Day 71

Game - Final Fantasy X, Day 71
Hours Played/Hours Total - 11-1/2 hrs / 32-1/2 hrs
Starting Point - Thunder Plains - South.
Current Goal - Make it through the Thunder Plains and head for Macalania Temple.

What Happened - My journey through Final Fantasy X is quite slow, but I can honestly admit that some of the time "played" is actually the game sitting there while I type. I'm afraid that I'll forget details if I don't type them up as they come. It's silly because I could just look it up, but I don't really want to. I apologize now for any strangeness, and I'm going to head right into this.
     I last left off in the Thunder Plains of Spira. If you don't remember and/or don't feel like looking back, the Thunder Plains is home to an interesting albeit annoying mechanic...the lightning dodging! While walking through this place, you journey from lightning rod to lightning rod while dodging any stray bolts that come your way. The timing isn't really that hard, but you can't just mash the buttons to succeed. I run into the all knowing scholar Maechen, and he tells me about the history of the lightning rod towers. Long ago, the towers weren't there, and this made the path incredibly dangerous and near impossible to pass. One day, a man came along and built all of the towers. With the towers in place, the passage was safe for everyone to pass through the Thunder Plains. Unfortunately, the man was struck by lightning while working on a tower and died. The man was an Al Bhed, and unfortunately, the history books rarely mention him or his deed that changed life for everybody. That's just sad...and an obvious message here.
     Heading along the road, I run into another familiar face. It's the Yevon acolyte Shelinda. It seems the rumor of the Yuna and Seymour message has already spread quite fervently. She heard from the Guados who are spreading the message all around. She asks Tidus about it, and I get to answer for him. I tell her that it's not really happening, and this makes her quite sad. With that message given, it was time to continue down the road. Or so I thought...Rikku stops the group after a while. She is quite scared by the lightning and thunder and wants to stop briefly to rest. Auron says they can't stop, and that it is best to keep moving on through the storm. She eventually annoys the group into a brief stop at a nearby Rin's Travel Agency (same thing as the one on Mi'ihen Road). As we enter inside, Yuna claims she is feeling a bit tired and goes upstairs to rest. The rest of the group seems suspicious of this but looks past it.
     Next up, Rikku comes clean and explains her fear of lightning. When she was young, she was hanging out at the beach with her brother. A water fiend came up and attacked them, so her brother used a Thunder Spell to attack it. Unfortunately, he missed the fiend and accidentally hit her. And thus...her fear is explained. From here, Mr. Rin walked in and mentioned the Seymour and Yuna wedding bit. Those Guados sure get around. He sees Yuna, but she motions for him to keep her origin quiet. He notices Auron to the side and goes to talk with him. Auron thanks him for a previous time, and Mr. Rin simply replies that he was glad to help a dying man. Auron states that he doesn't want to talk about that and once again thanks him for helping back then. (Ten years ago of course)
     I head upstairs to see how Yuna is doing and stumble upon something I shouldn't. Yuna is looking at something in a sphere there. Tidus stumbles into the room and noticed Lord Jyscal in the sphere. She said she received a will from him to please take care of his son. She heads out of the room, and Wakka wanders in. He grabs Tidus and starts wrestling him about. Tidus says he just came up to see what was up with Yuna, and Wakka tells him that she'll let them know when she is ready and to "hold his chocobos" until then. The group gathers back up and heads back outside. Rikku is still quite reluctant to go, but Auron basically states that they'll leave without her. She gets mad at him and comes right along.
     While moving along the Thunder Plains, there are several strange rocks located on the side. I added the word strange because they each have a picture of a Cactuar upon them. I looked it up on a guide, and I learned that you pray to them to help unlock Kimahri's ultimate weapon. I might as well go into it and explain the ultimate weapons in this game. Basically, you can't just find the weapons lying around. Instead, you have to collect a special mirror and then collect the weapon plus two special items per weapon. With all three in hand, you fully unlock the ultimate weapon's power and abilities. The end result (from what I read) is pretty awesome, but it's a lot of work getting them all. I'd go so far as to say that it's more work to get the ultimate weapons and their parts than it is to play through the game. I'm wanting to attempt a couple of them, but time is currently against me. This just means I'll have to wait and see.
     Moving right along, Yuna stops the group for yet another interruption. She informs everybody that she is going to marry Seymour. Wakka asks what made her change her mind, and she believes it will help Spira's future as well as unity for Yevon. She believes it is the best thing to do. Auron says that isn't good enough, and Tidus brings up the sphere she was looking at earlier. He thinks it has to do with Jyscal, but she needs to speak with Seymour first and is keeping that a private matter. She promises to continue with the pilgrimage regardless of anything else though. Auron finds this to be okay and agrees that it is her decision in the end. Tidus is the only one openly disagreeing with it, but everybody else voices a bit of concern. Wakka asks if she can't just talk with the guy openly, and she just isn't sure yet. From here on, things got worded all weirdly and was basically just "I DUNNO" from everybody.
     From here, Auron reminds them that Macalania Temple is their next destination. He says they can figure things out from there. Narrator Tidus starts to say how he feels he doesn't really belong with the group. However, he would be alone otherwise, and he doesn't want to do that. The end of the Thunder Plains is a short distance from here, but I spent nearly two hours wasting time around here. I kept trying to activate the Cactuar stones with no luck, and then I found out that I might not even be able to. I gave up and moved right on into a mystical crystal forest. (Forest that everything here seems to be made of crystals.)
     Auron stops Tidus in the forest and talks with him. He knows Tidus is worried about Yuna. Of course he is, but none of them know what she is truly thinking. Auron thinks she might be trying to negotiate with Seymour for something, but unfortunately for her, Seymour is the better negotiator. Tidus thinks they should do something to help, but Auron explains she wants it this way. Tidus is confused and wonders if she just doesn't trust them. Auron says it is quite the opposite and that she doesn't want to get the others caught up in what she is planning. That just worries Tidus more, and he wishes she would just tell them. It's just who she is though...naive, serious to a fault, and doesn't ask for help. Apparently, Auron finds Yuna very easy to read. However, it's time to move onward through Macalania Forest!
     As we are travelling through the forest, we run into Barthello. Dona isn't with him, and it seems they got separated. He's quite worried about her and starts to act kinda crazy. Auron tells him that he needs to calm down and stop running around in a panic. He adds that he needs to "Guard his emotions, then guard his summoner". He takes the words to heart and thanks Auron. Now that he's calmed down, he proceeds past us to find Dona. They offer to help, but he says he's taken enough of their time and shall find her himself. And so our journey continues...
     ...Until I'm interrupted by another person! This time, it's a strange man with a harp and an eagle mask with headdress. He talks to us about the butterflies in the forest, and thus I learn about the butterfly catching mini-game! Basically, I look about the forest and catch butterflies. Blue ones are good and red ones lead to fiends. If I manage to catch seven of them, I'm supposed to be rewarded somehow. I gave it a shot and...failed horribly. I was like two or three away from the "prize", but I didn't feel like messing with it anymore. I walked on by the man and continued through Macalania Forest.
     We don't get far when Auron stops the group and points to a spot. He says that "it is here". Of course, Tidus questions what, but Auron simply states it is something he should see. Using his big ol' sword, Auron cuts through one of the trees and leads us into a small area. (Seems that the trees are made of crystal by the way it broke.) We walk into a secluded spot with a pool of water all shiny with trees and spheres and pyreflies! Auron explains that these are places where spheres are made from collected memories. It's quite pretty, but it also attracts fiends! BOSS BATTLE TIME!
     Out of the water arises a monstrous...ball of water. For this battle, I'm given not so much a challenge as I am a large twist. The water blob is resistant to physical strikes and is all magic-ed up too. It has only ONE elemental weakness while all other magic types heal it. On top of this, it constantly shifts what it's weakness is. It shifts every time I successfully use its weakness on it. This makes Lulu the star player, but I also have to figure out what its element is. Luckily, it counters with magic when physically struck. Whatever spell it uses, the opposite one is its current weakness. Lulu is the key to this battle, and everybody else is simply support for the battle. I have started Kimahri down Lulu's path, but he wasn't far enough to use any of the -ra spells yet, so I just kept him on support. With its defeat, the giant ball of water is no more, but it drops a little something for me. Strangely enough, it drops a sphere!
     Auron picks up the sphere and explains that Jecht left this sphere. They left the sphere here ten years ago, and tells the group to play it. The video starts up, and we see Jecht, a younger Auron, and Braska. Jecht is making this recording of their journey, and the video goes through several different clips. We see the group talking in different locations and such. Auron is pretty young and different looking in all of these. For the final part, Jecht is talking to the screen and more directly Tidus. He tells him that he has to stop crying and move on with life. He starts to try and say something nice, but he admits he isn't good at it and turns it off. With the video over, Tidus almost believed Jecht was serious there...but he thinks it is too late now. Auron says that Jecht was quite serious at the time and had accepted his fate.
     Jecht truly wanted to return to Zanarkand, and he even took a lot of pictures to show his family when he went back. However, Spira changed him, and he decided to join Braska in the fight against Sin. With that, he gave up going back to Zanarkand and gave himself to the fight. Narrator Tidus joins in around this time and says that he believes Jecht wanted to come home. Unfortunately, he knew he couldn't go back. Even if he found a way, he wasn't going to leave the rest of them behind until the journey was done. With this little side excursion finished, it was time to head to the main path. As we go to move on, Auron tells Tidus that Jecht did love him, but he never knew quite how to say it. Time to head for Macalania Temple!
     A little further through the forest and we come out into...a massive winter land of ice. Yeah, right after a giant crystal forest, I find myself in a massive winter wonderland. As we walk along the road, we run into the Guado guy from earlier. (I don't really care about his name, and I doubt you do either.) He's glad to see Yuna, but he is surprised to see her so soon. Seymour apologizes for leaving without saying anything, but he had important business and such. Yuna steps forward and asks the Guado if Seymour would let her continue her pilgrimage after marriage. He believes so and says of course. Yuna and the Guado join up and head off to meet with Seymour. It seems we have to wait for a Guado to escort us because of tradition or something. They head off towards the temple when...RANDOM AL BHED ON SNOWMOBILES!
     A large group of them charge at Yuna and the Guado. They have them surrounded, and so we go to intervene! An Al Bhed appears from far off and yells at Rikku. She yells something back at him, but I still don't have enough of the Al Bhed Primers for it to be fully translated. He doesn't really have to be understood though as a tank rolls up. He yells something again, but Rikku translates it this time. He said something about using an anti-magic field on us, so...this is going to be fun. BOSS BATTLE TIME!
     So...I get to fight a tank, and I get to do so while greatly hindered. Along with the tank, it has a little floating helper that does the anti-magic field. Without magic though, Wakka is the only one capable of striking it. Rikku's special items are also able to, but I didn't realize that until later. Once the anti-magic device is destroyed, it's time to throw all the magic I can at it! The tank only has a small selection of attacks apart from the anti-magic device. It can counter attack physical strikes and has a weak party-wide multi-hit machine gun. The only worrisome thing is it's super attack Mana Beam! It takes three turns to charge up, but it deals a pretty good amount of damage. Luckily, I managed to finish it off with an Aeon right before it fired off a second time. As the Al Bhed start to run, the main one yells something at Rikku and then runs off. The Guado thanks us for helping and continues on with Yuna.
     At this point, Wakka asks Yuna how she knows Al Bhed (the language). So...she finally comes clean to Wakka. She admits that she is Al Bhed, and the guy yelling at her was her brother. Wakka isn't too happy about that, and he turns to Tidus and Lulu. He asks if they knew about this, and they both say yes. He asks why nobody told him, and they answered because he'd be upset like he currently is. Wakka starts badmouthing the Al Bhed saying they're against Yevon and such. Rikku responds by saying they aren't against Yevon. Wakka points out that their use of forbidden machina and how that gave birth to Sin. Rikku asks him for proof. He relates to the teachings, but she says that isn't good enough. Wakka asks her to answer where Sin came from then. She admits to not knowing but says he shouldn't just blindly follow the teachings. He needs to think and act for himself before following anything. Wakka claims that Sin will only go away when they atone for all their Sins. Rikku says nothing will ever change if they don't try something different. It will keep coming back unless they stop it otherwise. At this point, Rikku just gives up arguing and says there's no point in it. At this point, Auron calls her over to get the snowmobiles working.
     Tidus approaches Wakka and talks to him about Rikku. He says that Wakka was okay with her before finding out she was an Al Bhed. Rikku is Rikku, and above all, she is a good person. He turns to Lulu to follow up after this. She thinks it's a good opportunity to learn more about the Al Bhed. Wakka just walks away because he's still mad. Auron says he just needs some time to think about all of it. Rikku wants to apologize, but Lulu says she has done nothing to apologize for. And that ends all of that...The group gets the snowmobiles going, and they use them to ride off towards the temple. Lulu rides with Tidus, and he takes the time to ask her what she thinks about Rikku. Lulu says she likes Rikku and doesn't believe she is a bad person. Tidus thinks Wakka's problem is he doesn't see her as anything but another Al Bhed. He's hardheaded and won't look past that though. Tidus believes it's mostly just his belief in Yevon. Lulu says there is more to it than just that, and part of it has to do with his brother Chappu. (The whole machina weapon thinger) Tidus mentions to himself about Sin being Jecht...all out loud and such. Lucky for him, Lulu didn't hear him, but then he asks her if people can become Sin. Lulu says she isn't sure, but she does believe that Sin is the punishment and incarnation of crimes people have committed. So Tidus says...nobody really knows what Sin is, but Lulu says nobody has ever tried to find out because of what it is and what it does. You have to either run from it or fight it, and that's all you can do. With all that said, we reach the temple and go to head inside.
     The guard at the entrance tries to stop Rikku from going inside, but Auron defends her saying she is a Guardian and nothing matters besides that. As we walk inside, it seems that Yuna has already entered the Cloister of Trials here. We are just about to go inside when someone runs out of a room yelling something about Lord Jyscal in Yuna's things. We go to investigate and locate the sphere that Yuna had earlier. Let's just hope that this answers some questions. The sphere is Lord Jyscal's will, and it explains a little bit. Long speech short, Jyscal was killed by Seymour, and Seymour is evil and corrupt. Jyscal claims that Seymour is using everyone and will bring Spira into darkness. He blames himself and accepts death as his punishment for not stopping him. He asks Yuna to try and stop him. We all head out to go and save Yuna from Seymour. Wakka doesn't think Seymour can be evil because he is a maester of Yevon. Lulu says we should go and hear him out first. Off...into the Cloister of Trials!
     As we head inside, Auron tells Wakka that they will take care of anyone who tries to get Yuna...even a Maester. Wakka can't believe that this is happening, but Lulu says he must be dealt with if he truly committed the crimes. We pass right by the Cloister of Trials and head straight for the fayth to get Yuna. As we enter inside the chamber before the fayth, we spot Seymour in front of the fayth waiting for Yuna. They approach him and tell him that they know what he did. Yuna comes out and claims that she will stop Seymour here and punish him for his Sins. BOSS BATTLE TIME!
     For this round, I have to face off with Seymour and a pair of his Guado Guards. (Heh...Guado guard. Just sounds funny together.) During the battle, I can actually do a few special "Talk" actions between Seymour and a select couple of characters. They talk to him and the end result...is a small boost for the battle! The two guards start off by casting Protect on themselves and Shell on Seymour. On top of this, anytime I hit the guards, they immediately use Auto-Potion and heal themselves. Lucky for me, I can steal their potions from them and keep them from doing that auto-healing nonsense. After eliminating Auto-Potion, I defeat both of the guards so that I can focus on Seymour! With his guards eliminated, Seymour summons Anima onto the scene! Tidus yells for Yuna to summon in her new Aeon. I swapped in Yuna and summoned the new Aeon...Shiva!
     Anima is a huge monster of an Aeon, but it seems weak to Ice! Shiva is able to blast Anima with all forms of Ice, but as Anima falls, Seymour hit Shiva with a Fira spell and finished her off. Though with Anima down, I just had to finish off Seymour now, but he wasn't going to go down without a fight! With his major powerhouse down, he started striking out with a multi-spell attack! Basically, he'd cast a -ra spell twice on two different targets. He had a decent magic power, so these weren't anything to ignore. However, he had already taken quite a bit, so it wasn't too long before we took him down. As he falls over, he asks Yuna if she would pity him now.
     Yuna goes over to him, but the Guado people come in at basically the worst time. They ask what happened, and Tidus spills the beans all over the place. He also claims that Seymour is the bad guy here...Because the Guado would totally believe that and especially so with their positions over his dead body. Auron tells Yuna to send Seymour now, but the Guados gather around and carry him off. The group realizes that things are going to go very badly, so we try to head out of the temple. Tidus is convinced that they can maybe explain themselves, but as Auron already told him, that's probably impossible given the situation they were caught in. As we go to leave, we get caught in the Cloister of Trials...
     This one is actually kinda confusing and challenging. It's an ice themed temple, and the point of the trials is to extend an ice bridge over to the exit. In all honesty, I followed a guide to try and solve this, but I still messed that up somehow. There are three pillars that follow the path across the chasm, and each pillar needs a Macalania Orb to create its part of the path. This is more or less easily done, but I'm also aiming for the hidden treasure since it unlocks an extra bit along with a nice item! Despite my screwing up the puzzle, I managed to get it all reconfigured and back in place! With the ice bridge back up, we are able to cross back into the main area of the temple. Unfortunately, the Guado are waiting for us in there.
     The Guados have no plans to let us go. Tidus mentions Jyscal's sphere, but the main Guado has it in hand. He destroys the sphere and claims that Guados will take care of Guado business. So...that just means it is time to run! The group heads out the entrance and makes a mad dash back from where we came. As we run, Guado soldiers chase after us and force me into a couple of battles. Suspiciously enough though, the Guado soldiers seem able to summon fiends onto the field. (The game didn't explain this at this point, but I sure hope they do...) Eventually, I outrun the Guados and find myself back in the icy snow area from before. Of course, a couple Guados follow us the entire way back and summon up a huge fiend for BOSS BATTLE TIME!
     For this time, the Guados work together to summon up a Wendigo! (In Final Fantasy 8, it was a big green gorilla, but in FFX, it looks like a yeti.) Before anything gets going, the Guados assist the large fiend with some support magic. They cast Berserk on the giant monster, and with the extra boost, it's able to one-hit kill even the most defense-capable character! (Auron I believe.) Of course, just like with Seymour, these Guados come with the Auto-Potion annoying ability. I have to steal their potions to stop that. They are easily defeated, but they each throw a protective layer on the Wendigo with their dying breath. (Protect and Shell.) After they fell, I used a Remedy on the Wendigo to remover Berserk, and that most certainly helped. It eventually switches stance and goes into COUNTER MODE! Basically, every time I hit him, he smacks the character right back. I eventually Overdrive on Yuna to Grand Summon Ifrit! (Grand Summon summons the Aeon with a full Overdrive for ultimate blasting!) I use Ifrit's Overdrive and kick the monkey's butt! Just as we celebrate the victory...the Wendigo gives us a little surprise. With his dying breath, he smashes the ice below us, and the group falls through.
     The group wakes up and are somehow completely okay despite the massive drop from above. I look about for everybody, and they all seem to be okay. Wakka is sulking to one side because he's a "traitor to Yevon" now, but otherwise, we are doing okay. Tidus asks Kimahri how they'll get out, and Kimahri simply says that they will climb. Eventually, Yuna comes to, and the group asks her what she was planning to do back there. She said that she wanted to confront Seymour about Jyscal and convince him to turn himself in. Apparently, she was going to use the marriage as a bartering chip in all of that. However, he didn't say anything when she asked him about it. Auron simply asks if she is still going on her pilgrimage. When she answers yes, he says that is all that matters. They will continue forward and face whatever must be faced. You might think that this conflicts with Yevon, but Auron says that Yevon isn't the one who gives summoners their powers...It is up to the fayth instead.
     Auron follows this up with a fairly surprising (to the characters anyways) statement. He says that if the temples and monks come after them, they will go so far as to defy Yevon. Wakka is very much in opposition to that statement. He doesn't want to defy Yevon and believes they should all go to atone for what they've done. Lulu agrees with the atonement and thinks they should go to Bevelle to face their punishment. Maybe they could speak to Maester Mika and explain what happened. So it seems our next goal is to head for Bevelle. Everybody seems on board with this, so it's time to climb up. As we go to head on, we hear the singing coming from the temple.
     Lulu says that it is the fayth that are singing it all the time. Tidus recognizes the song from his time and claims that Jecht used to sing it quite poorly. Auron says Tidus is the same in that way and TO FLASHBACK! Tidus is back in Zanarkand and humming the hymn to himself. Auron tells him that it reminded him of Spira. Of course, Tidus remembers that Auron isn't from Zanarkand and wonders how he even got there. Of course, he thinks about it and realizes that Sin is the link between Spira and Zanarkand. This also means that defeating Sin stops him from being able to leave. Suddenly, the fayth stops singing, but the ground starts to move! Turns out...this isn't the ground. IT'S SIN! This is most definitely not good. However, among the chaos of being on Sin, Tidus has a moment where he finally realizes that Sin is definitely Jecht. He's also shown visions of Zanarkand and realizes that Jecht is remembering it and feeling homesick. Tidus promises to help him, but then everything fades...
     Tidus wakes up in an oasis in the middle of a massive desert all by himself. I get on land and start exploring the desert when I run into a fiend! The giant black bird looks quite formidable for me to have to beat by myself. However, I managed to beat it quite easily with a strategy I saw. It's pretty simple. Haste Tidus and cast Slow on the bird. (Tidus has these spells in his part of the Sphere Grid.) I managed to beat it single-handed, but as the victory comes up, Auron and Lulu join the battle. Tidus yells "WE BEAT IT!" because they were obviously supposed to join mid-battle if I struggled. As we exit the battle, the two don't know where the rest of the group is, so we start looking around. I quickly locate Wakka just a short distance north from where I started. Nobody knows where Yuna is though, so we have to continue along the desert path. (Which seems a little weird since deserts are all sandy and shifty.)
     We find Kimahri in the next area, and he's trying to climb up a sand dune with no success. He feels bad that Yuna is missing, but Tidus tells him it isn't his fault. We go a little further and...Rikku! Yuna isn't with her either, but Rikku does know where we are right now. It's a far away island called Bikanel Island. The Al-Bhed have a place here that they call Home, and she believes that the Al Bhed might have taken Yuna there. She can lead us to it, but we have to promise to not tell anyone about it. She suggests that Yevon did something horrible to them long ago, and of course, this promise asking is mostly aimed at Wakka. The two of them start bickering again about the whole thing, but Tidus tells them both to stop it. Obviously, Yuna is a bit more important here, and they need to find her.
     Rikku takes the lead and leads us through the desert. Of course, it's all just small areas with different paths. It's not like I'm searching around a massive area with no end in sight. There is quite a few areas to this desert though, and each one is full of good stuff! I pick up quite a few items along the way. The fiends here aren't really anything special, and Rikku shows off her ability to kill machina by stealing from them! (Nifty!) Unfortunately, despite their lack of punch, many of the fiends are kinda annoying to fight constantly. The big bird from earlier is a common enemy, but it takes a bit of time to kill. On top of that, there is a giant sandworm who has a ton of HP. Again, he's not that hard, but it takes some time to kill him. He also has a swallow attack where he swallows one party member for a couple turns. They aren't harmed or anything, but they do miss out on experience if they aren't present when I kill it. After finding what I wanted from the desert, I continue on to find the Al Bhed place known as...Home!
     Unfortunately, Home is under attack! The place is pretty messed up, and the Al Bhed are all about fighting off fiends. We run up to a dying Al Bhed, and he mentions something about Guados and Yevon. Since we think Yuna is here, the group is pretty worried now. We need to go find her, and then another Al Bhed approaches and starts talking with Rikku. After saying a few things to her, he speaks to us (in plain english thank god) and tells us that if we are Rikku's friends, we need to help them out. We are all for helping...Of course, it's partially because we believe Yuna is here and needs to be rescued. However, there is a genuine interest in helping! The Al Bhed introduces himself as Cid (CIIIIIIIIID!) and runs off to get fightin'. Rikku explains that he is the leader of the Al Bhed and her father. (And if you remember from earlier on, Yuna's uncle was an Al Bhed named Cid...YEAH! Rikku and Yuna are cousins.) It's time to go help! I go to head inside the nearby building aaaand save my game to end it there.
     BLARGH! It's been THIRTEEN days since I last posted! I had most of this post ready to type up like a week ago, but it's just been a long week. (Short version -> I work retail + Black Friday.) I haven't even gotten anymore time in on FFX after this, and I've usually had like 1-1/2 posts ready to go by the time I get the next one up. Unless I rush it, I won't be finishing FFX this month. I could probably managed it if I didn't do any of the side quests, but I'd really like to attempt a few if not most of them. Final Fantasy X is actually pretty short from what the guide looks like. I believe I'm around 2/3rds through now, so I'm going to be doing side quests like crazy starting next post. It's been a fun experience overall though, so I'll forgive myself. I apologize for the massively delayed post, and thank anybody who takes the time to read it. Stay tuned for more posts on...RECURRING FANTASY!

Ending Point - Home. (That's literally what it calls it.)
Current Party -

• Tidus
• Auron
• Lulu  

Goals Accomplished - Made it through the Thunder Plains and to Macalania Forest. Learned more about Jecht in Macalania Forest. Made it to Macalania Temple. Earned a new Aeon, Shiva! Dealt with Seymour...for the moment. Escaped from the crazy Guados but fell into a bad spot. Crossed the desert of Bikanel Island and found the Al Bhed Home!
Next Goals - Defend Home and find Yuna.

~May the Crystals Guide Me~

Day 70

Game - Final Fantasy X, Day 70
Hours Played/Hours Total - 8 hrs / 21 hrs
Starting Point - Highroad North End.
Current Goal - Head for the "Command Center" and find out what the Crusader's operation is all about most likely.

What Happened - I'm heading straight through Final Fantasy X! I'm not as far as I should be as far as time is concerned, but I'm still moving right along. Let's not delay any further and get right on this post.
     Where I left off, I was about to continue past the Mi'ihen Road and onward to the next area. Maester Seymour granted us passage through this area, much to Tidus's disliking. I head right along and a nice little scene interrupts my travels. (All this game seems to be is paths with scenes...paths and scenes.) Seymour is speaking briefly with the Crusaders. He's giving them his support and a bit of a pep talk. He claims that he is there to bear witness to their deeds today and wishes them luck. Wakka is at the side lines of all of this, and he's kinda angry with it. He doesn't understand why Seymour is supporting them despite their violation of the teachings. (The use of machina is forbidden...just reminding.) Yuna chimes in that despite the violation, these people are risking it all for the greater good of Spira and believes that Seymour sees it the same way. Wakka tries to get Lulu on his side, but she's still speculating about the whole thing. Auron tells him to ask Seymour himself since he's heading towards us.
     Seymour greets the group and Auron more specifically. He asks Auron what he's been doing the past ten years, and Auron simply says that he has nothing to say about it. He then proceeds to walk away, and Seymour turns to Yuna instead. He is about to start talking with her when Wakka interrupts him. Wakka asks him why he isn't stopping the operation and seems to be supporting it instead. He brings up the teachings of Yevon thing once again here. Seymour admits that he should try to put a stop to it, but he instead urges the two groups in their wish for peace. Their wishes formed this operation, and despite the sacrilege involved, the overall intentions are pure. He claims that he, Seymour Guado, wishes them well as a citizen of Spira, not a Maester of Yevon. Wakka tries to bring up the bit about machina again, but Seymour tells him to pretend he didn't see it. This makes everybody gasp (I honestly laughed a little.), and Wakka says a Maester shouldn't be saying that! Seymour follows that up with pretend I didn't say it. Seymour continues on his way, and Narrator Tidus admits that he didn't like Seymour but felt the things he said did make some sense.
     We continue down the Mushroom Rock Road and are stopped by a Crusader. He informs us that Seymour has requested Yuna's presence at the command center and to take a alternate path ahead. We change rails and head a different path to it. (To be fair, they blocked the other one, so I didn't have much choice here.) As we continue along the rocky cliffs, there are magical Yevon pads that lift me up as I head closer to the command center. They seem to use water or something to life the land upwards...and yet they ban machina use. I do encounter quite a number of monsters as I walk through, but they aren't too challenging really. That...and I'm using an awful lot of Lulu. It seems that 4 out of every 5 enemies tend to have an elemental weakness. Who has the most elemental abilities? Lulu. Simple enough I guess, but it seems unfair to everybody else at times.
     Anyways, as we are getting closer to the command center, we spot a few friendly faces. It's Luzzu and Gatta of the Crusaders! The two seem to be having an argument about the operation. Gatta was ordered to stay at the command center while Luzzu is on the front lines with the rest. Gatta, a newer recruit, wants to jump in on the action because he joined the Crusaders to fight Sin! Luzzu tells him that his orders were to protect the command center, and it does need protection so he should follow those orders. Gatta storms off at this point, and we approach Luzzu. Tidus tells him that Gatta deserves better, but Wakka says that he'll at least be safe here. Of course, the follows this up by questioning Luzzu about the mission. He's all like "WHY SO CLOSE? WHY YOU NO USE MACHINA?!" Luzzu explains that the Al Bhed need time for the machine to get set up, and the Crusaders are supposed to distract Sin until then.
     For some reason, Luzzu decides to drop a little bomb after that discussion. I guess he just feels it is time to come clean...Lulu leaps forward saying NO! because she knows what is about to be told. Luzzu reveals that he is the one who convinced Chappu, Wakka's brother, to join the Crusaders. Wakka isn't too happy to hear this of course, and he punches Luzzu. Tidus starts holding Wakka back telling him that's enough. Wakka starts talking after that though. He says that Chappu was going to propose to Lulu when they finally won the Blitzball cup, but he suddenly just upped and joined the Crusaders before that. Luzzu added in that Chappu told him something about that. He claimed it was good being with your girl, but it was better to keep Sin away from her. It seemed that Lulu knew about this and hadn't told anybody, but she had hit Luzzu as well. A call goes out to the Crusaders to assemble for the operation, and Luzzu heads on out. Yuna begs him not to go, but Auron tells her that she must let him go because they have each chosen their path. So...Luzzu heads onward.
     As we continue along, guess what happens? ANOTHER INTERRUPTION! (Should just call this game Final INTERRUPTION Fantasy.) We are passing a group of machina weapons that look like cannons. Wakka goes up to one and kicks it. Of course, he hurts himself in this move, and Tidus asks why Wakka seems to hate them so much. Lulu chimes as usual and explains that it has to do with Chappu (again). Before Chappu went to battle, he left the sword Wakka gave him in Besaid and used an Al Bhed machina weapon instead. Wakka overhears her and claims that has nothing to do with his hate. He simply hates the sacriligious-ness of the things regardless. In the area below, the Crusaders are loading the last of the Sinspawn into a large cage below. Wakka is convinced that the plan will fail, but Yuna tells him to not say that. It might be against Yevon's teachings, but the Crusaders and Al Bhed are just doing their best to defeat Sin and rid Spira of it forever, just like them. Wakka gives in to that idea, but he makes a point of stating he still dislikes machina. As they are finishing up, a lady comes up and tells us to head on to the command center. (I AM TRYING TO! SO MANY SCENES!) She says that Seymour is waiting on us along with another Maester that has shown up.
     As I approach the command center, I talked with a few of the Crusaders, and one of them re-explained their entire operation to me. The cannons we just saw were provided free of charge by the Al Bhed, and they are going to be part of the initial strike on Sin. The large cage of Sinspawn is for attracting Sin in since it always comes to retrieve its spawn. The Chocobo Knights and other Crusaders will distract Sin and hold it at bay while the Al Bhed get ready. Once ready, the Al Bhed will use their super weapon (whatever it is) to deliver the final blow!
     Onward to the command center!...After talking to Gatta. We run into a disappointed Gatta who just wants to fight Sin like everybody else. Auron says that he can prove himself by completing the tasks he is given first, but Gatta is still unsure. Talking with him again gives me a split of dialogue. I can either suggest he go to the front lines anyways, or tell him that guarding the command center is also important. I go with guarding the command center because it is important and other reasons. (Will reveal those later if you don't find it obvious when the times comes.) I finally make it to the command center and meet another Maester of Yevon. (There's four Maesters apparently.) He is Maester Kinoc. He leads the warriors monks and is the commander of the Crusaders. (Also one of the four.) Like many before him, he notices Auron and asks where Auron has been the past ten years and what he was doing. Auron says they don't have time for this right now and dodges the question as usual. Kinoc responds by saying that they both know the mission will fail but just to let them dream a bit longer.
     This surprises everybody because honestly...that's pretty messed up. Seymour calls Kinoc and tells him to proceed with the operation. As Kinoc walks off, Auron seems a little surprised to find Kinoc is a Maester now. Kinoc overhears this and tells Auron that a lot has changed in the past ten years, and he re-asks where and what Auron was doing all this time. He simply answers that he was fulfilling the promise of a friend, and he currently still is. (It is referring to Tidus of course.) Before Kinoc leaves us, he asks Auron a final question... Has he seen Zanarkand? Auron doesn't answer that, and we jump over to Yuna and Tidus. She's incredibly nervous and doesn't think the group belongs there right now. Of course, it is a bit late now, and the party is just about to start. They start off by throwing out their lure, the Sinspawn cage. They start electrocuting it in hopes of urging Sin to respond. As the operation is getting started, we get a large greeting from the sky. It's a giant Sinspawn for BOSS BATTLE TIME!
     The large monster from the sky seems to be a scorpion of sorts. It has two claws, a tail, and a main body. Attempts to attack the main body straight-up results in blocking with its claws, so I get to do the runabout method here. I have to eliminate the claws and slowly chip away at the body. The arms eventually come back, but they aren't too hard so it was just a minor annoyance. The tail kept trying to charge a super move of some sort, but I never gave it a chance here. Attacking the tail cancelled that, and I eventually killed it. It took some time, but I managed to beat the scorpion sinspawn with teamwork! However, the big powerhouse for this battle was everybody's favorite sassy black mage, Lulu! I recently acquired the -ra spells with her (Fira, Watera, etc), so she is taking pretty good chunks of health away with each spell. Aside from her, everybody else was simply chipping away where they could. As the battle finished, the game switches over to story mode with cutscenes!
     At this point, Sin is fully approaching the small beach area. The cannons start firing upon Sin and knocking off pieces of it. Unfortunately, these pieces are turning into fiends somehow and heading for the beach. The Chocobo Knights charge the beach and start fighting the fiends as they approach. Right this moment, things look pretty hopeless for the operation. Eventually, Sin decides to stop playing around and pulls out the big gun...in the form of a shield. The shield expands to cover the entire beach and destroys everything there...Sin monsters and Crusaders alike. The blast was pretty bad, and Yuna wakes up to find the rest of them are missing. On a bigger note, Seymour is being attacked by the Sinspawn from before (the one I beat...or thought so), and Yuna goes over to help him. Auron appears from nowhere and joins the two for BOSS BATTLE TIME PART TWO!
     The battle is the same as it was last time, but the Sinspawn was quite a bit weaker this time. That and I get Seymour for this battle!

Seymour Guado

He comes with Level 2 Black and White Magic, and that means he can use most of the -ra spells! With Auron and Yuna's support, we easily defeat this Sin-jerk for a second time! Continuing with the rest of the world, the monstrosity that is Sin turns towards an incredibly large and previously unseen tower. It seems that this is the super weapon that the Al Bhed were preparing. We see the Al Bhed getting the weapon all ready and aimed. Then...it fires! The tower seems to be a giant tesla cannon and is firing lightning all on Sin. Sin is blocking the attack off with its outer shield, and it seems like it is actually going to push through! However, as it seems to get right at the breaking point, the shield reverses and pushes the lightning right back at the tower. This destroys the tower, and the operation is a failure.
     Tidus is waking up on the beach, and there are dead bodies all about. I walk up on Gatta who is freaking out on the spot, but obviously, anybody would with all the horribleness around. As we turn about, Sin is turning around and heading back out to sea. Tidus yells at Sin to not run away from him! (He's referring more to the belief that Sin is Jecht right now of course.) We then jump to Yuna who is determined to do something. She starts trying to summon an Aeon, but Seymour is telling her it won't work! He finally yells at her to stop and tells her she is too weak to make a difference now. Yuna says she has to do something, but Seymour tells her that she just can't.
     We go back to Tidus who is currently attempting to swim after Sin. Narrator Tidus informs us that he doesn't know why he chased after Sin. Maybe he thought he could return home, but he starts off on another Jecht flashback. Tidus (kid version) is talking with his dad about some rumors. They say he doesn't practice anymore and drinks all the time. Jecht claims he is still the best Bltizball, and that he can quite drinking at any time. Tidus tells him to stop right now! Jecht responds by saying that he doesn't have to do it and might try to stop tomorrow. As the flashback ends, Tidus wakes up on the beach and realizes that he did sense Jecht somewhere. He also wonders how many people died today and sees Yuna over performing the Sending for all those that have died. Tidus wonders when Yuna will stop dancing as it seems to happen too often and too much. He comes to the realization that it will only stop when Sin is gone.
     I go to leave the beach and Auron approaches Tidus. He comments that many people's stories ended today, but Tidus's still goes on. Sin had come and gone, but Tidus was still there. (He explains it more later.) Auron goes up to Kinoc and tells him that it was simply a swift retreat on Sin's part. He mentions that the unbelievers died today while those faithful to Yevon lived on. He asks Kinoc if he was satisfied with this, and Kinoc simply answers that Auron has changed and walks away. We jump over to Yuna who is being approached by Seymour. He tells her that she is now more than ever a living hop for Spira. People are expected to mourn their losses, but she must remain a shining spot of hope in all of it. The Summoner is Spira's last hope for defeating Sin, so she can't relent until that is done. He asks if she is afraid and tells her to take him as her Pillar of Strength. He says that Yunalesca had her Lord Zoan and bids farewell without explaining that at all. (It does cover it later, but not for a bit.)
     As I go to leave AGAIN, Auron catches me for another little bit. He tells Tidus once again...Sin is Jecht. Tidus admits that he felt the presence earlier but isn't ready to believe Auron. Auron claims that Sin came here for him. Tidus exclaims that he killed all those people JUST to see him? Auron says that Jecht wanted to show Tidus this because that is what Sin does. Auron asks if he knows why he wanted to do this. Tidus of course answers no, and Auron says it is because Jecht wants Tidus to kill him. As Sin, Jecht will keep on killing and wants Tidus to put a stop to that. Finally, Tidus asks how Auron knows all this, but of course, he doesn't answer him. Tidus tells Auron not to run away, but he says that Tidus is the one running. We walk off and find the rest of the group waiting on us. We head down the road and make our way to the next temple.
     Before going too far, Kimahri says his very first words! He says that Yuna is trying to be a bright spot among all this darkness. When people are worried, she tries her hardest to make up for it and that we need to try harder for her sake. Tidus stupidly says "Don't worry, be happy?" Kimahri claims that he will try harder as well. Tidus tells him to try and smile, and Kimahri smiles...quite awkwardly. After the little talk, we continue down the Djose Highroad. I hit a save point midway and play several rounds of Blitzball. I did pretty well in those many games, but I got cheated over by a faulty system! It's based on a lot of random factors, and I feel like it screwed me over a couple of times. Oh well! I head on down Djose Highroad and come to a two-pronged road. Tidus decides to ask how far away Zanarkand is. They go over the details of quite a long path ahead. There are several places they have to pass through, and along the way, they have a lot of temples for Yuna to stop and pray at. Summoners have to obtain all the blessings and Aeons before they can attempt the final summoning. Basically...we have a long way to go! We are about to make it to another temple ahead though, so it's time to move right along.
     As the group leaves, Auron warns Tidus not to tell Yuna about the Sin-Jecht thing. He believes that if she knew she would distance herself form Tidus and things would just get weird among all of them. Tidus asks why Auron told him right now then. Auron believes that Tidus needed to know now as to not get emotional about it at a bad time. He heard that Tidus was a bit of a crybaby...Tidus admits it to himself as Auron walks away. We continue down the road and MORE INTERRUPTIONS! We meet up with some of the surviving Crusaders (who are currently excommunicated mind you), and they are going to rest at a nearby temple. Apparently, the believers are going to be nice enough to house them during their time of crisis. Among those survivors are the last of the Chocobo Knights. They are down to only the single surviving Chocobo and are planning to go get more...since they can't really be Chocobo Knights without them. Of course, all the Crusaders I pass by are like "Oh noooo, we should have NEVER forsaken Yevon or the teachings!", but I have different feelings on that. Especially after what a certain Maester said about the whole thing.
     I approach a rather large mushroom rock formation, and it explodes open with rocks and electricity! This places, known as Thunder Mushroom Rock, houses the Djose Temple. Apparently, it does that little show of rocks and electricity when a Summoner has come up seeking the fayth. They believe someone is currently inside so...we head right in ourselves. As I approach the entrance, I find Gatta just nearby. Talking with him reveals some sad news, He said that he found Luzzu...torn in half. He doesn't know what to do with himself now, and he decides to return to Besaid after all that. I continue inside and meet with another summoner (to add to the list) as he is leaving the Cloister of Trials.
     As we approach, he asks Yuna's name to confirm if she is Lord Braska's daughter. She asks if he knew him, but he said he didn't but sort of just could feel it. He introduces himself as Isaaru and talks briefly with Yuna. They talk about a race between themselves to beat Sin first (kinda strange but whatever motivates you I guess?), and Yuna accepts. Isaaru goes to leave at this point, so I decide to go and enter the Cloister of Trials. As the rest of the group ascends the stairs, Isaaru's group approaches Tidus and warns him of something. It seems that a lot of summoners have been disappearing lately. They think it could be fiends, but the disappearance rate is too fast for it to truly be that. Tidus keeps that in mind and enters the Cloister of Trials.
     The Djose Cloister of Trials was all electricity-themed for this bit. Of course, it's not a very hard trial to complete, but I do have to run back and forth constantly. It's kinda annoying allowing me to only carry one sphere at a time, but I've already complained about that, so let's move on. I did end up checking a guide at one point, because I was completely confused in what I needed to do. It was mostly confused because there were like 6 different places for spheres, and I only needed two for the moment. The end result was activating an elevator that took me up and into the next floor. (I don't want to explain it because it seems pointless to. I apologize._ Up there, I just had to activate a group of switches and reveal the opening to the fayth. It also allowed me to place the Destruction Sphere and unlock the hidden treasure! It was a Magic Sphere for unlocking Magic on the Sphere Grid! Yaaaay...Moving right along. We go up, Yuna enters the fayth to pray, and the group waits.
     As we are waiting, Dona and her Guardian Barthello shows up. Barthello spots Auron in the corner and approaches him. He asks if he can shake Auron's hand since he is the reason he became a Guardian. Auron does so, and Barthello talks about never washing that hand again. Dona says she'll  cut it off if he touches her with it. After some time, Yuna comes out all exhausted and such. Dona approaches her and decides to turn on "bitch mode". She tells Yuna that she owes a lot to her father. All the guardians at her command plus the famous Sir Auron. Even the great Maester Seymour has taken an interest in her. Dona claims that the world must be different as Lord Braska's daughter. Yuna says it has nothing to do with her father, and she is travelling on her own to be a summoner. Dona tells her to try standing on her own because someday her Guardians won't be there when the time comes. /end scene The Aeon I got from this temple wasn't Ramuh but instead a lightning horse named Ixion.
     The group wakes up the next day, but Yuna doesn't seem to be around. She was up all night tending to the hurt and performing Sendings for the fallen. I look around and find her still asleep at the temple. She gets up and around and goes to apologize to everybody. They make fun of her bedhead and the group begins to laugh. (Ah the sound of laughter...) From here, it is time to return to Djose Highroad and head for the next temple. Along the way, we meet back with the Chocobo Knights. They ask if Yuna will be okay after working so hard and plan to head north to find more Chocobos. They head on out, and we follow not too far afterwards. Coming back to the fork in the road, we are heading the other way to cross something called the Moonflow.
     While heading towards the Moonflow, we meet up with the pair of Ronsos from earlier. (The ones who picked on Kimahri) They are here to pick on him again, but they are also here to warn him. They talk of the same thing that Isaaru warned us about. Summoners are disappearing around here, and Kimahri had best watch out. Kimahri lost his horn and will lose his summoner next! They head off after mocking him, and the group talks a bit. Tidus asks Kimahri what their deal with him is. Kimahri says that it is between them, and he will deal with that when the time is right. Tidus says he will help him, but Kimahri says he must do it alone. Wakka is all for letting Kimahri deal with his Ronso problems. Lulu says she is worried though...about the summoner problem. Tidus jumps in and says that as long as they do their job as Guardians, it shouldn't be a problem. Everybody realizes Tidus was right, and we move right along.
     Moving through the road, I encounter quite a few Ochus as I go. They're a common occurring enemy in the Final Fantasy universe. They're a plant monster with giant tentacle arms and a large sharp-tooth filled mouth. They aren't too hard to deal with, but they have enough HP to make them seem like mini-bosses. I had to fight quite a few while passing through. Along the way, I ran into Belgemine again. She's the summoner from Mi'ihen Road who did the Aeon Vs. Aeon fight with Yuna. She greets the group and tells Yuna that she heard about Operation Mi'ihen. She says it should be obvious that machina aren't the answer, and in the end, only the summoners can defeat Sin. Yuna realizes this and knows she must train harder to accomplish it. Belgemine challenges Yuna to another Aeon fight, and the battle begins!
     With this fight, I get another Aeon tutorial of their abilities. Belgemine brings Ixion into the battle, and that forces me to use Ifrit of course. It seems like I've got the battle under control, but she eventually casts Haste on Ixion and starts turning it around. The game shows up to say that her Ixion knows Haste while mine does not and explains that Aeons have the ability to learn new spells as I progress through. As far as the battle goes, it's a pretty close fight, but I manage to pull out and win...with only 12 HP left! Belgemine congratulates me and rewards me with items that can be used to teach spells. I then get the remainder of the Aeon Abilities tutorial. Basically, I can teach them a large range of new spells. Each spell has an item cost that must be paid to teach them the spell. It's pretty nice to be able to teach them such a wide range of abilities, but you have to do it on a per-Aeon basis. This means it is a pretty expensive venture when teaching them new spells and abilities. Seeing as I don't really have anything, I skip teaching them any new abilities for the moment and continue along the road. At the rate this game is going, I figure I'll have a tutorial for the final boss battle explaining that beating that boss also beats the game.
     Pushing forward a bit more brings me to the Moonflow. The Moonflow appears to be a very large river. The river is quite pretty with Moon Lillies, and one of the group members talks about how the river glows brightly and beautifully with pyreflies late at night. Tidus thinks they should stay until night to see it, but Auron says they can't and must continue along. Tidus proclaims that they come back after defeating Sin to see it. The group moves right along, and I quickly discover our mode of transportation across the water. We are crossing the Moonflow via a large elephant-like creature called a Shoopuf. We ride on its back, and it simply walks over the lake. Yuna talks about when she rode a Shoopuf once. It was back when she was very young. She fell off the Shoopuf, but the Shoopuf picked her up with its trunk and put her back on. Kimahri stepped in and said Yuna did it three mores times because it was so much fun. The event had made Kimahri quite worried. Yuna apologized for that, but Kimahri said it was okay since she was happy.
     Before boarding the Shoopuf, I have to walk around a bit and talk to people. There are several merchants here, and each one is trying to sell me something different at all forms of pricing. I didn't have a lot of money, so I only bought a few items here. After that, I started talking with the various and scattered members of the group. Auron had an interesting story to tell me. Apparently, Jecht was drunk when he first saw a Shoopuf. He mistook it for a fiend and attacked it. The group ended up offering all their money in apology for Jecht's actions, and Jecht never drank again after that. I also learn that the caretakers and drivers of the Shoopufs are an aquatic race of beings known as Hypellos. Strangely enough, they don't play blitzball, but Maechan (who told us a bit about them) said it's probably because they aren't a very challenge-filled race. Anyways, after talking to everybody, it's time to board the Shoopuf! Next stop, the North Shore of the Moonflow.
     As I traverse the Moonflow, Wakka points out something to Tidus in the water. As he looks down, we see a massive ancient city below the water. Wakka explains that this city was built on a huge bridge that expanded over the Moonflow, but then one day, it sank below the water. Wakka thinks it is a good lesson to not try and defy the laws of nature with their machina and such. Tidus doesn't think that is true at all, and he points out that they all use all forms of machina like the Blitzball Stadiums and such. Lulu steps in and explains that the teachings of Yevon outline what machina they can and can't use. The main kind of machina that is banned is mostly the weapon variety. It's said that a great war was waged over a thousand years ago, and that machina was used to fight this war. Each nation kept building stronger and stronger weapons until they (SUPPOSEDLY) created something powerful enough to destroy the entire world. Then...Sin came. He destroyed all of the cities with their machina and ended the war. Sin became their reward and punishment for letting things go too far...as Wakka is concerned.
     Tidus says that machina aren't evil, and Lulu adds that the machina are only as evil as their users. Wakka blames the Al Bhed for all their usage of forbidden machina. As the conversation winds down, strange sounds spook the Shoopuf. As it comes to a stop, a random Al Bhed shows up out of nowhere and kidnaps Yuna. Tidus and Wakka leap into the water to get her and encounter a large machina holding her hostage! BOSS BATTLE TIME! As I already stated, only Tidus and Wakka were able to jump in after her, so I'm forced to fight this with only two of them. However, it is a pretty easy battle. The giant machina is some strange sub-squid looking thing, but it doesn't throw out a lot of damage. It only has two attacks, and it never actually got around to its second attack. The second attack is where it drops explosive charges on the group, but it has to prepare for it, and I always knocked it down before it finished that. After the final blow hit, the machina broke down, and we retrieved Yuna.
     As we came back to the Shoopuf, Yuna seems to be okay, and so we continue onward. Wakka is even angrier now with all the Al Bhed and wonder why they are doing it. He thinks maybe they're just angry about the Blitzball tournament or the failure of Operation Mi'ihen. Lulu brings up the rumors of disappearing summoners and thinks maybe the Al Bheds are the ones responsible for it. Wakka starts bringing down the blame on Al Bhed, and Tidus sees that it is bothering Yuna. (Remember, she's part-Al Bhed.) Tidus helps to changes the subject by saying that they'll defend Yuna no matter who or what comes at her, so there is no point ragging on the Al Bhed so much. Wakka seems to agree with that point and stops talking about it. Yuna mouths a thank you to Tidus. The Shoopuf makes it to the other side at this point, and we continue our journey.
     The group has landed on the North Shore and is preparing to move out. I continue along the path and find an unconscious person lying on the shore. Upon closer examination, the person is the Al Bhed girl from earlier on...Rikku!

Rikku

Next thing I know, we hit ourselves a nice little cutscene where Rikku is taking off her wetsuit and equipment. She takes it all off and appears as she does above. I'll be honest...cutscene was pretty hawt, and Tidus was giving her this look as it went down. He asks if she is all right, and she says that he just beat her up...Remember!? Of course, Rikku was the Al Bhed piloting the sub machina that we just destroyed. She calls him a meanie for beating her up, and now the rest of the group walks in.
     Of course, Wakka is the first to ask if Tidus knows her. Tidus says that he sorta does and then tells Yuna and Lulu that she is the one he told them about. Tidus almost introduces her as an Al Bhed, but he barely manages to catch himself. Rikku walks over to the girls and tells the rest of the guys that they are going to have a "girls only" talk. They walk away, and Rikku talks with them briefly over at the side. Not sure what it was, but next thing I know, Yuna is approaching Auron and asks if Rikku can be another Guardian. Auron looks her over and says that if Yuna wants her, then she can join. Rikku is the new member of the team, and Wakka is completely clueless to her Al Bhed origin. We move right along and another tutorial! This time, it involves Rikku's abilities.
     Rikku's class is a thief, and she comes along with the Steal ability. Sometimes chests appear in battle alongside monsters. The chests will disappear after battle, and they only have 1 HP so any hit will destroy them. However, Rikku is able to steal from the chests! With her along, you can get some fairly rare and useful items. On top of this, she comes with her very special and pretty awesome Overdrive...Mix. Mix allows you to combine any two items you have to create a single super-powered item! Of course, the first time you mix a combo, it comes out with a random result. However as you learn more formulas, you can learn what makes what and get some really awesome results. Rikku is a pretty cool character, but she does come with a problem...She's insanely behind in levels. It just means I'll have to keep her around in battle until she can catch up with the others. It'll be a long road, but leveling is most of the fun in this game!
     The path we are currently following leads us straight to Guadosalam, the city of Guados. (All about the word Guado it seems.) When we reach there, a Guado approaches the group and introduces himself. He has come here to invite Yuna on Maester Seymour's part. He has urgent business to discuss with Yuna, and of course, we are also invited to come along. As we head inside the city, Rikku stops and explains that she comes with ANOTHER ability! TUTORIAL! With Rikku on the team, I am able to customize my equipment with new abilities! This is by far one of the best things I can do so far. Basically, weapons have slots on them that hold their abilities, but if they have an open slot, then I can customize the weapon by filling that slot with a special ability! The cost here is simply the items required for whatever ability I want to add. This can be anything from HP+ to giving it elemental properties or other awesome and useful things! (There are quite a few, so I won't go into a full list here.) Depending on the abilities you add, the weapon's name will sometimes change to reflect what it does as well. It's pretty cool, but we must move along.
     I look about Guadosalam before heading for Guado Manor (Probably what it is called!). There is quite a bit here in Guadosalam. It's the hometown of the Guado people, and as far as I am concerned, they are basically an elf-type people with funky hair. I also run into the scholar Maechen who explains a few things for me. He talks about the Farplane and Pyreflies. Pyreflies are the lights seen when a fiend or person dies. They are involved in basically every mystical aspect of Spira, like spheres, fiends, visions, and even Aeons! As for the Farplane, it is related with the Pyreflies in a way. The Farplane is where Pyreflies born from a Sending gather at. They appear in the shape of dead people. The Al Bhed have a theory that Pyreflies simply react to a visitor's thoughts and memories and reflect that. Only the dead appear on the Farplane, and nobody living has ever appeared. It's a mystery why, but it is believed that the dead leave a bit of themselves in the hearts of the living. The Pyreflies use their power and borrow that memory to perform their paranormal acts. And that...is that. After learning what I did from Maechen, I decided it was time to continue, so I made my way back to Guado Manor and went inside.
     We wait around a bit for Seymour to get there and are just looking about the place. The walls are decorated with the portraits of past Guado leaders. They all look very similar, but Seymour stands out quite a bit from them. The explanation for this is that Seymour's father, Maester Jyscal, wed a human woman and created the half-human, half-Guado Seymour. We are then ushered into a room with quite a banquet going. The Guado from earlier talks a little about Maester Jyscal. It seems that he was the one who brought the teachings of Yevon to the Guados. He believes that Seymour will help tie the Guados and humans with his duality of race. As he is finishing up, Seymour finally enters in and thanks us for coming. He has invited Yuna here to speak with her of a matter he finds important. Before this though, he has something to show us all.
     He leads us into a giant sphere and a large cutscene ensues. I'm going to just say...It was a very pretty cutscene and looked very well done. As for the content of the scene, it shows the group as they are given a grand vision of the past. They are floating through a currently living and running city of the past. We are being shown Zanarkand from a thousand years ago. Seymour says that a certain person once lived in this great metropolis. Of course, someone (Yuna) asks who, and he responds that Yunalesca lived here. Seymour says that Yuna was named by her father after Yunalesca. He informs us that Lady Yunalesca was the very first to defeat Sin, but she wasn't alone in her task. He claims that she used the power of pure love to fight it, and that love was with a man (most likely) named Lord Zoan. (If you remember my comment from waaay earlier, almost near to the top of the post.) We see a woman embracing an armored man, and the scene disappears. Seymour says something to Yuna during the next bit, but the scene is strangely whited down. We can't hear what he says, but she seems kinda flustered by it. She comes over to the group and reveals...Seymour has asked Yuna to marry him!
     Auron speaks up and says that Yuna has a task to complete. Seymour agrees but adds that like all summoners, she must do more than simply defeat Sin. Her duty to Spira is to bring hope and happiness to all of the people. As such, she is a leader for all of her people. He claims that he proposed to Yuna as a Maester of Yevon. Auron says that Spira isn't a playhouse and a momentary diversion will do nothing but amuse the people. In the end, it won't change anything. Seymour says that the "actors must play their parts" despite that. He does add that he doesn't expect an answer right now and wants her to think on it of course. Auron tells everybody that they are going now, and Seymour bids his farewell while awaiting her reply. He does add a final comment as Auron is leaving. He asks Auron "Why are you still here...Beg your pardon." Auron does stop to see what he has to say. Seymour apologizes and says that the Guado  are keen to the scent of the Farplane and it seems to be about Auron. Tidus decides to give Auron a smell himself, but Auron pushes him aside and leaves...as do the rest of us.
     We head outside and start talking with Yuna. Lulu says that their marriage would bring happiness and unity to the people. Yuna wants the people to be happy, but she doesn't know how she should answer. She plans to continue through her pilgrimage regardless and wait for the answer to come to her. Before that, she wants to visit the Farplane and speak with her father. (Explanation coming soon.) Narrator Tidus brings up a good point here. He wonders why nobody seems to ask her if she actually had feelings for Seymour or not. The group heads on for the Farplane...which is somehow accessible from here. Tidus starts to question it but answers himself in the process. The Farplane is where the spirits of the dead go, and the group is going there now so we can see them? Wakka says he'll understand it more when they get there. As we approach a strange portal, Auron says that he is going to stay behind. He mentions something about it being the past for him and being nothing there for him. Rikku brings up the Al Bhed's belief of what the Pyreflies do and claims that all they see are memories and nothing more. She is staying behind because she prefers to keep her memories inside her and nowhere else.
     With those two staying behind, the rest of us pass through the portal and into the Farplane! The place we end up in is just a small floating platform high above a massive landscape. All around are Pyreflies just flying about and such. Narrator Tidus worries that Yuna seeing her happy parents here might make her consider Seymour's proposal more seriously. Off to one side, Wakka is talking with Chappu and is saying all sorts of things. He talks about giving up Blitzball to become a full-time Guardian. He talks about how Tidus is similar to him and such. Lulu watches on form the side and figures it is time to leave the memories of Chappu behind. Tidus suggests that she find someone else like Wakka! He thinks they get along pretty great. Lulu responds by saying it is more than just getting along together, and he would do well to take note of that. Lulu says that Chappu always thought she looked grumpy, but she remembers those times as her happiest memories.
     Tidus goes over to Yuna who is looking at her parents and remembering the past. She remembers how happy the people of Spira where when her father defeated Sin. She says that they will be happy again if she is able to defeat Sin. She realizes that she needs to do her best to make the people happy, and her happiness shouldn't always be the first thing in mind. She says Tidus should try to see Jecht, and when he doesn't appear, she is happy because she knows that he is still alive somewhere. Tidus is starting to believe that Jecht is Sin now, and he knows that is the reason Jecht didn't appear. Yuna asks Tidus why he hates his father so much, so Tidus explains a bit of it. He talks about how his mom truly loved his father, so when his father left, she lost her will to live. Tidus always felt like his mom cared more about his father than him, and that's when the resentment started. When his father left and his mother despaired, he began to hate him even more. At this point, the group decides to leave the Farplane now.
     As we head out of the portal, the spirit of Lord Jyscal tries to come back through as well! Yuna turns around to send him back. Strangely enough, Auron is acting a big weird at the bottom. The group leaves after that incident and wonder what just happened there. One of them mentions that a strong emotion must have kept him in Spira even after his Sending. Auron thinks he died an unclean death and is stuck here for that reason. (Obviously suggesting something as well...) We head back to the Manor because Yuan has her answer for Seymour. She goes inside by herself, and the rest of the group waits around.
     Tidus asks Lulu what she thinks about the marriage. Lulu claims that she doesn't really care as long as the pilgrimage continues. Tidus asks what she means by that and if she truly doesn't care about Yuna's feelings on the matter. Lulu says that marriage is done for all sorts of reasons and that love isn't necessarily a requirement. She explains that the marriage and defeating Sin are both ways of bringing happiness to the people of Spira. Tidus doesn't really think that and doesn't get how she can. Speaking with Lulu further reveals a bit more of the truth on the matter. She says she wants Yuna to marry the one she loves, but she would have to object if that did happen. That...just sounds confusing at this point.
     Anyways, as I'm waiting for Yuna, I run into Shelinda, the Yevon acolyte, as she's moving about Guadosalam. She says that Maester Seymour just left for Macalania Temple a while ago. He's the high priest of the temple and had business to attend to it seems. Tidus returns to tell the rest of the group this. Of course, we wonder what Yuna is taking so long to do. Jumping over to her, she seems to be trying to talk with Lord Jyscal's portrait. She heads outside and learns from the group about Seymour's leaving. Auron asks Yuna if something is wrong, and she says no. He knows she is lying, but he decides to leave her be for now. We head out of Guadosalam and right into the THUNDER PLAINS!
     Yeah, that is right...the THUNDER PLAINS! It's a large path through Spira where it's constantly storming, and lightning strikes all over. There are various lightning rod towers all about, and they absorb part of the lightning. The group has to head through here to reach Macalania Temple and catch up with Seymour. As we are heading out, Rikku seems kinda scared of it. She jumps at the sound of lightning and doesn't seem to want to continue. Auron eventually says they'll leave her behind, so the group heads on. However, there is more to this area than the lightning...It's time for the Lightning Dodge! The Lightning Dodge is where you walk through the Thunder Plains and attempt to dodge the lightning as you go. It's one of the more memorable side quests in the game, and it is required as part of the ultimate weapons side quest. (I'll go over it when the time gets closer.) I head out and give it a shot right away! I manage to dodge a few here and there, but I don't ever build up a decent number. I head to a nearby lightning tower (where it's safe to stop) and save up my game...To wrap up this post!
     Oh dear me, that turned into a whopper of a post. As usual, I didn't mean for it to get quite this long, but it builds up pretty fast from very little play. I spend half of my playtime making notes just so I don't forget what happened later. Unfortunately, I still forget some of the things that happen! I'm trying my best though, and I do catch most of the details. Anyways, it's a loong post with lots of stuff. I've had the material ready for three or four days now, but I've finally got it together. I hope you enjoyed what you read here, and as always, thanks for reading! Stay tuned for more Final Fantasy X Theater...Coming soon!

Ending Point - Thunder Plains - South.
Current Party -

• Tidus
• Rikku
• Lulu

Goals Accomplished - Made it to the Operation Mi'ihen Command Center after a long journey with way too many extra scenes. Watched the Operation Mi'ihen...as it failed horribly! Continue from the Djose Highroad to the Mushroom Rock Temple. Completed the Djose Cloister of Trials. Crossed the Moonflow using the Shoopuf and dealt with Abeds trying to kidnap Yuna. Recruited Rikku to the team. Made it to Guadosalam and learned about Seymour's intentions. Learned about multiple things throughout and explored Guadosalam. Entered the Farplane and met some dead people. Left Guadosalam and entered the Thunder Plains.
Next Goals - Make it through the Thunder Plains and head for Macalania Temple.

~May the Crystals Guide Me~

Day 69

Game - Final Fantasy X, Day 69
Hours Played/Hours Total - 8 hrs / 13 hrs
Starting Point - Kilika Temple.
Current Goal - Enter Kilika Temple and help Yuna pray or whatever it is they do.

What Happened - Let's push on through Final Fantasy X! With my constant playing, I should cover this game in no time flat.~ Let's get going.
     I left off with the group about to enter the Cloister of Trials, so...we head in! As they enter the room, the group gets on top of a pad in the center so as to enter the Cloister. As Tidus gets on it, Kimahri pushes him right off. Since he isn't actually a Guardian, it is forbidden for him to continue with them. So, I get to wait up above. I go to leave, and it doesn't let me leave either...So I wait for an event! I don't have to wait too long though when Dona comes back in. She asks where the group went, and Tidus points towards the pad. She looks at her Guardian and then has him throw Tidus on the pad. They send the platform down and block the way back. So, I am forced through another Cloister of Trials.
     I won't go into full detail here, but it did take a bit more work this time. There wasn't a lot of options to choose really, so all I did was constantly cycle the spheres around each area. I managed to make it through and obtain the hidden treasure here! Continuing on, I found the rest of the group in the area before the final chamber like last time. They are NOT happy to see Tidus here. Tidus explains that Dona had him thrown down here, but it's still a bad scenario. Apparently, Yuna could get in big trouble for him being here...possibly excommunication! Of course, there really isn't anything they can do now. To break out of that conversation, Tidus asks what's in the chamber beyond the current one. (It is the one only the summoner can enter.) They call it the fayth, and Lulu explains what it is. (She is always the one explaining it seems. XD) The fayth is a statue with someone's spirit inside. Basically, Yevon takes their spirit from the body willingly and places it in the statues. They live forever trapped in this form, but this is where the summoner comes in! Summoners make some sort of pact with the fayth, and this allows them to bring forth the soul of the fayth in the form of an Aeon. The summoner goes inside and prays to the fayth for a way to defeat Sin. Only summoners are allowed to enter the fayth, and Guardians are forbidden from going inside.
     As they are finishing up, Yuna comes out from there and is exhausted once again. As the group goes to her, Narrator Tidus chimes in...with useful information! (It really surprised me.) He says that the song being sung at the temple is one from his childhood in Zanarkand. This leads him to believe that Spira and Zanarkand are most definitely connected. Interesting...Anyways, the Aeon I received from this was Ifrit! Of course, that feels fairly obvious considering the temple is all fire-themed. With a new Aeon in the bag, it's time for us to leave this temple. Just like last time, the people gather about her as she is leaving. Apparently, the people really like themselves some summoners! I guess they are saviours of the people or whatever. We push through and head back to Kilika Village. Once there, we board the boat and get ready to head for...Luca!
     Luca is the next location on our group's journey, and it's also where the Besaid Aurochs are participating in the Blitzball tournament. While the boat sails on, I get to explore it again. Yuna is off to one side and talking with the Luca Goers. Let me just say...These guys are a bunch of assholes. They start talking bad about the Aurochs and Tidus. Yuna brought up that Tidus used to play for the Zanarkand Abes, and they find this stupid and silly. However, she follows up by defending Tidus. She truly believes that his Zanarkand does exist! They walk off, and Tidus asks why she feels so strongly about it. She explains that Sir Jecht used to tell her stories about it. She tells Tidus that she truly wishes to see it someday. They talk a bit more, but I stopped paying attention nor did I take notes. Also, there was more interesting things afoot!
     While walking about, I stumble upon a very interesting and lengthy conversation between Wakka and Lulu. The topic at hand...is Tidus. The group is planning to leave him in Luca. Of course, that was what Wakka had planned from the beginning. He figured someone in that area would just know Tidus and be able to help. Lulu blames Wakka for having Tidus around since he's the one who wanted to help him. Now, Yuna is interested in Tidus being a Guardian, and that's a problem somehow. Lulu thinks the main reason behind it is because she believes that Tidus is Sir Jecht's son. Wakka listens to all this, and his final answer is that it all comes down to Tidus and Yuna. Lulu seems surprised by his answer and agrees that he's actually right. She follows up by telling Wakka that he should ask Tidus to be Yuna's Guardian. Lulu doesn't think she will because of Tidus's feelings on his father. She figures that Yuna will ask in a way that involves his father coming up in the scenario. Wakka plans to ask Tidus after the tournament finishes. I listen in a bit longer, but there isn't anymore on that situation.
     From there, I head to the front of the ship and find a lone blitzball. Tidus picks it up and starts to have yet another flashback! (Seriously, that kid is all about the flashbacks.) The biggest thing I get from the flashback... Jecht is a horrible father. Basically, the kid tries to pull off this famous move called the "Jecht Shot" and messes up. Jecht makes fun of him for it and shows him how it is done. I'd like to add that it looked fairly hard and making fun of a kid attempting to do it seems just lame really. After that little piece, we come back to reality, and Tidus tries to pull off the Jecht Shot right there on the ship. It requires a little button pressing sequence where Tidus tries to push through Jecht berating him about it. So...he does pretty good then fails. Yuna is watching Tidus during all of this so I go talk with her. She asks if he was attempting to do the Jecht Shot. Tidus asks how she knew about it, and she says that Jecht showed it to her when she was a kid. Tidus goes off into a story about Jecht and the Jecht Shot, but it's mostly irrelevant here. (I'm sorry, it's got very little to do other than Tidus hating him.)
     The biggest thing learned here is that Jecht is famous in Spira for being Lord Braska's Guardian. (Just a reminder, that is Yuna's father.) Tidus does inquire if Jecht is still alive, but she doesn't know. He starts talking with Yuna for a bit and asks if she has the same problem with her father being famous as well. She says that it is, but she also thinks it is a big honor to have a father that has surpassed so much. Tidus talks bad about his father for a bit. Yuna says he shouldn't talk like that, but he claims that he has the right to. Wakka comes out to tell them it's time to sleep. They head in, and Narrator Tidus chimes in. Tidus doesn't think he'll find anything at Luca, but he has a feeling that something bad will happen. Thanks Captain Snobby Foreshadow!
     As the ship is pulling into Luca, we get to see a nice cutscene showing it all. Compared to the meager villages before, the city of Luca is massive and chocked full of people. Eventually, we come around to the Blitzball arena as the giant sphere of water is starting to fill up. This just made me wonder...They're super un-advanced as far as technology goes, but how do they magically fill up a giant ball of water for underwater soccer? Question never answered. As we are pulling up to the docks, a pair of announcers start talking about all the teams showing up. The ones most prominently told were the Kilika Beasts, Besaid Aurochs, and Luca Goers. After they mention those, they start talking about how the Luca Goers are the favorites to win because they won last year. After that announcement, Tidus steps up on a platform and uses a megaphone to inform them that they will lose! (Yeah...kinda makes an ass of himself.)
     As this is wrapping up, everybody starts getting all excited about something and heading elsewhere. The name "Maester Mika" is mentioned and is said to have shown up today. Lulu explains that Maester Mika is the leader of all the people of Spira. He has come here from Bevelle because the tournament is being held to honor his fifty years as Maester. With that said, the group heads over to see him as well. When we get over there, another new name is learned...Seymour. He's the son of a recently passed Jyscal Guado, and he has recently earned the title of Maester. (Guado is a type of people in this game. Maester seems to be a highly coveted holy title...I think.) Seymour greets everybody and promises to be as good at the job as his father was. He stares Yuna down all weirdly too, but then Wakka calls the team together for a last meeting before their match.
     We jump over to the locker room with all the Aurochs. They are waiting around to hear what Wakka drew for the match. He comes in and tells us that our first opponent are the Al Bhed Psyches. However, they've been seeded! If they win that match, they'll go straight to the finals. This is good news since it gives them a really good chance to make it. Before we go out, I get to learn how to play the mini-game of Blitzball! (Hard to call it a mini-game since it's a full sport more or less.) There's a long tutorial to do here, but I'll try to summarize it. Blitzball is sort of like underwater football with hints of soccer. The playing of Blitzball (from my end) is just controlling when people make their passes and take a shot at the goal. You can manually control the person with the Blitzball or set them to auto, but anybody without the ball are always automatically controlled. You also deal with encounters between your players and enemy players. There is a lot of stats and abilities to deal with all throughout, but I won't go into it.
     As the team is getting ready to go out, Yuna comes in and says that someone spotted "Sir Auron" at a cafe in town! Tidus recognizes the name of course and decides to go with her. Wakka tells him to hurry up and return because the match starts soon. As we head out, Yuna explains that Auron was her father's other Guardian. Tidus, despite his doubt on other things, just knows that this Auron is his Auron! I get to wander about the docks briefly, and I come across some nice items as I do. As Tidus and Yuna are walking, Tidus teaches her how to whistle...because that's how people cheered for Blitzball players in Zanarkand. He also tells her that she can use it to call him when she is in trouble. I explore around a bit more and discover the Sphere Theater. All of the things I can buy here are super expensive, but I figure this is the game's way of letting you watch previous videos and listen to the music. Of course, I can't afford any of it yet, so I don't actually know.
     We got a bit further in, and Tidus comments on how big Luca is. Compared to the previous villages, he just didn't expect such a large city here. Yuna says that Luca is a bit of an exception, and most places are like Besaid and Kilika. If too many people gather, Sin tends to come in and destroy it all. Luca has survived throughout all of this because of the Blitzball Stadium. The Crusaders have always worked to protect Blitzball because it is Spira's only real form of entertainment. It gives people hope and such...Anyways, we head to the cafe and find that Auron isn't there. However, Kimahri is approached and talked to by a couple of Ronsos. They seem to know Kimahri and start talking with him. They ask why he's not talking and talk bad about him. Tidus eggs Kimahri into fighting them, and he punches one of them. Unfortunately, the tournament has also started...and Tidus is here.
     The TVs start broadcasting the start of the tournament. Maester Mika gets up to give a speech before the tournament begins. It's your general speech about the teams and sportsmanship and blah blah blah. As the speech ends, the blitzball sphere is filling up, and the teams are taking their places. The Besaid Aurochs are entering the match to go against the Al Bhed Psyches. We come back to Tidus and Kimahri at the cafe. They just now notice that Yuna is gone. They run outside to try and find her when Lulu shows up. Lulu came to inform us that the Al Bhed Psyches have kidnapped Yuna. They will return her if the Aurochs agree to throw the game. Lulu doesn't believe they will do anything bad to Yuna, but she thinks we should still go get her right away. So...we head back to Al Bhed's ship in the docks!
     As we are making our way around the docks, a group of machina show up and start fighting us. The Al Bheds aren't letting us get there without a fight! For this scenario, I'm forced to use Tidus, Kimahri, and Lulu for all of the battles. Lucky for me, Lulu is the elemental queen! Thunder works wonder on all these damned machines. Even without the Thunder, they aren't too tough of a fight. That...and they are called "Workers", so I can assume they aren't much for fighting. Apparently, the Al Bheds recover all the machina from ruins all over Spira. After we fight our way to the ship, it briefly switches over to the blitzball game. Wakka is taking a beating from the Psyches, and it isn't looking good. The group decides they need to hurry it up because Wakka can't take a lot more. The ship starts to leave the dock, so we have to jump on. As we get on the ship, another machina appears in front of the group for BOSS BATTLE TIME!
     This machina is a bit different from the previous ones, and by a bit, I mean quite a damn bit. It's a monster of a robot, but it also seems to be a blitzball launcher for practicing...ANYWAYS! It has a pretty good amount of health, and it also has a good selection of attacks. Nothing was super powerful, but I'd have to manage between hits and healing quite a bit. Lucky for me, this battle has an interactive shortcut! Off to the side, there is a large crane arm just sitting there. Tidus suggests we use it on the bot to take it down, but it doesn't seem to want to power on. The game heavily suggests that a few rounds of Thunder would certainly get it going. I kept Kimahri on the bot while Lulu shot Thunder at it. Strangely enough, it seemed to focus almost entirely on Kimahri rather than the other two. Guess it maybe just didn't like him attacking it? Whatever! I get the crane powered up, Tidus hits a few switches, and the crane rips the ball launcher off the top of the robot. With its balls gone (hah!), the machina has nothing left to do. Another shot of Thunder from Lulu finishes the monstrosity off.
     As the group celebrates their victory, Yuna pops out of the ship. Trailing behind her is a couple of unconscious Al Bhed. They make sure she is okay of course, and Lulu is glad to see she handled herself there. They start talking about the Al Bhed next. Tidus comments that all Al Bhed can't be bad because a group saved him earlier on, and he starts to wonder if they are okay after the brief ordeal with Sin. Yuna asks Tidus if he happened to meet an Al Bhed named Cid. (Cid is back baby!) She explains that Cid is her Uncle on her mother's side. This makes her half-Al Bhed, and Lulu warns them all to not say anything about Yuna's Al Bhed relation. At this point, the group suddenly remembers that the game is going on! Lulu sends up a magical signal of light into the sky.
     We jump to the arena where Wakka sees it and kicks some ass to win the game! The rest of the group reaches the shore and are heading back in. Lulu looks at the very tired Wakka up on the screen and mentions that Chappu would have made it through while still standing. Tidus comes forward to her and tells her to give Wakka a break. He isn't trying to replace Chappu and wouldn't want to try to. Tidus starts to say more, but Lulu tells him to NOT finish that sentence. Definitely something going on there...Back to the adventure at hand! The group heads back to the locker room, and Wakka is completely out of it. Yuna apologizes to everybody for getting into the situation with the Al Bhed. Wakka asks how she could let them kidnap her in the first place. He warns her that all Al Bhed are trouble and should be avoided. (That's some heavy racism there!)
     Regardless of Wakka's views on things, it's time for the second and final round of the tournament. If the Besaid Aurochs win this, they are the champions. It's time for us to go out, and Wakka finally drops the bomb on everybody. He informs them that this will be his last game, and he will be retiring from blitzball when the tournament finishes. He's beat up enough that he plans to take the bench and let Tidus take his spot on the team for the next match. The group heads out after that to take their place on the field. As they are all heading out, Wakka has a small moment with Lulu. She comments about how he was just floating there at the end. He responds by saying she wasn't supposed to see that. On to the game~
     The game starts up and the first thing that hits me...This team just plain sucks, or it sure seems that way. It doesn't help that their stats are nearly double what our stats are. I tried my best to get through them, but after they scored their first point, I knew it was all over. At halftime (five minutes), the score was 1 to 0 with us losing. I knew I had to step up my game at this point, and then...3 to 0. Everybody is cheering for Wakka. The game stories it up a bit, and Tidus ends up leaving the field/pool/whatever. Next thing I know, Wakka is entering the field, and this game has kicked it up a notch! AAWWW YEA-I still lose. 4 to 0. Do not like Blitzball, but I have seen in a couple places that this match is incredibly hard to win. As the game is now over, Tidus swims back out to Wakka to congratulate him or whatnot. However...we aren't alone!
     Fiends start attacking the stadium. They are all over and chasing after people. On top of that, the blitz-sphere has all forms of fiend-fish in it. We have to fight off quite a group of them, and things are just not looking good. We cut over to Yuna and the rest of the group, and they are all wondering what's going on. Next up, a cutscene plays of a giant bird-looking fiend entering the stadium. And guess who shows up to fight it? Auron!

Auron

Auron comes forward with his whole badass samurai look and starts kicking monster butt. As he finishes one off,Wakka and Tidus quickly show up and join with him to fight off more fiends. We kill off a few more, but the fiends are piling up too fast to beat them. Next thing I know, Seymour makes himself known and informs me of his summoner status...by summoning a giant Aeon into play. The Aeon is very creepy looking and appears to be a mummy bound by chains. It starts blasting all of the fiends into nothingness without breaking a sweat. It's pretty amazing sight to see really...but let's move along
     Next thing I know, the whole event has concluded, and Wakka is saying his goodbyes to the team. He's officially leaving because Yuna needs him as a Guardian. The group is sad to see him go, but he tells them to cheer up because the Blitz season has just begun. He finds Yuna and informs her that he is now full-time Guardian. He turns to Lulu and asks if she learned anything about what just went down. She informs him that nobody knows how the fiends got there, but we do know that Maester Mika is safe thanks to Seymour.
     The game switches over to Auron and Tidus, and I have myself a huge amount of spoilers and game revealing in a matter of like 10 minutes (a bit more when you have to type it all to remember it). Tidus is blaming Auron for everything that has happened to him. Auron laughs at this and reveals quite a bit right here. He admits to helping Jecht and Braska defeat Sin ten years ago. At that time, Jecht asked Auron to go to Zanarkand to watch over Tidus. Tidus asks if Jecht is still alive, and Auron simply states "depends on what you mean by alive". Auron knows Tidus felt the presence when he came into contact with Sin. It was Jecht's presence...because Jecht IS Sin! (Dun dun duuuuuun!) At this point, Auron gives Tidus a choice of what to do. He can come with Auron to figure it all out, or he can leave and go off to do whatever. This just makes Tidus angry because he knows that there truly isn't a choice right here. Auron turns away and heads out. He plans to offer his services to Yuna as her Guardian, and the game continues.../end big-ass reveal
     I get to walk the distance to Yuna, but we find them talking amongst themselves about Tidus. Auron approaches the group and asks if she could use another Guardian. They are more than glad to accept the help of the fabled Auron...best Guardian ever! (Their words more or less) However, they do wonder why he is offering. Auron claims that Braska asked him to do it. (Everybody demands things of Auron it seems...) Auron has one catch though, and obviously enough, his request is that Tidus comes with him as of his promise to Jecht. Yuna asks Auron if he has seen Jecht, but he claims to not have seen him in ten years. She is worried about this, but Auron claims they'll meet again eventually. For now, it is time to head to our next goal! Auron asks Lulu where they are heading next, and Yuna takes Tidus off to the side to talk.
     I'm going to summarize this as best I can...and it just has the stupidest and most awkward part ever. Proceeding that event, Yuna shows Tidus that she can whistle now. Tidus says that is great, but he's still kinda shaken by the news Auron gave him. She asks if he wants to yell again. (He yelled stupidly at the Kilika Temple exit.) Yuna tells him that she feels that summoners and guardians are the only hope left for everybody in Spira. With that in mind, she's learned how to keep herself smiling despite the sadness. She tells him to smile, and he does so awkwardly. That didn't work. Next up, she suggests that he laughs out loud to make himself happy, and thus starts the stupidest and most awkward event so far! Yuna and Tidus are laughing out loud, and I just hate it...so much. The voiceovers are bad enough, but this part just seems stupid.  As they finish their laughing out loud, Yuna quotes Tidus from earlier on. She tells him to "whistle" if they are separated, and she'll come running. As they turn about to face the group, the group stares at them and asks if they are okay or not.
     Now, as for our next goal, we are heading for a Temple at Djose. As we head along the Mi'ihen Road, I'm informed that I can play Blitzball at the save points now. I'm able to scout random people throughout the game as players for the team. A man's statue is placed at one part of the road, and an old man there tells me about the history of the road. The Mi'ihen Road is named after the man who founded the crusaders. Basically, when the crusaders were first formed, Yevon and his followers thought that this group might start an uprising. Mi'ihen traveled this road to go and refute the charges. In the end, the Crusaders became a part of the clergy and gained their current name. (They were Crimson Blades beforehand I believe...I mentioned it in the previous post.) Interesting stuff...I guess.
     As I continue along the road, I get to be privy to ANOTHER tutorial battle! Auron explains that he has the ability to "pierce" enemy armor with his weapon. What he actually has is a weapon with the "Piercing" ability, and Kimahri has one too. SO HA! Basically, enemies with heavy armor will take basically nothing from melee attacks unless you use a Piercing weapon. The characters also constantly bark at me to "Leave that to Sir Auron!" Moving along the road shows all forms of ruined buildings. The old man from earlier explains that these buildings are remnants of an ancient city destroyed by Sin. It seems that humans are nothing in comparison to it. However, Yuna responds that she truly believes in humans holding the power to beat Sin. The old man is glad to hear this from her and introduces himself as Maechen the Scholar. He's travelling all over Spira and looking into the history and secrets of it. He moves on his way...and so do we.
     We start moving along and get interrupted by ANOTHER group. This group is on armored chocobos, and they stop briefly to warn us of something. Apparently, there is a large fiend on the road with a taste for chocobos. They warn us to keep an eye out for it and be careful if we rent a chocobo. They move along, and the group briefly discusses this. Tidus thinks we should go after the fiend and deal with it. Auron asks why it is relevant, and Tidus responds that it's the right thing to do. Auron laughs at this and says that Jecht used to say things like that a lot. Anytime he did say it, it just meant more trouble for Jecht and Braska. After that, I moved right along and fought a few enemies here and there. We eventually meet another summoner named Belgemine. She challenges Yuna to an Aeon fight to test her abilities. So...we get the first of what I hope is many AEON FIGHTS!
     For this battle, Belgemine summons Ifrit, so I'm forced to work with Valefore. As I learned later, the Aeon's stats are based on Yuna's stats. I had to level Yuna up a bit to help increase their abilities, and it was still a fairly close battle. Basically, I had to change between shielding and attacking Ifrit. If I didn't mention it earlier, Aeon's have their own Overdrive attacks, so I had to quickly deal with her Ifrit. It had a little meter below it, and if it got off its Overdrive, I'd lose for sure. I got in my last Blizzard spell (Ice is obviously his weakness) with just enough HP to be considered alive. For my victory, Belgemine gave me an Echo Ring for Yuna. She tells Yuna that she thinks Yuna could beat Sin. Yuna claims that Belgemine will beat Sin long before she does. Belgemine says she can't and walks away. She suggested that she had tried to and failed to do so.
     Before going further, I figure I should explain the equipment system. I haven't really touched down on it, but there's not a whole lot to say here. Each character has two kinds of equipment: weapons and armor. Each type of equipment has its own abilities and slots. Weapons can have elemental type abilities like Firestrike or Waterstrike, and they can have improvements like Piercing or Melee Damage boosts. Armor tends to carry abilities like Health Percent boosts or Immunities to statuses. Weapons and armor seem to come from all sorts of places, but the ones most hidden tend to have the best abilities. Also, weapons tend to have open slots on them, and this suggests that I could add my own abilities somehow. I haven't gotten to that point, but I do look forward to the customization! Let's get back to the game.
     As we head along...SURPRISE! Another scene happens! A little girl and her mother approaches the group. She asks Yuna if she'll bring about a Calm very soon, and Yuna tells her she will very soon. The little girl seems quite overjoyed to hear this, and Lulu explains it for Tidus/the player. The Calm is the period after Sin is defeated where people are free to rest easy for a while. Of course, Tidus asks how many times Sin has been defeated and why it has to be constantly defeated. It seems that Sin is reborn somehow every time it is defeated. (Finally answers that question.) As the road is traversed, we run into Luzzu and Gatta (Crusaders from the beginning in Besaid). They are ragged on by the lady from the Chocobo Knights, but Luzzu manages to appease her by sucking up. The two mention something about being rejected by Yevon and head onward to work on their mysterious operation. It's been brought up several times at this point, and I'm ready to find out what the damn thing is! (I will quite soon it seems.)
     Next in the lineup of "people I met on this darn road" is a disciple of Yevn named Shelinda. When we caught up to her, she was getting ragged on by a Crusader. The Crusader walks off, and she explains what is the up. She's attempting to stop the Crusaders because they are planning to use machina to defeat Sin. (Apparently, it is forbidden to use machina through Yevon's teachings.) Auron comments almost immediately that they won't defeat Sin regardless of how they try to do it. Shelinda responds that it isn't about defeating Sin but upholding Yevon's teachings. However, they won't listen to her because she is just a lowly acolyte. Yuna convinces the girl that her rank doesn't matter, and she compares her to how she was before. (They're both just starting out in the current position and such. blah blah blah) From here, I was just a short run from the rest area.
     Upon entering the rest area, Auron suggests we rest for the night. Wakka is opposed to this because it is run by Al Bheds. Auron asks why that's a problem, and Wakka claims that they don't believe in Yevon and kidnapped Yuna. So...that's reason enough! Auron simply asks him where her Guardians were at. The answer to this is silence all around. Wakka says that he isn't tired, but Auron claims he is, so we are going to rest here. With a place to rest at hand, I look about the place first. There's a shop here too, so I stock up on a few items. Of course, Inns are kinda useless in this game because you are fully healed when you hit save points. As the group rests for the night, Tidus and Yuna have themselves another little pow wow of talking. (Yaaaay....)
     Tidus and Yuna are at a nearby cliff and being absorbed into the beautiful sunset. They begin to talk about a couple of things, and eventually Yuna just says that she hopes she can beat Sin. Tidus says she definitely will and do so over and over again because she is the best! He eventually asks her why Sin keeps coming back. Yuna explains that Sin is their punishment for their vanity and won't go away until they atone for it all. Now Tidus asks what happened to start it all? He wonders if it has to do with the machina, but he doesn't believe that is so wrong really. Of course, this gets Yuna starting to wonder because she never questioned it before Tidus asked. Tidus backs all this up with a horrible analogy involving Blitzball and keeping your eyes on the game. Basically, he tells her to not worry about the future until Si is gone.
     Now it finally hits Tidus though...How are summoners supposed to beat something so big like Sin? Yuna answers that it is through the Final Summoning. The Final Summoning brings in the ultimate Aeon to defeat Sin. This is the goal of a summoner's pilgrimage. The Fayth of the final summoning lies far to the north at the world's edge in Zanarkand. Tidus seems surprised at this and wonders about it. Auron claims that it was all in ruins from a thousand years ago, but regardless of this, Tidus plans to stick with it and see Zanarkand. After their little talk, it's finally time to get some sleeps.
     Upon waking up, I get a second tutorial for the Sphere Grid. The subject this time..are locks! Located throughout the Sphere Grid are locks that keep you from ultimate abilities, extra enhancements, and other people's grid areas! You unlock the locks with key spheres, but of course, there are multiple key levels. The higher the level, the better the goods! Yay for knowledge! After this little explanation, I make my way to leave the Al Bhed agency when I bump into someone. The man is the owner of the place and talks with Tidus briefly about the Al Bhed and their language. He explains that books exist throughout Spira to help translate the language. I have already found quite a few of these, and he gives me another one. Of course, I shall briefly explain. Whenever a person talks in Al Bhed, the script is differently colored and not understandable. Each Al Bhed Primer reveals that a letter in Al Bhed actually refers to a different letter! (example but not necessarily true...A = J) As you collect Al Bhed Primers, their language starts to be automatically translated. Near the beginning of the game, you only have a handful of letters, but as you continue onwards, you start to get more and more and can almost fully understand them. I did unfortunately miss a few of them, but the ones I missed weren't lost to the event and can be gotten later.
     As the Al Bhed finishes up his explanation (and I finish mine), someone outside yells about the chocobos. Of course, the group charges out to investigate the trouble. We find that the large chocobo-eating monster has made his way here, and he currently has a chocobo in hand. The fiend drops the chocobo at one point, and we are stuck in an interesting BOSS BATTLE TIME! The boss had some fairly powerful strikes, but he also had an absurd weakness to Darkness. I just used Wakka's Dark Attack to keep him blinded while we smacked him around. The boss itself wasn't terribly difficult, but this particular boss has another mechanic that occurs as we fight it. As we beat up on it OR it on us, the one receiving the damage is pushed back to one side or another of a rather large cliff on both side. Thus, the battle is a fight to both defeat the monster and do so before we get pushed off. I did honestly get pushed off one time, but it wasn't so much a Game Over as it was a disappointment. I reloaded and managed to beat it the next time!
     With the creatures death, the owner comes out to thank and reward us. He offers us a free Chocobo rental for defeating the monster. (Not much of a reward since rentals are kinda cheap...but whateva) I immediately take him up on the offer and use the chocobo to continue my journey. Of course, while riding a chocobo, I don't have to fight any fiends along the road. I also gain access to otherwise unobtainable treasures. None of the treasure was super amazing persay, but it was nice to get it all anyways. I eventually dismounted the chocobo and did some extra training while I could. Sphere levels aren't too hard to get, but I try to gain some extra where I can. Continuing on through the road eventually brought me to the end, but unfortunately for our group, the road had been blocked off by the Crusaders. I also spotted Dona there trying to continue on, but they wouldn't let her through, so she was mad about that.
     When I initially try to move on, we spot Luzzu and Gatta again. They are preparing for this ultimate Crusader's operation that they keep going on about. They are escorting a large carriage with what appears to be a fiend inside. This just brings up more questions, but they are about to be answered. I go around and start talking with the Crusaders who lovingly give away the majority of the plan. Basically, they have collected various Sinspawns all over Spira, and they plan to use them to lure Sin into a trap. The operation is a joint effort between the Crusaders and the Al Bhed. (It seems they hate Sin too...but who wouldn't in this world?) The Crusaders will lure Sin in, and the Al Bhed will attack it once it is in place. The biggest conflict here is that they are planning to make use of machina in the operation. As it turns out, the Crusaders taking part in this operation are being excommunicated for their use of machina here. The Crusader telling me all of this hopes the mission is a success, or they will all be outcasts after this.
     Since we can't continue further in, I decide to turn around and run smack dab into Seymour. He asks Yuna if there is anything he can do for her, and she explains the situation. Seymour walks past us and talks with one of the Crusaders. While talking, they mention something about a command center up ahead. Seymour asks that Yuna and her guardians be let through. The guard tries to argue with him, and Seymour says that he'll take full responsibility for it. So...we are allowed through! (And this angers Dona who turns back at this point.) Tidus speaks up and asks who Seymour thinks he is (not to his face of course :P). Wakka tells Tidus that he's a Maester, and there isn't much you can do against a Maester since they seem to have all the power!
     Before going any further, I hit the nearby save point and try out a game of Blitzball. The Blitzball mini game is playable from any save point after the tournament. On top of gaining Blitzball experience (because that's totally important somehow), you can also earn items by winning the tournament. I decided to jump on a new tournament and get started right here. I only played one game, but I actually didn't do too bad! I had the luck of getting a second match against the Luca Goers. Despite this, I managed to score several goals and come out ahead of it all though! I was fairly excited about this, but I also had to run away with the ball once I was ahead. It's basically the easiest way to win these games. Score more than the opponent and just play keep away with the ball. Regardless of my shameful tactic, I won the game! However, I feel I've done more than enough for this post, so I saved the game here and quit for now.
     Let me just say...daaaaamn there is a lot going on. This game isn't holding back anything, and it seems to give away information as if it were a free thing (like it should be). Seems crazy how much people will tell you if you just take the time to talk with the NPCs. Regardless of all this, I am enjoying the game so far. The story isn't the best, but it isn't too shabby either. The only problems I'd have at this point are the countless tutorials, characters yelling at me about Sir Auron in battle, and the horribleness of stupid parts, like Tidus and Yuna laughing out loud. I just wanted to smack them both at that point. I've actually had the majority of this post ready for a while, but I've finally gotten around to typing it up. My current pace keeps leaving me with more content than I need per post. Thus, I end up starting a second post before the current one is finished. It's nice to have it all laid out and a bit of a buffer, but the hardest part is forcing myself to take the time to type it all up. Ah well, when I finally do get around to it, the post seems to just fall together.
     As always, I thank anybody for reading, and I hope you all look forward to the next post! I've got to keep trucking through FFX if I plan to beat it before the month is up. Lucky for me, it's going pretty well so far, so I feel my goal is easily obtainable. And...done!

Ending Point - Mi'ihen Highroad - North End.
Current Party -

• Tidus
• Wakka
• Lulu

Goals Accomplished - Completed the Cloister of Trials at Kilika Temple plus hidden treasure! Obtained a new Aeon, Ifrit. Learned quite a bit about the characters and environment. Made it to the Blitzball Tournament at Luca. Rescued Yuna from the Al Bheds. Participated in the Blitzball Tournament but lost to the Luca Goers. Got a big reveal of information from Auron. Recruited Auron as one of Yuna's Guardians. Learned some Spira history. Did my first Aeon versus Aeon battle and succeeded (barely). Talked to way too many extra people. Defeated the Chocobo-Eating Monster. Made it to the end of Mi'ihen Road.

Next Goals - Head for the "Command Center" and find out what the Crusader's operation is all about most likely.

~May the Crystals Guide Me~