Episode 2

You are about to read the story of a Pokémon-themed reality game show that could take place in the real world. The entire story is a work of parody protected under the First Amendment and all events are entirely fictional. In several cases, the names of famous people or technology involved with Nintendo or The Pokémon Company may be used.

Trainers Black and White cuddled in bed together as the sun started to rise through the window of their hotel room. Since Black had asked White to marry him they had been engaged for nearly a year, but without the funds to afford a wedding they were unable to tie the knot just yet. They hoped amongst hope that the prize money they won in this competition would be able to give them the wedding of their dreams. In unison their New Nintendo 3DS XLs began to pulse a blue light, indicating they just received new messages. Black got out of bed to check their messages but decided to let White sleep a little longer.

Trainer X had a small hotel room all to himself. He was used to getting up early each morning to go to school or watch weekend cartoons, and he was able to get up without much exhaustion. As he got dressed in his trainer gear, the light on his Pokédex began to pulse. After he finished getting dressed, he noticed the light blinking on his Nintendo handheld. Assuming it was time to start for the day, he quickly ran down the hall to knock on Trainer Y's door so they could get going. Y was awake, but she was taking longer to get ready. After Y finished getting dressed, they both grabbed their equipment and headed out.

Trainers Red and Blue also opted for different hotel rooms, and since it turned out that both were equally as competitive, they both woke up and got dressed at the exact same time. As they each left their hotel rooms to get the other, they found themselves nearly colliding with each other in the hotel hallway on their way to check on each other. Once they collected their bearings, they headed out together.

Gold and Silver had also opted for separate rooms, but the night before, they ended up sharing Silver's room. Gold had brought his Nintendo 64 over to Japan with him along with his copy of Pokémon Stadium 2 so he could stay sharp during downtime. When Silver saw what Gold had brought with him, she immediately challenged him to a battle. One battle then turned into a best of three, then a best of five, and by the time both of them fell asleep neither one of them could remember who had won the most games. Silver awoke to find her New 3DS XL was lighting up, and as she went to check her messages, found Gold asleep on her floor with a Nintendo 64 controller still in his hand. She nudged him awake with her foot and told him to wake up. Gold packed up his Nintendo 64 as quickly as he could, and they rushed downstairs together.

Trainers Ruby and Sapphire decided to share a hotel room but they slept in separate beds. While they had been friends for a long time, and even dated for a short period, they decided before the competition started to keep their relationship entirely professional. Both of them had slept through the sound of their alarms and didn't get up until two of the show's stagehands started knocking loudly on their hotel door. They woke up groggily, got dressed, and headed downstairs as quickly as they could. They would be the final team to arrive on set.

All five teams arrived at the same location they had been the previous day, the home of The Pokémon Company International. The stage was set as it was the day before, with giant banners of Mega Mewtwo X and Mega Mewtwo Y flanking each side of the main podium. However, something had been added to the set from the night before. Five smaller podiums were set up in front of the main stage, and each one had a name from the five remaining teams written on it, with a blank space above each name. As they walked into the set, each trainer was directed by a stagehand to stand behind the specific podium bearing their team's name. Once everyone was situated behind their respective podiums, Bill from Nintendo took to the stage, ready to give instructions to the remaining five teams.

An orchestral version of Pokémon's battle theme started to play through the set's speakers as Bill started to speak.

"Welcome back, Trainers," began Bill, "Welcome to Day Two of The Great Pokemon Journey!"

The five remaining teams applauded.

Bill looked around at all of the remaining trainers and said, "It's good to see all of you this morning. Before we get all of you started on your Pokémon Journey, we would like to take this opportunity to present you all with a special immunity challenge! Among you are the most knowledgeable Pokémon fans in the world, and we would love to take this opportunity to test your Pokémon knowledge. I will ask a series of ten questions related to any of the Pokémon video games, movies, TV series, or manga. After I ask the question, the first team to buzz in with a correct answer will receive one point. After all the questions have been asked, the team with the most points will be declared the winner! Don't worry, no one will be eliminated at the end of this challenge, but the winning team will receive immunity from today's challenge and a special prize! Good luck to all of you."

Bill pulled out his trivia cards and began with his first question, "First question. What was the first Pokémon game released on the Nintendo 64 in North America?"

Team One buzzed in first. Bill turned to Team One and said, "Team One, what is your answer?"

Trainer Red responded, "Pokémon Stadium."

Bill shook his head and said, "I'm sorry but that is incorrect. Pokémon Stadium did launch first in Japan, but the original version of that game never came to North America, and we need the first North American Pokémon N64 game."

Team Two buzzed in.

Bill turned and asked, "Team Two, what is your answer?"

Gold answered, "Pokémon Snap."

Bill nodded and said, "Correct. Next question. Who is the creator of Pokémon?"

Team Three buzzed in first. Bill turned to the team and asked, "Team Three, what is your answer?"

Ruby quickly answered, "Satoshi Tajeri."

Bill nodded and said, "Correct. Next question. What does the word Pokémon stand for?"

Team One buzzed in first. Bill turned to Team One and said, "Team One, what is your answer?"

Blue responded, "Pocket Monsters."

Bill nodded and said, "Correct. Next question. What type attack is super effective against Fire type Pokémon?"

Team Two buzzed in first. Bill turned to the two and said, "Team Two, what is your answer?"

Gold answered, "Water."

Bill nodded and said, "Correct. Next question. Who was the writer for the manga series Pokémon: The Electric Tale of Pikachu?"

This was a more obscure question, and many of the teams did not know the answer. However, Trainer Black had watched a review of that particular book online a few weeks earlier and he still remembered who wrote it. Team Five buzzed in.

Bill turned to Team Five and said, "Team Five, what is your answer?"

Black responded, "Toshihiro Ono."

Bill nodded and said, "Correct. Next question. Who is the leader of Team Rocket?"

Team One buzzed in first. Bill turned to them and said, "Team One, what is your answer?"

Trainer Red responded, "Giovanni."

Bill nodded and said, "Correct. Next question. What is the name of the postgame episode included after defeating the Pokémon League Champion in Pokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire?"

Team Six buzzed in first. Bill turned to them, and said, "Team Six, what is your answer?"

Trainer X answered, "The Delta Episode."

Bill nodded and said, "Correct. Next question. What type attack is super effective against Normal type Pokémon?"

Team Three buzzed in first. Bill turned to the team and said, "Team Three, what is your answer?"

Trainer Sapphire answered, "Fighting type."

Bill nodded and said, "Correct. Next question and this is going to be a controversial one. In the Pokémon animated TV series, how old is Ash Ketchum?"

Team One buzzed in first. Bill turned and asked, "Team One what is your answer?"

Red responded quickly, "Eleven."

Bill shook his head and said, "I'm sorry that is incorrect."

Team Three buzzed in. Bill turned to Team Three and asked, "Team Three, what is your response?"

Ruby responded, "He's probably twenty by now."

Bill shook his head again and said, "I'm sorry but that is incorrect. Anyone else have the answer?"

Team Six buzzed in. Bill turned to Team Two and asked, "Team Six, what is your answer?"

Trainer Y answered, "Ten. He's always ten."

Bill nodded and said, "Correct. As it stands we are in a four way tie for first place, with Team One, Team Two, Team Three and Team Six tied with two points each. If any one of those teams answers this next question correctly, they win the challenge. If Team Five answers correctly, we will have a sudden death round."

All of the team members started to become very anxious at what the final question could be. It was practically anyone's game.

Bill moved turned over his index cards to read what could very well be the last question and said, "Final question. In the Pokémon TV show, what was the name of the Legendary Pokémon that Ash encountered at the end of the very first episode?"

Team Two buzzed in first. Bill turned to Team Two and said, "Team Two, what is your answer?"

Gold looked at Bill very nervously and said, "Ho-oh?"

Bells started to ring out, and confetti began to fall from the top of the stage all over the participants.

Bill stepped away from his podium and walked directly towards the members of Team Two. When he finally made it to their podium he said, "Team Two, you are the winners of the immunity trivia contest. Congratulations."

The teams applauded as the members of Team Two took a little bow.

"Team Two," for winning today's trivia contest you have each won a gift certificate valued at five thousand dollars, which can be used at any Pokémon Center in Japan. You have also earned immunity from today's challenge. Feel free to spend your day off shopping across this great country. You have proven you know your Pokémon trivia. Congratulations!"

Team Two walked away from their podium to go and enjoy their newly earned immunity. The remaining Pokémon Trainers started to shake the fallen confetti from their clothes as Bill started to walk back onto the stage.

Once Bill stood at his podium he began to set the stage for the day's challenge, "In our video games, many of you know Pokémon Centers are an essential stopping point during a Pokémon Journey where you can heal your Pokémon, interact with other trainers, and since the release of Pokémon X and Pokémon Y, it has become an essential place to purchase supplies on your Pokémon Journey. You're here in Japan, the home of Nintendo and The Pokémon Company International. Here, we love Pokémon, so much so that we have Pokémon Center locations all throughout the country!"

Bill then informed the teams what their challenge would be, "In our world, Pokémon Centers are places where people can buy all kinds of Pokémon-themed merchandise and there's one located in the heart of this city. Your objective for today is as follows. Be the first team to reach the Pokémon Center. You can travel by any means available to you to get there but choose your means wisely."

Bill then had to inform the trainers what the stakes were for this challenge and said, "I'm afraid that the last team who makes it to the Pokémon Center will be eliminated from this competition and will not be able to continue on their Pokémon Journey."

The remaining teams were scared of the possibility of elimination, but excited at the prospect for how much fun this challenge was going to be.

"Once again, good luck to all of you! Your Pokémon Journey continues on the count of three. One, two…three!"

A loud buzzer sounded and the teams sprinted off as fireworks started to launch. None of the trainers had been provided a map or general direction for where the city's Pokémon Center store was located prior to Bill's challenge, so it was going to take each of the teams a few minutes to plan out the best strategy with the equipment they had before they could sprint to their ultimate goal.

Trainer Red had been to Japan before for several conventions, and he knew his way around the major cities. Blue had never left the United States before, but she was willing to trust Red's leadership for the time being.

Trainers Ruby and Sapphire wasted no time pulling up the location of the nearest Pokémon Center on their GPS. Ruby said to Sapphire, "There are paved roads all the way from here to our goal. Why don't we just hail a taxi and get that to take us to the nearest Pokémon Center?"

Trainers X and Y were pretty scared and overwhelmed by the challenge that lay before them. This was the first time either of them had been in a major city, and while they would be followed around at all times by the camera crew, they had to decide for themselves the best route to take across Japan.

Ruby and Sapphire made it to a taxi line and were the first team to get some wheels under them as they headed to their destination.

Red looked at Blue and said, "The fastest way to get across Japan is by train, and this country has some of the best trains in the world. Maybe we could find ourselves a subway or an elevated train that could take us across the city?"

Meanwhile, Trainer Y got a great idea as X continued to study his map. Neither one of them could drive, but rush hour had started and the car traffic on the roads were getting to a nearly dead stop.

Trainer Y looked at X and said, "Can you ride a bike?"

Trainer X replied, "Of course I can ride a bike, I'm ten, not six. Why?"

Trainers Red and Blue finally found an entrance to the underground. As they ran into the train station, Blue said to Red, "Take a picture of the train map with your 3DS and I'll buy us some train passes."

After some asking around, the members of Team Six were told that if they wanted, they could rent some bikes for the day and ride them all throughout the city. The rented bikes were GPS tracked, so they could leave them at their destination when they were finished, and other customers would be able to pick them up later. Trainer X paid the day's rental fee for two bikes.

Red and Blue got their train passes and headed down into the city's underground to catch their train. Unfortunately, just as they made it down the stairs, the train that was holding still on the tracks started to sail off, leaving them behind. Team One would need to wait for the next train, until it arrived they were stuck in the station.

The traffic across Japan was just horrible. Even though Ruby and Sapphire were able to get themselves a taxi quickly and certainly had enough spending money provided to them for the cab's faire, they were still in the middle of a busy city during rush hour. The traffic was just not moving, and Team Three started to panic that this could be the end of their Pokémon Journey.

Trainer X and Trainer Y were each handed a bright yellow bicycle in their size. After checking where they were with his GPS software, X quickly mapped out the fastest route to the local Pokémon Center.

Trainer X hopped onto his bike, turned to Trainer Y and said, "I'll lead, stay close."

Team Five had gotten onto a boat, even though they were just slightly behind Team One. As Trainer White started to stow her bags, she looked over to see her partner had fallen asleep in his seat. With her bag stowed, she sat down next to him, picked up his arm and placed it around her shoulders, as she opened up her New Nintendo 3DS XL. They had a few stops to go before they reached their destination so she booted up the already installed copy of Pokémon Omega Ruby and started to play.

The rush hour traffic was irrelevant to Team Six as they zipped around the stalled cars on their rented bikes. Both X and Y had done plenty of bike riding back home, and neither one of them were in any danger of slowing down or becoming winded anytime soon. They pedaled around the stalled cars as they continued their journey towards their destination. Without noticing, Team Six sailed past the stalled taxi cab holding the members of Team Three.

Team One had finally got on their train and were headed off to the Pokémon Center. The sights and sounds of the city passed by them as they sat next to each other and prepared to take a short break. There was nothing they could do as they waited for the train to reach its destination so Blue pulled out her New 3DS XL and booted up the 3DS's copy of Pokémon Alpha Sapphire for the first time.

As Red put his bag in the overhead compartment above them, he looked over to Blue and said to her, "You know, this would make for a great V-log."

Team Five's boat was going very slowly. While it was moving at a steady pace up the water passages, the boat driver just wasn't increasing his speed. After checking the other signs in the water, Trainer White quickly figured out why. The boat was traveling in a no wake zone, which meant it was forbidden to increase its speed past five miles per hour while it was in the passage.

Team One's train started to slow down. After checking their train map against their current location, Trainer Red started to get up.

Red looked at Blue and said, "I think this is the closest stop. After that it's a straight run to the Pokémon Center. Have you got your running shoes on? "

Blue smiled, put her 3DS in her bag, stood up, pointed at her sneakers and said, "Always."

Rush hour had passed and the traffic started to thin out a bit on the major roads. Team Three's taxi was finally moving again.

Team Six was starting to get winded. While they were told they could ride their bikes all the way to their destination, the stress of the long bike ride was finally starting to get to them. They weren't far from their destination, but their legs had become so sore from pedaling up the roads they may as well be miles away.

Trainer X slowed down to a stop. Trainer Y slowed down behind him and pulled over to the side of the road next to him.

X was panting heavily and said to Y, "Let's take a quick break."

Team Five's boat had finally reached the closest docking point to their destination. The boat pulled over to the side, and the crew members threw some ropes over to tie the boat to the dock. Within no time at all, they had the boat tied to the dock, and the boat's passengers were allowed to leave.

Trainer White shook her fiancée awake and said, "Let's go, we've got to run now."

The members of Team Six finished their break and headed back up the road on their bikes. They weren't far from their goal, and they would be sprinting to the finish line from now on.

The members of Team One ran out of the train station as fast as they could towards the Pokémon Center. As they saw the first glimpses of it off in the distance it triggered the same feeling with both of them as the first time they saw a Pokémon Center in the video games. The Center represented a sanctuary offering essential resources for Pokémon Trainers out on their journey. Now it was once again their sanctuary after a long day's journey across the land.

From the second they walked off the boat, Team Five sprinted at top speed towards their destination. They didn't know it, but they were slightly behind Team One, and they didn't have much time left if they planned to overtake them.

Team One was the first team to reach the Pokémon Center. As they crossed the finish line in front of the store, Bill from Nintendo walked out of the front doors of the building to address the winners.

Bill smiled at them and said, "Congratulations Team One, you have made it to the Pokémon Center first! For winning today's challenge, you are entitled to a Pokémon Center Shopping spree, valued at $5,000! Good for you! Go ahead, go inside and shop to your heart's content while we wait for the other teams to arrive."

As Bill finished his speech, the members of Team Five crossed the finish line. They were both disappointed they had made it behind Team One, but hopeful they were not the last to reach the destination. White looked up at Bill, hoping that they were still in this competition.

Bill smiled at Trainers Black and White and said, "Congratulations Team Five, you are the second team to reach the Pokémon Center. For your accomplishment you have won a Pokémon Center Gift Card valued at $2,500 dollars and are safe from elimination!"

Trainer White was so relieved to hear the news that they hadn't been eliminated she gave Trainer Black a big kiss, and then gave Bill a kiss on his cheek.

As the members of Team Five started to shop, Team Six pulled their bikes up to the entrance of the Pokémon Center and crossed the finish line in front of Bill. Sweating and exhausted, they hoped to hear good news from the host.

"Congratulations Team Six, you are the third team to reach the Pokémon Center. You are safe from elimination and you have won a Pokémon Shopping Spree valued at $1,000! Go inside and have fun!"

Team Six was excited to hear the news that they were still competing, and were pretty happy at the prize that they had one. Trainer X turned to Y and gave her a big high five.

Trainer X looked at Y and said, "We did it, are you ready to shop?"

Y smiled and said, "Absolutely."

The members of Team Six walked into the building to go shopping with the other teams.

A taxi cab finally pulled up to the Pokémon Center. Ruby and Sapphire paid the driver, got out of the cab, shut the cab door behind them, and finally walked across the finish line hoping amongst hope to hear good news from Bill.

Bill shook his head at them and said, "I'm very sorry Team Three but you two are the last to reach your destination. I'm afraid that means you have been eliminated. Thank you for playing, but I'm afraid that your Pokémon Journey ends here."

Team Three was devastated to hear the news, and the teammates silently walked away from the group. They were escorted to a small lounge with comfy couches and were told they could say whatever they wanted in front of the television cameras.

Trainer Sapphire began to express her frustration over their elimination, "I kind of feel like Team Rocket sabotaged our chances of winning today's challenge by causing that giant traffic jam."

Trainer Ruby nodded his head and said, "Yeah. Looking back on it, it was probably a bad idea for us to choose to use a cab, but I guess we have to stand by our decision. I'm just really happy we got to participate in this awesome event, and that they aren't going to sue us for our parody videos."

Sapphire squinted her eyes at Ruby for saying such a silly thing and then continued expressing her thoughts, "We're also really excited for all the prizes that we've won. I can't wait to start downloading some new games from the Nintendo eShop on my New Nintendo 3DS XL. You can also be sure I'm going to catch every single legendary Pokémon in my copy of Pokémon Alpha Sapphire."

Back inside the Pokémon Center, the four remaining teams were shopping away. Team Two, who had won immunity earlier in the episode, had been given a lift to the location so they could enjoy their shopping spree, and was shopping away alongside the other teams.

Before the teams started their spending their prize money, Bill got the four remaining teams to sit down together so he could tell them what was in store for them in the next episode.

"Congratulations for making it this far, Trainers," began Bill, "you have all earned your spots in this competition. Now I'm sure many of you are wondering what your next challenge is going to be." Bill pointed over at a map hanging on the wall. It took a second for the trainers to realize what was on the map, but after a few seconds it was clear that the map was of the land from the third generation games.

Bill took a deep breath and said, "Pack your swimsuits and sunscreen, Trainers. We're going to Hoenn!"

The teams let out a big cheer. They had no idea what they would be doing in the next episode, but they were all going to be along for the ride.

What an episode! Team three has been eliminated, and we're now down to four teams. Ironic how a simple traffic jam could be the deciding factor between victory and defeat? But you all know only one team can be the very best like no one ever was, and we've got a lot more episodes to go. Next time, we'll be headed to the tropical islands of the South Pacific in search for the real world inspiration for the land of Hoenn. What challenges are in store for the trainers? Who will win? Only time will tell. So please stay with us. This is Bill from Nintendo, and I'll see you next week.