The Galactic Brawl
Disclaimer: I don't own Super Smash Bros.
Shinobi-dono: … Yeah, I don't think any form of apology can really make up for how long it's been. So I'm just gonna go ahead and write the rest of this story, since there's no way I'm not gonna finish it.
"HUAH!" a cry rang out as a powerful body blow threw a large, black hound through the air. Whimpering as it hit the floor, it moved aside as more hounds rushed the target, each showing a threatening glare and baring their fangs.
In the middle of them all was a jackal-like being standing on his hind legs, his arms out and his body positioned in a pose reminiscent of a martial artist. Its cold gaze wandered over the pack of hounds, but as they came its hands began to glow and a series of strong strikes lashed out at them, repelling each attacker.
"Houndour! Flamethrower!" a voice yelled, only to be followed by additional voices. Immediately, the jackal-like being leaped high into the air onto a tree branch, just narrowly avoiding a powerful jet stream of flame incinerating where it had just been. Each of the hounds followed suit, letting out streams of flame in an attempt to set him alight as he continued to move about through the trees. The constant attacks kept him on his feet as he rushed through, only to be cut off by another.
"Houndoom, Fire Fang" another order was given as a hound far larger and far more menacing than he had seen before leaped up in front of him and opened its fangs. Biting down upon his shoulder, the jackal let out a scream of pain as he felt an incredible burning sensation through his shoulder. Violently jerking its head the hound threw him to the ground, out of the trees, where he clutched the burning wound. Looking up ahead, he could see a man in white walking towards him, a calm, collected look on his face as he drew near.
"Boss Giovanni will be ecstatic to meet you" he spoke, giving just a light hint of a smirk before Lucario blacked out.
The large airship dropped through the atmosphere, slowly and steadily descending upon the land below. Hatches opened as they neared the ground, allowing a group of five to leap down to the land below. Each hit the ground and rolled to lessen the impact before they turned back to the large ship.
"We've made landing. You can ascend back into the clouds until called" an armored woman spoke through a communicator in her helmet. As if the ship itself heard her, it began to rise back up into the air, the rockets behind it bursting as it accelerated back through the clouds. Now on the ground were a group of five, ready to set off on their own.
"I've been waiting to show what I've got! Man, it's been so long!" the first spoke, a tall, muscular man who predominantly wore a blue body suit with a red helmet. A black visor covered over his eyes whilst a yellow scarf covered his neck. Yellow gloves and yellow boots covered his hands and feet. This, of course, could only be Captain Falcon.
"W-What if that Crump guy shows up again? I don't think I'm ready to take on his giant robot again…" a man in overalls with a green shirt and hat spoke, his voice dripping with worry. He seemed to shiver in place, a bit frightened. The man in green of course could only be Luigi, one half of the Mario Brothers.
"Oh, I'm sure we'll be alright. Besides, his giant robot didn't win last time – I'm sure if he came again, we could handle it" a Princess in pink told him, smiling before she turned to another man in red. This was Princess Peach. "Don't you think?".
"Mhm. The X-Nauts don't-a stand a chance!" the older, but shorter and stockier brother of Luigi spoke. The man in a red shirt and cap with overalls could only be Mario himself.
Before any of them could continue, a bright light caught their attention. Turning around, they stared in surprise as they saw an incredibly tall woman with long, blonde hair pulled into a ponytail stepping towards them, holding a gun in her right hand. Her body was slender, curvaceous yet also very toned and was covered in a light blue bodysuit that went as far as halfway up her neck before ending. Captain Falcon couldn't take his jaw off the floor.
"C'mon, we have to get moving" Samus spoke sternly as she walked past the group, continuing down the path. The group was surrounded by large plains of tall grass with a single path cutting through them, moving in an s-shape towards their destination – a large port town on the horizon. Not wanting to annoy Samus, the group quickly followed behind her.
"Pi, pika!" an excited voice chirped. Grasping the attention of a young teenager in red and white wearing a cap, a small, yellow rodent ran around his feet before climbing up the length of his body, sitting itself upon his shoulder. Looking to the rodent on his shoulder, the young kid smiled and pet its head lightly, scratching behind its ears a little.
Without words, he turned back towards the city around him. The city was a port of trade and tourism, where many people traveled from other lands to Kanto via the S.S. Anne, S.S. Aqua or a variety of Seagallop Ferries. It was also home to one of the eight Gym Leaders – a fearsome Electric-Type user named Lieutenant Surge. He had apparently come from far across the ocean, or so the kid had heard, though he wasn't sure where exactly.
However, the city itself wasn't exactly what he was focused on right now.
Staring down at a pair of small photographs in his hands, he frowned. In one was a picture of a green Pokemon sitting squat on four legs whilst a flower bud poked up from its back, surrounded by open leaves. In the other picture was a mighty, orange dragon-like beast with a great fire alight upon its tail.
"Pika pi!" the yellow rodent spoke again into his ear. Nodding, he put away the photographs in his pocket and ran down the street, his face now like stone. He was here for a reason. He couldn't waste any time dawdling.
Suddenly stopping at the end of the street, he stopped and turned his gaze around, staring down the different streets ahead. However, he suddenly jumped back around the corner of a building, only letting his eye gaze around the edge.
Down the street ahead was a pair of people clad in almost all black, with black caps, a belt containing several Pokeballs and grey gloves and boots. Upon their black shirts were large, red-pink 'R's. The boy's gaze hardened. This was Team Rocket.
"Looks like we've finally gotten a hold of that Lucario the boss wanted. He'll be really pleased when tonight's haul goes out" one grunt remarked, smirking as he folded his arms and leaned back against the wall.
"Yeah, a shame it was the Admin who caught him though – I bet if I got that Lucario, I'd have gotten a promotion…" the other man responded, frowning.
"Don't say that too loudly – Bad mouth the Admin's and it'll be your hide that gets fed to the Houndooms".
"Good point. Least we got that kid's Charizard and Ivysaur – talk about bagging some rare Pokemon!"
"Haha, bet we'll get a reward for that! C'mon, it's almost dusk"
At that the two turned and entered a large set of doors, letting it shut tightly behind them. From around the corner, the young kid frowned. If he was going to get his Pokemon back, he had to do it tonight. Looking over to the Pikachu on his shoulder, the two shared a look before they both nodded.
Tonight, they were going to intercept that haul.
"Mama-mia, that took a bit longer than expected…" Mario remarked, wiping the sweat from his brow as they finally reached the outskirts of the large city before them.
"If the Captain had not startled those Pokemon, we would have arrived much earlier" Samus stated bluntly.
"H-Hey, it was an accident! How was I supposed to notice that rat's tail under my feet?" he asked, a little defensive of his own mistake.
"What is a Pokemon, may I ask?" Peach asked, looking over to the fellow blonde.
"According to the information we have on this Planet, they are the animals of this planet, although unlike most animals these Pokemon are capable of many feats. Some can create lightning and others can scorch the land with fire" Samus informed her, though her description began to make Luigi squirm.
"Th-There are those kind of things here?" he asked, shrinking a little in his place.
"Ha! I'm not scared! Bring on any Pokemon – I can take it on with my own two hands!" the Captain boasted, though Samus simply rolled her eyes and said nothing.
"So far there has been no sign of the X-Nauts or X-Naut Technology, but don't be fooled – Their presence has been detected here before. It is likely they are working in coordination with pre-existing criminal groups to take whatever they are looking for here" Samus informed the group.
"So rather than seek the X-Nauts directly, we should seek out anyone who might be working with them. Is there anyone you can think of who might be working with them?" Peach asked, but Samus shook her head again.
"Then we'll just head into the city and find some information ourselves!" Captain Falcon pointed out. For once, Samus seemed to agree with him as she gave a nod.
"Then we'll move in two groups – Myself, Princess Peach and Luigi will form one group, while yourself and Mario will form the other" Samus stated, but immediately the Captain took fault.
"H-Hey, why do I have to work with Mario? Couldn't I go with… Um, well someone like you instead?" he questioned her, leading Mario to raise a confused eyebrow.
"No. Since we both possess a background in finding information, it is meaningless to pair us together. In addition, someone needs to hold you in check in case you act rashly" she stated calmly.
"H-Hey!" Captain Falcon attempted to retort.
"Luigi isn't assertive enough to stand up to you" she pointed out, earning Luigi's attention.
"Ouch…"
"And the Princess, though perhaps more competent, is a bit lenient on people from what I have seen" she added, this time earning a response from Peach.
"Well, people deserve second chances…"
"Therefore, Mario is the best choice to go with you. Do you have anything to say?"
"… No, I don't".
"Good".
"Hello, welcome to the Pokemon Center! May I heal your Pokemon? Or is there something else you need? If you must know, we offer lodgings to all official Pokemon trainers intending to take on the Pokemon League, so feel free to book a room for the night!" the young woman behind the counter cheerily informed the group of three, smiling wide but genuinely.
"Actually, we were hoping if we could ask you a couple of questions" Peach responded with a smile.
"Why, certainly! We're here to offer everyone any assistance they require!" the Nurse replied, only for the slightly taller blonde to now step forwards, placing a couple of pictures down on the table.
"It seems unlikely thus far that these people have been in direct contact with anyone around this city, but we were wondering if you know anything about these people or anyone they might have worked with" she spoke, her voice a lot more cold than Peach's but still keeping formalities.
"Hm, these people look so strange and weird…" the Nurse remarked, looking upon the pictures of the rather short, round people in suits and goggles. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone like them before, to be honest with you".
"I see" the blonde replied. "In that case, do you know of any criminal activity that may have been going on within the area? We have a feeling these people may be linked to criminal groups within the area".
"Oh, dear… I would certainly hope not…" the Nurse responded.
"Then you know something?" Luigi stuttered out?
"Yes. I'm afraid there is one group that might be related to what you are talking about. You see, for a long time an organization known as Team Rocket has been active within the Kanto region. No one knows who their leader is and for a while, even the group seemed to be a secret due to them remaining in the dark. But in recent times, evidence of them smuggling Pokemon and capturing rare Pokemon to sell on the black market became known. However, their organization has grown a lot, and I'm worried the local police forces can't handle it on their own…" she told them, sighing as she looked down in worry.
"They've captured many rare Pokemon, regardless of whether wild or owned by trainers, solely to line their own pockets… It's terrible…" she told them. Peach couldn't help but frown, looking upon the Nurse sympathetically as she spoke.
"Do you know where they might be operating?" Samus asked.
"It's only a rumor, but I think I might know where" the Nurse responded, returning her gaze back to Samus.
"Damn, I mean, I know she means business, but for someone who rarely talks outside of missions, Samus sure has a way with words…" the Captain remarked as he ended up walking down the street with Mario by his side, who'd been wondering why exactly the Captain didn't seem to want to be by him all the time. It seemed like the Captain was stubbornly walking ahead to try and keep Mario from catching up, but fortunately Mario wasn't so slow despite his short height.
"It seems-a like it's-a gonna get dark soon…" Mario remarked as the sky had started turning red, the sun itself sitting upon the horizon.
"Hmph. Well, in any case, I may as well get this over with. I'll have to find someone who might know what's up…" the Captain commented, ignoring Mario altogether. "I don't have time to waste. Samus and her group are taking the north and west, so I may as well take the south and east of this city".
"Hm, do you hear-a something?" Mario queried.
"But where to begin? I doubt I'd find anything useful at a shopping center. Bars tend to be a good place to start…"
"I think-a something's coming quickly"
"Alright, I'll head into a bar, rough up some guys and get my answers that way. The good ol' fashioned way!"
"Mama-mia!"
"Oh, what's wro-"
The Captain suddenly felt himself jerked aside as Mario grabbed him and swung him out of the way as they dived onto the path, narrowly avoiding a large truck as it drove straight past them and down the road. The two stared, dumbstruck, before suddenly a young kid zoomed right past them on a bicycle, racing after the truck relentlessly as sweat fell from his body. Shooting down the street, he tailed the truck as it drove towards the northern city exit.
"… Or, you know, we could follow that".