Author's Note:
The first anticipated Nintendo game has finally arrived...Pokemon Legends: Arceus! Truly a breath of fresh air in the franchise. I'll be honest with you, I kinda held off on finishing this chapter until some early gameplay was released (shoutout to Patterz for that sweet gameplay footage). Was it worth it? I think so. This chapter was also intended to go along with the Chinese New Year theme, but focusing on Pokemon Legends: Arceus was my main priority. Would've had this chapter published sooner, but it was getting late and I didn't feel like hitting the publish button without answering some reviews. So, without further ado...
"You know, Master Hand is getting too buddy-buddy with Anna. That gave me an idea...what if Crazy Hand got jealous, and he tries to kill Anna? I know, that sounds too much, but I kinda like it. So, what do you think?"
That sounds...extreme. I can't imagine Crazy Hand killing anyone, let alone Anna, but Crazy is in his name. A JRPG enjoyer has questions about the new Pokemon game:
"1. Have you seen the leaks? What's your opinion on the leaked Hisuian Pokemon that will appear?
2. Since the game is apparently held in the past, will there be some time travel shenanigans included in the story? I don't know, like will we meet some of the human characters from Hisui?
3. So as it turns out, Monolith Soft is working with Game Freak on making this game. Do you think they're the unsung hero of Nintendo? Since they also helped in the making of BOTW, New Horizons, and now Arceus.
4. Speaking of Monolith Soft, do you think Xenoblade Chronicles 3 will be announced soon, or do you think they will wait a bit longer?"
1. I have seen the leaks. Some of the Pokmeon look depressed, which I guess makes sense since they're bound to go extinct. Happy to see a few cross-gen evolutions, I'm a sucker for those.
2. Correctamundo! There will be some time travel shenanigans taking place.
3. With a track record like that...I think Monolift Soft desves tons of praise.
4. We might get an announcement for XC3 this summer during a Nintendo Direct. But I wouldn't count on it happening then.
BowserFan327 has come worth with a question:
"Will Shadow Labrys appear in the Persona 4 Arena Ultimax Chapter?"
Yes she will. David has come worth with a question...many of them, in fact:
"Will the shadow characters like Shadow Rise for example show up for the Persona 4 Arena chapter? (To set up the reveal regarding Naoto as well). A Kirby focused chapter when Kirby and The Forgotten Land comes out? And finally, do you think Square Enix cheaped out by putting the Kingdom Hearts games on Cloud Service only? (It's possible to fit the 1.5 and 2.5 final mix games on Switch cartridges but they chose to be cheap)."
Some will. There will be a Kirby-focused chapter when the new game comes out. And that was a pretty baffling decision made on Square Enix's part. If they could make Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX work on the PlayStation...why not the Switch?!
Episode 319: DistantPast
Master Hand was absolutely no stranger when it came to celebrating certain holidays. Along with the usual holidays of Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Valentine's Day, he would also go out of the box and celebrate holidays done in other countries. Boxing Day was one such example - and it was a bigger success than Master Hand or anyone else could even imagine.
But thanks to some "convincing" from Anna, Master Hand was about to celebrate the New Year...but only one of the Chinese variety. Yes, Master Hand was making plans to ring in the Chinese New Year, which on the 2022 Chinese calendar fell on February 1.
With the Chinese New Year only but four days away, Master Hand wanted to do some early preparations for the Spring Festival. That meant securing enough fireworks from the Yiga Clan, sending someone out to purchase enough red envelopes, and having Pyra and Mythra (but mainly Pyra) prepare some traditional Chinese cuisine. Oh, and what Chinese New Year celebration would be complete without a Chinese dragon?
"You look so adorbs as a Chinese dragon, Bowser!" Anna said to the Koopa King, who was getting touched up at the beauty salon. The makeup and whatnot that Bowser had on made him look like a grandpa almost.
"Do not call me 'adorbs' ever again..." Bowser threatened Anna, who made a mental note to call Bowser as such - just to get under his skin. "I much prefer to be called 'handsome' or 'good-looking.'"
"So you preferred to be lied to, got it." Anna applied the finishing touches on Bowser, whose heavy disdain for the merchant increased tenfold. "There! All done!"
"About time..." Bowser got up from his seat, looking himself in the mirror thinking that he looked goofy. If he could take it all off his face, he would. "Do I really have to look like this until Tuesday?"
"I could've done it on the day of, but since you wanted to be a bad boy...you'll just have to wear it as your little punishment. Hope you have fun!"
Bowser: As my punishment for hypnotizing the others and forcing him into my own special cult...uh, fan club, I have to look like a stupid Chinese dragon for Chinese New Year. Thought that I could get out of it by putting all the blame on Magolor, but that didn't work out so well in my favor. But at least I didn't end up like Pit!
Pit: *scrubs the inside of a toilet with a toothbrush, before stopping and wiping away some sweat from his forehead* Man, why am I the only one who has to scrub the toilet? Everyone else gets something easier and less gross, but me...
Dark Pit: *from afar* Pit, did you steal my toothbrush?! I know you're not using it to clean the toilets! I just got that toothbrush!
Pit: Uh, time to get back to work! *returns to scrubbing the toilet, albeit at a much faster pace*
Bowser: I mean, who would honestly share an embarrassing video of Cloud with everyone, just to humiliate the guy? I know I would!
"C'mon, what do you have to lose?" Anna asked the angry and stone-faced Bowser as she escorted the Koopa King out of the beauty salon. The first person that Bowser saw upon exiting the salon was Proto Man.
"Yikes, Bowser, you look like some ugly deadbeat grandpa," Proto Man commented on how the Koopa King looked, not really feeling the colors and textures that Anna had used. "Which kinda makes sense, considering how you are with any of your kids not named..."
"GRRRAAAAAH!" Bowser growled ferociously at Proto Man as he ran towards him with his meaty claws in the air. Not taking any chances, Proot Man took off down the hallway, as Bowser came to a stop. "Yeah, you better run!"
"See, you even got the ferocious dragon part down!" Anna exclaimed to Bowser, who grumbled to himself as he ran his hand down his face. Which Anna didn't appreciate in the slightest. "Stop that, you'll ruin the makeup!"
"In that case, I oughta do this more often." Bowser certainly couldn't ruin his makeup now, for Master Hand was coming down the hallway. Master Hand chuckled to himself when he saw Bowser, much to Bowser's chagrin.
"You know, Bowser, I remember when you wanted to be recognized as a dragon," Master Hand spoke with the Koopa King after his laughing fit had ceased. "Back when Iris held her dragon festival. But look at you now - living the dream!"
"Just not the way that I intended to..." Bowser liked to believe that he was a dragon - by most self-imposed standards - even before today. "...but this is better than scrubbing toilets, I guess."
"That's the spirit!" Master Hand gave Bowser a thumbs up, before turning his attention to Anna - his right-hand gal for the Chinese New Year. "Our visitors are on their way soon, so I'll be outside to greet them."
"Oh, goodie!" gleamed Anna as she excitedly clapped her hands together, only for her excitement to die down when a question entered her mind. "Wait, how come you get to greet them?"
"Should've been more specific...I was referring to our other visitors. Professor Rowan gave me a call; he and his party are heading down the road to the mansion. I'll leave you with handling any other tasks today pertaining to the Spring Festival."
"Got it!" Now getting some much-needed clarification from Master Hand, Anna was upbeat and perky once more. "You can count on me, Master Hand!"
Professor Rowan had hosted a Pokemon Summit in episode 309, and the subject that was being discussed had to do with Pokemon in the Hisui region. Rowan had done several studies on the Pokemon that once lived in Hisui, which have now become extinct many years later. However, he wanted his hands on these particular Pokemon one way or another.
Thanks to a tip from one of his scientist acquaintances, Rowan discovered that time travel was somewhat possible at the mansion. Dr. N. Tropy had demonstrated it first when he built the Rift Generator in the basement back in episode 273. With the Rift Generator having been dismantled a month after it was built, Rowan needed to build a time machine himself..and fortunately, he brought some folks along to assist him.
"This is for running that red light earlier!" Barry barked at some poor SUV driver, as he and Dawn filed out of an SUV parked in the mansion's driveway. Barry had thrown an empty Poke Ball at the driver...and missed. "Hope you enjoy being fined!"
"Can you not embarrass yourself for one moment?" Dawn pleaded to Barry, who retrieved his Poke Ball from inside the SUV. "You're acting like that traffic incident affected you personally."
"But it did affect me personally...it affected all of us personally! We could've gotten in a car crash and died, if not for this guy's negligence!"
"Barry...that is enough," a certain professor said sternly to the Pokemon trainer, who hushed his yap in a hurry. The professor that was speaking to Barry was none other than Rowan, who was accompanied by three other Pokemon professors - Elm, Juniper, and Burnet.
Dawn: Barry and I are on another trip to the mansion...and yes, I have to play plus-one once again. No, Barry didn't stage a hunger strike outside Rowan's lab this time - he just threatened to post humiliating photos of Rowan online for the whole world to see. Granted, Rowan doesn't have such photos since he rarely takes any - or even knows how to operate a phone - but he signed Barry up anyway for the sake of his overall sanity.
"Sorry, Professor Rowan! I just get so bothered when people choose to drive poorly on the road," responded Barry, as Dawn pinched the crown of her nose wishing that she was back at home in Sinnoh. Master Hand came outside, floating over to Rowan and company.
"Hello, professors!" Master Hand greeted Rowan and company, impressed by the crew that Rowan assembled, before taking notice of Dawn and Barry. "And hello to you, Dawn."
"What about me?" Barry whined to Master Hand, who completely ignored the Pokemon trainer as he floated closer to Rowan. Barry let out a defeated sigh as he hunched over in sadness.
"Is your plan still on? You wish to go back in time to the Hisui region, yes?" Master Hand had granted Rowan permission to pursue his goal, provided that he had the resources to pull it off.
"That is our agenda, for today," Rowan confirmed with a nod, as he had several machine parts behind them. It was a struggle fitting them inside the SUV, let alone riding inside the SUV with them. "Is the basement available?"
"The basement is all yours! Cleaned out all the Rabbids, so that you'll have no trouble installing everything. I take it that you won't need any assistance putting everything together?"
"No assistance needed!" Burnet responded with a smile, as she was the most eager out of everyone to get started. "We're gonna have a blast putting together our little...time machine."
Because Burnet said the words "time machine", you know that Dr. Wily was triggered somewhere. Where was Dr. Wily, though? He could be at the tower taking a nap, or he could be out shopping for some essentials. Wherever Dr. Wily was, he was bound to bother someone about this time machine being constructed at the mansion. He could be at Mario's house, even.
"So it was Professor E. Gadd who stole-a that journal!" stated Mario, as he was in the kitchen preparing some lunch. Snake had filled Mario in about the journal, and even apologized to the plumber for having Luigi (try to) beat him up. "I never would-a have known."
"You've been hanging on that same fact for about a week now," Spyro said to Mario, who had found the sliced turkey that he was looking for in the fridge. "Also, why do you sound butthurt?"
"Because I never got the chance-a to finish reading that journal. So much juicy info I could've taken in before-a Snake and Hal got their hands on it."
"Meh, pretty sure it was just intelligible chicken scratch anyway." As Spyro left the kitchen, Mario was about to fix his ham and turkey sandwich when he heard a knock on the back screen door. Mario went to the screen door and saw Dr. Wily banging on the glass.
"Dr. Wily?" Mario uttered the robot inventor's name, as he opened the screendoor; Wily rushed inside Mario's house, nearly trampling over Mario and sending him down to the floor.
"Mario, you have to go," a panicky Wily stressed to the plumber, acting as if an apocalypse was on the horizon and Mario's family were the only ones affected. "Run as far as you can!"
"Why should-a I? What's the rush?" Mario saw his question go unanswered, as Wily hurried up the stairs before coming back down a moment later with a small suitcase. "That's-a my travel suitcase."
"It'll do, for now." Wily placed the suitcase on the floor and unzipped it, before going into the laundry area and tossing random clothes into the suitcase. Peach came over to Mario, seeing the state of affairs that Wily was in.
"Those clothes have yet to be dried," Peach informed Wily, who was taken clothes out of the washing machine and was trying to stuff them inside Mario's small suitcase. Wily got frustrated as none of the clothes fit.
"Princess Peach! You, your daughter, and your pet dog must go with Mario, and leave this city forever," Wily instructed Peach who found what the robot inventor said to be too drastic beyond measure. "It'll be for your own good!"
"Oh, dear! Is someone plotting to kill us?" Peach was growing fearful, whereas Mario remained confused. Wily ultimately gave up on stuffing the suitcase, as he got up and looked at Peach solemnly in the eye.
"I fear that something even worse is about to happen..." Wily took a brief pause, letting the moment settle in so that Peach would be comfortable enough to take in and process what she was about to hear. "...your husband, Mario, might be traveling back through time."
Spring Man: You should've seen it - Dr. Wily ran out of the tower like a madman! The dude was moving faster than a Ninjask if that's even possible to believe. Don't know what ticked him off, but he randomly shouted "time machine?!" before turning on the jets.
Dr. Wily: Yes, "time machine" is one of my trigger words. Some of my other trigger words, aside from Professor E. Gadd's name, include "geriatrics, "world peace", and "pineapple pizza".
"Really? That's it?" snorted Cappy, failing to see what the big issue was. Wily resented the fact that Cappy was downplaying the situation. "That's not really a big deal, in my opinion."
"But it is a big deal!" stressed Wily, bothered that nobody else cared as much as he did. It really made him feel like the odd man out. "Mario almost lost his life going back in time, and I refuse to let history repeat itself."
"You sure care a lot about my well-a being, Dr. Wily," Mario said to the robot inventor, who gently took the plumber's hand; he totally didn't bother taking the travel suitcase with him, it was a lost cause.
"On the contrary, Mario - I care more about people not falling victim to time-traveling. Now we must go!" So Wily took Mario out of his house through the screen door, as he expected Peach to follow after him.
However, when he and Mario arrived outside at the patio, Wily was stunned to see Dawn and Barry standing by. It was almost as if the two Pokemon trainers were both expecting Mario's presence.
"Ha! Had a sneaky feeling that you would exit your house this way," Barry grinned at Mario, who Wily was now being super protective of as he held the plumber close. "Now come with us, unless you wanna be..."
"Let me handle this, Barry," Dawn said to the Pokemon trainer, saving Mario from a potential fine as she approached the plumber in a friendly manner. "Mario, how would you like to travel back through time?"
"Nein! Nein, I say!" Wily rejected Dawn's offer, as he stood in front of Mario with his arms out to the side. The robot inventor was becoming one heck of a guardian angel - in his own mind. "Mario isn't going anywhere!"
"Is your name Mario? Do you even speak for him?" Dawn tried to look past Wily, who maneuvered around a bit so that Dawn wouldn't get to see Mario's face. "Mario, do you want to go back in time for what?"
"What's in it for-a me?" asked Mario, who wished to know the full details of his time-traveling trip. If the plumber was going back to 15th-century Spain, where Ezio remained, he'd probably say no in an instant.
"I dunno, are you interested in seeing what Sinnoh looked like in the past?" Just like that, Dawn immediately had Mario hooked as she had the plumber fully on board. Wily wasn't liking it one bit. "We just need you to find some Pokemon in the Hisui region."
"Pokemon that you can bring to the mansion's sanctuary!" exclaimed Barry, doing his best to entice Mario even further. The trick worked, as Mario was feigning more than ever to go back in time.
"The Pokemon sanctuary could-a use some new Pokemon..." stated Mario, as he didn't have to mull over his decision that much - for his mind was already made up. "...eh, sure, I'm-a game."
"Awesome!" cheered Dawn, as Wily's mouth went agape; Wily almost felt as if he was betrayed by Mario after the plumber had made his decision. "Professor Burnet is building the time machine as we speak, so it'll be a while until you can..."
"BLASPHEMY!" growled Wily, holding in the urge to slap Mario silly; he wanted to do the same to Dawn and Barry as well, for enticing Mario. "How can you do this, Mario? I know your twin brother wouldn't be suckered in so easily."
"Suckered in by what?" asked Luigi as he showed up on Mario's patio after Wily had mentioned him. The green plumber was busy trimming some weeds in his backyard, as he had some hedge scissors in his hands.
"Dr. Wily is just salty that Mario is going to be traveling back in time," Dawn explained to Luigi - and just like his brother, Luigi was suddenly hooked. Luigi dropped his hedge scissors to the ground.
"Time-a traveling where?" Luigi was rubbing his hands together with intrigue, as Wily developed an uneasy feeling concerning the green plumber.
"To the Sinnoh region of old - the Hisui region!" replied Barry, smiling as he pointed upwards at the sky with authority. The bit of information Barry told was all Luigi needed to know.
"Oh boy, Pokemon of times-a past! Let me come along-a with Mario. I've always dreamt-a of going back in time again." It was certainly a dream that left Wily genuinely concerned for Luigi's ambition.
Luigi: I felt bummed-a out the last time Mario went back through-a time, especially when Mario told-a the places that he and his crew visited. They even went-a back to my wedding! I would've loved to make the trip-a with them, just to give past-a me some advice. And also tell him how awesome-a his kids are.
"Then that makes two," confirmed Dawn, as Wily was left in shambles; the Mario Bros both willingly agreed to Professor Rowan's mission, and expressed genuine excitement in doing so. "We should probably peg Lucario to make the trip."
"Good thinking," agreed Barry, as a depressed Wily hunched over his back and walked away from Mario's patio. "Bet he would love to see how Sinnoh looked back then!"
As the respective man and woman of the mansion, Link and Zelda had a major hand in planning for the Chinese New Year. The two Hylians were following the Chinese calendar, keeping track of any task that was meant to be completed before February 1st. One task in particular that had to be done was cleaning out your house - and that's where Mr. Game and Watch came in.
"All done!" Mr. Game and Watch confirmed to Link and Zelda, as he had finished vacuuming the entire living room. Link and Zelda did a look-around, seeing that the living room was absolutely spotless.
"Nice work, Mr. GW!" Link commended Mr. Game and Watch for his efforts, as Mr. Game and Watch felt appreciated. "Maybe now we should pay you for keeping the mansion nice and tidy."
"You've said that the past few times..." The appreciation that Mr. Game and Watch had now faded away, as the 2-D man knew that he would forever go unpaid despite being a fabulous groundskeeper. "...no reason that I should believe you now."
"Glad that you already know." Link and Zelda finished inspecting the living room, as Mr. Game and Watch grabbed his cleaning materials and left in a huff. Link must've left Mr. Game and Watch in a very sour mood.
"Once Pit is done scrubbing the toilets, we should be good to go," Zelda stated to Link as she and the Hylian both exited the living room - only to encounter Master Hand on their way to the foyer. "Hello, Master Hand."
"Sorry for the holdup, you two - I was busy speaking with Professor Rowan," Master Hand apologized to Link and Zelda, as he had some high hopes for Rowan's time-traveling ambitions. "How is it coming along?"
"The mansion's about ninety-five percent cleaned," stated Link, as he overexaggerated the number by a smidge - probably just to satisfy Master Hand. "Mr. Game and Watch just swept the living room."
"Well, as long as he doesn't do it on Tuesday, we should be fine. Did you know that sweeping on Chinese New Year Day is associated with sweeping away wealth? Learned that from Wario."
Wario: There is apparently a lot of stuff that is deemed "taboo" on the first day of the Chinese New Year. Such as washing your hair, keeping kids from crying, borrowing money, and killing. So I might as well take care of those things before the big shindig. *pauses* Minus the killing part. That focuses on killing other humans, right?
"Master Hand, do we really have to celebrate the Chinese New Year?" Samus asked the giant hand as she passed through, holding a banana that she grabbed from the kitchen. "Not like anyone here is Chinese."
"Stop trying to disguise your apathy, Miss Aran," Master Hand told the bounty hunter, who groaned in response; soon the doorbell suddenly rang, which caused Master Hand to perk up. "Here comes the other visitors!"
"'Other' visitors?" Samus, who was expecting to see Pokemon professors outside of Rowan's troupe, was instead surprised to see Isabelle arrive with a woman of Chinese descent. In her hands was a traditional Chinese dish.
"Here they are, Master Hand!" Isabelle said to the giant hand, standing with the Chinese woman - the climatologist known as Mei. Or as she was also known, Dr. Mei-Ling Zhou. It was her first time at the mansion since episode 199.
"Ni hao, Master Hand," Mei greeted the giant hand as she gave him a formal bow, before presenting to him the dish she had made. "I have prepared a pot of dumplings and spring rolls. Should be enough for everyone!"
"Much appreciated, Dr. Zhou!" Master Hand thanked Mei, before redirecting his attention to Samus believing that the bounty hunter just got owned. "Well, Samus? You were saying?"
"I mean, she doesn't really count, not like she lives here," stated Samus, leading Master Hand to believe that the bounty hunter was trying to cover her butt. "Don't tell me you asked her to be a guest..."
"Master Hand personally extended an invite to Mei, Ling Xiaoyu, and Chun-li for Chinese New Year," Isabelle explained to Samus, as a nearby Ryu gulped nervously and walked away. Ryu clearly had Chun-li on his mind. "That's why Mei showed up early."
"I wanted to be in town to help the mansion ring in the Chinese New Year properly," Mei informed Samus, who believed that the mansion should help themselves. Safe to say that Samus wouldn't be part of the fun.
"Such a poor, poor decision you've made..." Samus muttered in response, and Mei, wanting to cheer the bounty hunter up, smiled as she offered her a spring roll. Samus smacked the roll away once it got close to her mouth. "...don't even think about it."
"You should consider yourself lucky, Samus," Master Hand told the bounty hunter, as Mei picked up the spring roll and dusted it off gently. "Usually I'd force you to celebrate Chinese New Year, but now...you're off the hook. I'm a changed man now!"
"I'll see it when I believe it..." On that note, Samus walked away, on her way to the workshop so that she could be as far away from Master Hand as possible.
Professor Burnet was working hard in the mansion's basement, putting together the time machine meant to transport the Mario Bros back in time to the Hisui region. Speaking of the Mario Bros, they stood outside the basement wearing some ill-fitting attire.
"You two have never looked any better," Fox said to the Mario Bros, as he and Falco had picked out the plumber's "time-traveling gear". Said gear consisted of a diving helmet, a raincoat, and some boots.
"Yeah, if you two weren't married, you'd be pulling in the ladies looking like that," added Falco, believing that the gear gave the Mario Bros a high amount of swag that they never would've had before.
"I look-a ridiculous," complained Mario, with Fox and Falco both hoping that the attire would eventually grow unto Mario over time. Hopefully, before he made the trip back in time. "Who would wanna be seen-a looking like this?"
"Those are the same suits we wore when we went to Midgar, mind you," stated Fox, who never wanted to go back to Midgar ever again after seeing how impoverished it was. Well, the slums, at least. "None of the folks in the slums hated how we looked."
"Probably because they too have a poor sense-a in fashion," quipped Luigi, and surprisingly, both Fox and Falco agreed with the green plumber. Neither one of them said anything in retort.
Falco: Now that he mentioned it, it would make sense that the folks from Midgar have no fashion sense. I mean, they're poor for a reason...
Fox: Is there...is there such a thing as poor-shaming? Because Falco likes to do that a lot, and I don't wanna be roped into that kind of stuff. But fat-shaming, though...now that's more up my alley!
"Why are you dressed up like that?" Dawn asked the Mario Bros, as she and Barry showed up wearing time-traveling gear of their own. The Pokemon trainers' gear looked feudal which would obviously help them blend in more with their surroundings.
"Because these two will be traveling the Hisui region...in style," replied Fox, as Dawn couldn't help but roll her eyes at the pilot's bogus claim. "Stylin' and profilin' on humans and Pokemon alike!"
"Doesn't make up for the fact that those costumes are hideous!" exclaimed Barry, as Fox and Falco were both offended by the Pokemon trainer's remark. "Mario and Luigi both deserve to be fined!"
"But I'm broke! Mama mia..." whined Luigi, one of the few individuals on the planet to take his fine seriously, as the pilots were about to confront Barry. Barry was about to send out his Empoleon as he took out his Poke Ball, until...
"Mario! Luigi! There you are!" exclaimed Elm as he stepped out of the basement, carrying two clothes hangers in his hands. On each hanger was an outfit similar to the ones that Dawn and Barry wore. "You'll both be wearing these. Some 'fly' outfits, as Burnet described."
"But they're already wearing fly outfits," Falco stated to Elm, who kindly handed the outfits to the Mario Bros. Mario and Luigi accepted the outfits without any sort of hesitation.
"You call what they're wearing fly? Maybe you need glasses just like me!" Elm's comment cut in deep into Falco, who was about to confront Elm only to be held back by Fox.
"Take it easy - it's not often that you get owned by a nerd," Fox did his best to soothe Falco, as the Mario Bros went down the hallway so that they could change into their new outfits. "Wear it like a badge."
"Good afternoon, you two!" Hal greeted Mario and Luigi as he came down the hallway, on his way to pay his friend Snake a visit. The hacker came to a stop, however, when he saw Dawn and Barry. "Nice outfits, you two," he said to the Pokemon trainers."
"We're going back in time to the Hisui region!" Barry enthusiastically said to Hal, before Dawn could have the chance to silence the fellow Pokemon trainer. "Gonna meet some cool-looking Pokemon."
"Way to spill the beans, Barry..." scolded Dawn, believing that Barry should've just kept his mouth shut - but nonetheless, Hal found himself intrigued.
"Time travel, hm? I've never ventured into that field before," stated Hal, as time-traveling was one of the few things he had yet to master. Elm, seeing how intrigued Hal was, walked over to the hacker.
"You're welcome to join our team, if you like," Elm offered to Hal, as there was an open spot on Rowan's crew. A spot that could be easily filled. "We have a time machine down in the basement, almost ready to go!"
"Yes, I'd love to join!" exclaimed Hal, knowing that Snake would be ticked off with his decision. But the hacker didn't care at this point. "What role can I possibly fill for you guys?"
"Well, we do need some kind of way to keep track of our subjects in Hisui..." That's when Hal thought of a brilliant idea, as an imaginary light bulb dinged over his head.
"Come to think of it, I know a way that we can get the job done. We just need the right technology..."
Wily refused to stop until he discouraged Mario and Luigi from time-traveling, and he knew that he was racing against time - no pun intended. The robot inventor knew he couldn't go about it alone, as he looked for the right guy or gal to assist him. One individual Wily had in mind was Cloud, who he encountered in the dining room.
"From your experience, you know how dangerous traveling through time can be," Wily discussed with Cloud, who was trying to enjoy his lunch in peace. Eating a pulled pork sandwich just didn't feel right with some old man bothering you.
"Just for clarification, Dr. Wily, I went to an alternative timeline," clarified Cloud, hoping that this tidbit of information would make Wily vamoose. But Wily remained sitting in his chair, unmoving. "There's a big difference."
"Big difference, yes, but the concept is all the same. Your experience must've made you realize the dangers of time travel, and with that, we can..."
"Let me guess - someone's building a time machine in the basement." After Wily nodded his head in response to the question, Cloud got up out of his chair and took his sandwich with him. "If you want me to help you, then you can count me out."
"So you're willing to let Mario and Luigi be potentially lost in time forever?" Wily's attempt at guilt-tripping didn't work on Cloud, who exited the dining room so that he could enjoy his pulled pork sandwich elsewhere. Wily sighed in defeat.
Cloud: Never understood why Dr. Wily is so against time travel. Is it because he had a bad experience? Did he go back in time to woo some lady he had a crush on but was rejected by her rejected in the worst way? That would explain how the rest of his life turned out, his beef with Dr. Light aside.
"Want a spring roll to cheer you up?" Mei approached Wily in a friendly manner, as she offered the robot inventor a spring roll. Mei had been offering spring rolls to anyone that needed their spirits uplifted.
"No thanks, I'm not..." replied Wily as he looked up, only to stop speaking when he saw Mei. His eyes went big after he recognized the climatologist. "...ah, Dr. Mei-Ling Zhou! You'd make the perfect partner for stopping that time machine."
"You mean the one that Professor Burnet's building?" Mei seemed to have foreknowledge of the time machine, which both impressed and surprised Wily.
"Yes, how did you know about it? I take it that you have seen Burnet's progress putting it together?" Wily saw Mei as an extremely worthy accomplice for that reason alone - provided that it was true.
"Not quite, but she was talking about in this group chat." Mei took out her phone and held it up, with a group chat visible on the screen. "It's a group chat with scientists and inventors alike!"
"Scientists and inventors?" This group chat of high-IQ chat was major news to Wily. Everyone in that group chat must be Ricky and Morty fans. "May I take a peek at who's in this chatroom?"
"Okay, here you go." Mei reluctantly handed her phone to the robot inventor, knowing how ticked he would be after he read off the names. "Please don't react too harshly to the names..."
"How can I not react to this?" Wily was beside himself when he scrolled through the list of names - Professor Sycamore, Dr. N. Tropy, Moira O'Deorain, Dr. Light, and even Professor E. Gadd - and found his name nowhere to be seen. "Why am I not in this group chat?!"
"Because...Dr. Light suggested not to send you an invite?" Mei was tensing up, as Wily's face was had turned red with fury. Wily felt greatly disrespected.
"And how is Dr. Toadley of all people in this group chat? I bet he doesn't even have a phone!" Seeing Dr. Toadley's name in the group chat offended Wily more than Dr. Light's.
"No, but he does have a computer...or so I've heard." Dr. Toadley having a computer didn't make Wily feel any better, as Wily angrily handed Mei back her phone and let out an angry scream.
"That is IT! This only makes my desire to stop that time machine even stronger. No one, and I mean NO ONE, leaves the great Dr. Wily out of a group chat of intelligent minds and gets away with it!" On that note, Wily marched out of the dining room - a man on a mission more than ever before.
"What have I done...?" Mei placed her phone back in her pocket, fearful that she might've screwed over Rowan and company.
Speaking of Rowan and company, they were ready to embark upon their expedition into the Hisui region. They were joined in the basement by Mario, Luigi, Dawn, and Barry - and also Lucario, who had no need to wear any time-traveling gear. Lucario was there to be the guide, and perhaps the voice of reason.
"Do you have enough Poke Balls, Dawn?" Rowan asked the Pokemon trainer, whom he had given a list of Pokemon to catch. Some Pokemon were regional forms of pre-existing Pokemon, while others were entirely new.
"We have plenty!" replied Dawn, opening up her parcel and revealing different kinds of Poke Balls inside. Wily opened the basement door ever so slightly, peeking below as he saw Burnet with the time machine. Only one problem remained...
"We need some energy to get this bad boy fully powered up," stated Burnet, and fortunately Mario knew just the right source to find such energy. "Now I wish I hadn't overlooked that..."
"No worries, Professor Burnet - I got-a this covered," Mario assured the Alolan professor, before taking a deep breath as he belted out the following at the top of his lungs: "TIKI IS ENGAGED WITH DR. CORTEX TO GET-A MARRIED!"
At first, everyone in the basement (Wily included) gave Mario strange looks, wondering what good shouting out loud would've done. Especially about a fake engagement that would never, ever happen. However, after a few seconds, a floating mask flew inside the basement, phasing through the wall.
"Don't tell me that my worst nightmare is becoming a reality..." Uka pleaded in a panicky mood, only to relax when he saw Mario and company gathered in the basement. "...is this the wrong location?"
"No, you're at the right-a place!" replied Mario, as Uka took notice of the time machine that Burnet had put together. "Only a small-a little favor we have to ask of you."
Mario: Something I've noticed over time-a is that ancient masks like Aku and Uka have an extremely keen-a sense of hearing. Which in theory doesn't make-a sense since they don't even have any ears! Do you think they can hear-a me talk in my sleep? Sure hope-a not, some things are meant-a for Peach's ears only...
"This time machine needs a boost," Professor Juniper informed Uka, who floated closer to the time machine so that he could give it a closer inspection. "You just might do the trick..."
"N. Tropy spoke about how you powered on his Rift Generator," stated Burnet, leading Uka to wonder how the professor even knew about his efforts. That's when Burnet took out her phone. "In our group chat, I should mention."
"Dr. N. Tropy was singing my praises? How lovely of him," gleamed Uka, his love and respect for N. Tropy seeing a significant increase. "So how much energy do you need?"
"Only enough to power the machine on." Fortunately for Burnet, Uka had enough energy to spare - and with the time machine being on a lower scale, Uka didn't have to exert himself as much.
"Don't pass-a out like last time," Mario advised Uka, who heeded the plumber's advice as he focused his attention on the time machine. Uka exerted himself, as he powered on the time machine with the energy he had.
Realizing that he was too late to stop Rowan and company in time, Wily pulled away from the basement stuck in a rock and a hard place. At this point, there was nothing that the robot inventor could do to derail the mission.
"You know, I unironically miss Cortex being here," Toon Link discussed with Young Link, as the buddy cops passed by Wily. "Only one less person to pick on." Hearing Cortex's name got Wily in a thinking mood.
"Dr. Cortex was honestly our favorite guy to arrest," admitted Young Link; Cortex probably held the record for the most arrested resident. "Which would explain why we would arrest him so often just for breathing."
"Hmm..." mused Wily as he stroked his chin in thought, with Toon Link and Young Link's conversation getting the robot inventor's brain juices flowing.
Once Uka got the time machine powered on, Mario and the gang (along with a few disguised cameramen) went through a time portal to the Hisui region. Luigi, Dawn, Barry, and Lucario made it through the portal just fine, but only one person was missing.
"Where's Mario?" questioned Lucario, as Mario was nowhere to be found - despite being the first to go through the portal. "Did he somehow get stuck in the time portal, or..."
"AAAAAAAHHHHH!" Mario was heard shouting, as Lucario and company looked up and saw Mario falling from the sky. Mario landed on the ground face-first with a thud, shaking the earth slightly upon impact.
"There is no way you should've survived that," Dawn said to Mario, who was helped up to his feet by Luigi. Mario spat some dirt out of his mouth, while also cleaning off his face.
"I've survived-a higher falls," stated Mario, as Dawn found that profoundly hard to believe as she rolled her eyes. Once he got situated, Mario got a good look at his new surroundings. "So this-a is the Hisui region, huh?"
"Correct - this is what Sinnoh looked like before the time of discovery and settlement!" responded a computerized voice, one that came from Luigi's chest. Wiggling its way out of Luigi's outfit was Luigi's pet Rotom, who Luigi apparently brought along for the trip.
"Luigi, really?" Dawn furrowed her brow at the green plumber, who chuckled sheepishly as Rotom was floating over his head. "Do you want us to get found out by the Hisuians?"
"Hey, we need a Pokedex to tell-a us about this region's Pokemon!" Luigi defended his decision to bring Rotom along, believing that he was doing the Pokemon professors a huge favor. "You can all thank-a me later."
Rotom: I'll be honest...I don't really know much about Pokemon in Hisui. But, if my presence alone means justifying Luigi's decision-making...I can always fake it until I make it, zzrt.
"Oh my - we have visitors!" exclaimed a man wearing a kimono, as he took sight of Luigi and company from afar. Luigi quickly grabbed Rotom and held it behind his back to avoid any suspicion.
"Hey, that guy looks just like Professor Rowan!" Barry said to the others, as the kimono-wearing man approached the group. Not only did the man resemble a younger-looking version of Rowan, but he also shared the same sternness as the professor of Sinnoh.
"Allow me to introduce myself - I am Commander Kamado, leader of the Galaxy Team. And you all are?" Galaxy Team? Could this Galaxy Team be some kind of precursor to Team Galactic?
"We're from-a the..." Mario started, before catching himself as he quickly held his tongue. Admitting that he was from the future would definitely put everyone in hot water. "...we're from a neighboring region."
"Well, in that case...welcome to the Hisui region!" Kamado gave a warm welcome to Mario and company, as Mario let out a sigh of relief. "May I ask what brought you here to our land?"
"We were curious about what kinds of Pokemon are native here," answered Dawn, as Kamado took a heavy interest in the Pokemon trainer. Specifically because of how she looked; her face reminded him of someone.
"Hm, your face reminds me of Akari..she was a member of our Survey Corps. We're quite full at the moment - not taking in new members at this time."
"No, you're fine! We would love to check out this Galaxy Team of yours. You mind taking us to your base of operations?" Working alongside the Galaxy Team would prove beneficial in finding the native Hisui Pokemon.
"I'd love to. Our headquarters are in Jubilife Village. I can introduce you to Professor Laventon, our respected researcher; he can get you all up to speed."
So how were Rowan and company able to keep up with the exploits of those in the Hisui region? That's where Hal came in - the hacker brought the large screen from the producers' room (while asking for permission, of course), and connected it to the time machine. That way, everyone could visibly see Mario and the gang, and track their progress.
"Professor Elm, you are truly a genius for bringing Mr. Emmerich on board," Rowan commended the professor, whom he had already given props plenty of times before. Mainly because of his research in Pokemon evolution.
"Well, if it wasn't for Hal, we'd have no idea how to keep track of our subjects!" smiled Elm, as Hal suddenly heard his cellphone ringing. That ringtone could only mean one thing...Snake was calling.
"Hello, Snake!" greeted Hal after he answered the call, regretting that they didn't call Snake much sooner. Snake was probably worried about Hal. "Sorry if I kept you waiting - I'm with some Pokemon professors down in the basement."
"Don't tell me that old geezer roped you in," grumbled Snake, as Hal kept his phone away so that Rowan wouldn't hear the conversation. "When I needed you the most, you're down there doing stupid Pokemon stuff..."
"It's nothing personal, Snake." As the phone call resumed, Uka floated over to Hal, wanting to ask the hacker a question. A question he was pondering over for about a couple of minutes.
"Are you available, by any chance?" Uka asked Hal, sounding like he was desperate. Hal slowly looked up at Uka, seeing the desperation in the floating mask's yellow eyes.
"Available for what? Can you not see that I'm on the phone?" Sensing that Hal would inevitably turn him down, Uka lowered his head as he floated away from the hacker. "Sorry, what were you saying, Snake?"
Uka: Being with Cortex for so many years has ruined me. It has gotten to the point where I would literally ask anyone for their services. Asking four-eyes showed how far I have fallen in recent times.
"I wasn't saying anything," replied Snake, as Rowan and the other professors were curious as to whom Hal was speaking with - and what was being discussed. "But what I was going to say, though, is that Bayonetta is on our tail."
"Bayonetta?!" Hal had heard all the horror stories about Bayonetta from Snake, so he knew how hazardous it would be to have the Umbra Witch possibly lingering around. "You didn't show her anything...did you?"
"No, but Bayonetta decided to look for herself. She saw those photos you sent. And now our cover's about to be blown if it hasn't already." That bought great fear to Hal, as the hacker was left biting his fingernails with worry.
"Done yet, Hal?" Elm called out to the hacker, as he and the other professors were waiting patiently for Hal's turn. Their patience was wearing thin. "We sure could use you right now!"
"Uh, we'll have to discuss more later, Snake. See you." Hal could hear Snake let out the loudest groan in human history, as he ended his call.
Meanwhile, back in Hisui, Kamado had led Mario and company to Jubilife Village - which was Jubilife City back in the day. Barry was geeking out at how the village looked, his smile wide with awe.
"So this is what Jubilife looked like before industrialization ruined everything," the Pokemon trainer marveled, as Dawn gave him a dubious look. Just seeing the old-fashioned temple in the middle of the village gave Barry life.
"We should give ourselves a name-a to go by," Mario whispered to Lucario, who didn't believe that a group name was that necessary. "I think that we should-a call ourselves the..."
"We are NOT calling ourselves the Crips," Lucario silenced Mario, who was led to believe that Lucario was a killjoy. He always had that vibe about the aura Pokemon, for years. "We're in pre-settlement Sinnoh, for crying out loud."
"True, true, but a group-a name like the Crips would help us stand out more." Mario believed that the suits meant to blend in weren't enough. "It would-a make it easier for the villagers to remember us by."
Lucario: Link told me the story of how Mario named his rescue team the "Crips". A Pokemon rescue team called the "Crips". In a world where only Pokemon existed. Sounded stupid back then, and it still sounds stupid to this very day.
"Look who's being punctual! Finally realized you're wasting almighty Sinnoh's precious time by bowing to a sham?"
Kamado led the group to the temple, where they saw a young man and a young man quarreling with one another at the entrance. The boy had a blue aesthetic to him; the young woman, red.
"There you go again, insisting on your false image of almighty Sinnoh as a ruler of time!" the young woman argued, as tensions were starting to boil. The only thing missing was a nosy crowd. "My people follow the true almighty Sinnoh - the form of all creation and ruler of space!"
"Ha! You could have all the space there is and still not know what to do with it," the young man fired back, refusing to let his opponent take the upper hand.
"Excuse me? Are you suggesting that you make better use of your time than we make of vast Hisui's space?"
"Better than some! It's a miracle you showed up on time, oh mighty leader of the Pearl Clan. I worried you'd get lost in the pointlessly vast space you're so fond of and never show up."
"Me, get lost? In almighty Sinnoh's great gift to the Pearl Clan - in our world's very basis? You wish!"
"I wish that I hadn't let myself get dragged into arguing with you. Almighty Sinnoh, forgive me - what a waste of time! I'm off to Commander Kamado's office!"
"I'm standing right here..." Kamado spoke up as the young man turned around, quite startled to see the commander. The young woman was startled as well.
"He/She started it!" the young man and woman shouted simultaneously at Kamado, as they both pointed accusingly at each other. Kamado was left shaking his head in dismay, as the young man and woman quickly dispersed.
"I must apologize," Kamado apologized to Mario and company, rueing the fact that they had to witness such quarreling. "Those two have been at each other's neck, arguing about space and time. Always the same old arguments."
"Who are they anyway?" Luigi asked Kamado, who likely had a few battle scars from seeing so many pointless arguments about space and time. It would be a miracle if he hadn't gone insane yet.
"The man is Adaman, leader of the Diamond Clan; they strongly favor time. And that woman is the leader of the Pearl Clan; her name is Irida. Her clan is all about space. Once the clans used to exist in harmony...now they hold a grudge for one another."
"Diamond Clan vs Pearl Clan...Dialga vs Palkia..." said Barry, as he was trying to piece everything together. Mario, on the other hand, apparently wondered how he could include the Crips in the lore.
"But nonetheless, we have arrived." Kamado brought the gang closer to the large temple, and stepping out of the temple was a professor wearing a lab coat. "Professor Laventon! We have visitors."
"I see..." said the professor as he made his way over to Mario and company for closer inspection. One good look and he could tell that the five were from a foreign land - a very foreign land. "...and you all are?"
"You can call-a us...the Crips!" responded Mario as he struck a pose while flashing some fake gang signs. To say that Dawn felt severely embarrassed by Mario's antics would be an understatement.
"...we're friendly foreigners from a faraway region," Luigi gave a more formal introduction to Professor Laventon, as Mario ceased the posing. Luigi then shrieked when Rotom appeared, finding its way out of the green plumber's suit.
"A region far more advanced than yours, zroom!" Rotom proudly stated to Laventon, and Dawn continued to feel embarrassed as smacked her forehead. But contrary to what Dawn expected, Laventon looked intrigued upon seeing Rotom.
"I've never seen a Rotom of this kind before," Laventon marveled at Luigi's Rotom; Dawn slowly took her hand away from her face, while Kamado stared curiously at the visitors. "Or a Rotom that can talk, for that matter."
"You've encountered a Rotom, in Hisui?" Luigi asked Laventon, who was getting a real good look at Rotom as the plasma Pokemon offered its hand for a friendly handshake. "But this region is so, so...
"...so drab and old-fashioned," Barry would finish for Luigi, as the embarrassment that Dawn once felt made somewhat of a roaring return. "Which is what I like about this place!"
"We've seen several Rotom show up here and there," explained Kamado, as Laventon was anxious to do fanatical research on Luigi's Rotom. "We believe that they came from the future."
"Funny you should-a mention that..." said Mario, as he was on the verge of spilling some beans; Dawn covered the plumber's mouth in the nick of time.
"We would love to catch some of the native Hisui Pokemon," Dawn said to Kamado and Laventon, as she held a vice grip on Mario's mouth. Mario's voice was muffled as the plumber struggled to break free of Dawn's hold.
"Do you have any Poke Balls?" Laventon asked Dawn, who opened up her parcel and revealed the Poke Balls inside. Laventon was impressed. "Your Poke Balls appear far more advanced than ours! How extraordinary."
"We can let you all be temporary members of our Survey Corp," Kamado offered to Dawn and company, as Dawn closed her parcel while keeping a hand over Mario's mouth. "Captain Cylenne can get you signed up."
Sonic was hanging out at The Roost under Blathers' museum, doing some catching up with the bandicoots - Crash, Coco, and Crunch. (And Aku.) The Roost happened to be a favorite spot for the Crash clan, as they enjoyed Brewster's perfectly-brewed coffee.
"Man, that Magolor was a trip!" Sonic said to the Crash clan, after telling them the full story of what Magolor did in the previous episode. "Truth be told, that guy always had a weird vibe about him. Who knew Kirby's friends were so weird!"
"I would like some coffee without any pigeon milk, thanks," requested Coco, wanting nothing more than a good, old-fashioned cup of coffee. Brewster just stared at Coco as if she had said the most bizarre thing ever.
"You will accept the pigeon milk and you will like it...coo," Brewster said to Coco, staring down at the bandicoot as he savagely poured some pigeon milk into her coffee. The pigeon then moved the coffee closer to Coco, who begrudgingly drank some of her beverage.
Crunch: The only way you can get out of having pigeon milk in Brewster's coffee is by having a medical exemption. Tried giving Brewster mine a few weeks, only for him to rip it to shreds. But I had to thank him afterward since I had some pretty sensitive info on there...
"Crash and I are gonna check out some of the new exhibits upstairs," Sonic said to Coco and Crunch, as he and Crash both left their seats at the counter. "We'll be back soon!"
"Take your time!" responded Coco, as Sonic and Crash both left The Roost. Coco was about to finish the rest of her coffee - pigeon milk notwithstanding - only to suddenly furrow her brow. "They're not coming back, are they? Must be going out to lollygag..."
Mario and company were in the temple, getting signed up for Team Galaxy's Survey Corp. They were in a room where the corp's captain, Cyllene, was sitting at her desk with some paperwork. Should be noted that Cyllene looked strikingly similar to the boss of Team Galactic, Cyrus.
"I take it that the Lucario is your shared partner?" asked Cylenne as she was eyeing Lucario; Lucario for the most part kept himself silent, lest he wanted to freak out any of the humans.
"I got a better question for you," responded Barry as he raised his hand, and it was a question that's been bugging him since he first saw Cyllene. "Are you by any chance Cyrus's great-great-great-grandmother?"
"Provided that I even knew who he was, I would answer yes. But I digress..." Even if she wasn't an ancestor to Cyrus, Cyllene definitely shared the same "completely done with life" demeanor as the man did.
Dawn: Can the guys go ONE second without embarrassing themselves? And embarrassing me? Lucario is the only one who hasn't done it yet, but he's not the one to put himself in awkward situations, so...not really saying much.
"We'll set up a camp a fair distance from the village," explained Cyllene as she put the paperwork to the side, before rising up from her desk. "Depending on our location, we can be closer to some rare Pokemon."
"Sounds good with us, zzrt!" exclaimed Rotom as it saluted Cyllene, who took some time getting adjusted to the plasma Pokemon speaking. Imagine how the captain would react if she heard Lucario speak - it would completely blow her mind.
Much like Master Hand, Joker was in the Chinese New Year spirit, as he had Cafe Leblanc decorated with Chinese decorations. The decorations were handled by Viridi, Kirby, and Incineroar...but no Pit. Pit barely got to work behind the counter at Cafe Leblanc this week, if ever.
Joker: I've yet to see Pit work at the cafe ever since Friday. Meaning that he has yet to end his feud with Ryuji. Meaning that... *pauses, then buries his face in his hands* ...when will this ever end?
Zelda: Pit is essentially serving "double duty" in regards to his punishment. He's been held responsible for giving Magolor that hypnosis ray, so Link and I doubled his workload.
"Joker, I must ask you a question!" Wily shouted to the young man as he ran inside the cafe, skidding to a halt as he reached the counter. "Do you know the number to call for speaking with an inmate? At a city jail?"
"Why are you asking me of all people?" Joker questioned Wily, feeling a bit slighted; being framed those many years ago really must've hurt his reputation. "Also, who are you trying to call?"
"My good friend, Dr. Cortex!" Wily referring to Cortex as his friend sounded super disingenuous to Joker, but weirder friendships have taken place. "A time machine was built in the basement, and it must be dismantled."
"I might have the right number." Joker took out a slip of paper and wrote down a phone number, as Wily rubbed his hands together. "This is the one."
"Thank you!" Wily accepted the slip of paper from Joker, checking to see if the phone number was legit. "May I borrow your phone to make the call? Would use mine, but my phone service got shut off. Those nimrods!"
"Don't count on it." Joker went back to work, as Wily grumbled and departed from the cafe. At least he got a phone number - some good progress so far.
A camp was set up somewhere in the Hisuian wilderness, occupied by Laventon and the "Crips"...as Mario apparently wanted to be called. Oh, and there was a chef too, since camping out wouldn't be the same without some grub.
"Some more potato mochi, please!" requested Laventon, as he was seated at a table with Mario and Luigi. The chef went away to do his thing, while Mario looked at Laventon in disbelief.
"The heck is a potato mochi?" Mario questioned Laventon, lowkey showing how uncultured he was; the chef returned with a plate of potato mochi, and placed it where Laventon was sitting at.
"I've had potato mochi before - it's quite-a delicious!" gleamed Luigi, as Laventon happily took a potato mochi and ate it right away. The soft texture and taste of the rice cake had Laventon grinning from ear to ear.
"Be quiet, Luigi, you're making me look-a stupid..." Mario angrily shushed his brother before redirecting his attention to Laventon...who was eating the potato mochi all by himself. Someone must've been very hungry.
"Oh, Mario! I forgot to give you this," said Laventon, as he dug into his pocket and pulled out a book that he handed to Mario. "That right there is a Pokedex; you can use it to record any Pokemon you see."
"I hate to interrupt, professor, but I happen to be a living Pokedex," Rotom stated to Laventon, who was left even more impressed by the plasma Pokemon. "So if anyone's going to record Pokemon, it's gonna be me, zzrt!"
"Then that will make your jobs easier. But you're free to look through that book if you feel like it, Mario." And that's exactly what Mario did, as he skimmed through the pages for any interesting Pokemon entries.
"Eh...nothing compared-a to Snake's journal, but it's alright I guess," Mario offered his two cents, before closing the book and placing it on the table. Luigi grabbed the book, taking a look for himself.
Luigi: Check out this Pokedex-a entry for Typhlosion. *looks at Pokedex* "Said to purify lost, forsaken souls with its flames and guide them to the afterlife." Huh, never knew Typhlosion was about-a that life. Or afterlife, I should-a say. Hehe. I'll be here all night...day, I mean. Since when did Typhlosion start-a caring about dead souls?
"No way! That Stantler looks so cool!" squealed Barry, who was standing away from the campsite with Dawn and Lucario as they were checking out some Pokemon. They saw one Pokemon standing on a cliff, looking majestic.
"He's lying; Stantler is one-a of the lamest Pokemon to ever exist," said Mario as he, Luigi, and Laventon came over to where Barry and the others were. Laventon saw the Stantler on the cliff...but it wasn't a Stantler, at least to him.
"Did you even pay attention to Professor Rowan's presentation, Barry?" Dawn asked the Pokemon trainer, as Laventon continued to admire the Pokemon standing on the cliff gazing into the horizons.
"That Pokemon up there, young lad, is an evolved form of Stantler," Laventon informed Barry, as he recognized the Pokemon from a previous exploit. "Wyrdeer, the bighorn Pokemon! A lovely specimen it is."
"It's native-a to Hisui, right?" Luigi asked Laventon, to which Laventon nodded his head. Luigi and company were in awe of seeing their first Hisuian Pokemon. "Which means..."
"...we must catch-a it!" Mario would finish Luigi's sentence, jumping the gun as he ran over to Dawn. The plumber wrestled with Dawn as he tried to snatch the Pokemon trainer's parcel away.
"Mario now's not the time!" Dawn frowned at the plumber, who got the better of Dawn as he managed to pull her parcel out of her hands. Mario then placed the parcel on the ground as he unzipped it, and took out a Poke Ball.
"How can you say that, when we were sent-a to catch Pokemon?" retorted Mario, as he threw the Poke Ball at Wyrdeer with all his might. Much like Luigi two episodes ago, his aim was terribly off as the Poke Ball flew past Wyrdeer's head.
"Mario, that was a horrible throw!" Barry chided the plumber, as the Wyrdeer turned around and walked away, never to be seen from again. "Totally deserving of a fine!"
"I think you scared the Wyrdeer off," Dawn said to Mario as she retrieved her parcel; Laventon was staring at the visitors with a newfound intrigue, as he was scratching his chin in heavy thought.
"Impressed by the great Wyrdeer, huh?" someone asked Laventon and company, as they saw a young girl with a Munchlax approach them. Laventon recognized this girl from the jump.
"Ah! You must be Mai, the warden of this area," Laventon said to the girl, who to Dawn and Barry strongly resembled Marley - one of Sinnoh's stat trainers. "These five are visitors that wish to catch a Wyrdeer, and several other Pokemon, I should add."
"They definitely don't look like any of the Galaxy buffoons, that's for sure. But as for that Wyrdeer you saw, he's quite special. He's not cheap."
"How much-a is he?" Mario asked Mai, comically missing the point as he readily took out his wallet. Mai stared at Mario, as her initial opinion of him was suddenly changing.
"What I'm trying to say is, Wyrdeer has a special place around these parts. I can't just let you go up and catch it - especially if you have plans on keeping him inside a..."
"Mama mia, here-a it comes!" exclaimed Luigi, as he saw the Wyrdeer walking towards the group. Wyrdeer came to a stop, getting a good look at Mario, Luigi, Dawn, and Barry...but mostly the latter two.
"Is he going to eat us?" Barry nervously whispered to Mai, shaking in his boots, as Dawn stared inquisitively at the Pokemon trainer. Wyrdeer himself continued to stare, before turning around and walking away.
"I'd say that the great Wyrdeer has taken a liking to you two," Mai smiled at Dawn and Barry, who were both in awe of Wyrdeer's majesty. "That is fortunate. He must think that you're both worthy."
"Yeah, I don't know how anyone-a could deem Barry as being 'worthy,'" remarked Mario, as Barry frowned at the plumber ready to issue out a fine. "I kid, I kid! Please don't fine-a me..."
"Do any of you mind returning to the village?" Laventon asked the group, as Mario's question was the one thing that piqued the professor's curiosity. "I have many questions about your origins...and I'm sure that Ramado has some as well."
Pit was working away in the bathroom, scrubbing the insides of a toilet with a toothbrush. His own toothbrush, since Dark Pit asked for his back (before throwing it away in the trash). Wily spotted Pit in the bathroom and ran inside.
"Pit, my boy, may I borrow your phone?" Wily asked Pit, knowing that the angel would happily hand over his phone without asking any questions. It was the Pit way. "I must call Dr. Cortex."
"What a coincidence - I already have Cortex's number on my phone!" replied Pit, as if he was proud to have Cortex's phone. The angel's excitement quickly died down. "Then again, I have the number of everyone else who lived here, so..."
"That's fine and all, but Cortex is still in jail. And I must contact the jail that Cortex is held at with this number Joker gave me, in order to reach Cortex."
"Well, why didn't you say so? Here you go!" Pit happily handed his phone to Wily, who ran out of the bathroom with the angel's device. "Oh, and the passcode to unlock my phone is all 1's!"
Back at Jubilife Village, Mario and company were back at the temple with Laventon, who wanted to ask the five a few questions. The group was led to Ramado's office, where Ramado had a few visitors - namely Adaman and Irida
"What do you intend to do about that Kleavor, Commander Kamado?" Adaman asked the commander of the Galaxy Team, who was stoic as he knew how. "Look at the mess he's causing. We can't sit back and let him rage on!"
"I smell a Pokemon worthy of capturing..." Mario whispered quietly to the others, leading Laventon to shush the plumber as he tried to listen in on the conversation at hand.
"You do get right to the point, Adaman..." Kamado said to Adaman, seeing Kleavor as a threat that must be neutralized right away.
"Time wasted is lost." Adaman shook his head, as he believed that the time to take action was right now.
"Well, tell me - what would you have us do? Kleavor is a precious lord of the Pearl Clan, is he not?"
"That's the point. My clan can't intervene directly where the lord of a Pearl Clan's concerned. If my people were to do something, our two clans might end up back at each other's throats - just like we used to be. But even folk of the Galaxy Team have been wounded, haven't they? Seems someone's got to do something here..."
"Who, then? Would the Diamond Clan have the Pearl Clan bring down one of its own honored nobles?" Irida asked Adaman, as tensions between the clan leaders were rising once more.
"I don't believe I said that. Thought it, maybe."
"You might as well have said it, you fool! Look - we don't even know what drove Lord Kleavor into such a violent frenzy."
"I'd like to know that myself. This is a first as far as my clan knows, too."
"Commander Kamado!" shouted Laventon, as he believed that now was the right time to speak up. Kamado, Adaman, and Ifrid all turned their attention towards Laventon and his group. "I have brought back our visitors."
"Did they catch any Pokemon?" asked Kamodo, to which Laventon shook his head no. Kamado was left baffled, but Laventon had a good enough reason for why he brought the visitors back to the village.
"I believe that these five are not from a different region...but rather, from the future! Mario even claimed that they were 'sent' here. It would explain why they have a Rotom."
"Rotom? What Rotom?" inquired Adaman, and right on command Rotom made its grand appearance. Adaman was startled as he took a few steps back.
"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, zzrt!" Rotom greeted Adaman as it offered its hand to the Diamond Clan leader. Adaman left the plasma Pokemon hanging, as he had no idea what to think of its design.
Rotom: I've yet to receive a single handshake so far. The people in Hisui have some very poor manners! Good grief!
"Does that mean you came from the space-time rift...the space where almighty Sinnoh is said to reside?" Ifrid asked Mario and company, as Rotom tried to offer the Pearl Clan leader a handshake. Ifrid too left Rotom hanging. "I'm Irida, leader of the Pearl Clan! Caution and foresight are my watchwords."
"I'm 'Adaman, leader of the Diamond Clan' if you want to be formal!" Adaman introduced himself to Mario and company with a friendly smile. "But that's just a mouthful. Just call me Adaman."
"I am having trouble believing your tale. Could you really have passed through the rift?" Irida was highly skeptical about the visitors; perhaps some amount of evidence would quell her doubts.
"No, Mario, you can't show her your cellphone," Lucario advised the plumber, who was about to take out his cellphone before getting called out. Ifrid gasped, and Adaman's eyes went wide, as the Hisuian folks were shocked at Lucario speaking.
"The Lucario...he can talk, too?!" marveled Laventon, acting as if he had hit the million-dollar jackpot. A talking Pokemon was clearly an abnormality in Hisui. "You five really must be from the future!"
"So our visitors are indeed time travelers," confirmed Kamado, as the suspicions that he had with Mario and company were now proven true. "Mind if I ask you sent you?"
"We can worry about their origins later," stated Adaman, as there was some big fish to fry. Namely, an axe Pokemon that was causing mayhem. "What are we going to do about that Kleavor?"
"We do have a Lucario in our midst; surely he can take down the Kleavor all by himself." A mighty big task for Lucario, but he did have a type advantage over Kleavor so he has that going for him.
"But the Lucario might not be properly equipped for the task," worried Ifrid; if she saw Lucario take out that army of Heartless, she'd have no reason to fear.
"Ha! Lucario has taken down plenty of baddies before," Barry vouched for Lucario, who much rather have Mario vouch for him instead. And that was truly saying a lot. "Granted I've never seen him in action before, but...I've heard stories!"
"He does look formidable enough..." said Kamado, who saw nothing wrong with Lucario holding his own against Kleavor. But the ball was in Lucario's court. "...Lucario, what do you say?"
"Catching a Kleavor is a priority of ours..." stated Lucario, as Dawn took out her list of Pokemon; Kleavor was listed at the very top. "...I'll take care of it."
"Great! But before you go, you must speak with Cyllene," Laventon said to Lucario; fortunately, Cyllene's office was just downstairs. "You cannot set off into the field without her permission first."
Professor Juniper: Why did I have the feeling that Mario would reveal the big secret...? *shrugs* But hey, it is what it is. They were bound to find out sooner than later, I guess.
So Lucario and the gang went downstairs to Cyllene's office, where Lucario inform Cyllene about his decision to take on the Kleavor. Much like the other Hisuians, Cyllene was astonished to hear Lucario speak...but sadly, her facial expression didn't change much.
"This mission will put you in grave danger," Cyllene warned Lucario, hoping that the aura Pokemon knew the trouble that he was getting himself into. "Do you believe you can handle it?"
"We'll provide-a backup, if necessary," Mario assured Cyllene as he took out his Poke Ball, while Barry did the same. Dawn, for her own benefit, elected not to follow suit.
"No thank you, Mario, I got this covered," Lucario kindly told the plumber, who still wanted to help out as he held unto his Poke Ball. Lucario letting a guy like Mario help him defeat a Kleavor would hurt his pride.
"That Kleavor is extremely invincible because of its frenzied state," informed Laventon, who was standing around in Cyllene's office so that he could give a briefing on Lucario's foe. "Our Security Corps were unable to capture him."
"You may find Kleavor at Grandtree Arena, in the very heart of the Heartwood," stated Cyllene, as she organized the many papers on her desk. "I'll have someone take you where you need to go."
The professors in the basement didn't like what they were seeing after they saw that Mario was about to take out his phone. Could've easily exposed everyone right there, although Lucario speaking had done the trick.
"What kind of Pokemon does Mario have?" a wary Burnet asked, worried about Mario potentially putting the gang in hot water. It was a worry that even Dawn had prior to arriving in Hisui.
"Some Pokemon from a place called Freezington, named Calyrex," answered Uka, being the only individual in the basement that knew about Mario having possession of the high king Pokemon. "Mario brought that big-headed Nostradamus to a Halloween party once."
"We can't let anyone in Hisui see that Pokemon!" shouted Rowan, as a mere sighting of Calyrex would raise even more questions among the Hisuians. "Professor Burnet, see if you can find a way to transport any of Mario's items back into the present time."
"Might be a stretch, but I can figure something out..." responded Burnet as she immediately went to work on the time machine, tinkering around as she looked for a solution.
Mario and company got some help in getting to Grandtree Arena, and it came in the form of Wyrdeer. Mai had brought the bighorn Pokemon to the village and had Dawn and Barry riding on his back.
"Never have I seen the great Wyrdeer let more than one person ride on his back," remarked Mai, as everyone followed after Wyrdeer; Wyrdeer was leading the way. "He must trust you two a lot!"
"When will it be my turn-a to ride on Wyrdeer?" Mario asked in a somewhat whiny mood, refusing to let Dawn and Barry hog Wyrdeer all for himself. No way Wrydeer would find Mario worthy with behavior like that.
"Oh, you'll get your chance soon...but only in your dreams." Just when Mario was about to clap back at Mai, he looked up at the sky and saw a bird Pokemon flying overhead.
"Up-a there!" the plumber shouted as he pointed at the bird, which was a Braviary. It was a different breed of Braviary, as evidenced by its coloration.
"Ah, that right there is the Hisuian Braviary," explained Mai, and Mario licked his chips as he slowly took out a Poke Ball. "He likes to fly on its own."
"Whatever you do, Mario, don't try and..." Dawn tried to warn the plumber, who threw his Poke Ball at the Hisuian Braviary only to miss by a wide margin. "...catch the Braviary. Why do I even try..."
"Were you seriously trying to catch him?" Mai questioned Mario, who was angry with himself for wasting yet another Poke Ball. "So much for letting the Pokemon live peacefully..."
"Yeah, so much-a for broadening our horizons," retorted Mario, leading Mai to wonder what the plumber was even getting at. Mario didn't feel like explaining himself, feeling that Mai wouldn't understand.
Mario: Stole a few Poke Balls from-a Dawn's parcel, and stuffed-a them in my pockets. Because you never know when-a you have to catch-a Pokemon on the fly.
Suddenly the group came to a stop when they came across a Pokemon...a Parasect. Normally a Parasect wouldn't cause much cause for concern unless it had a sneaky move under its belt...but this Parasect was huge. And it also had red eyes.
"Is he going to eat us?!" Barry asked Mai, ready to hop off Wyrdeer and run for the hills. Being big seemed to be the only way that Parasect could intimidate someone - aside from being an insect.
"Barry, let's be real - this is a Parasect we're talking about here," Dawn said to Barry, as she didn't think much of the giant Parasect. Mai saw the Parasect's glowing red eyes as a cause for concern.
"Those glowing red eyes...it must be an alpha," the warden stated, as she had encountered several Pokemon with glowing red eyes before. "They're bigger and stronger than regular Pokemon - and they also have a short temper."
"But is he going to eat us?" asked Barry, too afraid to send out his Empleon to take care of the giant Parasect. Mai looked down at her partner Pokemon, Munchlax, certain that Munchlax wouldn't stand a chance.
"Not unless Lucario handles it first." Mai looked towards Lucario, who let out a deep sigh as he had no choice but to be a hero. So much for saving up his energy for the Kleavor.
"It would fall on me, wouldn't it..." grumbled Lucario as he marched towards Parasect. Once Lucario got close enough, the Parasect let out his battle cry, raising his pincers in the air. "Here goes..."
Before Lucario could land the first blow, a giant rift opened up above Parasect. The giant rift sucked in Parasect, and once it got the mushroom Pokemon, it immediately closed.
"Completely unexpected, but I'll take it," responded a bewildered Lucario, deciding to give himself an easy victory. Mai and the others were speechless as they had no idea what caused that giant rift to appear.
"Is that the kind of rift you guys fell through?" Mai asked Mario and company; Adaman had given her a heads up about Mario's gang being from the future.
"...perhaps," replied Mario, who had no idea what to think as he had very little explanation for what had just transpired. "Let's just press-a forward and get to that Kleavor..."
"You can go on without me - the Grandtree Arena is just down that way." Mai pointed at the direction that the group must go, confident that they wouldn't get lost along the way. Especially with Wyrdeer in tow. "I'll scope this area of any more alpha Pokemon."
"Well? Did it work?" Hal asked Burnet, as he was looking at the screen; he had yet to see any indication of either Mario's phone or Poke Ball being transported back to the present.
"If it did work, then a small rift would've appeared and spat Mario's Poke Ball out," stated Burnet, hoping that she hadn't screwed anything up in regards to the space-time continuum. "Or his cellphone. Let's just wait and see..."
Coco: Crash and Sonic have yet to return to The Roost from "checking out the new exhibits". *shakes her head* They're probably lollygagging.
While Crunch remained down at The Roost, Coco and Aku went upstairs to search for Sonic and Crash. They would encounter the two friends messing around with Blathers, who in true Blathers fashion was fast asleep.
"'Hello, my name is Blathers, and I act like a prissy little girl when it comes to bugs!'" Sonic imitated Blathers, moving the owl's beak with his hand as Crash stifled his laughter. "Bugs are so gross and so icky! Ewwwww!"
"Ha! Knew it," Coco called out Sonic and Crash, who saw the blonde bandicoot and Aku staring at them. Sonic took his hands away from Blathers' beak, holding them innocently behind his back.
"So what did you boys think of the 'new exhibits'?" Aku asked Sonic and Crash, interesting in hearing what contrived answer they would come up with. Crash looked nervously at Sonic, whose palms were sweaty.
"The new exhibits...they were THE BOMB!" exclaimed Sonic as Crash nodded his head in convincing fashion. But not convincing enough for Coco and Aku. "Too awesome to describe in words. You have to see them for..."
"HELP, there's a huge monster outside!" someone ran inside the museum and screamed, as a couple of museum-goers were struck with fear. The scream was loud enough to wake up Blathers from his slumber.
"Hoo...did someone say, a monster?" asked Blathers, rubbing his eyes with his wings as he forced himself to stay awake. "Dearest me. I must go and see this monster for myself."
So Blathers went outside to peek at the monster, with Sonic and the others following after him. Once outside, Blathers saw the monster in question, terrorizing anyone that drew near to it - and something about the monster creeped Blathers out the most.
"Eek! It's a repugnant insect..." moaned the revolted Blathers, as the owl lost consciousness and fainted to the ground. Coco caught Blathers in time, as Sonic observed the monster from a distance.
"Sure is one big mushroom," remarked Sonic, only to soon realize that the monster looked way too familiar to him. "Hold up, is that..."
Wyrdeer led everyone to the Grandtree Arena, where Kleavor was causing a ruckus. There they met a Pearl Clan warden who was in charge of watching over this Kleavor, who wore a fancy-looking cowboy hat.
"I reckon that you all heard the news about Kleavor," the warden, Lian, said to Mario and company as he spoke with a western accent. Even tipped his hat to the group for good measure. "I sure do appreciate your help."
"We believe that Lucario here can calm-a Kleavor down," Mario said to Lian as he smiled and placed his arm around Lucario. Lucario glared at Mario, who valued his life enough to slowly take his arm away.
"Before you all arrived, I prepared an offering for our lord Kleavor." Lian led everyone to this offering, which consisted of mostly food. Balled-up food, that is. "You must throw the food at him to quell his anger."
"So we attack-a Kleavor with the sacrifice...got it," summarized Luigi, not entirely a huge fan of Lian's master plan but had no complaints whatsoever. "Lucario, are-a you ready?"
"Ready as I'll ever be," replied Lucario, who meditated for a bit before arriving at the Grandtree Arena. Had to get his mind right for the challenge he was about to face.
With Lucario voicing his word of confirmation, Lian approached the sacrifice that he laid out for Kleavor. Standing over the balms of food that he assembled, Lian belted out the following:
"Oh mighty Kleavor, Lord of the Woods...though it isn't yet the time of the ceremony, we've prepared an offering of your favorite things. Benevolent lord who works his might between the heavens and earth, we offer our gratitude. And beseech you - reveal yourself to our eyes...
"Graaashaaa!" a loud cry was heard, followed by the sound of some loud footsteps. A tree was cut down as a menacing Pokemon landed in front of Lian and company. It was the Lord of the Woods himself, Kleavor...and it wasn't in a pleasant mood.
"That must be him - the mighty Kleavor, zroom!" alerted Rotom, as Kleavor was looking dangerous with its ax-like hands. Just imagine how deadly those hands could be.
"Quick, throw the balms of food at him!" commanded Lian as Mario, Luigi, Dawn, and Barry immediately got to throwing food at Kleavor. "Keep on doing it until he calms down."
"Watch out, watch out!" shrieked Luigi, as Kleavor came charging forward while slashing away with his hands. Everyone jumped out of harm's way, as Kleavor crashed into a large tree.
"He's down! Lucario, do your thing!" Barry called out to the aura Pokemon, who began charging up aura while Kleavor was down. Lucario fired an Aura Sphere at Kleavor...who knocked the sphere away at the last minute.
"Keep throwing the balms!" shouted Lian, as everyone went back to throwing balms at Kleavor. Kleavor did another charging attack but screeched to a halt when a certain plasma Pokemon obstructed his path...
"Hi, my name is Rotom!" Rotom introduced itself to Kleavor as it held its hand out for a handshake. Kleavor stared at Rotom with perplexity, cocking his head to the side. "Nice to meet you, zroom!"
"Rotom what are you doing?" an angry Luigi whispered to his pet Pokemon with clenched teeth, while hiding behind the large tree with the others. "Pokemon don't-a shake hands!"
Rotom: Since none of the humans wanted to shake my hand, I figured that the Pokemon native to Hisui are at least aware of what manners are, zzrt. If not, then I can totally see why they went extinct in the first place.
"Such lovely weather we're having, isn't it?" Rotom asked Kleavor, trying to be friendly with the axe Pokemon who was too perplexed to attack. "Sure beats the unfriendly folk I've dealt with today."
"Rotom, get outta here, you'll get yourself-a killed..." Luigi pleaded to the plasma Pokemon, his teeth still clenched. Meanwhile, Lucario was charging up aura, ready to unleash another Aura Sphere.
"No, he's fine...I got Kleavor right where I want him!" Lucario said to Luigi, and once he charged up enough aura, he fired an Aura Sphere at Kleavor. Rotom floated away from Kleavor, who was now destabilized.
"NOW!" shouted Mario, as everyone went back to throwing balms at Kleavor. The last balm thrown by Dawn did the trick, as Kleavor was back to normal in a jiffy. A bright flash of light occurred, as the glow on Kleavor went away.
"Much appreciated!" Lian offered his thanks to Mario and company, and Rotom as well for providing a distraction. "Thanks to you, our Lord of the Woods will be back to its normal behavior."
"Oh, it was nothing!" smiled Dawn, as Rotom offered its hand to Kleavor still waiting for a handshake. "What do you think made it so mad in the first place?"
"Probably a lightning strike from a space-time rift that caused Kleavor to go berserk. I remember the last time that it happened..."
"Got 'em!" shouted Mario as he threw a Poke Ball at Kleavor, catching him. Lian and everyone else were stunned by Mario's course of action, and after a few seconds had passed...Mario had successfully caught Kleavor.
"Hey now, you can't do that!" Lian angrily confronted Mario, wondering if the plumber had any remote idea what he had done. "Kleavor is a lord of our Pearl Clan; you can't simply take him with you!"
"Collecting Hisuian Pokemon for our sanctuary has been-a our MO since we got here," Mario explained to Lian, straight-up giving the details of the current mission in Hisui. Something that he probably wasn't meant to do. "Go and find-a yourself a new 'Lord of the Woods.'"
"Oh, Mario..." facepalmed Dawn, fearing that Mario got everyone in some deep, deep trouble. Ifrid wouldn't be a happy camper if Lian had told her about Mario catching Kleavor.
"Is there anything that would make you release Kleavor?" Lian asked Mario, who tapped his chin in thought as he thought of the perfect compromise...
Wily wished to contact Cortex inside the mansion, but he couldn't find a good spot to do it without anyone walking in on him. So the robot inventor opted to conduct his call outside in the front yard, in a space where he couldn't possibly be bothered.
"Hopefully, this is the right number," said Wily, holding the slip of paper in one hand and Pit's phone in the other. "Otherwise, Joker will be very sorry!"
"Dr. Wily, would you like another spring roll?" Mei asked the robot inventor as she showed up outside with her plate of dumplings and spring rolls. Wily refused to be deterred by Mei's presence.
"Not now, Mei, I'm making a phone call!" After putting in the number, Wily pressed the call button as he made the call. Fortunately for him - and unfortunately - the dial tone didn't last that long.
"Please enter your passcode," said the computerized voice from the phone, as Wily furrowed his brow in confusion. He could enter all 1's, but that obviously wouldn't get him anywhere.
"Hm, that's weird. Let's try that again." So Wily ended the call and called the number a second time as Mei curiously ventured over. Once again, the phone asked for a passcode to be entered.
"Having phone trouble?" Mei asked Wily, eager to help out the robot inventor. But Wily didn't want any help - especially from a woman in a group chat that he wasn't a part of.
"No thank you - Pit's phone is just being super faulty, that's all. Should've seen it coming." Wily double-checked the phone number Joker had given him, as Mei took a peek. "Can't even contact the jail that..."
"That's not the jail number," stated Mei, as Wily did a double-take at the climatologist. Poor Wily got played. "If it was, the area code would be 206. Those are three entirely different numbers."
"You mean that Joker gave me the wrong number...on purpose?" An irate Wily tossed the slip of paper on the ground and stomped on it repeatedly with his foot. So much fury and wrath exerted on such a small piece of paper.
Joker: That Dr. Wily, does he not get it? Inmates can make calls to those who are outside of jail - not the other way around. You'd think that a man who was once incarcerated himself would at least know this, but I guess Wily never really had any friends to call in the first place. By the way, the number I had given him? That was Pit's number.
"There, there, Dr. Wily," Mei comforted the robot inventor, patting him on the back as he calmed down after his rage fit. Mei looked up and gasped in shock when she saw a giant monstrosity coming her way...being led by Sonic!
"Yo, Dr. Wily, tell Master Hand to open up the Pokemon sanctuary!" Sonic called out to the robot inventor, recognizing him from where was. "We got a big one on our hands!"
Mario and company returned to the temple in Jubilife Village, where they informed Cyllene and Kamado about calming down Kleavor. It was also there that they brought the Poke Ball holding Kleavor...and also what Mario believed was a compromise.
"You'll release Kleavor from the Poke Ball if we let you have some of our native Pokemon?" Cyllene asked Mario, as the Poke Ball incasing Kleavor was lying on her desk. Lian was standing by, as Cyllene mulled her decision. "I don't think I follow..."
"We came-a from the future empty-handed, and we refuse to return-a to the future empty-handed," proclaimed Mario, presenting his best case to Cyllene as he had the captain consider her options. "Following now?"
"I do suppose you came to our land for a reason..." replied Kakano as he too mulled over Mario's offer. Compared to Cyllene, he was more considerate. "...very well then. We'll send out our Rescue Corps to catch any Pokemon you wish."
"Hand-a me the list," Mario commanded Dawn, who handed the plumber the list of Pokemon. Mario then handed the list to Kamado and Cyllene, who skimmed it together. "So how about it?"
"We can work with this." To Kakano, the Pokemon on the list were relatively easy to catch - provided that they weren't going berserk, like Kleavor.
"Superb!" Happy that Kamado came around, Mario grabbed the Poke Ball and handed it to Lian. "You're free to release-a your Kleavor, pal."
"I'll have you know that I very much prefer Pokemon to be side-by-side," Lian said to Mario, as he took the Poke Ball and released Kleavor. Kleavor looked happy to be free again. "But, that is just a personal belief of the Pearl Clan..."
"Got through scanning the fields for any alpha Pokemon," announced Mai as she poked her head inside Cyllene's office, having finished her fieldwork. "They've all seemed to have disappeared..."
"The alpha Pokemon are gone?" questioned Cyllene, as she couldn't remember such an instance happening before in Hisui. "Quite the abnormality, I'll say."
"Is that a good-a thing, or a bad thing?" Luigi asked Kamado and Cyllene, believing that the absence of alpha Pokemon was a sign of a bad omen in Hisui.
"I can tell you one thing - our Rescue Corps will catch the Pokemon for you without any trouble," replied Kamado, who had seen far too many of his men get injured at the hands of an alpha Pokemon. "So everything will go smoothly."
Barry: That mean-looking Parasect got sucked up by that rift...hopefully, it doesn't end up in our time, right? Right?!
"I'll go send out the Rescue Corps," said Cyllene as she rose up from her seat and left her office to alert a couple of Galaxy Team members. Mario went over to Kleavor, feeling the need to make an apology.
"No hard-a feelings?" the plumber asked Kleavor as he offered his hand for a handshake. Kleavor looked at Mario's hand before swiping at it with his own hand, causing Mario to shriek and jump back.
The Rescue Corps came through for Mario and the gang, as they caught for them the Pokemon that they wanted. With the Hisuian Pokemon in tow, Burnet opened a portal back to the present time, as Mario and company went through the portal and found themselves back in the basement.
"Welcome back, everyone!" greeted Rowan, after the five made it through the portal safe and sound. There was applause from the professors in the basement - a clear sign of a successful mission.
"We got-a the goods," announced Mario, as Dawn placed her parcel of Poke Balls on the floor. Mario took out two Poke Balls, sending out a Wyrdeer, Kleavor, and Hisuian Braviary.
"I must say, you five have all done well," Elm commended the efforts of Mario and company, before bringing his attention to Hal. "Thanks to Hal, we were able to track your progress on the big screen!"
"Erm...medium-but-slightly-big screen," Hal clarified as he smiled, wanting to give a more proper and correct description. "But yes, if it weren't for me..."
"Professor Rowan, are you..." Master Hand started as he magically appeared in the basement, only to sigh in relief when he saw that Mario and the others had finally returned. "...Mario, thank goodness! There's some rogue Pokemon on the loose."
"Rogue Pokemon?" Mario furrowed his brow, hoping that Master Hand wasn't speaking about one kind of Pokemon in particular. "Do I have-a to see for myself...?"
So Mario went outside to see what Master Hand was talking about, and he couldn't believe what he was seeing. The alpha Parasect that he and the others encountered in Hisui...was now in the mansion's front yard, chasing around Wily. Also present was an alpha Rapidash, which Hunter was apparently riding on.
"TROJAN HORSE, BABY!" cheered Hunter as he pumped his fists in the air, not giving a single care in the world - or concerning his posterior. "Also, my butt's on fire!"
"Mama mia..." was all Mario could say, as he saw an alpha Floatzel swimming on the surface in the mansion's lake and splashing water everywhere. Dawn and Barry had joined Mario outside on the porch, observing the scene, as Master Hand also appeared.
"I'll have you know that a few of these giant Pokemon ventured out into the city," Master Hand informed Mario, as an alpha Staravia was flying above. "Don't know who's being held responsible for this, but..."
"...we'll take care of it," Mario responded with a sigh, as he led Dawn and Barry back inside the mansion. "Come along, you two - let's see how good-a that Kleavor really is."
With Wyrdeer, Kleavor, and many other Hisuian Pokemon now at the mansion, it was a mission success for Rowan and company. And now, the Hisuian Pokemon had a chance to prove their worth.
