"Hello hello, lovely ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to Pokemon Drama Island!" announced the charismatic voice of a small levitating Pokemon. "I'm your host, Jirachi!"

A Pokemon with a crown made of pale pink gems floated up next to Jirachi. The lower half of her body was shaped out of a rough-looking rock. "And I'm the co-host, Diancie!" explained the second Pokemon. "Together we're bringing you the greatest game show since sliced bread!"

"That made no sense," said Jirachi, facepalming. Diancie just shrugged. "Whatever. Anyway, on this very show, thirty-two Pokemon will be facing off against each other—sixteen male and sixteen female—for a grand prize: one million dollars!" Jirachi thrust his arms upward in excitement. "Isn't that exciting, Diancie?"

"Yes it is, Jirachi," Diancie replied, flashing the camera a dazzling smile. "But that's not all! This show isn't just about luck; players will have to use their skills to win the challenges that are thrown at them. The players will be divided into two teams from the start. Only one team can win the challenge, so the losing team has to suffer a penalty."

"And that penalty comes in the form of elimination!" exclaimed Jirachi. "The losing team votes to select a team member to send home. The unfortunate sap who receives the most votes gets kicked off the island. No more chances to win a million dollars. It's game over for them, folks." Jirachi cracked a grin. "Only one can be left standing in the end."

"So, without further ado, we're simply introducing the contestants who will be competing on this show for tonight," Diancie said. "They'll be divided into their teams, and the first challenge will begin tomorrow. Say, that looks like the first Lapras pulling in now!"

A Lapras swam up to the wooden dock on which Jirachi and Diancie stood and allowed its passenger to climb off. The first arrival was a yellow rat-like Pokemon with spiky fur and a white ruff around its neck.

"Hey," the newcomer greeted the hosts. "I'm Jolteon. What's up?"

"Not much, not much. How about you?" Jirachi responded coolly.

Jolteon shrugged nonchalantly. "Could be worse. I wasn't expecting to actually get accepted onto this show, so it's definitely a cool way to spend my summer."

"Right then. You can go stand over on the end of the dock!" Jirachi said cheerfully. Jolteon lugged a plain brown suitcase behind him and stood alone at the other end of the dock as the second Lapras drifted closer to the hosts.

The second arrival's appearance caught Jirachi off guard. She was a slender brown bunny with lighter, cream colored fur covering her ears and legs. Her red eyes had thin black markings around the inner edge. Jirachi stared at her for a while before she spoke up.

"Is this the right place?" asked the bunny doubtfully, seeing only three Pokemon besides herself on the island. "I was told there was a game show here, but…"

"Yeah, you're in the right place," Diancie said. She snapped her fingers in Jirachi's face, snapping him out of his daze. "Hey. Jirachi. Focus on intros now. You can ogle the bunny chick later."

Jirachi turned bright red as the newcomer giggled lightheartedly. "My name's Lopunny," she told the hosts. "I assume I should stand by the other guy?"

"Yep," Diancie said. Lopunny strolled across the dock and waited next to Jolteon, who gave her a brief nod but didn't pay her much attention otherwise.

Jirachi grumbled crossly to Diancie. "Don't embarrass me in front of the contestants again. I have to keep up my reputation, you know."

"What reputation? The viewing world probably didn't even know you existed until now."

"Shut up."

The third Lapras coughed loudly enough to catch the hosts' attention. Its passenger, a small black bird with a colorful yellow and green body and blue wings, stepped off and stretched its wings a bit.

"Howdy. You folks can call me Chatot," called the bird. He sauntered over to Jirachi and held out a wing, which the host shook politely after a moment's hesitation. "It's a pleasure ta be here, ya know."

"Where you from?" asked Diancie curiously.

"South Unova. I get that question a lot; has ta be the accent, doesn't it," Chatot said casually. He pulled a cowboy hat out of seemingly nowhere and placed it atop his head. "I'd introduce mahself a bit more, but seein' as I'm gonna win this game, there's no need ta acquaint myself with the losers."

Chatot flew over next to Jolteon and Lopunny as Jirachi snickered. "Wow. You really know how to pick 'em, Diancie."

"Hey, at least he's interesting," countered Diancie. "Weirdos are good for ratings."

"Can't argue with that logic," Jirachi said, shaking his head. "Here comes number four."

The fourth Lapras dropped off a petite pink fairy. She gave a slight wave of the hand and stood next to Diancie.

"You're Clefairy, right?" asked Diancie.

"That's me!" squeaked Clefairy in an annoyingly high-pitched voice. Jirachi and Diancie both cringed upon hearing her speak. "I'm so excited to be here, oh my gosh! Thank you soooo much for letting me onto the show! I've never actually been on TV before, can you believe that?"

"I sure can," said Jirachi, faking a smile. "Now go stand over there."

Clefairy squealed happily and skipped over towards the other arrivals. Chatot raised an eyebrow at her and Lopunny eyed the Fairy-type distastefully.

The fifth Pokemon to arrive appeared rather intimidating. He was a large mammalian Pokemon with a huge, spiky armored shell. He was over a foot taller than Lopunny, who was the tallest Pokemon there besides him.

"I'm Chesnaught," said the newcomer gruffly. He eyed the other competitors. "So this is it? There's only four others? That's hardly fair."

Jirachi rolled his eyes. "Very funny, big guy. There's thirty-two of you competing. Now go over there and wait for the others."

Chesnaught smirked and walked over to the others. Jolteon looked the Spiny Armor Pokemon over thoughtfully. If Chesnaught was as tough as he looked, maybe he could be a decent ally in the game…

The sixth Pokemon to arrive was actually swimming alongside her Lapras, chatting with it animatedly. When they arrived at the dock, she hopped up gracefully, landing on all fours.

Jolteon's eyes widened. The newcomer was a strange mix between an aquatic Pokemon and a mammal. She had fins coming out of the sides of her head and a long blue tail, but her body was similar to that of a feline.

"I'm Vaporeon," the Bubble Jet Pokemon said politely. "It's nice to be here. Thank you for allowing me to participate; hopefully I can walk out of here a million dollars richer!"

"Wouldn't that be nice?" Jirachi asked with a smile. "Unfortunately, there's thirty-one others vying for the prize, so it's not that easy! Good luck anyway, you seem reasonable."

Vaporeon gave the host a small smile and joined the other arrivals at the end of the dock. Jolteon blushed nervously when she sat down beside him, but it didn't seem that she actually noticed it. Jolteon felt a wave of relief.

"Hey, that's a nice hat you got there!" Clefairy piped up, poking Chatot's hat with one of her hands. The bird blinked at her. "My grandpa used to wear a hat like that! But then he got hit by a bus and died."

"Uh…cool," Chatot replied awkwardly. Clefairy beamed at him for no reason in particular.

Thunderous footsteps caught everyone's attention as the seventh contestant strolled down the dock. He was a huge green dinosaur-like Pokemon with scales as tough as armor. His tail swept across the wooden dock, leaving dents wherever it hit something. Jirachi winced as the Pokemon's tail accidentally struck one of the wooden boards on the dock, snapping it in half.

"Could you possibly destroy our property a little less?" asked Jirachi hopefully.

The dinosaur Pokemon glanced down in surprise, seeing the trail of destruction his tail had left. "Oh! Gosh, I'm so sorry. I just evolved from a Pupitar a few days before coming here, so…I'm still not used to this form yet, ha ha." He laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head. "Name's Tyranitar, by the way."

Chesnaught watched Tyranitar carefully. He seemed like he would be a strong competitor, but if he had just evolved, he might not even be worth allying with. Chesnaught wanted to play a careful game, and he didn't need to get involved with every player, especially those that were weaker than he was. Chesnaught only wanted to work with other strong players so he could make it further in the game.

Out from behind Tyranitar popped out a small blue Pokemon. She had a blue head and a zigzagging black tail that connected a round blue tail almost as big as her head. "Hiya!"

Tyranitar jumped in surprise, glancing down to see the tiny Pokemon by his foot. "Don't scare me like that," Tyranitar protested. The blue Pokemon giggled playfully.

"I'm Azurill! I'm in training to join a rescue team!" she informed the hosts. "If I win this show, I'll spend the money to fund my expeditions!"

"Oh, an adventurah," Chatot said approvingly. "She seems all right in my book."

"Thanks!" Azurill shouted. She dashed over to the other seven competitors and positioned herself by Chatot and Clefairy. She sat on her tail, bouncing back and forth energetically.

"How many more are left?" Lopunny asked Vaporeon. "This seems to be taking a while."

"Jirachi said there were thirty-two, didn't he?" Vaporeon whispered back. "There's eight of us here. It'll be a while longer." Lopunny groaned quietly.

The ninth Pokemon promptly hopped off his Lapras and struggled to get his suitcase down. The Lapras kindly dumped it next to him. He nodded gratefully and the Lapras sped off.

The new arrival was a small yellow cocoon Pokemon. He had piercing black eyes and could extend parts of his shell out like claws. "Call me Kakuna," he said simply. "Glad to be here."

He hopped over to the other contestants (which was a bit of a struggle since he lacked any limbs), and Jirachi levitated his suitcase over after him.

The tenth contestant was a cream-colored mouse with blue ears and minus signs decorating her cheeks. Her tail was even shaped like a minus sign.

"I'm Minun!" said the new arrival cheerfully. "I've never been on a show like this before, so…"

"You can just go stand by the others," Diancie told her. "We'll explain everything once everyone gets here."

Minun nodded obediently and joined the others. Clefairy gave Minun a hug, which the Electric-type hesitantly returned. When Clefairy's back was turned, Minun scooted away from her and closer to Azurill, who looked at Minun sympathetically.

The eleventh contestant was a black fox with long red hair. He gave all of the contestants a sly grin and marched over to the hosts. "Zoroark. Remember it, because I'm going to win," he said confidently. Chatot scoffed from where he was standing, and Chesnaught shook his head disapprovingly.

Zoroark took notice of this and walked over to Chatot, scowling. "You got a problem with me, birdbrain?" Zoroark snarled. "I've watched shows like these. I know how to win. And I know how to get you eliminated if you get in my way."

"Try it and I can guarantee ya won't last long, pal," threatened Chatot. Zoroark scowled again and stalked over by Lopunny, who tried to keep a distance from the hostile fox.

The twelfth contestant approached the hosts silently. She was a rocky gray Pokemon with red rocks protruding from several places on her body. Her eyes were hollowed out from the surface of her body, and were a dark yellow. Diancie raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to say anything, or what…?"

The contestant shook her head shyly. "Well, okay," said Diancie awkwardly. "You're Boldore, right?" The contestant nodded. "Good. Stand by the others."

Boldore hobbled over by the other Pokemon. "You don't say much, do you?" asked Vaporeon. Boldore shook her head. "That's okay. I'm Vaporeon, by the way."

"Of course she doesn't say much. She doesn't have a mouth, idiot," Zoroark rudely interrupted. Vaporeon shot him a glare. Boldore looked down at the dock miserably.

"Hey, you can talk and you don't have a mouth!" Clefairy burst out, pointing at Kakuna.

"I'm in between a Weedle and a Beedrill here," Kakuna said, though everyone could tell this time that his voice seemed muffled. "I can still talk, but the shell makes it kind of hard."

"Oh," said Clefairy, satisfied. "'Kay then."

"What's up, homies?"

The contestants swiveled to see an orange lizard Pokemon smoking a cigarette at the end of the dock. He blew some smoke out of his mouth and grinned at them.

Jirachi stared at him oddly for a moment. "Uh…well then. Welcome to Pokemon Drama Island."

"Thanks, man," said the lizard, not even seeming to pay Jirachi any attention. "I'm Scrafty," he said, drifting over towards Lopunny and winking at her flirtatiously. "How you doing over here, hot stuff?"

"Fine, thanks," said Lopunny stiffly. Scrafty winked again, and Chesnaught rolled his eyes at how careless this guy was acting. Scrafty slumped over next to Azurill, leaning with one arm against a rock. He puffed his cigarette a few times more. Minun's nose scrunched up in disgust.

"Here's player number fourteen," Jirachi commented as the next one arrived. She was a plant-like Pokemon with a red flower growing from her head. Long green leaves also sprouted from her head like hair, and the leaves around her body almost appeared like a dress.

"Hi," she greeted the hosts. "I'm Lilligant."

"Welcome aboard!" said Jirachi, grinning. "You can stand by the others over there and talk with them until everyone else arrives!"

"Sure," Lilligant agreed willingly. She joined the group that had formed at the end of the dock and began chatting with Vaporeon in a friendly manner. Lopunny looked like she wanted to talk with the new arrival as well, but she felt uncomfortable with Scrafty staring at her the whole time.

The fifteenth arrival was a red and blue dragon Pokemon. He resembled a gargoyle, and he had rough looking wings and glowing yellow eyes.

"Name's Druddigon," rumbled the dragon in a deep voice. "I'm here to win. Don't know what else there is to say, so I won't say anything more."

"Nice and simple. I like that," Jirachi complimented the Cave Pokemon, who gave a shrug of the shoulders before stomping off next to Tyranitar.

A long pause passed before the next contestant arrived. Diancie pulled out a watch and tapped it impatiently. "The Lapras that's bringing the next one is SO fired," she grumbled furiously. "We're falling behind the deadline here."

"BOO!" shouted a voice from behind Diancie, who screamed loudly. The hosts turned around to see a purple and black bat Pokemon with large ears cackling madly behind them. "Oh, your face was priceless!" the bat howled. Diancie glared at her.

"Who are you supposed to be?" Diancie inquired, her voice cold. Diancie liked being embarrassed on live TV even less than Jirachi.

"Noivern, of course!" the bat said. "Haven't you ever heard me on the radio before? I make music!"

"No," said Diancie flatly. Noivern frowned and flew over by Boldore and Azurill.

"Hey, I listen to some of your music, if it makes you feel any better," Azurill said to Noivern.

Noivern's frown turned into a huge grin. "Whoa, seriously? I didn't think anybody actually listened to my stuff! I just started out, so I don't have many fans. Like, twenty, maybe," Noivern thought aloud. "No idea how I made it onto the radio, actually."

"You don't act very professional, for a musician," remarked Druddigon. "Spooking the hosts like that…funny, but not professional."

Noivern shrugged. "I'm just here to have fun, man," she said. "That way, if my music career doesn't take off, I've got a million dollars to fall back on."

"That's if you win, which you won't," Zoroark said with a sneer. Tyranitar "accidentally" stumbled and knocked Zoroark onto the ground. The fox growled and pulled himself back up, grumbling to himself about "this island and all these losers."

When the seventeenth Lapras pulled up, Jirachi and Diancie waited for a full minute for someone to show up. Jirachi finally checked on the Lapras's back to make sure it didn't arrive empty-handed.

On the Lapras's shell was a tiny orange chicken Pokemon, cowering in fear. "I…d-don't like water," stuttered the bird nervously. It was only a short distance to reach the dock, but his legs were trembling too much to make the jump.

Jirachi sighed impatiently and used telekinesis to lower the cowardly chicken onto the dock. "Name, please," droned Jirachi.

"T-Torchic," the little bird stuttered again.

"Sounds like somebody's a little s-scared," Chatot said in the crowd, mocking Torchic's stutter. Scrafty chuckled a bit, but Chatot received glares from Minun and Vaporeon.

After Torchic had joined the contestants, the eighteenth competitor arrived. She was also levitating like Jirachi and Diancie, but she appeared to be a ghost Pokemon. She was mostly pink but had fancy white patterns on her body.

"It's such a pleasure to be here," she said in a sweet voice. "My name is Frillish. I hope that I'm able to win this…and maybe make some friends while I'm here."

"To be honest, I joined to make more friends, too," Minun admitted to Lilligant. The plant nodded understandingly.

"Nice to meet you, Frillish! Go take a seat by the other folks down there. Or stand. I don't care, really," Jirachi said. Frillish floated over to join them.

The nineteenth Pokemon was covered in a gelatinous green goo. His body, completely covered by the mysterious substance, was actually white and rather small. The odd green gel formed a sort of body around him, giving him arms and allowing him to float, much like Frillish.

"I'm Reuniclus," he stated. "I hope to win this game fair and square. I want to win by using strategy and integrity; no alliance nonsense."

"That's awfully hard to do in shows like these, but I have to say, I commend you for trying to do so anyway," admitted Jirachi. "Go join the others, if you'd please."

The twentieth Pokemon was…also one who could levitate. She was small and gray, but the area around her eyes was white; she was ghostlike in shape, but she wasn't actually a Ghost-type.

"Castform! Welcome to Pokemon Drama Island!" shouted Jirachi, eliminating the need for her to introduce herself. "You're lucky number twenty!"

"What does being number twenty mean?" asked Castform curiously.

"Absolutely nothing!" said Jirachi, beaming. "Now go stand over there."

Castform looked disappointed by his answer, but she floated over by Boldore and stayed silent anyway. Lilligant struck up a conversation with her as the twenty-first contestant arrived.

The newcomer's appearance was unsettling; he had only one eye, and it was red. It was hard to tell if his hands were actually attached to his body. He was mostly gray in color, except for his hands, and his legs were awkwardly shaped, lacking feet and being seemingly flat.

He stopped next to the hosts. "My name is Dusclops," he said in a sinister voice. "And I…"

A loud snort came from him, alarming Diancie and Jirachi. But then it was followed by loud chuckling and finally laughter. "Oh Arceus, I can't do that creepy voice anymore," Dusclops laughed in a much more normal voice. "I usually like to try to creep people out at first because of…you know, the way I look. Guess I'm off my game today."

"O…kay…" Jirachi said, not sure how to react. "You almost had me creeped out there for a moment, what with the dark voice and the weird eye and stuff."

"What's wrong with my eye?" asked Dusclops, looking offended.

"Nothing," said Jirachi quickly. Dusclops shuffled over next to Noivern, who seemed to be impressed by his prank as well. She gave him a high five.

"Nice one," Castform said to Dusclops.

"Thanks," he said, grinning at her and Noivern.

"CHARGE!" yelled a loud voice. Jirachi and Diancie quickly moved out of the way as an armored bug with lance-like arms charged through. Her battle cry continued the whole way as she flew by the contestants, finally crashing into Torchic, who hadn't moved fast enough.

"I think I hurt my everything," moaned Torchic.

"PAIN IS FOR THE WEAK," snarled the newcomer. "MAN UP AND STOP BEING SUCH A CHICKEN."

Scrafty giggled girlishly at this, earning him some weird looks from Lilligant and Frillish. Clefairy's face remained blank for a moment before a smile began to spread across it.

"Wait…Torchic is…Torchic is a…oh, I get it! HA HA HA HA!" Clefairy exclaimed gleefully. Lopunny facepalmed.

"Hey, weird gladiator bug! Who are you?" called Jirachi.

"ESCAVALIER IS THE NAME, WINNING IS MY GAME," she yelled back. "ALL YOU WEAKLINGS BETTER STAY OUT OF MY WAY, UNLESS YOU'RE ON MY TEAM. THEN YOU BETTER NOT GET IN MY WAY, EITHER."

Vaporeon decided not to point out that her statement made no sense.

"Hate to rain on your parade, but I exist too, you know," said a snowflake Pokemon from where Escavalier had previously charged through. "I'm Cryogonal."

"Okay, good for you. Go stand by the others down there and try not to get killed by Escavalier," Jirachi ordered him. Cryogonal sighed and floated away.

"I don't even get a proper intro," Cryogonal grumbled to himself. Boldore waved at him kindly. He acknowledged her and turned back toward the hosts.

"Sure seems like there are a lot of us here already," Castform commented to Cryogonal. "And this isn't even all of us!"

"I certainly hope not. I wouldn't want to spend the next few months with just you people. It'd drive me crazy," Cryogonal muttered. He glanced back to see Castform and Reuniclus frowning at him. "No offense," he added quickly.

"None taken," said Reuniclus, though he didn't sound too enthusiastic.

The twenty-fourth competitor stepped off her Lapras calmly and carried her suitcase in one hand with her. "I'm Mawile," she said, walking over and shaking Jirachi and Diancie's hands. "Thanks for having me."

"Not a problem," said Diancie, surprised by the Steel-type's manners. "I like her," she whispered to Jirachi.

"Me too," he commented. "Next Lapras is arriving in five, four, three, two, one!"

"Hi!" squealed a little pig-like Pokemon. He had brown striped fur and an adorable pink snout. His eyes were squinted as he hobbled off the Lapras. "I'm Swinub!"

"Hello," said Jirachi, giving the little guy a smile. "Go over there by the others, okay?"

"Okay!" he agreed happily. Jolteon made some room, and Swinub slid in next to Torchic and Minun.

The twenty-sixth arrival came soon after Swinub. She was a floating chandelier Pokemon, with five bright purple flames.

"And you are?" prompted Diancie once the chandelier had floated down.

"Chandelure," said the newcomer, brushing off the co-host. Diancie looked put out by her lack of enthusiasm, but said nothing.

Next came a Pokemon that looked like a clay toy. He was a light brown color, but he had a red design on his body. "I'm Baltoy," said the newcomer monotonously. "How's that for a name."

"It's…easy to remember?" Jirachi offered.

Baltoy scoffed. "Yeah, easy to remember, but about as creative as a Gloom named 'Misery.'" He floated off to join the others.

"What's his problem?" muttered Jirachi. "Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed."

"I heard that," called Baltoy irritably. Jirachi rolled his eyes.

The next arrival was a slender weasel Pokemon. She was pale purple and looked very strong. "I am Mienshao," she said, nodding to Jirachi and Diancie respectively. "It is good to meet you."

"I get that a lot," said Jirachi smugly. "I'm a pretty great guy."

Mienshao raised an eyebrow and kept walking. She was followed by…a large mushroom.

"Oy. Sir Wish-a-lot," the mushroom grunted, getting Jirachi's attention. "How long do we have to stay in this crummy summer camp?"

"Nice to meet you, too," Jirachi responded sarcastically. "And don't call my camp crummy. What's your name?"

"Amoonguss," the mushroom said. "Don't wear it out. I don't even want to be here…I can't believe my parents ACTUALLY signed me up for this."

"Whine about it to somebody else, because I don't care about your personal life!" said Jirachi brightly. "Next!"

Amoonguss shuffled over to the other contestants, grumbling to himself the whole way. Scrafty nudged him in the side.

"Hey, don't worry. I'm sure you'll make some friends while you're here," said Scrafty reassuringly.

"What makes you say that?" asked Amoonguss doubtfully.

"Well, I hate to judge people based on their looks, but you look like a pretty…FUNGI," said Scrafty, cracking a grin. Dusclops erupted into laughter as Amoonguss scowled.

The thirtieth contestant was a purple cat with yellow fur covering her belly and legs. She had striking blue eyes and looked as if she might be a dangerous competitor.

"I'm Liepard," she told the hosts. "I'm here for the million, just like everyone else. But unlike everyone else, I plan on being the one to take it home."

"That's certainly an ambitious goal," said Diancie. "But nobody ever wins without being a little ambitious! Good luck."

"Thanks," Liepard said, smiling. She walked over and stood by Lopunny and Chandelure.

The thirty-first burst from the water before his Lapras even reached the dock. "Hey, I'm Clauncher!" he shouted excitedly. "Here to have some fun and win some money! Let's do this!"

"That's the spirit!" Jirachi shouted. "Now go show us your talent by walking over there."

Clauncher spontaneously burst into an Aqua Jet attack and flew over by the others, but he stopped his attack before he hit anyone, landing gracefully next to Tyranitar.

"Hey, this should be the last contestant coming up," Jirachi said, looking down at a checklist of competitors. "Nice."

The final contestant was a black snake Pokemon. Her tongue flickered instinctively a few times as she slithered over to the hosts.

"I'm Ssseviper. Sssuch a pleasssure to be here," she said.

"Good to have you," Diancie replied. "And since you're the last one, we can finally move on! Everybody, follow us!"

The contestants all glanced among themselves and began following Jirachi and Diancie toward the camp in the distance.

"So, what do you think about this place?" Mienshao asked, leaning over toward Lopunny.

"Oh, I don't know yet. It seems all right," she said. "Although I wish I could get away from Scrafty…he won't take his eyes off me."

"This is lookin' ta be pretty excitin', isn't it?" Chatot asked Cryogonal.

The Crystallizing Pokemon glanced down at Chatot. "Yeah, I guess," he agreed. "The prospect of winning so much money is pretty neat. I'm worried about the challenges, though—I don't know if I'm prepared for this stuff. I've never even watched a show like this before."

"They're not as hard as people crack 'em up ta be," Chatot reassured him. "Just play it safe. Don't make too many enemies and don't screw up challenges. Ya should make it at least halfway through the game that way."

Cryogonal eyed Chatot curiously. "You seem to know a lot about this stuff. You ever been on a show like this before?"

Chatot hid his face under his hat. "…Once. I was the first one out, but I learned from mah mistakes."

Tyranitar was carrying Kakuna in one hand as he walked, to save the bug some trouble. "So you seem like a pretty cool guy," Tyranitar said to Kakuna. "Do you train much?"

"You mean as in battles?" Kakuna asked. He shook his head. "No, I don't do much of that, or I would have evolved again by now. But you seem pretty cool, too. And strong, at that. I'd like to have an ally like that in this game."

"Maybe if we're lucky enough to be on the same team," Tyranitar said thoughtfully.

"We're being split into teams?" asked Lilligant. "I didn't hear about that."

"Yeah, otherwise it'd be chaotic at first, with thirty-two of us running around," Tyranitar explained. "So we'll be in two teams, and the losing team will send a player home."

"And once there's only a few players left, the teams will dissolve," Mawile said, walking up on Tyranitar's other side. "I've seen shows like this before. You can't show off all of your skills during the game, or people will vote you out once there's no teams because you're a threat. But you can't be too weak either, or they'll vote you off because you can't help your team."

"Huh. Good point," Lilligant said. "I hope I can do this. I've never tried competing before…in anything, really."

"Good luck, then," Tyranitar said, smiling at her. Lilligant returned the smile.

"All right, our first stop is here!" Jirachi said, halting the contestants and pointing to…an outhouse.

Baltoy snickered. "Okay, I realized that the show had a budget, but really? An outhouse?"

"This is no ordinary outhouse!" Jirachi warned him. "Inside is a camera, to—"

"You're watching us in the bathroom?" asked Frillish, looking sickened.

"NO! I'm not THAT kind of guy!" protested Jirachi. "The camera is only for if you want to say something in private! It's a confessional."

"Oh, I get it," Mawile said.

"For those who don't though, here's how it works," Diancie began. "You can share your thoughts privately using the confessional so that no other contestant will be able to hear them. The viewing world, however, will—as well as me and Jirachi, because we're in charge here."

"Also, when we do voting ceremonies, there's a little box in there," Jirachi said. He opened the confessional's door and pulled out a covered black box. "You can put your vote inside for whoever you want to send home. I'll count up the votes, and the most voted Pokemon goes home."

"And no cheating! If we catch you tampering with the votes or voting for somebody when you're not even on their team, you can get penalized," Diancie said. "The punishment varies depending on the offense, in this case."

"Ssseems ssself-explanatory enough," Seviper said. "Ssso what's next?"

"Welcome to camp!" Jirachi shouted, holding up his arms dramatically as the group wandered into the campgrounds. There were eight buildings in the camp.

"Your cabins are over there; that's where you'll be staying during your time on the island," Jirachi explained. "There are four cabins, one for each gender on each team. That means eight Pokemon per cabin; that should be enough space for each of you."

"Over there is the hosts' headquarters!" Diancie explained, gesturing to the next building. "It's off limits to you, as is the warehouse over there, which is for storing supplies for the challenges. Top secret stuff."

"What would happen if we were to try to break into the warehouse?" asked Zoroark, his eyes gleaming.

"I…don't like your tone," Diancie said, frowning. "Anyway, it's locked with like five high-security locks. You'd need to be really good at lock-picking or have a lot of spare time to break in."

Zoroark huffed but said nothing. Liepard eyed the fox curiously. Would he really have made such a bold move?

"What about the last two buildings?" asked Dusclops.

"This building is a multi-purpose building," Jirachi said, taking them to the next building. "It'll probably be used in a bunch of indoor challenges and for announcements, et cetera."

"Finally, here's the cafeteria!" Diancie said, showing them the final building. "Meals are served here at the same time every day, and this is also where we begin our show!"

The contestants were herded inside, and they began to gather at the long tables around the room. Some contestants, such as Azurill and Castform, were already getting friendly with other contestants and sat close by them. Others, like Baltoy, remained solitary and didn't talk to anyone.

"So what's for dinner?" asked Swinub excitedly.

"Uh…no dinner, Swinub," said Jirachi. "We're moving on."

"But…I like dinner," Swinub said sadly. Clauncher gave him a comforting pat on the back.

"So! Our first order of business is dividing you sorry suckers into teams," Jirachi said, his attitude suddenly changing. "From here on out, these Pokemon are your friends or your enemies based on team placements! Treat them as such."

Diancie handed Jirachi a list, which he began to read. "Okay, our first team is the Marvelous Milotics," Jirachi read from the paper. "This team will consist of Azurill, Boldore, Escavalier, Baltoy, Dusclops, Scrafty, Castform, Liepard, Jolteon, Noivern, Zoroark, Cryogonal, Mawile, Chatot, Druddigon, and Chandelure. You got that?"

The contestants nodded. Azurill and Noivern exchanged an excited look that they were on the same team. Chatot gave a brief nod to Cryogonal. Chandelure looked as if she absolutely did not care whose team she was on. She seemed like more of an independent player to everyone.

Diancie tossed Azurill a pink banner, which she unrolled to reveal a symbol of Milotic. "Awesome, we get team banners!" Azurill exclaimed. "Ten out of ten, man!"

Diancie smiled at the excited mouse. "And that leaves us with the rest of you on the second team; if you didn't catch your name, Jirachi will read them off."

"Our second team is the Great Gastrodons," Jirachi read from the paper. "That means it will consist of Kakuna, Frillish, Vaporeon, Lilligant, Reuniclus, Tyranitar, Chesnaught, Clauncher, Swinub, Lopunny, Mienshao, Clefairy, Seviper, Minun, Torchic, and Amoonguss. Any questions?"

The contestants all shook their heads. "Wonderful!" said Jirachi. He tossed down a blue banner to Kakuna, which knocked the poor cocoon in the head.

"Why didn't you catch that?" Jirachi complained. "It was a perfect throw!"

"I don't have hands," said Kakuna bluntly. Chesnaught unrolled the banner for him to reveal a Gastrodon symbol.

"Okay, now that you know your teams, you can head to your respective cabins and unpack. They're labeled by team and gender for convenience," Jirachi said. "Now shoo!"

The campers all left the cafeteria, talking among themselves excitedly as the went to their cabins. Jolteon watched as Vaporeon went into the Gastrodons' cabin. He had hoped that he'd be on her team, since she was cute and all. But he knew that it was a 50-50 chance, and he had lost to the odds.

"At least I'm not on Scrafty's team," Amoonguss told himself. "I've heard enough fungus puns to last me a lifetime. Things can only look up from here."

"Hey, so you're Amoonguss, right?" came the bubbly voice of Clefairy from behind him. Amoonguss jumped.

"Why are you in the guys' cabin?" he asked suspiciously.

"Oh, whoops! Didn't realize this was the wrong cabin!" Clefairy said with a laugh. Amoonguss found that hard to believe, since Chesnaught was right behind him. Clefairy stumbled back out through the door.

"Maybe I got stuck with the crazies after all," Amoonguss groaned.

In the Milotic girls' cabin…

"Hey, I was here first!"

"NONSENSE! I CLAIM THIS BED AS MY PROPERTY AND I SHALL DEFEND IT TO THE DEATH."

"Whoa, calm down, guys," Mawile said, holding Escavalier back from attacking Azurill, who had bravely stood up to the crazy bug. "It's just a bed."

"Yeah, but I was bunking with Noivern," Azurill pointed out. "We're friends now." Noivern nodded from her bunk on top.

"BUT I LIKE BEING BY THE WINDOW," Escavalier commented from beside the window. "THIS BED HAS A NICE VIEW."

"Uh…maybe you and Noivern should just bunk somewhere else," Mawile whispered to Azurill. "I'm not sure I can talk sense to Escavalier."

"Well, who's going to bunk with Escavalier? I'm not," Liepard reminded them.

Mawile sighed. "I'll take one for the team. But you guys owe me for this."

Boldore nodded gratefully to Mawile as the other girls got settled in.

So! This has been in the works for around a week now, and I finally present to you the finished product of episode one.

This is my first time trying something like this, so feedback is appreciated! Leave a review if you like (or even if you don't) to tell me what you liked or what you'd like to see improved.

Also, feel free to guess who will be eliminated next, or who will win. I'm writing this as it's being posted, so I will actually take feedback into account when choosing who the winner should be, and who's on the chopping block. (That's not to say the most popular character will necessarily win, but you know what I mean.)

So that's all for now! Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have a fabulous day!

Jirachi: Don't forget to review! Bye!