The camera began to roll in the middle of a thunderstorm. The exceptionally strong winds broke branches clean off trunks of trees, one of which slammed into the stage and caused a light to break off from its beam, dropping onto the already-wrecked scoreboards and destroying them completely.
"Last time on Total Pokémon: Rebooted!" exclaimed Zeraora, who was unsuccessfully attempting to combat the weather with his umbrella. "Litten decided on the challenge, which was a trivia competition, all about regions."
"Even though it was, like, the most boring thing ever, there were two people who kept it interesting by absolutely excelling at the challenge," said Diancie, who was also attempting to combat the wind. "Catrina and Gregory were beasts at the challenge and gave their team a giant win almost on their own—and maybe a little win themselves, as the two officially became a couple."
"Because of them, the Poipoles attended their second campfire ceremony, where it came down to Torracat and Logan, both of whom had done terrible things during the challenge."
"And it was in fact our closest campfire ceremony yet," Diancie explained. "But, in the end, it was Logan who boarded the Lapras of Losers."
"Indeed. And, before we forget, Litten fainted during the challenge so Diancie had to step in for him," said Zeraora.
"Yes, yes I did," she sighed. "What an odd day."
"But, that is not important for now," uttered Zeraora. What is important is what's gonna happen today. Will Litten recover?"
"Will this infernal storm stop?"
"And will Catrina and Gregory continue to make out in inappropriate places?"
"Find out the answers to all these questions and more in tonight's thrilling episode of…"
"Total Pokémon: Rebooted!" both cried.
The storm had grown and now rain had started to fall almost sideways. The campers had woken up to the terrible weather and it greatly affected the mood of many of them. Daisy, for example, took one look at the rain and immediately became grumpy.
"Everything okay?" Shawna, who slept in the bunk on top of her, asked.
"Of course not! It's terrible out there!"
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry."
Torracat had a similar reaction to the rain. "How am I supposed to get anywhere?" he scowled.
"I don't know, figure it out," yawned Devin.
Over in the Kartanas' cabin, many woke up to the sound of passionate kissing.
"Yuck," Gloria frowned. "Can you not do that at… half eight in the morning? Wait, it's that late?!"
"Yeah, you'd expect Diancie to have already woken us up by now," said Cali.
Gwen woke up and heard Catrina and Gregory kissing, which caused her to smile.
"Ah, nothing like the sound of a new couple in the morning," she smiled. "A new couple from my alliance, no less."
"Good morning, campers!" Diancie cried through her megaphone, waking up any of the contestants still asleep. "It's a really stormy day today, and we need content, so we really need you all to get ready as soon as possible."
"For what?" asked Lykke.
"For the challenge, duh," Shawn jeered.
"Shawn is correct. Report to the main lodge as soon as you can for breakfast and today's challenge."
Everyone had been at the lodge for a good five minutes when a certain figure arrived—Litten. He had made a speedy recovery but had had trouble getting to the hall because of the storm.
"Morning, little bro," smiled Torracat. Litten smiled back and walked on, unsure if that was a genuine interaction or if Torracat was just making fun of him.
"Hey, we've got some spare cheese balls from our party last night," said Leaf. "Any of you want some?"
"Spare cheese balls? Why are you randomly being so nice to us?" asked Doriann.
"This is a big bag, we couldn't get through them all yesterday."
Doriann raised her eyebrow to that.
"Fine, that and the fact that we ate too much that we were pretty much put off of everything."
"Eww," retched Torracat.
"Oh, shut it," scowled Alice. "Could I have a few?"
"Sure!" Leaf reached over to her and she took a handful. Alice nodded in thanks.
"Anyone else want some?"
Leaf showed the bag to the Poipoles and a few took some. When it reached Torracat, he screamed and kicked it out of her hand, causing the crunchy yellow spheres to fly onto the floor, the table and even people's hair and fur.
"Dude, what's the matter with you?" frowned Shawna. "Are you on a diet or something?"
"No, I just don't like cheese, alright? Especially cheese balls."
"Alright…"
Alice shook her head disapprovingly. "Anyway, Diancie wanted one of us to tell you that she's sorry about ending yesterday's challenge early," she said to Litten, who had been watching them. "Apparently, she couldn't have done it without you."
"It's fine," he sighed, walking into the kitchen and looking through all of the cabinets. "Hey, do you peeps want—"
A flash of lightning rocked the room and briefly cut the lights. Orville and Remington both screamed.
"Sorry," gasped Remington. "Lightning just…I hate it…"
"Me too…" sighed Orville.
Aero consoled the Octillery. "Hey, hey, it-it's gonna be okay," he smiled. "I d-don't like lightning either. No offence, Daisy."
"None taken," the Plusle smiled. Her mood had improved very quickly, which was a little confusing. "I'm claustrophobic."
"So you're afraid of Santa Claus?" asked Shawna.
Daisy chuckled. "No, no, tight spaces."
"Oh gosh, me too," said Alice. "Terrifying, to be honest."
"I can't stand large crowds. You know, I passed on front row tickets to Roxie once because the crowd was just too much," said Shawna.
"You what?" Daisy gasped. "Front row tickets to Roxie?!"
"Y-yeah…"
"You wanna know what freaks me out?" Mecca asked the Kartanas, chewing on a cookie and digging through her teeth to get out the crumbs.
"Is it something super gross?" Gwen asked.
"Sorta. I have, like, a massive fear of jelly beans."
"Jelly beans?" repeated Dallas. "What happened?"
"Oh, Mecca tried some of those gag ones," the Minun explained, "where you don't know if it's something good or bad." She went white and said, "It was terrible."
"What did you—" began Gwen.
"No, don't wanna tell."
"Well, I'm kind of scared that someone's gonna poison me," Gregory told the team. "It's why I don't really like trying new food."
"But your lips are the tastiest," smiled Catrina. "Are you sure you don't like new things?"
Gregory blushed. "I-I guess…"
Catrina smiled and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Well, I'm scared of the dark. I know it's not really unique or anything but I seriously can't sleep without some sort of light."
"Aww, like the light of my smile?"
"Yeah, like the light of your smile," said Catrina, beginning to make out with him again.
"So suddenly, everyone starts having this discussion about their fears and everything over breakfast," explained Gloria. "Like, Dallas said that his mortal fear is being alone and Lyko started blabbering that he hates standing still for a long time. Even Gwenifer admitted she was afraid of something: lack of recognition for her achievements."
"Well, I guess my fear is, like, the most common of them all," admitted Gloria. "Arachnophobia."
"You really are basic," Gwen muttered.
"Hey, at least I'm not so egotistical that my fear is all about me," Gloria scowled. "Lack of recognition for your achievements, could you get any more self-absorbed?"
Gwen scowled and rolled her eyes.
"Oh, I can't stand ice and snow," admitted Leaf. "Never had ice in any of my drinks and I always keep to my room when it snows."
"Heights petrify me," said Shawn. "I've never been on the high dive, never been mountaineering and I have never been on a plane."
Shawna came over to them and said, "We had to take a boat when we went to Unova one time. The trip was terribly long."
Shawn let out a sheepish chuckle.
"I would not have been able to survive that trip," Clacie told them. "The ocean is scary, especially when you're alone."
"You know, it's sort of obscure, but I've always had a fear of Giratina," said Xayah. "Giant, terrifying and grotesque, yuck. And history books really don't help."
Doriann pondered for a moment. "For me, I guess I would say…being an outcast. Everyone just abandoning me and never talking to me, you know?" she sighed.
"Losing my loved ones," Hunter quietly uttered. "That's my worst fear."
"Beetles are frightening creatures," said Marissa. "My fear of them is ghastly."
Devin looked uncharacteristically scared. "I don't really want to admit it, but I-I'd say mine is losing control."
"And so, it went on. Both Jasmine and Ishtar mentioned that they were afraid of being buried alive," said Gloria, "and Phoebus said he had a fear of losing something that can't be replaced. Dennis said that he had a mortal fear of being all alone throughout his existence, a bit like Dallas and Cali. Torracat was the only person who wouldn't admit he was afraid of anything."
"Oh come on, you've gotta be afraid of something," said Alice.
"No, nothing," Torracat replied nonchalantly.
"Yeah, because you were never scared of anything growing up," snorted Litten, frying some grilled cheese sandwiches and putting them on separate plates. "What about those scary stories our uncle used to tell when we went camping?"
"We went camping once because you felt uncomfortable in the sleeping bag and got a fever and never wanted to go again," frowned Torracat. "And, of course, you always got what you wanted. Besides, you were just as scared."
"Yeah, right," Litten muttered, putting each grilled cheese on a tray and serving them out.
"Come on, dude, admit it," said Dallas. "Something scares you."
"No!"
Everyone ate their grilled cheese, except Torracat, who pushed it away.
"Litten, you know I don't like grilled cheese," he scowled.
"Maybe Torracat doesn't like grilled cheese because he can't tolerate lactose or whatever," pondered Daisy. "But cheese balls don't have milk in them, right? Why doesn't he like those?"
The storm continued as the campers ate their breakfast. Diancie and Zeraora had left to set up the challenge before the whole fear-share-fest. By the time they got back, the campers had long since finished and were now doing who-knows-what in the lodge.
"Hello, campers!" cried Diancie. "Since this storm isn't showing any signs of stopping, we've had to postpone today's intended challenge."
Both teams let out a cheer and many sighed a sigh of relief.
"But that doesn't mean there's no challenge today," she told them. In response, everyone groaned. "Today's challenge will instead be a game of: Face Your Fears!"
"As the name would suggest, you will all be facing your worst fears," said Zeraora. "If you can successfully combat them, your team will earn a point. If you can't, not only are you a chicken, but your team gets nada."
"First up: Mecca! The stage and a bunch of jelly beans have your name on them!"
Mecca almost choked on her soda. "What?!"
"Marissa. You, me, a kiddie pool full of Grubbins."
"G-Grubbins?! But those are—"
"Beetles, yes."
The Decidueye went completely white.
"How'd they know our worst fears?" asked Daisy.
Devin sighed. "Because we told them."
"You mean, they were listening to us?"
"You know this is a reality show, right?" sighed Gloria. "They're always listening to us."
Daisy gasped. "That's eavesdropping!"
Mecca stood on the stage in fear as Litten reluctantly poured jelly beans into a cup. Catrina, Gregory, Gwen and Leaf had come to watch.
"If you can successfully eat this whole cup of jelly beans without spitting any of them out, you'll win your team a point," Diancie told her.
Mecca gulped and nodded as Litten handed her the cup. Her hands began to shake but she firmly gripped the top of the cup so none of the beans would fall out and onto the damp, disgusting floorboards.
"Come on, Mecca, jelly beans are good!" Catrina cried.
"But what if one of them is dog food or vomit?" she asked.
"They're just regular, fruit-flavoured jelly beans," said Gwen. "Don't lose us this point, Mecca."
Mecca sighed. "It's now or never, I guess." She shoved the entire cup in her mouth and gagged.
"Watching Mecca slowly chew on all those jelly beans was enough to make me retch," said Catrina. "I love jelly beans, especially apple ones, but, my gosh, it is not healthy to eat that many all at once."
The Minun finished chewing on the beans and swallowed the wad of sugary, fruity sludge, shivering all over as it went down her gullet. She took a second to process everything before she shot into the air like a firework. "That was… amazing! Mecca likes jelly beans now! Thank you, Diancie!"
"And Mecca sets the bar way high!" Diancie cried as a point was added to the Kartanas' total.
Meanwhile, at the dock, Zeraora was setting up a rickety old boat, which Clacie had been forced onto. A flashback of her mentioning her fear of the ocean played.
She took some deep breaths. "Fifteen minutes. I only have to spend fifteen minutes out at sea."
Zeraora pulled on the engine and the boat zoomed off into the great deep blue.
"Well, that looks fun. Anyway!" He walked over to Ishtar and Jasmine. "You two both said you're afraid of being buried alive."
Both of them gulped and looked at each other in pure fright.
"It's only for five minutes," said Jasmine.
"Yeah, five minutes," Ishtar repeated. "We can do this."
The two stepped into their own glass coffin, which was about a foot under the sand.
"It doesn't help that it's still raining…" muttered Ishtar, laying down and placing the front of the coffin over her. "You'll dig us both up when the time is up, right?"
"If I remember," replied Zeraora.
"This isn't funny," frowned Jasmine, laying down in her coffin and gulping. "If you forget, we could die."
"Okay, okay." Zeraora closed her coffin and began to shovel sand over both.
"Goodbye, cruel world!" the two cried as they closed their little breathing compartments.
The two teams watched as Marissa stepped into a kiddie pool full of Grubbins. She was petrified but something in her knew her team was counting on her.
"Breathe, Marissa, breathe!" Alice cried. "They aren't going to hurt you."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive. Relax, try to work with them!"
Marissa nodded and sat down in the pool. The Grubbins walked all over her and one went on her wing. She really wanted to forfeit.
The Grubbin that had walked onto her wing looked at her. Were they really that scary? Marissa smiled at it and picked it up.
"Salutations, little lad," she said. The Grubbin blinked at her and she smiled again.
Marissa stood up, Grubbin in hand, and showed it to the audience. Everyone cheered as the Poipoles received their first point.
Marissa stepped out of the pool and shook the Grubbins off. Alice grinned at her and Aero clapped.
A few interns began to wrap a roll of scotch tape around Lyko's legs, attaching them firmly to a tree.
"This should keep you up," said Diancie. "Keep standing for ten minutes without falling over and you'll get the point."
"Noted."
"What if the tree falls?" Gloria asked.
"That's not my problem," replied Diancie.
"That woman baffles me," said Gloria. "She's not really cruel and absolutely not sadistic but she isn't a nice person. Confusing."
Clacie began to hyperventilate.
"You can do this," she told herself. "One tug at that and you'll be sent right back."
She started the big timer, which began counting down from fifteen minutes.
"But you're not going to quit early. You're gonna do the whole fifteen minutes, okay?"
Dallas and Leaf watched Clacie from the beach. They had been assigned to Jasmine and Ishtar, making sure both of them were safe, and had a walkie-talkie which connected to both coffins.
"Dallas?" asked Jasmine. "You there?"
"Yeah, I'm here, and so is Leaf," he replied.
"Good," smiled Ishtar.
"I need something to keep me distracted," said Jasmine. "Leaf, why are you afraid of snow and ice?"
The Breloom sighed. "I-I mean, the fact that I'm part Grass-type has something to do with it. But, more than anything, it's because of a really bad skiing trip a few years ago. I was really excited, it was my first time ever going skiing. I passed the training and all the tests and finally got to do it."
"Did you start skiing down too quick?" questioned Dallas.
"Yeah. I tried to stop, doing everything they said, but I hit a frozen patch and tripped. Slammed straight into a rock and dislocated my elbow. It was the worst pain I've ever experienced, and it took three doctors to hold me down as they slingshotted it back into place. I was in a cast for two months, it was terrible."
Ishtar looked terrified. "Do you ever miss skiing and snowboarding?"
"Sometimes," Leaf shrugged. "Why are you afraid of being alone, Dallas?"
"Was sheltered a lot," admitted Dallas. "My mum would never let me go out on my own because she was afraid I'd catch a virus or get mugged."
"Oh, crap," said Jasmine. "What happened when you applied for TPR?"
"She was really against it. Took, like, a week of constant pleading and stuff for her to finally let me go."
"Aww, that sucks," Leaf sighed. "Maybe my parents let me do too much, perhaps I wouldn't be so afraid of something as trivial as snow…"
The Breloom stood up and looked at the timers. Both had just two minutes left.
"Okay, then, you lot have—" She felt a powdery substance fall on her shoulders, but brushed it off. It was cold and white, just like… snow! Leaf screamed as more snow and hail began to fall off her and she ran. The cloud followed her as she ran across the beach.
"We have what?! Leaf?!" Jasmine yelled.
"You have two minutes left, it's all gonna be fine," Dallas told them.
"O-okay."
This cloud was completely different to the ones in the sky, which were beginning to fade. It followed Leaf like her obedient pet and constantly freaked her out.
"Woah, how'd you even get that?" Shawn asked Diancie, who was controlling it.
"The network. I think they were filming some weather-themed reality show and they needed a way to properly show it, so they developed this," she replied. "The show was canned but we managed to snag a few of their props."
"Sick," smiled Shawn.
"Totally."
"At least someone appreciates what I'm doing," said Diancie. "It's hard to prepare these challenges in less than an hour!"
The cloud continued to chase Leaf and she bumped into Dallas, who soared into the nearby forest.
"I guess that's the start of your bit!" cried Diancie. "You gotta stay in the woods for six hours completely alone!"
The two campers in the coffins were now completely unsupervised with only a minute and a half left on the timer.
"Dallas?! Leaf?!" the two shrieked.
Cali glanced at her timer. Ten minutes left. She'd managed to get the boat to an area of water not affected by the storm, but as it began to clear from the island it moved closer to her. The wind picked up and the initially steady waves began to rock the boat. She sighed and attempted to move the boat further and further out to sea, but she was unsuccessful. The thunderstorm turned the water a dark shade of blue and the waves became tidal.
"Oh, poop."
Leaf's personal cloud chased her through the woods, into the communal area, where Litten was grouping a lot of people between the cabins.
"Can one of you get Shawna?" he asked.
"I'm already in here," she squirmed.
"Oh. Well, I don't know what you have to do to get the point," said Litten.
"Get over my fear, I guess," Shawna sighed, laying on the ground and crawling into a ball.
Soon enough, Leaf had made her way up the tallest hill on the island. Somehow the cloud had followed her, leaving a trail of snow in her wake.
"If you can ski down this hill without wiping out or forfeiting you'll win your team another point!" Diancie called.
"Was the personal cloud not enough?" sighed Leaf.
"That cloud isn't the reason you're scared, really. I'm just helping you get over what you're actually afraid of: skiing. Now do it!"
"But, I don't have…" She looked to her right, where a pair of skis had been placed. "Never mind."
The cloud dispensed snow across the hill until it was completely covered. Leaf gulped.
"And do it quickly, it's a hot day!"
Little patches of grass began to show as the sun shone on the back of Leaf's neck.
"Arceus almighty," said Leaf. She braced herself and stood on the skis. What did she remember from the ski trip? Push off and bend your knees, she told herself in her mind. Hold the skis back and stop at the bottom of the hill, right?
The Breloom pushed off and did as she commanded herself. As she progressed down the steep hill, she got faster and faster. The snow kept melting but she was doing it! She was skiing and it wasn't scary!
"Woo!" she cried as she finished at the bottom. She stopped and cheered. "Diancie! I did it!"
"Yes!" Diancie high-fived her as Leaf's team achieved another point.
"Sometimes it's the most terrifying of experiences that make you overcome your worst fears," said Leaf. "I think that's what people say."
"Litten, what are you doing?" Zeraora asked.
"I don't know, you never gave me anything," he answered. "She's in that crowd."
"Shawna?"
"Yeah."
The Gardevoir was petrified. "I just… please get me out of here!"
"But you need to—"
"I don't care about what I need to do!" screamed Shawna. "I can't deal with this anymore, I don't care if I lose the point."
Zeraora sighed. "You sure?"
"Absolutely."
"Okay, then." Zeraora snapped his fingers and the crowd dispersed. Shawna was on the floor, rocking to and fro in the fetal position.
"Pathetic," said Torracat.
"At least I have the nerves to admit I'm afraid of something," frowned Shawna, standing up and dusting herself off. "Everyone has a fear, you know."
"Everyone except me. Fear is for the weak."
"What a cliché," Litten muttered.
"Oh my Arceus, shut up!"
"That is a cool device, to be honest," said Leaf. "Can you do other things with it?"
"You wanna see?" smiled Diancie.
"Yeah!"
Diancie switched the dial on the front of the remote and clicked a button and the previously dormant cloud began pouring rain onto the sand. Another switch of the dial changed it to sleet, another strong wind and another lightning.
"Cool…" giggled Leaf. "Hey, you could kill three birds with one stone and use that for Aero, Remington and Orville."
"That is a bit mean," said Diancie, "but that's a great idea. Watch, I'm gonna bury that towel in hail!"
"Bury?! Oh crap! I forgot about Jasmine and Ishtar!"
Diancie just shook her head in silence as she turned off the remote. "Some people can be really confusing."
Leaf dug her claws through the sand as she rushed to get the caskets out of the ground as soon as possible. The two were alright but absolutely peeved off—Jasmine threw her walkie-talkie at Leaf's head and sighed.
A loud thud shook the entire island as the two stepped out of their coffins.
"What was that?" questioned Jasmine.
"Lyko's fallen over and taken a tree with him, methinks."
"Yikes."
Krazy Kartanas: 4, Pushy Poipoles: 1.
Devin was now the one on stage alongside Diancie, and many of the campers were watching from their seats.
"Your fear is losing control, which was a difficult one to come up with a challenge for," said Diancie, grinning. "But not impossible."
An Alakazam silently floated from behind the audience, scaring Alice and knocking Doriann off of her chair. She muttered swears under her breath, dusted herself off and sat back, keeping a wary eye on anything behind her. The Alakazam moved up onto the stage, where it nodded at Diancie.
"We hired an Alakazam to put you in a trance," she told Devin.
"That's not really what I meant—"
"Bup bup bup! Are you the host?"
"No, but—"
Diancie put her finger on his lips and shushed him. "You don't get to choose what we do to you."
Devin, who appeared to be woozy, babbled, "Diancie is really mean sometimes. She's not my teacher, is she? Wait, I don't go to school anymore, right?"
Devin sighed and Diancie smiled. "Do what you must!" she cried.
The Alakazam's eyes were shut completely, yet it could sense where Devin was. It bent the spoons in its hand and pushed them onto his head, easily putting the Grumpig into a trance.
"What are you…woah…" said Devin. His speech began to slur, he began to space out and he laughed rather oddly. "Hiiii, Diance!"
"Diance? That is terrible…" muttered Diancie.
"Did you put him on drugs?!" exclaimed Alice.
"No, no, he's just in a deep trance. Spaced out, losing control of everything."
"So, he's high," said Doriann.
"In a way. That should wear off in… say, twelve hours."
"Since the legal department said we couldn't poison you for real, we had to act crafty," Zeraora told Gregory. "This is the most disgusting thing we could find that wasn't against the law."
Gregory gulped as Zeraora presented him with something that looked like meat. No one could honestly tell what it was, but it was absolutely repulsive to look at.
"So I just eat the whole thing?"
"Yes."
"I believe in you, babe!" exclaimed Catrina.
Gregory blushed, stuck the mystery meat onto his fork and ate it in one bite. He trembled. "Hey, that wasn't so—"
Almost instantly, he threw up, projectile vomiting everything he'd eaten over the past day all over the walls, floor, seats and curtains of the stage. The green and brown sludge poured out of his mouth for a full minute before, exhausted, he tripped off the stage and blacked out.
"Cleanup on aisle stage!" cried Zeraora. "While we take a short break we're gonna try and clean all this puke up and decide whether to count that as a point. See you when we return to Total Pokémon: Rebooted!"
"Woah, what's this goopy stuff?" asked Devin.
"So, we determined that, since Gregory did eat the entire thing, he gets the point," said Zeraora. I'm not sure if we really helped him to overcome his fear of poisoning, though."
Gregory looked up and nodded his head before it slammed back into the floor.
"Oh! Also, Alice and Daisy were crammed into a closet. Like, the same one, right next to each other."
Indeed they were. The exact closet they were in was one of Litten's, where he kept his t-shirts. Both of them crawled around the closet, on top of each other too, to find the most comfortable position possible to stay in for the half-hour.
"Did you expect this to happen when you woke up today?" Daisy asked Alice.
Alice tried to shrug. "Not really, but when you're in a show like this you really have to expect the unexpected."
Meanwhile, Alice's closest friend, Aero, was being chased by the same cloud that had attacked Leaf. It continuously threw out lightning bolts that narrowly missed him. Orville and Remington had their own personal clouds which were doing the same thing, but they were able to outrun them.
"I-if only I could fly better…" Aero sighed as his tiny legs started to cramp.
"Hello, young fellow!" exclaimed Marissa, flying over to Aero. "Everything fine?"
"No…" The Starly pointed to the lightning cloud above.
"Hmm, perplexing. Remington and Orville seem to have the same quarrel."
"Yeah, b-but at least th-they're not weaklings," Aero sighed.
Marissa patted him on the back and grinned. "Listen, you are amazing and you will do wonders."
Aero gave her some sort of smile as she hugged him. "I-I n-need to get on with this," he told her.
"Of course, or course. Don't forget to give me a shout anytime you're in peril, okay?"
"Okay."
Xayah looked up, her legs trembling like crazy. She was the palest she had ever been in her life.
In front of her stood Giratina in all the Legendary Pokémon's glory. It was almost three times as tall as her and it seemed to radiate a dangerous, distorted aura.
"I-is that the real G-G-Giratina?!" Xayah trembled.
"Yep," said Diancie, unfazed. "I know some people."
"Holy c-crap."
"A lot of us had your run-of-the-mill, basic fears," said Lyko. "Heights, the dark, lightning, all that. But Xayah's fear far outweighed them all. Giratina. Giratina! Antimatter personified, and one of Arceus' finest creations, straight from the Distortion World. How do you beat that?"
"I thought that cloud was impressive," gasped Leaf, "but what the actual…"
"The network can provide you with a lot of things," smiled Diancie. "Including Giratina."
"It's n-not even moving! It's just standing there!" cried Xayah.
"Yeah. You know, this thing could destroy the planet if it wanted to."
"Is that supposed to make me feel better? Do you want me to get over my fear or not?"
"I don't know, it's better entertainment if you wimp out," said Dìancie.
Xayah groaned. "How do I get t-the point?"
Diancie shrugged. "Try to engage in conversation, I guess."
The Haxorus let out a long, loud sigh and turned to the beast.
"H-hey, there, Giratina."
Clacie clutched onto the side of the boat as it rocked harder and harder. Despite having less than a minute and a half left, she was getting closer and closer to pulling on the engine and returning to the island. The waves rocked her boat harder and harder and she felt more nauseated the longer her trip was.
"I can't do this anymore," she murmured. Grabbing a large gem she'd taken to keep her company, she attempted to walk over to the engine, but the waves kept pushing her back. "Come on…"
After a little fiddling, she managed to find the engine and grab the sort of pull handle that was attached to the engine. It would send her right back, but would also cost her the point. Did she really want to do this? She didn't have that long left. The sea was unruly, but was it really that bad? She hadn't had the worst experience all things considered.
Initially, the experience had been lovely. Aquatic Pokémon like Magikarp and Barraskewda had been swimming under her, and it was a beautiful view to look at. Yet, it had been terrible when the storm began. It was a miracle that the boat didn't break into pieces.
She got ready to pull the handle. Three. Two. One. Ze—
A loud beeping noise came from the other end of the boat. She had spent fifteen minutes at sea and had conquered her fear. Relieved, Clacie tugged hard on the handle and it shot the boat in the complete opposite direction it was supposed to before a strong wave threw it into the air but closer to the island. It had seriously been a long day for Clacie.
Shawna shuddered. "They make Giratina out to be a scary thing in books and movies and stuff, but that's seriously nothing compared to reality. It is seriously horrifying."
"Was that really Giratina?" asked Devin, giggling. "Or am I tripping?"
"Yeah, it was," shouted Gwen, knocking on the door of the outhouse, "and you are tripping. Now get out, some of us want to use this too!"
Devin blinked and looked around. "Where am I?"
Xayah's attempts to communicate with Giratina were futile. It did not move a muscle, not even blinking.
"What do I do now?" she hissed.
Even Diancie was confused now. "I never thought I'd get this far."
Xayah groaned. "Seriously, h-how am I going to get my point?"
"Are you still scared of Giratina?"
"Yes. Totally."
"Well, I don't know how to say this, but—"
Xayah wrapped her arms around the Legendary Pokémon almost instinctively. It looked down at her but did nothing else.
"Holy mother of Lord Arceus the First," whispered Diancie.
She was still scared, but touching the beast and receiving no reaction aside from a move of the eyes alleviated that fear. She had no idea if the tales of Giratina's true power were true, but, if they were, she guessed they were within reason.
Krazy Kartanas: 6, Pushy Poipoles: 2.
"I was afraid of Giratina coming into my room at night and completely destroying it, banishing me and my family to the Distortion World or something," said Xayah. "There's still that chance, but I guess we're on good terms? Maybe?"
Shawn gulped hard. In front of him was the high dive.
He had mentioned that he had never been on one because of his extreme fear of heights, so Diancie decided to exploit that fact for entertainment.
"Go up there and jump off. If you can do that, you'll win your team yet another point," she said.
"It's scary…" Shawn sulked.
"Everything is scary. Get up there," spat Gwen. "We might have a lead right now but this isn't going to last."
Gloria didn't even react to her.
"I feel like a broken record. 'Gwen, you're not the leader! Gwen, stop telling people what to do! Gwen, leave Catrina and Gregory alone!'," exclaimed Gloria. "But why should I bother repeating myself if she's never going to listen?"
"I would've rather gone up in a plane…" he sighed, beginning his ascent of the diving board.
"We tried to get one, but the budget wouldn't cut it," declared Diancie. "The clouds, coffins and Giratina cost too much."
Shawn shook his head slowly and continued to climb.
Meanwhile, Alice and Daisy's claustrophobic adventure continued. The pair were almost two-thirds of the way through their challenge but neither knew because there was no timer; it couldn't fit anywhere in the minuscule closet.
Alice's determination is what kept the two going. Daisy's claustrophobia was worse than hers and she was more prone to hyperventilating. Many times she wanted to get out but Alice kept trying to keep her calm. She wanted them to get the point. She knew how hostile her team could react to loss, especially to one of Daisy's. The Plusle was childlike, anxious and often oblivious, and was prone to just bursting into tears.
When she had almost lost the running challenge, a few members of the Poipoles attacked her verbally, swearing and insulting her, especially Torracat. When the Plusle worked with Torracat in the following challenge, Alice was suspicious. Her suspicions ran true when Torracat chastised her for her wrong answer and removed himself from the challenge. Alice and Aero both believed it to be a miracle that he survived the campfire ceremony.
"How long do we have left in here?" asked Daisy, who had been sitting on Alice for the past six minutes.
"I'm not totally sure, but it's been a minute and a half since you last asked," Alice replied.
Daisy humphed. "I'm bored."
"So am I. I'll tell you what, when we get out I'll get you a whole packet of big cookies from the tuck shop."
"Ooh, I love cookies!" she clapped, accidentally slapping Alice in the process. "Oh, sorry."
"All good," said Alice.
"Are you going to jump or what?" asked Diancie.
"I will!"
"Come on, then!"
Shawn had reached the top of the high dive. Just one simple jump off the board and into the water below and he'd win his team their seventh point. Other than Lyko, no Kartana had failed their challenge.
"Come on, you can do it," smiled Cali. "Just slowly walk closer and closer to the edge and jump."
"But what if I go the wrong way and go splat on the floor?"
"You won't do that, I promise."
"With all your heart?"
"With all my heart."
Shawn edged closer and closer to the edge of the diving board. It was now or never.
The Gallade closed his eyes and jumped. A few seconds later, he landed in the pool—or, to be more precise, belly-flopped onto the top of the pool.
The spectators winced as Shawn let out a ghastly scream, sinking into the water in pain.
"Well, Shawn's added another point to the Kartanas' total and probably lost some of his skin from that flop. Let's check on Catrina."
Catrina ran out of Litten's cabin, which was completely pitch black. "I heard a noise from the closet!" she screamed.
"That was Alice and Daisy! You still had fifteen minutes!" cried Diancie.
"Oh. C-can I go back in there?" Catrina asked.
"Nope."
"Darn it! Is Gregory okay?"
Diancie shook her head. "He's in the infirmary, getting his stomach pumped."
"What?!" shouted Catrina. "Can I go look after him?"
"No! Leave him for now," Gwen commanded. "He'll just slow us down."
"Okay…" sighed Catrina, dejectedly sitting near the stage to watch the next challenge unfold, as Aero, Remington and Orville continued to be chased by lightning.
"Doriann! You were another difficult person to make a challenge for," said Zeraora. "Diancie and I discussed it for a good five minutes."
"Okay, so…? What is it?"
"Well, being an outcast is a pretty obscure fear, so we brought back our trusty Alakazam. It's not going to warp your brain, don't worry."
The Alakazam put its spoons to its temples, rubbed them together and placed one on Doriann's forehead. Everything in a one-mile radius turned invisible, except for the three Pokémon, as it created a bizarre, box-like area.
The area began to change into a living room and a bunch of bug Pokémon appeared throughout it, including a few more Scolipedes, one or two Venipedes and a Whirlipede.
"Oh, my family!" smiled Doriann. "Wait… no, no, no!"
"Well, I think you know exactly what's going on," said Zeraora," so I'll leave you to it. Good luck."
Doriann sighed as the tallest Scolipede stepped forward. "Hello, Dad."
"Doriann, as proud as we were of you when you were younger, you've started to let us down," Doriann's father glowered. "Could you not be more like your sisters?"
"I try my best, nothing's good enough for you!"
"Don't speak to your father like that!" Doriann's mother yelled. She was cradling a Venipede hatchling, likely one of Doriann's many siblings.
The Alakazam continued to move its spoons around, manipulating the scenes aptly.
"I'm an adult, Mom!"
"Then act like one! You know what? I didn't want to have to do this, but… Doriann," began her mother, "get out of my house."
"But, this isn't even—"
"Get out!"
"How long do we have now?" asked Daisy.
"I still don't know," Alice replied, a little agitated. "Again, there isn't a timer in here."
"Should we get out?"
"No, we have no idea if we're finished. I'm sure someone's gonna come here and let us out when we do."
"These people have way too much faith in us," laughed Diancie. "I'll send Litten in a little while, keep your hair on."
Alice and Daisy's time had in fact been up for the past three minutes. There was in fact a timer outside of the closet, which was blaring out front. Unfortunately, neither could hear it.
"I'm so bored," frowned Daisy. "Not even scared anymore, just bored."
"Well, I guess being bored of your fear is one way to get over it," Alice laughed.
Back at the stage, Phoebus' challenge was being set up. He was one of the campers with a more personal fear, one which was proving much more difficult to create a challenge for than many of the other's typical fears like heights and the dark.
He was afraid of losing something that couldn't be replaced. Zeraora didn't exactly understand what he meant by that and attempted to find something expensive and one-of-a-kind like keys to a rare supercar. But what shocked everyone was when Phoebus pulled a necklace out of a pocket and nonchalantly dropped it down a drain.
He looked at the teams and said, "That's one of the oldest necklaces I own."
"You don't seem very afraid of losing it," noticed Zeraora, looking down the drain, where the necklace glistened.
A single tear rolled from the Espeon's eye. "Yeah, I've got a bunch of those."
"Are you okay without it?"
Phoebus took a deep breath. "Yes. Even though it's really rare and personal and sentimental. It doesn't matter that I've possibly lost it forever and it's covered in mud and…it's fine, I promise."
"I don't think he's gotten over it," Catrina noticed.
"Great observation, genius," muttered Gloria.
"Well, we're going to count that as a point. You got over the loss of a personal belonging quickly," said Zeraora. "Next up is Gloria."
Litten walked through the curtains wearing a spider costume. The audience, save Gloria, snorted and laughed at his costume, evoking a long groan from him. The Gorebyss shot straight up in her seat and screamed as Litten began following her. "I don't get paid enough for this," he muttered.
Doriann walked through the streets in her apparition, as Torracat entered the trick room.
"I've been watching you for a while and I seriously can't believe you," he snorted. "You know this is all fake, right?"
"Yeah, but that's not the point," said Doriann. "These challenges are supposed to help us get over our fears. Not the most effective way but absolutely one of the most original."
"Okay, monologuer. Enjoy your fantasy."
"Says the person who apparently doesn't have a fear!"
"Enjoy it!" Torracat repeated as he left the illusion.
Doriann sighed and went back to asking people for spare change, only for them to simply deny her.
Dallas was four and a half hours into his challenge. He had built a little shelter in the woods using some bark, leaves and sticks, and was currently walking through the woods to find some berries.
One of the tallest trees was full of them. He took some of them off of a branch and backed away to grab some of the lower ones behind him, until he felt someone's fur on his back.
Dallas turned around to see Dennis harvesting his own berries.
The two screamed. "What are you doing here?" asked Dallas.
"I'm doing my challenge. I have to survive six hours in the forest," Dennis replied.
"So do I! D-did Diancie make us do the same challenge?"
"Yeah, it seems so."
Dallas gasped. "She is sly," he murmured.
"Totally," said Dennis, grabbing three more berries from the branches and stuffing them in a pot.
"You wanna come and help me with my shelter?" asked Dallas. "Could use a water source."
"We're on different teams but what the heck, I've done nothing for the past hour. I'll get us some firewood, too."
"Nice!"
The two bumped their fist, Dennis tripping on a rock while doing so. "Haha, my bad."
"All good."
"There's only so much you can milk out of someone," said Gwen. "Exploiting people's fears for laughs is fun and all but Aero, Remington and Orville risked their lives running from those lightning clouds. Aero wimped out like halfway through and she wouldn't give him the point, it was terrible. I don't care about anyone on this show, don't get me wrong, but this is too far. There's something wrong with that woman."
"Okay, then, while Gloria is getting chased we're moving on," Diancie told everyone. She flicked through her notes until she landed on the next person. "Gwen!"
Gwen's face dropped. "How are you even going to—"
"Let me show you." The screen came down from above and flickered on. On it read, 'Total Pokémon: Rebooted Presents: Gwen, You're Not the Leader'."
Gwen sighed and glanced up at the screen.
A video began to play from the night before, during Catrina and Gregory's little afterparty. The two had made a toast to Gwen, who they considered to be a valuable part of the trivia team. After the toast, Gwen took her alliance outside to discuss things.
"Gwen didn't do jack crap in today's challenge," Gloria said.
"Neither did you, really," noted Clacie.
"Oh, yeah, but she bossed everyone else and took the credit. Why should we listen to her?"
"She's nice, I guess…" shrugged Shawn.
"She's nice, sure. Because nice people order everyone around, wear sunglasses even when it's cold outside and constantly scowl. Do any of you have any brains?"
"You know, she could be wearing them because—" began Dallas.
"She isn't blind!"
Gwen and her alliance returned inside. "How is everyone?" she asked.
"Good, good, yes," muttered Gloria.
As the clip ended, everyone glanced at Gwen. She was not scared. She was unbelievably angry.
"What the f***?!"
Gwen stood up, marched over to Litten and threw him out of the way, freeing him from his costume. Litten dusted himself off and slowly walked back to his cabin.
"Come here, you backstabbing piece of garbage!" she ordered Gloria. "You are dead!"
"Oh, please, no one actually likes you," said Gloria.
"No, a lot of people like me."
"Only because they're scared of you. You're so uptight that your underwear is in another dimension."
"At least I'm not trying to fool anyone," said Gwen. "You act weak-willed, sometimes you stutter like Aero, only because you're trying to get people to like you. You're a fraud, Gloria."
"Prove it."
"You didn't swim great in the first challenge but suddenly swam really well in the running one. Care to explain your 'secret'?"
"What do you mean?"
"Fight! Fight! Fight!" exclaimed a still-deluded Devin. "Or don't, it's not my problem."
"Break it up, break it up!" cried Diancie. "As cool as the drama is, we still need to finish this challenge within this episode. Besides, didn't you two make up?"
"Yeah, before this all came up," scowled Gwen. "At least my suspicions were true. She's a conniving, backstabbing little—"
"Okay, okay, let's cut to the break!" Zeraora interrupted, turning to the camera. "When we get back we'll be checking on a few people currently still doing their challenge. See you in a little while!"
"I hope that's it for today's challenge," Litten said to himself as he opened the door to his cabin. It was still pitch black from Catrina's challenge, so he opened the curtains and windows to let in some air.
"Did you hear something?" someone's chirpy voice asked from the closet.
"I don't think so," another's softer voice replied. "I can't hear anything."
Litten heard the two having a chat and his suspicions rose. He shut off the nearby timer and opened the closet, causing Alice and Daisy to tumble out rather dramatically.
"How long were we in there?" Alice gasped.
Litten glanced at the timer, which had defaulted to showing thirty minutes. "Longer than thirty minutes, I guess."
"I think we stayed in there way longer than that," sighed Daisy, pulling a sock from her mouth and handing it to Litten. "And I must've swallowed this along the way."
"That's nice," he murmured, throwing it to the side as the point total changed to 'Krazy Kartanas: 9, Pushy Poipoles: 6'.
Twenty-three of the twenty-six campers had now gathered at the stage. Only Dallas, Dennis and Gregory were not there; Gregory was recovering from his vomiting and Dallas and Dennis were still partaking in their challenge.
"During the break, we broke up Gwen and Gloria and subjected Gwen to the rest of the slideshow," said Diancie. "Almost five minutes of clips from her past, where her friends told us stories of her many failures and the like. They barely ever recognised her achievements, calling her lucky when they did. Her family praised her but gave even more praise to her siblings."
"A bit mean, yes, but fun," noted Zeraora. "At least she got over her fear."
An exceptionally peeved Gwen stuck her tongue out at the hosts.
"Doriann quit her challenge after she couldn't deal with being an outcast. Pathetic, but reasonable," said Diancie.
The Scolipede grunted and squinted her eyes in anger.
"Well, then. Not counting Dallas and Dennis, only two people haven't faced their fear. Hunter! You're up."
"Has Devin got a point?" asked Shawn. "He's been loco for hours."
"Right, right," murmured Diancie. "You want us to sort that out?"
"No, no, it feels nice…" the Grumpig grinned, giggling.
"Least you know what it's like to be me!" cried Mecca.
Hunter had joined Diancie on stage. "Losing a loved one, reasonable fear to be fair."
Devin chuckled rather inappropriately. "Woah, are you gonna kill someone? I'm interested."
Hunter gasped. "You didn't actually—"
"No, no, that's not legal, apparently. And before you ask, the Alakazam was asking for way too much per hour." Diancie snapped her fingers and Phoebus teleported behind her.
"W-what are you doing?"
Phoebus walked silently over to Hunter and stared him directly in the eyes. As if by magic, the Houndoom instantly fell into a deep, nightmare-fueled slumber. Phoebus walked back and witnessed Hunter beginning to tumble and stir.
"No, no, please don't, Dad, you have so much to live for…" Hunter mumbled, his voice unusually shaky. "Dad!"
A cruel, chilling grin began to form on Phoebus' usually deadpan facade.
"Mum! You too! Please stop!"
People in the audience started to grow uncomfortable. The typically stoic Remington was one of the first to start shaking.
"Dillon! What about our future together? Put that knife back! No, please! Anything but that! For the love of Arceus, stop!"
Phoebus' uncanny grin grew and grew as he stared further and further into Hunter's soul. Aero was the first to faint from the pure shock of it all, followed by Daisy and Catrina.
"Diancie, stop him!" cried Alice, catching Daisy in her grasp. "This…this is terrible!"
Diancie was not usually one to intervene or really care about her contestants, but something inside knew this needed to stop. Phoebus was having too much fun. "Dude, stop! Please!"
She began shaking him, trying to pull him away, but Phoebus wouldn't budge. He was focused, inducing more and more traumatic images into Hunter's subconscious.
"No, no, no, no…" Hunter shook his head violently in his sleep. Phoebus moved from side to side to maintain control of him, unforgiving in his grasp.
"Giratina was terrifying, sure, but at least it wasn't hurting Xayah," shuddered Doriann. "The amount of torture Phoebus inflicted on Hunter was way too much…"
"You know everything I said about Giratina? I take it all back," said Lyko, fainting.
Diancie's cell phone rang. After a bunch of mm-hmms and ahs, she turned to Phoebus and slapped him.
"Snap out of it," she commanded. "The network is threatening to pull this show if you don't stop."
Diancie yanked hard on Phoebus' head and he finally lost control of Hunter. Hunter suddenly woke up in a pool of his own sweat.
Horror-struck, he looked over at Phoebus and shivered. "You have some serious problems, dude."
Phoebus' grin faded and he returned to his typically silent self. He sat down one one of the chairs, eliciting strong glares from almost every conscious camper.
"A-are you okay?" asked Zeraora.
"I don't know…" muttered Hunter. "I-I need to calm down, actually. The Houndoom walked off stage and, shaking, sat on a lone seat away from everyone.
Dallas and Dennis had definitely gone the distance. Their shelter was bigger than ever, with a nice little moat, some sort of well to catch rainwater, and a ladder leading to a treehouse hideout. It was an impressive feat for how little time they had.
"Two minutes left and we've managed to achieve all this," smiled Dennis. "Great job, dude!"
"Thanks, you too!" exclaimed Dallas.
"I think this could be our own little place."
"I agree."
The two walked out of the forest as soon as their timers finished, where a smiling Diancie greeted them.
"Six hours out in the forest, I'm impressed," she said.
"Yes, it was nowhere near as terrible as we thought it would be," grinned Dallas. "We built a shelter, made food, it was cool."
"I can see that. There's just a tincy-wincy little problem."
"A problem?" Dennis repeated.
"Yes. Your challenge was to spend six hours out in the forest alone, not with another person."
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Dallas muttered.
"Which means… you two failed to complete your challenge. Go directly to the stage, do not pass Go and do not collect a point."
Everyone in the audience let out one of their trademark groans.
Catrina began counting the challenges on her fingers. "Nine to eight. Have we won?"
"Not necessarily," replied Zeraora. "One more person still has to do their challenge."
"Who?" asked Torracat. "It can't be me, I didn't—"
"You didn't have to!" cried Diancie. "We're always watching you and your reactions."
The broadcast flashed back to the morning when Torracat had kicked the cheese balls out of Leaf's hand, as well as him mentioning, "I just don't like cheese, alright? Especially cheese balls."
"I knew it!" cried Daisy, who had regained consciousness. "Didn't I tell you guys they were eavesdropping?"
"Oh, why does it matter?" sighed Torracat. "If I get this point we'll tie, and these people are bad at tiebreakers."
"Let's make this interesting, then!" grinned Diancie. "If you can complete your challenge, I'll make it worth two points. If you can complete it."
"For someone who made fun of all of our fears, this is pitiful," scoffed Doriann. "Cheese, seriously?"
"Shut up!" Torracat shouted. "You don't know my history!"
"Dude, I've lived with you all my life and even I don't know where you got this from," said Litten.
The campers had gathered around a large, wooden pool that was currently being filled with cheese balls. The high dive from Shawn's challenge had been wheeled over, and it seemed to be even taller.
"You can face your fear and dive straight into this pool of cheese balls or let your team down for the second time in a row," Zeraora told Torracat. "Your call."
"This is insane!" exclaimed Torracat as he started to climb up the ladder. "I could die doing this!"
"Least you know how I feel!" called Shawn.
"Oof, imagine falling into that," said Gloria. "You might not even land safely and even if you do, your fur's gonna be all… yuck!"
"That's not gonna make me quit!"
"Don't listen to her, keep climbing!" cried Alice. "She's just trying to trip you up!"
Torracat climbed to the top of the diving board and it wobbled. Everyone in the audience gasped as he attempted to balance himself.
Torracat began to shake, glancing down at the big pool of cheese balls. "I-I can't do it…" he sobbed. "I'm coming down!"
The Poipoles let out a solemn sigh while the Kartanas cheered.
"Well, there we go," said Zeraora. "The Krazy Kartanas win invincibility this week… again!"
"I'm so ashamed of myself… why couldn't I have done that?" sulked Torracat. "I'm weak, weak! They all hate me! No, stop it! Get a grip of yourself!" He began crying again.
Everyone had left, except the still-loopy Devin.
"Woah, free cheese balls! In a pool too! Does no one want these?" He looked around. "No? Okay, your loss, strange Blitzle creature!" he cried, looking at a lump of clay in the ground.
"Well, what a day," said Litten. "What a challenge, too."
"Oh, come on!" tutted Torracat. "You do this every time!"
Litten sighed. "I have twelve poffins and there's thirteen of you. One of you isn't getting one and will instead leave this island and never come back. Ever. First up: Alice! You're safe!"
"Yes!" she exclaimed.
"Next! Xayah, Orville and Daisy!"
"Ooh, yay!" cried Daisy.
"Hunter! You're safe too!"
"Thanks…" he muttered, scooting as far away from Phoebus as he could.
"Marissa and Aero!"
"Thank you!" smiled Marissa.
"Shawna! Doriann! Dennis! Devin!" exclaimed Litten, throwing each of them their own poffin. All except Devin managed to catch their poffins—the Grumpig was still in his trance, repeating the same lyric to himself over and giggling every so often.
"When is that supposed to wear off?" Alice asked.
"I have no idea…" murmured Litten. "Anyways! Look at the plate. One more poffin left, and it's either going to Torracat or Phoebus. Phoebus, you may have completed your challenge but what you did was just cruel! And Torracat, you're seriously pathetic."
Torracat groaned. "Stop with the comments! Just because you have more authority on this show—"
"Oh, shut up! Seriously, you need to get a grip. Not everyone's gonna bow down to you if you're rude."
Torracat folded his hands and mumbled to himself.
"So, the last poffin of the night goes to… Phoebus!"
Something inside Torracat broke and he let out an unholy scream. "What is wrong with you all?! I can't believe—"
"More like, you can't brie-lieve," smirked Dennis.
"Yep, it's nacho day!" cried Daisy.
"I guess Torracat didn't do very… gouda."
"Okay, grow up!" frowned Alice.
Torracat left his seat and walked slowly out of the campfire area. "This day was going to come soon enough," said Litten. "Perhaps you'd have survived if you didn't get on everyone's nerves yesterday."
"At least I didn't hurt anyone, unlike someone."
Phoebus remained almost still, very slowly moving his head left and right. Torracat shuddered.
"You left an impact on your team and it wasn't a good one," Litten told him. "Just know, things can only get… cheddar!"
Torracat kicked him hard in the shins and stormed off.
"Ow! Say hi to Mum for me!"
He ignored Litten and walked down to the Dock of Shame, where Diancie and a Lapras were patiently waiting.
"Torracat!" cried Diancie. "I guess, for Litten, life is going to be—"
He stuck his finger up at her sharply. "Don't even think about spurting out another cheese pun."
"I wasn't going to…"
Torracat walked onto the Lapras of Losers and it departed. "See you all then. Oh, and tell Litten that he's a giant—"
The Lapras took this as a cue to speed off, interrupting Torracat's likely TV-unfriendly rant.
"Well, what an episode," smiled Diancie, "and it can only get worse from here. Will Hunter ever recover? Will Devin's trance wear off? Will Litten ever miss Torracat? Find out the answers to these very important questions and more on next week's episode of…"
"Total Pokémon: Rebooted!" cried Zeraora.
Hi all! For once, I got a chapter out that didn't take me years to write! In all seriousness, this chapter was a fun one to write and one that involved a lot of constant work. I had to change Torracat's fear because his original one was really difficult to make up a challenge for. Thanks to a bunch of people in the TPI Discord, especially Ashe and Fuzz, for helping me to come up with challenges for those especially hard fears, and Nihi for his review that prompted me to add all those horizontal lines, which should make it easier to comprehend everything! ^w^ I used Phobia Factor from Total Drama Island as inspiration for this chapter so you might be able to see the similarities. Read and review for more, yeah, and stay tuned! I might get another one out relatively quickly!