PH - Okay, I'll admit it. Action Replay CAN be bad sometimes...

Lucky for me, so far Action Replay hasn't done anything too bad to my Pokemon game. However, apparently it works differently for Zelda games.

Seth Goldenblood, the person who's been letting me use his AR to get those FANTASTIC Pokemon, has a little brother, who's name in the game is Quinn... something. Anyway, he got ALL the way to the Goron Island in Phantom Hourglass. That's pretty far! I would hate to lose all that progress... but he made a huge mistake that is now forcing him to do so.

When they came to my house the other day, Quinn said to me, "Will you pretty please help me with Phantom Hourglass?" He knows that I have beat the game, and everytime he comes over her asks me that. So I replied, "Sure", not expecting it to be so incredibly... IMPOSSIBLE to complete.

He turned on his game, and told me he was trying to get the Azurine or whichever the Goron pure metal is (I forget, lol). He was right outside the Temple that you get the metal in. I said, "Oh, you have to complete that temple. Haven't you done that yet?"

He said, "Yeah. I already defeated the boss."

I was surprised. "Then why do you need my help getting the metal?"

Finally Seth, who was a bit older and easier to understand, spoke up, saying, "He can't get off the island. He has to talk to all the Gorons there before he can leave."

Now I was REALLY confused. To get into the temple to get the pure metal, you have to become a "brother to the Gorons" by talking to every Goron on the island and then taking a quiz. It didn't make any sense at all... "You can't have the metal if you haven't done that! Why don't you just get on the ship and leave?" I took the game from him and proceeded to do so. I went to Linebeck, and after saying some annoying line about, "Do you really want to leave your cousins, Link? Don't get emotional about leaving them!" he said that we could ship out.

Then Ciela - that annoying, fluttering puff-ball fairy that says "Hey!" all the time a NEVER lets you do anything fun - shows up and says, "No, Link! You have to talk to all the Gorons on the island so you can get the pure metal!"

Oh great. I groaned aloud, probably. "What the HECK did you do, Quinn!" I shouted at him. "This is NOT supposed to happen." I looked up at his map, where there were black dots all over. "What are those?"

"I marked where all the Gorons are," he explained.

Woah. He'd even marked all of them! He HAD to have talked to them all! "But... I don't get it! How in the world did you get into the temple if you aren't a brother to the Gorons yet?"

Seth spoke up again. "Allow me to explain," he said. He guided Link to the usual enterance to the temple, which was still blocked by the Goron as it is before you become "Goro-Link". "He used an Action Replay code to jump over this guy. Then he completed the temple and beat the boss."

"Uh-oh," I groaned again. This was SO not good. I quickly took the game again and ran back toward the Goron Leader's house - and to my surprise found TWO Gongorons in there. "What in the world..." I said. I talked to the one on the left. He said, "We do not like outsiders here. My name is Gongoron. You'd better remember that!" or something. I recognized it as what he would say when you are still trying to become a member of the Goron tribe. I talked to the one on the right next. He said, "That was great, brother! You have the pure metal! You'd better talk to my father about it, first."

I burst out laughing. I finally understood! His game was caught between a mixture of the two parts of the the Goron Isle. Gongoron appeared on both sides - once when you first meet him, once after you complete the temple. Now they were both there at the same time. So, hoping to find at least some relief, I talked to the Goron Leader. "You have not talked to every Goron, outsider," he said. "Talk to me again when you have." I began giggling again. I turned around and explained all that I'd figured out to Quinn and Seth.

Seth started laughing again while Quinn scowled. "It's not funny," he growled.

"Yes, it IS funny, Quinn!" Seth yelled between laughs. "You'll have to start the game over again!"