The sun slowly rose over the island, bathing the place in fine, golden light. A wild Pelipper that was silently resting woke up and flew out of its nest, searching the sea for anything to eat before slamming straight into the back of a girl made of gems and falling straight onto the dock.

"Last time on Total Pokémon: Rebooted!" cried Diancie. "Our now twenty-eight contestants tested their athletic abilities—again—in their third challenge of the competition!"

"It was a race around the island," explained Zeraora, walking onto the dock. "First team to have all its members cross the finish line would win immunity."

"Easy, right? Not with these bozos. People were supposed to work in teams, and no one did. But, really, what do you expect with these people?" chuckled Diancie.

"We did say people could use their powers, but I don't think anybody did," noted Zeraora. "That is, except for Phoebus, who, using his psychic powers, stayed out of sight for most of the race."

"An oddly cocky Aero tried to fly, but was met with a fall into the river, a concussion, and, somehow, victory for him and Alice," said Diancie. "Yeah, I don't get it either."

"The first alliance formed between Gwen, Catrina and Gregory," uttered Zeraora, "who decided to vote for Mecca. She had destroyed a pitcher with her hyperactivity, leading her to become a prime candidate for elimination—but not the only one."

"See," Diancie explained, "Daisy and Katie, perhaps the first pair of best friends made on this season, were just blabbering. Except they were on opposing teams. This had pushed them very far back and, soon enough, only the two remained. Whichever one crossed the line first would get their team immunity. But neither decided to rush."

"Both strolled down like they were in a high street, chatting about fashion and reality TV. Not running, like they were supposed to," scoffed Zeraora. "Everyone screamed at them to rush. Neither did."

"So, it was down to the last line. One millimetre, literally. And, in the end, Daisy stood over the line first, causing the Kartanas to lose for the second time."

"The last poffin came down to Mecca and Katie, but, in the end, it was Mecca that scored immunity. Katie was out of the competition, breaking the heart of a certain Plusle."

"But that's yesterday's news," said Diancie. "It's today now, and today's episode will be more exciting, more heart-pumping and probably more of a letdown than yesterday's. Let's see how today goes, on Total Pokémon: Rebooted!"

The mess hall was as loud as usual. Litten was preparing breakfast for everyone and whistling along to a tune as he blended up smoothies, while the remaining contestants were sitting and chatting about all sorts of stuff, such as the previous challenges, how their family was doing and what they planned to do once they were inevitably eliminated. This chatter came especially from the Poipoles' table.

"I would kill for a foot massage," groaned Devin, stretching out his right foot, which cracked and popped rather grossly.

"Wouldn't we all…" muttered Doriann.

A little further down the table was Daisy. She was whining.

"My best friend, gone!" she sulked. "The one person I related to!" Her tears dropped onto her food, making their way through the crevices and cracks and onto the floor, where a puddle was slowly forming.

Torracat rubbed his temples and groaned. "Yes, we know. You kept us all awake last night."

"She was the best! The best friend I could've asked for, and now she's gone!"

Torracat rolled his eyes.

Alice was talking with Aero. "You okay today?"

"I-I think so," the Starly said, his spectacle-covered eyes slowly looking up to meet the Minccino's. "M-my head still hurts, but I th-think I'll be okay."

"Good." Alice gave the bump on his forehead a tiny kiss. Aero blushed a little in response.

Daisy continued to wail.

"Shut up!" screamed Torracat.

"I miss her so much!"

"You met her, what, four days ago? You're on different teams and you hardly hung out together. How in the actual heck have you managed to create such a strong bond?"

Daisy sniffled. "Because I liked her, and she liked me…"

"You two shouldn't've even met!"

"Torracat, can you stop? For once?" Alice furrowed her brow and turned to Daisy. "C'mere."

The Plusle stood up and walked over to Alice, who hugged her. Daisy let out a meek little smile.

"I'm here for you," she smiled, as Aero put his wing around Daisy. "But not you," she muttered at Torracat.

"Torracat needs to learn a little thing called sympathy," said Alice. "He needs to realise making his team win isn't all he should care about."

"Alice is so soft I could cut her with a butter knife," snarled Torracat, imitating the action with a knife he'd stolen from the cafeteria. "You need to be of some use for your team, too. Aero and Laisy aren't the only people here, ya know? Oh! And Daisy. Shut up. We all know you like Katie. No. One. Cares." He turned around and let out a tiny chuckle. "Laisy."

At the Kartanas' table, the brand new alliance was engaging in a conversation.

"I'm still a little confused," said Gregory. "Didn't you say that Mecca would get out, not Katie?"

"You did convince other people to vote for her, right?" asked Catrina.

"Yeah," Gwen lied.

"So maybe I forgot to convince other people," muttered Gwen. "What they don't know can't hurt them."

"We need more people in this alliance," spat Gwen. "Three isn't enough."

"Oh," Gregory said, chewing on some bread. "Who else could we get?"

"I know we voted for her, but," Gwen whispered, "Mecca."

Catrina gasped. "But why?"

"She could prove useful."

"And she's gullible," laughed Gwen.

"And who else?" asked Gwen.

"Cali?" suggested Gregory.

"No!" interjected the Lopunny. "Not Cali. She's friends with Gloria, who hates me. Oh! And she hates you two too, remember?"

"Oh, yeah, I forgot," said Gregory, sheepishly.

"Leaf!" realised Gwen. "I think we're on good terms. She dressed my wound yesterday."

"Okay, then."

"Leaf, Mecca, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Okay…?" they said. The two walked with Gwen, out to the plaza in front of the hall.

"I started an alliance with Catrina and Gregory yesterday, but we need more members. You wanna join?"

"What do we get?" Mecca asked.

"I'll protect you two from elimination and get you to the final five, of course."

Leaf looked sceptical. "And?"

"I'll give you anything you want."

"Anything?"

Gwen sighed quietly. "Not this again. Anything."

"Fine."

"Mecca likes!"

Gwen chuckled and rubbed her hands together. "Good."

"I hope this alliance works out in the end," Leaf sighed. "From my many years of reality TV watching, I know that most of them don't really work out and—"

"Five people out of thirteen isn't the majority," said Gwen, using her paws to calculate, "but it still works. And besides, there's enough morons on this team that I can convince to vote for who I want."

"Alliance tiiiiime!" sang Mecca. "I'm very excited. I finally have someone to talk about stuff I like with. Gwen's a bit mean but I know it's in good spirit and she means it. She isn't just rude for the heck of it. She has reasons. And, like, there's three other people. If they can trust her then I can trust her. And, if I can trust her, I hope more—"

"I can mould these doofs into whatever I want," Gwen snarled. "They really are so gullible."

"This reminds me of a fun group thing I did with my school once, many, many, many years ago," continued Mecca. "We had to be in groups, and initially I complained but in the end, I hit it off with these people and I still talk with them. Sure, I fell out with one for a few weeks but we got back together and—"

The chatter throughout the hall continued until the sound of a door slamming open drowned it out. The door shook the thin walls of the hall, shaking a bunch of ornaments, and knocked a plate onto the ground which smashed instantly.

"Not another one," Litten muttered.

"Morning, campers!" cried Diancie. Her shout pretty much put an end to all of the conversations almost instantly.

Alice groaned. "Someone's up."

"I hope you're prepared for today's challenge," smiled Zeraora, "because—"

"It's not some stupid 'active' challenge, is it?" Logan moaned. "My legs can't deal with that again."

"No, it's not," said Diancie. "Finish your brekkie and be at the stage in ten."

"I don't understand Diancie," murmured Alice. "How can you be so chirpy at eight in the morning?"

"Diancie says stuff like that and then goes and does exactly the opposite," said Logan. "Imagine doing the opposite of what you said you'd do. Couldn't be me…"

The twenty-seven contestants made their way down to the stage. It looked exactly the same as it had been during the second challenge, complete with the broken floorboards and splinters from when the contestants had fallen head-first into them two days prior.

Each contestant sat in one of the chairs in front of it as Diancie attempted to push three podiums onto the stage: one coloured yellow with the Kartanas' logo on it, another purple with the Poipoles' logo on it, and the other just plain. The coloured podiums had two buzzers on each of them.

The scoreboard from the three previous challenges was lowered down and hooked to the top of the stage by some interns. One of them, a Pikachu, fell from the top of the stage and slammed back-first onto the floor. He let out a long groan and slowly walked off.

"Is this a game show challenge?" Torracat asked.

"Pretty much," nodded Zeraora. "Litten came up with this idea at a meeting last night."

"Of course."

"He's the one that'll explain everything, so put your hands together for him!"

Litten appeared from behind a tree and walked up the stairs and onto the stage. "Hello." He gulped, looking at the people in the audience. "S-so, I came up with a challenge. As you can see, it's a sorta—"

"Oh, get on with it!" cried Torracat.

"Shut it," Litten frowned. "It's a quiz about region trivia."

"Are they running out of ideas already?" scoffed Torracat. "It's the fourth challenge. You can't be so unprepared that you have to get ideas from Litten. Seriously."

"There are four different rounds, each with ten questions," explained Litten. "Before each round, you'll need to select two people to answer the questions. Every time you answer a question correctly, your team gets a point. The team with the most points at the end of the challenge wins immunity. Simple. Oh! And before I forget, the people in the audience are not allowed to shout out the answer, or your team'll be penalised."

"You guys need to go backstage and sort out who's going up," said Diancie. "You lot have five minutes to prepare. Go!"

The campers shuffled their way backstage.

"I'm the team leader!" cried Gwen, almost immediately after the Kartanas gathered.

"Says who?" asked Gloria, raising an eyebrow.

"Me, and Gregory, Catrina, Leaf and Mecca."

Shawn looked at Gwen. "What?"

"Gwen's started an alliance. Not a surprise, really," murmured Shawn. "If there's anyone up their own butt enough to wanna start an alliance, it's her. And no, I'm not joining it, before anyone asks. I'm not gullible."

Shawn put his palm to his face and sighed. "Fine. But don't force everyone to do what you wanna do."

Gwen glared at him. "I won't."

"Sure…"

"Yeah, Shawn's not joining the alliance," said Gwen. "I mean, he absolutely doesn't want to, but, even if he did, I'd never let him in."

The Poipoles were unsurprisingly disorderly.

"Hey, we all need to cooperate if we wanna win this thing," said Shawna. "Like, we need to elect a team leader quick before Diancie comes, like they did over there."

"'Elect'," Torracat muttered, making air quotes with his paws. "Gwen declared herself the leader and her cronies accepted it immediately."

"What about the other members? Did they accept her?"

"Don't ask me."

Torracat looked up at the camera. "You ever wonder what Gwen does in her spare time? Scowl in front of the mirror?"

"So, who's it gonna be?" asked Xayah.

"Do we need a team leader?" Logan scowled. "If we do, I can—"

"Good point," said Hunter. "Just someone to lead whoever on and that's it."

"Is that not a team leader?" Marissa wondered.

"I guess, but it's not as much control as Miss Alliance-Maker has on her team," uttered Torracat, pointing at the Kartanas, who Gwen was bossing around.

Diancie stuck her head through the curtains. "One minute, y'all better make your way out front soon!"

"Okay, so, we need to choose the two Pokémon that're going up," said Gwen. Almost immediately, Gregory and Catrina shot their tiny arms into the air.

"They're going on first," Gwen declared.

"Says—" began Gloria. Gwen raised her eyebrow and glanced up to where Mecca and Leaf were sitting. "Right…"

Gloria sighed. "Does anyone else give a crap about this team? Is everyone seriously fine with Gwen making the rules? Gosh."

Clacie smiled. "Fine with me."

Gloria grumbled.

"Me too!" Dallas smiled.

"And me," said Jasmine.

Lyko grinned. "Okay!"

"Eh," Shawn shrugged.

"Whatever, fine," uttered Gloria, rolling her eyes.

"Welcome to the Total Pokémon Geography Bee!" Diancie shouted. "Representing the Pushy Poipoles, we have Shawna and Marissa!"

The two entered from the back of the stage, grinning and waving. Marissa bowed a little before sitting at the podium. A few of the audience members cheered and clapped in response.

"Okay, on, on!" Gwen ushered. The two bug Pokémon, who were chatting, ran onto the stage.

"And here are your Kartana contestants, Gregory and Catrina!"

This was met with a loud racket from the team, except Gloria, who groaned a little and looked to the side.

"Now, I'm not going to be asking the questions and neither is Zeraora," announced Diancie. "That honour is going to Litten."

Litten stepped up to the plain podium and grinned mildly. "Okay."

Diancie left the stage and sat at the back with Zeraora.

Litten pulled some cue cards out of the podium. "Okay then," he gulped.

"Come on!" Torracat screamed. Alice frowned at him again.

"Just… let's get on with this."

"Round one: city and town trivia!" cried Litten. "Are you ready?"

"Yes, we're ready," said Catrina.

"We are as well," smiled Marissa.

Dramatic game show music began to play as Litten took the first cue card. "What is the most populous city in the Pokémon world?"

Shawna hit the buzzer almost immediately. "Wyndon!"

A buzzing sound came from the speakers above. "No, I'm sorry, that's incorrect," said Litten. "Kartanas, it's up to you. If you can get this right you get the point."

Catrina thought for a second. "Uh, Lumiose City?"

"Correct! One point to the Kartanas!" The point showed up on the scoreboard: 'Krazy Kartanas: 1, Pushy Poipoles: 0'.

"Next question, in which town does Brock come from?" read Litten.

"Brock, the Gym Leader?" asked Shawna. "Not—"

"No, not the janitor from middle school!" called Shawn.

"Oh, okay," said Shawna. Before she could hit the buzzer, Gregory hit his.

"Pewter City!"

"Yes! Another point to the Krazy Kartanas!"

"Okay, now. Which city is connected to Nacrene City by the Skyarrow Bridge?"

Marissa was the one that hit the buzzer this time. "Skyarrow Bridge is located in Unova, so… Castelia City, I believe."

"Indeed. The Poipoles now have one point!" cried Litten. The Poipoles in the audience cheered.

"Question 4…"

"One must admit, the challenge is easier today," Marissa smiled. "I may not be the smartest owl but I know my way around things."

"Which Alolan town does Team Skull operate from?"

Gregory hit the buzzer. "Po Town?"

"That's correct!"

Krazy Kartanas: 3, Pushy Poipoles: 1.

"Question 5: Which town in Unova is famous for its villas?"

"Undella Town!" cried Catrina after slapping her buzzer.

"Cooorrect! The Kartanas get yet another point!"

"Damn it!" hissed Shawna.

"I think this challenge is about timing, really, not knowledge," said Shawna. "Always have the answer on the tip of my tongue, then I go to hit the buzzer and ZZZ! Yet another point to the Kartanas!"

"Next question. Which town is famous for its tower filled with graves of dead Pokémon?"

Marissa buzzed in immediately. "Lavender Town!"

Litten looked at her, a little shocked. "...Yes."

Marissa shrugged. "What?"

Litten shook it off. "With that, the Poipoles have two points, though the Kartanas still lead with four," he said, flipping to the next cue card. "Gregory, Catrina, you're doing well."

The two grinned in unison.

"Question 7: Which city houses the Hoenn Pokémon League? This one might be a toughie."

"All four contestants thought for a minute. Gwen whipped out her phone and searched it up. "Ever Grande City!" she mouthed.

Gloria looked at her and hissed, "Get off your phone! Stop cheating!"

"Shhh!"

"What? It's not like anyone cares," said Gwen. "Besides, I wasn't shouting, so…"

Catrina glanced at Gwen. "Did you hear what she said?" she asked Gregory. The Dustox silently shook his head.

Litten looked at the teams. "Okay, you all seem to be confused, so here's a clue. There are no proper buildings in this city and not many people live in it."

"Oh! I've got it!" Catrina replied, hitting her buzzer. "Ever Grande City!"

"That's right!" cried Litten, as another point was added to the Kartanas' total.

Catrina and Gregory high-fived. "Knew you could do it!" The two grinned at each other and each blushed a little.

"Okay, three more questions and then it's time for the second round. Question 8! Which city in Unova is either futuristic or traditional?"

"'Either'? Whatcha mean 'either'?" Shawna asked.

"Don't worry, just answer the—"

A buzzing sound came from the Kartana's podium. "Opelucid City!" cried Gregory.

"Yes!"

Krazy Kartanas: 6, Pushy Poipoles: 2.

"Ugh!" shouted Torracat. "If we're gonna win this they actually need to try!"

"The penultimate question of the first round is…" began Litten, "which city do I and Torracat come from?"

"What?!" cried Catrina. "How-what-wha?!"

Diancie snickered. "I told him to put that one in," she told Zeraora.

Both teams looked utterly baffled.

"Okay, that's just not fair!" cried Alice, waking up Aero. The Starly had been resting on her lap as he didn't really want to do anything today. "Oh, sorry."

"It's fine," Aero tiredly muttered, laying back down and falling back asleep swiftly.

"Okay, okay, how about I word it a bit differently," said Litten. "Same answer, different question." Litten paused for a second, thinking of landmarks and other things his hometown was known for. "Got it! Which city in Kalos is home to the Tower of Mastery?"

"Litten's from Kalos?" gasped Xayah. "You don't see that many Kalosian Littens, do you?"

This question stumped the contestants. Gwen pulled out her phone again, eliciting a glare from Gloria. The Lopunny stuck her tongue out and put the phone down.

"I think I got it," said Catrina, hitting her buzzer. "Is it Santalune City?"

"Close, but no! Poipoles, do you know it?"

Shawna and Marissa chatted about the answer. "The Tower of Mastery is on the coast, right?" wondered Shawna.

Marissa nodded. "'Tis a tidal island."

Gregory slapped his head. "Crap! I know what it is!"

Catrina frowned. "What?"

"Shalour City," he whispered in her ear.

"Right…"

"Tidal islands are cool," Gregory smiled. "They're islands when the tide is up and they're attached to the land when it's down. We learned about them once in Geography and Shalour City did come up, haha."

The Decidueye and the Gardevoir went back to back with their conversation, debating where on the coast the Tower of Mastery was.

"Have you ever even been to Kalos?" asked Shawna.

"Once. 'Twas fun, but a little boring at times." Marissa replied.

"And did you go to the coast?"

"No…"

"Do you two need another clue?" Litten sighed.

"I guess," said Shawna.

Litten looked through his notes, his phone and Holo Caster, and the cue cards. "Okay, the city produces a famous shortbread sold throughout the world called a sablé."

"Sablé, sablé, sablé," Marissa repeated. "A shortbread called a sablé."

"Oh! I know it!" Shawna slapped the button and shouted, "Shalour City!"

"Correct!" cried Litten. "The Shalour Sable. Tasty, especially with parmesan."

The Poipoles cheered as a third point was added to their total. While they still had three fewer points than the Kartanas, they were catching up.

"They've got loads of Shalour Sables at the bakery not far from my house," Shawna smiled. "If that had been the question, I would've got it immediately."

Litten sheepishly laughed. "Anyway, it's time for question 10 and the final question of this round. Put your hands on your buzzers because this is an easy one."

In response, the four contestants placed their hands softly on their respective buzzers.

"Which town…" began Litten.

Each camper leaned in closer.

"In Kanto…"

The four readied themselves.

"Is home to…"

Beads of sweat dripped from their foreheads.

"Professor Oak's lab?"

Each buzzer went off immediately, but it was a certain Beautifly who shouted the answer first.

"Pallet Town!"

"That's correct!" cried Litten. A loud holler came from the Kartanas in the audience as the scoreboard changed to 'Krazy Kartanas: 7, Pushy Poipoles: 3.'

"So, the Kartanas take an early lead," said Diancie. "We're gonna take a quick break and we'll be right back on Total Pokémon: Rebooted!"

During the break, Diancie had sent the teams backstage again.

"Okay, so, who are we sending on this round?" asked Lyko.

Gwen spat, "Gregory and Catrina. Again." Leaf and Mecca nodded in response.

"No!" cried Gloria. "Let some other people go up!"

"Why? You saw how great they did in this round."

"And? Why does that mean they go up again?"

"Because we can get an easy victory."

"How do you know that? Maybe we got lucky this round."

Jasmine pushed the two apart. "If we actually want to win this challenge you two need to stop bickering and cooperate for once," she frowned.

"Fine," the Gorebyss groaned.

"Fine," the Lopunny repeated.

"Thank you," Jasmine sighed.

"So, who are we going to send up?" Lyko asked again.

"Ooh! Ooh! Pick me! Pick me!" Mecca exclaimed.

"Good idea," said Gwen. "And Lyko, you too?"

"What the hey, I'm cool with that."

"Okay, so. We need to step up our game if we wanna win this round," uttered Remington.

Over on the Poipoles' side, the team members were choosing their contestants. No one on the team really hated each other like Gwen and Gloria, but, equally, no one really liked each other, except Aero and Alice.

"I don't mind going up," Alice smiled. "If any of you don't mind looking after Aero, of course." She glanced at Marissa. "Can you keep him safe?"

"Of course! Birds of a feather stick together!" she cried valiantly.

"Thanks." The Minccino took the still-sleeping Aero and carefully placed him in Marissa's large, brown wings. She smiled and carefully walked him to the audience seats.

"Okay, so, Alice and… who?" questioned Shawna. "Phoebus?"

The Espeon slowly turned to her and shook his head silently. Cold sweat dripped down the back of Shawna's neck in response.

Logan frowned. "Fine, I'll go up. But none of you complain when I get a question wrong, okay?"

"Your contestants for round two of the Total Pokémon Geography Bee from the Kartanas, Mecca and Lyko!" exclaimed Diancie.

The two walked onto the stage, waving and whooping as the audience cheered.

"And your Poipole contestants this round are…Alice and Logan!"

A smaller cheer came from the Poipoles in the audience, but it was enough to make Alice blush a little.

"And, of course, here's your host, Litten!"

The audience let out a massive whoop as he entered from backstage and clambered onto his podium. "The second round is a quick-fire round on Pokémon originally from certain regions. For each question, a random Pokémon will appear on the scoreboard and whichever team manages to correctly guess what region they were originally from gets the point."

"Ooh, nice," Mecca smiled, bracing herself.

"It's an easy bunch of questions," he noted, "but also some you can easily mess up on. Got that?"

"Yes," all four nodded.

"Okay." The game show music started again. "Question 1: Which region is this Pokémon from?"

Up on the scoreboard, a picture of an owl-like Pokémon chewing on a leaf appeared.

Alice hit her buzzer. "That's a Hoothoot, so… Johto, if I recall correctly."

"Indeed." A point was added to the Poipoles' total on the scoreboard. Krazy Kartanas: 7, Pushy Poipoles: 4.

"Question 2," said Litten. This time, a Gallade sitting on a bench was the image.

"Wow, really subtle," Shawn muttered.

Mecca hit her buzzer. "Hoenn, right? Shawn's from Hoenn, Mecca thinks."

"He is, but that's incorrect, sorry."

"Dang it!"

Logan confidently hit his buzzer. "Sinnoh."

"Yep!"

"Yes! Knew it!"

Krazy Kartanas: 7, Pushy Poipoles: 5.

"Question 3," began Litten. "Where's this Pokémon from?"

This time, the Pokémon on the scoreboard was a Milotic, diving from a tall diving board in what appeared to be a talent contest or sporting event.

"Ooh! Ooh!" Mecca exclaimed. She hit her buzzer and cried, "Hoenn! Hoenn!"

"Correct! You really like Hoenn, don't you?"

"Well, duh, it's my home region," she giggled. Subsequently, the scoreboard changed to 'Krazy Kartanas: 8, Pushy Poipoles: 5.'

"Question 4!" This time, it was a Sandaconda.

"Galar!" Alice cried after hitting the buzzer.

"Question 5!" A Litwick appeared.

"Unova," grinned Logan.

"Question 6!" It was a Meowth this time, one seemingly decked out in Team Rocket uniform.

"And that is a Meowth, from…Kanto," said Alice.

"Yes," Litten nodded. "With that, the score is tied up. The Kartanas have eight points and the Poipoles have eight too,"

Gwen started to get annoyed.

"And this is why I wanted Gregory and Catrina to go up," Gwen groaned, folding her arms.

"Question 7, then," said Litten. For this question, a small, white, fox-like Pokémon appeared on the screen. It nestled in its mother's plethora of messy yet elegant tails, which were equally as white.

Logan buzzed in first. "Alola! That's an Alolan Vulpix!"

Litten frowned. "Well, yeah, it is an Alolan Vulpix," he explained, "but they aren't originally from Alola, so…"

"What?! It's incorrect?!" the Chespin interjected. "You—that isn't fair!"

"I mean, he did ask for where they're originally from, and Vulpix isn't originally from Alola," shrugged Alice.

"And they got a picture of me," said Shawn. "I'm from Hoenn, but Gallades come from Sinnoh." Alice nodded.

"That's stupid! You threw that one in to knock me off!" he screamed. He stomkped hard and cracked another floorboard. "You know what? This challenge was stupid, I'm leaving!"

Logan stormed off the stage and ran as far away as he could.

"You lot are a bunch of hypocrites!"

Zeraora snorted a little.

"Well," Litten blinked. "That was…something. Alice, are you fine doing this on your own?"

"Of course," she said, determined.

Lyko hit his buzzer. "We're still doing this, right? Because the answer is Kanto."

"Right! Another point to the Kartanas."

The team cheered once again.

"The Kartanas lead again, but the Poipoles could catch up with question 8. Which region is this Pokémon originally from?"

It was a Furfrou this time, one who was strutting on a catwalk. Daisy seemed engrossed by the picture.

Alice hit the buzzer and snapped her out of her trance. "Kalos!"

"Yes! We're tied again with two more questions!"

"I don't know what got over me," said Logan. "I might have overreacted. But you can't say it was all my fault!"

"Question 9: Which region is this Pokémon from?"

The Pokémon from this round looked like a floating soft-serve ice cream cone, albeit an extra frosty one, complete with a cone made entirely of ice.

"Ooh," Alice put her tiny paws on her chin. "If it's ice cream, it might be—"

Someone slammed on their buzzer. "Unova!" exclaimed Mecca.

"Correct!" Litten cheered. The scoreboard now read 'Krazy Kartanas: 10, Pushy Poipoles: 9'. "Okay, so that leaves us with one more question. If one of you two get it" —he pointed at Mecca and Lyko— "the Kartanas will lead by two points. But if Alice gets it, you'll be tied.

"That is how points work," Gwen said.

Litten just shook his head. "Well, onto the final question. Get ready!"

As in the previous round, the contestants braced themselves by grasping their buzzers carefully yet impatiently.

For the final question of the second round, the image of the Pokémon was dark and it was difficult to make out which one it was exactly. It looked like a Pikachu.

"That's not a Pikachu, is it?" Lyko whispered to Mecca.

"No, Pikachus are soft, cuddly things," she whispered back. "This is scary."

"What else looks like a Pikachu?" Alice said to herself.

"Yeah, couldn't make it easy for them in the last question," Diancie said to Zeraora. Zeraora chortled.

Alice noticed some very, very faint dark spots on its belly. Those were eyes! It was a Mimikyu! She slapped the buzzer one last time. "Alola! That's a Mimikyu!"

"Ding, ding, ding, ding! And the final point of this round goes to the Pushy Poipoles!" cried Litten. Each team now had exactly ten points.

The Poipoles in the audience let out yet another holler. This woke up Aero, who looked up and around in confusion.

"Oh, uh, h-hi, Marissa," he stammered.

"Greetings," the Decidueye grinned.

"D-did we win?"

"No, no, not yet, but we have won this round. Or… well… Alice won it."

"Hey!" Logan shouted. "I helped! Selfish little twerps…"

Alice smiled softly at Aero and walked over to him. "Did Marissa take good care of you?"

"Y-yeah."

"Good, good."

The Minccino hugged Marissa. "Thank you for the help. I owe you one."

"A glass of mead is all I need!" Marissa laughed. "But actually, you don't need to pay me back, all is fine!"

"Aww…" Alice carefully picked up Aero and sat him safely on her lap.

"If you need me to take care of the lad, do not fret to ask."

Alice gave another big grin to Marissa as she began to slowly caress Aero back to sleep. At least she knew someone on her team who wasn't a self-indulgent jerk. Other than Aero or Daisy, of course.

"Alright, campers, you can all go get some lunch!" spoke Diancie, through a megaphone. "Zeraora and I are gonna go looking for Logan. You have fifteen minutes, and then it's round three!"

"So, Mecca, can you explain to me why you did so badly last round?" asked Gwen.

"Badly?" the Minun questioned, slurping a plate of spaghetti down like it was going out of fashion.

"Yes, badly."

"We got three questions right," Mecca said, eating.

"Three. Out of ten."

"So…?"

"That's not even half," muttered Gwen. "And you only answered two of those questions."

"It was a quick round," noted Mecca, her mouth full of food.

"And? You're hyper all the time. It should be a piece of cake."

"Well, sorry."

"Listen, Mecca, I'll let you off, but you've got to try," said Gwen. "The reason you're in this alliance is that you're smart and full of energy."

"I thought it was because she's usef—" Gregory began. Gwen elbowed him sharply in the stomach. "Right, got it," he retched.

"What did you say?" Mecca asked Gregory.

"Never mind."

"Logan!" Diancie called.

"Lo-gaan!" Zeraora repeated.

"Dude, where are you? I don't want to have to file a missing person report today…"

"Would make for an interesting elimination, though," murmured Zeraora.

"You're not wrong."

"Don't listen to anything Miss Queen Bee tells you," Gloria told Mecca.

"Oh, shove it." Gwen put her hands to her hips. "And, Mecca, don't listen to her."

"Okay!" cried Mecca.

Gloria sighed. "Whatever. You're gonna get what's coming to you one of these days, Gwen."

"That'll be the day," Gwen muttered. "That will be the day."

"Hey, uh, campers," said Litten, "I don't know where Diancie and Zeraora went, but you lot have five more minutes."

"He couldn't have gone too far," said Zeraora, walking through the branch-filled route Marissa had created the day before. "He's not a big guy."

"Yeah, and he was nowhere near the fastest runner yesterday," added Diancie.

After lunch, all of the campers (sans Logan) returned to the stage, where Litten and a few interns were busy preparing the stage for the next round.

"Yeah, they still aren't back," he sighed. "I dunno when we're gonna start round 3."

"Maybe we can just quit now," Torracat unhelpfully suggested. Shawna smacked him for what must've been the billionth time. "Right, right…"

Litten's Holo Caster buzzed. It was Diancie. "Dunno when we're gonna be back, so y'all can start the next round without us. And without Logan, of course."

"Well, you heard her, get going!"

"Can we send up Gregory and Catrina then?" questioned Gwen.

Gloria sighed. "Do I have to ask why again?"

"I mean they did do…way better than we did," laughed Lyko, sheepishly moving his paws through his long furry mane. "Seven points against our three."

"And you never know what the questions are on," added Shawn. "Safe bet is going with the geography geeks."

"I guess that's true," shrugged Gloria. "Just listen. Don't let Gwen control everything this team does just to satisfy her needs." Gwen scowled at her.

"Gloria doesn't know the first thing about reality TV, does she?" muttered Gwen. "This is a Lillipup-eat-Lillipup world, you know. And besides, if there aren't leaders, what are there?"

Orville stood in front of the Poipoles, his arms and legs straight like an army officer. "If we seriously want to win this we need to—"

"Step up our game and send some smart people, we know," said Torracat. Before Shawna could hit him again, he grabbed her hand and squished it. "Don't."

"Well, if you're so smug why don't you go up?"

"Maybe I will."

"And…? Who else?" asked Alice, softly caressing Aero. "I'm not going up again."

Daisy sighed. "I'll go. Katie would have wanted me to."

"Ugh, seriously?"

"Come on, I want to see the show!" Diancie exclaimed. "Where are you?"

"Dude, we don't want a lawsuit," said Zeraora.

The two continued searching before coming across the confessional. From the inside, they could hear crying.

"And-and-and… I just want them all to know that I'm sorry," Logan sulked. "I overreacted and I went—"

The door to the confessional opened. "Is this seriously where you've been all this time?" asked Diancie.

"Y-yeah?"

"Your team isn't proud of you, y'know. Come on."

Logan sighed. "Yeah, I deserve that."

Logan moodily walked back to the stage and sat down. "Hello."

"He was crying in the confessional," said Zeraora. "Did we miss much?"

"Not really," replied Litten. "They chose their contestants for this round, at least."

"Ooh." Zeraora sat down and put his elbow on the armrest, resting his head on his fist. "Tell us more!"

"Well, they're still backstage. You want me to invite them in front?"

"Yeah," uttered Diancie.

"Okay," nodded Litten. He looked through the curtains and called, "Okay, time to get going!"

This round's four contestants went to their respective podiums while the other campers sat in the audience area again.

"So, this time, the Poipoles will be represented by… Torracat and Daisy," announced Litten. "Two people who couldn't be less alike."

Torracat gave him a dirty look, which Daisy attempted to imitate.

"And the Kartanas will be represented by… Gregory and Catrina. Again."

"Yeah, Gwen said we did really good in the first round so she wanted us up again," said Gregory.

Litten looked at the audience and at the Lopunny, who gave him an uneasy smile.

"Well then, it's on to round three."

"What?"

Logan's return had not made many of the Poipoles particularly happy. As soon as they emerged from backstage and noticed the Chespin, their moods quickly worsened. They frowned, scowled and stared at him, making him rather uncomfortable.

"Listen, I'm sorry, okay? My temper got the better of me and… I just overreacted. I doubt any of you will ever forgive me but I truly am sorry."

"I don't know if he's trying to toy with our emotions or whatever, to stop us from voting him off if we lose," said Devin, "but it's not gonna work. No matter if he's being genuine or not."

Alice was never fond of Logan. To her, he was simply one of the plethora of jerks and selfish losers on the bad team in the competition. But she wasn't a mean person and she usually helped people who were being attacked. She felt conflicted.

"Marissa, do you like Logan?" she asked.

"I haven't an opinion on him, to be honest," Marissa answered. "He is not the nicest person here, but he is not the meanest, either."

"True."

Did she want to help him? He had been a lot of help in the challenge, before, of course, all that, but he was rather self-centered and, of course, a hypocrite.

Alice sighed. "Logan? Could you come here for a second?"

Litten took the microphone and placed it on his podium. "Round 3 of 4! For this round, the questions will be on landmarks. These could be ones in cities and towns or natural and striking ones on routes and in the sea. Anything goes!"

"Yes!" cried Catrina. "My speciality!"

"So, without further ado," Litten began, "let's begin."

Each contestant stood up to their podium in anticipation.

"Question 1: Which mountain in Kanto experiences frequent meteor showers?"

Catrina hit her buzzer. "Ooh, ooh! Mount Moon!"

"Correct!" Another point was added to the Kartanas' total. With that, the scoreboard now read 'Krazy Kartanas: 11, Pushy Poipoles: 10'.

The Kartanas in the audience cheered, yet Gloria still looked unhappy.

Gwen frowned. "Listen, I know you don't like me, and you don't like Catrina and Gregory as a result, but you really have to admit they're good at what they're doing."

"I guess that's true," said Gloria. "But you really can't make this challenge, nay competition, all about you. That's just gonna make people despise you."

"As if half of the island doesn't hate my guts."

"They only hate you 'cause you hate them. If you try to like people, they're—"

The two's conversation was abruptly interrupted by another cheer from the Kartanas.

"And the Krazy Kartanas bag another point!" cried Litten.

"Wait a second," uttered Gwen, "what did we just miss?"

"Oh, Greg answered a pretty difficult question," smiled Catrina. "It was 'Which hotel in Wyndon is named after Roselia?' and the answer was the Rose of the Rondelands!"

"Gr-Greg?" Gregory faintly blushed. "I-I… yeah. I guess I'm lucky we went on that Galar sightseeing trip all those years ago," he laughed.

"Yes, right," mumbled Gwen.

"So, time for the third question, then," said Litten. "You need to think back to the first round for this one. Question 3: What's the largest and longest bridge in Unova?"

Surprisingly, it was Torracat that hit his buzzer first. "Skyarrow Bridge," he confidently said.

"That's right!" cried Litten. "Good job, you got one correct."

Torracat simply grumbled, not saying a word.

"Question 4, let's stay on the bridge theme. Which bridge in Kanto is also known as Route 17?"

"That's the cycling route, isn't it?" Gregory asked Catrina.

"Yeah, but I don't think it's called that," she replied. "It's…um…the Cycling Road." She hit the buzzer. "It's the Cycling Road!"

"Indeed!" exclaimed Litten.

Krazy Kartanas: 13, Pushy Poipoles: 11.

"Okay, then, time for the fifth of five questions. How many caves are there in Kalos?"

Clacie lit up at the sound of that question.

"They put a cave question in that round!" she gasped. "If I'd known that, I'd've offered to go up immediately! Even though I don't know much about the other stuff…"

"Oh gosh, this one's difficult," said Daisy.

"Yeah," agreed Torracat.

Daisy thought long and hard about the question. "Aren't you from Kalos?" she asked him.

"Well, yeah," he replied, "but I don't know everything about it."

"You lot seem to be confused again, so…" Litten brought up a map of Kalos on the screen, which was not marked with the caves but did sort of point them out.

"Do you count Victory Road as a cave?" Catrina asked.

"Yes."

"Okay."

Each team looked thoroughly at the map, pointing at parts with their fingers and discussing them.

"I think there's one which is like a den or something," said Torracat. "Not sure what it was, never really paid attention in class."

Daisy sighed a little. "And you went up so easily…"

Gregory was struggling. "One, two, three, hmm…no, I just lost count, darn it!"

"Don't worry, you'll figure it out," Catrina smiled. Gregory smiled back.

This went on for about five minutes before one team had a definite answer—unsurprisingly, Gregory and Catrina.

Gregory slapped the button this time. "We have an answer of… seven. That should be right."

Litten nodded. "Yet another point to the Kartanas."

Catrina and Gregory high-fived and whooped.

"Okay then, ready for the next question?"

Catrina and Gregory nodded, but Torracat and Daisy were more hesitant.

"No breaks?" Torracat put his hands to his hips and made a very fake-looking pouting face. Daisy imitated him, albeit doing it even less convincingly.

"Can't you hang on?" questioned Litten.

"I'm tired…"

"So am I. Tough crap."

"Smug little twerp," said Torracat. "Can't say I'm not a little impressed, though, guess some of me rubbed off on him."

"Just…hang in for a few more rounds," Daisy uttered. "Then we can pause for a bit, okay?"

"Okay, I guess."

"I know what you're thinking. 'Torracat, don't you hate Daisy? Torracat, aren't you sick of her infernal racket?'," he said. "But listen. When she's not whining or blabbering on about Katie, she's a decent person. And she can be negative and rude sometimes, she's an Electric type."

"Okay, in Sinnoh there's an island off the coast called the Battle Zone," Litten explained. "For this question, you need to tell me which area isn't known for battling, and instead relaxing."

"It's the one that doesn't have a Poké Mart," said Catrina. "Resort something."

Daisy hit her buzzer. "Hey, it's the Resort Area!"

"Yes!" cried Litten. "The Poipoles get another point!"

The scoreboard was now 'Krazy Kartanas: 14, Pushy Poipoles: 12'.

"Question 7: What's the largest lake in Johto, home to the Red Gyarados?"

"I thought there was only one lake in Johto," Gregory discussed with Catrina.

"That's probably the answer, then," Catrina nodded.

Daisy buzzed in. "I think it's the Lake of Outrage."

"Aww, close, but wrong," said Litten. "That one's in Galar.

"Darn i—"

"The Lake of Rage!" Catrina screamed, right after hitting the buzzer yet again.

"Yes! Okay then, three more questions. For question 8, you need to…"

Zeraora yawned and looked at his watch. "It's 3 PM, how long is this gonna be?"

"I thought you were interested in this," said Diancie.

"I was, but my Arceus, this is boring…" he pouted. "Yes, the running challenge was way longer but at least the contestants had drama or something. This is just the campers answering questions back-to-back and sometimes getting mad at each other but nothing else."

In the time they had been chatting to each other, Catrina had answered another question on something obscure in Hoenn. Whatever it was had clearly made the Kartanas happy because the two had never heard a louder cheer.

"And that's yet another point for the Kartanas! Catrina, seriously, where do you learn this stuff?"

"Extra credit classes," she smiled, "and manga. Lots of manga."

Diancie rolled her eyes. "Wanna go get a bite to eat? I think Litten left some leftover sticky buns in his cabin."

"The glazed ones?"

"The glazed ones."

"Well, that's cool with me," Zeraora grinned. The two stood up and walked away.

The camera panned back to the competition. "This is the penultimate question of the penultimate round," explained Litten. "Currently, the Poipoles have twelve points but the Kartanas are blazing ahead with sixteen. At this rate, the Pushy Poipoles will be sending another camper home tonight."

The Kartanas cheered once more, while a sort of booing sound came from the Poipoles.

"Let's get on with it. Which abandoned supermarket in Alola, where that picture of Mimikyu was taken, is where Acerola's trial takes place?"

"Think creepy," said Catrina. "Any creepy abandoned supermarket come to your mind?"

"I… don't think so," replied Gregory.

"I think they opened one of those in Mauville City as part of that redevelopment thing," said Daisy. "Didn't really work but I think they still liked the 'megamart' idea."

"Megamart?" asked Torracat.

"Yeah, it was called a megamart, I remember that."

"Ah. What megamart, though?"

"Oh, I've been to it," Alice told Marissa. "Before it was, you know, abandoned."

"Was it the Thrifty Megamart?"

"It was, yes. Strange, I don't remember stuff in there really being that cheap. But Tapu Bulu destroyed it, it didn't want it built."

"Interesting."

"Tapu Bulu destroyed a lot of stuff on Ula'ula Island, actually," explained Alice. "Lovely island but covered in ruins."

"It's on Ula'ula Island, I'll give you that," Litten said to the contestants.

"Ooh! Ula'ula's tapu is Tapu Bulu," noted Catrina. "Tapu Bulu is kind, but it can be destructive. There was something on the news years ago about its destructive rampage of Tapu Village and the Thrifty Megamart… the Thrifty Megamart!" She buzzed in and screamed, "It's the Thrifty Megamart! Of course!"

"Yesss! You got it! Now, one last question, and it's back on mountains. What's the highest mountain in Sinnoh, where the Spear Pillar is?"

Daisy began to sweat. Something told her that she needed to answer the questions, and as soon as she could. "Oh, uh, uh," she spluttered, hitting the button, "Arceus Mountain?"

Torracat looked at her in sheer confusion. "Arceus Mountain?!" he cried, aghast. "Are you actually serious?"

"What? It was the first thing that came to my head!"

"I can't believe you…" he muttered. "You seriously… ugh! You cost us the last point because you said Arceus Mountain?! Why didn't you think for a second?"

Tears slowly began to leak out of Daisy's eyes. "I-I'm sorry…"

The Plusle ran off the stage and into the open hands of Alice, who sharply glared at Torracat.

"Get a grip," she spat, picking up Daisy and slowly stroking her. Daisy continued to cry.

Catrina and Gregory watched the whole ordeal unfold and they were taken aback. "Uh… should we say our answer? I don't know if it's a good idea," said Catrina.

"I…I guess…" uttered Litten.

"Well, then, we got Mount Coronet."

Litten, still aghast, added another point to the Kartanas' total, changing it to 'Krazy Kartanas: 18, Pushy Poipoles: 12'. He didn't care that she hadn't hit her buzzer.

The team was so flabbergasted by the feud that they didn't even notice the hefty lead they had over the Poipoles.

Ishtar glowered bitterly at Torracat. "You are cruel."

"As if you aren't," he snarled.

Diancie and Zeraora had already made themselves comfortable in Litten's cabin. They had already found the stash of sticky buns—they were under Litten's bed—and were busy devouring them.

"Should we stop letting Litten choose challenges?" asked Diancie, looking at her hands as if she was checking her nails and picking at them. "His first one was clearly a bore-fest."

Zeraora shrugged. "You've not known him for too long, maybe give him more of a chance."

"That's true, yeah…"

The two glanced at the television screens that transmitted a live feed of the cabins. As usual, it was empty, since everyone was still in their challenge; everyone except for a certain cat Pokémon, who had run to his cabin.

"Oh, lord, what happened now?" sighed Diancie. "As soon as we start to relax, too…"

Diancie and Zeraora went out of Litten's cabin (not without snagging a bunch of sticky buns) and walked to the communal area where the cabins, the confessional and the bathrooms were. Torracat was sitting on the step of the cabin of the Pushy Poipoles, muttering to himself.

"You okay, dude?" Diancie queried.

"Why do you care?" hissed Torracat.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry, just… did something happen?"

"Yeah. I don't want to explain, go talk to Litten or something. I need a shower…"

Diancie looked at Zeraora, who shook his head and shrugged. "How do Fire-types even take showers?" she asked.

"So, do you have your contestants for the final round?"

Litten had sent the campers back one last time for the fourth and final round of the challenge. He had asked the teams if they wanted to forfeit the challenge because of the whole debacle with Torracat and Daisy, but neither team wanted to back out. The Poipoles were falling far behind and they really needed the final round if they wanted a shot at winning the challenge. The Kartanas, or at least Gwen, wanted to continue to grow their impressive lead.

Again, the Kartanas chose Catrina and Gregory as their contestants for the round, and the Poipoles chose Shawna and Dennis. But Litten added a twist for the final round—instead of two campers, each team was to be represented by four.

This announcement was not received particularly well. The already disgruntled teams became simply distraught, and arguments and fights ensued. Soon enough, each team decided on their additional team members: the Poipoles selected Xayah and Hunter, and the Kartanas selected Gwen and Gloria.

Much of the team was confused or concerned about the decision. The two really did not like each other, yet had so eagerly accepted their place that it made even Catrina and Gregory a little worried.

"Yeah, we're ready," said Catrina, "just give us a moment."

Meanwhile, up top, the hosts had arrived at the stage.

"What mess did we just miss?" asked Diancie.

"A heck of a lot," Litten replied, "and it all started pretty much as soon as you started."

"Oh, Arceus…"

"Oh, Arceus indeed…" muttered Litten. "It's a lot to explain, I'll tell you two about it when the challenge is finished."

"Okay, then," said Zeraora.

Litten went backstage again. "Come up then, if you're all ready!" he told everyone.

All eight contestants from each team moved up to the stage while the other fourteen sat in their seats. Alice, Aero, Marissa, Daisy and Logan had been out front the whole time.

"I'm not saying they're in an alliance," said Gwen, "but they're in an alliance. And, I'm sorry, but my alliance is going to be the only alliance on this show."

Litten, for the final time, climbed up to the top of his podium. Subsequently, the round's contestants stood at their podiums—another intern had brought two extra podiums from who-knows-where and hastily shoved them next to the others.

"This round is a lot different to the others," he said. "Rather than ten questions, there's gonna be fifteen. Oh, and they're on absolutely anything to do with regions, no matter how obscure. I think this round could shake up the scores and add some suspense!"

"This seems right up my alley!" cried Zeraora. "Possibly."

"Just saying, there's, like, a 90% chance this is just here to pad out the episode's runtime," said Gwen.

"Okay, then, are you all ready?"

"Yes!" Catrina and Gregory cried in unison. The two laughed and blushed at each other, which caused Gloria to humph.

"I guess," uttered Xayah.

"Sir, yes, sir!" Dennis and Hunter saluted. Litten was admittedly taken aback by the commitment and a small, uncomfortable drop of sweat formed on his forehead.

"I'm ready," smiled Shawna.

"And I'm ready too," nodded Gwen. The Lopunny nudged Gloria, who groaned.

"I'm also ready, I guess…" she grumbled.

"Without further ado, then" —Litten wiped the sweat from his brow— "Let's start the fourth and final round of the Total Pokémon Geography Bee."

Everyone in the audience made themselves comfortable as Litten grabbed the cue cards for the final round.

"Question 1! Which mountain in Unova is full of valuable ore?"

"Oh, not another question like this…" Clacie sighed.

Catrina hit her buzzer first. "Ooh! Ooh! Twist Mountain! Or is it Clay Mountain?"

"It is Twist Mountain!" smiled Litten. The scoreboard spluttered back to life and changed its display to 'Krazy Kartanas: 19, Pushy Poipoles: 12'. Already, the Poipoles were lagging behind badly.

"Yay!" Catrina exclaimed.

"Okay, next question: where is this Pokémon from?"

For the second question, the screen showed an image of four similar Pokémon, each a different colour. They seemed to be dancing in different styles—the red one appeared to be dancing the flamenco, the yellow one was flailing its pom-pom-like wings around like a cheerleader, the pink one was dancing the hula, and the purple one looked like a geisha, softly moving its wings around lime fans.

A buzzing noise came from the Poipoles' podium. "Oh, those are all Oricorios," Hunter observed. "They all have the same beaks, eyes and legs but have wildly different forms depending on where they come from."

"Very, very true," grinned Litten, "and great observation skills. The Poipoles finally have another point."

Hunter smiled and Litten winced a little.

"Yeah, my grin is scary."

"Well, okay, onto Question 3. Which town in Galar is home to the only Gym not to be a stadium?"

This was another one that stumped the contestants. It was a rather obscure question and it took each team quite a while.

After what seemed like an hour (it was actually five minutes), Gwen did something she really should not have done—she pulled out her phone and searched it up.

"What are you doing?" Gloria hissed. "We're gonna get disqualified!"

"Oh, shut up, I know what I'm doing. Stop moving or he'll see and we will get disqualified."

"Seriously, if we lose this challenge because of that you're gonna be voted off."

Catrina turned to look at them. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, go back to figuring it out with Greg," said Gloria. "Seriously, I don't think this is a good idea," she told Gwen.

"Listen, there's nothing in the rules against doing this. Litten said that the team'll be penalised if anyone from the audience shouts it out, but he never said anything about searching it up."

"How'd you even get your phone through? We were told to leave our stuff in the cabin this morning."

"You think I'd listen to that?"

Litten had heard the commotion from the Kartanas' podium and, although he didn't hear exactly what they had said, he knew something was going on.

"Do you lot have your answer?" he asked.

"Almost," Gregory replied. "We're thinking of as many places in Galar as we can and working our way through."

"Yeah," agreed Gwen. She had put her phone in the waistband of her skirt, which disgusted Gloria. "Where else was I supposed to put it?" she whispered.

"And how are you Poipoles doing?" questioned Litten.

Xayah sighed. "It's difficult," she said. "We're doing pretty much what they're doing."

Gwen pulled her phone out of her skirt, which had finally finished its search. There it was, clear as day—Spikemuth, home to Galar's dingy Dark-type Gym.

The Lopunny poked Catrina. "I've got the answer."

"Why don't you shout it out then?"

"Because it's going to look weird. I haven't been chatting with you two this whole time and—"

"Do you have your phone?!" Catrina hissed.

"No!" Gwen dropped her phone, which she had been resting on her legs. It made a telltale thud as it fell onto the wooden boards. "Just, please…"

"Fine, whatever." Catrina hit the buzzer and shouted, "Spikemuth!"

"Correct!"

Krazy Kartanas: 20, Pushy Poipoles: 13.

"Are any of you suspicious about what happened over there?" asked Shawna.

"A little," replied Hunter. "The question was rather obscure, though, perhaps they were discussing it."

"I guess…"

"Question 4!" exclaimed Litten. "What island in Kanto was home to a Gym before it was destroyed by a volcano?"

"He really likes his Gym questions, doesn't he…" Gloria mumbled.

Gregory hit his buzzer very quickly and shouted, "Cinnabar Island!"

"Indeed!" Litten cried. "That Gym's now in the Seafoam Islands."

The Kartanas' lead was even bigger now. If the Poipoles wanted to win they seriously needed to try as hard as they could.

"Come on, we really need to win this," said Dennis. "Next question, I'm gonna buzz in as soon as possible."

"Don't do that! How do you know you're gonna get it right?" asked Shawna.

"I know what I'm doing," he replied. "I've been everywhere!"

Shawna sighed.

"...which means that the Kartanas have a hefty lead," said Litten. "Onto the next question: Which region's Champion—"

Dennis slapped his buzzer and shouted, "Kanto! These questions have all been on Kanto."

"—is a former Dragon-type Gym Leader?"

"Crap!"

The Poipoles let out possibly the largest and longest groan they ever had groaned. Soon enough, this devolved into a ruckus.

"As narrow-minded as Alice is sometimes, she kind of has a point," Shawna sighed. "This team can be really inconsiderate sometimes."

"I was expecting something like what happened with Logan and Torracat if I'm honest," said Hunter. "Like, I thought that Dennis was gonna storm off the stage and run off. Speaking of Torracat, where is he?"

Dennis sighed. "Yeah, I really should've waited a little bit."

"Yeah…" Shawna agreed. "You okay?"

"I'm fine."

Gloria was the one who hit the buzzer this time. "Ooh! I know this one. Unova."

"Yeah," Litten said. He wasn't really paying attention, rather looking at the fiasco going down in the Poipoles' area. This was also distracting the Kartanas.

"Why does this always happen with the Poipoles?" asked Dallas.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Jasmine replied.

"Of course, the question I get the answer right is the one no one cares about," Gloria said quietly. "Arceus almighty…"

"Best call is telling those two the answer," Gwen told her, pointing at Gregory and Catrina. "They know how to show off."

Litten sighed. "Guys, I can just end the challenge here, if you like."

"No!" someone from the Poipoles cried.

"Then stop arguing! Please, for one damn minute!"

"Fine…" that same person sighed.

"Listen, Poipoles," began Litten, "you have thirteen points. The Kartanas have twenty-two. There are ten more questions in this round and if the Kartanas win one more point without you scoring it'll be impossible for you to win. So, please, stop arguing and cooperate."

Xayah put one of her clawed hands up to speak. "I mean, we weren't—"

"No, just…don't. I'm tired."

"Okay."

Litten groggily flipped to the next question. "In Hoenn, which…" His speech began to slur until it became an incomprehensible babble. "Oh, Lord, catch me…"

Litten fainted and tripped off of his podium. Marissa stood up and flew over to the podium, softly catching Litten and bringing him off the stage. "What should I do with the fellow?"

"Bring him to the infirmary tent and call the emergency services," said Diancie. "They'll be here as soon as possible."

"Noted." Marissa swooped off with Litten tightly in her grasp.

"I think the stress was too much for him," Diancie stated. "I-I think we should end the challenge here. Kartanas, you win."

The team cheered loudly. Catrina and Gregory hugged and blushed, while Gwen and Gloria shrugged.

"It's a rather unorthodox and premature way to end a challenge, but it's for the best. Poipoles! Litten, or whoever's there to do it, will be seeing you all at tonight's campfire ceremony."

Torracat pulled on a new shirt and walked out of the communal bathroom, whistling to himself. His shower had been longer than usual; he had no idea when any of his teammates would return. He walked over to the cabins and took a lawn chair from beside the boiler and laid it down carefully outside. As soon as he started to relax, drink in hand, the sound of the twenty-six other campers walking, running and jogging interrupted him.

"Oh, are you kidding me?!" he cried, picking up the lawn chair and reluctantly moving it back inside. He quickly stuffed his drink down his throat and hiccuped.

The Poipoles all walked into their cabin, discussing everything from the challenge to what they were going to do if they won.

"So, did we win?" Torracat asked.

"As if you care," frowned Daisy.

Torracat sighed. "Are you still not over that?"

"You didn't apologise and continued to act selfish," said Alice. "I don't blame her for not being over it."

Torracat stuck his tongue out at her.

"We lost the challenge if that's what you wanted to know. Litten fainted and Diancie ended the challenge there. We were going to lose anyway, the Kartanas had a massive lead."

"Well, that's unfortunate," sighed Torracat.

Over at the Kartanas' cabin, the team was celebrating their victory. Leaf had made some fizzy Pinap Berry juice and cookies. There was music, dancing and a lot of clapping towards Catrina and Gregory.

"You know, we probably would've lost that if it wasn't for you two," Lyko smiled. "Not saying they weren't helping but you racked up a heck of a lot of points yourselves."

"Oh, it was nothing," grinned Gregory.

"Gwen, Gloria and Mecca were a lot of help, too, don't forget them," said Catrina. "I know we did a lot but they were really good, too. Oh, and you as well."

Lyko blushed a little which caused Catrina and Gregory to blush even harder at each other.

"Hey, why haven't you two kissed yet?" asked Dallas.

"Yeah! Make out!" Mecca cried.

"I-do you want to?" Catrina asked Gregory.

"I mean… i-if you want to…"

The two turned redder than a perfectly ripe Tamato Berry and they…kissed. A second later the two detached from each other, completely white.

"Holy crap," gasped Gregory. "That was…"

"Incredible?" the Kartanas asked in unison.

"Yes! Incredible!"

The team cheered and the two, their colour returning, began to kiss again. It was delightful, and the two began to smooch again.

Gloria was the only one that didn't cheer.

Gwen looked at her and sighed. "You have to admit this is satisfying."

The Gorebyss meekly smiled. "I guess."

Gwen raised her eyebrow.

"Ugh, fine, yeah, it's satisfying."

"Well. I'm stepping in for Litten tonight," said Diancie. "He's still in the infirmary."

It was finally night. The Poipoles had gathered for their second campfire ceremony. The number of campers would be even again after this.

"Today was a strange day, boring yet interesting. And tonight's campfire ceremony will be interesting, probably.

"Oh, come on!" cried Torracat.

"Okay, jeez, buzzkill," muttered Diancie. "The first three poffins go to Alice, Aero and Marissa."

The three caught their poffins—Aero had woken up about an hour before.

"The next three go to Shawna, Phoebus and Xayah."

"Nice!" Shawna grinned as she caught her poffin and ate it.

"Daisy, Orville and Hunter."

The three received their poffins and smiled.

"There are five people left and only four poffins. One of you won't receive one." She glanced at the remaining Poipoles—Logan, Torracat, Doriann, Devin and Dennis. "Doriann, you're safe."

"Yes!" the Scolipede exclaimed.

"So are you, Devin."

Devin snapped his fingers and came up to claim his poffin.

"Three of you left. Dennis, Logan and Torracat. Two of you are safe and one of you is not."

The three began to sweat.

"Dennis, you're safe."

Dennis breathed a sigh of relief and caught his poffin.

"Now, this bottom two was the closest yet. I really don't need to explain what happened with you two," Diancie told Logan and Torracat. "I seriously hope whichever one of you is safe changes quickly, because your team seriously hates you. Logan, Torracat, one of you is going home tonight and has spent their last night on Total Pokémon: Rebooted."

The sweat grew and they began to shake.

"The final poffin of tonight's campfire ceremony is going to…"

The dramatic music got louder.

Diancie stuck her hand out and drifted it between Logan and Torracat.

The two shook even harder.

"Torracat."

"Yes! Yes! You lot were lucky!" he cried. "Woo!"

"I didn't even want to be here, anyway!" screamed Logan. "You're all a bunch of hypocrites!" He stole Torracat's poffin stick and snapped it in half, the uneaten poffin still on it, and dropped it onto the floor.

"Hey…"

"Screw off," the Chespin spat. "I hope you all regret your decision!"

Chespin walked to the Dock of Shame and sat on the Lapras of Losers. "You know they say the losers never return," he told the Lapras, "but I'll be back."

The Lapras shook his head and sped off.

"I will be back!" he called.

"I doubt it," said Zeraora. He and Diancie turned to look at the camera.

"Today's episode may not have been the most exciting, but a lot has happened," Diancie uttered. "The Poipoles solidified their hatred for Torracat and one of the most annoying campers is off of the island. The Kartanas took their biggest win ever and now we have our first—no, second couple, which will last two weeks, tops."

"Will next week's episode be just as strange?"

"Will Litten make a speedy recovery?"

"Will we top last week's ratings?"

"And can my gems glisten even harder?"

"Find out the answer to all these questions on the next episode of…"

"Total Pokémon: Rebooted!" both hosts cried.

A strange, squelching sound came from under the dock.

"Are they seriously kissing under there?!" cried Diancie.

Hey, y'all! It's been ages, hasn't it? How are you? I changed the Kartanas' name because I somehow didn't know what a certain word meant back then so… yeah! As I mentioned in the last chapter if you'd like to see things about your contestant's family and personal lives don't fret about Private Messaging me about them. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, read and review for more, and don't expect another one for a while but we'll see! ^w^