The fourth empty bottle in Ocarina of Time was an item that was out of my grasp for ages. My skills just never seemed to be up to par to obtain it. The challenge didn’t sound that hard. Shoot down ten Big Poes scattered around Hyrule Field, that’s all. These Poes would spawn in fixed spots on the map, and it was my job to pull out my bow and arrows, take aim while riding on horseback, hit a moving target that would disappear if I took even a second too long and land not one but two hits before it vanished.
For some players, this wasn’t so difficult. For others, like myself, this was the hardest achievement in the game.
After several attempts at not only finding all ten Big Poes but also successfully defeating and capturing them, I eventually gave up. Over the course of about a year, I managed to catch six of the ten. However, the fourth bottle wouldn’t be awarded to me until all ten were captured. After so many repeated attempts, I just didn’t want to keep trying anymore, so I stopped.
For years after that, whenever I would replay Ocarina of Time, I would collect everything that I could. I’d acquire the Biggoron’s Sword, all one-hundred Gold Skulltula tokens, every bag upgrade, and even the Golden Scale from the Fishing Pond. Everything except for that fourth and final empty bottle.
Friends would sometimes ask me why I didn’t have it. “You know you’re still missing the fourth bottle?” As if I needed to be reminded. I’d tell them I knew how to get it, but I was terrible at taking out the Big Poes in Hyrule Field. It bothered me, though, knowing that despite it taking a long time, I did manage to catch six of them. I was making progress. If I had just kept at it a little bit longer back then, maybe I wouldn’t still be thinking about it after all these years. But at the time, I simply didn’t have it in me to continue trying.
Many more years went by, and a part of me accepted that I would never truly 100% Ocarina of Time, all because of one stubborn bottle. It wasn’t until I moved away to college that I got my hands on a Nintendo 3DS and a copy of Ocarina of Time 3D. Getting to revisit a beloved game on a handheld was awesome, and I have to say, I’m particularly fond of the updated graphics in that version. After long days of classes or on quiet weekends, I would sit down and put in a few hours of gameplay.
Eventually, I reached the point where you acquire Epona. One evening, I decided to ride around Hyrule Field just to pass the time. As we galloped along, one of the Big Poes suddenly appeared in front of us. By instinct, I grabbed my bow and fired an arrow, but I missed. I shrugged it off and said, “Enough of this,” and rode on. A moment later, I heard the familiar sound of the Poe cackling as it disappeared. Nothing had changed.
But then something inside me shifted. I realized I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life knowing how close I came to having a perfect Ocarina of Time save file if it hadn’t been for that fourth bottle. So I focused. Epona and I circled back to the spot where the Poe had appeared. I blocked out everything else and waited. Soon enough, it spawned again. I raised my bow, took aim, and fired. One shot, then another. Both hit their mark perfectly.
It was only one Poe, though, so it didn’t feel like much of an accomplishment. I thought to myself, here we go again. How much more time am I about to waste trying to get the other nine?
But something felt different this time. One after another, I remained focused. I memorized the locations where each Poe spawned, and my aim had greatly improved since I was much younger. Within just a few days, I had already captured six Big Poes and delivered them to the collector in the Market.
I paused for a moment when I realized something. This is exactly how far I got before giving up as a kid. This was where my progress came to a halt all those years ago. But this time, I was much older, my skills had gotten better, and I wasn’t going to let my past failures discourage me any longer.
I hopped back on Epona, and we took off back into Hyrule Field. Before long, I had nabbed three more Poes, each one going down far more easily than they did when I was younger. Just like that, I had nine.
I returned to the Poe collector and made my second-to-last delivery, and rode back out into the field. After a few minutes of riding, checking the map and the spawn locations, the final Poe appeared. There it was. The single enemy that was between me and finally achieving a perfect Ocarina of Time file. I raised my bow, fired the first shot, and hit. I fired the second shot and missed. Argh! He got away.
No big deal. I circled back around to the same spot and waited for him to respawn. When he did, I didn’t hesitate. One arrow fired. Bam. First hit. Bam. Second hit. I paused the game, put my 3DS down on the desk, and raised both fists in the air, shouting, “YES! YES!”
I bottled up the final Poe and returned to the collector. After handing it over, he let me know I had successfully captured all ten. Then it happened. Link held up the fourth and final empty bottle in the air as the iconic item fanfare played. After all those years, I had finally done it.
As I saved my game, I couldn’t help but laugh to myself and think, “Wow, that wasn’t hard at all.”
