~~DAY TWO~~
It was a simple message. "Everyone on the tribe must go to Point A for your first Immunity Challenge." There was no arguing with this point, you just had to go to help your tribe. If you didn't, at best you were going to be the biggest target to be voted out, or at the very worst you were getting disqualified. So there was really no fighting it, these Pokémon were going to work their butts off for some safety and they were going to deal with it.
Plusle jumps up in front of the camera to get its attention.
"We got this weird mail in the morning that said we need to go to… this one patch of sand near a hill? I think it's for a challenge for safety. I know I don't want to go home, but I don't want Minun to go either… man, this is too tough!"
The march was brief and uneventful. No one talked to each other out of an assumption that they simply weren't allowed to. Cameras were rolling after all, they needed to look as professional as possible. It wasn't long before both teams saw their destination, a small section of the beach near a sandy hill. They could see Marshadow standing alone, next to a pole with something resting atop it. As they got closer, it more clearly resembled an idol with some sort of legendary Pokémon etched onto it. Each tribe soon found color-coordinated mats to stand on, red for Magma and blue for Aqua. With no pause, each player made it to their map in style, standing still and waiting for instructions.
"Welcome to your first Immunity Challenge!" Marshadow's voice was as chipper as ever. "I'm sorry I called you out a day early, I was just really excited to get this show on the road. How'd your first day of camp life go? Aqua, you guys first."
"Well, we started strong and all that." Ditto smiled faintly. "We got our shelter built, we had roasted Chesto Berries for dinner, it was really nice. I'm just glad Magneton managed to get the fire going like he did!"
"I did what I had to do." Magneton blinked his eyes in unison, being unable to nod. "We needed fire, I provided fire. I'm merely glad that I was able to provide for my tribe."
"I see, I see." Marshadow then turned his attention to Magma, who seemed a bit less sure of themselves. "And how about you guys, are you feeling good about yesterday?"
"Hmm, actually," Sudowoodo responded, "it was not quite as peachy-keen as the other tribe might have been, but what matters is that we got it done, and we are safe. Is that not what matters?"
"…indeed, your safety is paramount. But why isn't it 'peachy keen' as you say?"
There was a pause. No one on Magma really wanted to explain what Sudowoodo meant, even if they all knew what he meant. It took Braixen putting on a brazen show and getting tapped on the shoulder to give Marshadow what he wanted.
"Oh, hardly anyone was talking, it was so boring. Sure, I single-handedly got us a fire, but some folks here, they're such buzzkills. And I'm not saying any names."
"Really, right off the bat, admitting your feelings about your tribemates. An interesting maneuver." Marshadow then began to lean against the pole. "Alright, so here's what you're playing for. The idol, right here? That's the Immunity Idol. If your tribe is in possession of this, you will be safe and get to keep all of your members. If you are not, then you will be forced to attend Tribal Council tonight. In addition, since this is the first challenge, I'll also be nice and provide you with a reward. Do you want to see it?"
Everyone nodded or otherwise provided some sort of approval. It was a formality at this point, great for the cameras but not so much for actually providing answers.
"Great. Here it is." Marshadow pulled out something from behind him, a small bit of stone or metal, no one who was watching was sure considering how far away it was. "This is flint. I know you already had no trouble getting a fire started, but why not make it easier? Here's something that anyone can use, and you'll get fire a lot easier with it than without it. Winners get a piece now, losers have to wait after losing a member first. Alright, anyway, for how to play the challenge, please turn your attention to those bags."
Attention was soon shifted to two piles of bags scattered across the ground near the foot of the hill. There seemed to be twelve per pile, one for each player, and color-coordinated for each tribe, blue for Aqua and red for Magma.
"Here's how the challenge works. On my go, you shall each grab one bag. No more, no less. Once you have your bag, you are to run up that loose sandy hill. That part will be a lot easier for some of you than others, so I encourage you to help out your fellow competitors on that part. Once everyone's over, you'll see a table. I'll need you to empty your bags onto the table to reveal some puzzle pieces. You must then have two of your teammates work together to complete the puzzle. First to complete the puzzle wins Immunity and the flint. Alright, why don't we get started?"
The teams were then swiftly turned around, before being encouraged to get in as many serious, "battle-ready" poses as they could. This was going to be televised after all, and what's television if not being showy and fake? Some of the more experienced battlers, like Breloom and Sableye, had some tight poses, along with the cheerleading couple, while others weren't as lucky. Heck, Lopunny nearly fell over attempting hers, which was perhaps a bit too complicated considering she'd only seen the pose once on television. As a result, some just gave up and simply leaned forward so they could get ready to run for the bags.
"Alright. Everyone ready?"
There was a pause. Everyone was just anxious to get on with this, to save themselves. It was only another minute before the chime rang, and everything was ready to begin.
"…go!"
The rush was immediate and hectic. Everyone scurried and hurried to grab just a single bag of puzzle pieces for themselves, some struggling to get them at all. Some, mainly the bipeds, had it easy, just grabbing a bag in their hands or paws and beginning their trek up the hill. Some had a bit less luck, especially those without limbs. Each team had to dedicate certain individuals to helping their less fortunate members fit the strings the bags were attached to onto their bodies.
Beheeyem finds himself laughing about previous events, whilst floating over the shallow water beneath him.
"We were certainly in a bit of a pickle, weren't we? How kind of the team to dedicate me to helping out and making sure everyone got to participate. Sure, Magma was ahead for a bit considering how many fewer of them had issues, but ooh, I wasn't about to give up yet!"
Once each player had a bag on their body, they were forced to work together to climb the hill. Pupitar was able to use compressed air to push himself forward at a good angle, but some had to ride on the backs of others. Flygon even returned to the bottom after flying nearly to the top to help a few of the more vertically-challenged players up. This included Cleffa and Marill, the pair of fairies, and Ditto, who per the terms in her contract had to be very choosy over when she was allowed to transform during challenges. Frankly, the blob was just as embarrassed about this whole thing as Flygon was.
"Sorry, sorry… I don't want to risk anything…"
"It's… it's fine, I think…"
Honchkrow is resting atop a stone, wings to his side. He looks absolutely relaxed.
"So, I was watching the other team, and I see Flygon acting as some sort of transportation vehicle for her teammates. I don't know what sort of reward would be worth that kind of humiliation, but I suppose if she's so desperate to keep herself safe, she'll do anything. Ah… that's the Flygon I know, alright."
From that point, the trek up the hill was fairly simple. Petilil rode on Glaceon's shoulders, shivering as she did so. Some ran, some flew, some floated their way up to the top. The first to reach was Honchkrow on Magma, followed swiftly by a very sandy Sableye who was forced to climb on all fours just to keep his swift pace. The first thing they saw was a wooden platform, atop of which was a simple table. Both were swift to dump out their bags onto the table, revealing around fifteen jigsaw pieces per bag. After some quick math, that totaled to 180 pieces after twelve bags, which was smaller than most commercially available jigsaw puzzles but still enough that it was going to take some time for them to complete it.
"How about this, gremlin?" Honchkrow leaned against the table with his wings. "We work together on this puzzle. If it gets too hard, I'm dropping out and asking someone else to do it."
"Aha, you put faith in me. You can count on me, I've solved… probably more jigsaw puzzles than the other team has in their lifetimes!"
Other players soon began trickling in soon after, including from Team Aqua. Flygon managed to get the smaller players over the ledge and onto the platform below, lowering herself to drop their puzzle pieces onto the table. One by one, players tumbled down the slope at the top of the hill to try and get to the platform as fast as possible, some more spectacularly than others. Marill in particular chose to roll down like a ball, before stopping on a dime with his tail and hopping right back up. After an exhausted Glaceon finally made it to the platform with her cargo, Magma finally had their puzzle pieces on the table, letting them start first.
"Aight boss, first we gotta find the corner pieces, okay? Then the edge pieces, and THEN we can get the rest."
"Hmm, alright…"
The process of completing the actual puzzle was nothing short of tedious. Out of context, it looked like a bunch of abstract shapes and colors with no clear meaning, meaning they'd have to grab random pieces and just see if they would fit. Eventually, they actually managed to fit some pieces together, but as they did, they could see Team Aqua catching up to them. From that point on it was a scramble to try and get the puzzle completed as quickly as possible. Once Dewott and Mawile stepped up for Aqua, it was anyone's game.
"Mawile? Are you any good at puzzles?"
"Oh, besides reading this is one of the few things I like to do in my spare time, you'd be a fool to think I couldn't do puzzles."
The next several minutes were dominated almost entirely by the puzzle, and whatever means each team came up with to try and figure out how to solve it most efficiently. Certain players, Pupitar and Sudowoodo for example, made a bad habit of backseat driving, slowing the puzzle solvers down even further.
"Magma, Aqua, both struggling! It seemed like Magma had the lead at first but now they seem about even!"
One could hear the hype in Marshadow's voice as the competitors worked on that puzzle, pieces upon pieces falling into their convenient little places. The stress was starting to get too much for some of them, with Aqua even taking a quick breather just so they could refocus their efforts. Said quick breather, however, could not be compared to the breather Magma's puzzle takers took.
"Listen, twerp," Honchkrow began, "do you remember what I said when we got here? That if things got too hard, I'd have someone come up to replace me?"
"Hmm? Yeah, you did! Don't tell me you're dropping out now, we're over halfway done!"
"Unfortunately, this is all getting perhaps… too complicated." Honchkrow turned his head to face the tribe. "We need a volunteer, I'm losing focus."
"…hmm, alright, I'll do it. I've solved a jigsaw puzzle more than once."
It was Petilil who took the challenge of doing the puzzle alongside Sableye. They didn't have enough time to actually debate this over, so she was deemed good enough for now. After running over to the table, she was hoisted up onto it by Sableye. Honchkrow, meanwhile, hobbled back over to his tribe to watch on.
"Team Magma making a switch, now Petilil is working on the puzzle!" Marshadow's eyes lit up, his fist pumping. "Will this secure their victory or prove to be a costly mistake!?"
As each tribe worked on their puzzles, the picture began to get clearer. No longer was this an abstract mess of colors, but rather something resembling real objects in the real world. It wasn't a mishmash of rainbows, but rather bunches of Berries in a container at a market stall. This was Slateport Market, that marketplace some of them had stopped at before boarding the boat to get to the island. Of all of them, Dewott was the first to recognize this.
"Mawile, do you see this?"
"Hmm? See what?"
"This, this… this is the market, Mawile. Remember, they had all those Berries?"
"…the market, the market… oh, the market? I remember now, I think I can visualize this more clearly now."
Dewott is relaxed in the sand, staring out at the sea.
"The moment I realized what was going on in that puzzle, my eyes went wider than the Berries at those stalls. There was an Everstone there too I wanted to buy, but… no money, alas… but that's not the point, what's important was that, once we figured out the puzzle, it was just a matter of visualizing it in our heads and solving based on that."
The pace on Team Aqua was increasing dramatically, beyond what either of Team Magma had anticipated. They were both confused and concerned and tried to base their answers on what the other team was doing.
"Wait, what did she say?" Sableye tilted his head. "A market?"
"I think so… wait, Slateport Market, isn't it? Did you go there?"
"No, did you?"
"Yes, I went there, I remember it alright, now hurry up, please, or we're going to lose."
There were no more words, only actions. Hands moved like clockwork from one piece to another just to piece them together in the hope that their resolve would net them safety for three more days, at the very least. The cheers kept them pushing forward, focused on the task at hand like some unliving things whose only goal was to solve this jigsaw puzzle. One could see sweat droplets on skin and fur and signs of fatigue in the arms, both parties just wanted this to end. And thankfully for them, it did, with one player slamming a final piece down onto the board. As far as they could tell, they were positively done.
"Marshadow! We have it!"
Marshadow ran over to inspect the puzzles, while the competitors stood still to wait. He eyed both teams' puzzles to see which one was completed and which one was not. The one on the right, well that one wasn't completed, surely. Sure, there were only a few pieces left, but "a few" is still greater than zero. As for the one on the left… no gaps, no holes, nothing. Nothing but a beautiful scene of a bustling market. Marshadow picked his up and turned his head to the victors. Dewott and Mawile stared back, waiting.
"…Team Aqua wins immunity!"
There was an immediate celebration. The puzzle solvers backed away from the table and joined their tribe in a group hug, needing a moment to rest from that mentally exhausting task. Sableye and Petilil both returned to their teams empty-handed, but at least some of their members were proud they got so close to winning even with them swapping out a member partway through. Faint chants of "Woo, Team Aqua!" and "Great work, guys!" rang through the air ad nauseam, and some folks just didn't want to hear that right now. Only half of them were actually Team Aqua members, after all, and the rest were at risk of being the first Pokémon eliminated.
"Alright, guys, come on down."
Now all the players had to do was make the short trek back down the hill. Luckily for them, there was a path for each team to go down, winding and bordering on flat. After what they'd just gone through, they needed something simple to walk down just so they could have the energy to make it back to camp. With some folks holding up other folks, both tribes made their way down the winding pathways and back to their mats. From there, it was just a matter of waiting for Marshadow to speak.
"Well well, Team Aqua, excellent work today, you really came in clutch. Immunity is yours, come and get it."
With no one else volunteering, Flygon stepped forward to claim the treasured idol. Once the piece of wood and the flint were exchanged, she returned to her team's mat with both in hand, ready to just get out of there and lie down.
"Great work today, let's see if you can keep that streak going. Grab your stuff, head back to camp, goodnight."
Pupitar is underneath a tree, trying to enjoy the shade.
"We won this first challenge, and I'm honestly just so proud of my tribe. Means we don't have to worry about actually doing anything for a few more days. And really, isn't that all that matters, just… not having to do anything?"
Aqua soon left the beach to head back to their home. The journey back would take them some time, but at least they'd not have to worry about their own safety for the next few days. However, the same could not be said for Magma. They stood in silence on that mat, some more visibly unhappy than others. It looked like one of them was going home with nothing after all.
"Magma, I'm sorry, but tonight I'm going to be seeing you at Tribal Council. We'll have a discussion about what's been going on camp, the challenge, and when all of that's done, each of you will vote on the one player you want to see gone. Head back to camp, I'll see you tonight."
With that bit of information in mind, Magma was left with nothing to do but to return to camp. They had several hours before sunset hit and they'd have to leave, but those were several hours that each of them was likely going to be scrambling. Well, not all of them, but those who thought they had a good chance of leaving certainly would be. The players up front began to pick up their pace to get to camp faster, forcing the others to follow suit. Suffice to say, everyone was anxious to get on with this already. It was only a matter of time, then, before the curtain fell on one player's game.
Minun sighs, staring up at the sky.
"This is a bummer. On one hand, Plusle is safe, but on the other, I'm not. I don't think I'm in any danger, personally, I think all eyes are going to be on those puzzle solvers, but I just hope it's not someone I like…"
~~END OF CHALLENGE PHASE~~
And that's the end of that! It looks like Team Aqua just narrowly snatched the victory and left Magma without much room to stand on. In the next update, we'll be seeing the two tribes either enjoying their newfound victory or scrambling to keep themselves safe, followed by Team Magma's first visit to Tribal Council where someone will be the first eliminated. Feel free to speculate in the reviews section, because come the end of the next update, we'll be down to twenty-three players. Stay tuned.
~~REMAINING CAST~~
Team Aqua
Magneton
Dewott
Oddish
Beheeyem
Plusle
Cleffa
Pupitar
Marill
Lopunny
Flygon
Mawile
Ditto
Team Magma
Sableye
Breloom
Gardevoir
Pikachu
Sudowoodo
Glaceon
Petilil
Honchkrow
Kadabra
Minun
Sneasel
Braixen
