Esto Gaza and Mt. Gulug

When I loaded up my save, I entered Esto Gaza, then went to the right as soon as I regained control. I picked up the Wing Edge behind the counter, then sold all my Wing Edges and bought the missable items as instructed in the guide. After that, I ran to the moogle, read the letter, picked up a letter, and saved.

I then marched into Mt. Gulug. I picked up all the treasure in the top part, then equipped my characters as follows:

Zidane               Vivi                     Freya                       Amarant

Gladius             Flame Staff          Heavy Lance           Scissor Fangs
Green Beret       -                         Cross Helm             Red Hat
N-Kai Armlet      -                         Thunder Gloves        Jade Armlet
Chain Plate        -                         Shield Armor           Brigandine
Lapis Lazuli       Running Shoes     Lapis Lazuli             Power Belt
_________________________________________________________
Distract             Auto-Haste          Accuracy+              Bird Killer
Ability Up                                     Distract                  Add Status
Bandit                                          Bird Killer               Ability Up
                                                   Add Status
                                                   Ability Up
                                                   Antibody
                                                   HP+10%

Bird Killer and Antibody were simply left on from before, so I kept them on because they'll use them again later, and they have magic stones to spare for now. I believe I failed to mention it, but Freya has had Antibody activated ever since Tantarian. I just never really noticed it until now. With that done, I lowered the bucket by pulling the lever down three times, then picked up the Wing Edge in the next room, delivered the letter and picked up the next one, then saved.

Now it's time to take on the Red Dragons. The first one is the most annoying because of the high chance of an encounter along the way. In the battle that finally succeeded, Vivi cast Stop right away, and Amarant inflicted Venom with his attack, ending the battle in short order. After this battle, Zidane mastered Annoy, Clear Headed, Bandit (finally!) and Devil Killer. I thus changed his equipment to better take advantage of the remaining battles, giving him the Exploda, Black Hood, Thief Gloves, and Power Vest. I then returned to the moogle and saved again.

The next Red Dragon battle was easier as I didn't have to worry about random encounters this time. In this battle, Freya stopped the first Red Dragon with her attack. The remaining one dived at Freya but missed. Amarant's attack failed to inflict Venom, but Vivi succeeded in stopping it. With this battle, Freya mastered Devil Killer and Add Status. She doesn't have anything better to equip in those slots at the moment, so I didn't bother changing her equipment. I just picked up the Demon Mail, took care of the Mognet business, and saved with the last moogle.

The last Red Dragon battle has only one dragon, so it was much easier. A single swipe from Amarant ended this battle as soon as it had begun. After this battle, Zidane mastered Ability Up and Accuracy+ and Amarant mastered MP Attack. I then switched everyone's equipment to prepare for Meltigemini as follows:

Zidane                 Vivi                     Freya                       Amarant

Exploda               Flame Staff          Holy Lance              Kaiser Knuckles
Black Hood          -                         Mythril Helm             Green Beret
Thief Gloves         -                         Diamond Gloves       Jade Armlet
Power Vest          -                         Shield Armor            Chain Plate
Germinas Boots    -                         Barette                    Black Belt
_________________________________________________________
Distract                                         Accuracy+               MP Attack
Master Thief                                   Distract                   Bird Killer
Ability Up                                       MP Attack              Devil Killer
Bandit                                            Bird Killer               Ability Up
                                                     Devil Killer
                                                     Ability Up
                                                     Antibody
                                                     HP+10%

This is the last I'll ever see of Vivi in this challenge, so he is stripped of equipment. I saved again and then headed off to take on the boss.  I went through the tedious scenes and took on Meltigemini. I began the battle by having Freya and Amarant attack. Meltigemini then knocked out Eiko with a physical attack, Zidane stole a Vaccine, and Freya attacked again for the win. If Freya's attacks aren't in the high end of her range, Amarant might need to attack again. I got a bit lucky here. After the battle, Zidane learned Lucky Seven, Locomotion, Master Thief, Stone Killer, Gamble Defense, Counter, and Alert. Freya learned Reis's Wind, Insomniac, Ability Up, Jelly, Distract, and Chemist. Amarant learned Countdown, Clear Headed, Body Temp, Devil Killer, and Beast Killer.

With that done, it was time for more long scenes. I skipped saving in Lindblum because I'm not going through these long scenes more than once, but I made sure to pick up the letter for Kumool. When I finally got control of the Hilda Garde 3, I put Quina, Freya, and Amarant in my party. I immediately docked to get the treasures on board, then went to Pinnacle Rocks to loot it. I then flew to Chocobo's Forest and called Choco, then saved with a time of 08:57:57.