Additionally, I got a new submission! This is him.
Akio Minx (Hi I'm a guest)
As for more information about this chapter, I will also attempt to reveal the last few characters currently in the story (although I am still awaiting more OC's), and revisit some of the ones already introduced.
Now, let's continue the story!
Brianna's POV
I was officially freaked out.
Although no one else had seen it, I had just watched the campsite appear out of thin air. With a snap of his fingers, Coach Vernon had just made it show up with the distracting statement, "You kidding? It's right there."
Although Perrington Elementary High was a strange school, I had not expected the possibility it could get this strange.
After dropping my bag off at the left cabin, which was where the girls would be staying, I immediately went to track down my friends. If anybody would believe what I had seen, it would be them.
It didn't take too long, and soon we were gathered behind the cabin.
My circle of friends included Zoe, Zola, Lulu, and Zeke's twin sister, Rei. Rei was rather strange. She was an albino, with white hair, white skin, and eerie red eyes. She was also completely silent, and had never spoken a single word in her life. However, she still tried to be a good friend to all of us, and if you wanted or needed to share a secret of some kind, she would listen non-judgmentally and never say a word about it.
All five of us stood behind the cabin, with only the forest creatures for company. All the others were exploring the main campsite and weren't snooping around back here, so it was nice and private.
"Okay, none of you guys are going to believe this.", I said, "But this campsite only appeared when Vernon made it do so. He snapped his fingers to try and distract us from seeing it, but I wasn't and literally saw it poof into existence!"
Zola replied, "If anyone else said this, I would laugh in their face. But you're one of the most serious people I know, so I believe you."
Lulu frowned. "How is that even possible? What does it mean?"
Zoe stated, "I knew something was off about the camp, but I did not expect this. Does Vernon have to concentrate on it or something? Will it suddenly disappear if he stops?"
I looked over at the fireplace, where the coach just got a soccer ball kicked into his stomach by Steven.
"I'd say no.", I stated.
"Phew.", said Zoe, "I had the horrible thought of it disappearing right when people were using the showers."
All of us shuddered.
"Thanks a lot for my new recurring nightmare.", Zola replied sarcastically.
"But anyways.", Lulu interjected, eager to switch the topic, "What does that mean? Is Coach a wizard or something?"
Zoe shrugged. "I blame Miss Melody. The camp was her idea, and she just seems a little...strange, you know?"
We all nodded in agreement.
"We need to get to the bottom of this.", I declared, "How are we going to approach our mission?"
"Miss Melody is staying in our cabin.", Zola stated, "If she's our prime suspect, that's easy enough to track."
Lulu replied, "But Vernon is the one we saw using magic. Miss Melody is only Zoe's assumption. Unless we have hard proof showing she's involved with whatever this is, we can't automatically suspect her."
"Okay...who wants to spy on the boy's cabin?", I asked.
Everybody promptly showed their objection, Rei included.
"I figured as much. Since spying on Vernon isn't an option, we need something else.", I stated.
"What are we even trying to find out?", asked Lulu, "Vernon magically made this camp appear. What else are we looking for?"
I replied, "Well...this camp was clearly set up for some reason. We need to find out how Vernon did it, and why. Is this a kidnapping attempt, or something else?"
Zoe said, "Well, let's first pretend we don't know anything. We could just station Rei inside the cabin, to keep an eye on whatever Miss Melody or others might do. No one will suspect her, for, uh, no offense, but she's really good at standing around and doing what seems like nothing."
Rei gave a thumbs-up.
"Okay, so it looks like she volunteers. What will we do?", asked Zola.
I answered, "We are going to explore the camp, see if we can find out anything else. I for one haven't really seen anything Pokemon-themed yet, so that's one thing to look for."
Suddenly, I heard a high-pitched voice exclaim, "Ooh, secret girl club group huddle! Can I join?"
We all turned to see a young teenage girl walk up to us. She was around fourteen, and had extremely messy golden-blond hair. She had a bow clip with a little Pokeball in the center skewed to the side in her hair. She wore a pink shirt and leggings, which featured cute little Vulpixes and Eevees that made my dark, edgy self hiss in disgust. She looked positively enthusiastic to meet us.
"Hi, my name is Mia! I came here to try and make some new friends!", she said.
Zoe crossed her arms in an attempt to look intimidating. "Not just anyone can join our club, you know."
"Well, that sounds about right.", said Mia, "But I'd still like to meet you all!"
"Hi, I'm Zola.", introduced Zola, "You can feel free to hang out with us, but we're super dark and edgy. You might not find us all that fun."
Mia replied, "Yay! Can you please tell me your names?"
Zola replied, "These two are Zoe Shade and Brianna Vivi. Rei Drakus is behind me, but she doesn't speak."
Zoe and I exchanged looks of incredulity. Was Zola seriously letting this strange, ridiculously pink-dressed girl follow us on our espionage mission?!
Mia cried, "It's nice to meet you all! I really like the anime, especially Misty. What about you?"
I replied, "Well, I, uh, actually have never watched it. But I dominated Misty's gym battle in Let's Go?"
"I love the Let's Go games!", Mia said, "Eevee is the best!"
That, at least, I could agree on.
"So, anyways, we were just about to go explore the camp.", said Zola, "If you're serious about wanting to hang out with us, you can come along."
Oh, right. We weren't doing any obvious espionage, and there was no harm in trying to make a new friend, even if she messed with our coolness vibe. That made me feel a bit better about the situation.
"That's right!", added Zoe, "We're going to check out the lake, it looks awesome."
I noticed a twinkle in her eye. She was planning to do something mischievous. One could almost feel sorry for Mia, but every new person Zoe met would be introduced to her via prank. I still remembered how she'd gotten me good a few years ago.
Zola nodded in agreement, and so we set off down the trail that led to the lake.
It was a bit disturbing considering how the trail had not existed twenty minutes ago.
As we walked, Mia attempted to start up a conversation. "So, you like Umbreon?", she asked, looking at my shirt and astonishingly undisturbed by the message.
"Naturally.", I replied, "Zoroark and Darkrai are also some of my favorites."
"Zorua is nice.", Mia said, "Not as much of a fan for Zoroark."
I gave her a scandalized expression.
Zoe replied, "You do have to admit Zorua looks cuter."
"I don't care about cuteness though.", I replied.
Now it was Mia's turn to look scandalized. "How can you not like cute things!?", she cried, "It's, like, their whole thing!"
"I didn't say I didn't like cute things.", I countered, "I just don't care much about the cuteness part of Pokemon. They have, like, no strategic value in combat."
Mia grumbled something, but did not press the argument.
We cleared the treeline and found ourselves on a soft sandy beach by the lake. The water was a perfect deep blue, and looked both majestic and mysterious. There was a pier at its edge, with an old-looking shed at one end. It was labeled Fishing Supplies. Beyond the edges of the lake loomed the glorious snowy mountains, looking like something right out of a postcard.
Sitting next to the water was a boy I did not recognize, yet was clearly from my grade level. He wore a plain white shirt and black pants, as well as a red-and-white cap with the initials AM. His hair was long, messy, and a dirty blond color. He was simply sitting there, staring out to the horizon and looking lost in thought.
"Huh, I wonder who that is.", said Zola, "I think I've seen him before, but I don't know anything about him."
Mia pointed at something by the fishing shed. "Is that a pair of shark jaws and a stuffed Magikarp?"
Sure enough, there was a shark jaw model with a stuffed Magikarp sitting inside them.
"Well, that's a Pokemon-themed thing if I ever saw one.", commented Lulu.
Zoe smiled darkly. "There's a story about those shark jaws. Once, they belonged to a terrible beast known as Bruce. His appetite knew no bounds, and he'd eat anything, especially people."
Mia shivered slightly.
Zoe continued, "Long ago, a fisherman killed him, but Bruce's hunger was insatiable. He got his revenge, and his ghost bit off the hand that slew him! The fisherman died the next day, but that was not enough for Bruce. He continues to haunt this camp, biting off the left hand of whoever he can find...like this!"
She held up her left hand, except it was a bloody stump!
Mia screeched and jumped back, but Zoe just started laughing, and removed the rubber glove she'd put over her hand.
Mia took a few deep breaths to calm herself, then cried, "That wasn't very funny!"
Zola shrugged. "Sorry about that. It's kind of Zoe's thing. That was kind of mean, you know."
Zoe replied, "Nonsense, that was one of my nicer pranks!"
Just then, the boy who'd been sitting by the lake walked over. "What happened over here?", he asked.
Lulu replied, "Oh, Zoe just pulled a ghost story prank on our new friend. Nothing serious."
The boy nodded. "Okay, then."
"Who are you?", asked Zola.
The boy said, "Akio Minx, though most just call me Minx."
We all proceeded to introduce ourselves. Once we finished, Akio said, "It's nice to meet you all. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go take a walk."
He strode off. Once he was gone, I said, "You know, I get the feeling he's not too social."
Zola replied, "Eh, not many are. Looks like we've confirmed that the camp is indeed somewhat Pokemon-themed, what with the Magikarp and all. I wonder what else we'll find if we keep exploring."
Mia said, "Yeah! Let's go. Those jaws are kinda creeping me out."
Several of us shot a look at Zoe as we headed back up to the main campsite.
When we arrived, I could see that the students were on their various devices, presumably doing Pokemon stuff. I could also see Miss Melody nailing a schedule of the camp's activities to the walls of the cabins. Vernon was currently nowhere to be seen.
As soon as Miss Melody finished setting up the list, we headed over to investigate it.
The list read:
Day 1: Welcome to Camp Pokemon!
Day 2: Pokemon Scavenger Hunt
Day 3: Tournament Registration
Day 4: Tournament: Kanto
Day 5: Pokemon Pokedex Challenge
Day 6: Tournament: Johto
Day 7: Pokemon Cookout
Day 8: Tournament: Hoenn
Day 9: Pokemon Capture-The-Flag
Day 10: Tournament: Sinnoh
Day 11: Tournament: Unova
Day 12: Tournament: Kalos/Alola
Day 13: Tournament: Galar
Day 14: Last Day!
"Well, that is rather unspecific.", commented Zoe.
"It looks awesome!", exclaimed Mia.
I looked over the schedule again. "Looks like we're having a scavenger hunt tomorrow."
"I wonder what that entails.", Zola mused, "Maybe it's a trivia questionnaire or something?"
"Well, if it is a scavenger hunt, we should try to gather as much information on the campsite as possible so we can have an advantage.", I stated.
So we continued exploring for the rest of the day. (-o-)
As night fell, everyone was gathered by the firepit. With what I assumed was more magic, Vernon had gotten a roaring bonfire going in less then a minute. Now everyone was toasting hot dogs and making s'mores and having a good time.
We hadn't found anything related to the mystery Vernon had started, unfortunately. We had found more random Pokemon merch sitting around, though, and some of them were particularly creative. It had been fun trying to find them all.
As for Mia, she had become an unofficial member of the group. She was annoying in some ways, but we had still sorta become friends. I wondered if it would last beyond the camp, though.
I watched as Lulu stuffed a whole bar of chocolate between two golden marshmallows and Graham crackers, while Zoe attempted the same. Rei was smiling slightly as she watched them, which in her case meant that she was super happy.
I heard a roar of cheers as Eddie dared everyone that he could drink an entire bottle of ketchup. Then Steven stood up, and challenged him to see who could drain one faster. Soon the two of them were standing on a bench, holding a large bottle of ketchup up to their mouths.
Although it looked gross, I still couldn't help but watch, eagerly awaiting who would win.
Vernon blew his whistle, and they both started chugging. Much to everyone's surprise, the two finished the bottles at the exact same time! But it was not a surprise when the two of them promptly rushed off to drink an entire bottle of water in order to wash it down.
After that, Wendell stood up, and declared that he, my brother Erik, and Zeke would perform a song or two for everyone. Erik started clapping out a beat, and Zeke started strumming a cheery tune. Wendell burst out into a song about happy moments by the fire and golden dreams of the future. By the end of it, almost everyone was singing along, while Rei quietly clapped along with the beat.
After they finished, we resumed eating, as the stars filled the sky. I felt happy and peaceful, as everyone was socializing and enjoying the moment.
But all things come to an end, and soon we all went to bed smelling like smoke and stuffed after eating a bit too many marshmallows. Everyone got their own bed and trunk, and I was happy about that.
As everyone fell to sleep, I lay awake, fingering my silver necklace. It had, all in all, been a good first day, minus the Vernon mystery. I looked up at the many stickers of Flying-type Pokemon dotting the ceiling, trying to count them all.
But as I lay there, I heard Miss Melody walking outside. Curious, I snuck over to the door, peeping out of a crack to see what she was doing.
She sat down on one of the chairs outside, and started playing around with a ball of yarn in her hands. She kept looking around anxiously, as if expecting someone to show up.
Suddenly, there was a flash of golden light, and I had to restrain a gasp.
Floating in front of the porch was none other than the Pokemon Arceus!
Miss Melody stopped playing around with her yarn. "Lord Arceus. You summoned me?"
Arceus spoke in the voice of a grumpy middle-aged man. "Of course. Is it not unmistakable?"
Miss Melody replied, "No, but it doesn't hurt to verify. I see you've lost some weight?"
Arceus sighed deeply. "You know that that joke is not funny. I am not stuck in this golden ring any more than you are stuck to one form. Just because I like donuts doesn't mean a thing."
Miss Melody said, "Oh well. So, why do you need me tonight?"
Arceus replied, "The darkness is stirring again. The Unown have alerted me that fate is weaving strangely around the children of Perrington Elementary. This evening, the ones at the other three camps mysteriously disappeared. It doesn't take much effort to determine that our enemy is coming for these ones. Although the presence of two Guardians is repelling them for now, they are coming soon."
Miss Melody frowned. "Well, this is escalating quickly. What do you need me to do?"
Arceus said, "Your unique talents can unlock these children's destiny and allow them to aid us against our foes. They must learn the truth, gain the powers necessary to deal with it, and most importantly, we CANNOT let them get captured. Do you understand me, Mew?"
I had to restrain another gasp. Miss Melody was actually Mew!?
Miss Melody/Mew replied, "What about the last time? You aren't expecting me to do it again? Such a sudden-"
"Mew.", Arceus interrupted forcefully, "Our enemy is at a level of power not seen since we first defeated him. Desperate times call for desperate measures."
Miss Melody/Mew sighed. "Well, I haven't done anything like this in a while. It won't work instantly, will take a couple days to cycle through them all."
Arceus replied, "We have some time, and when it starts we'll throw them off the scent. Do it now, before it's too late. Remember Cyan."
Miss Melody/Mew looked worried. "What am I going to tell them...Very well, my lord. As you wish."
With a soft flash, she turned into a Mew, floating in the air. As I watched, she rose her tiny paws in the air, and a shimmer of rainbow energy expanded from her. It spread across the camp, and when it passed through me I felt a strange chill echo throughout my body.
As the energy dissipated, Miss Melody/Mew sighed, "It is done. The first ones will start happening in the morning."
Arceus nodded. "Good. Now I will go visit Victini and have him boost the wards, giving us time for it to take effect. Fear not, Mew. Cyan will be avenged."
He then dissolved into nothingness. Mew turned back into Miss Melody, and sat down with an aching sigh. She looked lost in thought, and I crept back to bed before she realized I was there.
I had no idea what just happened, but it worried me. The vague language didn't help matters, and it was almost like they were purposefully hiding info from eavesdropping. I wish I knew what they were talking about, but I had no clue.
All I knew was that something very strange was going on. (-o-)
AN: Next chapter, we're finally going to put the "TF" into this TF fic! Please, if you like this story, please submit a character! We still have 24 slots to go! Thank you in advance!