Not Dead Yet.

ROCKY BALBOA,

of The House of Balboa :

It was nice watching you eat.

Good company.

Hey Yo, Little Marie - 

Let There Be Light!

ROCKY BALBOA,

of The House of Balboa :

You like dogs?

STEPHANO (“Steps”),

of The House of Balboa :

Dogs?

ROCKY BALBOA,

of The House of Balboa :

Dogs. This is like a dog pound.

It's where they keep a large variety of dogs. 

I used to come here all the time, for sightseeing.

But, you know, you learn a lot talking to dogs.

Really, you do.

STEPHANO (“Steps”),

of The House of Balboa :

Yeah, man. So... .

Hey, man, how about •this• one?

ROCKY BALBOA,

of The House of Balboa :

He don't look too friendly, my friend.

STEPHANO (“Steps”),

of The House of Balboa :

Man, this is the one.

Hey, boy, how you doing?

ROCKY BALBOA,

of The House of Balboa :

Hey, what about this one here?

Come here, boy.

STEPHANO (“Steps”),

of The House of Balboa :

Who, him?

ROCKY BALBOA,

of The House of Balboa :

Yeah, why not?

STEPHANO (“Steps”),

of The House of Balboa :

Hell, no. That is one •ugly• dog, man.

ROCKY BALBOA,

of The House of Balboa :

I know, but it's kind of a cute ugly, y’know?

If you look at it closely, the color... it sorta looks like old furniture, like some kind of pirate-chest thing going on.

STEPHANO (“Steps”),

of The House of Balboa :

Yeah, sure, man.

Hey, so how about a young one?

ROCKY BALBOA,

of The House of Balboa :

Steps, forget him. 

Come over here.

I want you to see something.

Now, you notice what this animal

is doing here? 

Lying in that position?

STEPHANO (“Steps”),

of The House of Balboa

He ain't doing nothing.

ROCKY BALBOA,

of The House of Balboa :

No, he's doing a lot.

He ain't wasting no energy.

STEPHANO (“Steps”),

of The House of Balboa :

Because he's dead.

ROCKY BALBOA,

of The House of Balboa :

Nah, he ain't dead, there's a lot of good mileage left on that dog.

Good food, the addition of a couple

of new friends, bingo, he's back.

What do you think is a good name?

STEPHANO (“Steps”),

of The House of Balboa :

It's your dog - You name him.

ROCKY BALBOA,

of The House of Balboa :

No. It's, like, a community animal - Fifty-fifty.

STEPHANO (“Steps”),

of The House of Balboa:

Look, I don't know much about no dogs.

ROCKY BALBOA,

of The House of Balboa :

Well, Steps, y’know it ain't that complicated, you pet him, you feed him, and Nature takes its course, you know, so... 

Don't you wanna name an animal?

I think every guy should at one time try to name an animal something.

STEPHANO (“Steps”),

of The House of Balboa :

I don't know. 

‘Fleabag’?

ROCKY BALBOA,

of The House of Balboa :

‘Fleabag’, It's catchy. 

It ain't original, 

but it's pretty good.

But I think,  you could come up with, in your young brain... something better to throw out than ‘Fleabag’.

STEPHANO (“Steps”),

of The House of Balboa :

‘Punchy’. 

How's that?

ROCKY BALBOA,

of The House of Balboa :

‘Punchy’?

STEPHANO (“Steps”),

of The House of Balboa :

Yeah, ‘Punchy’.

(Steps smirks, biting his bottom lip, looking Rocky straight in the eye —

Rocky knows he is being made fun-of, absorbs it, rolls with the punch and calls The Kid’s bluff  - he decides to take the suggestion seriously.)

ROCKY BALBOA,

of The House of Balboa :

....I like it, you know.

STEPHANO (“Steps”),

of The House of Balboa :

For real?

ROCKY BALBOA,

of The House of Balboa :

Yeah, for real. 

‘Punchy’ it is. 

It's easy to remember, it's not that hard to spell.

And once it's in your brain, you never forget it. 

‘Punchy.’ Very Good.

STEPHANO (“Steps”),

of The House of Balboa :

All right, man.

ROCKY BALBOA,

of The House of Balboa :

Good call.

All right, Punchy - You ready to get bailed out, my friend?

Okay.

STEPHANO (“Steps”),

of The House of Balboa :

Hey, you know it was a joke, don't you?

ROCKY BALBOA,

of The House of Balboa :

Yeah, I know.

You're a Very Funny Guy.

( and he says so with total sincerity - because he knows that now, Steps will have to explain his decision to his mother when she finds out that Rocky let him name the dog. )