Final Fantasy IX/Gizamaluke's Grotto

Exiting Lindblum
Upon exiting Lindblum, you will be placed onto the world map with plenty of places to explore.

Qu's Marsh
If you go directly north from Lindblum, you will come upon an area called Qu's Marsh. When you enter the marsh, you will see a couple of familiar moogles that can give you help if you need it. Go through the entrance in the tall grass behind the moogles, then go directly north until you reach a small pond filled with frogs. At this lake, you will meet a new character by the name of Quina. Quina can be very valuable further into the game because s/he belongs to a species of Blue Mages called the Qu. The Eat ability allows Quina to obtain monsters' abilities, which s/he can later Use in battle. The catch is that, in order to Eat an enemy, it must be at 25% health or less (during Trance, Eat becomes Cook and can be used on enemies with less than 50% health remaining). The resulting abilities are cast in battle with the Use command.

Quina will be busy catching frogs when you see her, but you can get her attention by catching one of the frogs in the pond and giving it to her. At that point, another Qu named Quan will scold Quina and convince him/her to go with you to travel the world and try different food. (Talk to Quan to get some interesting info about Vivi if you wish as well). Agree to bring Quina along, and make your way out of the marsh.

Frog Catching Game
On your way past the pond, Quina will ask you if s/he can catch some frogs. Comply, as it benefits you later in the game; catching frogs is a part of getting Quina's ultimate weapon.

To catch a frog, wait alongside an area of the pond where many frogs are congregating. Occasionally, one jumps onto the shore. When this happens, press psx: x. If successful, you will see the frog's gender and be given the opportunity to throw it back if desired. If you keep the frog, your frog count will increment, and, when your frog count reaches a certain number, Quan will arrive to award a prize. Catching frogs also powers up the Frog Drop attack that Quina can learn by Eating the Gigan Toad enemies you can find around the swamp.

Before starting, note that frog ponds are fragile ecosystems. Although frogs occasionally spontaneously join a pond, a breeding pair of frogs more quickly and reliably repopulate. To encourage frog breeding, always leave at least one male and one female in the pond (female frogs have red feet and a black stripe on each side of their body; male frogs have yellow feet and no stripes). Also, golden frogs speed up the breeding process and are no more valuable to catch, so do not keep a golden frog if one is caught.

Once you are done catching frogs (remember, leave a few to repopulate for next time), go south to leave the marsh and return to the world map.

Chocobo's Forest
Go east from Qu's Marsh, cross a small bridge, continue east, and head into a small, dense forest. This is Chocobo's Forest. Here, Mene the Moogle will introduce you to Choco the chocobo and give you some Gysahl Greens to help you catch him. To do so, go just outside the forest to where Chocobo footprints are visible on the ground. Bring up the menu (psx: T) and use the Gysahl Greens item. Choco will appear and allow you to mount him (with psx: X). This move works everywhere you see the footprints, so long as you have enough Gysahl Greens. To get more, hop of Choco and head back into Chocobo's Forest. Talk to Mene and he will let you play "Chocobo Hot & Cold" for 60. In this game, use Choco's clues to find buried treasure--mostly junk worth precious few points, but also clues to find other buried treasure out on the world map. Later in the game, this is much more valuable, even leading to characters' ultimate weapons!

After playing, talk to Mene to purchase some Gryshal Greens so you can continue to call Choco from anywhere you see the tracks. Keep in mind that, since monsters do not attack when on a Chocobo, the going is easier, but you do not receive the valuable items and experience that come with battle. Use chocobos wisely.

South Gate
Northeast of Chocobo's Forest is the other end of South Gate, which you probably recognize from an ATE featuring Baku and Cinna earlier. This very small area is totally optional, but worth checking out. Walk to the very end of the log to your right to get the Moccha Coffee that Cinna made there earlier. The spring next to the coffee heals your party's HP and MP. Finally, near the gate, a hidden Ether lies ripe for the taking.

Leave the area and make your way back past Chocobo's Forest, across the tiny bridge by Qu's Marsh, and north into the mountains.

Gizamaluke's Grotto
If you go north into the mountains from Qu's Marsh, you will eventually come upon a cave on the side of the mountain, which is the entrance to Gizamaluke's Grotto. When you enter, you see a large door straight ahead with a bell on it. The door will not open at this time, so run back, and go up the path to the right. You will see a dying soldier on the ground, and he will hand you a bell. Take the bell back to the door discussed earlier, and it will now open. If by chance you run out of bells further in, you can return to the dead soldier's body to get another bell off of it if need be. When you go through the door, you are immediately met with resistance. Once they are dealt with, you should receive another bell to open one of the various doors in this area. Open the door at the top of the stairs to the left, and go around the path until you reach the soldier sitting at the end. He will give you another bell, and there should also be some treasure along the way. Return to the middle, and use the bell you just received on the door on the bottom right hand corner. When you enter this door, it will lead to a path that goes around a large bell sitting in the middle of the room. This path will eventually take you to the large bell in question. Upon entering, you will see a moogle who seems to be in distress. This moogle will notice that you have a kupo nut on you and will want it to solve her dilemma. Go ahead and hand the kupo nut over, and the moogles will hand you another bell. Use this bell on the door to the right hand side of the large bell, and go ahead and save and rest up while you can. When you leave this room, one of the moogles will hand over another bell called the "Holy Bell"; this bell will be used to open the door to the left of the large bell. Do not use the holy bell yet, since when you open the door to the left, it will start a boss battle, so be sure to do some more exploring before you decide to go further, and do not forget to save your game.