Many of the side quests described in this section depend entirely upon your progress in FFIX and in the Chocobo Hot and Cold game. Your party will not be able to reach certain areas or find some powerful items until you have commandeered certain vehicles and Choco has acquired the necessary skills to swim, climb mountains, or fly.

Each time you pay Mene 60 Gil, you get 60 seconds to search the Chocobo Forest for valuable items and Gil. To search, ride Choco around the area and press the Square button to dig. Choco will let out a "Kweh" sound each time you dig to indicate how close or how far you are from a buried item. Choco makes a variety of sounds, each with its own meaning. Here's what they mean:

(1.Noise)
(2.What It Means)

1.Kweh
2.No treasure nearby

1.Kweh!?
2.You're getting closer to the treasure

1.Kwehhh!?
2.You're very close to the treasure

When Choco screams "K-KWEHHH!!!" (all in caps), you have struck the spot where an item is buried. Different items are buried at different depths; obviously, the better items are deeper down and take longer to dig out

For each item or amount of Gil you find, you receive points. If you find four items in one sixty-second game, Mene will add 10 seconds to the clock and double your points for each item found thereafter. If you dig up two items within five seconds of one another, you receive additional bonus points.

Choco's beak level will increase occasionally, depending on the total number of points you've earned. As Choco improves, finding items and digging them up become much easier and faster.

Chocographs
There are certain items buried deep beneath the ground in the forest called Chocographs. Chocographs are items that provide clues to the whereabouts of buried treasure that Choco can dig up on the World Map. During your first visit to the Chocobo Forest, you may find the first Chocograph within 3 or 4 games. The first Chocograph, labeled "Streamside," lets you dig up a treasure chest buried on the beach near the river just outside the Chocobo Forest.

To use a Chocograph to find buried treasure, leave the Chocobo Forest riding Choco. Press the Triangle button to open the Chocograph menu, select the treasure you want to search for, and exit the menu. Now toggle the Select button until the mini-map appears in the lower right-hand corner of the screen. The picture of the treasure's location should appear just above the mini-map. Ride Choco to that location and begin searching for the treasure by pressing the Square button. Choco will make similar sounds as in the "Chocobo Hot and Cold Game" to indicate the proximity of the treasure.

A Chocograph also lists the skills your Chocobo must possess in order to find that treasure. The Chocograph will appear grayed out on the menu until Choco has the proper abilities to find it.