Chocobos

The Chocobo sidequest begins at Chocobo's Forest, where Zidane meets Mene and a young chocobo named Choco. Mene introduces Chocobo Hot & Cold, a digging game that becomes the foundation of Choco's entire treasure-hunting quest. As Choco uncovers better treasures and follows the clues found during the minigame, he gradually gains new abilities that allow him to explore areas of the world that were previously unreachable.

Although the quest can be started relatively early, much of it unfolds alongside the main story as additional parts of the world become accessible. Returning to Chocobo's Forest and later Chocobo's Lagoon and Chocobo's Air Garden allows Choco to continue digging for new treasures and advance toward the final stages of the quest.

Each part of the Chocobo quest is closely connected to the others. Chocobo Hot & Cold leads to new Chocographs and other discoveries, while the treasures they reveal can improve Choco's abilities and open new areas of the world. Those abilities, in turn, allow access to additional digging locations, hidden treasures, Dead Pepper sites, and later stages of the quest, creating a continuous progression that carries Choco from his first visit to Chocobo's Forest through the final areas of his journey.

Chocobo Hot & Cold is played by paying Mene to enter a digging area for a limited amount of time. While riding Choco, the player searches the ground and receives clues based on how close Choco is to a buried object. Digging in the correct spot uncovers the treasure, after which another hidden object can immediately be searched for until time expires.

Most discoveries are common items that award points based on their value, but Choco can also uncover Chocographs and other important objects needed to advance the quest. As Choco becomes more capable, new digging areas and previously inaccessible portions of existing areas become available.

Points earned during Chocobo Hot & Cold can be exchanged with Mene for additional rewards. Successful digging can also produce bonuses for finding several treasures quickly, making repeated games useful even after many of the important Chocographs have already been found.

Chocographs are treasure maps discovered while playing Chocobo Hot & Cold. Each one contains an image and a short clue showing the general location of a treasure somewhere on the world map. After selecting a Chocograph, Choco can search for its treasure while traveling through the matching area.

The clues do not identify an exact position, so the player must compare the Chocograph image with landmarks, coastlines, forests, mountains, and other features of the world map. When Choco reaches the correct location, his reaction changes and the treasure can be dug up.

Chocograph treasures contain some of the most valuable rewards in the game, including equipment, cards, large quantities of items, and upgrades that permanently expand Choco's movement abilities. Through these treasures, Choco can gain the Reef, Mountain, Ocean, and Sky abilities, allowing him to cross shallow water, mountains, deep ocean, and eventually fly across the world. Because these upgrades continually open new areas and treasures, the Chocographs form a progression system rather than simply a collection of unrelated treasure maps.

Dead Peppers become another important treasure-hunting tool later in the quest. Unlike Chocographs, they are used directly while riding Choco at certain suspicious locations on the world map. Depending on the location, Choco can use a Dead Pepper to dive beneath deep water, break through cracks in mountains, or interact with other hidden areas.

These locations contain fixed treasures and are separate from the normal Chocograph digging mechanic, although many cannot be reached until Choco has acquired the appropriate movement abilities. Dead Peppers are therefore closely tied to the same exploration progression and provide another reason to revisit earlier parts of the world after Choco evolves.

Dead Peppers are also used to reach some of the most important optional Chocobo locations, including Chocobo's Air Garden and Chocobo's Paradise.

Chocobo's Paradise is the ultimate destination of Choco's journey. It can only be reached after Choco has gained his final abilities and the player has progressed far enough through the treasure hunt. The area is home to Fat Chocobo and numerous other chocobos, and it serves as the culmination of the Chocograph sidequest.

Reaching the Paradise does not necessarily mean that every hidden treasure has been collected. Additional Chocograph and Dead Pepper locations may still remain throughout the world, and completing them provides further rewards. For players pursuing the entire Chocobo quest, Chocobo's Paradise acts as the final hub from which the remaining discoveries can be tracked down.

After recovering all of the Chocograph treasures and completing the hidden Dead Pepper locations, challenge Fat Chocobo to a game of Tetra Master to begin the beach quest. The game itself does not need to be played; initiating the challenge reveals the final task of visiting each of Gaia's 21 beaches.

Ride Choco to each beach, dismount, and press the action button while standing near the shoreline. A confirmation sound indicates that the beach has been registered. The beaches are spread across the major continents and surrounding islands, making the quest a final tour of the world Choco has gradually gained the ability to explore.

After all 21 beaches have been visited, every beach becomes a free recovery point. Pressing the action button at a shoreline will completely restore the party's HP and MP and remove status abnormalities, providing a permanent reward for fully completing Choco's journey.