What if you could add a Pixl partner to TTYD as a partner, with a bigger backstory?
I’d add Dottie. Her shrinking ability makes Mario crumple into a very tiny paper ball, which can roll into very small spaces, sort of like the tube, but for very teeny holes and stuff. Any tiny bit of wind sends him flying way back. You meet her in Chapter 2, and the Boggly Tree has a new mechanic where you occasionally have to compress into ‘Puni paper’ and solve puzzles on the Puni’s level. You even get to fight through the Jabbi and enter their bases yourself.
Her craggin tragic story: The Floro Sapiens from SPM join the X-Naut invasion of the Boggly Tree, trying to destroy it by planting themselves at its roots, and Dottie wants to help you beat them, because they already took over her original world.
Come on, deep down, you all know you want Dashell. Keep in mind that TTYD is known for having a ton of backtracking (nearly an hour in fact!), so cutting that down even by 25% dramatically improves player experience.
And I gotta say, a pentagon that makes you caffienated is a lot better of a reward than permanent Spite status.
Also, considering that most Pixls are actually just reskins of partner/boots/curse chest abilities that you’d all have by the end of the game, anybody, like Piccolo, for example, can stand out by simply being unique. Like, a partner ability that cures all statuses, no need for Feeling Fine or a Tasty Tonic, would admittedly have some use, now that status is inflicted by more than one family of enemies.
But again, Thoreau’s whole schtick is the same as Yoshman’s Gulp in battle, and you’ve already got Bobbery if you need to throw something to hit a switch or something high up.
And even if it would pierce through enemies, you’ve kinda already got the hammer spin move which you passively get from an upgrade.