what are advancement points in non fest areas for? I keep noticing I'm getting them in areas like the sweet blossom orchard but they don't affect ranking in festival boards

they have nothing to do with the fest zone in the first place- you get them for advancing the plot, nurturing 10 pets, battling enemies (depending on their lv vs your party pets), that kinda thing

at the current time they have 3 uses
> buying base stuff in the wardrobe (like mouths, the basic hairstyles etc,- non-item things)
> buying more generator save slots
> buying more party preset slots