Kemono Friends (2015 Mobile Game)

The Japanese mobile game Kemono Friends, published by Nexon, was the first entry in the Kemono Friends multimedia franchise.

Prologue
The player finds themselves in Japari Park with no previous memories. There, they meet Mirai, depicted as a rookie Park Guide, as well as Serval. The player learns that Japari Park is a massive, open zoo where visitors can play with animal girls known as Friends, but that the park is currently closed due to an outbreak of Ceruleans. It is during this prologue that the party first encounters the strange, Serval-like Cerulean named Cerval.

Chapter 1
The party meets Caracal, who claims that Serval stole her Japari Buns. However, Serval has been unwittingly framed by Cerval, the true culprit. They accost and do battle with her, after which she mumbles something about "going back to the Queen". Fearing that Cerval will cause more mischief that Serval will be blamed for, the party follows the Cerulean to the next region. Additionally, Caracal joins the party.

Chapter 2
Pursuing Cerval, the party seeks help from the "Wiseman". On the way, they meet Crested Ibis, a troubled singer. The ibis explains that her she's troubled not only that her singing is terrible, but also that it apparently attracts Ceruleans. The party suggests that the Wiseman may be able to help her too, so she tags along.

Once they finally meet this "Wiseman", it turns out to be a pair of owls, specifically Professor Konoha-chan and Assistant Mimi-chan. They give Crested Ibis medicine to improve her voice, but it doesn't work at all, attracting even more Ceruleans than before. The discouraged bird Friend is about to give up singing for good, but the party encourages her to keep with it. She then gains the ability to heal in combat using her voice (although she still sounds terrible). It turns out that Ceruleans were attracted to her voice because her singing was so bad that even they couldn't bear it and tried to stop her by force. But with its newfound healing ability, the effect is mitigated, lending to a (relatively) happy ending for the chapter. Afterwards, Professor Konoha-chan informs the party that she saw Cerval heading to the desert area.

Chapter 3
The party arrives in the Sankai Region and finds that all of its oases have dried up. Not missing a beat, the heroes set out to find out what's going on. There, they meet Arabian Oryx, who is looking for her missing friend Lulu, a Thomson's gazelle Friend. As it turns out, Lulu set off on her own accord to prove herself useful to Arabian Oryx by solving the problem of the desert's empty oases herself. She and the party locate a large Cerulean that drank all of the water in the desert. They defeat it, and Lulu joins the player's party permanently. Unfortunately, Cerval gets away in the process and the group follows her into another region.

Chapter 4
The party continues their journey through the Waterfront. After battling a Cellien, Serval finds she is no longer able to speak, and can only communicate in animal cries. They meet Black Rhinoceros and White Rhinoceros, who explain that Serval has a disease plaguing the Area called "Gaogao Disease". The disease is rumored to be caused by Cerval, who was seen being friendly towards Celliens. The party apprehend her, but she insists she knows nothing.

Crested Ibis catches the disease after noticing a trail of rainbow-colored slime. Mirai sends a sample of the liquid to a nearby Maintenance Center to analyze, leading them to a giant snail Cellien which is the source of the slime and disease. Silver Fox appears from the shadows and gives a vaccine to the party so they can safely fight it, before the Cellien attacks her and knocks her out. The group defeats the Cellien, and Serval and Crested Ibis are found to have been cured by the vaccine. White Rhino joins the party as they follow Cerval through the Snowy Mountain Area, bringing the still-unconscious Silver Fox with them.

Chapter 5
When Silver Fox finally wakes up, she seems to have amnesia and can't remember why she was following the protaganist. The party meets Capybara, the hot springs specialist, who tells them of a hot spring with the effect of helping restore memories.

As the group travels, Mirai explains research about Celliens, including how they can steal Sparkle and copy forms. Along the way, they run into Cerval in a hot spring. While White Rhino is still suspicious of her, Serval wants to bring her along, and she doesn't seem dangerous in her current state. So far the party has referred to her only as "Fake Serval", but Serval insists on giving her a name of her own - "Cerval", a name which appears to make her happy.

Serval finds a "Super Secret Hot Spring" which is in reality just a cold fountain. Silver Fox jumps in and regains her memory, but it is unclear if this is caused by the spring itself or the protaganist's amulet, which glows while they have a dream inside the water. Silver Fox explains that she was ordered to secretly protect the party by Oinari-sama. Oinari-sama is staying in Park Central, which has been shut down due to the Celliens. Afterward, Cerval goes into a trance as she is controlled by the Queen, summoning a giant Cellien. The Cellien is defeated, but Cerval escapes and the group begins to see how much danger she can pose.

Chapter 6
After receiving an invitation to a "Sky Race" the party heads to the Sky Area where they meet numerous avian Friends. The group decides to take part in the race as a change of mood and to raise the spirits of the other Friends. In the middle of the race Northern Goshawk is attacked by a Cellien, which steals her Sparkle of self-confidence and grows wings. Cerval rides the flying Cellien so she can reach the Queen faster.

Fennec and Arai who have also been chasing Cerval show up. Fennec mentions that the Sparkle Cerval stole from Serval is something very important, but can't explain what she means yet. Northern Goshawk comes up with a strategy to defeat the Celliens and win the race, but due to her loss of confidence she is unable to voice her plan. Serval encourages her and she regains her sparkle after telling her plan to her team members.

Meanwhile, the party catches up with Cerval. They appear to defeat the Birdien, but Cerval uses her power to strengthen it again and escape. The Friends follow her into the Gokoku Region, where they hear Margay is planning some sort of event.

After the protaganist's team completes the race, their amulet glows once again. This time they have a memory of secretly raising a small fox. Upon hearing the story, Serval becomes emotional, but is unable to explain why.

Chapter 7
The party reaches the next area and finds the Friends holding a creative contest. Margay is stressed because she was making a film, but her script was stolen by a Cellien along with her inspiration Sparkle. The party decides to find the Cellien that took the script and return it. Along the way they meet Stella, a Steller's Sea Cow Friend, and Mirai explains how it is thanks to Kako's research that they are able to meet extinct Friends.

The party notices that the Celliens seem to be evolving - their behavior is much more coordinated than before, and they are stealing the weapons of Friends to take on more dangerous forms. One such Cellien has stolen Narwhal's spear, and once it is defeated they gain back the spear along with Margay's script. After recovering the script it appears a large portion of it has been destroyed, but the Friends decide to film the movie anyway to cheer up Margay. They piece together the plot which is pirate-themed, and decide to ad-lib the rest. They set sail to begin the movie, accompanied by the dolphin Friends Malka and Nalka in the water.

While filming, they come across a ghost ship, with Cerval onboard. Cerval reveals that she is the captain of the ship, and that her crew of Celliens are playing pirates, inspired by Margay's stolen script. They're doing such a good job that Margay wants to work them into the movie, so Cerval joins in by fighting Serval. Serval helps Cerval remember they aren't supposed to be fighting, and Cerval breaks out of her trance. They call each other their friends, giving a happy ending to the fight and Margay's movie.

Suddenly Cerval is called to the Queen again, but this time she defies her orders, not wanting to hurt Serval. This resistance is met with punishment as a giant Cellien breaks out of the ship. The Cellien absorbs Cerval against her will, and she ends up being spat further away toward the Riukiu Area when it is defeated.

Fennec also explains that she once saw Serval cause a miracle in the past, when she was at the hospital during the onset of a Cellien attack. Serval triggered a power called "Kemo Harmony", healing all the Friends around her and strengthening them. Fennec and Silver Fox have a theory that Serval is somehow "special" in this regard. The party believes this specialness, related to the ability to invoke Kemo Harmony, to be the Sparkle stolen from Serval by Cerval.

Chapter 8
The party is taken to see Shisa Lefty and Shisa Right, two god-like Friends based on the Area's guardian animals. The Shisas serve them as guests for the night, and say they have someone investigating Cerval's whereabouts, on which they should receive a report in the morning. During the night, Mirai tells the protaganist more about Professor Kako, who she sees as a big sister. She met Kako at a zoo, and her love and knowledge of animals is what inspired Mirai to eventually come to Japari Park. She also reveals that Kako lost her parents when she was young - but despite this, she was able to achieve her dream of working so closely with animals.

In the morning, the Shisas tell the party what they've learned. Cerval is currently on an island being guarded by several powerful, evolved black Celliens. The party also learns that Oinari-sama is in battle with the Cellien Queen in Park Central, currently in a stalemate. The Shisas use the information gathered from their reports to deduce the Queen's plans. They believe she plans to use Cerval's stolen sparkle to invoke a large-scale "Ultimate Cell Harmony" instead of a Kemo Harmony - an event that would cause all Celliens in the park to rapidly evolve and steal all Sparkle. Knowing this would spell disaster, the party resolves to stop the Queen's plan at all costs.

The Friends modify the Japari Bus so that it can travel in the sea. They meet the dolphins again along with Blue Whale, who pull it along underwater to increase their speed and stealth against the Celliens. They run into the Shisas, who were fighting on a different island to act as a diversion for the Celliens. Silver asks the Shisas how they plan to get back the specialness stolen by Cerval when they do run into her. They respond that the only way that they know involves killing Cerval. Serval immediately rejects the idea, wanting to call off the mission. The other Friends try to calm her down from any rash decisions, knowing the alternative would put the world in danger. However, the Friends who have accompanied the protaganist on their journey understand Serval's hesitance, and start to wonder what the right thing to do really is.

The party runs into Okinawa Rail and Habu, who were sent to help them. As they near their destination, the Friends think of all the times Serval has helped them. They know Serval has the strongest bond with Cerval compared to anyone else, so they decide to trust her with her choice, no matter what she chooses to do with Cerval. Serval knows an immense amount of pressure is being put on her, but they continue forward anyway.

When they reach where Cerval should be, all they find is a hastily scribbled message indicating that she has already left to Park Central. They are surrounded by a group of black Celliens, and defeat them after an exhausting battle. The Shisas arrive to give Serval an amulet infused with purifying salt. This amulet will kill Cerval if used, but they tell her that it is ultimately her decision what to do with it.