Chapter 4...The Sickening Beginning!
"Okey!" Hostess cheered another time as all the Pokémon were put on the green starting pad. "Alright! Noel, tell them the rules of the game!"
"My pleasure." Noel said, pushing her aside so that he got all the spotlight, "The game is simple. Your Pokémon must roam around the island in search for the STARS! The stars will be held by Hostess' Pelipper and Sableye. They will be waiting at one point of the island, with 5 stars! Once someone finds them, they get to have the 5 stars in their points! Then of course, Sableye or Pelipper will move once the stars have been collected. The object of the game is to collect as many stars as you can, whether it is from winning games, collecting the stars, or even stealing it from other players! Whoever has the most stars by the end of 50 rounds wins…and now to you Hostess!"
He was pushed aside by the spotlight-loving woman seconds after he said that. She gave everyone a sheepish smile. "From the starting point, there are many routes you can take. When you take these routes, you can only move by the number of spaces you tap on your buzzer. These spaces are glowing blue tiles. Don't try to cheat now-your Pokémon will get teleported back to the right spot, no matter how many times it tries to go somewhere else. Thank the many Kadabra's and Alakazam's we have." She gestured to the TV screen where everyone's Pokémon were standing. There was hardly enough room for everyone.
"To communicate with your Pokémon, please use the headset on your buzzer!" May noticed it and put it on.
"Blaziken? Blaziken can you hear me?" She said through it.
"Blaze!" He confirmed.
"And now!" Noel called, grabbing everyone's attention, "Tap the buzzer, and let's see how far you go!"
May tapped the buzzer, and she got a 7. She turned to her friends to see that Drew got an 8, Jenina with a 2, and Corey with a 4. Her map started to zoom out and she saw many paths. She saw a Sableye sticker near the blue path. "Blaziken, seven steps down the blue path." She said, and her Blaziken icon started to move on the map. It was also moving on the TV screen, along with everyone else Pokémon. He landed on a blue tile, where there was a ka-ching! sound. She got 3 coins.
"Now for the game!" Hostess announced, "Ludicolo, the wheel!" Her Ludicolo hauled a bright colored wheel onto the stage. "Let's see…the winner will either win…A Star, 10 coins, double tile, ooor…elimination round! Okay! You!" She pointed to the girl wearing the black tanktop and crimson colored short-sleeve hoodie, also known as Kelly.
"Me?" She asked in surprise.
"Yeah! You! Get up here and spin the wheel!" Kelly did as so, fidgeting with the sunglasses on her head that began to slip off. She looked to the crowd nervously, spotting her dark brown-red headed friend July in the front row where she left him. He gave her a thumbs up, and she shrugged, then span the wheel. It span at a medium pace before slowing and stopping on the flag with a skeleton. A fake gasp came from the sound-effects booth.
"What? Did I pick something wrong?" She asked.
"Nothing's wrong!" Hostess sang, "You just span the Elimination Round! First to lose is eliminated from the game!"
"Oh joy." Kelly muttered, and returned to her seat.
The television screen then started to show another wheel with three questions marks on each flag. It finally stopped, and the game popped up. Mr. Blizzards Brigade.
Everyone, including Hostess and Noel, were teleported outside where snow covered the ground, and a large lake ahead was being frozen thick enough to be stood on by a few ice types. "Follow me!" Noel said, leading everyone to the edge of the lake. They began to surround it so that there was no space to escape if there was someone in the middle.
Hostess picked up an empty pokeball with a rainbow design on top that was sitting in a box just on the edge of the lake. "The object of the game is for your Pokémon to dodge the pokeballs coming at them. The pokeballs will be thrown by you, so whether you win is sort of up to you. And in case you're wondering, these pokeballs do not steal your Pokémon; they it just a holding cell. Pokémon cannot escape from these, but they do break easily." To show what she meant, Hostess crushed the ball in her fingers, and dusted off the remains. "Just like paper mache."
Everyone's Pokémon appeared on the ice. They already knew the rules, and were eager to start. May picked up a pokeball, unsure which Pokémon to target, and remembering not to hit Drew's Absol, since it was part of the truce. "Begin!" Noel announced, and pokeballs and shouts were thrown like crazy. There was a WOWP! sound and Hostess screamed, "STOP!" The balls ceased. In the middle one stood with a different tinting, signaling that there was a Pokémon in it.
Hostess slid into the middle and picked it up, then released the Pokémon. It was a Leafeon. She read the collar given at the beginning on the name and said, "Destiny! You're out!"'
"Damn!" Cried a girl holding two pokeballs in her hands, ready to throw. She had long black hair and blue eyes, mostly dark cladded. May felt sorry for her since she didn't even get that far into the game. But hey, someone had to go.
"Don't fret! You still get the consolation prize!" Hostess said.
"And what would that be?" Destiny asked, hoping it was something good.
"A Growlithe or Finneon egg! Congrats!"
She still wasn't pleased, but returned her Pokémon and sat back to watch anyway. Her roommate Kelly gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder before the game started again. The winner would only get a double buzzer, and the winner turned out to be May. Apparently all of Blazikens embers destroyed most of the pokeballs, and how awesome that was. Corey sighed though; he was second to lose, only because the crazed July was high on poffin and was throwing the balls like bombs.
The next game involved water. Everyone returned to their rooms to change into their swimsuits, excited about what it would be like.
"She said something about a wave pool, right?" Jenina asked excitedly, rummaging through her suitcase for her two piece.
"Yeah! I bet I'm gonna win this one too." May said confidently.
Jenina scoffed. "Yeah right! You won the other one by pure luck, and the fact that that month-named guy kept throwing balls everywhere like a madman. But water and me mix like toast and oran berries, so don't think it won't be a challenge!"
"Yeah yeah." May said, and went into the bathroom to change into her red one-piece that tied around her neck.
While her sister was in the bathroom, Jenina went to the dumbwaiter. "Hey, can you send up a few pieces of toast and some oran berry spread?"
"You have some weird tastes." The waiter from the kitchen said through the speaker.
"Pfft! Get to work!" She retorted hotly, then smiled when she saw her Pikachu with her top in its mouth. "Oh goodie! You found it!" She took it and her bottom piece and barged into the bathroom as soon as May was done. After May was pushed out of the bathroom, she heard a ding! from the dumbwaiter and took out the meal.
"Hn. Oran berry spread? Ick." She pressed the speaker, "I WANTED RAZZ BERRY SPREAD!! NOT ORAN!!"
"Make up your freakin' mind!" Shouted the person at the other end of the speaker.
—
"You're leaving already?" Kelly asked her roommate Destiny, who was packing up while she was taking out every article of clothing in her backpack, trying to find her water things.
"Yeah." Destiny sighed, zipping up her suitcase.
"But you hardly got to do anything." Kelly reminded.
"I know. But hey, at least I get to see Barry and Diane sooner now!"
"Well…sure! But now I have less friends to talk to."
"You have July."
"Oh. Right." Kelly smiled when she found her swimsuit. "Are you going to watch the rest of the show later?"
"Definitely!" Destiny cheered, pumping her fist into the air, "Kinda sucks that Sinnoh is so far from here."
"Maybe Dragonite could take a rest in Johto." Kelly suggested.
"True. Man, and I wanted to trick Gary into eating that a card in his sandwich."
"You mean the one from the poker game last night?"
"Yeah. I still think he hides aces in the folds of his hair."
Kelly shook her head while laughing, "That was confirmed after you smacked him and he ducked, and then a card fell out."
"I thought it was a coupon…"
"For what? A King of Hearts?"
—
"Pay up sucka!" Erin squealed, hording all of the gambled items; a stick of lip balm from Bri, a fancy comb from Gary, two candy bars from July, and fifty poke yen from Kelly. Everyone was finished changing and was playing 21 blackjack in Gary and July's room, the infamous dorm of loot and cheating.
Gary stared at her wide-mouthed at her ace and king. "No way! You cheated!"
"Did not!" She retorted, "You're just mad that you lost your comb!"
"That…and YOU CHEATED!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"Not!"
"Too!"
As the two continued to argue, the others boredly discussed how they saw her slide an ace out from under her leg. There was a knock at the door, and Kelly went to answer it. At the door was Drew and Corey, both wearing irritated faces; well, one of them were. The other one was still giddy over the three packs of lemonade that came from the dumbwaiter.
"We heard there was a party!" Corey said, jumping up and down.
"Plus we could hear you all the way from the tenth floor." Drew deadpanned, being the party pooper he was.
"We're playing blackjack—well, were, until Gary lost his fancy pants comb to Erin."
"Oh, where do you buy those? I need one…" Drew muttered.
"Okey!" It seemed like that was the only way for Hostess to start off the games. She attempted to wink into a camera held by a Magnezone, but Noel pushed her aside, commenting that her tank and shorts were too "flashy" for the camera. "Grr! Go back to your post!" She retorted, pushing him into the water.
This game took place in a large circular pool, where everyone was standing on a white floating stage. On the sides were handles.
"The object of this game is to be the last standing, or to still be on it when the stage flips."
"The stage flips!?" May cried out in horror, wishing she was wearing an inner tube like Corey.
Hostess continued after Noel, "Ludicolo and several other Pokémon will be using surf to shake up the stage! So hold on tight!" She turned to her Ludicolo, who was dancing on her own stage.
"Ahk!" There was a splash, and everyone looked to the water where Dawn was dunked by none other than Gary. He smiled sheepishly and she yelled profanities at him while attempting to get back onto the stage.
"Okay…" Noel trailed off.
"Agreed." Hostess muttered, "AND BEGIN!"
"Colo!" Ludicolo started it off, and the waves began to pound against the stage. Several people screamed, and one person was already pushed off and into the water. That person happened to be July, who was so excited that he forgot to hang on to the handles on the edge. Various water Pokémon carried him back to the edge where Noel and Hostess stood.
May began to laugh, "Drew! You're getting w-haha wet!
He flipped his hair out of the way, but then a HUGE wave hit him in the neck, and he slid across the stage, taking Gary, Dawn, and Misty with him. Another wave hit, taking away everyone but May, Jenina, and Tracy, the sketcher.
"I'm gonna wi—AAAH!!" Jenina's taunt was put to a hold when the whole stage launched into the air, and dropped into the water!
"I think I'm gonna be sick…" Tracy muttered, his body starting to slide off the soggy stage. He put his hand over his mouth as his stomach started to gargle.
"Gross!" May and Jenina squealed.
"Barf somewhere else would ya!" May said, trying to grip the harness farthest away from him.
The stage was launched into the air again!
BLAGH!
"My hair!" Gary cried out in disgust. People started to back away from his barfy hair that started to smell.
"And now, there are only TWO left!" Hostess announced happily, glad that Tracy slipped off after barfing, "Come on Ludicolo! Let's pump it up!"
"LUDI!"
A huge final wave rose above the two. May stared at it wide-eyed.
"Crap."
The water crashed down on them, and the stage flipped over, submerging both. They were carried to the top, both struggling to get more air.
"We—"
"—won!"
The two high fived, then stuck their tongues at Gary, who was still gagging over the barf in his hair.
"And that's it! May and Jenina win the round!" Noel broadcasted.
"And one star each!" Hostess added.
So far May and Jenina are in the lead! Who will turn it around?
Still have more people to introduce! Don't give up!