| Total | 3 companions, one per save file: Ricky, Dimitri or Moosh |
|---|---|
| Decided by | The Strange Flute, the first flute you get before reaching the Nuun Highlands |
| Where | Moosh: Yoll Graveyard (present). Ricky: Lynna City field (present). Dimitri: Crescent Island shore (present) |
| Price or prize | Dimitri: Strange Flute for 150 Rupees in the Lynna City shop. Ricky: a prize for 50 points or more in the Lynna Village shooting gallery (past). Moosh: no flute needed |
| Linked Game | The companion you choose carries over to a Linked Game through the password |
You can have only one animal companion in Oracle of Ages, and the choice is set by the flute you get, or by simply reaching the Nuun Highlands before you get a flute. Ricky, Dimitri and Moosh each reshape the Nuun Highlands, and the choice stays for the rest of that save. The Nuun Highlands and the Strange Flute are where the choice matters most.
How the choice is made
The Nuun Highlands blocks your way to Symmetry City, and you need a companion to cross its waterways. A foreman named Mutoh asks you to find his three missing workers, and you can only do that by riding an animal. The companion you have when you reach the highlands decides which flute you get and how the area is laid out.
| # | Companion | How to get the companion | Region | Ability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Moosh | Reach the Nuun Highlands before you have any flute. Moosh also appears in Yoll Graveyard to be rescued | Yoll Graveyard (present) | Floats over pits |
| 2 | Ricky | Win the Strange Flute as a prize in the Lynna Village shooting gallery (past) with 50 points or more | Lynna City field (present) | Jumps single-tile pit gaps |
| 3 | Dimitri | Buy the Strange Flute from the Lynna City shop for 150 Rupees, then meet Dimitri in Fairies’ Woods | Crescent Island shore (present) | Swims currents and waterfalls |
Strange Flute and the flutes
Strange Flute
The Strange Flute is the item that decides your companion. You can buy it from the Lynna City shop for 150 Rupees, and it comes from the shooting gallery in Lynna Village (past) if you score 50 points or more. The flute turns into a companion flute when you meet the animal it belongs to, so the Lynna City purchase becomes Dimitri’s Flute. Read the Nuun Highlands and the Strange Flutes chapter for the order.
Dimitri’s Flute
Dimitri first shows up on the Crescent Island shore in the present, after you leave the Moonlit Grotto. Two Tokay stand over him, and he is washed up on the sand. Answer No when they ask you to trade their fish for your Ember Seeds, and shoot a couple of Ember Seeds at them to drive them off. Dimitri then offers to carry you, and he sets you down on a sandy cliff.
Later, go south of Lynna Village into the Fairies’ Woods in the present. The fairy children ask you to find an animal that wandered into their woods. Move between the two screens of the bush ring until they say you have found it, then follow them to the forest edge. Dimitri thanks you, and the Strange Flute you bought earlier becomes Dimitri’s Flute. Play the flute beside a river bank to call him. The Harp of Ages and Fairies’ Woods chapter covers this area.
Ricky’s Flute
Ricky is in the grass field outside Lynna City in the present, standing by a signpost. She has lost her boxing gloves, and she cannot clear holes until she gets them back. Dig up the gloves on the sandy ledge beside a pond south of the Lynna City shop, using the Shovel. Bring the gloves back to her, and she becomes your companion. Climb into her pouch and ride her. She jumps single-tile gaps on her own.
To get Ricky’s Flute in the first place, play the shooting gallery in Lynna Village in the past. A score of 50 points or more wins the Strange Flute, which becomes Ricky’s Flute. Scores below that give the usual prizes. For how the gallery works, see Minigames.
Moosh’s Flute
Moosh is a blue bear that is harassed by three Ghinis in a room of Yoll Graveyard in the present. Shoot Ember Seeds at the ghosts and slash them with your sword until they vanish. Moosh thanks you and becomes a companion you can ride in the graveyard. He can float over pits: climb onto him and tap A. You need him to reach Cheval’s Grave in the north-west corner of the graveyard. The Farore’s Secrets and Cheval’s Grave chapter covers the route.
If you reach the Nuun Highlands before you get any flute, Moosh is your companion for the rest of the game. He also gives you a flute of his own, Moosh’s Flute, which calls him whenever you play it.
Nuun Highlands by companion
The Nuun Highlands is a country of rivers and waterfalls, and each companion shows a different side of it. Dimitri makes it a watery area that you cross by swimming up waterfalls. Ricky clears the holes and small ledges in the grassy parts. Moosh floats you over the pits. Each animal has its own route to the three workers, so the path you take is not the same from one save to the next.
Whichever companion you have, the workers are in similar parts of the highlands. A Great Fairy cave sits at the north edge of the Nuun Highlands and heals all your hearts. Dig up the soft soil near the Great Fairy cave, from the high ledge to the north-west, and plant a Gasha Seed there. For how Gasha Seeds grow, see Gasha Seeds and Soft Soil.
A cave in the Nuun Highlands holds the Light Ring L-1, and its location changes with the companion. See Magical Rings for the ring’s details.
Linked Game
The companion you choose is kept in a Linked Game. The password you see at the end of the first game records which companion you have, along with the son of Bipin and Blossom, so the Linked Game starts with the same animal. The companion does not change for the rest of the game. The password is not printed here, because it differs for every save; read it from your own save file.
Cost of each route
Moosh costs nothing but timing: reach the Nuun Highlands before you have any flute. Ricky costs a shooting gallery attempt that scores 50 points or more. Dimitri costs 150 Rupees at the Lynna City shop. The companion you pick sets the layout of the Nuun Highlands for the rest of the game.
