Balamb Garden
-I’m afraid I might have misread that whole Shumi Tribe-flip thing before. I tried playing Shumi Tribe again in Triple Triad. It got flipped, but didn’t become Trauma. Huh. Also possible that it happens rarely, but more likely that I juts misunderstood or forgot what card I played.
-WOOHOO!!! CC time.
He challenges me. I lose a couple of times (because of this fucking Direct trading that makes me hesitant to play the top cards), but finally win.
-There are six more CC members to defeat, including Card Master, King, Card Knight Club, Card Prince Spade, Card Princess Diamond, and Card Queen Heart. As well as a mysterious Card Magician Joker.
-Beat Club, too.
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Bridge
-Xu, Quistis, and some other dude are up here applauding Squall.
-Quistis will handle destination, Xu will handle supplies. (Come on – you’re telling me Xu is less qualified to be commander than Squall? :/)
-(Oh right, the other dude is Nida.)
XU: “That ship that took Ellone, where do you think it is? And who are all the people on that ship?”
Glad she said this. I was worried that it was obvious who was on that ship and I just missed it.
-The Garden is ready to go. Time to set sail for Balamb.
-LOL – Nida handed the mic to Squall for a Garden-wide speech before he was ready. XD
-Going with Rinoa, Squall, and Irvine for my party.
-Shit. They removed all the GFs and junctions. Gotta reset them for everyone except Squall.
I won’t go through all my choices, but here are some of the big ones:
Squall: Ifrit, Diabolos. Thundaga for strength, Firaga for EL-A (but will depend on enemies).
Irvine: Quezacotl, Leviathan, Shiva for max GF. A bunch of stat ones. Defensive focus, since my goal with him is to not die while blowing stuff up with GF.
Rinoa: Siren, Brothers for magic and defense. Thundaga for max magic. 100 Silence for ST-A.
Avast! We’re off.
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Balamb
-The Garden is super awkward to control. Not that that should be a surprise – it’s a school, not a jet.
-Stopped in Balamb. The town is under Galbadian control.
-We talk our way past the guards by saying we might have info about Ellone.
-Zell joins the group. I put him in place of Irvine.
-The fisherman in town is packing for the girl in the home to move in next door. With Zell’s family.
-Phew. Zell’s family is safe.
MA DINCHT: “I noticed a woman with the Galbadian army. Gray hair, patch over one eye…” Fujin? You’re telling me Fujin is the Galbadian commander in town? I knew she was loyal to Seifer, but still.
-Hee!! Big Bad Rascal is practicing his limit break.
-Still not allowed to see Zell’s room.
-Rumor is that Ellone disembarked from a ship here in Balamb.
-From talking to people in the town, it sounds like the Galbadians are not a particularly pleasant or friendly occupying force.
-The Commander is in the hotel, but the guards won’t let us past. We have to find the Captain, who’s out on patrol.
-And by “on patrol,” I mean “napping somewhere in town.”
-Access to Zell’s bedroom at long last.
-Pretty great room. Heavy bag, speed bag, shotguns on the wall, family pictures. Including his grandfather who fought in the last war. (Ward maybe? Naw, Zell hitched a ride on Ward’s brain and would’ve recognized him.)
-Awwww! Big Bad Rascal’s not so bad. The girl next door is worried about her parents, so he promises to sneak past the soldiers to check on them.
-Been wandering around town for a while, but no captain yet. Some say he was napping indoors, some say he just finished fishing and went to eat.
-Hot on the trail! Back at the Dinchts, Ma Dincht said someone just ran into their kitchen and cooked some fish.
OLD MAN: “A kid or an animal would know a lot more about ‘hideouts’ and ‘escape routes.’”
Maybe that’s the answer. Big Bad Rascal can help me find the captain.
-YES!!! Had to keep a dialogue box with a soldier open near the entrance to the city. That kept the soldier facing me while Big Bad Rascal checked in with the girl’s parents.
-I am such a huge, vile asshole. Big Bad Rascal gave the little girl some of her dad’s cards. I challenged her to a game, and got her Pandemona, a rare.
-Finally found the captain: Raijin. His cooked fish left a stink, and the search dog led us right to him. Boss fight.
-Beat him. He hit pretty hard, but not too tough a fight. Now the real fight: Fujin and Raijin together.
-Drew Pandemona from Fujin. Hooray for new GF! (Not just for me, but a new one in the series.)
-The two of them are pretty tough together. I’m a bit disappointed though that Fujin is so much weaker than Raijin. Raijin does a massively damaging Raijin Special, but Fujin’s pinwheel hits are kinda weak.
-After the fight, they confirm what I had guessed: that they’re loyal to Seifer and couldn’t care less about the Sorceress.
-Squall tries to break through to them, that this isn’t just about personal loyalty within the Garden. The fate of nations is at stake.
ZELL: “IF you guys stand behind him that much… frickin’ tell Seifer to stop this nonsense!” Preach! …ahem, sorry, forgot I was around Fujin for a second. PREACH!
-They’re sticking with Seifer though.
Maybe? They seem to be having second thoughts… [Later edit: no long sure about this. Raijin could’ve just been hesitant because he was tired and hurt, not because he was thinking of changing his mind.]
-Never mind. It’s just Raijin. Fujin kicks him in the shins and to get him to stop being a “WIMP” and they run.
-It’s kind of sad. And not just to me. Squall tries to play this off as “well, goes to show you that friends and enemies are about circumstance, nothing new,” but he clearly feels betrayed.
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Next time: a new destination for the Garden.
