May 02, 2002 Dear Visitors, You may have noticed that the FFVII Palace has been in a static state for quite some time. We apologize for the lack of updates, but we have been working on a new, cleaner layout and a possibly final update to this site, as we don't really have the time to continually maintain it anymore. Rest assured that the site will stay here and will not be abandoned, whether or not we can continue to update it. Also, if you have tried to send e-mail to the addresses listed on this site, the messages may have bounced, as we no longer use AOL. You can, however, find our new contact information on our new websites, if you still wish to contact us: http://www.mahamari.com Thank you for your continued support since 1997! Yours, Mahamari & Kameko Tsukitaka

Chocobo Ranch

The sign on the fence reads:
Please feel free to look around. Mahamari's Chocobo Stables are straight ahead.

Chocobos of assorted sizes and colors roam the lush, fenced in meadow. Their caretaker stands to one side, cleaning the stables.

Basics

Catch Yourself a Chocobo!

To catch a Chocobo, you must first have the Chocobo Lure Materia, which you buy at the Chocobo Farm near Midgar for 2000 gil. You must also buy greens for your Chocobo. Then, you equip your lure Materia and go for a walk on the Chocobo tracks. If you're lucky, you'll get pulled into a battle with a Chocobo. Here's a useful hint: run in circles around a set of 3 tracks. This will give you a better chance of landing directly on a track, which means you'll get a chocobo. NEVER HIT A CHOCOBO! Feed it a green first thing, unless you're sure you can kill the baddies before it runs away. While it's busy eating, kill the monsters, and you'll have yourself a Chocobo!

Riding a Chocobo may be lots of fun, but your party needs the experience they earn from battles to gain in level, so keep that in mind!

Also be aware that the Chocobos you can catch in different areas have different abilities. For instance, you can catch "good" (walking) Chocobos around the Gold Saucer Area. Around the Mideel Area, you can catch "great" (running) Chocobos. In the Northern area, you can catch "wonderful" (running full speed) Chocobos.

Betting and Racing

Betting

At the Gold Saucer, you can bet on the Chocobo Races. Here is a hint for betting. Always bet on the combination with one Chocobo having the highest speed with pretty high stamina and the other with high stamina and pretty high speed. This almost always guaratees you a win!

Racing

After you have bred/caught a Chocobo and moved it into your Chocobo Stable, you can go to the Gold Saucer and race it! There are four rankss of Chocobos: C, B, A, and S. All Chocobos start out at Class C. To win in a C Class race, your Chocobo must have a top speed of around 89 km. To raise your Chocobo's statistics, feed it different greens. Different greens will have different effects on your Chocobo's abilities, so choose well. Your Chocobo must win 3 races (1st place) in order to advance to the next rank. However, rising above A rank may take a few more wins. Racing your Chocobo can earn you many useful items, such as Enemy Away Materia, Counter Attack Materia, or Magic Counter Attack Materia. If you win enough times in Class S, you will get a slew of cool stuff from the manager.

If you race with a Gold Chocobo, you may have to race against a mysterious character named Teioh. He's riding a Black Chocobo and wears a costume that reminds me of Zorro. Anyone know who the heck this guy is??! I've never been able to beat him, and every time I enhance my Chocobo's stats, Teioh's increases as well! Has anyone every beaten Teioh?? If you have, I'm eager to hear your story! (Keep reading to hear one tactic I recieved by e-mail!)

Another tip on racing: It is easiest to leave your Chocobo on Automatic mode. If the Chocobo's statistics are high enough, it will automatically win. However, if your Chocobo still has a lot of stamina left (meter on the left) and it is lagging behind, it may be helpful to quickly switch to Manual Control (press Select) and accelerate (press O).

Here's a trick I have discovered for regenerating your Chocobo's stamina! Hold down R1 and R2. You can do this while sprinting as well. The meter should either stay the same or decrease less than before.

Beating Teioh!

I got this piece of strategy from Johnny in my e-mail box one day:

"I have beaten Teioh at the Chocobo races for the S class. I beat him with a "wonderful" chocobo.(I don't know if this is necessary.) Basically I just maxed out its stats. Chose the long course. The chocobo's stamina should be at 999. Before the start of the race, switch to manual. Once it starts, push the square button rapidly until the chocobo is at maximum speed. Take the turns as quickly as you can and get out ahead. DON'T sprint with the O button (you need to save energy for the end.) There is a part where you run under water. For some reason, Teioh always catches up here. Don't worry, just catch up on the turns after (you might want to sprint a LITTLE at this point). You should pass Teioh after a few turns. Start sprinting with the O button near the end of the course. Start sprinting on the bridge with the dragons or when on the ice. -Johnny"

Breeding

Breeding different types of Chocobos (i.e. "good," "great," "wonderful," etc.) and using different Nuts (ahem...no pun intended, please...) will produce different results. Here are some of the results I have gotten from experimenting:

General Breeding Tips

• The offspring will inherit the characteristics of their parents, so if you enhance the parent Chocobos' abilities, it will make the fledglings more skilled as well.
• The Chocobo Sage lives on the Northern continent. You can reach his house by taking the airship there. If you have a lot of patience, this is how you can find out the secret to breeding the Ultimate Chocobo. (Or else, you can just keep reading.) You can also buy the best greens here. (A little side note here: If you talk to the Sage's Green Chocobo, it will give you an Enemy Skill Materia!)
• The best greens are the Sylkis Greens. They raise all the abilities of your Chocobo. However, they are also very expensive at 5000 gil per dose.
• Carob Nuts are very useful for breeding good Chocobos. These are not sold. You must steal them from a dinosaur-like monster that lives in the green patches on the Northern continent. You can also exchange 500 GP for a Carob Nut at Wonder Square in the Gold Saucer.

Breeding the Ultimate Chocobo

I will now reveal the way to breed the Ultimate Chocobo. I learned this from the Chocobo Sage, who appears to be an Ancient spirit living in a secluded house in the north. The process of breeding this much-coveted bird does take a lot of time, so you must be patient in order to have your results. Here are the starting "ingredients" you must have:

• Carob Nuts (at least 3, maybe a few extra) - you can get these by stealing them from a dinosaur-like creature that you must fight in the green areas on the Northern Continent (around the snow, but not in it).
• Zeio Nut (just 1 will do) - you can steal these from Goblins on an island with a forest to the southeast.
• Chocobo Lure Materia, of course. If you didn't buy one from the Chocobo Farm earlier for 2000 gil, you can pick one up at the bottom right-hand corner of the farm.
• Greens - if you can't kill the enemies before the Chocobo runs away. For this purpose, cheap ones (Gizzard/Gysahl Greens) will do.
• Chocobo Stables - you will eventually have to rent all six, but you will need at least 3 to breed Chocobos. Each stable costs 10000 gil.

Now, you must catch some Chocobos. Fly to the Mideel Area and walk on the tracks until you catch 4 Chocobos. Once back at the Chocobo Farm, talk to Choco Billy and choose "Moving Chocobos." Look through your Chocobos. You must have one "great" Chocobo Male and one "great" Chocobo Female. If you don't, you'll have to catch yourself some new Chocobos from Mideel until you have the two you need. Release the others. Then breed these two with a Carob Nut. You should get a Green Chocobo, the Mountain Chocobo. You can now release your yellow Chocobos.

You now need to find a "good" Chocobo from the Gold Saucer Area and a "great" Chocobo from the Mideel Area of opposite genders. Breed these two with a Carob Nut. You should get a Blue Chocobo, the River Chocobo. (Check the Breeding Table for other combinations.) Make sure it is the opposite gender from your green one. Since you can't breed Chocobos that were just born, go to the Gold Saucer. Race both of these Chocobos to A Class. You may need to feed them with some greens, preferably Sylkis Greens, before they are fit enough to compete. When you're done with this, your Chocobos should be ready to breed. Breed your Blue and Green Chocobos with a Carob Nut. This should produce a Black Chocobo, which can cross mountains and rivers.

Now, you must catch a "wonderful" Chocobo from the Northern continent. This is hard, because about 50% of the time, you will get a bad Chocobo instead of a "wonderful." Make sure your "wonderful" Chocobo is of the opposite gender from your black one. Again, feed these two Chocobos with greens and race them to A Class. (The racing isn't necessary, but it gives the Chocobos some time before they can mate, and besides, it's fun, and you can get lots of cool stuff from winning!) Then, mate the "wonderful" with the Black Chocobo, using a Zeio Nut. (Choose the black one first.) Ta-DA! In the morning, you will have yourself a beautiful GOLD CHOCOBO!!! This Chocobo can go anywhere. Check out the Secrets section to see what uses this Gold Chocobo has!

999 Stamina Chocobos

Here's another tip I got from Johnny.
"This is about getting 999 stamina chocobos. You probably should have a 'great' or 'wonderful' chocobo. Then, feed it greens until its stats are maxed out and result in no improvement. I usually use sylkis greens because they raise everything like crazy. If the chocobo does not have 999 stamina, then try breeding it with other chocobos. The maximum stats will be raised in the new chocobo. Do this until you get a chocobo that has 999 stamina. If you breed good parents, then the offspring will be just as good or better."

Entrance - Return to the main hall.

BGM: "Electric de Chocobo" from FFVII