Chapter Text
Pokestar Studios.
A place known for being the heart of television and film. A place where all of the biggest stars and entertainers of the Pokemon world made their mark. A place packed to the brim with opportunity and future success for anyone who wanted it.
But it could also be a place of rejection. Failure. Shattered dreams. Not everyone has what it takes to be a breakout star, and there's no guarantee that this studio will make one a success. Many hopefuls have stepped foot into the studios, naively believing that everything will just work out for them, only to be laughed at and coldly rejected. And a certain little guy couldn't help but think that he was about to be one of those people.
Inside the main lobby of Pokestar Studios, a small white rodent with blue stripes and a bushy tail was anxiously swinging his tiny feet and tapping his fingers together. This was none other than Pachirisu, and for this little guy, the nerves were skyrocketing. He could feel his heart practically trying to break out of his chest like it was a prison. Next to him was a Rhydon, who was just quietly reading a newspaper. How was this Rhydon not nervous?! Pachirisu just had to talk to him or he was going to explode!
"So…you from around here?" The electric-type asked the rhino.
Rhydon just gave him a look, clearly not wanting to be bothered. Pachirisu chuckled nervously in response, "Yeah, dumb question."
The Ground/Rock-type turned back to his newspaper, and silence fell upon the lobby once more…which didn't last long.
"Soooo, what are ya here for? I'm here because I applied to host a reality TV show. In case you couldn't tell, I'm kinda nervous, haha. Are you nervous? Because it's totally okay to be nervous-"
"No," Rhydon gruffly responded, not eyeing the significantly smaller Pokemon.
Pachirisu seemed shocked by his response, before answering with feigned confidence, "Pssh, yeah, imagine being nervous, am I right, haha! I don't even know why I was nervous, hahahahaha! Man, I am laughing way too much right now-"
"Steven," Pachirisu couldn't help but flinch once he heard his name being called by an Indeedee, the lady who was prodding him to come over with her hands. It was time.
"Welp, that's me!" The rodent chirped with false confidence, hopping from his seat and walking away, "Wish me luck! Not that I need it, hahaha," he chuckled, before completely dropping his facade and whimpering to himself, "I definitely need it."
Rhydon watched Pachirisu go with a purely uninterested look on his face, before muttering, "...He is going to crack," as he buried his head into his newspaper once again.
"Right this way," the Indeedee that Pachirisu was following directed. As the two of them walked down the halls, Pachirisu felt his nerves kicking in once again…although they never really left, he just wanted to pretend they were gone. He just didn't understand how people could live so…carefree and nonchalant! Actual robots, he swore.
"Alright, here we are," Indeedee said once they stopped at a door, snapping the squirrel out of his thoughts. The sign on the door read, "Darin Rock, reality TV supervisor & producer."
"Good luck," the weasel said, before leaving Pachirisu alone. The squirrel audibly gulped, before skittishly reaching out to knock.
"Come in!" He flinched a bit as he heard a gruff, booming voice from the door before he was even able to knock.
Taking a deep breath, Pachirisu slowly opened the door, revealing a large rock with four hands with black and yellow crystals sitting on his desk. This was Graveler, specifically an Alolan Graveler. Others knew him as Darin Rock, or just Rock for short. The Rock Pokemon smiled at the small rodent, "Ah, Steven is it? Come in."
Pachirisu blinked, "...Yeppers! That's me!" He responded, the words coming out way louder than he wanted them to.
Graveler chuckled, "Have a seat, young lad."
Pachirisu was actually thirty, but he didn't respond to that. Walking into the office, he hopped onto the chair in front of Graveler's desk, trying his best to adjust himself considering how much larger the chair was in his body.
"I'm Darin, which I'm sure you saw out there, but you can just call me Rock," Graveler said with a smile, reaching out his arm.
Unfortunately, Pachirisu's puny arms couldn't reach Graveler no matter how hard he tried. Even leaning forward didn't help as much as it almost made him fall from his seat.
"Let's…move on from that," Graveler said sheepishly, before pulling out a sheet of paper from his drawer, "So, looking at your application, you said you wanted to host a reality show that goes back to an old-fashioned summer camp?"
"Well, yeah!" Pachirisu answered with a big grin, "I used to love going to summer camp as a kid! The friendships, the fresh air, the activities, it was all so fun!" He chirped, before pausing for a moment and gaining an awkward look, "You probably think I'm a total nerd."
"Oho, not at all," Graveler chuckled, "So, after reviewing your application, I've decided to approve of-"
"Oh, well that sucks," Pachirisu said with a dejected look on his face, hopping out of his seat and beginning to walk away, "Guess I'll just cry myself to sle-wait, can you repeat that?"
Graveler chuckled again, "You're approved champ."
"...Really?!" Pachirisu couldn't believe it! The squirrel was now smiling from ear to ear; he actually did it! He ran up to Graveler, taking the Rock/Electric-type aback slightly, "Thank you so much! I really can't thank you enough!"
"Don't mention it," Graveler replied, offering a handshake once again, which was actually successful this time…at least until he squoze Pachirisu's tiny arm a little too much, causing the squirrel to squeak in pain.
"...Maybe we should refrain from the handshakes."
Clenching his teeth, Pachirisu shook his arm in an attempt to release the pain, before rubbing it a bit, "So, what do I do next?" He asked, his voice still somewhat squeaky, "And how do I know when to start-"
"Oh, you'll be starting right away," Graveler informed with a grin, "You'll be hosting The Decolore Islands Challenge which starts tomorrow!"
…Tomorrow?! There's no way, right?! "W-W-What?!" Pachirisu stammered, eyes widening, "B-But I won't have any time to prepare!"
"Don't worry, everything's already been prepared," Graveler assured, "The contestants have already been chosen and sequestered, the camp's already been prepared, the staff's on site, and the challenges have been planned. All you have to do is show up."
Still surprised and unsure of himself, Pachirisu scratched the back of his head, "I guess…but that still doesn't help me mentally prepare."
"You'll be just fine, Steven," Graveler reassured once more, "After all, this is what you wanted to do, right?"
Letting Graveler's words of wisdom sink in, Pachirisu's smile slowly returned to form, "Yeah…yeah, I do wanna do this. I can do this!"
"That's the spirit!" Graveler chirped with a chuckle, before gaining an apologetic look, "This type of last minute change doesn't usually happen, but uh…it's kind of a long story. Sorry."
"Oh it's fine!" Pachirisu boisterously laughed, beginning to make his way out. At this point, he wasn't even sure if he was faking it or if he was genuinely confident, "I got this! I totally got this!"
"Well, that's good to hear," Graveler replied, smiling at Pachirisu's confidence, "Meet me here tomorrow morning and I'll take you to the island."
"Sounds good, see you then!" Pachirisu said, before walking out of the office.
Once Pachirisu shut the door and was out of anyone's sight, he stood still for a moment and took a deep breath, slowly taking everything in-
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" He screamed, clutching his face.
…He was taking the news pretty well!
Episode 1 - Let The Chaos Begin(part 1)
The bright sun beamed on the beach of an island as some small waves hit the shore. Beyond the beach was a lush forest with palm trees towering over the plants and grass, creating a lush, tropical atmosphere.
On the beach was Pachirisu, who was now wearing a navy blue suit with a light blue bowtie, and Graveler, as Graveler had taken Pachirisu to the island like he promised yesterday. Today, they were accompanied by a bipedal blue amphibian, being none other than Marshtomp, who at the moment, was the sole intern. Unlike Pachirisu, the amphibian hadn't dressed formally and just wore a blue hoodie, which was odd given the tropical weather. Graveler and Marshtomp were setting up the cameras in preparation for the live premiere, and Pachirisu…
Well, considering the bombshell that had been dropped on him yesterday, Pachirisu still didn't feel fully mentally prepared, so the squirrel had just spent most of the last hour anxiously pacing around muttering positive affirmations to himself in an attempt to hype himself up. The keyword here being attempt.
"Okay, this is fine, this is fine, this is fine," Pachirisu squeaked, walking back and forth while Graveler and Marshtomp worked in the background, "In fact, this is good! This is what I wanted!" He then stopped in his tracks and held his head as if he came to a realization, repeating, "This…is what I wanted. Oh god, what did I just get myself into?!"
As Pachirisu went back to pacing and rambling, Graveler noticed and walked up to the Electric-type to give him some more reassuring words, "Hey, you're gonna do great. You got this."
Hearing this from Graveler was enough to calm Pachirisu down a bit, mostly because he wanted to hear literally any form of reassurance at this point. The squirrel took a breath, before hyping himself up yet again, "Yeah, I got this, I got this."
Graveler grinned, "There ya go!"
"Uh, I don't mean to interrupt, but all the cameras are set up and ready," Marshtomp awkwardly interjected, walking up to the two of them with a camera in hand, "When are we starting again?"
Graveler looked down at his watch, before answering with, "In two minutes!"
Hearing this, Pachirisu instantly paled. Almost any reassurance he felt had disappeared into thin air, but he decided to feign as much confidence as he could to ignore his urge to jump into the ocean and swim away, "T-Two minutes! Cool! Great! Awesome! Love it!" He blurted, forcing a wide smile.
"Alright, I'll be heading out. Got some business to take care of," Graveler announced, before handing the clipboard in his hand to Pachirisu, "Here are some sheets of the contestants, the teams they're on, and any other information you need."
Pachirisu skimmed and flipped through the papers. There was…a lot, or maybe it just seemed like that because he was already overwhelmed, "U-Uh-"
As soon as Pachirisu looked up, Graveler was already on the boat and was about to drive off, "Alright you guys, good luck! Call me if you need anything!"
Pachirisu blinked at first, his jaw nearly hitting the sand as he practically did a double take, before rapidly shaking his head and forcing a laugh, "O-Of course! I-I don't need luck! I got this!"
Pachirisu went into a laughing fit as Graveler waved one final goodbye before driving off. As the boat went off into the distance, Pachirisu's laughter grew weaker, and weaker, and weaker, before it turned into a whimper.
"Hey, if it makes you feel any better," Pachirisu turned around to see Marshtomp talking to him, the amphibian scratching the back of his head, "I'm pretty new to this too."
"Wait, really?" Pachirisu questioned, still sounding concerned, "Why are we the only ones here?"
"All of the other interns quit after they found out the original host wasn't paying them," Marshtomp explained, "I'm only still here for my college summer internship program so that I can get experience in the TV industry."
"So…it's just us, then," Pachirisu said with a crestfallen expression, "Great…"
Marshtomp pulled out his phone from his pocket, before his eyes widened, "Oh shoot, we need to start in fifteen seconds!"
As soon as Marshtomp ran back to grab the camera he was holding, Pachirisu blanched as he came to a horrible realization–he didn't know what to say! "W-Wait, what am I supposed to say?!"
"Uh…I dunno, just think of something!" Marshtomp called back, "Also, we have to use our species name instead of our actual names for corporate reasons."
Pachirisu blinked, "Wait, what-"
"And five…four…three…two…one!"
As the countdown happened, Pachirisu froze for a moment, before glancing at the camera that was in front of him, "Uh…heyyyy! Ste-I mean, Pachirisu here!"
Pachirisu awkwardly paused, before continuing, "So, uh, twenty," he checked the sheet of paper Graveler handed him to make sure he was correct…he wasn't, "Twenty two contestants will be coming to the Decolore Islands to win…" he looked down at the paper again, "One million dollars!"
After awkwardly pausing once again to think about what to say, Pachirisu continued, "Right now, we're on Frond Island, where the contestants will be staying at a fun summer camp! They'll go through several challenges, and possibly become friends with each other! …Probably. So, yeah, that's it! Welcome to The Decolore Islands Challenge!"
The Electric-type paused for a moment, before sighing in relief and turning around to face Marshtomp, "...I think that went well."
Marshtomp gave a thumbs up in response…before turning around to face a camera behind him and clenching his teeth in second hand embarrassment, which Pachirisu didn't notice as he had already turned back around.
Just then, a small boat had begun to arrive with the first contestant, which actually surprised Pachirisu a bit, serving as a reminder to him that…this was really happening.
"Okay! First contestant! Here we go!" Pachirisu chirped, mentally bracing himself.
Once the boat arrived at the dock, the first contestant exited the boat. He was a large green frog with a large, dark gray belly and large fake eyes bulging from his face, and a yellow smaller pair of real eyes. The frog wore a miniature blue bowler hat and a red bowtie. He carried a small briefcase and had a wide grin glued to his face, practically jogging up to Pachirisu as if he was a kid that just started kindergarten.
"Alright, first up, we have Bellibolt-WOAH!" Pachirisu announced before feeling himself being lifted from the ground.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you! Thank you so much for accepting me!" The frog beamed while rapidly shaking Pachirisu's hand…before slowing down as he realized he was shaking the poor squirrel's entire body.
Seeing that Pachirisu's eyes were swirling and that his face was beginning to turn green from dizziness, Bellibolt chuckled sheepishly as he put the host down, "Sorry about that, I just get really excited."
Holding his stomach and trying his hardest to refrain from vomiting, Pachirisu forced out, "I-It's fine…can you stand by the beach until everyone else arrives?"
"Can do!" Bellibolt chirped, eagerly jogging to the beach.
As the frog ran off, Marshtomp glanced back at Pachirisu in concern, "Uh…you okay?"
Standing up straight and taking a deep breath, Pachirisu answered, "Yeah, I'm goo-" and as if on cue, he scrambled to the edge of the dock, and let it all out.
"Hi there!" Bellibolt beamed. The frog was outside taking a walk around his city, with a few other Pokemon in the background, "My name's Brian, but you can just call me Bellibolt! I'm from Santalune City, great city by the way, and there's lots of cool people here!" Someone walking by then caught his attention, "Oh, hi Emily!"
An Audino looked back at Bellibolt with a confused look, before reluctantly waving back with a weak smile, "Uh…I don't know who you are, but hi," and walking away.
Turning back to the camera, Bellibolt chuckled, "Oh, Emily, such a kidder. That was the Poke-mart cashier, she's really cool! Not to brag, but I know everyone here, and they all know and love me!" Unbeknownst to the Electric-type, a Carracosta overheard him and gave him a 'what the hell are you talking about?' look, "But I wanna meet some new people! So pick me, and I'll be the life of the party!"
After Pachirisu got himself together, the next boat had arrived to drop off contestant number two. She was a slender purple feline with a yellow underside carrying a small purple suitcase by her tail that matched the color of her fur. Briefly glancing at her surroundings, the cat wore an uninterested expression as she walked up to the host.
"Up next, we have Liepard!" Pachirisu announced, "How're ya feeling?" He asked, trying to sound as cool as possible.
Sensing this, and being rather unamused, Liepard rose a brow, "Uh…I'm fine, I guess…where's the hotel?"
…Hotel? What was she talking about? "Uh…what hotel?" Pachirisu asked in genuine confusion.
Liepard narrowed her eyes, "...Uh huh…"
Unsure of what to say in response and confused as to how she didn't know where they were staying, Pachirisu let out an awkward chuckle, "Uh…go stand by Bellibolt over at the beach please."
Liepard looked over to where Bellibolt was standing and saw the frog gleefully waving at her. The frog looked almost too eager to greet her, certainly more eager than any Pokemon should ever be. The Dark-type softly groaned to herself as she walked over to the other side of the beach.
Liepard was sitting on a full sized bed with a nonchalant expression as she adjusted her camera, "So, apparently, we're supposed to do these. I don't know why, but…whatever."
She sighed, before saying, "I'm Tasha, but apparently we aren't supposed to use names, which is also stupid, but fine. I'm Liepard, I'm from this boring ass city where everyone's either annoying, an asshole, or a peppy loser. My helicopter parents that treat me like I'm ten years old, trying to control my life even though I'm twenty-two. I just…wanna get away from it."
She said nothing for a moment, maintaining her uninterested look, "...And…yeah, that's it. What else do you want me to say? Accept me or don't, I could give less of a shit," she reached for her camera, turning it off.
As soon as Liepard walked up to him, Bellibolt was instantly ready to greet her by offering a hand, "Hi there! It's nice to meet you! I'm-"
"Can we save the conversations for when the competition starts?" Liepard asked, having absolutely no desire to talk to someone so irritatingly joyful, "Thanks."
Liepard walked a few feet away from Bellibolt while the frog just awkwardly blinked and stood in place with his hand still out for a moment, before saying, "...Okay! Cool! That's fine! It's totally cool. No problem. Nooo problemo…silence activated…no longer talking."
The two of them stood in silence for a few seconds…emphasis on a few.
"You know, silence can be really cool sometimes," Bellibolt said with a chuckle, seemingly unaware that Liepard's eye was twitching, "No talking, no noise, just peace and quiet. Isn't it nice?"
"...Yeah, it is nice," Liepard said, turning around to give the Electric-type a look, "But did you also know that when people usually say they're gonna be quiet, they actually do that?" She rhetorically asked in a harsh tone.
Bellibolt flinched at her blunt tone before doing a zip of the lip motion and grinning sheepishly.
The next boat arrived shortly after, the first two arrivals diverting their attention towards it. It dropped off a pale purple snail-like Pokemon with green eyes, with the lower half of his body being a darker purple. The suitcase he carried also matched his color. The snail looked nervous and seemed unsure of what to do.
"Welcome to the Decolore Islands, Sliggoo!" Pachirisu greeted.
Sliggoo glanced around, particularly at the cameras before shyly grinning and waving, "Uh…hi, uh…I'm Sliggoo."
Pachirisu blinked, "Uh…yeah, I…kinda just said that."
Sliggoo said nothing for a couple seconds before realizing his mistake, "Oh yeah, heh heh, you did say that. That was pretty weird of me to say it again," he said with a nervous giggle while awkwardly scratching his head.
Sliggoo then just…awkwardly smiled and stared at Pachirisu for a few seconds, who just awkwardly stared back at him. It didn't help that Sliggoo's hands were dripping with his goo…and that Pachirisu had to watch it.
"Uhh…can you go stand by the others, please?" Pachirisu asked, desperate for the awkwardness to end.
"O-Oh! R-Right, sorry, heh heh," Sliggoo sheepishly apologized, quickly(as quickly as a snail could, at least) moving out of the squirrel's way.
"Um…hi!" Sliggoo greeted to the camera with a wave, standing on the porch of his house, "I'm Lenny and…I signed up for your show."
The snail said nothing for about five seconds, practically staring into the camera's nonexistent soul, before briefly glancing away from it, "...Should I say something else? I probably should," he then turned back to the camera with a smile, "So…I mostly just signed up for this show because I wanna make some friends. I…don't really have any…people think I'm weird," he admitted, his expression turning into one of sadness, before it almost immediately perked back up, "But I could try to make some! If I get accepted. So, yeah."
The Dragon-type continued to smile at the camera while awkwardly glancing around for another few seconds…and another few seconds…and another few seconds, to the point where the tape had to be cut.
Almost immediately after Sliggoo moved forward, the next boat arrived…except that it was actually more like a yacht, much to the surprise of everyone on the beach.
"Woah…" Bellibolt marvled as he and Sliggoo looked up at the yacht in awe. Liepard was less impressed, and was more so bewildered.
The yacht slowly came to a stop, while Pachirisu also eyed it in surprise, wondering why anyone that could afford a yacht would even sign up for this show. He was quickly snapped out of his thoughts however when a set of stairs almost smashed his face! With a yelp, he quickly moved out of its way.
On the yacht was an Eiscue with a butler outfit holding a pink cosmetic suitcase for someone to grab. The figure who grabbed the suitcase was sipping on a drink…before carelessly dropping it once she was finished with it as she began to walk, or rather strut down the stairs. She was a mostly green humanoid plant-like Pokemon that resembled a hula dancer. She had red petals on her head, and yellow and green leaves around her waist. She was also wearing pink sunglasses.
"Farewell, Miss Elena. Enjoy your stay at this island," The Eiscue said in a formal tone.
"Yeah, yeah, bye Michael," The plant waved off, not even looking back at her butler.
Once the plant stepped onto the dock, the stairs were lifted up, and the yacht slowly backed off to drive away.
"…Bellossom!" Pachirisu awkwardly announced, clasping his hands together as the new contestant in question gave him a look, "Uh…welcome! Sorry, but names are not allowed for-"
"Okay, first of all, that outfit is super tacky," Bellossom interjected, motioning her hands over Pachirisu's suit like she was drawing an invisible circle, a disgusted expression glued to her face, "Have some standards before talking to me."
"I-I-" Pachirisu stammered, flabbergasted that a contestant would actually insult him. He looked down at his outfit and picked at it, "W-What's wrong with it?"
Bellossom hummed, before smirking, "You know what, you're right. It is perfect for someone so outrageously short, ugly, and pathetic looking like yourself. Simply embarrassing."
Pachirisu's jaw almost dropped to the floor at the plant's cruel words. All he could do was blink and stammer as Bellossom walked to the beach with a smug, self-satisfied expression.
"...Damn…" Marshtomp whispered from behind the camera, holding a shocked expression of his own.
Bellossom was sitting in front of a large mirror that stood on her dresser. Her bedroom was fancy, which was especially shown by her canopy bed in the background. She continued to check herself out, before turning her head towards the camera and giving it a knowing smirk.
"Why, hello there," she coyly greeted, "You may know me as 'Elena's beauty' on Instagranbull, but for the sake of this video, just Elena works."
Turning the rest of her body towards the camera, she continued, her smug aura growing by the second, "Now, you're probably wondering why I would sign up for this. Well…I didn't have to! As you're watching this, I'm already on the show. Some producer messaged me on Instagranbull, told me that I look stunning, which is absolutely true, and then suggested this show to me. Of course, I could never say no to more money. I'm only doing this audition tape thing because they told me to."
Leaning back on her chair, she put on the most smug grin imaginable, displaying a sense of superiority towards the viewer, "Just goes to show what a pretty face like myself can get you in life. And I'm gonna win that money, too. It's simply what I deserve. Buh byyyye~!" She gave the camera a sly wave…which lasted for a few seconds because giving the camera a deadpan look and speaking through grit teeth, "Turn the camera off, Michael."
Bellossom walked towards her fellow contestants, face scrunching up in disgust as she continued her verbal assault, "And are these seriously the uggos that I have to associate myself with all summer?!"
Bellibolt and Sliggoo cringed while Liepard glared at her.
"Uh…hello to you as well," Bellibolt replied, giving a weak smile.
"Who the hell are you calling ugly? You don't even know us!" Liepard stated, holding her glare.
Bellossom gave the feline a look, "Uh, you, obviously. Don't be mad because you were born with that look."
Liepard snarled at Bellossom while the Grass-type ignored her, a smug expression glued to her face. Meanwhile, Bellibolt and Sliggoo exchanged worried glances.
The next boat(thankfully a normal boat this time) arrived shortly after. It dropped off a mostly brown snake with rings around her body to the point where it basically was her body. Similar to Liepard, she looked uninterested.
Still slightly reeling from Bellossom's insults, Pachirisu tried his best to shake them off in order to introduce the next contestant, "Up next, we have Sandaconda-"
"Yeah, sure, whatever," The snake grumbled, slithering past Pachirisu without another word, much to the squirrel's surprise. He blinked for a moment, before deadpanning and muttering, "This is gonna be a long summer."
"Hi! Nice to meet you!" Bellibolt greeted once again with a friendly wave and a beaming smile, one that made Sandaconda recoil quite a bit once she approached the others.
Sandaconda narrowed her eyes at the frog before humming, "mhmm…" and slithering off to the left of all of them, giving them mixed reactions.
"O…kay then?" Bellibolt faltered.
"I'd say let her stay over there," Bellossom said, "No one would wanna be around someone putrid like her anyway."
"No one wants to be around you either," Liepard retorted, giving the plant a look, "Hell, I don't wanna be around any of you."
"Aw, really? But we just met!" Bellibolt responded, giving the Dark-type an encouraging smile
"Well, I can understand why people don't wanna be around me; I'm kinda weird," Sliggoo admitted, "I mean, look at my hands."
Sliggoo held his slimy hands up, causing Bellossom and Liepard to instantly recoil upon seeing what almost looked like piss dripping from his hands. It was disgusting, frankly, and they didn't understand why this socially inept snail wanted anyone to see that.
"...Nope! Not associating with you all anymore; you're all gross," Bellossom declared, walking away from everyone with her hands up.
"Yeah…that's fair," Sliggoo murmured, looking down at the sand dejectedly as Bellibolt reassuringly patted his shell.
Amidst their conversation, however, Sandaconda was eyeing them from a few feet away, her eyes narrowing as if she was analyzing them…
Standing on the side of a pokemart, Sandaconda set up her camera and gave it a nonchalant look, "Let's get this over with. Name's Phoebe, and I plan on winning this dumb show by any means necessary. What do I mean by that?"
As if on cue, some guys started speaking, and Sandaconda listened closely, "Dude, do you know what's gonna happen if your wife catches you sleeping with that bitch?"
"Who cares? I just won't get caught."
Sandaconda smirked before slithering away to the back of the pokemart and taking the camera with her.
"So, Jeremy's cheating on Susan with that pornstar, huh? Knew he was a slimeball," Sandaconda murmured quietly enough so that no one could hear, before smirking once again, "And now everyone on national tv is gonna know about it."
She turned back to the camera, "See that? That's how I'm gonna play this game. I'll gather any secrets from the other loser contestants and use it to my advantage. That's just how you play games like this. Hell, it's just how life works. So I'm gonna bring it to the game," her smirk grew wider as she cut off the recording.
The next boat had already arrived as they were talking. It dropped off a gray ghost that resembled a puppet with a zipper for a mouth. He was also wearing a black backpack. The ghost held a nervous expression as he walked up to the host while glancing at his surroundings.
"Welcome to The Decolore Islands, Banette!" Pachirisu beamed.
The puppet nervously tapped his thumbs together before awkwardly waving, "Uh…hi, I guess?"
Pachirisu blinked, "Uh…is that it?"
"I mean, I-I don't know what else to say," Banette meekly responded while awkwardly shrugging.
"Um…alright then! Go stand by the others, please," Pachirisu gestured his hands to the other contestants…who were all staring…and staring…and staring at Banette.
Upon seeing all of those judgemental eyes staring him down, Banette felt his eyes widen in fear as his body tensed up and he began to sweat, which one would think would be impossible for a ghost. He forced out a crooked smile as his left eye twitched, "Cool…people! Greaaaat…"
The camera turned on to a relatively normal looking bedroom with Banette being in front of it. The puppet wore a nervous expression as he awkwardly balled his hands together and twiddled his thumbs while the camera was being adjusted to make him more visible.
"Alright, dude, we're recording." The person recording whispered.
Banette stiffened up, before forcing a nervous grin and wave, "Uh…h-hi, whoever's seeing this. I-I'm Dylan, but I'll be going by Banette, I guess."
"Tell them why you're a good fit for the show," his roomate whispered offscreen.
"Well…" Banette struggled to think if anything, before sheepishly replying with a shrug, "I'm not a bother to anyone."
"Dude, tell them your strengths or something," a different voice, presumably his other roomate spoke.
"Oh, right, strengths," The puppet said…before trailing off in thought once again, "Uhhhhh….well, I'm…creative, I guess?"
"An actual strength, bro."
Banette lightly facepalmed with a groan, "Look, guys, this is stupid. I'm not gonna get accepted. I'm just not interesting! I don't have anything going on in my life! I like being a hermit!"
"Hey, that's perfect!"
"What is?" Banette asked.
"We could use this to show the host that you need to get out more!"
Banette instantly grew an even more nervous look as his eyes widened, "Please don't-"
"Annnnnd recording done!"
"Wait, no-!"
"Uh…hi everyone," the puppet greeted once he walked up to the others, giving the other contestants a nervous wave, "I'm Banette, but you guys probably already knew that, and…that'sallbye!"
Banette briskly walked away from everyone while trying his best to ignore everyone's looks.
"Seeya Banette!" Bellibolt chirped with a wave as if he would never see the ghost again.
Banette quickly went to sit by a tree and sighed in relief. He dug through his backpack and pulled out a notebook and opened the pages that a pen was in between. He then began to write-
"What are you doing?"
Banette yelped and swiftly turned around to see Sliggoo smiling down at him, looking innocently curious.
"Uhhh, n-nothing! N-Nothing at all!" Banette hastily stammered out, holding his notebook as close to himself as he possibly could.
"I mean, it looked like you were-"
"Going away now!"
Banette scrambled even further away from everyone else, leaving Sliggoo confused, "Was it something I said?"
As Banette found his new spot, however, Sandaconda glanced at the ghost in interest, a smirk rising across her face as she whispered, "Interesting…"
As that happened, the next contestant was dropped off. Similar to Liepard, she was also a feline. Most of her body was tan with her ears, tail, and collar being purple. She carried a peach colored suitcase by her tail.
"This is for the Decolore Islands Challenge, correct?" The cat queried in a rather formal tone after walking up to Pachirisu.
"Yep, you're at the right spot, Delcatty," Pachirisu assured with a smile and a thumbs up.
Delcatty nodded, "Good. Although I'm confused as to why we're here instead of the hotel we're supposed to be at, but I'm sure there's an explanation for it."
Pachirisu blinked, becoming even more concerned and surprised about how the contestants didn't know what was going on. "Uh…y-yeah, heh, there'll be an explanation alright," he awkwardly responded with a sheepish chuckle.
Noticing his hesitation, Delcatty raised a brow in suspicion, "...Right," she replied, before walking past the squirrel, who took a relieved breath.
"Hello, everyone, my name is Kali," Delcatty formally greeted, standing by a dresser that held some diplomas and small trophies, "Now, I see a lot of people, myself included, wonder why no one seems smart anymore. Stupidity really is running rampant, and I'm here to put an end to that."
"What do I mean by that?" She rhetorically asked, "Well, just take a look for yourself."
The camera zoomed in slightly, making her prized possessions easier to see. She then walked closer towards them, "I've graduated at the top of my class for both high school and college, my degree is biology and medicine, and I have a plethora of academic awards for math, science, my school's debate team, and almost anything else you can think of."
She then faced the camera once again with a confident smirk, "Let's be real for a second. Most of the people signed up for this either just want tv time, or they probably think they're going to just brute force their way through the game without any thought or strategy whatsoever. Which is why I'll be able to outsmart everyone and win the money. If you accept me, I'll be able to prove that." She stated, her smirk almost as big as her ego seemed to be.
Right after that, the next contestant arrived. She was a large green dinosaur with a pink flower around her neck and yellow antennae on her head. She carried a red duffel bag around her neck and held a determined, no-nonsense glare, showing that she was not to be messed with. This intimidated Pachirisu quite a bit as she walked up to him, not helped by the fact that she towered over the squirrel.
"Uh…h-h-hi, M-Meganium," Pachirisu stammered, forcing a nervous smile and chuckle.
Meganium didn't respond to the host, and instead glanced ahead at the others, before gaining an unimpressed look and eyeing Pachirisu once again, "So, those guys are my competition, huh?"
"Uhhh…yeah," Pachirisu responded, slowly nodding.
"Got it," Meganium said, pointing her glare towards the others again, before making her way over to them. Pachirisu couldn't help but heave yet another sigh of relief.
Inside of what looked to be a weightlifting gym, Meganium was bench pressing a heavy weight. Specifically a forty five and twenty five pound plate on each side of the bench…and she was doing so with her vines wrapped around the bar, looking very focused.
After doing a few more lifts, she sat the weight down on the racks before sitting up and giving the camera a confident grin, "See that? That's what you're gonna be getting from me," gaining a more serious look, she continued, "The name's Tya. I give it my all in everything I do, and I'm probably the strongest person I know, and I wanna prove it. So if you accept me, I'm winning this thing by sheer power, and no lazy idiots are gonna hold me back."
Getting up from her seat, she brought her vines back out, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I gotta continue my workout," she then began to do pushups with them.
As she walked towards the cast, Meganium held her serious glare, not saying a word to them. While a few of them(the guys) were intimidated, others(the girls) were unfazed.
"Uh…hi," Bellibolt reluctantly greeted with a smile and a small wave, trying to be polite in spite of the new arrival's demeanor.
Meganium gave the frog a look, clearly showing that making friends wasn't on her agenda. Bellibolt slowly put his hand down and awkwardly looked away in shame.
"Well someone has a stick up their ass," Bellossom commented, putting her hands on her hips and giving the dino a look.
"In case you forgot, pretty girl, this is a competition," Meganium reminded, returning the look, "And I plan on winning, not making friends."
"Amen to that," Liepard concurred with a slight grin.
"I can agree to that mentality as well," Delcatty replied.
The next contestant arrived shortly after, hopping off the boat. He was a small clam-like Pokemon with a violet shell, and a long tongue sticking out. He also was wearing glasses that covered his wide eyes and had a small blue backpack on top of his shell that almost looked bigger than him, though he didn't seem to struggle. The Water Type was also holding a large blue binder and was reading through it as he walked forward without paying much attention to his surroundings.
"Welcome to the Decolore Islands, Shellder," Pachirisu greeted, before realizing the clam wasn't paying attention, "Uhhh, Shellder? Shellder!"
"Hm?" Shellder muttered, before bumping into someone with his binder. He looked up to see the host lose his balance and fall on his behind, "Oh, heh, sorry about that," he chuckled sheepishly.
"It's fine," Pachirisu assured after getting back up, "What's that you're reading?"
"Oh, it's my strategy book!" Shellder chirped, before showing Pachirisu the pages he was reading. On the pages were a lot of, well…words. "You wanna read it? I've taken notes from all of the reality tv shows that I've watched."
"…Uhhhh, maybe later," Pachirisu awkwardly replied, gently pushing the binder away, "We still have to get through the introductions. Can you stand by everyone else for now?"
"Oh, right, of course," Shellder conceded, closing his binder and hopping off the dock. He began to walk towards the other contestants…before freezing in place as he noticed the eyes of…g-g-girls…staring deeply into his soul, watching his every move…or lack thereof.
Shellder gulped as he felt himself shake slightly, "Oh boy…"
"Hey guys, Donny here," Shellder introduced himself, "And today, I'm here to show you why I'm a perfect fit for The Decolore Islands Challenge!"
Shellder's bedroom looked like nerd heaven; the walls were filled with superhero posters, along with posters of two of the most popular strategy based reality tv shows, Outlaster and Eviction Notice. "For starters, while I may not be the strongest, I'm super intelligent; I graduated second in my class, I've built plenty of robots for my robotics club, and I even once solved a sudoku puzzle in just five minutes!" He beamed with pride.
He then grabbed his large blue binder that was beside him, "But if that's not enough for you, I'm also a reality tv superfan!" he then opened up the binder and flipped through the plethora of notes he had written, "I've written down all the strategies from shows like Outlaster and Eviction Notice over the years, and I plan to use it to my advantage, which is why I'll have an upperhand in the game-"
"He also needs a girlfriend~!" A voice interrupted in a teasing manner, instantly causing Shellder to freeze and blush. Casually floating in front of the camera was a Gorebyss.
"D-Destiny?! W-What are you doing here?! I'm recording!" Shellder exclaimed.
"Just want whoever's gonna see this know that my nerd brother desperately needs to go outside and get some bitches!" Gorebyss replied, "So accept him for his sake, will ya?"
Shellder's face turned even redder as he stammered, "I-I-I do not! I get about five minutes of fresh air daily, and I do get…u-uh, that word!"
"Who's the last girl you talked to that isn't me or mom?"
Shellder blinked, before awkwardly looking down, his blush still visible, "W-Well, there was this one girl at the bakery who I…uh…l-looked at for two seconds?"
"Donny needs a girlfriend!" Gorebyss teased in a sing-song manner, floating around the room once again.
Shellder laughed nervously, his face redder than blood at this point as he quickly hopped to the camera, "I-I am so sorry about her, s-she has no idea what she's talking about!"
"Deniallll!"
"Stop it!"
Once he reached the other side of the beach(which almost seemed like forever due to how slowly he walked), the Bivalve Pokemon nervously shuffled in between the contestants as he felt himself begin to sweat, hoping that no one, particularly the girls, were silently judging him. However, he just couldn't help but nervously glance up at Liepard, who was standing next to him.
Unfortunately for Shellder, this action didn't go unnoticed by the feline, who gave him a look, "Uh…can I help you-"
"What?! Help?! What help?! N-No help here! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Shellder hastily blurted, eyes rapidly darting around as if he was looking for an out.
"...What?" Liepard flatly questioned.
"Weirdo," Bellossom insulted, causing Shellder to whimper in embarrassment.
The next contestant to be dropped off was a tree-like Pokemon with a white upper body and a brown lower body. He was also wearing a plaid shirt and overalls, along with a straw hat on top of his head, which already looked like a hat. He carried a worn out looking dark blue suitcase as he walked up to the host.
"Howdy there mister host," The new arrival spoke with a thick southern drawl, tipping his hat off to Pachirisu.
"Hey there, Snover," Pachirisu greeted with a chuckle of slight amusement at his outfit, "Coming from the farm, huh?"
"Eeyep," Snover replied, "I don't get the opportunity to travel a whole lot, so this is pretty nice."
"Good to hear," Pachirisu said with a smile, "Go stand by the other contestants, please."
As he made his way towards the others, Snover noticed some beautiful, fine looking women. If he had a mouth, he'd be smirking, but his brimming confidence was still visible; a direct contrast to Shellder's reaction to seeing the girls.
"Howdy, folks, this is Larry," Snover began. The snow tree was standing in an open field besides a few Mudsdale eating hay, "Err...The reason yer gonna want me is because I'm strong, hard workin' and I'm good with the ladies too, if ya know what I mean," he said slyly, "Let me show ya."
Snover walked towards a Mudsdale that was eating hay, before leaning against it, "See, the horses love-"
Before Snover could finish his sentence, the Mudsdale kicked him out of sight while he screamed in the background, and his screams grew quieter.
The recording fast forwarded to about ten minutes later to Snover slowly walking back to the camera with a black eye, "S-So...choose me...mommy..." he managed to get out, before falling onto the ground.
"Howdy, y'all," Snover greeted the others with a wave, before switching up his tone, attempting to look and sound as suave as possible as he tipped his hat upward, "And hello to all of you lovely women."
None of the women were impressed, which was shown in their deadpan looks.
"Ew," Bellossom deadpanned, "No one is getting with that."
"Yeah, hard pass," Liepard stated.
Just like that, any confidence Snover had was shattered to pieces as he stammered, "I-I, err…o-okay."
Snover awkwardly shuffled towards the others, and stood next to Meganium. The dino was paying him absolutely no mind…so naturally, it only made sense for Snover to try to talk to her as well.
"How're you doin', ma'am?" The Frost Tree Pokemon asked, putting on his flirtatious tone yet again while nudging her.
That action proved to be a mistake, as Meganium immediately stepped on his toe with her back leg, causing the Grass/Ice-type's eyes to widen as he let out a yelp of pain and grabbed onto his foot, hopping on one leg.
"Don't touch me," Meganium simply stated, still not eyeing him.
Seeing this from a distance, Shellder flinched, whispering to himself, "I wish I had that amount of immeasurable blind confidence."
The next boat made its way towards the island with the next contestant. She was a peach colored elephant with a blue trunk that was shaped like a shovel, and a duffel bag that matched the color of her skin on her back. She held an expression of excitement, looking like she was ready to take on the world.
Once the boat made it to the dock, Pachirisu got ready to greet the new arrival, "Our next contestant is, Cufant-"
Just as he finished his sentence, however, Cufant ran off the boat and straight towards the beach, running over Pachirisu and knocking him down in the process!
"...Ow…" Pachirisu squeaked.
"Aw yeah!" Cufant boomed as she jumped onto the beach, "Who's ready to get this party started?!"
"I am!" Bellibolt cheered, enjoying the elephant's exuberant energy.
"Sick!" Cufant chirped, before looking around, "So where's the host of this thing?"
"Maybe pay attention to your surroundings before acting," Sandaconda flatly suggested, having resurfaced from the shadows.
Cufant blinked, before hearing a groan from behind her. She turned around and saw Pachirisu laying on the dock, trying to lift himself off the ground.
"...Ha, my bad!" Cufant apologized, an amused expression on her face.
"Yo!" Cufant shouted, "It's ya girl Molly here!" The elephant was outside, but the camera was zoomed into her face, and she was swaying back and forth while her trunk was hanging from something, "See, I like to live life by the edge. What do I mean by that? Well…"
The camera zoomed out, revealing that she was in the woods…hanging on a tree branch from about thirty feet from the ground, "I like to do things like this!"
The Steel-type jumped from the branch she was hanging from, the camera following her down as she jumped to another branch, before jumping off of that branch with a stylish flip. She continued to jump from branch to branch a few more times, before finally landing on the ground, still on her feet and not a single bruise on her body.
With a laugh, Cufant turned back to the camera, "That was awesome, right?! Wanna see more of my sick stunts? Then accept me for your show! I'll bring all the excitement!"
Once Pachirisu got up and dusted himself off, Marshtomp gently nudged the squirrel and whispered in his ear.
"O-Oh, uh…it looks like we're going on a commercial break!" Pachirisu announced to the viewers, half-forcing a lively tone, feeling both exhausted, and happy to take a momentary break, "We'll be back with the second half of the cast shortly!"
After a brief second to make sure Marshtomp had stopped recording, Pachirisu heaved a massive sigh of relief, plopping himself on the dock as he laid flat on his back, "This…this is a lot," he expressed. Marshtomp gave a nod of agreement.
Meanwhile, the contestants that had arrived overheard the host's announcement.
"A commercial break? Really?" Liepard irritatedly questioned with a groan.
"It's not too bad; it gives us time for some small talk!" Bellibolt chirped, "What made you guys sign up for this show?"
"None of your business," Liepard quickly replied in the same tone, not eyeing the frog.
"Damn, someone's a sourpuss," Cufant remarked with a smirk, earning an eye roll from Liepard, "I'm just here to have a good ass time."
"Like I was sayin' to the host, I don't really get to leave the farm where I'm from often," Snover chimed in, "Been lookin' for a change in scenery…and to meet some fine lookin'-"
"That's greaaaat!" Bellibolt hastily cut Snover off with a double thumbs up before he could say anything stupid.
"Well, unlike most of you guys, I'm here to win," Meganium stated in a condescending manner, before looking around, "I would think everyone else would be here to do the same."
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean you can't have fun doing it," Cufant argued, "Besides, we're gonna be staying at a sick resort!"
"Speaking of which," Delcatty spoke up, "Did any of you notice how weird Pachirisu was acting when I brought up the resort?"
"He was acting a little weird with me earlier," Liepard mused.
"Are you saying that he's hiding something?" Sandaconda knowingly queried with a smirk, the conversation having piqued her interest.
"Seems likely to me," Delcatty replied, narrowing her eyes at the oblivious host, who was reading over his notes, "I'm keeping my eye on him…"
After the commercial break, the next boat pulled up to the dock. On it was a black fox with yellow rings around his body and red eyes, along with a red backpack on his back. The fox looked…peeved. Pissed, even.
Getting up from his seat, he slightly bumped the Delibird driver who was still sitting on the front seat, before glaring at him, "Move it," he growled.
"Okay, geez, I'm barely in your way!" The Delibird defended. Once the contestant walked down the steps, he muttered to himself, "Grouch."
"Huh?! You wanna fucking repeat that to me, you little punk?!" The fox barked with a menacing scowl, one that frightened the Delibird, who yelped and quickly drove away in fear. The new arrival growled as the boat drove off.
"Uhhh...Umbreon!" Pachirisu nervously announced, flinching as the Dark-type swiftly turned his glare towards him, "...You feeling alright-"
"I'm fine," Umbreon bluntly responded, "Can I just go to the others?"
"Uhhh, yeah! Go ahead," barely a second after he got Pachirisu's approval, Umbreon walked forward, grumbling to himself all the while while maintaining his glare. Pachirisu tensed up slightly as he did so.
Umbreon sat on a porch of what seemed like an apartment complex and took a deep breath as if he was trying to stay calm. He then faced the camera with a dull expression, "Alright…I'm T.J., and-"
The fox paused as he noticed a soccer ball fly over his head. He took a couple of quick annoyed glances at the perpetrators before growling to himself and continuing, "...This is my audition for your show or whatever. My therapist suggested that I try a new experience or something, and since there's money and a resort involved-"
The soccer ball flew over his head once again, this time from the opposite side. Umbreon growled in annoyance once again, before shouting, "Will you guys cut it out?!"
He then huffed and turned back to the camera, "Since there's money and a resort involved, I figured this would be a good enough vacation away from all the dumbasses that live here-"
Just as he said that, the soccer ball flew over and bounced off his head and landed beside him. His eye twitched in anger.
"Yo, can you pass us that ball?" a voice called, the camera panning over to a Fuecoco, who almost instantly took a ball to the face as it flew at mach speed, before flopping onto the ground.
Umbreon didn't say a word to any of his fellow contestants as he approached them, and instead just plopped himself onto the sand, his seemingly permanent scowl glued to his face.
He was sitting beside Liepard, who briefly eyed the Moonlight Pokemon, seemingly in thought. Umbreon almost instantly noticed, however.
"What?" Umbreon snapped, glaring at her.
"Nothing, geez, sorry for glancing in your general direction," Liepard sarcastically replied, rolling her eyes.
Wanting to cheer the fox up, Bellibolt walked up to him, "Aw, cheer up, Umbreon! Look where we are! Turn that frown upside d-"
Umbreon snarled at Bellibolt with a fierce scowl before he could finish, instantly scaring the frog and causing his hat to momentarily lift off his head.
"…Or don't! Either way's fine by me!" Bellibolt laughed nervously as he quickly backed away with his hands up. Liepard couldn't help but chuckle with a smirk at this display.
The next boat dropped off a dark blue two-headed dragon, with black hair that covered his eyes, making him seem blind. He seemed to get around just fine, however, as he walked up to the host without any issues, carrying a dark blue backpack with him. He also looked slightly shorter than average for his species.
"Next, we have Zweilous-"
"Yeah, yeah. Welcome to the island, blah blah blah, we all know the deal," The Dark/Dragon-type interrupted in a snarky tone, speaking through his left head, "Can we just move along please?"
Pachirisu blinked, "Uh…okay?"
"Cool. Later," Zweilous quickly walked past Pachirisu with a nonchalant expression. Pachirisu glanced back at the two-headed dragon as he walked towards the others.
"...He might be a problem…" Pachirisu murmured.
Unbeknownst to the squirrel, Zweilous heard him…and smirked.
Zweilous lounged on a rather messy bed, a lazy smirk plastered on his face, "So, this is the new cash grab reality tv show attempting to replicate the spirit of better ones, huh? Gotcha."
The Dragon stretched, before continuing, "Usually I don't subscribe to blatant nonsense like this, but it's not like I have anything better to do, so fuck it," He then smirked again, "I think it'd be funny to watch people's dreams inevitably get crushed."
With a snicker, he continued, "Besides, it's so easy to get under people's skin these days. It'd be fun to mess with some of the gullible idiots that signed up for this show thinking they're entitled to win. Besides, money talks! This should be a piece of ca-"
"Mateo Raven Oaks!" A gruff voice boomed, causing Zweilous to jump with a yelp, "I told you to wash these damn dishes! Now!"
Zweilous didn't say anything for a moment, before groaning and giving the camera a look, "...Just accept me so I can get the hell out of here."
Zweilous walked towards the others with a smug disposition, making a few of the contestants give him judgemental looks, which only seemed to feed his ego even more.
"Alright, let the chaos begin," The Hostile Pokemon said, his snarky tone unwavering as he glanced around the beach, "We got a bunch of fools around here who probably don't know what they signed up for."
Upon hearing their intelligence basically being insulted, most of the contestants, besides the more passive ones, glared at him.
"And who the hell are you supposed to be?" Umbreon retorted, "You signed up for this too."
"I'm glad you asked. I'm Zweilous, It's nice to meet you too," Zweilous replied condescendingly, holding the most shit-eating smirk imaginable, one that made Umbreon growl.
"I don't know why you're acting all high and mighty," Bellossom stated, her arms folded, "Ever look in a mirror lately? I don't think you should be talking when you look like that."
Zweilous mockingly put a hand over his chest in a clearly dramatic fashion, "Oh my god, I am so hurt! I can't believe you would say that! How will I ever recover?!"
Bellossom scoffed, turning away in disgust, all while Zweilous snickered to himself. His job was done.
Right after that, the next contestant had arrived. He was a chubby bipedal orange pig, but what was most notable about him were his accessories. On his head was a black cap in between his pointy ears that he wore backwards, he wore a golden necklace that went over his body since he had no visible neck, and on his left arm was a tattoo that read, 'Lacunosa'. He also carried a black duffel bag and was wearing headphones while jamming along to whatever he was listening to.
"Next up, we have Pignite!" Pachirisu announced as the Fire/Fighting-type got off the boat.
Pignite wasn't paying attention as he was walking, however, as the music on his headphones was loud enough to where Pachirisu could hear it, and Pignite couldn't hear him. All Pignite seemed to care about at the moment was the music in his head.
"Uhhh, Pignite?" Pachirisu called, waving his hand in an attempt to get the new arrival's attention.
Pignite began to recite out some lyrics from his headphones, "I ain't fuckin' with no snitch, I be trappin' in this bitch-" before pausing and stopping in his tracks as he finally noticed Pachirisu trying to get his attention, "Oh shit! What up my boy?! Hit me up!"
Pignite offered his arm for a 'bro handshake', which Pachirisu accepted with a smile…before Pignite gripped onto his tiny hands a little too hard, causing his eyes to widen as he let out a small squeak of pain before rapidly shaking his arm off. Handshakes were not Pachirisu's thing.
In a basement, a loud trap beat was bumping, rocking the entire room. The camera panned to a music studio, where Pignite was jamming to the beat, and rapping out the lyrics.
"I got all this money, got this girl she call me honey! I just find it funny how she wanna kiss up on me!" The pig sang, before turning to the camera that was now in front of him, "Ayo, wassup wassup?! It's ya boy Marc Tha Pigg, but y'all can just call me Pignite too. I was just spittin' out some fire right now!"
Pignite stood up from the chair he was sitting on and pointed a finger at the camera, "Y'all tryna hear more of my sick beats, flows and lyrics? Then choose me! Everybody knows that reality tv shows need some swag, and I'm the perfect muh'fucka to bring that. So all these other opps better watch out, cuz I'm finna smoke y'all light's out!"
"Oooh that shit was hot!" The person behind the camera remarked, turning it around to reveal a Servine wearing sunglasses and a golden chain, "Ay, while y'all at it, throw me in there as well-"
"Bro, turn that shit off! This ain't even yo audition!"
"My fault, my fault!"
Ignoring the host's pain, Pignite glanced around the island, looking rather impressed while doing so, "Yo, this shit look nice…hold up."
The Pig then pulled out a phone from his bag and went through it, before holding it up.
"Yo yo yo, it's ya boy Marc Tha Pigg! We live out here!" Pignite was on Instagranbull live, showing off the island to his viewers, with Pachirisu, Marshtomp and the other contestants(Bellibolt made sure to give the viewers a wave) also in view, "We 'bout to be livin' lavish up in here!"
"Oh yeah, Marc Tha Pigg, I've heard of him," Zweilous remarked to no one in particular, as none of them seemed to be listening anyway, "He's basic."
As Pignite kept talking and shouting out to his fans, Pachirisu and Marshtomp gave each other awkward looks, before Pachirisu prodded Marshtomp with his head.
"What'chu mean I'mma leave on the first episode?!" Pignite argued in response to a comment making that very claim, "You don't even know what's gon' happen! Hatin' ass boy-"
Pignite cut himself off when he felt his phone lift from his hand and his headphones come off his head, much to his surprise. He quickly turned around and saw Marshtomp walking back to where he was standing with them, "Ay! What the fuck?!" the Fire Pig Pokemon barked.
"Sorry Pignite, but phones aren't allowed on this show," Pachirisu informed with an apologetic glance.
"You for real?" Pignite questioned with an incredulous look, before smacking his lips, "Man, aight…but that's lame as hell."
Pignite walked towards the others as Pachirisu watched him go, still feeling awkward about that whole ordeal, "Alrighty, then."
"Hi."
Pachirisu jumped with a yelp of surprise as he quickly turned around to see the next contestant just…standing there, staring down at him with a dull expression. She was a brown vulture with a pink head, a bone on her head feather and bones around her waist. He noticed that the boat had just left, so she had probably been dropped off while he was talking to Pignite.
"O-Oh, Mandibuzz! Sorry I didn't notice you," Pachirisu sheepishly apologized.
"It's okay," Mandibuzz replied in a…rather monotonous voice. Between that and her deadpan frown, her words didn't feel all that reassuring.
Pachirisu blinked, before noticing a Vullaby, specifically a worn out and poorly stitched together doll of one around Mandibuzz's waist held by her bones. The doll had red buttons replacing its eyes. It was…a rather creepy sight.
"Uh…what's that?" Pachirisu reluctantly asked, pointing to the doll.
Mandibuzz looked down at the doll before answering, "Oh, this is Lilith. Say hi, Lilith."
Expectedly, the doll said nothing. It just stared into Pachirisu's soul, as the squirrel just awkwardly stared back. All he could wonder is if this woman was just messing with him. This has to be a prank, right?
"She said hi."
Nope. She was serious.
"…heh, cool!" Pachirisu forced out a chipper tone, feeling thoroughly exhausted and overwhelmed at all of the…eccentric personalities, to say the least.
Mandibuzz sat on her queen-sized bed in a dark bedroom. Almost everything in the room, from the walls, to the covers of her bed was black. Lilith sat on her lap.
"Hey, I'm Laura," she spoke in a dry tone, lifting her doll up from her lap, "And this is Lilith."
There was a pause. Likely indicating that Lilith had "said" something.
Mandibuzz sat her doll back down and continued, "Me and Lilith don't go out much. People think we're creepy, and to be fair, they're not wrong." Mandibuzz said, "We usually keep to ourselves, but we want to explore the outside world and maybe make a friend or two."
"So yeah, choose us, if you want. We'd be really excited," Mandibuzz finished, her voice and tone…not particularly displaying said excitement.
"Say hi to everyone, Lilith," Mandibuzz told her doll as she walked up to the others.
There was a brief moment of silence as everyone just stared at the vulture and her creepy doll, before Bellibolt eventually spoke up out of courtesy, "Hi Lilith!"
Mandibuzz briefly looked down at Lilith, before saying, "Be nice, Lilith," and walking away.
"W-Wait, what? W-What did she say?" Bellibolt stammered, looking and sounding genuinely concerned as Mandibuzz nonchalantly walked towards the rest of the group.
"Someone's cuckoo," Zweilous murmured to Liepard while doing the finger motion, before flinching as Liepard jabbed him with her elbow and gave him a deadpan glare, "Ow!"
The next boat dropped off a large orange camel with rocks on his back, and three blue rings on each side of his body. He carried a hiking bag on his back, which looked rather awkward on him due to his rocks. He also looked noticeably older than the other contestants with a few strings of gray fur sticking out from his back, and a couple of noticeable wrinkles around his eyes.
"Next, we have Camerupt!" Pachirisu announced.
Camerupt grinned as he looked down on the significantly smaller squirrel, "Hey there! How's it going kiddo?" He greeted Pachirisu as if he was his child.
Pachirisu's smile slowly faded, "...I'm…I'm thirty."
"...Oh," Camerupt said, before shrugging, "Still pretty young to me."
The camera opened up to…nothing. Just…a black screen.
"Hey there, folks!" A voice which sounded like Camerupt's spoke, "I'm Grant, and I'd love to be a part of your new tv show! Now, I may not be the youngest guy out there, but I believe that an older guy like myself can still be successful! My forty-six years of life experience and wisdom could give me an upperhand, and it could give the other kids that join someone to look up to-"
"Uhhh, dad, they can't see you," another voice spoke, sounding like a teenage girl.
"Hm? What do you mean, munchkins?"
"Because the camera part of the phone is on the dresser. It's supposed to be facing you. And don't call me munchkins while you're recording! I'm fourteen!"
The camera was then adjusted to the point where Camerupt, along with the bedroom, was actually visible. A queen sized bed, along with a few pictures hung up on the wall were in the background. The head of a Vulpix was also in view, "There, now they can actually see you," his daughter said.
"Ah, thanks cutie pie!" Camerupt chirped.
Vulpix let out an exasperated groan, "Seriously, dad?!"
Camerupt chortled as Vulpix left the room in annoyance, before turning back to the camera, "That was my lovely daughter Hailey. She wants me to leave her alone since she's growing up, but I just can't help it, she's my little girl!"
He turned his head around and pointed to a picture of himself and a Ninetails, "And up there is my beautiful wife, Heather! She's been trying to get me out of the house since I'm usually at home, and I've always wanted to travel, so this was a perfect opportunity! Anyways, that's about it. I hope you all consider."
Camerupt stood still for a moment…before a concerning realization came over him.
"Uh, Hailey, hon, I'm gonna need your help turning this off!"
Camerupt took a sniff of the air while looking around the beach and the water surrounding it and let out a warm sigh as he began to walk past the host, "Beautiful day outside, isn't it?"
"Yep," Pachirisu agreed with a smile.
Once the camel made it to the beach, he greeted the other contestants in the same way he greeted Pachirisu, "Hey there kids!" Enticing some offended reactions from the group.
"Kids?" Zweilous questioned, before chuckling slightly, "Uh, we're all adults here, dude. You're just old."
Now it was Camerupt's turn to be offended, "Hey, I'm not that old," he defended, "You guys are just…a lot younger than I am, y'know?"
"Yeah, cuz you old, bruh," Pignite retorted, before pointing a thumb at him, "Who let old head up in here?"
A few of the castmates snickered at Pignite's joke, clearly not having respect for their elders. Seeing this, Camerupt felt awkward, "O-Okay then."
Once the camel moved aside, the next boat arrived. It dropped off a small brown mole with purple markings around his body and a pink nose. He wore a beige backpack and carried a small suitcase of the same color. The mole stood in place, looking at his surroundings in amazement, an agape smile plastered on his face, "Wowwwww."
"Welcome, Drilbur," Pachirisu greeted as the mole…didn't move, "...Drilbur?"
Drilbur still seemed dazed out, before finally landing his eyes on Pachirisu and snapping out of it, "Oh, sorry! I just can't believe I'm actually here! I've never been to a beach or an island before!"
"Oh, wow, really?" Pachirisu asked in surprise, "I guess this should be pretty exciting for you then."
"Yep!" Drilbur chirped, before remembering something, "Oh yeah, I also need help with these bags."
Pachirisu glanced at the boat…and saw a mountain of luggage that practically filled up almost the entire boat. The Delibird driver looked very uncomfortable.
…And at this point, so did Pachirisu, "Uhhhhhhhhhhhh-"
"Alright sweetie, we're recording," A motherly sounding voice spoke off camera. In front of the camera was a very excited Drilbur, and the recording was in front of a dresser in his blue bedroom. His dresser had a noticeable amount of action figures as if he was still a child.
"Hey everyone!" Drilbur beamed with a rapid wave, "I'm Wilbur, and I'd really really really love to be on your show! I don't get out of my hometown much, so this is a huge opportunity for me! I really wanna explore the world!"
Suddenly, a Watchog stepped in front of the camera with a somewhat anxious expression and a sheepish wave, which didn't bother Drilbur, "And this is my mom!"
"Yes, hi, I'm Wilbur's mom. I just have some questions. What meals will they be providing? Will the bathrooms be clean? Will my son be able to bring all of his belongings? Please get back to us as soon as possible," his mom spoke, her tone getting progressively more frantic.
"I'm sure it'll all be fine," Drilbur reassured her with a shrug, "What could possibly go wrong?"
"Anything!" Watchog exclaimed, "You could get lost, you could get sick, people might be mean to you, you could even get bug bites!"
"Don't worry mom, I'm a big boy now, I can handle it, right?" Drilbur confidently assured.
"Hmm, well, alright," Watchog cracked a small smile, still sounding a bit concerned.
"Great!" Drilbur beamed towards the camera again, "I hope you guys accept me!"
"Oh, a-and whatever you do, just please make sure my baby is safe!" Watchog pleaded, getting closer to the camera with a desperate expression.
"I can help with the bags," Camerupt offered, stepping up to the dock with a smile.
"I can also help!" Sliggoo beamed, rapidly waving his hand, unintentionally drawing attention towards himself as some of the contestants gave him looks.
"Thanks, guys!" Drilbur thanked.
Drilbur walked to the beach with the luggage he was already carrying while Camerupt and Sliggoo went to grab the rest of Drilbur's luggage.
"Why do you have that much luggage anyway?" Sandaconda questioned, "How'd you pack all of that?"
"Oh, my mom helped me pack!" Drilbur answered, his joyful tone displaying that he was proud of that fact, "Well, really she did most of the packing."
Zweilous held back a laugh, "Your…your mom packed for you?"
"Yep!" Drilbur chirped, still blissfully unaware of how this made him look.
Several of the cast gave him dumbfounded looks, while others just snickered, slightly confusing Drilbur, "What's wrong?"
"Don't worry about it, champ," Camerupt replied, walking by Drilbur while carrying one of the bags with a smile, "It's good to have a parent look out for you."
Drilbur smiled once again, "It sure is!"
The next boat arrived while Sliggoo(who was struggling) was grabbing more of Drilbur's luggage. It dropped off a small pink girl with long hair, who noticeably carried a hammer that was practically twice her size, yet didn't seem to struggle at all. The girl had a glare on her face as she dragged her hammer alongside her.
"Welcome, Tinkaton, how're y-"
"Save your kumbaya bullshit and get out of my way," Tinkaton bluntly responded, tightening her glare.
"O-Oh, uh, okay," Pachirisu stammered, taken aback by her bluntness as he swiftly did as he was told.
As Tinkaton walked past him, however, Pachirisu couldn't help but ask, "What's with the hammer?"
…Which he immediately regretted, as Tinkaton turned around and slightly lifted her hammer from the ground, glowering at him, "You wanna find out?"
Pachirisu's pupils shrank as he gulped in fear, defensively raising his hands, "N-Nope! No thank you!" He exclaimed with nervous laughter.
Tinkaton, who wasn't in view at the moment, walked up to a Kricketune who was sitting by a table outside of a coffee shop, "You. Film me. Now."
"Uh…who are you?" The Kricketune asked suspiciously.
"Now!"
Kricketune paled, "O-O-Okay!"
The bug quickly reached for the camera, and just like that, the camera rotated to an impatient Tinkaton, "H-Here you go!"
Tinkaton glared at the shaky camera, "So, you wanna know why I signed up for your dumb show so bad? Well here's my answer. None of your business. Just know that if you accept me, I'll win, and I'll make sure everyone's too scared to get in my way."
She then glared back up at Kricketune, "Now stop shaking like a bitch and give me my camera."
"Y-Y-Yes ma'am!"
Having handled the host, Tinkaton thought she wouldn't have to deal with any more nonsense. She quickly realized she was wrong when Drilbur and Camerupt, who were conversing with each other, walked towards her.
"Oh, excuse us," Drilbur politely said.
Tinkaton tightened her glare, "No…excuse you," she growled, slightly shoving Drilbur out of her way.
Somehow, Drilbur saw nothing wrong with that interaction, "Oh, okay," and just went about getting the rest of his belongings.
Camerupt, however, did feel the need to speak up, "Don't you think that's a little rude?"
"Don't you think you should be in a retirement home instead of being in a competition with people half your age?" Tinkaton retorted.
"I-I-" Camerupt stammered at first, shocked at her retort and unsure of how to respond, before giving up as Tinkaton walked away, "…Okay then."
Not wanting to be bothered by anyone, Tinkaton walked far away from everyone else. Banette, who was occupied with his notebook, just so happened to take a brief glance at her, only for the Hammer Pokemon to immediately glare back, "What?"
Banette only let out a squeak, quickly averting his eyes back to his notebook. Tinkaton scoffed and rolled her eyes, and couldn't help but smirk a bit as well.
After Drilbur and Camerupt grabbed the rest of Drilbur's luggage, his boat finally left just as the next one arrived. On the boat was a pink, egg-shaped Pokemon with a pouch on her belly with a large egg inside of it. She carried a magenta purse on one hand, and a phone that she was talking to on the other.
"Alright, next we have, Chansey!" Pachirisu, who at this point, was struggling to stay vibrant.
"Girl, look at this beach! You seeing this?!" Chansey exclaimed, not really paying attention. She was talking to her friend, a Sunshine form Cherrim, on face-time. She flipped her camera to show her friend the view of the tropical island.
"Ooooh, okay bestie! I'mma be jealous of you all summer! You better take pictures!"
Chansey set up her camera, which was her phone, on top of a kitchen island. Also in view was her best friend Cherrim.
"Heyyyy besties!" Chansey and Cherrim simultaneously greeted before Chansey continued, "It's your girl Andrea if you didn't know, and when I saw the ads for this show, I just had to sign up."
"Girl I know that's right," Cherrim agreed, "Y'all gonna be staying at the Grand Frond Resort?! And competing for money?! I almost wanted to sign up myself, but I didn't wanna steal my pookie's thunder," she said, smirking up at Chansey.
"Awwww, you're amazing," Chansey cooed, before turning back to the camera, "I also wanna be a vlogger and explore more! I'll be able to get so many cool pictures, and who doesn't like pictures?"
"Tell 'em girl!" Cherrim encouraged, before giving the camera a demanding look, "Y'all better accept her, she's gonna be giving!"
"Oh, and don't forget to follow my Instagranbull, Drea's Pics!"
Seeing how occupied Chansey was, Pachirisu sighed, "Marshtomp?"
"Girl, you know I'mma take as many pictures and videos as I can-" Chansey said, before feeling her phone being swiped from her hands by Marshtomp, "Wha- Hey!"
"Girl, what's going on-" was all Cherrim was able to give up before Marshtomp hung up the phone.
Chansey grew a look of bewilderment, "W-What the hell?!"
"Sorry Chansey. I mentioned this earlier, but electronics, including phones, aren't allowed on this show," Pachirisu explained.
Chansey looked at Pachirisu like he was crazy, "...What?"
"I…I said-"
"No, no, no, I heard you, but like…what?!" Chansey exclaimed, "No one said anything about no phones!"
"Really?" Pachirisu asked in confusion, "I would think it would be mentioned as a rule wherever you guys signed up."
"There weren't any rules or guidelines anywhere!" Chansey explained in frustration, before giving the host a pleading look, "Since it was never mentioned, can I maybe-"
"Yeah, no, we can't do that," Pachirisu immediately answered, "Sorry."
Chansey groaned loudly, "Fiiiine," she grumbled, sulking over to the beach with a dejected look on her face.
The Egg Pokemon walked up to the group without saying anything, feeling too distraught to converse with anyone.
"Um, excuse me ma'am," Chansey heard, turning around to see that the contestant next to her, being Snover, was talking to her, "If ya don't mind me askin', what was so important about that thang?"
"Thing?" Chansey questioned, raising a brow, "Girl, it's a phone. You literally can't live without it."
Snover looked…surprisingly confused, "Really?"
"Well, yeah!" Chansey incredulously exclaimed.
"I personally disagree," Camerupt spoke up, "Back in my day, I didn't need a phone to entertain myself. I'm sure you'll be just fine."
"Yeah, but you're like, super old, no offense," Chansey awkwardly replied, trying to be as nice about it as she could, "You wouldn't get it."
"Wh- I'm not that old!" Camerupt protested, "Why do people keep saying that? I'm middle aged!"
"I mean, that is kinda old?" Chansey replied with a sheepish shrug.
As Camerupt and Chansey debated the meaning of such a controversial word, the next player had arrived. He was a blue beetle with a long horn protruding from his forehead and beady yellow eyes. What was different about him was that he was wearing…knight armor? He also had a sword in his hand.
Just as Pachirisu was about to introduce him, however, the beetle blaringly did so himself, "Greetings, my fellow competitors, for it is I, Benvolio Clifford the fourth! I am the fourth knight of the legendary Clifford family of Hammerlocke, just like my father, grandfather, and great grandfather before me!" He proudly announced, speaking with a noticeable Galarian accent.
"...No names, please." Pachirisu awkwardly replied, "You'll go by Heracross. Also, did you say knight?"
"Indeed, I did!" Heracross boomed, holding up his sword in triumph. As Pachirisu took a closer look at the sword, though, he noticed…a price tag?
"Is that…a toy sword?" Pachirisu asked, tilting his head in surprise.
Heracross blinked, seemingly not expecting anyone to question him. Feeling slightly embarrassed, he blushed and stammered, "Uh, heh…well, you see-"
"Greetings, my fellow viewers and citizens of Galar!" Heracross beamed while waving his right hand and holding his toy sword with his left. The beetle was standing in a hallway that had statues of knight armor and portraits of knights, "My name is Benvolio Clifford the fourth. I come from a long line of knights from my father, grandfather, and great grandfather before me, and I will become the next in line to serve as a protector of Hammerlocke!"
His determined expression turned a bit more sheepish, "I am…not quite there just yet. Admittedly, my skills could use some polishing. Which is why I signed up for your show! This show will give me the opportunity to test my strength, courage, and determination, and I will come out better because of it, and take my rightful place as a true knight! Huzzah!"
Heracross swung his hands backwards while lifting his toy sword up in joy, only he just so happened to be too close to the two steel statues beside him, causing them to lean towards the side they were on and fall to the floor with a loud thud that could've been heard throughout all of Hammerlocke. Heracross cringed as it happened, "...Oops."
"Benvolioooo!" Heracross cringed even harder upon hearing his name being called by a deeper voice. The beetle turned back to the camera with a sheepish chuckle, "Not my finest moment."
"So essentially…you're not really a knight yet," Pachirisu deduced after Heracross had explained that his entire outfit was just plastic.
"Oh, no, no, no," Heracross quickly refuted while waving his hands(and his toy sword), "I will become a knight someday! I just…have to work to get there." He said sheepishly.
"...Right…" Pachirisu droned. At this point, all he could think about was how exhausted he was, and wondering who on earth casted these people, "Just…stand over by the others, please."
Still feeling awkward, Heracross nodded and walked over to the others, trying to ignore the snickers of a few of his castmates.
He just so happened to be standing by Shellder, who approached him in curiosity, "Hey, did you say the Clifford family?"
"Oh, uh…yes, why?" Heracross asked.
"That's so cool!" Shellder beamed, much to Heracross' surprise, "I've done so much research on the Clifford family. What's it like being a part of such rich history?!" He asked in excitement.
Heracross similarly smiled upon someone actually taking an interest, as it was different from the usual condescension he'd receive, "Oh, well, it's nothing really," he replied, rubbing the back of his head.
"Oh, it's more than just nothing, your family's legacy is nothing short of spectacular!" Shellder praised, "I could talk about it for hours! If only more people knew about it."
Pignite let out a fake cough, "Nerd." Enticing a glare from Shellder at the pig, and a few others, snickered in amusement.
The next boat dropped off the penultimate contestant. Like Chansey, her body was entirely pink. She had a curly tail, with a similar curl on top of her head serving as her hair, along with dark pink wings on her back. She carried a black suitcase with her and had a glare on her face, glancing at her surroundings as if she was on the lookout for someone, before setting her sights on the host in front of her.
"Our next contestant is Clefable-"
"Where's the money?" Clefable wasted absolutely no time as she walked up the host, glaring down at him as an intimidation tactic. The Fairy-type spoke in an Australian accent, somehow making her even more intimidating.
"What?"
Not even a full second later, Clefable proceeded to grab Pachirisu by the collar of his suit and lift him off the ground, "You heard what the fuck I said you little rodent. Where is it?"
"Wha- y-you have to compete for it!" A terrified Pachirisu stammered, desperately flailing his arms as if it would free him of Clefable's tight grip, "W-Wasn't that on the application?!"
"All I saw was that there was money involved," Clefable growled, before ultimately letting up, "I'll play this little game of yours, though, and I will win."
Clefable let go of Pachirisu, a yelp escaping his mouth as he fell to the ground. As she walked past him, all he could think about was how he saw his life flash before his eyes as he squeaked out, "...O-Okay, cool."
None of the contestants dared to utter a word to the Fairy Pokemon as she walked towards them, instead opting to give her either looks of fear, or suspicion. There was one exception, that being Tinkaton, who actually hummed to herself, looking almost impressed.
Clefable stood in a dark hallway, leaning against the wall while folding her arms, a small light revealing her glare pointed towards the camera.
"Alright," She started, turning to face the camera, in turn making her scowl more noticeable, "I don't know what this little show of yours is, but if there's money involved, I'm there."
She continued, "If you're so desperate to know my name, I'm Augusta. And mark my words, no one, and I mean no one gets in my way when it comes to getting what I want or need. That money is mine." She declared, tightening her scowl to let the viewer know that she wasn't messing around. She then relaxed her posture slightly, "If I made myself clear, you can accept me."
"Way to show these mothafuckers you mean business, 'Gusta. That's my girl!" A gruff, fatherly sounding voice spoke from behind the camera.
Pachirisu groaned as he sat up and rubbed his now aching back from landing on the hard dock, "How many contestants are left?"
Marshtomp did a quick scan, using a finger to count, before turning to Pachirisu, "This next one should be the last one."
"Really?" Pachirisu perked up at the revelation. At some point he had completely stopped taking count. All he knew was that there was so many of them, "Finally!"
Soon enough, the final boat had arrived. The show was finally about to get started!
…And yet, other than the boat driver, no one was there.
"I…huh?" Pachirisu spluttered in confusion, "W-Where's the last contestant?"
The Prinplup driver shrugged in response. His job was done, as far as he was concerned.
Pachirisu was practically a deer in the headlights, racking his brain trying to figure out what could've happened, before jumping a foot in the air once he felt a tap on his shoulder. He rapidly turned around towards Marshtomp. It couldn't have been the camera man, though. How could his hand even reach over to him and then back to the camera that fast-
"Behind you."
Pachirisu followed where that ominous whisper came from, which was from behind him…which just so happened to be the biggest mistake of his life(and he's made a lot), as he was now facing a massive ghoulish figure with a dark purple face protruding from a teacup stretched to an insane degree and their yellow eyes and mouth being similarly distorted.
"Hiii~" They deviously greeted, their voice having a reverb effect.
"BAAAAHHHH!" Pachirisu shrieked, stumbling backwards as he felt his heart pounding out of his chest.
The ghost in front of him snickered as they shrunk down to their normal size, before their snickers grew into chuckles, into full on hysterical cackling as they grabbed onto their sides for dear life(well, death). Now that they weren't so distorted, it was easier to see that their teacup, mainly blue and white in color, was essentially their body, and they used the top as a makeshift hat.
Taking a moment to get over his shock, Pachirisu looked at his notes, before realizing who it was and forcing a strained smile, "Uhhh…Polteageist! H-Hi to you as well."
Still not having gotten over their laughing fit just yet, Polteageist wiped a tear from her eye, now speaking in a normal voice, "Dude, you should've seen your face, man! Priceless!" They heaved in between words as they were still tickled from Pachirisu's reaction.
"Haha, yeah…funny," Pachirisu murmured, forcing out a weak chuckle.
The camera opened to a dimly lit room with the only noticeable thing in view was…the nonbinary flag!
"Boo!" Polteageist finally revealed themselves with a close up jumpscare, floating upside down. She flipped herself over with a cackle, floating further away from the camera, "Hahaha, I got you good!
They then pointed at themselves, "Name's Sabrina, and pranking's just what I do. It just creates a good time, and what more could you want in a contestant? I'll bring all the laughs and entertainment."
She then floated away from view…only to then pop right in front of the camera once again, "Ooga booga booga!" They shouted, pulling their mouth to form the silliest expression they could muster. They then chuckled once again, thinking they scared the daylights out of all the viewers.
"Dude, that was awesome!" Cufant cheered as Polteageist integrated with the rest of the cast, "You had him pissing his non-existent pants!"
"I know, right?" Polteageist snickered, she and Cufant fistbumping(with Cufant's trunk) each other.
Pachirisu, feeling both triumph and mental exhaustion, joined them. With a deep breath, he spoke once again, "Alright, Welcome once again to The Decolore Islands Challenge, everyone!"
Pachirisu paused, expecting a unified cheer from the contestants. Only Bellibolt gave him one, "Yeah! Woohoo!" A few of them gave him looks at this, prompting him to awkwardly put his hands down.
"Can we go to the resort now?" Liepard flatly asked.
Pachirisu still had no idea what resort the cast was talking about. Not wanting to lower their hopes, however, he awkwardly attempted to play it off, "Ohhhh, we'll be going somewhere fun alright!"
"...Like the resort, right?" Delcatty asked in suspicion.
"And with that, I'm pretty sure we're going on another commercial break!" Pachirisu blurted with the best grin he could muster, which came out extremely forced and crooked. He then rapidly waved, "See ya'!"
"This is my show!"
"S-Sir, I'm just the receptionist."
In the lobby of Pokestar studios was a small white duck with pristine blue hair, being none other than the Paldean Water starter Quaxly. He was…not happy, and unfortunately, the Cinccino receptionist was taking the brunt of his ire.
"I'm supposed to be the star here! This is ridiculous!" The duck protested to…no one in particular. His rant was clearly falling on deaf ears considering everyone in the lobby was either ignoring him, or looking at him as if he was a pouting child, "I came up with the concept! I chose the contestants! All of it was me, me, me!"
Then, a bell was rung, signifying that the front door had been opened. Quaxly turned around and saw-
"Youuuuu!" Quaxly dramatically growled, pointing a finger at none other than Graveler.
Seeing this, and seeing how everyone else in the lobby glanced at him, the Alolan Graveler sighed, "Hey, Thomas."
"How could you do this to me?!" Quaxly exclaimed, marching up to the Rock/Electric-type with a distraught glare, "The Decolore Islands Challenge was my show! I'm the reality TV host!"
"I'm sorry, but I had to," Graveler replied, "You're in a lot of controversy right now and people don't like what you did."
"What?!" Quaxly barked, "That's slander! I did nothing wrong!"
"I wouldn't exactly call underpaying your employees for years doing nothing wrong," Cinccino retorted, giving the duck a look.
"And you have a massive ego and people are sick of it," the Indeedee from yesterday added, walking into the lobby from the hallway.
"What's wrong with that? I'm the star! I should be getting the most credit and feeling good about myself!" Quaxly retorted, sounding…genuinely confused as to how that could be immoral.
"Look, Thomas, the bottom line is that you're not in good standing in the public eye right now," Graveler reiterated in a surprisingly calm tone, "So letting you host would be a bad look on the studio."
Unfortunately, Quaxly still wasn't having it, "N-No it wouldn't! The people wanna see me! And if they don't, they're just sensitive losers!"
Graveler sighed, realizing that this was a lost cause, "Look, the Decolore Islands Challenge premiere is live right now, so I need to go to the control room."
The Rock Pokemon walked away and into the hallway, much to Quaxly's chagrin, "Get back here, Darin! I'm not done with you yet, you washed up bum!" He barked, trying to walk after Graveler.
However, the Water-type was stopped by a couple of security guards, one being a Conkeldurr, the other being a Sawk.
"Sir, you need to leave," The Conkeldurr ordered in a stern tone.
Quaxly stood still for a moment, offended that someone even dared to tell him what to do. He then growled, "Fine! I don't need this anyway!"
The duck stormed towards the door, pushing it in a fit of rage…only for it to not open, due to his small frame making it difficult. He tried pushing it again, and again, and again, struggling and grunting as he did so, before eventually receiving help from Sawk, the security officer giving him a look.
"I did not need your help!" Quaxly stated, huffing as he made his exit.
Once he had walked a few feet away from the main office, he turned his back around to face it, a wave of sadness starting to hit him. Was his career…actually over?
Within seconds, however, his face turned into a look of bitterness, briskly walking further away. He doesn't need Pokestar Studios anyway; he's still rich! And there's plenty of people out there that still like him! He'll be just fine without being a host.
…Probably.
Notes:
Hey everyone! So…intro chapters! They are not easy, or all that fun to write, but I tried to make it as fun for myself as I could. I've had this story planned for over a year. This chapter alone went through six drafts, as well as some cast swapping and bouts of writer's block, but I'm finally done! This probably isn't that impressive as far as intro chapters go, but nonetheless, I'm proud of myself for actually finishing a chapter of a TPI that isn't just a prologue for the first time since 2020(four years ago holy shit, time flies).
Anyways, that's all I have for now. See you guys when part 2 comes out!
The Cast
Banette - The Anxious Writer
Bellibolt - The Smiling Insecurity
Bellossom - The Self Absorbed
Camerupt - The Jovial Traditionalist
Chansey - The Ditzy Phone Addict
Clefable - The Gangster Child
Cufant - The Wild Card
Delcatty - The Know-it-all
Drilbur - The Naive Explorer
Heracross - The Wannabe Knight
Liepard - The Antisocial
Mandibuzz - The Affable Goth
Meganium - The Brash Powerhouse
Pignite - The Aspiring Rapper
Polteageist - The Mischievous Prankster
Sandaconda - The Cranky Eavesdropper
Shellder - The Awkward Superfan
Sliggoo - The Socially Inept
Snover - The Romantic Farmer
Tinkaton - The Spawn of Giratina
Umbreon - The Ticking Time Bomb
Zweilous - The Snarky Loser
Chapter Text
Pachirisu led the contestants through the tropical forest, a map of the island in his hands that Graveler gave him to guide them. The group had been walking for about five minutes now, and while some of them were excited and relishing in being where they were, others had some…complaints.
“Ugh, how much longer are we gonna be walking?” Bellossom whined, slumping forward slightly as she walked, “It’s hot as hell and I am not trying to get any more dirt on my leaves.”
“You’re a grass-type,” Sandaconda remarked, giving the plant a look, “Aren’t the dirt and the sun good for you or something?”
“They aren’t good for my looks, which are also important,” Bellossom retorted, putting her hand over her chest to show a sense of superiority, “But I’m sure that’s something you probably wouldn’t understand,” she smirked at her own insult, earning an eye roll from Sandaconda.
“C’mon guys, why the hostility?” Bellibolt asked, before grinning, “This is gonna be fun!”
“Sure it is, for the viewers.” Zweilous snarked with mock joy, “Meanwhile, we have to live with each other and deal with each other's quirks and habits for the next several weeks. Fun!”
“Well aren’t you just a ray of sunshine,” Polteageist sarcastically quipped, putting a hand on their hip and giving Zweilous a look.
“Okay guys, I think we’re almost there!” Pachirisu chirped. Somehow, the host was more excited to get things started than the actual contestants, mainly because he hadn’t been able to view the camp himself yet, so this would also be a surprise for him!
“Really?!” Drilbur beamed, “Oh my gosh, I can’t wait!”
“What do you mean you think?” Liepard questioned, “You do know where the hotel is, right?”
“Hotel? Oho, I got something even better,” Pachirisu assured, turning back towards the contestants with a toothy grin.
“What could possibly be better than the Grand Frond Resort?” Chansey asked incredulously, “They have a wide screen theater, jacuzzi bathtubs in every room, two five star dining restaurants and the best pokepuffs in the world! Like, girl!”
Seeing the path they were taking starting to open up, Pachirsu’s grin grew even wider, “Well, how about this?!”
Upon finally exiting the forest, the group laid eyes upon a wide space with wooden cabins, a large cafeteria, a playground off to the side, a few other buildings, and a fireplace at the center of it all. It was just like a summer camp. Pachirisu couldn’t help but excitedly gawk at the scenery around him with an expression of pure childlike joy, not even saying anything to the contestants. This was it! This was actually happening!
Unlike the host, however, the majority of the contestants held looks of either confusion, or unamusement.
“What the bloody hell is this?” Clefable incredulously questioned, looking around with a befuddled expression.
“Yeah bruh, this summer camp shit is cool and all, but when we finna get to the hotel?” Pignite queried, folding his arms.
Pachirisu’s face fell into a mix of confusion and disappointment. All day so far, the cast had been talking about this mysterious hotel. Didn’t they know they were staying at this camp? He glanced at a similarly confused Marshtomp, who gave a shrug in response.
Turning to face the confused and annoyed contestants, all Pachirisu could say was, “Uh…pardon?”
“The Grand Frond Resort,” Meganium bluntly responded, her tone causing Pachirisu to flinch slightly, “Y’know, the hotel we’re supposed to be staying at? It was on the advertisements for this show.”
“Unless, you don’t actually know where the hotel is because we aren’t staying there,” Delcatty deduced as if she had just solved the greatest mystery of all time, feeling like her suspicions from earlier were confirmed.
Now, Pachirisu was no stranger to awkward situations, but this was probably the most awkward position that he had ever been put into in his life, and failing to strike a conversation with that Rhydon had only happened yesterday. The contestants… really didn’t know where they were staying. Whoever the original host was probably tricked them into thinking they would be staying at some grand hotel rather than this run down camp in the middle of the forest…and now he was going to take the fall for it.
“Well? You gonna tell us what the hell’s going on or what?” Umbreon demandingly prodded with a piercing glare that could cut the practically frozen Pachirisu to pieces. For the past five seconds, his eyes had been darting back and forth as if he was looking for a hiding place, beads of sweat rolling down his face, and the contestants were desperately waiting for an answer.
“Unless you really are hiding something from us,” Sandaconda accused.
Seeing how everyone was grilling him, Pachirisu had no choice but to come clean. He gulped and laughed nervously as he tugged on his collar, “Well, uh, I-I don’t know how to tell you guys this, but uh…” the squirrel twiddled with his fingers before clasping his hands together and squeaking out, “This is where you guys are staying.”
“What?!” Nearly every contestant exclaimed in shock.
“I knew it!” Delcatty shouted, feeling vindicated.
“So you fucking lied to us?!” Umbreon accused, taking a couple of steps forward towards Pachirisu, who hastily stumbled backwards in a panic.
“I-I, n-no!” Pachirisu stammered, holding his hands up and waving them in defense, “I mean, I guess I kinda did by not saying anything-”
“Oh, so you only withheld the truth from us, how noble of you,” Liepard replied, sarcasm oozing from her voice.
“W-Well-” Pachirisu tried to speak up, but the protests from the contestants drowned him out.
“I am not staying here. Someone like me deserves better than some shitty summer camp! Just look at me!” Bellossom chided, motioning her hands over her body.
“Ignoring her vanity,” Zweilous quipped, earning a glare from the plant, “Can we talk about how he seriously thought that this crummy camp was supposed to be better than a five star resort?” He questioned, practically chuckling.
“I gotta say, though, that’s a pretty sick prank,” Polteageist chimed in with a smirk, seemingly not all that upset, “I respect it, honestly.”
“Okay, okay!” Pachirisu shouted, finally regaining everyone’s attention. He then took a deep breath before explaining, “Look, I didn’t know there were any ads that said you guys would stay at the Grand Frond Resort. I wasn’t the original host for this show and I just found out yesterday that I would be the replacement. The original host probably tricked you guys.”
“Bullshit,” Umbreon growled.
“I didn’t, really!” Pachirisu defended, “I applied to be a host for a show at a camp, and I was sent here last minute.”
“Is it possible that there’s some sort of misunderstanding?” Shellder asked, “Maybe you’re supposed to be hosting a different group?”
Pachirisu sighed. The contestants really didn’t want to believe what they were hearing, “No, you guys are the right group. I have the notes and everything. Sorry…”
Most of the cast expressed disappointment at this revelation…with one noticeable exception.
“I mean, it’s not all bad,” Camerupt reasoned with a warm smile, seemingly not bothered by the news in the slightest, “In fact, I’d say this is great! We could all use some fresh air rather than being stuck in a modern luxurious hotel. It’ll be just like the good ol’ days!” He chirped, oblivious to the unimpressed glares he was receiving.
“No one gives a shit, old man,” Tinkaton bluntly replied, her insult causing the camel to wince slightly, “We were literally lied to.”
“I think what he means is that we just have to make the most of our situation,” Bellibolt explained in defense of Camerupt, before offering a smile, “Besides, this could still be fun!”
“I mean, I’m down to make the most out of this,” Shellder chimed in, before smiling, “I’ve always wanted to experience something like this; it’s like Outlaster! Only in that show-”
“And I’ve never been to a summer camp before, so I’m still excited to try something new!” Drilbur chirped, unintentionally interrupting Shellder’s infodumping while also being completely unbothered by the revelation.
“Hell yeah!” Cufant exulted, “This is gonna be awesome!”
While some of the more optimistic contestants seemed hopeful, the less optimistic contestants exchanged skeptical glances, still unhappy with their current situation.
Eventually, Liepard let out an irritated sigh and spoke up, “Well, it’s not like we have a choice anyway, so whatever.” She said, clearly still disappointed and annoyed.
“Let’s just get whatever this bullshit is over with,” Umbreon seethed, still glaring directly at the host.
“Uhh…” Pachirisu awkwardly stood in place for a couple seconds, before forcing a toothy grin, “…alrighty then! So, I’m gonna show you guys around camp, and then you guys can get settled in. Sound good?”
“No, not real-”
“Sounds peachy to me,” Camerupt replied with a grin, unintentionally interrupting Zweilous’ snarky remark, much to the dragon’s chagrin. It also earned him a few side eyes from the group.
“I’ll take it!” Pachirisu chirped, “Follow me, everyone!”
The squirrel led the way, his excitement from earlier fully restored, while the others exchanged glances before following him.
“Over to my left is the camp welcome center! It’s not actually important, but I just thought it would be cool to point out,” Pachirisu gushed as he walked forward. He then gestured to the right, “And over there is a playground for whenever you wanna relax!”
“We’re not five years old, so something tells me no one’s gonna be using that,” Zweilous replied with a smirk.
Clefable, however, actually seemed rather interested upon glancing at the playground, “Interesting…”
Pachirisu then led the group to…an outhouse?
“May I ask why we’re standing in front of some random outhouse?” Bellossom impatiently questioned while gesturing towards it.
“This is where your confessionals will take place,” Pachirisu explained, “If you guys have anything on your mind, but don’t wanna say it to anyone else, you can record it here! No one else will see it…other than the viewers.” Several of the contestant's expressions turned into disgust at the revelation, “Yeah, I know how weird that sounds; I was a little surprised when I read that as well.”
“It may sound weird, but I’m sure everyone’s gonna have a lot they wanna say in private. Isn’t that right?” Sandaconda knowingly asked, smirking as she eyed Banette in particular, who had been at the back of the pack the whole time just writing in his notebook.
The puppet noticed the serpent’s piercing glance and tensed up slightly, eyes darting back and forth before letting out an awkward laugh, “Uh, y-yeah, sure, I guess,” he stammered, before clearing his throat and quickly burying his face in his notebook once more as if it were a shield.
“I call first dibs!”
Everyone turned to the source of that statement, which just so happened to be Shellder, who held his hand up and was waving it in excitement, seemingly not at all concerned with the privacy issues.
Inside of the outhouse was…well, a toilet seat, with the camera in front of it. The small space was rather dusty, the wooden walls had cracks in some areas, and there was very little toilet paper on the side. Not that any of that mattered to Shellder.
“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!” The Water-type gushed, clutching his face in pure childlike excitement, before leaning forward, “I’m in a confessional!” He then leaned in even more to the point where his face was almost touching the camera, “On a reality TV show! This is actually happening!” He beamed, grabbing the camera and shaking it, before losing his balance and falling out of the seat with a yelp.
He quickly climbed back up the toilet seat and faced the camera with a look of slight embarrassment, “Heh, sorry about that, just had to geek out for a bit.”
Drilbur glanced around the confessional in childlike awe, his mouth forming an “O” shape, “Woah…so this is how an outhouse looks? My mom did always say they were really dirty.”
He then turned to the camera, “Oh yeah, hi mom! Hi everyone watching! I’m on TV! Isn’t this so cool?!”
Sliggoo glanced around the confessional, not saying anything for a few seconds…before remembering that he was on camera. He gave the camera a sheepish look, “Oh, uhhh…I don’t actually know what to say here. I was just curious and I thought everyone was gonna do this, hehe,” he sheepishly chuckled while scratching the back of his head.
“Apologies, but I must ask, we aren’t going to be doing our…y’know, business, in this outhouse, are we?” Heracross awkwardly inquired.
“I hope not,” Chansey expressed, “I love camera time, but that’s too much for me.”
“Oh, no, of course not!” Pachirisu assured, “We have communal bathrooms, which is actually our next stop.”
After doing some more walking, they reached their destination. In front of the group was a long lodge with two doors on each side. The left side read “Women” and the right side read “Men.”
“These are the communal bathrooms,” Pachirisu explained, “They have pretty much all the amenities you’d expect from a public bathroom along with showers. As you can see, they’re also separated by gender.”
“Gender? I hardly know her,” Polteageist joked with a smirk.
“Oh yeah, Polteageist,” Pachirisu added, “you can go to whichever bathroom, and side of the cabins you want.”
Polteageist gave a cheeky thumbs up in response.
“Yeah, I’m an enby, pretty cool right?” Polteageist said with a toothy grin, “I don’t have to go by any rules; it’s awesome!”
The ghost chuckled, before leaning(while floating) back with their hands behind their head and a smirk, “This game’s gonna be fun, and I’m here to make it fun.”
Sandaconda turned around and noticed another lodge-like building in a moderate distance from the bathrooms.
“The hell is that building for?” The snake queried, motioning her head towards the building.
“Huh?” Pachirisu was confused at first. He then took a brief glance at the notes and then realized, “Oh! Over there is the staff lodge. It’s where the surveillance room is, and it’s also where any electronics will be for the time you guys stay here.”
Sandaconda rose a brow and smirked in interest. Chansey also looked noticeably interested, but tried her best to hide it.
“A camera room, huh?” Sandaconda mused with a smirk, “That’s perfect. I’ll be able to find all the information about these losers that I need.”
“I’m especially curious about a certain puppet…”
“That’s perfect! My phone’s probably gonna be put in that building!” Chansey expressed, “Girl…I need that back!”
“Okay, this next stop should probably be more exciting for you guys,” Pachirisu assured the cast as they began walking to their next destination.
“Somehow, I doubt that,” Zweilous snarked.
“This walk through the woods has been pretty exciting,” Mandibuzz said, her tone not particularly conveying that excitement.
“How convincing,” Zweilous retorted in his usual tone.
“I’d say this is pretty nice myself,” Snover chimed in, “it’s a nice change of scenery for me.”
“Alright, here it is!”
The contestants took a look at what Pachirisu was talking about, and they couldn’t believe what they were seeing. In front of them was a wide area with a basketball court, a workout area beside the court with dumbbells and longer bars with a bench chair right beside them, a storage rack with practically every sports ball or equipment one could imagine, and a tall black punching bag. Beyond those amenities was an even larger field.
“Woah…” Drilbur expressed in shock and amazement, a sentiment shared by a majority of the group as they walked around the area. Even some of the less impressionable contestants were impressed.
“Pretty cool, right?” Pachirisu asked with a knowing grin.
“I’ll admit, I’m…slightly impressed,” Zweilous admitted, choosing to withhold full credit.
“Yeah, I’m not really a sports guy, but for a summer camp, this is pretty cool.” Shellder replied.
Heracross walked up to the weightlifting area and grinned, “This will be perfect for my training!” He tried to pick up a twenty pound dumbbell, only to instantly feel its weight pulling him down as he lost his balance trying to lift it as he tripped onto the ground, thankfully dropping the weight beside him rather than on him. He heaved a sigh of relief, choosing to ignore the snickers directed at him from his failure.
“Aw yeah!” Pignite boomed, running towards the basketball court in excitement, “Can’t none of y’all check me on this court!”
“Oh, you wanna bet on that?” Meganium questioned, taking Pignite’s claim as a challenge as she stepped up and gave him a competitive glare.
“Huh? Girl, please, I would smoke yo ass in basketball!” Pignite shot back with a glare of his own.
“Well bring it then, chubby,” Meganium growled, walking even closer towards the Fire/Fighting-type.
“Uh, g-guys, please not right now!” Pachirisu urged, his voice coming out in a rather whiny tone.
“Fight, fight, fight !” Cufant cheered.
The two of them continued to glare each other down, but Pignite slightly let up, waving her off, “Man, I can deal with you later.” The pig walked away, Meganium’s glare following him as he did so.
Meganium gave the camera a nonchalant look, “What? I’m a competitive girl. If you think you can beat me, I’m gonna prove you wrong.”
She gave the camera a determined glare, “I’m here to prove myself and win. Losing is never an option.”
“Aww, I actually wanted them to fight,” Cufant whined, a disappointed expression glued to her face.
“See, this camp isn’t so bad, right?” Pachirisu asked, giving the cast a hopeful look.
“This is pretty great, actually!” Bellibolt chirped.
“Personally, I’ve been enjoying all of this so far,” Camerupt chimed in with a smile.
“It’d be even better if this was at the actual hotel we were promised instead of some run down camp,” Umbreon grumbled just loud enough for everyone to hear.
Everyone stayed silent for a moment, the mood having fully been ruined from just one comment. It was as if Umbreon’s comment reminded them of their less than ideal predicament.
Eventually, Tinkaton spoke up, “He’s not wrong.”
“Well, uh…okay then!” Pachirisu awkwardly chirped after a few seconds, trying to mask his disappointment over being dampered, “Let’s uh…go to the next spot!”
The contestants followed Pachirisu back to the main area of camp. They walked into a wide building with long tables and a noticeable kitchen towards the back, resembling a dining hall.
“This is the mess hall,” Pachirisu began, “Or in other words, a dining hall. Any meals will be served here.”
“Okay,” Delcatty said as she glanced around the room, “So, who’s the chef?”
Pachirisu opened his mouth to answer, before coming to a realization…they don’t have one. His mind went completely blank, the only thing coming out of his mouth was, “U-Uhhhhhhhhh,” as his eyes darted in a panic.
Meanwhile, the contestants just…stared at him. Almost pitying their poor, incompetent host. Pignite smacked his lips, flapping his arms in exasperation, “Bro, we’re cooked-”
“Marshtomp!” Pachirisu impulsively blurted with a forced grin, pointing to the cameraman beside him, “He’s the chef!”
“What?” Marshtomp uttered.
“Huh?” The cast questioned in unison.
“Yeahhhhh,” Pachirisu slowly backed away towards Marshtomp and nudged him. The two of them turned around and huddled up.
“Look, we’re the only staff here right now,” Pachirisu whispered, “I had to think of something. You think you can do it?”
“I mean, I guess,” Marshtomp whispered back, sounding unsure of himself.
“You know we can hear you guys, right?” Delcatty questioned, her eyes narrow.
“Okay!” Pachirisu blurted as he whipped around, acting as if nothing was wrong, “Let’s go to the next location!”
Pachirisu briskly walked out of the door, with the cast exchanging glances, before reluctantly following the host.
The group followed Pachirisu to the next building, which was noticeably smaller than the mess hall.
Pachirisu began to speak while opening the door, “Alright, next we have the- ohhhhhh. ”
To say that the building in front of them was in poor condition was an understatement. It straight up looked like no one had even stepped foot into the building in decades. The building had dust and spiderwebs everywhere, including on the beds and hospital equipment. A Spidops could even be seen crawling on the ceiling. Everyone was disgusted…other than Mandibuzz, who held her usual deadpan expression.
“What…the hell is this?!” Bellossom exclaimed, giving Pachirisu a look of disgust and bafflement.
“Uhhhh…this is the infirmary,” Pachirisu hesitantly responded, being rather shocked at the state of the building himself, “I didn’t think it would be…like this.”
“Apparently there’s a lot of things you didn’t think about,” Umbreon grumbled, disdain clear in his voice.
“Well, regardless,” Pachirisu continued, choosing to ignore Umbreon’s scrutiny, “If any of you guys get injured or sick somehow, you’ll have to go here.”
Delcatty sighed, “I’ll probably regret asking this…but is there a nurse or anyone around here that’ll tend to our injuries?”
“...Oh! R-Right, a nurse! That!” Pachirisu sheepishly chirped, “...I’ll get back to you on that one.” The majority of the cast groaned and gave him unamused looks.
“Imagine being this unprofessional.” Delcatty commented, her expression a mix of annoyance and bewilderment.
“Okay, can we like, leave before we catch diseases or something?” Chansey pleaded.
“Yeah, we probably should,” Pachirisu replied, ready to move things along himself. He turned around and walked towards the door, “Follow me to our last stop of the tour, everyone!”
As the host walked out, Bellossom scoffed as she started to follow, “He acts like we’re actually at the resort instead of this dump-”
Just as the plant stepped one foot forward, though, the wooden floor cracked, creating a small hole which she fell into with a yelp. She ended up getting stuck between it due to her skirt. Several of her castmates snickered at her unfortunate predicament. It was as if karma struck her for being rude all day.
“Help me, you dumbasses!” Bellossom spat, glaring as people either walked by without doing anything, or were already outside and didn’t notice.
“Nah, I’m good, thanks.” Liepard flatly replied, not even eyeing Bellossom as she walked outside.
Bellossom growled, as she tried to get out herself instead. As she struggled, one person, who just so happened to be Heracross, turned back around as he noticed her. As unpleasant as she seemed, just leaving her there felt wrong. He had to do something, right?
Once Bellossom eventually gave up with a groan, Heracross walked back up to her, looking down at her in concern, “Are you in need of assistance?”
Bellossom looked up at him, almost incredulously…before actually smiling, “On second thought, I think I like it here, actually.” She replied.
Heracross blinked in slight confusion, “Oh, uh…alr-”
“Yes I need help you fucking idiot!”
Now understanding that she was being sarcastic, Heracross jumped and scrambled over to her. After struggling for a moment, he was able to pull her up, only for Bellossom to lose her balance and fall flat on her face.
Heracross flinched as that happened, “S-Sorry about that!”
Bellossom huffed as she stood up, before glaring at Heracross, “That is the first, and last time your grotesque, beady-eyed ass is touching me. Got it?”
Heracross flinched at almost every word the plant said, “Uh, y-yeah- I mean yes- I mean understood madam!” He stammered, giving her a salute.
Bellossom gave him a dumbfounded look, before scoffing, “Whatever, weirdo,” and walking outside. Heracross sighed, eventually following her while feeling awkward.
“I want to prove to myself and everyone else that I can become the best knight that I can possibly be.” Heracross said while sitting up straight, before deflating slightly, “Unfortunately, I haven’t been as successful as I would like. Most of my peers just see me as some delusional, bumbling idiot.”
Slight contempt oozed from his tone, before he shook it off and perked up with determination once again, “No matter. I must, no, I will prove them wrong!” He pulled out his toy sword, before somehow fumbling it and dropping it. He groaned in disappointment.
Once Bellossom and Heracross finally walked out of the infirmary, Pachirisu began his next announcement.
“Alrighty, our final stop of the tour is the fire pit!” He announced. The group was currently standing around the wooden benches surrounding the pit. “This is where the elimination ceremonies will take place. Voting will take place in the confessionals, and whoever gets the most votes-”
“Will be eliminated, shocker,” Umbreon curtly interrupted, “Can we please move this along already?”
Pachirisu flinched back slightly. Out of everyone, it seemed like Umbreon was by far the most pissed about being swindled out of the resort, and he wasn’t letting it go.
“Uh, r-right! Right, of course,” Pachirisu stammered, flipping through the papers in his hand, “Well, in that case, I should probably put you guys on your teams so that-”
“Wait, hold on, teams?” Meganium interrupted, “That wasn’t mentioned anywhere either.”
Pachirisu blinked, before deadpanning, “Of course it wasn’t.” He really couldn’t catch a break. The original host was going to get a piece of his mind(not really, though), “So, for this first portion of the game, you guys will be working in two teams of eleven. Eventually, when there’s less of you guys, it’ll become an individual game.”
“Ah, so that’s also like Outlaster!” Shellder deduced, before humming in thought, “Come to think of it, there’s a lot of similarities to this show and Outlaster, such as…” the clam’s voice trailed off upon seeing that most of the contestants either gave him uninterested looks, or were more focused on Pachirisu instead of him. He awkwardly cleared his throat, looking down and murmuring, “Sorry.”
“Alright, with that out of the way, let's reveal the teams!” Pachirisu chirped.
The cast perked up in anticipation as the host went through his clipboard, looking among their fellow castmates to see who they could potentially be working with for a duration of their stay.
“My team better be good,” Meganium grumbled, “I’m not interested in having to carry dead weight.”
“I better be on a team with people that look decent,” Bellossom stated in direct contrast to Meganium’s more serious hopes. She then smirked, “Not as good as me of course. No one here looks as good as me.”
Sliggoo awkwardly looked around the confessional while fidgeting with his hands, “Uhhh…I still don’t know what to say here.” He then shrugged with a sheepish expression, “I guess I hope my team is nice?”
“Okay, if I call your name, step forward,” Pachirisu started, “Banette…”
The puppet flinched upon now being the center of attention. He apprehensively walked towards Pachirisu, trying his best to ignore everyone’s looks.
“Bellibolt… ”
The frog grinned upon his name being called, eagerly following Banette while feeling excited to see who the rest of his teammates would be.
“Bellossom…”
Bellossom glanced at the two…uggos that were on her team and scoffed in disgust, folding her arms in annoyance as she walked forward.
“Clefable…”
The Fairy-type marched forward with a determined glare. She didn’t care who was on her team. She was going to take charge and win.
“Cufant…Liepard…Pignite...”
Cufant grinned and ran towards her team in excitement, while Pignite casually followed her. Liepard, on the other hand, looked considerably more annoyed seeing who was on her team, especially Bellossom. The feline softly groaned to herself before reluctantly walking to her team.
“Polteageist…Sandaconda…”
Both of them smirked, albeit for different reasons. Polteageist floated next to Cufant and the two of them fist bumped each other, while Sandaconda was happy to be on the same team as Banette. She eyed him as she slithered to her team, the puppet not paying attention to her.
“Sliggoo…and Umbreon.”
Umbreon grumbled to himself while walking to his team, Sliggoo slowly trailing behind him, feeling slightly nervous.
Once all of them were together, Pachirisu continued, tossing a rolled up red flag to Bellibolt, “You guys will be known as the Crafty Koraidons!”
Bellibolt rolled down the flag, revealing a laminated picture of the face of the legendary beast known as Koraidon. “Cool!” He remarked.
“Couldn’t we have gotten something that looks less, y’know…gross?” Bellossom asked, expecting something better, or at least her very strict definition of that word.
“Do you ever have anything positive to say?” Polteageist questioned, giving Bellossom a look, as did a few other members of the team.
Bellossom opened her mouth to retort, but Pachirisu continued before she could say anything, “As for the rest of you, being Camerupt…Chansey…”
Camerupt smiled at Chansey, who was seemingly staring off into the distance, specifically towards the staff lodge, slightly concerning him. She eventually noticed his look, and sheepishly smiled back.
“Delcatty…Drilbur…Heracross…”
Delcatty looked between the two guys. Drilbur had his usual wide grin plastered on his face as he looked around the camp, probably not even paying attention to Pachirisu, and Heracross was attempting to strike a triumphant pose, only to keep adjusting himself. Delcatty groaned softly. Her team was full of idiots .
“Mandibuzz…”
“And Lilith,” the Vulture muttered, lethargically lifting the Vullaby doll up.
“Meganium…”
Meganium glanced at her teammates and growled to herself, feeling less than impressed. She was on a team with the old guy, the redneck pervert, the delusional wannabe knight, and the girl who talks to dolls. As usual, she’ll have to carry her team, especially in the strength department.
“Shellder…Snover…Tinkaton…”
Snover grinned and nudged Tinkaton with a wink. This unfortunately earned him a scowl and a low growl from the Hammer Pokemon, quickly prompting him to turn away. Seeing this, Shellder slowly shuffled away from Tinkaton.
“And last but not least, Zweilous.”
“Yours truly,” Zweilous said in a mocking fashion.
Pachirisu tossed over a purple flag to Heracross…who ended up missing the catch as the map hit his face, causing him to drop it. When it hit the ground, it rolled out on its own, revealing the face of Koraidon’s futuristic counterpart—Miraidon, “You guys will be known as the Marvelous Miraidons!”
“Wow!” Drilbur chirped, “...What’s a Miraidon?”
Once Heracross picked up the flag, Pachirisu continued, “The Koraidons cabin is on the right side of the mess hall, and the Miraidons cabin is on the left. You guys are free to do whatever you want for the rest of the day, and dinner should be ready shortly. Your first challenge will be tomorrow morning, so be sure to get some rest!”
Feeling relieved to be free from their incompetent host, the teams walked towards their respective cabins. Once they were out of sight, Pachirisu turned to Marshtomp, “So…now what?”
“The live premiere ends here, so you have to do the outro,” Marshtomp explained.
Pachirisu paled, freezing up as he looked at the camera, “Oh, Uhhhh-”
While Pachirisu was fumbling for the umpteenth time today, the Crafty Koraidons walked up to the steps of their cabin. Similar to the communal bathrooms, there were signs indicating which side each gender would stay in. The guys’ side of the cabin was on the right, and the girls' side was on the left, closer to the mess hall.
For the guys, Sliggoo and Banette happened to be leading the way, and were about to enter the cabin at the same time before stopping in their tracks upon noticing how narrow the entrance was.
“O-Oh, uh, you can go first,” Sliggoo awkwardly offered with a sheepish smile, backing away slightly.
Banette, however, put his hands up in an equally awkward reassurance, “Oh no, it’s fine, I-I was kinda in your way-”
Before they could nervously bumble any further, though, Umbreon walked up to them with an impatient glare, looking between the two of them, “You two mind getting out of the fucking way?”
Fearfully, both of them quickly obliged as the Dark-type fox stormed into the cabin. The rest of the guys followed him.
Upon entering the cabin, the guys…weren’t impressed. Like most of the buildings they had seen today, the cabin was dusty, and it looked very old and worn out–likely from the many years it had been standing, not helped by the window in front of them lacking blinds. There were four pairs of bunk beds, which also looked…underwhelming, at least compared to the hotel they were supposed to be staying at.
“Man, this shit wack, bruh,” Pignite grumbled, folding his arms, “We was supposed to be livin’ large out here!”
“Well, this might not be the best situation, but I’m sure we can make this work!” Bellibolt assured in an attempt to keep everyone’s spirits up.
Just as he said that, though, a tile from the ceiling fell to the ground, dust particles slowly falling from the air along with it. The guys recoiled in surprise, other than Umbreon, who just wore a deadpan frown on his face, signifying that he was over the entire day.
“...Probably,” Bellibolt sheepishly added.
“Yeah, keep being delusional. Surely things will magically get better.” Umbreon sarcastically replied, ignoring Bellibolt’s slightly hurt expression and walking towards the back.
While the rest of the guys chose their beds, Bellibolt quickly looked around, before walking over to Pignite, who sat his belongings at the bottom bunk towards the front. “Hey, Pignite! You wanna be bunkmates?”
Pignite gave the beaming frog a look, before glancing at his other options. He then shrugged, “Sure, that’s cool.”
“Yes!” Bellibolt chirped, pumping a fist before offering it as a high five, “Bunk buddies?”
Pignite rose a brow, cringing internally at his overwhelming friendliness and sickeningly wide grin, before reluctantly offering a fist, “Sure bro.”
Bellibolt fist bumped him, before making an ‘exploding’ noise and wiggling his hand, whispering, “Bunk buddies!”
“I ain’t gon’ lie, these guys ain’t really my vibe like that,” Pignite said with an unimpressed look, lounging in the confessional with his arms folded, “That Banette dude always quiet, Sliggoo a lil’ weird, and that Umbreon dude? He always seem like he mad over somethin’. Ionno what his problem is.”
“That Bellibolt dude’s a lot too, but I ain’t wanna hurt his feelings, and he’s better than those others. At least he can socialize.”
While Pignite and Bellibolt got settled in, Umbreon set his backpack on the bottom bunk towards the window. Out of curiosity, Sliggoo had followed him.
“I wonder how these beds feel,” Sliggoo said, touching the mattress that Umbreon had claimed, and in turn getting some of his slime on it.
Seeing this, Umbreon growled and glowered at Sliggoo. The snail realized his mistake and let out a weak chuckle, “Oh, uh, you were gonna use this bed, weren’t you?”
Umbreon didn’t respond, and instead took his backpack and marched to the other side of the room, grumbling to himself(something about Sliggoo being a “fucking idiot”) while doing so.
Not wanting to be alone, Sliggoo looked around the room for a potential bunk mate. Pignite and Bellibolt were already together, and Umbreon obviously didn’t want to be bothered, so that left Banette.
The puppet in question had chosen the bottom bunk towards the door on the opposite side of Bellibolt and Pignite. Just as he was about to sit down and open his notebook-
“Uh, hi.”
Banette flinched, his eyes clenched as if he was about to get jumped by a pack of wolves. He opened one of his eyes and saw Sliggoo looking at him in concern. The Ghost-type relaxed his body slightly, offering an awkward smile, “Oh, uh…hey?”
“Sorry if I scared you,” Sliggoo apologized, before gaining a hopeful look, “But I was just wondering if I could maybe bunk with you. I-If you want to, of course. I understand if you don’t-”
“No, no, no, it’s fine, really,” Banette hastily interrupted, seeing that the snail’s expression was growing more dejected, “I don’t mind you bunking with me.”
Sliggoo perked up with a wide grin, feeling pleasantly surprised that he wasn’t rejected, “Really? Thank you so much!”
Banette returned a forced grin in response, hoping that he wasn’t going to regret his impulsive, people pleasing answer.
“I…usually prefer being on my own,” Banette admitted, rubbing his arm as his eyes gazed the ground, before giving the camera a sympathetic look, “But Sliggoo seems like he struggles to make friends, which I also struggle with, so I felt like it wouldn’t be fair to him if I said no.”
The puppet sighed, slumping backwards, “I just hope he’s not too much.”
“So, what y’all tryna do?” Pignite asked, laying on his bed with a bored expression, “Are we just gon’ chill until dinner’s ready?”
A lightbulb went off in Bellibolt’s head as he climbed down his top bunk, “Oh, I know, we could do some icebreakers!” He chirped, his grin stretching from ear to ear in anticipation.
“No.” Umbreon instantly responded in a blunt tone, glaring back at the other guys, “I’m gonna try to get some shut-eye, and I don’t want to be bothered by any of you.”
Bellibolt’s smile faltered, feeling slightly disappointed by Umbreon’s rejection, “You sure, Umbreon? I-It’ll only be for a minute.” He assured.
“And I’ll wipe that stupid grin off your face in a minute if you don’t shut up.” Umbreon threatened, his tone colder than ice as he turned back to his bed with an irritated glare.
Bellibolt flinched considerably at the fox’s harsh words, any trace of positivity having completely faded from his expression. Seeing his bunkmate's drastic shift in demeanor, Pignite decided to stick up for Bellibolt, having grown tired of Umbreon’s attitude.
“Ay man, the fuck is yo problem, dawg?” Pignite questioned, giving Umbreon a pointed glare, “You been killin’ the vibe all day! My mans was just tryna be positive!”
“What’s my problem? Gee, I don’t know,” Umbreon’s tone oozed with sarcasm as he turned back around to direct his glare towards Pignite, “Maybe it’s the fact that we were lied to about where we’re staying, we’re stuck at this shitty, run down summer camp, and our host has no idea what the hell he’s doing! So excuse me if I’m not in a happy-go-lucky mood.”
Umbreon turned back around once again, hoping that he had shut the other guys up for good. Bellibolt, feeling uncomfortable with the growing tension, insisted on trying to stay positive, “Okay, I know you’re upset, but do you maybe wanna talk it out?”
“Nah bro, just leave him alone and let him act like a lil’ bitch.” Pignite jeered while folding his arms, unsympathetic to Umbreon’s turmoil.
Umbreon stopped going through his belongings as his eye twitched–the action, along with Pignite’s scathing insult lingering in the air, instantly making the other three guys nervous.
“What did you just say to me?!” Umbreon barked, turning around to give Pignite a scathing glower before briskly walking towards him, “Say that shit to me one more time!”
“Or what? What’chu gon’ do bro?” Pignite goaded, unfazed by Umbreon’s warning.
Umbreon got closer to Pignite’s face. “How about I fucking show you-”
“GUYYYYS!” Bellibolt bellowed, getting in between the two of them while flailing his arms, desperate for the drama to end, “Can we please not tear each other apart on the first day?!”
Umbreon held his scowl as he breathed heavily…before ultimately noticing his heavy breathing and how tense his body felt. He relaxed his body, and glanced around the room and saw Banette and Sliggoo’s terrified expressions. He could tell they didn’t want to be anywhere near him out of fear he would lash out at them next. Bellibolt also looked noticeably worried, while Pignite was still unbothered.
After a moment of silence, Umbreon groaned in frustration, before storming out of the cabin without saying another word, or looking back.
“Umbreon, wait!” Bellibolt walked up to the doors in one final attempt to reason with him, but his request was in vain as it became clear the Eeveelution wasn’t coming back.
“I don’t think he wants to be bothered,” Banette reasoned, “I certainly wouldn’t wanna bother him.”
Pignite smacked his lips, waving the door off, “Man, he’ll be aight. I ain’t even say nothin’ that bad. He needs to get over it.”
While the other guys had seemingly already moved on, Bellibolt still looked outside in worry, “I hope so…”
“Well, uh, that was…a lot,” Bellibolt sheepishly twiddled his fingers, before putting on a more positive expression which felt rather forced, “But I’m sure everyone will get along just fine. I’m pretty good at making friends and getting others to become friends.”
His mouth twitched as he allowed his face to fall into a look of slight worry, “I do hope Umbreon isn’t mad at me though-” Bellibolt stopped himself, before gaining a more frantic look, “I mean the team! Yeah, the team, hehe… hehhh ,” he chuckled sheepishly while rubbing his arm, trying to look as relaxed as he could, which really just made him look more anxious.
“This…is… awesome!” Cufant cheered, bouncing on her top bunk with each word.
“Seriously? You call this…slop awesome?” Bellossom questioned, setting her suitcase on a bottom bunk across from Cufant, while Sandaconda set her belongings above her. She gave Cufant a look, “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised someone like you sets your standards this low.”
“Awww, don’t hurt my feewings,” An unbothered Cufant teased while still bouncing on her bed. Bellossom tightened her glare in response.
“Ay, you,” Clefable barked, pointing at the elephant, “Stop doing that! I need to have a serious talk with the lot of you.”
“Aw, what’s wrong with a little bit of fun?” Cufant coyly asked.
“Besides, we just got here, y’know,” Polteageist backed their bunkmate up, choosing to reside in the girls side of the Koraidons cabin as they laid on their bed below Cufant’s.
“Because I said so!” Clefable boomed as she stomped on the wooden floor, causing to crack slightly, “Now stop it before you break something-”
Just as Clefable said that, one of the bars flew off the hinges of Cufant’s bed, and somehow hit Liepard, who was laying on the bed in front of Cufant, in the back of her head. Liepard grunted in pain, before turning around and growling at Cufant.
“Oops,” Cufant said amusedly, while Polteageist also stifled a laugh.
“All of you guys are gonna make this place fall apart,” Sandaconda remarked, looking between Clefable and Cufant.
“Enough!” Clefable shouted, finally gaining everyone’s attention. She glared around the room before beginning her next message, “Alright, listen and listen good. I’m in charge around here. Is that understood?”
“Yeah, fat chance at that,” Sandaconda scoffed, “We don’t even know you, so why should we trust that you’ll be a good leader?”
“Well I don’t see the rest of you lot stepping up,” Clefable retorted, before tightening her glare towards Sandaconda and walking towards her, “And I doubt you want to go against me this early in the competition, or at all.” Clefable was within a few inches from Sandaconda’s face, but the snake wasn’t intimidated, and instead scowled back. This glaring match lasted for a couple of seconds.
“Who says we need a leader?” Cufant casually asked, seemingly almost oblivious to the tension in the room, “Why can’t we just go with the flow?”
“I don’t know what the hell that means, but if it doesn't win us a challenge then we’re not doing that,” Clefable firmly declared.
“Pssh, no need to be a stick in the mud, mom,” Polteageist remarked with a snicker. Clefable glared at the giggling duo of Polteageist and Cufant in irritation.
Clefable pinched her invisible nose in aggravation, “Those two insolent morons are going to get on my last nerve.”
She then glared at the camera, “I’m used to getting people to follow my orders, but these people clearly think they know everything, and that’s gonna be an issue.”
“Well, I don’t like being told what to do either,” Liepard spoke up with an indignant tone, giving Clefable a pointed look that the fairy returned, “So you can try that on someone else. I’m sure Bellibolt likes being submissive.”
“Well, she is the only other decent looking person on this team, so I won’t push back as hard,” Bellossom remarked, ignoring the looks she received. A knowing smile crept upon her face, “But if we’re looking at things objectively, I should be the leader. I’m obviously the best looking out of everyone in this crummy camp.”
“Yeah, that’s definitely not happening,” Liepard retorted, giving the Flower Pokemon a look, “I already don’t like being told what to do, but especially not by someone superficial like you.”
“And I don’t like associating myself with someone whose face looks like they were drunk when they tried to put makeup on and was then flattened by a steamroller thirty times, but we don’t always get what we want,” Bellossom shot back in a condescending tone that made Liepard’s blood boil, “No one in their right mind would ever listen to you .”
Liepard growled, a murderous glower in her eyes. The others, besides a stoic Clefable, looked surprised at Bellossom’s insult. “Daaaaamn!” Cufant boomed in amusement.
Liepard got up from her bed, and slowly walked towards Bellossom with a pointed scowl. Bellossom rose a brow, “Uh, can I help y-”
Before the plant could even finish, Liepard swiped her with her claw! The attack knocked Bellossom into the ground and made her bleed! Liepard kept attacking Bellossom while she was on the ground, ignoring the defenseless plant’s cries of pain and her teammates begging her to stop as she gleefully gave her scratch mark after scratch mark all over her face. She enjoyed every second of making this disrespectful bitch as ugly as she claims others are! She lifted her arm up one last time to deliver the final blow as Bellossom sobbed, begging for mercy-
“Uh, hello?”
…And then she snapped back into reality.
“You have anything to say to me or are you just gonna stare off into space?” A non-bruised Bellossom questioned.
Liepard blinked. She had gotten so caught up in her fantasy that she hadn’t even realized she was still staring at Bellossom. Everyone else also gave her looks. Seeing that the attention was now fully on her, the Dark-type took a deep breath…before standing up, “I’m going for a walk.”
Liepard walked towards the door, not without some more badgering from Clefable, “And where are you going-”
“For a walk.” Liepard flatly repeated.
“Byyye, don’t let the door hit you on the way out!” Bellossom goaded some more, Liepard choosing to ignore her as she walked out, “Actually, do let it hit you. It’ll be an improvement!”
“Everyone here is gonna piss me off, aren’t they?” Liepard grumbled.
“I’m not afraid to tell people what I think,” Bellossom stated with a patronizing smile, “It’s what people like about me. If you’re ugly, you simply don’t deserve to be in my presence. And it only benefits you if I tell you. You might improve yourself! Maybe. Probably not. You can’t fix gross.”
Unlike the Koraidons, the Miraidons had seemed relatively peaceful so far. When the girls entered their side of the cabin, they glanced at the bedroom layout.
“So, based on this layout, two people will have to share a bunk, and the rest of us can bunk on our own, since there’s five of us here,” Delcatty inferred.
Meganium gave her a look, “Yeah, we know how to do basic math,” she said, walking past the cat.
Delcatty scoffed, giving the dino an annoyed look, “I was just making sure the rest of you knew.”
The girls then separated to find their desired beds. The one exception was Chansey, who just awkwardly stood around, internally weighing her options on who her bunkmate should be.
“The girls on my team all seem super…serious,” Chansey commented, “Like, damn, loosen up girlies!”
She then sighed, “But if I can’t get my phone back, I might as well at least try to make some new friends.” She said, cracking a hopeful smile.
Reluctantly, Chansey walked over to Tinkaton, who was going through her belongings inside of her hammer that she was using as a makeshift suitcase, and offered a greeting, “Heyyyy, girlypop-”
“Call me that again and I’ll rip your hair out while you’re sleeping.” Tinkaton flatly threatened, not even sparing a glance at Chansey.
“…Okay!” Chansey briskly walked away from the Hammer Pokemon and walked to the back, where Mandibuzz was setting up.
The vulture carefully sat her Vullaby doll on the bed, “How do you like this bed, Lilith?”
Chansey just awkwardly stared at Mandibuzz, feeling weirded out by the Dark/Flying-type just stared at her doll as if it could respond back. She then glanced at the two girls on the other side of the room and considered her options. Delcatty seemed condescending, and looked rather uninterested in having a conversation as she analyzed the bed she had chosen. Meganium looked similarly uninterested as she looked at her bed, her imposing figure briefly glancing back at Chansey with her usual glare, making her quickly turn back around.
“Uh, Mandibuzz, do you wanna be bunkmates?” Chansey asked, turning back to the vulture and forcing an awkward smile.
Mandibuzz turned towards her and stared for a couple of seconds, before glancing at her doll, “Only if Lilith’s okay with it.”
Reluctantly, Chansey also glanced at Lilith, trying to make sense in her mind as to why Mandibuzz thought this doll could talk to her-
“She said it’s fine, and just don’t be annoying or weird,” Mandibuzz relayed her doll’s apparent response, “Her words can be harsh sometimes.”
Chansey blinked in bewilderment, before offering another forced grin, “Greaaaat!”
“I need my phone back… bad !” Chansey stressed.
Meganium sat her duffel bag on the top bunk in the back of the room across from Mandibuzz and Chansey. She turned around, and noticed that Chansey looked like she was trying to sneak out, as she was trying to walk as quietly and slowly as possible.
“Uh, mind telling us where you’re going?” Meganium interrogated with a raised brow, causing Chansey to flinch as she stopped in her tracks.
“Oh! Uh…” Chansey turned around and smiled nervously, “Just…wanted to walk around and get a feel for the island.”
Sensing Chansey’s nervous tone, Meganium narrowed her eyes in further suspicion, “Why right now when we haven’t even met as a team yet? And why do you look like you’re sneaking out?”
“Sneaking? Whaaaaat? Gurrrrrrl, noooooo!” Chansey dragged out her words as much as possible in an attempt to sound casual.
In turn, though, this only made the rest of the girls turn to her in suspicion as well(or was Mandibuzz just staring off into space?). Desperate to get out of the situation, Chansey attempted to put on a casual smile as she backed away, “I-I won’t be gone long! Promise!”
Chansey speed-walked out of the cabin with a frantic expression without looking back, still trying not to make too much noise. Once the Normal-type was further away, Meganium growled to herself, “Great.”
“Why do you give a shit about where she goes anyway?” Tinkaton questioned, giving Meganium a look, “She was annoying.”
Meganium gave the Hammer Pokemon a look in return, “Because, I want to have a team meeting.” She answered sternly, before looking around the room, “We need to assess each other’s strengths if we want to be successful as a team.”
“That is true,” Delcatty concurred, before smiling in determination, “In fact, we should have a team meeting, actually. And I know the perfect way we can organize it.”
Tinkaton hummed mockingly, before deadpanning, “Sounds like it’s gonna be stupid.”
“It’s not stupid,” Delcatty assured, almost defensively, “It’ll give our team the best chance of success. You’ll thank me later.”
Delcatty turned around with a self-satisfied look, unaware of Meganium’s slightly annoyed look towards her.
“Why the hell is she acting like it was her idea?” Meganium asked incredulously.
“One of my many specialties is pinpointing what strengths, weaknesses, and strategies teams can use to succeed,” Delcatty explained in an almost boastful confidence, “If we can come together in an organized manner, we’ll be the perfect team, which is how I plan to run this meeting.”
Her expression then turned deadpan, “Besides, based on what I’ve seen today, I don’t think anyone here is even close to my intelligence level, and I need to be the one to take charge and guide them.”
“Whatever,” Meganium stated, turning around to exit the cabin, “Just be ready to come to the mess hall in ten. And don’t be late.” She firmly ordered, giving the girls one last glare.
As Meganium made her way out of the cabin, Mandibuzz whispered to her doll, “Lilith, you shouldn’t say that c-word about others.”
Hearing this, Meganium stopped in her tracks, before rolling her eyes and shaking her head in exasperation, groaning to herself.
Mandibuzz glanced around the confessional with a deadpan look, Lilith sitting by her side, “This should be an interesting experience.”
There was a beat of silence as Mandibuzz stared at Lilith, indicating that the doll was chiming in. Mandibuzz nodded, “True, a lot of people here do seem weird. But I’m sure we’ll be able to make friends and have fun. Maybe see something brooding and creepy too,” Mandibuzz, surprisingly, formed a small smile at that last thought, her first one of the day.
Drilbur was the first to run inside the guy’s side of the Miraidons cabin, once again finding the scenery breathtaking, “Woaaahhhhh, this is so cool!”
“I seriously question your definition of cool,” Zweilous remarked as the mole ran to his luggage(which had been taken to the cabin by Marshtomp during the commercial break) that was sitting by one of the beds in excitement. The rest of the guys walked inside to see what Drilbur was excited about.
“I actually don’t mind this,” Snover replied, walking towards the left side bed in the back, “These beds ain’t too different than what I’m sleepin’ in back home.”
“It’s not great,” Shellder admitted, “But it seems livable enough.” Shellder then noticed a much bigger Pokemon beside him, slowly walking forward, his expression looking even more awe-inspired than Drilbur, “Camerupt?”
The camel could hardly hear Shellder as he walked closer to the window, his mind going into a complete trance. As he looked out the window, the world around him turned into a dreamlike yellow hue as he heard soothing music playing in his ears. He saw himself as a Numel joyfully frolicing in the grass, laughter bubbling from his chest as he chased a Cutiefly while not having a care in the world. The sight made him smile warmly, if not dreamily.
Meanwhile, in reality, the other guys just stared at their elderly roommate with amusement mixed with some concern.
“Is he having a stroke?” Zweilous flatly asked, his voice a mix of deadpan snark and actual concern.
“Nonsense,” Heracross waved off Zweilous’ comment, “This simply must be his way of expressing joy.”
Camerupt then let out a couple of dreamy chuckles, still not paying his teammates any mind.
“Alright, maybe we should be concerned.” Heracross chose to rescind his earlier statement, now sharing the same concern as Zweilous.
Back to Camerupt’s vision, he was now seeing the younger version of him laying on the grass while he and his friend watched clouds, then he saw his younger self on a swing, then he was playing hide and seek, then-
“Hey! Earth to grandpa,” Camerupt snapped out of his daze once he heard Zweilous’ voice and saw the dragon snapping his fingers in front of his face.
Camerupt quickly turned around and saw the other guys staring at him, “Oh, heh, sorry about that fellas,” he apologized with a sheepish chuckle, “Was just…reminiscing about old times.”
“Yeah, we get it, you’re old.” Zweilous deadpanned, “You don’t have to make it your entire personality.”
Camerupt couldn’t help but wince at Zweilous’ blunt words and delivery. Why was everyone calling him old today?! “How does reminiscing make me old? That’s not just an old person thing, right?”
Thankfully, Shellder came to Camerupt’s defense, “I mean, I can relate to going in a daze when thinking about things I like. I’ve always done that.”
Camerupt grinned and chuckled once again, happy that Shellder was defending him, “See, you get it kid!” He playfully nudged Shellder, only to knock the much smaller Pokémon off of his feet and onto his back, “Oops.”
“Again with calling a grown man a kid?” Zweilous questioned, before smirking and walking past him, “Showing your age once again.”
Camerupt decided to ignore Zweilous’ teasing by awkwardly laughing along, but he’d be lying if he said the dragon’s words didn’t affect him somewhat.
“Y’know, this camp is great. I don’t know what everyone’s talking about.” Camerupt said with a bright, if not oblivious grin, “Sure, this place isn’t the most well-kept, but that’s the fun of it! It wouldn’t feel the same if it were all modern and stylized. This is classic camping!” He gushed, chuckling in delight.
Eventually, though, his laughter devolved into a sigh, “But…Zweilous isn’t entirely wrong. I was probably cast as the token…” He hesitated, almost wincing at what he was about to say, “…older guy of the group…but that doesn’t mean I’m old!” He indignantly stated.
After a moment, his face fell once again, “Still, though, since there’s such a massive age gap between me and everyone else, it’s gonna be a lot harder for me to fit in with these folks.” He then flashed a determined smile, “So I’ll have to try as hard as I can to do so. That shouldn’t be too difficult, right?”
Camerupt walked towards Drilbur, who was eagerly going through his many belongings, “Lotta stuff you got there, huh ki–I mean, uhh… dude?”
Drilbur nodded enthusiastically, not noticing Camerupt cringing to himself, “Yup! Not sure if I’ll need all this stuff, but my mom taught me that it’s better to have something and not need it, then to need it and not have it!”
“Can’t argue with that,” Camerupt grinned back at the smaller Pokemon. Being a parent himself, he was happy to see someone appreciate their own parent so much.
After doing some more digging, Drilbur’s face lit up as he pulled out what he was looking for, “There you are, night light!” He chirped, triumphantly holding up a small oval shaped lightbulb, with plugs on the back.
“...Seriously?” Zweilous, now sitting on the top bunk above Snover, questioned, giving the Drilbur an incredulous look. The mole didn’t pay him any mind as he walked towards the center of the room and glanced around, seemingly looking for something.
“Where are the outlets?” Drilbur asked, slightly confused as to why he couldn’t find any.
“Outlets?” Shellder looked behind him, and then under the bed Heracross had chosen, “I don’t see any.”
Snover and Camerupt, who chose beds on the opposite side, also looked around. “Nuthin’ on this side either,” Snover said.
“These cabins must not have any,” Camerupt deduced.
“Wait, but if there’s no outlets, how am I gonna use my night light?” Drilbur asked, starting to grow concerned, a far cry from his bright demeanor he had showcased all day.
“You won’t,” Zweilous chimed in, his tone condescending, “Y’know, like a grown adult.”
Rather obviously, Zweilous’ blunt tone did nothing to soothe Drilbur. Seeing the mole’s expression grow increasingly worried, Camerupt walked up to him with a warm look, “Don’t sweat it, Drilbur. It won’t be so bad.” A thought came to mind, then a smirk crept upon his face, “Or should I say, it won’t be so bed!”
No one laughed except for Camerupt. Zweilous in particular looked especially peeved at the low effort pun, evident by his exaggerated frown and growl. Seeing the stares he was getting while looking to see who got his joke, Camerupt’s laughter faltered, before he awkwardly cleared his throat.
Eventually, though, a small smile formed on Drilbur’s face, “I…think I get it.” He looked up at Camerupt, appreciative of the camel trying to lighten his mood, “Maybe it won’t be so bad.”
Camerupt grinned upon seeing Drilbur’s spirits lifted. Seeing this, Zweilous couldn’t help but roll his eyes to the back of his head. Not that anyone could see it.
“Bleugh. Overly positive people. My only weakness,” Zweilous dramatically groaned, shuddering slightly before glaring at the camera, “These guys are gonna be so annoying. Especially wannabe uncle Camerupt. Who does he think he is treating us like kids?” He ranted.
The Two-headed dragon groaned, slouching forward slightly, “I gotta figure out how I can ruffle these guys feathers before they ruffle mine.” A devious smirk crept upon his face, “If I can get under these guys’ skin, they’ll get all emotional and drive themselves out of the game.” He chuckled, treading a fine line between confident and cocky, “This game’ll be a cinch.”
“I’ve…never slept without my night light before,” Drilbur murmured, his gaze below him as he twiddled his claws, “My mom always told me to watch out for my surroundings, and I can’t see in the dark.” He looked up in worry, “Who knows what’ll happen?”
He took a deep breath, before offering the camera a weak smile, “But, I’ve been wanting to try new things, so maybe this is an opportunity.”
Heracross pulled out a large brown book from his backpack. The book was titled History of The Clifford Knights.
Shellder, his bunkmate, took note of his book and immediately perked up in interest, “Woah, you have the History of the Clifford Knights book? I couldn’t find that anywhere!”
“Being the great grandson of three legendary knights does have its perks,” Heracross said with an almost boastful grin.
“Hey guys,” The men heard, before turning towards the cabin entrance and seeing Meganium giving them a serious look, “We’re having a team meeting at the mess hall, so be ready.”
“Wait, a team meeting?” Shellder asked, gaining a nervous look, “As in, the whole team, meaning e-everyone?”
Meganium gave him a look, “Depends. Do you want to be outcasted and the first one out on this team? Then don’t show up. But I thought you were the smart one or something.”
Shellder flinched at the jab as Meganium turned around to leave. Zweilous snickered, “Damn, she got you there.”
Shellder moaned and rubbed his head anxiously, “This is bad, this is bad.”
“Somethin’ wrong pardner?” Snover asked in concern.
“That! That’s what’s wrong!” Shellder spat, his eyes and voice emitting worry, “This is really embarrassing, but…I-I’m not really good at talking to girls. I don’t know why, but my brain just short circuits and I make a fool of myself when I try!”
Zweilous blurted out a mock alarm, “Loser alert!”
“Ahh, talkin’ ta girls ain’t hard,” Snover assured with a confident wrist flick. “You jus’ gotta show ‘em confidence! At least that’s what my paw says—and it works for him.”
Shellder was unconvinced, looking even more apprehensive than before, "Riiiight.”
“Just be yourself, kid.” Camerupt reasoned, a fatherly tone oozing from his voice before he realized what he said, “Or, uh, would you rather be called young adult?” He sheepishly asked.
“...Kid is fine.” Shellder awkwardly responded.
Camerupt sighed in relief, “Okay, good.”
Shellder took a deep, shaky breath, “I’m just…getting into my own head, that’s all.”
After a brief pause where he seemed hopeful, he then moaned in a mixture of frustration and anxiety, “I don’t know why talking to girls gives me so many butterflies! I just…don’t know what they want! Girls are all so… different !”
Quickly after saying that, a panicked look appeared on his face, sweat beading from his head like a sprinkler, “N-Not that it’s a bad thing! I-In fact, it’s a great thing! Be your own person!” He forced a crooked grin and a shaky thumbs up…before his face fell, now even more panicked, “Wait, was that too forced? Do I sound weird?! That was totally weird! Why am I so weird?!” The clam held his head, feeling completely flustered.
Marshtomp walked into the mess hall’s kitchen and glanced around. Like most of the buildings at camp, the kitchen was dirty and unkempt.
“I guess this is my life now,” Marshtomp said to himself while beginning to walk around.
The cameraman turned chef walked towards a pantry. Upon opening the door, he saw a bag of oatmeal, and a few snacks. At least there was something for breakfast tomorrow.
He then walked over to the slightly rusty fridge. Upon opening the freezer, he saw two pizza boxes...and shrugged. You can’t go wrong with pizza, right?
The majority of the Miraidons were now gathered inside of the mess hall sitting at the table by the door, the opposing team not having arrived yet. The only two missing were Chansey and Zweilous, the latter being the last one to lazily strut inside.
“Alright, what’s the deal?” Zweilous boredly asked, plopping himself onto a seat, “I’ve got a date with my bed later.”
Meganium glared at him in annoyance, “In case you haven’t realized, we’re working together as a team. So we need to get to know each other and figure out our strengths and weaknesses so that we can function.”
“Also, the other team isn’t here,” Delcatty pointed out with a confident tone, “This is the perfect opportunity to take advantage of them not knowing how to strategize. And I have the perfect way to organize things-”
Before Delcatty could continue rambling, Meganium deliberately cleared her throat to cut her off, giving her a look, “Yeah, I don’t know if you remember, but this meeting was my idea. So it’s my meeting.”
Delcatty looked at Meganium, a hint of offense written on her face. She played it off by averting her gaze and looking down at the table, “Right, right. Your meeting…”
Noticing her tone, Meganium gave the cat a look of suspicion. Rolling her eyes, she decided to let it slide…for now. Directing her attention back to the team, she said, “Alright, here’s what we’re gonna do. Go around the table and do a quick introduction, but most importantly, explain how you’re gonna contribute to this team. Anyone can start.”
No one on the team budged for a few seconds, instead opting to exchange awkward glances. Eventually, Snover was the one to speak up, “Well, I come from out in the country on a farm, so I’ve been workin’ pretty dang hard all my life.” He stated, before narrowing his eyes with a smirk, “So, if any of you gals want a good ol’ farm boy like me-”
“No.” Meganium curtly replied.
“Gross.” Delcatty remarked with a grimace.
“Shut up.” Tinkaton growled, glowering at Snover.
Seeing these reactions, Snover quickly clamped his nonexistent mouth shut.
“I don’t get ta interact with people that much, livin’ at a farm and all,” Snover admitted, “So I’m not entirely sure what ladies like.” He then shrugged, “I jus’ go off of what my pa does. He told me that I need a lady to help take care of the farm when he and ma get too old, so I figured I’d find some here.”
“Besides, I’ve been wantin’ some new experiences and to see some new thangs,” He reasoned, his expression hopeful, “It does get kinda tirin’ bein’ on the farm all the time. And maybe I will find someone.” His expression fell, “…Hopefully.”
“Alright, you,” Meganium pointed a commanding finger squarely at Shellder, who happened to be sitting next to Snover, “What do you got?”
Shellder flinched, his brows furrowing in nervousness upon now being the center of attention, “W-Wait, m-me?”
Meganium tightened an impatient glare towards the clam, making his blood run cold. He started trembling under the weight of everyone’s stares, especially from the girls.
“Don’t overthink. Don’t overthink. Don’t overthink. ” Shellder frantically repeated to himself in his mind, “I’m…I-I’m a…a nerd!” He blurted, regret slowly creeping into his expression.
“Tell us something we don’t know,” Zweilous remarked with a condescending chuckle.
“I…I…uhhh,” Shellder stammered. Maybe he really should take Snover’s advice. He put on the best suave tone he could muster, “Girls are… hot.”
Everyone just stared at him, Meganium looking especially unamused. At that moment, Shellder wanted nothing more than for the floor to swallow him up.
Shellder deadpanned, “Something tells me Snover’s method doesn’t work.”
Meganium sighed, frustrated at how the meeting was going so far, “Next, please? And let’s not talk about who you’re attracted to.”
“I can go next,” Camerupt offered with a smile and friendly wave, “Hey everyone! I’m Camerupt, I’m from Medali, and I have a lovely family-”
“And we’re moving on. Next?” Meganium curtly interrupted, much to Camerupt’s disappointment.
“Hi! I’m Drilbur!” Drilbur chirped with an enthusiastic wave, “I’m from Nuvema Town and I wanted to have a new experien-”
“Okay, just-” Meganium interrupted once again while facepalming, “Do you guys have like…strengths or anything?” She questioned, removing her hand from her face, “The whole point of this meeting was to discuss our strengths because it’s a competition.”
“Well, Lilith is really smart, and me and her work well together,” Mandibuzz dully chimed in. “But she doesn’t work well with others sometimes. I’ve been trying to get her to work on that.”
No one responded for a moment, before an unamused Meganium broke the silence, narrowing her eyes, “Right…”
Heracross spoke up next, “As you all may know, I am training to be next in line for becoming the next Clifford knight of Galar!” He boomed, pride evident in his expression, “It’s a title that’s been passed down for three generations, and I will be the fourth in my family!”
“Yeah, a family of doofuses, maybe.” Zweilous remarked with a scoff.
Heracross let out a dramatic gasp before glaring at Zweilous in offense, “How dare you speak of my family in that way?!”
“Because I can.” Zweilous nonchalantly replied, his smirk growing as Heracross growled at him.
Meganium, having enough of Zweilous’ attitude, glared at the Dark/Dragon-type, “Okay, Zweilous, what are you good at? Since you have so much to say about everyone else.”
“And show my cards this early?” Zweilous retorted with a condescending chuckle, “Someone doesn’t know how these shows work.”
Meganium opened her mouth to retort, but Tinkaton spoke up before she had the chance, “Can’t believe I’m saying this, but he’s right. Anything we say could be used against us later,” She stated, before glaring between the table, “And you all don’t need to know anything about me.”
Zweilous gestured a hand towards Tinkaton, “See, someone here’s also speaking my language.”
Tinkaton glared at Zweilous in response, “Don’t push it, hair brain.”
Meganium groaned in frustration, “Come on you guys, take this seriously,” she implored, her voice a mixture of annoyance and desperation.
“Maybe if we had done this my way, this would’ve been more productive…” Delcatty muttered under breath.
Hearing Delcatty’s snide comment, Meganium gave her a side eye, before groaning to herself. Her team meeting was a complete bust.
“This team is useless!” Meganium exclaimed with a frustrated groan, “Why come here if you’re not gonna take this game seriously?! Zweilous and Tinkaton aren’t cooperating, Delcatty’s acting weird with me, Chansey is who knows where, and everyone else is just weak!”
She sighed, grumbling, “Looks like I’m gonna have to carry my team…as usual.”
Zweilous lazily slumped in the confessional, a bored look on his face, “I don’t know who died and made Meganium the queen, but she seems like the type of person who takes herself way too seriously and thinks that everyone should cater to her every whim.”
He then sat up, “But I’m not gonna do that. If you want my respect, ya gotta work for it. That’s how this world works.” He bluntly stated, before chuckling, “She’s gonna be fun to piss off.”
Pachirisu opened the door to the Staff Lodge, exhaustion evident in his expression. It had been a very, very long day, and he was ready to dive into his bed. Wherever it was.
In front of him was a wide living room space with a kitchenette on the left side. On the right side was a staircase leading to the second floor, and there was a patio door beyond the living room offering a view of the trees. The second floor formed a rectangular hallway containing open rooms. If Pachirisu wasn’t so exhausted, he’d be admiring the scenery.
Pachirisu lethargically walked towards the stairs, his feet dragging with every step. Once he was upstairs, he sluggishly walked towards the room that was at the back of the hall.
Unbeknownst to the squirrel, however, another figure began to creep into the lodge–that figure being none other than Chansey. The Egg Pokemon was determined to get her phone back under any means necessary. It was her life.
Chansey briefly glanced around the lodge before noticing that the camera room was upstairs. Unsure of where else her phone could possibly be, she tip-toed up the stairs, flinching at any miniscule noise the floor made.
Once she was upstairs, she snuck into the camera room. The lights were off in the room, but it was dimly lit by a large TV screen split in twelve mini screens, each showcasing various locations around the camp. Below the TV was a desk with a few computers. But Chansey didn’t care about any of that. All that mattered to her was that sweet, sweet feeling of being able to text her bestie.
Looking around the desk, she wasn’t able to find her phone anywhere. She let out a small sigh and whispered to herself, “Where else could it possibly be?”
She walked out the camera and walked around the hallway, weighing her options. Should she give up- No. No way. That was not an option. She’s getting her phone back now-
“Marshtomp, is that you?”
Chansey froze. Shit. She had somehow forgotten she was supposed to be sneaking! Panicked, she scrambled into the bedroom that was closest to her.
As she snuggled herself into the closet to hide, her face brightened as something caught her eye. It was a clear bin sitting on a desk containing two phones, closed shut by a blue lid. One of them had a pink case, signifying that it was hers!
Chansey began walking over to grab it, but just as she began to reach for the bin, she heard the host’s footsteps, making her freeze yet again.
“Marshtomp, are you in here?” Pachirisu's voice rang out, eerily close to where she was.
Chansey mentally panicked as the footsteps grew louder and louder. Making a split-second decision, she opened the window and jumped, not even taking her phone.
Just one second later, Pachirisu peeked into the room and glanced around. No one was in sight.
“…I should really get some sleep.” Pachirisu muttered before walking away, dragging his feet as he did so.
Outside of the staff lodge, Chansey had landed on a nearby bush, groaning in pain as she rubbed her head.
“Damnit!” She cursed to herself, frustrated that her mission had failed. Her frustration quickly turned into curiosity, however, as she laid eyes on a scroll of paper
Reluctantly, she picked it up and rolled it down halfway, revealing a message which she read aloud, “You are on Frond Island. What’s something in nature that rhymes with Frond?”
Chansey’s face scrunched in confusion, “Well, pond, but what does that have to do with anything? Is this like a minigame or something?”
Before she thought about the message any longer, her eyes widened as she remembered Meganium’s meeting, “Crap! I gotta get to the team meeting!”
Without a second thought, she dropped the scroll and ran back towards the camp. The scroll paper slowly floated to the ground and rolled out the rest of the page, revealing a statement written in cursive, “This is your clue to the hidden immunity idol.”
A bell rang across camp from the mess hall, signifying that dinner was ready. The Koraidons exited their cabin, the exceptions being Umbreon, Liepard, and Banette.
The team walked into the mess hall and their noses were instantly smacked with the aroma of Pizza. The slices were flimsily cut to accommodate for twenty-two people, each slice placed on a paper plate. The Miraidons were already grabbing their slices as the Koraidons walked in.
“Aw yeah! We got pizza in this bitch!” Pignite cheered, running over to grab a plate.
The rest of the team grabbed their own plates and sat down at the table closest to the kitchen. Once they tasted the pizza, however, they noticed that something was…off.
“Bruh, this shit ass!” Pignite chastised, slamming his slice down in disgust before turning to glare at Marshtomp, who was awkwardly standing at the kitchen window, “The hell is this, man?!”
Marshtomp rapidly waved his hands apologetically, “Sorry! I just cooked what was in the fridge, and pizza boxes were the only thing there.”
Bellossom inspected the Pizza and noticed some white spots on the crust, “Is this pizza…stale?” She questioned, before scoffing in disgust, “I grace this stupid camp with my presence, and this is how I’m treated?! What a joke!”
“You all should still eat it and not complain.” Clefable ordered, “Stale food is better than no food. We’ll need it for tomorrow.”
“Man, I’ll complain if I want to!” Pignite barked in retort, “I ain’t gotta accept mediocrity!”
Clefable gave him a hard look in response. Bellibolt, sensing the growing tension, quickly chimed in, “Let’s not worry about the food for right now. How about we get to know each other?” He suggested, looking around the table with a hopeful expression.
“Well, you guys already know that I’m the best looking person here. I don’t need further introduction.” Bellossom stated, a smug smile on her face, “My presence is more than enough.”
“Yeah, because we definitely wanna hear you speak more.” Sandaconda sarcastically replied, earning herself a glare from Bellossom.
Cufant shrugged, deciding to speak up next, “Well, I’m from Wyndon, and I didn’t have much going on, so I signed up for this.”
“Oh, Wyndon? That’s awesome!” Bellibolt acknowledged with a grin.
Cufant rolled her eyes, “Pssh, if by awesome you mean boring, then yeah.”
“Wait, Wyndon is boring to you?” Polteageist asked in surprise, “Isn’t that a huge city? I’m from Laverre City and there’s nothing to do there.”
“Yeah it’s boring!” Cufant groused, “It’s just buildings, buildings, and more buildings! I need some adventure!”
“I like adventure too!” Sliggoo blurted out of nowhere, a little too loudly.
Everyone at the table just blankly stared at him.
“…Cool!” Bellibolt chirped after a few seconds.
Sliggoo looked down in embarrassment, taking a bite out of the stale pizza in shame.
Sliggoo dejectedly rubbed his arm, “How come when I try to join a conversation I always get weird looks, but when others do it it’s fine?”
He sighed, looking down, “Why am I so bad at this?”
“That aside, I just signed up for this to have some fun.” Polteageist said with a shrug.
“Same!” Bellibolt brightly replied.
Polteageist grinned, “Heck yeah, dude!” They cheered, holding out a hand for a high five.
With an elated grin, Bellibolt returned the high five, only to feel a jolt run through his body! Bellibolt let go of Polteageist’s hand, revealing a small red hand buzzer.
Polteageist laughed hysterically, pointing at Bellibolt with their other hand, “HAHAHA! Got you good!”
Bellibolt forced an awkward smile in response, “Y-Yep, sure did.”
Pignite spoke up next, “Y’all prolly know me as Marc Tha Pigg-”
“We don’t, actually.” Bellossom interrupted, her tone and expression uninterested.
Pignite turned to her with a bewildered look, “What’chu mean?! I’m all over the internet! Y’all ain’t heard of my new mixtape?!”
“Nope.” Cufant nonchalantly answered, briefly shaking her head.
“Nah.” Polteageist replied with a similar tone.
“I’ve never heard of you either, actually.” Bellibolt answered, giving Pignite an apologetic glance, “But that does sound cool!”
Pignite smacked his lips while rolling his eyes, “Whatever man. Anyways, I’m reppin’ Lacunosa. The dopest city in Unova!” He proclaimed, showing off his tattoo of the city’s name.
“Isn’t Lacunosa like…a small town?” Polteageist asked.
“Yeah but the people there be cool though.” Pignite replied, “And there be a lot goin’ on!”
“Like what?” Cufant asked, skeptically raising a brow.
Pignite leaned forward, “Okay so look, one time, me and my bros went to a pokemart.”
“Ooh, story time? Cool!” Bellibolt chirped, his interest piqued, a sentiment echoed by everyone else at the table barring Clefable, who was focused on her food, and Sandaconda, who seemed to be looking outside.
Pignite smirked at getting everyone’s undivided attention and began to explain his story, “So what happened was, these other dudes was hangin’ out in the front, and they was like ‘Ayo, this is our turf mothafuckas!’” He imitated a voice for dramatic affect, “And we was like ‘Hell nah, we run this fuckin’ city!”
“Did you guys end up sharing?” Sliggoo asked innocently.
“Nah, we don’t get down like that.” Pignite stated, “So we made an example out of them and beat they asses. We had ‘em runnin’ off like pussies.” He put his hands behind his head, a satisfied smirk glued to his face.
This revelation garnered mixed reactions–Bellibolt and Sliggoo’s expressions were a mixture of shock and concern, Polteageist and Cufant showed excitement and amusement, and Bellossom gave Pignite an unamused expression.
“Oh, that’s…not what I expected.” Bellibolt replied with a nervous grin.
“How…classy of you.” Bellossom sarcastically responded, judgement written all over her face.
“Well they was tryna fight us first!” Pignite defended, “And we were outnumbered too! It was three of us and five of them.”
“Wait, really?” Cufant asked, perking up in excitement, “That’s sick!”
Pignite smirked once again, “I am pretty sick like that.”
“Not gon’ lie, I kinda finagled the story a lil’ bit.” Pignite admitted with a shrug, “What actually happened was that those guys bumped into our group by accident and we just went about our day. And it was only three of those dudes.”
“I’m just tryna make myself look tough and strong so that my team sees me as a valuable asset.” He explained, before smirking, “And maybe scare ‘em a lil’ bit too.”
Unfortunately, Pignite wasn’t able to bask in his glory for long.
“Sounds like a load of bullshit.” Clefable spoke up after being silent for a while, not eyeing the rest of the group.
Pignite gave her a bewildered look, “Huh? What’chu mean bullshit?”
Clefable turned towards him with a skeptical look, “I’m supposed to believe that you and two of your cronies went up against five people and came out unscathed?”
“We did! On my momma I’m not lyin’!” Pignite attested.
Clefable scoffed, “That’s about as believable as that little rodent being a good host.” She remarked, before tightening her glare towards Pignite, “I’ve met people like you who are all talk. Making things up just to make yourself seem strong. But where I come from, you have to be strong, and something tells me you’re not actually about that life.”
“I am strong!” Pignite shot back in offence, returning a glare of his own, “You just hatin’ for no reason!”
“Boasting your strength doesn’t make you strong,” Clefable argued, unfazed by Pignite raising his voice, “If anything it makes you look weak.”
“What bro?!” Pignite barked with an offended scowl, slamming a hand on the table.
“Fight, fight, fight!” Cufant cheered.
“Okay!” Bellibolt hastily blurted with a nervous chuckle, “This is kinda going haywire, so maybe we should move on.”
Pignite smacked his lips, leaning back on his seat and grumbling, “Whatever man.”
“Tch, you guys are no fun.” Cufant complained, rolling her eyes.
Unbeknownst to the Koraidons, someone from the opposing team was observing their drama. That someone was Tinkaton, and she was specifically taking mental notes about Clefable as she hummed to herself in thought.
However, the person sitting in front of her, being Snover, didn’t take it that way, “Oh, are you lookin’ my way, ma’am?” He coyly asked, flirtatiously wiggling his eyebrows.
Tinkaton gave him a deadpan glare.
“I know that pig was trying to make himself look intimidating, but it’s not gonna work on me regardless of how loud he wants to get.” Clefable stated, her usual glare intact, “Besides, I’ve dealt with way more threatening foes than him and more perilous situations than that make-believe bullshit he was spewing, and I still came out on top.”
She tightened her glare, “And I’ll do the exact same thing in this competition.”
“Damn, why everybody tryna come for me today?! The hell did I do?!” Pignite frustratedly inquired, “I mean, yeah I exaggerated that story, but Clefable still ain’t have to come for me like that!”
He huffed, folding his arms in annoyance, “I ain’t gon’ lie, I don’t trust that girl. Somethin’ up with her.”
“Clefable is…interesting.” Tinkaton mused, “With her demeanor and the way she speaks, she’s clearly trying to use intimidation to her advantage. And while I respect it…I can’t have that.” She glared at the camera, “If anyone’s using that strategy, it’s me.”
“I’m keeping my eye on her.” She stated.
While Snover was struggling to pull his overalls down and stumbling around the Miraidons table after Tinkaton pulled them over his face, Bellibolt tried to continue the conversation his team was having.
“Oh, Sandaconda!” He started, remembering that she hadn’t introduced herself yet, “How about you-”
“I’ll be back.” The snake interrupted, promptly getting up from her seat and slithering out of the mess hall without looking back.
Bellibolt looked slightly disappointed, “Oh, okay then.”
Bellossom rolled her eyes, “Hopefully she went to go find a mirror so she can fix herself.”
The team quickly moved on from Sandaconda’s abrupt departure, with the exception of Clefable, who stared at the exit, her glare deepening as Sandaconda slithered further away.
Just a few seconds later, Chansey ran into the mess hall, rushing over to her team’s table.
“Hey guys, I’m here!” Chansey frantically announced to her teammates, “Did I miss anything?”
Meganium glared at her, “Nothing… important.” She grumbled through grit teeth, making Chansey feel awkward.
“Besides Chef Flipper over there giving us stale pizzas.” Zweilous snarked, nodding one of his heads towards the kitchen.
“And I kinda need a little help over here,” Snover pleaded, his voice muffled by his overalls as he helplessly walked around the dining hall while currently blind, before losing his balance and falling to the floor.
Chansey looked on awkwardly, “O…kay, then.”
“Is Meganium…mad at me for missing the team meeting or something?” Chansey asked herself in concern.
…Before deciding to shrug it off, “…Eh, we’re probably fine. She’ll get over it.”
Back in the Koraidons cabin, Banette had chosen to stay behind, in desperate need of alone time. He sat on his bed, writing something down in his notebook. He was hyperfocused, as if nothing else around him mattered, because right now, it didn’t.
This day has been…weird so far, he wrote. We were supposed to stay at a resort for this show my roommates got me to sign up for, but we ended up at this summer camp instead. The people here are…okay, I guess, but some of them kind of scare me. One of them gave me a weird look earlier-
“Not in a socializing mood, huh?”
Banette flinched as he was snapped out of his thoughts. His eyes darted around, before they landed on Sandaconda, who was just outside of the cabin entrance, giving him a knowing look. Speak of the devil.
“...Uh, n-no, not really.” Banette nervously murmured, attempting to avert the snake’s gaze, unsure of why she was even acknowledging his existence. He preferred it when people didn’t.
Without a proper invite, Sandaconda slithered inside the cabin, making Banette even more nervous.
“W-What brings you into the…guys cabin?” Banette asked with a nervous grin, desperately hoping that the reminder would make her go away.
“You’ve been preoccupied with that notebook of yours all day.” Sandaconda stated, ever observant. “What is it that you’re writing that’s so good that you can’t spend time with the rest of us?” She asked with a malicious smirk, getting closer to the squirmish puppet.
“N-Nothing!” Banette squeaked, turning his body away from Sandaconda in a futile attempt to hide his notebook, “It’s totally nothing!”
“Oh, I’m supposed to believe that, huh?” Sandaconda questioned, moving around to face him, “C’mon, what do you have to hide? You’re probably hiding some juicy secrets, aren’t you?” Her smirk widened as if she had cracked a secret code.
“Y-Yeah- I mean no!” He stammered, scooting to the back of his bed in desperation, “I mean, kinda, but i-it’s nothing bad!”
“Nothing bad?” Sandaconda followed his movement once again, “So I should be able to see it, right?”
She then did the unthinkable–or at least something Banette didn’t think she would do–and attempted to snatch his notebook from his hands using her tail. He yelped and fell off of his bed as soon as she tried to do so.
“W-What are you doing?!” Banette spluttered, crawling towards the bed across from, “W-Why are you doing this?!”
“Why are you being stubborn?” Sandaconda retorted, “If you don’t wanna show me what you’re hiding, then I have to assume the worst and tell the team that you’re not trustworthy.” She slithered closer, her devious smirk unwavering, “You don’t want that , do you?”
Banette’s eyes darted back and forth as he began to break a sweat. “I-I…I…uhh…” He stammered out while shrinking into himself, desperately hoping that something, anything, could get him out of this situation-
“Hey, Sandaconda,” The two of them heard. They turned around to see Sliggoo, who casually entered the cabin as if nothing was going on, “The team was wondering where you we-” He paused, noticing the position his teammates were in, “...Oh, did I miss something?”
“Uh, nope!” Banette quickly responded. This was his chance! “I was just about to get something to eat!”
Without another word, Banette ran out of the cabin like his life depended on it(which to him, it did!), bumping Sliggoo slightly as he did so. Sandaconda went agape, before growling in frustration and glaring at Sliggoo, “Idiot.”
Sliggoo flinched at the insult as Sandaconda slithered out of the cabin without acknowledging him any further, leaving Sliggoo in the cabin by himself.
“Did I say something wrong again?” Sliggoo asked himself in confusion.
Still holding his notebook, Banette heaved a heavy sigh of relief, sinking into the toilet seat, “That was way too close. I owe Sliggoo one. Probably.”
He sat in silence for a couple of seconds, before muttering, “My notebook is…uh…private.” He admitted, holding it close, “I don’t want anyone to see it and judge me for what’s in here. N-Not that I’m hiding anything bad, it’s just…uh, private. Yeah.”
After another pause, he sighed, “I just need to avoid Sandaconda as much as possible, but it’s gonna be really hard since we’re on the same team.” He groaned in worry, “Why is she even doing this?”
Sandaconda groaned in aggravation, “I literally almost had him! If that stupid snail didn’t barge in, I could’ve had a huge advantage in the game!”
She huffed in annoyance, before smirking as she gained an idea, “Looks like I’m gonna have to try other measures.”
Liepard walked through the tropical forest alone, a bored look on her face. After she had to resist the urge to hospitalize Bellossom, she needed some time alone to cool off. She had been walking around for about twenty minutes now.
She was annoyed about being swindled out of the resort that the advertisements promised and being stuck at this run down camp, and she was also annoyed at the people she was going to have to deal with. The controlling Clefable, the mischievous and childish duo of Polteageist and Cufant, and especially that stuck-up, self-absorbed, rich girl Bellossom.
As annoying as this situation was, though, there was nothing she could do about it now. Besides, at least she was away from home.
As she continued aimlessly walking, she noticed that she was near the beach they had arrived at. She also noticed that Umbreon was sitting by the ocean alone.
A part of her grew curious as to why he was out here by himself, but…so was she. Maybe he was feeling similar to how she was feeling at the moment. But was he even worth talking to? They had just met, and he was kind of rude to her earlier. She thought to herself for a moment, her expression unreadable.
Umbreon stared out at the ocean, a worn out look on his face. He was currently regretting everything that led him up to this moment. If he could swim away and forget about all of this, he would. But he didn’t want to deal with any potential lawsuits, or social media shaming that would come with that. It didn’t help that he wasn’t a particularly great swimmer.
The Moonlight Pokemon dug into the sand with his paws, gritting his teeth in frustration, “Why did I think signing up for this shit was a good idea? Now everyone’s probably scared of me and they’re just gonna vote me off because I can’t control myself.” He sighed, “This was a waste of my time.”
“Rough day today, huh?”
Umbreon winced slightly, looking up to see Liepard now standing next to him.
“Uh…yeah? What do you want?” He skeptically asked.
Liepard raised a brow, “I can’t sit at the beach?”
“No, no, you’re fine. Sorry.” Umbreon assured with an apologetic tone, before sighing, “I just…keep screwing up.”
Liepard sat down beside him, “How so?”
“I…kinda had an outburst after letting my anger build up all day.” Umbreon muttered, avoiding Liepard’s gaze, “We got lied to about where we were staying, the camp sucks, a lot of these people are annoying, the boat driver took too long to get to the island-” As he was speaking his voice began to rise and tense up slightly.
“Sorry, what now?” Liepard interrupted, doing a double take at the last thing he mentioned.
Umbreon paused, realizing that he was beginning to lose his cool once again. He sighed, “And…Pignite said something that made me snap. So I came here to cool off.”
“Oh. That’s…a lot?” Liepard reluctantly replied, unsure of how else to respond.
Thinking that Liepard was judging him, Umbreon groaned in slight embarrassment, “I know I look ridiculous. I signed up for this show thinking it would fix my problems or something. My therapist suggested that I try a new experience, and I saw an ad about staying at a five star resort for money, so…here I am.” He explained, “It was a stupid decision and I just…Gahh! Why am I even here?!” He bellowed, clutching his head in frustration.
Umbreon took a deep breath before glancing at Liepard, expecting a response from her. Instead, the feline just stared at him without responding, making Umbreon feel even more embarrassed and ashamed.
“…Sorry for unloading my pity party onto you,” Umbreon muttered, his voice barely above a whisper now as his gaze was on the sand again, “And sorry for snapping on you earlier as well.”
“Oh no, you’re fine, I get it. I just didn’t know how to respond. And you don’t have to apologize; I didn’t really care that much.” Liepard assured with a shrug, before glancing away, “I…also kinda had to refrain from doing something I’d regret. And I agree–this place sucks. But…I’m here now, and there’s nothing I can do about it.” She stated.
Umbreon let out a dry chuckle, “Besides swimming away?” He asked in an attempt to make a joke.
Liepard gave him a look, “I mean, sure, you can do that. But I didn’t end up in this shitty camp for nothing. So…I’m gonna try to win.”
Umbreon didn’t respond, a thoughtful look growing on his face from Liepard’s statement.
After a few seconds of awkward silence, Liepard stood up, not eyeing Umbreon, “I’m gonna…head back to camp. See you around, I guess.”
Liepard turned around and walked back towards the forest, feeling slightly awkward, while Umbreon stayed seated. Once she was out of sight, Umbreon took a deep breath, before standing up and going in the same direction.
“I…don’t really like talking to people, nor do I like people in general, for the most part.” Liepard admitted. “I considered not even talking to Umbreon but…I don’t know, I kinda…related to him, I guess?” She said, her tone introspective.
She then glanced to the side, feeling somewhat skeptical, “He’s probably not someone I’ll talk to that often, though.”
“If it wasn’t obvious already, I…get angry pretty easily.” Umbreon muttered, “It’s not something I’m proud of. I was stupid to think signing up for this would solve my anger issues.”
He sighed, before his expression turned thoughtful, “But…Liepard has a point. Since I am here, I might as well try to make the most of it and, well, try to win. A million dollars does sound nice.” He shrugged, before groaning to himself, “...Even if I probably already put myself in a bad spot.”
Away from the Decolore Islands, the bustling streets of Virbank City began to die down as the sun began to set on a large, luxurious penthouse condo by the ocean, not too far from Pokestar Studios.
The inside of the penthouse looked even more luxurious, offering a full view of the ocean with windows all around the living room, pristine floors and walls, a jacuzzi on the balcony, and even stairs made of marble to flex how rich the owner was even more. A widescreen TV hung from the wall, playing the premiere of the Decolore Islands Challenge–specifically Pachirisu’s outro of the episode.
“Uhhh, thank you for watching…wait what is this called again- Oh! The Decolore Islands Challenge!” Pachirsu visibly fumbled on camera, “Uh…wh-who will win? Who will lose? Who will…uhh…place somewhere in the middle? Find out next time! So…see you then-”
A split-second later, a remote was chucked at the TV, specifically aimed at Pachirisu. The screen instantly cracked, Pachirisu’s face being covered by the colors and lines of the broken screen.
The perpetrator was revealed to be a seething Quaxly, who was currently rearing a navy robe, fit for his small body. A look of pure hatred was glued to his face. He couldn’t bear to look at that sorry excuse of a host’s face and his ugly, tacky bowtie, or hear his stupid, shaky voice any longer. That man stole his job. His career.
“Is this some sort of sick joke?!” The duck blustered in anger, “Darin really replaced me with this random bum off the street?! He doesn’t even know what he’s doing! That should be me out there! Me! I am reality TV!” He ranted to no one in particular, given that he was the only one in the room.
He growled to himself, feelings of contempt, jealousy, and bitterness stewing inside of him, “Clarence!” He barked.
Quaxly’s housekeeper, a modest looking Dragonite, walked down the stairs as his name was called, a somewhat nervous expression on his face.
“Yes, Mr. Odell?” Dragonite meekly asked.
“Get me a new TV from downstairs.” Quaxly ordered, not even sparing his servant a glance.
Dragonite glanced at the now cracked TV screen and grew even more nervous, now fearing for his own safety from a clearly emotionally volatile Quaxly, “Uh…R-Right away, sir.”
Dragonite briskly walked downstairs in order to not upset Quaxly even more. Quaxly grumbled to himself as he grabbed his phone that was beside him.
“Stupid Darin, stupid cancel culture,” He grumbled while mindlessly scrolling, “Stupid- oh?”
As he was scrolling on his twitter feed, specifically on The Decolore Islands Challenge tag, some comments caught his eye.
“That Decolore Islands Challenge Premiere was so bad! I’m so disappointed!”
“Why is this host so unprofessional lol”
“This is ridiculous. Why is this premiere so unorganized? Could they not find anyone better to host???”
“I miss Thomas Odell :/”
The last comment in particular really got Quaxly’s attention. It had well over a hundred thousand likes and reposts, and that number was increasing in real time.
A devious smirk crept upon his face as he chuckled, “Well, well, well…looks like I might be getting my career back.”
Notes:
Hey everyone. So…this took way longer for me to write than I wanted it to. A lot went on after I released the first chapter…and by that, I mean college and several bouts of writer’s block. Also, episode 1’s are notorious in this community for being very difficult to write, and this was no different for me. I don’t think this is the best episode 1 out there, especially for how long this took for me to finish, but I’m glad it’s done so that I can move on. I’m excited for the rest of this season now and this was just a hurdle for me to get through.
With that being said, thank you for reading! Reviews are appreciated!
The Cast and their teams
Crafty Koraidons - Banette, Bellibolt, Bellossom, Clefable, Cufant, Liepard, Pignite, Polteageist, Sandaconda, Sliggoo, Umbreon.
Marvelous Miraidons - Camerupt, Chansey, Delcatty, Drilbur, Heracross, Mandibuzz, Meganium, Shellder, Snover, Tinkaton, Zweilous.
outofbattery233 on Chapter 2 Wed 25 Jun 2025 12:15AM UTC
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Jalengu on Chapter 2 Wed 25 Jun 2025 06:27PM UTC
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