Happy Thanksgiving, and Merry Christmas and, New Years, and Valentine's Day. I am very sorry I haven't been able to update since I've been in a bit of a rut trying to come up with new ideas.
This chapter was hell for me to write, just saying.
Well, we're finally starting to get somewhere in this story which is great. This story really needs momentum.
Enough of my ramblings, onto the chapter!
"Got any fives?" Spinarak asked.
"Nope. Go fish." Joltik answered.
"Wait, I thought we were playing Old Maid." Shuckle remarked.
"Well we were playing Texas Hold 'em earlier, but Joltik said that was too complicated. So we decided to play Go Fish instead." Spinarak said.
"Wait, that was Texas? I thought we were playing Blackjack!" Shuckle exclaimed.
The other two bug types stared at her for a little bit, both of them with confused looks on their faces.
000
Shuckle: Did I ever mention I have really short term memory loss?
000
"By the way Joltik," Spinarak said. "I don't seem to be crawling around on everyone else as much now."
"No I still am." Joltik remarked. "In fact, I'm crawling on someone right now?"
"Wha? But I don't see anyone!" Shuckle said.
"What am I? Chopped liver?" Came a voice from underneath Joltik.
Spinarak and Shuckle looked over and saw a familiar brown face.
"Hi. Good morning to you to." Stunfisk drawled.
"He's been letting me walk all over him, plus his electricity makes a great snack!" Joltik said enthusiastically.
"You really owe me for this." Stunfisk said, looking up at the happy attaching Pokémon.
All of a sudden the intercom blared, causing the four Pokémon in the cabin to cover their ears, if they could.
"ALL CAMPERS REPORT TO THE DOCKS! YOUR CHALLENGE AWAITS!" Latias's voice echoed through the intercom.
"Great Ms. I-hate-Stunfisk is ready to torture us again. Yippee." Stunfisk said in a deadpan voice.
"Well we better get going if we want to be there on time. I'm heading out." Shuckle said as she put down her cards and walked out. As she got to the stairs, she tripped over one of her legs and tumbled down them. Everyone in the cabin winced as she hit the ground then quickly rushed over. They saw her red shell at the bottom
"You okay?" Spinarak asked.
Shuckle popped out of her shell. "Yup, don't worry I'm fine, my shell has protected me for a while now. Whenever I fall, I duck inside and I come out fine. Come on, let's go!"
000
Shuckle: Yeah, I also have a really bad depth perception, sense of balance, and body coordination. Basically why I don't, and can't, dance.
000
Soon enough everyone had gathered at the docks. To their surprise Latias wasn't there, but instead, Latios, dressed in military garb, sunglasses, dogtags and a toothpick in his mouth.
"We're not in Vietnam so cut the cosplay GI Joke." Rotom said with a snicker.
Latio looked at the ghost and spit his toothpick out to the side and inhaled deeply.
"ATTEN-SHUN!" He shouted, causing everyone jump.
"Form a line!" He then shouted. Everyone looked around confused. "NOW MAGGOTS!" The campers scrambled around, trying to put themselves in a line.
"Knees together! Back straight! Arms to your side! Look straightforward!" Latios shouted as the campers got into a line. When they finished, Latios looked around and smiled.
"Alright, now that you're in a line, I bet you're wondering what the challenge is today." Latios smugly said.
"Yeah, we've been kinda waiting for a while now." Stunfisk drawled.
"Hey, you're supposed to sass my sister, not me. Understand private?" Latios said pointing a finger at Stunfisk.
"Yes sir." Stunfisk said in a deadpan voice.
"Now then. Today's challenge is a scavenger hunt, but ain't no ordinary scavenger hunt."
"Please tell us oh wise one." Stunfisk said sarcastically.
Latios turned to the flounder and glared at him, "Now I see why my sister hates you so much. But to answer you, every object you find can only be obtained if you go through the military training course that lies before it. Only one member of your team can go through the course. At the end of the course, there will be an item with either a Lugia crest or a Ho-Oh crest. Grab the one that corresponds to your team and come back to the dock to drop it off with me. However, you can't grab the one for the other team and hide it. Whichever team collects all of their items and gets back here first wins. I'll give you a list of items you need to find. From there it's up to you to decide on what to do. You begin in five minutes. DISMISSED!" Latios teleported away, leaving the campers at the dock. There was an awkward silence at the dock.
"So, what now?" Blitzle asked.
No one answered.
000
Latios teleported to the back of the Mess Hall. He looked around to make sure no one was there. He grabbed a small key from underneath a potted plant and unlocked the back door and went into the kitchen.
"So, how's life?" Latios asked with a smug look.
"It sucks!" Latias shouted. She had on a pair of yellow rubber gloves and was in the middle of washing dishes. "Why don't we have a dishwasher to do this work?"
"We do actually. Right over there." Latios said, pointing to a small machine on a nearby counter.
"But I thought that was a toaster oven!" Latias exclaimed.
"No, the toaster oven is actually right next to it." Latios said pointing to another machine about the same size as the dishwasher.
Latias slammed her head onto the nearby counter. "Why did this happen?" She wailed.
"Hey, it was an order from the higher-ups, not my choice either." Latios responded, relaxing on a nearby counter.
"Yeah, I know, we can't go against them, even if we hate it." Latias groaned.
"Really? I'm enjoying our position swap for the day. You be the co-host and work on everything, while I, the host, get to relax and chill after telling what the campers have to do for the day. Wonder what they're doing now…" Latios pondered
000
The Lugias had gotten to a fast moving river. In front was a small sign.
"Cross this rushing river and makes sure not to get swept away. Restrictions: No water-types, flying-types or Pokémon that can float are allowed to do this." Roserade read. "Any takers?"
Bisharp raised his hand. "I'll do it. I'm probably one of the only few people here that can take this current."
He jumped into the waist-deep river and walked to the other side. It took him a while before he was able to cross but was successful. He noticed a pedestal and walked over and noticed what was on top.
"Hmm, Swiss army knives. How appropriate." He muttered to himself. He grabbed one with the Lugia's symbol on it and walked back across the river to his teammates.
000
"So who wants to go?" Feebas asked.
The Ho-Ohs were standing in front of a balance beam. But it was no ordinary balance beam. There were large hammers swinging back and forth.
"I'll give it a try." Serperior said. "Can't be too hard." He got onto the beam and dogged the first couple of swinging hammers.
He turned his head as he kept moving. "See, this is easy-" He was cut off as a hammer knocked into him and sent him flying to the trees.
000
Spiritomb: Famous last words, those were.
000
As the team tried to get Serperior to regain consciousness, Zangoose cleared the balance beam and got the team a non-functional compass.
"That's one down." Zangoose remarked, "Which way should we go next?"
"I say we go that way." Altaria said pointing her wing in the direction she wanted them to go. After a short walk, the Ho-Ohs saw the next course. There was a large patch of mud and hovering right over it, was a net of barbed wire.
"I vote Aron does this course." Sawk said. Everyone agreed.
"Why do I have to?" Aron whined slightly.
"Because, the net is made out of barbed wire which is made out of metal." Spiritomb answered. " Just eat through it and get the item at the end okay?"
Aron's eyes brightened and he jumped toward the net, happily chewing through the wire. With a satisfied burp, he went to the other side, grabbed an empty canteen and returned to his team.
000
The Lugias had just arrived at a large clearing. A section was roped off and nearby, there was a small table, two safes, and a lever. On a table there was a sniper rifle, a double-barrel shotgun, a revolver, and a pistol. There were also earmuffs, protective glasses, extra bullets for each gun, and a note.
"For this part, pull the lever and hit all targets as they appear. If you fail, pull the lever to reset the targets and try again. When all targets are hit, your item will appear." Espeon read.
000
Latios: We interrupt this program to let you know that we have permission to let the campers to hold firearms, even though they may not have a license to carry a gun or any experience using one. Now back to the show.
000
"So, who has a good aim?" Espeon asked.
No one volunteered at first. Zoroark silently looked away.
000
Zoroark: I knew I could do this part, I have experience with various firearms. But…I just…sigh… I just don't know anymore…
000
Kingdra shrugged, "I'll go do it then, my ability is Sniper after all. Pull the lever, and I'll use Water Gun to hit the targets"
Lucario pulled the lever and Kingdra went to work. 8 targets popped out at once, and all it took was 8 shots to finish.
"Well, that was easy."
A safe popped open and Gardevoir and pulled out a medal.
"We got the item! Onto the next one!" she said cheerfully.
The team started walking through the woods. Eventually, they reached a large rock wall.
"I'm assuming we're going to have to climb to the top to get what we need." Rotom commented.
"No shit Sherlock." Stunfisk sarcastically responded.
Rotom gave a quick glare at the sarcastic flounder, "So who wants to-." Rotom was cut off as a blue blur ran in front of him, running up the wall.
The figure got to the top and grabbed a small medal before jumping to the bottom, who happened to Lucario.
Everyone just stared.
"What are you all looking at?" Lucario asked.
000
Roserade: *fanning herself* Wow…that was just, wow. Um, is it warm in here?
000
"For the last time, will someone please pick up a gun and shoot the targets already?" Sawk shouted, extremely irritated.
The Ho-Ohs were standing at the shooting range the Lugias were at earlier. They had gotten the Swiss army knife by the river and an empty can of tuna after going through a trail of tires and Serperior had also woken up from his "nap". Sawk had been trying to get someone to do the part for a good 5 minutes. Still no one colunteered.
"I've never held a gun before and I don't want to get my coat all dirty with that gunpowder. I for one do not volunteer for this work." Persian said while checking her nails.
Spiritomb glared at her from the side, then looked back. "I nominate Magneton." He said.
"BZZT. PLEASE PROVIDE EVIDENCE FOR YOUR DECISION. BZZT." Magneton replied within nanoseconds.
"Don't you have a targeting function?" Spiritomb asked.
"BZZT. AFFIRMATIVE. BZZT."
"Use that to lock-on to the targets, or what's left of them, then fire."
"BZZT. UNDERSTOOD. UPLOADING ACTION SEQUENCE. BZZT." Magneton beeped as he floated to the edge of rope. A couple more beeps later, he began charging some electricity in his magnets and suddenly fired one large blast of electricity. A large light engulfed the forest and just as quickly, it faded, leaving nothing but a smoking crater.
Everyone looked at the crater. "Cryogonal would be very proud." Serperior commented.
000
"Htachooo!" Cryogonal sneezed. He was currently on another nearby island with all of the other eliminated Pokémon. It was quite a luxurious island, but details will be saved for a later chapter.
"Aww, does the snowflake have the chills?" Pineco said with a chuckle.
Seconds later the bagworm found himself frozen in a block of ice, floating in the pool.
000
"Anyways, we should find the next spot. Arceus knows how many items the other team has collected." Zangoose commented. Everyone was in agreement and they left.
As the team walked they approached a small dirt ledge.
Then they heard a cry.
Persian had slipped and knocked Cloyster and Spiritomb off the ledge into some of the trees below. The team crowded around where the three had fallen.
"You guys okay?" Altaria asked loudly.
"We're as safe, like a Beheeyem's ship in Area 51!" Cloyster responded. The team gave each other confused glances, though they did cringe a little.
"I guess they're alright."
"Probably."
"We'll meet you guys a different location, I'll contact you guys telepathically to see where you are." Spiritomb called out to them.
"Alright, we'll be waiting." Serperior said. With that, the team walked off.
"Well, we should be moving too, am I correct?" Persian said, dusting herself off. However, Spiritomb and Cloyster didn't move. Instead they were glaring at her with serious faces.
She turned back with a confused look on her face. "What's wrong boys?" She asked innocently.
"Don't tell me what's wrong. You know it yourself." Spiritomb said in a stern voice.
Persian shrugged, "Honestly, I have no idea. Now can we please get going, my nails are starting to crack." Persian walked forward only to be met by a spiked end of Cloyster's shell.
"Not so fast." Spiritomb threatened. "We aren't leaving until you answer my questions Persian. Oh and by the way, you can stop that pointless façade, I can see right through it."
"How do you know that I'm putting up a façade? What's your proof?" She asked defensively.
"I've been watching you all this time."
"Ew. That's kind of creepy you know that?"
Spiritomb wanted to face-palm himself, though he lacked the limbs to do so. "That's NOT what I meant. I meant that I've been observing your movements."
"Still creepy."
"Just shut up for a second!" Spiritomb shouted. Even though this woman was annoying the crap out of him, he had to admit, she put on a good act.
"What I meant is I've noticed some strange things in your actions. You act like you're a snobby, narcissistic brat, but really, you've just woven a disguise of deception, lies and trickery."
"Pray tell how I did that."
"Simple, you've been using me, Cloyster and Cryogonal as tools for your own plans."
Cloyster looked slightly shocked at this statement, but Persian's gaze didn't change a bit.
"You found out about our alliance and knew we would seek you out for our alliance, so you did nothing and waited for us to come to you. From there, you've kept up your disguise as we did the dirty work, choosing who to eliminate, creating and executing plans. You would then use my plans and blame me for everything, leaving you in the clear. As for me and the alliance, we would take all the blame and be erased before given a chance to speak. You were planning on throwing us under the bus the whole damn time, weren't you."
Persian tilted her head and smirked. "That's nice and all but where's your proof? If you don't have any, then everything you've said is pointless."
Spiritomb chuckled. "Oh I have proof alright. The elimination after the singing challenge is proof enough. You were supposed to go after that elimination. Serperior and his gang told me based on their votes, Chinchou wasn't supposed to go home, yet she did. And why is that? You must have changed the votes somehow. You knew me and Cloyster were going to vote for you so you had to change some other votes, Sawk's , Altaria's and Feebas's to be exact.
Persian was quiet, her gaze had narrowed and was now glaring at Spiritomb. He smirked.
"Seems like I've hit the nail on the head. So now I must ask you, how did you know that me and Cloyster were going to try to vote you off?"
Persian took a deep breath and closed her eyes. When she opened them, they had a more sinister tone to them.
Well," She said, "I'd like to congratulate you for seeing through my flawless acting, few actually know of my true colors. Now to answer your question, I found out five challenges ago."
"So during the capture the flag game."
"Precisely. I had noticed you and crazy boy over here talking and thought I could get some juicy info out of you two. Turns out I found out about a plan to get rid of me instead. I couldn't possibly let that happen, so I decided to do my own thing. So yes, it's just as you said, you three would take the blame while I would dominate over this game and make everyone else my little lapdogs." She began to laugh evilly as she finished, not noticing the glares she was getting from the two next to her.
Spiritomb was the angriest one, this woman was truly evil. Sure he had dark motives, but this was borderline sadistic. From her tone he could tell that she would do whatever it took to get to the top, anything but put her own self in danger.
He started to smirk, this was fine though. She fell for the trap, hook, line and sinker.
Persian stopped laughing, "Anything else you want to ask, or are we done here?" She said with an evil smile.
Spiritomb smiled, "Yes actually, we should call a truce between us."
Persian looked confused. "A truce with me? You must have be joking, after what I've reveled to you? No way."
"I was thinking you'd answer like that. Guess I have no choice. Cloyster, show her."
The purple shell smirked, He opened up a little and shook out a small metallic object. Persian instantly knew what it was.
"Clever, you brought a voice recorder with you. I would never had guessed."
Spiritomb smiled, "Cloyster's shell isn't only useful for holding flags you know."
He bounced toward her, "Now then, I'll say it again, we should call a truce. And realize this isn't a proposition, it's an order."
Persian sighed, "I guess you planned for me to fall and isolate us from everyone else. Well done. Looks like I'll have to accept, you give me no choice then."
Spiritomb nodded. "Very well then. I will still be keeping watch over you, just to let you know."
"Again, creepy."
"For the love of Arceus shut up!"
000
Latias: Oh man, ratings are going to skyrocket after this!
Latios: I know right? Now are you glad I did this challenge?
Latias: Totally! *The two Pokemon hi-five*
000
As the two legendaries exited the confessional, they heard a loud rumbling noise, they looked to its source and found it was the laundry cabin.
Latios looked at Latias curiously, "You were doing laundry just now right?"
"Yeah, any problems?"
Latios moved towards the door, "You did use laundry detergent right?" he asked.
"Yeah, I used the box we had."
"How much?"
"The whole thing."
"Wait wha-"
Latios was cut off as he opened the door and got swallowed by a massive flood of bubbles and water. When it cleared, he was looking at his sister, underneath a massive pile of bed sheets.
"Too much detergent? Latias asked sheepishly.
"YOU THINK?"
000
Bisharp stood with his team in the forest. They had just gotten the flag thanks to Stunfisk's efforts. "Okay, let me double check the list. So far we have the flag, the lighter, the medal, and the swiss army knife. We have to find a canteen, a compass, an empty can of tuna, and a flashlight." Bisharp said. "We better get moving, seeing as we're only half way done."
000
"BZZT. CONFIRMING RETREIVAL OF MEDAL. ITEMS LEFT TO FIND: FLAG, FLASHLIGHT. QUERY: WHERE ARE THESE ITEMS LOCATED?"
"That's what we're trying to find out aren't we?" Absol answered, slightly annoyed.
Spiritomb, Persian and Cloyster had joined the rest of the team at the rock wall which had been just finished by Sawk, now covered in bruises and his gi torn in a couple places.
"Stupid slippery rocks and spikes." He grumbled under his breath. It seems that during Lucario's climb up, he completely ignored the traps that were set up.
"Okay guys, settle down." Spiritomb said, trying to get everyone's attention. He would have clapped but he lacked hands, so he had to settle for Cloyster's laugh.
"Now that I have all of your attentions, we should head to the lake. I was able to read the minds of the other team and they got the flag from there. Let's go."
000
Spiritomb: Heh heh heh. I've basically taken charge of the whole team. They'll do anything I say. Wonder what would happen if I ask one of them to make me a sandwich…
000
The Lugias had been walking around in the forest for a good 45 minutes without finding anything. They had found everything they needed but the flashlight. Some of members were getting a bit tired.
"We've been walking for so long!" Blitzle whined a little.
"And he's also running out of electricity for me to suck on." Joltik chimed in.
"Unless you know where the last item is located, can you please be quiet?" Bisharp sighed. He had to deal with these kinds of complaints during for the last fifteen minutes. To him, it seemed like forever.
"Heh, who knows, maybe it's sitting right in front of us and we won't notice til the end." Rotom joked with a chuckle.
"Yeah, like the cliff from the first challenge or something." Lampent joked along with him.
A silence then passed through the team. All of a sudden, thirteen members instantly bolted toward the cliff, leaving Shuckle behind.
"Wait! Where are you all going? Don't leave me behind!" She shouted as she tried to catch up with her team.
000
"Okay, now that we have the flag, we just need the flashlight. Any ideas?" Spiritomb asked.
Most Ho-Ohs shrugged. Suddenly, they saw the other team burst out of the woods and run pass them.
"Wonder what's gotten them so worked up." Absol muttered.
Shuckle then crawled out, looking quite tired, "You guys see where my team went?" Serperior pointed his tail in the general direction. "Thanks, they were making jokes that the flashlight was at the cliff and then just left without me."
A couple of the Ho-Oh's eyes widened when they heard this. They all looked at each other, and then ran, following the other team.
Shuckle was shocked, "Hey! Where are you guys going? Don't you guys leave me in the dark too!"
000
The Lugias reached the top of cliff first. Lampent's guess was right. In front of them were four chests, two with a Lugia symbol, two with a Ho-Oh symbol. There were also two tables, one with each team's insignia, with a couple bags and a note on each of them. Spinarak read it.
"'Open the bags and inside you will find a bunch of puzzle pieces. Assemble the pieces to make a three number combination. Use this three number combination to open the first chest. Inside you'll find a key. Open the second chest with this key. Inside the second chest you'll find six more chests. The key will open one of these chests and inside will be the flashlight. Good luck.' How is this military based?"
"I'll explain," Latios said, as he suddenly flew in front of them. "This will test teamwork and ability to think quickly. On the battlefield you must show loyalty to your comrades, or else they'll turn against you when you need help the most. You must also know what to do uncer pressure, or else your doomed to get a bullet to the arm, unless you're fighting Amazons, then you might take an arrow to the knee."
"Did you really just use a Skyrim meme?" Stunfisk said.
Latios just waved him away. "In any case, you better start, the other team is coming. I need to go make sure Latias doesn't blow anything up, she's making dinner." They heard a small explosion in the distance. "And I think I might be too late. Ciao!" He said before he flew off to the main campgrounds.
As soon as Latios left, the Lugias began opening the bags and spilling the contents to start on the puzzle. The Ho-Ohs arrived soon after and quickly went to the other table.
"Sawk, grab the card and tell us what's on there. Everyone else, start opening those bags like the other team."
Everyone went to work and Sawk grabbed the card. "Ow! Papercut!" he said, sucking on his index finger before opening the card and reading off what it said.
Two minutes elapsed before the Lugias had figured out the puzzle.
"We got it!" Gardevoir shouted. "It's 8-6-7!" Zoroark began turning the dials on the lock. He heard a click and opened the chest. Bisharp and Lucario pulled the smaller chests out while Espeon levitated the key out of the chest.
At the same time, the other team had finished their puzzle.
"5-30-9!" Zangoose called out to Magneton who quickly opened the locking mechanism on the chest, while Serperior got the keys and chests out.
Each team now was trying to find which chest the key would fit in.
"Try that chest!"
"BZZT. NEGATORY. ALREADY TRIED ONCE. BZZT."
"What about that one?"
"Not yet, let me try this one first."
"Hurry up then!"
"I'm trying!"
The Lugias were the first to get their flashlight, and the whole team began running down the cliff. Shuckle, meanwhile, was struggling to reach the top and noticed her team running towards her.
"Where you guys going now?" she shouted.
"Flashlight. Got it. Campground. Hurry!" Joltik shouted to his teammate as the rest of the team ran past her.
The Ho-Ohs soon opened their chest and started sprinting down the mountain. They moved quickly, not wanting to end up in at elimination.
Shuckle heard the sound of running behind her. She turned around and saw the Ho-Ohs behind her. She squeaked and started to move faster. Unfortunately, she was overtaken by the team and left coughing in their dust. As she closed her eyes, trying to get the dust out of her eyes she tripped on a rock.
Time seemed to slow down then and there.
She hit Sawk in the back, who then tumbled into Zangoose, who tripped and hit Magneton, who fell onto Persian and soon, everyone else on the Ho-Ohs caught in a giant tumbling mass rolling down the hill.
Down the hill, Espeon's ears perked up as she heard something. She looked behind her and was shocked to see the other team rolling down the hill right behind her.
"Move everyone, before we get swallowed by the giant ball behind us!"
"The what?" Bisharp asked, looking behind him and seeing the giant ball of Pokémon right behind the team.
"Oh shit! RUN!" He shouted, the Lugias trying to pick up speed.
It was in vain.
The Lugias soon got swallowed up by the mass and began rolling down the hill towards the campgrounds.
000
Shuckle: Eh heh heh heh. Whoops.
000
Latios, meanwhile, was at the main campground sitting in a patio chair sipping lemonade under a parasol. He put his glass on a table next to him while Latias in a maid's outfit poured him another glass of lemonade.
"Ah, this is the life, I can see why you like hosting this so much." He said, relaxing into the chair.
"Yeah, but I don't make you my personal butler and make you wear an outfit to boot. Where did you get this maid's outfit anyway?" She huffed.
"Heatran. Saw it in his closet and he said I could have because he was getting a new one."
"Okay that makes sense. But why are you making me do anything you want again?"
"So I keep my lips shut about you blowing up the kitchen and say one of the contestants did it instead."
"Fine." Latias said grudgingly. She then noticed something in the distance. "Hey, is that the campers in a giant ball heading towards us?"
Latios looked over. "Seems like it."
"Are you going to do anything about it?"
Latios shrugged, "Maybe."
"Well you better do it soon cause they're coming!" Latias shouted.
Latios casually took the glass of lemonade and sipped. "Reflect." He said as he raised his hand up and projected a wall of Psychic energy a past the entrance of the campgrounds.
Seconds later, the giant mass crashed into the Reflect and everyone in it toppled onto the ground.
Most contestants found themselves on top of one another, some more uncomfortable than the others. Roserade had landed on Lucario's back, Aron's head was balanced on top of one of Magneton's magnets, Cloyster was crushing Stunfisk and Persian, Espeon was underneath Absol's back, Kingdra and Zangoose both landed on Serperior, while Joltik, Lampent, Spinarak, Rotom, and Shuckle had somehow made a small pyramid using their bodies, Bisharp was face-down in the ground and was about to get up until Spiritomb's rock hit him in the head, and Zoroark's right arm was resting gently on Gadevoir's collarbone.
Everyone groaned as they got up, rubbing parts of their body that were sore. Some jumped when they realized who they were on, while some just casually got up and walked over to Latios. As Gardevoir opened her eyes, she saw Zoroark's sickly scab. She gasped in surprise and Zoroark noticed. He quickly moved his arm away and covered the scab with his left hand.
"Zoroark, what was that?" Gardevoir asked in a concerned voice. She had never seen an injury like that before and judging from the color, it looked very painful.
"Nothing." He whispered solemnly. "Don't worry about it, you don't need to know."
"B-but you should really get that checked out, I mean who knows-" Zoroark cut her off and walked away toward Latios.
Gardevoir seemed crestfallen. "I was just trying to help." She whispered sadly.
000
Zoroark: Great, just great. Things have just gone from bad to worse.
000
"Well, you all seem fine." Latios said. "That's great cause I'm going to announce that the Lugias are the losers tonight and you will see me at elimination tonight."
"And how are you going to prove that they crossed the line first?" Bisharp shouted.
"Easy, with this photo." Latios presented said item and placed his finger on it. "As you can see here, when all of you were rolling here, Feebas's fin crossed the line, and therefore, the Ho-Ohs made it here first. Get it? Got it? Good. You have until tonight to cast your vote." With that, Latios and Latias left the campgrounds, leaving the campers alone.
"What I would like to know is, how did this whole thing happen in the first place?" Roserade asked.
"Well I got hit in the back by something and then tumbled into everyone else." Sawk said. "Don't know who or what hit me though."
"That was actually me." Shuckle said sheepishly. "I got dust in my eye then tripped and hit you and then this whole thing happened. Sorry."
"Well that settles that, it was Shuckle's fault." Persian stated simply with a wag of her tail. "I should get going now, my nails have an appointment with my file."
Everyone murmured as they left the campgrounds to go do their respective things. Shuckle though, was visibly worried; the last words Persian said had been etched deep into her mind.
000
Shuckle: I think I might be in a bit of a bind here.
000
On his way to the cabin, Bisharp noticed something glimmer. Curious, he walked over and picked it up, it was a pure black stone that had a nice sheen to it. Smiling, he pocketed it and walked to his cabin.
000
Bisharp: *holding the stone* This rock intrigues me, I wonder what it is. Hey, maybe it's a good luck charm.
000
That night, all the Lugias were gathered at elimination. Latios had the poffin case on the podium, a card was in his hands.
"Well, back again Lugias, let's see who's going to be voted out tonight. Poffins go to, Roserade, Gardevoir, Blitzle and Stunfisk." Latios said as he tossed the Pokémon poffins.
"Bisharp, Spinarak, Lucario and Lampent." Poffins were tossed to the four who happily ate them.
"Espeon, Kingdra, Joltik and as much as I hate to say it, Rotom, also safe for tonight." Rotom grinned as he caught his poffin, who was also receiving glares from Latios.
"Zoroark and Shuckle, bottom two tonight. Shuckle, your accident today cost your team the challenge, and you aren't the best when it comes to overall physical strength." Shuckle was doncast after hearing the comments. "Zoroark, I guess you could be here because you haven't been very helpful lately, but you have done well on occasion." Zoroark didn't budge, he just stared at the ground.
"The Pokémon who continues is…" Latios paused dragging on the tension.
"Zoroark." The fox caught the poffin in his hand, though a bit too forceful and crushed it in the process.
"Sorry Shuckle, please head to the confessional and say your last words." Shuckle sighed in defeat and slowly crawled to the confessional outhouse.
000
Shuckle: I can't say I'm surprised, I mean I did kind of screw up pretty badly today and like Latios said, I haven't been doing too well either. I guess I'd like Spinarak or Joltik to win. Stunfisk too I guess. That's it I suppose. See you all soon!
000
As Shuckle left and her teammates bid her farewell, Spiritomb, Cloyster and Persian met in the woods.
"You know if you hadn't said that, Shuckle might not have left." Spiritomb said sternly to Persian.
She shrugged, "Why are you so fussy about it? She wasn't important."
"That's exactly the reason why. Since she was so unimportant and weak, we could have kept her until the final four. From there, it'd be an easy shot for the rest of us. They could have voted off someone powerful instead but you had to go say that."
"Oh don't be so upset, they're still plenty of weak players here."
Spiritomb scowled, "You have a point, but don't do it again. Or else I'll be forced to play that tape."
Persian's gaze became serious, "You wouldn't dare."
"Oh yes, I would, and I know a way for you to take ALL of the blame. Do whatever you want now, but understand, we're still watching you."
"Do I have to say it?"
Cloyster just cackled.
Finally done after so long! Once again I apologize for the lack of new chapters, I'll try the best I can to get the next one out sometime soon. I have a better idea for it anyway.
Honestly though, chapters are getting hard to write, so it might take me longer to get new chapters.
Shuckle's out. She in my opinion was a background character, who had some moments, but not many.
Shuckle: Review please! *She bows but falls off the seat*
Next Time: Pokémon pair up and battle to the DEATH! Well not exactly to the death, but there will be battles. Before the challenge, an old, familiar face returns to throw a wrench into things by one team's choosing. Two Pokémon show some changes, one for the better, the other, not so much. One Pokémon reveals their darkest secret and gains the comfort of another. At the end of the night, one Pokémon leaves conflicted and wishing they could stay just a little longer.
