Oh, shut up and help me remodel the Rare enemy page!
The party encounters a Golden Cactuar.
Rare enemies are a special type of enemy found in Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis. They are encountered randomly during certain fights, and provide increased rewards if the player can successfully defeat them. Typically, these encounters include cactuars or bombs. They can flee from battle or self-destruct if not defeated quickly enough, preventing the player from receiving the bonus rewards.
The rewards received will be related to the quest in which the encounter happens - for example, rare enemies in a synthesis quest will provide additional synthesis materials. These bonuses are marked in the results screen with the "R. Enemy" label.
If a rare encounter appears, it becomes an additional wave in the current fight. If the fight already has multiple waves, the rare encounter can be slotted in anywhere before the final wave.
The Highwind has its own system of rare encounters.
List of rare enemies
Events
Events usually do not have the possibility of rare encounters. However, some events feature them for special event-specific rewards, such as Rare Enemy Medals. Some of these even have unique rare enemies that only appear during the event.