The dim little village known as Twilight Town was right now in the middle of a celebration. A heroic Eevee by the name of Mario, along with a Wooper named Goombella, a Squirtle by the name of Koops, a Butterfree who went by the name of Flurry, and a young Snivy who went by the name of Gonzales Jr., had just defeated the evil Shuppet Doopliss and had freed the town of it's curse, gaining the 4th Crystal Star in the process. However, while this celebration was going on, another Eevee, whos fur was completely purple, even the hat which had a question mark on it, had wandered into town, hoping to find someone who could help it.
"There has to be someone who can help me..." said the shadowy Eevee in a male, italian-like voice as he saw the villagers give him a weird look, though he did his best to ignore them. As he walked through town, he noticed a familiar Pokemon looking for something in the grass. It was a Flareon that was the same height as him and had purple fur, a pink-colored fur collar and tail with the inner ears being pink as well. The Flareon also had a ruff of pink hair on top with the rest of the hair hidden underneath a magenta and white stripped hat that resembled a witch's hat. The shadowy Eevee also noticed the scar on the right ear that showed the signs of torture the Eevee knew the Flareon had been through.
'Vivian...what is she doing here? Isn't she supposed to be with the other Shadow Sirens?' thought the Eevee as he then accidentally kicked something with his paw. He looked down and saw a small green grenade of sorts with a skull on it right at his paws. The Eevee wondered what something like this was doing here when the Flareon named Vivian spoke up.
"Ohhh man...if I don't find that Superbombomb, Beldam is going to punish me again..." said Vivian. The Eevee, feeling bad for the Flareon and not wanting to see her get punished, even though it could spell trouble for him in the future, picked the grenade up in his mouth and walked up to the Flareon.
"Hey, I think you might be looking for this." the Eevee managed to say as the Flareon turned towards him and noticed the grenade in his mouth, causing the Flareon to smile gleefully.
"Oh, you found it, thank you so much!" Vivian exclaimed happily as she took the bomb away from the Eevee, who has happy to see her happy.
"At least now I won't be punished...huh? Oh no...Oh no!" the Flareon started to panic now.
"What, what's wrong?" asked the Eevee, hoping something had not gone wrong.
"The Superbombomb...i-it's broken! My sister must have broke it when she dropped it." Vivian said as the Eevee was surprised to hear this. He really didn't want to see such a sweet and innocent girl like her get hurt by her sister again.
"H-hey, maybe I can fix it for you." the Eevee said, hoping to help out the Flareon, but Vivian just shook her head.
"Thank, but it's really broken. There's nothing we can do." said Vivian as the Eevee grew disappoint, sad he couldn't do much to help. But then the Flareon perked up a bit.
"Hey, what's your name anyway? My name is Vivian, so what's yours? Won't you tell me?" asked the Flareon, who then noticed the Eevee look a little sheepish at answering.
"Uhhh, well you see...this may seem weird to you and all that, but my name was stolen from me." the Eevee answered.
"Your name was stolen? I see...well I guess that happens from time to time...Wait, no it doesn't! Your name was stolen?!" Vivian asked in shocked confusion. The Eevee then went on to explain how it happened, how he and his Pokemon buddies went to the Creepy Steeple to take on the monster living there and how when they were about to beat it, it stole not only his name, but his body too, leaving him as just a shadow Eevee.
"Gee whiz, you have way worse problems then I do." said Vivian.
"Hehe, you're telling me..." the Eevee responded.
"Yeah, and you were worried about me that whole time, even in spite of your predicament? That's so...kind..." Vivian said, a bit of a blush appearing on her face as the Eevee could help but notice how cute the Flareon looked right now.
'Wow, I never noticed how cute and...beautiful Vivian looked before. How could her sisters treat someone like her so awfully?' the Eevee thought before noticing the Flareon give her a confident look.
"All right, that's it! I'm going to help you get back your name...and your body! And friends!" Vivian exclaimed, confidence in her voice. The Eevee grew worried a bit at this though, not wanting the Flareon to find out his true identity.
"Uhhh, there's no need for that Vivian, don't you have your own issues to deal with?" asked the Eevee, though the Flareon just shook her head.
"Hey, that's OK! Don't worry about my problems...I'm don't want to hang out with my sisters anymore anyway. I feel like I need to repay your kindness earlier anyway, so it's the right thing to do." Vivian said as she went up to the Eevee and pecked her lips on the Eevee's cheek, causing him to blush a bit as herealized if he didn't let her help, she could possibly get badly hurt even further by her sister. So he was left with no choice.
"All right then Vivian, let's try and see if there's a clue at the Creepy Steeple about this demon and his own real identity." said the Eevee as he took off towards the path leading to the steeple, with Vivian the Flareon right behind him.
"Well, here we are..." the Eevee said as he and Vivian the Flareon stood in front of the Creepy Steeple.
"Yeah, but didn't you say you already explored the entire inner area?" asked Vivian.
"Yeah, but I've a feeling there's something I missed...hmm?" the Eevee took notice of the nearby well next to the front gate. He looked down it and saw a spring down at the bottom.
"Aha, down this well Vivian! Come on!" the Eevee exclaimed as he jumped down the well, with the Flareon quickly following suit. The spring at the bottom helped cushion their fall, but as soon as they got down there, they noticed a bunch of Baltoy and Pineco down there as they started to charge at them with a barrage of Rapid Spins.
"Watch out!" Vivian yelled as she got the Eevee out of the way of the attacks. The two quickly made their way down the tunnel in the well, but soon came across a set of bars set on a moving piece of wall that stopped at a certain point with a path behind it.
"On no, we're trapped!" said the Eevee as he looked back and saw the Rapid Spin Barrage fast approaching.
"I have an idea, let's push this thing as far as we can." Vivian said as she began to push the bar wall again, with the Eevee helping her, wondering what she had in mind. Soon, it had been pushed as far as it could.
"What now Vivian, we're about to get hit..." said the Eevee as the barrage was just a few feet from them.
"Alright...NOW!" Vivian yelled as she grabbed the Eevee before suddenly, the two of them disappeared into the floor, causing the Baltoy and Pineco hit the wall, which started to move back to it's original place as the other Pokemon returned to the start of the cave. Meanwhile, in the shadows themselves, all the shadowy Eevee could feel right now was Vivian holding onto him and thoughts were going through both of their heads right now.
'Wow, her fur is really soft...and it's so warm too...' the Eevee thought, his face heating up a bit.
'Whoa...even for being just a shadow...he's got really soft fur...' Vivian thought as her cheeks turned rosy. Soon enough, they both emerged from the shadows on the other side of the moving wall, though they both soon realized they were now holding each other and looking straight at each other, causing both of them to blush.
"T-thanks Vivian...you really saved us there..." the Eevee said thankfully, though he mentally cursed himself for the stutter that was very obvious.
"N-no problem...it was the least I could do..." Vivian responded, unable to hide her blush, especially when both her and the Eevee noticed how close to each others face they were, causing both of them to separate.
"Ummm, l-let's keep looking for anything we can use..." was all the Eevee said, with the Flareon nodding as the duo started down this new, unexplored path. Soon, they came across a wooden panel that lead down somewhere, which was quickly opened by Vivian's Flame Charge. They jumped down into an area below and crawled through a tiny opening into a room with a bunch of chests and a Chatot.
"Uh, hi there." said Vivian to the Chatot.
"Sqrawk, pretty bird pretty bird!" was all the Chatot said. However, the Eevee had a feeling the talking bird Pokemon was hiding something, so he whispered to Vivian to use her Phantom Force move again so they could listen in on the Chatot. Vivian did that, leaving the Chatot wondering where they went.
"Sqrawk? What happened to those wierdos who were just here? Aw, whatever...it was almost nice to have some company...I mean, it's not that big of a deal that no one knows his name...but locking me up in here just because I know it is awful for a Pokemon like me. I REALLY want a cracker...Doopliss, you're a big meanie. When's feeding time, huh?" said the Chatot as the Eevee and Vivian smiled, now knowing the demon's name as they emerged from the shadows, shocking the Chatot.
"Thanks for the info Chatot, here you go." said the Eevee as he pulled out a cracker from a pack he was carrying, which the Chatot happily took and ate as the duo took a key from one of the chests and used it to make their way through a secret path into the steeple, where they saw another Eevee go through a door upstairs.
"There he is! That must be Doopliss, the one who took everything from me!" said the Eevee.
"Alright, let's catch him!" Vivian exclaimed as they made their way to the room where the theif had gone. Once they got there, they came face to face with the Eevee called Doopliss, who had the colors of a normal Eevee except that he was wearing a red cap with a big M on the front in the middle of a white circle. The fur collar and tail tip was also red.
"Hey, Slick! Time to cancel your magezine subscriptions, 'cause you're getting erased!" said Doopliss as he confronted the duo, with the Flareon looking at him strangely.
'Why does he look so familiar?' thought Vivian as the shadowy Eevee confront the other Eevee.
"I don't think so, we know you're secret now...Doopliss." the Eevee said with a confident smile as the body theif now looked shock.
"Wha...What did you just say?! It can't be..." was all Doopliss could mutter now in his shock as the duo got ready.
"You heard what I said, now give me back my body and name!" the shadowy Eevee demanded. However, Doopliss' look of shock suddenly turned into one of amusement.
"Hehehehe, fine. Fine. I see. I get it. Let's just put an end to this, shall we?" said Doopliss.
"Ha, you think you can beat us all by yourself?" Vivian asked.
"Perhaps, but I decided to bring some help. All right, kids, put on your fighting gloves! Uh...Woo hoo! It's-a-me!" said Doopliss. At that moment, four other Pokemon joined the evil Eevee, consisting of a Wooper, a Squirtle, a Butterfree, and a young Snivy.
"Sure thing, Mario! We're right here with you!" said Goombella the Wooper.
"This creep couldn't take us on his own, so he teamed up with a Shadow Siren!" said Koops the Squirtle.
"Well, we certainly won't be letting him do anything to our little Mario!" exclaimed Flurrie the Butterfree.
"You're gonna taste the pain Gonzales-style, shadow guy!" said Gonzales Jr. the Snivy as Doopliss turned back towards the shadowy Eevee and Vivian.
"Very good, my loyal ones. How dare this nameless nobody challenge the great Mario?!" said Doopliss as the Shadow Siren now had a look of shock on her face.
"Mario?! The guy who stole your name and body is Mario...That means YOU'RE Mario?!" Vivian asked the shadowy Eevee, who looked down on the ground with a saddened look.
"...Yeah Vivian, that's who I really am." said the shadowy Eevee, revealed to be the real Mario as Vivian's shock grew.
"I can't believe it...All this time I was helping Mario...I feel like an idiot..." Vivian, her voice sounding somber, but before she could do anything else, the Eevee spoke up.
"Listen Vivian, I'm terribly sorry for deceiving you the way I did, but I really had no choice. I wish I could have been honest with you from the very start, but I couldn't even use my own name. I needed help and you were the only one who could help me." Mario explained to Vivian.
"But why? Why were you so nice to me after I tried to take you out some time ago?" the Flareon asked as Mario closed his eyes.
"...Because I couldn't stand the way your sister was treating you." was Mario's response as a soft gasp escaped Vivian's lips. Mario continued before Vivian could say anything.
"Family is suppose to help and trust and love each other until the ends of time. But your sister Beldam doesn't love you. She pretty much hates you and will make any excuse to hurt you...Vivian, I have a brother. His name is Luigi. He may not be the smartest or the wisest. Heck, he's pretty much a coward. And more then often enough, he's always cast in my shadow...but I still love him. He's family to me and I will do anything I can to help him...just like I'll do anything to save you from your terrible life. You deserve better and I want to make sure you get a better life." Mario said as his words echoed through Vivian's mind, which replayed them word for word, thinking about what the Eevee that was once her enemy had said.
"Aww, how sweet. But how are you, a nameless nobody, going to beat me, the great Mario, and my allies?" said Doopliss as he and the rest of Mario's friends got ready to fight.
"Somehow...I'll defeat you. Even if I have to do it myself." said Mario as he got ready to fight his toughest battle yet.
"...No, you're not doing it yourself. I'm doing this with you." suddenly came Vivian's voice as she walked up next to Mario.
"Vivian?"
"Mario, I'm fighting by your side from now on! I've...I've made my choice! And I'm not turning back!" Vivian exclaimed as Mario was at first surprised, only for a smile to appear on his face.
"Thank you Vivian...now let's do this together."
"Come on you wannabe, is that all you got?" asked Goombella as she once again countered a Fire Spin from Mario with Mud Shot while Vivian kept getting blown away by Flurrie's Whirlwind, noticing how all of Mario's partners had gotten stronger since her last encounter with them. And everytime they got knocked down, they were assaulted by either Koops' Water Pulse, Gonzales Jr.'s Leaf Tornado, or Doopliss' own Fire Spin.
"This is bad...how are we suppose to beat them Mario?" asked Vivian to her partner as the shadowy Eevee got to his feet, wondering how they would win when one of their opponents could use every move he knew and his partners already knew what both his and Vivian's moves were and could counter. That's when Mario noticed something. There was something missing from Doopliss' attire. While the hat was there, something else wasn't there. Mario dug into his fur collar and noticed he still had it. A special stone he had been given in Glitzville.
"...We might have a way to win this. But in order for this to work, you have to fight Doopliss." said Mario.
"What, why do you want me to fight him?" Vivian asked.
"While my partners know all of our moves, Doopliss has never seen your moves, so you have the best chance at getting him. I'll take care of my friends." Mario responded.
"How can you take on all four of them when they know all your moves and they have the numbers in their advantage?" Vivian questioned.
"Just trust me on this Vivian. Please." Mario said as he looked the Shadow Siren in the eyes. Vivian saw by looking at her new ally that he was serious.
"...Alright, I trust you. But please be careful." said Vivian as she used Phantom Force to slip into the shadows to face Doopliss while the other 4 approached Mario.
"Looks like you're on your own now faker." said Gonzales Jr., however he and the others soon noticed the shadowy Eevee smirk.
"...And that's just how I want it to be." said Mario as he gripped the stone in his paws. Suddenly, the stone started to glow and envelop the shadowy Eevee in a rainbow colored orb. Everyone watched as Mario grew a second tail and his ears grown longer and more wavey. His fur collar also grew bigger with parts of it tied in ponytails all around. The shadowy Eevee finally emerged from the orb as a rainbow colored symbol that looked like a strand of DNA appeared over him for a second.
"W-what? H-he Mega Evolved?!" Goombella exclaimed in shock at the sight of the shadowy Mega Eevee.
"But the only one we know who can do that is...Mario." Koops began, but was then cut off by the Mega Eevee.
"That's right Koops. All of you listen to me, the one you're fighting is not the real one, I'm the real one. That one, his real name is Doopliss and he stole my name and body and prevented me from telling you all who I really am by taking my power to say my own name." Mario tried to explain, but the others still looked a little suspicious.
"If you're telling the truth...if you are the real Mario...then tell us something we know about you." Flurrie demanded.
"Well have you noticed the me you've been with acting differently?" asked Mario.
"Well he was taking gifts and all that from the villagers, which isn't very characteristic of the Mario we know..." said Koops.
"But that doesn't mean he's not the real one." Goombella said in response.
"Well then maybe this will help. Goombella, you remember the time I arrived in Rogueport? I saved you from the X-Nauts." Mario said as Goombella let out a soft gasp, remembering that day.
"Koops, you asked me to take you with me and Goombella in taking down Hooktail and avenging your father, don't you remember?" Mario said as Koops very clearly remembered that day and how he learned his father was still alive.
"Flurrie, me and the others went to great trouble getting your necklace back and you helped us with driving the X-Nauts out of the Great Boggly Woods." Mario said to Flurrie, who was surprised to hear about that time from this shadowy Pokemon.
"And tyke, don't you remember the day you hatched. We saved you while you were still and egg and you helped us make it to the Glitz Pit's Major League." Mario said to the young Snivy, who was shocked to hear the shadow Pokemon explain the very first moments of his life.
"H-how do you know all this?" Goombella was the first one to ask as the Mega Eevee smiled.
"Because you're my friends and I would gladly give my own life to protect you all. You're like family to me." Mario explained, never losing his smile as he said it while the others noticed it. A smile they were all familiar with. That's when they heard a loud yell of pain. They looked and saw Vivian down and Doopliss preparing to finish her.
"Time to finish you." said Doopliss as he charged at the downed Flareon with a Double Edge.
"No, Vivian!" Mario yelled as he used his Mega form's Speed Boost ability to get in between Vivian and the attack, taking it full force and going crashing into a wall.
"Mario!" Vivian yelled in shock as she rushed over to Mario's side. Despite the fact that he was still in his Mega form, Vivian could see that he had taken a brutal amount of damage from the Double Edge, though she also saw Doopliss suffering the recoil of the move but he smirked.
"Hehe...alright my servants, finish those shadow beings off for the great Mario!" Doopliss demanded. However, to his surprise, the others didn't move. Instead, they looked at the Eevee with angry glares.
"Uhh, what are you all doing?" asked Doopliss.
"You're not the real Mario. The real Mario calls us his friends, not his servants." said Goombella.
"And like he just did, he'd risk is own will being for our safety." Koops follwed up.
"The darline cares for us while you don't." Flurrie said.
"You're the fake one and you're going down!" Gonzales Jr. exclaimed as the team of four got themselves ready as they felt a new energy welling up inside them. They then noticed the real Mario getting up, with Vivian using her powers to heal him.
"It's time to take back what's mine Doopliss." said Mario as the theif growled loudly.
"Never! I'll take you all down myself! GIGA IMPACT!" roared Doopliss as he charged all of his energy into a single attack and charged at the heroes.
"Take this, dual Hydro Pump!" yelled both Goombella and Koops as they fired twin Hydro Pumps at Doopliss.
"Get a taste of my Hurricane!" Flurrie exclaimed as she summoned a powerful tornado and launched it at Doopliss.
"Hey, try out my Leaf Storm!" screamed Gonzales Jr. as he launched a powerful storm of leaves. Meanwhile, Mario and Vivian looked at each other and gave each other a nod and a smile before charging.
"Doopliss, let's see how you like this!" Mario yelled as fire surrounded both the Mega Eevee and the Flareon.
"Go, Flare Blitz!" both Vivian and Mario screamed as the other attacked merged with their own, the combined attack meeting Doopliss' in the air. However, it was clear who had the advantage as Doopliss felt himself getting pushed back.
"No...no...NOOOOOOOOOO!" screamed Doopliss as he was overpowered and consumed in a large explosion while Mario and Vivian emerged from it unscathed. They greeted their friends on the ground before looking back as the explosion clearned. As soon as the smoke was gone, laying motionless on the ground was no longer an Eevee, but a Shuppet that was white and wore a party hat. The heroes smiled at their victory as Mario exited his Mega form while Doopliss soon opened his eyes and looked up in horror.
"Rats! YOU KILLJOYS!" yelled Doopliss as he flew out the window into the twilight sky. As they looked on at the fleeing ghost theif, sparkles started to surround Mario's shadowy body.
"Alright, we did it! We got your name and body back Mario!" yelled Vivian as she hugged the Eevee, who hugged back with a smile. However, as they hugged, purple smoke surrounded the two. When it cleared, the others saw Vivian as well as the familiar red hat back where it belonged...but then they saw something else. They saw the Eevee that was there friend Mario, but his fur looked completely different. His brown fur was now the same purple color as Vivians while his fur collar, tail tip, and inner ears now had the same pink color that Vivian also had. Mario also noticed this and was shocked.
"Wha...what happened to me!?" Mario asked in a shocked tone as he looked over his body, noticing how similar it now looked to Vivians. The Eevee looked over at the Flareon, who was as shocked as he and everyone else was.
"M-Mario..." was all Vivian could say.