Author's Note:

It's here...it's finally here...the game that everyone and their mother has been waiting for...the game of the year...the game that single-handedly makes Persona 5 look like Superman 64...DC SUPER HERO GIRLS: TEAM POWER! To celebrate the grand release of this game, I wrote a chapter based on...ha, I'm just kidding. Now let's get serious and answer some reviews:

"...who's your favorite character in Scott the Woz skits? Terry the vegan, Jeb the Gex fan, Rex the chaperone, Jerry the therapist, Wendy's Employee the Wendy's employee (or his twin brother Target Employee the Target Employee) or someone else? My favorite is easily Jerry.

I'd say that Jerry is my favorite, too. Something about his character that I like. Another guest review:

"Sonic Colors Ultimate is coming this September! Will there be a Sonic Colors chapter? And don't forget an Alex Kidd chapter in June!"

Sonic Colors, one of my favorite Sonic games! Definitely doing a chapter about it. And I haven't forgotten about Alex Kidd. Another anonymous review:

"Well, it looks like that Death Battle are remaking the Link vs. Cloud video. It will be released on June 14. Quite timely for the two guys in the story, eh?"

Hehehe...talk about some convenient timing. Next is A JRPG enjoyer:

"I don't know if you played Persona 3, but Fuuka is infamously known for her lack of skill in cooking. She's known to be a bad chef. So, it's kind of surprising (even OOC) that Fuuka is the only one who cooks well."

Never played Persona 3, but I'm aware of Fuuka's cooking. I included her as a way for her to "redeem" herself. Moving on:

"We haven't seen the Ashen Wolves since that Valentine's ice cream social. Do you think they can come to see the Byleths this year? And speaking of the Ashen Wolves, we all know that their leader, Yuri, is a canon bisexual. Since we're in Pride Month, you think you can have a Three Houses bisexual characters meeting, with Edelgard, Dorothea, Mercedes, Linhardt, and Yuri."

The Ashen Wolves! They were supposed to show up again last year, but that never came to fruition. I'll have to make amends this year. And no, there won't be any Three Houses bisexual characters meeting. That would lead to some yaoi/yuri, which I don't really do, so...yeah. Last is BowserFan327:

"How about having Ludwig work on a serum that unlocks someone's animal urges. And it looks like Pepsi. Ludwig puts it in the fridge to preserve it and Ann unknowingly takes a sip. About an hour later, the effects start to kick in. And at the worst possible time. Peach made crepes for a dinner party later for all the royalty in smash (And that's Ann's favorite food!)! So now it becomes an epic thriller genre game of keep away."

A serum that unlocks someone's animal urges...Ann takes a sip...royal dinner party...game of keep of away...why does this idea sound so fascinating? I feel like using it almost...maybe I should!

Episode 285: Dragons

When it came to dragon-type Pokemon, Iris is your go-to gal. Of course, there are other female Dragon-type experts, whether it's Lance's older sister Clair, or even the lore keeper Zinnia, of the Draconid tribe.

However, what female dragon-type expert could say that they used to be the Pokemon champion of an entire region? Only Iris had a stake in such a claim. With her trusty ace Haxorus, Iris crushed the hopes and dreams of every aspiring champion that stood in her way...until she ultimately met her defeat, that is. Some Pokemon trainer by the name of Rosa would know something about that.

While Iris obviously loved dragons, she wasn't above raising Pokemon of other types. Aside from Haxorus, Hydreigon, and Druddigon, the former champion also had a Lapras, Aggron, and Archeops in her party, and brought all those Pokemon with her to Seattle. Iris had her six Pokemon out to roam around the front yard of the mansion.

"Here you go, Hydreigon - some more Pokemon food!" Iris happily exclaimed as she fed the brutal Pokemon some food. Watching from afar were Mario, Spyro, and Hunter, and Hunter had a lot of questions running through his mind.

"Are the two small heads on that dragon...its arms?" the cheetah asked Mario, thinking that the plumber was an expert of all things Pokemon. Hunter had a lot of expectations about Mario, given that he was Nintendo's breadwinner and whatnot.

"Could be its-a feet," Mario assumed with a shrug, as Spyro gave him a baffled stare. Mario had no idea how absolutely wrong he was. "Or paws. Think I'm gonna go with paws."

"Yeah, I'm gonna go with paws too," Hunter sided with Mario, as Spyro shook his head at the ignorance that he was exposed to. Mario and Hunter both had a lot to learn...Mario especially.

Spyro: Iris has been pleasant - that Haxorus of hers really saved our butts last week. But yeah, as I was saying, Iris has been pleasant...for everyone else. As for me, however, well...

"Ooh, it's the purple dragon!" Iris squealed when she saw Spyro standing from a distance. Upon being sighted, Spyro hid behind Hunter. "Hydriegon, go and fetch that purple dragon for me!"

"It's okay, Spyro, I got you," Hunter assured his friend, acting cool, calm, and collected...only for his demeanor to fade away in a snap when confronted by Hydreigon. The cheetah gulped nervously, as Hydreigon stared him in the face.

"Be cool..." Mario advised Hunter, who was trying to stay still; Hydreigon tended to attack anything that moved, so Hunter would be fine if he continued to stay in place.

"Um, nice...paws you got there." Hunter, trying to get on Hydreigon's friendly side, pointed at the brutal Pokemon's two small heads. That effort would prove futile, as Hydreigon fired a Dragon Pulse that sent Hunter flying.

"Mama mia!" Mario watched helplessly as Hunter was sent flying, screaming as he landed in a tree in Alm and Berkut's backyard. As Mario went to go rescue Hunter, Hydreigon grabbed Spyro with her mouth and flew back to Iris.

Spyro: In case you couldn't tell, Iris is super obsessed with dragons. As such, she's super obsessed with me. This is the first time that anyone has ever gone gaga over me, and I gotta say...I don't like it.

"Hi, purple dragon!" Iris smiled and waved to Spyro, sitting on the ground with her legs folded. Hydreigon dropped Spyro on the ground, before sitting behind the purple dragon. "Your name is Spyro, right?"

"You actually remember my name, how nice..." grumbled Spyro, who was hating the fact that Hydreigon's presence prevented his escape. He would soon be spooked by Iris's Archeops, who landed next to the purple dragon.

"Aw, don't be so scared by Archeops! He's very friendly if you give him a chance." Showing off his friendly side, Archeops rubbed his hand against Spyro, who did not appreciate the head-rubbing one bit.

"You know, for such a happy-go-lucky girl, you sure have some very...intimidating Pokemon." Lapras being the only exception, obviously. "So, what did you bring me over here for?"

"Well, since you're a dragon, I just wanna know all the cool things you can do." Depending on how much Iris wanted to know, Spyro could be in for the long haul - a very long haul. "What else can you do other than breathe fire and fly?"

"I also have an ice breath." Spyro knew he shouldn't have mentioned that, as Iris gasped with her eyes wide with pure excitement. "Only under certain conditions..."

"A dragon that can breathe ice?!" Iris got down on all fours, as she leaned in close to Spyro. "You're just like Kyurem, but small and extremely cuter!"

"Got no clue who this Kyurem is, but I'm probably cooler than he is." As Spyro backed away from Iris, Corrin came around the corner with Kana.

"Look, papa, it's Spyro!" Kana said to Corrin as she pointed at Spyro; poor Spyro was stuck in the presence of two people that irked him, Iris and Corrin. "Can we adopt him, please?"

"We've been through this before, Kana," replied Corrin, who was tired of having the same old conversation with his daughter. "We cannot adopt any member of Mario's family. It's simply unethical."

"I'm a part of Mario's family now?" Spyro frowned before shaking his head - he'd much rather be called Mario's pet. "Eh, I've brought this upon myself..."

"But papa, he's a dragon just like us!" Kana wailed to Corrin, and once she heard that, Iris was happier than a Latias roaming through Hoenn. She was squealing out of her mind.

"You guys are dragons too?!" Iris asked Corrin and Kana, apparently not knowing this fact; the former champion was squealing even harder, as she gave both Corrin and Kamui a hug. "This is so awesome!"

"Impa was right...Iris is a literal child," Spyro said to himself, cringing at the hug fest that was taking place. The hugging would come to a stop, as Iris gasped when an idea popped in her head.

"Since you two are dragons...and Spyro is a dragon...and I'm a dragon expert myself...why don't we have a dragon festival?" You just know that Spyro was ready to turn down that idea. "We can even hold one outside!"

"Or we can not have one at all," suggested Spyro, before looking towards Corrin with a desperate glance. "Corrin, please talk some sense into her..."

"We do have plenty of dragons in the sanctuary for such a festival," stated Corrin, thinking to himself as he stroked his chin. Spyro groaned as he banged his head against the ground in frustration.

"I know, right? We already have enough participants," said Iris, as Tiki came around the corner munching on an apple that she picked from a tree. "But I wonder, are there any dragons at the tower?"

"You have one right here," Tiki spoke up, as she caught the attention of Iris and the others. Spyro saw Tiki as his last hope. "What is this that I'm hearing about dragons?"

"We're gonna have a dragon festival, here at the mansion!" Iris happily explained to Tiki, as an unsuspecting Cortex poked his head out of some shrubbery. "Do you wanna join?"

"Well..." Tiki mulled over her decision, as Spyro was shaking his head to dissuade the Manakete as much as possible. Cortex saw what Spyro was trying to do, and did not appreciate it.

"Say yes, say yes..." Cortex whispered to Tiki, who thought that her own conscience was speaking to her. Thanks to Cortex, Tiki made her final decision.

"Yes, I'll be a part of your festival." Reaction to Tiki's decision was mixed; Spyro was even more frustrated, while Cortex was pumping his fists with joy.

Cortex: This dragon festival will be the perfect opportunity for me to impress Tiki. It's quite a coincidence, too! Why? Just last week, I was working on a potion that could turn me into a dragon. I'll drink the potion, show up at the festival as a dragon, impress Tiki, and then revert to my human form! Tiki would be so impressed, she would have to make me the love of her life!

Uka: Cortex told me about his stupid dragon potion. Apparently, he thinks that turning into some dragon will impress Tiki. Would be the ugliest dragon to have ever existed.

"Then it's settled!" confirmed Iris, unable to contain her excitement; a festival centered around dragons was like a dream come true. "I should go ask Master Hand for permission to have the festival."

"Please say no, Master Hand..." pleaded Spyro, as Iris ran away; with Iris gone, Spyro's ire was now drawn towards Corrin and Kana, but mainly Kana. "...thanks a lot, Kana."

"You're welcome, future pet dragon!" responded Kana, as she and Corrin walked away. Spyro stood still, bothered by Kana's remark, as Mario and Hunter came over with Alm and Berkut.

"You seem-a very shook," Mario said to the purple dragon, as Hunter was picking the twigs out of his fur. "Was Iris fan-a girling over you too much?"

"It's not just that," replied Spyro as he loosened up a bit, though he couldn't get Kana's words out of his head. "Iris apparently wants to have a 'dragon festival'. With her around, it sounds like a total nightmare!"

"Heh, couldn't be any worse than living under the same roof as your good-for-nothing cousin," remarked Berkut, as Alm frowned and gave the paladin a very angry look. "Oh, did I say something?"

Four years have passed since the American debut of Microwave Idol Mamorin, and the web show was still going on strong. The co-hosts of Mamori, Ashley, and Asuka had entertained many guests over the years, be it a resident of the mansion, or even an outsider. The show was meant to warm people's hearts, and it did so with the press of a button.

Given the success of the show, it was expected that a viewer had dreams of appearing as a guest. And there was someone out there who had dreams of being on Microwave Idol Mamorin. Who was that someone, you ask? Let's just say that their last name rhymed with a certain Driver from Alrest.

"Some creep actually sent us an audition tape," Ashley said to Mamori and Asuka, as the Microwave Idol Mamorin trio converged in the Star Records room. Ashley was holding a tape that was titled "Audition Tape". "Can you believe it?"

"I can't believe that someone out there still uses VCR tapes," remarked Asuka, wheeling out a TV set that came with a seldom-used VCR player. "Whoever sent that tape must really be stuck in their old ways."

"Let's just try and keep an open mind, shall we?" Mamori said to Ashley and Asuka, who both looked at the brunette like she was crazy. "Or, maybe not..."

"Our thoughts exactly," responded Ashley as she popped the tape inside the VCR player. "Even if this 'audition' doesn't suck, it won't meet my expectations."

Ashley turned the TV on and pushed the play button on the VCR player, as she started the tape. After a few seconds of static, an image finally appeared on the TV screen...and it was a shot of Gex, standing in his kitchen, smirking at the camera with his sunglasses down while holding a glass of wine. Go ahead and guess how the Microwave Idol Mamorin trio felt.

"Remember, kids - never take fifty-cent coins from a gorilla wearing a top hat," Rex offered these strong words of advice, as he pointed at the camera. Mamori, Ashley, and Asuka were all speechless.

"This can't be real..." said Mamori after finding the courage to speak, as she stared at the TV screen with a completely dumbfounded look on her face.

Ashley: After that whole spice issue was resolved, Dunban told me that a lizard named Gex was pursuing me and my friends. I was hoping that he was just joking around. *buries face in her hands* I really wish that he was joking...

"For those of you watching - hello, and welcome to my audition for Microwave Idol Mamorin," greeted Gex, who should've started his audition tape with a greeting rather than some important life advice. What an amateur. "My name is Gex."

"Is there a way to stop this tape?" wondered Asuka as she was aggressively pressing the stop button on the VCR. But nothing seemed to work.

"Whoever is watching this tape, I hope it's either one of Mamroi, Ashley, or Asuka. Although, I prefer that all three of you are watching. Two's a company, but three's a crowd!"

"Yo is that Gex?!" exclaimed Falco as he and Fox came over to the TV and saw Gex on the screen. Gex was walking around his kitchen, giving a brief tour of his exquisite kitchen.

"Apparently," replied Mamori, slightly judging Fox and Falco for appearing to be invested in Gex's audition tape. "He sent us this audition tape for Microwave Idol Mamorin in the mail."

"And this...is my lovely microwave," said Gex as he was now standing in front of his microwave, patting his trusty kitchen appliance. "We've been through the good, and the bad, yet we stuck through the thick and thin like Hall and Oates."

"He made a Hall and Oates reference, this is definitely him," said Fox, who was interested in seeing how Gex's audition tape turned out. The Microwave Idol Mamorin hosts were nowhere near as curious, with Asuka still trying to stop the tape.

"The meal we'll be microwaving today? Buttered popcorn!" Gex took out a bag of buttered popcorn, smelling it as if he could smell the butter through the bag. "Microwaving this bad boy will be like swimming in a bathtub at Winona Ryder's condo."

"Aha, it finally worked!" exclaimed Asuka after she mashed the stop button for the nth time. The audition tape stopped, much to the dismay of the pilots.

"Come on, it was getting good!" Fox complained to Asuka, who popped the audition tape out of the VCR. Asuka gave the tape to Mamori, who tossed it in the nearby trash can.

"Good work, Asuka - you stopped it at the right time," Mamori commended the ninja girl, as Fox was frantically scrambling through the trash can for Gex's audition tape. "Really saved our sanity!"

"And that's an understatement," remarked Ashley, before looking over at Falco and seeing how salty the avian pilot. "Admit it, Falco, that audition tape was going to be utter crap."

"You say that because you never gave it a fair chance," responded Falco as he walked over to the window, opening it up to get some fresh air. "Should've let it run a bit longer..."

Falco would suddenly be spooked, jumping back and screaming when a green lizard with sunglasses crawled his way inside the Star Records room through the window. In case you weren't keeping up, that lizard was Gex.

"Heeeeeerrrreeee's Johnny!" Gex announced to everyone inside the Star Records room, channeling his inner Ed McMahon Mamori fainted to the floor in an instant, as Asuka and Ashley were left disgusted.

"Looks like we've hit the jackpot..." said Fox when he first saw Gex, as he retracted his hand from the trash can. The pilot was seeing nothing but dollar signs.

Iris spoke with Master Hand in his room, telling the giant hand about her grand idea to host a dragon festival outside the mansion today. Since having a festival was obviously a big thing, Master Hand called in Link and Zelda to their room and asked them for their consensus.

"So the only folks that will be attending this festival are...dragons?" Zelda asked Iris, who happily nodded her head; Zelda had a feeling that Iris would pull a stunt like this on her day off designing wedding dresses.

"Lance, Drake, and Raihan are gonna be here too," stated Iris, although neither Link nor Zelda took her seriously. It was likely that Iris was just rambling on as her vivid imagination kept wildin'. "They'll be flying over to the mansion on their dragons!"

"Yeah...sure they will," said Link as his eyes veered away, before looking at Zelda and doing a circling finger motion at the side of his head. Iris was even zanier than the Hylian imagined!

"A festival would be incomplete without some vendors," stated Zelda, who thought that the dragon festival would be incomplete without at least some human capacity. Just having dragons wouldn't cut it. "But who?"

"Master Hand, this is the LAST straw!" the Luminary yelled as he angrily marched inside Master Hand's room with his Keeper, Veronica. "I've had it with Yoshi, he just won't leave me alone!"

"Yoshi has been begging the Luminary to ride on top of him," Veronica explained to Master Hand, who looked like he was hardly listening. "Luminary has kindly turned him down each time, and Yoshi responds...by licking his face."

"His saliva is super sticky, too." The Luminary wiped some of Yoshi's spit off his face, getting some slobber stuck on his sleeve. "Stickier than the seal of an envelope..."

"Luminary! How would you and your friends like to be vendors at Iris's dragon festival?" Master Hand asked the swordsman, showing zero concern about his issues with Yoshi. "Doing nothing but serve dragons all day long! What say you?"

"It would be a good reprieve from Yoshi, for me," the Luminary replied as he thought to himself - the decision was painless and easy. "Yeah, I'm game."

"I'm down as well," confirmed Veronica, as Link saw Yoshi peeking through Master Hand's doorway before darting away. "The other Heroes should serve as vendors without much fuss."

Yoshi: Dragon festival, eh? I used to be a dragon myself. Keyword being "used to". (That's actually two words, my bad.) My Final Smash used to be Super Dragon, but for some odd reason, Master Hand took it away. Perhaps it was too powerful, which I wouldn't blame him for. Super Dragon is my final form. *pauses* One of my final forms. I prefer to LARP sometimes, both in public...and at the mansion.

"Yippee! This dragon festival is gonna be fantastic!" squealed Iris, unable to contain her excitement; she was jumping for joy. "Thank you so much, Luminary! I know that you guys are gonna be great!"

"We'll try our best," the Luminary assured Iris, as Link and Zelda exited Master Hand's room. Link searched around the premises for Yoshi but didn't see the green dinosaur anywhere.

"Looking for someone?" Zelda asked Link, wondering what her fiance was looking for. Link, being caught in the act, stopped and turned around at Zelda.

"Oh no...thought I had seen a ghost," replied Link, awkwardly scratching the back of his head as he played it cool. "You...want to speak with me about something, princess?"

"Yes, but it's only brief." Zelda walked over to Link, having some important info to share. "It's about those items that Cloud had synthesized. You know, the items in that bag Minato found."

"Yeah, I know. I already sent someone out to retrieve them." Way to be one step ahead, Link! Zelda was surprised as she widened her eyes. "The person I sent out knows who those items belong to."

"Oh really? So we'll just return those items to its original owner, then." Funny how everything worked out, thanks to Link's leadership. "Do you know the identity of the owner?"

"Not exactly, but the person I sent out does. Hopefully, they won't screw things up for us..." If there was one thing Link did not want, it was a margin of error.

Cloud had been staying at the psych ward since the last day of April, meaning that he has been at the mental health institution for about a month now. One might expect the swordsman to be bored from his stay, but he was getting used to his new environment. As long as mansion residents visited him now and then, Cloud couldn't complain.

"How are you feeling today, Cloud?" a nurse asked the swordsman as she poked her head inside the room. The hospitality of the doctors and nurses was one of the aspects that made Cloud's stay at the psych ward bearable.

"The same as I did yesterday," replied Cloud, who was busy doodling on his phone until the nurse stopped by. "I know what you're gonna say next - that someone from the mansion came to visit."

"Yup! In fact, this might be the biggest party so far." Just like that, the nurse had Cloud's full attention. A group of residents came to visit Cloud?

"Well, this should be interesting. Go ahead, bring them on in." So the nurse moved out of the way, as she pulled the door wide open...

...and in came Sonic, Tails, Amy, and the entire Crash clan (including Aku). For whatever reason, Sonic was playing the guitar as he entered the room.

"Look who it is, it's the man of the hour..." Sonic sang, singing his heart out as he irked Cloud with both his singing and his average guitar playing. "He may have gone crazy at the end, but his mood is still sour..."

"Happy to see you as well, Sonic..." Cloud said to the blue hedgehog, hoping that he would stop - but Sonic kept on playing and singing.

"He really likes Aerith, as everybody knows...must suck to be so handsome and be chased around by...hoes." Sonic, liking the ending of his song a little too much, giggled at the last rhyme he made.

"Thought you were gonna say propose," Crunch said to Sonic, certain that the blue hedgehog would've insinuated Cloud and Aerith tying the knot. "Also, did you just call Aerith a..." Crunch would be cut off when Coco covered the bandicoot's mouth.

"Don't say it, don't say it...let it pass," Coco said to Crunch, as she kept a close eye on Cloud. Cloud didn't show any signs of resentment towards Sonic, as Coco removed her hand.

"Very interesting...guitar playing, Sonic," Cloud said after Sonic was done playing, only able to muster the kindest words he could say to the hedgehog. "Didn't steal that guitar from an actually talented musician, did you?"

"Nope! It's all mine," Sonic responded as he casually tossed the guitar onto the floor, nearly popping a string or two in the process. "Stealing is wrong."

K.K. Slider: Now I know that you groovy cool cats are the nicest peeps around. Mean no trouble to me or anyone else in this mansion. But for the record, I gotta ask this one time...which one of you punks stole one of my guitars?

"Sonic and Tails told me that you were at the psych ward," Amy said to Cloud, approaching the swordsman while holding a small cake in her hands. "So I got you this get well soon cake!"

"Thanks, Amy, you shouldn't have," Cloud thanked the pink hedgehog as he accepted the cake...only to make a funny face when he got a good look at it. "'Get well soon...Debra'? Just who the heck is Debra?"

"Um, I might've...gotten that cake from a retirement home...hehe." Amy was looking down at the floor smiling innocently, with her hands behind her back. "The cakes from the store were out of my budget."

"Twenty dollars was out of Amy's budget," stated Tails, as he threw some slight shade at Amy. Amy responded by shushing the yellow fox. "Just saying..."

"So, Cloud...you aren't angry with me and Tails for ditching the Aerith Revival Project, are you?" Sonic asked the swordsman, inching closer with an apologetic look on his face. "I know that we kinda left without giving a warning...well, I left without giving you a warning..."

"You didn't want to be Moira's errand boy anymore - I get it," said Cloud, as he made Sonic feel better about leaving the project. "Personally, I would've done the same thing if I were in your shoes."

"Man, that's a relief to hear!" Sonic let out a sigh of relief - although he wasn't fully convinced that he and Cloud were on equally friendly terms yet. "You got any ill will towards me and Tails for ditching the project?"

"Not at all. Moira let me know about your guys' departure, and I was fine with it." Big ups on Cloud for not showing any form of resentment. "In fact, I strongly regret going through with the project now."

"You really look like a changed man," Aku said to Cloud, able to see that Cloud had really learned the error of his ways. It wouldn't have happened had the Phantom Thieves not intervened in Cloud's plans.

"Uh, thanks for noticing Aku. Guess I should eat this cake now..." Even though the cake had the wrong name on it, Cloud knew better than to let it simply go to waste. "...anyone here got a fork?"

"I got you, Cloud," replied Crunch as he readily took out a plastic fork...out of his pants. Not from either one of his pockets...but straight out of his pants. "Y'all have no idea how long I've waited to take this out."

"Yeah...maybe I'll just eat the cake with my bare hands." Cloud grabbed a huge chunk of the cake and ate it. Made him feel some type of way. "Great, now I feel like a toddler."

"I'll go ask one of the nurses if they have a fork on them," said Aku as he flew out of the room; shortly after Aku left, Coco received a text notification.

"He's on his way," the blonde bandicoot whispered to Tails, showing the yellow fox the text message she had received. "Said he wants to meet us outside."

"Gotcha," Tails whispered back, before turning his attention to Cloud. He was about to say something that Cloud might not appreciate. "Cloud, Coco and I have to, uh...go somewhere. You mind staying with the others?"

"As long as Amy's around, I should be fine," replied Cloud, as Crash was reaching in about to take a bite out of the swordsman's cake. Cloud swatted Crash away, causing the bandicoot to walk away and whimper.

"Great! Amy, you keep the boys in check while we're gone." So Tails and Coco left the room, giving no indication of what they had to do - which Cloud found slightly suspicious.

"Just to pass the time, I think you should hear another song," Sonic suggested to Cloud, as Crash picked up the guitar and tossed it to the blue hedgehog. "Welp, one of the strings popped, but we can still make this work..."

"Sonic, I don't think that Cloud wants to hear another song," stated Amy, as Cloud was desperately looking around for some earbuds. He thought he had a spare pair in one of his pockets.

"This song is different, it's a love song. A song that Cloud could sing for Aerith one day." Taking a seat in a chair that Crash grabbed for him, Sonic cleared his throat and tuned up his guitar. "You ready, Cloud?"

"Ready to let my eardrums bleed," responded Cloud, before looking towards Amy with a demanding look that told the pink hedgehog to step in at once. But it was too late, as Sonic was already strumming a chord.

"Pretty girl on the hood of a Cadilac, yeah...she's broken down on freeway nine... take a look and get her engine started...I leave her purring and I roll on by...bye-bye."

"Bad news, Cloud - a nurse said some psychotic man threw all the forks out of the psych ward," Aku informed the swordsman as he returned to the room - only to be greeted by Sonic's guitar playing. "Oh no, not again..."

"Free love on the free love freeway...the love is free and the freeway's long...I got some hot love on the hot-love highway...I ain't going home 'cause my baby's gone, she's gone..." As if Sonic's singing was enough, Crash was trying to do the backup vocals, despite his gibberish speaking.

"I will admit, this is actually a pretty catchy song," Amy said to Cloud, enjoying the song even if Sonic was down one guitar string. Cloud shook his head.

Pit continued to impress as a barista at Cafe Leblanc, leaving some shocked that he hadn't been fired yet. While the angel's curry-making was very...unconventional, there was no denying that he was a whiz when it came to making coffee. It was especially remarkable given that before his job at Cafe Leblanc, he didn't even know where to put the water in a coffee machine.

"Wow, Pit, this curry is delicious!" Viridi said to the angel, sitting at the counter sampling the newest curry Pit had made. The goddess of nature was a common fixture at the cafe. "What did you put in this one?"

"Oregano, honey mustard...and a small pint of my blood," Pit listed a few ingredients, as Viridi spat the curry on the counter. Pit cleaned up the mess in a jiffy, with a cleaning towel. "Blood is high in iron!"

"That...is true," Viridi wiped her mouth, hoping that she hadn't tasted Pit's blood while eating her curry. Soon Joker came over to Viridi, recognizing the curry the goddess was eating.

"I can offer you some curry that doesn't come with Pit's blood," Joker informed Viridi, who gently pushed her bowl of curry to the side. She hurt Pit's precious little heart when she did that.

"No, that won't be necessary. Hey, Joker, can you come closer?" From the looks of it, Viriid didn't mean any harm, but Joker was somewhat doubtful of the goddess of nature.

"Uh, sure." So Joker inched over to Viridi...who grabbed the young man by his collar and pulled him closer to her face. Pit was looking on, smirking, and so were Sans and Vault Boy who were both sitting at the counter.

"You fire my Pit from his job, and I'll leave you to waste in the most desolate part of Reset Bomb Forest. Do I make myself clear?!" Heeding these terms, Joker nervously gulped and nodded his head, before Viridi dropped him to the counter.

"girlfriends, amirite?" Sans giggled with Vault Boy, whose laughter was silent. Viridi dusted her hands off as she glared at Sans and Vault Boy, who both looked away in fear.

Viridi: It was me who suggested to Pit that he should work at Cafe Leblanc. I was getting really tired of him being used by others for their own benefit, so I wanted to work for someone who would appreciate him. And at a place where he could be appreciated. Cafe Leblanc was the right fit for him, in my eyes.

As Joker went back to making coffee, Pit returned to making some curry. As the angel looked beneath the counter to find some ingredients, he saw a small being hiding below, wearing a paper bag over its head.

"Go away...leave me alone," the paper bag wearer requested, able to detect Pit's presence. The being knew that Pit was nearby...and Pit himself knew who was hiding under the paper bag, judging by the feet.

"Meta Knight, is that you?" Pit asked the Star Warrior as he reached out his hand to lift the paper bag. Meta Knight quickly swatted it away. "Any reason why you're wearing a paper bag? Are we gonna dress up as Marvel superheroes again?"

"No, you buffoon, I..." Meta Knight suddenly had to recompose himself, being mindful of Viridi. Didn't want to face the goddess's fury. "...my mask got stolen, or has gone missing. Without it, I feel...naked."

"Naked, where?" Pit looked around Meta Knight - or at least what part of the Star Warrior's body was visible to him. "Are your privates showing?"

"No! It's just...I don't feel the same without my mask. I can't bear to be around anyone without it." That mask meant a lot to Meta Knight, and Pit knew far too well. Which was why the angel wanted to lend the Star Warrior a helping hand.

"Hold on for a second..." Pit said to Meta Knight, before standing up so he could ask Joker a question. "Joker, you mind if I go with Meta Knight and help him find his mask? Promise I'll be back!"

"Sure, take your time," replied Joker, as Pit pumped his fist and pulled Meta Knight from underneath the counter - while being mindful of the Star Warrior's paper bag. "How long was he hiding under there?!"

"Let's go find your mask, Meta Knight!" Carrying Meta Knight in his arms, Pit ran out of the cafe, not even bothering to take off his apron. For his sake, it was probably best that he kept it on.

"Better not fire him if he takes too long..." Viridi said to Joker in a threatening tone, as Joker nervously gulped once more and kept making some coffee.

Preparations for the dragon festival were underway, and Mr. Game and Watch was a man possessed getting everything set up. The 2-D man wasn't alone in his efforts, for Volnutt was apparently setting up some folding chairs.

"Don't even know if these are needed, but nobody's stopping me..." the robot said after he finished setting up a row of chairs. Iris and Spyro were overseeing the work being done; poor Spyro was forced to be with Iris against his will.

"Look at him, Hunter...he looks-a so miserable," Mario said to the cheetah, watching from afar as he saw Spyro. Spyro didn't look miserable but rather annoyed out of his mind. "He's practically dead-a inside."

Nah, he looks pretty alive to me," remarked Hunter, completely misinterpreting what Mario had said as Mario smacked his forehead. "Tired, maybe, but totally not dead."

"If there was a way to save-a Spyro from that dragon festival..." Soon enough, the perfect idea came to Mario's mind. "Aha! I got it...we'll infiltrate-a the festival! Back-a to the house!"

"Back to the house for what?" Hunter was hesitant as Mario grabbed his hand and guided him back to the house. "Look man, I'm not cut out for streaking..."

Hunter: Attempted streaking once - it was at a hockey game in the Colussus Valley, and I streaked on the ice in a full bodysuit. The monks in attendance just stared at me, all confused. If only I knew what I did wrong...

"Everything's looking nice so far," Link said to Iris as he and Zelda showed up outside to see how the preparations were going. "Festival should turn out fine."

"I hope not..." grumbled Spyro, hoping for the festival to be a big failure, as Iris smiled and pinched the purple dragon's cheek. "...stop pinching me."

Against the wishes of Fox and Falco, the Microwave Idol Mamorin hosts had to negotiate a deal with Gex where the lizard could appear on their show. Per request of Gex, the negotiations took place...in the kitchen.

"So this is the legendary kitchen where your episodes are filmed..." marveled Gex as he looked around the kitchen, acting like he was inside London's Buckingham Palace. Mamori and company were not amused. "...this is almost like being inside Bob Ross's afro."

"His dumb one-liners are going to be the end of me," Ashley grumbled to Mamori and Asuka, already tired of Gex's mannerisms. The negotiations had to end real soon, or else Ashley would snap.

"Okay, Gex...what makes you the right fit for our show?" Mamori asked the lizard, who took the time to mull over the question. Gex loved to savor the moment, any moment at that.

"I have a lot of special abilities," replied Gex, as Mamori couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Why in fact, I have the ability to steal other people's abilities!"

"Alright then, show us," demanded Asuka, as Gex led the Microwave Idol Mamorin hosts to the dining room. There, Gex found King Dedede, Samus, and Ryu all having lunch. Gex walked over to Dedede, and...

"ZAP!" the lizard touched the fat penguin's arm while adding a bit of pizzazz to the very simple act. King Dedede glanced at Gex, confused. "I have stolen your ability, my penguin friend."

"NOOOOO! Now I can't flirt with women anymore!" wailed King Dedede, getting up out of his chair and running aimlessly out of the dining room. "Why me?!"

"So gullible..." Samus shook her head at King Dedede, as she continued eating her tuna fish sandwich. Gex walked over to the bounty hunter and touched her on the arm.

"ZAP! Now I've stolen your ability!" Coming in contact with Samus was a very daring move for Gex. But how would Samus react to her 'ability' being stolen?

"Aw...you took away my ability to give a crap," Samus sarcastically moaned, before she resumed eating her sandwich. Safe to say that the bounty hunter never had that ability, to begin with.

"Aren't you technically giving a crap right now?" Ryu asked Samus, who fired back at the fighter with a glare that even he was scared of. "Sorry for asking..."

"Who is next..." Gex rubbed his hands together, smiling as his eyes fell upon Pikachu. Pikachu was chilling on the dining room table near Samus, minding his own business until Gex touched him. "ZAP! Now I have your ability."

"Pika...CHHHHUUUUUU!" shouted Pikachu as he used his signature Thunderbolt move on Gex. Gex was electrocuted, as the Microwave Idol Mamorin hosts laughed at his expense.

"...alright, so that Pikachu didn't want to follow with the program. I can respect that." Gex, after he was electrocuted, dusted the soot off his body. The lizard did not appreciate Pikachu for exposing his act. "But why stop there? There's still so much more that I have to tell you."

Mr. Game and Watch was done making the final preparations, which meant that it was time for the dragon festival to begin. The Luminary and Veronica were in charge of admitting the dragons - most of which were dragon Pokemon that were escorted outside by the Dragon Quest heroes. There was a solid chance for a non-dragon to try and sneak their way in...

"Now I know what you're thinking: 'We can't let Bowser in, he's nothing but an ugly loser turtle creature!'" Bowser said to the Luminary and Veronica, who were refusing the Koopa King access to the festival. "That may be true, aside from the ugly loser part. But I'll have you know..."

"Sorry Bowser - only dragons are allowed to enter the festival," Veronica said to the Koopa King, who snapped his fingers in disgust. "You might be a reptile, but not the one we're looking for."

"But I can breathe fire! Does that alone not make me qualified enough?" Seeing that there was no point in further convincing the Luminary and Veronica, Bowser lowered his head and sighed. "Stupid arbitrary rules..."

Bowser would soon look up when a giant shadow flew right over him. The Koopa King, Luminary, and Veronica looked up and saw Yanmega flying overhead, with a few Yanma were flying next to it.

"Incoming!" shouted Eight, as Yanmega landed on the ground. Eight, who was riding on top of Yanmega, leaped off of the ogre darner Pokemon as Iris and Spyro came over.

"Yay, you managed to bring the Yanmega!" cheered Iris, as Bowser's mouth was agape at the double standard that he was witnessing. "This dragon festival just got even better!"

"Looks like you got yourself some dragonfly buddies, Sparx," Spyro said to his yellow dragonfly companion, as Bowser looked at Sparx while stroking his chin. "Hope that Yanmega won't eat you as a snack..."

Spyro: Iris has taken a great liking towards Sparx. Every time she sees him, she's always giggling like a little child chasing him around. If Iris knew any better, she would infer that Sparx finds her very annoying. Birds of a feather...

Supposedly, Coco and Tails had to go somewhere - and somewhere happened to be the parking lot of the psych ward. The blonde bandicoot and yellow fox were waiting in the parking lot for a visitor to arrive.

"Here comes Aerith," Tails gave the heads up to Coco, as he saw Aerith making her way to the psych ward. It was obvious who Aerith came for.

"Hello, you two!" Aerith greeted Coco and Tails with a warm smile, holding a basket of sourdough crumpets. The flower girl asked Fuuka to make a small batch for Cloud. "Came by to visit Cloud?"

"Yup. He's chilling with a few of our friends," replied Coco, as the smell of the crumpets allured her. It was like they came fresh out of the oven. "Better get to him before Sonic drives him mad!"

"Ha, wouldn't want that to happen. I'll see you two around!" So Aerith went ahead, as she entered the psych ward to give Cloud his crumpets. The only problem she would have to face was keeping Sonic and Crash's grimy hands away.

"Man, where is he?" wondered Tails as he glanced at his watch, before looking around the parking lot. "I never would've expected him to take this long."

"Coco Bandicoot! Tails! Oh, goodness me...my apologies for keeping you two waiting. I was busy doing my laundry - that lousy change machine was pelting me with coins again."

Coco and Tails' wait finally came to an end, as Professor E. Gadd came scrambling towards them. The inventor was holding a sack...no, two sacks in his hands as he hurried his way over.

"Wait, why do you have two sacks?" Tails asked E. Gadd after the inventor came to a stop. E. Gadd gently dropped both sacks on the ground. "We said that we only needed one."

"Yes, but I forgot which sack has the synthesized materials or my laundry," explained E. Gadd, as Coco facepalmed at the inventor. bumbling ways. "So I brought both, just to be safe."

"Whatever, just...just open one," commanded Coco, now shielding her eyes as she turned away. E. Gadd opened up one of the sacks. "Hopefully, we won't see your underwear."

"Aw phooey! This sack has my laundry." E. Gadd closed the sack, before opening the other one...and found himself disappointed yet again. "And this one has my laundry, too! What are the odds?"

"Your fault for putting your laundry in a sack, unlike most normal people..." Coco shook her head, curious as to how E. Gadd did other tasks like washing the dishes or vacuuming his mansion. "...this is just fantastic."

"I'll be right back, you two...I will get it right!" E. Gadd grabbed the two sacks and hurried back to his mansion. Coco and Tails' arduous wait picked up right where it left off.

"You know, we could follow him to his place..." Tails suggested to Coco, before realizing how Sonic salty would feel if his fox friend left him behind. "...nope, never mind. We'll just have to stay put."

Hearing about the dragon festival, Impa came outside to see how things were turning out. A bunch of dragon Pokemon were outside and were doing nonsensical stuff like breathing fire or knocking down the folding chairs that Volnutt worked so hard to set up.

"No, stop that! People sit on those chairs!" Volnutt scolded at a Garchomp and a Kommo-o, who were knocking down chairs like it was no one's business. Volnutt ran over to stop the Pokemon, as Impa smirked.

"I'm willing to bet a thousand bucks that your stupid potion won't work," Uka said to Cortex, as he followed the evil genius to the festival. In Cortex's hands was his dragon potion, which Impa noticed.

"In that case, Uka, get ready to go broke soon," responded Cortex, as he was opening the potion bottle - or at least trying to. "With this potion, I'll turn into a dragon...provided that I get this cap off."

"Need some help?" Impa offered to Cortex, who saw the Sheikah and quickly turned away. Cortex didn't want anyone's help; it would make him look weak.

"No at all - just fastened this cap on too tight." Cortex finally took the cap off. before drinking the potion in its entirety. "Ah, that really hit the spot!"

"You actually opened it, how surprising..." remarked Uka, as he, Cortex, and Impa waited around...many seconds passed, and nothing happened. "...er, aren't you supposed to turn into a dragon or something?"

"Yes, Uka, that is the intention...give it some time." Cortex just stood there, hands on his hips, expecting to become a dragon any minute now. "The long wait will make it more worth it."

"Why are you crawling so slow, pick up the pace!" a voice was heard from the distance, as Impa looked over and couldn't believe what her eyes were seeing. Some guy in a dragon costume was walking over from Mario's house, and he was struggling to walk straight.

"What in Hylia's name..." uttered Impa, as the person in the dragon suit made his way over to the Sheikah. Two arms popped out from the sides of the dragon costume's neck, before taking the dragon head off. Guess who it was.

"Has the dragon-a festival started already?" asked the person that took off the dragon head, Mario. Impa was completely dumbfounded, unsure of whether to laugh at Mario or take pity on the plumber.

"Mario, why on earth are you dressed up as a dragon?" Impa knew that Mario planned on attending the festival, and the plumber's reasoning she was concerned about. "Also, who else is in that costume?"

"What does-a it look like? We're attending the dragon festival! And by we, I mean-a me and Hunter. We're going to save-a Spyro together!"

"Crawling on all fours is even harder than I thought," replied Hunter, his voice muffled by the costume. Mario cut out a small hole in the costume for Hunter to see through. "Especially with a midget standing on neck."

"A cheetah who can't walk on all fours...you are an embarrassment, Hunter," Impa facepalmed at the cheetah, wondering what his girlfriend Bianca even saw in him.

Mario: Luigi and I wore-a that dragon costume to a local talent show a few years-a ago. It wasn't our intention to impress-a the judges - we just wanted to how far-a we could make it without using a sob-a story. Frankly, we didn't get that far.

"Oh Impa, I've got some great news!" Zelda announced to the Sheikah, as she and Link came over. Mario quickly placed the dragon head back on. "Another one of our wedding assistants finally arrived."

"I've introduced them to Rex, so he would be in the know," added Link, before looking around and leaning in close to Impa as he also said, "Whatever you do, don't let Waluigi know..."

"As if he's obligated to know in the first place," responded Impa, as Link and Zelda turned their attention to the dragon costume next to the Sheikah. Understandably, both Hylians had questions.

"Who is that dragon supposed to be?" Link pointed at the dragon costume, unnerved by how goofy it looked. The large googly eyes were very off-putting.

"He's here for the dragon festival." Impa was mentally kicking herself in the foot for not exposing Mario and Hunter's dragon act. "Why don't you introduce yourselves to the future wife and husband...dragon?"

"Well allow me to introduce myself!" Mario responded, speaking in the goofiest voice known to man as Hunter inched over to Link and Zelda. The dragon costume hit Impa in the process. "I'm Hootie, Hootie the Blowfish...I mean dragon! Dragon!"

"Uh, nice to...meet you, Hootie the Dragon!" Zelda awkwardly smiled, and it was clear to the princess that Hootie was nothing more than someone dressed up as a dragon. Also, that voice sounded oddly familiar to her.

"You might want to get to the dragon festival," Impa advised "Hootie", as she expected Mario and Hunter to be exposed real soon. "Wouldn't want to miss out on the fun, would you?"

"No way Jose! Catch you all later!" Mario replied in his goofy voice, as "Hootie" was struggling to walk over to the sign-up desk. Veronica was running the desk with the Luminary.

"What am I even looking at...?" the Luminary questioned when he first saw "Hootie", who banged into the desk. Maybe Hunter was right - crawling on all fours was harder than it looked! "Know what, I'm not even going to ask, just go on!"

"Much obliged, kind sir!" Mario thanked the Luminary as "Hootie" nodded his head; the dragon head nearly came off, which obviously would've been super tragic. Veronica glanced at the Luminary who shrugged as "Hootie" struggled to walk away.

Pit was committed to finding Meta Knight's mask, but the problem was, he was looking in the most random of places. The angel was in the gardens, searching for the mask through a flower bed.

"Meta Knight's mask has got to be around here somewhere!" said Pit, his face rummaging through the colorful flowers that he was ruining. Alph and Meta Knight were looking on, along with the Keyblade Hero 3 - Sora, Riku, and Kairi.

"Should I tell him?" Riku asked the others, as he couldn't bear to see the flower bed ruined - even if he didn't care about it till now.

"This isn't the first time that Meta Knight lost his mask," Alph explained to the Keyblade Hero 3, recalling Meta Knight's plight back in episode 30. "The last time he lost it, it never showed up until the end of the day."

"At this rate, I hope my mask shows up out of the blue again," said Meta Knight, still wearing his paper bag over his head. He was starting to see that Pit was absolutely no help at all.

"That flower bed sure looks like a good spot to find some ingredients!" quipped Sora, as Riku and Kairi both frowned at the Keyblade wielder. "Sorry guys, I just had to..."

"Bad news, Meta Knight - I couldn't find your mask," Pit announced to the Star Warrior as he looked up, his face smothered in dirt and flower petals. "Which means that we're off to the Jacuzzi!"

"Save me..." Meta Knight whispered to Alph and the Keyblade Hero 3, as Pit picked him up and walked away. Haru came over and gasped at the destroyed flower bed, before frowning at Alph.

"It was him," Alph said to Haru as he pointed at Pit; Haru wasn't convinced, her frown still intact. "I hate being the designated 'bad guy'..."

Pit: Finding that mask is serious business. Meta Knight himself said that he feels naked without it, which I totally understand. Not everyone can be an exhibitionist, even if it was meant to be that way since the start of humanity. But Meta Knight just isn't the same without his mask, so finding it soon is important. I can't let anyone distract me...

Upon returning to the interior of the mansion, Pit ran into a familiar face. The angel (and also Meta Knight, if he even cared enough) was surprised to see Adeleine, who you might recall as a good friend of Kirby's.

"Oh snap! Kirby's girlfriend is back!" exclaimed Pit, as a confused Adeleine looked around for the girlfriend in question. Yet she was nowhere to be found...

"Kirby has a girlfriend? Where?" asked Adeleine, sounding very curious - although Pit interpreted the painter's mood as jealousy. "Where is she?"

"Haha, silly Adeleine! You can't fool us." Pit found himself laughing at Adeleine, who was left in an even more confused state of mind. "So when are you and Kirby tying the knot?"

"Tying what knot? Princess Zelda and Impa invited me over to be the wedding stationery." The clueless look on Pit's face meant that Adeleine had to explain. Adeleine knew it was coming, as she sighed. "I'm basically handling the design of the paper products."

"Paper products? Link and Zelda are gonna start a paper company after they get married?" More explanation was needed, as Adeleined sighed a second time. "Will you and Kirby do the same after you get married?

"You know the wedding programs, save-the-date cards, menu cards, that kind of stuff? That's what I'll be working on." Soon everything made sense to Pit. "They picked me since I'm an artist!"

"And also to get you prepared for your own wedding, with Kirby." Pit seemed very keen on Kirby and Adeleine marrying each other, even though Adeleine obviously saw Kirby only as a friend.

"...in your own imagination, perhaps. Well, I should get going...gotta get a head start on my work!" So Adeleine walked off, as Pit watched the young painter head down the hallway.

"Kirby and Adeleine are not getting married," Meta Knight stated to Pit, making sure that the angel perfectly understood what he was saying. "They might be friends, but they're not meant to be."

"Eh, you have a point...their kids would look gross and ugly." Implying that a pink puffball like Kirby was even capable of having sex. "But you don't need kids to be happy in marriage. You just need each other!"

"Yes, yes it is, being happy is key...can please we get a move on with finding my mask? Knew I should've told you to go away while I had the chance..."

Despite most of the folding chairs being destroyed by the dragon Pokemon, the dragon festival was coming along well. Red the Pokemon Trainer had recently joined the festival, having admitted his trusty Pokemon. Now another resident was trying to join in on the fun.

"Yoshi, you can't just tape wings to your back, and claim to be a dragon," Solo said to the green dinosaur, who was denied by the hero and Veronica at the sign-up desk. Solo was taking the Luminary's spot, as the Luminary had to handle some business.

"You don't get it, do you?" Yoshi asked Veronica and Solo, greatly alarmed by the complete ignorance of the two. "My old Final Smash turned me into a dragon...a Super Dragon! I had wings and everything! And since I have wings now..."

"Link, can you believe this guy right now?" Solo asked the Hylian, who came over to see what all the commotion was. "Yoshi thinks he's a dragon because he has wings." Link glanced at Yoshi, who had a pair of white wings on his back.

"Technically, he isn't wrong," stated Link, leaving Veronica and Solo befuddled; the Hylian walked over to Yoshi and pulled on one of the wings, as Yoshi yelped in pain. "These are definitely real, alright. You're free to enter, Yoshi!"

"HA! In your face!" Yoshi taunted Veronica and Solo as he walked past the sign-up desk. The Luminary, who was busy taming a Drampa, hid behind the placid Pokemon when Yoshi drew near.

"Hey, Link, sorry to bother ya," Hammer Bro approached the Hylian, who was about to return to his post at the dragon festival. "Have you seen a spare pair of white wings anywhere?"

Hammer Bro: I like to keep a pair of wings around. Just put them on, and go flying while throwing hammers at people's heads. Although I don't really fly as far as I would prefer, it's good for jumping! The wings are pretty durable and last a long time...or at least until some jerk decides to jump on your head.

"Well, Iris, I guess your fellow dragon buddies won't be making it anytime soon," Spyro said to the former champion, who refused to let Spyro leave her presence. "Hootie" tried inching towards Spyro, only to be chased off by a raging Tyrantrum.

"The day is still young - I'll give them some more time," responded Iris as Tyrantrum chased "Hootie" around the front yard, with the Luminary chasing after it. The former champion looked up at the sky and gasped out of excitement. "Look! Up in the sky!"

"Up in the sky?" So Spyro looked up at the sky where Iris was pointing at and saw three dudes riding on top of dragon Pokemon towards the mansion. "Would ya look at that..."

Once they were in the vicinity of the mansion, the three dragon Pokemon made their descent before landing at a fair distance from Iris and Pokemon. The three dragon-type trainers that Iris invited to the festival had arrived - Lance, Drake, and Raihan, as they leaped off of Dragonite, Mega Salemence, and Flygon respectively.

"Aw what, they actually made it?" frowned Spyro, before having to change his tune so that Iris wouldn't be too upset with him. "I mean...yay, they made it! Hip hip hooray!"

"You guys are here, this is so great!" Iris squealed with joy as she ran over to Lance, Drake, and Raihan. "I was so scared that you wouldn't come..."

"Why wouldn't we come?" grinned Raiahn as he held his Rotom phone - the Hammerlocke gym leader couldn't be seen without it. "Wouldn't miss a dragon festival for the world!"

"Yes, I had to make the trip as soon as I got the call," stated Lance, whom Iris reached out to on Red's PokeNav. "For a moment, I was worried that Red was trying to prank call me..."

"I was surprised that mine even worked!" remarked Drake as he pulled out his PokeNav from his pocket. It had some signs of water damage. "Should've known better than to call Mr. Briney while out at sea."

Raihan: Only got one goal in mind at this dragon festival...to take as many selfies as I can! I'd love to take a selfie with every guy and gal in Smash, but I reckon that Master Hand wouldn't give me the privilege. Unless I got on his good side...by offering to take a selfie with him, of course!

"Who's up for a selfie?" Raihan asked as he pulled up the camera app on his Rotom phone. As the four dragon-type trainers gathered, Spyro looked on, as three unsuspecting heads popped out from some nearby shrubbery...Jessie, James, and Meowth.

"Psst, is that a Mega Salamence?" Jessie whispered to Spyro as Team Rocket was eying the Mega Salamence; Flygon and Dragonite were both irrelevant in their eyes.

"...I guess it is," replied Spyro, who wasn't well-versed enough in his knowledge of Pokemon to provide a solid, confident answer. "You guys aren't planning on stealing it, are you?"

"What kind of idiotic question is that?!" James snapped on Spyro, feeling as if the purple dragon had insulted the intelligence of Team Rocket. "Of course, we're stealing that Mega Salamance!"

"Yeah, mega-evolved Pokemon don't come around that often!" exclaimed Meowth, as Spyro showed his apathy for Team Rocket's cause by rolling his eyes. "Mega Salamence is gonna be ripe for the taking!"

"WOBBUFETT!" exclaimed Wobbuffet as the patient Pokemon just had to appear from his Poke Ball to make its presence known. Any Team Rocket interaction wouldn't be the same without it.

"Why do you love trying to blow our cover?!" Jessie scolded Wobbuffet as she forced the patient Pokemon into the shrubbery. Soon Iris came over to Spyro, as Team Rocket quickly concealed themselves.

"C'mon, Spyro, you have to meet my friends!" Iris told the purple dragon, dying to introduce him to Lance and company. "Raihan even wants to take a selfie with you!"

"No thanks, I'm not that photogenic," Spyro gave his excuse, but that didn't stop Iris from grabbing the purple dragon and dragging him away. "Hey, watch the horns!"

Cloud was in a very sour mood, as the swordsman entertained Sonic, Amy, Crash, Crunch, and Aku in his room at the psych ward. Sonic was the primary source of Cloud's annoyances, as the hedgehog was playing the guitar. The other guests weren't nearly as bothersome, except maybe for Crash. Even though he now had Aerith to keep him company, Cloud was still tortured psychologically by Sonic's mediocre singing.

"Spaceman came down to answer some things, the world gathered 'round from paupers to kings..." Sonic sang as he played the guitar, while Aerith was slightly enjoying the song. Something that Cloud judged the flower girl for. "'I'll answer your questions, I'll answer them true, I'll show you the way, you know what to do...'"

"I think this is supposed to be the prelude to that 'Free Love Freeway' song," Amy whispered to Cloud as if the swordsman was supposed to care. Cloud wanted Sonic back at the mansion, pronto.

"Who is wrong, and who is right? Yellow, brown, black or white...the spaceman he answered, 'You no longer mind, I've opened your eyes, you're now colorblind.' Racial, so..."

"Why did you have to point that out, Sonic?" Cloud asked the blue hedgehog, who stopped playing his guitar and looked at Cloud all funny. "The racial part."

"I was just...trying to point out prejudice. It's part of the song, Cloud, you don't have to complain!" Sonic went back to playing, as Cloud groaned deeply.

"This song isn't so bad," Aerith said to Cloud, who was happy to know that he and Aerith didn't necessarily have to like the same things. Otherwise, Cloud would be the most miserable man on earth.

"I strongly beg to differ," grumbled Cloud, as Sonic played a guitar chord ready to sing another song. "Wonder where Tails and Coco are..."

Coco and Tails remained in the psych ward parking lot, waiting on E. Gadd to return with the sack of synthesized materials. E. Gadd finally returned, bringing only one sack with him this time.

"Found the right sack!" the inventor called out to Coco and Tails, before dropping the bag on the ground once he reached the blonde bandicoot and yellow fox. "No laundry this time."

E. Gadd: Yes, I like to put my laundry inside a sack, rather than a regular laundry basket. I only do it for my protection. Those seductive old ladies at the laundry mat are really something else!

"Hope you've learned a good lesson about doing your laundry, professor," Tails said to E. Gadd, who was opening up the sack. E. Gadd dug his hand into the sack and pulled out a few materials that Ryza Stout had synthesized for Cloud.

"These are the materials you came for, yes?" E. Gadd asked Coco and Tails, who both nodded their heads. E. Gadd placed the materials back in the sack and tied the sack up, before handing it to Tails.

"Thank you for coming through, E. Gadd," Coco thanked the professor, as Tails accepted the sack from E. Gadd. "Don't mind if I ask, but...what exactly was this stuff for?"

"It was for Cloud's project. I had told Cloud to synthesized some materials for some kind of memory serum, and that alchemist Ryza Stout came through! Was running short of materials at one point, so Ryza had to make private visits to the mansion."

"Ryza Stout! Yeah, I know her," stated Tails, as he remembered Sonic forcing Ryza's companion Fi to be Shaymin's friend. "Got a glimpse of her making some stuff in the lounge. Was she making those materials?"

"Indeed she was! Turns out I needed a lot of those materials to make the memory serum effective. It was meant for Aerith...if she was reincarnated."

"Ha, so much for that happening," chuckled Coco, who was glad that Aerith's reincarnation never took place. "Cloud's really regretted all that work he did to try and revive Aerith."

"I have some regret, too...I shouldn't have led him on." Much like Moira, N. Tropy, and Dr. Eggman, E. Gadd had second doubts about working with Cloud. "Though it was his fault for leading Cloud on in the first place."

"Whose fault exactly?" questioned Tails, as he and Coco leaned in close to E. Gadd. Realizing that he might've said too much, E. Gadd backed away.

"No, no one's fault at all! I was just making up stories." E. Gadd hurried away from Coco and Tails, to avoid further suspicion. "By,e you two! Don't forget to return those materials to Ryza!"

"We won't forget!" Coco assured E. Gadd as she called out to the inventor. Even with E. Gadd, and the materials acquired, suspicion was growing. "So it looks like reviving Aerith wasn't really Cloud's intention..."

"Or maybe it was his intention, and he was unsure until somebody convinced him," assumed Tails, as he wondered who this person could be. "This just got interesting!"

Cortex was standing along the sidelines of the dragon festival, waiting for his dragon potion to take effect. The evil genius felt some type of way as he saw Tiki speaking with Corrin, wishing that he was there as part of the conversation.

"Your potion looks like it's a dud, as I expected," Uka said to Cortex, questioning why he was still keeping company with the evil genius. "If only I had actually bet a thousand dollars..."

"The potion is still working its effect," stated Cortex, giving another one of his lame excuses. Much time had passed since the evil genius drank the potion, and he felt no change in his body. "Could've turned into a dragon with my ray gun, but..."

"Look alive, Dr. Cortex...some girl is coming over." Uka saw a girl with light brown hair head over to Cortex, and she looked like an alchemist. In fact, she was an alchemist.

"Hi, I'm Ryza Stout," the alchemist introduced herself to Cortex - Ryza was back at the mansion, and it wasn't for synthesis this time around. "Are you...Dr. Neo Cortex?"

"Why yes, yes I am!" gleamed Cortex, delighted that Ryza knew who she was; Uka was extremely baffled. "Ryza Stout, hm? I see that you finally saw that email I sent you."

"But I never received an email from you." This made Cortex worried - did he send the email to the wrong address? "Heck, I have no clue what an email is!"

"Wait, so your Gmail address isn't...thickthighs4lyfe?" Cortex took out a small slip of paper, which had what he presumed to be Ryza's email address written on it. Turns out he got it wrong.

"'Thickthighs4lyfe?'" Hammer Bro blurted out as he angrily came over to Cortex to give him a piece of his mind. "How did you figure out my email address, Cortex? And what was with that weird email you sent me?"

"What's an email address?" Ryza asked Hammer Bro, who took sight of the alchemist...and also the alchemist's thighs. Hammer Bro stared at Ryza for a few seconds, before walking away awkwardly. "Well, that was weird..."

Hammer Bro: So what if I like thick thighs? I like thick girls! What man doesn't like thick girls?! Why do I sound so insecure?!

Tails: Dr. Cortex tried sending Ryza an email... *shakes his head* ...while I did the more sensible thing and sent Ryza a letter. Even included a picture of every person that was involved in the making of the Aerith replica, just so Ryza would know who to go to if she shows up. Had no idea where Ryza lived but apparently, the Postman knows where everybody lives.

"I only recognized you from one of the pictures sent in this letter," Ryza said to Cortex as she pulled out the letter that Tails sent her; inside the folded letter were several pictures. Ryza took out a picture of Cortex, and it was a very...unflattering picture.

"Why does it look like that picture was taken mid-sneeze?" questioned Cortex after Ryza showed him his picture. The evil genius took the letter from Ryza to see the other pictures and saw that they were...very normal.

"The photographer must not have liked you that much," inferred Ryza, as Cortex tossed his picture on the ground and stomped it in rage. Raihan would come over to Cortex and Ryza, bringing his Rotom phone with him.

"Taking in the sights and sounds of the festival, you two?" the Hammerlocke gym leader asked Cortex and Ryza as he opened his camera app - perhaps the only app he ever used. "How about a few selfies, with yours truly!"

"Don't know what selfies are, but I'm down!" replied Ryza, the alchemist looked towards Cortex, who was done expelling all his negative energy on the now muddied picture.

"Eh, why not..." shrugged Cortex as he, Ryza, and Raihan gathered together for some selfies. Hopefully, the pictures that Raihan took with Cortex wouldn't be too unflattering.

Meanwhile, at the festival, Mario and Hunter were working hard to free Spyro from Iris, in their "Hootie" dragon costume. They saw Iris and Spyro speaking with Drake and Erdrick, as "Hootie" walked over...only to be stopped by Lance.

"I have a question that's been nagging me for some time," Lance said to "Hootie", as he had the need to let his feelings out. "What kind of dragon are you?"

"I'm a...blowfish...dragon!" Mario responded in his goofy voice, having a massive brainfart mid-sentence. The plumber was worried that he might've exposed "Hootie" to Lance...

"Blowfish dragon, hm? That sounds...unique." Thankfully for Mario and Hunter, Lance appeared to have an open mind. "You certainly don't look like anything like a blowfish, but I don't judge you."

"And I won't judge you, little fella!" Little fella? Lance took some offense to that, as he frowned. "I-I mean, big fella! I mean...have a good day!" Avoiding further embarrassment, "Hootie" ran away from Lance.

"What was that all about?" Eight came over to ask Lance, as "Hootie" ran away; Yoshi was spying on the swordsman from afar, lying in wait.

"Got no clue..." replied Lance as he folded his arms, taking the time to reflect on the brief conversation he had. "...but that's the weirdest 'blowfish dragon' I've ever seen!"

Negotiations between Gex and the Microwave Idol Mamorin hosts continued, within the Star Records room. Mamori, Ashley, and Asuka were gathered with Fox and Falco, bored out of their minds as Gex was talking about his experience - most of which had nothing to do with Microwave Idol Mamorin.

"There I was, skiing down the alps with Bill Clinton," Gex recounted his unbelievable story, as Ashley and Asuka were on the verge of falling asleep. "Right next to us was Hilary, riding in her bobsled."

"Do you honestly believe a single word that he's saying?" Mamori asked Fox and Falco, only to be meet with zero response from either pilot. "Hello?"

"Did you make it down the slope safe and sound?" Fox asked Gex, as he and Falco were super invested in the lizard's story. Giving up all hope, Mamori slammed her head against the Star Records desk.

"Of course we did! All thanks to my main man, Arsenio Hall," replied Gex - not exactly a random celebrity encounter, given that Bill Clinton played his sax on Arsenio Hall's show once. "He showed us the way."

"These two are idiots for liking this guy," Ashley quietly discussed with Asuka concerning Fox and Falco, failing to see the appeal behind Gex. "Anyone else who likes him is an idiot, too."

"Really? You have giant monsters on your show?!" Pit asked Touma and Eleonora as he followed them inside the Star Records room, cradling the paper-bagged Meta Knight in his arms. So much for the angel vowing to not be distracted.

"I mean, it is a tokusatsu show...but yes, yes we do," replied Touma, who was fielding questions from Pit about his show Force Five. Which was still an ongoing online series for Star Records.

"Touma! Eleonora! Look who it is!" Falco called out to his two employees, as he brought their attention to Gex. Eleonora didn't seem to care about Gex, but Touma on the other hand...

"Aw snap! Is that Gex?" The excited Touma ran over to Gex, getting a good look at Gex to make sure that he wasn't imagining things. The Microwave Idol Mamorin stared at Touma, baffled.

"My name recognition must be an all-time high," remarked Gex, having his ego stroked as Touma was fangirling over him. Eleonora still didn't care about Gex. "Maybe this is the right time for a comeback..."

Ashley: Maybe it's too harsh for me to say that I'm surrounded by idiots. I'm just surrounded by people with no taste.

"He's just a lizard wearing sunglasses," Eleonora offered her honest opinion on Eleonora, as Touma and the pilots gasped at the idol singer. "What's so special about him?"

"What's so special about him?" Pit frowned at Eleonora, equally as offended as Touma and the pilots were. "It's Gex! He's the literal embodiment of cool!"

"I thought we were supposed to be looking for my mask..." Meta Knight spoke up, as his suspicions of Pit being distracted were proven true.

"Yes, the Icarus lad speaks the truth," said Gex, deeply appreciating Pit and the others for keeping it real. Also recognized the girls as nothing but haters. "Because I'm so cool, I deserve to be on Microwave Idol Mamorin."

"Not happening," stated Mamori, putting her foot down as she folded her arms. Mamori and the other hosts were unmoved, refusing to let Gex appear on their show by any means.

"Mamori...hear me out for a sec," Touma said to the brunette as she got down on his knees, his hands clasped together. Mamori was super concerned. "Gex is probably the biggest guest you could get on your show. Viewership would be through the roof!"

"I've been watching your show years now," Gex said to Mamori - as if his viewership made him a worthier guest to appear on Microwave Idol Mamorin. "So I know all the ins and outs. And I wouldn't dare to put ketchup on my steak, unlike that poser Kermit."

"See? He doesn't put ketchup on his steak! He knows how to eat food the right way!" No matter what Touma said, it simply wasn't enough to win over Mamori, Ashley, or Asuka.

"Still not budging," responded Mamori as she looked the other way, not even willing to give Gex a chance. Seeing there was nothing else that he could say, Touma admitted defeat with a sigh.

"Well, I did my best," remarked Touma as he stood up; he, Pit, and the pilots were equally devastated. "I'm so sorry, Gex. Did the best I could."

"I do appreciate the effort," Gex said to Touma as he showed the redhead some appreciation. That made Touma feel somewhat better, as he walked over to the spare closet where he kept most of his Force Five costumes.

"You know, Gex, I could let you be on my show, Force Five...but sadly, I have no room for ya. Well, better get this new episode filmed, before we..."

As Touma opened the closet door, a silver mask suddenly fell out. And it wasn't any silver mask...it was a mask that belonged to Meta Knight.

"My mask!" exclaimed Meta Knight, sounding vaguely happy for a second. Rarely happened that often with the Star Warrior. "Touma, why did you have my mask in that closet?"

"This is your mask?" asked Touma as he picked up the mask in question, taking a real good look at it. "Huh, I couldn't even tell..."

"You buffoon, I refuse to be seen without it. I had to wear this paper bag over my head because of your tomfoolery!"

"Give him back his mask, Touma," Eleonora demanded the redhead, failing to see how her friend couldn't recognize Meta Knight's mask. It was pretty iconic.

"Oh, I'll give him back his mask, alright..." responded Touma as he held the mask behind his back, looking like he was about to give some kind of ransom. "...only on one condition."

"What condition is that?" asked Meta Knight, forced to play by Touma's rules. Hopefully, whatever obligations Meta Knight had to fulfill weren't too drastic.

"I'll give you back your mask...but only if Mamori and her friends agree to let Gex appear on Microwave Idol Mamorin." Ooh...some very spicy conditions! Gex nodded his head in approval.

"You can't just hold Meta Knight's mask hostage like that," Eleonora scolded Touma, wondering what the mask had to do with Microwave Idol Mamorin or Gex. "He would never agree to..."

"Girls, please invite Gex onto your show," Meta Knight pleaded to the Microwave Idol Mamorin hosts, seeing that there was no other way to get his mask back. Mamori and friends were super reluctant.

"Yeah, do it for Gex...and Meta Knight!" encouraged Pit, as Mamori was biting her bottom lip. Quite the pickle to find herself in.

"Mamori, Ashley, and Asuka, as your boss, I demand that you put Gex in Microwave Idol Mamorin," Fox said to the three girls, as the pressure was mounting. Eventually, Mamori cracked under the pressure.

"Fine...you can be on our show, Gex," Mamori told the lizard, as she sighed deeply; Touma and Pit pumped their fists, as Fox and Falco happily exchanged a celebratory high-five.

"Knew you ladies would come around soon!" Gex grinned at Mamori and company, who were all dreading having the lizard on their show. "You won't regret this decision."

"Here's your mask back, Meta Knight," Touma said to the Star Warrior as he handed him his mask. Eleonora frowned at Touma, thinking that what the redhead did was messed up.

"Thank you, Touma," Meta Knight thanked the redhead as he accepted his mask, as he finally found relief. "I'll...put my mask back on when no one is looking."

"We did it, Meta Knight, we found your mask!" cheered Pit as he held the Star Warrior up on the air. Accidentally banged Meta Knight against the door frame.

"You barely did any meaningful work, but I suppose you deserve my thanks..." Meta Knight was carried away by Pit, as he nursed his now injured head.

Meta Knight: How did I lose my mask in the first place? I won't say. I'll leave it confidential. That being said, if you hear any murmurings about a dark blob sleeping inside a toilet...just know that it wasn't me. I hope.

"So when do you want to be on our show, Gex?" Asuka asked the lizard, wanting his guest appearance to be other with. The ninja hoped that Gex would want to do his episode today.

"Next week," answered Gex, much to the chagrin of Asuka and company, as he adjusted his sunglasses. "I'll need some extra time to prepare for my grand debut. It'll be one for the ages!"

"Hope you two got what you wanted..." Ashley grumbled at Fox and Falco, who were ecstatic about Gex appearing on Microwave Idol Mamorin. It was a win for the pilots...but not so much for the three hosts.

Mario and Hunter had been at the dragon festival for a pretty long time in their "Hootie" costume, getting to know the three trainers that Iris invited. Yet their goal remained the same - to save Spyro from Iris. But while Mario hadn't diverted from the mission, Hunter's mind drifted off to other things.

"What's your honest opinion on Raihan?" Hunter asked Mario, as he saw Raihan taking some selfies with Red and Charizard. Mario, on the other hand, had his attention focused on Spyro and Iris.

"For what it's worth, his shorts are above-a his knees," replied Mario, who was not digging Raihan's style. "That already makes-a him suspect, in my eyes."

"Man, Raihan, you sure love taking selfies," Red asked the Hammerlocke gym leader, who was done taking selfies. "Why do you take so many?"

"It's to help me remember the sting of defeat," replied Raihan, grinning as he went through his phone to see what selfies he should post online. "Really, it has helped me cope with my losing streak to Leon."

"But I see you posting selfies on your page all the time. Does that mean you're perpetually losing in life?" Taking great offense to Red's question, Raihan put his phone away as he glared at Red, looking for a fight.

"Attention dragons...and humans!" shouted Iris, commanding everyone's attention as she stood on the porch of the mansion with Spyro. "I have a couple of words to say to you all!"

"This should be interesting," said Corrin as everyone gathered at the porch steps. Cortex and Ryza, who were still on the sidelines, saw the dragons and humans alike gathering together.

"I should be there, standing with Tiki..." lamented Cortex when he saw Tiki at the front, as Uka laughed quietly. Meanwhile, Team Rocket appeared from the shrubbery and saw the large crowd.

"Now is our time," Meowth said to Jessie and James, as the trio ran out of the shrubbery and over to Mega Salamence. Mega Salamence was chilling, having no intention to be in the dragon festival.

"First off, I want to thank everyone for coming out today," Iris spoke to the crowd, as "Hootie" was bumping into every dragon Pokemon in sight trying to make it over to Spyro. "It really means a lot to me."

"Glad to be here!" exclaimed Drake, as the dragon Pokemon voiced their agreements by shouting their cries. "To be around so many wonderful dragon Pokemon...it brings a tear to my eye."

"Just want to give a shout-out to Master Hand, Link, and Zelda. This festival would've never happened without their approval. And I wanna give another shout-out to the dragon who mostly inspired this festival...Spyro!'

"Oh no...here we go," Spyro shook his head, dreading what Iris had to say about him. "Hootie" couldn't make it to the purple dragon soon enough.

"If you ask me, Spyro is one the coolest dragons around. Not only can he fly with ease, but he can breathe ice! What other dragon can do that?!"

"I heard that he can also run at superhuman speeds," said Corrin, recounting a story that he heard from Mario. Spyro wished that there was a way to shut Corrin's yap for good.

"Wow! Really? Who knew that such a small, cute little dragon was capable of doing that? I never would've guessed!"

Spyro: Yep, it's now official...Corrin, you are now officially dead to me. The jury's still out on Mario.

"But what about Spyro's dragonfly friend, Sparx?" asked Iris; Spyro tried to head inside the mansion, only for Iris to grab his tail and pull him back. "He's one of the best friends you could ask for. Never has he left Spyro's side, ever!"

"Not unless I take a painful few hits, that is..." Spyro muttered under his breath, wishing for the constant praise to end. "Hootie" managed to reach the porch, but had bumped into Erdrick and Raihan.

"Hey, buddy, what's your problem?" Erdrick questioned "Hootie" as he and Raihan turned their attention to the fake dragon. "Not like there's any standing space here for you."

"I think he just wants to take a selfie," assumed Raihan, who solved most of his life problems with selfies. Saving money, fixing boredom, asking Professor Sonia out on a date...you name it. "I can have that arranged!"

"I hate selfies," "Hootie" said to Raihan, but that didn't stop the gym leader from wrapping his arm around the neck of "Hootie", and grinning as he took a selfie with his Rotom phone. Once Raihan took his arm away...

...the head of "Hootie" came off, revealing Mario. Everyone gasped, as all eyes were on Mario who was sweating and laughing nervously.

"Surprise, surprise..." Mario nervously chuckled; Hunter took off the dragon costume to fully reveal himself and Mario, as the cover was now blown. Iris didn't know what to think, as Spyro felt major embarrassment.

"What the..." uttered Lance, feeling lightheaded before he suddenly fainted unto the ground. Eight and Solo grabbed the former champion in the nick of time.

"Mario, why did you and Hunter attend the dragon festival while disguised as a dragon?" Tiki asked the plumber, who was too nervous to answer. That meant Hunter had to answer for Mario...hoo boy.

"We did it...for the culture!" proclaimed Hunter as he raised his fists up high, not knowing what else to say. Spyro felt more ashamed as he facepalmed.

"Dressing up as a dragon just to attend the festival is so not cool!" Iris scolded Mario, as she had expected much better from the plumber. "Why would you even do that, Mario?"

"Hunter and I...have a confession to make," replied Mario, as he found the right words to say. Best to make peace with Iris and the others. "We only disguised ourselves just so we could rescue Spyro."

"Rescue Spyro from what? Having the time of his life?" If Iris actually paid attention today, she would see that was not true.

"No, Iris...Spyro wasn't having the time-a of his life. In case-a you couldn't tell, he was miserable." Mario was speaking the truth, yet Iris didn't have it in her to believe him.

"Miserable isn't the right word," Spyro spoke up, ready to let his feelings out about the dragon festival - whether Iris wanted to hear it or not. "I was kind of more annoyed than anything."

"Aw, did you really?" Iris asked Spyro - the former champion wasn't taking it as hard as Spyro had feared. "You could've told me that sooner. I thought that you would've liked the festival!"

"Can't say that I did...but I'm sure that everyone else had fun." Spyro looked around at the slew of dragon Pokemon, sensing that they all had a good time.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. As long as the Pokemon enjoyed themselves, the dragon festival was a success!" Iris smiled and threw her arms out wide, as the dragon Pokemon voiced their approval. The uproar of Pokemon cries made Iris feel alive.

"I have a confession to make of my own," announced Yoshi, after all the commotion died down...as the green dinosaur turned his attention to the Luminary. "For weeks, I have always wanted the Luminary to ride on top of me.

"That's not a confession, that's a weird fantasy," the Luminary said to Yoshi, who was creepily drawing closer to the swordsman. "Get away from me..."

"For weeks, I've waited for my opportunity...and my time is now." Yoshi was staring down the Luminary, who hid behind Veronica as a human shield.

"Can we not do this, Yoshi? I've turned you down multiple times. When will you get it through your thick skull already? No is no!"

"Fine then...if you refuse to ride on top of me...then I'll have to ride on top of you!"

Yelling some weird battle cry, Yoshi leaped on top of the Luminary, riding on him like a dinosaur. The Luminary was held down on all fours, as Yoshi had a vice grip on him.

"Get...off! Get off!" the Luminary barked at Yoshi, expecting his fellow heroes to save him from trouble. But they were all too busy laughing at the swordsman's plight to help out.

"A legendary hero being harrassed by a green dinosaur?!" exclaimed Raihan, who knew exactly what to do...as he took out his Rotom phone. And for one reason only. "This calls for a selfie!"

Raihan: Gonna have so many bragging rights when I return home to Galar. Leon won't even know what to do! *sighs in relief* Ah, to finally have some bragging rights against your rival...

"Giddy up, horsey!" Yoshi said to the Luminary as he kicked the swordsman in his side, treating him as a horse instead of, you know...a dinosaur. Yoshi kept on having fun atop the Luminary's back until a dark shadow was cast over him.

Gulping nervously, Yoshi slowly looked up and saw a Tyrantrum staring down at him. The despot Pokemon was joined by Drampa, who was tended to by the Luminary earlier.

"Hi fellas..." Yoshi nervously waved at Tyrantrum and company, fearing what was bound to happen to him next. Poor guy was face-to-face with the wrong kind of Pokemon.

Being that she was now at the mansion, Adeleine obviously had to do some catching up with Kirby. She did so at Cafe Leblanc, where Kirby got the painter caught up to speed.

"Really hate to hear what happened with Cloud," Adeline said to Kirby, who had filled his friend in on Cloud's actions. Joker couldn't help but smirk as he made some curry for Adeleine. "But you sure did a good thing getting that whole Aerith situation resolved!"

"Couldn't have done it without Ema," said Kirby as he casually sucked in his bowl of curry. Joker felt some type of way about it, especially since Kirby swallowed the bowl. "That replica was her idea."

"hey, adeleine, what do you do when you get cold?" Sans asked the young painter, interrupting her conversation just so he could crack a pun. "do you...put on another coat?"

"I'm wearing a smock, but...nice joke, I guess," replied Adeleine, as Sans and Vault Boy were laughing it up. Again, Vault Boy's laugh was silent.

"Good news, peeps...Meta Knight is back in action!" Pit announced to those inside the cafe, as he walked inside with the masked Meta Knight. Nobody cheered or applauded Meta Knight getting his mask back, which was what the Star Warrior expected...and wanted.

"Now my time won't be wasted with the likes of you," Meta Knight said to Pit, before climbing onto one of the chairs at the counter. Must suck to be so short. Pit gasped out of happiness when he saw Kirby and Adeleine.

"Uh oh, I see what's going on here!" Pit had the biggest smile on his face as he came over to Kirby and Adeleine, wrapping his arms around the two. "Having some wedding discussions, I assume?"

"Why would we discuss Link and Zelda's wedding?" frowned Kirby, and soon enough the pink puffball understood where his friend was getting at. "Unless..."

"We were...talking about my stationery duties for the wedding in October," Adeleine said to Pit as she quickly covered Kirby's mouth, giving Pit a warm smile. Pit wasn't that convinced.

"Hide the truth all you want, you can't run from it..." Pit had this to say, as he returned to behind the counter. Before he could get back to work, he had a question to ask Joker. "Did I take too long, Joker? Did I lose my job?"

"You wouldn't have lost it, to begin with," replied Joker as he served Adeleine her curry. That threat from Viridi must've scared the young man straight!

With Ryza's materials in their possession, Coco and Tails returned to the mansion with their friends, making their way to the mansion's side. Once they arrived at the mansion premises, they saw Team Rocket being manhandled by Drake's Mega Salamence.

"Should we help them?" Tails asked the others, as he saw Mega Salamence having its way with Jessie, James, and Meowth. Neither one of the three even stood a chance.

"Help them capture the Salamance, or help them not die at the hands of the Salamence?" asked Crunch, before making up his mind as he marched over to Team Rocket. "Eh, I'll just help them..."

"Oh no, Crunch is going to save us and make us look bad in the process!" Meowth panicked when he saw Crunch making his way to Team Rocket. "Scram!" Meowth, Jessie, and James ran back to the mansion, as their plan to capture Mega Salamence was a failure.

"...so much for that," Crunch shrugged as he returned to Tails and company. "Those three ran off at the sight of me. I'm finally scarier than a Pokemon!"

"Don't get too ahead of yourself," Aku advised Crunch, who waved off the floating mask. Finally being left alone, Mega Salamence calmly went back to relaxing by itself.

"Yoo-hoo! Look who I found!" Cortex called out to the others, as he brought Ryza with him. "Did any one of you order an alchemist?"

"Ryza Stout! Great to have you back," Tails said to the alchemist, as he flew over and gave the alchemist the sack he got from E. Gadd. "I think you might want this."

"What's this?" Ryza asked curiously as she placed the sack on the ground and opened it. The alchemist was surprised to see what was inside. "Wait...are these the materials I synthesized for Cloud?"

"Sure is! Cloud didn't need 'em anymore, so he wanted to give them back to you." As Tails gave his explanation, Sonic looked around to see if Fi was nearby.

"Aw, that was very sweet of him! I have no clue what to do with this stuff, though, so I might sell it back in town. Could make myself a fortune!"

"Is Fi around?" Sonic asked Ryza, who totally ignored the blue hedgehog's question. Even if Fi was around, Ryza wouldn't give that critter up so easily.

"Well, guess I should get going now." Ryza hoisted the sack over her shoulder, as she left the premises. Goodbye, everyone! Oh, and thanks for giving me these materials, Tails!"

"You're welcome! Take care!" responded Tails as he waved to Ryza. The yellow fox hoped to see Ryza again in the future...and Sonic did as well, but for the wrong reasons.

Cortex: My task of wooing Tiki wasn't successful due to my faulty potion, but at least I made up for it by helping out that Ryza Stout girl. That means... *buries face in his hands and sobs* ...my villain decay has returned! When will I ever learn?
Uka: Dr. Cortex, you're making it real hard to be at your side...

As his friends checked to see if Mega Salamence was okay, Sonic went to the front yard of the mansion, where the dragon festival had already ended. Why? Because some paramedics were present, tending to an injured resident.

"Woah! An ambulance!" exclaimed Sonic, as he saw the paramedics placing an injured Yoshi on a stretcher. "Wonder what happened."

"Yoshi had this butt-a handed to him by two dragon Pokemon," Mario explained to Sonic as he, Spyro, and Hunter came over. "Tried to ride on top-a of the Luminary, and a Tyrantrum and a Drampa both-a took it personally..."

"That Dragon Pulse is no joke," Hunter shook his head, having witnessed Yoshi being attacked by Drampa's Dragon Pulse. Which was even stronger than the one from Iris's Hydreigon.

"I may have a few broken bones...but I still have my dignity," proclaimed Yoshi as the paramedics wheeled him to the ambulance. The paramedics passed by the Luminary and Veronica along the way.

"Let this be a good lesson to you, Yoshi," the Luminary called out to the green dinosaur, who was admitted inside the ambulance. "Riding on others isn't all that it seems!"

"Why waste your breath? He obviously won't learn," Veronica told the Luminary, as the paramedics close the ambulance doors. The ambulance was now ready to take off down the road.

"Dang it...I was going to take a selfie with Yoshi," griped Raihan as he and his posse of dragon-type trainers - Lance, Drake, and Iris - came over to watch the ambulance drive off. "He ruined my plans!"

"And he also ruined the festival," grunted Drake, as Sonic instantly perked up. "Festival could've gone on if it weren't for Yoshi's disgusting act!"

"You guys had a festival?" Sonic asked the dragon-type trainers, salty that he was left out of the fun. The festival wouldn't be his cup of tea anyway.

Later that day, after Lance, Raihan, and Drake went back home to their respective regions, Link and Zelda met with Adeleine in the foyer. The couple basically gave the painter a rundown of what she had to do as a stationer.

"Can you get all of this done before the wedding?" Link asked Adeleine, who was looking over a list that the Hylian had given her. Adeleine skimmed the list, nodding her head thoughtfully.

"Nope! Easy peasy!" smiled Adeleine, giving Link and Zelda her full confidence as she stuffed the list in her imaginary pocket. "I'll get it all done in a jiffy."

Hammer Bro: Guess who got their wings back?! *holds up a pair of white wings* These bad boys fell off of Yoshi after those Pokemon creamed him. Not gonna lie, watching that beatdown was pretty fun...from the distance.

Pit: Adeleine is doing stationery work for Link and Zelda? *scoffs* We all know that's a cover for her and Kirby's secret plan to get married. Reckon they might pull a Chrom...or a Corrin...or maybe a Robin. What is it with swordsmen marrying in secret?

As they watch Adeleine walk away, Link and Zelda were soon joined by Iris. The Hylians expected Iris to be dismayed with how her dragon festival ended.

"Iris! We heard what happened with your dragon festival," Zelda said to the former champion, who wasn't terribly sad as the princess suspected. "We are both sorry about..."

"What are you feeling sorry for?" questioned Iris, before smiling as she raised her arms in the air. "I had the time of my LIFE at the dragon festival!"

"But the way that it ended - we thought you would be unhappy about it. You probably wanted the festival to go on longer."

"Well, before that whole Yoshi incident...everything was great! Could've gone on a bit longer, sure, but that festival was everything that I could hope for."

"Even if I didn't like it?" asked a certain purple dragon, as Iris and company saw Spyro enter the foyer. Spyro felt like he had to make peace with Iris. "I didn't know how to tell you how I really felt..."

"Well, you told me how you felt anyway, so that's what matters." Iris walked over to Spyro and knelt at the purple dragon. "Better out than in, amirite?"

"This means we're cool, right?" Spyro would get his answer in the form of a hug, as Iris hugged the dragon real tight. "Probably shouldn't have asked that..."

"No matter what, you're still the most awesome purple dragon ever!" Iris stopped hugging Spyro, before standing back up. "A purple dragon that can breathe ice and run super fast and..."

"Okay, okay, we heard enough..." Spyro looked away, as Link and Zelda looked on with amused smiles. It was evident to the Hylians that Spyro wasn't used to the constant attention...and the constant admiration.

Iris ought to be fortunate that a dragon like Spyro didn't have a breaking point.