Author Notes - For the heck of it, here's a little bonus bio on everyone's favourite little ghostly scamp!

POLTERPUP, THE LOYAL CANINE

AGE - Six months

GENDER - Male

CAUSE OF DEATH - Starvation

TIME OF DEATH - 1930's

LIKES - His owner Luigi, playing with Luigi, spending time with Luigi, golden bones

DISLIKES - Being separated from Luigi, seeing Luigi in danger

NOTABLE RELATIONSHIPS - Luigi (owner), Polterkitty (he just wants to be friends)

BIO

Polterpup, a member of the species of the same name, is a ghost dog currently under ownership of Luigi. He and Luigi first met in Evershade Valley, when the lack of the protective Dark Moon made him susceptible to King Boo's control. Unlike the other ghosts, however, he was not mean and aggressive but a mischievous troublemaker instead. Once the Dark Moon was restored, Polterpup apologised to Luigi for his actions and was adopted on the spot.

Polterpup, unlike Polterkitty, was lucky enough to have both a loving owner and a name to boot when he was still alive. The name that his previous owner gave him was 'Snowball', named so for his gorgeous white coat. Snowball was no less loyal to his master than Polterpup is, always staying by his side no matter what ever since the man adopted him at the age of just one month. The man in question bore a striking resemblance to Luigi, and not by coincidence. The man worked as an archaeologist at Mount Rugged in Dry Dry Desert, and looking at the Mario family tree back a few generations reveals an archaeologist who looked just like him.

The two resided in the Mushroom Kingdom, and every day the man would take the old K64 train down to Mount Rugged for his job. Unfortunately, Snowball couldn't come with him so the puppy had to stay behind. As much as this separation saddened Snowball, he found the excitement of his master returning to be worth it. Especially when the man would always return with a big juicy bone. Snowball would await by the train station all day until his master returned, doing nothing else or even accepting food from others.

Then, one day... his master did not return. Unbeknownst to him, the man had lost his life in a cave-in on the job. Snowball didn't know this, and just assumed his master had missed the train again. So, he remained in his spot and waited. He refused to leave or eat until he returned, sustaining his need for water by lapping out of the occasional puddle. Even when told what happened, he did not leave. Many people tried to carry him away, but he would get aggressive until they let him go.

The loyal puppy continued to wait by the train station for his owner to return, even as starvation began to wilt him down. After a month of waiting, he tried to fight the urge to go to sleep but eventually unconsciousness won the battle. His eyes slowly closed, and never opened again. He was not done with waiting, however, and now that he was free from his mortal shackles he could wait for as long as he wanted. It took another decade before he decided to leave the station and look for his master himself.

Years and years had gone by, and he couldn't find any sign of the man anywhere. He wasn't chatting with Queen Rose in Sarasaland. He wasn't raiding the Belome Temple for artefacts. Where was he? After decades of searching, Snowball came across Evershade Valley. With all the other fellow ghosts there, he decided to take a rest for just a little bit, before the destruction of the Dark Moon interrupted his plans. There, he encountered a man who looked just like his master - Luigi. Snowball was convinced he was his old master, and tried to meet up with him. Of course, King Boo's influence on the area made that a little difficult.

When the Dark Moon was restored and Snowball was in his right mind again, he found to his horror that Luigi smelled nothing like his old master, making it clear that they were two different men. Snowball really thought about how long his search had lasted, and how long mortal humans typically lived for - no doubt his master was no longer around. Yet, Snowball never left him, and even got renamed to 'Polterpup'.

Now, Polterpup knows that Luigi is not the same man who he waited for at the station, and he has accepted the fact that his old master will never come back. He doesn't care. Luigi adores him as much as the doggo adores him, and that's all he wants. Like before, Polterpup will refuse to leave his owner's side no matter what.

BEHIND THE SCENES

1TGN (TheGameNguyener) gave Polterpup a really good backstory in his fanfic 'Plumber's Best Friend' (which I won't spoil because you HAVE to read it yourself), and I wanted to do the same thing without ripping him off. So, I took inspiration from the story of Hachikō. Even if the name isn't familiar to you, you almost definitely recognise the story of the dog who waited by the train station for years after his owner died.

Obviously, some details were changed. Hachikō lived to be eleven, and didn't stay at the station for nearly a decade straight but instead simply returned to it every single day, for instance. Still, it seemed like the perfect story to reference.