Author's Note:

MOCHI MOCHI! As you can tell by the title, this chapter has to do with Mochi Mayhem - the epilogue to the DLC from Pokemon: Scarlet and Violet. Crazy that Scarlet and Violet's lifespan (story-wise) lasted into early 2024. But enough talk. Enjoy!

Episode 408: MochiMayhem

For Champion Link, it was - at least to his surprise - a very uneventful first week for him as the new man of the mansion. The Hylian was expecting a lot of chaos to happen under his watch, but everything for the most part was tranquil. No Bowser acting a fool, no signs of Altair mugging his fellow residents, and most importantly, no signs of anyone from the coalition. (Though since it was a Friday, that might be set to change.)

When Champion Link was thrust into the man of the mansion role, he asked Master Hand if he could have Champion...erm, Commander Zelda, at his side. That option was hardly entertained, for Zelda's job as the woman of the mansion remained intact while Link set off to clear his name. Zelda originally wanted to step down in solidarity with Link, only for her husband to talk her out of it.

With his increased role around the mansion, Champion Link felt useful. And important. It was a feeling that he was always chasing whenever he worked for or alongside Cloud. And now he could relish in that feeling, as he was outside checking out the stuff at Anna's shop.

"So what do we have here?" Champion Link asked Anna, inquiring about the new items the merchant had on display at her shop. Since being named the interim man of the mansion, Champion Link felt obligated to stop by Anna's shop every morning or afternoon.

"Check this out - it's a Slinky!" replied Anna, showing off a Slinky as she maneuvered the spring toy with her two hands. Quite frankly, Champion Link was not that impressed.

"Okay...anything else you wanna show me?" Seeing that Champion Link wasn't a fan of the Slinky, Anna tossed the toy to the side and pulled out something that was even better...a Slink with glued-on googly eyes! Champion Link still wasn't impressed.

"You have to admit, this is quite ingenious." No matter how much Anna showed off the second Slinky, it wasn't enough to win over Champion Link. "Ooh, I know something that you might love!" Anna reached underneath her shop stand, and pulled out a Mr. Potato Head.

"Anna, that's clearly a potato you designed as a Mr. Potato Head." At least the Mr. Potato Head had all the typical plastic parts - even if a few parts were a little out of place.

"Looks can be deceiving, Champion Link," Anna said to the Hylian, imitating the voice of Mr. Potato Head before frowning as she put the potato away. "Is this how you react to kids' toys? You'd make for a terrible father."

Anna: Used to have the plastic potato head, but Chef Kawasaki mistook it for an actual potato and used it for his soup. I didn't break the news to him until later; now nearly everyone at the tower hates me. *smirks*

"Hm, what's this?" inquired Champion Link, his attention drawn to a dusty old decoration that was sitting on the shop stand among Anna's other goods. It was purple and black in color, and smelled awfully sweet.

"That's some thingamajig I saw on my stand when I set up shop this morning," explained Anna, only for her and Champion Link to gasp when they noticed some movement. "Did you see that? It just moved!"

"Yeah I saw..." As Champion Link waited for the decoration to move a second time, he heard a voice calling out to him. The Hylian looked back and saw Commander Zelda and Daruk heading his way.

"Link! Good afternoon!" Commander Zelda waved to Champion Link, as she and Daruk approached the shop with Daruk holding a item of food in his hand. "Hello, Anna - Daruk would like to make a return."

"Can you return food?" Daruk asked Anna, as in his hand was some kind of pink meat. Except that it was rocky in texture. "This Rock Roast of yours is hard to bite into!"

"Guess that means you have old man teeth," quipped Anna, not knowing who she was messing with as Daruk glared at the merchant. "Just kidding! You can put the Rock Roast on the stand."

"So it's been a week since you've been named the man of the mansion," Commander Zelda spoke with Champion Link, taking the opportunity to chat with her good friend. Or boyfriend, as some might allege. "How's it going so far?"

"It's been too easy for my liking," answered Champion Link, almost sounding like he was in a complaining mood. "Wish more stuff was going down so I can prove your worth." Commander Zelda at first looked shocked at Champion Link, before giggling to herself.

"You've already proven your worth! Master Hand trusted you enough to make you the man in charge during the other Link's absence." When you consider that, that's something Champion Link should hang his head high on.

"You're right, but the stuff I've been handling is more of on the small scale. Need something big." Champion Link suddenly did a double take, after he looked at the shop stand and saw that the dusty decoration...was gone!

"What's wrong, Link?" Commander Zelda watched as Champion Link was looking all over Anna's shop stand for the decoration, which was nowhere in sight. The decoration seemingly vanished out of plain sight.

"Anna, that purple thing on your stand is gone!" Champion Link alerted the merchant, who had just completed her transaction with Daruk. Daruk was given a plethora of rupees with his return.

"Phooey, guess it grew some legs and ran off," assumed Anna, not sweating a thing as she smiled and placed her index finger close to her mouth. "So much for selling it for a fortune!"

Master Hand was at the Overwatch watchpoint, paying some Overwatch operatives a visit. Namely Tracer and Winston. The latter was working hard on the giant gun that was destroyed by Master Xehanort in episode 389, and he was in the process of repairing it.

"So with this gun, we can send Organization XIII back where they came from!" Winston explained to Master Hand, showing off the gun to the giant hand and Tracer. His invention wasn't exactly at a hundred percent completion, but he was getting close.

"Even including Vexen and Demyx?" asked Master Hand, and Winston was not all that familiar with the two defected Organization members as he adjusted his glasses."They're on the good side now."

"Erm, sure, why not?" Winston saw Tracer beckoning to him, and Winston knew what the pilot wanted as he shook his head. "No, Tracer, no demonstration. This ray gun isn't for testing purposes."

"Come on, Winston, at least let Master Hand see what your doohickey can do!" exclaimed Tracer as she snatched the gun away from the now disgruntled Winston, before pointing it at a few training bots. Tracer puller the trigger fired a blast at the training bots...who did nothing after being shot at.

"Oh dear...that tickles," said one of the training bots, as it and its other robot buddies remained in place. Only moved a few centimeters or so. "I am in so much pain..."

"As you can see, it's still in the testing phase," Tracer stated to Master Hand as she handed the giant gun back to Winston, who was left even more disgruntled. That precious ammo was not wasted.

"Well, keep up the good work Winston," Master Hand encouraged the gorilla, who grumbled as he got back to work. But not before Echo came flying down to greet him and Tracer.

"Two individuals associated with Dimentio have been spotted in the Seattle metropolitan area," Echo delivered this message Tracer and Winston, having done some recon work in the city confides. "Shall I be on standby?"

"Let us know if anything arises," replied Winston, as Echo flew back into the sky after understanding her assignment. Master Hand looked away, as a certain Hylian happened to cross his mind.

"Wonder what Link is up to these days..." the giant hand quietly said, as Tracer saw Master Hand speak and almost wanted to take sympathy on him.

So what in the world was Link up to while he was gone away from the mansion? A few members of the documentary crew took the time to catch up with Link, and find out the Hylian was up to. Link was spotted outside an apartment, and it definitely wasn't one in the confides of Omnis Adest.

"Here goes nothing..." Link took a deep breath as he went up the apartment stairs, before reaching a front door. The Hylian knocked on the front door, and it was opened by a teen girl wearing a magician outfit.

"I'm sorry, but my dad says he's bought enough girl scout cookies!" the girl stated immediately after opening the door, only to gasp when she saw who it was. Her excitement nearly won her over. "Dad! Look who came to visit!"

"If it's Miles Edgeworth..." said someone in the apartment, and it sounded like a former attorney. The girl in the magician outfit, Trucy Wright, was now joined by her father...Phoenix Wright.

"Hey, Phoenix! Can I talk to you for a minute?" asked Link, as Phoenix looked at the Hylian all surprised; of all the possible visits from the mansion, Link was at the bottom of Phoenix's list.

"Sure, Link. What's up? And how did you know where I lived?" While Phoenix came off as friendly, the fact that Link easily found his apartment without fail left the former attorney on edge.

"Fox and Falco told me. Anyway, I've got some bad news...I'm apparently in trouble, and I was in danger of losing my man of the mansion job. So I stepped down before the inevitable happened."

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that. Do you need me to help you clear your name?" Phoenix was more than ready for the job, smiling as he adjusted his tie.

"Not quite. I'm kind of homeless at the moment. I was wondering if...I could move into your apartment?" And that's when Phoenix's smile faded away, as Phoenix soon noticed the suitcase that Link had in his possession.

"My apartment?" Phoenix blinked, taken aback as he waited for Link to say that he was just messing around. "You want to move in with me?"

"Yeah, just until I feel comfortable returning to the mansion. Maybe until this whole mess blows over. I promise I won't be any trouble."

"I mean, I guess it could work." Phoenix scratched his head, weighing the pros and cons of Link moving in with him. "My place isn't exactly set up for more than two people, though. This apartment is pretty small."

"No problem. I've slept in worse places, trust me." Link waved his hand dismissively, and that small wave was enough to make Phoenix trust him. Slightly.

Phoenix: Link's moving in with me, so does that mean you guys will now follow my every move? I didn't sign up for this...

Since it was the first month of the year, Peach wanted to do some gardening in her backyard. The princess had started working after breakfast, and was working tirelessly while her husband was sitting inside the house, not doing a thing.

"I'd really like to have you outside, some help would be nice!" Peach called out to Mario, who was sitting in the living room staring at the TV. Left with no response, Peach went back outside with some gardening tools in hand.

"I see you're not playing your dumb tuba," Spyro approached Mario, who was staring at the TV with a thousand-mile stare. "Not that I'm complaining." The TV was on, but Mario was barely watching.

"Spyro, can you call-a Cloud for me?" Mario asked the purple dragon, sounding like he had a lot of things he wanted to get off his chest. "Really need to decompress."

"You have a phone, can't you call him yourself?" Apparently that was too much for Mario to handle, as the plumber gestured to his phone on the living room table. Spyro sighed as he grabbed the phone with his mouth.

Cloud had calling the Turks multiple times in the previous episode, and was never met with a response. Cloud had been doing his best to contact the Turks over the week, and he was trying to work his magic as he gave one of the Turks a call in the gaming room.

"Went to voicemail again," Cloud grumbled after he called Rude's number, as Sephiroth crept over to Cloud undetected. Or so he thought. "I know you're there, Sephiroth."

"Fancy seeing you here," Sephiroth greeted Cloud like a man greeting his ex-girlfriend at a bar, as Cloud kept his distance. "Who were you trying to speak to?"

"Why do you care so much?" It was bad enough that Cloud had to deal with Sephiroth as a roommate, but to have Sephiroth stalk him more than ever left a bitter taste in the swordsman's mouth.

"Because your business is my business." Suddenly Cloud's phone rang, as Sephiroth looked on. Much to Cloud's disappointment, it was Mario's name on the caller ID. Cloud still answered the call anyway.

"Yes, Mario, what is...oh, hey Spyro. Mario wants to speak with me? Sure, I'm game. See ya." Cloud ended the phone call, as he brushed past Sephiroth in route to the gaming room exit. "Stop being so nosy, Sephiroth."

"Always on to you, Cloud..." Sephiroth quietly delivered this message to Cloud, watching as his arch-nemesis left the gaming room. Min Min walked past Sephiroth and saw how he was looking at Cloud, furrowing her brow.

"Creep..." Min Min muttered under her breath as she carried on, while Sephiroth just stood there smirking like the evil creep that he was. Min Min was right on the money.

Crash had plans to hang out with Sonic today, but there was a teensy weensy problem he ran into...Sonic was nowhere to be found at the mansion! Believing that his main man was likely at Omnis Adest, Crash enlisted his siblings and Aku to help him look for Sonic.

"Sonic? Sonic! Where are you?" Coco called out to the blue hedgehog, as she, Crash, and Crunch were searching every nook and cranny for Sonic. Aku was also there, surveying the entire area.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" shouted Crunch as he was looking inside a trash bin. The burly bandicoot uncovered an uneaten burger, and carefully looked around... "Well don't mind if I do..." ...before taking a bite out of the sandwich.

"Ooh, I hope he isn't forcing us into another game of hide-and-seek out of spite," fretted Aku, as Crunch felt sick to his stomach after eating a bite of the burger as he vomited on the ground. "Surely he's still not upset over you guys giving away his hiding spot last time!"

"You were the one who gave away his hiding spot," corrected Coco, as Crash was sniffing around a recycling bin until he picked up a familiar scent from inside. "Don't blame it on us."

"Woah!" alerted Crash, bringing his siblings' attention to the recycling bin. Coco and Crunch ran over to the recycling bin; Crunch opened it and saw a certain blue blur inside.

"Found ya!" yelled Crunch as he was looking down at Sonic; the moment he felt a ray of sunlight beaming on his face, Sonic went into a state of frenzy.

"NO, PLEASE, I DON'T WANT TO HAVE ANOTHER..." Sonic was about to snap, only to later cool off when he looked up and saw Crunch peering down at him. "...phew, it's just you, Crunch."

"You really had Crash worried," Coco said to Sonic, who was helped out of the recycling bin by Sonic. Crunch simply dumped Sonic out on the concrete, and Sonic hopped back on his feet in a heartbeat.

"Sorry if I gave you guys a scare, I was just hiding from Nemona." Sonic precariously looked over his shoulder, checking to see if the coast was clear, before looking back at the Crash clan. "She just won't leave me alone..."

Sonic: Those Naranja and Blueberry Academy students really love Terapagos. They were holding the little guy and everything, which I found weird since Terapagos is a legendary Pokemon and all. Soon after all the euphoria wore off, guess what Nemona did? Challenge me and Terapagos to a Pokemon battle. Even though I creamed her, she was all like, "Can I battle your Shaymin, Sonic? Pretty please?". Like, what is her problem? Girl's got issues...

Rayman: I caught a bunch of fish Pokemon in a lake the other day. When I showed off my haul to Nemona, she challenged me to a Pokemon battle on the spot. I kid you not. Never have I seen anyone that excited to win against an entire team of Magikarp. It's for that reason everyone avoids Nemona every way they can, even if you only have one Pokemon on you.

Hop: *opens the door of a portable potty, looking around before facing the camera* If Nemona asks...tell her I'm not here. *closes the door before opening it back up a second later* Oh, and tell Lee he can have my pizza rolls. *closes the door for good*

"Hiding in the recycling bin now, are we?" said a certain Pokemon trainer, as the Blueberry Academy's own Drayton drew near. "That's new." Drayton wasn't alone, for accompanying him were fellow trainers Lacey, Crispin, and Amarys.

"Oh, hey guys!" Sonic greeted the Blueberry Academy students, trying to play it cool as he rested his hand against a recycling bin. The recycling bin tipped over much to Sonic's chagrin. "You didn't hear me scream like a little girl, did you?"

"We heard you screaming from approximately less than a mile away," replied Amarys, as Sonic snapped his fingers in disgust; Sonic's goal of having the Blueberry Academy think he was cool was likely tarnished forever.

"Your scream sounded so cute!" Lacey gleamed at Sonic, making the blue hedgehog blush as the red all over Sonic's face was a huge contrast to his blue skin. "Aw, it's nothing to be ashamed of!"

"I see that you're missing someone from your group," Aku said to the Blueberry Academy students, as Sonic was about to crawl back inside the recycling bin. Crash did his best to keep his friend intact. "Where's Carmine and Kieran?"

"I dunno about Carmine, but Kieran is having a Pokemon battle with Nemona," replied Crispin, as Nemona and Kieran were likely battling it out to see which Pokemon academy was superior. "Bet you he's getting his butt whipped right now!"

"Aw man, I lost to you again?" Kieran was heard shouting from afar, as his Pokemon battle with Nemona sounded as if it was nearby. Sonic and company ran to where the battle took place, the middle of an open field, where they saw Kieran lamenting over his defeat while Nemona looked victorious.

"You did great, though! Muy bien!" Nemona commended Kieran, showing off her native Spanish tongue before noticing the crowd that she accrued. "Hey guys, you missed an awesome battle!" Nemona waved to Sonic and company after she saw them.

"You lost to Nemona again?" Coco asked Kieran, who solemnly nodded his head in defeat as Coco looked at Nemona. "How many times have you and Kieran battled each other?" Coco asked Nemona, mostly out of great concern.

"Beats me; I kinda lost count," admitted Nemona, who clearly took her love for battling to the extreme. Sonic reacted to Nemona's reply by faceplanting unto the ground. "I promised Kieran we'd stop until he won!"

"She completely destroyed me every time..." said Kieran, as neither his Hydrapple nor any other Pokemon he had was able to overcome Nemona's prowess. "...how good is she, anyway?"

"To be fair, she is a ranked Champion at her region," stated Drayton, smirking and folding his arms knowing he'd fare better versus Nemona than Kieran. Being a dragon-type Pokemon expert gave him that unparalleled confidence.

"That's right, how could I forget? Makes sense she's so good then." With Kieran finally getting over his defeat...numerous defeats, that is, Nemona ran over to Sonic and company to give Drayton some props.

"Gotta say, Drayton, you're pretty good yourself!" Nemona said to the Pokemon trainer, as her battles with Drayton were usually closely contested. "No wonder you're the Champion of that fancy-pants school of yours!"

"What can I say, I do my best," shrugged Drayton, too humble to brag yet at the same time oozing confidence. Too bad his confidence wasn't rubbing off of his classmates. "It just comes naturally to me."

"It's too bad that I couldn't beat you," Kieran said to Nemona as he looked to the side, only for Nemona to cheer him up when she put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Does it really matter?" Nemona asked with a smile, unable to hide her infectious energy; that girl was about as energetic as they come. "Whether you win or lose, Pokemon battles are a blast!"

"Yeah, that's true." Soon Kieran and the others would receive more company, as they were later joined by Nemona's classmates Arven and Penny. Both Arven and Penny knew from the get-go that Nemona had just creamed someone in battle.

"That's Nemona for ya - everyone gets used to it," remarked Arven, who had lost his fair share of battles to Nemona. Some losses were so embarrassing, Arven wouldn't dare to tell anyone about them.

Penny: Nemona asked us to spectate her Pokemon battles with Kieran, but we kindly turned down her offer. There's no point in watching if the end result is too predictable.

"Feel like running for the hills yet?" Penny asked Kieran, amazed that the Pokemon trainer hadn't thrown in the towel. That showed a lot of tenacity and grit.

"N-Not at all! We had a lot of fun!" replied Kieran, with the sweat running down from his brow likely suggesting otherwise. "Yeah...I really had a lot of fun!" Nemona was smiling with vindication, able to make Kieran see Pokemon battles from a different point of view.

Suddenly, Crunch almost shrieked when he looked to his left and saw someone that wasn't there before...Kieran's older sister, Carmine. Something something was off about Carmine...her eyes were purple, and she was staring straight into space.

"Woah! Where'd you come from?" Crunch asked Carmine after taking a step back, as all eyes were on Carmine. Understandably, everyone was concerned about Carmine, but it was her little bro who was concerned the most.

"Sis! You okay?" Kieran asked Carmine, who didn't respond as she just continued to stare. Seconds passed, and then all of a sudden, a smile from Carmine.

"M...mo..." uttered Carmine...who then broke into some kind of funny chicken dance, flapping her arms about and moving her feet. "Mochi MOCHI!"

"Mochi mochi?" Lacey furrowed her brow, as literally no one knew what to make of Carmine's...condition. Crash was easily entertained by Carmine's dance as he tried to replicate it, only to fail miserably.

"Mochi mochi! MOCHI MOCHI!" Carmine was speaking in a different language, and it was obvious that the Pokemon trainer had completely lost it. How she lost it, though, no one had a single clue.

"Kieran, you think Carmine wants in on the battle fun too?" asked Nemona, apparently raring to go for another Pokemon battle; she would challenge a bed-ridden individual to a Pokemon battle just to get her fix in.

"There's no way that's what's going on here..." replied Coco, as she and the others kept their distance from Carmine. A solid probability that whatever was infecting Carmine was contagious - a literal dance fever.

"Uh, could you guys help me, uh, carry my sis somewhere safe?" Kieran asked Sonic and company, deeply embarrassed by how Carmine was acting. It was a stark 180 from how Carmine typically conducted herself.

"You want us to pick her up and drag her off?" asked Sonic, looking skeptically at Carmine who danced to her heart's content. Hardly missed a beat. "We could take her to Wii Fit Trainer...she'd know what to do."

"Another one bit the dust..." lamented Lacey, as Sonic tried to grab Carmine and hoist her over his shoulders. As Crash came over to help out, Coco and Crunch looked at each other as they reflected on what Lacey said.

The results of the investigation concerning Link and the ensuing fallout had been on Mario's mind, as Mario was left with more questions than answers. The plumber invited Link's best friend Cloud over to his house, wondering if the swordsman knew anything given his closeness to Link.

"I can't believe it...Link accused-a of sexual misconduct," lamented Mario as he sat on his sofa in the living room, the huge allegations against Link weighing on his mind. "Who knew that he was that much-a of a player?"

"That should probably be the very least of your concerns," replied Cloud, wondering what Link was up to after he saw the Hylian leave the mansion on his own accord. He tried calling and texting Link but had yet to receive a response.

"You know, this whole situation smells fishy," stated Hunter as he walked inside the living room, injecting himself into the conversation to give his two cents on the situation. "I smell cash grab!"

"Pretty sure Master Hand just said that Link was in trouble just for misconduct," stated Spyro, whom Hunter pointed at with much ferocity. Spyro nervously jumped back, not liking being put on the spot.

"That's what they want you to think!" Hunter hissed at Spyro, under the heavy assumption that his best friend was being manipulated. "Obviously they can't outright say 'sexual misconduct' because it would hurt so many people."

"Especially the women," affirmed Mario, happy to know that he and Hunter had the same line of thinking. Very rarely does that happen. "Master Hand's keeping it close-a to the vest to protect everyone."

"Sure pal...whatever floats your boat," murmured Cloud, as Mario and Hunter exchanged a high-five. Cloud and Spyro both looked at each other, bothered by their friends' line of thinking.

Spyro: Mario and Hunter don't share the same brain cell that often, but when they do it's pretty dangerous. Only because it's very damaging to my own brain cells.

"Let's say that Link was in legit trouble for sexual misconduct," Cappy interjected himself into the conversation, as the nonsense he heard out of Mario and Hunter's mouths was likely too much for him. "Who is even there for him to sexually harass? Bayonetta? Lucina? Jigglypuff?!"

"Samus," Mario dropped a name, as a convinced Hunter nodded his head and pointed his finger at Mario in agreement. Spyro honestly felt like bashing his head against a wall.

"Would explain why she's so standoffish," remarked Hunter, who thought that Samus had been acting more reclusive than usual over the past few weeks. "Link must've harmed her many years ago."

"She acts like that all the time, stop playing dumb," Cloud said to Hunter, who frowned at the swordsman; just then, Peach showed up at the living room unannounced, and was standing in place.

"Woah Peach, you can't just pop-a up like...that," Mario scolded his wife, before trailing off when he noticed how Peach was just standing in place ominously. With a blank expression on her face, no less.

"What's with the dead look in your eyes?" Spyro asked Peach, who wasn't saying a word - just simply staring into space. Almost like a certain Pokemon trainer from just a moment ago...

"Maybe Link touched her..." Hunter assumed with a whisper; if that were the case, then how would that explain Peach's purple eyes...wait a minute. Purple eyes?! Could that mean...

"Mochi...mochi mochi!" exclaimed Peach before breaking out into a dance, doing the funky chicken dance that Carmine was doing earlier. It appeared as if Peach and Carmine were under the same spell.

"Mama Mia! Peach is really getting her groove-a on," said Mario, moving his head to the beat of Peach's...erm, rhythm. Peach was doing that dance like it was nobody's business. "She's finally dancing better than me!"

"Then you must not have been much of a great dancer to begin with," commented Spyro, as Cloud tried to snap Peach out of her trance. No matter how many times he waved his hand in front of Peach's eyes, Cloud's best efforts were not enough.

"I'll go get help," volunteered Cloud after he was done with Peach, as he raced to the front door. When he opened it, he saw Daisy on the doorstep...doing the Mochi dance just like Peach.

"Mochi mochi!" exclaimed Daisy as she danced her way inside Mario's house, causing Cloud to back away from the princess. All the men in the house were cornered, as Peach and Daisy were both dancing in a trance.

"Oh great, now Daisy's dancing better than-a Luigi!" said Mario, hoping that his younger twin brother hadn't fallen victim to whatever the heck was infecting Peach and Daisy. "Wait until I tell-a Luigi..."

"You can tell him at a later time," Cloud said to Mario, as Peach and Daisy danced around the swordsman and friends in circles while saying "mochi mochi" over and over again. "These two probably fell under some spell..."

While Carmine was taken to the mansion, Coco, Crunch, and Aku stuck around at Omnis Adest to find out what had gotten into the Pokemon trainer. During their trek, they came across Chrom speaking with Tharja and Henry.

"And then she just started dancing and saying 'mochi' over and over again," Tharja said to Chrom, leading Coco and Crunch to assume that Carmin was being discussed as the bandicoots listened attentively.

"I think she has been cursed," said Henry, who happily clasped his hands together as he looked up the heavens with an overzealous smile. "How I wish to be in her shoes..."

"Don't say that!" Tharja backhanded Henry, as she wiped the smile off the dark mage in a hurry. "But yes, the word on the street is that a curse is making its rounds here."

"A curse, you say? That's not good," Chrom reacted, as Coco and Crunch exchanged looks before departing. Blaze, overhearing the conversation, came up.

"I might've seen this curse going on around here, in spades," Blaze said to Chrom and the others, injecting herself into the conversation. "If you're talking about that...dancing craze."

"Yes, the dancing! I was just talking about it with Tharja and Henry here. What do you make of it, Blaze?"

"Can't tell you how it began, but a lot of people have been affected. Mind if I show you?"

With Carmine acting all out of sorts, Sonic, Crash, Nemona, and Kieran rushed the Pokemon trainer to the fitness center to have her checked out. Performing the diagnosis was Wii Fit Trainer, who had to keep Carmine contained in a separate room for her own good.

"Is she going to be okay?" Sonic asked Wii Fit, standing along with Crash and Nemona as she stepped out of the room Carmine was in. Wii Fit didn't look all that somber, which Sonic and company saw as a positive sign.

"Health-wise, she's just fine," replied Wii Fit, finding nothing wrong with any of Carmine's body functions. Regardless, there was still a pressing issue at hand. "But she just won't stop dancing!"

"Have you tried putting her in a straitjacket? That can help!" suggested Nemona, coming off as a bit too chipper; taken aback by Nemona's constant affability, Sonic took a few steps back.

"A girl like you could use a straitjacket..." Sonic muttered under his breath, as Wii Fit pressed her ear against the door. Carmine could be heard singing "Mochi, mochi!" from inside, never missing a beat.

"I mean, I could, but she would just fight her way out of it," replied Wii Fit as she took her ear away from the door, debating in her mind consulting Ashley for a potion of some sort. "Also, the last available one we had has already been contaminated."

Wii Fit Trainer: The last straitjacket we used was on Slippy, just to keep him from opening up his gifts before Christmas. And everyone else's gifts at that. Somehow he got his urine on the straitjacket when he wetted himself.

"Nemona, what's that all over your mouth?" Sonic asked the Pokemon trainer, who had food crumbs around her mouth. "Ate some chili dogs without me?"

"Chef Kawasaki offered me some snacks," explained Nemona, leading Sonic to assume she was even crazier than imagine. Who in their right mind would accept Kawasaki's cooking? "They were so purple, I couldn't resist!"

"So that explains how you got sidetracked so easily." All along, Sonic assumed Nemona had ran off just to challenge a random person to a Pokemon battle. She was battle-crazy like that.

"How is Carmine doing?" asked Crispin, he and Lacey heading over to Sonic and company as they raced inside the fitness center. "Did you find out what's been going on?" Much to Crispin's chagrin, not a single soul had a positive answer.

"Haven't got the slightest clue," replied Sonic, who was quick to notice that Lacey was looking worried. Something major was afoot if Lacey wasn't looking her usual self. "Why the long face, Lacey?"

"No, it's just..." replied Lacey, who at first hesitated as she looked over her shoulder, before finding the courage to look back at Sonic and company. "...you might want to come and see this."

So Sonic and company followed Lacey and Crispin out of the fitness center, and in the hallway, they saw Fox and Falco...confronted by their idol singers doing the same chicken dance that Carmine was doing. It was an unsettling sight for the pilots.

"Mochi mochi!" exclaimed Itsuki as he and the rest of his idol singer friends (and Touma) were doing the mochi dance. Much like Carmine, the seven individuals had purple eyes.

"Stop it you guys, this isn't funny," Falco commanded the dancing individuals, who showed no signs of stopping as they crept closer to the pilots. "I literally filed a trademark for the funky chicken the other day! You're not legally bound to dance!"

"You filed a trademark for the funky chicken?" Fox questioned Falco as he looked at his best friend completely hurt. "And you never told me?" The pilot felt as if he was cut deep into his heart.

"Really, I just wanted the money all for myself." When Falco faced forward along with Fox, they saw that Itsuki and company were getting even closer. "Seriously guys, back off!"

Falco: Filing the trademark was easy, but the worst part was that I had to cough up $500 for the application. But you know what they say...big loss, bigger gain. *rubs hands together* That's a new quote I came up with. Gonna file a trademark for that sucker also real soon.

"Wowzers, they've all dancing like crazy too!" panicked Kieran, as Itsuki and his idol singer friends almost had Fox and Falco cornered. Fox was even dreading the thought of having to bust out his Blaster.

"There's gotta be someway we can snap them out of this!" said Sonic, and that's when Crash grinned as an imaginary light bulb dinged over his head. Crash seldom came up with genius ideas, but as far as the success rate was concerned, his ideas were usually hits.

"Woah!" shouted Crash, stepping up as he confronted Touma and...proceeded to kick the redhead in the junk. Much to Crash's dismay, Touma was dancing through the pain.

"Mochi mochi!" Touma wheezed with a high-pitched squeal as he didn't let the pain in his nether regions bother him. Thinking that Touma was too powerful for him, Crash hasted back to his original position.

"Okay you guys, either you stop dancing, or...you're fired!" Fox threatened the idol singers out of pure desperation and fear, only for the idol singers to creep closer to him. Once they got close enough, the dancing idol singers got a hold of Falco.

"This is not good..." remarked Crispin, watching perilously as Fox was struggling to rescue Falco from the dancing idol singers. Nemona, who was watching the situation, was momentarily staring into space before taking off.

"Nemona, where are you going?!" Sonic asked the Pokemon trainer, who ran off down the hallway without giving much of a warning. Left Sonic sighing. "That's Nemona, always running to who-knows-where..."

"Maybe she's looking for an antidote," assumed Lacey; knowing Nemona, whoever might have an antidote would no doubt be challenged to a Pokemon battle over it. "Crispin and I will find our own solution - you do your best to hold everything down."

"We'll do our best," Kieran half-heartedly assured, as Lacey and Crispin left the premises - meanwhile, Fox was holding unto Falco for dear life, trying to pull him away from the idol singers.

"Don't think I can hold on much longer!" yelled Fox, his fingers slipping out of Falco's grasp only to let go of the avian pilot's hands. Fox fell on his back as Falco was swarmed by the idol singers.

"Save yourselves! SAVE YOURSELVES!" Falco shouted his last words to Fox and the others, before the idol singers took him down the hallway while dancing their hearts out.

"They took him...they took Falco." Fox was in a lamenting mood, putting all the blame on himself as he slammed his fist on the floor. Sonic came over to Fox, perhaps to comfort the pilot during his time of avail.

"He's not dead," Sonic said to Fox, who slowly rose up to his feet. "It's not the end of the..." Sonic was later caught by surprise when Fox grabbed him by his shoulders, looking angry as ever. "...okay, okay, I didn't mean it like that! Relax!"

"You have to help me save Falco!" Fox stressed to Sonic as he shook the blue hedgehog silly, before looking down the hallway in the direction that the idol singers went. "Who knows what they might do to him..."

"Pretty sure the worst that'll happen to him is that he'll end up dancing like them." That was too harrowing of a thought for Fox to bear, as he dropped Sonic to the floor and rubbed his hand over his head. All Fox could think about was his best friend's livelihood.

"There might be an antidote of some kind," Kieran stated to Fox, going off on what Lacey had assumed after Nemona left without saying a word. "If only we know someone..."

"Oh, I think we do know someone..." confirmed Fox as he gave Sonic and Crash a knowing glance. Crash didn't know, scratching his head in confusion, but Sonic on the other hand did as he appeared afraid.

Phoenix welcomed Link inside his apartment, and he expected to run into a few problems upon accepting his new housemate. But so far, it has been very peachy - Phoenix and Link were able to get along, and Trucy didn't have to worry about playing peacemaker. Everything was fine.

"Link, what are you doing?" Phoenix asked upon entering the living room, where he saw Link sitting on the floor polishing his Master Sword. Phoenix was exasperated, yet slightly amused.

"Just making sure my sword is in top shape," Link grinned as he looked up at his sword, inspecting its shininess before he resumed the polishing. "This blade is better than any fly swat."

"Would love to see you fighting a house fly with that. It'd be something." As Phoenix stepped forward, he nearly tripped and then picked up the item that almost tripped him up. "I prefer if you do that in your room, I nearly tripped over your boomerang just now. Got your stuff all over the place."

"Sorry about that. I'm still unpacking." While Link kept doing his thing, Phoenix took a seat on the sofa near the Hylian as he had something he wanted to say.

"You never told me the whole story. What are you in trouble for? And why did you choose to come and live with me? Too scared to clear your name?"

"It's not that, it's just..." Link frowned, either struggling to say what was on his mind or perhaps too reluctant to share any major details. "...I need some time to find myself."

"And you wanted to do that here..." Phoenix rubbed his temples, fearing having his brain twisted into knots as he stood up from the sofa. "...we'll talk about this later, Link. Oh, and one more thing..."

"Yes?" Link stopped polishing his sword as he looked up at Phoenix, who reached into his pocket and pulled out a Deku Nut. "Is that a Deku Nut?"

"Indeed...I found this and other nuts in the fridge. Almost exploded in my face! Are you storing your bombs in there too?"

"No, just the nuts. They stay fresher that way." Link let out a sheepish chuckle, as Phoenix put the Deku Nut back in his pocket and walked away.

Ryu's wish finally came true - he was bonding more with the Mortal Kombat fighters, being in their graces just like Ken Masters. Wanting to keep the momentum going, Ryu personally invited the fighters to hang out at Cafe Leblanc. Only Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade accepted the invite.

"Okay, I came to the cafe, that means I can go home now," Sonya said to Johnny, getting up from her barstool as she was about to leave. But Johnny instinctively grabbed his wife's hand and sat her back down.

"Can't leave just yet! You have to watch...the master," Johnny encouraged with a smile, gesturing to Ryu who was telling jokes at the counter. Sonya forced herself to listen as she heaved a heavy sigh.

"Ken really wanted a part in the American Tail play," Ryu said to the patrons sitting at the counter, showing off his comedic genius. He couldn't help but smirk as he was about to deliver the punchline. "But he wasn't allowed to audition for any of the American roles because he only had a quarter!"

"I don't get it," admitted an overhearing Pit, as Ryu laughed at his joke - even slapped his knee for good measure. Johnny was chuckling a bit, but neither Sonya nor anyone else was laughing.

"American Tail? Isn't that...an animated movie..." Sonya furrowed her brow, only to be shushed when Johnny brought his index finger up to her lips. That move by Johnny made Sonya furrow her brow all the more.

"Let the man be great," Johnny whispered to Sonya, confident that Ryu would bring the whole house down. "He's just getting started..." Sonya, refusing to believe her husband, looked up at the heavens and sighed deeply.

"Speaking of Ken, I saw him punch the road the other day," Ryu continued on, telling his second joke as hardly anyone save for Johnny, Sans, and Pit were paying much attention. "You know why he did it?" Ryu looked around, anxious to see if anyone knew the answer. "Because he's a STREET FIGHTER!"

"now that's what I call comedic genius," giggled Sans, as Ryu was the only other person sitting at the counter laughing. Johnny nodded his head in approval, while Sonya left the cafe when her husband wasn't looking.

"Haha, I think I got that one," giggled Pit after understanding the punchline, although it took him a moment or two. The angel backed down when he saw Joker staring at him, as he got back to work.

Joker: Ryu rarely stopped by our cafe, and now he comes here just to tell the lousiest jokes possible. If he keeps it up, I'm going to have to ban him. Sans, I can tolerate him at least. *pauses, then looks afraid* You heard nothing...

"Hello Joker!" Lacey greeted the young man as she and Crispin entered the cafe, with Pit perking up when the two Pokemon trainers went up to the counter. "Do you have any..."

"Before you ask...did you two hear about the party Ken had?" Ryu asked Lacey and Crispin as he interrupted the conversation, having one more joke in him. This one had better land. "The party was terrible, or so I've heard...since there was a crap Dee-Jay. Get it?"

"Um...nice to see you too, Ryu!" Lacey smiled at Ryu, effectively shutting down the fighter as Ryu just looked on with his mouth agape. Ignoring Ryu, Lacey then turned to Joker. "Do you have any curry that we could use, Joker?"

"Our friend Carmine is stuck doing some dance!" explained Crispin, as Pit saw Crispin and Lacey standing together while scratching his chin. "We think some curry of yours might snap her out of it."

"Are you two dating?" Pit asked Lacey and Crispin out of the blue; Lacey gasped as she eventually turned to Crispin, who was too flustered to even speak.

"Me? Lacey? Dating?" Crispin was smiling nervously, scared to admit his feelings for Lacey if he had any. (Spoiler alert: he did). "What is this, a cafe or some rumor mill?"

"You know, I ask Joker that question every other day. He never replies because he knows the truth." Pit playfully sneered at Joker, goading the young man to say something, but Joker wouldn't budge.

"Let me go see what I have in storage..." Joker said to Lacey and Crispin as he went to his storage compartment, looking to see how many curry ingredients he had. But he was stopped in his tracks by Viridi, who was holding a plate of rice cakes.

"Care for a snack?" Viridi asked Joker as she presented the plate of rice cakes to Joker, which looked a lot like doughnuts at first glance. "Have some mochi..."

"Ah, Viridi, I see you've finally made it back from the pantry. That said, I didn't ask you to..." Joker attempted to maneuver past Viridi, but Viridi kept the young man from getting away from her as she presented the mochi one more time.

"I said, have some mochi..." Viridi was coming off as bossy in this very moment, and the purple glare in her eyes was giving Joker an uneasy feeling.

"Don't think I want any right now. And besides, I have to check the cabinet." Growing strongly in persistence, Viridi grabbed a hold of Joker's arm to really keep him from escaping.

"Eat...the...mochi..." Viridi looked angered, like she was going to kill Joker if he didn't give in to her demands. Joker knew first-hand how dangerous Viridi can be if she never got her way, so he was forced to oblige or risk having a black eye.

"If you insist..." So Joker took up on Viridi's offer and ate some of the mochi, not thinking much of it. Thought it tasted alright. "...now can you let me get to the cabinet? Lacey and Crispin need to..."

Joker suddenly stopped speaking, as he felt a rather peculiar feeling running course through his body. The young man had his eyes closed, which was a cause for concern.

"Joker? You good?" Kirby asked the young man, who remained silent...and then out of nowhere, Joker started dancing and doing the Mochi dance. Joker was now infected!

"Mochi MOCHI!" exclaimed Joker as he did the Mochi dance, with Viridi joining in on the fun. Some of the cafe patrons were perturbed by Joker and Viridi's dancing, while others were watching for their own amusement.

"Now this is the special entertainment I've always wanted," Yoshi happily remarked, happy to finally get a show at Cafe Leblanc as he nodded his head to Joker and Viridi's rhythm. The green dinosaur finally got what he asked for.

"That plate of mochi! Get it, hurry!" Lacey said to Crispin, who understood the assignment as he jumped behind the counter. But Cripsin was too late, as he encountered Sans behind the counter holding the plate and eating a piece of mochi.

"mm, this doesn't taste half-bad," Sans critiqued the mochi, and before Crispin could ask for the plate... "come and get some." ...Sans tossed the mochi across the cafe, as many of the pieces landed in the open mouths of the patrons.

"Oh no!" It was too late for Lacey and Crispin to do anything, as Sans and many of the patrons in the cafe started doing the Mochi dance and dancing like madmen. It was too much for Lacey to take in.

"Sweetie, are you still fiddling around with Ryu and his..." Sonya asked as she returned to the cafe, only to be stunned when she saw a bunch of folks doing the Mochi dance. The military officer looked as if she just arrived at bizzaro world.

"Bum biddy biddy biddy bum bum..." sang King K. Rool as he did his own dance, moving around in place and raising his hands, only to stop after seeing that everyone else was doing the Mochi dance. "...whoops, wrong dance."

"Wrong dance, eh?" asked Johnny, who danced past K. Rool while doing the Russian folk dance. Sonya saw her husband dancing and was in deep disgust.

"Aw, come on, they didn't save any for me!" Pit whined when he saw the empty plate on the counter, angrily tossing it to the side. The angel then caught Ryu with his phone out, recording everybody dancing, and then high-tail out of the cafe.

"Pit!" Kirby called out the name of the angel, who ran out of the cafe to see what Ryu was up to. Lacey and Crispin were left behind, looking afraid as everyone did the Mochi dance around them.

Having footage of the baristas (and others) doing the Mochi dance on his phone, a giddy Ryu ran outside the cafe. Pit exited the cafe and came around the corner when he saw Ryu, trying to watch the footage in private.

"Yes! Yes, a thousand times, yes!" Ryu cheered in private as Pit crept up on him, hearing the sounds of folks chanting "mochi mochi" from Ryu's phone. "This is everything that I need!"

"Ryu, you got a minute?" Pit asked the fighter as he tapped him on his shoulder. Ryu turned around and screamed at the sight of Pit, so spooked by the angel that he nearly punched him in the face.

"Please go away!" Ryu held back from Pit while safeguarding his phone, hand over the phone screen as if he were watching an X-rated movie. "I'm totally not using this footage for ulterior motive!"

"Woah dude, take it easy! I just wanted to see your new phone." Pit got Ryu to soften up, as Ryu calmly revealed his phone - while also exiting out of the video, to be on the safe side. "I've never seen you carrying one."

"You haven't? Yes, this is my, uh, new phone...my first-ever smartphone, in fact." Ryu showed off his phone case to Pit, and it was one that had Chun-li on front. Pit raised his eyebrows with intrigue. "Got this phone case out of necessity."

Ken: The only phone I've ever seen Ryu use was a Nokia 3310 cellphone. You know, the one that looks like a tiny calculator almost. It was kind of a waste, though, since Ryu used that phone just to call people and challenge them to a fight. If you call him for anything other than fighting, you can forget it - he'll hang up on the spot! Asked that guy if me and him could go out for lunch, and what does he do? "Click". Every single time!

"So you're saying that you find the phone case ugly," assumed Pit, as he made Ryu flustered and ticked off at the same time. That punch to the face Pit avoided might actually occur if he doesn't shut his mouth soon.

"That's not what I said at all!" defended Ryu, who came off as nervous as he looked at his Chun-li phone case. Stared at it longer than he should. "I also got this phone case because of...the aesthetics."

"What aesthetics? It's just Chun-li on there. Ooh, so special..." Pit did a show of sarcastic jazz hands as he feigned excitement, while Ryu glared at the angel with a vein popping in his forehead.

"Just Chun-li? Just Chun-li?! I will have you know that..." Ryu confronted Pit, looking to give him a piece of his mind, but then he looked past the angel and saw someone that had him reverse course.

"Have me know what? That you suck at picking phone cases and that you could do better?" Pit was under the guise that he was speaking facts, as Ryu backed away from him after he said his piece.

"The matter is irrelevant. We never had this conversation." Ryu turned around and walked away, pulling up the video of everyone dancing on his phone once the coast was clear. Pit watched as Ryu left, certain that he got one over the fighter.

"Well, Pit, looks like you live to see another day!" Already relishing in his personal "victory", Pit started his trek back to Cafe Leblanc. On his way there, he came across Lacey and Crispin speaking with Champion Link and Zelda outside the cafe.

"This is very unsettling to look at," commented Zelda, as she and Champion Link peeked inside the cafe and saw all the cafe patrons doing the chicken dance. Save for King K. Rool, sitting at a table and minding his own business. Kirby and Incineroar were hiding behind the counter for safety.

"I've seen better dancing at my best friend's wedding reception," K. Rool called out to Champion Link and Zelda, hoping that the Hylians appreciated his lone wolf efforts. "And I don't even have a best friend!"

"Surely there is a reason behind this," Champion Link said to Lacey and Crispin as a dancing Joker crept towards him; Champion Link had to push him back. "Unless you two started something..."

"We have no idea how this came about," admitted Lacey, while Champion Link was tussling with Joker and keeping him contained as much as possible. "First Carmine started dancing, and it seems it just went downhill from there!"

"Then we shall head off to Omnis Adest to investigate," proclaimed Zelda, as Champion Link forced Joker back inside the cafe by punching him in the face. Very seldom did Champion Link use his fists.

"Mochi mochi!" chanted Joker as he quickly got back on his feet and resumed dancing, not letting Champion Link's physicality deter him. Champion Link had one more right jab left in him, but saved it for another day.

"Whoever's responsible for starting this whole charade is gonna be sorry..." grumbled Champion Link, following after Zelda as he and the princess were on their way to Omnis Adest. With the two Hylians gone, Pit found the courage to approach Lacey and Crispin, and ask the following...

"Are you two dating or not?" Pit brazenly asked Lacey and Crispin out of the blue, as Lacey didn't know the best approach to answer the question. Crispin, meanwhile, was blushing mad - his face as red as a tomato.

"I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE, AAAAHHH!" Crispin screamed as he ran away from Pit, running as far as his legs could carry him. Lacey saw her classmate running for the hills, and was left befuddled.

"Don't worry about him, he's my responsibility," Lacey smiled warmly at Pit before following after Crispin, hoping to catch up with the Pokemon trainer in time. "Crispin, wait up for me!"

"If you're looking for somewhere to go on a date, just hit me up!" Pit called out to Lacey, before humming a happy tune as he went inside the cafe. "Nice dance moves, Joker," Pit said to the dancing young man as he reassumed his position behind the counter, as if nothing was going on.

A lot of people at Omnis Adest were infected by the mochi madness, according to Blaze, and Blaze would show Chrom what she meant. Chrom couldn't believe his eyes when he saw in the middle of the street Booker DeWitt and Elizabeth...doing the mochi dance.

"Mochi mochi!" Booker and Elizabeth chanted in unison as they performed the mochi dance for Chrom and Blaze. Raihan walked by when saw Booker and Elizabeth dancing, and he took a selfie with them together.

"I was never here..." Raihan warned Chrom and Blaze, satisfied with how his selfie turned out as he kept on heading down the road. The gym leader returned to take one more selfie, with the duo he spoke to, before leaving for good.

"This is hard to look at, yet so amusing to watch," Chrom had this to say about the mochi dance, imagining how much he would embarrass Lucina if he were to do the dance. Blaze looked into the distance, and saw Nemona with her back pointed.

"Is that...Nemona?" Blaze squinted her eyes as she made out the individual, who was indeed Nemona. Nemona stood in place for a few seconds, before running off to who knows where.

Blaze: No, I haven't had a Pokemon battle with Nemona...yet. Only saying yet because I still "owe" that girl a Pokemon battle after she saw me with a Pinchurrin. Mind you, I was babysitting that Pinchurrin for Hop, who along with Leon went out bicycling around the block. Why couldn't he simply keep his Pokemon in its Poke Ball?

"Where on earth is she running off to?" wondered Chrom, as Nemona had crossed a small bridge; nothing about Nemona seemed peculiar at first glance. "Should we follow her?"

"Don't see why we shouldn't," shrugged Blaze, as she and Chrom followed closely after Nemona. The purple cat came to a stop when she saw a spare Ultra Ball lying on the street, as she picked it up and placed it in her pocket.

Elsewhere, Team Chaotix - Vector, Espio, and Charmy - were all doing the Mochi dance near the vending machines. Mr. Game and Watch, who came by to restock the machines, was bothered by Team Chaotix standing in his way.

"Okay, okay, I get it already - now please move!" Mr. Game and Watch pleaded to Team Chaotix, who were serving at the 2-D man's obstacle. Crunch, Coco, and Aku had regrouped with Drayton and Amarys, watching the madness unfold.

"This is real bad, everyone is losing it!" panicked Crunch, worried about the folks who hadn't been infected yet as he put his hands on his head. "It's just a matter of time until it gets me...I'll end up like them!"

"Calm down, Crunch," Coco said to the burly bandicoot, embarrassed by how her older brother was behaving amid the mochi madness. "You'll be fine."

"Heh, sorry...I kinda panicked there." Crunch came to his senses, calming down as he shook off his fear. Most of his fear; he was still twenty percent afraid.

"Got a phone call," alerted Drayton as he heard his Rotom Phone ringing, as the student took out his phone and answered the call. "What's up? Drayton here."

"Drayton! How are you guys doing out there?" Arven asked Drayton over the phone, sounding genuinely concerned for everyone's safety. "You okay?"

"I'm fine, can't complain...though I can't say for a bandicoot who shall not be named." Drayton glanced at Crunch, who was looking to the side with fear still visible on his face.

"Yeah? Thank goodness. Hearing your voice is helping me calm down. Things are getting weird out here. Folks are shouting 'Mochi mochi' at us and...Penny, wha...? GYAH!"

"What's wrong?" Amarys asked Arven, as the sound of Penny screaming could be heard over the phone. Stuff was going down. "What is your current status?"

"Oh crud, this does not look good!" Right after Arven spoke, the sound of his Rotom Phone clanking and clanging could be heard. Then it went silent, as the signal was lost.

"Something must've got them..." fretted Aku, greatly worried about Arven and Penny as he turned to Drayton and Amarys. "You kids go check on Arven and Penny; we'll go and scope out the area for clues behind all this hoopla."

Sonic, Crash, Kieran, and Fox were on the hunt for Nemona, who was looking for an antidote that could end the mochi mayhem - or so Lacey assumed. The foursome were also under the assumption that Nemona went to the Assist Tower, badgering Ashley for a handful of potions.

"No, I haven't seen Nemona," Ashley said to Sonic and company in her room, who had explained to the young witch the whole Mochi situation. "Quite frankly, I don't think I'd want to..."

"Don't blame ya there," responded Sonic, viewing Ashley as one of the "safe ones"; there'd be plenty of trouble to be had if Nemona caught Ashley with a Poke Ball in her hand. "Anyway, you think you could whip up a spell that can get everyone to snap out of it?"

"Write me a list of names of people affected first." So Sonic got down to business as he grabbed a pen and paper off of Ashley's dresser, and wrote down every name that came to his mind. "That way I can determine who deserves to be cured and who doesn't."

Ashley: Knuckles owes me one after he made me do that dread "Nico-Nico-Ni" drivel. *shudders* That said, I for one hope that he's one of the ones dancing. I'll make sure he stays dancing forever. *smiles sinisterly*

"Alright, here you go," Sonic said to Ashley as he handed over the list, having finished it in almost blazing speed. Ashley skimmed through the list, disappointed that Knuckles' name was nowhere to be found...but the young witch took solace that the day was still young.

"So this is all the names?" asked Ashley, who immediately got down to business as she put the list away and gathered some ingredients from her bookshelf. "I'll see what I can do."

"Wait, you guys hear that?" asked Fox, his ears perking up as he heard a bunch of folks outside chanting. Kieran looked outside Ashley, and was surprised at what was going down in the hallway.

"Wowzers! Come look, you guys!" Kieran alerted Fox and company, who joined the Pokemon trainer at the bedroom door. The group watched in horror as a bunch of tower denizens passed by...doing the mochi dance.

"Mochi mochi!" chanted Knuckles, as the likes of Tingle, Hammer Bro, Kapp'n, and many others were passing through like a marching band. They were all doing the mochi dance, and to make matters even worse, they were all in sync.

"It's just like that horror movie I watched last week, with the evil zombie chickens!" exclaimed Sonic, who had watched the horror movie in question with Crash well past midnight. A poor life decision. "That'll teach me to ever buy unlabeled movies from Blockbuster."

"Blockbuster is still in business...?" wondered Fox as he crinkled his nose; if only he knew that there was one last Blockbuster left in the world, in Oregon.

"Really does pay to be a shut-in," Ashley had this to say after witnessing the mochi dance for the first time, as she returned to her bookshelf. "Here's what we'll do - you boys round up the dancing freaks, while I find the right spell. Just exclude Knuckles."

Thanks to Kazuya, Wario was pardoned from jail, a free man once again. Before he returned to the mansion though, he first stopped by Omnis Adest to see if his WarioWare employees were finished with the machine. Unfortunately for Kazuya, the machine didn't do that much to help him win the man of the mansion election.

But it was all good since Wario's employees at least proved their worth while their boss was gone. And even though the machine was finished, Dr. Crygor warned Wario that it wouldn't be profitable enough. And that, oddly enough, made Wario feel some type of way.

"Falcon, you have no idea how worthless my employees are," Wario said to Captain Falcon, who was called into Wario's bedroom just so that Wario could have someone to give off his frustrations to. "Worst employees that a boss could ask for!"

"Oh? That bad, huh?" asked Captain Falcon as he took a sip of his coffee, which was just the beverage he needed to be Wario's soundboard. "Sure you're over-exaggerating as always. What did they do?"

"Where do I even start?" Wario threw up his hands in exasperation, not knowing which employee deserved to be put on blast first. "Dr. Crygor. He's supposed to be this genius inventor, right? Well, apparently he can't be a genius money-maker! So much for him having a 'brilliant' mind!"

"I don't think making money isn't really his calling." Captain Falcon let out a chuckle, as he took yet another sip of his coffee. He was gonna need as many sips as possible.

"Tell me about it! And don't get me started on 9-Volt. Bet you that kid was playing his precious video games over working on the machine. I asked him how we could market the machine, and he just showed me some retro game commercial promoting it!"

"I thought the machine was supposed to stop Dimentio, not be a marketable product..." With Wario, dollar bills was just one of the goals in mind when it came to any invention. Captain Falcon should know this. "...and what about the others?

"Oh please! They all stink! Jimmy T. spends more time dancing than working. Ashley is way too apathetic for my liking. And Kat and Ana? Forget kindergarten, they're both preschool-level at best!"

"Didn't Kat and Ana graduate from kindergarten already?" For a brief moment, Captain Falcon and Wario both looked up, wondering how old Kat and Ana were. The thought was entertained for a moment or two, before Wario went back to his rant.

"Either way, my point still stands." Wario sighed deeply, as he thought of one employee who was safe from his chastisement. "The only one who I truly believe actually did her job was Mona. She's the only reason the company hasn't gone completely under."

"Hey, Wario!" greeted a certain lady who caused Wario to perk up, as Mona entered the bedroom carrying a tray of freshly baked cookies. "Heard you were feeling down, so I baked you some cookies to cheer you up. Fresh from the oven!"

Wario: I have no doubt in my mind that Mona isn't to blame for the machine being a financial failure. I'd like to think that she had some wicked awesome ideas to make the machine profitable, but her creative marketing genius was held back thanks to her stupid idiot co-workers. Those losers will pay!

Mona: Wario was very upset with his employees. So upset, in fact, that he ran to Master Hand and demanded that he take all his employees out of Omnis Adest. Except me, though - Wario argued that I should stay because I'm "good at a lot of stuff". Who knew that being multi-talented could be so beneficial!

"Mona! Just the person I was talking about," gleamed Wario, his face lighting up as he saw the cookies in full view. The fatso was gleefully rubbing his hands together as Mona brought the cookies near.

"Those cookies smell amazing!" Captain Falcon said to Mona, taking one cookie and biting into it as he nodded appreciatively. "Mm, delicious!" Mona's cookies now had the Captain Falcon seal of approval.

"You bozo! I was supposed to have the first cookie." Wario shook his fist at Captain Falcon, who liked Mona's baking so much that he had to help himself to a second cookie. "She doesn't work for you!"

"These are great, Mona!" If he could, Captain Falcon would take the tray of cookies all for himself and devour every single cookie whole. "You really do it all, don't you?"

"Thanks! I just try to do whatever I can," replied Mona, slightly blushing as Captain Falcon reached out to grab a third cookie. But Falcon, practicing self-restraint, stopped his arm in the nick of time.

"See? This is what I'm talking about," Wario said to Captain Falcon as he gestured to Mona, who offered the fatso a cookie. Which he ate in one gulp. "If I had a whole team of Monas, we'd be rolling in the moolah!"

"Oh, Wario, you're too kind. The others are great too if you gave them the chance." But Wario wasn't keen on giving the others a chance, as he snorted. "They're pretty talented!"

"Yeah, if only they'd use them for something useful..." As Wario grumbled, Cloud ran into the bedroom and saw the man that he was looking for, Captain Falcon.

"Got a sec? We kinda need you at Mario's place," Cloud said to Captain Falcon, who obliged as he handed the tray of cookies to Wario. Falcon left the room, as Wario ate the cookies one by one.

"Golly, Wario, I didn't think you enjoyed my baking that much!" smiled Mona, watching as Wario ate the cookies like there was no tomorrow. Surely those cookies would satisfy Wario's hunger...and his anger.

News about the mochi mayhem reached the ears of Zelda, and so she and Champion Link rushed to Omnis Adest to see if anyone there was affected. When they arrived, they caught up with Drayton and Amarys, who led the Hylians to the main plaza.

"I believe those two are around here," said Amarys as she and Drayton were leading the way. At the main plaza, they encountered Arven and Penny, who were doing their own little investigating when they saw the crew approaching them.

"We got company," Penny alerted Arven when she saw Amarys and company draw near, tapping the Pokemon trainer on his shoulder. Arven was very much relieved when he saw who had arrived.

"There you guys are!" exclaimed Arven, before looking at Drayton in an apologetic manner. "Sorry about hanging up on you like that, Drayton. Probably gave you the wrong impression."

"Didn't bother me," responded the totally unbothered Drayton, so cool as a cucumber that nothing could ever faze him. "I do the same thing to my pals. I love being a good tease."

"It was all Penny's fault. She went into full panic mode and ran smack into me. With her head. So I dropped my phone." Upon hearing all this, Penny looked at Arven, arguably offended.

"Can you blame me?! Look at all the people in this community!" retorted Penny, as Champion Link and Zelda recalled the many dancing folks they encountered in route to the main plaza. "Something's seriously wrong with them! Never mind what that weird thing was!"

"'Weird thing'?" inquired Champion Link, wondering if Dimentio or anyone else from his coalition had anything to do with today's peculiar events. "What are you talking about?"

"It was, like, round and little...and WEIRD!" Round, and little, and weird...that description could literally describe any Kirby enemy. Penny had to be much more specific.

"And just where is this hallucination of yours?" asked Arven as he looked around for the weird thing in question. Nothing out of the ordinary he saw. "You sure you weren't just seeing stuff?"

"It was real! I really saw it!" No matter how adamant Penny was, it simply wasn't enough to sway Arven's mind in the slightest.

"Sure you did..." Arven shook his head at Penny, no doubt certain that his friend was just seeing things. No one was able to back Penny up.

"I think I have developed a hypothesis regarding everyone's strange behavior," stated Amarys, showing off her genius-level intellect and thinking as she adjusted her glasses. As any genius would do. "Until it can be confirmed, perhaps we should practice caution around any abnormal..."

"Woah! Heads up, guys!" shouted Champion Link, cutting Amarys off as he saw something floating up in the air. "There's something up there!" Everyone's attention was centered on a plush, which was floating up above.

But it wasn't just any plush, mind you - it was the same plush that was at Anna's shop stand! It was alive, and it looked like it wanted trouble.

"Look! Up there!" Crunch was heard shouting, as he and Coco (and Aku) arrived at the scene opposite from where Champion Link and company stood. Seems that they were chasing the living plush down.

"That's the thing I saw earlier!" stated Penny, as the plush was peering down at everyone and appearing tranquil...for now, at least. "Is it...a drone?"

"I think it's a Pokemon...?" surmised Coco, as she and Crunch...and Aku, joined the others to get a better look at the plush. The supposed Pokemon looked like an upside-down peach, with a black circular face.

"Watch out!" alerted Aku as the Pokemon opened up, revealing its second form as it shot out multiple mochi. Zelda, Drayton, Amarys, Coco, and Crunch dodged the mochi; Champion Link sliced one mochi in half with his Master Sword. As for Aku, well, a mochi just struck him in the face.

Aku: That was a threat. The Pokemon was aiming for everyone's mouths, except mine. It hit me in my nose, for crying out loud! How can that not be considered a threat?

As for Arven and Penny, however, they weren't so fortunate - their mouths were open as the mochi went inside. Since the mochi was in their mouths, Arven and Penny had no choice but to eat it while the others warily looked on.

"Huh, is this mochi?" pondered Arven after he chewed and swallowed, finding the mochi to be not bad at all. Penny was willing to offer a similar opinion, as she had a pleasant look on her face.

"It's...kinda sweet; I like it," Penny gave her two cents on the mochi, and she and Arven were still acting normal for the most part. Give it some time...

"You weren't supposed to eat that!" warned Zelda, but it was too late as a purple aura began surrounding Arven and Penny. A moment later, Arven and Penny both started doing the dance and chanting "Mochi mochi!".

"Is Arven...embarrassed?" questioned Amarys, as Arven's mochi dance looked more like a modified chest bump. Even under a trance, Arven was indeed feeling as he embarrassed looked to the side.

"Penny looks like she's really getting into it," observed Drayton, as Penny was putting an extra pep in her step in regards to her mochi dance. Almost like she was born to do the mochi dance.

"If only I had warned them in time..." Zelda said in an apologetic manner, seeing the damage that was done. The Pokemon that was floating up above now positioned itself behind Arven and Penny, seemingly having the two Pokemon trainers under its control.

"Pechaaaant!" the Pokemon bellowed as it opened up to reveal its second form, which strongly resembled a peach's pit. It had no problem letting everyone know who was boss.

"No way! That jerk is using them as a shield," frowned Coco, as the Pokemon commanded Arven and Penny to approach Coco and company while dancing. "We've got to find a way to calm them down."

"Oh no, they're challenging us to a Pokemon battle!" panicked Crunch, as Arven and Penny sent out a Greedent and Umbreon, respectively. "They're gonna KILL us!"

"Stop being so overdramatic..." Drayton said to Crunch, knowing what Arven and Penny both wanted as he took out his Poke Ball. "...not like a Greedent has ever killed anyone before."

"...you don't know." Knowing where things were headed, Crunch took himself out of the equation as he hopped right on the sidelines. "You guys go ahead and battle them! I'll be your cheerleader!"

"Unpopular as it may seem, a Pokemon battle may increase our likelihood of reverting these two back to normal," stated Amarys, with her and Drayton taking matters into their own hands. Amarys sent out a Skarmory, whereas Drayton sent out a Flygon.

"Yeah, Pokemon battle, let's get it!" exclaimed Crunch, clapping his hands as he looked for Drayton and Amarys to come out on top. "Show 'em what you're made of!" Coco looked at Crunch, thinking of her older brother as a wuss as she pinched the crown of her nose.

Peach and Daisy were still doing the mochi dance, and they were doing it in the backyard for anyone passing by to see. Cloud brought Captain Falcon outside, where Mario, Spyro, Hunter, and Yuffie were all witnesses to the princesses' nonstop dancing.

"I am never hitting the stop button," smirked Yuffie, who was recording Peach and Daisy dancing on the latter's phone. Captain Falcon saw the dancing taking place, and was forced to come up with an apt analysis.

"Peach and Daisy both did meth, no mistake about it," Captain Falcon provided his analysis, proving to everyone that he was the worst person that Cloud could've consulted. "The dancing, the purple eyes, them repeating the same word...it all makes too much sense."

"Doing meth makes you a horrible dancer?" Hunter whispered to Spyro, almost wanting to do meth for myself just to test out Captain Falcon's hypothesis. The meager thought of Hunter doing meth deeply unsettled Spyro.

"Is there any way you could make-a them snap out of it?" Mario asked Captain Falcon, wanting the racer to be useful; Yuffie shook her head no at Falcon, as she kept the video rolling on Daisy's phone.

"Sure do - got the oldest trick in the book!" Getting pumped up, Captain Falcon bravely approached Peach and Daisy... "Falcon...PUNCH!" ...and delivered a Falcon Punch to the princesses, sending them flying. Surely a move like that would bring the princesses back to their senses, right?

"Mochi, mochi!" Peach and Daisy chanted as they both got up as if nothing ever happened. Captain Falcon was distraught as he took a few steps back.

"Oh yeah, they're definitely doing some kind of meth!" Captain Falcon and the others were forced to back up, as Peach and Daisy were drawing near. Yuffie was enjoying every second of the action, capturing it on camera.

"Meth? Who's-a doing meth?" inquired Luigi as he showed up outside, carrying a tray of purple-colored food. Not good. He saw his wife and Peach dancing, and was left with many questions. "What's wrong-a with Peach and Daisy?"

"They both did meth." Captain Falcon shocked Luigi with his prognosis, forcing the plumber to change how he viewed his wife. "I'm sorry to say."

"Also, Daisy is now a better dancer than you," added Mario, as Cloud and Spyro were bothered by the lack of a precise explanation. Then again, not even they could explain the strange dancing taking place. "Also, what's-a that you got there?"

"Chef Kawasaki gave-a me some mochi," replied Luigi as he took a bite of the mochi...and managed to go unaffected. "I think Daisy also had-a some; I saw her and Peach eating outside."

"Then it must be the mochi that made the the princesses go crazy!" hypothesized Spyro, as everything was starting to end up - but what did Captain Falcon had to say about Spyro's theory?

Captain Falcon: Is that really mochi...or meth disguised as mochi? Or maybe Chef Kawasaki secretly added meth to the mochi. I would do a taste test to prove my theory, but I ain't taking any chances.

"You ate the mochi, Luigi - why aren't you dancing like-a them?" Cappy asked the green plumber, and before Luigi could answer...he dropped the plate of mochi unto the ground, as his arms started shaking at the side.

"Watch out, you guys, Luigi's having another seizure attack!" alerted Hunter, who for whatever reason hid behind Captain Falcon for safety. During his episode, Luigi was saying words like "green thunder" and "green lightning".

"Aw man, what do I chose?" wondered Yuffie, conflicted about recording Luigi or the duo of Peach and Daisy. Suddenly, the ninja girl and the others heard some strange collective chanting coming from direction of the tower.

"What's-a with all the commotion?" asked Luigi, as the sound of the chanting was enough to make him snap out of it. To Luigi and company's horror, they saw a bunch of tower denizens exit the Assist Tower, doing the mochi dance.

"Mochi mochi!" the tower denizens chanted, as the foursome of Sonic, Crash, Fox, and Kieran were seen running away from the dancing horde. Peach and Daisy recognized their dancing companions, as they quickly assimilated with them.

"RUN!" shouted Fox, as he and the fellas ran past those who were already outside. Seeing the dancing crowd drawing near, Mario and the others ran for the hills as Ashley appeared outside standing at the tower entrance.

"You were supposed to keep them in place!" Ashley shouted at the four guys who ran out of the tower, groaning as the dancing horde was getting away. But the young witch's spirts were uplifted, when she was joined by the dancing Knuckles. "At least I have you, Knuckles."

Drayton and Amarys came out on top, as they bested Arven and Penny in a double Pokemon battle. One might hope that the sting of defeat brought Arven and Penny back to their senses, but upon further inspection...

"Mo...chee..." Arven and Penny both uttered, as they remained under the same old trance. At least they were no longer dancing. Champion Link, who was observing the two Pokemon trainers, returned to the group following his observation.

"That Pokemon battle didn't help at all," Champion Link said to the others, as Zelda saw from the corner of her eye the upside-down peach Pokemon fleeing. It was trying to make its escape!

"Where do you think you're going?" Zelda called out to the Pokemon, who turned around at the princess appearing afraid. "You're next!" The Pokemon was shuddering in fear, as Zelda's stone-cold stare had it shook.

"Peh...cha cha cha!" the Pokemon replied as it turned back around and made a run for it, floating off down the street. Somebody had to catch it before it could cause even more trouble.

"Wait!" shouted Champion Link as he made chase after the Pokemon, armed with his Master Sword. If needed be, Champion Link might have to slice that Pokemon wide open.

It was no secret that Chun-li and Cammy were the best of friends. The two kept in touch with each other, and being roommates at Omnis Adest allowed them to hang out more often. Chun-li and Cammy were outside on the mansion patio, bonding over a cup of tea.

"You were right - a cup of tea is more pleasant without He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named," Cammy said to Chun-li, before taking a sip out of her cup of tea. And by no means was Cammy referring to Voldemort.

"I told you it'd be a different experience," Chun-li responded with a smile, happy to be in the friendly company of Cammy. It was a perfect environment, with no intruders or distractions.

"You think he's watching us through a window or something?" Cammy was half-joking when she asked this, but it wouldn't hurt for Chun-li to see for herself. When Chun-li turned around and looked up at the mansion, she saw some curtains at the window close quickly.

"Wouldn't surprise me. I bet you he's sick to his stomach right now!" Chun-li shared a laugh with Cammy, as she thought very little about whoever closed those curtains up above.

Black Knight: No one has a tea party on the mansion grounds without me knowing. I know why those ladies left me out of the loop, they think that I'm bad company. But I'll have them know that...
R.O.B.: *taps the Black Knight on his shoulder*
Black Knight: Yes, R.O.B., how may I help you?
R.O.B.: PARDON ME, BLACK KNIGHT...BUT CHIBI-ROBO HAS TO CLEAN THE WINDOW...
Black Knight: One moment. *opens window curtains, shakes fist at Chun-li and Cammy* You will pay... *closes curtains, turns to R.O.B. and then moves to the side* ...alright, have at it.

"Great news, Chun-li!" shouted Ryu, interrupting the tea party as he arrived at the patio. Now here was one intruder the ladies didn't mind. "I have invented a new dance that will no doubt go viral."

"You inventing a viral dance?" snorted Chun-li, amazed upon seeing Ryu holding a phone that wasn't an outdated Nokia. "Should 'Ryu' and 'viral' even be in the same sentence?"

"Let me handle this," Chun-li said to Cammy, who went silent as Chun-li looked at Ryu smiling with her chin resting on her fist and her elbow on the table. "Invented a new dance, you say?" Chun-li asked Ryu, who nodded his head.

"Came up with it today, at the cafe," confirmed Ryu, his face lighting up with pride as he looked to leave a lasting impression on Chun-li. "I call it, the Mochi dance. Now watch and learn!"

So Ryu performed the mochi dance, flapping his arms and moving his feet. The fighter also shouted "Mochi mochi!" for good measure. Since they never seen Ryu dance before, Chun-li and Cammy were understandably giggling.

"Ryu...that's clearly the chicken dance," stated Chun-li, and she better not mention as such when Falco was around. It might get Falco in a suing mood.

"What? No, this is the mochi dance," clarified Ryu, assuming that Chun-li and Cammy were huge fans of the dance since they were giggling so. "What could possibly be the difference?"

"Aside from you saying mochi, I can't think of one," replied Cammy, unable to keep a straight face...but her face would sour, however, when she heard "Mochi mochi" from afar. A few mansion residents had exited the mansion, doing the mochi dance.

"Aha! Already, the mochi dance is catching on." Ryu was beaming with pride upon seeing the dancing residents, whereas Chun-li and Cammy were concerned. "Sooner or later, it will be the biggest viral sensation to hit the Pacific Northwest!"

"How do you explain the purple aura surrounding them?" questioned Chun-li, bringing to Ryu's attention the aura that enveloped the dancing mob. Surely Ryu also had an explanation for the purple eyes.

"They're dancing so hard that it's giving off extreme body odor. That's how you know they're giving their full effort!" It seemed that the dancing mob were heading in the same direction, and their zombie herd mentality was too hard for Chun-li and Cammy to overlook.

"Yeah...think we should tell someone about this," said Cammy, as she and Chun-li both left the table to see if Master Hand or any other person of authority was home. Ryu was left alone, and in his feelings about being deserted.

"Who is there to tell? I started the dance craze!" shouted Ryu, only to later grunt in frustration as he looked away in shame. So much for impressing Chun-li.

The mysterious Pokemon fled off in fear, being chased down by Champion Link, as it was now at another part of Omnis Adest. The Pokemon thought that it was in the clear seeing that Champion Link was nowhere to be found, only to be proven wrong when a certain goddess of calamity drew near.

"Well aren't you a cutie..." this goddess of calamity said to the Pokemon, who was greeted by Pandora; Pandora approached the Pokemon with a smile, arms behind her back. "...isn't this such a cutie, Giovanni?"

"As I had to remind Gnasty, that...cutie, is actually a Pokemon," replied a second individual, as Giovanni showed up at the scene. Members of Dimentio's coalition were back at Omnis Adest to do what they did best - stir up trouble.

"So! What kind of Pokemon is it?" As Pandora knelt down to touch the Pokemon, who hesitated at the first touch, Giovanni whipped out his Pokedex to scan the Pokemon. The Pokemon's information was pulled up in an instant.

"Pecharunt, the subjugation Pokemon. According to the Pokedex, it feeds others toxic mochi and those who eat it fall under Pecharunt's control. The mochi is served to people and Pokemon alike!"

Giovanni: Do not be fooled, for that is not my Pokedex. That is a Pokedex that I stole from an up-and-coming trainer, who had just selected their first Pokemon. Which I also stole. Still proud of it to this very day.

"Subjugation? Pray tell, what does that mean?" Pandora asked Giovanni, as she attempted to poke at Pecharunt with her finger. Percharunt shuddered.

"I'm only a mob boss, not a walking dictionary," replied Giovanni, as a haughty Pandora looked away with a huff. As she did, however, she saw Annette of the Blue Lions...doing the mochi dance.

"Mochi mochi!" chanted Annette, chasing after Lorenz of the Golden Deer while doing the mochi dance. Lorenz was running for his life, eventually landing on his back and crawling away from Annette.

"Annette, I command you to put an end to this tomfoolery!" Lorenz said to the noblewoman, who was obviously too mind-controlled to hear a thing. "Your dance is simply not classy enough for my eyes. Bother someone else, if you must!"

"Oh Giovanni!" Pandora called out to the Team Rocket leader, gesturing to the mind-controlled Annette giving chase after Lorenz. Giovanni liked what he saw.

"It's no Terapagos, that's for sure, but it's definitely an asset," stated Giovanni as he stared at Pecharunt, smirking proudly as he rubbed his chin. "My small visit to Kitikami paid off..."

The duo of Peach and Daisy proved to be overpowering, along with the other mochi dancers as they marched towards Mario and company. Eventually, they had the boys cornered as they danced to their heart's content.

"This is the end...we're all gonna die!" panicked Cappy, as Mario and the other fellas were cornered at Omnis Adest. Just when it seemed all hope was lost, Kieran was getting a call on his Rotom Phone.

"It's Drayton," Kieran alerted after reading the caller ID, as he promptly answered the call. He was hoping that Drayton himself wasn't in any danger. "How is the situation on your end, Drayton?"

"You won't believe this, but...I found Nemona," Drayton said other the phone, bringing much relief to Kieran and company. They were concerned after seeing Nemona mysteriously running off. "And she's just standing there...menacingly, I don't know. It's hard to tell."

"What is your exact-a location?" an overhearing Mario asked Drayton, as he snatched the Rotom Phone out of Kieran's possession.

"We're near the playground. Better get here quickly before stuff starts hitting the fan."

Still bitter over the machine not being profitable enough (despite having Mona's cookies), Wario went to the vending machine room. He hoped that a bottle of Powerade would perhaps raise his spirits. As he punched in the code on the vending machine, Dark Pit looked with a judging look after Wario made his purchase.

"Some Powerade and a bag of potato chips?" Dark Pit furrowed his brow at Wario, although he had seen much stranger lunch combinations just from having Pit as a roommate. "Going through a midlife crisis already?"

"No, it's just that my worthless employees are making me depressed," replied Wario, as Dark Pit was about to be the second person today to be subjected to a rant from Wario. "They're driving me crazy!"

"Go on, then. Spill the beans." Dark Pit, who was supposed to be restocking the vending machines, placed the box of snacks on the floor before giving Wario an attentive ear. "This should be entertaining..." Dark Pit said to himself, smirking.

"So, I asked them to come up with a machine to stop Dimentio, right? So they finished the machine while I was in jail, and while it's useful and all...it can't make me money!"

"At least they did a good job." Given who the WarioWare employees were, Dark Pit was amazed that the group even finished their assignment. Let alone understand it.

"At least they did a good job?!" Wario was beside himself when he heard this from Dark Pit, his mouth almost going agape. "It's a disaster! No person is ever gonna buy it!"

"You plan on selling it? What if Dimentio or another baddie destroys it? What will you do then?" Those three questions from Dark Pit caused Wario to groan, and throw his arms up in defeat.

"That's exactly what that lousy 9-Volt kid said! He is such a doomer, I tell you. And then there's Jimmy T, who wanted to add dance features. Because, yeah, the machine that's meant to stop Dimentio is also gonna make him dance. Like it would make him do the macarena."

"Well, at least that would be entertaining." Dark Pit wouldn't be opposed to a dance battle to the death, if it ever came down to it. Dance or die.

"Entertaining? Meh. Profitable? Not a chance. And don't get me started on Orbulon's idea to sell it to aliens. I mean, really? Speaking of which, Dribble wouldn't stop running his mouth about some alien he saw. He should sell the machine to him!"

"He probably should. It would be out of this world." Dark Pit enjoying the rant so far, leaning back against the wall as he let Wario air it all out. Wario wasn't too approving of the doppelganger's candor.

"You're not taking this seriously! You have no idea what I've..."

"Why should I? You've got quite the circus on your hands."

Dark Pit: Sometimes I think that I'm the lousiest worker ever. And then I visit Omnis Adest and see Wario's employees doing their thing, and I'm like...maybe I'm not so bad after all.

"I just want one invention that'll make me...uh, I mean, us, rich," Wario sighed as he slumped against the wall, all done with airing out his grievances. "Is that too much to ask?"

"Maybe the problem isn't your employees..." Dark Pit suggested after a moment of thought, before making his way to Wario and leaning in close to the fatso. "...it's your leadership. You're a sucky leader."

"My leadership? What's wrong with my leadership?!" For Wario, being called a sucky leader was the worst possible insult for a man of his caliber. The fatso blinked, taken aback.

"Simple - you're trying to make a quick buck instead of focusing on anything else." Dark Pit made a valid point, and he had Wario scratching his chin as he pondered over this thought.

"Huh...you might be onto something, Dark Pit. I've been too focused on the moolah."

"And stop calling them worthless. Morale matters, dude. You want your employees to hate you or something?"

"Of course, I do! I want my employees to hate how much they love me." All of a sudden Dark Pit had tuned Wario out for something going on outside caught the doppelganger's eye. A horde of mansion residents were outside, and they were all doing the same thing...

"Check that out! A bunch of dancing zombies." Dark Pit pointed at the horde outside, and Wario joined the doppelganger at the window. The residents were all doing the mochi dance, and they were dancing towards the same location it seems.

"You know what's funny? Rex started acting like that when he ate that mochi from Pyra..." Just then, a rare moment of brilliance as an imaginary light bulb was light above Wario's head. "...I know just the thing to make those fools snap out of it! MONA!"

"You're not going to your ex-girlfriend, are you?" Dark Pit watched as Wario darted out of the vending machine room, perhaps the fastest he had ever seen the fatso run. "I guess he is..."

Thanks to a tip from Drayton, Kieran learned of Nemona's whereabouts, as Nemona was back at Omnis Adest. So Mario and the others escaped from the dancing mob and raced to the playground, and came across Nemona standing by herself, with her back turned.

"Glad you could join us," Zelda said to Mario and company as she, Champion Link, Drayton, and Amarys were present. Coco, Crunch, and Aku were also present, as everyone was focused on Nemona.

"Why does she have her back turned?" wondered Sonic, as the group was soon joined by a certain prince and purple cat duo. "I've got a very bad feeling about...oh, what's up Blaze!"

"Hi, Sonic," Blaze greeted the blue hedgehog, after she and Chrom arrived at the scene. The person they were running after was standing ahead of them. "Looks like we've finally caught up to Nemona."

"She seems okay, for the most part," observed Chrom - as if Nemona having her back turned towards the group wasn't an ominous sign. Nemona turned around...and her eyes were purple! You know what that meant.

"Mochi MOCHI!" exclaimed Nemona as she did the dreaded mochi dance, alarming everyone as she was now under the mysterious Pokemon's spell. "Mochi mochi MATCH!"

"Did she seriously say 'match'?" asked a baffled Coco, with Nemona's battle fetish extremely apparent on her hypnotized face. "Not even the mochi can override her battle-mania!"

"Runt run!" said the mysterious Pokemon from earlier, named Pecharunt, as it showed up behind Nemona. Pecharunt revealed its hidden form to everyone, most likely as a taunt.

"It's that purple Pokemon - and it's got a hold of Nemona!" alerted Champion Link, with Amarys looking back when she heard a loud crowd noise behind her. "No way we can hold her off..."

"You might want to see this..." Amarys notified the others, as they all turned around...and saw a giant horde of people doing the mochi dance. From Carmine and Annette and the other Omnis Adest folks, to Falco and the mansion residents, to Tingle and tower denizens - they were all doing the dance.

"This is bad! Everybody we know and love-a is coming here!" fretted Luigi, as Yuffie (who was still recording on Daisy's phone), was recording everyone's mochi dance with a big smile on her face.

"Wouldn't say I love everybody here, but to each their own," commented Spyro, as the dancing horde did their best to keep the purple dragon and others from escaping. Something had to be done, and fast.

"Zelda and I will keep this dancing lot from getting any closer," Champion Link said to the others, forced to whip out his Master Sword. "The rest of you do your best with Nemona and...whatever that thing is. Maybe everyone will go back to normal if it's defeated."

"Let me guess, we're gonna have another Pokemon battle," assumed Crunch, who was proven correct as Mario took out a Poke Ball. Crunch threw his arms up in defeat. "I should've known..."

"Should've known it was coming," Fox said to Crunch, as Mario bravely approached Nemona and Pecharunt. Sonic, Kieran, Drayton, and Amarys, who had Pokemon of their own, decided to hold off for now.

"Mochi mochi MATCH!" Nemona chanted as she took out her Poke Ball, and sent forth her first Pokemon - a Dusknoir. Although Dusknoir didn't have the ability Intimidate, it was still scary enough to intimidate Mario.

"...I'm tagging out," announced Mario, throwing in the towel as he backed off and pushed Sonic forward. "You got-a this, Sonic." Soinc was thrust into position, and he had no choice in the matter.

"Really, Mario?" Sonic shook his head at Mario, sighing as he grabbed a Poke Ball from his imaginary pocket. "Well, Terapagos, time to show this Dusknoir what you're..."

"HOLD IT!" someone shouted from the distance, and it wasn't Phoenix; the guy was still at his apartment. Showing up at the scene was Crispin, and with him was Lacey. Who was most definitely his crush.

"About time you guys made it," Drayton said to the arriving Crispin and Lacey, knowing that a climatic moment would be incomplete without two of his Blueberry Academy classmates. "What took ya?"

"Crispin got lost, so I had to go find him," explained Lacey, as Crispin blushed and sheepishly looked to the side. "Aw, don't be so embarrassed!" Lacey smiled at Crispin, patting him on his back.

Lacey: Found Crispin hiding in a closet at the mansion, and his face was red and he was sweaty all over! When I asked what was wrong, he just said that he was "very, very flustered". *leans in close to the camera, whispering* I think he ate too many chili peppers as of late.

"Let me handle this," volunteered Crispin, making up for his absence as he stepped up and brushed Sonic to the side. Putting his Poke Ball away, Sonic moved to the side. "Go Talonflame!" Crispin sent out Talonflame, as Nemona was eager to battle.

"Mochi! Let's...have...mochiful match!" exclaimed Nemona, her love for battling bursting through the seams; no matter what state she was in, Nemona's battling thirst couldn't be quenched.

Master Hand remained at the watchpoint, choosing to stay even though Winston was taking an extended break from working on his giant gun...against his will. Winston had been working hard since six in the morning, and it took a lot of convincing from Tracer and other Overwatch operatives to step away from his desk.

"No...I must finish the repairs!" Winston stressed to Zarya, who kept the gorilla from going back inside the workroom. Zarya sure was putting up a lot of resistance, as expected from a professional body builder.

"Get some rest. Work later!" responded Zarya, standing her ground as Winston tried to break through without going into Primal Rage. If Winston lost his glasses, it was game over.

"You don't understand. Master Xehanort could be back here at any given minute!" As Winston struggled with Zarya, Master Hand and Tracer watched from the comfort of only a couple of feet away.

"He's like this even without going full psycho?" Master Hand asked Tracer, amazed at how Winston was capable of going zero to a hundred in a snap.

"Only if he doesn't get enough sleep," replied Tracer, as she and Master Hand were joined by Echo. Echo flew in through the open space in the watchpoint. "Cheers, Echo! Found anything?"

"I have found Giovanni and Pandora at Omnis Adest," Echo informed Tracer, as Winston paused his struggle with Zarya and looked over. "Also, many individuals from the mansion, tower, and Omnis Adest alike are dancing."

"They're all...dancing?" Winston crinkled his nose at Echo, making sure that he was hearing right. The thought of a bunch of people dancing when two bad guys were present didn't still well with Winston.

Master Hand: I get it...they must be banding together to defeat Giovanni and Pandora through the power of synchronized dance! Don't know if that'll work or not, but to each their own. I'll laugh in everyone's face if it doesn't work.

Phoenix was slowly adjusting to having Link at his apartment, as he had to lay down some ground rules with the Hylian. When Link exited the bathroom, Phoenix was waiting for him around the corner.

"We need to talk," Phoenix said to Link, willing to hold up the Hylian for as long as it was needed. But Link was in no mood for talking.

"Didn't we go over the ground rules and stuff?" asked Link, who was only half-listening when Phoenix was going over the guidelines for living in his apartment. "What else is there to..."

"It's not about the ground rules. I gotta ask, why are you here?"

"I already told you, there was a big investigation and I stepped down. So therefore..."

"Yeah, yeah, I know that, but...why are you really here? What's the catch?"

"The catch...the catch is that...I'm trying to find myself. I guess."

"Trying to find yourself?" Phoenix smiled as he placed his finger underneath his chin, concocting a plan in his mind. "I can have that arranged..."

The battle was over, as Crispin proved victorious over Nemona. Even after her loss, Nemona was still under Pecharunt's trance. But now Pecharunt was ripe for the kill, as Mario looked to deal with the Pokemon himself.

"I'll handle the Pokemon," Mario said to Crispin as he walked past the Pokemon trainer and over to Pecharunt...only to stop when he heard slow clapping. Slow clapping was a signal that a bad guy was afoot.

"Nice battle, if I do so say myself," said the slow-clapping Giovanni, as he and Pandora made their appearance. "Glad that you all have been acquainted with our new friend, Pecharunt."

"Giovanni!" Captain Falcon uttered the Team Rocket leader's name, as Giovanni took sight of the dancing crowd that Champion Link and Zelda were staving off. It brought a smile to his face.

"My, my...you have gathered quite the crowd, Pecharunt. Impressive!" Giovanni wanted to applaud Pecharunt, but one moment of applause was enough.

"Who knew that a Kitakami cutie like you would be so good at brainwashing!" Pandora smiled at Pecharunt, and that's when Mario got an idea. Mario pulled out his Poke Ball, looking to even the score.

"Pecharunt's from Kitakami, eh?" asked Mario, as Pandora warily looked on fearing that she might've said too much. "Go, Ogerpon!" Mario sent out Ogerpon, who had an interesting reaction upon seeing Pecharunt.

"GRAH! Pon PON!" said Ogerpon, and she sounded like she was angry. Given her history with Percharunt and the deep grudge she harbored towards it, nobody could really blame her.

"Perchaant!" Pecharunt cried out, lashing out at Ogerpon as it unleashed an attack in the form of toxic chains. These chains wrapped around Ogerpon, keeping the ogre Pokemon still.

"Well, well...Pecharunt has the upper hand," smirked Giovanni, not expecting anything less from the subjugation Pokemon. "And with its type advantage, hopefully this battle will be..."

Giovanni was suddenly cut off, as something was thrown at his and Pandora's direction. Giovanni caught the item, and seeing that it was edible, took a bite out of it.

"A cookie...?" Giovanni furrowed his brow in intrigue, curious as to where the cookie came from. He would find out the answer soon when he looked up and saw Wario tending to the dancing tribe.

"Eat up! These are the best cookies of all time, no bias whatsoever!" Wario shouted at the dancing folks, armed with a tray full of freshly-baked cookies as he tossed Mona's creations into people's mouths. Wario was throwing those cookies like a madman.

Mona: Wario loved my cookies so much, that he apparently badgered me to bake even more. Enough to feed everyone from the mansion to Omnis Adest! Isn't he so sweet?

"Huh, where did the Hylians go?" Pandora asked Giovanni, noticing that Champion Link and Zelda were nowhere to be found among the dancing mob. That's when an Ancient Arrow was fired at Pandora and Giovanni, the impact of the explosion bringing them to the ground.

"You called?" asked Champion Link, armed with his Ancient Bow as he and Zelda stood over Giovanni and Pandora. Giovanni scowled at Champion Link, who saw Pecharunt gripping Ogerpon with its toxic chains.

"I don't think Ogerpon can take it anymore..." worried Kieran, far more concerned about Ogerpon than Mario and everyone else was. Taking initiative, Champion Link fired an Ancient Arrow at Pecharunt, damaging it and breaking the chains.

"Much-a appreciated, Champ!" Mario thanked Champion Link, as Ogerpon was now free from the chains. Mario now had the upper hand. "Now, Ogerpon! Use-a Ivy Cudgel!" Opergon whipped Pecharunt with its cudgel, further damaging the Pokemon.

"It's almost down for the count!" said Chrom, as Percharunt was staggering and on the verge of fainting. "Now would be a perfect time to catch it, or something." Little did Chrom know about the Poke Ball that Blaze found earlier...

"Very well then," said Blaze as she took out the Ultra Ball she found, and throwing it at Percharunt. Everyone was shocked as Percharunt went inside the Ultra Ball, and a few seconds later...Pechaurnt was caught!

"NO!" boomed Giovanni as he got up, charging towards Blaze who walked towards the Ultra Ball. Crash shoulder-bumped Giovanni, sending the Team Rocket leader to the ground and then taunting him.

"Told ya you should've caught it with a Poke Ball...you know, to be secure," Pandora said to Giovanni, who got up once more albeit with a face full of dirt. Giovanni growled as he wiped the dirt off.

"This is far, far from over..." Giovanni angrily vowed to everyone, before taking off; Pandora awkwardly lingered for a few seconds, before taking off herself. Meanwhile, Blaze picked up the Ultra Ball, holding it in her hand.

"Congrats...your first-ever Pokemon!" Sonic went over to congratulate Blaze, with him and the purple cat now having another thing in common. "How does it feel? Feels great, huh?"

"I guess so. I assume everyone's back to normal now," responded Blaze, and her assumption was right as the dancing mob was now back to normal. Everyone was back to normal, asking questions about how they ended up where they were.

"Yippee! Those cookies worked!" exclaimed Wario, jumping for joy as he was taking all the credit and then some. "Wait until I tell Mona!" The fatso ran off in a celebratory mood, as Mario and the others checked on their now cured family and friends.

"Why are we all at the playground? Does anyone have a valid explanation?" asked Falco, as he and the idol singers were left rubbing their heads. Spyro looked towards Kieran, who had no choice but to recount today's unusual events.

Due to Joker and Viridi being under Percharunt's spell, Cafe Leblanc was run by the trio of Pit, Kirby, and Incineroar. Mr. Game and Watch, who was forced to retreat to the mansion to avoid the mochi madness, entered the cafe...

"Oh no...it's still happening!" panicked Mr. Game and Watch, screaming as he ran out of the cafe. What was it that scared Mr. GW off? Knuckles, still doing the mochi dance, as Ashley stood his side.

"Let him stay like this and we won't have any problems," Ashley implored Pit and the other baristas, as Pit was asked by Ashley to record Knuckles doing the mochi dance. For Ashley, it was the perfect comeuppance from episode 316.

"This is the kind of special entertainment I'd like to watch all day long," commented Yoshi, sitting at the counter and enjoying Knuckles' dance. The green dinosaur could go to sleep tonight a happy camper. But then...Knuckles stopped dancing.

"Huh? How'd I end up here?" questioned Knuckles, who came to his senses thanks to Pecharunt being defeated (and captured). Yoshi applauded Knuckles, further confusing the echidna as Ashley was beside herself.

"So all that 'mochi mochi' stuff was because of some Pokemon?" summarized Daisy, after Kieran explained to everyone what had happened.

"SEE? I told you it was real!" a validated Penny said to Arven, who still had his many doubts. Nothing could sway Arven's mind. "That round little monster was behind everything! Just like I said!"

"Nemona! You alright?" Chrom asked the Pokemon trainer, who was just standing with her head lowered and her eyes closed. Was Nemona finally back to her normal self?

"Ugh..." replied Nemona, only to later perform the mochi dance much to the dismay of those around her. "Mochi MATCH!" Nemona danced for a few more seconds, before stopping as she came back to her senses. "Huh? What's going on?"

"Glad to see you're back to normal," remarked Cloud, although there was hardly anything about Nemona that Spyro would deem normal. Not a single normal bone in that girl's body.

"Hi, everybody! Y'know, I had this crazy realistic dream that I was battling Crispin. It was awesome - sign me up to have that dream again!"

"N-Nemona really is..." said Mario, with Nemona laughing as she thought about her "crazy realistic dream". Talk about a girl who has lost her marbles.

"Something? Yup, sure is," Arven would finish for Mario, no doubt judging Nemona. Carmine caught up with Kieran, as she was too back to her normal self.

"Kieran, what the heck is going on?! Why is everyone here?! Somebody better start explaining!" Carmine said to Kieran, verbally bombarding her little brother only to later soften up. "Actually...huh. What a weird feeling...somehow it feels like...I'm seeing you for the first time in ages."

"Well, Blaze...Omnis Adest is back to its regularly schedule programming!" Sonic said to Blaze, as Carmine and Kieran shared a laugh together. Blaze nodded in agreement, as she looked at her Ultra Ball.

Blaze: I am now officially the proud owner of a Pokemon. That feels...strangely exciting.

"Pretty awesome what you did out there," Cloud gave his props to Champion Link, impressed the Hylian using not only one but two Ancient Arrows. "Way to step up."

"Thanks! That means a lot, coming from you," responded Champion Link, knowing that positive remarks from Cloud were hard to come by. If a guy like Cloud was giving out praise...

...then that was a sign things were looking up for Champion Link. The interim man of the mansion.