Welcome to Camp Poke. Pokemon is a trademark owned by Nintendo, and I make no claims upon it. The only things I claim are my characters, and the setting of this story. I would also like to thank AngelTheSeventh for beta reading this story and correcting my mistakes. Any reviews would be appreciated. With that out of the way, please enjoy the story.
The warm summer sun beamed through the window of our dark blue pickup. The truck's air conditioning breezed against my blue and black fur, and my excitement kept me wide awake.
Outside, trees covered in vines lined the near-barren road and scurried past my view.
My trainer's spontaneous two-hour drive from Vanette Town to the middle of nowhere had left my mind teeming with a burning curiosity. I flashed back to my trainer barging into my room to wake me up earlier in the morning…
"Rise and shine, Rocker!" Toby screamed a few feet away from my bed.
My eyes shot open. I yipped and swung my paw spike at him, narrowly missing his face.
"What the heck, Toby!" I shouted using my aura.
Toby held back laughter. "We're going to be taking a road trip today, so go get ready and get to the truck in the next few minutes."
"Um, okay… Where are we going?"
"You'll find out soon."
I chuckled at the memory and settled back into the cushioned seat of the truck. My head turned to my trainer, who was way too pale for summertime.
"Toby?" I asked curiously.
"Yeah, Rocker?"
"Can you please tell me where we're going? We've been driving for so long."
"Nope, not yet," he said with a wry smirk. "But I can say that we're almost there."
"We're in the middle of nowhere! I've used my aura five times, and there's only forest."
"Well then, it's good to know you've been working on that, but please don't do it anymore. I don't want you to ruin your surprise," he said.
Elated, I replied, "A surprise?! What is it?!"
"Well, if I told you, it wouldn't be much of a surprise."
"Come on, just tell me," I begged. "I wanna know."
"We're almost there, so I'll tell you at the next turn. Sound good?"
I nodded my head vigorously and pondered what Toby had for me. 'Maybe he's driving to get an HM. What if we're going to a gym battle? Could he have…' My wandering mind stopped once Toby turned right onto a large dirt path. The gravel crunched loudly under the tires.
My excitement bubbled up as Toby reached into his pocket and pulled out an orange and yellow pamphlet.
"Have a look at this, Rocker," he said while handing the pamphlet to me.
The cover read Camp Poke in big yellow letters.
"What's this?" I asked.
"It's your surprise!" Toby cheered with excitement. My head cocked right in confusion. Toby sighed and slowly said, "Rocker, you know how I'm going on that business trip?"
"The one to Kanto?" I asked, remembering what Toby told me a few weeks ago.
"Yeah, well you can't have pokemon out of their pokeballs while you're in the meetings, and they're pretty long. I knew you'd be bored there, so I decided to sign you up for a sleepaway camp."
"W-what!?" I exclaimed. My body began to quiver a little.
Toby put a hand on my shaking shoulder. "You'll love it. There are games, sports, and you'll make lots of new friends."
"How long am I going to be there?!"
"Three weeks."
"That's so long! What if a wild pokemon attacks you and I'm not there? What if you need help?" Toby rubbed my head and scratched a sweet spot behind my ears. My shaky muscles relaxed, and some of my worries faded away.
"I'm going to be just fine, buddy. This is your time to relax and have some fun."
"I'll miss you." My head bowed in sadness.
"You'll be too busy with your new friends to worry about me, but I'll be sure to write, just to check up on you." I perked up a little, but not much. Toby quickly chimed, "Did I forget to mention there's a battling class?"
After hearing that, my face lit up with a new vigor, and my tail subtly wagged behind me. "That sounds awesome!"
"Yeah, hopefully they'll teach you all kinds of stuff. Maybe you'll learn something for the next gym."
"I hope so! How much longer until we get there?"
Toby chuckled. "About a minute."
Excited, I looked out of the window and my eyes found a beautiful stone archway. Camp Poke was engraved across the top. Toby drove past the arch and onto the grounds of the camp.
A large wooden building sat to the left of the road, and trees lined the right. After going further in, Toby gave a random nod, and when I looked out the window, there was a smeargle wearing an orange vest who directed us to a spot where the road hooked right. After we turned, a large part of the camp came into view. Vast green fields and a few large wooden buildings lined both sides of the path.
"They have a pool!?" I exclaimed.
"Yeah they have all sorts of stuff here. This place even connects to the bay."
As we drove, we passed a big field with a few cabins in the front, and some in a small circle further back. There were cars on the grounds with pokemon lugging a few bags around.
"Is that where I'm staying?" I asked Toby with evident excitement.
"Nope, those cabins are for the younger pokemon. Your cabin is further back in the camp."
Up the road, there were a few cars and trucks filing onto a path that led into a wooded area. "That's it over there, right?"
"It could be. All I know is that your cabin is all the way back in Ultra Village."
We drove further in, and passed another field with cabins. The sign on the field read Hyper Village. A lot of younger pokemon were out on the field playing soccer. A young mudkip was dribbling the ball down the field while everyone chased after him.
Toby pulled our truck behind the line of cars. Some were going left, while others were going right. A sign between the two roads read Star Village with an arrow pointed left, and Ultra Village with an arrow pointed right.
"I think it's that way, Toby!" I said.
"Got it." Toby turned onto the path, and in front of us was a slow moving line of vehicles leading through a small forest. Over the cars, I could just barely see the tops of the wooden cabins. My paws excitedly drummed against my legs as the line moved closer. There was a white building to the right of the shaded and rocky path, with bathrooms and outdoor showers.
After a few minutes of waiting, the line moved some more, and we were finally out of the forest.
In front of us was a small field surrounded by trees, with cabins arranged in a messy circle along the treeline. There was a small table set up in the center of the field that read Sign in. Past that, the small path continued past the trees to the other side of the field, to another, larger cabin.
"I'll go sign you in," Toby said while opening the door. He hopped out and walked over to the table. My eyes darted around to see most of the pokemon were unloading their belongings into their designated cabins. A few older pokemon were talking with the younger pokemon's trainers and shaking their hands. A magmar and a charmeleon were chasing each other around, while a few other pokemon were racing up and down the small field.
A sharp knock came from the driver's side door, and I looked over to see Toby at the window. He chuckled and climbed back into the truck. "You're in that large cabin in the back." He pointed.
"Okay," I chimed in a cheery voice. "How many pokemon are going to be in there?"
"Eight on one side and eight on the other. Each side is considered one cabin, and the paper says you're on the Echo side."
"Wow, that's a lot of pokémon for one room."
"I'm sure you'll be fine. You've always been great at making friends." Toby shifted the truck into drive. "Ready to head over?"
I nodded and Toby peeled down the path to the cabin.
The area was shaded and cool compared to the rest of the village. Toby parked in front of the cabin. Toby hopped out and gestured me to follow. My seat belt came off with ease and I opened the door. The sweet smell of pine filled my snout as I exited the truck. I stretched my tense body and walked over to Toby, who was talking to an older floatzel. The floatzel was using a text to speech tablet so Toby could understand him.
"I'm guessing you're Rocker?" the floatzel asked me without the use of his tablet.
"Yep." I replied. "And you are..."
"I'm your cabin's counselor. You can call me Mr. Floatzel," he said. "Are you excited to be here?"
"Yeah, this place looks awesome!" I scanned the surrounding area, only to find endless trees.
"It is. It's almost completely run by pokemon." Then, Mr. Floatzel turned to Toby and started typing. "If you brought anything for him, please take it inside."
Toby headed back to the truck and retrieved a small black duffle bag and some sheets.
"What's in the bag?" I asked.
"Soap, towels, shampoo, and a few snacks for in between meals." My face lit up at the possibility of Toby giving me his signature pokepuffs.
Toby hurried back, and Mr. Floatzel led us to the door. He opened it to reveal a quaint, single room with wooden floors, bunk beds in each corner, and shelves. A grovyle, a buizel, and a pudgy raichu were already there, talking around one of the bunks. They all waved, and returned to their conversation.
"Thank you," I said to Mr. Floatzel, who was holding the door open for me.
"You're very welcome," replied Mr. Floatzel.
My eyes rested on a vacant bottom bunk close to the door, but before I could set my stuff on it, Mr. Floatzel said, "Could you please use a top bunk? There may be four legged pokemon here, and it would be a lot harder for them to climb a ladder."
"Oh, okay then." I walked to the small ladder attached to the back of the bunk.
"I almost forgot!" Toby ran out of the cabin. I quickly followed and saw my trainer rummaging through the back of the truck. "Got it!" Toby happily yanked a box fan from the truck and strolled back up to the cabin. "It's supposed to be really hot since the cabin doesn't have air conditioning, so I brought you a fan to put in your bed."
"Thanks, Toby." I beamed. I took the fans from him and put them in my bunk.
"No problem, bud."
"Is that everything, sir?" Mr. Floatzel asked.
"I think so," replied Toby as he looked at me with a smile. "Well, I best get going. I still have to pack for my flight." Toby beckoned me to follow him out to the truck before he walked out of the door. We fell in step with each other on the way to the truck. My paw stayed around his waist until we got to the truck. "Have fun Rocker," Toby said as he hugged me.
"I'll try too." I tightly hugged him back. After a minute Toby tried to let go, but I hugged him even tighter. "Write me soon."
"I will. You'll hear from me in no time." Toby said in a reassuring voice. He pulled away and scratched behind my ears one last time before he hopped into the pickup. The engine roared, and Toby slowly backed up. I gave one last wave as Toby pulled away from the cabin and drove back through the small forest. For a minute, I longingly stared after Toby, but Mr. Floatzel called me. "Rocker, can you come back in and get your stuff set up?" My eyes blinked a few times, and I snapped out of my daze.
"Coming!" I yelled back. Excitedly, I sprinted back into the cabin and climbed into my unmade bed.
"Do you want any help?" asked the buizel from across the room.
"Yeah. Could you help with my sheets?"
The buizel nodded and waddled over. I handed the buizel one end of the sheet and we tucked it into the crevasses of the bed. "Thanks man." I said.
"Don't mention it. I'm Sam, by the way."
"I'm Rocker."
'Nice to meet you, Rocker." Sam said. Sam looked at his tail with an annoyed look and loudly thumped it against the floor.
"Are you okay?" I asked as I narrowed my eyes in confusion.
Sam responded with a sarcastic laugh. "Well, Giz over there," he angrily grunted while glaring at the raichu, "decided it would be funny to shock my tail earlier. Now I can't feel it."
Giz quickly covered his mouth and turned away.
"It's not funny, Giz!" Sam shouted.
Giz fell back with laughter that filled the whole cabin. "Yes it is!" he choked through his cackles.
I tried to hold back my own laughter as Sam angrily marched over to Giz and shook him.
The grovyle got up and eased around the scuffling pokemon over to me.
"Sorry about them," he sighed. "They usually get into scuffles like that."
"Do you know them?"
"Yeah, we're all from the same town, so we're pretty good friends." He took another glance at Sam and Giz, who were still fighting. "Well, most of the time..."
"Oh, that's cool. I'm from Vanette Town."
"Nice. I'm Raymond, but I usually go by Ray," said the grovyle. "If Giz ever asks you to pull his paw, don't."
"Why?" I asked with a cocked head.
"Your arm will probably end up like Sam's tail."
"Duly noted."
Ray snickered and rushed back to break up the fight, which had turned into a full on slap battle.
I chuckled and hopped into my comfy bed, which had my bag on it. I opened the duffle bag and found the towels and shampoo Toby had talked about. Under those were bags of pokepuffs and other candies with a small post-it note on them: Be sure to share with your cabin. -Toby
I happily took out a bag of Toby's sour pokepuffs and began to eat them. Their lovely tang stung my mouth, and I beamed.
After a few minutes, and a few pokepuffs, the familiar sound of tires on gravel rang through the cabin. I looked out of the small window next to my bed. There was a white convertible, and a bayleef and a luxio were in the back seats. They got out and talked with Mr. Floatzel for a minute before they walked up to the door.
Mr. Floatzel opened the door, and the bayleef rushed inside to a bunk at the far end of the room. On the other hand, the luxio slumped into the cabin and fell onto the bed across from his friend. Mr. Floatzel wandered off to the joining point of the two cabins. A sign above the doorway read Counselors area.
Their trainer followed in after them. She was a small woman who wore a sun hat. She sighed when she saw the luxio and put sheets on the pokemon's beds. She had to heave the luxio off the bed to get the sheets on. She called out a thank you to Mr. Floatzel, and gave the luxio a saddened look before leaving the cabin.
After she left, the bayleaf strolled to the center of the room. "I'm Riley," he cheered with enthusiasm. "And the grumpy guy over there is Shane." The luxio sighed and turned to face the wall.
"He seems festive." Giz said sarcastically.
"He's been like that ever since he evolved, so try not to get on his nerves."
The room became strangely silent. Everyone stared at Shane for the next few seconds.
"So… Riley, where are you guys from?" Sam said awkwardly.
"We're from Jubilife City in Johto."
"You came all the way from Johto?" I asked from my bed.
"Yeah, my trainer grew up here in Sinnoh, so she likes to come back every year to visit."
"That's cool," replied Ray. "Have you been here before?"
"Yeah, this is my third year here, but it's my first year as an Ultra."
"Oh, so what usually happens here?" I asked. "It's my first year at camp."
Riley paused to think. "Since it's the first day, we'll get a tour of the camp, pick our activities, and have everyone go down to the amphitheater for a show. There's probably some stuff I forgot, but those are the main events."
"That's awesome! When can we go?"
"Once everyone gets here."
"Okay." I replied gleefully. "I can't wait to see everything."
"You'll love the waterfront." Sam chimed. "They have tubing, boat rides, and even waterskiing."
"The battling class is so much better." Ray replied. "They have a huge arena, and the instructors even teach you cool ways to combine moves."
"The battling class is so basic," Giz snapped. "I hardly learned anything in it last year."
"Giz, you sat and ate candy during every class," Ray snickered
"Shut up, Ray!"
Everyone except Shane and Giz started laughing, and Sam held back Giz from tackling Ray, who was holding onto a bedpost, cackling.
After few more minutes, the door swung open once again, and a gabite hobbled into the cabin. A young woman followed him in.
"Are you sure you have everything Henry? I could check one more time for you," cooed the woman.
The gabite gently nodded his head yes and set his stuff down on the bottom bunk across from me.
"Are you sure you don't want me to check? What if you forgot your poke do-" Henry quickly shook his head and held his claws out to stop her from saying anything else. "Okay, okay." She gave him a tight hug. "Make sure you behave yourself."
Henry awkwardly hugged her back and followed her out the door. She gave him one last pat on the head before leaving and driving off.
Once he returned, Henry let out a loud sigh. "Finally," he grunted.
"Are you okay?" I asked from across the room.
"I'm fine," Henry replied. "My trainer can be a bit much sometimes."
"A bit much?" Giz snickered. "She treated you like a baby."
"Giz..." Sam cautioned.
"What? She seemed way too overprotective. I thought she was going to ask if he needed a diaper change."
Henry snickered. "I wouldn't doubt that."
"So, where are you from?" asked Riley.
"I'm from Canalave City"
"That's where the steel-type gym is right?" I asked from my bunk.
"Yeah, have you been there?"
"Not yet. My trainer Toby and I have been working hard so we can beat that gym."
"How many badges do you guys have so far?" asked Ray.
"Um, five so far, but we haven't battled too much recently due to Toby's job."
"What?!" exclaimed Henry. "Are you going to challenge the league if you get all eight?"
"We might," I replied. "Do you have any badges?"
"Nope," Henry sighed. "My trainer doesn't like battling much, so we don't go for badges."
"Don't worry," chimed Ray. "You'll get to battle a lot here."
"I hope so." Henry replied.
Giz walked over to my side of the cabin and sniffed the air. "Does someone have pokepuffs?"
"Yeah," I replied. "My trainer gave me a whole bag-full before he left." Everyone except Shane looked at me with yearning eyes. "Um," I sputtered. "You guys want some?"
They all nodded and scrambled over to me. Except Shane, whose eyes were having an affair with the wall.
"Can I have a sweet one?" asked Riley and Henry in unison.
"Give me a spicy one!" shouted Giz.
"Do you have any sour ones?" asked Sam.
"I'll take any of them." said Ray.
"Just give me a second!" I exclaimed, grabbing my pokepuffs and getting off my bed. Once I was down, I handed them each a pokepuff. "Does everyone have one?"
They nodded and happily dug into their treats. After they finished, everyone thanked me and went back to their bunks.
"Hey, Shane," I called. "Do you want anything."
Shane stayed facing the wall, giving no indication that he heard me. I sighed and put a pokepuff on his bed. "Keep it." He hissed under his breath.
"Are you sure you do-"
"I said keep it!" growled Shane.
I jumped back a bit and stared at a few sparks flying from his body.
"I'd stay away from him when he's like that." said Riley.
"S-sorry," I said. "Anyone else want the pokepuff?"
"I'll take it," Giz chimed.
"No you won't," Sam said while yanking his tail.
"Hey! What'd you do that fo-"
The sound of a roaring engine cut Giz off as it approached our cabin.
Riley looked up, surprised. "Geez, the gravel must be gone after that." I could hear a door slam outside, and the vehicle quickly drove off.
I curiously walked over to the open cabin door and saw a lucario with a green scarf, hanging his head.
"Hey, are you okay?" I called out.
"Y-yeah." He mumbled, and picked up his bags. "I'm fine." He made it to the stairs before one of his heavy looking bags fell from his strained paws."Damn it!"
I reached down and picked up his heavy bag. "I got it,"
"Oh... thanks," he mumbled.
"What do you have in here? Bricks?" I chuckled.
With a weak laugh he replied, "Books, actually. I like reading, so I brought a few."
"That's cool." I said. "It's nice seeing another lucario here."
He gave me a small smile. "Yeah, I'm Cody."
"I'm Rocker. Have you been here before?"
"Yeah, I was here last year," he walked inside and looked around. Cody looked at the unoccupied beds, until he saw the empty one under mine. He set his bags on the side of the bed, and I set his bag of books beside them.
"Do you need any help making your bed?"
"Thanks, but I got it."
"Are you sure?"
Cody nodded and pulled out his sheets to make his bed. After he was done he sprawled out onto the mattress. "Thanks again for helping with my bag."
"Don't mention it."
Mr. Floatzel came out from the counselor's area. "Is everyone here?" He asked. Most of us nodded. "Wonderful," he said. "Let's get going."
"Where are we going first?" asked Sam.
"First, we're going to the pool for your swim test. You can't do any water activities without passing it."
Sam's eyes lit up and he scurried to the door. "What are you guys waiting for? Let's go!"
"Crap, I hate swimming." Riley said. "Do you know how hard it is to tread water without paws?"
"If you're not doing water activities, you don't have to swim." Mr. Floatzel sighed.
"Yes!" Riley and Giz cheered simultaneously.
"Head outside and I'll take you to the pool."
Everyone scurried outside, and Riley dragged a protesting Shane from his bed with his vines.
We all gathered in a big group and Mr. Floatzel stood on the deck of our cabin. "Since we're already here, everyone look behind you," Mr. Floatzel said. We looked into the forest and saw a small opening in the trees. "This is the ultra trail. If you ever go on it, please be mindful of the drop."
"Drop?" I asked.
Mr. Floatzel chuckled. "Yeah, the edge of the path drops off onto a steep hill. You'll end up rolling into nasty water at the bottom of it."
I gave a nervous laugh. "Sounds fun."
Mr. Floatzel chuckled. "We should probably get going now. We don't want to be late." He hopped in front of our group and cheerfully lead us down the winding gravel road.