Upon arriving to Sunset Beach, the party could see that the sun was not as bright as it was in the forest, allowing them to remove their sunglasses. The second thing they took notice of was the sound of the waves. It sounded very peaceful, and with the sounds of seagulls flying around the sea, it made the setting feel even nicer.
However, the only thing that was ruining the scene was Gemerl waiting for them.
"So… You finally came here." Gemerl said with no shock or surprise in his voice. "I had a feeling those Sun Phis would get beaten by you guys. Then again, they were there to slow you down."
"Well they hardly did much to slow you down, considering that you didn't make any steps to the Crystal Star," Chopper mentioned. "But enough of that. Let's settle this!"
"After you," Gemerl replied, signalling them to attack. They approached the Gizoid and got in their fighting stances to face him. However, Gemerl crossed his arms without fear. "Don't think that this is going to be like last time, heroes. I may have lost to you before, but I've learned from my mistakes and will finish you for good!"
Gemerl threw a yellow shield down and let it surround him. "Go ahead, try anything you want! You know you won't be able to hurt me with this shield up. I can tell you that."
Tattle: Gemerl is back again? Uh oh… That's not good! It even looks like he even improved in power! Max HP is 100, Attack is 9, and Defense is 2. He's got some new moves up his sleeves. He'll try to use his jetpack to tackle you…but it says he might try to trick you when he's about to tackle you. I would be very careful, 'cause he sounds like he's not holding anything back!
"OK… First we need to get rid of that shield." Chopper noted. "If we have someone who can attack something multiple times, it might just be able to break the shield. I'd say Scrub should handle that!"
"Aw, FINALLY! Now I get to do something! Don't worry, Contadre! I got this!" Scrub fluttered over to Gemerl and began to perform his Ground Pound. While it didn't deal any damage to Gemerl, it managed to shatter his shield after three Ground Pounds. The rest he dealt on Gemerl, but they hardly hurt him.
"My shield! You'll regret that, pest!" Gemerl growled before getting struck by a sword swing from Chopper. To fight back, Gemerl flew up and began to curl up in a ball. He flew down at Chopper in an attempt to strike him. Sadly, his attack was guarded, which pushed Gemerl back onto the sand.
Just before Gemerl could make another move, Chopper took his hammer out and bashed him to take 4 out of him. Afterward, Mario attacked next and performed a Super Jump to make Gemerl cringe and take 6 damage in the process.
"Take this!" Gemerl clenched his fists fired missiles from his back up into the air. Seven missiles happened to be fired out, and they were flying down in Mario's direction. Because of how fast they moved, he didn't have time to guard them and took 2 damage each from the seven missiles. "Ah, yes... Now that's what I like to see more of in a fight!"
Mario: Mama mia! That was painful!
"Whoa, let's hope he's all right..." Scrub trailed.
"He's taken worse, so he should be fine," Chopper assured.
"I was thinking of hitting him with a Shadow Attack, but with that kind of defense, that would be rather difficult..." Shadower trailed, pondering for a moment. Eventually he decided to attack Gemerl with a regular Shadow Punch, lowering his defense down to 0.
Chopper thanked Shadower and decided to use a heavy-hitting move, so he charged up a Sword Beam from his sword and fired it directly at Gemerl to deal 8 damage. It also managed to send him flying back into the forest, which pleased Chopper.
"Hey, that was pretty neat!" Chopper smiled, pleased with his attack. Unfortunately, he didn't notice a laser fire from the forest and knock him back by the water. This ended up knocking his Sword ability away as well, leaving him annoyed when he stood up.
"I think he's mad now…" Vivian trailed, watching Gemerl fly out of the forest with a couple of trees knocked over behind him.
"I'm going to make you suffer!" Gemerl hissed, landing back into the battle.
"Not until we beat you," Chopper retorted, switching to his Wing ability and ramming into him. This time, however, Gemerl was not knocked back by the attack. In fact, he managed to hold his own, despite taking 6 damage from the hit.
With his defense at 0 still, Scrub decided he would attack next and fluttered above Gemerl. He took 6 out of him with his signature Ground Pound and quickly scurried over to his friends, leaving the Gizoid at 62 HP.
"Not bad… You have somewhat improved ever since our last battle. But…let's see how you deal with this!" Gemerl's eyes flashed, and he began to teleport all over the area. Everyone gaped as they tried to follow his movements, but this hardly helped them when Chopper was suddenly charged into by Gemerl, taking 11 out of him in the process.
"Oof! Now THAT hurt!" Chopper grumbled, rubbing his head. "I think it's time we used one of the Crystal Stars to deal with him now that his defense is back at 2!"
"Are you sure?" Vivian asked.
"Mmmmm-hmmmm! Let's test out the Queen's Star on him!" Chopper took out the Queen's Star and began to put its power to use. Suddenly, a couple of demonic hands resembling the Dead Hands from the Shadow Queen rose from the ground. Everyone gasped at first, but they noticed they were actually grabbing a hold of Gemerl and attacking him.
"Arrgh! What in the world is this?!" Gemerl exclaimed, cringing from the energy he was losing from the Dead Hands. He lost 17 HP to them in the end, while the energy the Dead Hands stole suddenly went back to Chopper and his friends, allowing them to recover 17 HP.
"Whoa... That's...awesome!" Scrub gaped. "We should do that attack more often!"
"Well, it kinda cost a lot of Star Power to use it..." Chopper trailed. "Plus, those Dead Hands... I really don't like those..."
"Yeah, I hear ya," Berry agreed, readying her hammer. "However, let's not focus on that. I think I want to give this robot a taste of his own medicine!"
She charged toward Gemerl and delivered 4 damage to him thanks to her Ruby Hammer. With him down to 41 HP, he knew things could get rough for him, so he pressed the blue button on his head to raise his Attack power by 9.
"Let's see how you like my Laser Cannon!" Gemerl cackled.
"Oh... This...doesn't look good..." Chopper trailed. "I guess I'll hit him with a Shuttle Loop, and then Vivian can hide us in the shadows."
"That sounds like a nice plan," Vivian agreed.
Smiling, Chopper flew toward Gemerl and attacked him with his Shuttle Loop. After returning, Vivian grabbed him and everyone else and brought them into the shadows to hide thanks to her Veil ability.
"All right, here it comes!" Activating his laser cannon, he fired a large, blue laser in their direction. He seemed satisfied at first, but when he noticed no one was there, he was left in shock. "What?!"
They eventually rose from the shadows, appearing unharmed by his attack. This only upset Gemerl even more, making him charge at all eight and taking 9 out of each of them, knocking Chopper's ability away as well. Afterward, he flew back to the spot he was standing before.
"This time, I'm playing dirty!" Gemerl growled.
Chopper, annoyed with Gemerl's cheap attack, decided to use his D-Down Hand attack and fired an ice ball that managed to deal 6 damage to him. Afterward, Vivian attacked him with her Shade Fist to reduce him to 25 HP and leave him with a burn.
Gemerl teleported in front of Chopper, but he disappeared and appeared above him instead. Just as he was about to attack him, he appeared behind Vivian instead and charged into her.
"That'll teach you to help avoid my Laser Cannon!" Gemerl shouted, only to be knocked away by Chopper's hammer so he was away from the group. Bombette charged at him next and blew up in front of him to reduce him to 16 HP.
"Ye might as well give up when yer goin' to lose!" Bombette suggested.
"Not even close..." Gemerl muttered, throwing down a yellow shield to protect him. The burn effect faded away after taking one more damage as well. The shield, on the other hand, didn't last very long, as Scrub was able to strike it with a Ground Pound to shatter it. Afterward, Chopper equipped his Parasol ability and smacked him with the weapon.
Gemerl proceeded to charge toward the heroes, but just as he was about to hit Chopper, he quickly teleported and appeared behind Scrub. The Yoshi turned around and saw him charging directly at him. Chopper gasped at first, but he was relieved that he guarded the attack.
"Not bad, Yoshi..." Gemerl muttered.
Chopper dashed toward Gemerl with his parasol in front of him. Many stars came out from the parasol as he attacked Gemerl with his Parasol Drill, dealing 6 damage to him. Kirby attacked him with his Cartwheel afterward and reduced him to 2 HP.
"Poyo! (He's finished!)" Kirby cheered.
"Grrrr! Recovery Mode activate!" Gemerl raised his arms up and recovered 30 HP. This nearly left everyone agape.
"Hey! That's not fair!" Berry gaped. "You can't just do that!"
"I did say I was going to play dirty..."
Annoyed by this outcome, Chopper proceeded to attack Gemerl with his Power Bounce and reduced him to 24 HP. Afterward, Mario brought him to 20 with a single hammer strike.
Annoyed by this outcome, Gemerl began to fire his machine guns at the heroes. To their luck, they managed to Superguard the attack. Since this annoyed Gemerl even more, he decided to hover over the air.
"Yeesh... This might be a lot more annoying than I thought." Chopper sighed.
"I think I have an idea, Choppy," Berry said, giving him a wink before throwing her hammer up at Gemerl. This managed to leave him off guard, giving Chopper an opportunity to strike with a normal jump. Though it only did 2 damage, it managed to send Gemerl plummeting to the floor.
"Let's see... How about another Laser Cannon for you heroes?" Gemerl suggested, pressing the blue button on his head to raise his Attack by 9 again.
However, the heroes did not appear to be that scared by the attack thanks to the low amount of HP Gemerl had. "Well, he won't be able to heal next turn, so we can easily finish him off now! Let's go Mario!"
Nodding, Mario jumped in the air and performed a Super Jump on Gemerl, reducing him to 6 HP. To finish off the fight, Chopper readied his parasol and dashed at Gemerl once again, delivering the final blow with his Parasol Drill. Sparks began to emit from Gemerl as he fell to the ground, awarding Chopper with 43 Star Points and a level up. smiling, he upgraded his HP to 60.
"Yeah! We did it!" Scrub cheered. "We showed him who's boss!"
"Yar! I say, I do feel proud for this victory!"
However, just before they could celebrate, Gemerl slowly got up, though he appeared to be struggling. "I don't understand... I looked back at my mistakes, yet I still get beaten by a bunch of heroes?!"
"Maybe because we learned a couple of new things," Chopper replied, removing his Parasol ability.
"Hmmmm... That could be... For now, it looks like I can't do much in this state. You can take your precious Crystal Star for all I care. However, that doesn't mean it's over between us. I will return when I truly believe I'm ready to finish you once and for all, and then I will take all the Crystal Stars you possess!"
With that, Gemerl flew off toward the sunset.
"Hmmmm... What he just said..." Shadower pondered. "Should we be all that worried?"
"Probably not," Chopper assured. "Anyway, looks like we can close this chapter!"
"We still haven't gotten the Crystal Star yet," Vivian mentioned. "Aren't we supposed to go to the Sun Temple?"
"Arr! That be true!" agreed Bombette. "I'm sure it's not too far from 'ere!"
They decided to search for the Sun Temple around the beach, but to their surprise, it happened to be dead ahead. A Save Block was waiting for them as well, so once they approached the place, Chopper hit it. Afterward, they took a look at the temple itself. It was a yellowish gold, just like what the map had shown. There was also a sun emblem on the front of the temple as well.
"It's such a nice-looking temple," Berry said, amazed by the building. "Well, at least from the outside. I bet its interior must look very nice!"
"Poyo! (Let's find out!)" Kirby cheered.
They proceeded onward into the temple, and inside, there were stain-glassed windows with a sun emblem on them. It was also a yellowish gold inside as well, and it contained a couple of pillars that held the ceiling. There was also a picture of a sun being that almost looked godly. He was wearing a large, yellow robe with a sun symbol on it as well.
"This must be the Sun God..." Chopper deduced. "Though, I don't think I understand the text here..."
Looking back at the end of the room, the heroes could see a shining light come down. They were left with curiosity and decided to approach it.
"I've been waiting for you…"
"What the... Who said that?" Chopper gawked, only to look up and see the spirit of an orange Sun descend upon them.
"Hello there, I am the Sun's spirit. I've been waiting to give the Sun Star to The Chosen One. You seem to be the one. I can feel the power in you…"
"Chosen One? What do you mean?"
"Long ago, about a thousand years, there was a tale of the Chosen One. ...Or rather, six Chosen Ones, at least. One was a blonde boy carrying a sword, another was a puffy kid with a paintbrush, the third was a brown hedgehog carrying a dark katana, the fourth was a lady in a futuristic suit of armor who carrying a strange cannon on her arm, and two blacksmith, with one carrying a hammer and another a staff. These people traveled all around the world and were the ones destined to take on the great force that took over these lands..."
"Poyo! (Sounds interesting, especially the puffy one!)" Kirby smiled.
"The boy's home used to be where Rogueport once stood, but it was soon taken over by the evil Shadow Queen. Many have believed that she originated from an island to the southwest, but she was also married to a king that was defeated by these Chosen Ones, while she was defeated by four heroes."
"Really? Well that's really cool." Chopper commented.
"However, even after death, their spirits still refuse to leave this world and search for vessels they can take over to restore their powers. To do this, they must find the correct vessel, such as a pure-hearted maiden... Or it could be someone who is brave and heroic..."
"Brave and heroic?"
Mario: That sounds very dangerous...
"Yes, but these spirits never usually succeed in their task, so there is not much to worry about. For now, though, there is one thing that is more important at task. You must be given the Crystal Star to help restore the universe and protect it from darkness!"
The Sun's spirit took out a pale orange Crystal Star, and it dropped it down by Chopper. "Go ahead, take it!"
"OK, thank you," Chopper thanked, approaching the Crystal Star. It soon began to circle around him until it hovered over his head. Smiling, he raised his arms once again and held the star up.
You got a Crystal Star! Chopper has learned the special move Sunny Day!
END OF CHAPTER!
After defeating the evil Gemerl once again, Chopper has acquired the Sun Star from the Sun Temple! Chopper was also informed of the Chosen Ones by both a Blooper and a sun's spirit. Was he, in fact, really a chosen one? The tale the sun's spirit spoke to them about interested them, yet it left them with a hint of worry. Was this tale just a myth, or had it actually happened? These thoughts began to linger in Chopper's mind...
Well, that puts an end to Chapter 9! To be honest, it's not really one of my favorite chapters, but it's definitely not my least favorite chapter either. The only things that really stood out to me was Moe Hawk, Doopliss taking over the Phi Walker and this chapter, of course.
It's not the best start for the second act of this story, but I kinda like it. Just wait until what we see in Chapter 10, though! :P