Sidequest: The Flower Girl and the Dimensional Anomoly
You can't unleash Cloud until you have completed the prior sidequest, as the same Zodiac stone that transforms Reis triggers Besrudio's latest contraption.
The next time a machine reacts to a stone, it opens a rift in spacetime. Is there anything those things can't do? Out of that portal falls Cloud, much to the surprise of everyone around. Confused, the guy from another game rather easily finds his way out of the workshop and takes off.
There's no real clue as to where he's gone, and no clues are forthcoming from the narrative, either. You might recall, though, that you did happen to run into a flower girl a while back, and if she looked familiar to you playing the game, she might well look familiar to that weirdo who just ran out too. In any event, you can't do anything about it unless you've finished the battle at Eagrose. Once you've done that, or if you've started this quest after that point, return to Sal Ghidos.
Sal Ghidos
Cloud arrives in Sal Ghidos and immediately steps into trouble, coming to the rescue of the flower girl who is now being accosted by loan sharks. Before the battle can start, though, Cloud has one of his trademark headaches. Ramza and the group catches up just in time to assist him in the battle, given that Cloud is largely incapacitated and completely unequipped.
In this battle, the enemy Squires won't do anything, so target them last. The order you take out the enemies should really be the order in which they approach you, but it might be safer to be proactive first in case Cloud gets into trouble.
Cloud will by default retreat to the edge of the battlefield, which might lure an enemy or two towards him. Make sure you don't get completely blocked off from him, because too many hits will KO him and fail the battle. Take them out as you please, because they're not going to do much damage to you. Even so, focus on whichever Thief is convenient so that they can be cleared out without stealing equipment or charming any of your party.
After the battle, Cloud can join your party. As a SOLDIER, he has access to Limit commands but can't use them until he gets his sword, which is located at the very top of a volcano (and somehow is not a Buster Sword?).
At the stage of the game where Cloud becomes available, you might wonder if he's worth grinding up. For purposes of simply playing the game, the answer is honestly no; however, once he is sufficiently leveled and has the
Materia Blade, his higher limits are quite powerful and it can be fun to plow through the late game with a character from another storyline altogether.
So now you have Cloud (but no Aerith, nothing you can do about that, sorry). But it turns out he's kind of useless. Only one weapon will allow him to allow him to use his skills, the
Materia Blade. And only a lot of grinding will get him up to the levels you'll surely have with the rest of your team by the time you have him, both because he starts at level one and because his abilities are extremely expensive to acquire with JP. But, let's start with the first problem, getting that weapon.
Mount Bervenia
This icon on the map will appear later in the game, at the start of chapter four. No plot battle appears at this location, ever, so getting into a battle here is random. This map is interesting for only a couple reasons: one, the presence of lava tiles in a battle, and two, the actual reason you're reading this: the
Materia Blade for Cloud. This sword is on the peak of the volcano, and can be found by anyone with the Treasure Hunter ability regardless of their Bravery stat. The character needs only to have Treasure Hunter and a Jump stat of 4 or better to make it to the top.
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