Ride ze Shoopuf!

Last night we stepped towards Djose Temple, home to something lightening, probably. The temple of Yevon has, seemingly, forgiven all of the Crusaders who took part in Operation Mi'hen, so they're around here. Some won't survive the night...

Today, we step in and meet another reoccurring NPC, Isaaru. Isaaru is another summoner guarded by his brothers, Maroda and Pacce. Pacce is a child, so it's an interesting choice of support. Unlike Dona, Isaaru is a gentile man who looks up to and respects Braska. As a token of good faith, he challenges Yuna to a race. The winner kills Sin first. As they go to leave, we enter the Cloister. The three of them return and warn Tidus that summoners are disappearing around these parts. They then go about their business, parting on good terms.
 
Inside Djose's Cloister of Trials, we have to activate a few pedestals with lightning magicary. Probably not machinery, though, because it's forbidden. When we reach the sanctum, people finally don't yell at Tidus. Well, actually... Dona and Barthello show up. She complains that Yuna is taking too long, and Bart wants to shake Sir Auron's hand. It's good to see one of them isn't a piece of work, even if the "better half" hates the actions. After what feels like forever, I try to leave. As I do, Yuna exits her private chamber, and we can now summon Ixion. This is his first and most prominent Final Fantasy appearance. I always felt it was weird that it's not Ramuh or Quetzalcoatl. Instead, it's this thunder unicorn that I've never heard of. The party leaves, and we cut to the next morning.

The guardian crew is waiting outside the temple for Yuna, who's sleeping in. Tidus runs in to wake her up and finds her in the left room. The attendant says she was performing The Sending all night and is tired. Tidus accidentally wakes her up, and she starts hurrying along, getting her stuff. On our way out, we see Gotta praying. He's as depressed as you'd think he'd be and says he's returning to Besaid. When we leave the temple, Yuna races out to her waiting friends, and everyone playfully teases her. Even Auron gets in on it, and we all laugh. Tidus narrates that he was the only one really laughing. We leave the temple grounds and walk back to that fork. We see Lucil, ELMA (not Emma), and Clasko before we set off. They're going to the Calm Lands to find more Chocobos for their squad. They set off. We set off, and it's to the Moonflow we go! Also, take note, Kyou was on the path, and he's one the best Blitzers in the game. I have him as a defender, but he ends up being a top tier goalie towards the end. He's a Crusader who'll stay here the rest of the game to protect the temple from fiends. It's how he thanks the church for re-communicating him.

Movement in Green plays, which is a variation on "To Zanarkand."
We walk a path through a forest with cliffs on either side of us. Along the way, we're attacked by a million Ochus, who take forever to kill but are a simple task with Wakka's Sleep Attack and Lulu's Fira. Kimarhi can use Lancet if you want a little bit more damage. About a third of the way through, we run unto Kimarhi's old friends, Biran and Yenke. They're both ronso, like Kimahai. Instead of fighting us, they warn us that summoners are disappearing. They insult our beastman because he's small and has a broken horn before they run off again. Near the end, we run in Belgemine for the second time. She summons Ixion, but our Ifrit managed to beat it up. For our success, she gives us the ability to customize aeon abilities. We can finally teach Valefor how to heal, and the rest of our aeons can learn more powerful magic.

Shortly after this, we come to a river: The Moonflow! It glows with light from the moonlilly flowers. We're told it's a beautiful sight at night, so Tidus suggests...we're not waiting for nightfall! He then says we're coming back here when we beat Sin. An awkward silence falls upon the group until Wakka tells everyone to get ready for the shoopuf! A little further down the road, we see what a shoopuf is: an elephant dinosaur thingy. We gain some fun tidbits about our party here, too. Ten years ago, after Braska felled Sin, Yuna moved to Besaid. She and Kimarhi passed through here, and she fell into the river. The shoopuf picked her up, and she jumped in three more times for fun. Kimarhi was worried but was glad that Yuna had fun. I would have loved to see that. Yuna is a very prim and proper person, so her letting go and having fun sounds like a good time. Talking to Auron reveals that Jecht attacked a poor shoopuf ten years ago. He was drunk and thought it was a fiend. Brask gave the owner all the money they had as payment, and it seems that shoopuf still works here. Jecht never drank again. In the next location, we see our Chocobo Knight friends. The hypello, the pilots of the shoopuf, won't let the chocobo ride since it's too big. The knights make other plans, and Clasko gets bummed. Maechen is also around, and he fills us in on these two new races. No one knows what a shoopuf eats, and the hypello are great swimmers but aren't go-getters enough to play Blitzball. We can finally ride ze shoopuf!

When we get halfway across, Wakka tells us to look into the river. We see a sunken city that collapsed under its weight. Wakka and Lulu suggest humans built it to spite the laws of nature, but Tidus isn't so sure. They then discuss the birth of Sin. 1000 years ago, a war started because of machina. That war raged on until Sin came to be. Sin is the punishment for the war and using machina. So, Sin didn't destroy this city? Before I have time to think about it, we're attacked!

An Al Bead shows up behind Yuna and drags her into the river. Wakka and Tidus jump into action. The fight is an easy one. The Extractor only has 4000 HP and is weak to lightning. It's also vulnerable to Overdrives! Yuna is encased in an oxygen bubble and watches on as her two guardians make short work of it. We all return to the shoopuf to continue the journey. Wakka is furious at the Al Bead and begins to wonder why they'd attack. The tournament? Luca? Regardless, we reach the North Bank with no issues.

Yuna is surrounded by onlookers again, so we wait a while. I got bored and went to scope out the trail. Along the way, we see a corpse. And then the corpse moves! It stands up, removes its Al Bead clothing, and reveals itself to be Rikku! Tidus is thrilled that she's still alive, but she's upset that we beat her up. She was in the Extractor!? The rest of the group catches up, and Tidus introduces Rikku to everyone. Apparently, "she's al Al Be..." isn't good enough to clue Wakka in to what Rikku is. He thinks she's pretty cool. Suddenly, Rikku, Lulu, and Yuna go off on a girls only talk. They come back to ask Auron if Rikku can be Yuna's guardian? He wants to see her face, but she's cagey about it. She eventuality opens an eye, signaling to Auron that she's an Al Bead. Al Beads have spiral irises, which is another reason why I don't get how Wakka doesn't know what Rikku is! Racism aside, Rikku joins the party, and we carry on to Guadosalem!

We get into a battle, and Rikku shows us what she can really do. She can open treasure chests on the battlefield. We've never seen a chest in a battle, so it feels a little shoehorned. She can also oneshot machina, but we didn't fight any en route to the city. The party enters Guadosalem and is met by Tromell, an advisor for Lord Seymour. He invites us to Seymour's mansion...

...which I'll do tomorrow!

I've never been big on Rikku. I also forgot how racist Wakka is. It's a bit of a meme in the FF Fandom, but I'm pretty sure he gets better. This was one of the character arcs I wanted to keep my eye on this playthrough. I like Wakka, so let's hope that won't get me canceled.