All LPS characters belong to Hasbro.

It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, birds were chirping, kids were playing, and all was good.

Another average day in my hometown. Population: Not a lot. Just a normal, disaster-free day. The camera zooms over a park. People were enjoying the day with their pets. Whether they were walking them, playing with them, or just letting them run around, it was a great experience for owner and pet alike.

In the middle of it all, a young boy sat under a tree. He was middle school-age, though he was quite short for his age. He wore an orange t-shirt with blue jeans and grey sneakers. He had light green eyes and brown spiky hair that stuck out all over his head. He was sitting and drawing in a notebook. It appeared to be various clothing designs. The boy quietly hummed as he continued drawing. Without warning, a squirrel crawled down from the tree and sat in the boy's lap. The lad was startled, but didn't freak out. The squirrel looked at the designs for a second before chittering and gave the boy what appeared to be a thumbs-up.

"Oh, you like it? Thanks." The boy said to the animal which scampered away. A red Frisbee landed about a foot in front of him. He looked to a puppy with short black fur and purple eyes barking at him. The boy smiled and picked up the Frisbee. "What is it, boy? You want this, huh?" The dog yapped some more before the boy gave him the toy, which he took back to his owner, a boy with shaggy black hair and brown eyes.

The youth chuckled to himself. "Sometimes, I wonder what it would be like to know exactly what animals are thinking. Oh well." Suddenly, he heard a car honking. He turned to see a blue car pull up at the curb. The door opened and out stepped a man with dark blue eyes and brown hair that had the start of grey in the sideburns. He was also wearing a pilot's uniform. The boy ran up to him.

"Hey, Dad. How was work?" The boy asked.

"I have good news and great news, son! The good news is the company loved my idea and I got the promotion!"

"That's so cool, Dad! What's the great news?"

The man clutched his son's shoulders. "We're moving!"

The boy's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. "What the WHAT?!"

Downtown City. Population: One million, three hundred sixty-four thousand, five hundred, eighty-one.

The same car from earlier drove through a big city road and slowly made its way through the midday traffic.

Make that one million, three hundred sixty-four thousand, five hundred, eighty-three.

The car's radio was on, but out of the two people in the car, the dad seemed to be the only one into it.

That's my dad, Roger Ferguson. He's a pilot. He has a lot of crazy ideas, but one of them actually managed to take off, no pun intended. An airplane for animals, or something? Anyway, they've actually built the thing and now they want my dad to fly it, since it was his idea. The only problem is, well, it's all the way over here.

The camera then zoomed to the boy, who was once again writing in his notebook. That's me. My name's-

"Russell!" The dad called, causing his son to jump out of his seat mid-narration. "We'll be arriving at our new home soon. Aren't you excited?"

"Yeah, dad. Can't wait." Russell responded in a tone that said he wasn't excited at all. He sighed. "Don't get me wrong, dad. I'm happy that you got this promotion, really. I just wish we didn't have to move. You know I hate unexpected changes."

"That's like surprises, right? I love surprises!" Roger stopped when he saw that didn't improve Russell's mood. "Son, you have to understand, this is a great opportunity, and I had to act fast. Just…think of it as a brand new adventure. You love adventures!"

No I don't. They're too dangerous. Russell decided to keep this remark to himself, though.

"Just relax. I'm sure you'll fit in in no time! Ooh, we're here!" Roger pulled over and Russell got a good look at his new home. It was a large apartment building painted blue except for the bottom floor, which was painted pink. It had double doors below an oval sign that held the name of the store along with a banner that read "GOING OUT OF BUSINESS".

"Our new home's…a pet store?" Russell questioned. Roger looked at the place. "'Littlest Pet Shop'? Never noticed that before. Oh well." The two got out and watched the movers start unloading the moving truck. Roger left to direct them to their apartment on the top floor. As Russell tried to make sure the men carrying in the boxes and furniture didn't drop anything, he suddenly felt a chill behind him. He turned around and almost jumped out of his pants at two girls who hadn't been there a second ago.

The girls looked about his age and were definitely twins. They were mostly identical: they had round faces, both with pink eyes and small noses. What was different about them, though, was the fact that one of them had raven-black hair which fell over her left eye, and the other had pale pink hair that fell over her right eye. Their outfits were mostly the same too. They were dark red and grey, but were parallel to the other (that is, where there was dark red on one outfit, there was grey on the other and vice versa). The outfits had fake fur and were ever-so-slightly puffy. Draped around their shoulders were purses that were the same model but different colors (black and white, respectively). They both had their arms folded and looked unimpressed with something.

"Hey." The black-haired girl said.

"Um…h-hi." Russell stammered back.

The black-haired girl continued. "I'm Cashmere Biskit."

The pink-haired one spoke up. "And I'm, like, Velvet Biskit."

"We're twins." The two said simultaneously.

"…Thanks for telling me." 'Cashmere'? 'Velvet'? Either their parents are obsessively rich, or obsessive fabric designers.

"In case you, like, didn't know, our father's Fisher Biskit, the head of, like, Biskit Enterprises." Cashmere explained.

"Only, like, the largest and most successful company in Downtown City." Velvet finished.

Ah, so it's the first one. Russell felt awkward as the twins just looked at him. "So, your name's Russell S. Journal?" Velvet asked.

"What? Why would you think-oh." Russell looked down to the book he still held in his hand, on the cover of which was written, "RUSSELL'S JOURNAL". "Actually, my name's Russell Ferguson and I just moved here". Just then, two small heads popped out from the Biskits' black and white purses. Russell smiled. "Oh, those are cute cats."

"Aren't they, though?" Cashmere said as she and Velvet held them up. The cat Cashmere was holding was pure black, like her hair, and even had a fringe of fur that fell over one of her red eyes. Velvet's cat, on the other hand, was all white, with a matching fringe over her also-red eye. They stared at Russell with the same unimpressed expression as their owners, unsettling him even more.

"This is Whittany." Cashmere started. "And this is Brittany." Velvet finished. "They're twins, too." They said together.

An incorrect fact! Russell suddenly felt much better. "Actually, girls, two siblings can only be twins if they're, well, the only two. American shorthair cats, as I believe those are, are born in litters of varying numbers, depending on circumstance. In practically all cases, it's more than two of course, so technically, I doubt that they're-"

Cashmere turned to her sister. "Are you, like, listening, Velvet?"

"I stopped after 'actually'."

All three were silent for a moment, until Velvet spoke up. "Are those supposed to be like, your clothes?"

Russell looked down at his comparatively simple outfit. "Um…yes?"

The twins huffed and shook their heads. "Listen, Russell, we like you. So, if you want to, like, come with us on our next shopping trip to get an actual wardrobe, we'll let you." Cashmere smirked.

Russell stammered, "Oh, well, I'd love to, but I'd rather do anything else. I-I mean, I have to help my dad unpack. So…thank you, but no." Russell walked into the building, only to be forced back out by the twins. "Like, what did you say?! Did you not hear, like, who we are?" Cashmere demanded.

"Our daddy's the richest guy in the city! We've never been told no. And frankly, Mr. Journal, I don't like, like it!" Velvet spat. Even their cats were hissing. Russell gulped.

"Russell!" Roger called from a ways away. Russell let out a sigh of relief. "Making some new friends already? 'Cause I have! Look at these guys!" Russell immediately took back his sigh of relief when he realized his dad was talking about seven small animals in the pet shop window. They were all making their animal noises as Roger tried to imitate some of them back. The Biskits laughed as Russell facepalmed. "Hey Russell, is that like, your dad?" Velvet snickered. "How embarrassing!" After they calmed down, Cashmere taunted, "Tell him to not, like, get used to his new 'friends', Russell."

"Yeah, 'cause thanks to our daddy's store, 'Largest Ever Pet Shop', all these sad, tiny pet shops will be like, gone." Her sister finished. The two walked away laughing with their cats on their shoulders.

Russell groaned and walked to his father. "Dad, what are you doing?" He hissed.

"I'm just saying hello."

"Well say goodbye. I want to see my new room." Russell grabbed Roger by the shoulder and dragged him away.

"Aw, lighten up, Rusty. Look, that one's a hedgehog! You love hedgehogs!"

"Yeah, yeah, let's just go." Russell grumbled.

"Welcome to your new home, Rusty!"

Russell gazed with wide eyes at the fresh start he had been given:

A small space that was completely bare except for a mountain of unpacked cardboard boxes.

"Well, I'll leave you to it, my boy." Roger said as he walked out of the room. "Remember, big adventure!" Roger gave his son a thumbs-up before closing the door.

Russell sighed before going to a box. "Well, this room's not gonna organize itself."

A while later, all of the largest furniture had been placed and Russell had unpacked and properly organized most of his things. It looked like a normal teenage boy's room except for how clean and tidy it was.

"Phew! Finally! I think I can take a break now." Russell looked around and sniffed. "Ugh, could use some fresh air, though." The boy went to what appeared to be a window and yanked it open. But what he saw wasn't the afternoon sky and still-crawling traffic, but a large grey box in the wall.

"Well I'll be, a dumbwaiter! This has probably been here as long as the building has." Russell then coughed on some of the dust that had flown out when he opened it. "Oh yeah, definitely been here that long. I wonder if it still works." He then stepped back, smiled, and put his hands on his hips. "Well, as part of my new home, I should say it's my duty to see if this appliance is still properly functioning! Now what can I use to test the weight?" He looked around his room, but didn't see anything that would benefit the test so. He turned back to his discovery. "It's a pretty good size. Heck, I bet I could fit in-" Russell stopped and turned away. "Oooohh, no. Bad idea! Much too dangerous!" Russell looked back at the dumbwaiter. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but it was as if some mysterious force was telling him to get in. "Well…Dad did say to treat this like an adventure…" Before he could stop himself, Russell had crawled into the dumbwaiter, and due to his age and short size, he could sit in it very comfortably.

The boy started pulling the rope that hung through the box to get it to go down. Slowly but surely, he started sinking. "Bet this goes down all the way to the first floor…" Russell's thoughts were soon interrupted by a black spider crawling on his hand. Russell yelped and let go of the rope. The box shuddered. Russell gulped. "Whoops." With another yelp from its occupant, the dumbwaiter freefell and crashed at its destination on the lowest floor, releasing a sandstorm of dust. Russell tumbled out on his back and had bumped his head. Hard.

"What just happened?"

"Who's that guy?"

Russell sat up and rubbed is head. He couldn't see anything through all the dust, but he definitely heard voices.

"Um…I think he's the boy who just fell out of the wall." A third voice, female yet very flat and dull, said.

"Well, we know that, but is he alright?" another female voice asked.

"Uh…hello?" Russell called out.

"*Gasp* He's awake! Go check on him!"

"Me? Why?" the fourth voice questioned.

"Come on, Blythe. Just do it, please?" the second voice responded.

Russell heard a sigh, then a "fine". Then as the dust started clearing up, a brown spiky ball rolled toward him. It stopped and uncurled to reveal the hedgehog Roger had pointed out. It was a female with light brown fur. Her quills were a darker brown then her fur and she had big blue eyes. She stood on two legs and stared at Russell for a few seconds. Then, something happened that Russell found even more shocking then moving.

The hedgehog spoke.

"He seems okay to me. I don't think the fall hurt too much." She said in the same female voice from before. As the dust cleared, Russell could see the other six animals all standing next to each other, some standing on two legs, some not.

"Are you sure? He looks kinda…off." This was the voice that convinced the hedgehog to check on him. It belonged to an orange-furred ferret. It was a female with light blue eyes.

"Hehe, look at his face! It's funny!" This was the first voice Russell had heard, and it was coming out of a red male gecko with dark red "hair" and brown eyes.

Russell's face was funny-looking because his eyes were wider and his jaw lower than one would have thought possible. He looked back to the first animal he saw. "Y-y-y-you're that he-he-hedgehog." He stammered.

The pet closed her eyes and held up a finger. "Actually, I'm a-" she stopped and opened her eyes. "Well whaddya know, he got it right!" She then clenched her fist. "I swear, if I lost a quill every time someone called me a porcupine, I could pass for a hamster!"

Russell scooched back until he was against the wall and kept his hands at his knees. "No no no, this…this isn't real. I must be dreaming. Animals can't talk. Animals. Can't. Talk!"

The hedgehog chuckled awkwardly. "Well of course we can talk, you just can't-" Again, she stopped herself with wide eyes. "Wait a second. Can you…understand us?"

At this point, Russell could barely form a sound, so he just nodded. All the pets gasped.

"Whoa, he can understand us; that's so cool!" This was a new voice, and it came from a male possum. He was tall and thin with dark brown fur, green eyes, a small scar on his left cheek, and a dark grey beanie cap on his head.

"But…how?" The next pet to talk was a small yellow dog with wavy hair on top of her head and on her ears. She wore nothing except her collar and a pair of glasses. "And how do we know he really does know what we're saying?"

"Let me try." This was the dull voice that made the observation that Russell had fallen out of the wall. The owner was a female skunk with sky blue fur and a normal white stripe. The stripe ended in a short fringe that fell over her face alongside brown eyes, three freckles on each cheek, and braces. She walked up to Russell. "Do you understand me?" She had enunciated, but it still sounded flat. Russell nodded again. "Yup, he can."

"This is impossible! No human's been able to understand us before! I wonder how?" The hedgehog pondered.

"Um…Blythe? You think maybe we should try to calm him down now?" This was the last pet in the room: a female rabbit with yellow-green fur. She had black patches on the tips of her ears and toes. Her tail was black as well, and a purple flower, which matched her purple eyes, was nestled in each ear. She was the one who had first told the hedgehog to see how their guest was doing. "He looks pretty frazzled." Indeed, Russell did.

"Huh? Oh, right. Welcome to Littlest Pet Shop! My name's Blythe Baxter. What's yours?"

By now, Russell had calmed down a little bit, so he was able to answer the animal's question. "R-r-Russell. Russell F-Fu-Ferguson."

"Nice to meet you, Russell!" Blythe calmly said. "How about we tell you a little bit about ourselves? I'm kind of in charge around here. Sure, it's not official, but I make sure none of these guys get too wild in here." She turned to the group, most of whom looked away in embarrassment.

Russell felt a little better still after hearing that this talking hedgehog liked to keep things organized and under control, she was a lot like him in that aspect. But that still didn't change the fact these animals were talking to him right now.

"This is Youngme Song," Blythe continued, putting her arm over the rabbit's shoulder. "She is a whiz with pet food. If your kibble's got the same old boring taste, Youngme can make it into something delicious! Of course…you probably don't eat kibble, being a human and all." Blythe chuckled, but then saw her joke didn't have an effect on Russell. She cleared her throat and moved on.

"This is Jasper Terrio." Blythe said, coming to the red gecko. "Sure, he may not look that smart, but he's our tech guy. If we've got a problem with the TV or something, we talk to him." She then pointed to the ferret. "This is Sue Mark, and she's quite the athlete. No pet has even come close to beating her in sports."

Blythe then walked over to the last three pets, starting with the skunk. "This is Madison Clark. She's really nice once you get to know her…and if you're clean." Next was the dog. "This is Kora Trent. She can pull off any outfit you put on her." Blythe then came to the last pet, the possum, and for some reason, walked slower and blushed. "And last but definitely not least…" she said, her voice rising slightly. "This is Josh Sharp. He's really nice…" She said, giggling. Josh waited, but since Blythe apparently wasn't saying anything else, decided to finish his introduction himself. "I also play the guitar." He said, pulling out a small plastic V-neck toy. He played a few keys for good measure.

Blythe seemed to snap out of whatever trance she had placed herself in. "U-um, yes. Anyway, Russell, that's all of us; we're the Littlest Pet Shop Pets!" she said, holding out her arms wide with Youngme, Jasper, and Sue to her right and Madison, Kora, and Josh to her left. The pets started to walk toward Russell, who slowly backed away.

"Oh, no, I think he's still scared." Youngme pointed out. "Don't worry, Russell, we won't bite. Well, unless you're a carrot or a really tasty treat, but I'm sure that's not the case. Oh, I'm just so excited to be able to talk to humans! Well, a human, anyway. I wonder if there are any others like him. Oh, I hope so. If there were, that'd be so cool and-"

"Youngme?" Blythe interrupted.

"Yeah?"

"He's gone."

"…Oh." The rabbit said after noticing that Russell had indeed run off. "…Was it something I said?"

Russell ran out of the daycare room of the shop only to bump into someone carrying a big cardboard box. All three fell to the ground. This collision actually seemed to clear Russell's head. He saw that he had bumped into a tall, elderly woman with green eyes behind a small pair of glasses. "Oh, I'm so sorry! Are you alright, ma'am?" Russell asked, helping her up.

The woman giggled. "Oh, don't worry, sonny. I'm okay. I've taken worse falls than that, believe me." She said, laughing again. "Oh, I know you! You're the boy I saw outside with those moving trucks! You just moved upstairs, didn't you?" After Russell confirmed, the woman clapped her hands together. "Oh, I knew it! I'm Mrs. Twombly, owner and sole employee of my own little slice of heaven: Littlest Pet Shop. What's your name?"

He noticed this question was much easier to answer when it wasn't coming from the mouth of a talking animal. "My name's Russell Ferguson. My dad's name is Roger. It's just the two of us here. And did you say you own this place?"

Mrs. Twombly sighed. "For now. You may have gathered from that banner that soon we'll be closing our doors permanently. I'm really gonna miss this old place. And I'm gonna miss the little sweeties back in the day camp most of all."

Russell suddenly remembered. "Mrs. Twombly! The pets in there can talk!"

"I…beg your pardon?" Mrs. Twombly said confused.

"The animals in the room back there! They can talk! Like people! They were talking to me and I was talking to them!"

The woman was silent for a moment, then burst out laughing. "Oh, you kids these days! Such imaginations! You know, I sometimes imagine the pets talking too. All they seem to say is 'Feed us, Mrs. Twombly!' and 'We love you, Mrs. Twombly!'"

"I'm not kidding!"

"Oh my," Mrs. Twombly said, startled. "Perhaps you have a little too much imagination there, Russell. I know, you're just not used to the new neighborhood. Haven't made any new friends yet. Well, let me tell you, there's just the most darling young lady who works at the bakery next door. You should swing by and meet her. I think you two would get along, mostly because that girl gets along with just about everyone!" Mrs. Twombly laughed again. "Might help you get that imagination of yours under control too. Though I will admit, strange things can happen here in this little shop."

"I told you, Mrs. Twombly, I'm not imagining it-" Suddenly, Russell heard a noise. "Is the store…growling?" It suddenly got louder. Russell shouted and ran out the door.

"Note to self," Mrs. Twombly murmured, "get that noisy water heater checked."

Russell ran out the door in panic, but calmed down as soon as he saw the front of the place next door. Pink. Frosting. Sprinkles. The place made Russell hungry just by looking at it. Among all the sugary décor was the name of the shop, "Sweet Delights". Russell remembered what Mrs. Twombly said and decided to go in.

The place was empty, leaving Russell to take in the decorative inside, especially the yellow wallpaper, which reminded him of the inside of a cupcake.

"Hiya!"

Russell flinched at the face that appeared in front of him from behind the counter. The girl looked Chinese, with big black eyes. Her hair was dark blue and done up in buns. She wore a white shirt and a dark blue jacket. She was grinning and looked very happy to see him. Then again, she was human. That was something.

"Welcome to Sweet Delights. How can I help you?" The girl cheerfully asked. Russell resisted the urge to raise an eyebrow. Despite apparently coming from a Chinese background, her accent was 100% American.

"Um, thanks, but I'm not here to buy anything. My name's Russell Ferguson, and I just moved into the apartment next door-" He was cut off by the girl gasping. "You just moved in next door? You know what this means, right?!"

"Um…"

"New neighbor hug!" In a flash, the girl rushed from behind the counter and hugged Russell. Very tightly. "Um, thank you, uh…"

"Oop! Where are my manners!" The girl released Russell. "My name's Penny Ling Song. My aunt owns this place and I work here with my sister. So I guess we're not neighbors-neighbors, more like work-neighbors."

"I see. Mrs. Twombly, the owner of Littlest Pet Shop, told me to come down here and meet you."

"Right, Mrs. Twombly! She's so sweet. I feel so bad about Littlest Pet Shop closing." Penny said dejected.

"Yeah. Me too…" Russell trailed off. "So…do you like it? Working here, I mean?"

"Oh," said Penny, startled by the sudden change in topic. "Yeah, it's great. A real…treat. Heh-heh…" now it was Penny's turn to trail off.

"What's wrong?"

"Well, it's just that…I love working here, but baking isn't really my thing. To be honest, I like eating treats more than making them."

Russell could tell. Penny did have a bit of a stomach.

"Actually, what I really like is dancing. Mostly with this." The girl reached behind her back and pulled out an orange ribbon twirler.

"Really," said Russell, fascinated. "I'd love to see something."

"Oh!" Penny was startled again. "Really?"

Russell nodded.

"Well," Penny blushed. "I don't usually-okay!"

With that, Penny started. Even though Russell wouldn't readily admit to enjoying watching girly dancing, Penny was so graceful the way she moved about the store and twirled her ribbon. Nothing needed to be said, just seen. After a few minutes (though it felt like hours) Penny finished her routine with a bow and her eyes closed. She snapped them open again when she heard Russell clapping.

"That was amazing, Penny!"

Penny blushed again. "You think so?"

"I know so! You should be on TV!" Penny blushed even more. "Thanks, Russell, but I'm happy working here, really. My aunt needs the extra help."

"Hey sissy-tissy! Who ya talkin' to?"

Russell and Penny turned to see a young Chinese girl rush in from a room in the back. She had big green eyes and chocolate-brown hair with a peppermint-shaped clip in it. She wore a bright yellow blouse and black strap shoes. "Who's this?"

"Oh, Betty, this is Russell. He just moved in next door above Littlest Pet Shop. Russell, this is my little sister Beatrice. She helps around here too."

"Yup-yup-yup! I'm super-duper-zooper at baking! Wow, you just moved here, huh? That's fantastical-hastical, Russell-bo-Bussell!" The girl was talking a mile a minute, too fast for Russell to keep up. "What?"

"What?" Suddenly Beatrice's pupils and irises shrank and her eyes crossed. She stiffened up before letting out a sigh of relief. "Aaaanywho, did Penny-Wenny say you lived above Littlest Pet Shop? Do you know Youngme then?"

"Youngme? Oh yeah…the rabbit." Russell awkwardly stated upon remembering what he just went through. "She's nice…and talkative."

"Huh?" Penny asked.

"Aah! I-I mean she chitters a lot. You know, like rabbits normally do. Are you her owners?"

"Yup-yup-yup! I love her even more than I love candy! And that's saying something! Plus, she loves helping me with baking. She's just like me! In fact, that's why I named her that! She's like a young me! Ain't that the most smartical-hartical name of all smartical-hartical names?"

"What?"

"What?" Her eyes crossed and she stiffened up again. "Aaaanywho, it's so nice to have a new neighbor! I can tell we're gonna be the bestest of friends that bestest friends can be!" The girl hugged Russell, though not as hard as Penny had. "So-so sorry I can't stay and play, Russell-bo-Bussell, but I gotta help Aunt Christy with some stuff in the back. See ya later, though!" The girl zoomed back through the door she came out of.

"…What just happened?" Russell asked. Penny chuckled. "You just met my sister is what happened. She has that effect on pretty much everyone. I'm nothing like her. Betty was born to work here. Without her baking, I bet business wouldn't be nearly as good."

It was silent for a minute.

"So…Russell, where are you going to school?"

"Oh! Um…Downtown City High." Penny squealed. Really? That's where I go! Maybe we'll have some of the same classes together!"

"Yeah, that'd be great." Russell said, surprised to find that he meant it. "Well, I should be going now. It was nice meeting you, Penny!"

"You too, Russell!"

When Russell went back, to get to his apartment, he went through the door next to the pet shop, not wanting to go back through the store lest he run into those talking pets again. Though by avoiding the shop, he missed the small scene that went on in it.

Mrs. Twombly was wiping and cleaning the countertop. When she was done, she looked around the pet shop and sighed. "It's just not right…this building has been in my family for generations! But I guess that doesn't count for much if I can't keep up with the money." She reached into a drawer and pulled out a stack of bills and notices of bankruptcy. She sighed again. "I'll decide when to sell the place tomorrow."

Mrs. Twombly put the bills away and started cleaning again. Unbeknownst to her, Blythe had seen and heard the whole thing. She walked back through the pet flap into the day camp. "Guys, we have to do something. We can't just let them shut this place down!"

"Yeah, but what can we do? We can't save the place all by ourselves." Sue pointed out.

"We need someone to help us! A human someone! But who? Who can understand us enough to help us out?!" Jasper demanded from his perch on the wall.

The pets all started talking amongst themselves. Whilst they were doing so, Madison's eyes widened and she gave a small smile. She walked over to Blythe, Youngme, and Sue. "Hey, what about Russell?" she asked. "Not now, Madison." Blythe responded, waving her away. The blue skunk walked over to Jasper and Kora. "What about Russell?"

"Madison, can't you see this is serious?" Kora asked.

Madison gave a small humph and walked over to Josh, who was thinking while hanging from his tail on one of the plastic pet perches. "What about-"

"Wait, I got it!" Blythe suddenly called out. "We can get Russell to help us!" All the other pets except Madison walked over to her and congratulated her for "her" idea. Madison just rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure, great idea."

The next morning, Russell was lying in bed, spending his last few minutes in slumberland. A voice whispered, "Russell, Russell, wake up!"

"Mmmm…Dad? I had the weirdest dream last night…The pets in the shop downstairs could talk to me…"

"Wow! What a coincidence, considering it actually happened yesterday!"

"He is talking about yesterday, Jasper."

"Huh?" Russell got up and realized that he had not been dreaming. Blythe and Jasper were sitting on his bed and the other five pets were rummaging around his room, messing everything up. "Heh-heh, sorry about the mess. I wanted to talk to you alone, but the others insisted." Blythe tried to cover up.

If Russell wasn't awake before, seeing his precious room turned upside down changed that. "How did you all get in my room?!" He demanded. "The same way you came down to the day camp: the dumbwaiter." Blythe sheepishly pointed to the open box. Russell groaned. "What do you guys want?"

"Well, you see-"

"Blythe! You've gotta check this out!" Russell and Blythe turned to see Kora on Russell's desk holding a sheet of paper containing one of the clothing designs Russell had been doodling earlier. "This would look so cute on you!"

"Kora, can't you see I'm busy with-" Blythe then took a good look at the drawing. "Ooh, you're right!" Blythe scampered over to the desk and climbed up to where Kora was. She tore the head off the picture and held it against her body.

"A-hem!"

"Oh, sorry, Russell. It's just that I've always loved fashion and dressing up. Though that's always been kind of hard with, you know, these." Blythe pointed to the many sharp quills on her back. "Did you draw these? They're really good."

"Focus, Blythe. I thought you were here to talk to me about some-" Russell then noticed the outfit he drew on Blythe's body. The color and proportions would be a bit out there for most, but for a hedgehog… "Actually, that does look pretty good on you," A crash from the other side of the room snapped him back to attention. "But what is it you wanted to tell me?"

"Right." Blythe put the sheet down and looked Russell in the eye. "We need your help, Russell. We can't let Littlest Pet Shop close!"

"Yeah, we love it there!" Russell turned to see it was Jasper who had spoken. He and the other four pets had come up behind him (four because Blythe and Kora were still on the desk).

"The place closing stinks worse than-" Josh stopped himself when a horrible odor suddenly filled the room. "-than that!" The other pets backed away from Madison. "Sorry. I'm a little nervous being all the way up here." The skunk defended indifferently.

Russell covered his nose. "Well, what can I do? I don't know anything about how to save a business, and personally, not having weird talking animals around might not be so bad!" he snapped. He then saw all the sad faces on the pets, and on Blythe. He sighed and picked her up. "I'm sorry. It's just…I can suddenly talk to animals. I don't know how to take all this in."

Blythe sniffed and wiped her eyes. "No, it's okay, Russell. It was shocking for us, too, but we could always understand what the humans were saying. I can see how it would be different for you."

"Besides, being around Madison when she gets nervous would put anyone in a bad mood." Jasper said, still holding his nose.

"I'm right here!" Madison said.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. "Rusty! You up yet?"

Russell gasped. "That's my dad! You all need to go!" he force-whispered as he gathered everyone up and put them back in the dumbwaiter. "Yeah, Dad! I'll be right out!"

"Well hurry up, son. You don't wanna be late on your first day at your new school!" Roger Ferguson said from outside. He then took a sniff. "P.U.! Are you feeling okay, Russell? What smells in there?"

"Sorr-" Madison began to call out before Russell covered her mouth. "It's nothing, Dad! I'll be ready in a sec!" After Russell heard the sounds of his dad's footsteps walking away, he sighed and grabbed the dumbwaiter's rope to lower the pets back down.

"Russell, please!" Blythe leaned in toward him. "You have to help us save Littlest Pet Shop! If it closes, our owners will only have one alternative." The hedgehog shuddered. "They'll have to take us to…Largest Ever Pet Shop!"

"Wait, 'Largest Ever Pet Shop'?" Russell asked. "Those two mean girls on the street mentioned that place. Is it really that bad?"

"Ooooh, yeah." Blythe continued. "It may be the biggest pet shop in town, but it's also the coldest and most un-pet-friendly place in town! They put their day campers in these tiny cages so we can't hang out together!"

"We can't run around!" Sue butted in.

"The food and treats they serve are horrible!" Youngme added.

"And the squeaky toys are squeakless!" Kora freaked.

"We can't go there, Russell! We just can't!" Jasper begged.

"Well…" Russell hesitated. Then he looked again and saw that all the pets were giving him big sad eyes. Finally, he relented. "Alright, I'll help." All the pets cheered.

"Even though I have no idea what to do or how to do it, I promise I'll find some way to keep Littlest Pet Shop's doors open." Russell then started pulling on the rope to let the pets down. "So, how long do I have to save the shop?"

"Until tomorrow." Blythe answered.

"Wait, what?!" Surprised by how little time he had, Russell accidentally let go of the rope, causing the dumbwaiter to freefall again, only this time with the pets inside. After it crashed, Russell looked down the shaft. "Sorry!" he called down.

"We're okay…" the pets moaned from below.

Russell shook his head. This was going to be harder then he thought.

Well, that was the first chapter of LPS: Switcheroo! Please review and let me know whether I should continue this or just abort.

BTW, a few things:

1. I know that I got most of the "pets'" last names wrong. I am fully aware of that and this will be explained in the next chapter (if you think there should be one).

2. This chapter was mostly about introducing the "pets". Next chapter, Russell will make some more "human" friends.

3. Should I decide to continue this series (which is actually very likely regardless of reviews), I will not make all humans pets, as shown by Roger and Mrs. Twombly in this chapter. A few pets will remain the same too.

Anyway, that's all for now! See you all in the next chapter!