ITEMS TO GET: None

   If you need to buy items, talk to Shin; he sells Potions, Phoenix Down, Antidote, Eyedrops, and Tents. The Save Moogle is also still around if you want to save your game; choose the MOGNET option to receive a letter from Ruby, who is stranded back in Alexandria. Equip your characters with all the new gear you've picked up; VIVI should learn Thunder and Blizzard, while Steiner can learn Psychic Sword from the Iron Sword if you stole one from Baku. Note that Steiner's second special command uses VIVI's spells to do a combo attack between the two characters, though it only uses up Steiner's turn.

   Proceed into the Evil Forest as before; when you get to the place where you fought the plant boss last time, an A.T.E. icon pops up. Complete the A.T.E event, then continue north. The next screen presents a fork. The left fork is a dead-end, so proceed up the ramp onto the grassy territory and go north. As you continue, you'll also start encountering Dendrobiums, plant-like enemies. They wield an attack that does about 25 damage to the whole party and also causes blindness. You can cure blindness with an Eyedrop; it's the blue bottle with the two-character name. As you'd expect, Eyedrops can be stolen and won from the Dendrobiums.

   There's yet another A.T.E. on the screen after the fork. Watch it, then head east. You'll meet Monty the Moogle here; choose the MOGNET option to deliver the letter from Kupo. Don't waste a Tent, however -- instead, examine the little trickle of water on the right side of the pond to heal the party. Save the game and proceed northeast. As you try to leave the next screen, you'll see a brief FMV of the Plant Brain awakening. Continue along the path and you'll soon run into the Plant Brain itself -- and it's got Garnet.

   The Plant Brain possesses the same blinding attack as the Dendrobiums, as well as a Thunder spell that can do up to 60 damage to the whole party. Initially, your attacks won't do any real damage (you can do numerical damage to the boss, but it will never die), so just steal from it until you nab an Iron Helm. After three rounds of fighting, Frank will rush in and join your party. Now attack with VIVI's Fire spell and Steiner's Fire Sword combo; the latter does enough damage that you can probably finish off the Plant Brain in just a couple of attacks.

   You receive no experience for defeating the Plant Brain (no bosses yield experience), though you do earn 5 AP. After the battle, more monsters -- Plant Spiders -- appear. Your party escapes through the back exit. Quickly run south to the next screen. Zidane will jump down the cliff; before you can move, a pair of Spiders hops down. Bump into the one to your south to trigger a fight. Defeat them and hurry south before you get attacked by the other spider. Your party will automatically cross the bridge; sit back and watch the exciting FMV that follows.