MY PLACE s02:e09 - Dr Shrunk

Entering Main Street not long after my little conversation with Mr Resetti, I saw an unfamiliar face stood next to Nook’s Homes. Not only was his face not familiar, but his… race? Species? That was new too. I couldn’t tell what he was, which probably had my staring at him for longer than I’d like, but he was also staring at me – beckoning me over without actually trying to draw attention to himself, if you know what I mean.

“You okay there?” I asked, approaching with caution. As a non-elected official, I have to expect danger around every corner. I told Isabelle that I aught to have a personal bodyguard or two follow me at all times. She thought it was funny. Her cute laughs hurt me.

“Ah, hey!” the strange visitor replied, very excited to see me by the look on his face. “You’re the mayor of this town, right?”

“They call me that, yes.”

“Oh, good. You’re probably wondering why I’m loitering outside one of your finest empty ramshackle buildings, yes? Well, I came here today to ask a favour of you, Mr. Mayor.”

Another business inquiry no doubt.
I doubt that Resetti’s recent arrival was enough to spread the word of this village, so let’s consider this our first real investment. Heh, heh… I sounded like a politician there.

“…You see” he continued “I was wondering if you’d let me open up a shop in this here shopping district…”

“A store, ay? I suppose it couldn’t hurt to have another one ‘round here.”

“Yep, that’s my request in a nutshell.
…So, what do you think?”

There was a moment of silence. I was so close to expressing my excitement towards this new shop of his before realising that he never even told me what it was all about.

“You’re gonna have to elaborate more” I said, flatly “What exactly do you have in mind?”

“I call it Club LOL!” he said proudly, spinning on his heel and spreading his arms out to his sides. “Get your imagination going, and picture it in your head! Come on now! You’re getting more and more EXCITED about it, right? It’s a great idea!”

What is it with these guys and being so vague about what they wanna with this village? I swear, everybody I’ve met in this word so far is a strange combination of suspicious and adorable. That said…

“A club?” I asked “That does sound pretty cool…”

“Doesn’t it?” he beamed “I KNEW you’d feel that way!” The stranger then proceeded to but his hand on my shoulder as if he were an old friend… or peddling something I ought to reconsider my interest in. “Anyway, Mr. Mayor, since you’ve agreed to my plan, I’ll need a little more help to make it come true!”

Time for an extortionate number of bells, no doubt.

“…Truth is, I actually went down to the town hall and talked with your secretary, Isabelle, first. Live venues can be a little on the noisy side, and some people might complain about that. She said if I want to open one, I’d need permission from the mayor and signatures from some residents. Since you’ve given me the green light, ALL that’s left is to collect the signatures!”

It’s worse. Having to convince the town’s folk of anything has always been harder than earning bells. I wonder why Isabelle didn’t mention this earlier. I guess she forgot about it amidst all the Resetti nonsense. I’ll receive a boatload of apologies for her scattered mind when I next see her, no doubt. And it is true that clubs can get a little rowdy, but what are the chances of that happening around here? I know I was worried about keeping the “quaint-o-meter” in check, but bringing a little bit of energy to Place wouldn’t hurt, right?

“Now get out there and get me some signatures!” my new buddy exclaimed, instantly making removing him from ‘buddy’ status. I gave him the coldest glare I could muster, which probably just ended up making me look constipated, but at least it made him nervous.

“I… I was waiting for a response there” he stuttered. “Did you shout, ‘DO IT YOURSELF!’ inside? Maybe yes? No? …I see.”

“The thought did cross my mind, yes.”

“Apologies for being so blunt, friend. I just think that this would go a lot quicker if people were asked by someone familiar to them like you. I’d be weird if a stranger like me just started going up and saying, ‘HEY! Want a CLUB?!’” He made a good point. After handing me the signature sheet, he wished me the best of luck.

“You’re an axolotl!” I exclaimed. It took me long enough, but I finally figured out what he was supposed to be. Hey, come on, not everything here is a spitting image of back home, that’s for sure. My outburst may have been a little out of the blue, as it left the smartly dressed axolotl momentarily stunned.

“Why… yes. Yes, I am!” he smiled, crookedly. “To be more precise, the name’s Shrunk. Dr. Shrunk, if you will.”

“Doctor?” I parroted “What do you have a PhD in?”

He chuckled, somewhat devilishly.
“Oh…” he muttered “You’ll see…”

~Author’s Notes~
I’ve been very excited to introduce Dr Shrunk as he’s one of my all-time favourite Animal Crossing characters. He has such a friendly personality and interesting backstory that I hope I manage to do him justice throughout the course of this series.

Also, a quick shout-out to the Animal Crossing Wiki’s page on Club LOL for providing all the dialogue you see when you first meet Shrunk, which was a lot more convenient than finding a specific YouTube video or combing through my old New Leaf screenshots. In the game itself, Shrunk appears outside of your front door similar to how Resetti introduces himself, but for the sake of convenience and to make my retelling of events flow better, I skipped that and had him waiting outside of the empty lot straight away.