Ness leaves his home in Onett, a town in EarthBound.
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Onett Outskirts - Enemies
  • Coil Snake - 18 HP - Weak to PSI Freeze, Hypnosis, Paralysis - Drops Cookie
  • Runaway Dog - 21 HP - Drops Bread Roll
  • Spiteful Crow - 24 HP - Drops Cookie

  • - Your journey begins in earnest after returning home from Pokey’s house. From this point on you’ll be voyaging far from home to some strange, strange places - though first you need to deal with the problems of Onett, Ness’s hometown.

    - Approach Ness’s House and you’ll be visited by a photographer who falls out of the sky. This guy pops up from time to time to take Ness’s picture. This will make sense at the veeeeeery end of the game. Once he’s gone you can speak to Ness’s mom to restore your health, and, as ever, Tracy provides storage services. 

    Ness checks out the strange statue belonging to Lier X. Agerate, the most important NPC in EarthBound.

    - If you head back towards the meteor you can visit with Lier X. Agerate, whom you passed - and may have spoken with - the previous night. He has a plot-important item to show you, though nothing else.

    - Head southeast of Ness’s House, following the path and defeating enemies as necessary. Along the way you may see butterflies flitting about. These are Magic Butterflies, and if you touch one your party (at this point just Ness) will regain a small amount of PP, the stat which powers your PSI attacks. Touch these whenever you get a chance.

    - A ways down the path you’ll come to Onett’s Library. If you speak to the woman at the front desk she’ll give you a Town Map. Hit the X button while you have the Map in your inventory to display a map of your current town. As you might imagine, this doesn’t work in dungeons. The rest of the Library contains people who will provide info for beginners. You’ll have to return here much later in the game, so mind its spot for future reference.

    Ness visits a secret clubhouse outside Onett in EarthBound.

    - To the left of the Library is a kid wandering around. Check the trees near him to find the entrance to a clubhouse. The boy with the red cap in the clubhouse will give you a Mr. Baseball Cap. This is a great defensive item for this point in the game that will greatly cut down on the damage dealt by local enemies.

    - If you continue west you’ll hit a dead end of sorts. Head south through the trees and you’ll hit Onett proper. Start making your way back east. The people living in the apartment buildings aren’t much use, though next to them you’ll find two important locations: the Drugstore, where you can purchase early weapons, use the ATM to withdraw money, and call people for one dollar; and the Burger Shop, where you can buy restorative items. Hamburgers are a good substitute for using LifeUp A. If you have the money, buy the Tee Ball Bat as an upgrade to your Cracked Bat. This should make fighting a bit easier ‘round these parts.

    - While you’re at a phone, there’s an important point to make. If Ness goes too long without speaking to his mother on the phone he’ll become despondent and lose interest in battles. This can be quite deadly. Call home whenever you get a chance to avoid homesickness. Calling mom at this point will also bring up Tracy, who is the newest member of the Escargo Express delivery service. Call her and she’ll send out a delivery dude to pick up, or deliver, a maximum of three items. Each item will run you $15. 

    Ness retrieves a Hamburger from a trash can in EarthBound.

    - Continue east down the street. There’s a trash can beside the Burger Shop that contains a Hamburger (ew). Further down you’ll find an orange house that’s home to a dude who will deliver hints as to your next destination for $35. Because you have this walkthrough, you shouldn’t ever require his services.

    - Wander southwest to the next intersection. There’s a trash can on your left that contains… trash. Yay. West of here is a Hotel where you can spend the night for $35. There’s not much point using it since you’re so close to home, but you’ll need to use Hotels once you’re away from Onett. If nothing else the Hotel offers free phone calls from the front desk and an ATM.

    - Roughly in the middle of Onett is Town Hall. You’ll get kicked out if you try to see the mayor. Return here later.

    Ness visits Onett's hospital in EarthBound.

    - East and south of Town Hall, past some useless homes, is a Hospital. Whenever one of your characters get knocked out in battle you can head to a Hospital and get them revived. (If you lose a battle and continue the game, the only one who won’t be unconscious is Ness.) The doctor in the hospital can heal a variety of ailments, and any he can’t cover the blue-haired healer in the lobby can heal.

    - West of the Hospital is a rough path leading to a beachside home. You can buy the house for $7,500. There’s little reason to do so, as the inside is a junk heap. The only perk is a meeting with the photographer.

    Ness visits Onett's police department in EarthBound.

    - Wander back east along Onett’s southernmost street. There’s a Mach Pizza restaurant that you can’t yet enter, and beside it is an Arcade populated by the members of the Sharks. We’ll deal with these rowdy blokes in the next article. Their random battles are more difficult than others in Onett, and should be avoided unless you have a better weapon and improved armour.

    - There’s a Bakery beyond the Arcade where you can purchase more restorative items, and next to this a Police Station. It will feature into EarthBound soon. 

    - To the south of Onett is the road to Twoson. It’s currently closed, as the police of Onett have an obsession with roadblocks. You’ll have to deal with the troubles of Ness’s hometown to get through, and that means, to start, dealing with the Sharks.