So far, I have a lot of gold, and there's nothing to use it for. Is it just something for decoration? How do I buy stuff with it?

it's the usual curancie for buying almost evrything in this game, you can buy pet from the actual marquet or look in the trade broaker for item that may interress you ( essence, avi stuf, xp orb, mutator ... ).

What market?

The advanced search lets you buy pets over on the left of the screen. Takes a bit of configuring, but it works.

You can use the gold to buy stuff in town. Places like the market or the Town Hall.

ALSO..if you use the Advance Search" located in the upper left corner of the home page...under the Search button, you can search for pets to buy or go to the Trade Broker -found when you click on the 'Trade' button and click on "Trade Broker" in the drop-down box- you can search for all sorts of stuff like armor, relics and so forth for your pets.

So if you need to buy pets, or revive them at the Sylesti Plaza , you're gonna need gold.

How do I buy pets with advanced search?

It can be a tad complex but when you hit the button that says "Advanced Search" you will get to another page. There will be two icons..one is "Search Users" and the other "Search Pets".

Click on "Search Pets" and you will get to a page where you can set all sorts of criteria.

Now since you just want to search for a pet then go to the box that says "Species" and click whatever you want to see. For the time being, just leave most of the other boxes alone and just select species and even gender if you want then before you hit the "Search" button..there is a box that says "Oder by"

Then select from the drop-down box "Sale Price" this makes it easier to see pets.

It takes a bit of getting used to but if you right-click a pet and open it in a new window or tab to see its stats then you don't have to do the search all over again (I learned this the hard way)

I am sure others will be able to help you on this..I know it seems a lot to take in but you'll get the hang of it.

Oh..and welcome to the site :)

gold is also the only way to buy any of the regular snare traps (obtained from the Esior's Haven Market (lesser only), Sanctuary of Saerielle Market (lesser and standard), Ethernia Market (lesser, standard, and strong), or the merchant found in festival zones while they're available (lesser, standard, and strong)) used to capture wild pets.
(only the master trap is an exception, being obtainable for diamonds in the diamond shop. But Master Traps are expensive, and typically reserved for Legendary or Mystical rarity pets, or themed nephini. Also the only kind of trap that can be traded, hence why having gold for the other trap types is kind of important)

Gold is also used to keep your pets fed- if they aren't fed, they eventually fall unconscious and cannot be swapped into your party.

Basically, gold is the runner of the Sylestian economy. Hoard it as much as possible so you can spend it on stuff.

Gold can also let you buy things you'll want when the game suddenly gets difficult (when you hit umbra forest there is a sudden difficulty slope)

Things you'll want to buy are sylesti equips, elixirs and revive potions (obtained from the town hall and markets)