Hello everyone! It's time for another chapter! I hope you enjoy!
-000-
Morning came on the island. The flying-type Pokemon were chirping. The Water-type Pokemon were swimming around. And of course, the contestants were all off, busy doing their own things.
Waking up, Jarvis yawned as he sat up from his bed. However, his eyes widened at what he saw, the moment he woke up, "Roccia… what the fuck are you doing?!"
The Rockruff was sleeping at the foot of his bed. Yesterday, the sleeping arrangements were decided and Jarvis had to share a bunk with Roccia. Roccia took the higher bunk because she was lighter so Jarvis looked startled to see his bunkmate on his bunk.
"Roccia… Roccia…" Jarvis began trying to wake the Rock-type up, roughly poking her body with a claw. Getting more annoyed, his voice gets louder, "ROCCIA, wake up!"
The Rockruff awakened from her slumber, slowly opening her eyes, "Wuuuuh?! Mom, is that you?!" She then leaned back as she found herself staring at Jarvis, "J-Jarvis?! What are you doing on my bed?!" She then tapped her chin thoughtfully, "Unless…"
"Don't even fucking think of that!" Jarvis growled, annoyed. "Explain how you ended up on my bed. Before I impulsively burn you into a crisp… or not, since you're a rock-type."
Roccia smiled weakly as she jumped off the Pyroar's bed, "Uh… so it's a really really LONG story… you see… I accidentally thought this was MY bed… so I jumped on and went to sleep."
Jarvis arched a brow, "Did you even notice me sleeping? I mean, I'm not exactly small."
Roccia's face flushed in embarrassment, "Err… well…"
Their conversation is then promptly interrupted by Venice waking up. The Vivillon was about to fly out to get some breakfast but she decided to fly over to the duo, intending on entering the conversation.
"Oh? You're both still here. I'm surprised that you're both not early risers, like myself… well, more on you, Jarvis," Venice commented with a teasing smile.
Jarvis gave her an annoyed look, "I'm still not finished, trying to grill Roccia and you're gonna enter the conversation?!"
Venice giggled, rolling her eyes, "That's just a certain quirk I have~ I can't help it. So please do forgive me."
Jarvis sighed, "Fine… I'm not mad anyways! I can keep my cool, whenever needed…" He looked back to Roccia, who flinched at this, "So… why were you on my bed?"
"O-okay fine! I honestly h-have no idea what happened. I swear I wasn't trying to sleep on your bed. I may be looking for a relationship but I'm not that desperate!" Roccia replied nervously.
Venice giggled at the Rockruff, "Dearie, you reek of desperation so I would be surprised if that's true!"
"T-that's not true!" Roccia stammered.
Jarvis sighed, face-pawing, "You know what… this conversation's not getting anywhere if you keep dodging my question… so I'll just assume you accidentally fell asleep on my bed because for one, I didn't feel anyone touch me in my sleep so props to you for not being overly horny"
"Thank you, my good sir!" Roccia said, blushing in embarrassment. "Does this m-"
"No, I am not falling for you. Don't you have better things to do?" Jarvis drawled, deadpanning.
The Rockruff gulped, quickly scurrying out of the cabin with her tail between her legs in embarrassment. This left Jarvis alone with Venice, who licked her lips as she stared at the Pyroar with an interested expression.
"Geez… I'm winning this game obviously but sheesh… that girl… is really confusing," Jarvis sighed to himself, shaking his head. He then turned to Venice, "And how about you? Are you here to sleep on my bed too? I mean, Roccia just left so you don't have any reason to stay."
Venice smirked, shaking her head, "That's a tempting offer, Jarvis… but I would have to decline. I was merely interested in your conversation with Roccia."
"Okay… that sounds really creepy," Jarvis commented dryly.
Venice faked a gasp before chuckling, "I understand if that's how I come across… but I'm just looking for inspiration so rest assured, I'm not thinking of any impure thoughts."
Jarvis sighed, rolling his eyes, "Whatever… I'm just going to go get breakfast while you stay here… being weird." The Pyroar then walked out of the cabin, leaving the Vivillon alone.
Venice giggled to herself, slowly narrowing her eyes, "I'm so happy that I was right when I thought I would get inspiration here!"
-000-
"Day Two of my winner story… is not off to a good start honestly," Jarvis admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "But eh… every story has its ups and downs so this is just one of the many lows I'll go through before winning. I want to show the people that I had to struggle, despite my abilities, to make it to the end… and I believe that makes a really compelling story." He smirked, showing off a perfect smile.
000
Roccia was hyperventilating, her face red from her conversation with Jarvis, "Wow… I thought Jarvis would catch me in the act… I was… well… I was… errr… this is honestly awkward for me to say but I was trying to wake Jarvis up since I think that's a romantic gesture… either that, or it's something your younger siblings do to you just to annoy you?! I have no idea and well… I fell asleep since Jarvis… is surprisingly a heavy sleeper. So hehe, I'm glad that Jarvis was well… not too pissed, because I don't want to be alienated for that. How will I find love if I'm not even in this game?!"
-000-
Meanwhile, in the Kartana cabin, Wendy was sticking random advertisement posters to her side of the wall. Aiden and Genevieve, who were both watching her do this, exchanged a look.
"Errr… Wendy… not to be well… rude, but why are you literally sticking ads to this cabin? I know you're a superfan… but you're a superfan of reality television, not commercials," Genevieve chimed in, cocking a brow.
Wendy turned to the Audino, sticking out her tongue, "Weeeeeell, some folks back home asked me to advertise their local businesses and I figured I might as well do that, so that I can do something worthwhile, in case I lose this game." She jokingly hits herself on the head, "Hehehe, I made a funny… me losing is really unlikely though 'cuz I researched a lot and PRACTICED so I'm practically ready!"
Aiden rolled his eyes, "Oh please… you just sound like a pig, slowly making your way into the slaughter." He then gestured to himself, smirking, "I, on the other hand, am more capable to reach the end and succeed in winning."
"Ruuuuuude!" Wendy pouted at the Chimchar, slapping towards him. "You're just saying that, 'cuz you have zero idea who I am as a person or what I can do but like, if we have a challenge, I can show you how much I can dominate!"
Aiden looked away with a hmph, "We'll see about that then, huuuh?! Just go post your posters. I DON'T care!"
Genevieve chuckled nervously, "A-are you two seriously having an argument on the first d-day?... or well, technically the second day. I mean, I know you two aren't meshing but errr… you could try to be civil!"
Aiden blushed in embarrassment, "I have no idea what you're talking about! We're perfectly civil! This is a perfectly civil argument we're having!"
Wendy nodded in agreement, giggling, "Mmmmmhm! I'd prefer to let the viewers decide on who's more competent between us anyway. The reality-tv addict who still can show that she's level-headed and street-savvy… or the annoying brat, who thinks he's better than anyone else. They shall decide! Even if it might be a bit skewed. Oopsy~"
Aiden glared at the Whimsicott, "Are you implying I'm annoying?!"
"Hehe, obviously~" Wendy mused, twirling a bit in the air.
"FUCK OFF!" Aiden lashed out at the cottonball Pokemon, clenching his fists.
"No you!" Wendy snapped back with a casual expression.
Genevieve just blinked as she watched, "Err… uhhmm…" Sighing, she clapped her hands together, "Guy-"
"NO! This isn't about you, Genevieve! Stop trying to butt in! I'm just going to put this stupid dumbo in her place!" Aiden interrupted, puffing his cheeks in defiance.
"Stupid dumbo?! I've been called waaaaay worse! Think of a better insult!" Wendy teased, rolling her eyes.
"You're a dumb uglyface!" Aiden added, with a weak whimper.
Wendy deadpanned, staring out of the window, "Okay… this is just making it look like I'm a bully for trying to provoke someone who's my junior in international television but then again, we should've expected this when we signed up but then again, I might be bashed for this but then again, this might be a good reality check for him but then again, I have better things to do rather than trying to discipline a child but then a-"
"UUUHHHHH! Guys, where is this conversation even leading?!" Genevieve spoke up, twiddling her fingers together with an unsure expression. She then gestured to the Chimchar, who was starting to tear up, "I mean… Aiden, you're already crying…"
"M-my eyelids are just sweating…" Aiden mumbled, trying to wipe away the tears. "I'm n-not that weak!"
Genevieve nodded curtly before gesturing to Wendy, who just waved with a weak smile, "And Wendy? While I think Aiden might be less… aware of how he comes off to people. I would've expected you to be more… understanding and perceptive enough to know that Aiden meant no harm."
"... h-hehe… sorry about that then, Aiden…" Wendy murmured, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly.
Genevieve smiled warmly, "Thank you, Wendy. An apology will always be appreciated, no matter how wholehearted it may not be!" She then turned back to Aiden, "How about you, Aiden? Wendy also deserves an apology since well… you didn't exactly use gentle words with her and calling someone a dumb uglyface is a bit immature…"
"Smmggommmrry…" Aiden grumbled, flinching at Genevieve's words.
"What was that? I didn't hear a sorry, Aiden!" Genevieve chided.
"Sorry, Wendy…" Aiden whispered, rolling his eyes. Folding his arms, he grumbled, "Was that alright?!"
Genevieve nodded, "Mmhm! That was good!" She then giggled, "Now hug-"
"NO!" Aiden and Wendy both shouted at the same time.
"Hehe~ Just kidding, of course," Genevieve chuckled, with a grin.
-000-
Genevieve smiled and waved at the camera, "My plan… is well to be myself! Some good old-fashioned niceness would never hurt anyone and this situation with Wendy and Aiden solidified that!"
She then chuckled, stroking her cheek, "I… am quite aware that people often take advantage of kindness from others to get further into games like these but well…" Sighing, she sat up straight, "Rest assured… I am not that naive. I… well..." She winced, smiling weakly, "It's complicated honestly… but that aside, I'm quite glad that Wendy and Aiden aren't going to be lashing out at each other anytime soon… though, Aiden is a bit of a firecracker. No pun intended. I hope this game matures him but well… that's a bit of a stretch."
000
Aiden sat in the confessional, completely gobsmacked, "Wow… just wow… hmph, Genevieve had the gall to lecture me?! And she even asked me to…" He gagged between his words, "... apologize to Wendy, pretending as if my actions and words weren't justified… well… they totally were. Meanie!" He then looked away, voice quieting down to a murmur, "B-but… I'm not mad at Genevieve… she reminded me of my mother actually… she gives me similar lectures back home if I did something bad." He perked up with a grin, "And she would always bake cookies, whenever I'm-"
He gulped, blushing in embarrassment, "You heard NOTHING!"
-000-
Comf, Riley and Parry were having breakfast together after Comf suggested that the whole team should eat together, in the name of solidarity but the rest of the team didn't show up, because they were occupied with something else. Comf's eyes were shifting from left to right as she tried to examine the people she was sitting with. Parry was surprisingly quiet as he repeatedly stabbed his mush with a wide grin while Riley was tapping on the table with a neutral expression, having finished with his meal earlier.
"Errr… nice weather we're having, huh?" Comf asked, in an attempt to strike up conversation.
"... I suppose it's decent…" Riley replied with a sigh. "But… it's… just decent. Not too hot, not too humid, not too cold and not too wet either. It hits the perfect balance. I'm a bit sad I can't appreciate it… I just can't find the right words."
"Just say, it's GREAT weather! Then the weather will smile at you for the good compliment!" Parry chimed in before gobbling up a lot of mush. "Mmmm… I wonder how Nihilego made mush taste good! It looked like mush but it does not taste like mush at all!"
Riley nodded in agreement, turning away from the Comfey, over to Parry, "Mmhm… it tastes pretty great… for mush, that is."
"This mush is MUSH appreciated!" Parry joked before gagging a bit, "Oop… nearly choked on some mush…"
"That would've been GRUEL!" Riley quipped with a weak smile. Parry blinked a bit before letting out a loud chuckle. Seconds later, Riley joined in with softer laughter. "I'm not usually good with puns so I'm glad that you thought that was funny. I was THIS close to breaking into tears of joy honestly."
"Let it all out, my dude! It's a free island!" Parry said with a wide grin.
Meanwhile, Comf watched with a frown, "..." She cleared her throat, "Uh… u-uhmm, guys!"
Parry and Riley turned to her, arching a brow. "What'cha wanna talk about?" Parry asked curiously. "I mean, you called us here for bonding but you're been… silent outside you asking about the weather and I'm really confused!"
"Well, you literally changed the t-topic and ignored me…" Comf pointed out with a weak smile.
Parry chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head, "Oh… sorry about that, Comf. I get really really carried away sometimes… and I was really not wanting to talk about the weather for too long so I figured, might as well talk about mush and heh, I guess I forgotten about you… but I swear, I wasn't ignoring you on purpose, Comf!"
"I can't exactly blame you… I'm well… not exactly notable," Comf muttered, face flushed in embarrassment.
"Don't say that! You're perfectly notable!" Riley huffed, crossing his arms. He sniffled, "Don't be too down on yourself! You're a beautiful creature, you!"
Comf blinked, cocking a brow at this, "Err… while, I appreciate your words… are you crying?"
Riley nodded, wiping his eyes, "I… can get carried away with my emotions, sometimes… all I want to say is that… I'm sorry if you felt ignored… and er… yeah…"
"Thank you…"
"Heh! Thank you for inviting us, Comf!" Parry said with a wide grin. "We can all be besties, if you all don't mind! I'm sure Poi won't mind if I get a second and third best friend! After all, in my opinion, all friends can be best friends. No use trying to quantify that even further and force yourself to think about who's truly the best and after all, you'll never know when you'll need a lei or a plant thing. So in co-"
"Err… you lost me back there," Riley admitted, sheepishly.
"Same," Comf agreed with a firm nod.
Parry winked at his two companions, flashing a thumbs-up, "Don't sweat the details!"
"Well… that's the easiest thing to do," Riley admitted with a shrug.
Comf nodded in agreement, "If I try my hardest to decipher everything you say… we'll be here for the whole season, even!"
"True true!" Parry replied. "But it's just more fun like that~"
-000-
"Making friends is a bit difficult," Comf admitted with a shaky smile. "But I'm glad Parry and Riley are receptive to my friendly advances…" She made a sheepish expression, "Was that… a nice thing to say? Err… well, anyway, I'm just glad I don't have to force my leis on anyone to curry favor… that wouldn't be a nice thing to do."
000
"I… am the type of person who think with their hearts before using their heads… I'm aware that it's a problem… but I can't help it," Riley admitted, eyes shifting from side to side. "So I… want to play this game hardcore and err… not let anything get in my way. So, hopefully, this bonding time I'm getting is enough to get Comf and Parry to watch my back…"
-000-
Jacob was just sitting in the middle of the wood, meditating. He loomed serene… at peace… as if, he wouldn't be bothered even when he's hit by a huge meteor… or well, until the peace was interrupted by Felipe, flying into the clearing, with a curious expression.
"OOOOOOH! Are you meditating?!" Felipe asked, positioning himself on top of the Carracosta.
"…" Jacob doesn't respond but looked a bit annoyed at Felipe's sudden appearance.
"OOOH! You're so good at uhh… what you're doing right now!" Felipe commented nervously.
"…"
"I'm super impressed! Are you following some tips or are you self-taught?! Maybe you can teach me some tricks. I'm a bit of a meditating nut myself. Heeey, did you polish your shell?! It looks so shiny that I think I might get blind, just looking at it. Jacob is a really hot name. Makes sense, since you're very hot yourself. Can we be friends? I'm sure we can-"
"Stop… please…" Jacob grumbled in exasperation.
Felipe winced, smiling weakly, "H-hello! Did you uhh… get a haircut?"
"… what are you even trying to pull here?" Jacob asked, deadpanning. "And why me specifically?"
Felipe huffed, "Well, I like you and want to be your friend!"
Jacob gave him a confused look, "We… barely know each other and the last time I've checked, we haven't interacted before even… not even on the docks…"
"Well, you're the silent type, y'know?! So I don't think you interacted or tried to interact with anyone yet. And I don't think people were mingling too much yesterday!" Felipe pointed out. "So uhh… I just wanted to talk with everyone in the game and you're the first person I came across!"
"… I can buy that, I guess…" Jacob muttered. "But that doesn't mean I appreciate your company…"
"I'll take it!" Felipe sighed in relief.
"…"
"…"
Awkward silence ensued, until Felipe decided to clear his throat, "Err… so what's next on the bonding agenda?"
"We're not even on the same team," Jacob pointed out.
"…well?! So what?! I just want to get closer to you! We can chat about the others, bond, become closer. I mean, you're obviously a total bad-ass so I wanna know more about you!" Felipe intoned, standing his ground.
"Get off my head first and I'll consider," Jacob requested.
Felipe smiled weakly as he flew off Jacob's head, landing on the ground next to the turtle Pokemon, "Sorry about that…"
"… hmph…" Jacob grumbled.
"Errr… what are you two doing here?" A third voice then spoke, surprising the duo. Jacob and Felipe both turned to the sound of the voice. Avis waved a wing as she emerged from the woods.
"Great… now, there are two of you. Can't someone get some peace and quiet here?" Jacob drawled, tone dripping with annoyance.
Avis rolled her eyes at this, "Well… I was just flying around and I heard voices… and well, I wanted to go check and mingle! I mean, you should know that you need to talk and interact with other people in these shows, right?"
"I know that much… but I would've preferred to be alone right now," Jacob answered, expressionless. "So can you two make like a Sudowoodo and leave?"
"Okay…" Felipe muttered.
"I literally just got here!" Avis huffed.
"Y-yeah!" Felipe chimed in.
"I don't care," Jacob said.
"Maybe, we should leave…"
"Well… seeing as you want me and Felipe to leave, we might as well stay!" Avis said, puffing her cheeks in defiance.
"Mmhm…"
"Who are you even siding with, Felipe?!" Jacob asked the Woobat, who just smiled weakly in response. He sighed in exasperation, shaking his head, "I guess you two aren't going to leave… there goes my whole morning, I suppose."
"At least, try to get to know us better!" Avis pointed out, wings to her hips.
"You're not even on my team though," Jacob retaliated, rolling his eyes.
"It doesn't hurt to befriend people not on your team!" Avis spat back. "I mean… we all live on the same island so cross-team interaction is basically inevitable." She then smugly extended a wing to the Carracosta, "I'm Avis! Nice to meet you."
Jacob stood at the cottony wing before begrudgingly shaking it, "Jacob."
"And I'm Felipe!" Felipe added, hoping to join back right into the conversation.
"Nice to meet you, Jacob! Nice to meet you too, Felipe! I hope we can all get along during our stay in this game!" Avis said with a smile.
"Mmmhm… same," Jacob mumbled half-heartedly.
"Yeeeeah, samezies! I mean, Avis… you are really pretty and mature. So I think we can get along really well. We're on the same team too so let's watch each other's backs!" Felipe nodded.
Avis gave him a look, "Err… thank you for calling me pretty? But uhhh… you might be a little bit… too…"
"Forward?" Jacob supplied dryly. "Desperate? Tryhard?"
"I was going to say passionate!" Avis huffed, giving the Carracosta a look that basically said 'Really?!'.
"Well, that's an interesting way to describe Felipe…" Jacob commented, glaring at the Woobat, for a short while.
"H-hey now! What did I ever do to you?! We literally just officially met today! And I've did nothing but good to you!" Felipe protested, annoyed.
Jacob sighed to himself, "Well… you interrupted my peace and quiet… and brought along another annoyance with how loud you were."
Avis scoffed, "Firstly, Felipe means well so don't even try to debase him… secondly, I'm not even trying to annoy you here. I just want to be your friend… or acquaintance… whatever works with you."
"You're not my enemy… isn't that enough?" Jacob replied.
Avis sighed, shaking her head, "I guess for now… it's a start… but uugh! I just want a less hostile conversation here."
"…" Jacob ignored Avis' complaints as he stood up, starting to make his way out of the clearing. "Well… this is the end of this discussion then…"
Without another word, Jacob ignored any further protests as he left.
Avis and Felipe exchanged a look at this. Felipe smiled weakly while Avis huffed, crossing her wings in annoyance.
"Hopefully, everyone else on the Kartanas are less... standoffish," Avis commented.
Felipe nodded in agreement, hoping to get into Avis' good books, "One hundred percent, I agree. You definitely have a good head on your shoulders so I have no problem agreeing!"
Avis gave her companion a look, "Err… thank you again?" She then sighed, "Well… we're alone now… and I don't want to leave you all alone so maybe, we can chat?"
"I love chatting with smart people so let's!" Felipe replied.
"Uh… thanks? I can see that you really like showering people with compliments…" Avis told the Woobat. "Not that I have a problem with that but err…"
"Well, I just like to say what I want to say and I like you enough!" Felipe retorted, trying his best to smile. "But that aside, if you're not yet ready to watch each other's backs, maybe we can uhh…talk about the rest of the team?!"
"That's not exactly easy, seeing as I only talked to you and Neveah, among the Kartana," Avis pointed out. "Neveah is a bit… blunt but her heart's in the right place so I appreciate her honesty. The rest… I'll try to have chat with, if ever I get the chance. I was honestly just taking a morning stroll and didn't expect to run across you and Jacob here… but eh, I'm not mad about it since Jacob… is certainly really interesting. At least, he doesn't resort to violence, right? I try to look at the positives."
"And that's a really admirable trait you have!" Felipe said, nodding repeatedly. "Me, on the other hand, I uhh… have been trying to look for people to talk to… and well, Jacob's the first one I saw… and welp, you saw how that went. I don't think he liked me too much."
"Don't worry about it too much. It's not like he can vote you off."
Felipe tapped his chin before chuckling, "You know what… you're right! As always, of course!"
"Err… you can uhh… stop complimenting me, you know?"
"Sorry…"
-000-
"Felipe is… a bit odd, with his tendency to compliment everyone for no reason but you know what… he's alright, in my book," Avis admitted. "At least, he doesn't seem to be the type that stirs up drama for no reason? On the other hand, Jacob is exhausting to talk to. He is… standoffish, for sure. But, he might be the first person I've met that is actively getting on my nerves... and I'm usually the type to not get offended by lowball comments even! But at least, he didn't lash at me… so maybe, he's not so bad."
000
"My strategy of sucking up to everyone is… not off to a great start," Felipe commented with a weak smile. "Avis… is already picking up on it and I think Jacob also knows about my strategy." He then shook his head, "But that doesn't mean I'm going to give up on it. I mean… nobody has called me out too seriously on it so like… I want to see how far it can go. I'll even try toning it down so that I don't look annoying."
-000-
"IT'S TIME FOR THE CHALLENGE! PLEASE HEAD TO THE ELIMINATION AREA, LOCATED AT THE END OF THE BEACH NOW!" Nihilego announced, through the loudspeakers, scattered around the island.
"W-what?! But I haven't even eaten breakfast!" Ulysses complained as he stared at his bowl, still filled with gruel. "Guess that's what I get for oversleeping…
-000-
The sixteen contestants were now gathered at the elimination area. It was located on the beach, with ten seats facing a podium for the host. Since there wasn't enough seats for everyone, Jacob, Jarvis, Harrison, Avis, Venice and Felipe were left sitting on the sand.
"Who's ready for the first challenge?!" Nihilego asked the group with a wide grin.
"I'm not yet ready!" Neveah huffed, hands to her hips.
"Yeah… I haven't even eaten breakfast yet…" Ulysses agreed, putting a paw to his growling stomach. "I'm starving, dudes…"
"Well, that's your own faults honestly," Nihilego said nonchalantly. "Anyways… time for the challenge! It's going to be a non-elimination round, first thing's first so everyone can rest easy tonight!"
Most of the group sighed in relief at Nihilego's news.
"But of course, there are still some rewards to be won here! I won't say what these rewards will be specifically since that'll ruin the surprise but hopefully, that will be enough incentive for everyone to try their best at the challenge." Nihilego started, tentacles to her hips. "And the challenge will be simple too… it's Berry Gathering!"
Poipole nodded, continuing from where Nihilego left off, "Here are the rules, both teams will get a certain amount of baskets to use to gather berries. These baskets will have a picture of your respective team's mascots so that we can easily know which basket belongs to which team. This island is rich in berries so everyone will have to gather berries around the island! But of course, this challenge will focus on the kinds of berries over how many berries you can gather so the team that gathers the berries with the most kinds win the challenge and the secret reward. And of course, like I said, there are more than one basket. There will be a total of eight baskets, one for each person. I'm pointing that out, because there's also a special reward for the person to gather the most berries for each team. Unlike with the team reward, individual rewards will depend on the quantity of berries you can get so you can either be selfish and just gather the same type of berries to help yourself or a huge assortment to benefit the whole team. Is that clear enough?"
"Wow… I think I spaced out from 'Here are the Rules…" Ulysses admitted with a sheepish expression.
"Collect berries. Most type of berries win team reward. Most number of berries win individual reward. It's as simple as that," Harrison explained, crossing his arms.
"Thank you for the TL;DR, Harry!" Nihilego giggled, annoying the Bisharp, who silently rolled his eyes. She then gestured to the sixteen baskets behind her, "Everyone, please get a basket, with your team icon on it, so we can start!"
-000-
Everyone now had their baskets and were preparing for Nihilego to give them the permission to start gathering.
Nihilego cleared her throat, "Okie dokie! On your marks… get see… GO!"
The sixteen contestants then scrambled to gather berries for their respective teams.
-000-
Neveah, Ulysses and Harrison were gathering berries from the berry bushes near the cabins. Neveah's basket was currently full with Oran Berries that she wordlessly stuffed into it; Harrison's basket had a few Oran Berries, along with some Pecha Berries that he got from a bush near the mess hall, while Ulysses' was noticeably empty.
"Hey…" Harrison greeted, walking over to where Neveah was, to get more Oran Berries for his basket. He then noticed Neveah's basket that was starting to fill up with Oran Berries, "… are you seriously not going to help the team?"
Neveah gave him a look, shaking her head, "Of course not! I have a plan!"
"What exactly is this plan?" Harrison asked, rolling his eyes as he started getting Oran Berries.
"Hmph! As if I would tell you. Sure, I look selfish, for only getting Oran Berries but I'm thinking of the long-term here…" Neveah explained. "Besides, I won't be surprised if everyone else has the same idea." She then pointed over to Ulysses, who was just eating the berries from a bush he was supposed to be gathering berries from, "I mean, Ulysses hasn't even contributed to the challenge yet at all!"
"I'm hungry…" Ulysses huffed, stuffing an Oran Berry into his mouth.
"Whatever. At least, I'm doing something! Even if it's not for the team reward," Neveah said.
"… fine… sure, I don't care anyway," Harrison muttered. "You're just a kid… I didn't expect somebody like you to think about the team anyways…"
Neveah pouted, giving the Bisharp a look, "I'm not a kid! I'm perfectly mature! Shouldn't you be busy, being a loner or something?! Seeing as that's what you're trying to do until now?"
"It's literally Day Two… you don't know me…"
Neveah rolled her eyes, "Whatever." She quickly scurried over to another bush, filled with Persim Berries. She turned back to the Bisharp, sticking out her tongue, "See, I'm contributing! Is that enough for you?!"
"…" Harrison doesn't reply as he ignored the Espurr to continue on with the challenge.
-000-
Aiden was looking for berry bushes to get berries from but was clearly struggling to find any as all of the bushes he came across, were already stripped of the berries they had.
"Is it me or am I having bad luck this challenge?!" Aiden grumbled to himself. "It's nearly twenty minutes and I haven't found anything… this is so unfair!"
He continued grumbling to himself until he comes across a berry bush, still filled with Chesto Berries. Aiden sighed in relief, "FIN-"
His relief was quickly interrupted by Parry, who quickly ran to the berry bush, shaking it violently, letting the Chesto Berries fall off. Somehow, it all neatly falls into his basket. "This challenge is so easy! I wish all of the challenges were gathering challenges!" Parry commented with a wide grin. The Pachirisu then left the area, leaving the Chimchar, gaping to himself.
"W-what?!"
Aiden sighed, shaking his head, "Okay… what the fuck?! Is this challenge rigged against me or something?!"
The Chimchar wanted to throw a tantrum, there and then, but decided not to and continued onto the path, to find anymore berry bushes… hopefully ones that weren't empty.
-000-
Avis was walking along the shoreline, searching for any out-of-the-way berry bushes, that others might've missed as she noticed that everyone decided to head into the woods to find berries. She ran into Venice… who was basically, just drawing some figures on the sand with a stick that she somehow held with her mouth.
Curiosly, Avis walked over to the Vivillon, "Err… are you not going to do the challenge?"
"Nnggwwmsdffms," Venice mumbled, still biting onto the stick as she continued drawing on the sand. Avis peered over her shoulder, eyes widening at what she saw. Venice basically drew a really accurate self-portrait on the sand. Satisfied with her masterpiece, Venice spat out the stick, "Ptoooey!"
"That… is a really good drawing…" Avis commented.
Venice turned to the Altaria with a cryptic expression, "Thank you for the compliment, Avis. It's merely just a scribble though… I'm still trying to gather up inspiration within this competition and well… the most inspiration I've gotten was from the toilet inside the confessional."
"That's not just a scribble! That's a masterpiece!" Avis pointed out, mouth agape.
"Mmmhm… of course, someone who has zero knowledge about art would say that… but from an artistic perspective, I still have a lot of work to do, in order to improve," Venice said with a nod. "And to answer your question, I see no reason to perform in this challenge. I don't think the reward would be enough to inspire me… I know I can always follow the others to see what inspiring acts they can do, dearie but well… I don't think I have the energy to do so."
"Err… that's uhh… interesting to hear," Avis commented, a little bit confused at what Venice meant.
Venice gazed into the Altaria's eyes, creeping out the latter a lot, before grinning, "Hmm… maybe, you can amaze me, dearie? Think, you can balance a stick on your beak?"
"Excuse me?" Avis replied, cocking a brow.
"Hmm… your expression is telling me that you are not flexible… fie… that is simply a tragedy. Was my initial expectation of inspiration stemming from Roccia and Jarvis' lovely conversation just… a farce?!" Venice moaned, tone seeping with melodrama. She then gasped in realization, "Or perhaps… you need to be desperate like the doggy! Avis, you shall dance for my pleasure!"
Avis scoffed, "Err… I'm sorry but that's not exactly my thing and well… I have a challenge to do here… so uh… point me to the nearest berry bush so that we don't waste both of our time"
:"After you dance for my pleasure?" Venice queried, pleadingly.
"I uh… don't dance for pleasure… even if you ask me with puppy-dog eyes," Avis reiterated.
Sighing, Venice's head cocked down in disappointed, "Fie… this might not be my day after all… oh well… if you wish to find berries… there is an Enigma Berry Bush underneath the docks for some reason… must be why there are simply an enigma. And there's also a Kelpsy bush on the way."
"Thanks, Venice!" Avis said, smiling at the Vivillon. She then smiled sheepishly, "Err… sorry for not uhh… agreeing to you whole… dancing for your pleasure thing though."
"You will eventually," Venice said, with a vacant stare.
"Ooookay? I'm off then!" Avis muttered, flying past the Vivillon, who just continued to stare at the air, where Altaria was, even when Avis was out of sight and earshot.
-000-
"Pity… Avis seemed interesting… if only we were on the same team so that I can dissect her for inspiration… but alas, fate didn't mean for us to have a beautiful relationship. I suppose I should be satisfied with the seven people I'm teamed with," Venice said longingly.
-000-
Riley was struggling to carry his half-empty basket to a Cheri berry bush. His basket currently had some Oran Berries, a few Pecha Berries and some Iapapa Berries that he luckily found in the deeper parts of the forest.
He sighed to himself, "I… didn't expect this challenge… to be this difficult for me… uugggh…"
Suddenly, Parry ran over to him, dragging along his basket, with surprising ease, despite his small size, "HEY RILEEEEY! You okay?!"
"Oh! Parry! Where did you come from?" Riley asked, confused. "Err… I'm struggling to carry this basket… I'm not exactly that strong honestly."
"Awwww, that doesn't sound too good!" Parry commented with a childish pout. "Maybe, I can help you with your basket!"
Riley gave him a look, "I don't want to be a burden and drag you down here… I'll err… try to sort my berries and help this team win by getting more unique types of berries. I mean, it's quality over quantity, right?"
"Mmmmmhm! That's really true! But I still think you deserve a chance to win the super duper individual reward too! Just thinking about it makes my skin crawl and it's a really tingling feeling that makes me feel warm inside!" Parry said.
"Is that tingling feeling a good thing?" Riley asked.
"Weeeell?! I won't say it's awful but oooh, I just wanna find out about what this secret reward is so like, I'm ready to win this! Though, I feel bad stealing every berry that Aiden was about to get earlier. His mouth was sooooo agape that you might fit a Wailord in there, hehe," Parry admitted.
"I mean… Aiden's not on our team so I'd say you did a good job," Riley murmured. "Though… thinking about Aiden makes me want to cry a bit since I think he's kicking himself for not being fast enough and even though he's a jerk, based on our limited interactions, I still don't want to wish bad luck onto him…"
Parry nodded in agreement, "Pretty much!" He then gestured to the Cheri bush that Riley was about to get berries from, "'kay, anyways… were you trying to get some Cheri berries? I think I have some of those so if you're just aiming for the team reward, I don't think you need any more of that!"
"What if we tie with the other team and the tiebreaker is the number of berries gathered though…" Riley pointed out.
"We'll cross that bridge when we get there!" Parry assured before tapping his chin, "Or I can get those berries myself!"
"You know what… knock yourself out, I guess," Riley shrugged, in indifference. Parry grinned widely as he went ahead to gather berries from the Cheri bush.
Aiden's voice can be heard from a close distance, "Oh, for fuck's sake!"
-000-
"Today's just NOT my day!" Aiden whined, puffing his cheeks.
000
Parry grinned as he clapped his paws together, "This challenge is so fun! I get to run around the island and stretch my legs and I even get to talk to everyone if ever, I run into them! Aiden looked annoyed at me. I nearly ran over Comf and Riley's already out of breath! Overall, it has been really fun! I can't wait for any future challenges they'll throw at our faces!
-000-
Roccia and Jarvis were gathering some berries near some ruins in the middle of the woods. While Jarvis was initially curious of what was in those ruins, he decided against exploring it since he doubted that there would be any berries there. As he got some berries from a Tamato berry bush, he noticed that Roccia… was nearby, half-focusing on a Persim berry she was gathering berries from and half-focusing on Jarvis, which made the Pyroar's skin crawl a bit.
Deciding to break the silence, he spoke up, "Roccia… are you following me?"
Roccia winced, stammering in reply, "W-what made you say that?! I just happened to be in the same area!"
"After finding you on my bed, that's not exactly a believable excuse," Jarvis pointed out dryly.
"W-well… err… it's a complete coincidence this time, I promise!" Roccia replied, with a nervous smile. "I mean… I'm trying to find love here and if I just zone into one person, that would lower my chances of getting a boyfriend slash girlfriend out of this experience."
"Then, why did you decide to follow me then?" Jarvis asked.
"I wasn't following you!" Roccia spat in frustration. "It's a complete coincidence!"
"Mmhm… if I wasn't winning this game, I would've probably used Flamethrower on you by now…" Jarvis commented, deadpanning. "Just give it a break. I'm fine with making friends in this game but romance?! Blech, not my thing. It's just going to distract me from the win."
"W-well… finding love is enough of a win for me!" Roccia retorted.
"… sure, whatever floats your boat," Jarvis said, rolling his eyes as the duo went back to whatever they were doing… or well, at least, until Kiara decided to loudly land near them with a sharp thud.
"HUEHUEHUEHUE! I HAVE ARRIVED! Everyone… TREMBLE WITH SLIGHT FEAR AND RESPECT FOR ME!" Kiara shouted with a wide, crazed grin. "Jarvis… Roccia… from henceforth, you shall be my comrade-in-arms!"
"Excuse me?" Jarvis said dryly. "We're doing a challenge here? Are you just uh… doing whatever you're doing, instead of even trying to compete? Sure, I'm fine with winning the individual reward because I'm quite sure that the rest of our team is slacking off but geez, I would like a challenge."
Kiara rolled her eyes before smirking, "I'm obviously competing! Take a gander at my spoils!" She then wordlessly dropped her basket to the ground. It was just full of Oran Berries. "I'm going to win this Individual Reward so that everyone will flinch in intimidation at my CHALLENGE PROWESS!"
Jarvis cringed at Kiara's words, "Seriously, you're not even trying to win the team reward? That's really selfish of you?! Are you trying to turn yourself into my first target in the game?"
"Hmmmmmppppph! Doubtful, if so. Because, I should be the one, calling the shots in this game. After all, I am the mastermind of the game!" Kiara squawked.
Kiara was too busy, hamming it up, that she didn't notice Roccia running over to her with a starry-eyed expression, "CAN YOU BE MY GIRLFRIEND?!"
Kiara winced, caught off-guard by the sudden confession, "E-excuse me?! What?!"
"Roccia basically wants to get a boyfriend slash girlfriend," Jarvis explained. "I would've expected a self-proclaimed mastermind to know that already."
Kiara smiled weakly before returning to a confident smirk, "I k-knew that obviously. I was just testing you! To answer Roccia's question… I am definitely not ready for a relationship so keep your distance if you don't want to get burnt by the flames!"
"Errr… excuse me?" Roccia asked, confused.
"I'm going to drop your deepest darkest secret that you want to keep in the deepest recesses of your mind!" Kiara threatened with a wink.
"What the fuck are you even going about?!" Jarvis questioned, stuffing more berries into his basket while trying to keep an eye on his teammate.
Kiara twiddled her wings together with a sheepish expression, "Well, I was going to steal all of your berries like the mastermind I am but I figured that you would hate me for that so I'm going for the less self-destructive option. Reveal a really dark secret that is most definitely true! It basically oozes drama!"
Roccia gasped in shock while Jarvis looked unconvinced, deciding to just focus on gathering berries as he moved onto a nearby Grepa bush.
-000-
"Ooookay, maybe I actually don't know any of their secrets but I just wanted to sound conniving since that's the role I'm going to play in this game. I'm not malicious. I just want to make this show a masterpiece by injecting a little bit of drama and suspense, once in a while," Kiara explained with a confident smirk. She then winked, "I don't care about winning, as long as everyone does their best to impress the viewers! But obviously, I'm going to give this game my all and win this individual reward to show everyone I'm a force to be reckoned with!"
-000-
"Cue the drum-roll!" Kiara hummed, faking a drumroll sound. "Roccia… is… secretly dating Jacob!"
Jarvis deadpanned while Roccia gasped, clapping her hands, "I am?! Wow… I didn't even noticed that we were together! I can't believe that all I had to do, to get the guy… was to do nothing. I guess that's where the saying… 'absence makes the heart go fonder' come from!" Roccia blushed, while saying this, making Jarvis face-palm.
"Seriously?! That's the dark secret you want to reveal? What's next?! I'm actually in a relationship with Comf but I'm disloyal and have been cheating on her with Venice?" Jarvis drawled, rolling his eyes as his continued gathering Grepa Berries.
Kiara giggled, rolling her eyes, "That's obviously a lie. You obviously have a controversial cross-team relationship with Avis. It was the fastest whirlwind love story I've ever seen for sure! I'll be sure to tell Comf that you love her though, but don't even try to think that Avis won't be mad about that."
"… what?" Jarvis just deadpanned to this.
"Cool story! If only it was true!" A voice called out from the forest. Wendy smirked as she emerged from the trees. Without saying a word, she quickly used Megs Drain on Roccia, who's caught off-guard. Being weak against Grass-type moves, she fainted.
Kiara scowled at the Whimsicott, "Heeeey! What was that for?!"
"We're on different teams so like… I want my team to win!" Wendy explained as she nonchalantly walked over to the fainted Roccia's basket, grabbing as many berries as she can.
"Fuck no! Don't even think of stealing my berries!" Jarvis growled, aiming a Flamethrower at the Whimsicott. Surprisingly, the superfan gracefully dodged and jumped in front of Kiara, who just blinked in confusion.
Unfortunately for Jarvis, as he aimed for Wendy again, the cottonflower Pokemon jumped out of the way and his Flamethrower hit Kiara, who flinched before falling to the ground.
"Oh come on… this is soooo unfair, ugh…" Kiara groaned before fainting like Roccia.
"Stop moving!" Jarvis growled at Wendy, who just stuck out her tongue with a giggle.
"This is a game, sweetie. You know what… I was going to use Stun Spore to make it easier to take your berries but I'm not thaaaat mean," Wendy mused as she took most of the berries in Kiara's basket. With one last giggle, Wendy left the scene as quick as she entered.
Jarvis just blinked before grumbling silently, "Fucking bitch!" Dragging along his basket, he ran off in pursuit of the thieving Grass-type.
-000-
"Ugh… my body hurts…" Roccia groaned, holding her head. "Wendy clearly has zero chill…"
000
Wendy giggled to herself in the confessional, giving the camera an innocent look, "I have watched a LOT of reality-television shows and at this point, I wanna try and emulate whatever I can, to show everyone what I can do. I'm a good girl though, I promise!" She winked at the camera.
000
Jarvis groaned in annoyance, "Wendy better be glad she's not on my team or I would be plotting her downfall by now but errgh… this was just… a set-back. A little bit of weakness to show that I, too, can make mistakes. But I swear I'm not going to make the same mistake. I feel bad for Kiara already!"
-000-
Neveah was smiling to herself as she levitated a basket full of berries behind her. She was really confident that she would be the one winning individual reward but the little cat still thought that she needed to get some more berries to clinch the win. Her thoughts was quickly interrupted as she bumped into Wendy, who was running into her direction and went too fast to notice the Espurr.
"Ooff…" Wendy groaned, lifting her head off of Neveah. Smiling sheepishly, she waved, "Heeeeey Neveah!"
"You look like you're in a hurry…" Neveah commented, frowning slightly. She noticed that the Whimsicott's basket had more berries than hers but didn't say anything about it.
"Weeeelll… I might've pushed Jarvis' buttons after stealing from his teammates…" Wendy explained.
Neveah blinked in surprise, "You did what?! And is he following you or something?!"
"I think so… you never know. I mean, he seemed like the type of guy who doesn't quit," Wendy replied. She winced a bit, "I can dodge his attacks, sure… but I don't think I can do that while trying to fill my basket even further with berries."
"Well… you did steal most of your berries…" Neveah pointed out, deadpanning.
"It's a competition!" Wendy pointed out.
Neveah crossed her hands, "Whatever…"
"WENDY! YOU FUCKING BITCH! GIVE BACK THOSE BERRIES!" A loud voice called out from a distance, making the Whimsicott wince a lot. Neveah, despite not being involved, also winced in fear.
"Uhh… bye?!" Wendy gulped before continuing to run off in the opposite direction from the voice.
Neveah sighed shaking her head, "And people think I'm immature… geez…" She then blushed, "I… should get running too… Jarvis' not on my team and I fear what he might do with me…"
The Espurr nervously skittered in the same direction Wendy went.
-000-
"I… think I need to gather some more berries, to ensure that I win individual reward," Neveah murmured quietly. "I have so many people to prove myself to." She gave the camera a determined stare, "So this challenge can be a good warm-up to show them that just because I'm young doesn't mean I don't have any direction in my life. I'm capable and can handle things on my own!
-000-
Comf wasn't in a rush with the challenge. Knowing that it was a non-elimination challenge, Comf figured that she might as well prioritize socializing with anyone she can find instead of finding berries, without the threat of elimination. She sighed as she floated near the river, failing to run across anyone for some reason, aside from Parry who ran over her while apologizing. The Comfey gathered a few berries, now and then, but her head wasn't in the challenge.
Her worries were then washed away as she saw not only one of her teammates near a waterfall… but TWO of them. Venice was just silently staring at the water… for some reason while nearby, Jacob was close to filling his basket nearby.
Comf grinned as she floated over to the duo. She waved, prepared to distribute leis if this failed, "Hey guys!"
No response. Venice continued to just stare at the water with a poignant expression while Jacob just grunted while moving over to another berry bush.
Pouting, Comf made another attempt, this time louder, "HEEEEEEY GUYS!"
Venice looked up from the water, giving the Comfey a vacant expression before returning to what she was doing. Jacob continued to ignore her.
Comf pouted… before floating over to the Carracosta first… then whacking him with a lei that she procured from out of nowhere, "HERE! Have a lei! It's made with LOVE!"
Jacob winced at this, before reluctantly turning to the Comfey with an annoyed expression. "Two words… fuck off."
Comf frowned, shaking her head, "I just wanted to-"
"There's a challenge going on. Go bother someone who doesn't care…"
"I gave you a lei! It's imbued with friendly energy!" Comf said, frowning. "And well… we're on the same team, so let's mingle! I mean, it's not like we have to worry about elimination, right?!"
"…" Jacob doesn't say anything as he ignored the Comfey and slowly walked away from the area, leaving the poor Fairy-type alone with Venice.
-000-
"Avis and Felipe already filled up my annoying conversations quota for today…" Jacob said curtly with a deadpan expression.
-000-
Comf sighed, floating next to the Vivillon, hoping to talk to her, "Uhh… Jacob's a no-go… but err… how about you?!"
Venice turned to the Comfey with a frown, "You interrupted me from my inspiration twice now… you should be disappointed in yourself…"
"Errr… sorry about that…" Comf responded, smiling sheepishly. "I just wanted to get to know my team better. You and Jacob are two people I haven't exactly talked to much yet."
"… mmhm," Venice said, with a bored expression. "You do you, I suppose. I was at the beach earlier… met an interesting person in Avis… I had an inkling I would have a GRAND chance encounter in the woods as well… but you're the second person I've seen here… well, after Jacob, who provided nothing to sate my artistic thirst."
"Huh?" Comf just looked confused.
Venice sighed, shaking her head, "Hmmm… you don't have… that certain aura I'm looking for… but I suppose you can provide a sliver of inspiration despite all appearances."
Comf cocked a brow, "Thanks?"
"Can you… dance for my pleasure?" Venice requested.
Comf's eyes bugged out at the Vivillon's request, "I don't uhh... what… huuuh?!"
Venice nodded curtly, "Yes, you heard me correctly. I requested Avis to do the same but she refused… so you might as well, show your worth by dancing for my pleasure. Perhaps, you shall be the one to tug at my heartstrings and draw out the inspiration I've been missing to concoct an artistic masterpiece from this game!"
"… if I dance, will we be friends?" Comf asked, curiously.
"… hmm… maybe, we can be acquaintances at most," Venice said flatly.
"… errr… sure? But I don't think I'm a good dancer though," Comf admitted with a weak smile.
"… do I look like I care? Even the worst dancers can bring out the best in some people," Venice said coolly. "So DANCE!"
Comf's face flushed in embarrassment, "Err… I'd rather not…"
"Do you not want to be my acquaintance?"
"Well…"
-000-
Comf looked embarrassed, "I'm never dancing again… I guess that's what I guess for not having much of a backbone to back myself up… hehe…" She sighed shortly after.
000
Venice shrugged, "It was okay. I've seen better though."
-000-
Avis smiled to herself as she flew to the direction of the elimination area, in hopes of finding more types of berries. Venice's tips worked out and Avis found Kelpsy, Enigma and Lum berries to gather for her basket. And fortunately enough, there were untouched Mago and Aguav bushes there. Nihilego and Poipole were just sitting at the furthest seats from the bushes, chatting while waiting for the time for the challenge to run out.
Smirking, Avis flew over to the Aguav bush first, plucking its berries and stuffing them into her basket. Humming a tune, she was hard at work to excel at the challenge.
-000-
"I'm glad that this challenge wasn't too stressful for a reward challenge. It was almost relaxing even!" Avis commented with a smile. "I hope everyone else feels the same!"
-000-
Wendy groaned as she lied down on the ground, face-first on the floor in the middle of the woods. After running away from Jarvis, karma struck and she tripped over a rock and found it hard to get up. She was lying there for nearly ten minutes now but nobody seemed to be nearby. Neveah was following her earlier but the Espurr split apart when she found a Rawst bush to gather berries from.
"Hello… anyone there?!" Wendy groaned. "Err… but if you're Jarvis, I'm not here though! Ugggh... is this my karma for stealing?! That was too fucking quick for my liking…"
Thankfully, her agony didn't last for any longer as Genevieve and Felipe emerged from the woods, hearing her cries.
Genevieve gasped, "Wendy, are you okay?!"
"I tripped over a rock," Wendy answered, deadpanning. "It's so embarrassing."
"It's okay! Tripping over a rock is NOT that bad!" Felipe assured, flashing a thumb's up.
"Sure…" Wendy rolled her eyes at this.
Wendy sighed in relief as Genevieve helped her up, "Thanks, Genevieve…"
"No problem!" Genevieve said with a perky tone. "How are you faring at the challenge though?"
"I…" The Whimsicott looked over to her basket. It was half-empty since she dropped it after tripping and some wild forest Pokemon decided to take some berries for themselves. "I had worse times…"
Genevieve nodded in understanding, "That's okay. I've gathered enough already… one of each berry kind I can find, because I don't think I care much about the individual reward."
"A total angel!" Felipe added, making the Audino's ears red from embarrassment.
Wendy sighed, rolling her eyes, "I would've wanted to win that individual reward honestly. The superfan in me is really curious on what that reward is!"
"Hmm… I suppose so," Genevieve said with a firm nod.
"Yeeeeah… I guess that's why I got hit by instant karma really fast," Wendy groaned in annoyance. "So, I guess you guys have to win this for the team since I don't think this challenge would drag on for too any longer. I'll say there's thirty minutes left… sure, I can re-gather berries but at this point, I have no idea if it's worth the effort."
"Don't give up!" Felipe said, flashing a shaky grin.
"Uhh… thanks?" Wendy said, arching a brow.
"By instant karma… what do you mean exactly though?" Genevieve queried, arching a brow.
Wendy smiled weakly, "I… uhh… stole berries from Kiara and Roccia…"
Genevieve frowned, shaking her head, "Well… that's disappointing to hear… but I suppose I can't be too frustrated at you trying to win the challenge. I mean, I can understand that you really wanted to see what reward was."
"Mmhm!" Wendy said with a curt nod.
"That aside, I think you should help me and Felipe in gathering more berries to increase our chances of winning the TEAM reward," Genevieve suggested, folding her arms.
"Eh, not that I have anything better to do…" Wendy said with a shrug as she followed Genevieve and Felipe to gather more berries.
-000-
Wendy stared at the camera, arms crossed, "I have no idea if anyone is out for me out there… but like, why was I punished so QUICKLY for what I did a few moments ago… or maybe, is this payback for my argument thingie with Aiden this morning too?! It's so unfair! But oh weeeell, by now, I should know that competing in these types of games wouldn't be a walk in the park but still, bleeech!"
000
"Wendy easily deciding to abandon her morals for the sake of the game does not sit right with me…" Genevieve admitted with a frown. "I think I'm not in any position to judge her for that so I won't. I'm just hoping that this excursion can serve as a lesson for her to better herself."
-000-
"Do you think I'm cut out to be a hostess?" Nihilego asked her companion as they sat on the seats at the elimination area.
Poipole gave her a look, shrugging, "Weeeell… I'm not exactly someone you would ask that question, seeing as this is my what?! Third time hosting?! And we already talked about how those other two times were non-canon too so yeeeeah, I'm basically a newbie!"
Nihilego sighed, "Well, I think I'm generally uninteresting and don't do much other than announce challenge or host eliminations. I mean, you saw the last times we hosted and failed. I did the bare minimum. Even, the one show I managed to complete, I think I didn't do much either."
"Don't say that! You're a great host, in my book!" Poipole complimented, flashing a thumbs-up.
Nihilego rolled her eyes, with a smile, "Hey now. You were the only person that was going to be on my side from the start, so your opinion doesn't count here."
"What about Guz-"
Nihilego winced at the mention of her first co-host's name, "Please don't even mention him… not that I hate him obviously. It just opens old wounds. So don't go off-handedly mention him and… the unmentionables." Nihilego made air quotes to emphasize the last few words.
Poipole cocked a brow in confusion, "Unmentionables? Are you talking about Clay, Breon, Comf, Icy, Poppy, Crimson, Izaya, Junior, Ace, Meowzer, Alex, Randall, Ashley, Septh, Luther, Juvia and Total Pokemon Ultra Space?" Noticing Nihilego, changing her expression into a glare, he smiled weakly, "Oops… sorry… I didn't think you were still caught up on that honestly. "I mean, you casted an Espurr, Whimsicott and literally another version of an old contestant so I thought you were fine with it."
Nihilego sighed, face-palming, "That's beside the point… it only serves a painful reminder of the old days… I mean, Guzzlord and I started dating during that show too… and ugh, I still can remember Ashley and Ace suing the show…"
"Technically, Ashley and Ace sued against Meowzer," Poipole pointed out.
"I'm pretty much aware. But I still had to get involved, since it happened within my show, which was my responsibility," Nihilego added. "So I'd prefer to forget about my romance woes, the controversies I had to get involved in… and Meowzer. I definitely want to forget about Meowzer. Poor Ace, having to get pushed off a building..."
Poipole gave his co-host a reassuring pat in the back, "Don't worry! Look at the future! It's bright!" His eyes then narrowed, "But… uhh, don't stare at it too hard or you might be blinded by its brightness!"
Nihilego rolled her eyes again, reverting back to a smile, albeit weaker, "Thank you for the encouraging words, Poipole… you're a good friend… but that still doesn't help me with my… problems, regarding my fading relevancy. Should I be a psychotic sadist?! Or should I be sickeningly sweet… ugh… it's giving me a headache just thinking about it."
"Don't sweat the details! Parry and I can help you with that after the challenge!"
Nihilego arched a brow, "You were serious about being Parry's bestie yesterday?!"
"Why wouldn't I?!" Poipole replied, with a wide grin.
-000-
Nihilego folded her tentacles, "Here's the gist… I don't hate anyone from the first show I've ever hosted. HELL! I still talk to some contestants from there. Ashley, Poppy, Icy, Junior and Breon… we still talk, even if it's minimal. I even casted Comf this season, even if she's not the same person technically, because deep down, I wanted to see her have a satisfying story for once, instead of being a good girl, who was too good for the game."
-000-
Harrison frowned as he wandered around the island, searching for berries. Currently, his basket had a few Chesto Berries and Cheri Berries, with a lot of Oran and Pecha berries in the mix. After leaving Neveah and Ulysses alone to their own devices, the Bisharp was deliberately trying to avoid people. It wasn't that he hated talking to them or anything. He was just self-aware of his lack of social skills and conversation skills.
He stopped as he walked past some bushes and out of the forest. He quickly noticed a giant mountain, standing in his way. It looked steep and Harrison didn't want to waste his time, trying to check if he could climb it to find berries. Looking around, he groaned as he didn't see a berry bush in sight, "Just my luck… all that walking and there's no berries in sight?! Only a fucking mountain?!"
As he was about to leave the area, he found himself bumping into someone else… Jacob grunted as he hold onto his basket, annoyed to bump into a person but to his relief, it wasn't anyone he wasn't fond of, like Comf or Avis.
"Oh… s-sorry for bumping into you!" Harrison apologized awkwardly, eyes shifting to the side.
"Don't be," Jacob grunted brusquely. "Just get out of my way so I can continue with this challenge…"
Harrison frowned, shaking his head, "Then, you're out of luck. There's nothing here but a huge-ass mountain that I don't think I can climb without wasting too much time and uhh… nothing else."
Jacob's face remained expressionless, "Glad to know. I'll be off then." Without saying anything else, the Carracosta stomped back into the forest, to search for any stray berry bushes that he had probably missed.
Harrison sighed in relief, still shaken from the sudden encounter, "Phew… this is why I don't talk to people…" He deadpanned, "They're fucking scary!"
-000-
"I… definitely wasn't scared of Jacob," Harrison denied, rolling his eyes. "He was just… larger and intimidating… mmhm!"
-000-
Roccia groaned as she lied down on the ground, still in pain, from Wendy's attack. Her eyes then hovered over to her basket… that only had a single Oran Berry left, which made her groan even harder. She sat up then noticed that she was now alone. Kiara, Wendy and Jarvis were all nowhere to be seen.
Roccia sighed longingly, "Fucking Wendy… I'm definitely not going to ask her out anytime soon…" She then pouted, "But it's disappointing to see Kiara and Jarvis just…" She flailed her limbs, "… ditch me! I know I was incapacitated and all but geez… that wasn't the romantic scenario I expected when I followed Jarv…"
She then stood up, walking over to her fallen basket. Picking it up, she had a frustrated expression, "Do I even try now?! I doubt that there's still enough time…"
As she continued to ponder, her thoughts were quickly interrupted by Ulysses, who stumbled in the forest clearing, absent-mindedly biting onto an Oran Berry. Noticing his team-mate, he waved, "Hey babe. Anything wrong?!"
Roccia's eyes widened as her heart started beating faster, "Err… can you repeat that?"
"I was asking you if anything was wrong with you, babe," Ulysses explained with a vapid expression.
Roccia blushed harder at this, clasping her appendages together, "B-babe?! I knew it… YOU were the one after all!"
"What?" Ulysses asked flatly in confusion.
"I DO!" Roccia quickly screamed, throwing herself onto the Umbreon for a tight hug.
"…" Ulysses gaped, barely comprehending at what he had unleashed onto himself.
-000-
"Ulysses and I… we're just meant to be!" Roccia said with an enamored sigh.
000
"… babe's crazy…" Ulysses commented with a shrug.
-000-
"EVERYONE! THE CHALLENGE IS NOW OVER! PLEASE HEAD TO THE BEACH FOR RESULTS!" Nihilego announced over the megaphone loudly. "DON'T EVEN TRY TO STEAL FROM THE OTHER TEAMS AT THIS POINT THOUGH!"
-000-
The sixteen contestants were now gathered at the beach, with their baskets. While some looked satisfied with their haul, like Jacob and Neveah, others were disappointed, like Jarvis and Wendy.
Neveah clasped her tentacles with a hearty smile, "Okay! Poi and I already counted the berries and TYPE of berries in each basket so the results are in!"
"We better win!" Jarvis grumbled, gritting his teeth. "Fuck you, Wendy!"
Wendy rolled her eyes, "It's just a game!"
"Hmph!" Jarvis grumbled, looking away.
"The team that wins reward is…"
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"The Krafty Kartanas with 14 types of berries gathered, over the Celesteelas with only 10!" Nihilego announced.
"THANK ARCEUS!" Wendy said, sighing in relief.
"Fucking hell…" Jarvis looked annoyed but bit his tongue so that he won't get enraged in public.
"Yup… good job team!" Ulysses said with a vapid smile.
"You did nothing though?" Neveah pointed out, deadpanning.
"I gathered an Eaten Berry… and an Invisible Berry," Ulysses drawled with a laidback expression. His team stared at him in confusion. "'sides… didn't the little flame baby get nothing too?"
"I am NOT a baby!" Aiden growled, glaring at the Umbreon. "Besides… all the bushes I found were all empty! So it's not my fault!"
"Still…"
"G-guys! Calm yourselves! We won reward so no reason to argue!" Genevieve pointed out.
"Mmmhm! You all better listen to the Audino! What you won is… an advantage for the next challenge!"
Neveah nodded in understanding, "We'll take it."
"This is just the start of a winning streak, people!" Wendy cheered in celebration.
"Moving on… the winners of individual reward for each team are…"
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"Neveah and Jacob!"
Neveah gasped, a bit surprised, "Wow… while I expected this, at the same time… I didn't expect this either." She smirked, "But it's always nice to get to prove my worth!"
"As expected…" Jacob said, crossing his arms with a faint smile.
"What do they win even?! Tell me, tell me!" Wendy queried, arching a brow.
"Ooooh! Same! I was really banking on this being a twist or something honestly!" Kiara said.
Nihilego smirking, crossing her tentacles, "It's nothing too complicated nor game-breaking. For the first elimination that Neveah and Jacob attends, they will be immune. No votes can be cast against them. Of course, if a team goes on a winning streak, this can take effect during the first merge round as its latest."
Neveah cheered happily while Jacob nodded, satisfied with what he won.
"There's no elimination ceremony tonight so you may now all go and have a nice afternoon!" Nihilego said, twirling in place. "So have fun, everyone!"
Everyone nodded in understanding as they went their separate ways.
-000-
"I'm absolutely HAPPY that I managed to get myself safety for a round… so if we keep winning these challenges, I don't even have to worry about elimination for a LONG while!" Neveah said with a wide grin. "And I think I managed to prove myself to everyone else on my team. All I need are allies and I think I'm set!"
000
"Fucking Wendy… ugh… I still can't get over it… but you know what… I'll just enact revenge on her when the time comes," Jarvis said, gritting his teeth in frustration. Sighing, he then flashed a confident smirk, "For now, I need to focus on my team. I need people who I can trust."
-000-
Jarvis has gathered Jacob and Kiara in the middle of the woods. He stared at the duo with a serious expression. The Tranquil waved back at him while Jacob looked indifferent.
"I've gathered you both here for a special occasion…" Jarvis started, pacing around the clearing. "An alliance. Simple as that. I just think that we are the more capable members of this team so I figured that we should stick together. Everyone else… no offense to them, but I doubt that their heads are really in the game."
Jacob gave him a look, "I'm flattered but…" He gestured to Kiara, who rolled her eyes, "She doesn't seem capable…"
"Oh please! I'm quite capable!" Kiara scoffed. "If it weren't for Wendy, I would've been a CONTENDER! But oh well… fate doesn't smile on us, creative people! Art is suffering after all."
"Whatever," Jacob drawled, rolling his eyes.
Jarvis sighed, "Okay… I know Kiara is… annoying…"
"I was abandoned as a child!" Kiara shouted, wings to her hips. "Left unloved, I turned to the world to give me the attention I so deserved!"
"Is that even true?!" Jacob questioned in disbelief.
"Hmmppph! Why should I tell you, huuuuuh?!" Kiara said smugly.
"Shut up, please," Jarvis said, deadpanning. "Let me speak. Basically, Roccia is distracted by her pursuit of love. Riley… is Riley. Comf is here to make friends and isn't going to be too much of an asset. Parry might be good for challenges but he's unpredictable, as is. Venice didn't even do this challenge. I know it's a reward but still. This leaves us three as the standouts, ignoring… certain personality quirks."
"Hmph! Better to be quirky, rather than an obnoxious hardass!" Kiara huffed before smiling, "But I'm in though! You remind me sooooo much of one of my childhood friends back home!"
Jarvis frowned, "First of all… I'm not obnoxious nor a hardass." He then smirked, "Finally… you won't regret this." He won't turned to Jacob, "How about you? Are you in?"
Jacob sighed, "It would be stupid to refuse this deal. I'd rather deal with Kiara over Comf, Parry or Roccia…"
"I'll take it!" Kiara said, beaming at the Carracosta.
"Then, it's official! We're going to be the first alliance of this season?" Jarvis asked for clarification.
Kiara and Jacob nodded, with the Tranquil also flashing a thumbs-up.
"If I were to make a suggestion for who we vote off when we lose… let's go for Comf…" Jacob added, crossing his arms.
"Oooh oooh! I agree! No offense, but she's boring. I think we have like… three nice girls in this cast?! I don't know about Avis or Genevieve that much but they seem to be the stereotypical sweetheart so her role is already taken so I'd be more than fine to kick her off!" Kiara chimed in, nodding in agreement.
"Hmm… that's a good idea honestly, " Jarvis commented. "But I don't want to make any rash decisions until we start losing immunity."
"I understand," Jacob said.
Kiara pouted at this, "Awww… I wanted to get all strategic and start shaping the game but waiting's fine by me. I mean, Comf's not the worst offender of boring in this team, when Riley and Venice both exist simultaneously."
"We're not voting people off because they're boring. They're just weaklings," Jacob said, crossing his arms.
"Mmhm! Pretty much!" Jarvis intoned. "But anyways… if we have nothing else to talk about… you two can leave and do whatever you want. We don't have elimination today."
At this, Jacob stood up then turned to leave with Kiara preparing to take flight. A few moments later, Jarvis was alone in the clearing.
-000-
"I was really hoping that I'd be the one to create the first alliance on the team but oh well, I can't complain. I'll just switch gears from mastermind to the schemer who controls everything behind the scenes! Jarvis will be my puppet!" Kiara said with a confident expression. She then blanched a bit, "H-heh, I'm not used playing the villain. I'm more of a… heroine type of gal but while on the boat ride here, I saw Comf, Genny and Avis and I was like… yep, I've gotta be the bad guy."
000
Jarvis scoffed, before smirking at the camera, "I'm on my way to victory. Kiara and Jacob weren't my first choice for who to include in my alliance but well… they're capable enough." He chuckled darkly, "I can already smell the money and bragging rights!" His eyes then narrowed as he covered his nose, "Nevermind… I actually smell the toilet. Who the fuck decided it was a good idea to have confessionals in the restroom?!"
000
Kiara winked at the camera, "See! I'm the bad guy! Jarvis didn't know what hit him!"
-000-
Aiden was sitting in the mess hall, still grumbling about the challenge. Seated across him were Genevieve and Felipe, who exchanged a look of concern before Genevieve spoke up, "Err… Aiden, are you okay?"
"I feel cheated! That challenge was basically rigged against me!" Aiden complained with a bitter expression. "Stupid Parry… he kept stealing berries from the bushes I was about to head to."
"He didn't steal it from your basket at least," Genevieve pointed out, recalling Wendy's words from earlier. Hearing Aiden sigh for a long time shortly after, Genevieve gave him a reassuring nod, "Don't worry about it too much. It was just a reward challenge."
"But I wanted to WIN!" Aiden wailed sadly. "It's not even my fault I lost… ugh…"
"I'm sure you can win the next challenge!" Felipe encouraged. He then gulped as he noticed Genevieve, giving him a look that basically said 'Don't get his hopes up…', "Or uhh… you MIGHT win."
Genevieve face-palmed as he saw Aiden's face brighten then drop in a quick second from the Woobat's words, "Don't listen to Felipe. He means well… but he can say the wrong things sometime."
"Sorry about that," Felipe said with a weak smile.
Aiden sighed, nodding weakly, "Yeah yeah, don't need to hammer it in."
"Just get some rest. You'll feel better in the morning," Genevieve suggested.
"Mmhm!" Felipe agreed.
"Uggh… fiiine… but for the time being, I'm still pissed!" Aiden groaned, standing up from his seat to leave.
-000-
"I do not like being coddled!" Aiden huffed, blushing in embarrassment. He then scratched his chin sheepishly, "Though, I'm glad SOMEONE is concerned about me here. Fuck Parry."
000
"Okay, right now… uh, I think Genevieve and I are really close," Felipe commented with a nervous smile. "And with her, I've gotten to chat with Wendy and Aiden too so… I think I'm in a decent position on my team. Hoping I don't jinx myself though.
-000-
Nihilego and Poipole were now standing over the docks. Nihilego grinned, waving at the camera, "Nobody was eliminated this episode but the competition is ON as we see our first alliance and some key connections forming!"
"Parry vs. Aiden! Wendy vs. Jarvis! Soooo many rivalries!" Poipole added. "And we also have Ulysses x Roccia for those who think they're into each other.
"Who will go home next episode?! Find next time on… Total Pokemon Ultra Island!" Nihilego finished.
Poipole pouted a bit, "Aww… I wanted to say that…"
-000-
And that's the second episode! I had fun writing and it had more meat than the first chapter because I didn't want to cram interactions to the very end of the last since it would've felt sloppy so I decided to put all of my heart and soul into developing characters here! Also, as I was writing, I realized that Azure and another OC that I forgot in TPUV are still not in anything so I kinda regret not putting them in this story to flesh them out but oh well… Neveah and Azure are slightly similar and Walter was just filler that I want to develop more.
Correction Notes (These are just me, basically going back to previous chapters and trying to correct things):
[1] Also, the last preview for this chapter is WRONG, since we don't have an elimination this time around. I decided to make this a non-elimination round since I think some characters would've felt cheated with only one episode of development so I hope you enjoy!
[2] Avis' title in the last chapter was 'The Shortspoken Pacifist', which was an error, on my part. It's supposed to be 'The Determined Pacifist'
[3] I typed Jarvik instead of Jarvis, because of a similar-named character that I was going to include in the original iteration of the story in the last chapter. This will be corrected.
[4] I will change all instances of Vivillion to Vivillon.
No votes were cast this episode.
Courageous Celesteela - Comf, Jacob, Jarvis, Kiara, Parry, Riley, Roccia, Venice
Krafty Kartana - Aiden, Avis, Felipe, Genevieve, Harrison, Neveah, Ulysses, Wendy
Nihilego: Please review!
Guzzlord: I eat them ALL up!
Poipole: Heeeey! I'm the co-host now! But yaaaaa, REVIEW!