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Parting ways with the year 2300 AD, the team - now one robot richer - wind up in a strange new space. This is the End of Time, and you'll want to get used to it. You'll be spending a good chunk of the game flitting in and out of this little area. Speak to the Old Man, standing beneath the lamppost in the middle of the End of Time, for more information.
The End of Time serves as a hub and safe haven for the remainder of Chrono Trigger. It's here where your team waits while not in the field, eager to jump into the fray. You can do a number of things while at the End of Time, and it unlocks a few other things as well.
Time Travel
The End of Time is, principally, a waypoint between eras. In the northwest of the End of Time you'll find pillars of light that can jump you to Gates in several different eras, or to different physical locations within the same era. Each time you enter a Gate a new pillar of light will appear in the End of Time. Later in the game you'll also gain a mode of transportation that'll berth itself at the empty bridge in the southeast.
There are nine pillars of light that you can unlock by the end of Chrono Trigger. At the moment you can access three of them, each leading to a different era:
- The central pillar takes you back to Proto Dome, in 2300 AD. If you care to trek all the way back to Bangor Dome, on the west side of the world map, you can open another Gate leading to the End of Time, revealing a fourth pillar.
- The southern pillar leads to the Mystic Mountains, in 65,000,000 BC. You'll be headed here two dungeons from now. For the moment, however, there isn't much point, unless you want to fight some dinosaurs.
- The northern pillar leads to Medina Village, in 1000 AD. We're headed here next.
Team Changes
You can only have three characters at any one time, and once you speak to the Old Man you'll need to leave one of your party members behind. Your other characters will automatically wind up in the End of Time, where you can change your party by speaking to any of the idle characters. You can also immediately change your character without travelling to the End of Time by pressing Y.
For the moment you can't remove Crono from your party. Once you reach the final stages of the game, however, you can leave him at the End of Time. Occasionally you'll come across character-specific events, as well, and you won't be able to send those characters to the End of Time until you complete that section of the story.
Restoration
To the left of the Old Man is a sparkle on a table. Approach it to instantly heal your party. Next to the table is a Save Point that you can use whenever you wish.
Spekkio
Behind the Old Man is a door that will unlock when you first attempt to leave the End of Time. Inside is Spekkio, a strange shape-changing creature who will - assuming you travel around the edge of his room clockwise three times - grant your team magical powers. He will only give magic to specific characters:
- Crono - Light magic
- Marle - Water magic
- Lucca - Fire magic
- Frog - Water magic (once he rejoins you)
Unlocking magic will allow your party members to learn a host of new Techs, and the Double and Triple Techs that come with them. Make sure you unlock magic for your characters as soon as possible, as their Tech growth is otherwise on pause. This does not apply to Robo, nor to two other characters who show up later in the game.
After unlocking your magical potential you have the option to engage Spekkio in a magic-only battle, with all other commands disabled. Fight and beat him and you'll earn a slew of awesome items. Be warned! Spekkio is a powerful opponent, and as you get stronger, so does he. Gain in levels and return to fight him again for more chances at even better items. We'll address Spekkio in another section of the guide.
The Bucket
The Gates aren't the only way to travel through time. You'll find a bucket in the End of Time, to the right of the Old Man, that leads to 1999 - namely, to the Day of Lavos. From here you can trigger the end of the game by combatting Lavos. This is not advisable right now. Lavos has multiple forms, and they will quickly escalate into something you can't handle at your current level. Wait until you've completed the majority of the story before fighting the ender of worlds.
(Though if you do try, and lose... which you will... you'll get to see one of the game's endings. It's not a cheerful conclusion.)
Arena of Ages (DS Only)
Fan of the Pokemon series? You'll probably like the Arena of Ages. This specialized area allows you to adopt a monster, teach it attacks, and send it into battle against another monster. Do enough work and your monster will change shape and become more powerful. You can gain some great items by participating in the Arena of Ages. We'll come back to it in another article.
You'll return to the End of Time a lot during your journey. For now, though, put Marle and Lucca in your party - they will come in handy for what's next - and use the northern pillar of light to jump to your next destination, Medina Village.
Part Twelve: Medina Village and Heckran Cave, 1000 AD
Part Twelve: Medina Village and Heckran Cave, 1000 AD