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If you were to ask “the Villager” - kid mayor, first resident from any animal-crossed town to be invited to the universe’s biggest tournament, and subsequently one of the restorers of the world after Galeem - who the biggest influences in his life had been, he wouldn’t have named Rover first. In fact, the traveling cat probably wouldn’t even make it on the list, having disappeared from his memory in the wake of everything right after. But for those few minutes that they shared a train car, he’d gotten harder and harder to ignore.
Villager had traipsed down the passageway from the other train car, restless from sitting, dragging his feet nonetheless. With the shaky loop of this ride that had already gone on for hours, a few minutes away from his parents couldn’t hurt. He could see the conductor busy at work up front. Otherwise, empty? …Oh, no, blue ears and a tail swish on the far side.
He’d cringed for a second, but the cat seemed to be minding their own business. Whatever papers were in their lap commanded their full attention. He’d do the same then, slowly inching into another seat and trying not to draw any to himself.
Then the train entered a long tunnel, blocking out the sky’s murky hues as well as the light that filtered through the window. The other occupant looked up and around, coaxed out of their reverie, and what else was there to spot but the boy? Immediately, they stood up.
“Excuse me! I have a quick question for you.”
Rover the cat’s voice had a perky casualness to it that felt natural, yet honed to a point. He inquired about the current time, before offering up his best guess with a smile. At Villager’s nod of confirmation, Rover’s smile only grew. “I was right! Oh good! This watch of mine, it gets thrown off really easily sometimes.” He gestured to his wrist emphatically. Unless Villager had missed something, he could only find fur.
“I’m just gonna plop down in the seat across from you. If you don’t mind, of course!” He’d already sat before the boy could even answer. Not that Villager really wanted to, “no” flattening in his mouth as they both gawked at each other.
“By the way, you…” Rover paused, giving himself a mumbled reminder, before starting over. “Can I ask your name?”
Since he couldn’t wait out the question, the boy eventually offered, “…Tobey…”
“Well, that’s a fantastically great name!”
“Cool, right?” The sarcasm thrown in there was blatant. Pretty simple thing to gush over, a name, and not one anyone else he knew ever would. But without breaking a sweat, Rover kept on, unfazed.
“Yeah, you seem like a pretty cool guy to me!” The cat beamed again. His friendly fangs dazzled as he leaned in with interest. “So, Tobey… tell me, where are you headed today?”
“Um.” Tobey swallowed down the anxiety bubbling from his chest. With that kind of reaction… maybe Rover didn’t mean too much harm. “It’s called Smashville. Dad said it had a different name before, but they changed it.”
“Hmmmm. Smashville, yeah, okay… Don’t think I’ve heard of it. I wonder where it is- oh, right! Map, map, map… let’s take a look along this train line. Maybe this is it right here?” From pocket hammerspace, Rover manifested the same stack of maps that must have had his attention earlier. Only one from the set was crumpled at the edges, which he pulled out almost impossibly smoothly. He drew a claw along the house-lined river until Tobey affirmed it. “I see! So do you get to go to Smashville often?”
Why did this guy have so many questions? Tobey turned his eyes to the window, pressing a shoulder against its cool glass. “I’ve never been there.”
“Today is your first time? That sounds like tons of fun! Can I ask, why you’re headed there?”
“I’m moving.”
“Oh, wow, is that right? That sounds pretty good to me! But you said this is your first time there, right? Does that mean you haven’t even seen your house yet?”
“I’ll get a place there.” Probably the flattest answers he could give, but in honesty, he couldn’t imagine any farther than that. Tobey had no idea. If… if it was anything like before…
Rover looked the boy over once more, tilting his head. For all his standoffishness, the boy hadn’t shot down any of the questions, the shared company, the prying into his life. He just seemed… uncertain. Hurt, perhaps. In need of a little guidance. Spotting the light at the end of the tunnel, resolve settled on Rover’s face as he came to a quick decision - something, he figured, that would help them both.
“I see, so you’re going house hunting once you get there. Heh. I guess it’ll be a lot more fun that way! I hope you find an awesome little house and have tons of fun in your happy, new town!”
Tobey opened his mouth, finally daring to turn the conversation the other way, when on cue the train bell rang. “Oh, hey,” Rover interrupted again, “looks like we’re about to arrive! Thanks for chatting with me! It’s been a long time since I’ve enjoyed a train ride this much!” The cat was back to smiling, this time in a way that looked more relieved than anything. Then he tapped his chin, tacking on one last observation. “Come to think of it, I’ve been riding the rails an awful lot again lately. Haven’t done this much traveling by train since 2002 or so… man, that’s weird. OK, good luck, Tobey! Bye-bye!”
And after one last wave, doors shut, that was the last he saw of Rover. Tobey went back to his parents’ seat for a final send-off, wishing them both a safe return trip to the town of his birth. For more, truly; they’d all leave that place together in his dreams, but Tom Nook needed other hands in charge of the old Nookington’s. This would have to do. He’d be the one to turn over a new leaf.
He stepped down from the train, through the station doors, and…
“Okay, everyone! Here we go… Ready? And… From those of us in Smashville…”
“WELCOME!!!”
The booming cheer of townsfolk gathered at the entrance echoed and he froze. What was this? Animals were everywhere, staring him down from all sides, but not with the animosity he would expect. Nothing but smiles surrounded him, actually. His stomach twisted to think of why.
Isabelle the shih tzu, secretary of Smashville, clarified for him, “Mayor! We’re so happy you’re finally here!”
About five different questions came to Tobey’s mind at once. First and foremost: “Who’s this mayor?”
“Um…” She mirrored his shock for just a moment. “…Oh, come on! Quit joking around. You know exactly who you are! You told us which train you’d be arriving on!”
“That wasn’t me!”
“Oh no, you can’t fool me! Things are just as you said they’d be! All is well. There’s no mistake!” A laugh slipped from the dog, twinkling brightly like the bells in her hair. “You’re a real jokester!”
“No, um- w-wait!” Tobey stammered, teary-eyed with confusion at the group’s overwhelming positivity. The townsfolk exchanged glances, but Isabelle took his hand with an air of finality and led him to the desk marked “mayor”.
Suddenly the letters, the requests, the calls to stay and chat were coming in droves… sometimes with intention… more often than not just to get to know this spry new neighbor. He’d told himself maybe that first conversation was a fluke, but these folk and even those moving in after him kept up the momentum. So, he eventually concluded, he would take it in stride. Tobey laid down Smashville’s town tree, then another, then more and more. Bridges were built, errands run, requests fulfilled. One after the other, until the roots grew into his. Weeks in, one unlabeled note whispered of the truth, just to disappear under a pile; how could he keep it in mind when he had a role to fill now?
Or when he’d learned about his new town’s rich history in the form of a wax-sealed invitation to Smash? Jumping between Mario and Bowser mid-fight had almost gotten him seared, but after the confusion and some power balancing were cleared up, he had fit right in. No one could blame his excitement to stand among the greats!
“Hi,” chirped Mega Man, the first fellow newcomer in their early demo days, “do you feel as overwhelmed as I do here? I’m Rock, but it seems like all the others know me already. What’s your name?”
“Master Hand calls me Villager.” He shook the Blue Bomber’s hand, beaming with pride at the title the same way he would every introduction after.
Even when Galeem took over and things turned for the worse, Mario and Kirby had scooped him up and dragged him back into action. Making room for him despite his inability to match their heroics was a weight that blanketed them from the first split to the last battle. Still, Villager picked up his trees, his tools, and threw everything he had into bringing Spirits freedom. It got easier to sink into the arms of reunited friends that way.
A campsite to build. An island vacation, all expenses paid. A chance to be Incineroar’s invitational combatant. An invite to Onett, before him and Ness even really got along.
Time and time again, he’d been chosen for reasons he didn’t understand. For things he didn’t deserve and no way to discern why. All he could offer to this world was himself, and at some point, somehow it accepted him… kind, patient and full of hope, even with the start of it all lost to time.
Villager turned these thoughts in his head yet again, boarding Dodo Airlines’ special event flight with his pink-haired friend. They melted into a soup of drowsiness in minutes, earning him an eye-roll and quiet until they got there.
The seaplane drifted up to dock where a sprawl of maze waited, alongside another invitee - blue ears and a tail swish on the far side.
At peace.
If you were to ask Rover - endless nomad, old friend of Tom Nook, runaway mayor-to-be, who he’d made the biggest influence on, he wouldn’t be able to narrow it down. He’d pushed destinations together more times than he could name. But on that May Day afternoon, when he spotted a familiar face laughing among the island crew, maybe he had an idea.