Pet Pals Vol.3 and Vol.4¶

This section will open up with a Galbadian Elite trying - and failing - to control his subordinates, who are overly-eager to go cracking heads in retaliation for the attempted kidnapping. Suffice to say, you’ll randomly encounter Galbadian soldiers as you explore Timber. You can’t Card them, but you can flee from battle or avoid fights entirely with Diablos’ Enc-None ability, which is honestly the ideal way of going through this, as these fights are largely annoying filler with no noteworthy reward.

You’ll disembark the train where you boarded it, and Watts will tell you that the TV Station can be found behind the Timber Maniacs building. Don’t worry, we’ll get you there, and to help find your way around, peruse the provided map:

Right now you’re in the Galbadia Platform area, and there’s little to do or see here, so head up to the Balamb Platform, where you’ll find the Pet Shop and the gift shop. The former is now open, so head on inside and you’ll be able to purchase a variety of pet-related goods… and for some reason, GFs apparently count as pets. Of the items sold here right now, the Amnesia Greens will come in handy sooner rather than later, especially if you’re keen on breaking the game with Card Mod. Pet Pals Vol.3 and Pet Pals Vol.4 will teach Angelo the Invincible Moon limit and the Angelo Reverse ability, the latter of which you’ll want to avoid learning if you plan to use Angelo Search later.

Rinoa’s Weapons¶

Return to the Galbadia Platform area and from here note that if you head to the right you’ll find the Timber Maniacs building, while down you’ll find a bridge overlooking three train tracks. Head down to the bridge first, then continue right to find the area outside the Timber Hotel, next to which is a weapon shop. While you’re here, you might as well check out the weapon shop to see what you can craft for Rinoa.

All of the above weapons are very easy to craft if you’ve played cards for a bit, and the Cardinal is a worthy upgrade that doesn’t really take any difficult-to-obtain ingredients. If you can, upgrade her weapon, and for the future keep in mind that her ultimate weapon requires two Energy Crystals, a Force Armlet, a Regen Ring and two Windmills, the first and second of which might be a while in coming. If you were lucky, X-ATM092 may have dropped a Force Armlet, and twenty Elnoyles will get you the Energy Crystals you need, but neither are really worth going out of your way to obtain.

Next up, if you head inside the Timber Hotel you’ll find a Save Point, should you desire one. Otherwise, aside from an interaction with the clerk there’s little to do in here. If you head down and to the right from the Timber Hotel you’ll reach the Gate screen, where two Galbadian elites threaten some Timber guards. If you press forward, the situation will degenerate and Rinoa will force you to intervene. Besting the Elite Soldiers will get you nothing significant, although the Timber guards will thank you… but won’t let you pass.

Timber Maniacs¶

That direction’s a bust, so return to the Galbadia Platform and head right to reach the exterior of the Timber Maniacs building. Your destination lies to the right, but enter the Timber Maniacs building and note the stacks of magazines on the floor. Search the top-most pile of books on the right side of the hallway to find an issue of Girl Next Door, which… well, it might come in handy later. If not, you can at least… read the articles?

Enter a door to the left to reach a small, dark room and search a desk at the bottom of the screen to find a Blizzaga draw point. It’s obscured by the desk, but if you search around you should find it. It’s an easy enough spell to obtain via Card Mod, but if you don’t have it, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t draw it here. Return to the previous hallway and head up to find an office, where two uninteresting characters wait. The editor in the back will talk your ear off if you let him, and really there’s no good reason to talk to either of them. Instead search the right side of the room to find a lone magazine on the floor between two stacks, which just so happens to be Timber Maniacs 2.

Grab what you can from Timber Maniacs and head back outside. If you talk to the man standing near the door he’ll refer you to the woman living next door. Head inside the house and talk to the woman in an apron, then head upstairs and look out the window to get a glance at this alley leading to the TV Station, which seems accessible from the Pub. Otherwise, this diversion is pretty much a waste of time, unless you find amusement in a kid getting spanked for extortion.

From the Timber Maniacs building head right to the next screen to find another bridge, this one connecting the Timber Maniacs building (left) to the Dollet Platform (right) and the Pub (take the stairs down). If you continue right to the Train Tunnel area you can head up some stairs, then enter a house to find an old man sitting on a sofa. Talk to him and respond with Yeah, kind of and he’ll give you permission to drink from the fountain to the left, which will restore your HP fully. It most certainly is not just water, old man! Other than that, there’s precious little to see in this area, so make your way back to the bridge and head down the stairs to reach the area outside the Pub.

The Pub¶

When you reach the Pub you’ll find two Galbadians gloating about their crimes. When they see you, a battle ensues, making this the only unavoidable fight in Timber. Cut down the weak-sauce enemies and you’ll recover what they stole - a Buel Card. Doesn’t seem like much of a prize. Before you enter the pub check out an item shop to the left and a Cure draw point to the right.

When you’re ready, enter the pub and a Drifter will whine about his misfortune. Walk over to him and note that he’s sprawled in front of the door you need, and instead of just tossing him out of the way you’ll need to find a less violent means of coercing him… for some reason.
There’s a little guessing game you can play by talking to the man seated at a table and by observing what the drifter is drinking, then getting the correct drink for him. Hints for this little guessing game are given by the man sitting at the table, but you really don’t need his help - you have this guide! First, observe what bottle the drifter is drinking by approaching him and choosing the Observe option and note whether it’s Red, Green or Yellow and whether he says what he’s drinking is “good stuff” or “this stuff stinks”.

Once done, talk to the woman by the bar and she’ll outright tell you whether the drifter prefers Bitter or Sweet beverages. If the drifter said the drink stinks, you’ll need to get him the opposite of what he likes, while if he says it’s good, you’ll need to buy his flavor preference. Once you know these three things, you’ll know what drink to offer the drifter. For example, if he’s drinking something that “stinks” from a “red bottle” and his preference is “bitter” you’ll need to buy him a sweet red drink - the Mimett beverage. You can just blindly guess as much as you want, as there’s no penalty for failure.

Failing that, you can hand over the Buel Card you found outside… not that it’s worth anything anyways. In the former case he’ll give you a Forbidden Card while in the latter case he’ll let you keep the Buel Card and give you a Tonberry Card, and either way he’ll move away from the door. None of the cards are really worth anything at this point, so do what you wish and exit the Pub.

The Broadcast¶

You’re now in the Back Alley area, where you’ll find a Save Point and a Scan draw point. Save your game and continue left, then go up some stairs, where the party will end up chatting in front of a large screen. After some intel from Watts (where did he come from?) Rinoa will decide to wisely scale back her ambitions. When Rinoa and Squall get snippy with each other, respond how you wish, then after Rinoa runs off and Selphie/Zell rejoins the party, watch the broadcast when it starts. Some familiar faces show up, your mission gets a little more complicated and you’ll automatically run up to the next screen. Enter your menu and pick the “Switch” option, then move Rinoa’s junctions to whichever character just joined your party.

Run across the bridge and watch the events in the broadcast room. After Zell proves he might just be the dumbest Seed graduate, follow Seifer to the left to witness another scene. Seifer will be whisked away from the predicament he finds himself in by an unexpected source. Afterwards you’ll find yourself outside the TV Station - run back across the bridge, down the stairs and back to the Pub, stopping to be pestered by Rinoa twice on the way. Timber might not be safe anymore, but Rinoa’s not done with you yet.

Continue into the Pub and the woman who lives next to the Timber Maniacs building will invite Rinoa to hide out there. Return to the aforementioned house and endure more chatter, then when you’re upstairs talk to Quistis twice. After some more talk you’ll find out that Galbadia is withdrawing, giving you the opportunity to flee the city. Convenient. Return downstairs and go to exit the house to prompt more dialogue, where you’ll ultimately decide your next destination should be Galbadia Garden. With that decided, pick your party (Quistis is once again an option, hooray!) and the lady who owns the house will see you off by giving you a Potion, Phoenix Down, Soft, Antidote and Remedy.

Exit the house and talk to a Galbadian soldier outside, who happens to be Watts in disguise. He’ll tell you that Galbadia is shutting down the trains, but you have time to get on one if you hurry. Make another meaningless dialogue choice then exit to the right to be pestered by Zone, who is also in disguise. After teasing a setback he’ll hand off some tickets with which you can escape before playing the old “stomach hurt” routine.

Go to the right to reach the next screen, head upstairs, cross a bridge and save your game if you need to. Once you’re ready to leave, head down and board the train. Farewell and good riddance, Timber! When you’re in the train - after Squall automatically capitulates to Selphie’s demands - talk to Zell until you get an option, at which pick Leave him alone, after which the train will make its way to the East Academy Station. Here you’ll be given a chance to disembark or continue riding. The choice doesn’t matter much, but disembarking at the East Academy Station does put you closer to Galbadia. If you keep riding, on the other hand, you’ll reach the Dollet Station, which is just west of Dollet. If you want to score some more rare cards, revisiting Dollet isn’t a bad idea. This will be covered in the following section, Dollet After Timber, while if you want to continue with the story skip ahead to Laguna Dream - Centra Excavation Site.