"Gone?! What do you mean, gone?!"

Jeff Andonuts winced as Dr. Wright shouted at him. The two were the same height, but with the look on the doctor's face, Jeff wished he could sink into the floor. "I-I'm sorry, sir, I turned my back for two seconds and it just—"

"No, no, it's okay, I don't blame you," replied Dr. Wright, although he was only partially paying attention to Jeff. His eyes were wide with panic. "Gone… missing… it's only a puppy… who even knows…"

"Um, Dr. Wright?" asked Jeff timidly. "Perhaps we should—"

Dr. Wright suddenly turned to face the boy. "Does anyone else know about this?" he asked, gripping Jeff's shoulders.

"Huh?" said Jeff. "Oh, er, uh, no, I was the only one who—"

"Okay—that's very—we're in it now—could be anywhere—" Dr. Wright took a deep breath to compose himself. He smoothed out his tall green hair and turned to face Jeff. "Okay. At this point in time, we can't let anyone else know about the Nintendog going missing. Not Baito, not Guile, not even Ness. And especially not Master Hand. If he were to find out…" He shuddered at the very thought. "What I want you to do right now is to go and find that dog. Do it quickly and clandestinely. Now go!"

Jeff nodded and dashed out the door, leaving Dr. Wright alone in the main lounge. They'd find the puppy soon… right?

Jeff did not expect to start his afternoon on his hands and knees looking for a lost puppy under a bush, but he supposed experiences like these kept things interesting. Jeff had gone back outside to the courtyard, the last place he had seen the Nintendog. He had been on walking duty, and had noticed the sight of Diddy Kong flying above him with a jetpack made of barrels. He was pondering the physics of such a device, and was comparing the concept to the Bubble Monkey from back home when he had noticed something was wrong. The leash had gone slack, and the Nintendog was nowhere to be found.

Jeff mentally chastised himself for his moment of distraction. If he had only kept better watch, he wouldn't be in this mess to begin with! The poor creature… Images of the helpless Nintendog in the clutches of someone like Ganondorf or Ridley filled Jeff's head. He quickly shook them off. He didn't have time to worry! He had to find the dog, and quickly!

"Pardon me, but what are you doing, scraping around on the ground like that?"

Jeff hastily got up to meet the speaker. Standing before him was a young boy, not much younger than he was, with short brown hair, a red tunic, and a sword at his hip. "Are you all right?" he asked.

"Oh, hello, Sablé Prince," said Jeff, dusting himself off. "I'm actually just looking for… something."

"Looking for something? Well, I can certainly help you with that," said the prince. "What exactly are you looking for?"

"Oh, no, no, it's nothing," stammered Jeff. "It's fine, I can handle it alone…"

"Preposterous!" responded the prince. "I certainly can't ignore the plight of a friend. Now, what is it that you are looking for? Or is it… someone? A lost companion, perhaps?"

Jeff sighed. As impetuous as the Sablé Prince was, he was definitely smarter than he let on. "You know the Nintendog? The little toy poodle? Well, you see… it, err, has… gone missing."

"M-missing?!" cried the prince, jumping almost three feet in the air. "Wh—but—how—"

"I don't know!" replied Jeff. "It was there one minute, and the next thing I knew, it was gone!"

The Sablé Prince put a hand to his chin in thought. "Hmmm… a missing dog in such a large mansion such as this… and with no shortage of scoundrels about, this Nintendog is in grave danger!"

"Yes, quite!" agreed Jeff. "But how will I search this whole mansion…?"

"Oh, you needn't worry about that," chuckled the prince. "I, the Prince of the Kingdom of Sablé, will assist you in your endeavors!" He extended his hand.

Jeff took the prince's arm and shook it vigorously. "Oh, thank you, Prince! You're a lifesaver!"

The prince smiled. "Think nothing of it. Now, then, down to business! We must find our missing friend, posthaste!"

Thus, the two set off in search of the lost Nintendog. They could only hope that the little puppy was unharmed…

The boys stormed through the mansion in search of the poodle. Their first instinct was to simply ask the Duck Hunt duo for help, but Jeff reminded the prince that Dr. Wright had given him orders to keep their search confidential. At any rate, the bloodhound was in no mood to provide assistance, laughing at the two as he slammed the door in their faces.

So the boys set about, searching in every nook and cranny that the puppy might have been hiding, splitting up to have a better chance at finding it. They checked under beds, in cabinets, and behind sofas all over the grounds, but the dog was nowhere to be found. After searching both the East and West Wings with no results, they reunited in the foyer to strategize.

"Have you found it yet?" asked Jeff.

The Sablé Prince shook his head. "No such luck, I'm afraid. In such a large mansion, finding such a small dog has proven to be quite troublesome…"

"Indeed." So the boys sat down, thinking about the next step. If they didn't find the Nintendog soon, word would spread around. A missing Assist Trophy going missing was bad enough, but the Nintendog, of all of them? Master Hand would place the entire site under lockdown. Panic would ensue. And worst of all, some of the more tenderhearted among them would be inconsolable if the dog wasn't found. Jeff thought of Isabelle, who had been an Assist Trophy in the last tournament, or his close friend Ness. Would Ness cry? He'd probably cry. The thought was enough to make Jeff's stomach turn with anguish.

A thought suddenly occurred to the boy. "Hold on. What if we're going about this the wrong way?"

The Sablé Prince looked confused. "Hmm? What do you mean?"

"What if," explained Jeff, "instead of looking for the dog, we let the dog come to us? Like, perhaps we should—"

"—set up a pitfall to lure the dog out!" continued the prince. "Jeff, you're a genius! Now, the only question is, where shall we place the bait?"

Jeff adjusted his glasses, making them gleam in the light. "I think I have an idea…"

After getting an assortment of green beans from Kirby (with the promise to pay him back later), the boys set up their trap right beside the doors to Chef Kawasaki's kitchen. If the alluring smells of the kitchen didn't lure the dog out from its hiding spot, then the scent of green beans would! For indeed, all dogs were attracted to the heavenly aroma of steamed green beans. Or, at least, so the Sablé Prince claimed. With a net on the ground operated by a pulley, the boys stood around the corner and waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

"...How long will this take, exactly?" asked Jeff.

"Patience, now," assured the Sablé Prince. "The dog should be coming any minute now…"

Exactly forty-three minutes passed. Still no dog.

"Okay, I'm starting to get a little worried."

"Patience! It'll come out soon—ah! Look!"

Sure enough, a shadow was approaching the bowl of beans. The two waited as it drew closer and closer. Jeff's hand gripped the rope. They could hear the bowl scraping along the floor as the figure inspected its contents.

"Now!"

Jeff yanked the rope, setting off the trap and hoisting the figure up off the ground. They could hear a surprised shout, followed by angry thrashing about.

"Haha!" cried the Sablé Prince, running towards the scene. "We have you now, you little—you little…"

The prince stopped dead in his tracks, his voice trailing off. His face had gone a sickly yellow color.

"What? What is it?" asked Jeff.

The Sablé Prince turned to Jeff. "As… as it happens, we did not find the Nintendog after all," he muttered.

"We didn't?! Then who's in the net?"

"Yes, ah… you might want to see for yourself." said the prince. The boys rounded the corner to check on the net, and what they saw made Jeff's blood run cold.

A young girl with long, dark pigtails and wearing a red dress was currently caught in the net, trying to break free. And currently, she did not look very pleased.

"Oh, dear."

Ashley glared at the two. "Get me down. Now."

"R-right!" The prince drew his sword and cut the net, causing the witch to flop down the floor. She dusted herself and glared daggers at the two. "Explain yourselves," she growled. "Quickly."

Jeff cowered behind the Sablé Prince, who tried his best to look brave. "Ah, good day, Ashley!" he greeted in the closest he could get to a princely, civil tone.

Ashley's eyes bored into the prince. To someone like the Black Knight or Alucard, they would have seen her as a very angry little girl. But royal though he was, the Sablé Prince couldn't help but be chilled to his very soul. "We're looking for the Nintendog," he got out at last. "We tried to use the net to catch it."

The witch was silent for a moment. "…Why green beans?" she asked.

"Isn't it obvious? No canine can resist the allure of green beans!" said the Sablé Prince proudly, putting his hands on his hips.

"Hold on a moment," cut in Jeff. "Ashley, why were you checking around the beans?"

"I needed them for a spell I'm working on," said the witch plainly. "What about it?"

"Oh, no! No, nonono!" stammered Jeff quickly. A thought came to him. "Say, um, Ashley… You have magic, right? Why don't you help us look for him?"

There was a long silence as Ashley stared. The prince coughed. "...Please?"

"Go away."

"Excellent idea. Farewell!"

So the boys fled the scene as quickly as possible for fear that Ashley would try a new hex on them. They rounded the corner and didn't stop until they were positive that Ashley hadn't followed them. They found themselves back in the foyer, panting and wheezing.

"Well, it seems we're back to square one, as it were," said the Sablé Prince, catching his breath. "What to do now…?"

So the boys meandered down the halls, thinking about where to go from there. Jeff glanced out the window, noticing the Duck Hunt dog chasing a ball outside. Time was running out. If he didn't find the Nintendog soon, who knew how the public would react? They needed a new strategy, and quickly. Jeff looked over at the Sablé Prince. "So… do you have any other ideas?" he asked tentatively.

The prince's eyes were closed, deep in thought. "It doesn't make sense. The Nintendog has to be around here somewhere! It's not as if someone would just steal an innocent puppy…"

Jeff nodded in agreement. "Maybe you're right. I mean, who among us is that evil?"

Jeff's thoughts turned to the likes of Dr. Wily, who was not above kidnapping innocents to achieve his goals. He thought of Ghirahim, a merciless, violent demon lord with a seemingly unquenchable bloodlust. He thought of Mother Brain, a brain-like supercomputer bent on bringing the entire universe to its knees.

...There were a lot more villains than Jeff remembered.

He turned to the Sablé Prince. From the look on the royal's face, he had realized the same thing. "But who would be so vile as to steal an innocent puppy…?"

"Samurai! Samurai Goroh!"

Jeff pounded on the lanky man's door. No answer.

"Goroh! Open the door!"

Still nothing.

The Sablé Prince stepped forward. "Allow me, Jeff." With the elegance and finesse expected of a young boy raised in nobility, he rapped twice on the door with his knuckle. "Excuse me, Samurai Goroh, but would you be so kind as to open the door?" he asked calmly and politely.

The silence that followed was thick enough to cut with a knife. The prince knocked again. "Samurai Goroh? Please let us in. We're looking for the Nintendog, and we're wondering if you might know anything."

Yet more silence.

The prince took a deep breath. "Open up, you cad," he said, still in that polite, princely tone.

"Go away," came a voice behind the door.

The Sablé Prince huffed. He turned to Jeff. "It seems our friend refuses to assist us in our endeavor. But not to worry!" he said with a wink. "I have my ways."

"What are you going to do?" asked Jeff. Would he explain the situation and hope the racer understood? Perhaps he would turn into a frog and win the man over with his charm and cuteness! Or maybe he would turn into a snake and force the information out of him?

The prince reached into his tunic, pulling out a hefty bag of money. Jeff's eyes went wide. It was more money than he had ever seen in one place, or even his entire life. The prince added a couple more coins to the top of the bag. "Do you think that should be enough?" he asked.

"Wha… How much money do you have?" asked an incredulous Jeff.

"Oh, this?" asked the prince, glancing at the sack of coins. "This is just some pocket money I had on me. It should do the trick." He rapped on the door again, oblivious to the look on Jeff's face. "Oh, Goroh! If you tell us something, we'll be able to offer you compensation!"

The door opened a crack. "What kind of compensation?" came the racer's gruff voice.

"Oh, just a small amount of cash," said the Sablé Prince, jingling the rather large amount of cash he held in his hand. "If you would be so kind…?"

The door opened, revealing the rather imposing frame of the F-Zero racer. His pince-nez glasses nearly fell off at the sight of the prince's offering. "Holy—h-how much is that?!"

"Oh, just some spare change I had on me," said the prince, a gleam in his eye. "We'll gladly pay you for anything you might know about the Nintendog…"

"Uh, the Nintendog?" asked Goroh, scratching his head. "Hmmm… Well, I can't say I've seen it around…" He reached for the bag of money, but the prince stopped him.

"Are you quite sure?" he asked, jingling the sack of money he held in his hand. "Anything else you might recall? Anything at all?"

"Uhhh…" The samurai racked his brains trying to remember. After being summoned for a battle, he'd gone for a walk, and then he'd seen—

"Oh yeah! Now I remember! I think I saw that little masked weirdo walking around…"

"M-masked weirdo?" asked Jeff. "Who do you mean?"

"You know, that one guy that floats around and wears that creepy mask! I saw him around holdin' one of those little dog carrier things!"

Jeff felt his stomach drop. Skull Kid was known among the assistants for being mischievous, troublesome, and generally unhelpful both on and off the battlefield. If he had the Nintendog in his clutches… well, who knew what he would do!

He turned to the Sablé Prince, whose face had turned very pale. He dropped the sack of coins in Samurai Goroh's hand. "Y-yes, that will do. Thank you, Goroh." They closed the door and immediately took off down the hall. They had to find Skull Kid, and quickly!

After searching in all of Skull Kid's favorite spots (a maple stump just west of the mansion being his absolute favorite), Jeff and the Sablé Prince finally found him in the courtyard, crouching over a bundle of sticks by a pond. Upon noticing the two, the imp slowly turned to face them. "What do you want?" he asked.

The prince kept a grip on his sword. "Skull Kid," he began, keeping his voice as steady as he could. "We are looking for a certain canine companion of ours. You wouldn't happen to know anything about its disappearance, would you?"

At once, Skull Kid became very nervous, sweating and scratching at his head. "Uh… Nope! I haven't seen any dogs around…"

Neither boy was convinced. "We know you're lying," said Jeff. "What did you do to him?"

"I told you, I don't have anything to do with it!" retorted Skull Kid, who seemed to be slowly floating away. "You guys sure are persistent!"

"Skull Kid…" began Jeff slowly. "If you're lying to us, and you did have something to do with him, then we'll have to get Dr. Wright involved. And you know how he is. He'll go straight to Master Hand. Now we're going to ask you again: Where is the Nintendog?"

Skull Kid slowly lowered to the ground, defeated. "Alright," he muttered. "You got me. I found the dog wandering around outside. It looked pretty lonely, so I figured I'd set it up on a little playdate…"

"A playdate?" repeated the Sablé Prince. "With whom…?"

"You know," answered Skull Kid, "that big, black bow-wow creature that hangs around."

"Bow-wow creature—!" Jeff's blood ran cold as he realized who the imp was referring to. A Chain Chomp, a large, iron dog-like creature with huge teeth was also an Assist Trophy in the tournament, known for its propensity towards biting anything and everything it saw. And the Nintendog was likely at its mercy. "Y-you…!"

"Oh, don't worry," said Skull Kid, now beginning to float away again. "I'm pretty sure the Bow-Wow's bark is worse than its bite! Eee hee hee hee!" And with those words, Skull Kid floated away to cause mischief elsewhere.

The Sablé Prince had blanched. "Jeff…" he whispered, facing away from Jeff. "If the Skull Kid is telling the truth, then…" He trailed off. It was all too clear exactly what would happen.

Or what might have happened already.

"The Chain Chomp…" said Jeff, eyes wild with panic. "After the last tournament, Dr. Wright declared it was too dangerous to keep around, so we keep it someplace separate…"

"Someplace separate?" asked the Sablé Prince. "Where?"

It was outside, in a fenced-in area, that the Chain Chomp was kept. Due to numerous warnings from residents of the Mushroom Kingdom, it was determined that the metallic beast was too dangerous to keep with the rest of the Assist Trophies. And so it stood, alone in a twenty-by-twenty-foot field. And that was where Jeff and the Sablé Prince's search led them.

"There it is," whispered Jeff. "Do you see the Nintendog?"

The Sablé Prince scanned over the field. "Hmmm… I can't see it from here. We should try another angle."

The two of them crept around the perimeter of the field, taking caution that the Chain Chomp didn't notice them. The beast paid them no mind, being preoccupied with something on the ground. At last, the Sablé Prince's eyes widened, and he tapped Jeff's arm for attention. There was the Nintendog, standing there and wagging its tail without a care in the world.

"Oh, thank goodness," whispered Jeff. But a new dilemma arose. The Nintendog was safe, but in incredible danger. How were they to rescue the Nintendog while carefully avoiding the Chain Chomp?

"It seems we're going to have to split up," said Jeff. "One of us should distract the Chain Chomp, while the other goes in and gets the puppy."

"Very well," replied the Sablé Prince. "I shall rescue the puppy while you distract the Chain Chomp."

"Wait, what?!" asked Jeff. "Why do you get to rescue it?"

"Because you," said the prince, now climbing over the fence, "have bottle rockets with which to distract the beast. Now be quick! I'm going in."

As the Sablé Prince crept towards the Nintendog, Jeff set to work preparing rockets. He lit the fuse and watched as a rocket sailed over the field. The poodle immediately stood at attention, wagging its tail and barking at it as it flew overhead. The Chain Chomp, meanwhile, leapt up to lunge at the rocket, biting down to seize it with its teeth. There was a soft crunch, and the pieces of the rocket fell to the ground like paper.

The Sablé Prince froze where he stood. Jeff tried (and failed) not to imagine himself in the rocket's place. The Chain Chomp paused where it stood and sniffed at the air. Sensing no other danger, it returned to the poodle's side, yawning. "Fire another rocket!" whisper-shouted the Sablé Prince.

This time, Jeff elected to use his multi-bottle rockets to distract the Chain Chomp. The rockets flew over their heads, the Chomp eagerly chasing after them. Before the Nintendog could follow suit, the Sablé Prince scooped it up and leapt over the fence like his life depended on it. As he landed, the poodle fell out of his arms and landed safely on the ground.

"We did it!" breathed Jeff as the Sablé Prince came running over. The boys celebrated their success. The Nintendog had been found and rescued from mortal peril! Nothing could sully their victory!

"Ah, yes, the puppy! Where did the little scamp go?" asked the prince.

There was the puppy, waddling back through the fence and right towards the Chain Chomp.

"Wait a minute—"

Too late. The poodle had approached the Chain Chomp. Jeff and the Sablé Prince could only watch in horror as the metallic beast drew nearer to the dog, its toothed maw opening wider and wider…!

The Nintendog curled into a ball to rest, the Chain Chomp protectively draping its chain around it.

"...What."

Indeed, the Chain Chomp didn't seem to mean harm to its smaller companion. In fact, it seemed almost fond of the puppy. The boys could only watch in astonishment as the puppy got up and began to chase the larger creature around, occasionally nipping at the chain that trailed behind.

At last the Sablé Prince spoke. "Is this really okay?" he asked Jeff.

Jeff was silent as he watched the two canines play. He'd heard from Mario that the Chain Chomp was a dangerous creature, but… here it just looked like a big, friendly, playful dog.

...How long had it been left here, anyway?

"Maybe… maybe leaving it out here was a mistake," said Jeff at last. "I mean, look at it." He gestured to the two canines, barking and playing in the afternoon sun. "They're so happy together."

The Sablé Prince gazed at them. "It would appear so," he said solemnly. "Be that as it may… I still think it's far too dangerous to let the Chain Chomp indoors."

"Then what do we do?"

The boys thought for a moment. It was clearly too dangerous to let it inside. But at the same time, they clearly couldn't just leave it out here, all alone. What were they to do?

"What it needs," said Jeff, "is to socialize with like-minded creatures."

"Indeed," said the Sablé Prince, nodding his head. "Someone who's playful and sweet, but also capable of wanton destruction."

Jeff pondered on the other boy's words. "...Kirby?"

"Hmmm… no, someone who's destruction is a tad less… apocalyptic."

"Yeah, I see what you mean. Someone a little more low-key. Something like, a super-powered animal or—"

Jeff stopped as the words left his tongue. He glanced at the Chain Chomp, snoozing away with the Nintendog. He locked eyes with the Sablé Prince.

"I have an idea!" they both said in unison.

"Um… pardon me?"

Jeff stared up at the pink-haired nurse at the entrance to the Pokémon Day Care. The Chain Chomp's chain was held tight in his hand. To his right, the Sablé Prince held the Nintendog in his arms as if it were his newborn child. "Yes, we'd like to register little Bow-Wow at the Day Care," said the Sablé Prince.

"O-oh?" said the nurse, staring at the iron ball. "What… what type of Pokémon is it?"

"It's, uh, not a Pokémon," said Jeff. "It's a Chain Chomp." The Chain Chomp barked in agreement.

"A Chain Chomp."

"Yes," said the boys in unison.

"...Um."

The Sablé Prince reached for his wallet, but Jeff stopped him. "Not yet," he whispered. He turned back to the nurse. "I can assure you that dear Bow-Wow has been properly trained. I promise."

The nurse looked down at the Chain Chomp, its sharp teeth gleaming in the light. "I… suppose it's all right. I mean, I think it's a steel-type…"

And so, the gates to the Day Care opened, allowing Bow-Wow to roam free among the Pokémon, the Sablé Prince allowing the Nintendog to follow suit. They leapt forward with newfound exuberance, eagerly sniffing at the ground and chasing after a cat with a coin on its head. At last they came to rest off to the side, a small avian Pokémon resting on top of the Chain Chomp's iron body.

Jeff and the Sablé Prince breathed a sigh of relief. Ultimately, it had been a good day after all.

Author's Notes: did someone say For the Frog the Bell Tolls?

I like Sablé Prince! He's kinda that lovable dumb type.