Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was just your average day in the town of Smashville, named after the mayor’s favorite event of the year, the Smash Brothers Tourney. Much like the Olympics in our world, Smash was created with the intent of bringing together various nations, or worlds, in this case, to take part in a breath-taking competition. The town mayor, Villager (yes, his name is Villager), had already participated in the Smash competition from the previous year and had just gotten invited to this year’s tournament as well. As for the mayor’s secretary, Isabelle, she was hard at work at Town Hall, organizing paperwork and checking emails as per usual. Once the shih tzu had worked for about four hours straight, she let out an exhausted sigh. A moment later, she heard the door open. It was her tanuki friend, Tom Nook, who sported a turquoise vest and a red tie.

“Hey, Isabelle,” Nook said.

“Oh, Mister Nook! Good to see you!” Isabelle said, giving her friend a welcoming smile. She then walked away from her counter and began stretching. “Just a little more and I’ll be done.”

Nook stood still for a moment and pondered what to say next. He knew that Isabelle’s work was important to her, but at the same time, he did not want her work herself to an unhealthy extent like she habitually did. “You should take a break,” he advised with a worried frown.

“No, no. Don’t worry about me,” Isabelle said, smiling joyfully. “I really enjoy my work.” She then sat down on her desk chair and gave a mild frown. “Although I wish the mayor wasn’t so busy with the campsite and Smash,” she remarked with a shrug of resignation.

As Nook nodded his head in agreement, he noticed his friend gazing toward the ceiling with a daydreamy and somewhat sneaky look on her face.

“Maybe I should be the mayor instead…” Isabelle muttered with a grin. As soon as those words slipped out of her mouth, she looked down at her table and gave herself a moment to think. She then shook her head. “What am I saying? Keep it together, Isabelle!” she exclaimed, bringing back her innocent smile.

Knock, knock!

As soon as Isabelle heard that knock, she jumped in surprise, hurried off her seat, then rushed to the door to see who was visiting. It was Pete, a mail-delivering pelican who wore a green hat and jacket. After being let in, he handed Isabelle an envelope from his purse. “You have a letter!” he announced.

Isabelle accepted the letter and put it into her pocket. “Oh, Pete!” she said with a grateful smile. “Thank you for all your hard work.”

Pete joyously raised his wing, before heading to the exit as Isabelle gave a friendly wave goodbye.

Once Pete had left, Isabelle rushed back to her counter where Nook was standing and took out her envelope. “I wonder what this is about…” she said as she opened the envelope and read the letter to herself.

“We, the inhabitants of the World of Trophies, are pleased to welcome you to the Smash Brothers Ultimate Cup Tourney.”

Isabelle’s heart began racing like a go-kart as soon as she read that first sentence. In fact, she was so overcome with shock that she spun around and accidentally knocked over not only all her paperwork but her computer as well. “They want me in Smash?” she exclaimed, posing dramatically as though she was starring in a video game trailer.

Nook widened his eyes in alarm as he looked down at all the scattered paperwork and the potentially broken computer. “Oh dear! Don’t worry, I’ll help you clean this up.” He then knelt down to restack all the paperwork. Noticing that his friend was not moving a muscle, he stopped organizing the papers and looked up at her. “Are you okay, Isabelle?”

“I’m just… I’m just surprised that I got invited to something as big as Smash,” Isabelle replied. “I’ve never fought a day in my life!”

“I believe that was the same for Villager when he got invited last year, yes?” Nook asked.

“Well, yes, but…” Isabelle muttered. “Villager is so brave and adventurous. He’s not afraid of anything. I don’t know if this tournament is the right fit for me. It seemed so scary to me last year that I couldn’t even bring myself to watch it on TV.” Right as Isabelle mentioned this, she recalled Villager describing Smash fights last year as a nonstop clash of punches, magic and weapons, causing her to shiver in apprehension. “All the confrontation…”

“Does the letter say anything about what to expect from the tournament?” Nook asked.

“Let’s see,” Isabelle said as she looked down at the letter. “It says, ‘We, the inhabitants of the World of Trophies, are pleased to welcome you to the Smash Brothers Ultimate Cup Tourney. Here, you will get the chance to meet and battle dozens of extraordinary individuals from across the Nintendo universe and beyond, including universe-famous heroes such as Mario, Link, and Kirby. We hold this tourney every year to help bring our numerous Nintendo worlds closer together. Our staff will ensure a safe, equally matched and thrilling experience for all participants, though please feel free to take as much time as you need before December Seventh to make any preparations. If or when you decide to join us over at the World of Trophies, simply hold this invitation letter up to the sun, and you will be teleported safely to our world. All fighters will be sent back to their world on December Fifteenth, the evening after the finals. We hope to see you there. Yours truly, Master Hand.’”

“Oh, good!” Nook said. “So that means you don’t have to join the tournament, hm?”

“Yeah, it’s nice to know I have a choice,” Isabelle remarked, before looking back down at the letter and sighing. “But it would also be amazing to meet the heroes of Nintendo. An opportunity like this only comes once in a lifetime.”

“Well, either decision you decide to make has its pros and cons,” Nook stated. “I think that this would be a great experience for you, especially getting to meet so many universe-famous celebrities, hm? But there’s no rush. You still have a month to decide, yes?”

“Hm…” Isabelle replied. “Well, I guess giving myself time to think about it wouldn’t hurt. I’ll see how I feel tomorrow.”

Even after giving herself the night to think it over, however, Isabelle still had yet to decide if joining Smash was the right decision for her. She had talked with all her friends in Smashville about this idea, each of whom said that his would be a great experience for her. This did not stop her though from worrying about whether the confrontation would be too overwhelming for her. Fortunately, she got the chance to talk briefly with Villager about his experience that previous year despite his busy routine of training for Smash while also managing his campsite in Pocketville. Like the rest of her friends, he believed that the experience would be worthwhile for Isabelle, which meant a bit more to her coming from someone who knew what Smash would be like. After giving herself a few weeks to think it over, she decided to give it a try. While she did feel quite nervous, she felt reassured knowing that Villager would be there. Not only was he a great friend to have around for this new and somewhat daunting event, but there was also something about him that seemed to bring out a stronger and more confident side in Isabelle, one that she was sure could get through anything.

On sixth of December, the day before the deadline, Isabelle gathered all her animal friends from Smashville around Town Square. It was almost time for her to teleport to the World of Trophies, where she would remain surrounded by experienced fighters for a whole week. This was it. Her decision was about to be set in stone. She may have still been terrified, but she was not about to let that fear stop her from giving this once-in-a-life-time opportunity a chance. After taking a deep breath, she stepped into the centre of the crowd.

“I’d like to thank you all for helping me make the decision to join Smash,” Isabelle said with a bright smile masking her lingering hesitance. “Even if I don’t do that well in the tourney, I’m sure it will be a worthwhile experience.”

Okay… here goes nothing… Isabelle thought to herself, as she raised the invitation letter in her paw up to the sky. A couple of seconds later, a peculiar beam of yellow light shone down from the sun and enveloped Isabelle, causing all her friends’ jaws to drop in astonishment. She then began to slowly fade away. Isabelle, knowing this was coming thanks to her brief talk with Villager about what to expect from Smash, managed to remain calm as she slowly disappeared along with the beam of light. “I hope you’ll cheer me on,” she said with a friendly wave, before vanishing from sight.

Next thing Isabelle knew, she was standing on what seemed to be a battlefield with bizarre patterns of orange circles and countless black crystals shooting out from the sides. Surrounding her was a bluish-purple sky with a white cloud swirling in the shape of a black hole, as well as a wall of clouds bordering what appeared to be planet Earth from below. Quivering a bit in fear, Isabelle slowly scanned her surroundings, until the silence was broken by a mysterious and ominous voice.

“Bra-hah-hah-haaaah!” guffawed the mysterious voice as a white glove slowly faded into sight. But not just any white glove. This glove was nearly ten times the size of Isabelle, and moving on its own without any visible arm attached to it. The deep, sinister-sounding voice also seemed to be coming from the direction of the massive glove.

“Aaaah!” Isabelle yelped as her heart began to pound. “Who are you? Where am I?”

“Oh, not to worry Isabelle,” the glove said. “This is just how I, MASTER HAND, greet the fighters. I assure you that you and the other fighters are in good hands. Or should I say… ONE GOOD HAND? Bra-hah-hah-haaaah!”

“Heh heh… Heh…” Isabelle muttered as a drop of sweat fell down her face. She knew she would be in for a surprise in the World of Trophies, as she remembered Villager talking about fighters with quite unusual characteristics ranging from two-dimensional bodies to absurdly tiny heads. Even with that knowledge, however, she never would have guessed that the leader, Master Hand, would literally be a hand-shaped creature.

As Isabelle contemplated over how many strange things she had experienced just from her first ten seconds in the World of Trophies, Master Hand continued laughing hysterically, until finally sighing in relief. “I know, I’m funny…”

“So, um… Master Hand…” Isabelle mumbled. “Do you think you could point me to where Villager is? You see, we promised that if I decided to join the Smash tourney, he’d show me around and introduce me to the roster. If that’s… alright with you…”

“I may transport you to where Villager is... if that is where you desire to make your GRAND ENTRANCE!” Master Hand replied.

“Grand Entrance?” Isabelle repeated.

“You see, having newcomers make a dramatic entrance before the veteran fighters has been a tradition since last year’s tournament, the SMASH BROTHERS FOUR CUP TOURNEY!” Master Hand answered. “Some decide to make their entrance in the midst of a practice battle between veteran fighters, while others decide to SURPRISE the fighters during their time of relaxation. Where would YOU wish to make your grand entrance, Isabelle?”

“Gee, I don’t know…” Isabelle said. “I never really pictured myself making a grand entrance before… Do you think you could give me some examples of what the newcomers for this tourney have done?”

“Well, we’ve had QUITE the flashy entrances this past month,” Master Hand remarked. “One fighter, KING K. ROOL, chose to surprise his arch-rivals while they were relaxing at their treehouse and challenge them to a battle! Another fighter, RIDLEY, decided to lure three veteran fighters into a dark chamber, and KO two of them to make an impression on the one he left alone!”

Isabelle gasped in alarm. “Oh my goodness, are they okay?”

“Oh, they’re just fine,” Master Hand replied. “Here in THE WORLD OF TROPHIES, no one is in danger of getting hurt. Worst comes to worst, they get turned into a trophy, but don’t fret, because they can easily be brought back to life simply by touching their TROPHY STAND!”

“Oh… Well, that’s a relief,” Isabelle murmured, equally as relieved as she was surprised by how different injuries worked in this new world. It felt so unreal and dreamlike, but if it meant that she and everyone else were in no danger of getting hurt, then that difference was definitely worth embracing.

“So, where might you decide to make your grand entrance, Isabelle?” Master Hand asked.

“Hm…” Isabelle gazed at the floor as she began to brainstorm. These grand entrances sound pretty mischievous, she thought to herself. I don’t know if they’re my cup of tea. But I don’t want to disrespect Master Hand’s tradition… What would be something I could do that’s dramatic enough to please Master Hand but low-key enough that it doesn’t feel too jarring…? “I know!” she said. “If Villager isn’t too busy right now, maybe I could give him a surprise visit since he doesn’t know I decided to join yet.”

“Hmm… That doesn’t sound particularly grand…” Master Hand stated. “But I suppose that could work. Villager is currently out catching insects near the stadium. Would you like me to take you to him now?”

“Yes, please, Master Hand!” Isabelle cheered.

“Very well,” Master Hand said, as Isabelle became enveloped in a bundle of white light. Within a few seconds, she faded away.

Chapter Text

Next thing Isabelle knew, she was inside a large and dense bush, blocking her view of the rest of her surroundings. Did Master Hand actually take her to where Villager was? It seemed like there was only one way to find out. But just as Isabelle began to climb up out of the bush, a bug-catching net was swung down on her head!

“Ah!” Isabelle yelped, feeling like she was being attacked by one of those attempted world-dominators who Villager told her would be part of this tourney. Fortunately, the fighter on the other side of that net was Villager himself. The friendly, kind-hearted and super average looking guy for a Smash fighter, Villager.

Unaware of whose head he had caught, Villager widened his eyes in shock. “I’m so sorry!” he exclaimed. “I didn’t see…” As he took a closer look, Villager then realized who he was talking to. “Isabelle?”

Once Isabelle also realized who was on the other end of that net, her heart began to pound in delight. “Hey, Villager!” she cheered. “Long time no see!”

“So you did come to join us after all!” Villager said. “You seemed pretty hesitant, so I wasn’t sure, but that’s great you decided to give it a try.”

“Thanks!” Isabelle said with a cheerful smile.

“Sorry I didn’t see you behind that bush,” Villager said, awkwardly scratching his head. “I guess I was just so focused on catching new insects to donate to Blather and Celeste’s museum that I wasn’t paying much attention…”

“Don’t worry about it, Villager. If anything, I’m kind of glad that happened,” Isabelle remarked with a chuckle. “Now I don’t have to worry about Master Hand getting upset that my entrance wasn’t interesting enough. Come to think about it, maybe that’s why he put me in that bush…”

Villager chuckled as well. “That’s Master Hand for you. Sometimes his ideas can a little out of hand…”

Isabelle chortled quietly while blushing. “Oh, you and your cheesy jokes…”

“Well, now that you’re here, I’ll introduce you to the other fighters.” Villager said. As he scanned the forest area in search of a friendly fighter he could introduce Isabelle to, he spotted Kirby, a pink puffball-like creature. This little puff-ball was sitting next to a rock and gazing at the clear, blue sky. Villager waved to the little creature with a welcoming smile. “Hey, Kirby!”

Kirby glanced at Villager and Isabelle, then waved back with an equally friendly grin. “Hi!” he squealed, before walking toward Isabelle with a wide-eyed expression on his face.

“Kirby, meet Isabelle,” Villager said. “Isabelle, Kirby.”

Isabelle’s eyes sparkled as soon as she saw the endearing look of curiosity on the little puffball’s face, then even more when she heard what his name was. “Oh my goodness! I can’t believe I’m meeting the real Kirby! Aw, you’re so cute I…”

Before Isabelle had the chance to react, she was swallowed whole by the pink creature! Within a split second, she found herself inside a dark, slobbery mouth. Wincing in disgust, Isabelle suddenly became much less fond of Kirby’s cuteness on the outside. Luckily, she was quickly spit out, but not without being launched several feet back.

Villager promptly knelt down to help Isabelle get back on her feet, as Isabelle shook her head with a very profound grimace on her face. “What was that about…?” She groaned as she opened her eyes to discover that the puffball now had a giant, yellow hair bun that looked exactly like hers. “Gah! And why does he look like me all of a sudden?” she exclaimed.

“Sorry, I should have warned you,” Villager said. “See, swallowing people and copying their powers and appearance is Kirby’s way of saying hello.”

“Oh…” Isabelle muttered. “Heh heh… Well, to each your own, I guess…” She then turned around and saw an absurdly skinny boy around the age of ten approaching her. He wore a red hat and vest, along with a yellow backpack and a blank facial expression. “Huh?”

“Oh, that’s Red,” Villager stated. “Well, Master Hand prefers that we call him Pokemon Trainer.”

“Hi, i-it’s… nice to meet you,” Isabelle stuttered, as Red gave her a silent stare.

“He doesn’t talk much,” Villager said.

“Oh. Well, that’s okay, I…” Isabelle said, before she noticed an odd, Gameboy-like device in Red’s hand.

“No data,” the device stated.

“Oh, that’s a Pokedex,” Villager explained. “It's used to identify different species of Pokemon.”

“B-But I’m not a Pokemon,” Isabelle commented.

“Not sure if the Pokedex knows that…” Villager said with somewhat of a worried look in his eyes, as Red reached into his pocket and slowly brought out a capsule-like sphere.

“Um… what’s he trying to do?” Isabelle asked.

“I’ll explain later! Run!” Villager exclaimed, as both he and Isabelle immediately bolted their way out of the forest.

Zooming as fast as their legs could take them, Isabelle and Villager soon spotted the Smash stadium entrance and hurtled toward it. Once the automatic door led them to the stadium lobby, which was also crowded with other fighters, the two hunkered down and panted.

Once she was able to catch her breath, Isabelle turned toward Villager. “What was that about?”

“Well, this might sound weird, but… I think he was trying to catch you,” Villager said.

“Catch me?” Isabelle repeated. “What for?”

“See, in Pokemon Trainer’s world, humans often collect Pokemon by storing them in Poke Balls,” Villager explained.

“C-Collect…?” Isabelle asked.

Villager nodded in reply. “Not only that, but they also have what’s called Pokemon battles, where have their captured Pokemon fight each other until one of them passes out.”

“That sounds… awful!” Isabelle exclaimed.

“Well, from what I’ve heard, apparently Pokemon seem to quite enjoy it,” Villager remarked. “Even Jigglypuff, believe it or not.”

“Who’s Jigglypuff?” Isabelle asked.

“Oh yeah. I meant to warn you about it,” Villager said. “See, Jigglypuff is… somewhat nice and all, but… it has a habit of spontaneously singing to people, and when it does…”

“Puff?” said another pink, puffball-like creature as it spun around and stared at the newcomer, Isabelle. Unlike Kirby though, this creature had cat-like ears, a curly tuft of fur on its head, and a marker in its stubby hand. “Jigglypuff! Jigglypuff!” The little Pokemon cheered as its adorable, green eyes immediately caught Isabelle’s undivided attention.

“Aww!” Isabelle exclaimed. “What a cutie!”

“Just be careful of its…” Villager warned before Jigglypuff held its marker in front of its mouth like a microphone.

“Jig-guh-lee-puff, Jig-guh-lee-ee-ee-puff…” Jigglypuff sang in a soft, mesmerizing voice.

As Jigglypuff sang, Isabelle could feel her mind drift away as her eyes began to droop. “Wow…” she mumbled, before letting out a yawn. “Suddenly I’m… so sleepy…” Too dozy to resist any longer, she laid down on the ground, curled up like a real-world puppy and dozed off into dreamland.

As Jigglypuff began to hear Isabelle snore, it stopped singing and opened its eyes. “Puff?” It asked, realizing that it yet again failed to give a full performance. In response to this infuriating realization, Jigglypuff took in a deep breath and inflated itself like a balloon. “Puff!” it growled, before opening its marker and stomping toward the sleeping shih tzu. It then began scribbling on her face a drawing of a curly, skinny mustache and a pair of angry-looking eyebrows, before stomping away.

“Huh? What happened?” Isabelle exclaimed as she sprung awake and began to notice Villager snickering beside her. “W-Why are you laughing?”

“Sorry, it’s just…” Villager said before covering his mouth as he snickered again. “The drawing Jigglypuff did on your face is… priceless!”

“Huh?” Isabelle took out a foldable mirror from her pocket and took a glance at her face, then gasped in horror. “Gah! I look ridiculous! Why would Jigglypuff do something like this?”

“Well, you see, Jigglypuff doesn’t know that its song has the power to put people to sleep,” Villager explained. “And it dreams of becoming a star, so when people fall asleep while it performs, it gets mad.”

“Aw…” Isabelle muttered. “Now I feel kind of bad for it. By the sounds of it, it seems like Jigglypuff does this quite often.”

“Yeah, it’s done this at least a couple times to every fighter,” Villager stated casually. “You never know when it might show up and start to sing. But we’ve gotten used to it.”

“The fighters are definitely more… interesting than I excepted.” Isabelle commented.

“Why don’t I introduce you to someone a little more easygoing, like um…” Villager scanned the room for a moment, then spotted a fairly short man in a red plumber suit. “Oh! Hey, Mario!”

Mario turned around and gave Villager a friendly smile. “Ah, hello-a Villager!” he said in a cheerful, Italian accent.

Isabelle’s jaw immediately dropped. “M-Mario…?” Isabelle stammered. “As in… the Mario…?”

“You bet,” Villager replied, before turning toward the widely-known plumber. “Mario, I’d like you to meet my friend, Isabelle.”

“Ah, you must be one of the new-a comers!” Mario cheered as he reached out his hand. “Nice to meet you, Isabelle!”

“N-Nice to meet you too!” Isabelle stuttered, as she reached out her trembling paw toward Mario and accepted his handshake. Her heart was racing faster than ever before, so much so that she could barely speak. “Wow…” she muttered. “I…  I can’t believe I’m shaking hands with the most famous person in Nintendo! I feel like I’m in a dream!”

“Haha!” Mario laughed. “Always nice to-a meet the fans!”

“I’ve heard lots about the adventures you’ve gone on to save Princess Peach!” Isabelle said. “You’ve gotta tell me what that’s like!”

“Oh, of course!” Mario replied. “Hm… Every adventure I’ve-a gone on has been quite-a different. I do quite enjoy defeating-a Bowser minions and seeing what of power-ups I-a find! It may get-a-scary at times, but it’s always-a worth getting to see Princess-a Peach’s lovely smile in the end.”

“That’s amazing how well you’re able to keep such a positive attitude in the face of danger!” Isabelle commented. “Thank you so much for sharing that with me!”

“You’re-a welcome, Isabelle!” Mario said.

“Hey, Past-a Mario!” called a voice that sounded just like Mario’s. It was coming from someone who seemed to be an identical twin of Mario’s, only he was wearing a doctor’s outfit. “Good to see you!”

“Ah, hello-a Future Mario!” Mario cheered, waving to his friend. “I’m so glad you could-a make it again this year! Haha!”

“Um…” Isabelle murmured, scrunching up her face as she realized that those two were talking to each like they were the same person from different times. “Am I seeing what you are, Villager…?”

“Yep,” Villager answered. “That’s Future Mario.”

“Woah!” Isabelle exclaimed, gaping in astonishment. “And there I thought time travel was a myth! I wonder what made Mario decide to become a doctor.”

“Well, from what I’ve been told, it’s that Princess Peach’s dad didn’t approve of her marrying a plumber, so Mario went to medical school in order to impress him,” Villager explained.

“Huh…” Isabelle said. “Well, you can’t accuse him of not being committed. Is Doctor Mario the only fighter who comes from the future?”

“Oh, definitely not. We’ve got fighters from all kinds of different generations,” Villager replied, before scanning the area in search of an example he could give. He soon found a pair of swordfighters practicing with one another, both of whom had blue hair and a blue cape. “Take Marth and Lucina for instance. Both of them are heroes from the same royal family, but they lived hundreds of years apart from each other.”

“Goodness!” Isabelle exclaimed. “That’s quite the time gap.” She then a closer look and noticed the weapons in their hands. Her heart skipped a beat as she bolted and hid behind Villager. “Forget about that! They’re wielding swords! Are swords allowed here?”

“Yes, they are, b-but let me explain,” Villager replied. “See, in the World of Trophies, all creatures are indestructible. I hear that there was even one time Popo and Nana survived falling down a giant cliff in the World of Trophies.”

“Seriously?” Isabelle asked as she blinked in disbelief.

“Yup.” Villager nodded. “And that’s what makes Smash fights completely safe. When fighters lose a battle, they get turned into a trophy and can easily be revived afterward.”

“Oh yeah. Master Hand mentioned that,” Isabelle remarked.

“Not only that, but the power of all weapons are equalized so that sword-fighters and gunners don’t have an unfair advantage against unarmed fighters,” Villager stated. “When it comes to winning a Smash battle, it all comes down to skill.”

“Phew…” Isabelle sighed. “That’s good to know. But what about the battles themselves? Do they hurt?”

“Not much. And the pain only lasts for a second after each attack,” Villager answered. “It’s not like the Pokemon world where participants battle until they faint. Well, fighters can faint during battle, but it's not at all dangerous like in our world and never lasts for more than a few seconds. Anyway, in Smash battles, the objective instead is to launch each other through an invisible boundary around the stage called the blast line.”

“L-Launch?” Isabelle panicked.

“Oh yeah. I guess you haven’t seen a Smash battle before,” Villager said. “See, when you land an attack on someone in the World of Trophies, they get sent flying in the direction you attacked them in. The more times they’ve been hit throughout the battle, the further they fly.”

“That’s… bizarre,” Isabelle commented. “Seriously, how does that even work? I’ve taken countless physics courses for my engineering degrees, and that goes against almost everything I’ve learned!”

“Yeah, the physics in other worlds can be quite strange compared to ours,” Villager remarked. “Some worlds allow you to jump ten-times your own height, while others allow you to lift things ten-times your weight.”

“Well, I guess you learn something new everyday…” Isabelle said. “But it’s definitely reassuring to know that the Smash fights aren’t as violent as I thought. Maybe this experience won’t be so scary after all.”

Meanwhile, a little boy in an elf-like outfit across the room held a sword in his quivering hands. His name was Link, or Toon Link as Master Hand called him in order to differentiate him from his many alternate incarnations, two of whom were invited to Smash. His nickname derived from his giant head and eyes, his simple outfit, and of course, his super cartoony obsession with breaking pots. “Don’t break the pot… Don’t break the pot… Don’t break the pot…” he repeated in an anxious-sounding whisper. “This isn’t your home… This isn’t your home… This isn’t your home…”

Approaching Toon Link was a grey wolf who wore a purple flight jacket, metal boots, and an eye-patch. While he did look quite menacing, Isabelle was pleased to see that he was actually wearing clothes, unlike most of the non-humans in the Smash roster… “What’s wrong?” Wolf, the wolf, asked. “You’re looking at that pot pretty tensely. Here, I can break it for you.” Before Toon Link could react, Wolf swung his claw at the pot and shattered it into bits.

“Nooooo!” Toon Link cried. “I wanted to break the pot!”

“Whoops,” Wolf responded. “Sorry, Zelda.”

“My name’s not Zelda!” Toon Link growled.

“Maybe…” Isabelle emphasized.

Chapter Text

The next day, the preliminary round was about to commence. This round would decide which sixty-four of the eighty fighters would move onto the official tourney by having them all compete in an activity called Target Smash. Those of you who have played one of the first three Super Smash Bros games may know that Target Smash involves one character traversing around an obstacle course and breaking every target spread across the area.

For this event, Master Hand had each fighter line up in the stadium hallway in the order of when they were invited to their first Smash tourney. Unfortunately for Isabelle, this meant that she had to stand in line for nearly half an hour as she waited for nearly all the other fighters to complete Target Smash. What’s worse was that in front of her was a terrifying-looking crocodile with a crown on his head, and behind her was an even scarier-looking, tiger-like creature with a ring of fire around its waist. Since the crocodile seemed slightly less intimidating, Isabelle stood silently in contemplation over whether she should start a conversation with him.

That crocodile looks kind of scary… Isabelle thought to herself. Should I introduce myself…? I guess it’s worth a try, considering we’ll be in this lineup for a while. She took a deep breath, then let it out, before giving a little wave to giant reptile. “Hello…”

“Hm?” The crocodile, King K. Rool, turned around and took a glance at the smaller shih tzu, before letting out a booming laugh. “Awww, now won’t you look at that?” He said in a deep, ominous voice. “An adorable little puppy has decided to join the fight!”

“Hey,” Isabelle said, giving the crocodile a polite, but confidently stern look in response. “I’m more than just a cute little dog.”

“Yeah, yeah, sure you are,” K. Rool teased. “And what heroic acts have you done to get here? Give your enemies the puppy-dog eyes to make them surrender?”

Isabelle flinched for a second in hurt, then shook her head, knowing that he did know enough about her to make those kinds of judgments. “Look, just because I’m a dog, doesn’t mean my only strength is charming people,” Isabelle stated.

“Oh, so what is your fighting style?” K. Rool asked.

“Actually, um… I…” Isabelle muttered.

“Wait… Don’t tell me you’ve never fought before!” K. Rool said with an amused grin.

“Well, no, but…” Isabelle mumbled before she was cut off with another startlingly loud laugh.

“That’s hilarious!” K. Rool exclaimed. “This little puppy has never fought a day in her life and yet she still thinks she has what it takes to win!”

Despite her belief that K. Rool may have been right, Isabelle was not about to let this bully get the better of her emotions. “Hey, I know I’m up against some stiff competition, but at least I’ll be able to say that I’ve tried something new.”

“Oh, yes! Getting beaten to a pulp will definitely be something new for you. Let’s just hope you don’t get emotionally scarred!” As K. Rool laughed out loud with much delight and pride, Isabelle slowly lowered her head and frowned. Getting emotionally scarred was one of her worst fears, and hearing K. Rool’s declaration that it was bound to happen made her feel as though she had just made the worst mistake of her life. She took a moment to reflect on this potentially life-ruining decision to join Smash until the silence was broken by a loud stomp between her and the crocodile. That stomp came from the fiery tiger, or rather, the Fire-Type, tiger-like Pokemon.

“Incineroar! Roar!” Incineroar growled, giving K. Rool an intense glare.

“Oooh! Look what we have here! A giant kitty trying to defend a helpless little puppy!” K. Rool said. “What are you going to do? Engulf me in flames? You know fighting outside the stadium and training room is against the rules!”

“Roar, Roar.” Incineroar shook its head. “Incineroar! Incin!”

“Oh, come on! You know I don’t speak Pokemon!”

“Roar…” Incineroar muttered, putting its hand on its chin. It then looked back at K. Rool and menacingly held its hand above K. Rool’s head. “Ro-ho-ho-hoooaaaar!”

K. Rool gasped. “You wouldn’t dare tell Master Hand!

“Incin,” Incineroar replied, nodding its head.

K. Rool groaned, then turned away. “Fine… Have it your way…”

Isabelle could not believe her eyes. Here she thought that the fiery creature would be even more unpleasant than the crocodile, when in reality, it was willing to defend during her time of need. She then shook her head and wiped the shocked expression off her face before giving Incineroar a grateful smile. “Th-thank you for that, sir…” she muttered.

“Incin!” Incineroar said, giving Isabelle a thumbs-up along with a friendly grin.

Don’t listen to him, Isabelle, she thought. Just because you’re not as experienced as the other fighters, doesn’t mean you’re doomed to fail. If Villager can do this, so can you!

Once Isabelle’s turn arrived, she stepped aboard a glowing, blue, circular plate that was placed at what seemed to be a dead-end in the hallway. Suddenly, she became enveloped in a dazzling veil of blue light. She then gave a loud gasp as she noticed herself slowly fading away. Within a few seconds, everything went black.

Next thing she knew, she was inside the stadium arena! This arena was surrounded by hundreds of roaring fans and contained two obstacle courses filled with moving platforms, conveyor belts and levitating floors of varying heights. She widened her eyes as she looked back and forth in confusion. Then she remembered Villager mentioning to her that fighters enter the arena in their trophy form, and got brought back to life when they landed on the arena’s stage. Could this have been what happened to her? She felt as though she had woken up from anesthesia, like no time had past between when she vanished and when she found herself in the stadium. She wobbled a bit in a confused daze, though that quickly passed after a few short seconds. So this is what being turned into a trophy feels like… she thought to herself.

“Ready? Go!” a voice that sounded like Master Hand’s shouted.

Isabelle shook her head, bringing her focus back to the task she had to complete. She looked ahead and spotted a red and white target right in front of her. She then walked up to it and pulled out a rubber hammer from her pocket. After taking a deep breath, she squeezed her eyes shut and swung her hammer at the target with all her might.

Smash!

The target was effortlessly shattered into pieces.

Isabelle widened her eyes and grinned at the sight of the phenomenal power her harmless little toy hammer had. It almost felt as though her puppyhood fantasies of that toy working like a real hammer had come true. “Weapons really are equalized here!” she shouted joyously.

Isabelle then looked up and spotted a target positioned higher up in the air. “Oh! There’s another one up there!” she exclaimed. She knew the target was quite high up, but she was determined to reach it. She leaped as high as she could, but her paw just barely missed the target. She tried jumping up to reach it, then again, but to no avail.

Isabelle sighed, before she remembered something. Something important. “That’s right! Villager told me I can double-jump! Now, how does this work…? I jump, then I kick the invisible ground beneath me… Okay.”

She stood up straight, then bent her legs and leaped as high as she could once more. She then bent her legs and kicked them downward again while in midair, causing her to jump a second time while doing a midair flip!

Isabelle gasped with a start upon experiencing this bizarre quirk in the World of Trophies’ physics, causing her to miss the target. When she landed back on the ground, however, all she could think about was the accomplishment she had just made. “Hey! I did it!” she cheered, before shaking her head as she realized she still had to make her way to break that target. “Alright. Time to focus…”

Isabelle bent her legs once more while fixing her gaze at the target, before leaping upward with all her might. She then did a successful second jump in midair, bringing her only a few inches away from her target. She briskly pulled out a turnip from her pocket and swung upward.

Smash!

The target was successfully fractured as Isabelle joyously plunged back down to the ground. Once she landed on the ground, a wide smile spread across her face. “Yes! I got it!” she shouted. The fact that the World of Trophies allowed her to pull anything in her pocket out instantly just by thinking about it instead of searching for it definitely made her job a hundred-times simpler.

Isabelle then turned her gaze toward the three targets positioned above the side-to-side moving platform in front of her. “Let’s see... I should be able to break those other three targets fairly easily now that I know how to double-jump.”

And so, Isabelle did just that. As soon as the platform moved as close to her as it could go, she performed the double-jump again and successfully made her way on top. Once the platform brought her toward the target on the far right, she swung her toy hammer forward.

Smash!

She then turned around as the platform brought her to the leftmost target.

Smash!

With the two targets on the sides broken, all that was left was the target hovering above Isabelle in the center. She waited patiently for the platform to take her there, then sprung upward while taking out her pom-poms

Smash!

With a simple, rotating swing with her two pom-poms, Isabelle successfully shattered the target. Once she landed back on solid ground, she let out an amused chuckle. “I’m on a roll!”

Isabelle then looked toward the other levitating obstacle course with the last five targets, which was not in any way connected to the obstacle course she was currently on. “Now how do I get to those targets…?” she thought aloud. She was well-aware of the risk of her falling off the course and into the dark abyss below her. That said, she did not feel nearly as terrified as she would have felt earlier, as Villager had told her that there was a blast line above that abyss that would turn her into a trophy if she went through it, which she did not fear as it meant she would then be brought to safety. She decided to give it a shot and leap her way to the other side. But how?

Isabelle scanned the area in search of something she could use to get her onto the second obstacle course. That was when she spotted a slide launcher, a small, black chair connected to two metal bars facing the other obstacle course. “Do I go on this thing?” She stepped toward the chair and very slowly and cautiously sat down on it it. The second that she did, the chair slid across the metal bars at high speed, firing her toward the second obstacle!

“Aaaaah!” Isabelle yelped, watching the wall one of the walls on the second obstacle course zoom toward her as her heart thumped vigorously. She then smashed into the wall, causing her to feel a jolt of brief pain. After bouncing off the wall and landing on the ground, she laid still for a couple of seconds.

Isabelle then awoke, lifted herself back up and looked down at her unwounded body. Though she knew this was normal in the World of Trophies, it still took her by complete shock. “Villager was right!” she cheered while giggling from fascination and relief. “The pain’s completely gone!” She continued giggling for another moment or two, before shaking her head. “Right! Don’t get distracted, Isabelle.”

Once her focus was redirected to the target challenge, Isabelle glanced around the second obstacle course in search of the last remaining targets. After a few seconds of scanning her surroundings, she spotted one positioned over the edge of the piece of floating land she was standing on. “Hey! There’s one right there! It’s pretty far though…” she gave herself a moment to ponder her options, before her eyes lit up. “Oh! I can use my slingshot!”

Isabelle took out her slingshot from her pocket, then made her way to the target. She then sprung upward and fired one of her pellets, only to miss it by a couple of inches. She tried again, only to fire the pellet further off than before.

“Phew, good thing I still have an unlimited supply of pellets,” Isabelle remarked. She then put on a determined grin, fixed her eyes on the target and fired a few more pellets, until finally, one of them landed a hit.

Smash!

“Yes!” Isabelle cheered. “Now let’s see…” With her sights set on finding the last four targets, she hopped down to a lower, floating platform, which eventually led her to a target positioned over a ledge. This time, however, the target was also right under a levitating wall that extended down to where Isabelle was standing. Shooting a pellet at that target seemed like an easy task at first glance. Right when Isabelle got off the platform and aimed her slingshot at the target though, her legs performed an involuntary jump, making her hit the wall instead!

After coming back down, Isabelle remained still for a moment while scrunching up her face. “What just happened…?” She tried firing the pellet again, only for her legs to spring her up into the air on their own again right at the last second. She tried again, but the same thing happened.

After three failed attempts, Isabelle let out a groan. “Why can’t I fire a pellet without jumping?” she exclaimed, before putting her paw on her chin as she contemplated an alternative for her slingshot attack. “That’s it!” she shouted as she brought out a flower pot from her pocket. As much as she did not enjoy breaking things, this seemed to be the only item she could use to reach that target. “Well, here goes nothing…” she muttered, before charging straight toward the target while carrying the flower pot in her paws. Squeezing her eyes shut, she tossed the pot toward the target and landed a successful hit.

Smash!

“Alright!” Isabelle cheered, before looking ahead at the last three targets positioned around two floating walls, which was ahead of a floating, backwards-moving conveyor belt. “So, the last three are way over there, huh? Looks like the only way I can reach them is if I go up that conveyer belt… Okay. Here I go!”

After giving a courageous nod, Isabelle hopped onto the midair conveyer belt. Although she ran as swiftly as she could, the equally swift conveyer belt prevented her from getting anywhere, which caused her to groan in exasperation. “Dumb conveyer belt!” she complained, before gasping as she suddenly thought of a solution. “Oh, right! I can double-jump!” Upon performing another leap followed by a midair jump, Isabelle landed safely on the floating piece of land below the two walls.

Now ready to break the last three targets, Isabelle performed another double jump in an attempt to break the one right above her with her turnip. Despite jumping as high as she could, she missed it by only a few inches. She gazed toward the ground as she pondered what to try next.

“Hm… Maybe I can use my balloon swing,” Isabelle thought aloud, before taking out a wooden swing connected to a pair of red, bunny-shaped balloons from her pocket. Yes, her pockets were that spacious, even back in her world. She hopped onto the swing and began ascending higher and higher until she made her way slightly above the target. She then hopped off to break the target with her pom-poms, before realizing she was wearing a skirt! She gasped, then held her paws over her skirt to keep it down. Upon landing, she gave a heavy sigh.

“I gotta think of something else…” Isabelle stated, before clapping in delight as an idea suddenly occurred her to. “I got it! Villager told me I could wall jump! Let’s try that out!” Without a hint of hesitation, she leaped toward the wall, then pushed against it with enough force to spring herself to the next wall, then the next, then the next, until she finally made it up to the target. She pulled out her turnip and swung it upward.

Smash!

As she fractured the fractured to bits, a huge smile appeared on Isabelle’s face. “Alright!” she cheered while plummeting back down. “Now for the one on top of that wall!”

Just like before, Isabelle leaped toward one wall, then the next, then repeated several times until she made it to the very top. Once she was at the top, she swung her toy hammer at the target.

Smash!

“Yes!” Isabelle cheered. “Just one more to go!”

Isabelle then took a couple of steps toward the ledge, and gulped as she saw the target positioned on the way down to the abyss with no way of saving herself. “Good thing I saved that one for last…” she remarked. After taking another deep breath, she hopped off the ledge and saw the empty abyss zoom toward her. Despite this, she managed to stay calm and wait patiently for the right moment to hit the target with her turnip. Once she was down far enough, she swung the turnip down.

Smash!

And just like that, the final target was shattered to smithereens.

“Complete!” Master Hand declared.

Even as she was falling into the abyss, Isabelle raised her paw into the air with a radiant smile on her face. “Yes! I did it!” she shouted joyously, before falling through the invisible blast line and disappearing in an enormous flash of red light.

Chapter Text

After being teleported to a field outside the stadium, Isabelle and the fighters who had gone before her patiently waited for the preliminaries to end so Master Hand could announce who would be moving onto Round One. Luckily for Isabelle, there were not too many fighters behind her. Just Incineroar, Piranha Plant, Joker, Hero, Banjo and Kazooie, Terry and a few more who I am not allowed to name as of yet. The longer Isabelle sat down on one of the benches outside the stadium, however, the more she began to realize how slow she probably was compared to the rest of the fighters. She knew that most of the fighters had plenty of experience both with official and practice Smash battles, whereas she only just learned how the World of Trophies’ physics worked while she was doing the Target Smash challenge. Should she have been more focused? Should she have arrived in the World of Trophies earlier so she could have practiced more?

The screen above the stadium turned on, snapping Isabelle out of her train of worrying thoughts. “Thank you all for your patience!” Master Hand said though he was nowhere to be seen. “We will now announce the fighters who have passed the preliminaries and will move onto ROUND ONE!”

As she prepared herself for the announcement, Isabelle put on a forced smile. “Don’t worry, Isabelle… Two minutes isn’t too bad… I mean, those targets were pretty far apart, so how stiff can the competition be?”

“In first place, we have… SONIC! With SEVEN-POINT-EIGHT SECONDS!” Master Hand announced.

Isabelle gulped. Even in a world as obscure as the world of trophies, seeing someone beat that obstacle course in less than ten seconds was beyond her imagination. “S-Seven-point… -eight…?”

“Aw, beans…” said the blue hedgehog himself from afar as he folded his arms in mild frustration. “Couldn’t quite break my record from last year. Oh well.”

“In second place, we have PIKACHU with TEN-POINT-NINE SECONDS!” Master Hand declared. “Third, GRENINJA with FOURTEEN-POINT-ONE SECONDS!”

Master Hand spent the next few minutes announcing every other fighter who made it past the preliminaries. As the list went on, Isabelle grew increasingly shakier, especially once Master Hand had gotten to the fighters who took over a minute to complete Target Smash. Once he began announcing the last ten fighters, it seemed Isabelle was out of luck. She was ready to accept defeat once Master Hand had announced the fighter who got in sixty-third place…

“And finally, sixty-fourth, ISABELLE with TWO MINUTES AND ELEVEN-POINT EIGHT SECONDS!”

Isabelle gaped as her heart skipped a beat. “I’m in…?” she muttered as she took a moment to let Master Hand’s words sink in. She then beamed while springing off the bench she had been sitting on. “I’m in!” she shouted. Overcome with exhilaration, she began rapidly stomping her feet, before raising her paw into the air. “I’m actually in! Oh, I’m so happy!”

“Starting tomorrow, these sixty-four talented fighters will duke it out in a TOURNAMENT-STYLE COMPETITION!” Master Hand proclaimed. “We will now present the matchups for ROUND ONE!”

Each of the fighter’s face icons appeared on the black screen, then scattered throughout the screen until they all lined up below an upside-down tournament tree. Isabelle squinted her eyes as she searched for her icon, which she eventually found beside Incineroar’s toward the end of the matchup list.

“Hey, that looks like the Pokemon who stood up for me yesterday!” she cheered. “Who would have guess it would be my first opponent?”

“Be sure to get a good night’s rest, everyone,” Master Hand advised. “For you will need LOTS of energy to perform your best in tomorrow’s SMASH BATTLES!”

As Isabelle stood silently in front of the screen, still in shock after finding out she made it to the first round, a blonde, teenage boy with a red vest and a bizarrely-shaped sword approached her. “Hey. Isabelle, was it?” he asked in a friendly, British voice. “Congratulations on passing the preliminaries.”

“Aw, thanks, um…” Isabelle muttered.

“Shulk,” the boy said, before reaching out his hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too,” Isabelle said, accepting Shulk’s handshake.

“I hear you’re from the same town as Villager,” Shulk stated. “Both of us were newcomers last year. I remember him telling me that he had no experience fighting back in his world, and yet he still managed to amaze me with the way he utilized all those weapons he had so effectively.”

“Yeah, Villager’s a natural, isn’t he?” Isabelle said. “Our hometown’s about as peaceful as it can get, so fighting has never really come up in our lives outside of Smash.”

“Well, I would have never guessed considering how well you did in the preliminaries,” Shulk commented. “You might even be as skilled as Villager.”

“Thank you, Shulk!” Isabelle cheered. “To be honest, I was feeling quite nervous in the beginning. But now that I’ve gotten to know more about this place and the tournament, I feel confident that this will be a good experience for me!”

Shulk smiled in response to this confident statement. He then gave a dramatic gasp as his eyes widened in shock.

“Is something wrong, Shulk?” Isabelle asked, frowning in concern as Shulk remained silent, still with his shocked expression. “Shulk…?” she repeated, but to no response. “Shulk, can you hear me?”

After a moment had passed, Shulk shook his head and frowned. “Sorry, I… I just had a future vision.”

“A future vision?” Isabelle repeated.

“I have the ability to foresee future events,” Shulk explained. “Usually tragic ones.”

“What was this one about?” Isabelle asked.

“Hm…” Shulk muttered, scrunching up his face. “Well, it pains me to say this, but… it concerns you.”

“Oh…?” Isabelle mumbled, beginning to tense up as she wondered what terrible event could have been awaiting her.

Shulk sighed. “You see… First, I saw you pleading with Master Hand to take you back home, with tears pouring down your face. Then I saw who I believe are your town friends asking Villager where you were. Lastly, I saw daylight shining through your windows in your bedroom, but you were laying on your bed with a teary expression on your face.”

“W-What…?” Isabelle murmured, staring at Shulk in disbelief. Upon hearing this prophecy of her worst fear, she felt as though her newly gained confidence had just been fractured to into a million pieces. She then shook her head. “You’re not serious, are you?”

“It wasn’t clear what exactly caused you to feel this way,” Shulk remarked. “But I think it’s safe to say that it might be the tourney. After all, the battles can get quite intense, even if they are not truly dangerous. I hate to say this, Isabelle, but… you may want to consider forfeiting. I know what trauma feels like, and it’s not easy to recover from.”

 “B-But I thought I had already gotten over my fears…” she stuttered, looking down as she began to tear up a bit.  Just when she thought she had overcome her fear of being traumatized by trying out new things, all that confidence vanished when she realized that shrugging off K. Rool’s words was not enough to avoid that result. How was she going to tell her friends in Smashville that she could not do what Villager did effortlessly? She then turned around and hid her teary face from Shulk. “Sorry, I… I need to go… It was nice meeting you…” Isabelle speed walked away, as Shulk stood still and watched her leave with a sorrowful frown on his face.

As Isabelle searched frantically around the stadium for Villager, she continued hiding her distressed face from the rest of the fighters. But it was not her fear of being seen as wimpy that troubled her. It was the fact she knew that one of these big, strong and, in some cases, evil creatures would very likely cause her to feel emotionally scarred at some point during her visit to this world. For all she knew, it could have even had a chance of happening outside of battle. The last thing she wanted was for any of the fighters to take advantage of her vulnerability like what K. Rool did, only to a crueler extent. To make matters worse, this was her very first time experiencing this kind of fear. Considering how outgoing and comfortable she was around most of her peer groups from her homeworld, hiding from the crowd this way was quite an uncomfortable task to say the least.

After several minutes of walking around the stadium while staring at the ground in order to draw a minimal amount of attention to herself, Isabelle finally spotted Villager, or rather, Villager’s blue sneakers. As Isabelle slowly lifted her head to greet her friend, Villager turned around and beamed.

“Isabelle! Congratulations on…” Villager’s smile quickly turned into a look of concern as he noticed the frown on Isabelle’s face. “Are you okay?”

“I-I’m fine…” Isabelle stammered, putting her paws behind her back while gazing down to hide her incoming tears. “Don’t worry…”

“Isabelle, if something’s bothering you, you can tell me,” Villager said. He then sat down on a nearby bench, before tapping the other side of it.

Isabelle sat down beside Villager, then let out a sigh. “Do you remember Shulk from last year’s tourney, Villager?”

Villager nodded. “Why? Did something happen?”

“Well… not exactly… yet…” Isabelle muttered. “See, he told me about a future vision he had where I was crying and begging Master Hand to take me home. Where I felt so traumatized after the tourney that I… that I could no longer perform my duties as assistant mayor…”

Villager’s eyes widened. “Wow, I’m… I’m really sorry to hear that, Isabelle,” he said. “Do you think you might decide to forfeit?”

“I don’t know…” Isabelle replied. “Are Shulk’s future visions accurate…?”

“From what I hear, yes,” Villager answered, causing Isabelle to sigh. “You know, if you feel like you need to forfeit, that’s completely fine. Just coming here to the World of Trophies for the preliminaries is something to be really proud of.”

“But everyone in Smashville told me that I should join the tourney!” Isabelle remarked. “That I shouldn’t pass up an opportunity like this! I don’t want to let them all down…”

“Isabelle, the point of going out of your comfort zones isn’t to please others,” Villager stated. “It’s for you to see what’s out there and discover new hobbies and interests. All of it is for your sake. Sure, it does make me and our friends happy to see you try out new things, but we’d never expect you to do something that causes more stress than the outcome is worth.”

“Thanks, Villager,” Isabelle muttered, smiling as her tears slowly went away. “That’s… really reassuring to hear… So, what do you think I should do? Do you think participating in Smash is a worthwhile risk…?”

“Like I said, no one has the right to tell you how far you have to push yourself,” Villager said. “The only way that taking a risk like this will be a positive experience for you will be if you’re the one who decides to do it. Go with your gut, and I promise, whatever decision you make, I’ll support you with it. Don’t forget, you’ve got plenty of time to think this over. Your battle’s not until the end of the day tomorrow.”

Isabelle gave herself a moment to think, then sighed. “You’re right, Villager… It has to be my decision. I’ll take some time to think about it.” She lifted herself back onto her feet and gave Villager a smile of gratitude. “Thanks for talking with me, Villager. What you said really helped…” She then put her paws behind her back while staring at the ground again, this time with a blush on her face. “You’re really sweet, you know that…?”

“Ah, don’t mention it,” Villager said with an oblivious grin. “I’m happy to help.”

Chapter Text

Following Villager’s advice, Isabelle gave herself the evening to consider the two choices she had. While she was well-aware of the risks that came with this tourney, she also did not want to give up on something she may regret giving up on so quickly, especially considering how unique and rare this opportunity was. As such, she decided to spend that evening practicing her attacks in order to see if that would help her feel more confident in battle and less scared of her competition. At least for this round, she knew she was up against a fighter who was not too scary, on the inside that is. This meant that she probably did not have much to worry about for this particular round. That said, she was still determined to prepare as much as she could and to prevent Shulk’s vision from coming true to the best of her ability.

After finding a quiet spot in the forest where other fighters would be less likely to see her, Isabelle placed one of her flower pots on a tree stump and brought out her toy hammer. She lifted the hammer up, then, with all her might, swung it down.

Slam!

Nothing happened. She tried again.

Slam!

But not even a scratch.

“Hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee!”

Isabelle spun around and noticed an unclothed, quadruped dog hiding behind a bush and chortling with his paw in front of his mouth. Even the duck behind him was laughing at her as well.

Isabelle shook her head, telling herself not to let them get the better of her. She then continued banging the hammer onto the flower pot in an attempt to make it crack.

Slam! Slam! Slam!

But every attempt failed.

As Isabelle continued banging the hammer on the flower pot, little was she aware that she was being watched by yet another fighter from the bushes on the other side. Hiding in those bushes was Toon Link, who fixed his eyes on the pot and breathed heavily as his muscles trembled like a leaf.

After about ten attempts at breaking apart the flower pot, Isabelle sighed. “Maybe I’ll have better luck with a different weapon. Let’s see… What could I use…?” Isabelle gazed toward the ground in thought, until her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a young, screaming boy.

“Aaaaah!” Toon Link cried, charging toward the pot and slicing it apart with his sword.

“Woah!” Isabelle jumped and rapidly backed away, then put her paw over her heart as she tried to catch her breath.

“Oops. Sorry…” Toon Link said, awkwardly scratching his head. “I just couldn’t resist…”

As Toon Link wandered off, Isabelle looked down at the shattered bits of the flower pot and picked a couple of them up. Realizing how effortlessly Toon Link’s supposedly weakened sword sliced it apart, Isabelle lowered her head. “Or maybe it’s just me…”

“I notice you seem to be struggling a bit,” said a white-haired, young man wearing a black and purple coat.

Isabelle turned around and noticed the young man standing behind her. She then turned her gaze back toward the ground. “A little…” she admitted. “It’s just… this isn’t only my first time fighting in Smash. This is my first time fighting ever! I want to be prepared for my battle tomorrow, but…” she sighed. “I don’t know where to start…”

“Well, before I enter a battle, what I do is learn as much as I can about my opponent,” the man stated. “Here in Smash, fighters have access to a PC room that can provide both video clips of previous Smash battles and information on every fighter’s battling style. Would you like me to point you there?”

“That’s… really nice of you,” Isabelle said, pleasantly surprised by how nice her competition was being despite her nervousness toward the other fighters. “Thanks. I could definitely use some help…” She then reached out her paw to the human. “My name’s Isabelle, by the way.”

“Robin,” the man said, shaking Isabelle’s paw.

After following Robin to the facility containing the PC room, Isabelle found herself surrounded by over a dozen fighters, all sitting in front of several rows of computers. As she glanced around to see which seat would give her the most amount of space to herself, she spotted what seemed to be a tall and slim woman with long, green hair. She then recalled Villager telling her about how he met a goddess with long, green hair named Palutena in the last Smash tourney. Upon realizing this fighter could very well be that goddess, especially once she noticed the golden, regal-looking ornaments on her dress, she gave a loud gasp.

“P-P-P-Paluntena…?” Isabelle stuttered.

“Hm?” the fighter turned her head and gave Isabelle a welcoming smile. “Ah, Isabelle. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Isabelle gaped in awe as her heart began to pound like a drum, realizing she was talking to the real deal! “Th-The pleasure’s mine…” Isabelle mumbled, trembling uncontrollably as she began to feel a peculiar sense of lightheadedness. She felt her balance slowly weakening as a cluster of purple spots made her vision become cloudier and cloudier, though she did not mind this in the slightest. “I… I can’t believe I… I-I get… I’m me, um… I’m talking to… I get... I-I’m talk… I’m speak… I-I get…” Eventually, Isabelle’s dizziness grew so severe that her balance gave out, causing her to tumble backward into Robin’s arms. A couple of seconds later, Isabelle came to her senses and widened her eyes upon realizing what just happened. “S-Sorry!” she cried.

“That’s quite alright,” Palutena said. “Are you okay?”

“Y-Yes, I’m… It’s just…” Isabelle stammered, lifting herself back onto her feet as she let out a nervous giggle. “I’m a little blown away that I get to meet an actual goddess.”

 “You know, Villager reacted very similarly when we met during the Smash Brothers Four Cup Tourney,” Palutena remarked.

“He did?” Isabelle asked. “Huh. I guess I’m not alone…”

“I trust you’ve been enjoying your time here in the World of Trophies?” Palutena asked.

“Well… I am feeling a bit nervous knowing how intense Smash fights can get…” Isabelle admitted. “But I feel really grateful to have met someone like Robin who’s willing to help his competition. It’s also been a big help to have my friend Villager around to help me feel calmer.”

“Well, you certainly have good taste in friends,” Palutena said. “Word has it that no one in Smash fights fairer than Villager.”

“Yeah, he’s a really great and honest guy...” Isabelle remarked. “So are all the people in my town. Well, I guess that’s partly because there’s this mole in my town who tracks down rule-breakers and punishes them…”

“Yeah, Mister Resetti is quite the character, isn’t he?” Palutena commented.

“How did you know about Mister Resetti?” Isabelle asked.

“You see, Gods and Goddesses have an all-seeing eye,” Palutena explained. “We can even see what’s happening in worlds outside our own.”

“That’s incredible!” Isabelle exclaimed as her eyes twinkled in amazement. That amazement, however, instantly transformed into horror as she remembered her deepest, darkest secret: her habit of dozing off at work. She gasped in alarm, then held her paws together while sweating profusely. “You don’t happen to see me when I’m at work, d-do you?” she cried.

Palutena chuckled. “Don’t worry, Isabelle. Anyone who works as hard as you do need some time to rest now and then.”

“Heh heh… heh…” Isabelle laughed awkwardly, scratching her head with a profound blush on her face. She then rapidly shook her head. “Anyway, how come you’re looking up Villager’s data? I thought Pit was Villager’s opponent.”

“Uh…” Palutena muttered, looking off into the distance before looking back at Isabelle. “Well, I’m not sure how Pit will feel if I tell you this… Can you keep a secret, Isabelle?”

“Y-Yes, Miss Palutena,” Isabelle replied.

“Well, you see, reading is not quite as essential in Skyworld as it is on Earth, so not every angel chooses to learn how to read,” Palutena explained. “That goes for Pit, though he’s a bit embarrassed about that, so… don’t tell him I told you… And unfortunately, reading the databases of fighters is the only way for participants to familiarize themselves with their fighting style aside from watching them in battle, which made the Smash Brothers Brawl Cup Tourney quite difficult for Pit. So when I joined Pit in the World of Trophies for the fourth tourney, I offered to give him guidance and fighting tips during each of his battles, and I have been doing that ever since.”

“Aw… poor Pit,” Isabelle said. “Well, it’s nice to know that he has someone like you to help him out.” Isabelle gasped again as she remembered something important that had just slipped her mind. “Oh, right! I should be doing research on my first-round opponent right now! I-It was an honor to meet you, M-Miss Palutena!”

Palutena smiled. “Good luck tomorrow, Isabelle.”

“Thank you!” Isabelle cheered before heading to the nearest PC. Once she sat down in front of the PC, she turned toward Robin with a radiant smile on her face. “I can’t believe I just had a full-on conversation with an actual goddess!” she said as her heart continued to race.

“You never know what kind of people you’ll meet here in the World of Trophies,” Robin stated.

“I’ve gotten to meet so many incredible people,” Isabelle said. “And some admittedly strange people… That’s the main reason why I decided to join Smash.”

“But you mentioned earlier today that you’ve never fought before,” Robin remarked.

“I know…” Isabelle muttered. “But after Villager returned home from the last Smash tourney, he would always talk about how fun the battles were. I know they probably may not be my cup of tea as much, but I don’t want to miss out on an opportunity that may never come up for me again. And if I’m going to try out something like this, I want to be prepared for what’s to come.”

“That’s understandable,” Robin stated. “If you’d like, I could help you research your opponent.”

“That would be amazing!” Isabelle cheered. “Thanks!”

“So, who might your opponent be?” Robin asked.

“I think its name is Incineroar,” Isabelle answered.

“Incineroar…” Robin repeated, before typing its name in the search bar. A page containing Incineroar’s face icon and various facts about it then popped up on the screen. “Here it says that Incineroar specializes in wrestling-based attacks. One of its moves, Revenge, allows it to gain more power after being attacked by its opponent. It also has experience battling back in its world under the ownership of an accomplished trainer known as the Masked Royal.”

“So it’s an experienced fighter, huh…?” Isabelle murmured timidly. “Are there any videos of Incineroar that I could watch?”

“Incineroar’s a newcomer like you, so unfortunately, there has yet to be a video of Incineroar,” Robin replied. “But if you wish to get a better sense of what Smash battles typically look like, we could spectate and analyze tomorrow’s battles.”

“That’s really nice of you, Robin,” Isabelle said, before lowering her head with a frown of guilt. “You’ve been helping me quite a lot though… I don’t want to keep you from practicing...”

“You don’t have to worry about me, Isabelle,” Robin reassured her. “I’ve done lots of practicing already. I’m more than happy to help.”

“Thanks, Robin…” Isabelle said.

Chapter Text

The next day, Isabelle and Robin were ready to spectate in the midst of quite a jam-packed stadium. Surrounding her were nearly all the other fighters, many of whom still seemed quite ferocious in her eyes after hearing Shulk’s prophecy. What’s worse was that Villager was nowhere to be seen, as his battle was only one match away. Despite this lingering fear, Isabelle hesitantly decided to stick this out, knowing that the fighters could not hurt her at this moment and that she would need to overcome her fear of them if she wanted to fight in Smash. Still too nervous to draw attention to herself though, Isabelle remained completely silent as she waited patiently for the battles to start. That way, at least the other fighters to have something else to focus on. Fortunately, it did not take long for Master Hand, who was also the tourney’s announcer, to appear above the stadium’s floating battlefield.

“Welcome ladies and gentlemen to our FIFTH annual Smash tournament, the SMASH BROTHERS ULTIMATE CUP TOURNEY!” Master Hand hollered. “We have gathered fighters from all across the Nintendo Universe to participate in this grand event, all of whom have captured the hearts of GAMERS AROUND THE WORLD!”

As Master Hand continued to speak, Isabelle turned toward Robin. “Do you know what Master Hand means by that, Robin?”

“That is beyond my knowledge,” Robin replied. “I tried asking Master Hand last year, but he told me that question was ‘strictly forbidden to be answered’.”

“That’s… odd…” Isabelle commented.

“Our first round battle will be between ROY versus ROY!” Master Hand proclaimed. He then snapped his fingers, as two trophies emerged within a flash of yellow light above the battlefield and fell straight down. The two trophies landed gracefully on their trophy stands, before becoming enveloped in a bundle of light. This allowed the trophified fighters to return to their natural, living state. The fighter on the left was what appeared to be a yellow, sunglasses-wearing turtle in a white, spherical ship and a propeller beneath it. Meanwhile, on the right was a red-headed swordsman with blue armor and a purple cape.

While Isabelle was shocked to see this rather peculiar method of entering the battlefield, what shocked her even more was the mind-blowing coincidence regarding the two fighter’s names. “There are two Roys in this tourney?” Isabelle asked, gaping in surprise. “And they both happened be matched up together?”

“It would appear so,” Robin said. “Originally, Bowser Junior was going to fight instead of Roy the Koopaling. But according to Bowser, he is feeling ill at the moment and cannot fight, so he asked one of his adopted children, the Koopalings, to fight in his place. And the Koopaling who volunteered just so happens to share his name with his opponent.”

“Talk about a coincidence!” Isabelle cried.

“This should be quite an intriguing battle,” Robin remarked. “You see, Roy the swordsman hails from my world, but he lived many generations before me. Where I’m from, Roy is considered a legend, so being able to spectate this battle is quite the privilege.”

“I can imagine,” Isabelle stated. “But considering how his opponent is also named Roy, I can see it getting pretty confusing too…”

“Three, two, one… Go!” Master Hand shouted.

Right upon Master Hand’s cue, Roy Koopa brought out two pairs of wheels from his ship, the clown car. This allowed him to charge toward his opponent at a remarkable speed. As the Koopaling came his way, however, Roy the swordsman held his sword behind his head as it became engulfed in flames. Once the Koopaling was mere inches away, Roy the swordsman sliced his flaming sword down at the Koopaling, causing him to fly several feet away. World of Trophies physics, everyone!

Roy the swordsman then charged in for an attack, but before his opponent could reach him, Roy Koopa sprung out of his clown car, dodging the attack with ease. The clown car that was left behind then exploded right in the swordsman’s face, launching him dozens of feet back.

“Yeah!” Bowser Junior, who was sitting beside his father, cheered from afar. “You can do it, Roy!”

“Keep your eyes open, Roy!” shouted Marth, sitting alongside several of the other swordfighters from his world.

Just as his opponent lifted himself back onto his feet, Roy Koopa began charging in again. While charging in, he also opened the mouth of the smiley face on his clown car, allowing a grinder to emerge from it! Right before the grinder reached him though, Roy the swordsman blocked it with his sword, before firing a counter attack with his fiery blade and sending the Koopaling soaring backward.

Roy the swordsman then came charging in for his next attack. Just as the swordsman was about to attack, however, Roy Koopa grabbed him, thereby stopping him in his tracks. This was then followed by him throwing the swordsman down, attacking him with a drill from his clown car mouth, and sending him flying to the side!

As soon as Isabelle saw the drill, she reflexively covered her eyes. “Oh, I can’t look!” she cried.

“It’s okay, Isabelle,” Robin reassured her. “We’re indestructible in the World of Trophies, remember?”

“Yeah… I know…” Isabelle murmured as she thought back to what Shulk told her about how intense Smash was despite not being truly dangerous. Even with the knowledge that no one was going to get hurt, was this too much for her to handle?

As these anxious thoughts continued racing through Isabelle’s mind, Roy Koopa brought out a pair of red, mechanical fists from his clown car and dished out a plethora of punches. This sent Roy the swordsman soaring through the air. As his opponent was laying down, unconscious, the Koopaling picked up a Mecha Koopa, a robot model of his turtle-like species, before throwing it forward. Just in the nick of time, however, Roy the swordsman came to and effortlessly caught the Mecha Koopa. He then flung the robot right back at the Koopaling, creating a huge explosion.

“Woah! Did you see that, Papa?” Bowser Junior asked in total shock. “Roy threw that Mecha Koopa right back at Roy!”

“Yup,” Bowser replied. “Your brother’s up against one tough opponent, that’s for sure.”

“I didn’t know you could do that…” Isabelle muttered, before she noticed an odd, rainbow colored sphere appear above the battlefield. “What’s that, Robin?”

“It’s a Smash Ball,” Robin answered. “When a fighter breaks it, it grants them a special power that allows them to use a particularly strong attack they cannot use under normal circumstances. Every fighter is granted a different type of power, some that unlock a hidden power within them, and others, like mine, that allow them to temporarily summon people from their world to help out. My Final Smash allows me to summon Chrom, my former comrade, to help me deliver a combined attack.”

“But isn’t Chrom a fighter in this year’s tourney?” Isabelle asked.

“Yes, he is,” Robin replied. “And I am quite certain that Master Hand has made no changes to my Final Smash this year. I guess that means if I get matched up against Chrom, then… To be honest, I’m not really sure what would happen.”

As soon as he spotted the Smash Ball, Roy Koopa raced toward the unpredictably moving energy sphere and licked it not with his own tongue, but with the tongue of his clown car! As you can probably guess, this did not do much damage. It did, however, cause the Smash Ball to bounce toward Roy the swordsman, who struck it with two mighty slices with his sword. This caused the Smash Ball to shatter into bits, as Roy became surrounded in an ominous, rainbow-colored aura. He dashed toward Roy Koopa, who began fleeing in a panic. Before his opponent could escape though, Roy the swordsman lifted his sword, which gave off an even brighter flame than before. He then slammed that sword ferociously onto his opponent. This sent him flying helplessly off the stage and past the invisible blast line, which caused him to disappear in a massive beam of blue light.

“Game!” Master Hand declared. “Roy WINS!”

“That was a fierce battle!” Roy the swordsman commented, putting his sword behind his back while posing to the audience.

As the crowd let out a barrage of booming cheers, Roy Koopa’s trophy emerged within a bundle of light above the stage, before plummeting down. Roy the swordsman then approached the trophy and laid his hand on its stand, causing it to glow and transform back into a living Koopaling. As Roy Koopa shook his head in mild dizziness, Roy the swordsman reached out his hand, which the other Roy grabbed and shook. Following this handshake, nearly the entire audience gave them one more massive round of applause. Emphasis on nearly.

Robin turned his head and noticed that Isabelle was sitting totally still, staring off into space. “Are you okay, Isabelle?” he asked.

“Huh?” Isabelle exclaimed, snapping back to reality. “Yeah, I’m okay. I was just lost in thought…”

“Is something wrong?” Robin asked.

Isabelle sighed. “It’s just… Yesterday, Shulk told me that he had a future vision of me coming home heavily traumatized by my experience in the World of Trophies. Not only that, but it happened right after I began feeling like I could handle being in this tourney. That’s why I’ve been working so hard on preparing for my battle, so that the battles don’t feel as scary. But no matter what coping strategies I try, I keep feeling more and more intimidated by these fighters even outside of battle. At this rate, Shulk’s vision is going to come true for sure, seeing that I can’t go back to my own world for another week… The way that things haven’t been changing one bit no matter what I do, it almost feels like this is doomed to end in disaster…”

“Well, one thing I can tell you for certain is that it’s not doomed to end in disaster,” Robin stated.

“It isn’t?” Isabelle asked. “How do you know?”

“Are you by any chance familiar with Lucina?” Robin asked.

“I think I remember seeing her with another swordfighter the other day…” Isabelle replied.

“Well, she and her father, Chrom, were comrades of mine during a war in my world,” Robin said. “Lucina had come from a bleak future and had gone back in time in order to prevent it. But no matter what she did, fate always seemed to make its way back on course, time and time again.”

“That must have been awful…” Isabelle commented. “So how did you guys prevent that future?”

“I remember once telling Chrom and Lucina that we are not pawns of some scripted fate,” Robin explained. “We are much more than that. It is the choices we make that decide our future, not destiny. It may not be easy to change what seems like an inevitable disaster, but if there’s one thing that war has taught me, it’s that only those who truly believe they can control their future can do so.”

Hearing this encouraging tale brought Isabelle goosebumps. “That’s really inspiring, Robin,” she said. “I can’t imagine that many people are able to remain that hopeful under those kinds of circumstances. I’ll tell you, you Chrome and Lacuna are really brave.”

“Actually, it’s Chrom and Lucina,” Robin stated.

“Oh. Whoops…” Isabelle muttered, scratching her head with an embarrassed smile on her face. “It’s just that I’ve never those names before back in my world…”

“That’s quite alright,” Robin said. “Thank you, Isabelle. And I have full certainty that you have what it takes to change your future as well, so long as you hold onto that belief.”

“Hm…” Isabelle responded, continuing to contemplate if taking part in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity was worth the risk of being emotionally scarred by it. Even if she did have control over the outcome, there was still the question of how much control she had. Would she be able to figure this out by the time her turn arrived?

Chapter Text

“For our next battle, we have VILLAGER versus PIT!” Master Hand proclaimed.

The second she heard Villager’s name, Isabelle sprung out of her train of thought. “Hey, it’s Villager!” she exclaimed, attentively watching as Master Hand snapped his fingers, making Villager and Pit’s trophies to appear from midair, then fall to the ground.

Once the fighters were brought back to life in a bundle of dazzling light, Pit crouched down, lowered his head and locked his fingers, then raised his fist into the air. Villager put his hand on his chin, wondering if Pit may have either been talking to or preparing to talk to his leader, Palutena.

“Good luck, Villager!” Isabelle shouted. “You can do it!”

“Three, two, one… go!” Master Hand hollered.

The second the battle started, Pit held up his blue bow and prepared to fire a glowing, blue arrow at Villager. As this was going on, Villager could hear faintly him muttering, presumably to Palutena, “Villager, huh? That’s not a very creative name.” Too focused on the battle, however, Villager ignored this as he patiently waited for Pit to release the arrow. Once the arrow was released, Villager literally grabbed it, put it into his pocket, then threw it right back at him, all with a consistent look of calmness and innocence in his eyes.

“Woah!” Isabelle exclaimed, astonished by her friend’s splendid performance. “I knew you could fit some ridiculous stuff in your pocket, but I didn’t know you could do that! I wonder if I could master a move like that…”

Once again reaching into his comedically spacious pocket, Villager brought out what seemed to be his friend Lloid. Lloid was part of a unique species called Gyroids, wooden, cylinder-shaped creatures, and was the fund collector of his and Isabelle’s public works projects. Why was he here you may ask? Well, little did Isabelle know that this Gyroid was also able to launch himself like a rocket!

As Villager launched the Gyroid toward his opponent, Pit hopped over it. With Pit now airborne and distracted, Villager chose that moment to leap upward and fire a slingshot pellet at him, landing a direct hit and sending him plunging downward.

As Pit laid still on the ground, whilst angrily muttering, “Resetti!”, presumably to Palutena, Villager followed this up by charging toward him. Once Villager reached him, he recklessly hurled a flower pot onto him, so recklessly in fact that he tripped as soon as he made it to Pit. The pot still managed to reach Pit though, before shattering into smithereens over him, launching him further back.

As this was going on, Isabelle could hear the faint sound of a tense-sounding voice belonging to, you guessed it, Toon Link. “That should be me… That should be me…” he muttered.

Continuing his barrage of attacks, Villager pulled out his net and slammed it down over Pit’s head, enveloping him like a bug. He then swung the net straight into the air, sending the angel soaring higher into the sky than he could fly on his own. As Pit plummeted back down, Villager backed away and resummoned Lloid. Right when Lloid was about to reach the unconscious Pit, however, Pit quickly awakened and rose to his feet.

“Stay back!” Pit shouted, summoning a pair of clear, rainbow-colored shields from both his right and left side. Upon colliding with this shield, Lloid bounced back toward Villager. Seemingly completely unfazed, Villager simply put Lloid back into his pocket then threw him right back toward Pit again. This time though, Pit countered with his blue arrow, causing Lloid to explode in a cloud of black smoke!

Isabelle gasped in a petrified state of shock as she watched her friend vanish in a destructive-looking explosion. “Lloid!” she hollered.

“Don’t worry, Isabelle,” Robin said.

“Don’t worry?” Isabelle exclaimed. “My friend just…”

“That wasn’t the real Lloid,” Robin explained. “Master Hand made non-living clones of him specifically for Villager to use in battle. The real Lloid is safe in your homeworld.”

“O-Oh…” Isabelle muttered, before taking a deep, calming breath. “Phew, that scared me for a second... The World of Trophies is full of surprises, that’s for sure.”

Speaking of surprises in the World of Trophies, Villager planted a seed in the cement ground, then brought out his watering can to water the newly sprouted seedling. Within the blink of an eye, the seedling turned into a fully grown tree! As Pit charged in for another attack, Villager began chopping the tree trunk with an axe, knocking it over within only two chops.

“Stay back!” Pit shouted, summoning his shields again right in the nick of time. This sent the fallen tree bouncing back toward Villager and plummeting straight down toward him. The heavy collision caused Villager to fly helplessly through the air.

Dumbfounded by literally everything she just saw, Isabelle gaped in astonishment. “Goodness! When Villager told me the physics in the World of Trophies was different from our world, he wasn’t kidding!”

As Villager soared through the sky, he noticed a Smash Ball appear  near the centre of the stage. He could not chase after it quite yet, as he was currently falling straight toward the downmost blast line. Just in the nick of time, however, Villager managed to save himself by rapidly putting on what he called his “Balloon Fight” helmet. This helmet was attached to a pair of red balloons that lifted him safely back onto the stage.

As Villager made it back on solid ground, Pit dealt a series of slashes with the sword-like ends of his bow. The rainbow-colored sphere than floated toward Villager, who fired a pellet at it. As the Smash Ball made its way down to the ground, Pit delivered a devistating uppercut with a gaint, red arm equipped, fracturing it and causing Pit to glow in a field of brilliant energy.

“Lightning Chariot!” Pit hollered as a pair of majestic unicorns pulling a sleigh came swooping in! Once the unicorns made it to the battlefield, Pit hopped onto the sleigh. The unicorns then swiftly flew the angel hundreds of feet away from the battlefield. “Phos! Lux! Let’s go!” Pit exclaimed from afar, as Villager lifted himself as high as he could with his balloon helmet to avoid the upcoming attack. Sure enough, he barely managed to escape the unicorns’ lightning fast, out-of-nowhere tackle by just a couple of inches!

After teleporting back to the stage, Pit stood still in alarm upon seeing that Villager had escaped his Final Smash. Villager used this opportunity to sneak up on him, then whack him with his yellow umbrella. Following this attack, Pit shook his head, reequipped his red arm and charged in for another uppercut. As Pit slid toward him, however, Villager brought out his fireworks cannon before promptly covering his ears.

The second Pit came in contact with the cannon, it went off. The exploding gunpowder then sent Pit rocketing up way beyond the stadium’s borders. In fact, he was moving so fast that the blast line didn’t even make him disappear. Instead, he was on the verge of disappearing from sight due to how high he was soaring. Isabelle, having never seen this before, chewed her paws as she briefly wondered if Pit would survive. It seemed Pit was wondering this as well, as his voice could faintly be heard crying out, “I never learned how to reeeaaaad!”

Well, I guess that’s not a secret anymore… Isabelle thought to herself.

“Game!” Master Hand proclaimed. “Villager WINS!”

Once she saw Pit’s trophy reappear on stage, Isabelle let out a heavy sigh of relief. She then watched as Villager walked up to Pit’s trophy and revived him. Just like the two Roys did, Villager and Pit shook one another’s hands, then waved to the crowd as they gave an enormous round of applause. Even Isabelle was joining in with the cheering this time.

“Yes! Way to go, Villager!” Isabelle shouted, ecstatic to see her friend and crush overcome the power of a famous Nintendo hero. “I knew you could do it!”

“You seem a lot livelier now, Isabelle,” Robin commented.

“Yeah,” Isabelle said, looking off into the distance as she realized Robin was right. She was feeling a lot more at ease. “I guess what you said helped me feel a bit less nervous. But I’m still feeling concerned about how I’m going to change what Shulk saw in his vision…”

“Maybe doing some hands-on training might be of more help to you,” Robin said. “I know two fighters named Ryu and Ken who are professional fighters in their world, and who are excellent at training newcomers. Would you be interested in training with them during the break today?”

“Hm… I’ve never done that kind of training before…” Isabelle remarked, putting her paw on her chin in contemplation. “Thanks for the offer, though. I’ll think about it.”

Chapter Text

By the time the break had arrived, Isabelle had spent quite a bit of time surrounded by the fighters she was once frightened by. Now that her fear had reduced a bit, she felt up for trying out Robin’s idea of training with Ryu and Ken. Once the break began, she followed Robin into the training room, a spacious, white room with a grid covering every wall. Like the stadium, this room was also packed with other fighters. Not just any fighters either, but aggressive-looking fighters ranging from gunners to dragons. Although seeing this caused Isabelle to quiver in apprehension, she managed to calm herself with a deep breath as she reminded herself of what Villager and Robin had said to her numerous times: no one is in danger of getting hurt in the World of Trophies. Besides that, the fighters all seemed pretty focused on their own training, most of which involved launching a white sandbag across the room. Despite her nervousness, Isabelle decided to give this training area a chance, knowing that she could leave at any time if she needed to.

Robin glanced around the room and quickly spotted two men wearing martial arts uniforms taking part in a practice battle. Ken, the blonde-haired man in the red uniform, turned around and gave Robin a friendly wave. “Well, if it isn’t Robin!”

“Long time no see,” said Ryu, the black-haired, white-uniformed man beside him said.

“Nice to see you two again,” Robin said. “I’d like to introduce you to my new friend, Isabelle.”

“I-It’s nice to meet you guys…” Isabelle muttered while giving a small, timid wave.

“We were wondering if you’d be up for doing a bit of training with her in preparation for her match later today,” Robin said.

“No prob!” Ken answered. “Ryu?”

“Cool with me,” Ryu replied.

“Well, I think I’ll leave you guys to it. Hope your training goes well, Isabelle,” Robin said, waving as he walked out the door.

“Thanks, Robin!” Isabelle said, before letting out a sigh of lingering apprehension as she faced the two professional fighters.

“So, what would you like to work on first, Isabelle?” Ken asked.

“Well, you see, I’ve been having some trouble delivering my attacks with enough force,” Isabelle stated. “Do you think you could help me work on that?”

“Sure,” Ken replied. “We’ll use that Sandbag for practice. Why don’t you try hitting it with one of your attacks?”

“Okay…” Isabelle muttered, slowly approaching the sandbag in front of her as she brought out her toy hammer. She held the hammer to the side and, with every bit of strength she possessed, swung it against the sandbag.

Slam!

Despite her effort, this only managed to make the sandbag slide a few inches back, causing her to sigh in disappointment. “Villager told me that all the weapons’ powers were equalized, so I’m wondering if I’m doing something wrong…”

“Hm… While it’s true that the power of weapons are equalized in the World of Trophies, one must still be used to wielding the weapon in question in order to use it effectively,” Ryu stated. “Do you happen to use the toy hammer often outside of Smash?”

“Not since I was a puppy, no,” Isabelle replied.

“Then I would recommend sticking to the fighting style you are used to,” Ryu said.

“Well…” Isabelle mumbled, bashfully looking down. “To be totally honest, I’ve never actually fought before…”

“Then it looks like we’ll have to think outside the box,” Ken said. “Do you happen to use any tools in your everyday life that could be used as a combat weapon?”

“Well, I do like going fishing…” Isabelle answered.

“Then maybe you could use your fishing rod!” Ken suggested. “You could use it to reel in your opponents and release them!”

“Do you really think that would work?” Isabelle asked.

“It’s worth a shot,” Ken stated. “You’d be surprised at how many unusual ways fighters battle here in the World of Trophies. Why don’t we test it out in a practice battle right here?”

“B-Battle…?” Isabelle murmured, petrified in fear. Battling against a fighter who was a professional both in the World of Trophies and in his own world? No way! Not this early on!

“Don’t worry. I won’t try to attack you,” Ken reassured her. “I’ll just move across the room while you aim your fishing rod at me.”

“Oh,” Isabelle muttered in relief. “Well, in that case, I’d be up for that.”

As Isabelle took out her fishing rod, Ken shuffled backward slightly, then motioned her in his direction. “I’m ready for ya!” he announced.

Isabelle slowly held up her fishing rod, with her paws trembling a bit. After taking a moment to position her rod in exactly the right place as though Ken were a fish back in Smashville, she then swung it forward. Right at the last second, however, Ken jumped over the bait. Isabelle tried again, though Ken dodged it again with a sidestep. Ryu carefully observed as Isabelle tried multiple times more, with each swing becoming more and more frantic.

Why can’t I land a hit? Isabelle thought to herself, repeatedly swinging the rod back and forth while tensing up in annoyance. The panicked, scrunched up look on her face made it apparent to Ryu that her frustration was clouding her concentration.

Upon finally giving up, Isabelle let out a sigh. “This isn’t working…”

“Isabelle?” Ryu said.

“Hm?” Isabelle looked up at Ryu.

“In battle, fighters must always keep their calm,” Ryu stated. “Letting stress get the better of you will only hinder you in battle. You must focus instead on keeping a close eye on your opponent.”

“Keeping a close eye on my opponent,” Isabelle muttered, gazing downward as she let his words sink in. She then nodded her head. “Got it.” As she repeated those words to herself in her mind, Isabelle once again carefully positioned her rod in front of where Ken was standing. She swung it forward, only for Ken to sidestep from it again.

Reminding herself to maintain her focus, Isabelle carefully aimed her rod once more. She swung it, though Ken dodged it by leaping into the air. The second he came back down, however, Isabelle swung the rod in exactly the same place, this time landing a successful hit! The needle connected to the bait went into Ken’s shoulder, painlessly of course since this is the World of Trophies, causing him to fly along with it as Isabelle swung her rod back up. She then squeezed her eyes shut as she swung the rod forward, launching Ken across the room.

As Isabelle realized what she had just done, her eyes began to sparkle. “You were right! It worked!” she exclaimed.

“Nicely done, Isabelle!” Ken said as he lifted himself back onto his feet.

“Thanks, Ken!” Isabelle cheered. “You too, Ryu! Your advice really helped!”

“You did well, Isabelle,” Ryu stated. “But I also noticed you were delivering your attacks quite gently. That may be something else we should consider working on.”

“Oh,” Isabelle muttered, scratching her head as she stared at the ground. “Well, it’s just… I don’t want to hurt my opponent…”

“Don’t worry, Isabelle, you won’t,” Ryu reassured her. “Fighters don’t sustain injuries in the World of Trophies, and they recover from pain almost instantly.”

“Oh yeah,” Isabelle said, before chuckling in mild embarrassment. “I guess I forgot about that. But I’m still feeling a bit unsure about how all out I should go with my attacks…”

“You can go as all out as you want,” Ken stated. “Why don’t you show her how it’s done, Ryu?”

Ryu nodded, before walking up toward to the nearest sandbag and delivering a devastating uppercut. “Shoryuken!” he hollered, sending the sandbag flying dozens of feet through the air.

“Woah!” Isabelle exclaimed, astonished at how high he managed to launch that sandbag. “That move was amazing! May I ask what it’s called?”

“Shoryuken,” Ryu replied.

“Thanks!” Isabelle cheered. “So, um… what’s it called?”

“Shoryuken!” Ryu shouted, impatiently tightening his fists.

“S-Sorry!” Isabelle stammered. “I didn’t mean to upset you…”

Ryu took a deep breath, then slowly let it out. “It’s fine.”

“See, the move’s name is Shoryuken,” Ken explained.

“Oooh, I see,” Isabelle said, before blushing as she scratched her head. “I feel kind of embarrassed…”

“Don’t worry about it,” Ryu said. “You wouldn’t be the first.”

“So, Ryu… May I see some of your other moves?” Isabelle asked.

“Sure you can,” Ryu replied.

“But you’ve already shown me Shoryuken,” Isabelle said.

Ryu sighed, then positioned himself in front of that same sandbag. He then put his fists together and fired a brilliant, blue sphere of energy from his fists toward the sandbag while shouting, “Hadoken!” This sent the sandbag flying even further bag, all the way to the wall on the other side of the training room.

“That’s some power!” Isabelle exclaimed. “I guess if fighters really can recover even from attacks like that, I don’t have to worry about going all out with mine.”

“Now that’s what I wanna hear!” Ken said.

“Would you like to keep training with us, Isabelle?” Ryu asked.

“Yes! Please!” Isabelle answered without a hint of hesitation.

Chapter Text

After spending the whole hour-long break training, Isabelle felt more than ready for her match against Incineroar. She was aware that she did not have a significant chance of winning due to her lack of experience. Despite this, she felt confident in her ability to focus on the battle at hand rather than the scariness of it now that she had a better sense of how to fight. Within the amount of time she had to train, she managed to perfect all her attacks. She was even brave enough to challenge Ken to a practice battle, provided he went easy on her. Though she did not quite reach the point of being able to have a serious practice battle against a professional fighter by the time the break ended, Isabelle managed to make up for that by practicing her attacks on her own shortly before her battle. By the time her first official battle was about to start, she was already raring to go.

“And now for battle sixty-two, presenting… ISABELLE versus INCINEROAR!” Master Hand declared, snapping his fingers as the trophified version of those fighters emerged in a flash of brilliant light above the stadium. Upon emerging from those lights, then trophies then fell gracefully onto the stage. A moment later, a bundle of light brought the trophified fighters back to life, both of whom then shared a confident grin with one another. “Three, two, one… Go!”

“Roooaaaar!” The fiery, feline Pokemon hollered as it began charging in at full speed toward Isabelle.

Isabelle flinched for a split second in terror, before shaking her head. It’s okay, Isabelle… Just focus your attention on the opponent… she thought to herself. Just as she did with Ken, Isabelle carefully aimed her fishing rod at Incineroar, then swung it forward, only for Incineroar to jump over it just as Ken did!

Don’t panic Isabelle, she thought. You got this… Just use your umbrella…

As soon as Incineroar reached Isabelle, she brought out her red and white umbrella from her pocket. With every ounce of strength she had, Isabelle swung it at her opponent, landing a successful hit. Incineroar, however, did not seem fazed in the slightest. In fact, right when Isabelle swung the umbrella, the Pokemon pointed its chest outward and engulfed itself in flames, launching Isabelle toward the other end of the stage! “Roar!” Incineroar cheered, posing for the crowd as Isabelle landed on the ground with a loud thump.

Though the flames barely hurt, the visual realness of it did come as a shock to her. Before she had the chance to get up on her feet, the now fire-glowing Incineroar followed this up by charging toward Isabelle. Gasping in horror, Isabelle remained completely still until Incineroar reached her. “Roooaaaar!” the Pokemon then spun itself in a swift circle with its arms spread out, launching Isabelle even further back.

“Aaaaah!” Isabelle cried in alarm as she watched the ground zoom away from her. It felt almost like she was bungee jumping, except she knew she that no matter what, she was going to either land hard on the ground, or plunge into the trophifying blast line. These anxious thoughts raced rapidly through her mind as she continuing flying helplessly through the sky until she shook her head and snapped herself out of it. Think fast, Isabelle! she thought, before taking out her slingshot and firing a pellet at Incineroar, only for it to dodge it with a double-jump.

Isabelle landed safely on the ground, but just barely managed to position herself to land on her feet due to her overwhelmingly sudden state of fear. Hurry! Try the pot! she exclaimed silently, before scampering toward Incineroar with a brown flower pot in her paws. Before she had the chance to throw it, however, Incineroar slid forward and gripped her head.

“Roar! Roar!” Incineroar cried, flinging Isabelle toward a wrestling rope that she could have sworn was not there before. Within a split second, she reached the rope and bounced back to Incineroar, who then hurled her even higher into the air than before.

“Aaaaah!” Isabelle once again let out a terrified holler. This time though, she felt a bit more ease knowing that she had a few seconds to relax as she fell down from dozens of feet above the battlefield.

Unfortunately for Isabelle, this time of relaxation was quickly cut short as Incineroar suddenly leaped upward and delivered another spinning attack with its arms spread out. “Roar!” the Fire and Dark-Type Pokemon cried, rocketing Isabelle straight toward the rightmost blast line. Before she reached that blast line, however, Isabelle managed to save herself just in time by summoning her balloon swing, the wooden swing connected to a pair of red, bunny head-shaped balloons.

Rather than coming back down to the battlefield though, Isabelle remained suspended in the sky, refusing to come back down even for all the bells in the world. Never in her life had she been face to face with an animal as scary-looking as Incineroar, let alone attacked by one. Just looking at Incineroar’s ferocious glare made her heart was pound relentlessly as her muscles quivered uncontrollably. Though she was aware that she was not in danger of getting physically hurt, the intensity of this battle still brought tears of horror to her eyes. Shulk was right! she thought to herself. I can’t handle this! I should have just forfeited from the beginning! Well, at least I’m safe up here…

Just as she began to relax knowing that Incineroar could not reach her, however, her balloons popped, causing her to plummet right back down to the edge of the arena! Upon landing safely, she took one glance at the massive Pokemon charging relentlessly toward her and became paralyzed in terror. She covered her eyes, sank to the ground and held her head down, before starting to whimper just like a dog from our world.

“In?” Incineroar came to a halt, then blinked as it listened to the little canine whimper. “Roar…” it whispered, scratching its head for a moment while gazing up at the sky. It then nodded its head, before springing itself straight into the air. “In! Roar!” the Pokemon exclaimed as it engulfed itself in a veil of flames, then rocketed back down on an angle with its arms crossed. It seemed to be heading straight toward Isabelle, until it missed her head only by a couple of inches. It then continued rocketing downward, right into the downmost blast line!

“Game!” Master Hand proclaimed. “Isabelle WINS!”

Believing that she was imagining things, Isabelle slowly uncovered her eyes. She lifted her head and saw that she was standing all alone in an arena surrounded by a roaring crowd, causing her to gape in disbelief. “I won…?” she muttered. “Wait… Is this actually happening? I haven’t been knocked unconscious?” Once she realized that this was not in fact a dream, a huge, radiant smile spread across her face. She could once again feel her heart pounding in her chest, but this time for a totally different reason. “Oh my goodness! This is happening!” she hollered joyously, rising to her feet before rapidly stomping them and raising her paw into the air. “I can’t believe it! I actually won a Smash battle!”

Isabelle then noticed a sphere of light shining on the other side of the battlefield, before Incineroar’s trophy fell from that light and plummeted onto the ground. Isabelle gulped, realizing she had to face Incineroar one last time in order to revive it. After taking a deep breath, she slowly shuffled toward the trophified Pokemon, then reached out her shaking paw toward its trophy stand. She then gasped and immediately moved her paw back as Incineroar came back to life within a flash of yellow light.

“Roar…” Incineroar murmured as it held its head in a mild daze, before shaking its head and turning its gaze toward Isabelle. It could easily sense her fear upon seeing her tremble profusely with her paws tightly clenched below her chin. Despite this, it gave her a friendly smile while reaching out its hand. “Incin.”

“Huh?” Isabelle mumbled, staring at Incineroar’s hand as she remembered that despite its ferocious appearance, Incineroar was actually quite sweet on the inside. She let out a relieved chuckle, before reaching out her much smaller paw, which Incineroar grabbed and shook with its fingers.

Chapter Text

Following her rather unexpected victory, Isabelle was still overcome with joy and disbelief. Though the battle with Incineroar may have felt scary in the moment, seeing the match-costing mistake that it made put her at ease a bit, as it showed her that not all the fighters’ skill levels were way beyond hers. As Isabelle was walking out of the stadium though, she realized that because she had her eyes covered while she was paralyzed by fear, she had not technically gotten the chance to see how Incineroar messed up during that battle. As such, she decided to go to the PC room and to watch the end of the video of her battle with Incineroar, just out of curiosity.

As she was watching the video on the PC in the far right corner of the room, Isabelle zoomed in on Incineroar right after she sank to the ground and stopped moving. Taking a close look, she noticed Incineroar looking down at her with a rather pitiful-looking frown. She then saw it scratch its head, then nod, before leaping upward and rocketing itself straight toward the downmost blast line. Isabelle gasped in shock, realizing that there was no way Incineroar’s self-destruct could have been an accident considering its body language beforehand. It only did that out of pity for her!

Incineroar lost on purpose… Isabelle thought to herself, dejectedly staring at the keyboard. I didn’t earn that win at all. I guess I really am no match for the fighters after all… And if I get matched up with an opponent who’s less generous than Incineroar, Shulk’s vision could end up coming true. I never should have come to the World of Trophies in the first place… I wanna go home…

“Isabelle!” called a voice from afar. That voice had come from a small boy wearing a red, sideways cap and striped shirt, who also had a Japanese accent. He dashed toward Isabelle while tightening his fists in exhilaration. “You were great out there! Oh, sorry. I forgot to introduce myself. My name’s Ness.”

Isabelle sighed. “It’s okay, Ness… You don’t have to lie… The only reason I won was because my opponent forfeited…”

“But that’s still a big accomplishment, just coming to this tourney,” Ness commented. “That was really brave of you, especially considering how new you are to fighting.”

“Well… Maybe being brave isn’t always the best thing…” Isabelle said. “I mean, what if you push yourself so far beyond your limits that you end up getting emotionally scarred and…” She gasped and covered her mouth, realizing she was describing quite deep emotions. “I’m sorry. I know this a lot for a young child to hear…”

“Actually, I’m thirteen,” Ness remarked.

Isabelle gasped again. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to assume your age! I-I don’t know what to…”

“That’s okay,” Ness reassured her. “I get that all the time. Anyway, you don’t have to worry about me. Whatever’s bothering you, you can tell me.”

Isabelle let out another sigh. “It’s just that… Getting attacked like that by Incineroar made me feel like I was about to get eaten…” As she spoke, the terrifying memories of that battle raced back to her, causing her to shiver a bit. “It pains me just thinking back to it…”

“Yeah, I’ve had to battle against some pretty scary opponents even in my world,” Ness said. “I understand what that’s like.”

“But the thing is, Incineroar’s not even that scary. On the inside, at least…” Isabelle remarked. “And knowing that I’m surrounded by fighters who are as strong Incineroar as who have actually tried to take over their world, I…” Isabelle trembled as she briefly imagined herself going up against an opponent of that sort, then shook her head and immediately blocked it out. “I feel so unsafe here. I want to go back to my calm and friendly life back at home, but… I can’t go back until the tourney’s over. I’d give anything to just hear the voices of my friends back at home right now…”

“You know, this might surprise you, but… I can relate to how you feel,” Ness stated.

“You can?” Isabelle asked, promptly lifting her head back up.

Ness nodded his head. “In my world, I was sent on a mission to save the planet, all with the help of only three people I had never met before. I had to fight against aliens, confused hippies and even piles of vomit.”

“Piles of what now?” Isabelle exclaimed as her eyes widened in complete shock.

“I’m not kidding,” Ness said. “And the longer my journey lasted, the more I began to miss home. All I wanted was for my life to return to normal. But just hearing my mom’s voice helped give me that boost of confidence I needed to continue fighting for the safety of my world. Sure, I was still scared, but I didn’t let that fear control me. Instead, I faced it, and before I knew it, I even had what it took to defeat Giygas, the creature behind all the chaos happening in my world.”

Isabelle remained silent for a moment, astounded by what she had just heard. She knew that the majority of the fighters in Smash have saved their world at least once, but hearing that a thirteen-year-old managed to accomplish such a feat despite his intense fears almost left her speechless. “That’s incredible how you were able to overcome all of that, Ness. I wish I had that kind of bravery…”

“Well, if you ask me, I think everyone has what it takes to brave their biggest fear,” Ness declared, before holding up his fist. “You just gotta believe in yourself!”

Isabelle chuckled. “Maybe you’re right. But how am I going get used to a place like this with so many unusual and scary creatures…?”

“Well, from what I’ve seen, lots of fighters have that same fear when they come here for the first time,” Ness remarked. “That was definitely the case for my friend Lucas when he first joined back in Brawl. But then he found a support group specifically for fighters who are either new or nervous about being in Smash. That support group really helped him, so much so that he seemed like a completely different person by Smash Four.”

Isabelle gasped when she heard Ness mention the support group. Here she thought that the World of Trophies, which was filled with tough and rambunctious people, would be the last place that would include a support group. Maybe there were in fact more people who were more on the sensitive side like her than she initially thought. “I had no idea there was a support group here!” she said, briskly rising to her feet. “Do you know when they meet?”

“I’m pretty sure they meet at seven-thirty p.m. every day,” Ness replied. “And anyone is welcome to join at any time.”

“Oh my goodness, thank you so much for telling me about this, Ness!” Isabelle cheered. “This might be just what I need!”

Following Ness’s recommendation, Isabelle made her way straight to the support group room without a hint of hesitation. Or at least, she tried to, only to end up getting a bit lost along the way due to her poor sense of direction. After spending so much time feeling an outsider within a group of strong and fearless heroes and villains, Isabelle felt immensely eager to see who she would meet in a place that was more suited to her personality. Little did she know, however, that the leader of said support group was none other than the famous archnemesis of Mario, Bowser. Yes, you read me right. The giant, spiky, fire-breathing turtle himself was the leader of this support group. And quite a kindly one at that, believe it or not.

A couple of minutes before Isabelle arrived, Bowser sat within a small circle of fighters, including Popo, Nana, the Inkling, Daisy, Banjo and Kazooie. The session began with Bowser giving each of the participants a welcoming smile.

“Great to see you all this evening,” Bowser said. “I know we’ve all had quite a long day battling in the first round of Ultimate, so I am sure many of you have lots on your mind at the moment. Just remember that this is a safe space where anyone can share whatever concerns they may have. Does anyone have something they’d like to share?”

“Um…” Popo, the blue-coated ice climber, muttered as he timidly raised his hand. “We have something, Bowser sir.”

“Please, feel free to share with us,” Bowser said.

“See, um… we’ve been feeling a little nervous lately around some of the fighters,” Nana, the pink coated ice climber, stated. “More specifically, the ones who have joined since we got suspended from Smash for illegal teaming.”

“What about them do you find unnerving?” Bowser asked.

“Well, not all of the newcomers are unnerving to us,” Popo said. “Just fighters like Joker, Bayonetta, the Belmonts… I don’t know, they just seem a lot more serious and intimidating compared to the rest of the roster…”

“Ah yes, I hear that their worlds are quite mature compared to ours,” Bowser remarked. “I can see why that would be scary.”

“Brawl was scary enough just having one character from a mature world…” Popo commented.

“I know their weapons aren’t actually dangerous in the World of Trophies, but…” Nana muttered. “I don’t know, just seeing them makes me feel so… uneasy…”

“Well, whenever I’m feeling uneasy, you wanna know what I do?” Banjo, the shirtless bear, asked. “I sing!”

“B-But… We’re around other fighters almost all the time,” Popo remarked.

“It might be a bit embarrassing…” Nana murmured.

“Not if you’re at least five feet away from them it won’t,” Banjo stated.

“What do you mean?” Popo asked, as Isabelle slowly opened the door behind Banjo.

“Well, you know how Jigglypuff’s singing voice only travels within a five-foot radius?” Banjo asked. “The same goes for everyone’s singing voice in the World of Trophies! Which means if you want to act like you’re in a musical and sing an aria about your inner struggles, joys or desires, you can do that! I mean, people will know you’re singing, but they won’t know what you’re singing about, guh-huh?”

Isabelle gasped, realizing what that meant for her seeing how much she enjoyed singing while alone. That means I could sing K.K. Bubblegum and have to worry about anyone overhearing me! she thought to herself. Well, at least that’s one good thing about the World of Trophies.

“That’s amazing!” Popo exclaimed as his eyes glimmered.

“I had no idea that applied to everyone!” Nana cheered. “Would you like to try that out next time we’re feeling nervous, Popo?”

“I’d love to!” Popo replied.

“Would anyone else like to share their concerns?” Bowser asked.

Isabelle chose that moment to enter the room and wave bashfully to the group. “Um… hi. Sorry I’m late.”

“No worries,” Bowser reassured her. “I’m glad to see you decided to join us. What’s your name?”

“I-Isabelle…” she stuttered, quivering a bit upon seeing the unclothed turtle’s rather intimidating appearance.

“Nice to meet you, Isabelle,” Bowser said. “Why don’t I introduce you to the rest of the group? That’s Popo, Nana, Inkling, Daisy, Banjo, and Kazooie. And my name’s Bowser.”

“B-Bowser?” Isabelle exclaimed, before shaking her head while beginning to chuckle. “Phew, for a second I thought you were the same creature who’s famous for kidnapping Princess Peach.”

“Why does everyone look down so much on kidnapping?” Bowser asked. “My adopted dad does it all the time.”

Isabelle gasped, realizing she was indeed talking to the most famous evil-doer in the Nintendo universe. “You are the same Bowser!”

“Don’t worry,” the orange Inkling said in a thick accent that made her sound like she was talking underwater. “Bowser may have made more than his fair share of mistakes in the past, but he’s a real sweetheart once you get to know him.”

“Heh heh… heh…” Isabelle chuckled, anxiously scratching her head. “Okay…”

“Is something wrong, Isabelle?” Bowser asked.

“N-Nothing! Nothing,” Isabelle exclaimed, waving her hands apologetically before gazing downward. “It’s just… When Ness told me about this support group, I was picturing the leader of it to be someone a little more… mellow…”

“Oh, well I can direct you to somebody more mellow if you want. Like um…” Bowser glanced out the door and immediately noticed the pink-dressed, Princess Peach walking by. “Oh! My girlfriend Peach over there!”

Peach rollered her eyes and groaned, before walking off.

“Uh…” Bowser muttered, as Isabelle gave him a skeptical, scrunched up look. “We’re having some relationship issues at the moment. Mostly thanks to a certain red plumber…”

Isabelle took a peek out the door as well and saw Peach walking down the hallway. Seeing how she was arguably the least intimidating fighter she had encountered thus far, she believed talking to her was worth a try. “I guess I could try talking to her. Thanks, B-Bowser…”

“No problem,” Bowser said before Isabelle walked out the door to catch up to Peach.

Chapter Text

“P-Princess Peach?” Isabelle called, as Peach turned around and gave her a welcoming smile and wave.

“Ah, you must be Isabelle,” Peach said. “It’s nice to meet you. Have you been enjoying Smash so far?”

“Well, to be totally honest, it’s been pretty scary for me…” Isabelle admitted and she lowered her head.

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” Peach said, giving Isabelle a pitiful frown. “Would you like to talk about it?”

“If it’s not too much of a bother…” Isabelle muttered.

“Not at all,” Peach replied, sitting down on a nearby bench before tapping the other side of it.

Isabelle sat down next to her and sighed. “See, the main reason I decided to join Smash was because I wanted to get the chance to meet the heroes of Nintendo. But a part of me also wants to compete in the tourney, since my friend Villager enjoys it so much, and since I may never get this opportunity again. But the thing is that I’ve never fought before in my life. In fact, I’m quite scared of confrontation… And I know the fighters can’t actually hurt me, but I still felt terrified during my battle against Incineroar. Has Smash ever felt scary for you, Peach?”

“Not for me personally, no,” Peach replied. “I actually find it quite fun.”

“B-But… I’ve heard about all those times Bowser has kidnapped you,” Isabelle remarked. “Fighting against even scarier opponents than Bowser doesn’t scare you?”

“You may not know this about me, but I’ve been on my own fair share of adventures, just like Mario has,” Peach stated. “I’ve actually joined Mario on a couple of his adventures, like when we defeated Smithy and rescued the Sprixies from Bowser. There was even one time I rescued Mario and Luigi from Bowser.”

“Woah, I had no idea,” Isabelle commented, blinking in surprise. After so many years of being told about Mario’s adventures, with Peach being described as a stereotypical damsel in distress, hearing that she had accomplished feats just as big as Mario took her completely by surprise.

“Some people believe that those with a soft and gentle personality like mine are faint-hearted or not that strong,” Peach said. “But I don’t let that bother me, because I know that the example I set is proof that that’s not the case. I think the same could apply to you too, Isabelle. You may not be aware of it yet, but I think you have what it takes to be an extraordinary fighter.”

“But even if I am good at battling, there’s still the intensity of the battles to consider,” Isabelle remarked. “How am I going to enjoy the battles if I’m afraid of confrontation…?”

“How you experience something all depends on how you look at it,” Peach stated. “If you see something as scary, it will be scary. But if you think of it instead as a challenge or adventure, or even look for the humor in it, it can turn into something positive.”

As Peach spoke, an all-too-familiar, pink puffball with a marker strolled along the hallway. “Puff?” It then gazed up at Isabelle and Peach, before its eyes glimmered in delight. “Jiggly!”

“Oh. Hello, Jigglypuff,” Peach said, giving the little Pokemon a friendly wave.

“Um, P-Princess Peach?” Isabelle stuttered as her heart began to race. “You know it can…”

Before Isabelle could finish, Jigglypuff held up its microphone-like marker. “Jig-guh-lee-puff, Jig-guh-lee-ee-ee-puff…” As both Isabelle and Peach listened to Jigglypuff’s hypnotically soothing voice, the two of them could feel their eyes become heavier and heavier.

“Sing you to… sleep…” Isabelle continued as she gathered all her remaining energy to stay awake. But it was no use. Within seconds, she and Peach were leaning against each other on the bench, snoring away.

“Puff?” Jigglypuff muttered, opening its eyes to discover that its audience had dozed off mid-performance! Again! It then inflated itself like a balloon once more. “Puff!” it cried furiously, before leaping onto the bench and scribbling all over both Isabelle and Peach’s face. It drew a circle, triangle, and star on Isabelle’s face, and a bumpy mustache and circle-shaped nose on Peach’s face. After it stormed off, the two slowly opened their eyes.

Peach stretched and yawned before taking out her mirror, whilst smiling as though she had woken up from a refreshing night’s sleep. “I wonder what Jigglypuff drew on my face this time…” she mumbled as she opened her mirror, then began to giggle. “I look just like Mario.”

“M-May I see what I look like?” Isabelle asked.

“Sure,” Peach replied, turning her mirror over to Isabelle, who gave a light a chuckle upon seeing the various shapes drawn on her face.

“I guess I do look pretty funny…” Isabelle muttered.

“You see? Like that,” Peach said. “All you have to do to feel less scared or upset by something is to look at it from a different angle. For me, participating in Smash doesn’t feel any scarier than watching an action movie. It’s easy for me to enjoy because no one actually gets hurt. It’s all in good fun.”

“I guess I never thought of it that way,” Isabelle said, putting her hand on her chin as she contemplated Peach’s words. “It’s not any different than watching a movie because no one actually gets injured. Thank you, Peach. What you said really helps.”

Peach giggled. “My pleasure.”

Following her talk with Peach, Isabelle continuously reflected on Peach’s smart and rather effective approach for dealing with the intensity of Smash. It was astounding for her to think just how big of a difference a simple change in perspective could make. It seemed quite believable too, considering how quickly she went from being afraid of Jigglypuff to laughing at the face drawings it gave her just by observing the way Peach looked at it. While she still was not sure if this could apply to her feelings towards Smash as well, she decided it was worth a try. In order to test out Peach’s coping strategy, Isabelle decided to go straight to the training room without a second thought and challenge Ryu or Ken to a practice battle.

Upon entering the room, Isabelle immediately spotted Ryu and Ken, who both turned toward her.

“Hey, Isabelle!” Ken said as he gave Isabelle a friendly wave.

“Hi Ken, Ryu,” Isabelle said.

“Have you come here to train with us again?” Ryu asked.

“Well, actually I was thinking that this time, instead of practicing my attacks one at a time, I could have a practice battle with one of you,” Isabelle requested.

“You’d like to battle against us?” Ryu asked as his eyes widened slightly.

“Are you sure this is what you want, Isabelle?” Ken asked. “You seemed quite distressed during your battle with Incineroar.”

“It may have been scary for me, but I think that was because I was looking at it from the wrong angle,” Isabelle remarked. “See, ever since Princess Peach told me about how Smash fights don’t scare her because no one actually gets hurt, I’ve been reconsidering how I feel about them. I want to see if thinking of battles from a similar perspective will help me stay calm and enjoy them just like Peach does. After all, battling in Smash is a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

Ken folded his arms, giving himself a moment to think. “Well, there is something to be said for someone with bravery like yours,” he stated. “Alright, then. I accept your challenge!”

“Thank you, Ken!” Isabelle cheered. “So, where are we going to battle?”

“The entrance to the practice battlefield is through that door,” Ken replied, pointing toward Isabelle’s left. “The battlefield is surrounded by a simulator that can create the illusion of lots of different locations the fighters have been in. And if I remember correctly, you and Villager’s hometown, Smashville, is one of the simulation options.”

“Really?” Isabelle exclaimed as her paws tensed in exhilaration. “That means I can see my friend’s faces when I have my practice battle! It’ll feel just like they’re right there, cheering me on!”

“Samus and Olimar are battling right now in the simulator room,” Ken stated. “But once they’re done, we can have our practice battle!”

“Sounds good,” Isabelle said as she nodded her head. “I can’t wait!”

Once Samus and Olimar arrived back in the training room, Isabelle and Ken entered the small room leading to it. This room contained a row of eight blue, circular, plates, just like the ones that led fighters to the stadium battlefields, only they were not glowing yet. First, one of the fighters needed to select a location for the simulator to recreate from a screen placed on a pedestal in front of the plates.

“Let’s see…” Ken whispered, carefully looking through the images of the locations on the screen. “Oh! There’s Smashville!” he tapped on the small image representing Smashville at the left, middle section, which made the eight plates in front of them start to glow. Isabelle and Ken then stepped aboard two of those plates, causing them to vanish in a bundle of blue light.

Rather than turning into trophies this time, however, the fighters instead made their own unique entrance in their natural, alive forms. Ken entered the stage by appearing within a cloud of fog. Meanwhile, Isabelle emerged from what seemed to be a copy of Town Hall back in Smashville, which then immediately disappeared in a literal puff of smoke. Seeing this surprising change of pace from the trophifying method of entering the stage brought a smile to Isabelle’s face. Not only did she get to skip out on the dizzying side effects of trophifization, but coming out of that copy of Town Hall also made her feel back at home.

This sense of familiarity only became more pleasing when she looked around the stage and saw who appeared to be her friends from back in her homeworld, including Blather, Harriet, Pelly and Tom Nook. She could even hear K.K. Slider’s breath-taking voice singing in the background. Not only that, but the stage was also hovering above the astounding view of her entire town! Although she knew all this was a simulation, it still felt just like she was back in her quiet and tranquil hometown. This brought her a warm, fuzzy feeling inside, as evidenced by her glimmering eyes and huge smile, as well as a powerful sense of relief, so powerful in fact that she felt like she could accomplish almost anything.

“I’m ready for ya!” Ken announced, motioning Isabelle in his direction. “Bring it on!”

After having that moment to fully take in and appreciate her surroundings, Isabelle faced Ken while taking in a slow and deep breath, then letting it out. “Here goes nothing…”

Once she was ready, Isabelle charged in toward her opponent while holding her fragile flower pot in her paws. Though her attack did land a hit, Ken countered it with a ferocious, spinning kick that left behind a menacing, black trail. This sent Isabelle flying several feet backward. In response to this attack, Isabelle gasped in a brief moment of terror, until she reminded herself what Peach told her: this is no different than an action movie. Once she repeated this to herself, she suddenly felt significantly calmer, even as she hit the ground and fell into a brief state of unconsciousness.

As Isabelle laid still on the ground, Ken put his fists together and released a sphere of blue, fire-like energy. “Hadoken!” he shouted.

Just in the nick of time though, Isabelle lifted herself off the ground and put the Hadoken energy sphere into her pocket. “Yes!” Isabelle cheered, raising her paw into air upon seeing that she mastered one of Villager’s most powerful techniques. She then shook her head, realizing that she was still in the midst of a battle. “Oh, right…” she muttered.

Isabelle fired the Hadoken back at Ken, only for him to jump over it. Right when Ken came back down, however, Isabelle brought out her fishing rod and aimed it at him right at the last second. Thanks to her precise timing, the bait made its way onto Ken’s shoulder and hurled him back as Isabelle threw her fishing rod forward.

“Alright!” Isabelle cried joyously, before bringing out her shovel and digging a hole in front of her, which she used to bury a Lloid replica. While this was happening, Ken got up on his feet and rushed back to Isabelle just as she was about to send that Lloid replica rocketing into the sky. Right at the last second, however, Ken sidestepped back and avoided it, before firing his next attack.

“Tatsumaki!” Ken hollered as he performed a spinning kick while charging in toward his opponent. As Isabelle endured these numerous kicks, she was sent sliding toward the edge of the stage. Right when she was about to jump up to safety though, Isabelle was then struck by an out of the blue, flaming uppercut. “Shoryuken!” Ken exclaimed.

As she was soaring through the air, Isabelle calmly and carefully positioned herself to land near the edge of the stage. Next thing she knew, a Smash Ball appeared above the stage’s center!

Immediately upon seeing this, Isabelle fired a slingshot pellet at the energy sphere and landed a successful hit. This also, however, sent the sphere floating toward Ken, who struck it another Tatsumaki Senpukyaku attack, followed by a Shoryuken. These two attacks successfully shattered the Smash Ball and caused Ken to glow in an aura of multi-colored energy.

Upon realizing that the match could be over in a second if Ken’s next attack were to land, Isabelle promptly brought out her balloon swing. She then used it to lift herself high above where Ken was standing. Once she was high above the ground, Isabelle sighed in relief, believing she was safe. That was until Ken activated his Final Smash.

“Take this! Shinryuken!” Ken hollered, enveloping Isabelle in a cylinder of flames before unleashing a brutal uppercut within the fire. This sent Isabelle rocketing right into the uppermost blast line, where she vanished within a beam of red light.

A moment later, a yellow bundle of light appeared above the stage. Falling down from that light was Isabelle’s trophy. Ken walked up to the trophy and laid his hand on its stand, bringing Isabelle back to life in a bundle of dazzling, yellow light.

“So what did you think of that battle, Isabelle?” Ken asked.

Isabelle shook her head and lifted herself back onto her feet, recovering from her brief dizzy spell. She then gave herself a second to reflect on how that battle felt for her. The whole time, she felt her heart racing at what seemed to be a hundred beats per second, and the speed at which she needed to make decisions was far faster than what she was used to. And yet, aside from her brief moment of fear at the beginning, she did in fact enjoy it to some extent. She then looked up at Ken and gave him a satisfied smile.

“Surprisingly, it was kind of fun,” she answered. “I think what Peach said really helped. Sure, it may have felt a bit scary, but… Knowing that in the end, I would still be standing here in one piece, I guess I was able to turn most of that fear into excitement.”

“That’s awesome, Isabelle!” Ken said. “You’ve sure come a long way in such a short amount of time. I’m proud of you!”

Chapter Text

Following her practice battle with Ken, nearly all of Isabelle’s fears had faded away. She no longer felt threatened by those around her, and she no longer dreaded what was to come in her second-round battle. Thanks to the examples that Ness and Peach set of facing his fear and comparing Smash to a movie respectively, Isabelle managed to uncover the strength she needed to overcome her greatest fear. Most of all, however, she was immensely grateful to Villager for inspiring her to face this challenge thanks to his outstanding bravery and calming presence.

Now ready to face what lay ahead, Isabelle waited eagerly later that evening for Master Hand to announce the second-round matchups. Once nine-o-clock arrived, all the screens spread across and around the stadium turned on. The screens showed all the face icons for the fighters who passed the first round.

“Attention fighters!” Master Hand announced. “Round Two will consist entirely of TEAM BATTLES! Up on the monitor, here are the pairings and matchups!”

As Master Hand spoke, the face icons scattered wildly across the screen, until they all lined up in a neat, single-file line. At the beginning of that line, Isabelle could see her face matched up with the face of what appeared to be a blue penguin wearing a red, pomp-pomped hat. Beside those two were what seemed to be a falcon and a wolf, who were both coincidentally blue as well.

“Tomorrow, the teams will be able to spend the day strategizing with one another in preparation for their battles!” Master Hand stated. “The day after, the ROUND TWO battles will commence!”

“I wonder where my partner is…” Isabelle whispered, scanning the stadium lobby in search of a blue feathered, red hat-wearing penguin. Within a few seconds, she spotted the giant penguin, who also happened to be carrying a massive, brown hammer. If that was not questionable enough, he was also sitting on a bench and talking to the pink-nosed, ripped-jacket-wearing Wario. Even Isabelle recognized this bully, as he had become famous in the Nintendo universe for trophifying several other fighters against their will during the Subspace Army fight. Knowing that she introducing herself would be the polite thing to do regardless, she slowly approached these two while overhearing their conversation.

“So, you’re saying that your brother, Waluigi, was invited to Smash after all?” the penguin, King Dedede, asked.

“Well, at least he was invited,” Wario replied. “In fact, he’s been invited to every tourney since Brawl!”

“Then why isn’t he here?” Dedede asked.

Wario chuckled. “Well, you see, every year when I find our invitation letters in the mail, I take Waluigi’s while he’s not looking and throw it in the fireplace!” He then began to roar with so much laughter that he fell right off the bench! Nonetheless, he continued to guffaw as he rolled on the ground while slapping his chubby stomach. “Wah-hah-hah-hah-hah! Ah-hah-hah-hah-hah! Aaaaah-hah-hah-hah-hah-hah-hah-hah!”

Meanwhile, Isabelle gasped in shock while staring off into the distance with a pitiful frown on her face. Poor Waluigi… she thought to herself.

Dedede, on the other hand, let out a loud chortle upon hearing Wario’s story while slapping the bench. “Oh, that is too good!” he exclaimed. “So I guess as long as you’re around, the closest Waluigi will ever get to joining Smash is being an Assist Trophy!”

As the two fighters continued laughing away, Isabelle stared at the ground with a disturbed wince. That’s my teammate? she thought. This is the guy I have to spend the day getting to know and strategize with? Well, I guess I might as well make the best of it… After letting out a sigh and briefly putting her distaste toward Dedede aside, Isabelle slowly walked up to the two fighters while putting her paws behind her back. “Hi. N-Nice to meet you, King Dedede,” she muttered with a forced smile. “My name’s Isabelle. I’m your teammate.”

Dedede chuckled. “Isn’t that funny? We were just talking about Assist Trophies! I had no idea you’ve become a full-fledged Smash fighter now!”

“I’m sorry, what are Assist Trophies?” Isabelle asked.

“You’ve never heard of Assist Trophies?” Wario exclaimed. “What, did you arrive just one day before the tourney?”

Dedede snickered. “Wouldn’t that be funny?” he asked, as Isabelle lowered her head and blushed in embarrassment. “Anyway, Assist Trophies are part of Master Hand’s collection of trophies that replicate creatures from across Nintendo. He has a trophy version of all of us fighters, you know. And the Assist Trophies are basically the ones whose real counterparts didn’t quite make the cut, so Master Hand makes up for it by bringing their trophies to life so they can serve whoever summons them during practice battles.”

“You were an Assist Trophy last year, you know!” Wario stated.

“I was…?” Isabelle asked.

“Yeah, all you’d do is throw a bunch of random fruit into the air!” Wario exclaimed. “It was hilarious!”

“Sure was,” Dedede said, nodding his head while chortling. “And now I get to meet the real deal! Can’t wait to battle with you.”

“Yeah, y-you too…” Isabelle murmured, looking down.

“Hey,” Wario said, nudging Dedede with his elbow. “Since we don’t have any battles tomorrow, you know what that means!”

“Yup!” Dedede replied with a joyous grin. “A whole day of doing absolutely nothing!” He then chuckled as he and Wario strolled away without even saying goodbye to Isabelle. “Just like in good ole Dream Land.”

Once Dedede and Wario were gone, Isabelle gazed back up at the monitor and frowned to see her face matched up with someone who was not only rude but also extremely lazy compared to her. She knew that this was going to make collaborating with Dedede both before and during their upcoming battle quite challenging, to say the least. Something tells me this isn’t going to end well… she remarked silently.

As Isabelle sat alone on a bench outside the stadium to get some fresh air, she continuously contemplated if she should train alongside Dedede. She knew that Master Hand gave everyone this day off specifically to train with their partner, though Isabelle could not help but suspect that Dedede was just going to insist on slacking off the whole time. More than that though, she was far from interested in spending time with someone as obnoxious as Dedede, even if doing so would allow her to formulate a proper plan to defeat her opponents. Would she be better off doing all the preparing on her own? As Isabelle asked herself this question, she began to hear a familiar voice coming from afar. This voice belonged to none other than Palutena, who was speaking to a blue, ninja and frog-like creature.

“Excellent job, Greninja,” Palutena said. “Your performance in that practice battle was outstanding, especially when you delivered that Final Smash in the end.”

“Ninja,” Greninja responded, folding its arms as it nodded its head.

“I can see just how much battling alongside Ash has shaped you into an exceptional teammate,” Palutena remarked.

“Gren, Greninja?” Greninja asked, blinking in surprise.

“Oh, right. Gods and Goddesses like me have an all-seeing eye that extends to worlds outside our own,” Palutena explained. “Our all-knowing brains also allow us to understand different languages outside our own world, even the language of Pokemon.”

“Ja…” Greninja whispered as its eyes widened almost as much as Isabelle’s did when she was told of this. “Gren, Greninja, Ninja, Grenin.”

“Ah, yes. Mastering the art of teamwork did play a big role in perfecting the Ash-Greninja form you to take on in your Final Smash,” Palutena commented. “Losing to that Sawyer trainer must have been quite a shock for Ash considering how new Sawyer was to training. And Ash’s determination to best him caused him to lose sight of the importance of teamwork in battle.”

“Ninja. Greninja, Ja,” Greninja added.

“Yes, I agree,” Palutena said. “It was just the bonding moment you guys needed to become the best team you could be. After all, in a team activity like a Pokemon battle, lack of cooperation will only lead to both participants hindering one another.”

Isabelle gave herself a moment to ponder Palutena’s words. What she said seemed reliable given that she literally knew everything, even if she was hesitant to believe it if meant having to deal with Dedede’s annoying attitude. Sounds like teamwork is quite crucial when it comes to battling, both in the Pokemon world and in Smash, she thought to herself. But how am I going to work well alongside a teammate as obnoxious as King Dedede…?

“I know I’m going a little off-topic,” Palutena said. “But I hear that Sawyer trainer you battled became quite the well-known hero shortly after your guys’ last encounter.”

“Ja?” the shocked Pokemon exclaimed.

“They don’t call Gods and Goddesses all-knowing for nothing,” Palutena remarked.

“Ninja. Greninja, Ja,” Greninja said, reaching out its arms as it asked the goddess to tell it more.

“You know the Darkrai that Red caught in his version of the Pokemon world and gave to Master Hand for practice battles?” Palutena asked. “Well, the counterpart of that Darkrai from your world was believed to be a villain all throughout its home region, until Sawyer befriended it and realized that Darkrai was not at all who everyone else made it out to be. In fact, it was thanks to this action that your world was protected from a threat once thought to be eliminated. This story quickly spread across the region and inspired many people to question if those they disliked were bad or simply misunderstood.”

“Grenin…” Greninja muttered, spacing out toward the ground in awe. Who would have thought that its trainer’s rival would go on to not only save the world but also inspire a region’s worth of people to reevaluate their feelings toward those they disliked? Probably a Sawyer fangirl with too much time on her hands…

“I know that sounds like an unbelievable fanfiction, but all of it is true,” Palutena stated.

Hearing this story left Isabelle astounded as well, not so much because of the story itself, but because of how well-timed it was given her current conflicting desires regarding Dedede. What are the odds that I’d overhear a conversation about both teamwork and acceptance at this exact moment? she thought. Can Palutena read minds or something? Well, in any case, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to try looking for the good in King Dedede. Even if he does seem like an obnoxious Lazy Larry...

Chapter Text

The next morning, Isabelle scouted everywhere around the stadium for Dedede, though he was nowhere to be found. For better or worse though, Isabelle decided to widen her search. While she may not have been thrilled about the fact that she was paired with someone who seemed like her polar opposite, she knew that if she wished to have any luck in the next round, she would need to try and find some common ground with him. She decided to ask Meta Knight, another fighter from Planet Popstar, where Dedede may have been, to which he replied, “Any place with lots of food.” Knowing that the forest was the only nearby place outside the stadium that contained food, Isabelle decided to look around there.

“King Dedede?” Isabelle called as she wandered around the lush and dense forest. “It’s me, Isabelle. Are you out here?”

After several minutes of walking aimlessly, Isabelle suddenly found herself slipping and doing a full flip in the air! After falling to the ground with a loud thud, she shook her head and rose to her feet. She then looked down to see what had caused that rather startling fall: a banana peel.

Isabelle chuckled. Just when I thought the World of Trophies couldn’t get more cartoony, she thought to herself, until her thoughts were interrupted when a second banana peel was flung to her head. “Woah!” she exclaimed as the peel covered her eyes. She then tossed the peel off her head before heading to the rock that it was thrown behind to investigate. This is when she found the penguin she had been looking for, idly laying down beside a mountain of bananas that was even more massive than him. It seemed like those bananas could have come from an entire forest’s worth of trees. Something about this seemed awfully suspicious to Isabelle…

“Um… where did you get those bananas?” Isabelle asked.

“From the Kongs,” Dedede answered. “King K. Rool taught me how I can easily steal bananas from them without them knowing. He’s a real genius, that crocodile.”

“Right…” Isabelle mumbled under her breath, briefly wincing in disgust before shaking her head. “So, um… King Dedede. How would you feel about doing a bit of research with me on our opponents for tomorrow?”

Dedede sighed and rolled his eyes. “That sounds like a lot of work…”

Isabelle momentarily grit her teeth before calming herself with a deep breath. She thought back to what Palutena said about that Sawyer guy managing to befriend a supposed villain. If he could do that, then she likely had what it took to find some common ground with Dedede. For this situation, she decided that trying to reasoning with him may have been the best place to start. “But I’ve never seen Falco or Lucario in battle before. I’d like us to be as ready as we can be. After all, we have a whole day ahead of us to prepare.”

“Eh, you can do that by yourself,” Dedede said.

“But Master Hand said that he wanted all teams to spend the day preparing together,” Isabelle remarked. “I even heard Palutena talk about how important teamwork is in Team Battles, and she knows everything. And I mean everything! Please, King Dedede?”

Dedede sighed, before slowly lifting himself off the grass. “Alright… Might as well get it over with now…”

“Thanks! I guess…” Isabelle muttered, giving Dedede a somewhat forced smile.

After leading Dedede to the PC room, Isabelle immediately made her way to the nearest computer. Her sheer determination to make as much use of her time as possible kept her from taking one glance at Dedede while she was heading for the PC. She sat down on the chair in front of the PC and started by looking up Lucario’s name in the search bar. This brought her to the Pokemon’s data page. “It says here that Lucario has a power called aura that strengthens its attacks when it’s taken lots of damage. We should probably be careful of that, King Dede…” As Isabelle turned her head, she noticed that Dedede was laying down with his back turned to her! She spread out her arms while scrunching up her face in irritation. “King Dedede!”

“Hm?” Dedede responded, casually turning his head toward Isabelle. “Sorry, I’m not exactly the studious type.”

“Then what type are you?” Isabelle asked as she climbed out of her seat. She then walked up to where Dedede was facing and gave him a stern, disapproved look.

“The wing-it type. That’s what?” Dedede replied, still not moving an inch.

Isabelle put her paws on her hips and scrunched up her face. “But isn’t today supposed to be a preparation day? When you’re given this much time to prepare, the smart to do is to use some of it.”

“Well, I would be using it if I actually needed practice,” Dedede argued. “What, you think just ‘cause my name’s Dedede that I got Dumb-Dumb Disorder?”

“That’s not what I said!” Isabelle exclaimed, before pausing as she realized that as silly as that disorder’s name sounded, it could have very well existed outside her world. “Wait. Is DDD a thing on Planet Popstar?”

“Nah, I made it up,” Dedede answered.

Isabelle sighed. “Anyway, like I said before, Master Hand gave us a whole day off just so we can prepare for our match tomorrow. And I’m not about to do all the work while you loaf around! That’s not what a cooperative teammate does!”

Dedede widened his eyes and raised his hand. “Woah, take it easy there, pup. I’m literally doing at all.”

Isabelle’s paws tensed as she struggled to contain her vexation. “But that’s what I’m…!” she snapped, before cutting herself off and letting out another sigh. “Look, if studying doesn’t work for you, that’s fine. But the least you can do is put some effort into preparing for our match.”

“Have you considered you might be working too hard, Isabelle?” Dedede asked. “You gotta take some time to relax now and then.”

Isabelle blinked in shock. Relax at a time like this? No way! Isabelle was never one to slack off! “I’ll relax when I have time, but this is our one and only chance to prepare for our Team Battle,” she remarked.

After a second of silence had passed, she then realized that while slacking off may not have been her cup of tea, working as much as she did seemed excessively far out of Dedede’s comfort level. Realizing how bossy she was likely coming off as to him, she put her paw on her chin and gave herself a moment to think.

“How about this?” Isabelle said in a much more patient-sounding tone. “You don’t want to study, and I don’t want to prepare for this battle alone. Maybe we can compromise by doing some practicing in the training room. That way we don’t have to do any studying together, but we can still do a bit of preparing together.”

Dedede sighed. “Seriously, how do you handle all this work? You can go ahead and work yourself to the bone, but I’m perfectly content right here on this comfy floor.”

Isabelle groaned in anger. Just when she had spoken in the most patient tone possible and even offered to accommodate Dedede, nothing changed in the slightest. With her patience now lost, she glared at him. “You wouldn’t get up to save the world, would you?”

“Excuse me?” Dedede exclaimed, scrunching up his face before actually bothering to lift himself off the ground. “For your information, I’ve gone way out of my way to save the world many times!”

“And what’s your definition of ‘way out of your way?’ Getting out of bed?” Isabelle asked.

“I’m talking about hiding a powerful monument from an evil doer to protect Dreamland even if it meant risking my reputation!” Dedede replied. “I’m talking about joining up with my arch-rival to defeat countless evildoers! I even saved the World of Trophies once by gathering and hiding fighters stuck in trophy limbo, so they could come back to fight back against an evil only I was aware of!”

“Well, that’s…!” Isabelle exclaimed, before cutting herself off and letting Dedede’s heartfelt words sink in. “Pretty noble, actually…”

“See?” Dedede asked. “I may not care as much about increasing the chances of us winning ever so slightly, but I do care about the safety of my world and the World of Trophies.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right…” Isabelle muttered. “Sorry that I went all Isabellistic there. I shouldn’t have been so harsh on you just because you didn’t feel like working. I guess there really is good in everyone.”

“Well, nobody’s perfect either,” Dedede remarked. “I mean, don’t tell me you’ve never tried to weasel your way out of working before.”

Isabelle chuckled while staring at the ground. “No, I haven’t…”

“Ah, I see a smile on your face, I know that’s not true,” Dedede stated.

Isabelle sighed, continuing to avoid eye contact with Dedede. “Okay. Maybe there was one time where I taught one of the residents in my town a ‘new workout routine’ that involved pulling weeds… when it was really just a way for me to lessen my duties as assistant mayor…”

“That’s devious!” Dedede said with a wide grin. “I guess we do have more in common than we thought, huh?”

“I guess…” Isabelle muttered, relieved to see that finding common ground with Dedede was much easier than she anticipated. Maybe just giving someone a chance was all it took to discover what you had in common with them. “How about we start over? We can do a bit of training together, and if you feel like you need a break, that’s fine. And this time I’ll be sure to think more about your needs instead of just mine. After all, that’s what teammates are supposed to do, right?”

“I guess it couldn’t hurt,” Dedede replied. “Especially seeing that we’re friends now. Um… we are friends now, right?”

“I think so,” Isabelle answered with a smile, as Dedede gave a bashful smile back.

Chapter Text

And so, Isabelle and Dedede both agreed to train at their own pace for the rest of that day, with Isabelle only taking a few breaks for meals and Dedede training for around thirty minutes at a time with hour-long breaks in between. Although this meant that Isabelle’s concern of having to do most of the work alone did come true, she felt reassured knowing that thanks to this compromise, she would be able to enter the battlefield on good terms with her teammate. Better yet, she was also able to come up with an effective routine to work around Dedede’s need for longer breaks. During the time she spent preparing for the match alone, Isabelle would practice her own attacks, as well as gather as much information as she could on her opponents. She would then run this information by Dedede so they could plan out and work on specific techniques to deal with Falco and Lucario’s battling styles together. Thanks to this system, both Isabelle and Dedede felt more than ready for their battle by the end of the day.

The following morning, the crowd bordering the floating stadium once again filled the arena with roaring cheers. Just above the stage, Master Hand slowly faded into view. “Welcome ladies and gentlemen to our much anticipated second round of the SMASH BROTHERS ULTIMATE CUP TOURNEY! Today, we will witness eight spectacular TEAM BATTLES from the fighters who triumphed over ROUND ONE! For our first battle, we have KING DEDEDE and ISABELLE versus FALCO and LUCARIO!”

Master Hand snapped his fingers and summoned four bundles of yellow light, with one trophified fighter coming out of each one. Upon landing gracefully on their stands, the four trophies began to glow simultaneously. A moment later, the light around them all vanished to show each fighter in their natural, living forms.

Isabelle and Dedede stood on the right end of the battlefield and gave each other a confident nod, before turning their gaze toward their opponents. One was an unclothed canine Pokemon with blue and black fur, and the other was a falcon who wore a grey flight jacket and metal boots. Both fighters appeared to be equally confident, though with much more serious-looking facial expressions.

“Three, two, one… Go!” Master Hand proclaimed.

The second the battle began, Dedede and Falco leaped toward each other. Just as Dedede was about to swing his hammer, however, Falco began spinning rapidly like a drill and delivering a series of pecks. This sent Dedede soaring through the air and landing next to Isabelle, who was still standing near the stage’s edge as she gasped in concern for her friend.

“King Dedede!” she cried.

“You need to focus, Isabelle!” Dedede advised. “Lucario’s charging up an Aura Sphere!”

“Huh?” Isabelle exclaimed, turning her gaze toward the other end of the stage where Lucario was creating a dazzling sphere of energy between its paws.

“Ha!” Lucario shouted as it hurled that blue sphere toward Isabelle, who kept a close eye on the sphere as she waited for it to come to her. Once it reached her, she grabbed the energy sphere and stuffed it into her pocket, though this did not seem to alarm Lucario one bit. She then fired the sphere right back at her opponent, only for it to spring above the attack right at the last second.

“It’s fast!” Isabelle remarked. “Alright, then! Take this!” she yelled while charging toward Lucario at full speed. She then took out her red umbrella, as Lucario performed a tai chi-like pose. Isabelle swung the umbrella forward, only for Lucario to disappear before the umbrella could touch him.

Before Isabelle had the chance to react, she was then met with a surprise kick from another Lucario coming from behind! While this did not launch her far, she was still immobilized in shock after that surprise attack.

Meanwhile, toward the right end of the stage where Isabelle’s partner was standing, Falco enveloped himself in a cloak of flames. “Fire!” Falco hollered as he launched himself toward Dedede, who intercepted with a sideways somersault attack. This sudden counterattack sent Falco flying to the center of the stage, knocking him out as he landed upon the hard ground.

“Nice!” Isabelle cheered, thrilled to see one of the techniques she had planned out with Dedede work.

As Falco awakened and lifted himself off the ground, Lucario stared intently at him. Falco then turned his head and gave his teammate a nod. Isabelle scrunched up her face as she wondered why Lucario did not nod back. Was it communicating with him telepathically or something?

This thought quickly left Isabelle’s mind as she noticed Lucario beginning to grow another sphere of energy between its paws. “Heads up!” she shouted. “Lucario’s charging up another Aura Sphere!”

“Don’t worry,” Dedede said. “All we have to do is time our jump right and…”

Before Dedede could finish, Falco slid forward at lightning speed while spreading his wings out like a bird from our world. He zoomed past his opponents, sending them both flying upward simultaneously. The two then landed with a loud thud and fell unconscious, giving Lucario enough time to land a successful Aura Sphere on Isabelle.

“Aaaaah!” Isabelle exclaimed, flying backward before landing near the stage’s edge. She quickly managed to lift herself back up after this, though she was still astounded by how well her opponents executed that attack. Those two planned that out perfectly, she thought to herself. Could Lucario have telepathically made that plan with its teammate? It seemed a little outlandish given that telepathy did not exist in Isabelle’s world. Given what she had seen so far from foreign worlds, however, it did not seem too far-fetched for it to exist in the world of Pokemon.

“Oh yeah? Take this!” Dedede shouted as he summoned a grey spike ball with eyes, a Gordo. He then struck it with his hammer and sent it bouncing toward Falco. Rather than dodging, Falco simply stood where he was, then kicked a tiny device toward the Gordo. This device then gave off a hexagonal flash of light and bounced the Gordo right back at Dedede.

Right at the last second, however, Dedede opened his mouth wide and sucked in a massive amount of air. This brought the seemingly uneatable Gordo into Dedede’s mouth before it was fired right back at Falco. The humanoid bird managed to leap over it right in the nick of time, but the Gordo continued bouncing toward Lucario, who had been standing behind Falco. Before it had the chance to reach him though, Lucario immediately blocked the Gordo by summoning a blue, spherical energy shield.

As Isabelle observed from the stage’s right end, she blinked in amazement. Talk about thinking on your feet! she thought.

The second that Falco landed back on the ground, Dedede opened his mouth again and sucked in both an enormous amount of air, as well as Falco! This caused Lucario to momentarily freeze in alarm. Dedede then spit out toward Lucario what seemed to be a star, though it was actually the Pokemon’s own teammate! As soon as the two made contact, Falco turned back to his normal form and flew through the sky along with Lucario.

“Nice!” Isabelle cheered. “And kinda gross…”

Dedede put his unoccupied hand on his hip while puffing out his chest. “I’ve got many years of practice under my belt.”

After shifting his attention back to the battle, Dedede charged toward Falco at full speed. He then plummeted down and face-planted forward, only for Falco to once again dodge with a swift jump. This left Dedede lying facedown in front of Lucario, who thrust its paw forward and summoned a flash of brilliant energy. Upon being struck by this energy, Dedede was sent flying across the stage.

Meanwhile, on the right side of the stage, Falco pointed his gun toward Isabelle and fired a blue laser shot at her. Despite the swiftness of this laser shot, Isabelle managed to grab it and put it into her pocket, before firing it back at Falco. The laser shot left Falco momentarily immobilized, giving Isabelle the opportunity to take out her fishing rod and throw it at him. The fishing rod’s bait successfully attached to Falco, allowing Isabelle to fling him toward the center of the stage.

“Alright!” Isabelle exclaimed.

Falco then landed directly below where Dedede was flying after being launched. As he gave a confident grin, Dedede made a towering leap from where he was in midair (apparently). He then crashed down directly onto Falco, which sent him soaring straight into the sky. As Falco plunged back down, Dedede held his hammer back in preparation for his opponent’s landing…

Bam!

Right when it seemed Falco was about to land safely back on solid ground, Dedede swung his hammer upward, launching him even higher into the air than before. In fact, he flew so high that he reached the uppermost blast line, though he was flying too fast for it to trophify him, much like what happened with Pit. Rather than soaring out of sight, however, Falco did fall back down into the stadium, though not the part of the stage where the fighting taking place. Instead, he was headed straight toward one of the floating cameras surrounding the stage. He then collided against the massive lens of one of those cameras, before sliding down and eventually plummeting into the downmost blast line.

“Yikes!” Isabelle exclaimed, feeling her heart skip a beat as she realized that the audience watching at home may have just seen Falco smashing into their television screens. “Hope that wasn’t too jarring for the people watching on TV…”

“No time to worry about that! Look!” Dedede shouted, pointing to a familiar, floating sphere of multi-colored energy.

Isabelle gasped. “A Smash Ball!”

“Alright! I’ll go stall Lucario while you get that Smash Ball,” Dedede said while dashing away.

“While I get it?” Isabelle exclaimed, petrified in fear knowing that she had never used a Final Smash attack before. “But I…” Unfortunately for Isabelle, Dedede was already too far away to hear her frightened voice. She then saw the Smash Ball slowly floating to her side of the battlefield. Though she was trembling, she calmed herself with a deep breath, knowing that despite her fear, she needed to help her teammate.

After giving a confident nod, Isabelle patiently waited for the Smash Ball to reach her. Once it did, she took out a whistle from her pocket and blew into it, causing a red stop sign to emerge from the ground in front of her. The stop sign collided with the Smash Ball, making it bounce upward.

Just as Isabelle was about to deliver a second attack on the Smash Ball though, she glanced toward the other end of the stage. There she saw Dedede trip and face-plant toward Lucario, only for it to jump over him at the last second. Upon landing behind Dedede, Lucario then delivered a dazzling blast of energy mere inches away from him. This attack launched Dedede straight through the blast line before he vanished in a flash of red light.

“King Dedede!” Isabelle cried. Though she knew that Dedede was okay, it still terrified her knowing that she was now all alone. This terror only grew when the aggressive-looking Pokemon locked eyes with her. She gulped while beginning to tremble in fear, then turned toward the floating energy sphere above her. “I better get that Smash Ball and fast!”

Managing to put aside her fears, at least to the extent in which she could concentrate, Isabelle sprung upward and struck the Smash Ball with her cheerleading pom-poms. Unfortunately for Isabelle, this caused the sphere of energy to bounce toward Lucario. Just as her opponent began charging toward it, however, Isabelle managed to land one last hit on the Smash Ball while falling back to the ground using her slingshot. This fractured the Smash Ball to bits, making Isabelle glow in a cloak of brilliant, rainbow-colored energy as she landed inches in front of Lucario.

Upon seeing its opponent glow, Lucario gasped and prepared to sidestep away. But it was too late. Before Lucario could escape, Isabelle raised her paw into the air and activated her Final Smash. As Isabelle raised her paw, Tom Nook emerged from a literal puff of smoke as Lucario was sent soaring upward. The Fighting and Steel-Type Pokemon then began spinning helplessly in a rapid circle. As this was happening, Nook’s twin nephews, Timmy and Tommy, emerged in a puff of smoke as well.

Once all the Nooks were gathered, Isabelle took out a sac of bells, Smashville’s currency, from her pocket. “Here you go,” she said with a smile as she handed Tom Nook the sack of bells. The Nooks then began summoning a cluster of wood pieces and seemingly random tools from midair. “Go! Go! Go!” Isabelle cheered as those wood pieces and tools gathered together at lightning speed. These pieces eventually made up the spitting image of Town Hall from Smashville, which was built around the rotating Lucario to trap it inside. “Great work, everyone!” Isabelle exclaimed, raising both of her paws as the Nooks proudly posed in front of the newly constructed building.

Next thing Isabelle knew, the building disappeared in a massive explosion of white smoke. This explosion sent both Lucario and the Nooks rocketing through the blast line! Isabelle gasped in alarm, before reminding herself that the Nooks were okay because, simply put, this was the World of Trophies.

“Game!” Master Hand declared. “Red Team WINS!”

Chapter Text

“Yes!” Isabelle cheered. She then turned her gaze to the roaring audience and scratched her head with a mild blush on her face. “Aw, you’re too kind…”

A moment later, Isabelle turned around and noticed a trio of yellow energy spheres shining above her. These flashes of energy summoned Dedede, Falco, and Lucario in their trophified forms. Once the three trophies had fallen to the ground, Isabelle walked up to them one by one and laid her paw on their trophy stands, and reviving them all.

Upon returning to his original state, Dedede shook his head, then grinned at his teammate while giving her a thumbs-up. “Awesome job, Isabelle!” he said. “I knew you’d be able to win!”

Isabelle humbly scratched her head again. “Well, if it weren’t for you, that would have been out of the question…” she admitted.

The four fighters then became immersed in a bundle of brilliant light, causing them all to vanish from the stage. Next thing they knew, they were standing in the stadium lobby.

“Well, I should probably go check on my Waddle Dees,” Dedede said, before walking away while giving his teammate and opponents a friendly wave. “Great job out there, everyone.”

“You too!” Isabelle called. She then turned toward her opponents and reaching out her paw. “Good battle, you two.”

Falco reached out his wing and shook Isabelle’s paw. “You’re not half bad, kid,” he said.

Isabelle then turned toward Lucario, who accepted her pawshake as well. “A job well done,” it stated, though its mouth did not move a muscle.

Isabelle jumped in alarm. “Y-You can speak with your mouth closed?” she stammered.

“Yes,” Lucario answered. “I communicate with telepathy, you see.”

Huh. I guess I was right, Isabelle thought to herself. Telepathy does exist outside my world…

“Hm…” Lucario whispered, closing its eyes as the black appendages on its head slowly rose upward.

“Is something wrong, Lucario?” Isabelle asked.

“I am reading your aura,” Lucario replied. “And I am sensing a great deal of exhaustion.”

“Exhaustion?” Isabelle asked, before chuckling awkwardly. “What are you talking about?”

“You have given yourself very little time to unwind over the past several days,” Lucario stated. “And as a result, your energy is declining.”

“What?” Isabelle exclaimed while putting on a forced smile. She tightened her paws hoping that Lucario would not try to pressure her into taking it slow. You know, the thing she’s known for not doing? “I feel totally energetic!”

“You mustn’t be ashamed of taking breaks, Isabelle,” Lucario reassured her. “Giving yourself time to relax is essential for remaining calm and focused when the situation calls for it. That is something I learned from my master, Sir Aaron, who plays an important role as a knight with aura abilities like mine. It is thanks to the time he gives himself to relax that our kingdom is safe from potential harm.”

“Hm… I don’t know…” Isabelle muttered, gently tapping her paws together while staring at the ground. “I mean, I don’t have any experience fighting before the tournament, so I’d like to get in as much practice as possible…”

“I’ll let you think about it,” Lucario said. “I’m heading off to the hot spring. Good luck tomorrow.”

“You too,” Isabelle said, waving goodbye as Lucario made its way to the exit. She then looked toward Falco, who had a puzzled look on his face along with a subtle smirk.

“Did I hear that right?” Falco asked. “You’ve never fought a day in your life?”

Isabelle chuckled, scratching her head once again. “Nope. Well, technically, Villager hadn’t either before he was invited to Smash Four. I guess it’s kind of a tradition in my world…”

“Yeah, it was pretty crazy seeing how far Villager got in the tourney using everyday tools like nets and shovels,” Falco commented.

“I can only imagine,” Isabelle remarked, before putting her paws together and gazing upward with a dreamy look in her eyes. “He’s really inspiring, that Villager... Plus, he’s braver than anyone else I’ve ever met… And so… creative… I mean, not so much his parents.”

“Yeah, Villager’s about as creative a name as they come,” Falco stated sarcastically. “At least my parents didn’t name me Falcon. I feel kinda bad for Fox and Wolf though…”

“Yeah…” Isabelle muttered, realizing just how lucky she was to live in a world where parents typically put some thought into naming their children. Just imagine if she was named Dog or Shih Tzu. How boring would that be? “Anyway, having Villager around really made a big difference for me. You see, I kind of have a thing for him… Being afraid of confrontation, I was really scared of this place at first, but hearing Villager’s words of encouragement gave me the confidence I needed to overcome my fear,” she then spaced out while smiling at the ceiling, reminiscing over the comforting talks she and Villager shared. “And just knowing that he’s here, I feel like I can accomplish anything…”

Isabelle suddenly snapped out of her daydream as she heard Falco snicker.

“Excuse me?” she exclaimed.

“Sorry, it’s just that so many people think that you need a love-interest to become the best version of yourself,” Falco remarked with a visible smirk. “It’s nothing but a load of nonsense. People are completely capable of bringing out the best in themselves.”

Isabelle scrunched up her face, reluctant to believe Falco due to her fondness for Villager and distaste toward Falco’s cocky way of stating his opinion. “And… you know this how…?”

“From my time in the Hot Rodders gang,” Falco replied, as Isabelle gave a subtle wince at the word “gang”. She quickly shrugged it off though as she pointed out to herself that Falco was no longer a part of that gang. “My former gangmate, Katt, was completely obsessed with me.”

“Let me guess. Kat’s a cat?” Isabelle asked.

“No, Katt’s a salamander,” Falco answered.

“Really?” Isabelle asked, blinking in surprise.

“Yes, she’s a cat!” Falco stated.

“Oh…” Isabelle muttered, before letting out another chuckle. “Funny. One of my old neighbors was named Katt, and she was a cat too.”

Falco sighed. “Why does that not surprise me…? Anyway, Katt tried flirting with me like a million times no matter how often I pretended not to notice. She kept telling me how when I’m around, she feels like she’s ‘as mighty as a lion’. She even deliberately put herself in dangerous situations and expected me to come help her out of out every jam she got into. Eventually, I became so fed up with it all that I ended up leaving the gang. By the time we met again, she had actually become a competent space pilot.”

“That must have been pretty frustrating,” Isabelle commented, before frowning as she grit her teeth in mild embarrassment. “I hope I haven’t been having that effect on Villager…”

“He seems to like you as a friend, so I wouldn’t worry about that,” Falco reassured her. “And I’m not saying you should ditch him or anything. All I’m suggesting is that you don’t rely so much on his company to feel confident. It’s the only way you’ll truly grow.”

“Hm…” Isabelle muttered as she lost herself in thought.

“Just somethin’ to think about,” Falco said, before making his way to the lobby’s exit.

He sure isn’t afraid to say what he thinks, Isabelle remarked silently, before giving herself another moment to ponder his words. Was she being too dependant on Villager? As much as she was not too fond of Falco’s brutal honesty, she did acknowledge that he may have had somewhat of a point. Regardless of what she thought of Falco’s advice, Lucario’s advice of taking it easy did not seem like that bad of an idea to her now that she had some time to think about it. After all, she did feel quite exhausted, and if someone with a job as important as a knight believed it was that essential, then maybe it was worth giving it a try.

Chapter Text

And so, after much consideration, Isabelle did just that. Following Lucario’s advice, she ultimately decided to alter her plans for the afternoon so that instead of training nonstop, she would sit back and watch the rest of the battles while also giving herself some quiet time during the break. By the end of this breather, her mind had become about ten-times calmer and clearer, making her feel almost as though she could take on the world. This was definitely a refreshing change of pace from her usual headspace of feeling like she needed to accomplish something at every minute of every day.

Despite being able to think more clearly, however, even this break did not allow Isabelle to decide for sure what she thought about Falco’s suggestion of not being so dependant on Villager. Who was a cocky stranger like him to say that the confidence she received from her best friend was hindering her growth? Then again, was there some truth to his words? After all, if she maintained that mindset by the time Villager may have eventually decided to move away, what would that mean for her? One thing was for certain though: dwelling on this was not going to help Isabelle be ready for her third-round match. As such, she decided to put it aside and wait until she got back to Smashville.

Following her afternoon break, Isabelle found out that her battle would be the last one in the third round, and that her next opponent would be a fighter nicknamed Wii Fit Trainer. Looking up her data, Isabelle discovered that she, like her, did not have any experience fighting in her world. It definitely pleased her to see that she and Villager were not the only ones in that regard, though she was wary of the fact she was not called Wii Fit Trainer for nothing. She was a master at yoga, but not just any master. She was a master so dedicated to her passion that she incorporated yoga into everything she did, even fighting. Nearly all of her attacks involved launching her opponents with a yoga pose, and the ones that did not usually incorporate some kind of object used in sports. Battling against an opponent who was that fit and experienced in using her attacking techniques in her everyday life was going to be a challenge for sure. But Isabelle was not about to let that stop her. She was willing to put in all the effort she needed to be as prepared as possible for her battle against the full-time yoga master! Without overdoing it…

The next day, following a noticeably more productive morning and afternoon of training thanks to the short breaks she took in between, Isabelle arrived at the battlefield teleporter feeling confident and ready to go. She stepped into the teleporting, glowing circle, then found herself standing on the battlefield within what seemed to be a split second. She then faced the young, healthy woman on the other side with a determined grin.

“Three, two, one… Go!” Master Hand shouted.

Both at the same exact moment, Isabelle and Wii Fit Trainer came charging in toward each other. Though Wii Fit Trainer was moving a bit faster, Isabelle managed to keep an extra close eye on the decreasing distance between herself and her opponent. She kept this up right until the perfect moment arrived for her to deliver a surprise attack. Just when Wii Fit Trainer least expected it, Isabelle pulled out her fishing rod and hurled it forward. The bait connected to Wii Fit Trainer, who was flung to the other side of the battlefield with great force.

Yes! That was a perfect Fishing Rod attack! she thought to herself, already noticing a massive difference in her ability to focus. She then quickly sprung into the air and aimed her slingshot at her plunging opponent. The pellet landed a successful hit and sent the yoga trainer soaring even further back. While Wii Fit Trainer was laying on the ground, performing the Bridge Pose within her state of unconsciousness, Isabelle chose that moment to charge in for another attack.

Just in the nick of time though, Wii Fit Trainer rose to her feet and struck the Warrior Pose, which involved her spreading out her arms and legs. “Good posture begins with a strong base!” she announced, as her posing arm struck Isabelle and sent her sliding back.

Once Isabelle came to a stop, she scrunched up her face, not due to the shock of the attack, but because of that out of the blue fitness tip. “Wha…?” she muttered, before shaking her head and redirecting her focus back to the battle.

Isabelle then noticed Wii Fit Trainer raising her arms while summoning a growing sphere of yellow energy in front of her stomach. Thanks to the research she had done beforehand, she knew this was her Sun Salutation attack. Fortunately for Isabelle, this was one of the many projectile attacks she could, you guessed it, put into her pocket and throw back. And so, once the yellow energy ball was charged up and fired at Isabelle, she stuffed it into her pocket and immediately threw it back. The reflected energy ball landed a direct hit, launching Wii Fit Trainer dozens of feet through the air.

As she was soaring toward the blast line, Wii Fit Trainer managed to recover thanks to the hula hoops she summoned that allowed her to ascend as she swung them around her body. As the yoga trainer made her way back above the battlefield, Isabelle patiently waited for those hula hoops to vanish. Once they did, Wii Fit Trainer began falling helplessly downward. This gave Isabelle the opening she needed to trap her in a bug-catching net, then fling her away. She followed this up with a slingshot attack, though Wii Fit Trainer managed to evade the pellet with a double jump.

Wii Fit Trainer then positioned herself directly in front of Isabelle as the two fighters continued falling through the air. Just before the two fighters hit the ground, Wii Fit Trainer delivered a mighty slap while performing a Single Leg Extension. This nearly sent Isabelle rocketing straight toward the blast line, though she managed to save herself at the last second by hopping onto her balloon swing. The wooden swing seemed like it would be able to keep her airborne long enough for her to make it to a safe spot in the stage. Unfortunately, the balloons popped right when Isabelle made her way to the center of the stage, directly above Wii Fit Trainer! This caused her to fall straight down toward her.

Wii Fit Trainer crouched down while putting her hands together, before swinging them upward and performing a Tree Pose. “When exerting yourself, remember to keep breathing,” she advised, as her mighty, yoga performing hands launched Isabelle even higher into the sky.

Even as she was ascending and descending at high speed, Isabelle still could not help but question why Wii Fit Trainer felt it was necessary to say that in the middle of a battle. Although, it was at least somewhat relevant to this situation considering she was exerting herself. I’ll… keep that in mind…? she thought, even if she was struggling to take her out-of-the-blue suggestions seriously.

These distracting thoughts immediately left Isabelle’s mind as she noticed a Smash Ball appearing not that far in front of her. As she was plummeting down, she used this opportunity to fire a slingshot pellet at it. As Isabelle landed back on solid ground, Wii Fit Trainer followed this up by summoning a green soccer ball. She then smacked it with her head and made it fly straight toward the Smash Ball.

Knowing that she had no time to waste if she wanted to win this battle, Isabelle dashed forward and prepared to throw her flower pot at Wii Fit Trainer. Right at the last second, Wii Fit Trainer dodged by levitating herself with her hula hoops. As she was ascending, she managed to deliver one last hit on the Smash Ball before shattering it to smithereens.

“Uh-oh!” Isabelle exclaimed as her heart began racing like a speeding train. Knowing she had to think fast, she did the first thing that popped into her mind: hopping back onto her balloon swing in hopes of dodging Wii Fit Trainer’s Final Smash.

Before Isabelle got the chance to fly high enough, however, the glowing fitness trainer activated her ultimate attack.

“Let’s work on your balance!” Wii Fit Trainer said, performing another Warrior Pose while summoning dozens of multi-colored silhouettes of herself doing various yoga poses. These silhouettes hovered toward Isabelle and packed a combined force that was powerful enough to send her rocketing straight toward the blast line. Upon crossing the invisible blast line, she vanished in a blinding beam of red light.

“Game!” Master Hand declared, as Wii Fit Trainer assumed the Triangle Pose, then switched to the Standing Knee Hug Pose, then finally the Single Leg Extension. “Wii Fit Trainer WINS!”

A bundle of yellow light hovered above the stage, then summoned Isabelle’s trophy, which plummeted to the ground. Wii Fit Trainer approached the trophy and laid her hand on its stand, reviving the fighter within a dazzling veil of light.

Isabelle could feel her head spinning a little as she awakened from her brief state of trophy limbo. She gently held her head as she waited for the dizziness to pass, before noticing Wii Fit Trainer’s hand hovering in front of her.

“Great work,” Wii Fit Trainer said with a proud-looking smile.

“Thanks. You too,” Isabelle said, giving her a genuine smile back as she shook her hand. “The way you used those yoga poses as attacks was really well done.”

“I notice that your breathing was a bit fast and shallow during our battle,” Wii Fit Trainer commented. “Remember to keep your breathing regulated while you are exercising.”

“Th-Thanks. Will do,” Isabelle stuttered with a somewhat forced smile. Just when she thought she had seen a side to Wii Fit Trainer that was not one-hundred percent focused on yoga, she quickly stood corrected. On the other hand, it did make her happy to see someone so joyfully indulged in their passion, kind of like she was with her work as a secretary.

Chapter Text

Following her elimination from the tourney, Isabelle decided to give herself some time alone that evening to reflect on a bench near the stadium. While she did not feel devastated, she was still disappointed that her tourney challenge had to end right when she had started to enjoy the Smash battles. Considering how much more focused she was thanks to the break she took the previous day, she thought for sure she would be able to win at least one more battle. And now she might never be invited back here for a second try again.

“Hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo!” said a high-pitched voice from afar.

“Huh? Wha?” Isabelle muttered, snapping back to reality as she glanced around to see where that voice was coming from. She looked to her left and noticed a small monkey wearing a red cap and shirt approaching her. She quickly recognized him as Diddy Kong, as he was quite an outgoing individual who everyone was bound to know if they were to spend just one day in the World of Trophies with him. This was not enough, however, to bring out Isabelle’s outgoing side, though it did make her smile a bit. “Oh, hey Diddy Kong,” she said, before noticing a pamphlet in Diddy’s hands.

“Ah! Ah!” Diddy cheered, proudly presenting the pamphlet to Isabelle, who took it and began reading it aloud.

“‘Come join the Mario Kart Grand Prix. Thanks to the wonderful help of Master Hand, we can now invite fighters from other worlds to join our yearly Grand Prix in the Mushroom Kingdom, including Smash fighters,’” Isabelle read. “‘If you would like to get a glimpse of what our Grand Prix looks like, come watch us near the lakeshore, where there will also be a beginner’s track for you to try out. We will be there every day from six to seven p.m starting December First until December Fifteenth.’” Isabelle lowered the pamphlet and gave herself a moment to think, as Diddy widened his eyes with a massive grin on his face. She then turned to Diddy and gave a polite, but regretful frown. “Well, my last tourney battle wasn’t that long ago, so I’m not really sure if I’m feeling that up for it today.”

“Ooh Ah?” Diddy asked, staring in shock as Isabelle lifted herself back onto her feet before proceeding to make her way back to the stadium.

“But thank you for the…”

Before Isabelle could finish, she felt a surprisingly mighty tug on her green vest from the small monkey’s hand. She spun around, wondering what was the matter as Diddy rapidly motioned his arms up and down. “Ah-ooh-ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!” he exclaimed while pointing both of his hands in the direction of the lakeshore.

“Sorry, Diddy Kong,” Isabelle said before turning back around and walking to the stadium entrance.

“Ooh Ah?” Diddy muttered, still visibly shocked.

“Maybe I’ll check it out tomo…”

Isabelle was once again interrupted by a powerful tug on her vest. This time, however, Diddy did not let go, and instead dragged her across the dirty ground!

“Wha? Hey! Where are you taking me?” Isabelle cried, before grunting as she tried to wiggle her way out of Diddy’s grasp, but to no avail. “Man, you have a strong grip!”

Eventually, after about five minutes of being dragged away, Isabelle had given up trying to escape from Diddy’s grasp. Since his fingers refused to even budge, she decided that she might as well see what this Mario Kart Grand Prix was all about, even if it meant getting her skirt dirty from being dragged across the ground. Besides, trying it out may lift her spirits at a time like this, so maybe it was not such a bad idea after all. Sure enough, it was not. Once she finally made it to the racecourse, she turned her head and was immediately captivated by the multiple, giant loop-dee-loops across the expert racecourse where several Mushroom Kingdom residents were competing. “Woah!” she exclaimed, gaping in complete shock. “They’re racing upside-down!”

One of the spectators then turned around and noticed Isabelle sitting on the ground with Diddy still grabbing her vest. This spectator turned out to be none other than Villager, who gave Isabelle a friendly wave. “Hey! Isabelle!” he shouted.

“Villager!” Isabelle cheered as her eyes lit up even more. Diddy then released her, allowing her to stand back up and dash toward her friend. “Good to see you!”

“You too,” Villager said. “Sorry about that last battle…”

“Eh, it’s alright,” Isabelle muttered, giving her friend a bit of a forced smile. “I did manage to land more hits in my last battle than I did before, but I guess Wii Fit Trainer’s yoga attacks were just too much for me.”

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I just got defeated by Bayonetta in less than five seconds,” Villager said, scratching his head with an embarrassed smile on his face.

Isabelle’s jaw dropped. “You were defeated that quickly?” she exclaimed. “That fighter must have fought against deities or something back in her world!”

“You know, I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if that was true,” Villager remarked.

Isabelle chuckled, before gazing back up at the roller coaster track-like racecourse. “So this is what the Mario Kart Grand Prix looks like?”

“Yup,” Villager replied. “See, Princess Peach’s butlers, the Toads, have developed a special technology that allows racers to safely race sideways and upside-down.”

“That’s incredible! Science sure is amazing,” Isabelle said, before taking another moment to observe the race. What astounded her in particular was how the wheels switched positions and began to glow when the kart entered a sideways or upside-down portion of the track. They looked almost like propellers hovering inches above the ground. “This looks pretty interesting. I’m surprised this hasn’t attracted more fighters. Especially Captain Falcon.”

“Well, that may be because of how Diddy Kong’s been promoting it,” Villager commented. “I hear he tried to literally drag everyone he shared the pamphlet with here. He did that to me.”

“Me too!” Isabelle said. “Well, that probably explains it…”

“Although a lot of the fighters have given permission to have racing costumes designed after them,” Villager stated. “Like Samus, Fox, Olimar, and Mega Man to name a few.”

“Hm,” Isabelle responded, before squinting her eyes to see if she could identify the racer who was currently in the first place. She recognized said racer as Donkey Kong, Mario’s former arch-nemesis. But that was not the only thing she noticed. Taking a closer look, she also spotted the second-placed racer, Luigi, crossing his legs with his hands behind his head. He seemed super relaxed, almost as if he was at the beach rather than near the front of a line of expert go-kart racers. “Hey, look!” Isabelle exclaimed as she pointed her paw toward Luigi, completely baffled by what she was witnessing. “Luigi’s in second place and he’s not even touching the steering wheel!”

“Oh yeah!” Villager said with a chortle.

“How is he doing that?” Isabelle asked.

“He’s using Smart Steering,” Villager explained. “It’s an optional built-in feature in the go-karts that makes them go into auto-pilot when the driver gets close to the edge of the road. That way, you’re guaranteed to stay on the road throughout the whole race. Normally, it’s used by drivers who are fairly new to racing. Maybe Luigi just prefers to have Smart Steering do the racing for him.”

“It sure seems that way,” Isabelle commented.

Meanwhile, toward the back of the line of go-karts, Mario’s green dinosaur friend, Yoshi, flung a spiny, blue shell forward. The shell zoomed its way past each and every racer until it got to Donkey Kong. Once it reached the racer in the lead, it flew in a rapid circle above him, then plummeted down and disappeared in an enormous, blue explosion. This caused Donkey Kong’s kart to do a complete flip in the air, drastically slowing it down and allowing Luigi to pass him with literally no effort.

“Hey! Luigi’s in first now!” Isabelle exclaimed. “Do you think he might win?”

“We’ll just have to see!” Villager said, tightening his fists with just as much exhilaration as Isabelle.

Steadily approaching Luigi from behind was Bowser Junior, who was driving in the same clown car he used in Smash battles. “I’m gonna make it there first, Luigi!” he cried. “Just you watch!”

Luigi took a brief glance at Bowser Jr, then continued staring off into space as he let the Smart Steering do the final stretch for him. Considering he was so close to the finish line, while his opponent was driving so fast, the outcome was anyone’s guess. The suspense within the audience was building up significantly, until finally, Luigi passed the finish line, beating Bowser Junior by a giant nose.

“First place! Luigi!” Luigi cheered, raising one fist into the air after another as Lakitu, a Koopa floating in a cloud, joyously waved a black and white racing flag in front of him.

“I can’t believe Luigi won by doing absolutely nothing!” Isabelle said, gaping in astonishment.

“I hear he’s quite famous for doing that when he plays party minigames with his friends,” Villager remarked. “He must have amazing luck.”

Once all the racers crossed the finish line and came to a stop, they each hopped out of their karts and approached the spectators. As she got a closer look, Isabelle managed to identify all twelve of the racers: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Rosalina, Yoshi, Wario, Donkey Kong, Bowser, Bowser Junior, Larry, Roy and Wendy. And to think all twelve of those Smash fighters, plus several more, all hailed from the same universe. Master Hand must be really fond of the Mushroom Kingdom… Isabelle thought.

“Ah, nice to-a see you, Isabelle!” Mario cheered. “What did you-a think of that race?”

“It was awesome!” Isabelle exclaimed. “Especially when Luigi won without even touching the steering wheel!”

“Ah, yes,” Mario said, nodding his head. “My-a brother does have a knack for winning by doing absolutely-a nothing.”

“Luigi doesn’t need to do anything to win,” Daisy muttered, gazing at Luigi with a blush on her face. “He’s just that amazing…”

“Heh heh heh…” Luigi giggled, blushing back. “Thank you, Daisy…”

“Isabelle!” Peach called as she waved her hand, before eagerly walking up toward the shih tzu. “Good to see you, again. Great job on your last two tourney battles. I can tell you have practiced a lot.”

“Thanks, Princess Peach,” Isabelle said, delighted to have run into one of the few fighters she clicked with. “And thanks again for your advice. What you said really helped change things for the better for me.”

Peach let out a quiet giggle. “How nice to hear.”

“Welcome, Villager, Isabelle,” said the blue-dressed Rosalina, who was accompanied by a Luma.

As soon as she saw the divine being approaching her, Isabelle’s jaw immediately dropped. Never in her life prior to receiving her Smash invitation had she thought she would be speaking to the queen of the most famous Nintendo world. Even after being in the World of Trophies for a week, this felt almost too phenomenal to be true.

“Do you four wish to try out the beginner’s track?” Rosalina asked.

“That would be great! Thanks!” Villager cheered. “How about you, Isabelle?”

“Huh?” Isabelle exclaimed as she snapped back to reality. She then gave Rosalina an enthused smile and nod. “I’d love to!”

And so, for their first taste of what racing in a Mario Kart Grand Prix felt like, Isabelle and Villager were directed to a simpler racecourse with no sideways or upside-down phases. Although Villager was slightly disappointed by this, Isabelle was personally super relieved. Not only that, but they were also given their own unique go-karts, with Isabelle’s being green with an apple symbol on the front, and Villager’s being red with a leaf symbol. Joining them were two other fighters, those being teenage Link and a female Inkling. Isabelle could feel the adrenaline racing through her, knowing she was about to have her first taste of a fascinating Mushroom Kingdom tradition in her very own, custom-made vehicle. She could feel herself quivering in anticipation as she waited eagerly for the race to get underway.

A moment later, Lakitu, the same floating Koopa who waved the flag at the end of the race, hovered above the novice racers. This time, he was holding up a horizontal starting light from a fishing rod. He then waved his finger up and down as the first light turned red, then the second, and then finally, the third, cueing the racers to start!

Chapter Text

Right when Isabelle stepped on the gas pedal, she noticed Link and Inkling zooming past her and Villager with fire emerging from their engines. She had no idea that it was possible to get a speed boost that early, nor did she know how, but that did not bother her in the slightest. All she could think about how exhilarating it was riding on a go-kart.

“I’m going so fast!” she exclaimed with a chuckle, sensing the wind blowing through her fur.

“I know!” Villager shouted. “This feels awesome!”

Racing only a few yards apart from each other, with Villager in front, the two racers sped through the row of blue and purple item blocks. Upon driving through them, they smashed them to bits, with the one that Isabelle smashed being a double item block. Next thing Isabelle knew, she was holding a green Koopa shell in her left paw. Without noticing what item Villager got, Isabelle briefly studied the Green Shell while still keeping an eye on the road.

I think I’m supposed to throw this… she thought to herself until her thoughts were interrupted when she suddenly noticed Villager throwing a banana peel behind him! Unable to steer her kart away in time, Isabelle slipped on the peel, causing her kart to spin a rapid circle.

After recovering from that start, Isabelle shook her head and gave her friend a competitive smile. “Oh, it’s on!” she said.

Isabelle then stepped on her gas pedal again before throwing her green shell forward, only for it to miss Villager by a couple of feet. Only a second later, however, Isabelle found another shell, this one being red, appearing in her left paw. “Huh? Another one?” she exclaimed, before looking back at her friend and giving him a cheeky grin. “Alright, then. Let’s try this!”

Isabelle hurled the shell forward, but not quite in the direction she intended. Much to her surprise though, the red shell began steering itself straight toward the nearest racer and landed a successful hit on Villager’s kart! As Villager’s kart did a complete rollover before landing safely back on its wheels, Isabelle zipped past him. “See ya!” she said with a chuckle.

As he watched Isabelle pass him, Villager also gave a competitive, but playful grin. “Not for long, Isabelle!” he announced.

As Villager and his friendly rival zoomed through the first half of the racecourse, which did not contain too many turns, he slowly but surely began to catch up to her. After making it through the first half, they then began to approach the second set of item blocks. Once they both drove through them, Villager raised in his fist into the air. “Alright!” he cheered before holding up his hand, ready for the item to appear in it.

“Ooh! What am I gonna get next?” Isabelle wondered aloud before glancing at her left paw and discovering a red box with a giant, gold speaker coming out of it. It looked almost like a vintage record player. “Hm. I wonder what this does.” She then turned her head and noticed Villager approaching her from only a few feet away. She chose this moment to hold the item upward to see what it did.

Boom!

Vanishing within a series of yellow soundwaves, the red box stopped Villager’s kart in its tracks and made it do another flip. “Woah!” he cried, before watching as Isabelle zoomed past him again.

“That was cool!” Isabelle cheered. “I wonder what kind of other items they…”

Zap!

Without any warning, Isabelle was struck by a lightning bolt! While the lightning did not hurt, it did still alarm her seeing all her surroundings having seemingly grown twice as large. From this, she quickly figured out that she had shrunk to half her normal size. “Aah!” she exclaimed in an amusingly high-pitched voice while also noticing sparks of electricity surrounding her. “Wh-What happened? Why am I tiny?”

Next thing Isabelle knew, a seemingly giant Villager zipped past her. “See you later!” he shouted.

“That sneaky Villager,” Isabelle said, still sounding like a chipmunk as she realized that the lightning bolt must have been from one of Villager’s items. “Just you watch!”

The intense race resumed, as both Villager and Isabelle zoomed relentlessly to the starting line. After successfully making it through a couple of sharp turns, Isabelle finally reached that line as Lakitu descended toward her while holding up a sign that read, “2/3”.

It was at that exact moment that Isabelle suddenly grew back to her original size! “Yes!” she cheered, before making her way back to the first set of item blocks at top speed. She noticed Villager slipping on a banana peel between her and the item blocks, which allowed her to get closer to him. Now only a few yards behind him, she managed to break one of the item blocks only a couple of seconds after he did.

As Isabelle noticed a powerful-looking Bullet Bill appear in Villager’s hand, she waited anxiously for her item to appear. Once it did, however, she jumped in alarm as she saw that it was a moving, spherical ghost: a Boo.

“Ah! A ghost!” she cried, flinging her trembling paw upward and accidentally cueing the Boo to fade away. She anxiously glanced around to see where he may have gone until she found him fading in right in front of Villager. Villager jumped as well as the Boo swiped his Bullet Bill while cackling in delight. He then disappeared and reappeared before Isabelle, then handed her the Bullet Bill.

“Hey! I got Villager’s item!” she cheered. “Let’s see what this does.”

As soon as she lifted the Bullet Bill into the air, she suddenly found herself within a tight, pitch-black room. She let out a terrified yelp as her heart began to race vigorously, though she could not hear her own scream over the roaring sound of the fire emerging from behind. Little did she know she was inside a massive Bullet Bill that was zooming across the racecourse at over double the speed she had been traveling before.

Once the Bullet Bill finally disintegrated, Isabelle rapidly turned her head from left to right. She then noticed that she was not that far behind Link and Inkling, who had previously been way ahead of her throughout the whole race. “Woah!” she exclaimed, still in a lingering state of shock after being in that mysterious, pitch-black space. “Now that’s what I call fast!”

Isabelle then shook her head and promptly stepped on the gas pedal, realizing that this was her chance to catch up to Inkling. She kept her eyes peeled on the human-like squid creature as she inched closer and closer. Just when she least expected it, however, Inkling threw behind her what appeared to be a bomb with eyes and legs.

Boom!

Before Isabelle had the chance to react, she was met with a massive, red explosion, causing her kart to do a midair overturn. “Aaah!” she yelped before her kart landed safely back on its wheels. Finally able to catch her breath after that alarming explosion, Isabelle shook her head. “Phew, that was a shock…” she mumbled, still quivering a bit until she noticed a familiar voice coming from behind.

“Wahooooo!” Villager cheered, zooming past her at a phenomenal speed with fire coming out of his engines, presumably thanks to the Golden Mushroom in his hand.

With her focus now redirected to the race, Isabelle gave her friend a determined grin. “But I won’t let that stop me!” she declared before racing at top speed toward the next set of items.

Upon shattering the item block in the middle, Isabelle jumped with a start as she saw a red and white, chomping plant within a flower pot in her paw! “Gah! A carnivorous plant!” she cried, before taking another glance to see that it looked just like one of the fighters she ran into earlier: the Piranha Plant.

As she took a moment to study the Piranha Plant, Isabelle noticed that it was not hostile, as it was simply chomping at nothing. As such, she proceeded to lift it upward. This caused the Piranha Plant to teleport in front of Isabelle, with wheels now coming out of its flowerpot. “Woah! What’s going on?” she exclaimed, right before the plant chomped its teeth. As this happened, Isabelle could sense a slight boost in speed that quickly subsided. “Hey, I think that just gave me a speed boost,” she remarked.

Isabelle then looked ahead to see that her rival was not too far in front of her. “Look!” There’s Villager!” she cheered before hunching over with a determined grin on her face.

As Isabelle inched closer and closer, with the Piranha Plant giving her a speed boost every few seconds, Villager gripped his steering wheel tighter and tighter while also beginning to hunch over. Isabelle wondered to herself why he was doing this. That was until she saw the Piranha Plant extend its stretchy neck far enough to bite Villager’s kart, causing it to helplessly rotate and slow down.

“Alright!” Isabelle shouted. “Way to go, Piranha Plant!” she then zoomed past her rival, before the Piranha Plant began to rapidly shrink until it was nowhere to be seen.

Following that turnaround, Isabelle managed to stay ahead of Villager for a good half-minute all the way up to the starting line. She turned her head to the side and noticed Lakitu holding up a sign that read, “3/3” above her, making her chuckle in delight. “Cool! Only one more lap to go!”

Isabelle eagerly drove straight to the first set of item blocks, which made a Star appear in her paw. She held the star up, then suddenly became blanketed in a veil of rainbow-colored energy!

“Woah! I’m glowing!” Isabelle yelled, looking down at her rainbow-colored arms in complete bewilderment. At the same time, however, she also found it super neat, especially when she noticed a jingle playing in her head. This jingle went from one repeated note to a slightly lower one, then looped. As repetitive as this jingle was, Isabelle could not help but bop her head to it. “I kinda like this music,” she commented.

Zap!

Once again, without any warning, Isabelle got struck by a bolt of lightning, probably from Villager again. This time though, she remained completely unaffected. “Hey! I’m invincible!” she cheered before letting out a joyous giggle. “I love this item!”

Now racing at nearly double the speed she was going before, Isabelle managed to make her way to the final set of item blocks in what felt like only a few seconds. She drove through one, then found a giant, yellow coin in her paw. “A coin?” she asked, scrunching up her face in puzzlement. She lifted her paw to see what it did, only to watch it disappear with seemingly no after-effects whatsoever. “Um… has it activated yet…?”

This question immediately left her mind when she looked ahead to see the finish line mere yards away, where Link and Inkling had their go-karts parked. “Ooh! I’m close to the finish line!”

Bam!

Before Isabelle had the chance to cross it, however, her kart was struck by what appeared to be a blue boomerang, making it spin in a dizzying circle. Once her kart straightened up, she shook her head, then turned around to see Villager zipping his way through the final stretch as well. After seeing him zoom past her, Isabelle stepped on the gas pedal as swiftly as she could to keep him from emerging victorious.

But it was not quite enough. With only a two-second difference, Villager managed to reach the goal before her. Upon crossing the finish line, the two Smashville residents parked their go-karts next to Link and Inkling. Despite ending up in last place, Isabelle was not disappointed in the slightest. With this being her first time go-kart racing, she did not expect to do very well and mostly just enjoyed the thrill of experiencing it for the first time.

As the two hopped out of their go-karts and exited the course, Isabelle and Villager gave each other a smile of good sportsmanship. “Well, looks like you beat me this time, Villager,” she said, scratching her head.

“That was fun,” Villager said.

“I know, right? I haven’t felt that kind of excitement in a long time,” Isabelle remarked before her eyes began to glimmer. “Ooh! Maybe we could start a public works project so that a racecourse can be built in Smashville!”

“That’s a great idea, Isabelle!” Villager cheered. “I’d love to do some more racing back at home. I’m sure the other residents would love it too. It’s a great way to get your heart racing.” After saying this, Villager began chortling to himself.

“What?” Isabelle asked, before grinning as she realized he was talking about a go-kart race. “Oh, I see what you did there.” It did not matter how cheesy Villager’s jokes were. They always managed to make her giggle.

“Sorry, I couldn’t-a help but overhear,” Mario said as he and his friends approached Isabelle and Villager. “I’m so-a glad you guys are thinking of-a racing back at home. Do you think you might-a want to race in a Mario Kart-a Grand Prix one day?”

“Wow, a Grand Prix?” Villager asked before nervously scratching his head. “That sounds pretty tough. Maybe if we get good enough at racing, we could give it a try. What do you think, Isabelle?”

“Would that be safe…?” Isabelle asked while slowly tapping her paws together. “I mean, those items we threw at each other looked pretty dangerous. Do they hurt in your world?”

“Oh, they don’t hurt one-a bit!” Luigi answered.

“Our-a courses are so safe that even-a babies can participate!” Mario said.

“Is that just an exaggeration to make me feel better…?” Isabelle muttered. She knew that in most cases, this would be a silly question to ask. But after being in the World of Trophies for several days, pretty much anything seemed possible in foreign worlds at this point.

“No, literally. Babies can participate,” Daisy said. “My baby self races with us all the time.”

Isabelle let out a loud chuckle until she saw Daisy tilt her head in confusion. It was at this moment she realized that it was indeed no joke! “Wait, you’re serious?” she exclaimed as her eyes widened in absolute shock.

Peach nodded. “Mine does as well.”

“So does mine,” Rosalina said.

“And ours!” Mario and Luigi announced simultaneously.

“Wha…?” Isabelle mumbled, barely able to speak. And here she thought sixteen was a young age to be driving. She then took a second to think back to all the equally crazy things she recently learned about other worlds, allowing her to quickly shrug it off with a headshake. “You know what? I’ve heard of so many weird things this week that I’m not even surprised anymore... But if the Grand Prix is safe enough for… literal babies, then I’ll definitely give it some thought.”

“So will I,” Villager said.

“That’s wonderful, you two!” Peach cheered.

“Thank you so much!” Mario said before he and his friends made their way back to the advanced racecourse.

Chapter Text

“That was amazing, Isabelle,” Villager said, as Isabelle quickly but calmly turned toward him. “What you just did.”

“What did I do?” Isabelle asked.

“Try out the racecourse without giving it a second thought, knowing that it would be filled with scary-looking items,” Villager answered.

Isabelle scratched her head while giving her friend a modest smile. “Well, I knew that if guns and bombs were safe in the World of Trophies, this couldn’t be dangerous either…” she muttered.

“And that’s what’s so impressive,” Villager remarked. “You didn’t know that when you first came here. You were nervous that participating in Smash would leave you traumatized, even though there was no actual danger of you getting hurt. And look at all the progress you’ve made. You’ve battled fearlessly against opponents like Ken and Lucario, who are famous in their worlds for being accomplished fighters, and you’ve managed to work excellently alongside King Dedede even though he’s not exactly known for being friendly. It takes real bravery to be able to make that kind of jump in so little time.”

“Huh,” Isabelle said, giving herself a moment to reflect on all she had accomplished this week. Looking back on all those achievements, it astounded her to think that at first, she was about as terrified as she had ever been. “I guess I have made quite a jump…”

“And seeing you make that jump makes me prouder than I can say,” Villager said, before gazing toward at the sunset with a reminiscent smile. “You know, I’ve gotten you to know you quite a bit ever since the day I moved to Smashville.” He then let out a quiet chuckle. “I still remember how baffled I was when you gave me the position of mayor completely out of the blue.”

Isabelle giggled as well, recalling how awkward she felt when she found out that Villager had not come to Smashville to become mayor, and that he was mistaken for someone else. Luckily, it turned out that the intended mayor had changed his mind, and that Villager was phenomenal at his job as mayor despite it being given to him completely by mistake. Even if that first interaction she had with Villager was a bit unusual, she knew that she would always hold that memory of first setting eyes him dearly.

“And now… After all those years of working together, and all that time I got to spend getting to see so many sides to you, I feel like I see you in a different way…” Villager muttered before lowering his head with an awkward smile on his face. “I know this might sound weird given that you’re my secretary, but to me, you’re not just as a friend. You’re like…”

Isabelle’s jaw dropped. Was this it? Was Villager about to confess his feelings for her? Isabelle could feel her heart beating more rapidly than ever before as her eyes glimmered with immense joy. She felt almost like a princess at the end of a fairy tale about to hear her Prince Charming declare his love for her. Isabelle tightened her paws as she waited patiently for Villager to confess his feelings for her.

Which was…

“The sister I never had.”

Isabelle was speechless. All of her romantic thoughts plummeted down the drain within a split second. Her eyes and mouth remained wide open, but now her smile was as gone as her dreams of marrying Villager. After a moment of silence had passed, she was finally able to let out a few words. “Oh, sister…” she muttered while chuckling a little in shock. “Well, th-that’s… interesting…”

“Is something wrong, Isabelle?” Villager asked.

“N-Nothing!” Isabelle exclaimed, giving Villager a forced smile. “It’s t-totally how I… feel about you too… bro.”

“I’m happy to hear that,” Villager said with a laid-back smile, not having noticed a single hint of inner despair. “Well, I think I’ll do a bit more racing. Wanna join me?”

“Um… Maybe a little later,” Isabelle muttered. “I think I’d like to do some thinking near the lake…”

“No worries,” Villager said before making his way back to the racecourse.

As Villager walked away, Isabelle gazed at him with a downhearted frown. She then sighed while imagining a pink heart floating above her, then fracturing in two. Completely drained of all the exhilaration she felt go-kart racing and talking to Villager, Isabelle slumped downward and began slowly shuffling toward the nearby lake.

Once she made it to the lake, Isabelle sat down in front of it and began staring off into space. While the ground she was sitting on was a bit dirty and uncomfortable, none of that concerned her in the slightest. All she could think about was Villager.

So I guess that’s that… Villager sees me as a sister… Isabelle thought to herself. Getting out of the friend zone is one thing, but the sister zone is in a whole nother league. I mean, I know that not much could have happened anyway at the moment, seeing as how we’re colleagues. But it was still nice just imagining what would have happened if things did somehow work out…

Isabelle let out another sigh, suddenly struck with a disheartening realization: without Villager, she could not muster up the confidence to do things that would normally be too scary for her. What did that mean for her in the future? If she could no longer view Villager in a romantic light, would that mean she would never be able to try out something like the Smash tourney again?

Before Isabelle had the chance to answer this question for herself, she was suddenly reminded of what Falco had said to her the previous day.

So many people think that you need a love-interest to become the best version of yourself. It’s nothing but a load of nonsense. People are completely capable of bringing out the best in themselves. I’m not saying you should ditch him or anything. All I’m suggesting is that you don’t rely so much on his company to feel confident. It’s the only way you’ll truly grow.

As much as Isabelle did not admire Falco’s surly personality, she did begin to see some truth in that point he made. After all, she had come a long way since she arrived in the World of Trophies, and the only thing Villager did to help with that was show her around and give her a bit of moral support.

Maybe Falco was right, Isabelle thought. I mean, it was me who made that big leap, not me and Villager. I know there’s an adventurous Isabelle inside of me. I’ve seen what she can do plenty of times all week. And who’s to say I can’t bring her out by myself? Sure, Villager’s a great person, but I don’t think he’s necessarily a requirement for me to do what I did this week. Maybe all I need to do to achieve that same level of courage Villager gave me is to believe in my own strength. It may take me a while for me to get used to the reality that we’re just meant to be friends… but at least I can know that even with that reality, I still have the potential to accomplish just as much as I did this week, if not, even more.

Despite having the confidence to give herself this internal pep talk, Isabelle was still not sure if what she was saying to herself was true. All of this was still pretty new to her, so maybe all it took to adjust to this new mindset was time. Maybe another opportunity would come up for her soon that would allow her to test her courage once more, but this time without having Villager around. She just had to wait and see.

Chapter Text

Two rounds had passed since Isabelle’s elimination from the tourney. The quarterfinals consisted again of Team Battles, with the teams of Pikachu and Fox, followed by Meta Knight and Bayonetta, advancing to the semifinals. What was fascinating about this roster of semifinalists was that all four of them had won a previous Smash tourney, with Pikachu, Fox, Meta Knight, and Bayonetta having won the original, Melee, Brawl and Four respectively.

With a roster like this one all battling it out, you can imagine that the whole audience was immensely psyched, even Isabelle. Although being a part of a Smash battle was not necessarily her cup of tea, she had taken quite a liking to watching them safely from the audience. Watching all the swift and flashy attacks exchanged one after another made her heart pound, but this time in excitement. This was especially the case when the battle was between two of the tourney’s strongest fighters. This made her all the more grateful she joined Smash, as she never would have discovered her liking toward spectating this seemingly violent, but harmless sport.

Now the day had arrived for the finals to begin. It was nearly time for the two strongest fighters in the tourney to go head to head in the ultimate showdown. But first, it was time for Master Hand to make one final announcement.

“Ladies and gentlemen!” Master Hand shouted. “The time has come at last for our finalists to duke it out in a breath-taking battle of wills! Both of our finalists have exhibited a remarkable amount of skill throughout the tourney, particularly during the SEMI-FINALS! First, we had a heated battle between Melee’s champion, FOX, and Brawl’s champion, META KNIGHT!”

The monitor positioned above the audience across from Isabelle and Villager turned on. It then showed a video of a fox in a flight jacket and a spherical, masking-wearing swordfighter staring each other down on the stadium’s floating stage. Isabelle, realizing they were about to replay one of the semifinal rounds, immediately fixed her glistening eyes on the screen.

“These two nimble opponents had us all on the edge of seats as they remained neck and neck throughout nearly the whole fight!” Master Hand commented.

The replay began with the two fighters charging toward each other. Fox then surrounded himself in a veil of scorching flames at the exact moment he and his opponent made contact.

“Fire!” Fox hollered, rocketing himself straight into the air along with Meta Knight. As both fighters plunged to the ground, Meta Knight pointed his sword forward and began spinning himself rapidly like a drill. He dove straight toward Fox just as he was about to touch the ground, then landed a successful hit. This Drill Rush attack sent Fox sliding toward the edge of the stage.

Upon landing, Meta Knight glided swiftly toward Fox, only for him to intercept at the last second with a tail sweep. This sent Meta Knight into a dizzying, midair spin before he landed on the ground with a loud thud. Before Meta Knight could get back up, Fox followed this up by darting toward Meta Knight at lightning speed with his Fox Illusion attack.

Before Fox could land the attack, however, Meta Knight lifted himself back up just in the nick of time, then vanished instantly into his cloak. Upon reappearing a second later, he delivered a fearsome slash with his sword, rocketing Fox right back to the stage’s edge.

The Smash Ball then appeared only a few feet above Fox. Upon lifting himself off the ground, he quickly used this opportunity to strike it with an aerial kick, followed by another Fox Illusion attack. Unfortunately for Fox, this sent the Smash Ball flying toward his opponent, who fractured it with a single tornado-summoning spin.

Now glowing in a brilliant veil of energy, Meta Knight tried gliding his way toward his opponents. Fox, however, managed to keep his distance with a series of nimble and graceful leaps into the air. But that didn’t stop Meta Knight. By closely and carefully following his opponent’s every move, the spherical swordfighter eventually managed to position himself in the perfect spot to deliver his Final Smash.

“Behold…” Meta Knight commanded in a deep, sinister-sounding voice as he raised his glowing, electrified sword upward. This sent Fox soaring straight toward the sky, where Meta Knight swiftly ascended before dishing out a plethora of devastatingly strong slashes. These slashes all arrived from different angles and were delivered in mere split seconds apart from each other, dealing a hefty amount of damage during the lengthy moment it lasted. Eventually, Meta Knight delivered one last finishing jab, which rocketed Fox helplessly through the rightmost blast line.

“No doubt we were in for a breath-taking match when two of the most notoriously speedy fighters entered the arena!” Master Hand remarked.

“Man, I could hardly catch my breath even watching that a second time,” Isabelle commented from the audience.

“I know, right?” Villager asked. “I hear that the amount of power Master Hand gave those two in Melee and Brawl actually led to some complaints among the other fighters. Not to mention what perfect timing those two have with their already powerful moves.”

“In our next battle, we witnessed the champion of the first-ever Smash tourney, PIKACHU, become the first fighter to ever escape from Bayonetta’s Witch Twist combo!” Master Hand said.

The monitor across from Isabelle and Villager then showed a yellow, rodent-like Pokemon and a woman dressed in tight, black clothing standing on either end of the stage. The videotaped battle between these two fighters began with Pikachu charging forward. Just as Pikachu was about to unleash its dash attack, Bayonetta intercepted by summoning a black portal. Emerging from this portal was the massive fist of a blue demon. Upon enduring this ferocious punch, Pikachu was launched several feet through the air.

As the Pokemon plunged back downward, Bayonetta performed a spiraling leap and delivered a fearsome uppercut while surrounding herself within streaks of blue energy. This, followed by a sliding, mid-air kick and another uppercut, sent Pikachu flying even closer to the blast line. Judging by how precisely timed these back-to-back uppercuts and kicks were unleashed, it seemed Pikachu had no way of escaping. Until…

“Pi! Pi!” the Electric-Type Pokemon cried, zipping away from Bayonetta at a speed in which it seemed to be teleporting, while also leaving behind twinkles of electricity. Within a split second, Pikachu was back on solid ground.

As Bayonetta continued falling down to the stage, Pikachu dashed forward and positioned itself directly below her. “Pika!” it hollered, summoning a tiny, black cloud above its opponent. The cloud then struck Bayonetta with a sizzling bolt of lightning at the exact moment she landed back on the stage. This particularly powerful attack sent her soaring toward the stage’s edge, where she fell unconscious. Pikachu charged forward once again in hopes of landing another attack before she got back up.

Unfortunately for Pikachu, Bayonetta lifted herself back up just in time, then summoned another demon fist. “Ta-ta!” she said flirtatiously, only for Pikachu to sidestep away from the fist right at the last second.

As the demon’s fist disappeared, Pikachu chose this moment to tuck in its head in preparation for an attack. “Piiiiii-ka!” it exclaimed, rocketing itself forward and delivering a devastating head bash. This mighty attack sent its opponent flying helplessly off the stage until she vanished in a flash of blue light behind the blast line.

“I’ve got a feeling this match will most certainly go down in history here in the WORLD OF TROPHIES!” Master Hand declared.

”I still can’t believe someone actually managed to escape from Bayonetta’s combo,” Villager commented.

“Isn’t Bayonetta the one who defeated you in less than five seconds in Round Three?” Isabelle asked.

“Not just me,” Villager remarked. “Her Witch Twist attack defeated all her opponent in less than five seconds, both this year and last year. She won the Smash Four tourney like it was nothing!”

“Yeesh!” Isabelle exclaimed. “That must have been frustrating for the other fighters. Kudos to Pikachu.”

“I’ll bet Bayonetta was quite shocked during that battle,” Villager said, before turning to Isabelle and grinning. “Eh? Get it? Shocked?”

Isabelle quietly giggled to herself. “Good one, Villager,” she muttered.

“And now for the battle you’ve all been waiting for!” Master Hand announced. “Presenting, PIKACHU versus META KNIGHT!”

Upon snapping his fingers, Master Hand summoned two brilliant bundles of energy that teleported Pikachu and Meta Knight’s trophies onto the stage. The trophies then gave off a dazzling shine as they came to life, then stared one another down. As Pikachu’s cheeks crackled with electricity and Meta Knight pointed his sword forward, the audience’s cheers, including Isabelle’s, filled the stadium almost to the point where Master Hand’s voice could not even be heard.

“Three, two, one… Go!” Master Hand proclaimed.

The battle commenced with Pikachu and Meta Knight charging forward, followed by Meta Knight outstretching his sword while spiraling like a drill.

“Pikachu!” Pikachu cried, releasing a bouncing jolt of electricity which stopped Meta Knight in his tracks. With Meta Knight momentarily off guard, Pikachu bolted forward and delivered a mighty headbutt, launching Meta Knight toward the stage’s edge. As Meta Knight regained his balance in the air, Pikachu leaped upward and prepared to whip him with its tail, only for Meta Knight to intercept with a potent slash.

Despite this surprising come back, Pikachu also managed to straighten up, allowing both of them to land safely on solid ground simultaneously. Once on the ground, Meta Knight prepared to perform another Drill Rush, his spinning slash attack. Before he had the chance to move, however, he launched backward by another swift and powerful headbutt from his opponent. As Meta Knight flew even further back, Pikachu charged in one more attack. Before Pikachu could reach him, Meta Knight managed to pull off a successful Drill Rush to send Pikachu soaring off the stage.

“Pi! Pi!” As Pikachu effortlessly made its way back on the stage with a Quick Attack, the same move it used to escape from Bayonetta, a Smash Ball appeared above the stage’s center. Meta Knight sprung upward to the Smash Ball and delivered a devastating slice with his sword, only to send it hovering toward his opponent.

“Pika!” Pikachu hollered as it summoned a tiny lightning cloud to strike the Smash Ball with a sizzling bolt. The sphere of energy then bounced back to Meta Knight, who immediately began spinning rapidly like a top to create a tornado. The Smash Ball collided with the tornado, then shattered to pieces and caused Meta Knight to glow within an aura of multi-colored energy.

Before Pikachu had any chance to react, Meta Knight glided forward at full speed and activated his Final Smash.

“Know my power!” Meta Knight hollered as he enveloped his sword in a veil of electricity and sent Pikachu soaring into the air. He then glided toward his airborne, rotating opponent, before delivering another plethora of ferocious slashes from several angles. Upon unleashing the finishing slash, Meta Knight sent Pikachu rocketing straight toward the rightmost blast line.

Despite being dozens of feet away from the stage, Pikachu’s unceasing determination allowed it to straighten up before reaching the blast line. “Pi! Pi!” it cried, zipping diagonally, then straight ahead, before diving toward the stage’s edge where Meta Knight was standing. It had its paws reached out on the off chance that it could save itself while wincing in apprehension. Will it make it?

Almost there… So close…

And…

“Pika…” Pikachu muttered as it clung its tiny paw onto the edge of the stage!

“Woah!” Isabelle exclaimed as her jaw dropped in amazement. “That was quite the recovery!”

“That’s just what I’d expect from a tourney champion,” Villager commented with a smile of pride for Pikachu.

As Meta Knight froze in shock, Pikachu grit its teeth in an attempt to lift itself back onstage. Once it did, it bolted toward the immobilized swordfighter and gripped his arm tightly. It then zapped him with a couple of minor shocks, before tossing him upward and whacking him with its tail.

“Pika!” Pikachu then followed this up with another Thunder attack from the sky. As Meta Knight flew helplessly through the air, Pikachu leaped upward and landed another tail slap on him, launching him straight toward the blast line.

Before Meta Knight even came close to reaching the blast line, however, he found his balance and flapped his wings enough times to bring him back to the stage. Pikachu sidestepped away to keep its distance from a potential attack from its opponent. Despite this, Meta Knight managed to land a downward-curving Drill Rush attack on it. This attack caused the little Pokemon to soar toward the other edge of the stage and fall unconscious.

Once Pikachu awakened and lifted itself back up, another Smash Ball revealed itself above the fighters’ heads. As soon as Meta Knight saw this, he sprung upward and gave it a ferocious slice with his sword. The Smash Ball then began floating closer to Pikachu, though Meta Knight was still on its tail. He performed an airborne Drill Rush attack as he made his way toward the sphere of energy.

“Pika!” Pikachu shouted as it managed to stop Meta Knight in his tracks with a bolt of lightning, causing him to plummet straight down. While Meta Knight was down, Pikachu used this opportunity to whack the Smash Ball with a tail slap, successfully breaking it and obtaining its remarkable power.

Upon seeing that its opponent broke the Smash Ball, Meta Knight promptly lifted himself off the ground and prepared to back away. But it was no use when Pikachu’s agile movements immediately brought it face to face with its opponent.

“Piiiiika!” Pikachu cried, enveloping itself in a blanket of electric sparks before zooming forward. “Chuuuuu!” It delivered a fearsome, electrical tackle on its opponent, then followed this up with a series of even more lightning-fast tackles from multiple directions, just as Meta Knight did with his Final Smash. To finish off its Final Smash, Pikachu unleashed an enormous, electrical explosion. This sent Meta Knight rocketing straight through the blast line as he vanished within a flash of blue light.

“Game!” Master Hand proclaimed. “Pikachu WINS!”

Chapter Text

Following that invigorating battle, the entire crowd let out booming roars of pride for the little Pokemon. Both Isabelle and Villager were overcome with exhilaration as well, as evidenced by their ecstatic claps and radiant smiles. As this was happening, Pikachu fixed its bright, glistening eyes on the cheering crowd. It then tightened its paws while grinning from ear to ear, before leaping upward while raising its paw into the air. “Pika Pikachu!” it hollered joyously.

After watching Meta Knight’s trophy appear on the stage, Pikachu dashed toward him and brought him back to life. The two battlers then shared a kindly handshake.

“The champion is… PIKACHU!” Master Hand shouted while fading into view with a trophy in his fingers. This trophy did not, however, resemble any fighter. Instead, it looked like a standard trophy, only this one had a giant sphere resembling a Smash Ball, with handles on either side and a crown placed on top. “After numerous exhilarating battles in this year’s Smash tourney, our first-ever champion comes out on top once more!” As Master Hand spoke, he slowly hovered his way down toward Pikachu. “Which means Pikachu will be receiving our grand prize! The SMASH BROTHERS ULTIMATE CUP!” he declared.

As Master Hand hovered downward, Pikachu eagerly reached its paws out to the trophy. Once the enormous hand brought it down low enough, Pikachu briskly grabbed it out of his fingers. The Electric-Type Pokemon gazed at the trophy with a huge beam on its face as Meta Knight began clapping for it. It then turned its head to the side and grinned as if it was looking at a camera, before lifting the trophy above its head for the world to see. “Pi-Pikachu!” it cheered, posing as if saying, “Alright! I just got the Smash Brothers Ultimate Cup!” As Pikachu was showing off its prize, the audience gave the fighter another massive round of applause.

“Which means that tomorrow, Pikachu will have the honor of facing yours truly, Master Hand! As well as my brother, CRAZY HAND!” Master Hand declared, amplifying the applause.

“So the champion gets to battle Master Hand? And… his brother?” Isabelle asked. Even in the World of Trophies, it seemed obscure that a creature comprised of only a hand could even have a brother.

“Yup,” Villager replied. “But it won’t be an easy battle, that’s for sure. Even Bayonetta didn’t stand a chance against them last year.”

“Yikes!” Isabelle exclaimed. “They must be really good with their attacks.” First, a fighter managed to defeat nearly all her opponents, most of whom had saved their world, in less than five seconds, then that same fighter did not even come close to defeating the hands? Just how much power could a single creature in the Nintendo universe possess?

“Actually, word has it that their powers are far greater than what they show off in battle, and that their battling style is to toy with their opponents for their own amusement,” Villager remarked. “I watched their battle against Bayonetta, and all they mostly did was deliver a flick, swat, punch or poke every few seconds.”

“They sure sound tough,” Isabelle commented, before widening her eyes as she realized that the way the hands toyed with the Smash competitors sounded an awful lot like how kids play with their action figures. Think about it. No matter how supposedly strong an action figure is, it is not going to stand a chance against the hands of the child who owns it. Anything can knock down an action figure, whether it be a flick, swat, punch or poke. Even though Isabelle knew the idea of her and her fellow competitors having that kind of difference in power to the hands was a ludicrous idea, it still made her shiver. Luckily, she quickly managed to shrug this off and shift her thoughts elsewhere. “I wonder if Pikachu can beat them.”

“We’ll just have to see,” Villager said. “Who knows? Maybe Pikachu will be the first to overpower the hands.”

“You don’t hear a sentence like that everyday…” Isabelle muttered.

“Yeah, the World of Trophies can be pretty odd sometimes,” Villager commented.

“You know, as bizarre as the World of Trophies is, I’m still really glad I came here,” Isabelle remarked. “Sure, I may not have done very well in the tourney, but given my lack of fighting experience, I didn’t expect that I’d do very well anyway. Mostly I’m just happy that I tried something new.”

“So you ended up enjoying Smash after all?” Villager asked.

“Well, it was okay,” Isabelle answered. “It had both its exciting and stressful moments. But the real highlight for me was trying out the Mario Kart track, and if it weren’t for me joining Smash, I would have never discovered that.”

“That’s great, Isabelle!” Villager said, beaming with pride for his friend. “I’m glad you got something good out of it in the end. Now you have a new hobby that you can continue when we go home.”

“Well, even with that aside, I still think that coming here was the right choice,” Isabelle said with a confident smile. “If I had turned down an opportunity as rare as joining Smash, I can’t imagine how much I would have been left wondering if not joining was a mistake. Now I know what this experience had to offer me. Sure, it could have been more enjoyable, but just the fact that I tried it out means that I got to learn what an opportunity this huge was like.”

“And don’t forget, you also overcame a lot of big fears through joining this,” Villager added. “Your bravery’s really inspiring, you know that?”

Isabelle stared bashfully at the ground while blushing. “Thanks, Villager…” she mumbled with a slightly forced smile.

Even though the disappointment of being sister-zoned had not left Isabelle completely, she felt comforted knowing just how much she had grown as an individual in one week. This week of participating in Smash proved to her that not every scary experience will end up effecting her permanently. In fact, dipping her toes into even the most uncomfortable new activities can lead to immense growth when approached in an optimistic headspace. Just through reminding herself that she was guaranteed to come home in one piece and believing in herself, she went from not wanting anything to do with Smash to thoroughly enjoying it, albeit from the audience. If she could accomplish that, then she definitely had what it took to explore even more of what life had to offer even without Villager by her side.

The next day, Isabelle and Villager joined the audience in another round of applause as they patiently awaited Pikachu’s decisive battle against the hands. On the monitor across from them, they were able to get a great and clear view of Pikachu’s trophy plunging onto the stage, then coming to life in a dazzling bundle of light. Once it was revived, the little Pokemon went on all fours and grinned as its cheeks crackled with electricity. A moment later, Master Hand zoomed into the arena from the sky.

“Bra-hah-hah-haaaah!” Master Hand guffawed.

“Mua-hah-hah-hah-hah-hah-hah-hah-hah!” cackled another hand-shaped creature as he zipped into the arena from the opposite side. This creature, Crazy Hand, looked identical to Master Hand, only his fingers were wiggling vigorously, and his high-pitched laugh sounded almost like that of a mad scientist.

The two hands then united and hovered ominously above Pikachu with their palms facing forward, looking as though they were about to seize it. This, however, only made Pikachu even more fired up, as shown by its widening grin and the increased amount of jolts crackling from its cheeks. “Pikachu!” it cried, ready for battle.

“Go for it, Pikachu!” Isabelle cheered, raising her paw into the air.

“You can do it!” Villager shouted.

The two hands then floated toward either side of the battlefield, ready to challenge the small Electric-Type Pokemon. That was until Master Hand began trembling and tensing up his fingers, Crazy Hand even more so.

“Pika?” Pikachu exclaimed, gaping in surprise.

“I… I don’t know what’s happening…” Master Hand stammered.

“Some… strange… force!” Crazy Hand cried.

“Pi-ka-chu…?” Pikachu muttered, frowning as it pointed its paw toward Master and Crazy Hand.

The hands continued to quiver until finally, both of them relaxed and stopped moving. They then started hovering out of the stadium, heading in the direction of a strange light in the far distance.

“What’s going on, Villager?” Isabelle asked.

“I’m not sure…” Villager muttered.

As the crowd surrounding Isabelle and Villager, mostly consisting of fighters, murmured to each other in confusion, Shulk, who was sitting in front of them, widened his eyes. He then grit his teeth and turned around to face the crowd of his fellow competitors. “Everyone! Master Hand and Crazy Hand are being mind-controlled by a mysterious creature near the cliffside! We need to stop them!”

In response to this, nearly every fighter nodded their head and got off their seat before heading to the nearest exit. As this was going on, a humanoid Psychic-Type Pokemon, Mewtwo, teleported to the stage, before teleporting back while carrying Pikachu. As the two Pokemon quickly made their way to the exit, Villager followed them. Isabelle, on the other hand, was so overcome with concern that she could not find the will to move a muscle. All she could do was tremble at the thought of what kind of evil could have been waiting at the cliffside, especially considering it was able to take control of such an incredibly strong duo like Master and Crazy Hand.

Before he reached the exit, Villager turned his head and noticed his friend standing still. “You coming, Isabelle?” he asked.

Isabelle remained silent for a moment while staring at the ground in contemplation. She knew that she was one of the few competitors to not have any experience saving their world. She also knew, however, that throughout the past week, she had demonstrated an inspiring amount of courage that led to her making it all the way to the third round. Upon realizing this, she took in a slow, deep breath, then calmly let it out. “The fighters are going to need all the help they can get,” Isabelle stated, before looking up at Villager with an expression of confidence. “I’ll do whatever I can to help them out.”

Villager gave his friend a smile of pride before the two of them both began following the rest of the fighters on their way out of the stadium.

Judging by the dire-looking circumstances, it seemed Isabelle and Villager’s return home had to wait a bit longer. But that’s alright. A little world-saving adventure can’t hurt now and then.

Following their world-saving adventure and eventual return home, Isabelle and Villager’s lives had finally returned to normal. While Isabelle was definitely relieved to be back at home doing her secretary work, a part of her also missed the World of Trophies. Not once was there ever a dull moment when she interacted with those wacky, charming and/or terrifying-looking creatures, or tried to make sense of that world’s absurd physics. That said, she still had loads of valuable things to carry with her from it, like the idea for the racecourse public works project that she and Villager immediately began gathering funds for. Not only that, but she also got to carry with her all the courage she gained from trying out that drastically new experience, and yes, even being sister-zoned. While it may not have been quite what Isabelle hoped for, the experience did ultimately help her become even more adventurous in her life outside of her job as secretary. That is, once she finally caught up on her many, many days’ worth of paperwork…