Oddball woke up lying on his side. His entire body ached. He struggled to open his eyes, blinking to adjust to the brightness of the room, and slowly took in his surroundings.

He was in the Champion's room at the Pokemon League. The arena had returned to its original position, and the illusion of a library had once again appeared, covering the walls where the stained glass windows had been during his battle with Dooplex's pokemon team.

Dooplex was sitting in his chair again. He looked up from his book when he noticed Oddball struggling to get up.

"Wow." He said simply, watching the pichu slowly rise from his chair. He closed his copy of Necromancy: Tips and Tricks for Getting the Most out of Your Graveyard and stood, walking over to Oddball as he pushed himself to stand up. Oddball could feel Dooplex looking down at him, not lifting a finger to help him. He liked that. It let him prove his strength. "I got to say, I didn't expect you to be able to defeat Dr. Distorto." Dooplex continued as Oddball stood. "I'm impressed."

Oddball shook his head to clear it and cracked his neck to both sides, shaking a bit to loosen his muscles. He took a deep breath and rubbed his eyes before glaring, exhausted, at Dooplex.

"Of course I beat him. I wasn't just gonna let myself die." He croaked out, coughing as he said it. He cleared his throat. Man, he was sore everywhere.

"Of course." Dooplex said with a hint of amusement in his voice. "Well, you've done it. You've defeated the Elite Four and the Champion. Your name has already been recorded in the Hall of Fame" He said. He wasn't sure how he could tell, but it sounded like Dooplex didn't say that very often. "And I don't say that very often."

Welp.

Then, Dooplex said something that surprised him.

"What are you going to do now?" He said to the Pichu standing in front of him.

Oddball stopped at the question. He hadn't thought of that. Dooplex had been leading him along, setting up challenges for him to overcome. The legendary pokemon and the Elite Four, he would never have gotten to fight them if Dooplex hadn't brought him along for the ride, and told the guards to let him in in the Elite Four's case. Now it looked like Dooplex was finished leading him along, and he hadn't thought of what he was going to do next. It was a complete blank in his mind.

Dooplex seemed to sense the inner turmoil his question had stirred up.

"Tell you what." He said, catching Oddball's attention immediately. "I've got a position opening up where I work. I could pull some strings, get you in. I think it would be right up your alley, with what you've demonstrated to me these last couple of days." He continued, watching Oddball's face light up from a tired grimace into a confident smirk.

"Sounds good." said Oddball as he turned away with his hands on his hips, looking pridefully up at the massive walls of books.

And for whatever reason he did that, it turned out to be a very bad idea, as the moment he turned his back to Dooplex, the duplighost rose his arm, and something where his hand would have been snapped.

Oddball felt his vision grow cloudy, his eyelids grow heavy, and his legs grow tired and weak.

Once more, Oddball collapsed on the ground. The last thing he heard was the voice of Dooplex, speaking.

"Excellent." said Dooplex as he turned, tenting his fingers (or lack thereof).

"Yes, Oddball. I'll take care of everything."

To be continued...?

Music for your listening pleasure:

Ending: Hall of Fame (Pokemon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum)

Oddball Collapses: Astral Hall Ambush (Luigi's Mansion)

Well, here are. I'd be lying if I said I never expected to make it this far, but, somehow I really never did? I always knew I'd force myself to finish this story eventually, but the big hunk of cynic in me kept saying "be realistic, you'll never finish this story it will decay in your documents forever" well JOKE'S ON YOU, ME. I FINISHED IT.

I know the ending is super abrupt, but the thing is, the story isn't over (in case that wasn't obvious enough). Pretty soon here I'll be writing the sequel. Be on the lookout for Oddball: Escape the Crystal Palace, where Oddball, now enlisted in the Crystal Army under Dooplex's command, has to help break a herd of Yoshis out of the enormous castle without being caught by any of Dooplex's goons while the rest of the Crystal Empire's nobility is out on business! Sound easy? Well, if you've ever playing Pikmin, you'd know that sometimes the biggest threat to a large group is in how hard it is to coordinate, Not to mention the mysterious shadow that keeps appearing on the walls...

MYSTERY

INTRIGUE

TENSION

ROMANCE

HORSE

2 of the above may or may not actually be included in Oddball: Escape the Crystal Palace. I won't say which ones.

Also watch out for Chocolate Kirby Chronicles, the story of a big-city Kirby as he tries to convince an overly-critical and emotionless interviewer to let him join a planet-wide group of elite warriors with a resume full of fantastical stories of adventure, and Legend of the Lightning Egg, a thrilling tale where three not-quite-normal Yoshis get caught up in a plot that spans the whole of Yoshi's Island, where an unseen foe attempts to get his hands on a legendary artifact left on the island by a mysterious ancient civilization!

SEE YOU ON THE FLIPSIDE

geez that author's note was almost as long as the chapter itself