Before I start the chapter, I may as well say this.
You know who—I know that some parts were a little rushed, and I will work try and work on it. However, that's the only piece of advice I'm taking. You also have options, though:
Option 1: Be patient and read correctly. If you are looking for a simple story that explains everything in one chapter, this fanfiction is not for you. Game-and-watch did most of the work against Bowser, who did not get defeated, but left, claiming that he would destroy the mushroom village. How did Bowser reflect it? Other questions? Like I said, not every thing is written out in the first chapter, this is not a simple fanfiction. Information is added throughout the story, and as you said, they just became ninja—they did not start out knowing everything and being able to do everything, so their teamwork is also limited. What about the chunnin exams? In chapter 1, Mario says that any genin can enter, but it is not advised for everyone. If you like the type of story that explains everything about it right off the bat, try option 2.
Option 2: Don't read it. No one is forcing you to read this fanfiction, and you are not bound by any contract just because you possibly reviewed one chapter. Point out any grammatical errors and rushed parts, and I'll try to do better, but the plot, and when you get to know certain information, has already been decided. Again, for the people who don't like the general format of the fanfiction, you are not being forced to read this.
On a more optimistic note, this is the first chapter with action in it, or at least more action than before. Finally, many of you have been waiting for the appearance of Marth and Roy. I won't tell you if they're in it yet, but you will have to wait a little while.
Chapter 6: Preliminaries
Dr. Mario was woken by Donkey Kong's restless pushes, glaring somewhat bemused into the impatient face. Then, as the truth of what had happened began to sink in, he became overcome with excitement. They had gotten the scrolls, and it was the third day. They still had time to get in the temple. He rubbed his eyes and got up as Donkey Kong backed away.
"Let's go already," he said.
"Alright," said Dr. Mario, grinning. He didn't think anything could lower his spirits. He jumped down to the soft ground, Yoshi landing parallel.
"What do you think the finals are going to be?" asked Yoshi.
"I don't know, but I hope they test us more than this." Dr. Mario had not thought of the second task as easy, but it was also more complex than he had hoped. He had wanted more of something like one-on-one combat.
They pushed the doors of the temple open, and saw a Game-and-Watch leaning at a door, so they walked across the dusty room and Dr. Mario pulled both scrolls out of his pocket. The Game-and-Watch took them, examined them briefly, and gave the squad an appraising look before opening the door. They went in and saw that many of those he had seen in the first task were there as well. Upon further inspection, he noticed that Luigi's team had made it. All of them were looking at the front, reminding Dr. Mario forcibly of walking into the Academy before the first task.
When Dr. Mario looked up front, he noticed the Muskage standing there, as well as two people next to him and a strange creature that looked like a turtle. It had a shiny shell, and Dr. Mario thought it was probably the Pokekage.
"You're all here," said Mario-kage, looking proud as his eyes fell upon the genin. "The finals will take place shor--"
He stopped, for a door from the side had just been opened a Game-and-Watch came running in, panting. He whispered something in the Muskage's ear. He frowned slightly as the Game-and-Watch finished. "Alright, we will not be having the finals yet."
Irritable murmors ran across the crowd, and the Muskage raised a hand for silence, which fell.
"It has been decided that more than expected have passed the second exam, and we will be having a preliminary round to have half the people head home. The good news is, the preliminaries will take place right now. If you will all proceed through this door..." He gestured toward the door in front of them, and the large group of genin followed him and the rest of the Kages into the room, which was an enormous stadium, sporting many seats all around, which were all raised high in the air for the best view.
The Muskage and the other village kages walked up the seats and took their places, the genin following. Yoshi sat down beside the cat and Dr. Mario sat beside Yoshi. Donkey Kong moved along the aisle and sat on Dr. Mario's other side, next to the fox and the bird.
"The board will present who is to take place in the fights," said the Muskage.
Dr. Mario looked and around and then saw a board on the wall with one slot on top of the other, with a space in between that said "vs." Names began to flash in red quickly in both slots, and Dr. Mario occasionally recognized one. He began to feel nervous. His name could appear in one of those sections, and then he would be in a fight to prove himself. He tried to keep his face determined, remembering what Luigi had said during the second task. He would not lose in front of everyone, or at least not in the preliminaries.
Just then, the flashing stopped. In the first slot, it showed the text "Yoshi." In the second, the word "Jigglypuff" had been revealed.
Most of the people in the crowd, looked expectantly around, and Dr. Mario and Donkey Kong turned to face Yoshi, who jumped from the stands and into the giant arena. He looked to the side, and one of the pink creatures jumped down into the stadium.
"That Jigglypuff," said Dr. Mario. "Its teammates were eaten, and it still managed to get both scrolls by itself."
"She left the Village hidden in the Pokeball," said the cat unexpectedly, not acknowledging the fact that it had tried to kill them in the forest. "She is the only other Genjutsu user here."
"Other?" said Dr. Mario.
"Mewtwo uses genjutsu," said the bigger of the two mice.
Dr. Mario turned back slowly. He assumed they were making references to the cat, and he had thought the cat couldn't have gotten much worse.
"Let the match begin," said the Game-and-Watch in the stadium.
Yoshi began running at Jigglypuff. When he got close, he charged, his head aimed at Jigglypuff's stomach. The puffball rolled around it and sent two punches at Yoshi, who jumped backward to avoid them. Yoshi kicked at Jigglypuff, who also jumped back. Yoshi jumped up in the air, and swung his feet repeatedly as he fell, but Jigglypuff propelled herself to the side, spinning. Yoshi leaped into the air again, and Jigglypuff, who had just landed, copied him. She stopped for a second in mid air, and then, with her arm in front of her, shot herself forward, chakra moving around her arm. She struck Yoshi in the stomach, who fell and slid backward.
"Jigglypuff's strategy is simple, but not weak," said Mewtwo. "She uses taijutsu to harm her opponent, genjutsu to render them stationary, and then very powerful ninjutsu to keep things in her favor."
Yoshi ran forward again, and Jigglypuff darted at Yoshi, jumping on one foot. Yoshi jumped again, kicking his feet continuously downward, but Jigglypuff jumped out of the way again. Yoshi jumped above Jigglypuff, and threw an egg, but Jigglypuff rolled around it, pushing herself by her arms. She hopped up as Yoshi fell, and began to spin endlessly. Dr. Mario knew what was going to happen. The protective chakra started to engulf her, and she was suddenly sent flying at Yoshi with incredible speed. She struck Yoshi in the stomach, launching him backward into a wall.
Yoshi stumbled forward again, and Jigglypuff grabbed him and tossed him upward. Jigglypuff leapt after him, and stopped again, before sending another punch at his stomach. The moment she struck, she began to turn, spinning Yoshi in the air. Yoshi was hurled back, but before had made it anywhere at all, Jigglypuff's other arm had caught hold and spun him around again.
As the process began to speed up, it looked more like mere spinning, but Dr. Mario knew Yoshi could escape a spin. The technique was clearly practiced for months, and each punch was successful in the repetitive cycle. Jigglypuff then turned Yoshi into the air in one process sending a punch up his jaw, and she used the other hand to send Yoshi plummeting and to bring herself upward at the same time. Yoshi made contact with the ground forcefully, and smoke lodged itself from the floor.
"Come on, Yoshi," said Donkey Kong angrily. "He hasn't landed a single hit."
The smoke cleared away and Yoshi got up, blood dripping from his jaw. "That's enough," he said quietly. He jumped high in the air, spread himself out, and curled inward, getting inside his rapidly spinning egg. The chakra danced around it as he shot downward at Jigglypuff, who jumped out of the way. The egg rolled on the ground, and fired at Jigglypuff again, this time hitting her. Jigglypuff fell backward, and then picked herself up. Yoshi began running at her. When he got close, Jigglypuff began to sing.
"Her genjutsu," said Dr. Mario. He knew the singing wouldn't affect him from up in the stands, but he saw Yoshi began to walk slowly and more indifferently.
"Pull yourself together, Yoshi!" roared Donkey Kong.
"It's no use," said Mewtwo.
Yoshi dropped to the ground, evidently unaware of Donkey Kong's shouting. He curled up and was plainly asleep.
"No," said Dr. Mario. "These people in this tournament...maybe Game-and-Watch-sensei was right."
The Game-and-Watch on the side began to step in. "No," said Jigglypuff. "I'm not finished yet." The Game-and-Watch shrugged and stepped back.
"She's about to do her ninjutsu," said the smaller of the mice.
Jigglypuff approached Yoshi, who was sleeping, and stood next to her.
"Rest jutsu," said Jigglypuff. She began to fell asleep, but Dr. Mario had no time to be confused as at that instant, he saw an enormous stream of fire sprout from somewhere he couldn't see, and Yoshi was flung with incredible force at the wall. Donkey Kong winced as he saw Yoshi slam into the wall, smoke clouding around it. When it faded away, Yoshi was revealed standing with blood dripping down his arms and stomach. He had one hand on the wall for support, but he walked forward again, narrowing his eyes. "You," he said, spitting out blood. "You..."
"Me what?" asked Jigglypuff.
Yoshi looked at her and then gave a satisfied smile, and began darting at Jigglypuff again.
"No!" Dr. Mario said. If Yoshi got too close to Jigglypuff, she would activate her genjutsu again.
"This guy," said Pikachu.
"So he's figured out Jigglypuff's weakness already," said Mewtwo.
"What?" said Donkey Kong, turning to look back at the match. Yoshi was getting closer and closer to Jigglypuff.
Yoshi jumped up in the air at the same moment Jigglypuff closed her eyes and began singing again. Yoshi tossed an egg and got into his own, spinning toward Jigglypuff. The egg cracked when it made contact with Jigglypuff, and the singing ceased. Jigglypuff turned in time to be struck by Yoshi's spinning egg. She slid across the ground, and Yoshi turned and rolled toward Jigglypuff, knocking her into the air again. He cracked out of his egg, and Jigglypuff fell to the ground.
"What happened?" said Dr. Mario.
"Jigglypuff is a close-ranged fighter, in genjutsu, taijutsu and ninjutsu. She comes from the Village hidden in the Sound, so her sound genjutsu has a slightly longer range. However, she focuses most of her chakra on it, closing her eyes to make things easier. That's why she only uses it when she's sure the enemy is in range."
"Yoshi figured it out," said the bigger rat. "He jumped when Jigglypuff started singing. What's more, when Jigglypuff gets hit, she loses her footing."
Dr. Mario turned to look at the stadium again, wondering how Yoshi had figured something like that out so quickly.
Jigglypuff got up and began breathing heavily as Yoshi looked triumphant. "It'll be more than that to beat me," said Jigglypuff angrily.
Yoshi jumped again, became his egg, and sent himself rolling at Jigglypuff across the ground. She jumped into the air, and Yoshi broke out of his egg and turned in one motion, tossing an egg into the air, which struck Jigglypuff sending her to the ground again. Yoshi curled into his egg again, rolling at Jigglypuff.
"That fakeout won't work twice," said Jigglypuff grudgingly as the egg came closer. Her eyes widened in surprise when the egg came dangerously close and she jumped again. Yoshi broke out of his egg and threw one at the same time again. It hit Jigglypuff, who fell to the the floor on her back. She got up. "How?" she croaked. "Does that thing have eyes?"
"It's true that it's a fakeout," said Yoshi. "But my protective chakra serves more than one purpose. I always know what's going on outside the egg. The fakeout involved me coming close and tossing an egg at you while you were in the air, as you know, and I knew you wouldn't fall for it twice. However, it doesn't matter if you don't fall for it at all. If you don't jump, you get hit by me while I'm in my egg. If you do jump, you get hit by one of my thrown eggs."
Jigglypuff's expression revealed a mixture of astonishment and anger. Yoshi flung himself into his egg and rolled at Jigglypuff. She jumped back, and Yoshi rolled into the air, hitting her body. He hit the ground and went into the air on the other side, flying at Jigglypuff yet again. He made contact with her, forcing the puffball higher into the air. Yoshi landed back onto the ground and broke out of his egg. Jigglypuff fell all the way downwards, smashing into the floor and spraying dirt up from the ground. She lied there motionlessly, and the Game-and-Watch walked onto the stage. He looked at Jigglypuff.
"Unconscious," he said. "The winner is Yoshi."
Applause roared from the stands, excited at the outcome of the match. Dr. Mario grinned, and felt more motivated than ever to participate in and win his match. Donkey Kong yelled his approval.
"Good job, Yoshi!"
"That puffball was nothing!" shouted Dr. Mario.
Yoshi made his way up to stands as the crowd conveyed its applause.
The chapter before this, this chapter, and the next few chapters will all be shorter than the last few. It'll be a while before the chapters start getting long again. This is the first real action chapter though, and it gets better. I hope you enjoyed this and continue to enjoy the rest.