Mario stood at the orphanage door, and Headmaster Gilbert invited him in. "All right, my little Pokémon. Someone just came to adopt. Mind your manners, respect your elders, look happy, you know the routine. And anyone who disobeys will be beaten and starved and never adopted EVER!!!! DO YOU UNDERSTAND!!??!?" The Pokémon responded, "We love you, elders." Gilbert responded, "Oh, shut up!" All the Pokémon did what he said, but the elders approached him and whispered, "Bring out the fire types. We want to get rid of Charizard." Gilbert said, "This man wants a fire type. Come forward, fire types. Elders, beat the others. And there is no dinner for them tonight." The Pokémon groaned, and Gilbert bellowed, "WHAT WAS THAT!?!???" The Pokémon responded, "We love you, elders." "SHUT UP, YOU SARCASTIC JERKS!!! ELDERS, BEAT THEM GOOD AND HARD!!!" Then began the ruthless abuse. Mario couldn't believe it. The Marion Town Orphanage for Pokémon had a great reputation and a perfect record, so Mario expected a kind, loving environment, not a cruel, hateful one like this. He saw only a handful of fire types: Magby, Growlithe, Monferno, and Houndour. "Awww, a cute little Magby. They become Magmar, then Magmortar. Nah, that Growlithe looks promising. Even as Arcanine, they remain loyal and affectionate, nah, he'd be too rough in his affection. Monferno, nah. Houndour, they become Houndoom, and Houndoom looks pure evil." Just then, he heard arguing. "You know the rules, Charizard!" "Screw the rules! It's a basic, necessary bodily function! What kind of rules keep us from doing what must..." "SHUT UP, CHARIZARD!!!!!! TO THE..." Mario excitedly interrupted, "WOW!!!! YOU DIDN'T TELL ME YOU HAD A CHARIZARD!!!!!" The elder gasped, "Mario, the great hero! Yes, he is a Charizard..." "I WANT HIM!!!" The elders smiled happily. They didn't think Charizard would be adopted that quickly. They got all the paperwork ready, and Mario adopted him. Charizard didn't have anything to pack, so he just followed Mario out of the orphanage. Like Bayleef, Charizard had no medical records, so Mario knew he would have to get him some, but he was so happy to have a Charizard that he didn't care. They ran to his car, and then they waved back at the other Pokémon. Everyone had come to see Charizard off, so Mario thought he must have gotten the pick of the orphanage. When Mario's car was out of sight, the elders cheered wildly; the dragon that had been tormenting them ever since he evolved into Charizard was now gone! The test administrator said, "He's sure to return when he fails the adoption test." The other elders responded, "Oh no! We are NOT giving him an adoption test!! We want him gone!!" "Okay." The cheering resumed; confetti and balloons were released, and the elders threw a party to celebrate Charizard's leaving, but no Pokémon were allowed to join in, except to slave and clean up. Any Pokémon who tried to join in (and none did) was beaten to unconsciousness.

Mario then made the long drive back to Mushroom Town with his new pet Charizard. He told him, "There's a bunch of crocodiles I hang out-a with, called-a the Kremlings, whom I think you'll really like. They're rough and tough. And there's a cute green dinosaur with a big-a nose who's really, really smart-a, named Yoshi. There's also a cute-a princess-a I keep rescuing, named Peach. A big, bad turtle named-a Bowser keeps-a kidnapping her." Mario was cut off by the radio. "We interrupt this program to bring you a special news bulletin. King Bowser Koopa has recently announced that he's giving up being evil to become a good superhero! Here he is!" And Bowser came on the radio and said, "Yes, I have given up being a villain to become a hero!" He was greeted by cheers. However, Mario was suspicious. He knew Bowser only as a super villain, and he remembered the Super Mario 3 episode "Never Koop a Koopa," in which Bowser had faked giving up being bad (you can watch that on YouTube), but Charizard trusted Bowser. Mario then resumed his talk. "I have three brothers (at least in my headcanon): Luigi, Wario, and Waluigi. Luigi is shy and cowardly, Wario is-a dumb and-a crude, and Waluigi is sneaky and devious. Also, there's-a this gorilla named-a Donkey Kong who sometimes-a bullies me, and-a his monkey sidekick Diddy. But enough of that. I am a plumber, a golf-a pro, and a jack-of-all-trades. And then there's-a my friend-a Neil. He just adopted a Bayleef." Charizard then said, "My pencil pal! I miss her, and I think of her night and day. She was my best friend at the orphanage." Mario responded, "Maybe you can see her when we play in the next-a golf tournament." Charizard asked, "What's a golf tournament?" "It's-a when a bunch of people play golf against each other. The next-a one is in Dune Town." During the next several hours, they alternated talking with just enjoying the scenery. Somewhere along the way, it began to rain. Mario expected Charizard to freak out, but he actually liked the rain (it was nice and soft, not hard and stormy). When the rain stopped, Mario and Charizard went to a restaurant for lunch. Mario had a pizza, while Charizard sampled some Pokémon food (the pizzeria owner was a Pokémon breeder as well). Food A had a crisp, vegetable flavor that he didn't like; Food B had a salty, meaty flavor that he did like; and Food C had a sweet, fruity flavor that quickly became his favorite. The owner then gave him a huge pot of that food, and Mario ordered a large Coke for him. As Charizard ate and drank, Mario noticed how many free Coke refills Charizard was ordering (seven), and he warned him not to fill up on Coke. Well, despite all the Coke he was drinking, Charizard still ate the whole pot of Pokémon food, and he was still hungry when he finished. Mario let him order some more food, but this time, he got a huge pot of the salty, meat-flavored food. He ate the whole pot, including seven more refills of Coke! Then Mario got the check. "$65!? Good thing I make enough-a to feed-a you, big boy. Which food do you like-a better? Fruit or meat?" Without hesitation, Charizard answered "Fruit." Mario paid the check, and then the two went back to the car and resumed the trip home.

Mario and Charizard eventually made it to Mushroom Town. Mario drove to the Mushroom Town Pokémon doctor's office. This office had a Doctor Joy (as opposed to Nurse Joy) and a Nurse Toadette. Toadette called, "Mario Mario and Charizard." They followed her to Doctor Joy, who measured Charizard's vital statistics and took a blood sample (during which Mario had to hold and comfort him). From that blood sample, Doctor Joy analyzed his nutrients and DNA. "Mario," she said, "your Charizard is in perfect health. Also, he's the son of your original Charizard. He had given him up when he was only a week old, because he was 'too weak,' although he was only a baby. I found his birth certificate, and he is 7 years, 114 days old." Mario said, "Wow! Thanks, Doctor Joy. See you later." "Hold it, Mario. He has to go potty before he can leave." Mario gulped. Charizard had eaten two huge pots of Pokémon food and fifteen large Cokes, so Mario warned her it was going to be a doozie. But Joy insisted. Mario tensed up as Joy put a bucket under Charizard. Sure enough, the bucket couldn't hold the entire bowel movement, and the enormous amount of urine that followed made Joy say, "Mario, I hope you can clean up this mess." Mario said, "No problem! I'll just-a build him a special toilet." Then they were dismissed, but not before Mario bought a ton of that sweet, fruity-flavored Pokémon food (the same kind Neil bought for his Bayleef).

When they got home, Mario and Charizard were welcomed by the Kremlings, whom Donkey Kong had defeated again, and were once again bumming in Mario's house (see Yoshizilla-Rhedosaurus' fanfic Mario and King K. Rool). Mario introduced Charizard to them--the Kritters, the Klump, Krusha, Kludge, the Klaptraps, K. Lumsy, and King K. Rool. They really hit it off well; they showed him their rooms, told him about them, and then they all went for a swim in their huge swimming pool. Despite being a fire type, Charizard quickly fell in love with the water! They all swam for two hours, and then they all dried off and came inside for dinner. Charizard ate only a little Pokémon food; he and the Kremlings ate mostly fried fish for dinner, and Charizard loved it. Mario then took a picture of him and the Kremlings together, and then he texted Neil that picture. After dinner, Mario showed Charizard his new room, saying, "I hope you like clowns." The Kremlings had decorated the room with clowns and circus-related things. Charizard saw them and said, "Oh my gosh, they're retarded!" Mario asked, "Do you like it?" Charizard answered, "Well, there sure are a lot of clowns." He didn't tell him that he hated clowns. That night, Charizard was talking with two Kritters. "I'm afraid. Every single time I've been adopted, I've been returned to the orphanage. FIFTY TIMES!!!!!" Blue Kritter responded, "Well, if he does, you can..." Mario, who had overheard that, assured Charizard, "I will never give-a you back to the orphanage. You're mine forever." However, he was skeptical, because all his previous owners said the same thing. But Mario petted him on the neck, where he loved it; that had never happened before, so Charizard decided to trust him this time. It was bedtime, so Mario put him in his new bed, which was every bit as good as Bayleef's bed. Mario would have read him a bedtime story, but Charizard fell asleep with a huge smile on his face, snoring loudly, so Mario decided, "Maybe another time," and he kissed him goodnight. His smile got bigger, and his snoring went into a high pitch. Mario took a picture of the adorable sight and texted it to Neil, who was reading Bayleef a bedtime story. She then said, "I love you, Neil. Good night." Neil kissed her goodnight ("I love you too, Bayleef."), and responded to Mario's message. "You adopted a Charizard! He looks happy." Mario responded, "He is. He may be a little slow to trust, but I think we'll be fine." Mario then started work on Charizard's special toilet.

First Bayleef, and now Charizard. Is this a story of happy adoptions our what? But unlike Bayleef, Charizard is still not sure Mario will keep him forever; after all, that's what all his previous owners said, and they did get rid of him. Will Mario disown him as well, or will he keep him forever, as he said? And how will he fare as a friend to the Kremlings?

Please review. Do you suggest any improvements? I am open to any suggestions you might have.