Before leaving Molida Island, Link can buy a quiver upgrade from the shop. He also receives a letter from Romanos (the Wayfarer’s son), inviting him to check out… something. It turns out he’s set up a shooting gallery to raise money to fund his own adventures, and invites Link to try his hand at it. This thing is deceptively hard: most of the targets have ghosts painted on them and award 10 points, plus 10 points for each consecutive shot that hit a ghost up to a maximum of 50 points. About halfway into the game, targets start passing through that have a girl painted on them, and hitting one of them costs 50 points. There are two main rewards here: the second quiver upgrade for scoring 1,700 points, and a heart container for 2,000.
My main difficulty with the game is that I found it way too easy to accidentally hit a target’s edge rather than the center of the one behind it I was aiming at. This is obviously bad with the girl targets you’re not supposed to hit – although honestly I think they’re trying to get hit so they can laugh with their friends how they ruined my run – but it’s not much better when shooting at a ghost and hitting a different ghost. Or, worse, hitting two ghosts with one arrow only to have fired a second arrow to hit one of the ghosts that isn’t there anymore. There are some good things: the treasures he awards for solid runs sell to the Treasure Teller for a good deal more than a run of the game, so it’s very profitable. (I started with 200 rupees and ended with over 4,000.) And it awards ship parts for good runs after you get the main rewards, so when I start focusing on completing that collection, I’ll be coming here a lot. (It’s bound to be a little less stressful when all I want is rupees and ship parts. By the end, I was getting 1,300 points more often than not.) And, when you get annoyed enough with it, you can shoot at Romanos. He jumps over the arrow, but it’s still satisfying [1].
As the SS Linebeck sets sail, Linebeck and/or Ciela decides the ghost ship’s likely hanging out in the fog in the northwest quadrant. Before they can set a course to go that way, another ship approaches, and its captain, Jolene, calls out Linebeck. Apparently, they’re old friends or enemies or whatever. Linebeck characteristically decides running away is a prudent course of action, but the engine goes dead before they make it too far and Jolene boards the ship. She’s surprised to find Link there; when he won’t tell her where Linebeck’s hiding, it starts a duel. Typical stuff, really: let her make her big attack, then strike back before she recovers. After three hits, Link and Jolene get a blade lock going; Link disarms her, and she runs off. Linebeck pops out of hiding, gives Link a blue rupee as a reward, and they set off again.
Now that Link’s collected ten Power Gems, it’s time to visit the pool on Spirit Island again. The gems unlock some of Leaf’s power, powering up Link’s sword. Link can only have one active fairy companion at a time, and as helpful and nice as Ciela’s been, double sword power is too useful a trick to pass up. (And you know it’s not like she won’t pop out when she has something to say.) Back on Mercay Island, now that Link has the bow, he can pass through the cave on the way to the Temple of the Ocean King. On the other side, he finds a laser statue that marks another hidden cave that has a Courage Gem and leads to the little island off the northeast of Mercay. There, Link finds Freedle, a guitar-playing [2] bard who has several magical boxes that will let Link trade unwanted ship parts and treasures with other players. That’s probably not going to happen, but also of interest on this island is a treasure chest with a Wisdom Gem.
There’s one last thing to wrap up before heading for the ghost ship: While hopping around the islands, Link got visited by the postman who read a letter from Jolene to her sister, Joanne. The postman asks Link to properly deliver it, and fortunately, there was a hint in the letter: Jolene asked if Joanne is still mermaid cosplaying. When Link delivers the letter to Joanne, she gives him a Wisdom Gem as a reward.
Next: How would I go about revoking Nintendo’s license to make escort missions?
[1] Phantom Hourglass is available for the Wii U Virtual Console, which… I can’t imagine to be terribly fun? I realize the game needs a touchscreen for controls and a second screen, but playing on the gamepad while the TV serves as the second screen (assuming that’s how it works) doesn’t seem like fun. And trying to line up the gamepad with the TV for things like this archery game sounds like a fscking nightmare.
[2] As he calls it, anyway. It looks more like a lute.
