Fiend Arena

The Fiend Arena is a battle arena located on board the Celsius, available in Final Fantasy X-2: International + Last Mission and the HD Remaster versions of Final Fantasy X-2.

Features
The Fiend Arena can be accessed at any point during the game by talking to Shinra on the Celsius. In its menu, the player can capture fiends, watch their Fiend Tale progress, manage them and finally, fight in the arena.

The arena features two modes: Tournament Cups and Battle Simulator. The former allows the Gullwings to participate in cups against different monster formations. The latter gives them a list to choose any formation they have encountered in the cups to fight at will. Losing a battle in the Fiend Arena, be it in the cups or the Battle Simulator, will not result in a Game Over, the player is simply returned to the Fiend Arena menu. The only exception to this is the Fiend Portal when faced for the first time.

Completing the storyline of captured creatures can award the player with accessories or unlock new enemy formations in the tournaments.

Tournament Cups
Tournaments are carried out in three- or four-round elimination. Depending on the cup, either 8 or 16 teams will be facing off against each other. After every match, no matter if the player wins or loses, they obtain a pod. If they already have 8 pods, they receive curative items instead.

Standard Cup
Standard Cup is available from the very beginning. The monsters in this cup are not too tough, but they may overwhelm players that come here too early. The player will often end up facing off against the Amorphous Gel, accompanied by a Barbuta, a formation that can be somewhat difficult to defeat at low levels.

Winning Standard Cup for the first time awards the player with the Psychic dressphere. Beating it three times awards the Intrepid Garment Grid and unlocks Standard Cup: Hard. Other rewards include X-Potion x4, Ether x8, Titanium Bangle or Silver Bracer.

Standard Cup: Hard
Standard Cup: Hard is unlocked by beating Standard Cup three times. The monsters the Gullwings will face here are very different from the ones they faced in the first cup. An enemy that is frequently encountered is Rukh who is capable of petrifying characters with its basic attack. Also, the Dark Elemental often defeats its opponents.

Winning Standard Cup: Hard once unlocks the Grand Cup. Rewards for beating this cup include several accessories that increase attributes by 20 or increase HP or MP by 60% like the Power Wrist, Tarot Card, Defense Veil, Mythril Gloves, Mythril Bangle, Gold Bracer and Talisman.

Grand Cup
Grand Cup is unlocked after beating Standard Cup: Hard a single time. The roster of enemies fought in this cup is largely identical to that of the Standard Cup: Hard. However, as the name states, this is a "large" cup, meaning the winner is decided through a four-round elimination system rather than three.

The first time the player wins this cup, they are awarded the Festivalist dressphere. After beating the cup three times, Grand Cup: Hard is unlocked. For placing first in this cup, the player is rewarded with small amounts of high-quality curative items such as Elixir, Remedy, Mega-Potion or Mega Phoenix.

Grand Cup: Hard
Grand Cup: Hard is unlocked by beating Grand Cup three times. At first, the monsters fought in this tournament are similar to the Large Cup's, but several strong formations are added to its roster as the player completes the storyline of specific creatures or by simply beating the cup a couple of times.

Beating the cup awards the player with the Abominable Garment Grid. During the first attempt, the final opponent will be a Chocobo. Winning the tournament unlocks the Chocobo Cup.

After beating this cup three times, multiple dangerous formations are added to block early access to the Youth League Tournament. The player is guaranteed to encounter one or both of the following two "stonewall" participants every time following their third victory: Tonberry the Ripper (Mega Tonberry) and/or Shady Duo (Black Elemental + Mushroom Cloud). These enemies are very strong and can wipe out most parties. At this point, the player is generally forced to wait until Ch. 5 when stronger fiends become available for capture after making progress in Via Infinito, or until the Mascot dressphere is obtained.

When completing the cup for the fourth time, the last team the player faces will be two Cactuars and beating them unlocks the Cactuar Cup. Finally, beating the cup six times unlocks the Youth League Tournament.

Subsequent wins can award Tetra Gloves, Tetra Guards, Black Rings, and Megalixirs.

Chocobo Cup
Chocobo Cup is unlocked after beating Grand Cup: Hard once. The player can only participate in this cup if they have a Chocobo in their active battling party. Chocobos can be captured by setting up S-pods either in Luca, on the Mi'ihen Highroad or the Calm Lands.

In this cup, players have to face off against enemy teams that always include a Chocobo. They are paired up with strong enemies like the Anything Eater. Winning it awards the player useful accessories like Regal Crown, Champion Belt, Rabite's Foot or Minerva's Plate.

Cactuar Cup
Cactuar Cup is unlocked by beating Grand Cup: Hard four times. The player must have a Cactuar in their party to enter. Cactuars can only be captured in Chapter 5 after unlocking the Cactuar Hollow by setting up an S-pod in Bikanel.

Just like in the Chocobo Cup, enemy teams always include a Cactuar. Most monsters they are paired up with are giant fiends from the Cactuar Dungeon. At times, they will also fight the Jumbo Cactuar and unlike in the dungeon or the Via Infinito, he will actually attack the party here. Winning this cup awards the player accessories that greatly increase attributes like Power Gloves, Crystal Gloves, Oath Veil or Pixie Dust.

Youth League Tournament
Youth League Tournament is unlocked by beating Grand Cup: Hard six times. In this cup, the player will fight various NPCs, including Lucil, Elma, Yaibal, Nooj, Gippal, Baralai, Lulu, Kimahri, Garik, accompanied by two Ronso Youths and the duo of Brother and Buddy. Most enemies can appear either solo or in a team with some other enemies, for example Nooj, Gippal and Baralai will occasionally appear as a team. If the player completes the storyline of all six of Leblanc's Goons, they can also be fought here.

As a reward for beating it for the first time, the player is awarded a copy of the Mascot dressphere. For subsequent victories, awards include accessories like Defense Bracer, Speed Bracer, Tetra Bracelet or Shmooth Shailing.

Aeon Cup
Aeon Cup is unlocked by capturing and transforming eight specific creatures into aeons.

In this cup, the player will exclusively battle aeons. Shiva, Anima, Yojimbo and the Magus Sisters are identical to their storyline counterparts. The others are much stronger here than they were during the mandatory fights. The most dangerous foe is Bahamut with over 100,000 HP and very dangerous attacks.

Beating this cup awards the player with one of several stat-raising accessories. If the player manages to win three times, they obtain the Peerless Garment Grid, one of the best Garment Grids in the game. For subsequent victories, they can obtain Kaiser Knuckles, Crystal Ball, Crystal Bangle or Rune Bracer.

Fiend Portal / Fiend World Cup
The Fiend Portal can only be unlocked through a sidequest involving the capturing and releasing of several specific creatures. After it is completed once, the name changes to Fiend World Cup.

In the Fiend World Cup, the Gullwings face demonic enemies, including Doomstones, Spellspinners, and Imps. The deadly Mega Tonberry also frequently appears. Unlike other cups, the player's HP and MP are not restored after every round, so they must continue fighting with whatever they had left. It is a four-round elimination tournament instead of the usual three.

When the player participates in the Fiend World Cup for the very first time, it is named the Fiend Portal, and the final opponent is Omega Weapon. Losing to any team results in a Game Over as the Celsius explodes. After winning, the player is given a choice to recruit either Ultima Weapon or Omega Weapon. Since Ultima Weapon was recruited to unlock the Fiend Portal in the first place, choosing Omega Weapon is recommended.

If the player indeed chooses Omega Weapon, completing his Fiend Tale causes the creation of Almighty Shinra, who then hijacks the Fiend World Cup and turns it into Almighty Shinra's Cup. It is identical to the Fiend World Cup except that Almighty Shinra is always the final opponent and beating him gives the player an opportunity to recruit him.

After beating Omega Weapon and Almighty Shinra, they occasionally appear in the Fiend World Cup. They usually beat any computer-controlled team they face, so the player will most likely have to fight them.

Winning the Fiend World Cup awards the player with outstanding accessories. Possible rewards include the AP Egg, Soul of Thamasa, Adamantite and Gold Hairpin.

Farplane Cup
Farplane Cup is the final and most difficult tournament of the Fiend Arena. It is unlocked by beating every other cup, other than the Almighty Shinra's Cup, at least once.

In Farplane Cup, the Gullwings face the game's most powerful enemies and superbosses, including the Black Elemental and Mushroom Cloud combo, Concherer, Elder Drake, Insect Matriarch, Azi Dahaka, Paragon, Trema, and Major Numerus. Trema usually defeats any team he faces and therefore has to be fought almost every time. At times, the player may also encounter characters from Final Fantasy X: Tidus, Auron and Seymour. If these characters are beaten during the cup and the Gullwings win the cup afterwards, they are given the choice to recruit them. If they choose to recruit them and then release them later, Seymour and Auron can be re-recruited. Releasing Tidus, however, prevents him from ever being recruited again.

The most dangerous foe in this tournament is Major Numerus, the strongest superboss of the game and unique to the Farplane Cup. He only shows up after the player has already beaten the cup multiple times and if he appears, the player has a high chance of fighting him—although it is possible that he loses to enemies like Trema or Paragon. It is also possible for Major Numerus to lose to the Elder Drake, although this is a rare occurrence.

Winning the Farplane Cup awards the player with one of the rarest and most valuable accessories in the game. The possible rewards are: Ragnarok, Force of Nature, Key to Success, and Iron Duke. Participating in the Farplane Cup and defeating Major Numerus through the battle simulator are the only ways to obtain multiple Iron Dukes in one playthrough.

Battle Simulator
The Battle Simulator allows one to fight the fiends they have encountered through the various tournaments. Note that dying in these battles does not result in a Game Over, and various strong enemies can be repeatedly fought (such as Concherer, Paragon, Trema etc.) for their drops (e.g. Dark Matter).

Some teams can only be encountered by observing a fiend's Fiend Tale. See the Creature Creator article to see where to capture the corresponding fiends.

Most of the fiends encountered in the Fiend Arena, when Oversouled, count towards Shinra's Bestiary, allowing the Battle Simulator to be a helpful tool to cause a fiend to Oversoul (see the Oversouled article for specifics). However, if a fiend has different abilities than the version encountered in the main story, then it will not count towards Shinra's Bestiary but can be repeatedly fought to bring about an Oversouled version which can then be fought in the main story.

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Note: Cactuars all teach the Blue Bullet ability 1000 Needles.

Quests
Several sidequests are tied to the Fiend Arena and completing them often offers great rewards.

Sphere Break Elites
By completing the storyline of Varan, the player unlocks the Besaid Aurochs' locker room in Luca. Here, they can face the three best Sphere Break players in the game with Quota values upwards of 500. Defeating the elites will award the player some rare accessories—Enterprise, Invincible, and Ragnarok, respectively.

Machina Panzer
If the player captures and completes the Fiend Tale for Killer Hound, who can be captured by setting up an S-pod in Bikanel, they are instructed to look for a machina in the Zanarkand Ruins. Now they can capture the YSLS-Zero there by using an M-pod. Completing its storyline activates a mission.

The player is told to look for a 1000-year-old machina. That machina is the Machina Panzer, found by setting up an L-pod in the Thunder Plains. Completing the Fiend Tale for Machina Panzer awards the player with the Adamantite accessory.

Aeon Cup

 * See Creature Creator for how to capture necessary fiends.

To unlock Aeon Cup, the player must find and transform several fiends. The fiends can be transformed by increasing their Story Levels by 4 after capturing and then releasing them. Doing so will release one of the eight aeons and unlock them in the Battle Simulator. If the player finds all of them, Aeon Cup is unlocked.


 * Mycotoxin turns into Valefor.
 * Flame Dragon turns into Ifrit.
 * Machina Striker turns into Ixion.
 * Flan Blanco turns into Shiva.
 * Azi Dahaka turns into Bahamut.
 * Aranea turns into Anima.
 * Critical Bug turns into Yojimbo.
 * Jumbo Cactuar turns into the Magus Sisters.

If the player manages to unlock the cup and then beat it three times, they obtain the Peerless Garment Grid.

Fiend World Cup and Almighty Shinra
Unlocking the Fiend World Cup is quite complicated. The sidequest can only be started after Chapter 2 and completed in Chapter 5. The Fiend Tales of many creatures must be completed in succession. All these creatures receive a Fiend Tale Complete at Story Level 3 except for Ultima Weapon and Almighty Shinra.


 * 1) To begin, the player must capture Daeva. This can only be done after Chapter 2.
 * 2) Completing Daeva's tale makes him transform into Aka Manah, who is then automatically recruited.
 * 3) Completing Aka Manah's tale makes him turn into Aeshma.
 * 4) Completing Aeshma's tale makes him transform into Jahi.
 * 5) After completing Jahi's tale, it's Mission Time! Before disappearing, Jahi cryptically tasks Shinra with capturing a traitorous fiend.
 * 6) At this point, the player can capture Tomb. Completing Tomb's tale makes it possible to capture Dolmen in Chapter 5.
 * 7) Once the player has completed Dolmen's tale and has descended into the Farplane Abyss at least once, Monolith becomes available for capture.
 * 8) Completing Monolith's tale releases Ultima Weapon, who is then automatically recruited.
 * 9) Upon completing the tale of Ultima Weapon, Omega Weapon is unleashed, and the Fiend Portal tournament opens up. Unlike most other tournaments, losing this tournament means Game Over. Winning the tournament's final battle against Omega Weapon will give you a choice of either re-recruiting Ultima Weapon or recruiting Omega Weapon; choose the latter to continue. The Fiend Portal will also become the Fiend World Cup, which is the standard version of that tournament.
 * 10) Completing the Fiend Tale for Omega Weapon will transform Shinra into Almighty Shinra. The Fiend World Cup changes once more to the Almighty Shinra Cup, with Almighty Shinra as its final opponent. Defeating him gives the player the option to recruit him, at which point the tournament reverts to the Fiend World Cup.
 * 11) Completing the tale of Almighty Shinra and then releasing him awards the player with the extremely powerful Last Resort Garment Grid. To re-recruit Shinra, simply watch Omega Weapon's ending in the Bestiary. Almighty Shinra's Cup will return, and Shinra can be fought and recruited once more.

Musical themes
During the Aeon Cup, the aeon battle theme titled "Aeons" plays instead of the normal tournament music. During the Fiend World Cup, the typical tournament theme is substituted with "Clash". During Farplane Cup, "Demise" plays instead of the regular tournament theme.

Trivia

 * All Gun Mage Blue Bullet abilities can be learned in the Fiend Arena with the exception of Annihilator.