drink, he'll move; if you give him the wrong one, you've just wasted 100 
gil. If you want to do it this way, talk to the other customer in the 
pub to find out what color bottles the drinks are in, and which ones are 
"sweet" and "bitter". Then, look at the drunk to see what color bottle 
he's holding, then to the waitress to find out whether he likes "sweet" 
or "bitter" drinks. (Though I think the waitress has it wrong.) Give him 
the right drink and he'll move out of the way, as well as giving you a 
Forbidden card.

2) Alternatively, you can offer to give the card you won outside back to 
him. In thanks, he lets you keep it, and gives you a Tonberry card as 
well. He then asks the owner to move him out of the way, clearing the 
path to the back door.

Two things here: A save point, and a 'Scan' draw point. (For some 
reason, though, it doesn't always seem to be here, and it's not hidden.) 
Use them if you'd like, then head left and go up the long staircase. At 
the top, you'll be stopped by Watts, who says that the whole TV station 
is under heavy guard, and that it'd be a bad idea to just bust in. Rinoa 
hesitates a bit, then decides to change her plan. At this point, Squall 
gets angry at the Timber Owls' general lack of organization, and starts 
yelling at Rinoa... Upset, she runs off, and Selphie shows up to take 
her place. There's now a scene where President Deling makes his live 
broadcast -- the first one in 17 years. Unfortunatly, he's not 
announcing Timber's independance as Rinoa had hoped... Instead, he 
speaks of 'peace talks', using his new ambassador, the Sorceress... His 
'noble' speech is cut short, however, by a rather untimely visit from 
Seifer and Quistis. Seifer, in his usual nature, tears the place
up, cutting off the broadcast, but not before Quistis orders Squall's 
group to assist them. The team then dashes up the stairs. Make your way 
to the TV station now, and you'll witness a long chain of scenes, which 
results in Zell accidentally revealing to Galbadia that they're from 
Balamb Garden, and the Sorceress making her grand appearance, then 
disappearing with Seifer...

After the events have played out, you'll end up back outside the TV 
station. Head back down the stairs, where Rinoa and Quistis are waiting. 
Rinoa reveals that their base was found by Galbadia and was totally 
destroyed. Fortunately, Zone and Watts managed to escape. After 
informing you of this, the women run down the stairs. At the bottom of 
the staircase, Rinoa will suggest that they get out of Timber for a 
while, and runs off again. You'll meet up with Rinoa yet again at the 
bar, where a woman suggests that the team hide out at her house for a 
while. To get there, just follow the girls, and enter the house next to 
the Timber Maniacs building. After a short discussion about the fate of 
Seifer, the woman comes back upstairs and tells you that the Galbadia 
Soldiers are withdrawing from town. The team then decides the next plan 
of action. The Garden code states that after a mission, if the main 
Garden is unavailable, report to the nearest Garden. In this case, 
Galbadia Garden. (Excuse me? "Galbadia" Garden? Aren't we trying 
to get *away* from Galbadia? ^_^) After forming a team (which can now 
include Quistis), head back out into town. Before leaving, however, the 
woman gives you a Potion, a Phoenix Down, a Soft, an Antidote, and a 
Remedy.

Back in town, you'll notice a lone Galbadia soldier roaming around... 
Though it may not seem like the most intelligent thing to do given the 
situation, go over and talk to him. Turns out it's not a soldier at all, 
just your old friend Watts in disguise. He says that the trains are out 
of service, but that one last train will be heading out of town shortly. 
Now head right, and you'll be stopped by a "Mystery Man", who turns out 
to be Zone. He tells you thst all the tickets to the last train out of 
town are gone, but that he managed to get the last five... He and Watts 
remain in town, allowing your team to escape via train... Head into the 
tunnel, and cross the bridge and head south. This is the train station. 
Board the train, and ride it out of town.

You've finished the main stuff here, but there's still some stuff to get
should you wish to return to Timber. The inn is now opened, and you can
find another issue of "Timber Maniacs" in the hotel room. (DF's Note: 
Too cheap to pay for the inn, but still want the magazine? There's a way 
to get into the hotel room for free, although you can only do it once. 
First, go to the railway bridge near the "Owl's Tears" house. You'll see 
a girl stuck on the tracks, and hear a train. Talk to the girl a few 
times and the screen will flash white, then you'll be in the room and 
can get the magazine. My, that was a long note.)

Also, a man standing on the bridge overlooking the three railways will 
give you a free Potion if Quistis is on the team (or maybe you just need 
a female; I'll check). (DF's note: In my old game, he always mentioned 
Rinoa... strange.) He'll run off, but he'll return later, so basically, 
you can get an endless number of potions from him. Also, there's a man 
outside the Timber Maniacs building who says that he's starting to think 
he should give up. Tell him "No way", and he'll reward you with a Pet 
Nametag later. Finally, if you wanted that 500 Gil from the man in the 
"Owl's Tears" house, but didn't want to lose the healing feature, go 
ahead and do it now. You don't need it anymore now that the inn is 
opened. Still, this is a rather stupid act, and it may lower your SeeD 
rank.

| ESCAPE |
(This is about the least creative title yet...)

-After Timber...

If you want, you can stay on the train and get off near Dollet. See Side 
Quests for things you can do there.

At any rate, your goal is a small forest near the East Academy station. 
Before going in, make sure Squall, Quistis, and Selphie are well-
junctioned. Inside the forest, you'll meet up with your other two 
teammates and there'll be some dialogue, where Squall is his usual 
charming self. =P After a while, Squall, Selphie, and Quistis will fall 
down... Rinoa will ask what happened, and Zell will say he thinks they 
went to the 'dream world'...

-Laguna Flashback 2
Draw Points: Sleep(r), Confuse(r), Cure(r)
Hidden Draw Points: ?

Laguna time again. Squall is Laguna (he always is), Selphie is Kiros, 
and Quistis is Ward.

Laguna, Ward, and Kiros will talk for a bit, then you'll gain control. 
On the next screen, there's a Draw Point with Sleep; use it if you need 
to. Head across the walkway, and you'll be attacked. In the first 
battle, you'll be back-attacked by one Esthar Soldier; then you'll fight 
three. Not a major problem. You'll probably get a few Potions from 
defeating them. 

A few comments before I continue with this walkthrough. Considerably 
later in the game, you'll be able to explore this place again, and the 
things Laguna does here will affect what items you can get when you do. 
Follow this walkthrough and you should (hopefully) be able to get all 
the items later. Also, a note on enemies. There are 4 kinds of enemies 
you'll fight in this place. You've dealt with the standard Esthar 
Soldiers already, and you'll be fighting more of them. There are also 
cyborg Esthar Soldiers; they're somewhat stronger than the normal ones. 
There are two ways to tell them apart; by color, or if you're not sure 
about the color, see what they have to Draw. If there's no Cure spell of 
any level, it's a cyborg. Neither type of Esthar Soldier can be Carded. 
The other two enemies are Elastoids and Gespers. You can draw Dispel 
>from the Elastoids, and make their cards into Steel Pipes. The Gespers 
have Shell and Protect spells to Draw, and Float if they're at a high 
enough level. They also frequently drop Black Holes, which teach Quistis 
Degenerator, and can be made into Demi spells with Diablos' Time Mag-RF. 
If you have the time, get 100 Demi spells for each character and 
Junction them to your Magic stat. You can Card the Gespers and make 
their cards into Black Holes as well.

That said, head inside the excavation site; there are two entrances on 
this screen. One is a door, the other is just a ladder. If you go down 
the ladder, Laguna will get a leg cramp; I'm not sure if this affects 
anything. However, I suggest going down the ladder first, if only to 
save a little bit of time. 

Head up one screen and left one screen, then examine the rubble near the 
bottom of the new screen. Laguna will pick up an old key, but it will 
fall out of his back pocket. Go left three screens and examine the 
rubble on the left side of the screen; Laguna will find another key, and 
put it in his shirt pocket. However, he sneezes, and loses the key 
again. (I don't know if getting the keys affects anything, but I don't 
think it hurts.) The ladder here will lead to the other entrance to the 
facility; ignore it for now and go back one screen. 

There are 3 panels here; when you walk across the one in the middle, 
you'll hear a clicking sound. There's a lever on the panel; examine it. 
(It's near the top of the screen.) Laguna will notice that the lever is 
loose, and suggest loosening it all the way to set a trap for the Esthar 
soldiers. Kiros and Ward are skeptical; after the brief dialogue, you'll 
have the option to either tamper with the lever or ignore it; tamper 
with it. You won't be able to cross the panel after tampering with it, 
but do it anyway. Leave the screen, and an Esthar Soldier will walk over 
the panel, which will open under him and make him plummet. Go back to 
the ladder where you came in; climb up and you'll be back outside the 
place. Go in through the door. There's a walkway here, and you have 
three paths you can take. The left path leads quickly to a dead end; the 
right path leads to a Draw Point with Confuse. Use it if you want, then 
take the middle path. This leads to a ladder; climb down.

This screen should look familiar. Go down and you'll be back on the 
screen with the panels. You can only access the leftmost panel; you'll 
notice it clicks when you walk on it. Examine the lever and you'll be 
given the choice to tamper with it again. Do so; Kiros and Ward will 
stop you, pointing out that if you _do_ mess with it, you'll be stuck 
there. However, once you've triggered this event, you can open that 
panel another way... 

Retrace your steps to the other side of this screen, then examine the 
lever on the rightmost panel. Again, choose to tamper with it; it's 
stuck, but again, you can open the panel by another means...

Go back to the screen where you found (and lost) the first key. From 
there, go up two screens. You'll see a small, black object on the 
ground; examine it. As the ensuing dialogue reveals, it's a detonator. 
You'll have the option of using it to move either the nearby boulder or 
the one further down; first, choose to move the one further down. There 
will be a short scene where you see an Esthar Soldier run away from the 
boulder; also, if you tried to tamper with the leftmost panel, you'll 
see it fall open now. Use the detonator again, on the nearby boulder 
now. Laguna and company will run away, and you'll see the boulder roll 
down, scaring away some Esthar soldiers. If you messed with the 
rightmost panel, it'll fly open at this point, too. Laguna, Kiros, and 
Ward will come back onscreen and make some comments, then you'll be back 
in control. Leave the same way they did, and continue for a couple of 
screens until you see a boulder. Examine the boulder, and Laguna will 
push it, taking care of another Esthar soldier. You'll also be able to 
use the Draw Point, which has Cure. Yay. On the next screen is a much-
needed Save Point. Use it, then use the exit on the top of the screen. 
(the path on the right just loops back to where you've been) If you 
didn't trigger the traps, you'll have to fight a whole bunch of battles 
with Esthar soldiers; if you _did_ trigger them, however, you'll only 
have to fight one battle against two cyborgs. When you defeat the second 
one, he'll use an attack called Soul Crush, knocking Kiros and Ward down 
to 1 HP...

After the battle, there'll be some more dialogue, and the flashback will 
end. Squall, Quistis, and Selphie will wake up in the forest, there will 
be some more dialogue, then you'll leave. Note that the forest will just 
be an ordinary forest if you go back. Also, Quistis and Selphie are now 
at 1 HP; if you don't want to bother healing them, just switch Zell and 
Rinoa in. Head to the nearby structure; this is Galbadia Garden.

*****

-Galbadia Garden
Draw Points: Shell(r), Life(r)
Hidden Draw Points: Haste, Double(r?)

When you enter the Garden, you'll be treated to a short FMV. After you 
regain control, just head through the next two screens. There will be a 
short dialogue sequence when you reach the gates. Go through the gates 
to reach the main hall. There will be an announcement over the PA asking 
you to head to the 2F reception room. To get there, go straight ahead 
(check the beam of light for a hidden Draw Point with Haste) until you 
come to a room with some stairs. (Note: If you keep going straight at 
this point, you'll find a Draw Point with Shell after a couple of 
screens. Also, if you go left from the main hall, you can get to the ice 
rink; you can't get the Draw Point _in_ the rink yet, but you can head 
left to the locker room and a Draw Point with Life.) Go up the stairs, 
and the reception room is behind the door at the bottom of the screen. 
Inside, the party splits, and you control Squall. Talk to Rinoa and 
Selphie if you want; when you talk to Zell, Quistis will come in. In the 
ensuing dialogue, Quistis says that Seifer has been executed by the 
Galbadian government... When you regain control, talk to Rinoa, then 
Quistis. Squall will get frustrated. Head towards the door, and he'll 
suddenly snap at everyone, then run out the door. Note: If you head 
right from this screen, you'll reach a circular walkway above the main 
hall. This leads to an auditorium where you can find a hidden Draw Point 
with Double.

Go down the stairs (Zell's doing push-ups... heh.) and head back towards 
the main hall. Just as you leave the screen, Fujin and Raijin will come 
and talk to Squall. When Squall tells them that Seifer is reportedly 
dead, they won't believe it. After they leave, there will be an 
announcement telling you to go to the front gate. Go there and 
Headmaster Martine will appear when you talk to Rinoa. (Note that Rinoa 
has a bit of trouble with the salute... heh.) Martine will talk for a 
while about your mission, then hand Squall the orders. Squall will 
comment that the orders call for a sniper, and nobody on the team has 
that skill. Martine says not to worry, and introduces Irvine, a 
sharpshooter from Galbadia Garden. Irvine now joins the party, and you 
have all the main characters. Now, talk to Selphie and Squall will 
explain the orders. Your mission is to assassinate the sorceress. 

After Squall explains the orders, Irvine will say it's time to choose a 
party. The screen will fade; when it comes back, Irvine will be standing 
between Rinoa and Selphie, and ask how this party is. If you choose to 
accept, you'll see a rather funny scene and be left with a party of 
Squall, Zell, and Quistis. If you don't, the party selection screen will 
come up. Either way, Squall will give a tutorial on how to switch 
members, then you'll leave Galbadia Garden. You can head to Deling City 
now; if that's what you want to do, head to the clearly visible train. 

However, you may want to take this opportunity to get some Level 6 
cards. If so, go back into the Garden. Take the northeast exit from the 
main hall, then take the door on the right on the next screen. There's 
three students here, all of whom are card players. The girl (who says 
something like, "We're too old for cards") uses all the Level 6 cards. 
Keep playing her until you have whatever cards you want, then leave the 
Garden and he