All right! From here on out, I'm going to be responding to reviews at the bottom of each chapter. However, for this chapter, I won't be doing that, just because I don't want to ruin the ending; I kind of have a cliffhanger at the bottom of this chapter.
Anyway, I'd like to thank everyone for over 100 views to this story...and, yeah. Let's get this show on the road.
Daniel led the eight boys through a small tunnel of trees. There was a small barrier of forest between the central green, where there was the dining hall, swimming pool, tetherball pole, and several cabins, and the next field, which held more cabins. A dirt path, touched on both sides by a narrow length of wood, acted as a sort of bridge between the two areas.
Sammy didn't know what to expect. He'd been to a summer camp before, but that one had been in downtown Saffron City, where he was originally from, and generally a different type of camp than this one. Now, in the hills of Sinnoh, he felt like a fish out of water. To put it one way, he was a city boy, and now he was at a summer camp in a rural area. This was going to be interesting.
They passed a large pine tree. "Careful" Daniel said. "There's a wasp nest up there. The Beedrill won't be too happy; they'll try to sting anybody who disturbs their nest".
"Can you run away from them?" Jason asked. The Jolteon was looking quite nervous and on edge.
"You can try", the Dragonite counselor replied, "but they never miss. No matter how hard you might run, they can always go just fast enough to catch you. Best to leave them alone".
The campers all nodded. None of them particularly liked getting stung by Beedrill, not that all of them had experienced it before. Daniel's warning was all that was necessary to get them to give the pine tree a wide berth as they made their way up to the cabin.
"There's a small porch right there, as you can see" Daniel said. "The door's mounted on that porch. Enjoy your stay at Camp Eevee".
Freddie was the one to open the door. Even though he'd been to this camp before, he had never stayed in Cabin Five before, so he didn't really know what it looked like. (It was forbidden for campers from one cabin to enter another cabin unless authorized by their counselors).
The interior of the cabin did not disappoint.
There was a long room with a tall ceiling, white-painted beams, and electric lights. On the left side, there were five cots, while on the right side, there were three. A door on one end held their schedule, and the door led to a bathroom.
And, on the bunk beds on either side of the bathroom, there were three Pokemon that Sammy assumed were counselors.
One was a Blaziken, wearing a baseball hat and a black shirt. Another was a Lucario wearing a red sweater that made him look fatter than he probably was. The third was a Zoroark who was clearly female and wore a green shirt.
"These are Blake, Lucas, and Zora" Daniel said. "The four of us will be your counselors during this session. All four of us are fully trained in CPR, and know how to deal with teenagers. We are not the stereotypical counselors you might see in movies; we're good people".
Grant didn't have a good feeling about this. It was his third summer at Camp Eevee, and the counselors at both of his other cabins had told him the exact same thing. What was more, they had turned out to be total jerks. Had Grant not been a naturally rebellious teenager, he'd probably have seen it in a different light. He would perhaps have thought of the counselors as just doing their jobs.
"This is awesome" Liam said. The Leafeon found the sign on the front of the bed that contained his first name, where all of his clothes and books had been sent. Said items had been placed on the shelf next to his bed.
It was the same for all eight campers. In addition to sweeping the floors of the cabins, the clothes and any luxury items that the campers had brought had had to be placed in their proper places. The counselors had wanted to make things absolutely perfect for them.
"I like this place" Ulysses decided, saying it aloud. He made his way to his own bed, sitting on it with a thud.
"This is where you guys are going to sleep during your stay at Camp Eevee" Zora said. "I will not be staying in this cabin at night. In addition, one counselor will periodically be taking time off and will be travelling in the nearby towns".
"Uh...why aren't you staying in the same cabin?" Freddie asked Zora.
"Because I'm female, and the cabins are not allowed to be co-ed. They just don't want anything crazy going on, you know?"
"I see" the Flareon replied, sitting on his own bed.
Blake walked over to the door to the bathroom. "As you can see, here's your schedule. This is what a typical day at Camp Eevee is going to look like for you".
Once the Blaziken counselor was confident that he had the attention of all eight campers, he said, "Lights are on at 7:30. However, twice during the session, we will have kitchen duties. On those days, we'll get up fifteen minutes earlier so that we can set the tables and shit like that".
"Did you just swear?" Vincent asked Blake.
"Yep, I guess I did. You're all fifteen or sixteen by now, so I think that it's more than okay if I do that. Anyway...let's see...breakfast is at 8:00, and after breakfast we clean up the bunk until 9:15. Each of you has a different chore each day".
Sammy wasn't too happy about this. He was from a rather wealthy family and, growing up, he hadn't ever had to do very many chores. He rarely had to make his bed, or help with the laundry.
"He forgot to mention", said Lucas, "that laundry is done every Wednesday. The bag at the foot of your bed is for laundry. The laundry truck comes once a week, and you'll put your laundry bag in the back of it. The next day, you'll get your clothes back. Understood?"
"Yep" Sammy said. Perhaps doing his own laundry wasn't going to be so awful after all, if it was really that simple.
"Well...you'll have two activities in the morning, followed by forty-five minutes of free time before lunch, which is served at noon. After lunch, there's rest hour in the cabin, which is meant to be a time for relaxing. You're expected to be quiet during it". That was Lucas talking.
"What comes after rest hour?" Sammy asked.
"Glad you asked" Daniel replied. The Dragonite pointed to the schedule. "You've got another activity, followed by a snack and then two specialty activities. You have signed up for these in advance, but they will be different each week".
"And on Sundays", Blake said, "we go on hikes in the nearby area. And each year, the campers of a specific age go to a specific place on a field trip. That's toward the end of the session".
"Shower hour comes after your second specialty" Zora said. "And after that, dinner, followed by an evening meeting and an evening activity. Once all that's over, we head back to the dining hall for a snack, and then back to the cabin for lights out. Any more questions?"
After nobody raised a paw, the Zoroark said, "Okay, I think that's it. Nobody seems to have any questions for us. If you want to go anywhere to hang out, the tetherball pole, basketball court, and jumping pillow are open. We'll reconvene at five for showers, so you've got roughly forty-five minutes to do as you wish".
"And one more thing" Lucas said.
All eyes and ears were now on the Lucario, as he continued. "Campers are not allowed to go to any area of the camp unaccompanied by at least one counselor. This is the law here; we didn't make it. Am I understood?"
All eight boys sighed, including Vincent. This, despite the fact that Vincent had been at the camp for five summers before this, and it never changed. That one rule never changed; no matter what, campers had to stay with counselors.
"Okay" Daniel said. "That's all you need to know. I'll escort anyone who wants to head to the jumping pillow, so if that is you, raise your paw".
Ulysses, Jason, and Ethan all did so. Therefore, Daniel said. "Okay. Ulysses, Jason, and Ethan. You're coming with me. Everybody else, you stay in here unless given the permission to go somewhere else".
Sammy was quite disappointed. If he wasn't allowed to go anywhere...maybe this place was not going to be quite as fun as he was expecting.
Well, I'll create a little chaos, he thought.
The walk to the jumping pillow was more tiring than Ulysses had expected. At first, he forgot why this was.
"Does everybody have a water bottle here?" Daniel asked. "Because it's very important to stay hydrated at this altitude".
"I wasn't aware that the altitude was this high" the Umbreon told the Dragonite.
"Well, according to Pokepedia, it's six thousand and twenty-nine feet above sea level. No wonder you're short of breath. Perhaps you shouldn't be on the jumping pillow until you acclimate".
"No, I'm good" Ulysses replied, hopping onto the large trampoline-like apparatus on the ground. He found that it was a lot bouncier than it looked, and he was soon achieving heights of two or three feet in the air.
Soon, Ethan and Jason joined the Umbreon on the jumping pillow, and they were all having a pretty good time. And, when Ulysses jumped higher, he was able to see more and more of the camp.
Now that he was closer to the edge of the woods, he saw that there was what appeared to be a high ropes course there. At the sight of it, the Umbreon shivered.
"What's wrong?" the Jolteon asked him.
What's his name again?, Ulysses asked himself. Oh, right. Jason.
"I'm a little afraid of heights" the Umbreon told Jason.
The Jolteon laughed. "With this? You're only bouncing three feet in the air, if that".
"It's not that" Ulysses replied. "It's the ropes course. I've never done anything like that before".
"It'll be fine" the Espeon said. Ethan had bounced over to be closer to the other two, and he was now very much a part of this conversation. "They make sure that you can't fall".
"How do they do that? Defy the laws of gravity?"
"No" Ethan replied. "They suit you up. You'll be fitted with a harness, which will be attached to a rope. If you fall, the rope will catch you, so that they can lower you to the ground".
"Ah" Ulysses replied. He understood now, and he was a little less afraid to do the ropes course.
But not a lot less.
"Anyway, what else is there to know...whenever we're around the camp, we try to cause as much chaos as possible!" That was Jason talking.
"Wait...really?" the Umbreon asked. "Chaos? Like...what?"
"I propose that, tonight, we get a bowl of warm water…".
"And do that trick, right?", Ethan asked. "On whom?"
"Wait a minute" Ulysses said. "What trick are we talking about here?"
"Well...you put a sleeping Pokemon's hand in a bowl of warm water, and it makes them wet the bed" he explained.
"That sounds ridiculous!" the Umbreon exclaimed.
"It works, though" Ethan replied. "And who will we play it on, Jason?"
The Jolteon appeared to think about it for a few seconds, before finally settling on one answer in his mind.
"Liam".