This is a process that will take a lot of money, and a lot of time. Expect
to spend at least 2-3 hours before attaining the Golden Chocobo. However,
the time is well worth it, because when you recieve a Golden Chocobo, you
can attain the most powerful Summon Materia in the game - Knights of the
Round. So, if you've got plenty of Gil and have a few hours to spend, let
the breeding begin. I recommend you read this ENTIRE document before you
start, and you should probably print it out as well.
Additionally, you must be quite far in the game (you must have the airship)
before you begin. I find that it helps to wait until much later, because you
will have a lot of money.
Buying your Stalls
The first thing you need is to purchase stalls (where else are your Chocobos
going to stay?). Go to the Chocobo Farm (the easternmost dot on the eastern
continent) and talk to the man inside the main house. When you are presented
with options, the top option will be to purchase a stall for 10,000 Gil. You
need to buy six of them, so keep doing this until you have six.
Capturing Chocobos
There are several locations in the world where Chocobos can be found, marked
by Chocobo tracks on the ground. However, each set of tracks has a certain
type of Chocobo associated with it, so only 3 of the locations are of any
use. The Chocobo Types will be covered in a moment. At each of these
locations, while you are carrying the Attract Chocobo Purple Materia, you
will have a chance of encountering a Chocobo during a random overworld
battle. If you do encounter them, kill all of the enemies (make sure you
don't hit the Chocobo!) and then the battle will end and you will be riding.
Press X to dismount, and then it will ask you what to do with the Chocobo:
Choice
Question:
Send this Chocobo back to the farm?
#1: Yes
#2: No
You may capture up to four Chocobos at a time before you must go back to the
farm and either keep them or get rid of them.
Chocobo Farm
The boy in the farm gives you a huge list of options - here is the
translation:
Buy
Ask Questions About...
Food
Mating Chocobos
Chocobos in the pen outside
Taking the Chocobos outside
Chocobo Classes
Never Mind
Put Chocobo in Stable
Put this one in
Let this one go
Pick a different Chocobo
Feed Chocobo - (Choose food, Choose Chocobo, number is amount of food)
OK, feed the chocobo
No, don't feed the chocobo
Pick a different Chocobo
Mate Chocobos - (pick two chocobos, then choose food)
Choose this chocobo
Choose another chocobo
Quit
Let a Chocobo Go
Ride a Chocobo out of the Barn
Never Mind
Chocobo Types
When you are selecting Chocobos back at the farm, the way they look
determines how healthy and active they are. There are several different
types, but only three are useful:
Useless: Standing Chocobos (Standing & Swaying), Bad Chocobos (Walking
with head down)
Walking: Head up, walking
Running: Head up, running
Dashing: Head down, running extremely fast
If they are standing still or not moving, simply get rid of them (Second
choice)
Selecting Chocobos & Gender
When you get a Chocobo of the type you are looking for, choose the first
choice to keep him. After you do this, the boy will tell you what gender he
is. (We're breeding them, so gender is *very* important). After you select
them, he will tell about the Chocobo - in the second line of Japanese
characters, the first character is how you determine the gender. If the
character is curvy and has a line through it, it is a girl. If the character
is all straight lines, it is a boy. After choosing them, you get the
opportunity to name them - I also usually put a number on the end of their
name denoting what level of Chocobo they are, because you will need to know
the level during the breeding process - ie: "Crow2" = Running Chocobo,
"Sarah3" = Dashing Chocobo
Chocobo Tracks
The locations in which to find the good types of Chocobos are:
Southeast of Golden Saucer: Walking Chocobos
Southern Island (Where Cloud was in a coma): Running Chocobos
Although these places are the only places you can get these types of
Chocobos, not every Chocobo captured there will be the correct type - you
will also find some useless ones.
Chocobo Sensei
On the northern continent - the one shaped like a Chocobo, oddly enough (: -
there is a man who is the Chocobo Sensei. He can sell you the best feed for
your Chocobos (feed is covered below). If you talk to the Green Chocobo here
you will recieve an "Enemy Special" Yellow Materia. His house is near the
center of the continent, and you can find it if you fly directly northwest
from Bone Village - it is a house in the snow with a patch of green around
it (so you can land).
Riding your Chocobos
The second from the last option in the boy's menu (see translation above) is
"Ride Chocobo out of Barn". When you do this, you are free to roam the
entire world. You can also board your airship as you normally would, and the
Chocobo will be with you when you disembark. If you dismount from a Chocobo
while you are riding it, it will stay in that place until you go to it
again. If you want to return it to the Farm, simply ride it back into the
Farm and it will go back to its stall.
Chocobo Racing
If you go back to the Golden Saucer, you may race your Chocobos to improve
their class and to gain items. The way you race is to go up to the girl on
the left side of the Chocobo Racing room, and talk to her. She will ask you
three questions:
Choice
Question:
Do you want to race?
#1: Yes (Select Chocobo to race from list)
#2: No
Choice
Question:
Are you sure you want this one?
#1: Yes
#2: No
Choice
Question:
Which track would you like?
#1: Short
#2: Long
After this, you will be presented with a screen where you can find out the
stats of your Chocobo and the Chocobos you're racing against. If you have
one of the top 2 speeds (or are simply faster than everyone else), you will
have no problem. Occasionally there will be a black racer who is incredibly
hard to beat, but he won't always appear, so if he beats you just try again.
During C and B classes, the computer can probably win for you, but on the A
and S classes, it is helpful to race yourself. A handy tip for racing (this
lets you win even if you have lower top speed than the other people) is to
switch to manual control and hold down R1 & R2 & Square. This will make you
run faster, and it will keep your dash meter at a constant.
Each Chocobo starts as class "C". To advance your class, you must take 1st
place in three races (it does not matter which course you use). There are
four classes - in order, they are: "C" - "B" - "A" - "S". Each time you
advance a class the other racer's abilities increase as well.
To increase their top speed and stamina, you need to feed them. Feed can
either be bought from the Chocobo Sensei, or from the boy in the barn. The
Chocobo Sensei's food is much more effective (and expensive) though.
Basically, stuff your Chocobos full of food to increase your stamina and top
speed. The Top Speed has a limit, but you should be able to use a Dashing
Chocobo and simply feed him and take him to the "S" class. Now that I've
covered the basics, here is how you breed different kinds of Chocobos. The
first two kinds that you can get are Green & Blue. Green Chocobos can run
over any mountain in the game, and Blue can run over any river - thus making
them extremely useful for accessing some items.
To breed them, you need four Chocobos - a male & a female Walking Chocobo,
and a male & female Running Chocobo. Go to each of the locations (Walking is
found near Golden Saucer, Running is found on the island where Cloud was in
a coma) and capture Chocobos until you have each gender of each level.
Once you have one of each, you need to find the proper seasoning. Go to the
Chocobo Sensei's house, and land on the patch of grass. Now, equip the Steal
Yellow Materia on one of your characters. Run around on the grass until you
encouter a large red dragon (the only other enemy are Squirrels). As soon as
you start fighting him, start stealing from him. Eventually, you will get
the item (after stealing, you will recieve a message ending in an
exclamation point indicating success). Either kill him or run from him, but
you need to do it three times so you can get three pieces of seasoning.
Once you have the seasoning, go back to the Chocobo farm. Save your game
before entering, and then go up to the boy and select "Breed Chocobos". (See
menu translation above). Choose your male Walking Chocobo and your female
Running Chocobo. Next you will be asked what kind of seasoning you're going
to use, and choose the second from the bottom option (it should have a "3"
by it, indicating how many you have). If you succeed, you will recieve a
Green Chocobo that can cross mountains. If you were not successful, and you
get another Yellow Chocobo, immediately reset your game and reload to the
game that you saved before entering the farm. Once you have the Green
Chocobo, go outside and save once again. Now, go back inside and pick the
other two - Female Walking & Male Running, and you should recieve a Blue
Chocobo that can cross rivers. If you do not, reset, reload your saved game,
and continu this process until you get the desired color. It took me about 3
resets to get each kind. However, even when you get the correct color, you
need to make sure that your Blue & Green Chocobos are of different genders.
If they are not, keep resetting until you get the correct color and gender.
After breeding the Blue & Green Chocobos, you have to wait a while before
you may breed with them. Now is an excellent time to explore the new places
with your Chocobos. There is a cave on Yuffie's Continent that you can now
reach, as well as one on the islands in the lower right corner. There is
also a "Frog Forest" near Red XIII's hometown that you can get to with the
Mountain Chocobo. You may also want to stop in at the Golden Saucer, play a
few games, maybe get acquainted with Chocobo racing. After all this, you may
want to go up north to the snowy tracks and capture 4 Chocobos - you're
going to need them in a little while.
v
After a while, go back to the Chocobo farm and you should have one piece of
seasoning left. Save your game, then breed using your Blue & Green Chocobos,
with the same seasoning. Keep resetting your game if it does not work, and
eventually you will get a Black Chocobo, who can cross both Mountains &
Rivers. With this Chocobo, there is a cave on the same continent as the
Golden Saucer that you can now reach. The Golden Chocobo requires a bit more
work, but once you attain him you can finally get the "Knights of the Round"
Summon Materia. First, you need to go out and capture a Dashing Chocobo
(Northern Snow Continent) and make sure it is the opposite gender of your
Black Chocobo. Then, you need to race your Chocobos until they are at the
"S" class (see Chocobo Racing, above). Once both your Black & Dashing Yellow
Chocobos are in the "S" class, then you need to obtain a special seasoning.
In the northwest corner of the map, there is an island (it is ON the map,
not the one that does not appear on the map) with some forests and a place
where you can land. Inside this forest are little goblins with boxing gloves
- you can obtain the seasoning you need by stealing it from them. On the
seasoning list, it will be the final choice before "Never Mind". Before
attempting to breed, once again, save your game outside and reset if you
don't get the Golden one (although you should get it on the first try). Now
that you have your Golden Chocobo, go to the northeastern corner of the map
- there is an island there that is not shown on the map. It is circular, and
has a cave at one end. In this cave is the "Knights of the Round" Summon
Materia.
Also, once you have your Golden Chocobo, you may be able to win an "S" Class
race. If you do, you will get a variety of nice items.
