Real quick before we start, I just wanted to give a heads up that my OC's bios will be a bit longer in length the the other Smasher's bios as I'm trying to give a little bit more information about them. With that out of the way, let's get started!

Blue

Threat Level: 4

Blue is a different kind of trainer when compared to Red and Green. While she boasts a compliment of powerful Pokemon on her team, her strength does not lie in her power, but rather, her strategy and unusual tactics. Blue's style of battle in high profile battles is defined by her ability to do the unexpected and apply a number of tricky and unconventional tactics in battle (see my Sevvi Islands Masked Man and Cipher Incident analysis). While unfortunately her background is largely shrouded in mystery, a few things are known. She formerly had a connection to the Mask of Ice, but the only information available is that their relationship was antagonistic. It appears that she spent most of her young life on the run and supported herself through thievery and con artistry. More recently, she had an unsuccessful stint as an actress. All of this points to a resourceful, slippery, and dangerous opponent who is perfectly capable of slipping away into the shadows if needed. Additionally, she's known to be a smooth talker as well, notably talking down several groups of gangsters, as well as serving as the spokeswoman of the Dexholders Initiative. As such, do not underestimate Blue, even though she may try to pass herself off as just a pretty face.

Defeating Blue is an entirely different matter then defeating her fellow Pokemon Trainers as her strengths lie in different areas. First of all, it is advisable to send a strong-willed fighter to face her so as to mitigate her silver tongue. It's also recommended to bring her to a battleground of your own choosing so that she will have a difficult time hiding or slipping away. It may be helpful to bring some means of seeing through smoke such as infrared or X ray goggles as she's known for using smokescreens on a regular basis. This also may allow for one to see through any optical illusions she may attempt. Finally, Blue appears to be the weakest physical combatant of the Pokemon Trainers and targeting her specifically may be the fastest way to defeat her. Judging by her mentality, it goes without question that she has some failsafe to defend herself, however, there is no information on what that is. Finally, Blue has been observed using more than 6 Pokemon on a semi regular basis. Be careful of her Blastoise and Nidoqueen, as they are her most powerful Pokémon.

Blue's observed Pokemon include Jigglypuff (Normal/Fairy), Blastoise (Water), Clefable (Fairy), Nidoqueen (Poison/Ground), Tropius (Grass/Flying), Mightyena (Dark), and Rapidash (Fire).

Indigo

Threat Level: 4.5

While Red earns this exceptional threat level due to his battling prowess, Indigo earns this exception threat level for one reason and one reason alone, his Porygon Z. Do NOT allow him to get near any electronics or he will send his Porygon Z to hack it and then use that device against you. Indigo has been seen using this strategy on a regular basis and it would be foolishness to assume that he might not use it should the opportunity be presented to him. NEVER knowingly consider sending Dr. Eggman, Dr. Wily, or any robotic fighters to fight Indigo, lest we hand him a robot army to hack on a silver platter. While it's unclear on how large of a scale Indigo is capable of hacking, its something I don't want to test.

Beyond that, Indigo is a Threat Level 4 fighter. He distinguishes himself from the other Pokemon trainers as a middle ground between power and trickery. He is also known for favoring double battles and is the most likely of the trainers to have more than two Pokémon on the field at a given time. He has a criminal past, though like Blue, much of it is shrouded in mystery. He is known to have connections to the defunct criminal syndicate Cipher, though he seems to have antagonistic relationship with them (See my report on the 2854 Masked Man and Cipher Incident in the Sevvi Islands). Having participated in Orre's Shadow Crisis, he has been seen using Shadow Pokemon in battle. Shadow Pokemon are Pokemon that have their emotions completely blocked and are more aggressive and powerful then average Pokemon. It takes a balanced and level headed trainer to control them, which speaks to Indigo's mentality as a trainer, though official records state that all known Shadow Pokemon have been purified, so don't expect to see them on the field. It is also likely that many of Indigo's Pokemon are former Shadow Pokemon. It is unknown if this grants them any special abilities or special weaknesses. Finally, Indigo brings a Snag Machine and Shadow Scanner to battle. It appears that he's modified them to have uses outside of dealing with Shadow Pokemon, but these additional functions are unknown. The only thing that is known for certain is that Indigo frequently has his Porygon Z enter his snag machine and sometimes launch attacks form the energy projector in the palm. This allows him to augment his hand to hand combat, which is otherwise lackluster and appears to be centered around street brawling rather than any formal technique. However, he has been observed using a variety of items in combat, ranging from throwing items like Flame and Toxic orbs to spraying opponents with items like Repel to blind them. While not the strongest martial artist, Indigo brings a lot of x factors to the table that make him dangerously unpredictable. Indigo's Pokémon battling style favors manipulating the environment to his advantage, frequently using entry hazards and changing the weather and terrain. Interestingly enough, when cornered, he seems to fall back upon a hyper offense strategy that seems to work more often than not, possibly a holdover from his time as a Shadow Trainer. Notably, he seems to favor a Sunny Day + Grassy Terrain setup with his Arcanine and Rapidash when cornered, so use that information accordingly. Be careful of this should you corner Indigo, he's been observed turning many losing fights around with this tactic.

The best strategy to bring down Indigo is to control the environment yourself to the best of your ability. Try to catch him away from anything he might be able to hack during a fight or combat him indoors where he can't use a weather or terrain altering move. A well armored opponent may also be able to attack Indigo himself and be immune to some of his bag of tricks. As a final warning, Indigo has been frequently observed using more than 6 Pokemon. Watch out for his Arcanine, Rapidash and Nidoking, they appear to be his strongest Pokemon. And whatever you do, keep an eye on that Porygon Z as best you can.

Indigo's observed Pokemon include Arcanine (Fire), Blastoise (Water), Breloom (Grass/Fighting), Porygon-Z (Normal), Skarmory (Steel/Flying), Nidoking (Poison/Ground), Tropius (Grass/Flying), and Rapidash (Fire).

Final Note:

Blue and Indigo are married, the only couple of which both are Smashers. Furthermore, the two have had a very long history of working together, both in their criminal past and during their time as Pokedex Holders. I mention this because it combines to make the two a very dangerous pair when working together in battle. While any combination of the Pokemon trainers is exponentially more dangerous than other Smashers teaming up, the combination of Indigo and Blue is especially potent. Rumor has it that they can take on the duo of Master Hand and Crazy Hand. Again, this is based off of rumors and not supported by any concrete evidence, but it speaks to how dangerous the two are when working together. Use this information as you will.

Ally Analysis: Dr. Mario

Dr. Mario is a highly intelligent and innovative scientist who has been instrumental in helping us build strength with his Enhanced Monster Program. His monsters are powerful juggernauts capable of immense destruction and are a valued contribution to our cause. He has two capable assistants, Mr. L and Nurse Peach, who assist him in the lab and on the battlefield. Though a scientist first and a combatant second, Dr. Mario is a formidable fighter who is not to be underestimated.

I will make a few recommendations to help Dr. Mario and his assistants reach their peak combative potential. The first thing to note is that Dr. Mario shares a near identical genetic makeup to Mario. The same is true for Mr. L and Luigi as well as for Nurse Peach and Princess Peach. This means that Dr. Mario is capable of the same potential that Mario is, and the same goes for his assistants. I would recommend continuous martial arts training for all three, while they are no doubt formidable fighters, keeping one's fighting form in top shape can be difficult on top of cutting-edge research and experiments. Another option that may be useful for Dr. Mario and his allies are the usage of a variety of weapons and gadgets. While physical combat is important, a number of gadgets may give Dr. Mario and his assistants greater versatility in combat and help level the playing field against the Smashers. Additionally, an arsenal of useful and versatile gadgets should be right up the alley of an inventive doctor. My final recommendation is for Dr. Mario and his assistants to wear light weight armor under their clothing. The armor will make Dr. Mario and his allies harder to injure in battle and improve their longevity in a fight. I have a few recommendations for materials for lightweight armor, though I doubt this will be necessary, as Dr. Mario is more than knowledgeable in such areas.

Act 3: Young Link

Part 3: Bolero of Fire

Red stared down the monster that stood in front of him. He glanced at the name plate of the stasis tube that it came from. Inscribed on the front was "Species: Firey Blowhog". Underneath that was inscribed "Subject 025". Whatever that meant. It wasn't any Pokemon that he knew of. Maybe it was worth trying to catch it? The Firey Blowhog roared at Red and Saur. The Venusaur merely ruffled its leaves and remained at the ready. Good old Saur, ever levelheaded in the face of immediate combat.

"Saur! Use Sludge Bomb!" shouted Red. Saur fired a barrage of dark purple blobs at the Blowhog, striking it square in the face. The monster staggered back and breathed a blast of fire at Saur, who didn't take the hit well. Red quickly recalled Saur.

"Poli! Let's go!" he shouted, sending out his Poliwrath.

Poli hit the ground and flexed its muscles at the Firey Blowhog in an act of defiance. The Blowhog roared and charged at Poli.

"Poli! Use Circle Throw!" shouted Red.

Poli stood its ground and caught the charging Blowhog with its enormous strength. The monster pushed against Poli but was unable to overcome the powerful Pokemon's grip. Poli suddenly spun on his heel and threw the Blowhog, sending it flying through several stasis tubes.

"Now, Poli! Hydro Pump!" shouted Red. Poli unleashed a spray of water that would put a firehose to shame. It blasted the Goliath as it tried to get up, dousing it in water. The Blowhog rushed back at them, however, as it drew close, it puffed itself up into the air and tried to crush Poli beneath it.

"Poli! Use Focus Punch!" shouted Red. The Poliwrath focused for a moment, before slamming the Blowhog in the gut with a powerful punch. The monster let out a deafening bellow of pain as it rolled over onto the ground.

"Now! Ice Beam!" shouted Red. Poli smirked and fired a frigid beam at the Fiery Blowhog. As it was covered in water already, it was quickly frozen in a layer of ice, freezing it in place.

Red took a breather for a moment. It looked like the fight was mostly over.

Red dropped back into a ready stance when he saw the monster's snout flare red and spew fire again. Weakening the ice with the heat, it quickly thrashed itself free from its frigid prison and scrambled to its feet. The Blowhog breathed another blast of fire at Poli.

"Poli! Use Hydro Pump again!" he shouted.

Poli unleashed another focused blast of water at the Blowhog, extinguishing its fire breath, and dousing it in water, even spraying it in the trunk. The Blowhog sputtered and roared again.

"Poli! Use Ice Beam on the floor!" shouted Red. Poli fired the beam at the floor, freezing over a large patch of it. The Blowhog roared and attempted to charge across the floor but lost its footing and went sliding to the edge of the ice.

"Poli! Use Suf!" shouted Red. Poli fired a large wave of water at the Blowhog, pushing it away and drenching it in water.

"Pika!" shouted Red, reaching for another pokeball, and sending out his Pikachu. It hit the ground on all fours, ready to fight.

"Use Thunder!" shouted Red.

The monster, already covered in water, was struck by the powerful blast of electricity. It roared in pain as electrical currents surged throughout its body. Pika crouched warily as the monster convulsed. It didn't move for a moment, before it attempted to get to its feet again.

"Use Thunder again!" shouted Red.

Pika unleashed another powerful electrical discharge, striking the Blowhog dead on. The monster roared again and fell to the ground. After some convulsing, it lay still. Red, Poli and Pika watched it for a second to make sure that it was dead.

Red turned to Poli and Pika and hi fived them.

"Yeah! Good job, guys!"

Green and Blue stood behind their Pokemon, staring at a large, monster in front of them. Green took a look at the nameplate of the test tube.

"It's called a Firey Blowhog," he said quickly.

"Umm, all right?" said Blue. "Maybe don't bring out Scizor for this thing?"

"We'll be fine. We just have to beat it," said Green. "Scizor! Use Bullet Punch!"

Scizor flew at the Blowhog at a surprising speed and landed a series of swift hits. The monster didn't appear to have taken much damage, and attempted to breathe fire at Scizor, who managed to avoid the attack.

"Scizor! Use X Scissor!" shouted Green.

"Blasty! Use Skull Bash!" commanded Blue.

Both attacks hit the Blowhog square in the face. It recoiled and screeched again. It suddenly rushed forward, slamming into Blasty, knocking him over onto his shell.

"BLASTY!" yelped Blue in surprise. Green narrowed his eyes. Blastoise would be nearly helpless while stuck on its shell, and it would need some time to roll back over.

Blue reached for another Pokeball. "Nidory!"

A Nidoqueen landed on the ground, ready to fight. The Blowhog pawed the ground, ready to charge.

"Nidory! Use Superpower!"

The Nidoqueen rushed at the Firey Blowhog as it tried to charge again and managed to hold back the charging monster.

"Scizor! Use X Scissor!" shouted Green.

Scizor landed a massive X shaped slash on the side of the Firey Blowhog, which recoiled in pain.

"Nidory! Use Hyper Beam!" shouted Blue as she pushed against the side of Blasty's shell, trying to help him right himself. Nidory charged whitish energy in its mouth, now free from trying to hold back the monster, before firing it in a massive beam.

The Firey Blowhog staggered back in the face of the mighty Hyper Beam, screeching in pain.

A thud sounded from next to them as Blue managed to roll Blasty over. Thankfully, he looked relatively unharmed.

"Blasty! Are you all right?" asked Blue. Blasty nodded but remained alert.

The Blowhog roared and sprayed another burst of fire. Blasty and Nidory blocked the attack with her arms, while Scizor quickly repositioned itself out of range.

Green grit his teeth. He turned to Blue.

"Hold it off for a minute, but don't use water or ice moves if you can."

Blue nodded. She had a pretty good idea of what Green was planning.

"Blasty! Use Flash Cannon!" shouted Blue. "Nidory! Use Thunderbolt!"

"Scizor, return!" shouted Green. He pulled out another Pokeball and tossed it. A Charizard, tall and proud landed in front of him, and roared at the Blowhog.

"Charizard! Use Slash!" shouted Green. Charizard dove for the Blowhog and slashed at it with its claws. The Blowhog managed to land a headbutt, knocking back Charizard. The Pokemon roared in defiance.

"Now! Flare Blitz!" roared Green. Charizard cloaked itself in a firey aura and slammed itself into the Blowhog headfirst.

The Blowhog staggered back, before breathing fire wildly to try and keep its foes at bay.

"Charizard! Use Flamethrower!" shouted Green.

The attacks collided and cancelled each other out in a large ball of flames. Suddenly, the Blowhog charged again, slamming into Charizard and knocking it back onto its back. Green ran up to check on his Pokemon. The Blowhog roared fiercely at him, as Charizard scrambled to its feet.

"All right, Blasty!" said Blue. Green turned to see the Blastoise fully tucked into its shell, except for its cannons, which were facing away from the Blowhog. Blue was standing in between the cannons, lining up the Pokemon for a shot at the Blowhog.

"Now! Hydro Pump!" shouted Blue.

Blasty rocketed off at an impressive speed and crashed into the Blowhog with immense force. The Blowhog went flying through several test tubes. It didn't get up.

Green and Blue watched it for a moment as Charizard flexed its wings, making sure that they weren't injured.

"Well, I think that's it," said Green after a moment of silence. "Let's go back up the others."

Link and Sheik stared down a giant beast of a monster. Sheik stared at something behind the monster.

"The name plate says it's called Spotty Bulborb."

"Sounds familiar," said Link. "Can't place it, though."

He quickly sheathed his sword and pulled out his bow. Reaching for his specialty arrows, he quickly fired a bomb, electric and ice arrow at the monster. All of them seemed to have little effect. He put away his bow and drew his sword again. A few small explosions struck the monster in the face, causing it to roar in irritation. Sheik took a few steps back, short sword at the ready. It looked like her Sheikah style smoke bombs and irritants weren't working either. This was going to take a more brute force approach.

Link reached for his Fairy Satchel. Just like Young Link's, it had fourth dimensional and weight reducing abilities from Fairy Dust, bestowed upon it by the Great Fairy herself, and could carry significantly more than the average person would expect. It made more sense to him then the IDD that most of the other Smashers carried with them. To each their own, he supposed.

He reached in and grabbed his ball and chain. The Bulborb roared and charged at him. Link jumped to the side and began swinging the ball and chain around his head. After a few circles, he swung the ball at the monster. It hit it straight in the leg with an audible crack. The monster roared in pain and recoiled slightly. Sheik hurled a small bomb at the Behemoth's eyes followed by a Deku Nut. The bomb exploded in a small puff of powder, followed by a swift flash from the Deku Nut.

The Bulborb screeched in pain and thrashed wildly. Both Link and Shiek jumped back to avoid the erratic attack. The Bulborb began to get its wits about it, but Link was already swinging the ball and chain again and struck the monster square in the snout. It roared in pain again, and charged wildly, crashing into a stasis tube but failing to hit either Sheik or Link. Sheik took the opportunity to sneak behind it and climb up the Blowhog's back. Balancing precariously on the back of the monster, Sheik plunged her weapon into the monster's back, hanging on for dear life as it began to flail, roaring furiously.

Eventually Sheik was thrown off, and she was sent careening through one of the remaining test tubes, glass and greenish fluid flying everywhere as she crashed against the base of another one of the test tubes.

Link unsheathed his sword, having already put his ball and chain away. It wasn't doing enough damage to cripple the beast and judging by how far it had just thrown Sheik, it was quite powerful. The Blowhog turned to him and unleashed another blast of fire. He jumped backwards, narrowly dodging a lunge, and chucked his boomerang. It flew just to the side of the Blowhog's ear, distracting it for a split second. It was all Link needed. He lunged forward and unleashed a flurry of slashes to the Blowhog. It roared in pain, but Link backflipped away before it could retaliate while casually plucking the homecoming boomerang out of the air.

The Blowhog shook itself and pawed the ground. Link tensed. It was ready to charge. Link extended his hand, his gauntlet glowing a familiar Sheikah blue, when suddenly Sheik landed in front of him, between him and the monster, which had begun to charge.

"Daruk's Protection!" she shouted.

Suddenly, the gauntlets on her hands flared to life with Sheikah technology and her palm began to glow. As the Blowhog began to charge, Sheik was encased with a powerful translucent red shield that materialized around her and Link.

Link was extremely glad that the Sheikah had seen fit to outfit both him and Sheik with Sheikah Gauntlets. The Sheikah Slate was pretty handy, but the miniaturization of the device into a glove had made it significantly less cumbersome to use in combat.

The Blowhog crashed headfirst into Shiek's shield, which faltered slightly upon the impact. Link was impressed. No ordinary hit could cause the infamous Daruk's Protection to even flinch for a second.

Sheik let the shield fall as Link stepped up and held out his right hand, the Shiekah glove on his arm flaring to life.

"Urbosa's Fury!" he shouted.

A bolt of electricity surged forth from his hand and shocked the monster in the face. It reared back in pain, and thrashed its trunk wildly, taking a few steps back.

Sheik pressed a different rune on her Sheikah Glove and extended her arms. A yellowish beams shot out from her hand and attached itself to one of the pod base. It suddenly began to float into the air.

"Magnesis!"

Sheik swung the pod base and slammed it into the Blowhog with sufficient force to knock it off its feet.

Link took his chance. He charged up to the fallen monster and plunged his sword between its eyes. It let out one last final screeching roar and fell still.

Link pulled his sword out and shook the blood off of it before sheathing his weapon. He nodded to Sheik and she nodded back. And with that, they set off to aid their allies.

Young Link and Indigo stood ready to battle, next to Jaws. The Arcanine was crouched, ready to spring. Indigo pulled out another Pokeball.

"Nido! You're up!"

A Nidoking landed in front of him, next to Jaws. It roared and stepped forward. Dark Link and Blood Falcon stepped back, clearly having never fought the kinds Pokémon before them.

Indigo chuckled menacingly. "All right! Who's up first?"

Young Link grinned. It probably looked more like a grimace, in Goron form, but it didn't matter too much at this point.

Dr. Mario suddenly lunged at Indigo and attempted to tackle him. Indigo jumped to the side, dodging the tackle. However, Blood Falcon lunged at him as well, managing to drag him to the ground.

"Jaws! Go for the Doc! Nido! Give me a hand!" yelled Indigo as he grappled against Blood Falcon.

Young Link caught Dark Link rushing at him out of the corner of his eye. He turned and blocked the incoming sword strike with his rocky arm. It looked just like something Link would do. Dark Link launched a flurry of blows, which Young Link successfully blocked with little effort. It was like fighting a worse version of Link. Young Link grabbed Dark Link's sword and headbutted the clone, who was quick enough to block with his shield. Young Link grunted and batted the shield away, before headbutting Dark Link again sending him sprawling while knocking the sword out of his hand.

The clone got to his feet and whipped out his bow and began firing arrows at Young Link. He blocked with his rocky arms again, the arrows bouncing off them harmlessly. Suddenly a bomb flew through the air and blew up in his face, and Young Link took a step backwards from the force. Dark Link fired his clawshot at Young Link and latched on to his arm, before giving a strong tug. The force nearly pulled Young Link off his feet. He hadn't been ready for that. Despite the weight of a Goron, they weren't as immovable as they looked if you happened to catch them at just the right moment. Or wrong moment, whichever you preferred.

Young Link stumbled forward a few steps before regaining his balance and turned his head to see the follow up strike coming and managed to raise his arm to block Dark Link's flying kick in time. Dark Link loosened his clawshot and lunged for his sword, but Young Link was faster. He curled into a ball and rolled towards the sword. A momentary second of resistance with an accompanying grunt of pain told him that he'd landed a hit. He pulled himself out of his curl and rushed back towards Dark Link as fast as he could. Dark Link was already crawling towards his sword. He turned and chucked two more bombs at Young Link. The impact of the explosions slowed him down, blinded his eyes and made his ears ring. Young Link shook his head as it wore off, slowing down. His vision returned to reveal Dark Link back on his feet, sword in hand again.

"C'mon!" Young Link shouted, punching his hand. "Is that all you've got?"

Dark Link silently shifted into a different stance. It looked familiar, but he couldn't place it. Then again, he was no master of highly refined swordplay. Young Link grit his teeth. He wasn't going to let some fancy new style beat him. He glowered at Dark Link as the two paced around each other, each waiting for the other to make the first strike. Dark Link lunged forward, and Young Link brought his arms up to block. Was that it? Too easy.

Indigo ducked under a punch from Blood Falcon and threw a punch at the clone's gut with his Snag Machine arm. Having a fist that was encased in a metal machine let him hit a little harder than with his other hand. Not that it seemed to be doing much here. From behind Blood Falcon, Nido swung his tail, which Blood Falcon jumped over with a flashy backflip.

Indigo resumed his place behind and just to the right of Nido, panting. He had no idea why this lunatic was so intent on ignoring the angry Nidoking right in front of him and gunning for him. Not that he was the worst brawler in the galaxy, not by a long shot. It was just that Red and Green were more suited for this. Green had trained under Chuck, a fighting type expert and martial artist as a child, and Red had the advantage of training with both Bruno and Koga while he was the Champion and had picked up a lot of tricks.

Not that his street brawling experience was bad or anything, Indigo just wasn't the guy you picked first for a fist fight. The Captain Falcon clone was nearly as strong as the original but wasn't nearly as experienced or creative. Already, Indigo had pulled off a few tricks that Falcon would have seen through instantly. Though they were to try and keep Nido in the fight instead of him. Seriously, who went for the trainer first when their Pokemon was roaring in your face?

"Nido! Use Aqua Tail!"

Nido roared, ready to fight and land a mighty slap of the tail to Blood Falcon's face, sending him flying into the wall. Blood Falcon jumped back onto his feet and lunged for Nido.

"Falcon KICK!"

Nido staggered back from the force of the kick and Blood Falcon lunged for Indigo again. Why was that stupid muscle head going for him? What part of the giant poison monster trying to beat him up didn't this guy get? Indigo sidestepped his first punch and caught the second. Blood Falcon began charging fire around his free fist.

"Falcon….."

Before he could finish, Indigo whipped a can of Repel out of his back pocket and sprayed him in the face.

"GYAH!" shouted Blood Falcon, losing focus on the attack and his fighting stance as he tried to rub the substance out of his eyes. While made to preemptively scare off wild Pokémon, a face full of Repel was a nasty suprise, even to a trainer.

"Nido! Use Thunderbolt!"

Indigo let go of his opponent as Nido landed a brutal electric shock to the clone, who fell over, convulsing.

Nido ran up to Indigo, who took a knee, looking concerned.

"I'm good, Nido, just roughed up a bit. Need a second to catch my breath. You cover me, ok?"

Indigo knew that he needed to have one of his Pokémon ready to catch the crazy maniac before he got bowled over again. If this nonsense kept up, his Pokémon would need to hit him just to hit his opponent.

Nido nodded happily and stared down the recovering Blood Falcon with its intimidating visage. Indigo reached for another Pokeball.

"Delta!"

A Breloom sprang from the Pokeball, and landed in a fighting stance.

"Quick! Use Spore!" shouted Indigo. Breloom tried to fire off the sleep inducing spores, but Blood Falcon backflipped well clear of the spore cloud.

"HAH! Your cheap tricks won't work on me!" boomed Blood Falcon proudly.

"Delta! Use Energy Ball!"

A greenish ball of energy shot through the spore cloud quickly and struck Blood Falcon square in the chest, sending him flying back into the wall.

"You were saying?"

"Stop sending your pets to fight me! FIGHT ME LIKE A MAN!" roared Blood Falcon as he pulled himself to his feet.

"Nah, I'll pass," shrugged Indigo. "I'm a Pokémon trainer. I don't really do the punching thing."

"COWARD!"

"Meh."

"Have you no shame? To not fight like a man?"

"No, not really," shrugged Indigo.

"Then you are truly the most evil of the evil! For justice and freedom, I must vanquish you, scum!"

"Uh huh. Yeah. You go do that."

"Falcon…" bellowed Blood Falcon, charging fire around his fist as he ran towards Delta.

"Counter, Delta!" shouted Indigo.

"PUNCH!"

The flaming punch struck Delta, but as quick as lightning, Delta turned on his heel and landed a tremendous tail strike to Blood Falcon's side. The clone crashed into the door, narrowly missing Dr. Mario. The doctor cursed and backed up a little. Jaws was standing in crouched position in front of him, snarling and growling, as Dr. Mario pointed a spray bottle at him. Indigo glanced over to Delta. He looked hurt.

"Come back, buddy! Good job!"

Indigo caught a whiff of something and sniffed the air again.

"You're using repel too, huh? You've done some research, haven't you?"

"You….I was told about you…..I won't let you beat me!" hissed Dr. Mario.

There was a silence, as Blood Falcon pulled himself to his feet, looking much worse for wear.

"All right. Let's say the three of you can beat me and Young Link. Then what? Are you going to beat all of the others after me and my friend have worn you out? There's seven of us total, it's not going to happen, even if your friends on the other side of the door come to help you. Surrender, and we won't harm you."

"Never!" hissed Dr. Mario.

Blood Falcon charged again with an enraged cry. Nido grunted with irritation and took a defensive stance in front of Indigo.

Indigo grimaced. So much for talking them out of it.

"Keep him pinned Jaws! I'll be over to help you in a minute!"

Young Link blocked another flurry of strikes, not giving up an inch of ground as his opponent launched another offensive. He hadn't thrown so much as a punch in the last few minutes.

This new style was balanced, but in a different way then Link's style that the clone had been using. Link's style was balanced around using techniques from several styles, connected together with a variety of general techniques. Powerful strikes, deft footwork, quick lunges and solid defense characterized Link's personal sword style, a physically demanding but powerful and effective brand of swordplay. This was different.

It was more muted, drawing from several styles to be sure, but never straying into anything too powerful. It was strong, yet swift, yet dexterous, but in a much more unassuming way. Young Link knew he'd seen this before. It was a very down to basics style, it should have been distinctive amongst the many flashy but fairly ineffective swordsmen he tangled with on a regular basis. But where? The clone had even slung his shield onto his back. Whose style was this? It almost reminded him of Roy or Corrinne, but it didn't quite fit either.

Dark Link rolled to his right and landed a slash to his rocky back. Young Link barely felt it. He turned and landed a mighty backhand to the clone, sending him sprawling, but the opponent picked himself up quickly and rushed back into the fray. Young Link grunted in frustration as he blocked another flurry of strikes. He had to change up his strategy. They were just stalemated against each other.

He took a quick glance around. The ceiling was not high enough to use his Rito Mask, using his Wolf Mask would be suicide against a swordsman, and his Zora Mask wasn't going to help him in this fight.

Maybe it was better to stay in Goron form. But all he was doing was taking hits. What if he could use that to his advantage?

"Hey, buddy!" said Young Link, blocking a strike. "You want to tell me where you got that sword style? I've never seen it before!"

Sure he wasn't much of a diplomat, but it didn't hurt trying, right?

The clone remained totally silent and continued striking at Young Link. The Kokiri continued.

"You got friends? Hobbies? Uh…you got a girlfriend?"

The clone continued his silence but began attacking more aggressively.

"You don't talk much, do you," Young Link said flatly.

The clone jumped back and took a suspicious stance.

"You want to stop fighting? I'm ok with that," said Young Link. Dark Link watched warily for a moment, and suddenly sheathed his sword.

"Hey! That's a good start!" said Young Link, relaxing his stance. "I'm Young Link! What's your name?"

Dark Link suddenly chucked a bomb followed by a boomerang at Young Link, who took both to the face.

Young Link sputtered and curled himself into a ball, hoping to get rid of the ringing in his ears while in a strong defensive position. Well, that was kind of cheap, though technically, he had sorta set himself up for it. He could feel the sword strikes fall wildly on his tough back and arms.

As the ringing in his ears faded, Young Link suddenly sprang up from his curled up ball form, causing Dark Link to jump back in surprise. He threw a quick punch, but narrowly missed his more agile opponent.

The two squared off again, staring at each other, neither willing to give up the fight.

Dark Link didn't budge from his defensive stance. Young Link clenched his fists. All right, it was time to switch things up now.

Young Link rushed at Dark Link and threw a mighty punch. The clone blocked with his shield as best he could, but his arm still faltered under the might of the punch. He followed it up with a headbutt, sending his opponent sprawling. Young Link quickly pulled off his Goron Mask, reverting to his Kokiri form. He glared at Dark Link, who was getting back to his feet and pulled a Deku Stick out of his Fairy Pouch. Wielding it like a staff, Young Link launched a swift offensive of strikes, off balancing Dark Link and forcing him back onto a knee as he did his best to block with his shield. Young Link paused his assault as Dark Link shrunk behind his shield and shove kicked Dark Link's shield, knocking him to the ground.

Quickly, Young Link tossed his Deku Stick aside and reached into his Fairy Pouch again, this time retrieving his Hylian Mask. He slapped it on, and transformed into an older Hylian version of himself. With one fluid motion, he drew his sword, thankful that his Great Fairy Sword changed length to match his Mask Transformations. With a battle cry, he rushed at Dark Link, who had just gotten back to his feet.

Dark Link looked around in a panic, before suddenly firing his clawshot at a grate on the ceiling. Young Link's slash narrowly missed. He looked up to see Dark Link already releasing his clawshot and falling back towards the ground, sword pointed down. Young Link recognized that technique. The Finishing Blow. He rolled backwards, dodging the strike. He regained his balance to see Dark Link plunge his sword into the floor, watching the blade shatter. Dark Link looked at his sword in shock.

Young Link raised an eyebrow. That was a rookie mistake. Sure, he'd broken a few training swords learning the Finishing Blow when Link had taught him the technique, but the first thing that was taught while learning the technique was to avoid whiffing the move on a hard surface for fear of breaking one's blade. Had nobody taught him this?

The clone deployed a hammer from his IDD, and Young Link shifted his stance.

Suddenly, Young Link heard a roar of pain and yell of surprise. He glanced aside to see Nido fall on his back, and Blood Falcon tackle Indigo to the ground. Fire gathered in his hand.

"FALCON…."

Indigo punched Blood Falcon in the face before opening his hand and pointing his Snag Machine at the clone. "DUX! BIG HACKS!"

Dux suddenly popped his head out of the central projector of Indigo's snag machine and fired a triple beam of energy at Blood Falcon, who narrowly rolled out of the way.

Suddenly, Dr. Mario yelled, "RETREAT! NOW!" and he pressed the button on the door, opening it with one hand, while spraying a significant amount of Repel to keep Jaws at bay.

Dark Link turned on his heel and bolted immediately. Indigo lunged for Blood Falcon in an attempt to tackle him as he fled the battle but missed. Blood Falcon dashed off after Dr. Mario and Dark Link. As Blood Falcon dashed through the door, Jaws lunged for him, trying to bring him down, but Dr. Mario was already at the control panel on the other side and slammed the door in front of Jaw's nose. Jaws slammed into the door with a crash.

"Jaws! You all right buddy?" asked Indigo, recalling Nido.

Jaws pulled himself to his feet and growled at the door.

Young Link rushed up to the door and pressed the open button frantically. The door slid open to reveal Dr. Mario and his two compatriots rushing down the hallway as fast as they could.

"Hey! What's going on?" asked Red as he and all of the other smashers arrived behind them.

"They escaped through the door!" shouted Indigo as he rushed through the door. "AFTER THEM!"

Young Link bolted down the corridor as quickly as he could, followed by Indigo and Jaws, who were also running at breakneck pace behind him. He couldn't see the enemy, but he'd seen them turning around a corner, just a little further down the hall. He whipped around the corner to see a dark, swirling portal. Indigo came up close behind him, when suddenly, the portal disappeared into thin air. The others ran up just as the portal vanished.

"Hey! Where'd it go?" asked Indigo.

"I dunno," said Young Link. Had they disabled the portal from the other side? How were they able to do that so quickly?

Indigo pulled out the R-47 scanner.

"No signal. That portal must have been it," he said.

"So that portal was what we were homing in on all this time?" asked Green.

"Seems like it," said Indigo.

"How were they able to get away?" asked Blue. "Wasn't Dux jamming the door?"

"They attacked me head on and I eventually had to call Dux in to get that Blood Falcon guy off of me. But the way they fought was strange. It's like they were trying to forcing me to recall Dux by attacking me directly to get him out of the control panel." said Indigo.

"So, you're saying that they had information on you?" asked Green, worried.

"Seems like it, yeah," said Indigo. "I didn't think I was that important. Mario? Definitely. Link? Yeah. Red? Wouldn't be surprised. Me, though? I'm not one of the big shots. That seems strange that would even bother with me."

"I dunno, you're the one who can hack entire buildings with that Porygon Z of yours. I'd be worried," said Blue.

"Eh, fair point. But you know me and how I fight. How did they know that?" asked Indigo.

"That is strange…..do you think they have that kind of information on all of us?" asked Red.

"I don't think so," said Young Link. "The Link clone that I fought didn't seem as prepared to fight me. He didn't know beforehand that my skin in Goron form can resist sword strikes."

"You fought my clone?" asked Link.

"Yeah. His fighting style matched yours too. It was like a poor man's version of your technique."

"What? I guess they really did copy my style," asked Link in surprise.

"I guess they did. Though we should take a look around while we're here. It sounds like they were planning on abandoning this place anyway but there might be something still left around," said Green.

"Sounds like a plan!" said Red

The Smashers dispersed throughout the area. However, they soon discovered that the base was totally gutted other than the room with the test tubes and the laboratory they had passed through. On closer inspection, the machines in the lab were discovered to be cheap look alikes touched up to look like more important pieces of equipment. A few were rigged with explosives but these were quickly defused by Blue and Indigo. All of the valuable equipment had been removed from the location. After sweeping the base, taking biological samples from the fallen monsters for Olimar to analyze back at Smash Mansion, and inspecting anything of interest, they reconvened at the entrance.

"Well, I guess that's it," said Red.

"So…..what now?" asked Blue.

"We report back to Saria and let the Great Fairy know what's going on. After that, we get back in contact with Smash Mansion. See if Roy needs help or something," said Young Link.

Green nodded. "All right. I'm sure the others will want to hear about what we've found."

Young Link nodded.

As they walked out, Link patted him on the shoulder. "Hey, good job on fighting my clone! Hope he wasn't too much trouble?"

Young Link grinned. "Eh, not too bad. You can never quite copy the original, right?"

Link grinned. "I guess not."

As the others filed out of the doors, back into the feeding pit, Young Link took a glance back into the laboratory. A feeling of dread washed over him. There had been a lot of empty stasis tubes. Hopefully it was just a bunch of those monsters that the others had fought. But there had been the bigger stasis tubes. A pang of guilt shot through Young Link. How had he missed this place? How could he have….

"Hey Young Link! You coming?" said Red, climbing onto Aero's back. Blue and Green had already taken off and Indigo and Striker were already out of sight, high in the sky.

"Yeah! Right behind you!"

Young Link slapped his Rito mask onto his face and quickly began flapping his wings, taking off from the ground, and soaring into the sky after Red. He took one last look at the lab below him, before swooping off after the others.

And with that, Young Link left the lab to sit desolate in the forest.

And that's a wrap on Act 3: Young Link! Next time…..Act 4: Samus! See you all then!