Hey worldwide web,
Here with chapter only a week after the first one, how exciting! This time we'll have our first elimination challenge and hopefully some fun interactions between the newfound teammates! Hope you all enjoy!
Disclaimer: nah
"We're back!" Chris said as the second episode began shortly after the last one concluded. "Last time on Total Drama Pokémon Tour, our 24 Ridonculous Race contestants were split into three teams: Grass, Fire, and Water. They were each given a Starter Pokémon at the end of a grueling obstacle course. Everyone escaped the first episode unscathed, but from here on out it's every man, woman, and Pokémon for themselves. Well, sort of, there's still teams after all. Anyways, today we'll be having our first real challenge where someone will be going home. Who will that be? Find out on this episode of Total…Drama…Pokémon Tour!"
*theme song*
"Alright contestants," Chris said to the newly formed teams. "We're going to be having our first official challenge shortly. In the meantime, I would suggest getting to know your new Pokémon pals. They're going to be pretty helpful when it comes to completing challenges. Take care of them, and they'll take care of you. If we find that you're mistreating them in any way, you're off the show."
"A refreshing mandate coming from you," Laurie commented. "I guess production has finally seen the light and decided to stop its animal cruelty this season."
"Uh, should we be getting on the plane?" Devin asked, raising his hand. "We have to fly to the challenge place, right?"
"Not this time," Chris said, shaking his head. "We scored big with this rando island, and we're gonna use it to its full effect. It'll be the site of the first challenge, which means someone will be eliminated before we even get up in the air!" There were more murmurs from the contestants.
"Well, I won't complain," Miles said, glaring at the Jumbo Jet off in the distance. "That thing definitely does not run on ethically produced corn oil."
"Yeah, but to come all this way and not even get to fly somewhere once?" Kitty said. "That's like, craaaazy harsh."
"Again, the challenge will start in a few," Chris continued. "I can't tell you what it is yet, but you're going to want to get into pairs within your team. But! You cannot pair up with your partner from the RIdonculous Race."
"Aw man, looks like we won't be partners, homie," Devin said, squeezing Carrie's hand. "Hey guys, who wants to be my partner?" There were a couple beats of silence as the other members of Team Grass looked around at each other.
"I'd like to partner with Laurie, if that's okay," Ellody said politely. Laurie smiled at her and nodded.
"Jacques?" Devin asked, smiling.
Jacques scoffed. "No way," he said, rolling his eyes. He looked around at the others. "Uh…Tom, is it? You'll be my partner."
"Um, okay?" Tom said, shrugging.
"Come on guys," Carrie said, looking at Devin and sighing happily. "As much as we'd prefer to be together, Chris said we can't be partners this time."
"Well, I'll be your partner, Carrie," Ryan offered. Devin frowned, but Carrie nodded.
Confessional
Devin: 'I'll be your partner, Carrie.' Who does he think he is?!
End Confessional
"Well, I guess that leaves you and me, eh Miles?" Devin asked the hippie, walking up to her.
"I suppose there are people with worse auras on our team," Miles said with a sigh, glaring at Jacques. "However, your behavior regarding your ex-girlfriend was incredibly inappropriate and really telling of your toxic masculinity."
"Ouch," Devin said, wincing. "Really starting out with the deep cuts, huh? She did cheat on me…" As the two started to get into a debate over who was right or wrong in that instance, the camera panned over to Team Fire.
"Alright Goth Boy, you're with me," Stephanie ordered. Ennui just blinked and looked at Crimson, who shrugged.
Taylor stood off to the side, looking down at her Fennekin, unimpressed. Junior strolled up behind her and cleared his throat.
"Hey Taylor," he said, trying to lower his voice. It cracked as he said the end of her name, making his turn red. "I w-was wondering if maybe-"
"Taylor, it's you and me baby!" Rock interrupted, pushing Junior aside. "Let's own this challenge!"
"Um, no?" Taylor said. "You two dweebs can be each other's partners, okay? Ugh!" She looked over to see Chet who had come up beside her, his face red. "Not even if you paid me!" She stormed away from the three boys and walked up to Kitty. "We're partners."
"Uh, okay," Kitty said, shrugging. "Selfie?" Taylor took a moment to reapply her lip-gloss before doing a duckface. Kitty snapped a picture and began to caption it.
"Ooh, caption it #girlboss," Taylor suggested. Kitty cringed slightly.
Over on Team Water, Dwayne watched the interaction between Junior and Taylor with a frown. "Are you really going to let your daughter talk to my son like that?" he asked Kelly.
Kelly raised an eyebrow. "Well, I'm definitely not going to let you talk to me that way," she said flatly. She walked away, leaving her Froakie to stare up at Dwayne.
"What do you want?" Dwayne asked the frog Pokémon.
"Froakie," it ribbited, before hopping away.
"Hmmm," Mary said, observing her teammates. "I believe the most efficient pairings will be those made up of people with varying strengths. For example, Lorenzo, I believe you have some understanding of martial arts?"
"You bet I do!" Lorenzo said, striking a kung-fu pose. "Do you think that's what the challenge will be about?"
"That remains to be seen, but I believe it would be prudent for you to be my partner. I possess little in the way of martial arts prowess, and if I may be so bold, you are likely lacking in the…uh…puzzle-solving department."
Lorenzo frowned, but then shrugged. "Actually, I'm not really bothered by that," he admitted. "Sure, I'll be your partner."
"Likewise, I think Brody and Kelly would make an excellent match," Mary continued. The two in question looked at each other. "Kelly has some artistic ability while Brody has physical prowess. They represent one of the widest skillsets. Similarly, Jen and Josee have a similar matchup."
"Well, who's going to let you call all the shots?" Josee asked, folding her arms over her chest. "I don't remember electing you as team leader."
"Yeah, I'm not going to lie, I don't want to end up getting 'accidentally' murdered during the challenge," Jen added, glaring at Josee.
"Please, it wouldn't be accidental if it was a murder," Josee shot back.
"You really seem to be focused on the murdering me part of this whole scenario, huh?"
"Well, you're welcome to be paired with Dwayne or Spud," Mary interrupted before the two women could get into any further.
Jen looked at Spud, who was still zoned out, and Dwayne, who was awkwardly standing off to the side. She thought for a moment. "Okay," she said, glaring at Josee, "but I can put up more of a fight than you'd think. I once broke a guy's arm for a limited-edition handbag that was on sale. And I made him apologize afterwards."
Confessional
Tom: Honestly, she looked great with that handbag, so when I apologized, I really was sorry I made her go through the effort of breaking my arm to get it.
End Confessional
"Excellent," Mary said, "that leaves Dwayne and Spud as our final pair. I believe this will bring us great success in the challenge."
With all of the pairs formed, and still a few minutes before the challenge began, the contestants spent some time with the Pokémon, getting a feel for what their new partners were like. Many of them found their Starter Pokémon to be very similar to them in personality, while others found that to be quite the opposite.
"So it can like, breathe fire or something?" Taylor asked, watching her Fennekin run around in circles in front of her.
"I mean, that would be why it's called a Fire-type," Kitty said. Her Chimchar was happily sitting on her shoulder.
"How fascinating," Mary said as Kelly's Froakie began to emit bubbles from its mouth. The bubbles floated up into the air as the other Water-types tried to jump up and pop them.
"I thought the whole point of Pokémon was that they fight each other," Dwayne said. "Bubbles aren't exactly threatening, you know?" He looked down at his Squirtle. "Can you blow bubbles too?"
Squirtle shrugged and opened its mouth, firing a stream of cold water right at Dwayne's face. "Squirt!" the Water-type cried in alarm. Dwayne spat out some of the water.
"Well, I guess not," he said with a sigh.
"I think we chose the perfect Pokémon, Miles," Laurie told her teammates as they both sat cross-legged on the ground, meditating with their Starters.
"I couldn't agree more," Miles said with a blissful sigh. Both Pokémon were lounging nearby, breathing softly.
Nearby, Tom examined his Rowlet, gently feeling its feathers and leaves. "So, this doesn't come off, does it?" Tom said, gesturing to the bowtie-shaped leaves. Rowlett shook its head. "Okay well good thing it's cute. Uh…you're a bird so…can you fly."
"Rowlet!" the Pokémon chirped, flapping its wings and hovering a few feet above the ground.
"Well that's probably useful," Tom commented.
Chris arrived a few moments later to take everyone to the challenge site, located on the other side of the island. "I hope you're all in pairs," he said, "because we're going to be doing a challenge called the Temple of the Elements!" Soon enough, they arrived at the site of a temple that was clearly constructed only a few days ago but designed to look like it was old. It had three entrances in the front, one with a leaf, the other with a flame, and the final one with a drop of water above it.
"The Temple of the Elements is meant to teach you the importance of understanding the type of Pokémon you have," Chris explained. "Fire, Grass, and Water all have types that strong against, and types they are weak against. It's kind of like a giant game of Rock-Paper-Scissors, only with fire and leaves and stuff. Anyways, each team will send in a pair at a time to navigate the temple. The pairs inside won't run into each other, but they will be competing to get out first. A pair that finds the exit first wins 2 points for their team. A pair that gets out second gets 1 point. And finally, the pair that gets out last earns 0. The team with the most points at the end wins. The team with the least sends somebody home!"
"What's inside the temple?" Rock asked.
"All sorts of traps and gizmos and maybe a Pokémon or two," Chris answered. "Each team's path will be different, and the temple might change up on you between rounds. Just focus on getting you and your Pokémon out as fast as possible. Now, who would like to go first for each team?"
"We can go first for Team Grass," Ellody volunteered. Laurie nodded in agreement.
"And from the other teams?"
"Ugh let's get this over with," Jen said, raising her hand.
"Hmph," Josee said, turning the other way. "I only go first anyways."
"Let's hope that's true in this game too."
"Tension," Chris said, smirking. "I love it! Team Fire?" He looked over the members of Team Fire, who were all debating over who should be the first ones to go. "Alright, taking too long. Chet, Crimson, you're up first."
"Aw man," Chet said, walking forward with Crimson, who just stared ahead.
Chris took a position slightly in front of the three pairs that were going first. "On your marks…get set…GO!" They all took off running, each pair heading through their respective teams' door.
"So…what do the rest of us do?" Carrie asked after a few seconds had passed. "Do we just stand around?"
Chris shrugged. "I don't care," he said. "Strategize, talk about boys, whatever."
"There's only one boy I want to talk about," Carrie said, batting her eyelashes at Devin. Devin blew a kiss in her direction. Gross.
Inside the temple, Chet and Crimson ran down a dark, narrow passage. The interior had been set up less like a maze and more as a second obstacle course. The two didn't say much to each other as they made their way along, until Chet found himself running into some sort of soft, silky barrier.
"What the heck?" he said, backing up and taking some of the material with him. It was somewhat translucent and very stick.
"It looks like a giant spiderweb," Crimson observed. Chet let out a high-pitched shriek and attempted to shake the silk off of him. The giant sheet of silk seemed to be blocking their way, and it didn't tear or burst even as Chet continued to tangle himself up in it.
"Ugh how are we supposed to get past this?" he grunted, looking around and then seeing his Torchic looking at him expectantly. "Wait! Chris said this challenge is about type advantages. Fire-types beat Bug-types. Torchic! Use Ember!"
"Chic!" the Fire-type chirped, opening its beak and firing small flaming pellets at Chet and the web.
"Ah!" Chet cried as he got burned. "Not right at me!" Torchic directed its attack, the pellets easily burning through the silk until there was enough of a gap for everyone to pass through and for Chet to move freely. "Ugh, that would have gone faster if you'd actually helped, Crimson!" He glared at his teammate, who just blinked before continuing down the passageway.
On the Grass side of the temple, Ellody and Laurie had come to the first obstacle. A large stretch of water with giant lily-pads to hop across. While Ellody wasn't the most coordinated, the two were able to take it slow and move with their Pokémon.
"I thought Chris mentioned this was going to teach us about different strengths and weaknesses," the genius remarked as Laurie helped her across to another lily-pad.
"Maybe their weakness is jumping?" Laurie suggested, observing their Pokémon move fairly slow. "Although I wouldn't call it a weakness, because that would be a disservice to such wonderful creatures. I- hey, what's that?" She pointed off to the side, where a large blue Pokémon lifted its head out of the water. It had purple ridges running down its back and had a relatively smooth body-shape.
"It looks almost like a giant salamander," Ellody remarked.
"Quagsire!" the Pokémon said, slapping its tail down a creating a giant wave. The two women cried out as their lily-pad was cap-sized and they were sent into the water.
Laurie surfaced first, wiped her hair out of her face. "Please, oh power water guardian, don't hurt us!" she cried. Quagsire created another wave. "We mean you no harm!" Chikorita hopped out of the water and onto Laurie's head. Ellody resurfaced with Bulbasaur and grabbed onto the now upside-down lily-pad to avoid going back under.
"Perhaps this is where we have to use our Pokémon to fight," Ellody suggested. Bulbasaur climbed up onto the lily-pad and nodded.
"No way," Laurie said firmly. "We can do this without fighting." Another wave surged through the pool, sending her and Chikorita back underwater.
"Laurie!" Ellody said in alarm. She looked at Bulbasaur. "Can you do something, please?"
"Bulba!" Bulbasaur nodded and produced two vines from underneath its bulbs. The vines surged forward, striking Quagsire across the face. Bulbasaur wasn't strong enough to do much damage, but the Quagsire had been trained to give up after being hit by a Grass-type attack. It disappeared under the water just as Laurie and Chikorita came back up.
"Wh-where is it?" Laurie asked as Ellody helped her up onto the lily-pad.
"It uh…seems that its better nature was appealed to," Ellody said, glancing down at Bulbasaur, who shrugged.
"Oh," Laurie said, "well, good. I knew we could solve this without violence." She continued to jump to the next lily-pad, holding out her hand to help Ellody.
Confessional
Ellody: I don't really like lying, but when you work in a lab and you're one of two female scientists working with at least half a dozen men who constantly talk over you, you understand that sometimes it's just better to avoid certain conflicts.
End Confessional
Josee grunted as she did a backflip to avoid getting singed by an oncoming fireball. Jen pressed herself up against one of the walls of the tunnel.
"This is crazy!" the fashion blogger shouted. "What are we supposed to do!"
"I don't know," Josee said. "It…it seems like they come ever three seconds. So…now." They both moved out of the way. "If we just move slowly, we might be able to get past whatever's shooting them at us.
"But that'll take forever," Jen groaned. "This hallway is so long." They slowly inched towards the end, pausing as another ball of fire shot past them. Their Pokémon nervously moved beside them.
"Do you have any better ideas?" Josee asked as they continued to move again. "Unless these things are fireproof…" She looked down at her Piplup, which shook its head. "Ugh! Useless…"
"Chris did say that this was supposed to teach us about strengths and weaknesses," Jen recalled. "Hmmm…we're Team Water, and these guys are Water-types, right?"
"Glad you can remember things we were told fifteen minutes ago," Josee said sarcastically. Jen just rolled her eyes.
"But if those other Water-type can make water, maybe ours can too! Popplio, can you make water?"
"Pop!" the seal-like Pokémon nodded and sprayed some water out of its nose, extinguishing the fireball that had been coming towards them.
"Nice!" Jen said, high-fiving her Pokémon. She picked it up and held it at the height the fireballs were at. "Now we can run!"
"Lead the way I guess," Josee said tersely, picking up her Piplup and standing behind Jen.
Confessional
Josee: What? I didn't know if it'd work…
End Confessional
Outside, near the back of the pyramid, was a single exit. Chef was waiting outside with a walkie-talkie. "Chris, I think I hear a team coming," he said into the walkie.
"Ten-four! Let me know who it is!"
Chef turned to look at the door just as two figures ran out. "It's Chet and Crimson! Team Fire!"
"Copy that," Chris said. "Everyone! Team Fire has just earned two points!" The members of Team Fire cheered. A few seconds later Chef came in with the next team. "And make that a single point for Team Water! Which puts Laurie and Ellody coming in last, earning zero points for Team Grass." Team Grass groaned.
Ellody and Laurie emerged, sopping wet, to see the other two pairs already waiting at the finish line. Chef radioed Chris to let him know all the pairs were out so he could send the next three inside.
"We may have gotten last," Laurie said, putting a hand on Ellody's shoulder, "but we were first in moral superiority." Ellody smiled, but then gave a concerned look to the camera.
Back at the starting line, the next three pairs were ready to go. For Team Grass it would be Devin and Miles. For Team Fire it would be Rock and Junior. Finally, for Team Water it would be Mary and Lorenzo. Chris started them up and then they were off.
"Woah, careful little dude!" Rock said as Junior almost tripped down a flight of stairs. He grabbed the boy's shoulder and pulled him back.
"Oh, sorry," Junior said, cramming his hands into his pockets. They began to jog down the steps.
"You good?" Rock asked. Junior just shrugged. "Oh, is this because Taylor didn't want to be your partner?" Junior's eyes widened. "Ha! Thought so, little man. Hey, you gave it your best shot. But uh, she's a bit old for you. Probably for the best."
Junior frowned. "You're just saying that because you wanted to be her partner too," he said as they turned a corner.
Rock rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Yeah, maybe," he admitted. "But like, I'm serious. Girls will reject you sometimes and you can't let it ruin your vibe, you know?" He chuckled. "Trust me, I've been rejected by a ton of girls." Junior laughed a little at that.
They turned another corner and came across a door. Rock shrugged and opened it, unleashing a wicked sandstorm. "Woah!" he shouted, shielding his eyes from the sand. His Cyndaquil squealed and hid behind him.
"We'll have to go through it," Junior said, pulling his hat over his eyes. He grabbed Charmander's hand. "Come on!" He ran forward, Rock right behind him.
Higher up in the temple, Miles and Devin were climbing a ridiculously tall ladder. This task wasn't too difficult by itself. Both their Treecko and Grookey seemed quite adept at climbing. What made it difficult was the fact that it was hailing.
"I consider- ow!" Miles winced as a large hailstone hit her in the face. "I consider hail to be just as much a blessing of Mother Nature as any other kind of weather." She held up an arm to cover her face from some more hailstones. "But this is…quite difficult to deal with!"
"Yeah," Devin said. "Ouch! I agree completely! Are we sure this is the only way out of here?"
Miles looked around. They had been climbing for at least a few minutes now. It would be quite a drop if either of them fell. "No," she said with a sigh. "I think this is just supposed to teach us that Grass-type Pokémon don't like the cold. Which anyone as in tune with nature as myself could tell you anyways."
"Yeah, you and Laurie sure seem to have that nature thing down," Devin remarked. Miles didn't say anything. "Uh…right?"
"Not that it's any of your business," Miles said rather pointedly. "But Laurie has…recently fallen out of good graces with Mother Nature."
"Really?"
"Yes. Again, I don't expect someone of your low moral standings to really get it, but her eating meat on the Ridonculous Race sent her on quite the spiral. Why, just a weeks ago, I caught her using plastic grocery bags to carry home her organic oatmeal!" Miles made a disgusted noise.
Devin looked down at her. "Wait, what if she just forgot her reusable bags?" he asked. "Or maybe the store didn't allow them? That doesn't seem like it's totally her fault."
Miles' eyes narrowed. "Like I said, I didn't expect you to understand."
"Hi-yah!" In the middle ground of the temple, Lorenzo lunged forward, aiming a punch at the Pokémon in front of him. It was black, yellow, and spikey. An Electabuzz. The Electric-type dodged and struck Lorenzo in the chest with a sparking fist. Lorenzo flew back, landing at Mary's feet with his hair sticking up.
"Careful," Mary said. "Electricity that strong might stop your heart." She looked around the room they were in. There were various tiles, some of them coated in a puddle of water, and some of them dry. "Hmmm…"
"Let me try that again," Lorenzo said, pulling himself to his feet. Mudkip nudged him encouragingly.
"No need," Mary told him. "I think I've figured this out. Water, by itself, is an insulator. It won't conduct electricity unless there are minerals. I'm guessing, however, Water-type Pokémon are generally weak to Electric-types. That's the lesson to be learned here."
Lorenzo scratched the top of his head. "So…how does that help us?" he asked. Electabuzz stood in the center of the room, watching them.
Mary pointed at the dry tiles in the room. "If we avoid the wet tiles, we stand a better chance of getting shocked. There's only one direct path to the end of the room that avoids the water. See?" Lorenzo followed her finger as she drew a line down the path in the air.
"Ohhhh. Yeah! Let's do it!" He picked up Mudkip and hopped onto the first tile. Mary followed suit with Oshawott. As the made their way across the room, Electabuzz let out several bolts of electricity, aimed only at the wet tiles. As they followed the path Mary had determined, they were able to avoid being shocked.
"I'm glad that worked," Mary commented as they exited the room. "I'm not a fan of electric shocks."
"Yeah, that was pretty rough," Lorenzo said, fixing his now frizzy hair. They continued to run down the hallway and soon found themselves exiting the Temple, with nobody else having arrived yet. "Yes! We got two points!"
"Which should put us at three points," Mary added. "At most, we'll be tied with Team Fire for three points if they are the next to arrive." She looked behind her as Miles and Devin, covered in hail, came running out. "Hm, I guess not. We're in the lead." A short while later, Dwayne and Rock also came out of the temple, coughing up sand.
"Team Water gains two points, putting them at three!" Chris announced. "An early lead, with Team Grass snagging one point thanks to Devin and Miles and tying them with Team Fire who got zero this round and is still at one."
"It's not a very big lead," Dwayne said. "But it's better than nothing, right?" He looked over at Spud, who didn't say anything. Dwayne just scratched his head, confused.
"Next up for Team Grass it looks like we have Carrie and Ryan," Chris observed as the next pairs got ready.
"We're also going next," Stephanie said, walking up to the starting line. Ennui trailed behind her.
Confessional
Stephanie: If Ryan is going to be going in this round, I have to go too. Going head-to-head will be push both of us and make sure that we both have the best chance of winning this challenge. Of course, I'm going to be better.
End Confessional
"We'll bring up the rear," Dwayne offered, gesturing to himself and Spud. "You always want a tough anchor in these kinds of races."
Kelly shrugged, walking with Brody to the starting line. "I hope it's not a very dusty temple," she remarked, looking down at her cream-colored clothes. "These can't just be machine washed."
Chris did the countdown and everyone went off. Carrie and Ryan found themselves at a fork in the tunnel, with both ways having a symbol above them. Left had an insect symbol of some sort and right had a mountain symbol.
"Uh…I don't really like bugs," Ryan admitted. "So I'd say we go right."
"Yeah, I'll pass on bugs too," Carrie agreed. "Right it is then! If the puzzle involves climbing a mountain, I think we'll do just fine." They entered the right hallway and soon found themselves faced with a massive pile of sand blocking the way.
"Can we climb it?" Ryan asked, poking the sand. It was soft and pliable but would be difficult to climb. "Okay, guess that option's out. Is there another way around?"
"Maybe our Pokémon can do something?" Carrie suggested. She looked down at her Chespin. "Any ideas?"
"Chespin!" the Grass-type squeaked, producing a couple of vines from the green cap on its head. It sifted through the pile of sand and parted it so that Carrie and Ryan could pass through.
"Awesome!" Carrie said, high-fiving her Pokémon. "Nice job, homie!" Chespin squeaked happily at the praise.
"Ugh, I can't believe we went the wrong way," Stephanie groaned as she and Ennui dodged out of the way of some falling rocks. "Why didn't you suggest going through the door with the snowflake on it?! Obviously, Fire-types aren't going to care about snow."
Ennui just stared at Stephanie and moved to avoid another rock. Stephanie just groaned snatched up her Litten so it didn't get squished by a rock.
Confessional
Stephanie: Ugh! And I thought Ryan was bad for never listening to me, but this guy listened to a word I said and didn't argue once.
End Confessional
"Do something useful and find the exit!" Stephanie ordered. Ennui looked around and raised a finger to point at a doorway off in the distance. "Come on then!" She ran toward the door, Ennui right behind her. As they got close, however, a massive rock fell in front of it. "No!" Stephanie began to beat her fist against the rock. At this point, the other rocks had stopped falling.
"Guess we'll have to go back and try the other way," Ennui remarked. He turned to leave the chamber and try the other way. Stephanie followed behind, glaring daggers into his back.
"And so, after you buy the Deluxe Ultra Goddess Package for 250 dollars, you'll be able to sell them to Platinum Chi members for that price, with you retaining 15% of the sales," Kelly explained to Brody as they walked through the chamber they had picked. Earlier they had been given a choice of a path with a leaf or a mountain, but Kelly had been too busy talking about her current business ventures to remember which one they had picked.
"That's awesome," Brody said for like the twelfth time during the conversation. "You know so much about this, you must be at like, the highest level ever!"
"Oh no," Kelly said with a laugh. "I'm only an Epsilon Pearl Alopecia Rewards Plus member. That's still a long way from being the level of a Tier 34 Honeysuckle Ambrosia Mesothelioma member. And then there's the hidden levels that only the inner circle knows about. Oh, how I wish I could be at that level."
"Totally!" Brody agreed. "You could definitely do it!"
Kelly stopped for a moment. "Really?" she said.
"Totally!"
"Well…thank you," Kelly said, smiling to herself and continuing to move down the tunnel. Soon enough they came upon a big pile of sand. Kelly took a step back as some of the sand fell from the pile.
"Don't worry Kelly, I've got this," Brody said, stepping in front of her. "Your clothes can't be machine washed, right? Don't want 'em to get dirty!" His Totodile stood behind him.
"That's right," Kelly said softly.
Confessional
Kelly: Nobody's ever remembered how my clothes need to be washed before! Well, except for me. And the maid. And the butler. And the rest of the cleaning staff. But nobody else!
End Confessional
Totodile sprayed water from its mouth, quickly blasting away the sand and clearing a path for Kelly and Brody to walk through. They quickly ran out of the temple to see that Carrie and Ryan were already there at the finish line, as well as Stephanie and Ennui.
"Looks like Team Grass gets two points!" Chris announced. "Followed by Team Water getting one point!"
Stephanie and Ennui emerged from the temple, covered in snow. "I told you it'd be easier if we had gone that way!" Stephanie shouted. "Fire melts snow! Ugh!" She looked over to see Ryan on the other side of the finish long and let out an enraged scream. She stormed off to sit with the others, still glaring at Ennui, who just looked at the camera.
"As it stands, Team Water is in the lead with four points," Chris explained. "Team Grass is in second with three points. And then there's Team Fire with two points. Now it would be fun to just make this last one worth the same number of points as the others, but then there'd be a chance of a tie game if Team Grass get second, Team Fire gets first, and Team Water gets third. So to make things interesting…the team that arrives in first will get still get two points, the second place team will still get one point, and the last place team will lose a point." Everyone immediately began to exclaim that the rule change was unfair.
"So basically, whoever gets last in this round just loses!" Stephanie snapped. "What about all our hard work?!"
"Kind of hard to have that high-ground when you've had two back-to-back failures," Chris commented. "Look, I'm the host, so I make the rules. Got it? Now will the last three pairs make their way to the starting line?"
Tom and Jacques, Taylor and Kitty, and Dwayne and Spud stood at the starting line. The pressure was on, given that this round would ultimately decide everything, at least in terms of which team would be sending someone home.
"On you marks…" Chris said. "Get set…GO!"
The three pairs took off into the temple. Well, two and a half pairs. Spud waited a good five seconds before he realized the challenge started and followed far behind Dwayne. When most of them arrived in the temple, instead of three separate passages, they all found themselves in the same room.
"Is this how it's supposed to look?" Tom asked. He looked over at a door on the far end of the room. "Not really a challenge if the exit is right there."
"Do we maybe have to fight to get to the end?" Kitty suggested.
"I thought Chris said this challenge was supposed to teach us about types," Jacques said. "What type is this supposed to be-" He was cut off by a large shape slamming into the center of the room.
A large, blue and black Pokémon with three heads stared the five contestants down. Its center head was larger than the side heads, which were attempted to arm-like appendages. "Hydreigon!" it roared.
"A Dragon-type!" Kitty cried. "None of our types are good against it!" To emphasize this, one of the heads turned to look at her and fired a strong blast of water at her and Taylor. The girls shrieked as they were pushed back by the blast.
Spud came running in. "Hey dude," he said to Dwayne. "The challenge started!" Dwayne groaned and pulled him aside as the center head shot a bolt of lightning at them.
"We need to get to the door," Jacques said. He gracefully dodged a blast of ice. "Come on!" Tom nodded and followed behind, not nearly as fast as the ice dancer. Hydreigon roared and zoomed after them, spewing flames across the room.
Kitty dove behind a pillar and watched the Dragon-type go after the boys. "Alright," she said, breathing heavily. "If we can just- Huh?" She looked around, but found no sign of Taylor next to her. Instead, the girl was sneaking towards the front entrance. "What are you doing?"
"I am not doing this," Taylor said firmly. "I could die. Or like, even worse, my hair could get messed up."
Kitty groaned. "Come on, we're already way behind," she said. "We at least need to get second in this challenge, or we totally lose. You don't really want to be the first one to get kicked off, do you?"
"Meh," Taylor said, pulling out a nail file. "I guess not…"
Kitty rolled her eyes and looked upward. There were some support beams leading from the pillars to the center of the ceiling. "Hmm…"
On the other side of the room, Dwayne was dragging Spud toward the door. "Ugh," Dwayne grunted, "and I thought it was rough when Junior was too big for me to carry. This sucks!" He looked to see Kitty and Taylor still hiding behind a pillar, with Kitty's monkey Pokémon climbing toward the ceiling. Whatever. Tom and Jacques were still trying to avoid getting burned. That left a pretty clear shot to the exit. As long as the dragon didn't notice-
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Spud screamed, nearly making Dwayne jump out of his own skin. He pointed at an empty spot in the room. "A dragon!" The Hydreigon immediately turned to look at the pair, before blasting a beam of electricity at them.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" Dwayne said as he was shocked.
"It's distracted," Tom said, patting out some of the flames that had started on his shirt. "Run!" He and Jacques took off the for the exit.
"Now!" Kitty called up to her Chimchar. The Fire-type noded and spat a pellet of fire at the Hydreigon. The Dragon/Dark-type looked up and snarled, shooting all three of its beams at once. The water, electricity, and ice struck separate support beams, causing debris to begin falling from the ceiling. "Go, go, go!" Kitty pushed Taylor forward. A large pile of debris landed in front of Jacques and Tom, delaying them.
Dwayne ran toward the exit. "Come on," he told Spud, we can make it!"
Kitty ran up to the exit, looking over her shoulder. "Wait, where is everyone?" she asked. Neither her Pokémon nor Taylor and Fennekin were around. "Chimchar?!" The Fire-type let out a cry as it was dangling from one of the broken support beams. "Chimchar!" Kitty started to run back, allowing Dwayne to move past her. The Chimp Pokémon's grip on the beam slipped and it began to fall toward the floor. "No!"
"Ugh, fine," Taylor said, running out from behind another pillar. She dove forward, reaching out and catching Chimchar before it hit the ground. Kitty ran up to her and pulled the Pokémon out of her hands.
"Thank you so much," she said to her teammate.
Taylor rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she said. "Let's just, like, go."
At the debris pile, Jacques pulled Tom onto his back and began to climb. "Hold on tight," he said to the fashion blogger. "I am not getting last place in the first challenge."
"Uh…you got it," Tom said, awkwardly wrapping his arms around Jacques' shoulders. The ice dancer vaulted over the pile of debris and began to run toward the exit.
On the outside of the temple, everyone else waited eagerly to see who the first pair to emerge from the temple would be. They could all hear the roaring and rumbling from within the temple, but were unable to see anything. Then, it looked like the first group was coming to the exit.
"Who's it gonna be?" Chris asked. "Team Grass, Team Fire, or Team Water? Looks like it's…Team Water!" The six members of Team Water cheered as Dwayne and his Squirtle came running out of the temple.
"Did we do it?" Dwayne asked excitedly, looking around and not seeing the others. "We did it! Woo! Way to Spu-" He turned, expecting to see his teammate, but not seeing anyone. "What?!"
"Uh…where's Spud?" Chris asked, confused.
"I swear he was right behind me," Dwayne said. "Oh no, he must have done that thing where he doesn't react to things in time. Give him like, five seconds, then he'll be out here!"
"Okay," Chris said, "otherwise we can't count that you guys as coming in first."
Dwayne looked back at the exit to the temple and heard footsteps. "Hear that?" he asked. "That's definitely him!"
Everyone leaned forward as the next to emerge from the temple were…Kitty and Taylor and their Pokémon. Team Fire cheered as the girls caught their breath.
"The actual first place team is Team Fire!" Chris announced. "2 points, putting them at four! Now let's see if Spud gets here to still steal the win for Team Water."
Dwayne heard more footsteps. "Okay, that time was a fluke," he said. "This is him." He turned to see Jacques and Tom coming next. "Oh come on!"
"Yikes, looks like Team Grass is second, earning a point and putting them at four points as well," Chris explained. "That means Team Water gets third, making them lose a point and costing them their lead as they go back down to third place. Which means the team sending someone home tonight will be Team Water." The others on the losing team groaned as Spud finally came running out of the temple.
"Hey Dwayne," Spud said to the very frustrated looking father. "Guess what? I think we're the first ones to make it out!" Dwayne just face-palmed.
Stephanie raised her hand. "So does this mean the rest of us are tied for first place?" she asked. "I thought you said you didn't want a tie."
"Eh, we could do a tiebreaker," Chris said. "Buuuut, there's no reward this episode, so it doesn't really matter."
"But what about first class?" Carrie asked.
Chris frowned. "Fine, everyone gets to be in first class on Team Fire and Team Grass except Carrie and Stephanie since they decided to complain."
"You can't do that!" Stephanie snapped.
"Yeah, I wasn't trying to-" Carrie began, but Chris interrupted her.
"Too late, just did," he said. "Team Water, meet me in the elimination ceremony area later tonight after you've talked about who you want to vote out. Or don't talk about it. I don't really care." He left with Chef to go prepare for the ceremony, leaving two relieved teams and one team very annoyed with a certain member.
Confessional
Stephanie: Who does Chris think he is denying me a reward I rightfully earned?! And even worse, I have to stay in economy class with Carrie. Ugh!
End Confessional
Confessional
Mary: It would appear my calculations were incorrect about the proper pairings leading us to victory. However, aside form Dwayne and Spud, every other pair placed at least second. Hmm, I hypothesize my team will wish to hold me accountable for this error.
End Confessional
"Do we even need to discuss who is going home?" Josee asked, glaring at the two people who came in last place and cost them the win. Team Water had circled up outside the plane to discuss the vote. Mary had been the one to suggest that they at least hear everyone's suggestions out. "Both of them are dead weight."
"Now wait just a second," Dwayne cut in. "This was all Spud's fault in the first place!"
"Dwayne was technically the first person to exit the temple," Jen pointed out. "So like, if his partner had been anyone else, we might have won!"
Mary added, "Not even technically. Dwayne was the first by several seconds. I believe that will make him a greater asset in future challenges."
Lorenzo shook his head. "But guys, Spud is awesome," he said. "He's a rock star!" The others looked unconvinced.
Josee thought for a moment. "His son is on the other team," she said, shooting the dad a glare. "If it were to come down to things, would we really trust Dwayne not to throw a challenge to keep his son in the game?"
"Th-that's crazy!" Dwayne exclaimed. "I would- I mean- That's just…"
"But like, we all have people we care about in this game," Jen said. "It's not fair to just not trust Dwayne. I mean, Kelly's daughter is also in the game."
"But Kelly still got second in the challenge," Josee argued. "But fine. Clearly we aren't going to make a decision as a team, so let's just see how the votes fall." With that, she walked off towards the plane.
"This is unwise," Mary said as she watched the Ice Dancer leave. "Early eliminations can set up teams for future failures down the road. The whole point of this meeting was to help us avoid a potential blindside."
"Well, who are you going to vote for, then?" Lorenzo asked.
"Most likely Spud," Mary admitted. "As I've said, I believe his delayed reactions will be a liability in future challenges."
Confessional
Lorenzo: Aw man, Spud's so cool, I don't want him to go home! Plus, Dwayne's so lame. My dad is way cooler.
End Confessional
After a few more minutes of debate without much headway, the team still seemed fairly split on who to vote between Dwayne and Spud as both did fairly poorly in the challenge. Eventually they all went their separate ways to think before the upcoming elimination ceremony, leaving Spud standing around, staring blankly into the distance.
"I think maybe we should vote for Mary," he said, still under the impression everyone was around.
On the plane, Carrie sat in economy class by herself, moping around as her Chespin tried to cheer her up. She could hear the others having a good time in first class, but since she was banned it only made her feel more left out.
"Thanks, little guy," she said, patting Chespin on the head. "It'll only be a little while before we get to see everyone again." Then she heard a weird sound. Like a bunch of suction cups were being pressed against something and removed. "Huh?" She looked up to see a Treecko crawling on the ceiling, a note in its mouth.
"Treecko," it said, opening its mouth and letting the note fall into Carrie's hand.
"Wait, are you Devin's?" Carrie asked. The Grass-type said nothing and began to crawl away. "Well…thank you." She looked at the note.
Miss you, homie.
Love, Devin
Carrie blushed and held the note to her chest. "Yeah, it'll be alright," she told Chespin, who nodded happily.
Finally, it was time for the first elimination ceremony of the season. The members of Team Water were sent one by one into the Confessional to cast a vote by stamping the Trainer ID of the person they wanted to eliminate. After the votes were cast, Chris collected them, and everyone was told to sit on the bleachers in the elimination area.
"Welcome, Team Water, to your first ever elimination ceremony," the host greeted. "A staple of the Total Drama series, these ceremonies can make or break your game. You've all cast your votes for the person who you believe should be sent home. One by one, you'll receive a token of immunity. This season, we're using the classic marshmallows! However, the person with the most votes will not be receiving a marshmallow, and instead will be taking the beloved Drop of Shame."
"But we aren't in the air yet," Jen said.
Chris frowned. "It's still a drop," he said. "Now as I was saying, once you are eliminated you can never come back. Ever. Now before we begin, would anyone like to say anything about the challenge today?" Everyone looked at each other, but nobody said anything. "Figures."
Chef arrived with the plate of marshmallows. Chris took one and held it up. "The first marshmallow of the season goes to…Lorenzo."
"Yes!" Lorenzo said, jumping up and catching the marshmallow. He quickly wolfed it down as Chris continued passing them out.
"Marshmallows also go to Kelly…and Brody."
"Oh, none for me, thank you," Kelly said as she didn't even attempt to catch the marshmallow thrown at her. "Way too much sugar and I'm going to be missing my Zumba class for so long." Brody reached out and caught both marshmallows instead, making Kelly chuckle.
"Jen. You're also safe."
Jen nodded, having not been too worried about her safety at this point in the game. She caught the marshmallow and took a small bite. Dwayne, Josee, Mary, and Spud were the only ones left to not receive one of the three marshmallows remaining.
"The next marshmallow goes to…Josee."
"Obviously," Josee scoffed, snatching her marshmallow out of the air and biting it aggressively. "Who would even dare to vote for me after what happened today?"
Mary and Dwayne looked at one another and then at the marshmallows, while Spud continued to stare blankly at an empty spot in the room. There were only two marshmallows left.
"Safe, with only one vote against them is…
…
…
…
…
…Mary."
"Interesting," Mary said, catching her marshmallow. "This also means we won't be faced with a tie, which ensures that-"
"Stop talking," Chris said firmly. "Dwayne. Spud. You both failed pretty miserably at the challenge today, so I can't say I'm surprised to see you both in the bottom two. However, one of you blew it big time compared to the other. So the final person safe, with only three votes against him, is…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…Dwayne."
Dwayne let out an audible sigh of relief as he caught the final marshmallow. "Thank you," he said, wiping the sweat off of his brow. "Thank you."
"Woah, I hope I get a marshmallow," Spud said, looking around.
Chris rolled his eyes. "Spud," he said, "I'm starting to get the feeling that these reality shows just aren't your thing." He handed him a parachute, not that he really needed one.
"What will happen to Spud's Pokémon?" Mary asked, looking at the Sobble which was cleaning sadly to Spud's leg.
"If Spud can't take care of him, we'll find someone who will," Chris said with a shrug. "Spud, any last words?" Spud said nothing. "Uh…Spud?" The rocker continued to just stare off in the distance. "Ugh, lame. I can't even cut him off by pushing him out of the plane. Just get out of here." Spud walked out of the open door of the plane, falling flat on the ground.
"Should you make sure he's okay?" Jen asked as Chris slid the door shut.
"Once someone's eliminated, they're no longer my problem," Chris said. "Now get out of here before I decide to eliminate someone else." The members of Team Water collected themselves and left for economy class.
"Well, where do you think our first destination will be?" Chris asked the camera. "Will we see Team Water at another elimination ceremony, or will another team screw up royally and send someone packing? Find out next time on another thrilling episode of Total…Drama…Pokémon Tour!"
Voting Confessionals
Dwayne: Well, I know some members of my team think that it should be me going home, but I'm still going to vote for Spud. Kid's not right.
Brody: Aw man, both Spud and Dwayne are awesome! Do I have to vote? Aw man. Well I guess I'll vote for Spud then.
Lorenzo: I can't do Spud dirty like that, not in the first episode. Sorry Dwayne, or I should I say…Lame!
Josee: While Spud is revolting and completely useless, Dwayne's a much bigger threat to us winning. I'm not going to even waste my team with either of them. I'm in a completely different league.
Mary: Statistically speaking, we don't want to vote out our most useful teammates at this point. So, between Dwayne and Spud, I regretfully must vote for Spud.
Kelly: Hmph, that nice ice girl brought up a good point about Dwayne throwing challenges for his son. Plus, he is just so rude!
Jen: Obviously, I'm going to vote for Spud. I don't have anything against him or for Dwayne, but it's obvious who lost us the challenge!
Spud: *Spud just stared blankly at the camera for five minutes before looking down and stamping Mary's Trainer ID*
Votes: Mary – 1 (Spud), Dwayne – 3 (Lorenzo, Josee, Kelly), Spud – 4 (Dwayne, Brody, Mary, Jen)
Team Grass: Ellody, Laurie, Devin, Ryan, Jacques, Carrie, Tom, Miles
Team Fire: Junior, Rock, Chet, Kitty, Crimson, Taylor, Stephanie, Ennui
Team Water: Dwane, Brody, Lorenzo, Josee, Mary, Kelly, Jen
Eliminated: Spud
Well that's a wrap on the second episode and the first elimination of the season! Spud was never going to make it far and while I originally had someone else slated for elimination in the first episode, as I was writing the challenge interactions I decided that it'd make much more sense if he was the one to be our first boot given his general uselessness in the challenge. Sorry Spud fans! Next time we'll actually have a Pokémon location and a much more team-based challenge. See you next time!