Getting Started
Purchase several stalls from Choco Bill (no less than three), and then begin hunting for a Chocobo. As you probably know by now, Chocobos can be found anywhere there are Chocobo tracks on the landscape. What you may not know is that each area yields Chocobos of different qualities. To breed the best, you need to find the best. Here's a quick list of the various area and the type of Chocobos you can find in each:
| Area | Classes |
| Chocobo Range Area | Poor, Weak |
| Junon Area | Fair, Poor |
| Gold Saucer Area | Good, Average |
| Rocket Town Area | Mediocre |
| Wutai Area | Average, Fair |
| Icicle Inn Area | Wonderful, Weak |
| Mideel Area | Great, Fair |
You can capture four Chocobos at a time, but then you'll need to return to the Chocobo Ranch to choose who the keepers are. Choco Billy will always give you his recommendation. Follow the list below to help you determine what type of Chocobo you have by interpreting Choco Billy's comments.
| Chocobo Types | Choco Billy's Accessments |
| Wonderful | "This...is a wonderful Chocobo!" |
| Great | "This is a great Chocobo." |
| Good | "Mmm, this seems like a good Chocobo." |
| Fair | "Mmm, this one's not bad." |
| Average | "This is a pretty average Chocobo." |
| Mediocre | "This Chocobo's so-so." |
| Poor | "This one doesn't seem to be very good." |
| Weak | "I really can't recommend this one." |
Once you have a selection of quality Chocobos, you'll want to feed and train them. Chocobos eat Greens, which can be found in the wild or purchased from Choco Billy and the Chocobo Sage. Greens raise one or several of a Chocobo's stats. These stats include:
| Speed | Makes Chocobo run faster |
| Intelligence | Chocobo paces itself better |
| Stamina | Can push Chocobo harder for longer |
| Attitude | Chocobo behaves better |
Higher quality Greens provide more of an increase than cheaper Greens, but they cost more. You can expect to feed some Chocobos as much as 500,000 Gil worth of Greens. Check out the various Greens and what they do:
| Green | Location | Price | +Speed | +Intellect | +Stamina |
| Gysahl | Bill's | 100 | No | No | Yes |
| Krakka | Bill's | 250 | No | Yes | No |
| Tantal | Bill's | 400 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Pahsana | Bill's | 800 | No | Yes | No |
| Curiel | Bill's | 1000 | Yes | No | Yes |
| Mimett | Bill's | 1500 | Yes | No | Yes |
| Reagen | Sage's | 3000 | Yes | No | Yes |
| Sylkis | Sage's | 5000 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
If you feed your Chocobo a green and it fails to raise it statistics, you've maxed out the statistics that particular Green effects. You can also use Greens to make a Chocobo stay around longer during a battle. The better the Green, the longer it captures the Chocobo's attention.
Chocobos also eat nuts, but only when they're breeding. You should never need to purchase a nut. This is mainly because the only nuts you should ever need are the Zeio Nut and the Carob Nut, both of which are used to breed special Chobobos, but neither of which can be purchased.
After maxing out your Chocobos stats, you should race them before trying to breed them. Racing Chocobos and increasing their classes helps to ensure that the Chocobos' offspring will be champion material. Two S Class Chocobos will have a much better chance of breeding a special Chocobo than two C Class Chocobos.
Once you have a male and a female Chocobo that have been properly trained, you're ready to create a special Chocobos (Next Section).