As the sun begins to set over the horizon, a large flame becomes visible in the sky. This was the flame used to commemorate the Olympic Ceremony held long ago on this planet. But this was no ordinary Olympic Ceremony, this would mark a whole new tradition for this Universe.

Below the large torch containing the mighty flame, a Darkrai and shiny Cresselia stood in front of thousands of people sitting in a Coliseum inspired by the Romans but included modern technology. As the viewers were eagerly excited to hear the Darkrai's announcement, Darkrai noticed this and gave them a smile for a moment before turning on his microphone.

"For the first time ever, we will be holding a Universal Olympic competition. 22 Pokemon from both this planet and the other 9 planets have come together from all walks of life to compete in this season of Total Pokemon. They will face various challenges, emotions and of course, each other. But in the end, only one will remain standing to claim the 750 million dollar prize."

After stating that, his wife, Cresselia spoke up. "While the runner-up will receive a wish from the Legendary Pokemon: Jirachi. This will be a very intense season, and we hope to see you there."

"39 Days, 22 Pokemon, 1 Winner! Welcome, to Total Pokemon Galaxy Games!" Darkrai shouted.

A few hours later

At the front of the Coliseum, a Mienshao was getting out of the car and thanking the driver for the ride in Japanese. As the car sped off, Mienshao made her way inside and was immediately hit by a powerful psychic wave of energy. However, it only lasted a couple of seconds and her body was unharmed.

"What in the world?" Mienshao questioned.

"Universal Language spell. Basically, it gifts the individual the ability to not only hear one language, but also speak it. On top of that, it also makes the translators job a lot easier since they don't have to go through all the languages."

Mienshao was confused about the source of the speech. But moments later, the shiny Cresselia appeared from the shadows. Mienshao proceeded to walk over to Cresselia and gave her a kiss on the hand before continuing. "Thank you for the information Cresselia, you were helpful." But Cresselia could sense the brown-nosing a mile away and pointed towards the hallway. "Nice try hotshot. Now go down the hallway and await your contestants."

Mienshao was annoyed by this at first. Her compliments usually worked with other people, but she quickly regained her composure and heads down the hallway. After she was out of Cresselia's sight, she gritted her teeth and clenched her fists.

The next two to arrive are a Skiddo and Growlithe. As they step through the entrance, they try talking to each other and it seems to work.

"Hi Growlithe, I am Skiddo."

"Hey Skiddo, nice to meet you. I am Growlithe. Where did you come from?"

"I come from Africa. I wanted to compete because I was hoping the prize money could help my family and or to see how far I can get. But improving my physique could also help."

"Interesting, though you already appear to be in good shape. But you do what you think is best." Growlithe replied with a smile. " I come from Peru, and I wanted to compete in this game because I wanted to have fun and I also wanted to see how effective my motivational speeches would be in a scenario like this."

"You're a motivational speaker?" Skiddo asked.

"Yep. I just graduated from my program this year, so now I get to put it to the test."

"Well I wish you the best with that Growlithe, I'm sure you'll do great."

"Thanks Skiddo. You know, something tells me that the two of us are going to be good friends."

Skiddo smiled after hearing that. "Same here. All right, let's go." Growlithe agreed and the two headed towards the hallway. Though for a brief moment, Skiddo stared at Growlithe's ass, admiring it. But he quickly recomposed himself, trying to hide it from Growlithe and once they reached the end of the hallway, they arrived at a large gymnasium.

"Hey boys." Mienshao said as she walked over to greet them.

"Hey Mienshao", the two boys replied. But as Growlithe and Mienshao talked about their reasons for being in the game. Skiddo felt a little suspicious about Mienshao.

"Well, it was fantastic to meet you boys and I hope we will have fun in this game together. Bye." Mienshao then headed back to the girl's side of the gym and Growlithe turned to face Skiddo, who had a look of concern on his face. "Something wrong Skiddo?"

Skiddo shook his head. "Not really. It's just that something about Mienshao rubs me the wrong way, almost like she's hiding something." But Growlithe didn't feel the same. "It's probably nothing Skiddo, after all, she greeted us when we came in and her body language and speech came off as legit kindness than anything else."

"Maybe you're right Growlithe. Maybe it is just nothing." Growlithe then gave him a pat on the shoulder. "There you go. Now come on, think positively. A negative mind isn't helpful." Skiddo giggled. "All right, all right, I'll do that." Growlithe smiled after hearing that and the two of them went over to the males part of the gym.

Over with Mienshao however, she is smirking. "They will make good pawns for later…" she said under her breath. But she wasn't paying attention and when she turned around she was greeted by Diggersby. After giving their hello's, Diggersby asked if she heard something from Mienshao but Mienshao shook her head in response.

"I got nothing to hide from a fellow female. But yeah, I am sure we will get along just fine." But Diggersby wasn't buying it and glared at her for a bit before Mienshao joined in on the glare. Eventually though, Diggersby smiled and gave her a pat on the head. "I'm sure we will. Nice to meet you." But after she walked away from Mienshao, the two of them had seriously looks on their faces. They both knew a rivalry between them had just sprouted.

But as the two of them took their positions on the female side of the gymnasium, a Pangoro walked into the room. When he arrived, he quickly observed the room and was able to come to a conclusion in his head. The Skiddo and Growlithe appear to be hitting it off and Mienshao/Diggersby appear to have a rivalry going on. Interesting…

After thinking that, he walked over to the males side and took up a spot in an empty corner. Seconds later, Growlithe and Skiddo walked over to him and said hello. But Pangoro didn't respond, still focused on analyzing the situation. Eventually, after a minute or so of silence, the two of them walked back towards their spot.

But Pangoro would not have silence for long. An Ursaring was observing the situation the whole time and walked over to his corner. "Hey Pangoro, didn't your mother teach you that when someone greets you, you say hi?" The Ursaring stated. But Pangoro was silent once again. But instead of getting agitated or alienated by this silence, Ursaring smirked. "You're not all that social are you?"

Pangoro raised his eyebrows and his eyes widened in response to the question. It was at this point however, that he began to finally speak. "Huh, I am genuinely surprised you figured that out. I try not to make it so obvious, so good job Ursaring."

Ursaring's smirk widened. "Thanks. In my country, I was taught how to read body language at an early age. Even when people try not to make it obvious, I can just tell." Pangoro smiles after hearing that. "Amazing." But then he goes silent for a moment as he observes Ursaring's body. "I take it you're someone focused on physical and social abilities rather than intelligence?"

Ursaring is kinda confused about the question, which also confuses Pangoro, but Ursaring recomposes himself and responds. "I have a good amount of intelligence, but yes, I pride myself in my social and physical abilities."

"Interesting. Though I must apologize for my question earlier, I didn't know it would affect you in that way." But Ursaring smiled. "It's all good Pangoro, you had no way of knowing that from a guy you just met. Anyways, I am sure as time goes on, the two of us will get used to each other."

"Indeed." Pangoro responded. Ursaring held out his hand, and after a second or two, Pangoro grabbed it and the two smiled.

Cacturne was the next to show up and after saying his greetings to Skiddo and Growlithe, he walks over to Pangoro/Ursaring.

"Hey guys." Cacturne says with a smile.

"Greetings Cacturne." Ursaring replied. But Pangoro was a little hesitant to respond, which confused Cacturne.

"Don't worry about it, Pangoro takes some time to start talking. I just had that happen to me." Ursaring replied.

"Ah, okay. Well I am an Explorer from Egypt and I wanted to see how far this explorer could get in a social/physical competition with other people."

"Interesting." Ursaring replied. "I stem from Russia and I wanted to compete because I wanted to experience the world outside of my country and meet people with different cultures and personalities than the ones I am used to."

After hearing their reasons, it was at this point Pangoro spoke up. "Interesting stories the two of you. I come from China and I am a solo Detective. I wanted to compete because my co-workers thought it would be a good idea and because I thought it would be a good way to test my skills in an environment completely out of my comfort zone."

Cacturne's smile widened. "Interesting. So we got an intellectual with terrible social skills, a physical player with weak intellect most likely, and a social butterfly with shit physical/mental skills. On our own, we'll be out early."

"So what do you propose?" Ursaring asked.

"I think I know where this is going." Pangoro stated.

"Yep, an alliance. The three of us can cover each other's weakness and no one would expect it."

Ursaring then proceeded to point towards Skiddo and Growlithe. Cacturne rubbed the back of his head in response. "Whoops. I guess I should've waited." But then his look of embarrassment returned to a serious look. "But regardless, I think this idea could work. So what do you say?"

"I'm in." Ursaring replied. "Great, what about you Pangoro?" Cacturne asked.

Pangoro was silent for a moment. He would be part of an alliance with others and that was one thing he hated doing. But after some time, he swallowed his pride and spoke. "I'm in."

"Excellent." Cacturne replied.

Outside the Arena

As another limousine pulled away, a Kingler and Mantine headed towards the arena.

"I can't believe you Kingler! After all this time and you still haven't come up with a way to beat our records!" Mantine shouted.

"I told you, it was a good strategy. You just didn't do the proper training!" Kingler replied.

"Well maybe if you made the training worth a damn, we wouldn't be in this mess! We're a joke in the swimming community now because of you!"

"It's YOUR fault why we went on this losing streak!" Kingler shouted.

At this point however, the two had arrived at the gymnasium and got very strange looks by the other contestants. Enraged, the two of them headed over to their spots. Diggersby tried to say hello to Mantine, but she was not in the mood. "Leave me alone!" before proceeding to rest near a wall.

Over with the males, Kingler rests near a wall with a frustrated look on his face. Noticing this, the other male members walk over to Kingler. Noticing this, Kingler lets out a sigh. "Please leave me alone. I don't want to talk about it."

The others comply and walk away from Kingler, giving him his space. Though Cacturne has a concerned look on his face. He wanted to help him, but he knew that right now wasn't the best time.

The next person to arrive is Quilava. One glance at her and you could tell she was not normal. She was very shy and was also a lot weaker than other Quilavas. But as she walked over to the females, she was a little shaken and scared by what she saw in front of her. Noticing this, Mienshao quickly walks over to Quilava and tries to get her to her side. "Hello Quilava, my name is Mienshao. You're in good hands on this team."

But Quilava was still a little shaken up about the whole thing and didn't trust Mienshao. Hell, she didn't trust anyone on her team at the moment. But then she felt a tap on her shoulder. Scared, she turned around really quickly and saw an Ivysaur comforting her. "It's going to be okay Quilava, whatever is eating you up inside, just know that I'm here to help you."

Mienshao's smirk widened after hearing that. "Exactly. The two of us are here to help you Quilava." Noticing the compassion in their words, Quilava nods her head. "Thank you…" She then follows Ivysaur and Mienshao to a corner of the female area and they begin to talk.

Purugly is the next to show up, and while most of the team doesn't notice her, Diggersby does and waves at her. Purugly walks over to Diggersby and the two greet each other. "Greetings Purugly, I am Diggersby. Really big fan of you."

Purugly smiled in response. "Nice to meet you Diggersby. Glad to see someone here recognizes me."

"Well of course, you're a really big wrestler over in the Netherlands. Hell my family and I were cheering when you performed that big heel turn in your last match for the belt."

"Thank you. I always try to keep it interesting for the fans. Anyways, why are you here exactly Diggersby?"

"Glad you asked. I thought it would be fun to compete in a reality show. I've busted drug-lords, petty criminals and ghosts, why not try and add some variety to my life and see how far I could get."

"Ah, an Officer. Nice. Glad to have people like you on the streets keeping the peace so we can rest easy at night. As for me, the wrestling network is on its break, so I got some time off. As a result, I thought, why not try my hands at another form of competition? So here we are."

"Interesting. Well I wish you the best." DIggersby replies as she lets out her hand. Purugly grabs it and gives her a smile. "You too."

The last female to arrive is a Whimsicott. But as soon as she enters the gym, a lot of the females immediately applaud her. Over with the males, Skiddo is kind of confused over this and asks why they are applauding.

"Big name pop-star born in the United States. She's very popular with the females." Skiddo was confused by this mysterious voice, but as he turned his head, he saw a Larvitar standing next to Growlithe and him. Skiddo jumped back a bit in surprise. "Where did you come from!"

Larvitar shrugged. "Been here for a while actually. I just didn't say anything." Skiddo felt a sweatdrop after hearing that response, he felt like an idiot for not noticing him earlier. Noticing this, Larvitar spoke up. "Don't worry Skiddo, it's not your fault. I should've spoken up. Okay?" Skiddo slowly nods his head in embarrassment.

Over with Whimsicott however, she is lapping up the applauses she's getting. She is enjoying this, almost to the point where she doesn't even see a Vaporeon walking by her. But that was quickly corrected and she said hello. However, Vaporeon continued walking forward towards the end of the gym, away from the male and female areas.

Whimsicott was annoyed over Vaporeon's reaction. She hated being ignored. But this thought quickly vanished as she heard a voice behind her. "Get moving."

But Whimsicott wasn't going to take that lying down, she was going to stand her ground. "Kiss my ass, I'm not moving." But after saying that, a large white hand emerged from the ground and grabbed her.

"I commend you for your bravery to stand up to the demon. Not many people are able to do that." Said the mysterious voice behind Whimsicott. As the white hand turned around, as well as Whimsicott, she got a look at the source. It was a Zebstrika as it emerged from the shadows and appeared in the gymnasium.

But despite this power, Whimsicott was unimpressed by what she saw. But Vaporeon, who had previously ignored the others, raised her head towards Zebstrika's direction as a look of intrigue began to form on her face. "You look stupid." Whimsicott replied. But Zebstrika didn't care about the response and put her down, dissipating the hand.

Whimsicott huffed and headed over to the females. As soon as she arrived, she was immediately greeted by Mienshao and they hit it off pretty quickly. But as Whimsicott headed over to Mienshao's side, Purugly noticed something odd about Whimsicott.

Over with Zebstrika, he had just arrived at the area where Vaporeon was and takes a seat near her. "So, you're Zebstrika?" Vaporeon asked.

Zebstrika nodded his head. "That's correct. I am the Great Zebstrika! From Saturn!"

"Interesting. I come from Neptune… Sorry, it's really hard for me to talk to people."

Zebstrika shrugs in response. "It's fine. I'm sure you have your reasons, and I won't pressure you on them if you don't want me too."

"Thanks…" Vaporeon replied. But before they could continue their conversation, she notices a Munna charging towards her at fast speeds. But before the two could collide, Zebstrika pulled out a white hand to stop it. As Munna fell back towards the floor, she got on her knees and started apologizing profusely. "Oh my gosh, I am so so sorry. I was floating normally and then I hit something and it sent me flying. I didn't mean to hit you…"

"You should be apologizing. Seriously, you don't greet someone by colliding with them." Zebstrika replied. But Vaporeon had a different approach. She tried to open her mouth to say hi, but couldn't muster the words.

Munna then got up after the begging and continued. "My name is Munna. I come from Uranus, and as you saw, I am a bit of a klutz." But then Munna smiled. "But hey, despite what happened, at least I am given the opportunity to talk to you two as of now. So something good came out of this in my eyes."

Vaporeon smiles in response, while Zebstrika rolls his eyes.

A few moments later, Magcargo appeared and headed over to her teammates. "Hello you three, my name is Magcargo. I come from Venus. Really happy to meet all of you and I hope we will be great friends."

Zebstrika once again rolls his eyes in response, while Vaporeon doesn't know how to respond. Munna on the other hand widens her smile. "I'm sure we will Magcargo."

"That's the spirit." Magcargo replied.

After stating that, Houndoom arrives. But as soon as the male team got a good look at him, they started booing. As it turns out, this man was the star of a big action franchise and when the last movie was panned, people blamed him for the downfall. But Houndoom just rolled his eyes in annoyance and walked over to his team.

When he arrived, he took a seat below the basketball net. "The last movie wasn't that bad." Vaporeon chimed in, with a shy tone in her voice. Houndoom turned his head towards her and Zebstrika, surprised by what he heard. "Thanks for the compliment. Oh right, where are my manners? I am Houndoom, from Mars. Nice to meet you."

Vaporeon smiled in response. "Nice to meet you as well Houndoom."

"Indeed." Zebstrika replied. "Big fan of your movies, despite the downfall." Houndoom smiled after hearing those words. "Thanks guys, really appreciate that."

But as the three of them were chumming it up, Magcargo noticed that and begin to make a mental note. First targets…

But Munna noticed Magcargo making a mental note and asked her what that was about. But Magcargo gives her a fake smile and tells her that it's nothing. Munna smiles in response. "Okay."

But in the middle of this, the next planetary contestant had arrived and just finished walking over to her team. "Hey guys." Flareon stated.

"Hey Flareon." Houndoom replied. "I know you. You're a big action star on Mercury. Love your work."

Flareon smiled. "Ah, a fan. I never expected a fellow action star to enjoy my work. By the way, loved the last movie." She then turns towards Vaporeon and Zebstrika. "Oh right, sorry about that. Hi Vaporeon and Zebstrika, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you as well Flareon, love your work." Vaporeon replied. "Indeed, you're pretty popular on my planet."

Flareon was glad to hear that. But as she turned her head, she saw an Empoleon next to her confused about the situation. Flareon nervously rubbed the back of her head. "Sorry Empoleon. Didn't see you there."

"It's okay… I am Empoleon from Jupiter. Anyways, have a good one." She then walked over to Magcargo and her group and started up a conversation with them as well.

"Well I am glad to talk to you guys. It's been a while since I have talked to people." Empoleon states to Magcargo. "I see. Well, glad to have you on board." Magcargo replied.

The last person to arrive was Espurr from Pluto, but no one seemed to notice him. After he arrived, all twenty-two contestants were teleported to the top of a sports building a few feet away from the stadium. As the contestants were curious about their new location, Darkrai and Cresselia appear in front of them. "Welcome everyone, to Total Pokemon Galaxy Games!" Darkrai stated. "I am your host: Darkrai, and this is my wife: Cresselia." Cresselia then introduces herself to the contestants before continuing the conversation.

"You guys will be competing for 750 million dollars, while the runner-up will get a wish from Jirachi. As for teams, we will be splitting you into men vs women, with the exception of the planetary contestants who are composed of four men and women. So the males will be called Team Solar, the females will be called Team Lunar, and the rest are known as Team Galaxy."

After stating that, Darkrai pulls out a golden Cresselia and Darkrai doll and explains their use. "One will be used to negate votes, while the other will do the same but can also shift the votes to someone else. But the latter doll can only be used once by the person who plays it, meaning anyone else can play it after that but the person who played the idol. Outside of that, this building will contain your living arrangements for the season and also contains a gym for each team that will allow you to get stronger. And given how some of you aren't fully evolved, something tells me you will benefit from this the most. Now then, on to your first challenge. You will compete in a relay race, where you will pass the baton to your team-mates across the entire coliseum. First two teams to cross the finish line win immunity while the last team will go to elimination. Now then, Galaxy, you need to sit out one member to make it even."

With no time at all, Magcargo volunteers to sit out.

Over with Team Solar, Cacturne tries to take control of the leadership role. But before he could do that, Growlithe opposes that idea and states he wants the position. Cacturne says that he wants it more, but Growlithe is having none of it and the two of them get into a fight. Skiddo tries to tell Growlithe to stop, but he isn't listening.

Pangoro is on the side, not wanting to waste his time getting involved in a petty fight. But Ursaring notices this and pulls Cacturne back. Larvitar also intervenes and pulls Growlithe away as well, surprising Skiddo.

" Thanks Larvitar." Skiddo replied. "No problem Skiddo."

Growlithe sighed. "All right, I'll let Cacturne have the leadership role. It's not worth the fight. Thanks Larvitar for the save."

Larvitar shrugged in response. "Whatever."

Over with Pangoro and Cacturne, Cacturne thanks Ursaring for stopping the fight. "Don't worry about it, didn't want things to get explosive after all."

Pangoro overhears this and is kinda surprised about the response Ursaring gave. Interesting….

Meanwhile

"I want the leadership position." Diggersby stated.

"Too bad, it's mine!" Mienshao shouted. The two were not willing to back down. But after a while, Mienshao pulled back and sighed. "My apologies everyone, this girl brought out a nasty side in me. I didn't mean to do that."

Quilava and Ivysaur were kind of confused by this, but Whimsicott had a smirk on her face for a moment before returning to normal. "Don't worry about it Mienshao, you're clearly more fit to lead us than that rabbit. So go on, lead."

Mienshao smiled. "Thank you Whimsicott." Diggersby shrugged her shoulders and walked over to Mantine and Purugly. "I think she's full of shit." Diggersby stated.

Purugly nodded her head. "Yeah, she is hiding something." Mantine also nodded her head in response.

Confessional

Mienshao: Diggersby is going to be a major hindrance to my plans in this game. I want her out as soon as possible.

Diggersby: Mienshao is clearly full of shit. I don't know how long she can keep that façade up, but it will crack soon. Trust me.

Confessional End

At the Challenge

When the challenge began , it seemed evenly matched. Team Galaxy was in first during the first relay, then Lunar in the 2nd relay, and then Solar in the 3rd relay. But during the fourth relay, Purugly trips before she could deliver the baton to Whimsicott and is delayed by a couple of seconds. On top of that, Pangoro runs out of breath near the end of his relay and is also delayed by a few seconds. During the fifth relay, Growlithe , despite his attempts at improving his team's performance, slams into one of the hurdles and takes a few moments to get back up, giving Espurr a chance to pass him and put his team back in the lead.

After passing it over to Kingler, he tries to make a decent lead for his team once more, but him and Mantine get into another fight, slowing both teams down. Eventually though, Kingler and Mantine make it to their final teammate in the relay: Cacturne and Mienshao and they run as fast as they can to catch up to Vaporeon, who had already reached the finish line. It's a pretty close race for the two of them, but in the end, Mienshao was just slightly faster and won the challenge for her team.

"Good work Mienshao." Whimsicott said with a smile. "Thanks Whimsicott." Mienshao replied before Ivysaur and Quilava went over to thank her as well. As for the other females, Purugly, Diggersby and Mantine give each other praises for their performance in the challenge.

Meanwhile with Team Galaxy, Houndoom and Flareon first congratulate each other for the challenge before doing the same to Zebstrika and Vaporeon. Zebstrika gives them a thumbs up with his white hand, but Vaporeon is a little hesitant at first. Eventually she does give her thanks to them.

Magcargo also thanks her alliance for their great performance in the challenge and they congratulate each other as well.

Over with Cacturne's alliance, Pangoro is disappointed in the loss. "Sorry guys, I really messed up in the challenge." But Cacturne gives him a pat on the shoulder and smiles. "It's all good man, we'll do our best in the next challenge."

"But see, that's just it. I think either you or I will go home tonight." Pangoro replied with a sigh. "Relax Pangoro, we'll be safe. Trust me."

"That's good to hear." Ursaring replied. "However, the three of us will need to work a lot harder if we're to have a shot at winning this game. So I think we should be using those machines as soon as we can." Pangoro and Cacturne nod their heads in agreement.

Later

As the hours ticked by, the members of Team Solar found their living arrangements and began planning out their strategies for tonight's elimination. One of them being Growlithe, Larvitar and Skiddo.

"Ugh. I feel like an idiot for screwing up in the challenge today!" Growlithe said in a sad tone. But Skiddo hated seeing Growlithe like this. "Come on Growlithe, don't beat yourself up like that. You did great in today's challenge, and I know you'll get even better as time goes on, I know it."After a few seconds of silence from Growlithe, he gave Skiddo a smile. "Thanks Skiddo, I really needed that positive reinforcement." Skiddo smiled in response. "No problem Growlite, I just really hate seeing people I know beating themselves up like this, and I will do what I can to help them smile again."

"That's a great trait to have Skiddo." Skiddo nodded his head in response before Larvitar chimed in. "Both of you did well in today's challenge, but performance isn't going to mean much if we keep losing. All three of us are not in our final forms yet, we are a lot weaker than the rest of our teammates. If we want to stand a chance of surviving and getting far in this game, we need to start training. So, are you in?"

Skiddo nods his head. "Of course." Growlithe's smile widened after hearing that. "Hell yeah. After that stand down from earlier, it makes me determined to get stronger so that I can take you on." Larvitar smirked in response. "I'd be up for taking both of you on whenever you want." Growlithe was excited to hear that, while Skiddo was smiling and let out a tiny blush for a moment. He's so confident…

"Excellent. Anyways, I am going to go talk to Kingler, so be back in a bit." Growlithe replied before leaving the room.

Sometime later, Growlithe found Kingler resting by the hot tub area and he sat down next to him. "What is it Growlithe?" Kingler asked. "I wanted to try and convince you to vote Cacturne tonight. He cost us the challenge." But Kingler rolled his eyes in response. "He didn't hit the hurdles or stop in the middle of the relay." Growlithe sighed. "Okay, then vote Pangoro."

"Fine, I'll think about it." Growlithe nodded his head and left him alone. But as Growlithe left, Cacturne emerged from the hot tub. "See what I mean?" Cacturne asked. Kingler nodded his head. "Yeah, I do. Anyways, what do you want?"

"I just wanted to talk to you personally. Not about the game or anything, just one on one. What's bothering you?" Kingler sighed. "All right, I'll talk. So my wife and I have been having issues with our swimming performances over the last couple years, and now it's started to seep into our marriage."

"What brought this on?" Cacturne asked as he was getting out of the tub. "Well after our disastrous defeat at the last Olympics two years ago, we have spent that time strictly training and not spending much time on our personal lives. As a result, we have felt distant from each other. Instead of a Wife, I'm starting to see her as a rival and I don't want that! I want my wife back!"

After hearing that, Cacturne walked over to him and put his hand on his claw. "Maybe you two should take a break from swimming then. The water will always be there for you two, but your marriage won't at this rate. If you want your wife back, maybe some counselling will help." Kingler lets out a sigh. "I never considered that… All this time, I was so frustrated and angry, that the simple solution evaded my sights everytime. Thank you Cacturne, I really appreciate this advice." Kingler said with a smile at the end.

Cacturne smiled in response. "No problem. We're team-mates after all. It may take some time, but I am sure you two will work it out if you follow this advice."

"I will follow it Cacturne, thanks. All right, who do you want me to vote for?" Cacturne shook his head. "That's on you. If you want to vote with Growlithe, that's your choice. If not, that's also your choice. I just came to help you, that's all." Cacturne's smile widened.

Kingler chuckled. "Fair enough. See you at elimination tonight." Cacturne nodded his head before walking out.

Elimination

At the roof of the sports building, Team Solar stood near the exit as Darkrai/Cresselia appeared. "Welcome Team Solar to your first elimination. Tonight, one of you will be voted out and board the Elevator of Shame while the rest of you live to see another day. Now then, if anyone has the idol, now would be the time to play it." Darkrai stated.

But despite the question, no one answered. Noticing this, Darkrai spawned a beach ball out of nowhere and announced, "I will read the votes then."

First Vote: Cacturne

Second Vote: Cacturne

Third Vote: Cacturne

Fourth Vote: Growlithe

Fifth Vote: Growlithe

Sixth Vote: Growlithe

Final Vote: Growlithe

As the last vote was read, Growlithe and Skiddo were shocked. Neither of them expected this to happen. But after some moments passed, Growlithe sighed. "It's okay Skiddo. I had a great time meeting you and Larvitar and I hope we can meet again on the other side. Until then, goodbye." As Growlithe left towards the Elevator, Skiddo had a sad look on his face. Noticing this, Larvitar went over to pat his head. "Don't worry Skiddo, things are going to be okay. If you need someone to talk to, I'm here for you okay?" Skiddo slowly nodded his head in response.

Later

"Thanks again for saving my ass Kingler." Cacturne said with a smile. "No problem. If anything, I should be thanking you. With your advice, I am going to start saving my marriage."

"Glad to hear that." But as this conversation was going on, Pangoro was observing their conversation a few feet away and was intrigued by what was being said. So this is how he socializes? Interesting, I will make a note of that…

And with that, Growlithe becomes the first person voted out of the game. So with only 21 left, who will align with who? Will Skiddo get over Growlithe's elimination? Find out next time on Total Pokemon Galaxy Games!