Chapter 3: Castle Greetings!
Toad Town...
"Whoa! This place is huge!" gasped Squirtle, sitting on top of Luigi's head.
The Mario Bros. along with their Pokemon, arrived in Toad Town, after their small journey through Boo Woods.
"This place looks amazing!" commented Charmander. He gazed every inch of the town.
The town was surrounded by green, lush hills. It resided by a huge, beautiful lake. In Toad Town, the streets were made of tiles of stone. The town was jam-packed full of houses. You could say it looked more like a city than just a town!
"This town has been here for lots of generations!" said Mario. He was holding an egg, which was for Princess Peach.
"Come on, guys! We should get that egg delivered!" exclaimed Luigi. He started running through the town. Mario and Charmander chased after.
The town had a lot of things to enjoy. West of the town, was a park with a walking trail and trees. In the center of the town was the Town Square. It had a huge fountain in the middle. On top of the fountain, was a Mushroom that spewed out streams of water from it's spots. Toads were walking about, having conversations, looking around, but most of all, almost all of them had their own Pokemon.
"Wow! It's nice these mushroom people let their own Pokemon walk with them." said Charmander.
"Yeah!" replied Mario. "There sure are alot of Toads who have their own Pokemon! Prof. E. Gadd wasn't kidding that almost everyone has heard about Pokemon."
Squirtle jumped off Luigi's head. "Wow! This fountain looks awesome!" He ran towards the fountain and did a cannonball into it.
"Gah! Squirtle! What are you doing?" shouted Luigi.
Squirtle was swimming laps in the fountain. His stunt attracted a lot of attention. Toads began gathering around with their Pokemon following behind.
"Hey! Why is everyone looking at me?" asked Squirtle.
"Hey! There's a Squirtle in the fountain!" shouted one of the Toads. He had a bird Pokemon, Spearow perched on his hat.
"Get that Pokemon out of their! It's in our Mushroom monument!" yelled another Toad.
Luigi scrambled through the crowd of Toads, and snatched Squirtle out of the fountain.
"Sorry everybody!" Luigi apologized. He walked back to Mario and Charmander, who were sitting on a bench near the fountain.
"Nice act you pulled there, Squirtle!" said Charmander.
"Geez, these mushroom people don't know how to have fun!" complained Squirtle, who was back on Luigi's head.
Mario stood from the bench. "Come on, guys. We still need to give this egg to the princess!"
"Alright! Let's go!" exclaimed Luigi.
Castle Entrance...
The gang soon found themselves at the gates of Princess Peach's castle. Two Toad guards were at the sides.
One of them stepped towards them. "Hey Mario! You got a Pokemon too" He looked at Charmander.
"Yeah. He's a pretty good choice, if you ask me!" replied Mario. He changed the subject. "May we see Princess Peach? I've got a delivery for her." He showed the Toad guard the egg. The Toad guard inspected it carefully.
"Looks good to me!" The Toad guard signaled his buddy to open the gates.
The gang thanked the guards and walked through the gate. They crossed over the moat, and were now in front of the steps of the castle.
Mario walked up to the castle doors and knocked. There was a small pause. Suddenly, the big doors opened with a large creak. They walked in.
The gang found themselves in the foyer of Princess Peach's Castle. It was huge. It had two floors. with a huge flight of stairs leading to the second floor. There were a whole bunch of doors that connected to the other parts of the castle.
Walking down the flights of stairs, was Toadsworth, the elder of the Toads and adviser of Princess Peach. Following behind him were two other Toads. One of them was a Blue Toad and the other was a Yellow Toad.
"Hey Mario! Hey Luigi!" exclaimed Blue Toad.
"Umm, what's that on your head?" asked Luigi.
There was a huge, green catapillar on his head.
"Oh! That thing? That's my Pokemon!"
"That's a Pokemon?"
"Yeah, I think it's a Caterpie." Blue Toad explained. "Don't worry! He's tamed."
The Caterpie looked at the gang and made a large squeak sound.
Yellow Toad walked up towards the gang.
"Hey! You guys have Pokemon too!. Check out my Pokemon!" Yellow Toad exclaimed. He pointed to his hat. There was a large, orange caterpillar, with a big, pink nose. It was taking a nap
"What kind of Pokemon is that?" asked Luigi.
"It's a Weedle!"
"A Weedle?"
"Yeah! Doesn't it looke cute when it's asleep?"
Luigi nodded. "Sure, why not?"
"You know, you should get the data of those Pokemon with your Pokedexes!" suggested Charmander.
"Oh yeah!" said Mario, already looking through his bag.
Mario and Luigi got the Caterpie and Weedle data into their Pokedexes.
Blue Toad was astonished. "Wow! Those Pokedexes look pretty cool!"
"I should get one of those!" said Yellow Toad.
Toadsworth walked in front of them."Now, now boys! You already got your own Pokemon! Don't get too ahead of yourselves with those gizmo-thingies!"
"Oh, don't worry." said Luigi. "Pokedexes aren't that complicated. It just gets some getting used too."
"You know, back in my day, we never had any of these things!" Toadsworth commented.
"Geez, how old is this guy?" whispered Squirtle to Luigi. "He's like those other old people who talk about how different their lives were centuries ago."
"Not now, Squirtle!" Luigi mumbled.
Toadsworth changed the topic. "So, my boys! What are you two doing here?"
Mario held out the Pokemon egg. "We're here to deliver this egg to Princess Peach!"
"Aah! Yes! Her Pokemon! I'll check if she's available!" Toadsworth assured. He walked slowly to the throne room, with the aid of his cane.
Squirtle was impatient. "The guy walks like a snail! Even a turtle could beat him!"
"You're a turtle." Luigi pointed out.
"No, I'm a Squirtle, stupid..."
"So, who else is in the castle?" Mario asked Blue Toad and Yellow Toad.
"Just your regular Toad guards!" Yellow Toad responded. "Oh, and Yoshi is here too!"
Luigi raised an eyebrow. "Yoshi is here?"
Squirtle was curious. "What's a Yoshi?"
"An old friend of ours." replied Luigi.
"Where is Yoshi?" asked Mario.
"Getting some cookies in the kitchen on the second floor!" answered Blue Toad.
Suddenly, a door on the second door flew open. Out came the green dinosaur, with a handful of chocolate chip cookies. He ran down the flight of stairs.
"Hey guys! Want some cookies?" asked Yoshi.
"Hi Yoshi!" said Mario and Luigi.
Yoshi looked. "Hi guys!" He noticed the two Pokemon that accompanied them. "You have Pokemon too?"
"Yep!" said Mario. "How about you?"
Yoshi glared down. "I don't have one..."
"Why not?" asked Mario.
"I don't know how to get one!"
"Do you guys know where to get a Pokemon?" asked Blue Toad. "It's been hard to get Yoshi one. You know, since they're popular and all right now.."
"In fact, we do!" said Luigi. "Our friend Professer Oak has an extra Pokemon at his lab!"
Yoshi dropped the cookies. "He does? Can I have it?"
"Sure, we'll just ask him." assured Luigi.
Yoshi did a huge flutter jump in the air. "Yaaaaay! I'm geting my own Pokemon!"
"Wow! He sure is hyper!" commented Squirtle.
"Yeah, but he's a good friend." said Luigi.
"Do you think he can handle having his own Pokemon?" asked Charmander.
"I bet." answered Mario. "Sure, it doesn't look like it, but he really is a responsible person."
"You mean, dinosaur?"
"Yeah."
Everyone chilled on the steps, waiting for Toadsworth to get back. They talked about how they got their Pokemon. Blue Toad and Yellow Toad got their Pokemon in the wild a few days ago. They talked about how they enjoyed taking care of their Caterpie and Weedle. Squirtle kept complaining how Toadsworth was taking long, but Luigi told him to relax.
Finally, Toadsworth came back from the throne room.
"The princess is ready for you!" he announced.
"Thank you!" exclaimed Squirtle with relief." I couldn't wait any longer!" He hopped back on Luigi's hat.
Toadsworth escorted everyone into the throne room. The throne room was big! It had pink curtains on the side walls that drooped to the floor, with pictures of Mushrooms printed on them. The carpet leading to the throne was a darker pink, with a huge crown printed on it.
Sitting on the throne, was none other than Princess Peach.
Charmander was nervous. "Do we have to bow?"
"It's okay." said Mario. "You don't have to."
Squirtle couldn't take his eyes off the Princess. "Wow! She's pretty!"
Princess Peach stood from the throne. "Hello Mario and Luigi."
"Hi Peach!" greeted Luigi.
She saw Mario and Luigi's Pokemon. "Oh, you two also have Pokemon. That's wonderful!"
"Thanks!" said Luigi. "Although, my Squirtle can be a handful!"
"Hey!" complained Squirtle. "No I'm not!"
Mario took a step towards Peach, then held out the Pokemon egg. "We've been asked to deliver this to you. It's from Professer E. Gadd and Oak.
Mario handed the egg to Peach. She smiled. "Thank you, Mario! It took them awhile to get the Pokemon I requested."
Mario put a hand behind his head. "It's-a no problem!"
"If you don't mind, what kind of Pokemon did you ask for?" asked Luigi.
Suddenly, a bright light started to glow from the egg. Everybody was surprised.
Yoshi was wide eyed. "It's SO bright!"
"Umm, what's happening?" Blue Toad asked.
"Is this safe?" asked Toadsworth.
"The egg is about to hatch!" exclaimed Charmander.
Squirtle jumped off Luigi's hat. " Finally! We get to see what Pokemon it is!"
The egg started to form the shape of the Pokemon. The light faded away. The Pokemon had a smooth, light pink body. At the top of it's head, there was a curly pigtail-like shaped hair. There were three round bumps on it's forehead. It had a small face, with rosy cheeks on the side. The lower part of the body looked like a pouch.
Everyone was astonished.
"What kind of Pokemon is that?" Yellow Toad asked.
Charmander tugged on Mario's overalls. "Check it with your Pokedex."
Mario nodded. He took out his Pokedex and examined the Pokemon in Peach's arms.
The Pokedex's voiced started to talk.
"Happiny, the Playhouse Pokemon. It likes to carry around small rocks. It may wander around others' feet and cause them to stumble."
"It's a Happiny!" said Luigi.
"The Pokedex just said that!" complained Squirtle.
Mario put his Pokedex back. "That's a good choice, Princess!"
Princess Peach nodded. "Thank you."
The Happiny looked up at everyone.
"Hehe, she's pretty cute!" Luigi complimented.
All of a sudden, the Happiny started to cry.
"Jolly goodness!" shouted Toadsworth. He covered his ears, dropping his cane. "It sounds like a foghorn! Make it stop!"
"But how!" Yellow Toad asked. His Weedle woke up from the high-pitched screaming.
"WAIT! Remember what the Pokedex said!" Charmander started. "It likes to carry around small rocks. Maybe we should give it one!"
"Good idea!" said Mario. "Yoshi! Can you get us a small rock outside."
Yoshi nodded. "As long as it stops it from crying."
Yoshi quickly ran out and took a small rock from the castle grounds and brought it back. He gave it to Mario, who gave it to Peach. She calmed down the Happiny.
"No need to cry now. Look what we got you." She handed the Happiny the small rock.
The Happiny stopped crying. It took the small rock and inspected it. It gave a gleeful cry.
"Yay! It worked!" Luigi exclaimed.
"Jolly good!" Toadsworth congratulated, picking up his cane. "You two are becoming real good at becoming Pokemon Trainers."
"We couldn't have done it without Charmander's advice!" said Mario.
"Aww shucks! It's no biggie." Charmander said.
"How do you understand what your Pokemon are saying?" asked Blue Toad.
Luigi pointed to his PokeTalker on his ear. "The Professors gave us this gadget. We can use it to talk to Pokemon!"
"Cool! I should get one!"
"Well, now that we know what the Pokemon was, what now?" asked Squirtle.
Peach looked at Mario and Luigi's Pokemon. "Mario, did you ever battle with your Pokemon yet?"
Mario nodded. "Just once. We were in Boo Woods and these outraged Pidgey and Rattata attacked us! Luckily, Charmander and Squirtle took care of them."
Peach nodded. "If it's alright, could you demonstrate a battle for us?"
Mario was surprised. "Battle? Right now?"
Luigi was also a bit surprised. "Who are we going to fight with then?"
"Hey! How about us?" asked Blue Toad. Beside him was Yellow Toad.
"Yeah! It'll be a fun first fight for us!" Yellow Toad said. "Are you guys up for it?"
Luigi looked at Mario. "You think we should battle?"
Mario nodded. "Why not?"
Yellow Toad hopped in joy. "Yay! We're gonna have a battle!"
"Cool! I get to watch a Pokemon fight!" exclaimed Toad.
Mario looked at Charmander. "You think you can handle this?"
Charmander gave him a determined face. "You know I can, partner!"
"Alright! Let's get started right now!" Squirtle demanded.
"Okay, then it's settled." Peach said. "A two-on-two battle between the Mario Bros. and the Toads. The battle will be held in the castle's gym."
Everyone was fired up. They couldn't wait for the epic fight.
Suddenly, Mario's stomach started to grumble.
"Ohh, looks like I'm hungry!" Mario said, embarrassed.
"Already?" said Luigi. "Didn't you just eat an hour ago?"
"Wow! You must've had a light breakfast!" said Squirtle.
"We should eat first." said Yoshi. "I'm getting kinda hungry myself!"
"Okay. We'll start the battle right after we eat." Toadsworth explained. "I'll be the referee for the battle."
Everyone headed to the dining room, excited for what's to come next!
A tag battle between the Mario Bros. and Toads! Which team will end up with victory? Stay tuned!
I do not own any Mario or Pokemon related characters. They belong to Nintendo, so they aren't mine.
