Total Pokemon: Re-Action

by Dark Arcanine 33

After Underdogs, it was obvious that things needed to change. However, with Victini still involved, we know that the changes would come with a price. So, what happens when you take the newbies from Action, warp their memories, and make them compete again for 1 million Poke? Tune in to find out. (Season 8)

2. Beach Party Bummer

000

The sun was barely peeking over the horizon, yet the sky was filled with an orange tint.

The film lot was relatively quiet, with the hosts and competitors all asleep in their townhouses. With the disclosure of them having their first challenge the next day, the majority of the players turned in early the previous night in order to be well-rested for the day.

The faint cacophony of chirping Fletchling could be heard as the creaking of a bed overtook it.

Flame sat up in his chosen bed, immediately rubbing his eyes before looking out the window, gazing out at the rather vast film lot. It was the true 'first day' of the competition, and he already knew that a challenge was imminent. He blew out a puff of smoke from his nostrils in a sigh before turning his head to inspect his room.

He was still in the townhouse of the Gold Team males, and his roommates didn't change from their original placements. Ebony was curled up in his chosen bed with the bedsheets covering him, and Draco was sleeping soundly under the sheets while also clutching onto that red and purple blanket he had brought.

Flame fixated on the Hydreigon momentarily, as he seemed to be the only one who was actually trying to get to know him in some way. At least he was initially, after dinner he seemed to leave him be for the rest of the night. Nevertheless, he would have to keep an eye on him, that's for sure.

Flame opened the window of the room, letting in a chilling, morning breeze before flying out, quietly closing the window behind him so as to not disturb anyone.

He flew toward the multipurpose building, entering as soon as he landed. He had a routine that he followed. Every morning, as soon as he woke up, he would work out in some way, shape, or form.

He wasn't a "muscle head" by any means, but he preferred keeping himself physically fit so that he could handle anything that came his way.

As he moved to the second floor, he started thinking about his possible game plan. Picking up his same 100 lb dumbbells, he started thinking about possible allies. He knew that he would automatically be a big threat just because of his species and appearance, so he would likely need to form a coalition with the other strong players on his team.

The problem was, he didn't know who to trust or who was truly strong. They wouldn't know until after a few challenges. However, oddly enough, he felt that Draco would probably be his best bet for a close ally.

The Hydreigon had already taken an interest in him, and it would allow him to keep an eye on him. He took a breath as he continued lifting the heavy weights in his hands.

Whenever the time was right, he was going to have to have an actual conversation with the Brutal Pokémon.

000

A few more hours passed by, with the sun eventually finding its rightful place in the bright azure sky. As beams of light shone through the windows of the townhouses, Sapphire slowly opened her eyes. She let out a soft yawn as she sat up in her bed, rubbing her eyes with her tail. She let out a groggy sigh as she glanced around her room in the Silver Team ladies' townhouse.

Much to her surprise, she saw that she was alone. Neither Marion nor Sabrina were there, but she heard the faint sound of running water. She slithered out of her room before peering into the other. Seeing that it was also vacant, she figured that the running water was because all of her female teammates were in the shower.

She was raised to always make sure she looked and smelled her best whenever she went out, so she decided to join the other ladies. She slithered into the bathroom, but noticed that only one other shower block was taken, meaning that the other girls were either downstairs or out already.

The serpent cursed to herself as she entered one of the automatic showers, "I need to be more punctual. Nearly everyone else is gone already..."

000

Sapphire sighed, "Usually, back at home, I have an alarm set for different things, and I'm almost always on time. I don't mind being late or things going off a bit if it's things that are just for fun or that are inconsequential, but in a game like this where the relationships you have can make or break you…"

She shook her head, "I feel like I've already made a mistake and the game hasn't even started yet."

000

After about fifteen minutes or so, the Dragonair slithered out of the shower and flew toward the back, where the sinks and towels were. She saw that Carman was still in the bathroom as well.

She was wrapped in a towel as she was brushing her teeth and fixing up her 'petals'. This surprised her, as she had assumed that the Roserade would have already been up and out due to how 'put together' she appeared to be.

"Oh, hey Carman. Didn't think you'd still be here," Sapphire greeted as she grabbed a towel with her tail.

Carman shrugged, "Eh, not really a morning person, honestly. The others wanted to be at Craft Services really early or whatever since they think that there's something already there."

"And you don't?" Sapphire inquired. She felt that it was a reasonable assumption, but she could have been wrong.

"If there was, they'd have probably said something yesterday," Carman reasoned, checking herself out in the mirror once more.

The Roserade had a point. There was no mention of anything special being there early on. Sapphire commented, "Well, if anything, at least they'll probably get the first crack at a hot breakfast."

Carman let out a soft chuckle, "Well if it's between an extra hour of sleep and a hot biscuit, I'm opting for sleep."

Sapphire could understand that notion, nodding in response before looking down at herself. She was still cloaked in the towel. "Well, I'll probably end up heading out once I'm finished drying off and everything," she sighed. "Hopefully, whatever they have us do today won't be too difficult."

Carman shrugged, "Maybe it will, maybe it won't. These shows are all different."

"True enough," the Dragonair concurred before starting to slither back toward the exit.

As she did so, Carman's eyes followed her from the mirror. She hummed to herself before continuing to adjust her head petals.

000

"In this game, alliances and relationships are the most important things you can have," Carman elucidated. "So, the best thing for me to do right now is to try and form an alliance."

"Out of everyone on my team so far, I think that Sapphire may be my best bet. She seems like someone that'll be easy to work with and won't put up a fight with certain decisions," she continued. "I'll have to talk to her later to see where her head is."

000

Klavier was hanging upside down above his bed, his body covered by a full-body blanket. He wasn't too comfortable with his bed just yet, so he preferred being above it just in case he fell.

He was still sound asleep, as there was no alarm to wake them up. However, despite there being no alarm, a blaring sound soon broke his sound slumber, causing his eyes to pop open.

"DA FUCK ARE YOU LOOKING AT, YOU DIRTY FAGGOT!?"

The Gliscor groaned. It was too early for this.

Detaching his tail from the ceiling, he flew out of his room and saw Kevin, Swift, and even Darren standing in the hall wearing looks of annoyance. Meanwhile, in the bathroom, Connor was still in his shower block, while a sopping wet Hayden was standing in the middle of the vicinity glaring daggers at him.

"What happened?" Klavier inquired with a knowing sigh.

Swift explained, "Our friendly neighborhood gay-basher is insecure about da buffalo apparently glancing at him on his way in the shower."

Overhearing him, Hayden turned to the other guys and growled, focusing on Swift. "Fuck is you talking about?!" Hayden bellowed. "I ain't insecure about shit. I know that I'm packin' heat, but I ain't havin' no damn sissy-boy gawk at me like I'm a slab of meat!"

"I literally glanced at you!" Connor defended, getting even more irritated by his behavior. "And again, I'm already spoken for! Why would I want to gawk at you?!"

"Maybe you're not getting fucked good enough and you're looking for some new dick; I don't fucking know and I don't care!" Hayden argued.

"I'M THE TOP, ASSHOLE!" Connor growled.

Silence. Everybody was surprised to hear that revelation, as it just sounded strange. When he mentioned his boyfriend being a Milotic, they immediately assumed that he was the one on the bottom, though they never said it out loud. This revelation did not make it any better for him, though.

Hayden scoffed, taking a step back. "See, that makes yo punk ass even worse! All y'all betta protect your assholes. If you try anything, I'm roasting yo ass!"

Connor just closed the shower curtain with one of his horns, not interested in hearing anything else from him.

000

"Hayden could be a problem," Kevin explained. "His homophobic actions could end up costing us challenges… and our sanity, if he keeps fighting with Connor over every little thing he does."

"But, like I said yesterday, he's the only Fire-type that we have, so getting rid of him so soon could be a bad move," Kevin reminded. "Plus, again, knowing these shows, there's a chance that he may just make it further and further because nobody will want him to win, so who truly knows?"

000

After his shower, Hayden immediately left the townhouse, not wanting to be there when Connor finished his own shower.

The remaining guys decided to wait for Connor in the living room so they could all make their way to Craft Services.

"So, blubber, still feel like we should wait before wantin' to get rid of the wannabe?" Swift inquired with a smug expression.

After what had just transpired, the Dewgong sweatdropped. He had understood why they were talking about eliminating him quickly yesterday, but he just wanted to give him a chance in order to see how he did in challenges.

He sighed, "Even though he is… unpleasant, I still think we should see how we do in the challenges and go from there."

"Darren, dude… Hayden is a jackass," Klavier stated firmly. "There's no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Anyone who is typist, sexist, homophobic, specist… just anything like that, is a jackass. Plain and simple."

"I understand that, and I agree with you," Darren replied. "If he keeps acting that way during challenges and it ends up being a hindrance, I'll concede. But if he actually proves himself useful, well…"

"Well, the ladies also have to have a say," Kevin reminded them, "and him being our only Fire-type already makes him useful. We just need-

The Virtual Pokémon was cut off by the sound of footsteps. They turned their heads to the hall to see that Connor was now there, but he had an understandably irritated expression on his face.

"Oh… Hey, dude. You alright?" Klavier inquired as he and the others began getting up.

The Bouffalant took a deep breath. "Not entirely. I've dealt with dickheads before, but Hayden is a whole other breed…"

"Yeah, we were just talkin' with Blubber Boy about the vote," Swift explained. "If he keeps acting like a wretched goon and costs us a challenge, he's out."

Kevin was about to speak up again but decided against it. They likely weren't going to listen, anyway.

"Sounds good to me," Connor responded. "Let's just get going before we miss something."

000

Connor sighed, "As much as I despise people like Hayden… if he does the team well, I think I can put that aside."

"As long as he doesn't try to fight me or something, I think I can handle a few dumb insults."

000

Draco awoke to the faint sound of running water. Groaning, the Hydreigon let out a breath from his nose before covering his face with his blanket. He was the furthest from a morning person.

Knowing that he needed to get up, the Brutal Pokémon sat up with a yawn. He rubbed his eyes before scanning his room. He noticed that both Flame and Ebony were gone, causing a look of irritation to form on his face.

He flew towards the window and saw that a few people were still making their way to the Craft Services building.

"Don't tell me that they all left without me…" the hydra groaned.

"We didn't," he heard someone say behind him.

Turning around, a blush immediately spread across the Brutal Pokémon's face as he saw that it was none other than Flame. The Charizard was closing the door behind him as he entered the room, dripping wet with a white towel around his waist.

000

Draco wore a flushed expression, unsure of what to say. He opened his mouth to comment, but only a squeak came out.

000

"At least I know that Ebony and I didn't. Don't know about the others," Flame continued to explain as he approached his bed.

Being that he was in the way, Draco swiftly moved back toward his own bed, but his eyes never left the Charizard's body. He had the standard Charizard build but was much bulkier and toned than normal. The water dripping off of him, making his skin gleam slightly, nearly made the Hydreigon drool.

Snapping himself out of it, Draco awkwardly commented, " H-Hey, you're actually speaking more. That's a start."

The Flame Pokémon gave him a look as he sat on his bed, unamused by the comment.

Getting no response, Draco chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "Well… uh… I guess I should go and shower, huh?"

Flame cocked a brow. He was tempted to use this time to extend his offer of allegiance to the Hydreigon, as they were alone. However, given how he was currently acting, he figured that it would probably be better to discuss with him later on.

Draco opened the door to leave and closed it behind him before he flew into the bathroom. He shuddered as soon as he entered, his face turning a bright crimson once again.

-000-

Downstairs, Ebony let out a yawn as he lay on the couch. The other three guys had already left, as Ebony had no intentions of going with them. The Manectric actually liked the company of Flame and Draco more than the others. Basically, he didn't find them as annoying as the other three. There was even a thought in his mind to try and create an alliance with the two of them.

However, he felt that it would be too early and he didn't know how they would take it. Flame gave a bit of an intense vibe, and he just couldn't get a proper read on Draco so far. He knew that the Hydreigon was approachable and seemed to have a good head on his shoulders, and hands, but he didn't know how critical he was of alliances.

A knock on the front door brought him out of his thoughts. With a sigh, he hopped off of the couch and approached the door. Opening it revealed a familiar Gardevoir and shiny Glaceon standing on the other side.

"Oh, it's you, girls," Ebony greeted, slightly surprised. "What's up?"

"Nothing, really. Marie just wanted us to check on you guys and make sure that you were all up and ready," Aura explained.

The Manectric looked at them with a rather stoic expression. They were grown males; they didn't need to be babysat. "Well, she's a little late on that. Three of the guys have already left. I'm just waiting on the other two…" he responded flatly.

Solis let out a soft sigh upon hearing that, knowing how the Manectric was feeling. "I tried to tell them that you guys were fine, but they didn't want to hear it…" she groused, folding her arms. "How'd things go for you guys last night, though? Sleep well?"

"As well as I could in this new place," Ebony explained with a breath, looking behind himself at the stairs. "It's not bad, though. Thankfully, I got Flame and Draco as my roommates, so things were pretty quiet."

"I bet," Aura giggled, her eyes inadvertently scanning her fellow shiny Pokémon. She had said the previous day that no one had caught her eye, and that was still true. However, she could admit that the Manectric was handsome.

Breaking free of her thoughts, she decided to end the encounter quickly before things wound up getting awkward. "Well, if all of you guys are up, then Solis and I can go catch up with the others and let them know…"

"But still, just get to Craft Services as soon as you can," Solis urged. She felt that the guys could handle themselves, but she didn't know how their possible lateness would be viewed by the others. "Mainly just so you don't have anyone possibly complaining."

Ebony sighed, this time actually rolling his eyes. "Yeah, yeah…" he mumbled. "We'll be out soon enough, I guess."

With a nod, the two girls proceeded to walk away, with Ebony closing the door.

000

"We're adults," Ebony deadpanned. "I don't need anybody trying to check up on me just to make sure I'm doing something that I already know needs to be done. All that does is irritate me."

He went on, "If it was just like a normal check-in to see how things were going, like I did to them yesterday, it would've been a pretty funny reversal, but no…"

He took a deep breath. It was just the second day; no use getting worked up over something like that.

"Whatever. I'll leave it alone for now," he said. "There probably wasn't any ill-intent this time, but if it starts happening more often, it's gonna be a problem."

000

At the Craft Services Department, the majority of the ladies were already there, waiting for their hosts to arrive. The only guys that were currently there were the guys from the Silver Team, much to the chagrin of a couple of the Gold Team ladies, who were all sitting at the same table.

"Where the hell are all of our guys?" Marie questioned, a bit of irritation in her tone. She turned to Aura and Solis, "I thought you said that Ebony told you that half of them had already left."

"He did!" Aura responded. "Though… He only said that they left, not where they actually went."

The Feraligatr let out a sigh, holding her head. "Well, I'm not going out to look for them. They're lucky the hosts aren't here just yet…"

Monica glanced over to the other team's guys, seeing that Hayden was sitting by himself, while the other five were understandably sitting away from him. She scoffed, "It's really funny how they have the 'weaker' guys, yet they're all present and accounted for."

"I mean, we could have Farra and Solis teleport them here to make it easier," Aura suggested. It seemed to be the most reasonable solution to the issue.

"Nah, leave them where they are," Monica responded. "Let them miss the valuable info. It'll give them a reason to actually get here on time."

Farra was confused by the comment, stating, "But… There's no specific time. The hosts aren't even here yet, so they aren't really late yet."

"You know what I mean," Monica scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Being punctual…"

As soon as she said that, the doors of the building opened, and Ebony, Draco, and Flame entered. Ebony approached the girls' table, with Draco following behind. Flame decided to simply sit on the floor against one of the nearby walls.

"Well, I see you guys finally decided to show up," Marie commented, folding her arms. "Good to know our team won't be represented by only half of us…"

"Like I told Solis and Aura, I was waiting for these guys," Ebony explained, gesturing to Draco and Flame. "The other guys left early, so I thought that they were already here. If they're not here, then I don't know where they are. I'm not their keeper."

Marie pinched the bridge of her snout with a sigh. She understood where he was coming from, but it was frustrating nonetheless. This was going to be their first challenge day, so she wanted the team to be all together, even if it was somewhat early.

000

Marie let out a groan, "I don't want to come off like a hard-ass bitch or anything, but we're supposed to be a team. I mean yeah, there wasn't any set time that we needed to be there, but I would think that it's common sense to be a bit early on your first day. Y'know, just so you don't miss anything."

"I kinda expected that guy Mason to be late, but Anthony, considering yesterday… I expected more."

000

Sabrina suppressed a laugh upon seeing Ebony, Draco, and Flame enter Craft Services. She felt that it was pretty pathetic that they had come later and the Gold Team still wasn't complete, while their group of guys was already present and accounted for despite being sorry in comparison.

"How sad," the Staraptor commented to herself. "I guess even if our males are weaker, they at least have more common sense to get here early…"

"Okay, can we not start this?" Morgan groaned with a sigh. "We get it, you view guys as a lesser species. As a team, though, we need to keep things relatively positive so that morale doesn't decrease before we even have our first challenge."

The Predator Pokémon rolled her eyes. Given the responses she received the previous day, Sabrina decided that she'd just take a step back and see how things went. She still had her opinions, but she'd see if anything changed her mind as the game truly began.

"What do you think the first challenge will be, anyway?" Sapphire inquired. "Do you think they'll make us do something extreme right out of the gate like other shows?"

"Well, there's no cliffs to jump off of around here, so probably nothing like that," Carman commented, "unless they decide to do an action movie-style challenge first."

"We'll see what happens," Ivory said. "Hopefully it's nothing too crazy."

Just then, Anthony entered the building, dripping wet as he sat at the last unoccupied table panting softly. Mere moments later, Mason entered with Freezeo not too far behind.

Now that everybody was inside of the Craft Services Department, it became a question of when the hosts were going to get there. After another ten minutes passed, with nothing but uninteresting conversations happening around him, Mason let out a groan, "Where the hell are the hosts?"

"Do you think we're hours early?" Darren inquired.

"Nope!" a new, familiar voice stated.

Zahku came through the back doors pushing the same cart from the previous day with one hand while carrying a blue cooler with the other. The cart once again held two platters covered with lids. The four hosts followed him once again wearing warm smiles.

"Alright, good morning to all of you," Virizion greeted. "We hope that you slept well…"

"I wasn't rooming with the homo, so luckily I did," Hayden commented, his arms folded. "Dunno if he did any freaky-deeky shit to the others, though, so dunno 'bout them."

Connor rolled his eyes, as did the others. The hosts exchanged looks, unamused by the comment. Heatran held in his comments, taking a deep breath. Terrakion took over, clearing his throat. "Ignoring that… Here's today's breakfast…"

Zahku removed both lids. One of the platters held a stack of muffins of assorted flavors, while the other had bagels with cheese and sausages on them.

"Muffins and pizza bagels!" Terrakion presented. "And the cooler has bottles of apple juice and water inside."

"Eat up, head back out, enjoy a bit more time with your teams, and eventually we'll call you down to the set where your first challenge will take place," Xerneas explained. "Understood?"

After receiving their nods of understanding, the hosts and Zahku began heading back out, leaving the food and drinks for the players to receive.

"Anyone else getting middle school vibes from their meals so far?" Klavier inquired.

"Who the hell cares? Lemme at dat shit," Hayden stated, immediately standing up to get his desired amount.

The other players began doing the same, with some of them deciding to leave the building to eat somewhere else or talk to more specific people in private.

-000-

Morgan and Ivory were among just a few who decided to stay behind in the building. To them, it just made the most sense to stay put in order to maybe try to strategize and talk more in general. Apparently, the others felt different.

Grumbling to herself, Morgan muttered, "You'd think that the team would want to stick together before the challenge and try to have some harmony…"

Swallowing a bite of her bagel, Ivory let out a sigh of understanding. "I get it," she replied. "We have Sabrina and Hayden on the team, and people who they essentially automatically clash with for… arbitrary reasons."

"-Which will most likely come into play during the challenge, depending on what it is…" Morgan deadpanned, resting her head on her paw. "I mean, I have some hope, but clashing personalities will always be a problem."

Ivory nodded in agreement as Ebony suddenly made his presence known, taking a seat across from them. "Hey-o," he greeted.

"Oh, hey Ebony," Ivory responded, surprised that he was still there.

"How're things going over here?" the Manectric inquired. "Considering you guys have the less savory types on your team, I'm hoping y'all are doing alright."

Morgan internally rolled her eyes. They had literally just met the day prior and he's just mainly concerned with them in particular? Again, she could tell that he was a pretty nice guy, but what he was doing was becoming obvious. She let out a huff, which seemed to be more than enough for Ebony to know her stance.

Ivory, on the other hand, was more receptive to the shiny Manectric. She let out a sigh, "Well, things could always be better, but there haven't been any major blowups. At least that we know of thus far. Then again, it's only our second day here, so it's not too surprising that not much has occurred."

Ebony grunted with a nod, "Yeah, you just never know. I've met and had to fight with folks like Hayden a lot with my job, so I know that they can be a bit… tough to deal with."

Morgan gave him a look. "Hey, we may look delicate, but I'm pretty sure that we can handle an ignorant jackass like Hayden," she stated firmly. "So there's really no need for a 'check in'."

"I… wasn't saying that you're delicate," Ebony countered, a bit taken aback by her response. "I was just saying that folks like him can be annoying to deal with and you never know when things could blow up."

He really didn't get why Morgan didn't like him, but he knew better than to stick around. He's seen enough situations like this to know that leaving them alone would be his best option. Angry women were no joke.

"Yeah," Ivory concurred, also confused by the Persian seeming to snap. "He wasn't calling us weak or saying we couldn't handle him."

Morgan let out a sigh; that was rude of her. She was just annoyed by her team's lack of unity, or what she was already perceiving as a lack of it. So, having Ebony come along to try and flirt, or whatever he was trying to do since yesterday, didn't really help. "I'm sorry," she apologized.

"It's fine, uh…" Ebony began. He didn't expect an apology, but he still felt that he'd be better off leaving. "I'll leave you be. Didn't mean to upset ya."

The Manectric walked toward the exit of the building, with Ivory about to call out to him, only for the door to close behind him. The Delcatty turned to the Persian with a look of confusion. "What was that about?" she asked in concern.

Morgan let out a groan in response, holding her head.

000

"I honestly didn't mean to be rude or sound annoyed with Ebony. Sabrina's comments are just… still annoying me when they shouldn't," Morgan explained, looking down. "Not to mention, Hayden's still a jackass, and our entire team left Craft Services before we could even really discuss anything as a team. It's just all causing me a bit of stress, and we haven't even had our first challenge."

She continued, "This is a team game, and we need to have synergy if we want to get anything done! So, having your team scatter before you're going to be called for a challenge is just… bad. At least to me…"

000

Flame was sitting on the sofa back in their team's townhouse. He had managed to swipe three of the pizza bagels before exiting Craft Services and heading back. He had already done his morning workout, so now he was relaxing for a bit before the challenge. He wasn't sure what it would be, but he just felt that it would need strength.

He had seen a few of the other guys go into the multipurpose building after getting their breakfast, which he thought was foolish. Working out right before a challenge would only make their muscles sore and exhaust them. So, there he was, alone in the living room munching on his second bagel as a crime show played on the television.

Upstairs, Draco sat on his bed, his blanket on his lap, as he ate one of his two muffins. After the awkwardness that occurred earlier between him and Flame, he was hesitant to engage with the Charizard alone. Although, this would give him a chance to actually talk to him normally and see what would come out of it. He let out a sigh before letting his eyes drift toward the door. "I mean, it shouldn't be a big deal, right?" he asked himself.

-000-

The sound of flapping wings alerted Flame to Draco's approaching, taking him out of his show. With this downtime before the challenge, it was the perfect opportunity for the Charizard to attempt to 'connect' with the Hydreigon and get his thoughts on forming an alliance. He just had to hope that things didn't turn weird like earlier.

Draco flew into the living room with his remaining muffin, taking a seat on the sofa next to the Charizard. There was silence for a good twenty seconds before Draco finally made a comment, "So… Uh… you like Crime Stoppers, too, huh?"

Flame glanced at him momentarily before nodding in response. "It's alright," he responded.

"The main detective is really hot," Draco chuckled. "Seeing him chase after the criminals and get his suits torn is really-"

Draco paused once he realized that Flame was giving him a look. He really didn't think that it would be this hard. Why did it feel like this was so hard? Flame was just a normal guy. A normal… built… quiet… bold… scarred… What was he talking about, again?

"Sorry," Draco replied, looking to the side. "You probably don't wanna hear that…" He took a bite of his muffin before looking back up at the screen.

"I don't mind it," he heard, making him pause for a moment.

He glanced back at Flame, whose eyes had returned to the television. However, even with the Charizard being fine with Draco's comments, he felt that he shouldn't continue. As silence filled the room once more, with only the dialogue from the TV filling the room, Flame decided to go ahead and make his offer.

He turned to the Hydreigon, "I have a question for you."

Draco cocked a brow, unsure of what to expect, "Shoot."

"In competitions like these, everyone needs an ally," Flame explained. "You're probably the only person so far who's had some kinda interest in talking to me. So, would you wanna be in an all-"

"Yes," Draco stated immediately, without a second thought. Of course, he'd want to be in an alliance with a hot, strong guy like Flame. Why would he ever say no?! "You don't have to ask me twice."

Flame nodded, "Well, alright then. It's settled."

As happy as Draco was that Flame asked, they were only two guys; they were still outnumbered. As much as he'd love to just spend time alone with Flame, this was still a competition. "Uh… don't you think we should have another person just in case? Two-person alliances can work, but it'd be a lot harder."

Flame turned to him before blowing out a breath. Draco had a point, but considering everything so far, he didn't know who else he could possibly trust.

Just then, the door to their townhouse opened, with Ebony entering while grumbling to himself. The Manectric didn't even acknowledge the two dragons sitting on the sofa in the living room, opting instead to go upstairs.

Draco and Flame exchanged looks, thinking the same thing.

000

Draco giggled giddily as he flew in circles. "He asked me to be in an alliance with him! This is great! I'll admit, I was a bit surprised, but I'll take it!"

Calming himself down, he let out a pleased sigh as he actually took a seat. "So, it's me, Flame, and Ebony. We're all strong guys, so we should be fine in the competition starting out. Though, you never know what some people are thinking. Some of the others may still decide to target us as threats."

"Hmm… I think I have a plan, though…"

000

Mason led Freezeo and Marion toward one of the abandoned warehouses. They likely wouldn't be noticed there, as the others would more than likely be more interested in the townhouses or the multipurpose building. So, this could act as their 'hideout'.

"Alright, what've we got so far?" the Absol inquired after putting down the full napkin he carried with him. "Any ideas on what we can do?"

"Well, the game hasn't legitimately started yet, and… We don't entirely know everyone yet," Freezeo explained. "I mean, I can say that we have a pretty good-looking team, all things considered."

Marion nodded before taking a bite out of her bagel. "Aside from my team having Sabrina and Hayden, things are… okay. I'm just worried about this first challenge and what'll happen if my team loses."

Mason internally groaned. He expected to get nothing from them, but the fact that Marion just told him that she was worried, despite what she had said a few seconds earlier, was a bit painful.

Clearing his throat, Mason responded, "I mean, didn't you just say that your team was okay aside from Sabrina and Hayden? Pretty sure that if you guys lose, you shouldn't be worried."

"Well, given how this show works, I can see where she's coming from," the Crystallizing Pokémon chimed in. "Those two may be annoyances to her team, but their strength may make the team consider keeping them and getting rid of the smaller players."

Hearing that, Mason nodded in understanding. Internally, though, he rolled his eyes. "That's why you just have to make sure that they see you working hard and you prove your usefulness. As long as you do that, you should be fine."

"I mean, I'll try, but you never know what people's perceptions are," Marion explained.

Mason just wanted to move on from the conversation. He honestly didn't care anymore. "Fair enough," he replied exasperatedly.

000

"Well, that amounted to absolutely fucking nothing," Mason groused. "Ugh, if I wasn't trying to act all chill or whatever, I'd just tell her to try to force the blame onto someone else. She'd probably be too much of a scaredy-cat to do something like that, though."

"And honestly, the snowflake had a point about our team looking strong," he continued. "If we end up winning a lot, that'll end up keeping a lot of strong people in the game… and I don't like that."

000

Sapphire was making her way back to her team's townhouse, a wrapped napkin holding her breakfast items in her mouth. She didn't know what she wanted to do. She simply saw others leaving Craft Services and followed suit.

Some of her fellow competitors went to the multipurpose building, while others seemed to head back to the townhouses. She hadn't made any quick connections as a few others might have. Or, at least, that was what she thought.

Feeling someone approaching her, the Dragonair stopped and turned her head to see, allowing a certain Serperior to catch up to her.

"'Ey there, Sapphire," he greeted, holding his own breakfast in his small hands. "How's it going so far?"

The Dragonair knew what was happening. He was interested in her, so he was going to try to get to know her and flirt. She welcomed him to try, but she wasn't actively searching. It wasn't out of the realm of possibility, though.

Deciding to answer, she used her tail to firmly grasp the napkin from her mouth. "Well, I woke up late and was a bit nervous that I had missed something, so I was relieved when nothing had happened yet."

Swift chuckled, "Yeah, I get that. It's the first day and all that, so yous don't wanna be late for nothin'."

Nodding, the Dragon Pokémon continued slithering toward the townhouses, with Swift now accompanying her. "For now, though, I'm a bit anxious about what the first challenge is gonna be. Our team isn't exactly the most in-sync, but hopefully, we can come together for whatever the challenge is."

Swift huffed, "Hopefully is right. The wannabe gangbanger literally had a tantrum 'cause the buffalo glanced at him in the shower."

Hearing that, Sapphire let out a sigh. "You know, given what he said in Craft Services, I'm not too surprised."

"So yeah, that's one possible issue," the Serperior commented. "What about on your end? The man-hating bird causing any big issues?"

Sapphire hummed, "Aside from arguing with Morgan and calling her a slave for being married… Not really. The main issue would be her putting you guys down."

"So them being general nuisances are what we just have to watch out for," Swift concluded. "Feels inevitable, but hey… If they screw us over, we got easy targets, at least."

The Dragonair nodded once again as they reached the Silver Team girls' townhouse. "Well, I'm gonna head in and maybe rest a bit more before the challenge."

"Right right," Swift responded, clearing his throat. "I'll uh… see ya later, then."

Sapphire entered the house, closing the door behind her. She took a deep breath as she slithered to the living room. She saw that Carman was there, sitting on the sofa while munching on a muffin.

Approaching her, the Dragonair glanced at the television and saw that she was watching a fashion show of sorts. Seeing her there, Carman smirked to herself. "Perfect timing," she commented.

Cocking a brow, Sapphire responded with a hum of confusion.

"I wanna talk to you about something," the Roserade stated, pausing the show on the television.

"Um… okay," Sapphire replied. She slithered toward the other side of the sofa and laid on it, laying her napkin to the side of her.

"Okay, so what would you say to an alliance?" the Bouquet Pokémon offered. "Knowing how this game works, we'll need a few allies if we want to go further."

Sapphire was surprised, to say the least. She hadn't expected to be asked to be in an alliance. She knew that they could be very beneficial, but given how early it felt, she was a bit hesitant. "Uh… Well, as good as that sounds, don't you think we should wait until after the challenge?"

"How come?" the Roserade inquired. What was wrong with making an early alliance? It honestly wouldn't hurt and would actually establish a connection earlier.

"Well… I just think it could be better if we get a taste of what everyone brings to the table, first," the Dragon-type explained. "It could still be the two of us as a pair, but we should probably try to go a bit bigger."

Carman cocked a brow in interest. Sapphire… actually had a good point. Having a slightly larger alliance, but keeping a sub-alliance with just the two of them, would be a better move. There was strength in numbers, after all. She nodded, "Okay, I can agree with that. So, you are fine with the two of us being in an alliance, we just need more people around us so that it isn't noticed easily."

"Right," Sapphire concurred. "So, we'll need to see how everyone else handles the challenge. Though, I may have an idea of a potential third member already," she said with a smirk.

000

"Huh… Sapphire actually has her head in the game more than I expected," Carman commented, her arms folded. "That could be a good thing, but it could also be a problem for me down the line."

"We'll go along with this and see where it takes us, but I'll be keeping an eye on her…"

000

Sapphire hummed to herself. "Wanting to start an alliance so soon is a bit suspicious in my opinion," she stated. "We haven't gotten to fully know each other, and we haven't competed in a challenge yet so that we can see where people's strengths lie."

"However, while I have my reservations, I'm not going to shoot down the possibility of easy allies," she continued. "Carman thinks that I'm trustworthy enough to work with already? Fine. As long as it keeps me in the game, I'll go along with it. I had to adjust the plan a bit, though, so I'll have to talk to Swift later on, and see if he'd be interested."

"We'll see where this goes."

000

"Wait, so you've never had your first kiss?" Aura gaped in surprise.

She was sitting in the living room with Solis, Farra, and Kim, with the four of them attempting to get to know each other a bit more. There was a feeling that the four of them had more in common with each other than with Marie and Monica. Granted, that was simply based on appearance and demeanor, so they didn't know that for sure.

The girls had been talking about relationships, which led to the current discussion about their first kisses. The recipient of the bewildered Aura's question, Kim, blushed in response. The other ladies had already mentioned how their first kisses went, so when she told them about not having hers yet, she felt that they were either going to be shocked or understanding.

"Well, things are pretty different for me, compared to you all," she explained. "I had to be restored from fossils, so it took a while for me to become more accustomed to modern times."

"I can understand that," Solis commented with a nod, finishing her muffin. "Being essentially dead for centuries and then suddenly coming back can feel like whiplash, I imagine."

The Dracozolt nodded, "Like, realistically I'm thousands and thousands of years older than you all, and an age calculator has me listed as a 29-year-old, but… I've only been resurrected for… four years?" She wasn't certain. "So while I'm a lot more knowledgeable now, I'm still pretty reserved. So… no dates, no kisses, no parties. Just… me."

"Hence why you don't see yourself as a 'social Butterfree' like you mentioned yesterday," Farra reasoned. She could definitely understand where Kim was coming from.

"Well, you're still talking to us, so that's pretty good, right?" Aura responded, patting her large thighs.

Granted, the Fossil Pokémon was going to just return to her room with her food once they came back, but the girls insisted that she sit and talk with them. She was fine with it, but it just wasn't something she was too eager to do.

"Right…" Kim replied, a blush forming on her face once again.

"Well, you may not have had your first kiss, but… are there any guys that you've found attractive? Any boyfriends?" Solis inquired, hoping to have the conversation segue a bit.

The Dracozolt's face got even redder, "Uh… I haven't really looked that hard, so…"

"That's okay," Aura replied, nudging her. She didn't want to push the Fossil Pokémon and make her feel uncomfortable. "Like I mentioned before, I've been single for most of my life, so nothing really to report here. As for attraction… There've been plenty of guys that I've found attractive, and I'll even admit that Ebony is pretty attractive, all things considered."

"Oh really?" Solis teased. "What happened to no guys here catching your eye?"

"That's still true. We still don't know the guys well enough, yet," Aura defended. "I'm just saying that appearance-wise, he's handsome."

Farra and Solis exchanged glances. They didn't buy it entirely, but they weren't going to pry. Farra chuckled, "Well, for me… I've had a couple of boyfriends and girlfriends in the past, but… One way or another, things didn't end up working out. Either we'd have to be long-distance, they cheated, or they were just using me…"

"Oh… Sorry," Aura replied.

Farra shook her head, "It's fine. That's how some relationships are. You have to take a risk, sometimes."

The Gardevoir nodded in agreement, while Aura and Kim remained quiet.

The Long Neck Pokémon continued, "As for attraction… Of course, I've had some. Here, though… None of the guys are conventionally attractive to me. The girls, though… A lot of them are pretty cute, including you guys."

"Oh… T-Thanks," Kim accepted, blushing.

"Yeah," Solis replied with a giggle, as Aura smiled. "I'm flattered. You're not bad-looking yourself…"

The Girafarig blushed. While she wasn't ashamed of her species or anything, she wasn't that used to be called cute by anyone aside from family and partners. It honestly wasn't something their species heard too often, especially with their tail-heads.

"Well, what about you, Solis?" Aura inquired. "I'm sure you've had plenty of guys all over you…"

The Gardevoir giggled awkwardly, "Well, yes… I've had my fair number of suitors. No concrete relationships, though."

"What?" Farra responded, shocked to hear that. "Someone as good-looking as you… has never gotten a man?"

"No, I have. It's just never been a 'committed' situation," the Embrace Pokémon explained. "Usually guys are just into me for my looks, and as soon as they bed me down, I never hear from them again. So, it's been… complex."

Aura huffed, "Figures. Some guys are only in it for sex with no real connection."

"Right," Solis sighed, "but as annoying and sad as it is, you can't really force anyone into a relationship."

"Well, anybody here doing it for you so far?" Farra inquired. "Or do you just feel like us?" she giggled.

The Gardevoir thought to herself, going over the guys in the competition in her mind. After a few seconds, she shook her head. "No, none of the guys are really attractive to me. I'm sure some of them are nice, though."

"That's a given," Aura replied. "Though, we'll have to see if some of them are as nice in challenges as they are normally…"

Kim just listened on, uncertain of what she could add to the conversation. She felt that the girls were alright so far, though she wasn't too interested in the conversation at hand. She truly was curious about their first challenge and how their team would do, though.

000

Kim sighed, "I wish I had as much confidence as they do. I'm just… not that kinda person."

"Hopefully I don't accidentally isolate myself," the Dracozolt hoped.

000

"So… what exactly is we doing?" Swift inquired as he lay on one side of the sofa, with Darren, Klavier, and Connor on the other side.

"Well, we began to watch one of the shows last night, so we should finish," Kevin explained, turning the television on. "We only made it to episode two, and despite the settings and themes of the shows being different, seeing the outcomes will prepare us for what's to come."

"Don't you know everything already, though?" Klavier inquired.

"Yes, but a refresher doesn't hurt," the Porygon-Z countered, hovering toward the couch with the others. "Plus, you all seemed interested last night."

"I mean, I guess continuing to watch wouldn't hurt," Connor commented. "Maybe some of the challenges will be the same and we can see how they go beforehand."

"Correct," the Virtual Pokémon replied. "Some challenges between shows are often recycled with minor adjustments, so that very well could be the case."

Suddenly, the sound of the front door opening was heard, meaning the only absent male member had returned, much to everyone's dismay.

The Magmortar came to the living room and saw all of his teammates on the sofa. Letting out a huff, he inquired, "Da hell are y'all doin'? Watchin' TV?"

"Yeah," Darren answered, being the only one willing to. "Watching another show for prep…"

Cocking a brow, Hayden turned to the screen, which was showing an interaction between an Incineroar and a Passimian.

"So, who's the lucky girl?"

"Uh…"

"Well?"

"It's...not a girl…"

"Not a gi- Oh...uh...huh...well, that's cool. I don't judge but, wow…"

Hearing and seeing that, Hayden immediately scoffed, "Dafuq is with these shows and da fucking fags they shove on it! And why da hell is it always da buff, strong muhfuckas that end up being sissies, too!?"

"Wait…" Connor began. "You just said that he's strong and buff and everything, but… you're still calling him a 'sissy' because he's gay?"

"Don't start yo punk ass bullshit. I said what I said," Hayden retorted, glaring at the Bouffalant. "If y'all are gonna watch some faggots in order to get 'prep', y'all are a buncha pansies."

The Magmortar started walking away, with Swift hissing, "Who yous callin' a pansy, fuckboy!?"

"You," the Magmortar responded threateningly. "What? You gon' check me or somethin'? Try me! I'll roast y'all asses!" He pointed one of his arms at the sofa.

Swift's red eyes were locked on the Blast Pokémon, growling softly.

"Hey, hey, let's calm down, alright," Darren chimed in, not wanting this to escalate. "We don't need this right now…"

"What we don't need is a so-called 'teammate' who acts hard when he ain't done shit! Just a pussy dat's scared of th' gays!" Swift hissed venomously.

"Oh, I'll show you pussy!" Hayden retorted, swinging the front door open, causing it to dent the wall. "Step da fuck outside. I'll show you who you fuckin' with!"

Swift darted toward the door, tackling the Magmortar out. The other guys, barring Kevin, were shocked by the display.

"Well… That can't be good," Klavier commented. "Should we… uh… do something?"

"I mean, considering that all of you have an advantage over Hayden, while Swift does not, I'd say yes," Kevin stated, his eyes focused on the television.

Connor let out a sigh, "Great…"

Connor, Klavier, and Darren begrudgingly made their way outside, hoping to quell the fight between their two teammates. Kevin simply continued watching the television.

000

Darren sighed, "It's just the second day here. I just want us all to be cordial so that stuff like this doesn't happen. I guess that's too much to ask…"

000

Marie climbed out of the pool in the multipurpose building, panting softly. "Beat you again," the Feraligatr stated, looking at the pool.

Anthony slowly reached the edge of the pool, a somewhat annoyed expression on his face. "Yeah yeah…" he muttered as he pulled himself out. "I tired myself out earlier. You got lucky…"

"Sure," Marie replied, rolling her eyes. She could tell that the Blastoise was tired based on how he entered Craft Services. She could respect early morning training, but she expected a bit more punctuality given it was the day of their first challenge. It wasn't worth getting upset about or confronting him about it, though. "Well, hopefully, you aren't too tired to participate in the challenge."

As the two proceeded to leave, Anthony huffed, "Please, I'll be fine. I may need a bit of a breather before it happens, but I'll be fine."

Exiting the building, the Blastoise inquired, "What do you think our chances are?"

"Depends on what the challenge is," Marie stated, folding her arms. "That'll give us the chance to see who the weak links are on the team and-"

"Uh… What the hell is going on, there?" Anthony cut her off, seeing what was happening in front of the townhouses.

Marie was a bit annoyed by his interruption but looked to see what he was talking about. Cocking a brow, a smirk formed on her face. "Well… from here, it looks like concrete evidence that our team is the more mature one. "

-000-

Swift and Hayden were still fighting outside of the townhouse, with the Serperior constricting the Magmortar with a growl. Hayden fought back by blasting a Flamethrower at the snake's coils, causing Swift to hiss and loosen up. This allowed Hayden to punch him and get him off. Both of them were soaking wet and surrounded by smaller stones, indicating that Connor, Klavier, and Darren's attempts to quell them didn't fare well.

They had gathered a small crowd, with a few guys and girls from both teams simply standing around, watching them with varying looks of amusement, bemusement, and indifference.

While Carman left to get another muffin, Sapphire, who was still lying on the sofa in their townhouse, heard the commotion but didn't want to get involved. She saw that it was Swift fighting Hayden, and while she was surprised that things had gotten physical already, she knew that intervening would probably make the two of them look like something they weren't. So, she was just waiting for someone to break it up or for the hosts to call them for the challenge.

Upstairs, Sabrina, who'd been napping for a while, heard the commotion from outside and grew irritated. Looking out of the window to see the cause of her awakening, her eyes widened before hardening into a furious glower.

000

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me!" Sabrina squawked.

000

Kicking the window open, the Staraptor flew down and shook her head at the idiocy that she was witnessing. She landed next to the males from her team that currently weren't fighting and were simply watching the fight with defeated looks.

"Okay, what the hell is going on here?!" she squawked angrily. "Why the fuck are those two fighting, and why aren't you guys trying to stop it?!"

Darren stammered a bit, slightly intimidated by her glare and shouting. "H-Hayd-"

Klavier immediately took over, explaining, "We were watching TV, Hayden came in, saw that a gay dude was on another show, threw more slurs, and called us pansies for watching it."

"And… Swift didn't take too kindly to that," Connor followed. "So, they started arguing, and it escalated to… this."

Now a bit calmer, Darren added, "We tried to stop them, but it didn't work…"

Sabrina groaned, "Men and their fragile fucking egos…" she muttered to herself.

She took flight once again, moving over the two of them, with Swift once again wrapped around Hayden. The Staraptor's wings glowed a bright white before she flapped them repeatedly in an 'X' shape. Using Air Cutter, multiple energy crescents beat down on the two of them, leaving a smoke cloud in its wake.

When the smoke cleared, both guys were unconscious. Sabrina landed with a glare. "Idiots! We're supposed to be getting ready for the first challenge, and you're out here fighting over some fucking insults!? Grow the fuck up!"

Hayden groaned as he sat up, as did Swift. The Magmortar turned to Sabrina. "Fuck you, hoe. You don't like men anyway, so fuck whatchu talkin' 'bout," he said, getting to his feet. "This fool lucky that you stopped us because I woulda kept kickin' his pussy ass!"

Swift growled, tightening his glare at the Blast Pokémon. He turned and saw Sapphire sitting in the doorway, having been alerted by Sabrina's shouting. His eyes widened as he looked to the side in slight embarrassment.

"From where we were all standing, you were the one getting your ass kicked, buddy-boy," Draco chuckled. A few others joined in, agreeing with the Hydreigon's assessment.

"Fuck you, you-"

"NO!" Sabrina squawked, silencing the thug. "No more of the dumb bullshit! No more fucking slurs! No more any of your bullshit, or I swear you'll be the first one gone," she threatened, earning another glare from him. "This is why I can't stand some of you fuckheads! So much ego and absolute jackshit to show for it! Get… over yourself!"

Hayden wasn't against popping anyone who opposed him or treated him like he was a punk. Women were no exception where he came from, even though he disagreed at times. However, with this game being how it was, and due to a majority of the cast being there to witness the fight, he realized that he was only going to steadily put a target on his back if he continued. Hell, his target was probably already huge and the game hadn't even really started yet!

He remained silent, only huffing as he pushed past Connor and Klavier to get back into the townhouse. The sound of footsteps going up the stairs told them all they needed to know.

Sabrina took a deep breath before glaring at Swift, who only glared back before looking back at Sapphire. However, she was no longer there. Saddened, he slithered into the house as well.

There was a bit of awkward silence as people started to either return to their original places or go somewhere else.

"Well… that was fun," Ebony chortled. "Good luck in the challenge…" he said, teasing the remaining Silver Team members before entering the Gold Team's males' townhouse.

000

"That pussy-ass snake had better watch his fuckin' back," Hayden seethed, wiping a tear from his eye as he sniffled. "I am not about to go down for no dumbass shit. Fuck these folks."

"I'm target number one right now, probably," the Magmortar sighed, holding his head. "Now I'm gon' have to fuckin' check my damn self just so these fuckboys and bitches don't try to kick me out this junt so easy."

"My momma right… gon' have to learn to shut the fuck up and just be useful…"

000

"If that hateful… spineless… low-life… piece of fucking shit… just made me look bad in front of Sapphire… I'll kill 'im," Swift threatened with a glare.

He took a deep breath. He was extremely upset that he had just possibly made himself look overly aggressive. He wasn't always like that, but Hayden had already been pissing people off, and he wanted to just put him in his place. Knock him down a few pegs.

"Maybe it'll be okay," he sighed. "Just… control yourself and try not to engage with that walking flaming bag of dog sh-"

000

Connor, Klavier, and Darren went back into their house to check on Swift. The miniature crowd had now completely dispersed, but Sabrina was still standing outside, calming herself down as nothing but negative thoughts began running through her head. If this was how the males on her team would behave outside of the challenges, how would they perform in the challenges?

As much as she wanted to barge inside of the guys' house and yell at them more, she knew that she couldn't. Given the impression she's made on the others, she knew that laying into the guys wouldn't help anything. It may even cause more issues. As she continued to think, she heard another male voice.

"Well… looks like your team has some things to iron out…"

Turning, Sabrina saw Marie and Anthony approaching. The two of them had been watching from a distance. The Staraptor huffed; she didn't need to be heckled right now.

"What was that about anyway?" Marie inquired, curious about the situation. Knowing Hayden, it was likely about something stupid.

Sabrina sighed, "Fragile male ego. According to the other idiots, Thing 1 and Thing 2 got into a shouting match because there was a gay dude on a show they were watching. Hayden came in, saw it, and insulted them for watching it. And apparently, snake boy wanted to prove something, so they started fighting. Just plain stupid!"

Anthony chuckled, "Everything just has to be because they're guys, huh? As if girls don't get into the same kinds of fights. Are you sure you're not just a feminazi?"

Marie elbowed him in the stomach, giving him a look. Sabrina just glared at him. He didn't know her.

"Hey, I'm just saying," the Blastoise began, defending himself with a chortle. "Kinda hypocritical from where I'm standing."

"Then go sit down," Sabrina shot back. "I already have to worry about how this damn team is gonna function with those two bozos at each other's throats. I don't need you or anyone else trying to make me out to-"

"-be something you're not? You mean like you do to us guys?" Anthony finished, walking past her with a smirk. He was mostly just trying to rile her up and throw her off her game. What he said had some modicum of truth to it. He truly believed that she was a hypocritical misandrist, but he was mainly egging her on for the competition.

As he entered the guys' townhouse, Marie rolled her eyes. "Ignore him. Just worry about what you have to worry about and go from there. Though… I'll say that tearing the guys down definitely won't do well for team morale…"

Marie walked past her as well, preparing to enter her own townhouse, with the Staraptor letting out a sigh. "I'm aware…" she muttered to herself.

Just then, a bit of feedback was heard from the loudspeakers that were attached to the buildings. Terrakion's voice echoed across the lot. "PLAYERS! IT'S ABOUT TIME FOR YOUR FIRST CHALLENGE! ZAHKU WILL ARRIVE AT YOUR TOWNHOUSES SHORTLY TO ESCORT YOU TO THE SET!"

No sooner than when he said that, Zahku pulled up to the townhouses in the tour cart from yesterday. Sabrina let out a sigh, "Well… Time to see how well this actually goes."

000

All of the players were driven to one of the many warehouses housing different set pieces. In this case, they appeared to be at the set of a beach movie. Numerous sand mounds were around. Surfboards, shovels and pails, towels, and other beach utilities were strewn about. There were a few palm trees and cardboard cutouts sitting around as well. Other film equipment was lying around haphazardly, a simple sign of the times.

The hosts stood inside in wait as the contestants all started pouring in. Some of them wore looks of confidence, while some of them felt rather anxious and uncertain.

"Welcome to your first challenge!" Virizion greeted. "As you can see, today's challenges will be themed around Beach Party movies!"

"Ooh, nice!" Darren beamed. "Some fun in the sun."

"Except the fun doesn't exist and the sun is fake," Mason flatly replied.

"Anyways," Heatran stated, moving on from the comment. "You all will participate in three challenges with the beach theme. The team that wins two out of the three challenges will win immunity."

"The losers will be sending someone home," Terrakion added. "And I doubt that any of you want to be the first person voted out…"

A few players exchanged glances, more competitive glances. Being the first one eliminated would be absolutely dreadful. Sure, they would be able to relax at a resort, but majority of them would rather remain in the game for the grand prize.

"Now, follow us. It's time for your first challenge," Xerneas instructed. She and her fellow hosts began walking towards one of the doors near the back wall of the area they were in. The players followed behind them shortly after.

000

"A beach challenge means water will be involved…" Klavier sighed. "This is gonna be a long day…"

000

The players were standing before a large pool that had, what appeared to be, a surfboard floating in the middle of it. It could be easily deduced what this first challenge would entail.

"Alright," Heatran began. "You guys' first challenge will be to balance on that surfboard in the pool as it jerks around, all while being pelted with balls fired by Zahku," the Lava Dome Pokémon explained, gesturing to the Hariyama, who was standing nearby with a large ball launcher. A bucket of volleyballs sat to the side of him.

Seeing the setup, a few of the players became a bit unnerved. It wasn't that bad, but it sure looked like it was going to hurt!

"Wait… You're gonna shoot volleyballs at us?" Aura gaped.

"Yep," Terrakion answered chipperly. "Now, each team will choose four players to participate. Once they all have their turn, the team that has the longest combined time will win this challenge and receive an advantage for the next one."

Ivory grew a bit confused. Choose players to participate? She thought everything would be team-based, as in the entire team. "Wait, so for these challenges, we all won't have to participate?" the Delcatty inquired in confusion.

"Oh no, all of you will participate in the challenges today," Xerneas clarified. "We're simply starting off small to ease you guys into it."

"Now, you all have five minutes to choose your participants, and then the challenge will begin," Virizion stated. "Get to it…"

000

"Doing a bit more thinking with the idiots in my alliance, I think it'd be in my best interest for my team to fail," Mason stated. "I don't want to deal with some of these idiots and strong guys going down the line."

He continued, "So if there's ever an opportunity where I can knock us down a peg, I'm gonna take it. That dumb snowflake had better help me out, too."

000

The Gold Team gathered in a different section of the room they were in. Given what the challenge was and what was required, some players were more hesitant to go than others.

"Okay, we've only got five minutes," Marie began. "Unless we just wanna choose at random, we need volunteers."

Draco hummed, thinking to himself. "Well, considering that my legs aren't useful, Monica and Freezeo float, and this challenge requires balance…"

"The best people to go would be Solis… and the ones on all fours," Monica reasoned, looking at the players that fit the criteria. A few others did as well, putting a bit of pressure on them.

Solis, Farra, and Aura exchanged looks. Before any of them could say something, Ebony let out a sigh. "Fine. I'll volunteer," he offered. "No promises that I'll do great…"

"Okay, that's one. We need three more," Marie said, folding her arms. She looked at the remaining four possibilities. She would've offered to try, herself, but she wanted to gauge how the others would do. Plus, by her own admission, she had a horrible balance.

"I mean… I suppose I can give it a shot," Solis hesitantly spoke up. "I've never been surfing, so I don't know how long I'll last."

Just then, Mason spoke up, smacking his lips. "Well, in the battle of hooves vs. paws and claws… hooves definitely lose," he said, glancing at Farra. The Girafarig narrowed her eyes at him in annoyance.

"So… are you volunteering yourself and Aura?" Anthony questioned.

The Fresh Snow Pokémon huffed, "Um, I think I'd wanna decide for myself…"

The Disaster Pokémon rolled his eyes, "I mean… Farria has hooves, and they don't exactly help with this kind of thing now do they?"

"Farra…" the Girafarig grumbled.

Marie rolled her eyes. They weren't going to have time for any debates or deep thought. Mason actually had a point, so why not? "Fine. So, Ebony, Solis, Mason, and Aura…"

"But-" Aura tried to argue.

"We don't have time, Aura," Marie interrupted. "Just go with it. It shouldn't be that bad."

The shiny Glaceon huffed before glaring at Mason, who ignored her steely gaze. The Absol hid a smirk.

Freezeo sweatdropped, knowing what the Absol was up to.

000

The Cryogonal sighed, "When he told me what his idea was… I was a bit skeptical. Why would we want to lose our strong players so fast? I get not wanting them around whenever the teams come together, but… It doesn't make sense to do it right now! "

"I wanted to explain that to him, but…"

000

"Okay… So some of us are gonna be balancing on a board and avoiding balls to the face," Connor began. He let out a sigh, "Some first challenge…"

"Complain later," Sabrina said, moving past his comment. "We need good balancers, so do any of you want to volunteer?"

Morgan spoke up with a smile, "I'll go. My brothers and mother are Water-types, so I've spent a fair amount of time training."

Klavier raised a brow, "Huh… I thought cat Pokémon hated water?"

"Common misconception," Kevin stated. "They're not predisposed to disliking water. It has just been observed a few times and turned into-"

"Kevin… We don't care," Carman interrupted. "We need to worry more about who else is participating."

"Well… From what I've seen on others shows, these kinds of challenges are best suited for those who have a somewhat moderate build and digited appendages," the Porygon-Z explained. "Their digits allow for a better grip on whatever they're balancing on, and their weight-"

"I think we get it," Swift stated, cutting him off once again. He was doing a whole lot of talking when they needed to be choosing.

"Okay, we already have Morgan, and we don't have too much time," Ivory stated. "So, I'm just going to throw out a few possibilities… Uh… maybe Marion… Carman… and… Hayden?"

The Magmortar's eyes widened. He was about ready to curse the Delcatty out but held his tongue. He was a Fire-type, water was far from his forte. What kind of stupid choice was that? He took a breath, "You realize dat I'm a Fire-type, right? And my body wide as hell? Why don't you go?"

"Does she look like she has a 'moderate build'?" Sabrina countered, pointing a wing in the Delcatty's direction.

"Neither do these two, to be fair," Darren chimed in, gesturing to Marion and Carman.

Sapphire hummed to herself, having been silently thinking the whole time. Eventually, she spoke up, "Actually… I think having Morgan, Marion, Carman, and Ivory participate would work well. Females have a lower center of gravity than males, so they'd have better balance."

"Oh yeah, I remember hearing about that in school," Connor chimed in.

Sabrina sighed. The fact that it was only the girls participating annoyed her a bit. Then again, she couldn't argue with biology. If having all of the girls go could bring them to victory, then so be it. "Alright, fine… Hopefully, this works…"

000

"Why couldn't my team have at least one mature or visually strong and appealing guy?" Sabrina groused.

000

Once time was up, all of the players returned to the hosts, equally confident about their choices (for the most part).

"Alright, is everyone ready?" Xerneas inquired.

"As ready as we can be for a challenge like this…" Monica chimed in.

"Okay," Terrakion began. Zahku rolled a monitor next to the hosts at a specific angle for everyone to view both it and the pool. "Now, we're going to go back and forth. Gold Team, we're gonna have one of you go first, then one from the Silver Team.. You get the idea."

"Now, whoever's first. Step right up," Virizion stated.

Aura, not wanting to do this challenge in the first place, decided to step forward. The Glaceon just wanted to get it over with. She was still going to do her best but dreaded the volleyballs that would be flying in her direction. "This… is going to suck…" she drawled.

-000-

Aura was situated on the surfboard, which was already a bit wet. She let out a sigh, uncertain of how things were going to go. Her eyes drifted over to the ball launcher, causing her to sweat.

"Alright Aura, are you ready?" Heatran inquired.

"Not really, but… I guess…" the Glaceon replied, looking at her feet.

"Alright! Let's go," Heatran said, nodding at Terrakion. The Cavern Pokémon looked at his feet, where a red button was sitting. The button had a steel wire that went behind the pool. He stepped on the button as the surfboard began moving.

Aura gulped in nervousness as she started moving in sync with the board. This challenge really wasn't for her. As the board bucked around, attempting to throw the Glaceon into the water, Zahku took aim with the ball launcher.

So far, she was approaching 15 seconds. Not too remarkable, but it was a start. Zahku began firing, startling Aura as a ball narrowly missed her head.

The Fresh Snow Pokémon tried to keep her composure as more volleyballs were fired at her. The board continued to swing and turn, eventually causing a ball to strike her back leg.

"Ow!" Aura exclaimed, momentarily lifting the struck leg. This proved to be a poor choice, as the surfboard jerked suddenly, throwing her into the water.

"Ooo… That had to suck," Carman winced. After seeing how the challenge would actually play out, the other participants were even more nervous than before. This excluded Mason, as his expression didn't change.

In the aftermath, Aura swam to the edge of the pool, panting softly. "Never… again…"

-000-

"Alright, Aura… your time was 42 seconds," Xerneas relayed. "Not too bad."

"I honestly expected less than 30 seconds," Terrakion commented.

The dripping wet Glaceon let out a sigh. She knew that she wasn't going to do well, which was why she didn't want to volunteer. She just hoped that her poor time didn't drag the team down.

She felt someone pat her on the back and saw that it was Solis. She smiled down at her, eliciting a small smile in return. Though that smile turned back into a frown seconds later.

000

"I didn't want to do that challenge for a reason!" Aura groused. "My reflexes aren't that good, and then I have to try and stay on something that's moving? Not good for me at all."

"My time sucked, but I guess I did better than they were expecting. So, yay… I guess…?"

000

"Silver Team, you're up," Virizion informed.

Ivory let out a sigh before stepping forward. She didn't have much confidence going into it, but, like Aura, she just wanted to get her turn over with.

"Alright, Ivory, step on up," Heatran instructed, nodding toward the currently still, slippery surfboard.

The Delcatty took a deep breath before doing as she was told, walking around the pool.

Ebony threw her a smirk as she passed by, though she didn't reciprocate it for obvious reasons.

000

"I hope that what happened earlier today didn't change anything," Ebony sighed. "I mean, she's an interesting chick."

"Still don't know what the hell Morgan's problem is, but hopefully she didn't try to convince her not to talk to me…"

000

Ivory was standing on the surfboard, her eyes glued to the ground. With a soft breath, her eyes drifted upwards before setting their sights on the ball launcher pointed in her direction. She growled to herself.

"You ready, Ivory?" Heatran inquired, looking up at her.

"As ready as I can be with a gun pointed at me," the Prim Pokémon answered with a sigh.

"Well then, in 3… 2… 1… go!" Heatran replied as Terrakion once again pressed the button by his feet.

The surfboard's movements began, startling her a bit. However, she was able to keep her composure. The board started rocking back and forth and bouncing up and down.

The Delcatty remained calm as she saw that Zahku was preparing to fire at her. "Okay… Here we go…" she whispered to herself.

The volleyballs began flying in her direction, which she began attempting to dodge. Balls whizzed by her head and body, with a few of them making contact with her butt and head. She lowered herself onto the board, grabbing onto the edges of the board.

While smart, in response to this, the board began moving more erratically. The Prim Pokémon growled as she held on, the movements and condensation making the sides and bottom more slippery.

"Hang on, Ivory!" Morgan called out.

"Da hell you think she doin'?" Hayden responded with a look.

The Delcatty grit her teeth, trying to keep herself atop the surfboard. Unfortunately, her grip became too loose due to the water, and she slipped off, falling into the water.

She quickly resurfaced and swam toward the edge of the pool, wanting to be out of the water as soon as possible. "Time…" she demanded.

"Uh… You got 1 minute and 8 seconds," Xerneas stated. "The Silver Team now has the lead."

Ivory nodded as she pulled herself out, happy with her results, and even happier that her turn was over.

Both times were displayed on top of each other on the monitor, making things easier to follow.

"Okay," Virizion began, turning to the other team. "Gold Team. Who's next?"

Wanting to take a chance and possibly impress not only Ivory, but his team, Ebony stepped forward. "I'll take a crack at it and see what I can do," he stated with a smirk, briefly glancing at Ivory.

The Delcatty didn't really pay him much attention, as she was receiving praise for her performance.

Letting out a sigh of defeat, he proceeded toward the pool.

-000-

Now on the surfboard, the shiny Manectric took a deep breath as he looked down at his paws, adjusting their positions slightly.

Being the third one on, the board was even more slippery due to the water. Luckily for him, unlike the previous two ladies, he had his claws at his disposal.

He stared at the ball launcher and the Hariyama next to it, ready for his turn to begin.

"Alright, Ebony… Are you ready?" Xerneas inquired.

"Hit it!" the wolf barked back.

Terrakion stomped on the button, starting the surfboard's movements.

Ebony felt the board start moving and held his ground. He didn't want to fall off so quickly and not only make a fool out of himself but let down his team as well. With a low growl, he adjusted his paws again, but the wet surface made it so it didn't matter.

"Fuckin' 'ell…" the Discharge Pokémon growled to himself.

Unlike what would normally happen with time challenges, this time the clock would simply continue from where the previous player left off. So, he was currently approaching the 1-minute mark for the Gold Team.

Zahku stood behind the ball launcher and immediately started firing at Ebony. The Manectric managed to dodge the balls that came directly at him, ducking and lifting limbs to make sure that he wasn't struck.

000

"In my line of work, I've dealt with bozos throwing shit and trying to attack me in order to avoid capture," Ebony explained. "So dodging kinda comes naturally to me."

000

His time continued ticking, reaching 1 minute, 37 seconds. He continued dodging the volleyballs with ease, but found himself sliding more on the surfboard the longer he stayed on it.

He growled, "Come on, just a bit longer."

He tried gripping onto the board with his claws, but oddly enough, they didn't offer him much assistance. The combination of a jerking motion from the surfboard and a volleyball dodge resulted in the Discharge Pokémon being thrown into the water.

Surfacing, he smacked the water in the pool. "DAMN IT!" he growled.

"1 minute and 53 seconds," Virizion relayed. "Nicely done. You lasted a little over a minute."

"1 minute and 11 seconds to be precise," Kevin specified.

"Well, Ebony… Looks like you've got the best time so far," Heatran commented. "You beat Ivory's time by 3 seconds."

The wet Manectric chuckled, "Good to know."

He didn't notice, but Ivory was wearing a smirk on her face, eyeing his dripping form.

000

"Not bad…" she commented.

000

She was eventually taken from her thoughts by Sabrina, who huffed, "Well, it's not about the individual times, now is it?"

"Fair point," Heatran conceded. "So, who's up from your team?"

The players looked at the remaining ladies, as it was up to them. Taking a seat, Morgan stated, "I think I'll go last. I feel like I'll be able to stay on the longest."

With that, Carman and Marion exchanged glances.

"So…" the Roserade began, folding her arms.

"I mean, I go to the skate park a lot, so I'll probably be decent at this," Marion reasoned. "Skateboards are just surfboards with wheels."

"Uh-huh…" Carman replied flatly. She honestly didn't care if Marion went first or not. She didn't know how well she'd do, herself, so being the second last to go would put her in a decent spot to not get too much blame. "Well, if you want, I'm not gonna stop you."

"And really? Skateboards is just surfboards with wheels?" Swift deadpanned.

"I mean… she's not entirely wrong," Darren added, having thought about it briefly.

-000-

Marion was standing on the even slicker surfboard. Ebony's angry splashing had gotten even more water on its surface, making it even more slippery.

The Ghost-type let out a sigh. "Okay, I guess I didn't think about the fact that surfboards don't have grip tape…"

"No, they do not," Virizion replied.

"Are you ready?" Xerneas inquired.

Marion stared at the board before looking up at the ball launcher. Getting in a suitable position, she sighed, "I guess."

"Alright then… Let's go!" Terrakion exclaimed, stomping on the button.

The Silver Team's time picked up from Ivory's, with the surfboard beginning to move around. Within just a couple of seconds, the Marionette Pokémon was thrown into the water, causing a few groans and expressions of annoyance to form on the faces of her teammates.

Resurfacing, Marion swam to the edge, a look of disappointment on her face.

"Dafuq happened to it bein' like a skateboard?" Hayden mocked.

Marion gave him a look, as did a couple of the others. "I was wrong. Okay? Surfboards are slicker than skateboards…"

"Well, regardless of what you thought, you only lasted 2 seconds, meaning that the Gold Team still holds the lead," Virizion stated before turning to the other team. "Next up…"

-000-

Solis stood on the surfboard, trying to keep her balance on the slippery surface as it bucked to and fro. She didn't know what the best foot position was, or how low or high she should be. Multiple volleyballs were fired at her, which she started to dodge before an idea formed in her mind. Her eyes glowed a bright blue before the balls that were in the air, and around her, stopped and were thrown back at Zahku.

"Hey! That's not fair!" Klavier called out.

"Solis! You cannot use moves!" Xerneas shouted. They hadn't mentioned anything regarding moves or blocking, but they weren't following the rule of 'It's allowed if we didn't say it wasn't.'

The Gardevoir simply let out a sigh, though notably, the volleyballs stopped. Instead, Zahku grabbed one of the balls and approached the pool. Solis continued trying to stay on the board as Zahku lackadaisically hurled the ball at the Embrace Pokémon, knocking her into the pool.

Dusting his hands off, Zahku returned to the launcher. A few of the players were shocked by this action, while the hosts didn't really say anything.

Hayden tried to hold in a laugh but ultimately failed. "He clocked her ass!" he laughed, earning him a few looks of disapproval.

"W-I… What the hell was that?!" Marie exclaimed. "He can't just walk up and knock her down!"

"She still could've dodged," Heatran countered, not seeing the problem. "Whether it's fired from the launcher or thrown by hand, a throw is a throw. "

Marie folded her arms in annoyance as Solis climbed out of the pool. The Gardevoir looked both disappointed and irritated as her body dripped.

"Alright Solis, you got your team up to 2 minutes and 26 seconds," Virizion relayed. "So far, you're still in the lead."

"Let's see if the Silver Team can pick it up," Heatran commented.

-000-

It was already decided that Carman would be next, so the Roserade was currently situated on the surfboard. Like a few others before her, she took a breath as she got herself situated. The water wasn't too much of a factor, given that she was a Grass-type, but having a dry surfboard was preferable.

The surfboard started moving, startling her initially before she regained her composure. The volleyballs immediately began being flung. She knew that she couldn't use moves to stop them, as not only would she get called out, but there was a chance that Zahku would demolish her with one of the balls.

So, she kept trying to dodge them, and failed quite a bit, continuously being hit, but staying on the board.

000

"I can take a hit," Carman explained. "I'm stronger and more durable than others may think. I have to keep that under wraps in this competition, though…"

000

As another ball came her way, hitting the side of her head, she fell into the water.

"Ooo," the guys winced at the display.

"Damn, yous girls is gettin' fucked up with them volleyballs," Swift chortled. Upon seeing the looks he was getting from the girls, especially Sapphire, the Serperior paled and cleared his throat. "I mean… Luckily they ain't too hard."

Carman resurfaced, grumbling to herself, "Well, that sucked."

"At least you did better for your team," Xerneas acknowledged. "1 minute and 45 seconds…"

Once the Roserade was out of the pool, she simply nodded. Now she definitely knew that she was safe if things went awry. "Did better than Marion at the very least…"

"Okay, this is the final player for each team," Heatran stated. "So far, the Gold Team is in the lead with 2 minutes and 26 seconds. Let's see if they can hold their lead…"

Mason smirked to himself as he approached the pool. Freezeo only looked on, nervous, his ice chain shaking slightly. Luckily for him, his species' expression was frozen, so nobody was able to read him. At least, that's what he thought. Flame could sense that something was wrong with the Ice-type, simply by how his demeanor shifted slightly once Mason started heading around the pool.

He rose a brow as his attention went from the snowflake to the Absol.

-000-

Mason stood on the surfboard, staring at Zahku and the ball launcher. He had his plan, and now was the time to execute it. He just had to make sure to sell it.

"Alright, Mason, are you ready?" Virizion inquired, hiding a bit of bitterness in her voice.

"Yeah, sure," the Disaster Pokémon replied.

With his confirmation, Terrakion stomped on the button, starting the surfboard's movement.

As soon as the board made its first turn, Mason 'fell' into the water, causing Marie to facepalm. "You've gotta be kidding me!"

Seeing this, Flame's mouth gaped slightly before a glare formed on his face. He looked at Freezeo and saw that he seemed to be disappointed. It just seemed all too suspicious for his liking.

000

"It's too early in the game for this shit…" Flame growled softly. "If they're doing what I think they're doing, they're complete idiots."

"I know I could call them out, but I've seen enough scenarios to know that, without concrete proof or a confession, people are more likely to shoot the messenger…"

000

"Well… uh… with that, it seems like the Gold Team's final time is 2 minutes and 29 seconds," Heatran stated.

Mason padded up, his white fur drenched. "Sorry guys," he fibbed. "I thought I'd do better than that…"

Farra huffed, "I guess your claws vs. hooves debate didn't matter after all."

"I mean, at least you tried," Kim commented softly. "Maybe we'll still be okay. We're over 2 minutes, still."

Mason chuckled in his head. He couldn't believe that they were falling for it. "Yeah, but it could've been extended if I hadn't slipped," he followed.

"Don't beat yourself up about it," Monica chimed in. "It's not like we had too many better options, anyway. And like Kim said, we may be fine, regardless."

"We'll have to see about that, now won't we?" Virizion inquired, turning her attention back to the Silver Team. "Who's next-"

As the others prepared for Morgan to have her turn, Mason let out a sigh as he walked next to Freezeo and took a seat. He chortled softly to himself. "And if we still end up winning this dumb challenge… another slip in the next one won't hurt," he thought to himself.

Seeing this, Flame just huffed, shaking his head. Noticing this, Draco grew curious. "Something wrong, big guy?" he asked softly.

The Charizard glanced at the Hydreigon before looking back at Mason. "We may have a rat on the team…" he whispered back, confusing the Brutal Pokémon.

-000-

Morgan was settled on the surfboard, her paws and claws spread for better coverage. She was good with water, she could take a few hits, and her balance was relatively good as well. By most accounts, she should do just fine.

"Alright Morgan, in order to beat the Gold Team, you have to last on that board for 45 seconds," Heatran stated. "Are you ready?"

"Yep," the Persian said with a smirk.

"Alright then," Terrakion replied. "Last round. In 3… 2… 1…" He stomped on the button, starting the surfboard.

Morgan felt the board begin moving and let her claws dig into it to fully stabilize her. The spinning and hard jerks made her feel like she was on a carnival ride, not that she minded it much.

After 15 seconds, the launching of the volleyballs commenced. The balls were striking different parts of her body as she kept herself anchored to the surfboard. "This is so fucking stupid…" she growled softly.

000

"My brothers were annoying as hell growing up," Morgan stated. "So, on one hand, I was constantly bothered, but on the other hand… I got more durable. Though, I can thank my parents for that more…"

000

2:20… 2:21… 2:22… Morgan was only a few seconds away from winning for her team. The speed in which the volleyballs came her way increased, making it slightly harder as the surfboard started moving even rougher.

She withdrew her claws from the surfboard, waiting a few more seconds as the barrage of balls kept coming her way. She leaped from the surfboard, into the water. She resurfaced seconds later, pushing past the multitude of volleyballs that had accumulated in the pool.

"2 minutes and 49 seconds!" Xerneas announced. "Congratulations, Silver Team!"

A few members of the Silver Team cheered, while others simply remained quiet and exchanged smiles.

Meanwhile, the Gold Team had mixed expressions of bitterness and disappointment, with Flame glaring at Mason. Draco wore a suspicious look, himself, as Flame explained what he thought happened.

"Alright, let's move on to your next challenge," Virizion stated.

000

"Flame thinks that Mason threw the challenge on purpose…" Draco explained. "I don't know why he'd do that, but Flame said that he sensed Freezeo's anxiousness and heard Mason chuckle afterwards."

"I'm not 100% sure, but I'll keep an eye on him, too," he concluded.

000

The players were taken into a different room, though it seemed to be highly similar to the one they'd just left. Old camera equipment was strewn about, with a few surfboards lying around as well. The primary difference was that the pool was replaced by a very large sandbox that took up more than a quarter of the room. In addition, there were more shovels and pails in this room than in the other one.

The hosts stood in front of the sandbox, beginning the explanation of the players' next challenge.

"Okay, as you can see, you're in a room with a large sandbox now," Heatran stated. "Your next challenge… is to build a sand figure."

"Sand… figure?" Swift repeated with uncertainty.

"Essentially, you're sand sculpting," Xerneas stated in simpler terms, sensing his confusion. "You can make a traditional sand castle, you can make a different building… a person… Just something impressive made of sand."

"After an hour, the team that we think has the best end result will win," Virizion explained. "If the Silver Team wins, they will win invincibility. If the Gold Team wins, we'll go to a tiebreaker. Any questions?"

"Uh… Do you really think having twenty people in this sandbox altogether will be… possible?" Farra inquired rhetorically.

"Oh, the teams will be separated," Terrakion explained. "The Silver Team will get this room, and the Gold Team will get the room across the hall. It's the same setup for the most part."

"And our advantage?" Ivory reminded them.

Virizion looked over to a table sitting against the left wall. "Over there on that table is a book of possible sculptures and a few tips," she stated. "You can use that to help with your building."

"Basically, the advantage is that you guys just have to choose a sculpture and follow a guide," Heatran explained. "You have to focus more on execution, while the Gold Team has to worry about concept and execution."

"Yes, one plus one does equal two…" Anthony commented with a huff, earning him an elbow to the stomach from Marie.

"Anyway…" Heatran responded, ignoring the Blastoise. "Gold Team, head out to your room."

Xerneas and Virizion started leading the Gold Team across the hall, leaving Terrakion and Heatran with the Silver Team.

000

As Terrakion said, the room in which the Gold Team would work was relatively similar to the other one. The only differences were that things were mirrored, with the sandbox taking up most of the left corner of the room, rather than the right; and all of the equipment seemed to be neater, rather than strewn about.

"Okay, are all of these rooms just the exact same with different shit?" Ebony questioned, looking around.

"You know what sets are, right?" Monica retorted flatly. "There's a reason why so many movies feel the same…"

"Hey, hey. Let's focus," Marie replied, snapping at the two of them. "We need to win this challenge."

Ebony rolled his eyes before looking back at the hosts they had.

"Alright, all of the tools you need are here, somewhere," Virizion stated, looking around. "You all need to win this if you want a fighting chance."

"So, try to think big and get creative," Xerneas advised.

Terrakion entered the room, asking, "All good here?"

Virizion nodded as she and Xerneas walked toward him. "Yeah, just a few words of encouragement," she confirmed.

Terrakion nodded back as the ladies walked past him. Once all of the hosts vacated the rooms, the Cavern Pokémon shouted, " ALRIGHT GUYS! THE CHALLENGE BEGINS… NOW!"

000

Having gone to the table to procure their book, Marion let out a sigh as she flipped through the pages. "Okay, uh… So, it looks like most of the things in here are Pokémon… buildings… foods… and just other shapes."

"Well, considering that we have the advantage and they don't… Do we just go for the easiest thing and get it over with?" Connor inquired.

Hayden huffed, folding his arms. "For once, I agree with the homo…"

"Hey, there's progress," Darren commented.

"Don't start your shit again…" Sabrina squawked, looking at the book in Marion's hands. "And taking the easy way out isn't a valid option, either. We don't know who has what skills over there. We need to actually give a shit."

"So, what? Is we gonna do the toughest one or somethin'?" Swift inquired.

"I… don't think that's what she's saying, either," Sapphire chimed in.

"I think we just need to choose one that'll impress the hosts," Morgan stated. "Sucking up usually works doesn't it?"

"Yeah, but we don't know if they'll appreciate it or think it's cheap," Klavier opined. "Not everyone is swayed by stuff like that."

"I'm pretty sure that the majority of the hosts of these shows are narcissists," Ivory countered. "They'd love something in their own image."

"Mostly accurate," Kevin chimed. "We don't fully know what these hosts are capable of, but we all would enjoy something created specifically created for us."

"So… Are we going to try to do like a sculpture of one of their heads, then?" Marion inquired, still looking through the book.

"Now y'all know damn well we can't do somethin' dat complex," Hayden stated with a huff. "We'd be better off just doin' a basic bitch castle."

"Again, we're not taking the easy way out," Sabrina stated with a stern glower. She was growing more irritated the more the guys tried to chime in. "Stop trying to be lazy."

The guys exchanged looks. They weren't trying to be lazy. They were trying to be somewhat realistic. "Okay, missy. Since you think you know what's best, why don't you decide?" Swift retorted. "We only got an hour and not all of us have fully-functional hands. So, go on…"

The Staraptor glared at the Grass Snake Pokémon before looking back at the book in Marion's hands as she continued flipping through the pages. "Well… Stop!"

Marion jumped a bit as she stopped on a page that had a Melmetal's head on it. "Hm… A Melmetal could work. It should be simple enough, but not a total cop-out."

"Uh… You know that there's a… y'know… hole in the head, right?" Connor inquired. "And a floating eyeball…"

"Yes, and?" Sabrina countered. She grabbed the book with one of her claws and turned it towards them. "You see that example picture, right? That means that it's possible. Now quit complaining and get the supplies."

Vexed expressions formed on the guys' faces, but a few of them separated in order to grab whatever they needed.

000

Klavier let out a sigh, "Sabrina… is really really annoying. Like, I can kinda understand why she doesn't like guys, we have done a lotta dumb stuff, but seriously, we're not all assholes."

000

While the Silver Team quickly had their choice made, albeit, with not much real discussion, the Gold Team was still discussing possible ideas.

"Okay, so hear me out," Mason began. "Why don't we do a sandman?"

"Excuse me, a what?" Monica responded, blinking slowly.

"A sandman," Mason repeated. "You know, a snowman… but… made of sand?" he slowly explained as a few of the others simply gave him unimpressed looks.

The Absol huffed, "Well, I'd love to hear any better ideas for it. We only have an hour."

"I mean, I'd be down for it," Freezeo chimed in. "It's simple, it's kinda classic, and it's not something you'd really think about doing."

Mason smirked to himself, glad that the Crystallizing Pokémon didn't leave him hanging. "Thanks. At least someone understands."

"Uh, I'm sorry, but I think we're gonna have to do something better than 'snowman, but sand'," Farra commented.

"Yeah," Aura concurred, "considering that the other team literally has a whole book of ideas, we're gonna have to come up with something that'll knock the hosts' socks off."

"None of them are wearing socks, but I understand what you're going for," Anthony commented. "The question is… what would impress them?"

"Maybe we should do something that signifies something for each of them," Draco suggested.

"We don't really know them, though," Monica pointed out. "They're just Legendaries and this is our first day doing challenges."

"No, I mean… Yes, we don't know them personally, yet, but we know about them," Draco explained.

"So… like how Xerneas is about life, Heatran came from a volcano…" Marie reasoned.

Draco nodded, "Right. If we can make one thing that'll be great for all of them, maybe they'll like it."

"Okay, I hear ya," Ebony concurred, "but… What would that be?"

The Hydreigon hummed softly to himself, having not fully thought about it. "Uh…"

"A sword," Flame stated, his arms folded.

"A sword?" Solis questioned.

"Yeah, I still like my idea better," Mason commented.

"You're gonna have to elaborate on that, Flame," Marie requested.

The Charizard took a soft breath. "Based on their body language, Terrakion and Virizion are the heads of their relationships. They're both a part of the Swords of Justice. So, making a sword could work."

While it sounded good thus far, Farra inquired, "And what about Xerneas and Heatran? Won't they feel left out?"

Flame initially shrugged his shoulders before Draco chimed in with his own idea. "I don't know if it'll come out well, but if we can make the blade have some kinda fire pattern, and the handle… maybe look like an antler? It'll be good for all of them."

"Well, we don't have much time or any other ideas, aside from a basic one," Monica commented, giving Mason a side-eye. "So, fine by me."

Mason huffed.

"Well, if we're all in agreement… A sword it is," Marie concluded. "Let's get the pails and… see what we can do."

While the others proceeded to split and get things settled, Mason huffed, with Freezeo beginning to hover away. Seeing this, the Absol snapped softly, "Hey! Where do you think you're going?"

The Cryogonal replied, "Uh… to help?"

"No," Mason stated. "Fuck their sword. We're doing a sandman, and that's that."

Freezeo sighed, "Dude, the team already decided we're doing a sword. There's no point in doing something different. They'll just yell at us and if we end up losing, they'll just try to vote one of us out."

"Not if we shift the blame…" Mason chortled, looking over at the girls, specifically Kim.

Seeing who he was looking at, the Cryogonal internally sighed.

000

"I know my sculpture idea is a lame one. That's the point," Mason explained. "If their stupid sword idea fails, which it will, the lazy sandman will be the only option. And who will take the blame? Why not the deformed bitch?"

He continued, "As much as I'd love to target the bigger idiots… Knowing how these morons are, they won't have the balls to. So, I have to go for the weakest one."

000

Freezeo let out a sigh, "Okay, yeah, this plan of his is just… completely stupid. I mean, the team will want to keep strength, so that puts me on the damn chopping block if he tries to go down this route!"

"I really don't think he wants to listen to reason…"

000

With their idea decided, the Silver Team began their building. Being that it was a Melmetal head, there were some reservations on how they were going to be able to make it work successfully. Yes, they had a guide, but just because there were instructions didn't mean mistakes couldn't be made.

Being that she had no arms, Sapphire was designated as the one who gave the instructions. They needed all hands and/or feet on deck, so this job suited her the best. Being that he deemed his own arms useless, Swift decided to supervise her.

"Okay, so, essentially, this sculpture mainly needs cutting tools to shape the end result," the Dragonair explained, looking at the book.

"Wait, so we don't need the pails?" Klavier inquired, holding multiple pails in his claws, collected from around the room.

"I mean, they can still be useful for collecting sand quickly," Sapphire explained. "So, keep them. It says that we need to make at least a 3-foot-tall pile of compacted sand, or bigger depending on what you want to do."

"Compacted sand?" Hayden inquired. "Dafuq does that even mean? Sand is sand!"

"It means we have to make the sand wet so that the grains stick together tight…" Connor explained, trying to use his hooves to push sand into the pile that was forming.

Hayden was about to snap at him, but he decided to remain quiet. "Just shut the hell up and ignore the sissy…" he thought to himself.

"Right," Sabrina stated, overlooking the guys' progress. "So, Darren, you be on standby. Make sure the sand is wet enough."

Darren simply nodded, while also trying to help push sand into the pile.

Landing next to the Staraptor, Klavier dropped the pails in his claws before asking, "And what are the rest of you girls gonna do while we make the pile?"

Sabrina huffed, "We're gonna do what we always have to do: clean up your mess. We are gonna actually shape the pile into its final form since apparently, you guys think it's too hard."

Klavier gave her a blank look before shaking his head. "Nobody's perfect, you know. We can all make mistakes, whether we're male or female," he stated before picking up the pails again and joining the other guys and Marion.

Sabrina's eyes softened a bit as she watched Klavier immediately start scooping up sand at a quick pace. After a few more seconds, she shook her head, her eyes tightening back into a glare.

000

"No shit," the Staraptor stated. "Nobody in this world is infallible, but males have caused much more damage to this world with their egos and lust for power and dominance over anyone they deem weaker."

"So, I don't need to hear that 'nobody's perfect' crap from a guy like him," she replied, moving her crest slightly.

000

As Sapphire continued looking over the instructions with genuine interest, she heard Swift's voice from behind her. Turning around, she saw the Serperior wearing an awkward smile, "Uh… hey. Um… I just wanna apologize for what you saw before the challenge. That no-good…"

He paused and took a breath, "I let him get under my skin and-"

"You don't have to apologize for that," Sapphire replied.

Swift was surprised to hear that. "Wait… Really?"

"I understand that some people can just work your nerves. It's really common," the Dragonair explained. "It's not always something that I enjoy seeing, but I get it."

Swift blushed slightly, "W-Well, still… I don't want you thinkin' that I'm just violent towards anybody that's got words for me."

"It's fine," Sapphire reassured him, patting his side with her tail in order to calm him down. "I'm not really the judging type anyway. Just be yourself."

Swift was speechless. His heart was beating much faster as he swallowed. He looked around, now needing something to distract himself.

"Uh… I-I… I think I'll go see if the others need any help," he stammered. "My arms ain-aren't. My arms aren't that useful, but… uh…" he awkwardly chuckled as he slithered toward the other guys.

Sapphire couldn't help but giggle to herself before turning her attention back to the guidebook.

000

Swift face-tailed himself repeatedly, "Stupid, stupid, stupid…"

000

Having witnessed everything, the remaining girls couldn't help but chuckle to themselves.

"Wow," Ivory commented with a chortle. "Swift really has it bad for her. I've never seen a single guy fold so fast."

Morgan giggled, "You haven't seen my brother in-law watch a strongman competition. Swift will be fine. Either he'll actually ask her out, or he'll just keep acting like that until she has to take control."

"We'll just have to see, because if they do hook up, it could be a problem," Ivory opined. "They'd stick together and I don't think that's something we wanna deal with."

Overhearing this, Carman smirked. "Well… Not unless we decide to all have an alliance," she chimed in. "That way, it wouldn't be something to worry about."

Ivory and Morgan exchanged looks as soon as the Roserade mentioned an alliance.

Turning to her, the Persian inquired, "Uh… What's that about an alliance?"

Happy that she gained their attention, Carman explained, "I mean, why don't we try to make one? It could help us get further in the game."

"While that's true," Ivory began, "alliances tend to have a high failure rate due to betrayal and people wanting to move up in rank."

"Well, all we have to do is not do that, and we should be fine," Carman argued. "Plus, it's not like any of us will be in any immediate danger on this team…"

Morgan and Ivory looked back over at the guys and Marion, who were still creating the pile, with Sabrina watching with a glare. "Fair point…" Morgan responded.

"So, what do you say?" Carman inquired. "It would just be me, you two, and I think I can convince Sapphire, and she could bring in Swift so that we have insight from the guys."

The two felines exchanged looks before looking back at the Grass-type. With a sigh, Morgan nodded, "Okay, fine. We'll join the alliance. But, if anything starts going wrong, we're out."

Ivory nodded in agreement.

Carman shrugged her shoulders, "Fair enough."

000

"Well, that was easier than I thought," Carman opined. "I thought that I'd have to do a lot more convincing, especially for Ivory. It all worked out, though."

"Now, Sapphire and I have a few shields," she continued. "Now, I just have to get her to talk to Swift and see if he'll join, too."

000

"Am I suspicious? Of course," Ivory stated. "Alliances almost always fail due to a member either no longer coming around, someone wanting to usurp power from the leader, or due to being found out and picked off."

"I'm not too thrilled by what this means for the guys, either, as that would mean that we'd be throwing away our strength, which would likely cause us to lose at a faster rate."

000

"An alliance is both a blessing and a curse," Morgan said with a sigh. "On one hand, we have security in the game, but on the other hand, the people who are left out, no matter if they're strong or not, will likely wind up getting eliminated, which will weaken us."

She hummed, "The ones who ask for an alliance are typically the ones you need to watch out for the most, so I'm gonna keep an eye on Carman. She seems alright, but you never know."

000

The Gold Team was trying to start their building, but were unsure of what all needed to be done. Currently, Aura and Solis were trying to gather enough sand to make a long pile, with a bit of assistance from Farra, Kim, and Ebony. Draco was watching over them, wanting to make sure that everything was high enough.

Looking around, he saw that the others were scattered a bit. Mason and Freezeo were doing their own thing in the sand; Marie, Anthony, and Monica were seemingly conversing a few yards away from where the pile was being created; Flame wasn't in the sand at all. He was sitting against the wall next to the door.

Curious, the Hydreigon flew toward him. "Uh… You okay?"

The Charizard looked at him before simply nodding. "Just not interested in sand. Plus, I'm trying to listen in on the other team a bit."

"Oh…" Draco responded. "Um… Have you heard anything?"

"Aside from a bit of yelling from Sabrina, not really," Flame answered, blowing out a bit of smoke. "How're things going over there? Dumb and dumber haven't tried anything have they?"

Looking back at the sandbox, Draco saw that Mason and Freezeo were still in their same spot. "Nope. I think we're in the clear right now."

Flame let out a breath as he folded his arms. Draco looked back at the rest of the team once again before looking back at the Charizard. He took a seat next to him, closer to the other wall, making sure to give him a bit of space between them. "You know you can't do this all the time, right?" he chuckled.

Flame cocked a brow. "Do what?"

"This," he said, waving over him. "Isolating yourself from everyone. It'll just make you seem unapproachable and uninterested, which could get you voted out."

Flame threw the Hydreigon a look, knowing that he was exaggerating. Draco chortled to himself, "Yeah, I know. Still, it would be nice if you y'know… engaged with the rest of us. I mean, the sword is your idea. It couldn't hurt."

The two of them had managed to maintain eye contact during the conversation, even when Draco unconsciously placed one of his hands on Flame's leg. The two hadn't even noticed Ebony approaching.

Clearing his throat, the Manectric teased, "Sorry to break you two lovebirds up, but uh… A bit more guidance over here would be appreciated."

The pair gave the Electric-type a shared staid expression, before Draco rolled his eyes with a soft chuckle, "Yeah, I'm coming."

He removed his hand from Flame's leg before following Ebony back to the others. The Charizard blew out a bit of smoke, his arms still folded as he actually mulled over what Draco had said.

000

Flame let out a sigh. "I'm just… I'm not that engaging of a guy," he stated. "If I'm not bothered, then I'm just nothing bothered."

He sighed, "If it makes things easier though, fine, but he better not expect this every time."

000

"So, if this challenge ends up going south, who're we thinking of as the main target?" Monica inquired.

She, Anthony, and Marie were in an area of the sandbox where they could mostly monitor everything. However, they were still far enough and quiet enough so that they weren't overheard.

"Well, I don't think that we should do that, since that's prepping for the worst case scenario when-" Marie began.

"The other team has a literal guidebook and a Porygon-Z, while we have two knuckleheads trying to make an Alolan Snowman," Monica argued, looking over at Mason and Freezeo. "So, sorry if I don't see this going great…"

Marie groaned, as the Ghost-type had a point. "Well, in that case, we can just go for Freezeo, since Aura seems to be stronger and is actually contributing to the cause."

"Why not Mason?" Anthony argued. "I just don't buy his whole, 'I had a bad day' BS. Seems like a cop out."

"Either way, it'll probably be one of those two tonight," Marie concluded. "That's if we lose. We still don't know what they're making over there. It could be bad or come out bad."

-000-

"Okay… This looks pretty good so far," Draco commented, seeing the long, darker pile of sand. "Doesn't need to be too high for a sword.

Kim inquired, "So, where do we go from here? Do we just start shaping it?"

"You have to draw out the shape of the sword in the sand, and then carve it out," they heard as Flame approached.

Seeing this, Draco smiled a bit. "Glad you decided to join us…" he teased.

Flame gave him a look before simply shaking his head, looking back at the sand. "Well, you're the one who had the design idea for the sword. How you want it to look? It has to be better than the other team's attempt at a Melmetal…"

The others momentarily paused, with Farra inquiring, "Uh… I'm sorry, what? They're making a Melmetal?"

"I doubt that it's the whole thing, but yeah," Flame replied. "So, the design has to be good, or at least have a unique shape…"

"Oh, uh… Alright," Draco replied. "Uh…"

-000-

"Alright… that should be decent enough," Mason stated, stepping back to admire his and Freezeo's handiwork.

Their sandman consisted of only two balls, with Mason using his claws and a few random pieces of equipment strewn about to decorate it. It looked very low-effort, but it was something, at least.

"Okay… It's done. Can we actually help the others now?" the Cryogonal inquired. "Y'know, so that it doesn't look like we're not helping?"

Mason gave him a look. "Fine. If you're so worried about it, then sure, we can help the bozos. It'll give us a chance to see how far along they are, anyway."

The duo approached the others, with Mason putting on a fake smile. He knew that he was going to have to make sure that something happened so that the sandman was their only option.

"So uh… How're things going on this side of the fake beach?" Mason inquired before looking at the sand streak on the ground, where Solis was currently using a finger to slowly draw what Draco was describing.

"Well, things are going decently, I guess," Aura commented. "We just have to get the design on the sand and dig it out, now…"

"Right… Right," Mason replied. "I mean, Freezeo and I went ahead with our sandman plan, just in case this doesn't get finished in time, y'know…"

Looking back, a few of them looked at the shabby sandman and didn't say a word about it. However, Kim stated, "Well… I guess, it doesn't hurt to have some kind of backup."

"Exactly," Mason replied. "At least someone understands. We always need a backup plan if the first one doesn't pan out."

The more he said that, the tighter Flame's glare got. He didn't know what he was planning, but he didn't like it.

"So, is there anything else that we have to do?" Freezeo inquired. "Or are we all just waiting until it's time to dig it out?"

"Well, obviously, it doesn't really take twelve people to dig out a sword, so… You guys can just sit this out," Ebony replied. "You already made your little 'backup', so you can just leave the rest of this to us."

Mason argued, "Hey, at least we did something. What did they do aside from sit around around and provide water. Heck, Monica hasn't contributed anything!"

"He's got a point, there," Farra muttered, glancing at the trio that was still chatting in the sand.

"Still… We're fine here. You can help if you want, as long as you don't get in the way," Ebony warned.

Mason huffed, though a smirk formed as he glanced over at the three still sitting away in the sand.

000

"You know… This may actually work out easier than I thought," Mason chuckled. "The ghost bitch hasn't helped with anything for the entire day. And she said before that she was only here as a replacement for a co-worker, so hey… Easy vote out."

000

"20 minutes remaining," they heard Terrakion shout.

"WHAT!?" Ivory exclaimed. "Time went by that quickly?!"

"Y'know, there should've just been a clock in here," Marion commented with a sigh as she and the other girls drew out and started to chip away at the large sand mound that had been constructed.

The guys were simply sitting on the sidelines, unsure of what to do now and feeling tired and annoyed.

"I'm definitely taking a shower when I get back to the house," Connor sighed, his afro covered in sand grains.

"You bet not even glance in my direction, or I'm fuckin' you up," Hayden threatened, sharing the same sentiments about showering.

Growing irritated, Connor replied, "It's always funny how some of you straight guys always act like non-straight people will automatically try to be with you."

"Because you sick freaks do. Witcho gay agenda shit trying to turn folks into f-" Hayden stopped himself with a growl. He really didn't want to get into it. He was trying so hard.

Sensing that things may escalate, Klavier groaned, "Can we not?"

Connor nodded to himself, confirming his own beliefs about the Magmortar.

000

"Willful ignorance, hypocrisy, and insecurity are all common traits with homophobes," Connor stated. "So, I honestly feel sorry for him."

000

Darren, slightly annoyed by the petty drama unfolding, looked toward the door and into the room across from theirs, where the Gold Team was working.

A thought entered his head, "Hmm, they didn't say that we couldn't go into each other's rooms did they?"

"There was no rule stated, but I believe that it was implied," Kevin stated.

"Well shit, we can go in there and light they asses up, then," Hayden said as he stood up. "They ain't say shit, so why not?"

"Well, they didn't say anything about using moves in the surfing challenge, but still called out the Gardevoir chick," Klavier reminded him. "So, I say that we stay here and not risk getting penalized."

Hayden huffed as he sat back down. "Pussy," he thought to himself.

-000-

While they worked on the sculpture, Sabrina looked at Morgan as she used her claws to smooth the top of the Melmetal's head, getting rid of clumps.

Looking back, and knowing what was said about first impressions, she knew that she would need to apologize for what she said to the Classy Cat Pokemon. "Hey, Morgan… uh… Sorry about the whole… y'know… marriage thing," she spoke with hesitation.

Having not expected this, Morgan was caught a bit off-guard. "Oh. Uh… Thanks, it's… fine."

The other girls were just as confused as the Persian was, but simply remained quiet.

000

"Well, that was unexpected," Morgan commented. "Didn't think she'd actually apologize for that, given how she is…"

"At least she did it, or at least made an attempt. I still don't really like her attitude, though," she stated.

000

"I still think marriage is just a scam and a way to control females, but… If she's actually happy, then… fine," the Staraptor huffed.

000

Wanting to break the bit of silence, Marion inquired, "So, uh… Anyone see any good movies or something before they got here?"

Um… Not really," Ivory replied. "I'm not really the movie-going type. I prefer to just wait until things start streaming."

"I tend to like that, too," Morgan commented, shaking her paw. "It saves money. Having kids is already expensive."

"The actual movie theater experience is always better from my point of view," Marion opined as she slowly tried to push a hole through the hexagonal shape they managed to create.

"Be careful!" Sapphire called. "Make sure it's all wet enough so that it actually sticks when you try to make the hole."

Marion stopped, retracting her hand from the sand. Sabrina sighed, looking over at the guys. "Darren! Get over here!"

The Dewgong in question started dragging himself over to them. Once he was there, he questioned, "Need more water?"

"Yeah, we just need you to make the sand a bit wetter," Carman explained, gesturing to the sculpture.

Nodding, Darren sprayed a small jet of water at the sculpture.

Looking over the statue, Ivory hummed. "Um… Do you guys think we should just draw the details on? I mean, making a hexagon is pretty impressive on its own."

"Yeah," Morgan commented, rising up and stepping back. "We don't have that much time left, and I don't want things to go south after all this work."

Sabrina growled to herself before looking at the Dragonair. "Sapphire, does it say anything specific about the hole aside from making it wetter?"

Sapphire continued looking over the book. "Well… aside from just being extremely careful, because it can collapse fast, not really."

Hearing that, the Staraptor sighed. She looked at the progress that they had made so far. "Fine. At least the shape is okay. Just be careful when drawing the crap on it."

Morgan and Ivory nodded.

000

"We have less than 20 minutes," Marie stated as she, Anthony, and Monica came over to see how far along the sword was. "How're things looking?"

"Well… they're looking," Ebony stated, staring at the sword attempt.

The sword resembled a lasagna noodle attached to a trident. It looked far from how they expected it to.

Marie sighed, facepalming, "What are we supposed to do here?"

"Well, if you guys had actually tried to help instead of sitting around and just giving water every so often, maybe there'd be better cohesion," Mason huffed.

"I don't wanna hear anything from you," Marie countered, looking at the sword. She placed her hands on her hips.

"Well, we could still shape it into a traditional sword," Draco suggested. "It may not embody all of them, but it could work."

"Again, we have less than 20 minutes," Monica deadpanned.

"Well, luckily we have…" Mason began, looking over at the sandman he and Freezeo created.

Marie growled, folding her arms.

"Well, like Draco said, we could just try to reshape it really fast and then draw the details on it," Solis suggested. "It may be rushed, but it's something."

Mason suddenly sneezed, causing a bit of the sand to crumble.

They all looked at him with a glare, causing him to awkwardly look around, "Uh… Sorry."

000

"TIME'S UP!" Virizion announced, walking down the hallway.

The hosts returned, once again splitting into pairs in order to monitor the players and make sure nobody continued to work. Xerneas and Virizion went into the Gold Team's room, while Heatran and Terrakion went into the Silver Team's.

-000-

"Alright, Gold Team, explain what this is supposed to be," Virizion instructed as she and Xerneas approached.

"Oh, uh… Well…" Anthony began, rubbing the back of his head, looking down at their sword.

"We have a sandman!" Mason piped up, walking over to the shabby figure that he and Freezeo threw together.

The others, even Freezeo, gained expressions of annoyance, as the Absol continued.

"We wanted to have something classic, yet unique," Mason explained with a smile.

Looking over it, the ladies wore awkward smiles. Clearing her throat, Xerneas opined, "Well, it's definitely… unique. Never thought I'd see a snowman made of sand…"

"Yeah, it's definitely interesting," Virizion added. "Though, admitted, the execution is a bit… lackluster."

"Understandable," Mason shrugged as the others simply stood aside and listened.

"Well, luckily, we're not the only ones, so Terrakion and Heatran may feel different," Virizion commented. "So, who knows?"

-000-

"Very impressive," Heatran admired as he looked at the Melmetal head. It was essentially just a half-buried hexagonal shape with two circles in the middle of it. "Surprised that you guys went with this."

"Well," Sabrina began. "The men here wanted to go simplistic at first, but we needed something that would actually show that we tried. So, we decided-"

"You decided," Swift corrected.

Sabrina glared at the Serperior. "We decided to go with this," she finished.

"Well, it definitely turned out pretty good," Terrakion opined. "We see that you didn't attempt the hole."

"We were going to, but we didn't have enough time, and we didn't want to risk the whole thing coming down," Marion explained.

"That's reasonable," Heatran concurred with a nod. "Well, we're gonna shift, and then we'll come to a final decision."

-000-

The pairs swapped rooms, still ensuring the nothing was shifted. Now in the Silver Team's room, as soon as Xerneas and Virizion saw the shape, they exchanged looks.

"Well, this is interesting and impressive," Virizion commented. "You really went for Melmetal?"

"Yep," Darren confirmed. "That book came in handy."

"Well, we can certainly see that," Xerneas giggled. "And I really like how you made the edges mostly smooth. Much more organized here."

"Thank you," Sabrina replied with a proud smile, though a few of the others, mainly the guys, just rolled their eyes.

000

"She just chose the idea and made all da rest of us work, while she just barked at us like a damn Boltund," Swift hissed. "I swear, some women just…"

000

Meanwhile, in the Gold Team's room, Terrakion and Heatran listened to Mason's explanation of the sandman. They were definitely less impressed, though Terrakion could see the fun in it.

Heatran, however, noticed another figure in the sand that the others were partially blocking. "Um… Did you all make two things?"

As they all looked back at the failed sword attempt, Draco sighed. "Well, our initial idea was a sword that had a fiery blade and like an antler-y handle, but… It didn't turn out that well."

"Then, before we could try to make it better, Sir Sickness over there sneezed and partially ruined it," Ebony explained.

"It was an accident!" Mason argued. "At least we have something."

"Well, that would've been very interesting," Heatran commented. "We would've probably given you a few more points for the creativity and effort, but as it stands… Your presentation isn't too impressive."

"But, like Mason said, at least you had something complete for us," Terrakion stated.

Mason smirked as the two hosts started to leave the room.

000

All of the players returned to the room they first entered, ready to hear the results.

"Well, it's been a rather productive first day for you guys," Xerneas stated. "It's time for it to come to an end, though."

"Now, Gold Team, despite having an initial interesting concept, you ended up settling for just a simple snowman made of sand," Virizion recalled.

A few of the members all looked at Mason, much to his annoyance. A few members of the Silver Team had to hold their laughter at how simplistic it sounded. Though, they had an advantage, so they couldn't judge too much.

"And Silver Team, you used your advantage wisely and created a Melmetal head," Heatran stated. "It wasn't entirely complete, per se, but the risk was there. You managed to make the hex nut head, at least."

"And it was actually pretty smooth," Xerneas added.

Flame let out a sigh, as he had told the team what they were doing.

"With all that being said, it should come to no surprise that the winner of the first challenge is… the Silver Team!" Virizion announced.

The members of the Silver Team all cheered, sharing hugs and a few high-fives here and there. Sabrina was actually the happiest, though she didn't fully show it. Despite her rather brash attitude and lack of faith in her team, especially the guys, they managed to pull off the first win of the season.

"Gold Team, we'll be seeing you guys tonight for the first elimination ceremony of the season," Heatran stated.

The Gold Team simply exchanged looks of disappointment. Freezeo let out a soft sigh, uncertain of how things were going to go. Between Mason's plan succeeding, the lack of participation by a few other members, and the overall feeling of annoyance that seemed to be shared, it was going to be a long rest of the day.

"Now, head back to the main lot, dinner should be served in a few more hours," Terrakion stated.

000

Marie let out a sigh, "I guess this is karma for being cocky earlier. I honestly don't even know who we're gonna go for, overall."

000

Entering their townhouse, the Gold Team ladies all convened in the living room to discuss their options. Though it felt cut-and-dried, there were other things to think about.

"So, we're all set on Freezeo, right?" Monica inquired.

"Wait, I thought that we would go for Mason," Aura replied. "His attitude yesterday was a turnoff, and he didn't really help us at all."

"Didn't help us?" Monica argued. "I mean, the sandman was a garbage idea, but at least it was something. Freezeo just floated there the whole time."

Farra cocked a brow, "I mean, you did the same thing."

"Yeah," Solis concurred. "Honestly, you, Anthony, and Marie didn't help much at all today. I mean, Aura and I were directly involved in both challenges, but you guys didn't do anything."

Marie, hearing that, let out a sigh, "Okay, that's fair, but we need to think about the bigger picture. Who would be better for the team in the long run. Us or them?"

"I… guess that's a good point," Kim chimed in.

"We'll have to come up with something, because I really don't want to lose again," Monica stated.

"We underestimated them because of how some of them acted," Marie reasoned. "So, we need to make sure that whatever we do keeps us strong."

The other girls nodded in agreement.

000

Meanwhile, the males of the Gold Team had their own quick discussion. However, it wasn't as calm as the ladies'.

"Bullshit! Why the hell would you vote me out?!" Mason bellowed. "I'm the reason we had something to show in the first place!"

"You're also the reason we had to use the crap you and your pal here made," Ebony argued, gesturing to Freezeo.

"It's not my fault the sword looked bad!" Mason argued. "Blame them!" he said, pointing to Flame and Draco.

Flame glared at him, while Draco simply rolled his eyes. Anthony shook his head, "You're not passing the blame. While you did make something that could be judged, you didn't really work with the team and-"

"Nope!" Mason exclaimed. "You, Marie, and Monica didn't do anything, so I don't wannaa hear it. Heck, I don't even know why nobody else is calling you out on it! Oh wait, yes I do. You guys only care about being big and strong, even though, if the other challenges are anything like today, you're all gonna suck."

Mason stormed out of the townhouse, with Freezeo staying behind. He didn't know if Mason wanted him to follow him or not, but he decided to stick around just in case.

Ebony let out a sigh, "Y'know, I understand the kid, but at the same time, I don't trust him."

"I know that you guys probably blame us, but he does have a bit of a point," the Cryogonal chimed in. "Keeping only big strong players when there's no guarantee that challenges will be focused on strength doesn't make too much sense. Plus, at least we did something. Like… what did Monica do? Nothing. What did Kim do? Nothing…"

"Wait," Anthony began. "Now that you mention it… Kim didn't really talk much at all, and just stood around most of the time."

"Yeah, plus… Why do we need her when Ebony is faster and stronger, and both Flame and Draco are here?" Freezeo continued.

"The same could be said for you, though," Draco argued. "Aura's actually got a full body and limbs. I'm pretty sure Marie knows Ice-type moves. Hell, Anthony probably knows some, too."

"True," the Blastoise confirmed. "Gotta keep it in case of Grass-types."

Freezeo sighed, "I'm just saying… maybe give him a chance. He may have come off poorly, but… at least we're trying."

The Cryogonal began to leave as well, leaving the remaining four guys to exchange looks.

000

Freezeo sighed, "I dunno why I just defended him. I know he's bad news, but having someone is better than having noone. If I have his back, then maybe he'll listen to me and have mine…"

000

Carman sat across from Sapphire in their living room. The other ladies had gone to other areas of the lot, leaving them alone to discuss.

"Well, looks like you saved our asses twice today," Carman commented.

Sapphire huffed with a smile. "What do you mean?"

"You're the one who told us about our lower center of gravity and you read us the instructions and essentially warned us about doing the hole in our sculpture," the Roserade explained. "That's some MVP action, there."

Sapphire giggled at the compliment. "It honestly wasn't a big deal. I needed to help the team, so I helped."

"Well, luckily for us it all worked out," Carman continued, placing her hands around the back of her head. "No elimination, the team with more threats has to vote someone out, and Ivory and Morgan are down for the alliance."

Sapphire's eyes widened. "Is that what you guys were talking about?"

"Yep," Carman confirmed. "I told them that I'd try to get you onboard, too, and that you could maybe work on that potential third member you mentioned earlier."

Sapphire blushed slightly, rolling her eyes. "I could maybe talk to him tonight after dinner…"

"Hey, whatever works," Carman replied. "It'll definitely be interesting…"

000

"She is definitely a lot smarter than I thought," Carman opined. "When everything gets settled, I'll make sure to keep her around for a good while, but then she has to go."

000

Klavier was waiting outside his team's townhouse for Connor. He wanted to head to the multipurpose building and chill for a while until it was time for dinner. Hayden was hogging the couch and watching twerking videos on the television, and he really didn't want to hear his shouts and comments.

Looking around, he saw a few others coming and going from their respective houses. Letting out a sigh, he initially didn't notice when Sabrina landed abruptly in front of him.

Jumping, Klavier heaved, holding his chest, "A little warning would be appreciated next time…"

Sabrina rolled her eyes. "Look, all I'm gonna say is… You guys did alright in the challenge. I expected a lot worse."

Klavier let out a sigh, "Thanks. Honestly, with Hayden, I expected worse, too."

Sabrina huffed, "I already know snake head has his issues with him. What about the rest of you bozos?"

Despite ignoring the insult, Klavier gave her an irritated look. He flatly explained, "Well, you see, the reason I'm out here is a result of a chain reaction. Hayden is homophobic, therefore he hates Connor. Connor is taking a shower, so Hayden is downstairs waiting since he doesn't want to be in there with him. Hayden is downstairs, so he has control of the TV and is deciding to watch twerking videos. And even though that could be nice-"

Sabrina gave him a look upon hearing that.

"Don't judge me," he stated, seeing the look she was giving him. The Staraptor rolled her eyes in response.

"He started commenting on it and making things awkward, so now I'm out here…" he finished. "And all because I wanna go to the rec with Connor…"

Sabrina just shook her head, "Men have issues…"

"Hey, so do women," Klavier countered. "How does it take some of you half-an-hour to get ready for something?"

"Why doesn't it take men that amount of time?" she scoffed.

"Because we don't really care much," he deadpanned. "I mean, why would we? Or really… why should we?"

"Right, right… I forgot. This is a man's world," Sabrina replied. "Ladies are supposed to look all pretty and presentable, but you guys can just roll out of bed, not wash your asses, and not be judged."

Klavier cocked a brow. "Uh… You know that guys do get judged by their looks a lot, right? Just like how some girls will talk down other girls…"

"Because they're competing for the attention of males," Sabrina countered. "And sure, guys can get judged, but when a girl does it, she's just a bitch. Right?"

"I mean, even if a guy does it, he's still a douche," Klavier replied. "How did we even get here?"

Holding in a laugh, Sabrina started to respond, but Connor exited the front door, with loud dance music being heard from inside. The Bouffalant sighed, "Always something…"

Seeing that Klavier and Sabrina were there, he asked, "Am I interrupting?"

Sabrina cleared her throat, her stern look returning. "No. I was just telling him to tell you guys that I said you did alright, today," she stated.

"Oh, well… Thanks," Connor replied. He turned to Klavier, "Good to go?"

"Yep," Klavier nodded. The two of them started heading toward the multipurpose building, leaving Sabrina alone.

Taking a breath, the Predator Pokémon walked toward her own side's townhouse.

000

"What?" Sabrina huffed. "Just because men annoy the fuck out of me doesn't mean I can't communicate with them when I want…"

"They did decent today. All I've gotta say is that they'd better keep it up," she stated.

000

Mason chuckled, "Well, maybe you are a lot more helpful than I thought."

Freezeo had met up with him at their initial meetup spot. Marion wasn't around, but this didn't necessarily involve her, so it didn't matter.

"Uh… Thanks?" Freezeo replied.

"Well, we'll see which one they decide to go for," Mason responded with a sigh. "This is honestly working out great. We made the team lose, and even though we may be targets, some of those girls did absolutely nothing. They'd be stupid trying to get rid of one of us."

"Well, hopefully they fully listened to me," Freezeo explained. "I told them about Kim since she hasn't spoken much and we have better options…"

Mason shrugged, "Whatever works. As long as we can keep getting away with it, we should be good."

"Wait, if we do this again, we'll just be easy targets again," Freezeo explained. "Don't you think we should win the next challenge so they know we're-"

"No," Mason stated firmly, cutting him off.

"Then there's no point in this!" Freezeo exclaimed. "If we keep losing, then they'll just pick us off if we stay since we're already targets!"

"Do not question my methods, alright?" Mason argued. "Just trust me!"

Freezeo just stared at him before letting out a sigh.

000

"Fucking idiot," Mason growled. "I know what the hell I'm doing. We just have to keep making sure that they see us working and not see us fucking with them!"

"How hard is that?"

000

A few hours passed, and eventually the Gold Team was instructed to meet at the elimination area.

Once they were all there, they sat in the metal bleachers as the hosts emerged from the curtains. "Alright," Virizion began. "Welcome to your first elimination ceremony. You guys worked pretty hard today, but sadly, one of you will be the first player voted out."

"Underneath the bleachers, you'll find high-tech voting devices," Heatran explained. "To vote, you're going to simply click the picture of the person you want voted out."

"A vote is a vote, so make sure it's the right person you want," Xerneas stated.

"Go ahead and make your choices…" Virizion said with a nod.

The members of the Gold Team either grabbed or helped others retrieve, their devices, and began their voting. Some of them were still unsure of their vote, while others were completely confident. After about two minutes, they were complete.

"Alright… the votes have been tallied," Terrakion stated as Zahku wheeled out a table with multiple statues resembling Mew and Victini. "If you receive a Gilded Mew or Victini, you're safe."

"Solis…" Virizion began.

The Gardevoir was thrown a statue by Zahku, which she managed to catch with ease.

"Aura, Farra, Ebony, Flame…"

Aura narrowly dodged her statue, while Farra caught hers in mid-air using telekinesis. Ebony caught his with his mouth, while Flame lazily caught his as well.

"Draco… Anthony, and Marie. You guys are safe, too," Heatran continued.

Draco smiled as he caught his statue, as Anthony and Marie both got theirs as well.

The only ones remaining were Kim, Monica, Mason, and Freezeo. The Cryogonal was very anxious, as he was among the players he tried to put targets on. Kim was also very nervous, as she felt that she hadn't done anything wrong. Monica and Mason both wore bored expressions.

"The next two safe are… Kim and Monica," Terrakion stated.

Kim let out a sigh of relief as she caught her award, while Monica rolled her eyes as she caught hers.

Freezeo's eyes widened, while Mason growled to himself.

"Freezeo and Mason. Both understandable and strange that you're here," Xerneas commented, though she honestly didn't care if either of them left. "On one hand, you guys made something for your team to present, but on the other hand, it wasn't really good enough."

"But, one of you pissed off your teammates more, so the final award goes to…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"...Freezeo."

The Crystallizing Pokémon let out a long sigh of relief as he caught his award.

Mason growled, "ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?! YOU FUCKERS VOTED ME OUT WHEN SOME OF THESE BITCHES DID NOTHING IN THE CHALLENGE!?"

"Flame told us what you did, jackass," Ebony snarled, glaring at him.

"You seriously sabotaged the team on the first challenge!?" Marie questioned with a glare. "You can get the hell outta here. We need actual team players, not losers trying to drag us down."

Mason glared at the Charizard in question, who smirked to himself.

The Absol scoffed, "Whatever. You fucks don't stand a chance anyway. Like I said, if more challenges are like how they were today, a lot of you are gonna be fucking useless."

Heatran began, "Mason, time to he-"

"Yeah yeah, shut the hell up, I'm going," the Disaster Pokémon interrupted as he angrily walked down the carpet and toward the Limo of Loserdom.

Virizion huffed, "Good riddance. Anyway, that's all for now. You guys can head to dinner."

"Hopefully you won't have to see us here again," Terrakion added.

"Oh, but we miss you already…" Anthony sarcastically replied as he started walking away, earning him an elbow from Marie.

Freezeo took a shaky breath and he floated behind everyone. If Flame knew that Mason was trying to throw the challenges, what did that mean for him?

000

"I'm glad that I voted for Mason," Freezeo admitted. "For all I know, my vote made the difference…"

"But now I'm worried, because if Flame knew, that means that I'm probably next on the chopping block…" he said, swallowing. "Arceus… please let us win this next challenge…"

000

Mason was sitting in the Limo of Loserdom, grumbling to himself. "Fucking dumb pieces of shit," he mumbled. He noticed that the limo hadn't started moving yet, "Hey, are we fucking leaving or what? I'm starving back here!"

Suddenly, a pink gas started filling the back of the limo, startling him. "What the hell?!"

He attempted to open the door, but found himself unable to. Soon enough though, he started to feel a bit lightheaded, before sitting back in his seat.

A screen appeared from above, showing Victini with an all-white background. "Hey there, Mason…"

Shaking his head, Mason looked around. As soon as he saw the Victory Pokémon, he growled. "You piece of fucking shit. Why the hell are you here?!"

"Because, I have to explain this to everyone who gets voted out, duh…" he replied.

"Explain what?!" he growled. "Those fucks voted me out because that Charizard bastard snitched."

"Well, y'see… I wanted to see how different all of you would behave in the your first seasons as grown adults, since we've already seen you compete in them as teens and young adults. So… I manipulated your memory," Victini explained. "Turns out, you tried to use your same methods. Only this time, you failed big."

Hearing that, Mason gaped. "You fucking what? Then how the hell do I still remember all of the bullshit from decades ago?!"

Victini chuckled, "Well, because I'm not totally cruel, your memories will simply return and merge once you're voted out. So, if things ended up differently for you this time, either for the better or worse, it's up to you to decide where you go from there. And in your case…"

"Fuck you…" Mason seethed. "You can't just keep fucking with us!"

"You're the ones who signed the contracts," Victini responded in a sing-songy manner. "So, have fun."

The limousine began moving as the screen retracted back into the roof. "What… the fuck," he growled.

000

Votes:

Mason - 10 votes (Anthony, Aura, Draco, Ebony, Farra, Flame, Freezeo, Marie, Monica, Solis)

Freezeo - 1 vote (Kim)

Kim - 1 vote (Mason)

000

Gold Team - (Anthony, Aura, Draco, Ebony, Farra, Flame, Freezeo, Kim, Marie, Monica, Solis)

Silver Team - (Carman, Connor, Darren, Hayden, Ivory, Kevin, Klavier, Marion, Morgan, Sabrina, Sapphire, Swift)

000

Well, there we are. First elimination: Mason. We'll see how things keep playing out, but things seem mostly decent so far, barring Hayden… and Sabrina, sort of. And a bit of a better understanding of the situation by Dick-tini himself. So, all of the feelings and actions they're experiencing are legit, once they're eliminated they get their original memories of everything back as well, but then how they continue outside the game is up to them. Wow… how thoughtful. We'll see how well that goes. Though, it could be better for some of them. Anyways, see ya guys, BYE!

000

Elimination Order:

24th - Mason Harror (The Devious One)