Hey worldwide web,
Oh look, it's me, posting another comp fic that probably won't get finished. Yeah I've attempted multiple TD/Pokemon stuff in the past to little success and once again I've impulsively come up with a concept and am running with it. Hope you enjoy however long this lasts!
Disclaimer: nothing.
A ball, about the size of an orange, split into two halves. Red on the top, white on the bottom, with a button in the middle. The ball rolled forward a bit before coming to a stop in the center of the screen. With a Pop! the lid opened, releasing a beam of white light. The light materialized into a humanoid shape, before finally disappearing and revealing a man with dark hair and a devilish grin.
"Yo," he said, folding his arms over his chest, "it's time for another season!"
Music began as cameras started to pop out of various locations in the Total Drama Jumbo Jet, one of them knocking over a Bidoof.
Dear Mom and Dad I'm doing fine
The camera panned to a shot of the Jumbo Jet taking off with Junior and Dwayne running behind it to catch up.
You guys are on my mind
In the plane, Rock chilled in first class while Spud just stared off into space, prompting a weird look from Rock.
You asked me what I wanted to be
Near the door to the plane, Devin leaned in to kiss Carrie, but Chris opened the door behind him, sucking both of them out into the air.
And now I think the answer is plain to see
Devin and Carrie fell toward the open water, passing by a flock of Wingull and landing in the water.
I wanna be famous!
In a nearby boat, Ellody jotted down some notes while an Oshawott hopped out of the water to give Mary a shell.
I wanna live close to the sun
In a jungle, Ryan lifted up several heavy logs with a single arm, only for Stephanie to lift him and the logs in a fit of rage.
Go pack your bags, cause I've already won
A Tyranitar poked its head out of some trees and roared, making both the Daters run off screaming, only for it to just be Josee wearing a mask.
Everything to prove nothing in my way
The branch Josee was sitting on snapped, sending her falling into a bush beside Jacques, who was talking to a blushing Tom.
I'll get there one day
Jen ran past the duo, screaming as a swarm of Beedrill chased after her. The others followed behind, not wanting to be stung.
Cause I wanna be famous!
High up in the mountains, Miles and Laurie sat meditating, only to be interrupted by what appeared to be Laurie's stomach growling, prompting a glare from Miles.
Na na na na na na na
In a swamp, Kelly wrestled with a Carnivine while Taylor filed her nails nearby, not paying attention.
Na na na na na na na na!
Kitty sat on a recliner in the desert, posing for selfies with a Chimchar. Brody and a Totodile were running from a Cacturne in the background.
I wanna be I wanna be I wanna be famous!
Chet and Lorenzo snuck up on a Charizard, both preparing to throw a PokeBall. Upon seeing each other, they glared at one another, but then laughed and high-fived.
I wanna be I wanna be I wanna be famous!
The Charizard roared, sending both guys screaming and running off into the distance.
A whistling of the theme song began. The camera cut to Crimson and Ennui, sitting at the elimination ceremony area and staring eerily at the camera as it zoomed out to reveal everyone sitting around them.
The ever-recognizable Chris Mclean stood in front of a black and grey background. "Greetings from…well, I can't quite tell you just yet," he said to the camera, "but you know and love me, Chris McLean, and I'm here to bring you the craziest season of Total Drama ever! I've got a familiar cast of random misfits and weirdos, but probably not the ones you're hoping for. No fans are harder to please than you guys, that's for sure! So, to make up for it, we've made some deals with some people and invented a whole new means of inter-dimensional blah blah blah to bring you a season you'll never forget."
Chris dug around in his pocket and pulled out the red and white ball from earlier. "Many of you no-lifers probably recognize this little doo-dad as a PokéBall," he explained. "A useful item from the beloved game series Pokémon. And what's typically inside a PokéBall?" He tossed the ball into the air. It opened and released a floating green blob of gelatin with a small creature inside.
"Duosion!" the Pokémon said, floating around Chris.
"This floating piece of jello is my buddy Duosion," Chris introduced, the Psychic-type giving a little wave. "You can pick your jaws up off the floor because that's right, Pokémon are real this season! I'll spare you the exact explanation of how, why, and what this could mean for our future, and just get to bringing you exactly what you came here for. Drama! And what would Total Drama be without its contestants? Let's go meet them now!"
Chris walked a short distance to the left, Duosion floating behind him and occasionally stealing glances at the camera and waving. The camera panned over to reveal a massive bird Pokémon with dark, metallic feathers and piercing red eyes. Its talons were wrapped around the handle of a car that held two people inside.
"This season sponsored by Galar Taxi!" Chris winked at the camera and turned to look at the people slowly exiting the car.
"What a beautiful, majestic creature," said a red-haired woman with peace-sign earrings. She reached up to gently caress its wings.
"Definitely," agreed her fellow traveler, a woman with dreadlocks and a similar colored outfit. "It's a shame this poor creature has been forced to endure a life of servitude. Please forgive us. We would have walked here if that was an option."
"Laurie and Miles," Chris introduced. The two women glared at him. "Hey, what's your guys' deal?"
"We know all about you, Chris Mclean," Laurie said venomously. "That poor, sensitive island you used for your show and then filled with toxic waste. The creatures you exploited. The cultures you insulted while you traveled the world. And now you've found a new world to take advantage of!"
"Yeah!" Miles added, nodding in agreement. "We're only on this show because our contracts forced us to, but you'd better watch out. Karma has its way of making sure people get exactly what they deserve!"
Chris just rolled his eyes. "As you might have guessed," he told the camera, "our contestants aren't the typical Total Drama veterans you know and love. Instead, this season's cast is made up entirely of contestants from that one spin-off show, with that less good-looking host-"
"While Don may also be a fame-hungry egocentric," Miles interrupted, "he never ruined an entire ecosystem."
"Oh look, our next contestants," Chris said, motioning for the camera to pan far away from Laurie and Miles. Another car had replaced the previous one.
"Moooooom!" cried a girl clutching an older woman's shoulder. Her eyes were shut. "Are we, like, back on the ground yet?!"
"I-I think so," said the older woman. She opened one of her eyes and looked around. "Phew. Taylor it's okay, we landed."
"Okay good," Taylor said, letting go of her mother's arm and brushing off her shoulders. She exited the car. "Hey Don, you look different."
Chris raised an eyebrow. "That's because I'm Chris McLean," he said, looking at Duosion, who shrugged.
"Whatever. Come on, Mom!" Taylor glared at her mother, who was confused by the bird Pokémon and Duosion.
"Coming sweetie!" she said, walking over to Chris. "Hi! I'm Kelly. Are you the host of this show?"
"Yes," Chris said, shaking his head. "Just go stand over there, please." Kelly and her daughter walked over to stand by Laurie and Miles.
"Ooh, you both look familiar," Kelly remarked.
"We were on the Ridonculous Race," Laurie said.
"Oh, how fun! My daughter I and were on that show too."
"Mom, they know that already. They were on the show too!"
A new car arrived and two people in matching purple outfits leapt out of it, twirling around before landing. One was a blond man and the other a short woman. "Hello to our fans!" they both said, their accents quite thick.
"Jacques and Josee," Chris introduced. "Villains, if you can believe it, and certainly not the worst ones Total Drama has ever seen."
"Oh Chris," Jacques said, "we've turned over a new leaf. We are now one-hundred percent not evil!"
"Really?" Chris asked, sounding disappointed.
"Oh definitely," Josee said, winking at the camera. "Not evil at all."
"Well then you guys can just stand over there then," Chris said, motioning to where the other four contestants had gathered. Jacques and Josee joined them as another car arrived.
A man with long blond hair and his much larger companion hopped out of car and threw up some rock-and-roll signs. "Woo!" the guy cheered. "Rock and Spud had arrived!"
"Wasn't Geoff already on that season?" Chris asked Duosion, who again responded by shrugging. "It's like I'm looking at a diet soda version of him and Owen." Spud was the larger guy who hadn't really said much yet.
"Rock on little dude!" Rock said as he and Spud went to join the others. Duosion attempted to do the rock-and-roll sign, but they didn't have any fingers.
Another car arrived and two sweaty guys wearing dark purple exited and excitedly ran over to Chris.
"Dude!" the skinnier one said. "Is this really real?! We're going to be playing Pokémon!"
"Lorenzo," Chris greeted with a nod. "And Chet." He nodded at the other guy. "Yep. That's the theme of the season."
"Pokémon is awesome!" Chet said. "But not as awesome as my best friend Lorenzo!"
"Dude!" Lorenzo yelled. "I was just thinking the same thing! That you're my best friend!"
"Dude!"
"Ugh, I forgot all of you got past your dramas and conflicts when you were last on the show," Chris complained. "Guess I'm gonna have to stir the pot a little. Next!" The next car came, and Chris groaned again as a guy and girl exited, holding hands. "Devin and Carrie…best friends turned boyfriend and girlfriend, and arguably the worst contestants on the show."
"Hey that's not very nice," Carrie said, frowning. "Wasn't our love story really sweet and fun to watch?"
"No."
"Don't listen to him, babe," Devin said, folding his arms over his chest. "You know we were the stars of that season."
"If by star you mean the part of the star that explodes and finally dies, then sure." Devin and Carrie just glared at Chris and joined the others as the next two contestants arrived.
"What I believe Chris was referring to was the in-between state before a star becomes a white dwarf," said a shorter woman with glasses and a dark orange sweater. Her taller companion nodded.
"Of course," the other woman said in agreement. "Thought to be the final stage of star "death" so to speak. Not that stars are alive so they can't truly die as we know it. I believe he's making the comparison to how Devin and Carrie's personal plot on the show was rather grating and uninteresting to watch."
"Mary and Ellody," Chris introduced, gesturing first to the shorter woman and then the taller one. "Wait, no, Ellody and Mary." He swapped who he was gesturing too. "Or is it- ah, you know what, you're both too similar to last very long. Whichever one of you goes home second is the one we'll remember more, and the one that goes home first is the one everybody will write fanfictions about."
Ellody looked at her friend, confused. "I'm unfamiliar with the phenomena he's referring to," she said.
"I believe he's referencing Katie and Sadie from Total Drama Island," Mary explained. "They were quite similar and the one who was eliminated first is featured more in fan works, but people tend to remember the other because she was in the game longer. I remembered them from my viewing of Total Drama Island before we started this season."
"Ah, of course," Ellody replied. "As part of my research I only watched the most recent seasons as I figured they would provide the most accurate assessment of the show's format for how we would experience it."
"Ah, understandable."
"Ah, please go away and be boring somewhere else," Chris cut in. The two women shrugged and went to stand with everyone else as another pair arrived, both dressed in dark pink. "Stephanie and Ryan! Remember, they fought the entire time on the Ridonculous Race, which means we'll have some wicked fights this season."
"Nuh-uh," Ryan said, shaking his head. "Me and Steph are way over that, right babe?"
"You said it babe," Stephanie agreed. "The Race made us so focused on winning that we lost sight of what was truly important: each other."
"And now you're…back on a reality show to win more money?" Chris said. "I mean, I'm not gonna complain since it'll probably mean better fights, but it seems kind of counterintuitive."
"No no no," Stephanie said. "See, the problem with the Race was that we had to work together. We both kept trying to take the lead. This time, there's only one winner, right? So, we'll have to be playing against each other."
"And nobody pushes us harder than each other," Ryan added. "So as long as we're not on the same team, we'll keep pushing each other to victory!"
Chris and Duosion exchanged glances. "Seems like you're kinda tempting fate here," the host said, "but again, I won't complain. Next!"
As Stephanie and Ryan moved away from Chris, the next pair drifted toward him. Chris shivered as the two goths, Crimson and Ennui, looked at him and then the camera.
"And I thought Gwen had a bad sense of style," Chris said, cringing a little. "Well, how does it feel to be on Total Drama?" The goths blinked. "Oh great, two silent contestants. Well, that's fine, more camera time for me." The pair walked away, leaving Chris shaking his head.
The next pair was not dressed similar whatsoever. One of them was a girl in red and the other a guy in pink. "Kitty and Brody," Chris greeted. "Sorry, but you'll both be competing sans your partners this season. We didn't want to bring any old competitors back, so Geoff was out, and then Emma-"
"Is busy with law school," Kitty interrupted, "I know, big shock. Looks like this will be a solo Kitty adventure, but that's okay!" She pulled out her phone and posed beside Duosion, the Pokémon again trying to do the rock and roll sign but still possessing the same number of fingers (zero) as they did earlier.
"Woahhhh, awesome," Brody said, looking at the floating jello ball. "Dude, is this like…real?"
"Yes Brody," Chris said with a sigh, "we're doing a Pokémon season, remember?"
"Oh, yeah. Cool." Brody gave Chris and Duosion a thumbs up before joining the others with Kitty.
"Eeeeeee!" squealed the next two contestants, both young adults in light blue. They ran over to Chris.
"Oh…my god," said the guy, Tom. "Chris McLean! I have every single scarf from your scarf line: That's a Wrap."
"And I totally respect your movement in making those little bag necklaces fashionable again," the girl, Jen, added. "It may not have worked yet, but you are laying a great foundation. Just like the kind you're wearing right now, oh my god!"
"Thank…you," Chris said awkwardly. He touched his face. "Uh…I do my own makeup, usually."
"Oh, it totally works for you," Jen said. Tom nodded in agreement.
Chris smirked. "Well, glad someone appreciates the work I do," he said, puffing out his chest. "Tom and Jen, welcome to the game. Looks like we've just got two more…" He was cut off by a loud shout as the next car was lowered to the ground.
"Dad, chill," said a small blond boy. His dad was a much older man who was currently holding onto the side of the car for dear life. "I told you we were going to see Pokémon just like this!"
"Th-that's a Pokémon?!" Dwayne cried in disbelief. "Wh-what happened to the cute, tiny ones, like Pikablu and Salazar?! O-or Hufflepuff?!"
"Dad those aren't even from Pokémon…"
"Dwayne and his son Junior," Chris said. "That rounds out our cast."
"Hi, you must be Chris," Dwayne said, sticking out his hand. "Dwayne Sr. but you can just call me Dwayne. I hope you've come up with some fun stuff for the kids, but nothing too dangerous, okay?"
"You…really don't know what you signed up for, huh?" Chris remarked. "Anyways, just go stand over there with everyone else." Dwayne and Junior joined the others. "Alright! This is everybody! I'm sure you all recognize each other from the Ridonculous Race, and let me welcome you to Total Drama proper."
"Excuse me," Mary said, raising her hand, "but this isn't everyone, is it? There are a few people missing."
"Yes, thank you Mary," Chris said dryly. "This season is meant to utilize some of you more underutilized cast members. As such, we didn't bring back anyone who has already competed on Total Drama, which means Noah, Owen, Geoff, and Leonard are not here. Furthermore, those old guys, Gerry and Pete, would probably die or something, so…they're out. Emma, Kitty's sister, is busy with law school."
"Aww but where are those little guys, Jay and Mickey?" Kitty asked, looking around for them.
"Please," Chris scoffed, "they're probably allergic to like, all one thousand Pokémon or something like that. This season's already a huge liability as it is."
"I don't see those good for nothing cops around," Josee remarked, smirking. "Were they horribly injured in a tragic accident like I prayed for?"
"Er…no, they're just real cops now, so they don't have time for this show."
"And what about Tammy, Leonard's partner?" Mary asked.
"Oh, uh…she just didn't want to compete," Chris said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. The others looked at him suspiciously. "Anyways, that makes a cast of 24, our largest yet! As such, you can expect a handful of double eliminations, and no reward challenges this season. This episode is your only freebie, understand?"
"And this will not be the like the Race, correct?" Josee asked. "As in we will have to…ugh…work with others?"
"Yes, the beginning of the game will have you all being on teams, competing together in challenges where the losing team will have to send somebody home in a dramatic Elimination Ceremony. At some point, the teams will merge, and it'll be every contestant for themselves. In the end, only one of you will win the grand prize of one million dollars!"
"And this time we won't have to split it with someone," Stephanie said, pumping her fist. Everyone seemed pretty pleased with that aspect of the game.
"Now uh, what's all this about Poke-mans?" Dwayne asked. "Are we just going to be playing all the challenges on our phones?"
Chris gestured to Duosion, who waved at everyone. "Yes," Chris said, "as you can see, Pokémon are real, okay? Please don't ask why, or how we're here, or anything like that. I'm not paid to explain it."
"Woah, how is that even possible?" Brody asked. Chris just glared at him.
"Moving on," the host continued, "we're bringing back some pretty classic aspects of our previous seasons to combine with the whole Pokémon gimmick. For starters…this is another traveling season!" The camera zoomed out to reveal the dark grey background to be the ever-familiar Total Drama Jumbo Jet. "We'll be flying around the world of Pokémon, visiting some iconic locations and competing in Pokémon themed challenges. How many of you are actually familiar with Pokémon?"
A few contestants, Junior, Chet, Lorenzo, Kitty, and some others, raised their hands. Both Dwayne and Kelly seemed totally confused, and everyone else just kind of shrugged.
"Okay," Chris said, "well for those of you familiar with the series, great. Everyone else, sucks to be you. Now before we get started, we need to go through the jet and see everything. It's…exactly the same as World Tour, so we're not going to spend a lot of time on this." He ushered the contestants into the plane, showing them the mess hall, economy, first class, etc. "Of course, the bathroom once is once again home to our Confessional."
Confessional
Devin: Woah! It's kind of weird to be doing a Confessional by myself. Anyways, I'm so stoked to be spending time with Carrie on this show. Plus, there's Pokémon! But most importantly, Carrie! Aw man, I just love her so much. I wonder what she's doing right now.
End Confessional
Confessional
Miles: I don't play video games, because of their poor portrayals of women and people of color, but I have plenty of experience with Pokémon. Protesting it, that is. Any game focused on making beautiful, misunderstood creatures fight with the ultimate goal being fame and fortune is nothing I want to be a part of. Hm…maybe going on this show was a bad idea…
End Confessional
"So only the winning team gets to be in First Class?" Dwayne clarified as he tested out one of the recliner chairs.
"That's right," Chris said. "Everyone else has to chill in economy. When we hit the merge, the winner of the challenge gets first class to themselves, with one guest allowed."
"And just when exactly will we be put on these teams?" Josee asked, giving everyone a suspicious look. "Because there are certain individuals I refuse to work with."
"Do you think anyone really wants to work with you?" Kitty asked. "You were like, totally evil last season."
"But this season I'm…ugh…nice," Josee replied, forcing a smile. "So, what I meant by 'certain individuals I refuse to work with' was actually 'there are certain individuals I would loooove to work with' obviously." Kitty gave the camera an unimpressed look.
"Don't worry," Chris said, "we'll have our teams figured out right after the tour of the plane. And because it was so popular in World Tour, we'll be bringing back the three-team format!" There were some murmurs from the others at this revelation.
"Which means we'll likely have eight contestants per team," Ellody added. "Unless of course the teams are set up in a sort of waterfall distribution where one team has nine members, another has eight, and then a final team has seven. This would-"
"Nope, just three teams of eight," Chris interrupted. "If you'll all follow me out of the plane we can actually get started. We won't be leaving for our first real destination this episode anyway."
As everyone followed Chris toward the exit, Lorenzo elbowed his stepbrother. "Dude," he said, "do you think we're actually gonna get our own Pokémon? I call Charizard!"
"Dude, no, I want Charizard," Chet complained. "Wait, maybe there will be two Charizards!"
"Yeah dude! We can be the Charizard bros!" The two high-fived. Behind them, Kelly bit her lip and looked over at her daughter, who was filing her nails.
Confessional
Kelly: I wasn't really aware they'd be giving us pets this season. We don't have any at home because, well, Taylor's not exactly good at taking care of things other than herself. Once we bought her one of those little electronic pets because everyone at her school had them, and it got confiscated by the Humane Society.
End of Confessional
"So, like, where do you think our bags are?" Jen asked Tom as they left the plane and were directed to the site of the first challenge. "Since we're like, traveling the world or whatever, I tried to fit as many different outfits as possible."
"Probably in the cargo hold," Tom said. "Oh my gosh, what if we get locked in the cargo hold and become feral like that one guy?" Jen held up her hand to stop Tom from walking forward and looked him straight in the eye.
"Tom. If that ever happens to me. Please shove me out of the plane."
"Only if you do the same for me."
"Of course."
Off to the side, Crimson and Ennui looked at one another.
"Could you imagine being locked in the cargo hold?" Ennui asked his girlfriend.
"Yes, trapped in a dark, cramped space, it'd be like a coffin," Crimson said, shuddering slightly. "Slowly losing a grip on humanity as you're forced to give into your most primal instincts just to survive."
Ennui took Crimson's hand. "Do you want to try and get locked in the cargo hold?"
"Yes. More than anything."
"Alright everyone, we're here!" Chris announced, gesturing to the challenge site, which was pretty much just an open segment of the runway. At the far end was Chef, standing beside a row of boxes. Between the others and Chef were three areas. The first was a small climbing wall, the second a pool of ice water, and the final part an oil slick. "Since you all love to race so much, that's what our first challenge is gonna be! You'll all start here and make your way through the three parts of this obstacle course. First, a small climb, then a small swim, and then a small slip, hehe. At the end of the finish line will be boxes, each one containing a Pokémon. You only get one, and it's first come first serve, so choose wisely. After this, we'll split you into teams based on the challenge results."
Confessional
Mary: Typically, Chris splits the teams up in the order they arrive at the finish line, either every other person or the first finishers followed by the second followed by the third. Therefore, I can calculate what place I should reach the finish line in to ensure that I am on a team with the most potential allies. Of course, that's just a hypothesis. Chris could introduce some other arbitrary means of picking the teams and render all my calculations null and void. Heh, but that's science for ya.
End Confessional
"This doesn't seem like such a bad challenge," Dwayne remarked. "Might get a little wet, but hey, that builds character!"
"Oh, one more thing," Chris said. "To make things interesting, Chef and I may use some Pokémon of our own to uh…entice you to finish faster."
"I do hope you don't plan on exploiting such precious creatures all season," Laurie said, glaring at Chris.
"Suuuure," the host said. "Alright everyone…on your marks…get set…GO!"
Everyone took off toward the climbing wall, mostly staying in their pairs from the Ridonculous Race. Jacques and Josee were the first to vault over the wall in a single bound. They landed in the ice water on the other side.
"Th-this is nothing compared to how cold it gets on the rink," Josee said through her shivering. As the two waded forward, everyone else was still climbing the wall.
"Woah!" Carrie cried as she felt herself get lifted into the air. She looked down to see Devin carrying her on his shoulder.
"Don't worry, homie," Devin said, starting to climb the wall. "I won't let you fall behind!" Carrie just blushed and let Devin carry her up the wall.
Ryan pulled himself up and over the wall, but before he could jump into the water he felt something clamp down on his shoulder. "What the- Hey!" he grunted as Stephanie pulled herself up onto his shoulders and jumped off of him, surging ahead into the water.
"Sorry babe!" Stephanie called back as she made her way after the Ice Dancers. "But it's an individual game now, remember?" Ryan shook his head but jumped in after her.
Chris stood off to the sidelines, frowning. "Not really the most exciting challenge in the world," he remarked. "Duosion, mind fixing that?" The Psychic-type nodded. "Good. Flash Cannon!" Duosion chirped and floated higher into the air before firing a beam of sparkling energy into the crowd of contestants. Everyone screamed as they jumped out of the way, some of them landing in the water and others landing back at the bottom of the climbing wall.
"Not so cool, little dude!" Rock cried, emerging from the water. He looked around. "Hey, Spud? You good?" Spud emerged from the water beside him.
"Hey Rock, the challenge just started," Spud said, behind the times as usual.
"You guys don't have to stick together," Chris complained to the group as a whole. "Remember, when one of you goes home, your partner doesn't have to go with you. Split up!"
Taylor stood at the top of the climbing wall and looked around, seeing her mom beside her. "Well, you heard him," she said, before firmly pushing Kelly back down the other side. "Sorry not sorry." She hopped down into the water, screeching at how cold it was.
"Ugh…Taylor!" Kelly groaned from the bottom of the wall.
At the end of the water section, Josee leapt onto the oil slick, immediately falling flat on her face. "Ugh!" she grunted as she pusher herself back up.
"Chef, some encouragement!" Chris called out.
"Yeah, yeah," Chef grumbled, pulling out a PokéBall. It opened and a large, pink, egg-shaped Pokémon appeared.
"Chansey!" the Pokémon said sweetly, pulling an egg out from its pouch and tossing it at Josee.
"Pfft, easy," Josee said with a smirk. "Hi-yah!" She spun around and kicked the egg but was surprised when it exploded upon impact with her foot, sending her flying back into the water section. Jacques winced as he pulled himself onto the oil slick and watched his former partner go flying.
"This is crazy," Dwayne said as he ducked to avoid a bolt of psychic energy that Duosion had fired off. "Who would allow a show like this to actually be filmed?"
"Dad it's Total Drama," Junior said beside him, his short height making it so the water was at least up to his chest compared to Dwayne's waist. "They do all sorts of crazy stuff." As they made it to the oil slick, Junior let himself down gently while Dwayne fell flat on his face. "Hmmm…" The two of them were towards the front end of the pack, with Jacques, Brody, the Goths, the Stepbrothers, and Kitty already making their way down the oil slick.
"Ow my back," Dwayne complained. "Here, help me up son- Ow!" Junior gingerly stepped on his dad's back. "What are you doing?!"
"I have an idea," Junior said, "buuuuut you're not gonna like it." With his other foot, he pushed off on the ground, sending him and Dwayne sliding forward skateboard style. Junior kicked his foot back a couple more times to pick up speed, sending them crashing through everyone else in front of them.
"Ow ow ow ow ow ow!" Dwayne grunted each time they hit someone.
Towards the back of the group, the Vegans and the Geniuses were moving through the water as Kelly trudged behind them, having had to climb all the way back up after being pushed off. Just ahead of them were Devin and Carrie.
"Such violence, this is exactly why I didn't want to be on this sort of show," Miles said through gritted teeth as she sidestepped an Egg Bomb. "These creatures should be free to live in their natural habitats and not be delegated the role of servants to some egomaniac."
"It certainly is an ethical dilemma," Ellody agreed. "Although the nature of these Pokémon are truly fascinating. While biology isn't my area of expertise, I do find it interesting how they're classified despite each species being incredibly distinct."
"I wonder if they use a binomial nomenclature or if this world has a completely different protocol for classification," Mary wondered aloud as they reached the halfway point through the ice bath. "I wish we had more time to stay in this world, but I suppose that's incentive to stay in the game."
"Laurie, what do you think?" Miles asked.
"Hm?" Laurie said, looking away from Duosion, who had been blasting at Devin moments ago. "Oh, sorry, I was um…thinking of a slogan for the protest I'm going to have as soon as this show is done." Miles raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything else.
After knocking down about seven people, Junior and his dad slid to the end of the oil slick and up to the Chef and the boxes.
"Uh, you made it," the man said with a shrug. He gestured to the boxes. "Take your pick of one of the Pokémon in these boxes. But remember, you only get one."
Dwayne just groaned, struggling to pick himself up off the ground while Junior rushed over to the boxes. They were all identical and unlabeled, so he opened one at random. "Yes!" he cheered, tossing the lid aside and lifting out an orange lizard Pokémon with fire on its tail. "Dad look! It's Charmander!"
Dwayne looked over at the Pokémon, his eyes widening. "Careful, son!" he shouted. "That's an open flame. You could get burnt!"
"Dad it's fine," Junior said, rolling his eyes. He set the Charmander down and opened the next box. "Ooh, Dad, pick this one! It's a good Pokémon."
Dwayne eyed the Pokémon in the box, a blue turtle with a brown shell. "Uh, what is it?" he asked, gingerly picking it up by its tail.
"It's Squirtle, a Water-type. It's in the same game as Charmander."
"Well alright son, you're the expert here," Dwayne chuckled, setting Squirtle down. "Uh, Chef, was it? We'll take these two."
Chef shrugged. "Suit yourself. Just stand off to the side until everyone else finishes up." He gave the same explanation to Jacques just as he showed up.
"Hmmm, I don't know much about these Pokémon," Jacques said, raising an eyebrow. He opened the first box he saw, revealing a blue seal Pokémon. "Ew, no thank you." The Pokémon frowned as Jacques put the lid back on the box. He reached for another box. "Please be something less ugly…" Inside this box was a green snake-like Pokémon. It rolled its eyes at Jacques and looked away. "Ooh, just like how Josee looks at me. You'll be the perfect new partner!"
"That's Snivy," Chef said as he directed Jacques where to go next. The Grass-type followed Jacques, not looking particularly pleased with the man. Brody was next to arrive, followed shortly by Crimson and Ennui.
"Awesome!" Brody cheered as he ran up to a box and opened it. A blue alligator Pokémon popped out, spinning around excitedly. "Woah, dude! Nice teeth!" He looked down at the lid, which had the name of the Pokémon on the underside. "Totodile. Cool! Nice to meet you Toto-dude!" The Water-type gave Brody a thumbs up. "Yo Chef, I'll take this one!"
Crimson and Ennui seemed to be a bit more selective, inspecting each Pokémon as they went down the line. As they looked them all over, Josee showed up with Chet and Lorenzo right behind.
"Aw man," Chet said, seeing Junior and his Charmander. "Now neither of us are going to get Charizard!"
"Dude," Lorenzo replied, "maybe they're all Charmanders."
"Dude!"
As the Stepbrothers started to search all the boxes for more Charmanders, Josee just rolled her eyes and looked over at the Goths, who had made it to the end of the line of boxes.
"How about this one?" Crimson asked, lifting up the lid. Ennui didn't say anything but lifted out an orange and white rabbit Pokémon called Scorbunny.
"I like him," Ennui said flatly. "He reminds me of Loki, and yet, his energy is different-"
"I want that one!" Josee snapped, swiftly walking toward the Goths. "It reminds me of my Bun-Bun." She was, of course, referring to her lucky rabbit's foot. "So if you'd please hand it over…"
Ennui looked down at the bunny Pokémon, and then at Josee. "Uh, no," he said, walking past her. Crimson, meanwhile, had found an orange pig Pokémon called Tepig.
"I'll take this one," she said. "Pigs are a great way of disposing of corpses after all. They'll eat anything."
"An excellent choice," Ennui agreed. Josee stood behind them, fuming.
Chet and Lorenzo, meanwhile, hadn't found a single Charmander. While the two were disappointed, they found a couple of other Pokémon that they liked.
"Torchic's still pretty cool," Chet said, nodding at the orange chick Pokémon pecking at his foot.
"And Mudkip's awesome when he evolves," Lorenzo added, holding the Water-type in his arms. "Dude, we're gonna have the best teams ever!"
"Totally, dude!"
While Josee continued to search, and the Goths and Stepbrothers found their Pokémon, Stephanie arrived.
"Be sure to choose carefully-" Chef began, but Stephanie waved him off.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm not picky," she admitted, taking a lid off a box. Inside was a black and red kitten Pokémon, Litten. "Eh, you'll do."
Confessional
Stephanie: What? I'm not really an animal lover, and besides, Pokémon's about catching a bunch of 'em, right? So whichever one I get now I can just replace with a better one later.
End Confessional
Kitty and Ryan arrived at the finish line at roughly the same time and began to search through the boxes. "So do you know much about Pokémon?" Ryan asked as he lifted up a lid to reveal Bulbasaur. Ryan cringed slightly and put the lid back on.
"I used to play it a lot when I was younger," Kitty explained, checking a box and finding a rather moody Piplup inside. She shook her head and set the lid back down. "It was a fun game when I was a kid, at least. Kind of weird to be experiencing it in real life though."
Ryan opened the box near Piplup's and pulled out a Turtwig. "Is this one good?" he asked. "I honestly don't really care at this point, I'll take whatever."
Kitty thought for a moment. "Uh, I think so?" she said. "I think these are all Starter Pokémon, so they're all supposed to be good." She lifted up the lid next to Turtwig's box and a very bubbly Chimchar hopped out. "Woah! Someone's excited. Wanna be friends?" The Chimchar nodded and Kitty posed for a selfie with him.
Seeing Ryan and Kitty leave, Josie quickly walked over to the box they had left behind, opening it to reveal Piplup. "Ah, a penguin," she said, plucking the Water-type out of the box. It just sort of glared at her. "Hey, I'm not thrilled about this either. But you're the closest thing to an ice dancer, so you'll have to do."
Tom, Jen, and Taylor all arrived at the same time and began to look through the remaining Pokémon. "I want one that's super cute," Jen said, looking in the box containing Cyndaquil. "Eh…it's okay." She put the lid back on the box. "Maybe something blue to match-"
"OH MY GOD LOOK AT THIS!" Tom squealed, holding up a Rowlet. "Jen look! It has a little bowtie. Aaaaaaaaah!"
"Adorable," Jen said, clapping her hands. "Ooh, is there another one?" She opened the lid of the box nearest to Rowlet's and gasped at what was inside.
"Is there another one?" Tom asked, joining Jen to see what was inside.
"No, but it's even better!" Jen said excitedly, lifting up the blue seal Pokémon that Jacques had rejected earlier. "I love your little collar. We are going to make that the next big trend, mark my words." The Popplio clapped its fins together happily.
Taylor, meanwhile, was looking through the remaining ones with a look of general distaste. "Lame, lame, lame," she said, pronouncing each one unworthy of being her partner.
Devin and Carrie were the next to arrive, and the choice of Pokémon had certainly dwindled. "Meet you back here, homie," Devin said before the two split up to find Pokémon. They came back shortly after, Devin with a Treecko and Carrie with a Chespin.
"Aw, yours is so cute," Carrie said.
"Not as cute as you," Devin said with a wink. Gross.
Rock and Spud came next, and neither of them were super picky about which Pokémon they got. Rock picked Cyndaquil for himself, while Spud kind of lingered. Rock started to help him pick one out, but then stopped himself.
Confessional
Rock: So Spud's my bud, you know? But this time we're not going to only be working together. Which means I can't just spend all my time keeping him focused. Sorry man.
End Confessional
While Spud and Taylor continued to look through the options, the Vegans and Geniuses arrived. Immediately both Laurie and Miles were disgusted by the sight of the boxes that the Pokémon were kept in.
"Oh, we must rescue as many of them as possible!" Laurie declared, rushing over to start opening the boxes. Even with the lids off, however, the Pokémon were obedient and remained inside. "Please, be free!"
"Quit messing around and just pick one!" Chef snapped.
"Laurie, we have to play by these rules," Miles said, touching the woman's shoulder. "Saving one is better than saving none, after all." Miles reached into a box and pulled out a green monkey. "Hello there," she looked at the lid, "Grookey. Allow me to liberate you!"
"Yes, I suppose you're right," Laurie sighed, looking in one of the boxes. "Oh, you remind me of the leaves I use for my tea." She pulled a Chikorita out of the box. "There, there, you're safe now." She held the Grass-type close to her chest.
Mary looked at Ellody. "Do you have any preference?" she asked.
"Not really," Ellody admitted. She looked at the remaining options. "Ooh, this one seems quite fascinating." She gestured to Bulbasaur. "Look at the bulb on its back. Some sort of symbiosis perhaps?"
"Fascinating indeed," Mary agreed. She looked in one of the boxes, pulling out an Oshawott. "Sea otters are a keystone species in the kelp forest ecosystems in our world. A Pokémon that resembles them this much is probably just as important."
At this point, only three Pokémon remained, and Kelly brought up the rear by being the last one to make it to the finish line.
"Did you pick one yet?" Kelly asked, panting as she stood next to her daughter.
"Ugh, no!" Taylor complained. "They all suck!"
Kelly took a look at the remaining options. A blue frog, a sad blue lizard, and an orange fox. Kelly pointed at the final one. "That one doesn't seem so bad, maybe I'll-"
"Great idea Mom, thanks!" Taylor quickly interjected, snatching up the Fennekin. Kelly sighed and looked at the two Pokémon left.
"Um…I guess the frog will do, then," Kelly said with a sigh. Froakie hopped out of the box and landed next to Kelly, who shuddered.
Chris walked up to the group. "Alright," he said, "that leaves Spud with Sobble as the only Pokémon left." The lizard Pokémon crawled over to Spud.
"Huh?" the rocker said. "Oh, cool." He nodded at Sobble.
"Now, it's time to split you onto your teams," Chris said while Chef cleared away the boxes. "You each picked a Starter Pokémon, which was one of three types: Grass, Fire, or Water. The type of your starter determines if you're on the Grass, Fire, or Water team. Make sense?" The others nodded. "Cool!" He looked at everyone's Pokémon.
"Looks like Ellody, Laurie, Devin, Ryan, Jacques, Carrie, Tom, and Miles will be Team Grass!"
"We're on the same team, homie!" Devin cheered, hugging Carrie.
"Looks like Mother Earth helped us make the right decision," Laurie observed, smiling at Miles, who smiled back.
"Aw, it sucks we won't be on the same team," Jen told Tom, hugging him. "But hey, when we get to the merge and I start winning challenges, I'll be sure to invite you to first class with me."
Chris continued with the next team. "Those on Team Fire are Junior, Rock, Chet, Kitty, Crimson, Taylor, Stephanie, and Ennui."
"Wait, but Junior and I should be on the same team," Dwayne argued. "He's my son, and he's just a kid!"
"Dad I'll be fine," Junior promised. "I'm not a little kid anymore, remember?"
Dwayne sighed. "Alright, just please be careful." Junior rolled his eyes but nodded.
"Well, this is gonna be exciting, right?" Kitty said to her teammates. Rock gave her a rock-and-roll sign, but everyone else just kind of shrugged and ignored her. "Yeesh, tough crowd."
"Finally, rounding us off on Team Water it's Dwayne, Brody, Lorenzo, Josee, Mary, Kelly, Jen, and Spud."
"Wait, Rock, we might be on the same team!" Spud said, eyes widening, before he caught up with everything else and realized they would be on separate teams. "Aw man…"
"Hey Kelly," Dwayne said, walking up to the only other actual adult on the team. "How have you been?"
Kelly looked Dwayne up and down, confused. "Um, I'm sorry, have we met?" she asked.
"Uh, yeah," Dwayne said, scratching the back of his head. "We were both on the Ridonculous Race, remember?" Kelly shook her head. "I was on a team with my son?" Another headshake. "I uh…maybe said your daughter was born rotten?"
"Ohhhh," Kelly said, realization dawning on her. She then frowned. "Yes, how rude of you to say that." She turned and went to go talk to somebody else.
"Alright, so now you're officially on your teams," Chris said. "You've all been given a starter Pokémon to bond with and to assist you in challenges. You'll also be given various opportunities throughout the season to capture new Pokémon to add to your team and give you a leg up on the competition. But the fun doesn't stop here. Soon enough, we'll be starting our first team challenge, and unlike this last one, there are no more freebies. Somebody will be going home." Everyone murmured amongst themselves.
Confessional
Carrie: I'm so glad Devin and I are on the same team. There's no way we'd vote each other out, and I'm pretty good friends with Ryan. I think this means we'll be in the game for a long time!
End Confessional
Chris turned to face the camera. "Well, there you have it, folks," he said. "24 contestants, each of them given a new Pokémon partner! How will the new teams hold up? Who will be the first to go home? And ultimately, who will be the one to win the million dollars? At least one of these questions will probably be answered on the next episode of Total…Drama…Pokémon Tour!"
Team Grass: Ellody - Bulbasaur, Laurie - Chikorita, Devin - Treecko, Ryan - Turtwig, Jacques - Snivy, Carrie - Chespin, Tom - Rowlet, Miles - Grookey
Team Fire: Junior - Charmander, Rock - Cyndaquil, Chet - Torchic, Kitty - Chimchar, Crimson - Tepig, Taylor - Fennekin, Stephanie - Litten, Ennui - Scorbunny
Team Water: Dwayne - Squirtle, Brody - Totodile, Lorenzo - Mudkip, Josee - Piplup, Mary - Oshawott, Kelly - Froakie, Jen - Popplio, Spud - Sobble
Eliminated: None
Well there we go! It's kind of weird writing a comp fic after so long, so apologies as I'm still getting back into it. No telling when the next chapter is coming, but I appreciate you reading this far! Lemme know how you're excited to potentially see go far and what Pokemon you think people might catch!