Hey Autistic! Guess what? Yep! Time for your request! How is this the end of the arc, you ask? Read on and find out!
Disclaimer: MWAHAHAHA I OWN THE WORL- *slapped by Marth* "Jeez, you're yelling like you've been sitting on a cliffhanger for two weeks…rest assured, lovely readers, that this author owns nothing, except maybe her insanity."
Link's jaw dropped all the way to the floor when he saw the sign posted on the door. Marth stood beside him, and his face bore a grim and serious expression.
"I kid you not," the prince told the Hylian.
The two boys, along with Red, were standing outside Kirby's door. Posted on it was a sheet of loose leaf with two words written in red crayon: resident therapist.
"You're kidding me," Link quavered. "You are absolutely pulling my leg because there is no way that this is even possible!"
"I beg to differ," Red put in. "This sign is telling the truth."
Link rounded on the trainer. "Oh yeah? How would you know?"
Red smiled wanly. "You wouldn't believe some of the things Lucario tells me."
Link opened his mouth, closed it, thought, and tried again. "That's probably true."
"He's told me some interesting things about Zelda, too."
"WHAT?" Link was furious now. "What's that crazy aura pokémon told you about my girlfriend? Spill!"
"Um, guys?" Marth stepped in front of Link to stop him from killing Red and pointed at the door. "Getting off topic here."
Link looked from the prince to the trainer and back again. Then he frowned and said, "Fine. So will you explain again your brilliant idea, Marth?"
"Of course." Marth cleared his throat, crossed his arms, puffed himself up and said, "Since Kirby is the closest creature here to a pokémon, we ask him what's going on."
"Oh," Link sighed, "right." Somehow he could remember Marth's plan being more dynamic than that. Either way, it was all they had.
Red was staring at the crayon sign. He raised his hand and held it suspended for a minute, then changed his mind and let it flop back down at his side. "Do you think we should knock?" he asked no one in particular.
Marth turned to him and answered back with, "As opposed to what?"
"Good point." Red took his fist and rapped the door three times.
The three waited for some sort of signal that they could enter the room. After a minute and a half, Link's impatience got the better of him and he opened the door.
Link, Marth, and Red entered the room single file and were quite shocked by what the found inside: Kirby's bed had been flipped upside down to serve as a tall desk, the sheets draped over like tablecloths. The blinds were closed, and a floor lamp in the corner served as the lighting. An upturned wastebasket was the chair on which Kirby sat facing the window.
Marth, concerned now that his plan might not work like he thought it would, decided that it was best to get this over with as quickly as possible.
"Ahem," the Altean coughed, "er, Kirby?"
Hearing his name, the pink puff turned around and Link nearly burst into laughter. On his face, Kirby had a white, scaggly beard and bits of double sided tape could be seen sticking out from underneath. He held a clipboard in his little arms and gazed at the intruders with half-lidded eyes and a serious expression. It was indeed quite funny.
Red was the only one who seemed to have words when faced with this sight, so he said, "Kirby, we…er, Mr. Kirby…can you help us?"
Kirby placed his clipboard on his desk and produced a pen from beneath his sheets and held it at the ready.
"Right," Red continued, "so…er, you see, the problem is…well, maybe it'd be better if you'd…" He fumbled and mumbled and tossed his hands around as he tried to get his point across.
"Oh, for heaven's sake," Marth muttered, running a hand through his azure hair, "Kirby, the pokémon have been acting up and we figured maybe you could, well, do whatever therapists do and fix them."
Kirby nodded and made some notes as Marth spoke, then scribbled something on a slip of paper and tossed it in the prince's direction. Marth picked it up and read: Any idea on the possible causes?
"Well, actually, I have two," Marth informed the pink creature, unable to keep some of the excitement out of his voice. "The first and most likely is that the pokémon want something and aren't getting it, and the second and least likely option is that they're becoming slightly misanthropic."
Kirby understood and nodded. Red and Link, however, just gave Marth blank stares. The Altean sighed. "Misanthropic," he explained, "means to not like people."
"Well, it would certainly explain why Red's giant lizard tried to fry me," Link deadpanned. Red simply nodded in agreement.
Suddenly, Kirby hopped off his wastebasket chair and waddled over to the door. When he looked at the three boys expectantly, and got nothing but questioning looks in return, he sighed and wrote something down. He presented it to Link, who read out loud, "'Take me to see Lucario.' Sure thing!" The Hylian led the way out the door.
It was a fair walk from Kirby's room to Lucario's, but the small group made good time. Link knocked on the door, and a moment later received the telepathic message, Come in. He, Marth, Red, and Kirby complied.
Kirby waddled straight over to Lucario, and the two immediately began to communicate with their minds. Red, Marth, and Link stood shifting their feet in uncomfortable silence.
After a few minutes, Kirby and Lucario seemed satisfied. The first went over and stood by the door to wait while the latter explained the plan of action to the three boys, eager to be included once more.
Kirby has related to me the situation and the possible solutions, he transmitted. We have decided the plan of action will be for me to go and talk with the other pokémon. In the meantime, you three are to return to your normal business and await the results.
Having nothing better to do, Red, Link, and Marth exited Lucario's room and went right down the hall as Kirby and the aura pokémon went left.
"You know what we should do? We should go see how Pit and Ike are doing," Marth suggested as they walked.
"Sure!" Link agreed sarcastically. "Only problem is, we don't know where they are and this mansion is HUGE."
"We should try by the freezer," Red said.
"Why?" Link scoffed. "That's, like, the last place they'd be, unless it happened to be midnight-"
Marth slapped the Hylian across the back of his head. "They'd have to get ice from somewhere, brainwave." Link just grumbled to himself, massaging the crown of his head.
Sure enough, Red had been right to suggest they check by the freezer. Pit was sitting on the floor in the kitchen, back against the major appliance, and Ike was sitting cross-legged beside him, holding two mounds of ice wrapped in towels against Pit's forearms. The angel's expression had brightened considerably, and he was laughing at something Ike had said.
"You seem happy," Marth said as he joined Ike on the floor. "Here, let me help." Ike handed him one of the makeshift ice packs and together they eased Pit's discomfort.
Link and Red sat across from Pit and the others. Taking turns, they, along with Marth, explained to the others the details of the investigation being carried out by Kirby and Lucario. Ike approved of the idea, and Pit as well once he had some things explained to him more simply.
"How long with this investigation take?" Ike asked.
"No idea," Link replied, fiddling with a string on the end of his pajamas. "We were told, in more or less words, to stay out of the way until Lucario and Kirby come and tell us what they found out."
"So, we figured we'd come see you guys and get you all caught up," Red finished.
Together, the five boys sat in the middle of the kitchen, joking and laughing and being amused by the fact that Marth's hair was half flat and half electrified, making him look rather crazy. Link even broke into the nearest pantry and extracted a packet of chocolate cookies for them to share.
Just as Ike polished off the last cookie and Red fell over again from laughing too hard, Kirby exploded through the door in a flurry of gleeful squeaks, his false beard hanging on by the last piece of double-sided tape. Lucario followed behind, calm and collected as ever.
We have solved it, the aura pokémon transmitted to everyone.
"And?" Link urged, eager for the results.
The answer, it seems, was a combination of both your suspicions, Marth. Though his outward appearance betrayed nothing, Marth could sense a feeling of pride welling up inside him. The other pokémon find their living quarters unsatisfactory, and since nothing has been done about that they have begun to feel an enmity toward the brawlers.
"I don't understand," Ike put in. "We have no control over the living conditions. Why are they taking their anger out on us?"
They see you as their link to the president, Lucario explained. They are also upset that their signs they've been giving have, thus far, been ignored.
"I haven't seen any signs," Red said defensively.
Nevertheless, Lucario continued, their dissatisfaction has now been made known, and I suggest you do something about it now, because last I heard Kyogre was planning on flooding the mansion and Pikachu was going to explode some circuits.
The boys set to action right away. While Red went outside to contact Mr. Cameron, Ike took Pit to his room, Marth went to shower and fix his hair (but not before Link got a picture with his cellphone of the partial hedgehog do), and Link set out to find a maintenance person to clean his room of ashes. Lucario and Kirby simply returned to their rooms, content in the fact that they had done something good.
Epilogue
When the pokémon next saw their living quarters, they were presented with a room full of big, colourful plush things to sleep on, plenty of food, and several windows that opened. They were quite happy.
No cliffhanger this time! XD
Next up will be...something. Possibly a chapter involving magnets and other forces of attraction (wink wink), or I'm going to try something totally new. Then after those, It'll probably be about time for April Fool's day! I have a story about that. See, last week, I wrote up the whole April Fool's chapter thinking to publish it when I got back. It didn't occur to me that the month of March still existed. Whoops.
I love hearing your feedback, so if you have a minute please hit that review button and tell me your thoughts! And if you have an idea you want me to write, tell me that too!