Final Fantasy VIII

After completing the Fire Cavern and obtaining the Ifrit GF in the first hour of the game, I decided to journey into the "Training Center," assuming that it was some place to level up and get GF abilities. So I walked around, battled a bit, and found a savepoint, which I impulsively saved at...
After a minute or two I realized that I could get easier training done on the world map and immediately exited the training center. At the exact point where the music changes from the TC music to the Garden's music it crashed. I tried again, thinking it was a fluke and... well... It keeps doing it.

Help is needed and will be greatly appreciated. I realize that the title of my question is not actually a question, but upon submitting the form, it told me the title needs to include a question mark.