News smash: I added lots of new stuff near to the end of chapter 1 and the middle of chapter 4, as well as an entirely new chapter 2! :D (Make sure you read 'em, so you don't get confused!)
I also changed a key detail to the fic (which you can read at the beginning of chappie 1). The picnic is taking place in a specific location! Which one, though? I'll let you find out. XP

Chapter 5: Mario Clash

Letting go of Buneary's paw as they approached the picnic blanket, Pikachu shifted his coat tails and sat down on it. He made extra special sure to ruffle the blanket as little as possible.

He looked to the side, expecting Buneary to be sitting down beside him already. However, she seemed to be struggling to sit down, probably no thanks to her dress.

Quickly getting up, he held an arm out in a gentlemanly fashion. "[Milady?]" he said, grinning.

Giggling, she put her weight on it. "[Why, thank you, sir~]" she replied.

Grunting slightly, he helped her into a seated position. He was strong, so it was barely an issue for him. Not to brag, or anything.

Once she was settled, he sat down himself. Unfortunately, in his haste to help his girlfriend, he'd accidentally ruffled the blanket beyond repair. It was hard to hold back the heavy breathing that tried to escape his lungs. All of his hard work down the drain…!

Looking up, he noticed Box Boxer staring straight in his direction, an apple in ear-hand. Oh, good lord, no! Had he spotted it? Oh man, what would he think of the mouse, now!?

Much to his surprise, however, the dog began to laugh in an… almost affectionate manner. "D'aww, now ain't you two just the cutest things?" he cooed. "Cuter than a couple of snugglin' chips."

While relieved that he hadn't noticed the bumble, Pikachu couldn't help but be confused at that. Snuggling chips? Like, potato chips? How... odd.

Before he could question the dog, he suddenly realized the situation he'd jumped into. Oh dear… he hadn't even noticed that he'd shown so much affection in front of his girlfriend's dad. Eheh, whoops.

Face warm, the mouse rubbed the back of his head. "[Eheh, well… y'know,]" he mumbled.

Buneary giggled again and nuzzled against his arm. "[I ain't the cutest thing here, though~]"

Pikachu's face warmed even more. "[Y-Yeah, well… I disagree.]"

She smirked at him. "[Oh yeah? 'N' why's that?]"

He smirked right back. "['Cos… you totally are, Bunny Bee.]"

She made a high-pitched noise of delight. "[Oh, Pikachu…]" She winked, "[you've been practicin' yer cheese more than I thought, haven't ya?]"

His grin turned into a sheepish one. "[Hey… it wasn't that cheesy.]"

"[Sure, sure…!]"

Box Boxer gave them a tender look, which clashed with his rough appearance, somewhat. "You two are just so adorable together, Ah can hardly stand it!" He laughed. "And here Ah was, worried Ah'd have to beat the livin' daylights outta ya for treatin' mah girl wrong!"

Pikachu felt sweat pool on his forehead. "[Ah… haha! O-Oh… you,]" he replied. Looking at those muscles on the dog, he suddenly felt even more inclined to make this date go perfectly.

"How'd you two go about meetin' each other, anyway?" The dog's eyes sparkled, somehow. "Ooh, and ya gotta tell me how ya got together!"

Oh dear… that sounded embarrassing. Especially seeing as Box Boxer seemed to be a romanticist… Still, Pikachu had no real qualms with telling the story.

Before he could, though, Buneary shook her head. "[Nahh, later, Daddy! When Pikachu's dad gets here!]"

Pikachu paused before nodding. "[Yeah… I think he'll wanna hear the story, too. So… is that alright?]"

Box Boxer pouted. "Aww, but...!"

Buneary gave him a stern look. "[Now, Daddy...! Pikachu's dad'll wanna hear all the juicy gossip, too. Especially if it'll make good embarrassment fuel!]"

Some cold sweat went down the side of Pikachu's face. "[… I hope you save the more potent embarrassment fuel for yourself.]"

"[Teehee! We'll see, Honey Pie~]" she said to him with a wink.

Huffing in amusement, he turned back to Box Boxer. His face warmed a little further when he noticed the dog chuckling at them, but he grinned all the same. "[A-Anyways, yeah! We'll do lotsa talking when my dad gets here! Promise!]" he said energetically.

"[Sure will!]" Buneary agreed. "[We'll have a lot to talk about.]" She smiled softly. "[… A lot.]"

"Aww… well, okay, ya couple of cupies, you," Box Boxer relented. "Guess Ah'll live for a while."

Cupie? Okay, Pikachu was starting to get really curious about these strange… figures of speech the dog had been using. They sounded familiar, but… he couldn't quite put his finger on what they reminded him of.

While contemplating Box Boxer's odd lingo, the mouse reached forwards to grab a bun. Well, a toffee bun, anyway. The last thing he wanted to do in front of the man was grab the wrong one. Maybe if he wasn't looking later on, though…!

Chuckling lightly at the thought, he brought the pastry to his mouth. As he bit into it, Box Boxer spoke again. "Hey, d'ya have any of them maxim tomatoes?"

Pikachu swallowed sharply, eyes snapping wide. Did he just say...?

Buneary shook her head. "[Nah, sorry, Daddy. Our human friends don't get food from Planet Popstar, so I couldn't bring any.]"

"Aww, shucks," Box Boxer muttered. He brightened up. "Ah well, that's alright, mah lil' bronto burt. A regular one'll do me just fine!" He picked up a normal tomato and ate it.

Pikachu continued to stare. A maxim tomato? Planet Popstar? And... come to think of it, bronto burts? Those were... things from Kirby's world. Heck, Planet Popstar was Kirby's world.

... Wait. On the topic of bronto burts... all those other figures of speech Box Boxer had been using... those were creatures from Kirby's world, too, right?

Yeah... bronto burts were angry purple butterfly-like things. Chips were those limb-less fox things with tails. Cupies were... well, Pikachu didn't remember, but Kirby had a cupid ability... so perhaps they granted him that? Were sparkys something from Kirby's world, too? That place had such weird creatures that it was hard to remember them all...

He was about to ask Box Boxer if he'd ever played a game from the Kirby series before... but then he remembered something else. The dog had zipped down from the sky on a star-shaped thing, hadn't he? Had he travelled here on a freaking warp star!? But that would mean...

Pikachu looked the dog up and down. No way. This guy wasn't actually... from Kirby's homeworld, right? That was impossible, surely!

Then again... Pikachu did faintly recall something, come to think of it. Something to do with a large dog in one of the games. But... what had that been again?

While the others continued to eat, he tried to remember as best he could while nibbling on his bun...

Looking out on the waves of the ocean that spanned as far as the eye could see, Pikachu sighed. The salty breeze was pleasant against his face, sure, but it didn't make this boat ride any less boring.

He'd been sitting on deck for ages, and the trip still had several hours left to it. Sinnoh was far, far away Kanto, after all, so it was to be expected.

Currently, the ship's deck was devoid of any people or pokémon. Everyone, including Ash and Aipom, were inside the ship. Ash and the purple monkey had stayed around for a long while, but the second it had been time for food, they'd high-tailed it out of here.

Pikachu would've followed them… but he honestly didn't feel like eating. As their journey across the open waters had continued, he'd begun to feel… bittersweet. Leaving a familiar region to visit a brand new one never got any easier, no matter how many times he'd done it before. Especially since he was leaving friends behind, just like last time…

… Well, there was no use sitting around doing nothing. Pikachu had to keep himself busy, or he was going to go insane from the gloomy boredom.

He paused and angled his ears, checking to make sure the coast was clear. Aside from some abnormal splashing noises coming from the side of the boat - no doubt some random water-type pokémon - things seemed normal enough.

Satisfied, Pikachu held out his paw and concentrated. After a brief flash, his smash coin appeared in his paw.

With another few cautionary glances to his sides, he flicked it forwards with his thumb. Hitting the floor, it exploded with a soft fizzing sound, forming a multi-colored portal against the ground.

Swift as can be, he jumped into it. After some brief falling through the rainbow vortex, he felt the gravity shift, so he rolled into a landing on the rainbow-colored ground.

Looking behind himself, he saw the entrance to the portal close behind him. Seeing that, he breathed a sigh of relief. It was unlikely to happen, but the last thing he wanted was for anyone to discover his little secret. Especially Ash. Awkward wouldn't even begin to cover how that would go.

After some running, the mouse saw the rainbow colors around him fade away into sunshine as the portal dissipated. Sunshine that belonged to his destination: the Smash World!

Breathing in the fresh scent of cut grass, he glanced around. Currently, he was standing on the paving stones of the Landing Plaza. A place where people from all sorts of other worlds landed upon visiting this… well, land.

As always, it was incredibly pretty. The circular, stone plaza was surrounded by a vibrant garden. One covered in grass and various kinds of flowers. In the middle of the plaza, a lively fountain spraying technicolored water could be seen. It was a pleasant image against the blue sky in the distance and the odd landscape high above, which was almost like a mirror image of the one Pikachu was standing on. Weird as it was, he had grown used to the sight of it long ago, so he didn't question it too much. One did have to wonder how the gravity of it worked, though…

Done enjoying the sights, he moved along one of the pathways leading away from the plaza. He couldn't help but notice that things were pretty quiet today. There were a few random folks from various different worlds dotted about, but nobody he recognized.

To amuse himself, he decided to see what kinds of creatures they were. He saw some mushroom-like toads, brown, blobby waddle dees, rocky gorons… and an anthropomorphic dog guy wearing clothes that suggested he was a pilot of some kind. Maybe he was from Fox's universe… or was he from Captain Falcon's universe, instead? Eh, Pikachu found it hard to tell, sometimes. The guy could even be from Samus' universe for all he knew.

After several minutes of walking, the mouse found himself growing bored again. Less bored than when he'd been lingering on the boat, but he still really wanted someone he knew to talk to. Someone somewhat local, anyway. He didn't feel like searching high and low throughout the Smash World for anyone today.

Glancing about, he noticed a familiar large, yellow turtle with a flowing red mane and a green spiked shell. He was currently playing ball with his son, who looked exactly the same, albeit much smaller and less threatening.

Pikachu frowned at the sight. He never had been a fan of villains… and the two Bowsers were no exception. He grinned happily as he thought of something, though. If those two were here… that might mean Mario and Luigi were available to hang out with. They sometimes weren't, due to saving the Mushroom Kingdom and Peach from Bowser… or having one of their annual sports events with Bowser, for some reason… but now, there was a chance of seeing them!

Smiling enthusiastically, Pikachu pulled out his smash coin and held it out in front of himself. With some whirring noises, a big holographic map of the Smash World appeared in front of him. With this, he'd be able to track wherever his friends were. He often tried to avoid finding anyone this way, seeing as it was vaguely creepy, but whatever. He wasn't in the mood for playing a game of 'where're my besties?' today. Besides, others could do the same with their maps to find him, so it wasn't too bad, really.

Scrolling around the map with a finger, he unsurprisingly found an icon of his own face, as well as the faces of Bowser and Bowser Jr. Looking around some more, he saw Mewtwo and Meta Knight's icons together in some mountainous area nearby. The two of them were most likely having a fight, so Pikachu decided to just leave them to it. Especially since they were pretty grouchy, anyway.

He continued along the map, looking for either of the plumbers. Or any of his friends, really. Jeez, the Smash World was pretty devoid of other smashers, today. Nobody in the Smash Park at all. Nobody who wasn't a villainous turtle, anyway. Must've been a busy day.

Eventually, he noticed some red out of the corner of his eye. Scrolling to the left on the map, he grinned again. He'd found Mario, who was hanging around in the town nearby, known as… er, Smash Town.

Deactivating his map, he nodded to himself and made off in the direction of the town, which he could see on the horizon. Being the rebel he was, he decided to cut corners and go across the grass instead. Not like it wasn't allowed, or anything, but still. He needed to find some way to thrill himself, every now and again.

Without too much hassle, Pikachu was finally in the town. He had no idea where to look for the plumber in question, but he rarely ever visited this place, so it was a good excuse to explore. Honestly, he didn't know the actual name of the place. He'd only nicknamed it 'Smash Town'. Still, like most locations in the Smash World, it probably actually had 'Smash' somewhere in its name. No thanks to Master Hand, the god of this world, being awful at naming places. Seriously, there were at least three 'Smash Forest's. It made things so confusing…

Walking down the quiet streets, he took note of how old-timey everything looked. The buildings, especially. It was almost like walking into one of Marth's or Roy's games. The only things throwing off the scenery were the different creatures that were milling about, just like before. Their bright, different colors clashed against the rustic nature of the town, though it kept things interesting, so he couldn't complain.

Inhaling, he didn't smell any dust or damp, as one would expect… so he guessed that the town was only styled this way, and wasn't actually very old. He did, however, smell various kinds of food. He wasn't very hungry, so he didn't mind too much, but it was a good reminder that he should visit again in the future. Perhaps if he one day managed to get a lady friend of his own, considering how romantic this place probably looked at night. He was really jumping the gun, though. He wasn't much of a ladies' man, so he didn't see that happening any time soon.

After a few minutes of walking along the streets, he decided to let his mind wander to pass the time. Thinking back on the region he and Ash were headed towards, he couldn't help but wonder what Sinnoh was going to be like. The only glimpse of it he'd ever gotten had been that one time Ness had let him play his Pokémon game. Specifically, the one that had come out recently. Pokémon Pearly Diamonds, or something like that.

He hadn't made it far in the region, only past Eterna Forest - a location early on in the game - but it seemed like a nice place. If nothing else, he knew what kinds of pokémon to expect. Goofy-looking penguins... adorable-looking rabbits... squirrels that kind of reminded him of his friend, Pichu... All pokémon he was sure to meet in this new region.

As for Ash's next companion... well, that could be anyone, to be fair. Ness had started the game as some guy called Lucas, who had bluish gray hair and a red beret. He was always a possible friend. Somehow, though, Pikachu doubted he and Ash would see him. They never got to meet the male protagonists of these games. That said, May had been the female protagonist of the Hoenn games… and there was some beanie-wearing girl that Ness' character had bumped into while playing the new game. He wondered if she was going to be Ash's new friend, much like May had been…

Well, who knew? Either way, speaking of May… he was going to miss travelling with her and Max. He had a feeling Brock was going to return yet again, but even that was uncertain at this point. Oh well…

Continuing onwards, he suddenly heard music and various sound effects coming from above. Curious, he angled his head upwards. His lips broke out into a smile upon seeing a mustached man in a familiar red cap sitting on a balcony. At last! It was Mario time!

"[Hey, Mario!]" Pikachu called out, being understandable because of their smash coins.

Jolting slightly, the plumber peered over the railing. He smiled upon seeing who it was. "Oh, hello there!" he chimed, halting the sounds. "I thought I recognized your voice!" He beckoned upwards invitingly.

Running closer, Pikachu jumped against the building's wall with a big leap. Twisting around and kicking off, he went even higher and used Quick Attack twice, once to go even higher than the balcony and the second time to land onto its floor.

"Not-a bad!" Mario praised, putting something down on the table to his side, next to his drink.

Pikachu grinned. "[Thanks! Pichu helped me out with that one. When he was done practicing with his ukulele, anyway.]"

"Oho, that's-a so great! One day, you'll both put-a my jumps to shame." Mario pat the seat next to him. "Here. Let's-a hang out while I finish my shroom-a shake."

"[Sounds good to me!] Pikachu replied, jumping onto the seat next to him and sitting down.

Once the mouse was settled, Mario continued. "So, what brings you to these-a parts, my little paisano?" He took a sip of his drink. "Getting bored of-a travelling around that Battle Frontier in... what was the place called, again?"

"[It was Hoenn- Er, I mean Kanto, sorry,]" Pikachu replied, leaning back in his seat. "[Heh, and… well, you're right about me being bored. I'm not travelling around Kanto right now, though.]"

"Oh, okie dokie. You're not?" Mario asked, scratching his signature moustache.

"[Nope. Heck, we're on the boat ride to the next region, now. It's not all that interesting, though. The ride, I mean.]"

"Oh, that's a shame. Does that mean you're-a saying goodbye to some of your friends?"

"[Yeah…]" Pikachu sighed. "[Ah, well. That's how it goes, I guess. 'Always chase your dream, no matter what' and all that.]"

"Aww," the plumber replied sympathetically. He smiled encouragingly. "Oh well. At least you have ol'-a Mario here to keep you smiling, eh?"

Chuckling, Pikachu smiled back. "[Oh, totally!]" He tilted his head. "[So… what're you doing here, in this place?]"

"This café makes the best-a drinks, so why not?"

"[Ah, alright. Heh, maybe I'll get one later, then.]" Suddenly, something occurred to the mouse. "[Oh, hey… what were those sounds you were making earlier? Were you playing something?]"

"Oho! As a matter of fact, I was!" Mario replied, picking up something from the table and letting Pikachu get a good look. It seemed to be a Nintendo DS, a two-screened handheld gaming console that didn't exist in Pikachu's world.

Looking at the top screen, the mouse's eyes widened upon seeing a familiar happy puffball. "[Oh, hey, that's Kirby!]" he said.

Mario nodded. "It sure is! I'm-a playing his latest new game! Squeak Squad!"

Pikachu huffed in amusement. "['Latest new'?]"

"… Ol' Mario has-a some odd quirks, give me a break-a," Mario mumbled, looking mildly embarrassed.

Pikachu chuckled before scratching his chin in thought. "[So Squeak Squad, huh…? That sounds familiar.]"

"It-a should do! I think It's-a based off an adventure little Kirby had last year. Something to do with some crazy thief mice."

"[Huh, oh yeah… I remember now. Isn't that the adventure that everyone teased Kirby about?]"

"That's the one! Poor Kirby… I think people are still teasing him for his cake rampage."

Pikachu chuckled. "[Well, in all fairness, he did beat up an entire clan of thieves… because they stole his slice of cake, or something. I know that's not something I'd do.]"

"Not even for ketchup?" Mario asked, smirking.

Pikachu blinked. "[… There may be exceptions,]" he replied, grinning as his face warmed slightly.

Mario laughed. "Oh, well, I won't-a judge. After all, the princess always bakes me cakes whenever I save-a her, so I know the feel."

Pikachu raised an eyebrow. "[I hope that's not the only reason you save her…]"

Some sweat went down the side of the plumber's head. "… No. It's-a not the only reason Mario has…"

Smirking, Pikachu rolled his eyes. "[Uh-huh… what's the other reason?]"

Coughing inconspicuously, Mario held his DS slightly lower. "… Say! Wanna watch me beat up some of those-a varmints?"

Heh… so unsubtle.

Realizing the implications of Mario's wording, Pikachu gave him a dry look. "[Varmints, huh?]" he asked, crossing his arms.

With a pause, Mario awkwardly rubbed the side of his cap. "W-Well… not that all-a mice are varmints. Just these-a ones. Eheh…"

Rolling his eyes, Pikachu chuckled lightly. "[Yeah, I know. Anyways, sure, sounds fun!]"

"Okie dokie!" Mario pumped a fist excitedly. "Then let's-a go!"

Smiling at the display of enthusiasm the plumber was known for, Pikachu glanced down at the screen. The first thing to greet his vision was a bright yellow pause menu, with loads of different tidbits of info strewn about. He saw things such as a blue bandana… the word 'THROW', as well as a blurb to go with it… some details for certain throwing-based moves on the bottom screen… and other things like that. All stuff that must have been referring to one of Kirby's famous copy abilities, which he acquired by eating the right kinds of enemies.

As Mario unpaused the game, the bright screen went away. It was soon replaced with Kirby, who was holding a fighting pose with a blue bandana on his head. He was currently inside what appeared to be a jungle, with lush greenery everywhere and light poking through the foliage. He was standing on some mossy wooden floor, which stretched across the screen.

In front of him were dozens of blocks with stars on the front. He also spotted a waddle dee milling about. One of those brown, Kirby-shaped… things with no mouth.

Wasting no time, Mario played around with the controls, making Kirby move. The puffball grabbed a star block with his Throw ability and threw it forwards, decimating the waddle dee and all the blocks it hit. He then ran forwards in his silly manner, arms waving in the air above.

Some sweat went down Pikachu's head. It was true to life, he supposed. A walking force of death one second, a happy-go-lucky goofball the next.

Eventually, Kirby came across some more enemies. Some orange arm-less, snouted head that was on fire… and some bizarre reddish, pinkish walking head with a rabbit face, huge feet and ears for arms. It kind of reminded Pikachu of that cute rabbit pokémon from Pearly Diamonds that he'd tried to catch. What had its name been again? Bunheary or something punny like that, right?

Kirby jumped onto the higher path with the pinkish rabbit thing and ran forwards, ready to grab it. However, he was beaten to the punch. The rabbit lunged forwards, grabbed him with its ear, spun him around for a while, and then tossed him several yards away. He crashed into the ground, painfully.

"Oh, mama mia!" Mario exclaimed, frowning.

"[Oh, man…]" Pikachu grumbled. "[Suddenly, I remember why I don't like going to Kirby's world. Every corner you turn, you run into weird jerks like that.]"

"Hey, it's not-a that bad… there's less sane-a worlds around, like… Ness' world."

"[Well, that's not saying much, is it? I remember getting attacked by a floating, scalding hot cup of coffee last time I visited that place...]" Pikachu tenderly rubbed his arm as he remembered the pain. "[I've been suspicious of coffee ever since.]"

Mario made Kirby get a safe distance away from the rabbit thing before replying. "Well… to be fair, I heard that you offended it when you said that it was-a horrible…"

"[… It's not my fault it was so watery and tasteless…]" Pikachu replied, pouting.

Chuckling, Mario turned back to his game. No thanks to that rabbit thing, Kirby had lost his ability, meaning he was back to being his bald, hatless self. Thankfully, after some backtracking, the puffball came across that fiery thing from earlier. Inhaling, he sucked the enemy into his mouth and swallowed, earning himself a crown of fire. From there, he went on a fiery rampage. Using flaming breath and shooting forward as a fireball to set greenery and enemies alight.

"Y'know, it-a reminds me of the time you tried to eat a fire flower," Mario joked, while making Kirby set fire to a waddle dee.

"[Ughh, don't remind me…]" Pikachu replied, grimacing. "[After what I accidentally did to Young Link's shield, I've banned myself from being a fire-type.]"

Mario laughed. "That's a good call."

Kirby's rampage continued into the next area, a grassy cave of some kind. After some metallic block guys met an unfortunately fiery end, Pikachu decided to start a new topic. "[So… does it ever feel weird having a game based off your adventures?]" he asked.

"Not-a really," Mario replied. "I got used to it after the one based off-a my dream, with the vegetables and the evil frog."

"[Heh, alright, then.]"

Making Kirby set fire to some bat enemies, the plumber tilted his head. "How about-a you? Don't you ever feel strange?"

"[Well… I don't have much to go off. The pokémon games aren't about me, or Ash, or anything. Even if one of the characters did kinda look like him, and have a pikachu, and stuff.]"

"Oh… I guess so." Mario's eyes brightened. "Oho, just a second! You had-a the game on the ol' N64, right?"

Pikachu huffed. "[Puzzle League doesn't count. At all.]"

"Lemmie guess…. is it just-a because it's a puzzle game? I do remember you losing a lot, because of how long you took to decide each-a move."

"[… I wanted to make absolute sure each move would be a good one…]"

Mario chuckled while making Kirby dodge around some spiky gordo enemies. "And then the blocks hit the top of the screen before you could clear even one-a pair."

Pikachu's face went faintly warm. "[And people wonder why I hate puzzle games…]" He shook his head. "[Anyway, no, that's not why. I don't count it as 'my game' because it's based on that Pokémon show.]"

"Oh, yeah. The one that was mostly right until you all met-a May?"

"[Yeah. Then everyone turned boring and weird. That's not how it went at all!]" Pikachu crossed his arms. "[Plus, they keep making me the brainless one, for some reason. All I ever do in that show is smile, agree with everyone and mindlessly wave my arms. Same goes for my other pokémon friends, too…]"

While making Kirby beat up some more waddle dees, Mario pulled a sympathetic look. "Aww… Well, Mario knows how you feel. They once-a made a show where I had a gruff voice and was obsessed with spaghetti. It was pretty cuckoo crazy."

"[Oh yeah… I remember that!]" Pikachu replied, chuckling. "[Well, I guess my show's not as bizarre as that, at least.]"

As Kirby set fire to some bushes and entered a door, Mario nodded happily. "Exactly! Besides, I think I heard that the shows, and-a sometimes the games, are based on some other dimensions. Ones where we're actually like-a that, or something."

"[I'll believe it…]"

They stayed in comfortable silence for a while as Mario continued to play. After entering the door, Kirby was now in a different part of the jungle. Mario chose to make him discard his fire ability to eat a ninja instead. As a result, the puffball seemingly became a master of ninjutsu. It was awesome to see, especially as he sent his shuriken flying straight into the faces of his enemies.

After traversing the area for a while - occasionally hitting switches to burn things and reveal hidden objects - Kirby came across another door. When he entered, a small siren sounded. Then a big treasure chest and a large yellow mouse donning spiky sunglasses appeared.

"Oh-ho no! It's-a the ninja mouse!" Mario exclaimed.

"[Ninja mouse? What?]" Pikachu asked.

"She's a part of The Squeaks. That's-a the thief gang that stole the cake!"

"[Huh… guess that explains why she's chasing the treasure chest that's flying away.]"

Sure enough, the chest was on top of a platform, that sped away off-screen. The ninja mouse was in hot pursuit, climbing across the branches above.

Mario's eyes widened. "Oh, mama mia, she is! Oh nooo!" He quickly sent Kirby running after the treasure chest, occasionally jumping over the bottomless pits in his path.

His chase was in vain, however. The ninja mouse managed to catch up with the treasure and cart it over to some tiny fortress. Mario tried to send a flying kick her way, but he was unsuccessful. The ninja snickered before sneaking away inside, out of view.

Kirby quickly went in after her, finding himself trapped in a room, which was filled to the brim with valuable treasures, such as gold and rubies. All of which were, unfortunately, in the background, out of reach. Somewhere in the corner of the room, the ninja mouse was waiting, armed with some sharp ninja claw weapon. She ran forwards, ready to strike. When she drew close, the room also began to fill with some bizarre, if not cute, enemy mice of various colors. None of them seemed to have feet, but they could hop around, and they had large, round ears… which they used to throw bombs.

Man… this game was putting Pikachu off meeting any fellow mice. Team Rocket were bad enough for their use of explosives, so he didn't need a member of his own species doing the same thing.

Kirby and the ninja battled fiercely. The puffball sliced at her many times with a kunai as she jumped around the room. He took large chunks off her health with each successful hit.

She returned the favor with some strikes of her own, occasionally hitting the puffball and making him lose his ability. Each time, Mario had to make Kirby chase after the star that represented it. However, the puffball took some heavy damage as a result, no thanks to the ninja and her minions, who continued to lob bombs around.

After losing his ninja ability for what felt like the third time, Mario changed his strategy, instead choosing to make Kirby inhale one of the small mice. Jumping to a lower platform after eating one, the puffball then fired it at the ninja mouse, making her drop her ninja claws.

Running closer, Kirby ate them, somehow gaining the Animal ability as a result - according to the text - along with a brown, furry beast suit. With that, he swiped at the mouse minions with his sharp claws. Being small, they could only take a single hit each before disappearing in a cloud of dust.

As the area cleared, Mario refocused his attention on the bigger mouse, who was far easier to deal with when alone. With just several claw swipes to the face, she finally lost the fight, falling to the ground and exploding into sparkles. Seconds later, the treasure chest she'd stolen was left behind.

Mario wiped some sweat from his brow. "Mama mia… that was-a one spicy mushroom," he said, taking a gulp from his drink.

"[No kidding…]" Pikachu replied. "[Oh, well. Plain sailing now, huh?]"

Mario made Kirby pick up the treasure chest, which was then safely stored in the bottom screen. "That's-a so true… but I think that's all I've got-a the energy for today. Ol' Mario's beat after so many stages of-a this."

Pikachu beamed. "[Ooh, can I try, then?]"

The plumber smiled and handed the DS over. "Oho, absolutely! In fact, I have an earlier stage that-a still has one of the unopened treasure boxes. Do you want to take a shot-a?"

Smiling wider, Pikachu took the DS. "[Oh, you betcha, thanks!]"

"No problem! Good-a luck!"

Making Kirby enter a new area in the first stage of Jam Jungle, Pikachu exhaled slowly. He hadn't found the undiscovered chest in this stage yet, but he was busy exploring every nook and cranny until he did. Well, kind of, anyway. Mario had told him that he didn't need to be too thorough… but still, the mouse kept a watchful eye.

Kirby currently had the Cutter ability, which came with a yellow hat with eyes, wings and a blade on the top. It kind of reminded Pikachu of the stuff he'd find in the Mushroom Kingdom, seeing as everything there seemed to have eyes, including hills and clouds. Something that creeped the mouse out every time he visited.

He made Kirby throw a cutter boomerang at an enemy in his way, which was a waddle dee with a giant eyeball. Upon defeating it, he moved forwards, breaking through a small wall of blocks as he went.

After making sure to destroy the entirety of the blocks, mostly to see if there were any hidden goodies, he jumped into a small grotto of vines and leaves. As he made a move to explore, however, the screen scrolled to the right to reveal some big evil dog thing with ears for arms. Ugh, this game was obsessed with its ears for arms…

"Oh no! It's-a the boxing boxer dog!" Mario exclaimed after swallowing some of his shake. "I was-a fighting him for a while before you came over here. He's-a so tough!"

Pikachu grimaced. Mario was a fairly good gamer, so that wasn't reassuring to hear. Before he could respond, however, the dog went on the assault, running towards Kirby.

Yelping in surprise, Pikachu made Kirby jump over the dog and puff up to safely float out of reach. However, the dog jumped high into the air, smacking into him and making him drop to the ground while losing his ability.

His star representing his ability bounced around the stage aimlessly. In a panic, Pikachu sent Kirby after the thing to eat it and regain it before it disappeared into oblivion. However, he was stopped by the dog, who grabbed him, tossed him into the air, and clapped both ears into him. Kirby sprawled to the ground afterwards, heavily damaged. Getting up, he made another attempt at regaining his ability, only to be interrupted again, this time by a punch to the face.

Realistically, he should have been sent flying. Because of game logic, though, he only rolled backwards slightly before getting back on his feet. A small comfort, because his ability had disappeared into a cloud of dust. Drat!

The boxing dog began to hop up and down randomly, giving Pikachu time to create some space between the two fighters. Once a comfortable distance away, he made an attempt to study the patterns of the miniboss, hoping to find some openings. However, the dog stopped hopping to hold both ears together, seemingly charging something. Then, pushing both ears forward, he fired out a force of red energy. It shot towards Kirby, slamming into him and making him lose even more health.

"[Holy heck, did he just fire a hadoken at me!?]" Pikachu exclaimed. "[What is this, Mortal Street Fighter, or whatever!?]"

"I know, right?" Mario replied. "It's-a pretty ridicolo."

Pikachu tried to regain his composure, only for the dog to take a huge leap forwards. He landed on Kirby, causing his health to go dangerously low as a result. Oh no, no, no… Pikachu didn't want to lose one of Mario's precious lives! Especially not to some wannabe martial artist!

Noticing a small star left behind by the boxer's jump - something that often formed in Kirby games after an enemy's particularly strong attack - Pikachu made Kirby inhale it, turn around, and shoot it back at the dog.

It hit him square in the face, taking a fair chunk off his health. Unfortunately, it only encouraged him to run forwards, grab the puffball and squish him with another overhead clap. Pikachu's blood drained from his face upon hearing a familiar tune, which signified Kirby's untimely death.

"Oh, mama mia…" Mario groaned, putting down his empty glass. "Another life-a taken by the bad-a boxer…"

Pikachu's ears drooped. "[Aww, man…]" He gave Mario a sorry look. "[I was supposed to help you out, and because of that dumb dog, I just screwed you out of a life. Sorry…]"

The plumber chuckled and pat him on the back. "Hey, don't-a worry! It's-a like my games! It gives you millions of-a the 1-ups."

Pikachu cheered up slightly, though he still frowned to himself. "[Well… still. It's the principle of the matter!]"

"Oh well, no worries! Why don't-a you try again?"

Pikachu looked up at him hopefully. "[Oh, can I?]" He beamed as Mario nodded.

"Absolute-a-ly!" the plumber replied, giving him a thumbs up.

"[Oh, well, then… don't mind if I do!]"

"Fantastico! Best of-a luck!" Mario chimed, getting off his seat. "In the mean-a time, I'm gonna get a drink. Want one, too?"

Pikachu smiled. "[Oh, sure! One-a orange juice, please!]" He blinked as Mario laughed at him. Realizing what he'd said, his face warmed. "[Oh no… it finally happened. I'm becoming Italian.]"

Still chuckling, the plumber pat him on the back again. "I'm-a not complaining! Soon, my game, Super Mario 64, will-a be true to the name. All I need is sixty two more Marios for the collection!"

Pikachu chuckled along with him. "[Yeah, yeah. We'll-a see about that.]"

Laughing some more, Mario went inside the building, leaving Pikachu alone on the balcony. Buckling down, the mouse frowned determinedly at the DS' screen, eyeing up the entrance leading to the small arena. This time, he was going to work some magic!

Pikachu continued to stare at the dog across the picnic blanket. He felt every drop of blood in his veins go into subzero temperatures as his memories set in. No… freaking… way! Was this him? That dog of death!? What in Master Hand's name was he doing here, being Buneary's father!?

Sweat began to pool on the mouse's head. Oh, good lord. So he was dating that freaking disaster dog's little girl. How swell! Pikachu couldn't believe he hadn't noticed earlier… though it was most likely because he'd been trying to block that horrible memory out. All those lost lives… all those headaches… spending so long trying to beat the guy that he'd almost missed his arrival in Sinnoh, much to Ash's panic… It'd been a frigging train wreck of a day, thanks to Box Boxer. So to have him here, now…

He jolted as the dog looked up in his direction. "Huh… you're lookin' a mite shaken there, son. You alright?" he asked.

Pikachu blinked. He smiled as widely as possible. "[Oh, haha! No, it's nothing! Don't worry about it!]" he said, trying to avoid having his voice nervously crack.

"[Oh no, Pikachu, what's wrong?]" Buneary asked, frowning concernedly. "[Ya look like you've seen a marowak's ghost…]"

"[I… I-I…]" He swallowed. "[… I ruffled the blanket.]"

She gave him an odd look. "[That all? Really?]"

He exhaled slowly. "[Er... I ruffled it up really badly, yeah.]"

Box Boxer eyed up the picnic blanket in front of the mouse. "Huh… yeah, Ah reckon that's a pretty messed up blanket ya got, there."

Pikachu rubbed the back of his head. "[Y-Yeah…]"

Buneary clicked her tongue and wrapped an arm around him comfortingly. "[Oh, Honey Pie… Ya worry about the silliest things, sometimes…]"

"[W-Well… y'know. Eheh…]"

"Yeah, don't worry, lil' pardner," Box Boxer added. "Ah don't care none for tidiness. After all, Ah come from a messy jungle!"

"[Well… that's good. Thanks…]"

"[Here ya go,]" Buneary said, handing Pikachu a glass of orange juice. "[Now, no more worryin'… alright?]"

"[Y-Yeah, I'll try. Eheh…]" Pikachu replied before taking a big swig. It was hard to resist taking an even bigger one.

Satisfied, Buneary turned away to talk to her father again. Her father, who was a frigging near-impossible to beat miniboss from the Kirby series.

Pikachu mentally sighed. Just what had he signed up for?

TO BE CONTINUED!

Finished: 20/03 (March)/2017

Word count: 6,798

Older title: Who's The Boss Now?

VGS2's pointless notes: Kirbeh, Kirbeh, Kirbeh, that's the name you should know! Kirbeh, Kirbeh, Kirbeh, he's the star of the show! He's more than you think, he's got maximum pink! Kirbeh, Kirbeh, Kirbeh's the onnnnnneeeeee!

… Seriously though… surprise, I guess! Though at least one of you guessed that this was Kirby-related, so maybe not. XP Either way, does this mean that Buneary's got Dreamland blood in her? And Dreamland miniboss blood, at that? Does this mean the picnic's fated to be a disaster!? Tune in next time for more answers to these questions and more! Maybe! :D

By the way, have you guys ever seen Box Boxer? I'm pretty sure Game Freak ripped him off when they invented Buneary's species. The resemblance is so uncanny. It's kind of like if bunearys had both a male-only evolution and a really girly one that could be either gender. Just like a certain other pokémon species…

Character highlight: Box Boxer (from Kirby and the Amazing Mirror) - A big, brown, scary dog with giant ears for punching with. Not much is known about this miniboss in the two games he appears in… but everyone can agree that he's a force to be reckoned with! He attacks with punches, giant hops and nasty grabs, which in getting squished with a clap. The dog is even capable of launching a mean hadoken! Defeating him and eating him up grants Kirby the Fighter ability, which is fitting, to say the least.

Fun mistakes of the day: #1: 'Yeah, bronot burts were butterfly-like things.'

(Those burts ain't your bros, bro.)

#2: 'Everyone, including Ash and their monkey friend, were inside the ship.'

(Who? Donkey Kong?)

#3: 'Hre flicked it forwards'

(There's a character called Holy Roman Empire (Holy Rome for short) in a show me and me girlfriend watch. Is this him thinking of his shipping while doing that?)

#4: 'Eh, Pikachu was hard to tell, sometimes.'

(He's hard to tell, is he? I didn't know Game-Changer Pikachu was a character in this!)

#5: 'It was almost ike walking into one of Marth or Roy's games.'

(Oh no… Ike isn't satisfied with just having one Fire Emblem game, so he's going to steal some from his friends, too. I wonder if they'll still fight for him…)

#6: "[Not-a bad Mario]"

(That Mario was a pretty good one, apparently.)

#7: '"… Ol' Mario has-a some odd quirks, give me a break-a," Mario sweat'

(While wondering what to make Mario do while saying this, I accidentally ordered him to sweat. Or perhaps I'm advertising a new game of his? XP)

#8: 'Mario chose to make him discard his fire ability to eat a ninja instead, becoming one himself as a result.'

(The way it's written makes it sound like Mario became a ninja after Kirby ate one. Makes me wish Mario had a ninja power-up in his games! But nope. Instead, here's Flying Squirrel Mario!)

#9: 'Kirby quickly went in after her, finding herself trapped in a room'

(Kirby ate a woman and became sex change Kirby, apparently!)

#10: 'Man… this game was putting Pikachu off putting any fellow mice.'
(Oh no! Now Pikachu will never play mouse golf!)

#11: 'Mario changed his strategy, instead choosing to eat one of the small mice.'

(Oh dear… RIP In Peace, Pichu)

#12: 'The box began to hop up and down randomly,'

(Solid Snake's getting too excited. He's gonna get caught, for sure!)

#13: 'Pikachu's ears dropped.'

(That can't be good. I wonder if Buneary will still find him sexy, now he's lost his ears…)

#14: 'Mario replied, giving him a thumbs up as he got off.'

(He began to think of Princess Peach and sexy cake again. Naughty Mario!)

#15: What in Master Hand's name was he doing here, being Buneaty's father!?

(Buneary's new name for when she gets too fat, I guess!)

Alrighty, with that… I am off. Thank you, ravengal, for the beta read… and thank you for reading! It's appreciated, mates! :P If you ever notice any mistakes, please lemmie know, alright? As you can see, I make plenty. XD

Tata for now! c: