Ultimate Total Pokémon Action

by Dark Arcanine 33

The sequel to possibly the weakest TPI in history. Raikou, Entei, and Suicune are back and are welcoming players new and old. What will happen this time? Tune in to find out. Or don't... It's fine if you don't.

10. Aye, Spy!

I spy with my little eye…

000

-Static-

000

Raikou yawned and smacked his lips as he rose from his large bed. He looked beside himself and was happy to see nothing there at all. He sighed in relief in the fact that he wasn't used as a toy while he was unconscious.

He'd still never know why Entei was so attracted to him, nor why Suicune was so fine with it, but he figured that wondering would open up a can of Wurmple that he didn't want to hear. He stretched while still in bed, popping his spine a bit. He hadn't been punished just yet and was rather gleeful.

Though, that would probably be changed in a few seconds. He entered his bathroom and turned on the shower, only for a creaking sound to come out. He looked at the shower head, which was shaking, before a brown substance sprayed out, getting in his face.

"What the hell?!" he exclaimed, spitting out the brown sludge. He grabbed a red towel from his bathroom closet, only for the pigment to come off on his face, making it red.

He looked in the mirror above his sink and saw the red marks on his face, making him growl. He turned on the water and ended up getting sprayed with more sludge. He throatily growled.

-000-

Outside, Suicune and Entei were smiling upon hearing his frustration.

"Nice work…" Suicune commended Entei.

"Thanks…" Entei muttered with a neutral face. The door swung open, with Raikou standing there with an agitated expression.

"That'll teach you to never cheat again…" Suicune said. "I hope you learned your lesson…"

Raikou didn't respond, he only kept his glare. He couldn't even retort or hurt them as much as he wanted to due to it being a 'punishment'. He just moved on; he just knew that when one of them lost, they were going to pay.

000

The contestants were all called down to breakfast and this time, after getting as much as they wanted, they all returned to their apartments for their first full team meetings in a while.

000

Delibird picked up a piece of bacon, which promptly slumped over from the sogginess. He sighed. "Second loss in a row. We've gotta do something…"

"Yeah, we have to, but the 'great veterans' are pouting at the moment…" Blissey said, acknowledging the fact that all of the veterans were silently eating their breakfast, not even looking at the others.

"Blissey, shut the hell up. You're part of the reason they're like this!" Noibat growled.

"Don't act innocent. You were along with me…" said Blissey.

"Yeah, but you're all alone now, so you're a lost cause", Spiritomb said. "When we lose again. You're definitely gone…"

Blissey giggled. "I love the fact that you're just planning to eliminate me based on a strategy I had instead of who performed the worst in a challenge. It really shows your intelligence level…"

"Intelligence has nothing to do with it!" Lanturn exclaimed angrily. "It's about morality!"

"Morality? Really?" Blissey inquired, astounded that that was her main counterpoint. "This is a fucking game show where you VOTE people out after doing stupid challenges. You act like I was trying to murder them…"

Shellder sighed. "I hate to admit it...but she's got a point", Shellder said. "As rude as she may be, it's a valid strategy and we can't hold a grudge if we're going to be turning on each other eventually…"

"FINALLY!" Blissey exclaimed. "Someone with common sense!"

"That doesn't mean that I agree with your strategy…" Shellder clarified.

Delcatty groaned. "Will you sensitive schmucks get over it!? Whatever happened, happened and now she can't do it anymore. Can we just move on?"

"I don't think they'll want to move on with us unless we clear the elephant in the room…" said Tropius.

"There aren't any Phanpy or Donphan around here…" Spheal said, looking around rather dopily.

"He means that we need to talk about the fact that apparently more of us were a part of Blissey's anti-veteran group than initially thought…" Meganium elucidated.

"En mi defensa…" Salandit started. "I was hardly there and I wasn't that serious about it…"

"I didn't like how she was handling the situation", said Spiritomb. "I didn't want to keep losing just to appease her, but when Noibat got hurt for threatening to leave and expose them, I didn't want any part of it…"

"Oh...so you were willing to hurt those who were actually gaining morale?" asked Farfetch'd, being the first veteran to speak up. "Nice to know that you're not trying to HURT anyone…"

Blissey rolled her eyes. "It wasn't even me. It was Gothitelle."

"Does it matter?" asked Pyroar. "If you're willing to argue with and hurt those who disagree with you, then you automatically make any and everything you say invalid…"

"Meanwhile, you want another girl's boyfriend to take you up the poop shoot…" Blissey retorted. "Invalidity for defending my opinion is completely counterintuitive!"

"Like we give a shit!" Typhlosion exclaimed.

Eventually, the team erupted into a shouting match, with Dragonite, Clawitzer, Meganium, Tropius, Shedinja, Spheal, and Shellder being the only ones not participating.

"Our team needs help…" Dragonite said with a sigh.

"If we get rid 'Yo Blissey, thin's would definitely be better…" Clawitzer commented.

"Maybe we should ask if we could have her switch teams…" said Meganium. "I do NOT want to face another elimination…"

"I hear that!" Spheal said.

"So what do we do?" asked Tropius. "I doubt that they'll just up and let us get rid of her like that. Plus, who do we get in return and from what team?"

"Yeah, that is a problem of interest…" said Shellder.

"We could just get another veteran. More experience…" Meganium said.

"Hmm...that could work", said Shellder. "But...we'll have to see if the others are on the same page…"

"Uh...it doesn't look like it…" Dragonite said, turning back to the others, who were still arguing.

000

Aggron munched on a biscuit with a smile as a few others were still surprised at the fact that she evolved. She and Haxorus decided not to disclose how she did, but both Honchkrow and Charizard could take a guess.

"Alright, this team just got a whole lot better", Skuntank commented.

"How so?" asked Eelektrik. "Nothing's really changed…"

"Uh...do you NOT see the fully-evolved Aggron?" asked Gligar. "Now we have an extra powerhouse!"

Haxorus nudged her, making Aggron blush a bit.

"Actually, that could be a good or a bad thing…" said Bronzor. "On one hand, she's bigger now, so now we have an extra 'out in the open' player, and she's most definitely slower now due to the extra weight, so she may or may not cause issues, but on the other hand, she's stronger, bulkier, and able to dish and take much more. So it's pretty much balanced."

Haxorus gave Aggron a kiss, which she happily accepted.

"So, is there gonna be a new game plan or-"

A loud belch interrupted the Swine Pokemon's question as Gulpin sighed in relief. His body rumbled. "I'm still hungry…"

Tepig pushed his bacon and sausages over to Gulpin, who immediately started eating again.

"So...as I was saying…"

"What game plan did we have in the first place?" asked Mismagius. "Last time I checked, we were just playing the game and getting lucky…"

"...or unlucky…" Manectric muttered.

"I honestly don't think that we need a game plan", said Garchomp. "What we've been doing so far has been working fine, so there's absolutely no reason to change…"

"Yeah, and we really don't have anything to change anyway…" Cubchoo said. "Well, maybe the groups we always go wi-"

A shared "No", was her response before she could even finish.

"There's nothing wrong with the groups we work with…" said Shieldon.

"Sure, but...wouldn't it be better to work out of our 'comfort zones'?" she asked. "Maybe we can work even better with others…"

The others exchanged unsure and uninterested glances. The groups they were in had been working just fine and they'd been successful, but...was Cubchoo right? Could they be better if they weren't all in their usual groups? They didn't want to try it in the next challenge and risk possibly losing the challenge, but despite their shared uninterest...oxymoronically, their curiosity was piqued.

Pangoro huffed. "Alright, fine. Next challenge we'll work with those we don't usually do. BUT, if we lose, you're out since it was your idea…"

"Hey, we can't blame her for trying to get us to work more as a team by going with different people…" said Milotic. "I say IF it fails, we vote for whoever deserves it."

"Yeah, there's no need to place blame based on a good idea", Vaporeon agreed. "The outcome is gonna depend on who is with who anyway."

Garchomp groaned. "Fine. We'll work with other groups."

"Cool", Tepig said before sneezing. "Ugh…"

"So are we able to choose or are we just going based on instinct when the time comes?" asked Leafeon, hoping to not be around Manectric.

"We can pre-plan if you guys want…" said Honchkrow. "We don't want to waste time in the actual challenge…"

"Alright, so how's this going to work?" asked Shieldon.

"How about we just sat the name of someone we'd like to work with?" asked Popplio. "And then they can agree or disagree…"

"That's a good idea!" Manectric exclaimed. "Uh..I'll start it off. Leafe-"

"NO!"

Manectric sighed. "Okay, uh...Vaporeon?"

Vaporeon was unsure about Manectric.. He seemed to have a rather obsessive personality and seemed to be a bit annoying. But, because he wasn't interested in girls, she wouldn't have to worry about being hit on.

After getting no response again, Manectric shook his head in sadness. "Would ANYO-"

"I'll go with you", Vaporeon said. "Just had to think about it a bit."

Manectric wagged his tail with a smile. "Anyone else?"

"Well, I guess I'll take one for the team", said Gligar. "What's the harm?"

"Okay, that's just three in a group and there are twenty three of us…" said Bronzor. "We do the math, the best thing would be for us to have four groups of five and one group of three…"

"And that can be our group of three…" said Garchomp, not waiting to waste time, as a she ate another fork of eggs.

"So, who's going to start the next group?" asked Milotic.

There was silence.

"Arceus! Is no one here a leader?!" Eelektrik blustered. "I'll do it. Bronzor…"

"Uh...okay?"

"Hey, you guys usually work together already…"

"It's two of us", Eelektrik said with an unamused expression. "There's not much we do anyway…"

"Leave 'em be…" said Charizard.

"I'll go along with them…" said Skuntank.

Dewott stepped alongside her, signifying that he was going with her.

"Alright then…" said Mandibuzz. "I guess I can go with them…"

"YES!" Honchkrow cheered before recomposing himself and clearing his throat. "I mean...aw…"

Mandibuzz gave him a look before rolling her eyes.

"Okay, that's another group…"

"Okay, this process is going to take all day at this rate", said Garchomp. "We've got two groups, I'll just choose the rest."

"And no one gave you the authority to do so…" said Pangoro. "You are NOT choosing anything…"

"Okay, then why don't you pick your own little group and we'll see who sticks…" Garchomp said, folding her arms.

"I'm not stupid, bitch", Pangoro growled. "I know that none of you remaining fucks are gonna go with me. I'm just making a point…"

"Watch it, prick…" Garchomp growled.

Charizard couldn't help but gain a smirk upon seeing her frustration. "Alright, I'll take him. And, uh...Popplio, Milotic, and Leafeon can come too if they want…"

Garchomp was surprised to hear him not call her name. I mean, it's not like she cared or anything; she just figured that after their talk while they were trapped, he would want to work together and see how well it would truly work out.

"Uh...I don't know…" Popplio said, trembling a bit. "I'm not sure if I like it…"

"I'll go with Manectric and the others…" Cubchoo said, speaking up.

Upon hearing that and seeing her go over, Popplio eyed Vaporeon. "Well...I guess I can go with them, too…" Popplio said as she followed Cubchoo to their group.

"Okay, now we need a group of three again…" Eelektrik commented.

"Well, I guess I'll be taking Popplio's place…" Garchomp said, hiding a smile.

"No fair, you guys were already working together!" said Gulpin.

"We've hardly ever worked with each other directly, so keep your complaints to yourself…" Garchomp growled, both confusing Charizard and causing him to gain a sneer.

"Alright, Most of you bums are still left and you usually work together, so...Leafeon, switch out for Gulpin, and...Dewott, switch out for Tepig…" said Aggron.

"WHAT?!" Eelektrik and Bronzor both exclaimed. They were about to lose a silent, powerful player from their group to gain a smoky porker; the fact that they despised him didn't help. "No way!"

"We need the nincompoops split up…" said Mandibuzz. "Deal with it…"

"Yeah. It's not like he's doing anything bad…" said Skuntank.

Dewott turned to Skuntank and she smiled at him before he kissed her and moved away. Tepig went over and sat between the girls, while the guys had annoyed expressions glued to their faces.

"Nice to know that breakfast time is being used up for 'good'..." Gulpin commented as he ate Haxorus' syrupy paper plate.

"Alright, we need one more group of five and a group of three…" said Milotic.

"Well, Honchkrow, Aggron, Piloswine, Mismagius, and Shieldon can be the group…" said Haxorus. "I can go with Dewott and Leafeon…"

Leafeon blushed and gained a small smirk. Manectric couldn't help but notice it and growled softly.

"Great. It's over", said Mismagius as she ate her final piece of toast.

"Uh...how can you eat if you're a ghost?" Gligar asked curiously. "I'm just now realizing that…"

"I'm still a Pokemon, nitwit!" Mismagius retorted.

"Okay, okay, jeez", said Gligar, folding his arms.

"Alright, so we're gonna have to remember these groups", said Cubchoo.

"Yeah yeah...we're done with this for now", said Eelektrik. "I'd like to finish my breakfast in peace now, please…"

As he said that, Tepig sneezed, causing smoke to envelop his plate which he hadn't touched yet. Eelektrik twitched.

000

"I. Hate. Him…" Eelektrik growled.

000

"I have to say, I'm loving this game…" said Servine. "We've only lost one player and it was in the first challenge!"

"And thank you for possibly jinxing us…" Dusclops stated nonchalantly. "I hope you aren't the main cause of us losing…"

"Go fuck yourself…" Servine hissed.

"Yeah, you don't know what's going to happen, so keep your negativity to yourself", said Breloom.

"Hey, I just realized…" said Zangoose. "We have some of the most negative players...but we're winning or getting second best every time…"

"How ironic…" Quilladin groaned.

"Hmm, I wonder when we'll lose again…" Houndoom inquired.

"Shut the fuck up!" Absol growled. "You're gonna screw us over you bastard!"

"By wondering if and when we may lose again, I'm gonna screw us over…" Houndoom said questioningly. "You have serious issues."

"Kiss my ass!"

Houndoom chuckled and shook his head. "I thought you didn't like me or want me to touch you anymore? We're not together, bitch…"

"Save your ex-lover's quarrel for someone who cares!" Ursaring blustered. "I just want to eat without hearing bullshit!"

"THEN STOP YELLING!" all of the girls exclaimed.

"Well, let's just HOPE that our luck doesn't run out…" said Mightyena.

"It better not…" Froslass said. "I'm actually kinda fine with some of you now…"

"Well, thanks...I guess…" Goodra said, unsure if she should accept that as a compliment.

"Silence is golden, so if we want to stay in our standings, I suggest you all shut the hell up and eat…" Type: Null stated bluntly.

"And my piss is also golden, so this will be a victory for my bladder…" Umbreon said comically with an irritated tone. He rose up and headed to the elevator. "And take the pole out of your ass, Type: Null."

Espeon watched him intently before taking her eyes off of him and clearing her mind. She looked over her teammates and nodded to herself. These players were actually worthy, minus three. This time around, she wasn't really interested in eliminating anyone; this time, she was focused mainly on winning. She was so close last time that she didn't have time to worry about eliminated people on her team.

She just wanted to keep winning with this team, make it to the merge, and then start planning eliminations. She just had to make sure she lasted long enough by proving her usefulness. Luckily, Quilladin, Swirlix, and Cherrim were the main three lousy players they had, so she was in the clear until they all got eliminated.

As for Umbreon, she honestly didn't know how to feel. She still loved him and wanted to be with him, but she was starting to feel like he would be a distraction. He may be supportive, but she didn't really want to risk it. She knew he was aching to get back together, as last night, while the Raikous were at elimination, they engaged in a 30 minute makeout session on the roof.

She sighed depressedly, which Mightyena took notice to. Lately, she's been noticing that Espeon wasn't being as bitchy as she was first season and she's actually been looking stressed. She was actually fine with it, but it still just seemed out of character for her. By no means did she want the pink fox-feline to act like the supreme vindictive bitch she was, but she was curious as to what brought the change.

"Alright, who needs their dishes thrown away? Just hand 'em to me…" Grovyle said as he stood up.

"Permítame ayudarte con eso…" Hawlucha said standing up as well.

"Aw, how gentlemanly…" said Goodra. "Nice to see that we have some actually chivalrous men on the team…"

"Chivalry is dead and women killed it", Ursaring said emotionlessly. "Deal with it…"

Immediately all of the girls growled and glared at him; he didn't have a reaction and didn't even show remorse.

"Hey, he's not wrong…" Dusclops spoke up. "Guys tried and girls started gaining 'independence' and acting like stuck up bitches…"

All of the girls gained a murderous glint in their eyes, frightening all of the guys, minus Houndoom, Ursaring, and Dusclops

"Well, would you look at the time…" Zebstrika said nervously upon seeing the glares. "I think it's time to go…"

"Si, si…" Hawlucha said as he gather all the rest of the paper plates. Eventually, almost of the guys left, leaving Houndoom alone. He could only roll his eyes at the cowardice and idiocy of the other males.

"Sexist bastard…" Goodra commented.

"I love the fact that all of the guys immediately ran out like little bitches…" said Absol. "I guess they thought the same way…"

"Or maybe they were afraid that they'd all get punished or brought up in the situation…" Houndoom countered. "Not to be a jackass, but girls usually bring other guys in the situation by asking them 'Oh, so do you all feel that way?' when they really don't. It makes us afraid…"

"As you should be…" Type: Null growled. "Why haven't you gone?"

"What would be the point?!" Houndoom exclaimed. "It's not like they're not gonna see you girls in the challenge anyway. And I have no opinion on the chivalry thing anyway, so…"

"Bullshit…" Absol growled.

Houndoom gave her a look. "Nothing I say can be taken seriously to you now, huh? Good to know…"

"Well, maybe you can talk some sense into your fellow morons…" said Zangoose. "Because next time, I may take that as them agreeing with the douchebags and then they'll ALL get their asses kicked."

"Sure...whatever you say", Houndoom said as he rose up and started walking out to try and find the fleeing guys. "I doubt it'll work, but alright…"

000

After that ordeal, Jolteon and the girls in her alliance went to the recreational center, a bit of anger in all of their blood.

"Ursaring and Dusclops need to go next. No questions asked", Breloom growled. "I actually prefer Swirlix and Cherrim over them!"

"Hey, let's not get carried away…" Jolteon said. "I agree, those two are complete pricks, but they're still useful players. We can't be sensitive and make stupid decisions…"

"I thought we agreed on Ursaring or Type: Null in the last meeting", said Servine. "Why are you suddenly protecting Ursaring?"

"I'm just saying that he's a strong player that we shouldn't be quick to get rid of…" said Jolteon. "Type: Null is still an option; in fact, she's ALWAYS an option…"

"Ugh...I just still can't believe those pricks…" said Goodra, holding her head. "I think I need some fresh air…" she said as she started walking to the door.

"Oh, well...okay…" said Mightyena before turning back to the other girls. "So, what do you think the next challenge will be?"

-000-

Goodra walked outside after getting some water from the water fountain near the entrance. She walked to the side and took a deep breath. Sure, she was a tomboy, but she still hated when guys acted like girls were the cause of certain problems and were only good for certain things. She had enough of that in her previous relationship.

While she was trying to get over it, Dragonite happened to be heading over to the rec center to try and practice basketball. He saw Goodra outside and immediately blushed a bit. He didn't know what to do now that they were in a relationship, considering this was his first actual one.

He couldn't let her know that he was still nervous because she'd possibly dump him. So, he just remembered some things he saw on television.

He flew over to her and landed with a sweet smile. Seeing him immediately brought a small smile to Goodra's face as well as a blush appeared on her face. "Hey~"

"H-Hi…" Dragonite said shakily, despite his "cool" composure.

Goodra heard the nervousness in his voice and giggled.

"Well, acting cool didn't work…" Dragonite thought. "Guess TV CAN lie…"

He dropped the facade instantly and just rubbed his arm awkwardly. "So, um...what are you doing out here? Why aren't you in there?"

Goodra sighed, letting Dragonite know she had a problem. He was a consolable guy, and since Goodra was his girlfriend now, he had a chance to do something he always wanted to.

He took a seat next to her and picked her up, surprising her with his strength, before sitting her in his lap. Goodra huffed playfully, turning around and placing her arms on his chest. "Well, this is sudden~"

Dragonite blushed, now realizing the position he put them in. Again, he just saw this happen on TV when someone was consoling their girlfriend. They put them on their lap and tell them to explain what's wrong.

He apparently placed her backwards and it looked like they were about to-you get the picture. "No, no, no...I didn't mean to-"

Goodra silenced him with a kiss before he could finish, which calmed his nerves a bit. She rested against his chest with a soft sigh. Dragonite smiled and rubbed her back.

"So, what's the matter?" he asked softly.

"It's nothing major; Dusclops and Ursaring were just saying that chivalry is dead and we're the reason why…" said Goodra.

"Oh...I've heard that before…" said Dragonite. "Well. I know that not all women are the same, so I don't really think it's fair…"

Goodra smiled softly and kissed him before lying back against him. She let out a calm breath. "I could sit here all day…" she whispered.

Dragonite chuckled. "Me too. But hey, we'd have to do a challenge sometime…"

Goodra tittered. "Yeah…" she responded as she sat up. "Well, I should get back to the girls…"

"Oh, speaking of them, uh...did you tell anyone?" he asked.

"Of course not…" Goodra replied with a smile, stroking his cheek. "What we have is our own business..."

Dragonite leaned forward and initiated another kiss with her before she got out of his lap and started entering again. Dragonite smiled; he felt so lucky. After waiting a couple of minutes, he entered the center as well in order to practice in the basketball court.

000

Skuntank, Dewott, Vaporeon, and Mismagius were on the roof of their apartment. Skuntank purred with a smile as her head lay in Dewott's lap, with him stroking her fur.

Mismagius was still curious and annoyed about his attitude in the previous challenge. Why was he so intent on being visible to the fossil Pokemon.

"Dewott, what the hell was that in the last challenge?" asked Mismagius. "Why didn't you hide like the rest of us?"

Upon hearing that, Skuntank rose her head up in added confusion. "Yeah...why didn't you hide with me?" she asked. "You could've cost us the challenge."

Dewott visually growled before pointing to Vaporeon.

"What about Vaporeon?" asked Mismagius.

"Well...I was invisible in the water, so...we could've still won if they didn't look there…" Vaporeon explained.

Dewott nodded.

"Why don't ever talk to us!?" Mismagius exclaimed, making Dewott take a step back. Why the hell was it such a big deal all of a sudden? If he didn't have anything to say, then why would or should he?

Dewott shook his head, folding his arms.

"Dewott, you're gonna have to communicate with us sometime…" Vaporeon said. "How is you and Skuntank's relationship gonna last if you can't communicate."

Bringing up their relationship made him growl, the first auditory act he's done in years. He immediately went toward the door and left.

Skuntank was shocked at this and looked down in sadness. "D-does he not care?" she thought.

Mismagius pet her head. "Don't worry Skuntank. You'll be fine."

"We don't know what's going on with him and maybe that's for the best…" Vaporeon said. "Maybe we shouldn't pry into his life."

"If he's gonna be in a relationship. He's going to have to get over it or else things will be over before it even truly starts…" said Mismagius.

Skuntank sighed to herself.

000

On the Entei's roof, Braviary, Wooper, Swirlix, Spheal, and Popplio were once again eating sweets stolen by Swirlix.

"Man, who knew doing wrong could taste so good…" said Wooper as he ate a doughnut.

"Hey, those fucks owe us with all of the bullshit they do to us…" Braviary said, biting into a sesame bagel.

"Hey, what's with Spheal and Popplio?" Swirlix asked, his mouth crowded with food, looking over to see the two of them at the corner looking at the distance.

"Just leave them be…" said Braviary.

Popplio was leaning against Spheal's blubbery body with a hidden smile. She was beginning to love spending time with him, as something about him was making her feel safe and secure.

"So, have you been making other friends?" he asked curiously. "I know it's still not just me you talk to…right?"

"Well, I'm not so sure if I'm supposed to tell you this, but...I'm in an alliance in my team…" she revealed. "So, I guess that counts...right?"

"Hmm...do you talk to them normally and outside of that alliance?" asked Spheal.

"Well...not necessarily…" Popplio replied timidly.

"Come on now…" said Spheal. "I'm sure there are some girls there that you can have conversation with…"

"Well...yeah, there are, but...there's nothing that I really have in common with most girls…" she explained. "I can't really start conversations or add on…"

"Just try it out and see what happens…" Spheal urged. "I swear that you'll be just fine…"

Popplio nuzzled him. "Ok...thanks."

Popplio headed to the door as Spheal rolled back over to the guys and picked up a mini cupcake. Swirlix, Wooper, and Braviary exchanged looks before looking back at Spheal. The Clap Pokemon saw this look and grew uncomfortable.

"Uh...is there something wrong?" he asked.

"Is...something going on between you two?" asked Wooper. "I mean, it's okay if there is. Just curious…"

"No, nothing's going on. I'm just helping her get over her shyness and semi-depression", he explained.

"Oh, okay...I get it now…" said Swirlix as he licked his own fur.

"Yeah…" Spheal replied as he finished the cupcake. "She's too cute to be so shy and negative about herself.

"Well that's good on you…" said Braviary.

"Thanks…" said Spheal. "So, have you guys had any issues as of late?"

"Well, other than the others wanting Swirlix, Cherrim, and Quilladin out and what happened earlier, no…" Wooper explained.

"Why do they want Swirlix, Cherrim, and Quilladin out?"

"Aw, they think that I'm useless because I don't do much", Swirlix explained. "Taking charge isn't really my thing. I'm a proud follower!"

The guys chuckled at his enthusiasm.

"Well, you're gonna have to break out of that, buddy…" said Braviary. "We don't want you getting eliminated already…"

"Aww…"

Spheal chuckled. "So what happened earlier?"

"Oh, Dusclops and Ursaring got the girls mad...that's all…" said Wooper. "Chivalry stuff…"

"Oh...yeah, that's bad", said Spheal. "Hope you guys don't get caught up in it…"

"Hey, so do we…" said Braviary. "That conversation is a male's worst nightmare. Well, that and the 'does this make me look fat' question…"

"Yeesh...well, good luck when the challenge comes…"

"Back at you…"

000

Tropius was leading Lanturn, Meganium, and Clawitzer to the area he had 'discovered' in the previous challenge.

"Whar th' devil be ye takin' us to, laddie?" Clawitzer asked, floating behind them.

"Yeah, we've been walking for like ten minutes now…" said Meganium. "How far is this 'great place', you're taking us to?"

"We're almost there. Just be patient…" Tropius said calmly, making Meganium sigh.

Eventually, they made it to an awning, which Tropius didn't notice before. Beyond the awning was the area that Tropius had found. "Here we are", he announced as he landed.

"Uh...what's so special about this place again?" asked Lanturn as she dragged herself into the area.

"Well, there's nothing particularly extravagant about it; it's moreso the fact that it wasn't revealed to us and it's pretty neat…" Tropius explained as they entered, with him being the last one to go in.

The three of them looked around the area, which was almost exactly the same as the other area, only with a few fast food buildings that were not operating. Needless to say, they were unimpressed and turned to Tropius with irked expressions.

This instantly brought him confusion and uneasiness. "Uh…"

"This place is nothing special at all Tropius…" Meganium said. "It's exactly like the other side of the lot!"

"Well...not exactly…" Tropius said, flying over to a condemned Burger King. "There's food places…"

They kept their same unamused looks, causing Tropius to sigh and look down in sadness. "Okay, fine. I just thought you guys would enjoy there being a more 'private' place, but...we can go if you want…" he said, sounding depressed.

The others exchanged guilty looks, thinking that they had upset him. Tropius started flying back out, only to be wrapped up by vines, causing him to slam on the ground. He instantly started panicking, hyperventilating. He was dragged back over until he was brought to Meganium's feet.

He looked up in discomfort and was still panting like mad, as his mouth was wrapped closed.

"Okay Tropius, we'll use this as a new place to discuss…" said Lanturn. "Just keep this place to yourself…"

Meganium unraveled him and allowed him to sit up, which allowed him to catch his breath and regain his composure. "Alright, fine. If that's what you want…" he replied, clearing his voice, still panting softly.

Clawitzer noticed this, as well as his behavior when he was bound. "Hmm…"

Lanturn heard this and grew intrigued. "What's wrong, Clawitzer?"

"Huh? Nothin' lass, just thinkin'..." said Clawitzer. "But, would ye ladies mind if I talk to Tropius in private fer a wee bit?"

"Take him…" Meganium said nonchalantly. "I don't mind at all…"

"Same…" Lanturn said.

Hearing Meganium say it in that tone immediately made him feel disheartened, but he didn't show it. Clawitzer lead him over to the Burger King, blasting the boarded up entrance open with a Focus Blast before entering.

-000-

"What was that scene back thar?" asked Clawitzer.

"Uh...what do you mean?" asked Tropius.

"Ye were panickin', jim laddie!" Clawitzer exclaimed. "What be wrong wit' ye?"

"Nothing, I just...I hate being tied up. It makes me feel weird…" Tropius explained, a faint blush appearing on his face.

"Aye...a case of merinthophobia…" he said, surprising Tropius, who didn't know what he was even talking about.

Tropius stood there, mouth agape. "Uh...what?" Tropius asked, tilting his head in confusion.

Clawitzer groaned. "Arrgh. It means ye be a-feared o' bein' tied up or bound in any way…"

"Oh…" Tropius said, nodding in understanding. "...didn't think there a word for it. Well, uh...let's just keep this between us, alright? I don't want the girls to think that I'm a weakling or a weirdo…"

"Uh, lad, isn't it more helpful to let th' girls be knowin'?" asked Clawitzer. "Specifically Meganium so that she don't unintentionally gift ye a panic attack?"

"I don't think it'll happen often, so there's no worries…" Tropius explained with a smile, but in the back of his mind, he was screaming. He had to put on a brave face, even if Meganium seemed to be showing less care for him.

"If ye say so, lad…" Clawitzer replied as he started exiting the room, with Tropius following him out.

-000-

"So, are you okay with him or-" Lanturn started.

The two of them started engaging in a conversation regarding the guys on the show, specifically on their team and in their alliance, at the moment. Lanturn brought up tropius and Meganium immediately grew a tad bit annoyed.

"I mean...he's cute and all, but his attitude is a bit too friendly for my taste…" Meganium said. "Don't get me wrong, I can tolerate him, but I just can't trust him. And the fact that he's always trying to be so close to me just makes me uncomfortable…"

"Well, have you told him?"

"I already told him that we weren't going to have a relationship, essentially 'friend-zoning' him, but he keeps acting the same, anyway!"

"Well, maybe you need to make it clearer…" Lanturn explained. "Don't be afraid to put your foot down."

"Oh don't worry, I'm not…" Meganium said with a giggle. "All I have to say is that if we're alone together, he's gonna get it…"

Lanturn nodded as the guys made their way back over.

"Alright, everything's fine, now…" said Tropius, keeping his distance from Meganium.

"Uh...what was ever wrong?" asked Meganium.

Tropius sweatdropped. "Uh...nothing. Nothing…"

Meganium and Lanturn exchanged glances before rolling their eyes.

000

"Ah, so it was Gothitelle who was manipulating your team's results…" Eelektrik stated after Delcatty explained what had happened. It was rather amusing for all of them to hear that a member of her own team was sabotaging them to get rid of veterans.

"It seems like these newbies aren't complete pushovers after all…" purred Espeon before rethinking about the main three insignificant players on her team. "Well, at least not all of them…"

"Yeah, it's too bad that she got eliminated…" said Bronzor. "We could have used someone else from the Raikous in this group…"

"Hey, Blissey's still there…" Froslass said.

"But she won't be for long…" Delcatty countered. "Raikou said that there's going to be no more vote tampering, so she's definitely gone the next time my team loses…"

"Wait, wait...he seriously said that!?" Eelektrik exclaimed. "How the hell is anything supposed to be done?!"

"With normal voting...which means that this season is going to be sucky for us…" said Dusclops.

"Hey, you don't know that. He probably meant just for his own team…" Umbreon reasoned. "Did he mention his team specifically or in the game as a whole?"

"He said any attempts to swap votes will be futile, I think it's insinuated that he means-"

"Loopholes are a saving grace when it comes to these shows…" Umbreon interrupted. "He didn't say it to all of us, he just said it to the team that's representing him. Unless before they explain the challenge they say that overall no vote swapping is allowed, we can still do it."

"Hmm...that makes sense, but Raikou's practically the main host, so you know that it's guaranteed to be announced to everyone…" Espeon countered.

"Not everything's a guarantee…" he said raspily, getting closer to her, causing her to roll her eyes playfully. She loved his persistence, but reminded herself to focus.

"So, what's the plan?" asked Froslass. "As 'amazing' as all of this information is, we still need a strategy if we plan on making it further; it needs to work with or without the lazy tactic of vote switching…"

"Well, since we're not on bad terms with anyone, we could probably convince people on our team to get rid of the idiots…" said Bronzor. "It shouldn't be that hard, especially with them being useless weak links…"

"Hey, good for you two", said Delcatty, gnawing on her tail initially. "That doesn't help all of us. I'm sure my team still hates me even if they're going for Blissey now, and no one on those four's team is going to listen to them…"

"That is an issue…" said Eelektrik. "Maybe screw up someone else's chance and don't get caught. The four of you are Psychic, Dark, and Ghost, so I'm sure you can pull some sneaky shenanigans…"

"And for me?" asked Delcatty, her eyes tightening in a glare.

"Just keep yourself safe…" said Dusclops. "Be nice, go along with their idiocy, and don't screw anything up. If they get rid of Blissey, you're gonna be their prime target. I mean, unless you have some information about a certain other player…"

Delcatty gave him an irritated look. She hated when people enunciated words in their statements as if she was supposed to know what they were talking about . "Okay, don't use that tone on me. Just tell me what the hell I can do to save my ass…"

"Ugh...SHELLDER is in an alliance with morons from the opposite team…" Bronzor explained.

"And you really expect them to think that he and said morons are up to no good?" queried Umbreon, knowing that the unintimidating clam would definitely be safe in that team of goody-goodies no matter the circumstance.

"That's a good point", Espeon said. "That won't do anything to deter them at all. She and Blissey are the only players on their team that have bad track records, albeit for petty reasons in the early parts of the game."

Delcatty huffed. "So I'm basically doomed?"

"As long as your team keeps losing…" Froslass reassured. "Just try your hardest to not lose, and while you're at it, maybe try to do some snooping around. You may find some information about someone else that you can use to paint yourself in a better light…"

Delcatty nodded with a smile. "That can definitely work. I'm an expert at snooping around..."

"Nothing is definite…" said Dusclops. "Just do it and hope you don't get caught. If you get caught, you're definitely going to be next in line…"

"Oh please…" Delcatty said rolling her eyes. "I've spied around school and my neighborhood all the time and I never got caught…"

"Uh...you just admitted that on live TV…" said Umbreon, gesturing to a camera attached to a support beam.

Delcatty shrugged. "Oh well. They still don't know what information I have…"

"Well...good to know", Espeon giggled.

000

Flygon, Drilbur, and Salandit were making their way to the rec center again. It had become a norm for Drilbur and Flygon to engage in a friendly competition or just exercise in the center while Salandit just stuck around.

Salandit had enough information about both of them now due to her manipulating Drilbur often, but it seemed that Drilbur was gaining true feelings for her. She decided to wait things out until she had a chance to eliminate both of them.

She was going to continue manipulating these other males into telling her all of their information, whether she was pretending to be with Drilbur or not.

The three of them made it to the rec center, where they saw that no one was able to see immediately. This was peculiar to them.

"Huh", Flygon started as he opened the door. "Usually a lot of the girls are in here…" he said, flying in as Drilbur caught the door and held it open for Salandit.

"Gracias, papi~" she responded sensually, stroking her tail along his side.

Drilbur chuckled dopily with a blush appearing on his face. Seeing this, Flygon rolled his eyes. He didn't mind Drilbur having a girlfriend; in fact, he was happy for him, but something about Salandit didn't sit right with him. However, despite that, he kept his thoughts to himself, as to not upset him.

He flew towards the back, where the machines were, and passed by the plexiglass window that showed Goodra and Dragonite playing basketball, with Jolteon and Breloom watching. He watched in amusement as Goodra actually dunked over Dragonite, causing him to fall.

He chuckled before moving on and looked back to see if Drilbur and Salandit were following him. Much to his chagrin, they weren't.

He groaned in vexation before flying back to the front and seeing the two sitting on the ground, talking.

"Guys?" he asked in annoyance.

"Oh, sorry…" Drilbur said with a dopey smile, eyes glued on Salandit.

Flygon sighed. "Come on…"

Salandit followed Flygon, making Drilbur follow as well.

000

"I don't trust Salandit at all. It seems way too strange for her to suddenly be all about him…" said Flygon. "She's up to something. I know it…"

000

Ursaring was smoking in an alleyway to calm his nerves. After what he had said in the apartments, he was feeling a bit accomplished, but also annoyed. He stands by what he said, but the fact that the girls were so dense (in his eyes) really annoyed him.

In no way, shape, or form was he sexist, but he just felt steamed at the fact that he still encountered women who expect guys to do gentlemanly things for them. To him, it wasn't wrong, but it wasn't right either. He's mostly heard from his uncles and from media that girls are hypocritical idiots.

This is mainly because, in his uncle's words, "Women want to be independent and treated equally so badly that as soon as a guy does something 'gentlemanly' for them, they want to bitch and say they can do things for themselves. Then if you get beaten or attacked by one and fight back, they'll pull the 'I'm a female' card and make you look like you're in the wrong. But they want gender equality, right? Listen, son, it is NOT all women who are like this, but the majority of them who are brought this on themselves. They have no right to bitch about chivalry or about how there are no good men when they're the ones repelling them…"

He was told that as a Teddiursa after his (now former) aunt divorced his uncle due to him not 'providing enough' for her in her eyes.

The thought of the entire ordeal was bringing him anxiety and stress. He knew that he couldn't reveal this to anyone; his mother raised him to be strong and to not show weakness. To him, having stress meant you were weak. He sat down against one of the metal trashcans and held his head momentarily before breathing out smoke and looking around. Looking towards the left side of him, he saw a brief sliver of white that disappeared in a nanosecond.

Standing up, he took one last puff of the cigarette and breathed out before dropping and stepping on it. He headed in the direction of where he saw the figure and bared his claws in preparation to attack.

As he turned around the corner quickly, he saw that nothing was there, except for a couple of trash cans and a cardboard box with magazines and dirty plastic bags. "Ugh…" he said, wiping his face. "Pull yourself together. You're seeing shit…"

Suddenly a sneeze was heard and it echoed a bit, making Ursaring growl. He lifted the lid off of the first one, revealing Cubchoo, who covered her head while shuddering.

"Don't hurt me!" she screamed frightenedly.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE, RUNT?!" Ursaring snapped. "I knew I saw something…"

"W-well...I-I was just…"

"Just what?!" Ursaring growled, tightening his glare.

"I just wanted to know what was wrong with you!" she exclaimed, covering her head again.

Ursaring was both surprised and angered to hear that. Why did she care? And did this mean that she was always stalking him?!

He picked up the trash can and flipped it upside down, causing the trash already inside to fall on her, making her uncomfortably filthy.

"W-Why'd you do that?" she asked timidly, wiping banana peels and having liquids drip over her.

"Mind...your own damn business", he growled. "Why the hell do you care?"

"I'm just curious!" she countered as she stood up abruptly.

"Well curiosity's gonna kill a Cubchoo if you don't fuck off!" Ursaring exclaimed. "This is first and last time I'm warning you. Leave. Me. Alone…"

Ursaring started walking about, leaving her dirty as she clenched her paws in anger.

000

"He's only doing this because he knows he can beat me at any time. Well, he can't tell me what to do and I don't care what he does…" Cubchoo stated with a glare before having it soften. "W-Well...actually…"

000

Luxray, Mightyena, Tyranitar, and Typhlosion were having a double date, with Farfetch'd coming along to not be alone. They were all in the movie theater looking at a rom-com that the girls chose. It was about an awkward female Crabrawler trying to find the courage to ask a Crawdaunt she liked, out.

The guys were acting like they were enjoying it, while the girls were very into it. The guys were lucky that movie was halfway through and that Typhlosion and Mightyena noticed their distraught looks. They smacked their lips as they rose up, grabbing their partners by their arms to hoist them up.

"Come on…" Typhlosion said she pulled Tyranitar onto his feet. "Let's go find something else to do…"

"Really?!" Luxray said cheerily as Mightyena side checked him with a smile.

"So...uh...is there anything in particular that you guys want to do? That's NOT sex related…" Typhlosion clarified upon feeling Tyranitar's arms reach around her waist.

Tyranitar chuckled and released her.

"You guys wanna go the rec center and hang out there?" asked Luxray.

"Naw, I think it's going to be crowded. Almost everyone goes there now…" Mightyena explained.

"Well, we can stay here and just...uh…" Tyranitar started before looking around and seeing the arcade. "Play some games…"

"I'm not much of an avid gamer…" said Mightyena. Hearing that from her made Luxray gape.

"Don't listen to her, she destroyed me in Battlefield and Mortal Kombat 6 times each!" Luxray exclaimed before turning to her and seeing her hide a smirk. "Trying to trick them…"

Mightyena kissed him in response, making him roll his eyes afterwards.

"Huh, didn't know you liked games like that…" Typhlosion said. "I don't play a lot of videogames myself, I prefer-"

"Play fighting...and it gets intense…" Tyranitar finished before shuddering in remembrance of a few times things went sour for him.

Typhlosion giggled at his tone and reaction when he said that. They lived together for a while before they were brought back into the game and she felt so much calmer and playful when around friends and alone with Tyranitar. Being back in this game made her much more tense and easily irritated, so being around the ones she cared about was a great relief. Especially with the bullcrap going on on her team.

She went behind Tyranitar and jumped onto his back, hanging off of his neck. "You know you like it when I take charge~"

Tyranitar blushed and looked towards Luxray and Mightyena, who had smirks on their faces. He grumbled to himself.

"Well, Luxray's the opposite of that…" Mightyena revealed. "He always tops...no matter what."

"Aw...what's the matter, Luxy?" Typhlosion teased. "Afraid of a little domination?"

"Funny…" Luxray said begrudgingly. "I just happen to enjoy the control...and you know very well that you love it, too…" he finished, eyeing Mightyena, who stuck her tongue out playfully.

Luxray kissed her lips quickly with a smile, making her giggle.

"So, uh...are we doing the arcade or leaving?" asked Farfetch'd, who they didn't even seem to acknowledge.

They all gave him awkward stares.

000

Aggron and her alliance, who were deciding to go by the 'Bold Brigade', were all on exercise floor in their apartment.

"Alright, spill it. How the hell did you evolve?" asked Mandibuzz.

"Does it matter?" asked Aggron, trying to avoid answering the question. "I mean, I'm much stronger now. Is how it happened really that important?"

"You're ignoring the question…" Garchomp replied, folding her arms.

"They boned...case closed…" Charizard stated, patting Haxorus on the back once.

weak

The couple gave the dragon annoyed looks.

"Thanks…" Aggron stated irritatedly through grit teeth.

"Wait, let me get this straight…" Garchomp started, holding her head. "You two screwed during the challenge and that's what made her finally evolve?"

"How the hell does that even make sense or even work?!" Mandibuzz asked.

"It's best not to ask…" Honchkrow advised. "You will feel extremely uncomfortable if you get an actual answer…trust me..."

Mandibuzz gave him a trying look before turning back to them. "Spill…"

"Didn't you hear me?!" Honchkrow exclaimed.

"Yeah, let's just move on", Haxorus said, beginning to feel very awkward, a first for him.

Aggron giggled at this and nuzzled him with a smile.

Mandibuzz scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Fine. But I don't see what there is to talk about other than that…"

"We can talk about who our next target could be…" Garchomp said, happy to change the subject. "I say we go for the little guys and weed them out, no matter what…"

"I'm fine with that…" said Aggron. "Having them out makes things a bit easier to handle. We won't have any instant weaknesses or useless fucks in challenges and we may win more."

"Plus, if we still lose, we have enough numbers to vote out whoever we want…" said Charizard. 'Including if we end up convincing a few others, of course…"

"Right…"

"COMPETITORS! IT'S TIME FOR YOUR FIRST CHALLENGE! COME ON DOWN!"

"Well, it's time for another slice of hell…" said Honchkrow as he spread his wings.

000

Everyone made their way to the front of the apartments, where the hosts held smirks.

"Well, this can't be good…" Delibird stated.

"Hello competitors...it is time for your next challenge…" said Suicune.

"Hold on, torturers, we're missing somebody…" Dusclops stated. "We don't have our racing stripes…"

"Yeah...we are, too. Where's Tropius?" asked Shellder, noticing the large dinosaur wasn't there.

"And where's Dewott!?" Skuntank exclaimed in nervousness.

"Calm down", said Raikou. "It's all a part of the challenge…"

"What the hell does kidnapping have to do with our challenge?!" asked Servine.

"Because, today's challenges are based on spy movies!" Suicune. "No movie in particular, just the overall idea…"

"You couldn't find a good spy movie to recreate and make painful could you?" asked Tyranitar.

"Shut your trap", Entei growled. "Now, your first challenge is to find your teammates…"

"Okay, we've tied up your missing teammates and hidden them in different areas of the lot. Starting from your apartments, you'll find clues that'll tell you where to go in order to find them. The first team to find their missing player will get an advantage in the next challenge", Raikou explained.

"Err...did you say that they be tied up?" Clawitzer asked.

"Yes…"

"Arr…." he groaned.

"Your first challenge begins now!" Suicune exclaimed.

Each team immediately rushed back to their apartments.

000

Tropius' eyes flickered open and he found himself in a silver room with numerous small drawers and a gray table in the middle. He looked around and saw a large circular safe door. His eyes widened.

He looked down and he paled. His wings were tied down to his sides and he was completely tied up, his mouth covered with a while wrap.

He screamed very loudly, only to have it be muffled. He kept moving and trying to break free, hyperventilating extremely quickly as he tried to get onto his feet, with no results. He continued screaming and looked around frantically for anything sharp or a way out, but the room had nothing of use, leaving him horrified.

"AAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

000

Dewott woke up and found himself tied to a metal chair. The chair was sitting in a kiddie pool that had electric wires inside of them. He tried to move his arms, to no avail. He visibly sighed in annoyance. He looked around and saw that he was in a restaurant-like area. He saw a decrepit counter and shattered electronic menus on the wall behind it. There were numerous other tables and booths as well and the floor was peeling.

Upon looking around, he actually noticed that the door was blocked off by wood, as were the windows. He looked down, noticing the trap underneath him and his eyes glimmered. In his venture for self harm, he began rocking the chair roughly, eventually falling over to the side and out of the pool.

His ropes actually slipped a bit, allowing him the ability to move his arm a bit more freely. He reached for one of his scalchops and immediately sliced at the roped binding him. He got up and grinned as he got into the electrified pool and groaned silently. He got inside, sitting and crossing his legs before letting the electricity surge through the water and him.

000

Zebstrika was handcuffed to a wooden banister in the Old Chateau. He slowly opened his eyes and saw that all of his legs had cuffs around them. He attempted to move them, but he couldn't. He attempted to scream out, but there was duct tape covering his mouth.

He groaned in agitation and used Thunder, thinking that it'd do something to the banister, but nothing happened. He huffed in agitation and decided to just lay there.

000

"Alright, what's the first clue?" asked Zangoose as Grovyle picked up a piece of paper taped to the elevator door.

"Huh...this looks like a riddle…" he said, looking over it.

"Hey, lemme see! I'm good at riddles", said Cherrim, jumping up cheerily.

"Uh...I guess…" Grovyle said, handing the paper to her.

"'Hmm…" she said, looking at the paper. "Kisses down low. Cheesiness is high. Drag a guy here and they know the end is nigh…"

"I understand the kisses down low part…" Umbreon said nudging Espeon with a sly sneer, making her blush and look away.

"Cheesiness is high...maybe they mean nacho cheese!" Swirlix exclaimed excitedly.

"Shut up…" Type: Null growled.

"No, he has a point!" Cherrim said. "Kisses down low. That means that there's definitely sex involved. Cheesiness can refer to actual cheese or how annoying, dumb, or predictable something is."

"Drag a guy here and they know the end is nigh…" said Jolteon as she started thinking. "Guys...what things do you dislike being taken to?"

"I hate the doctors…" Quilladin said.

"Okay…that has nothing to do with cheese or kisses, so fuck off…" said Ursaring.

Mightyena thought about it before recalling this morning. "I think I know where we need to go…"

000

"Alright, what's the first clue!" Skuntank growled, knocking Manectric out of the way so that she could see the paper on the table.

"Secrets and choices collected so raw. Do not drink the water, not even with a straw…" she read before growling. 'What the hell does that even mean!?"

"Calm down, Skuntank", Mismagius said, holding her. "I'm sure Dewott can take care of himself…"

"Yeah...yeah, you're right…" Skuntank said. "I'm overreacting.."

"You're seriously worried about a guy who takes pleasure in harming himself being gone for a challenge…" Pangoro started. "You should be worried about if he's gonna kill himself or not…"

Skuntank immediately blasted a Flamethrower at him in response.

"Fuck you! You know I'm right!" Pangoro exclaimed as he dodged blasted from the angry skunk.

Vaporeon used Water Gun on her, drenching her in the cold liquid to calm her down.

"Skuntank, we get it, you're upset for...whatever reason…" Mandibuzz said, rolling her eyes. "But we don't have time for this!"

Charizard picked up the paper and looked over it himself before having it snatched away by Garchomp. He gave her an annoyed look, which prompted her to smirk back at him. He rose a brow, causing Garchomp to regain focus and look back down on at the clue, hiding a faint blush. It was Charizard's turn to smirk.

"Secrets and choices collected so raw. Do not drink the water, not even with a straw…" Garchomp repeated as she started thinking before she even finished.

"How the hell do you collect choices raw?" asked Eelektrik, completely perplexed with the wording of the clue.

"Apparently in a place where you don't want to drink water…" Manectric responded.

"Well I don't know how you collect a choice, but diaries collect secrets raw because you write them..." Popplio said.

"That...makes sense", said Gligar. "But what place has diaries around here? Is there a library somewhere?"

"Nope, so that idea is shit…" Pangoro said.

"Pangoro, shut your trap…" Aggron growled. "You're not even helping with anything…"

"Neither are you, bitch!" Pangroro growled before being blasted out of the apartment via Dragon Pulse.

"Nice shot…" Leafeon commented.

"Okay, fuck the first part. Maybe we need to focus on the second part of the clue", said Milotic. "Don't drink the water. So, where would we not want to drink water from?"

"The sewer!" Tepig exclaimed.

"SWEATY ASS!" Shieldon exclaimed.

"The toilet…" Cubchoo said softly.

"Stop right there. Now we have two possible candidates. The sewers, or the bathrooms…" Milotic said.

"Welp, I ain't going back to the sewer, so you can forget it", said Eelektrik, which caused him to be grabbed by Aggron. "You'll go and you'll like it…"

"How could anyone like the smell of shit?" Eelektrik exclaimed.

"Ask Dewott! He's dating a skunk!" Pangoro blustered from outside.

Skuntank growled monstrously before roaring and running outside to deal with the panda.

"Anyways...I think I have the actual solution…" Bronzor said. "If secrets and choices are being collected, that insinuates that the next place we have to go is somewhere private; as for the water thing, it has to be a place where you don't want to drink the water. Therefore, the place we need to go is the confessionals…"

"Now that I think about it...he's right!" Honchkrow said. "We say lots of things in the confessional that we don't want others to know and it includes making some choices for ourselves…"

"And the-"

"There is no toilet in the confessional anymore…" said Manectric. "Remember, it's a makeup area now…"

"Well I've got nothing, then…" said Bronzor.

"So, it looks like the sewer is where we have to go…" said Garchomp. "Shit…"

"Yep, that's exactly what we're going to be dealing with…" said Eelektrik.

"No, why don't we just send our Poison and Steel-types down since it won't bother them as much…" Leafeon suggested. "It makes the most sense…"

"Not all Poison and Steel-types are the same!" Aggron growled, making Leafeon flinch and go behind Milotic.

"Was that necessary?" Haxorus inquired, folding his arms.

"Actually, she has a point", Garchomp said. "Poison and Steel-types should be find going down…especially if there are feral Pokemon down there."

Aggron groaned.

"Alright, let's find a sewer and get this adventure started!" Tepig said cheerily, earning him annoyed glances from his teammates.

000

"Alrighty. We need to hurry 'n get th' lad out 'o th' situation…" Clawitzer said quickly. 'What be th' clue?"

"Why is it so urgent that we get him?" asked Noibat.

"We want t' win th' challenge don't we?"

"Yeah, sure, but you are acting like his life depends on it…" said Drilbur. "Is there something wrong?"

"Naw. I'm jus' tired of losin'. That be it…" Clawitzer lied, in the back of his mind worried about how Tropius was doing. "Now we need t' be pickin' up th' pace, lads!"

"Aye aye, captain!" Noibat said cheerily.

Typhlosion grabbed the clue and immediately blushed, seeing two figures in a rather provocative position. Tyranitar, noticing her look, was curious and she showed him the clue, only for his eyes to widen and for him to give her a sly look. "Maybe we should try that out after this challenge~" he whispered in her ear.

Typhlosion giggled.

"Uh...excuse us, spiky and the blaze", said Blissey. "Mind sharing the clue with the rest of us so that we can do this challenge?!"

"Shut up, Blissey", said Typhlosion. "The clue is just a picture of two figures going at it…'

"What kind of clue is that?" asked Spheal.

"An extremely easy one…" Luxray responded. "I know where we need to go. Come on!"

He started running out of the apartment, with the others following. Blissey was the last one out, following with groans.

000

Mightyena led the rest of the Enteis to the movie theater.

"Um...now's not the time to watch movies he-she…" Type: Null commented. "We have a CHALLENGE!"

Mightyena growled to herself before taking a breath. "This is where our next clue is, for your information."

"And how is th-"

"Oh...I get it...rom-coms, right?" Houndoom said.

"Exactly…" Mightyena stated with a nod.

"Drag a guy here and they know the end is nigh…" Delphox restated. "Yeah, this is definitely the right place…"

"Hey, not our fault we hate sappy romance bullshit…" Ursaring stated.

"Oh, but guys can watch porn perfectly fine, right?" Breloom asked rhetorically, causing a few guys to eye each other sheepishly.

"We're not here for gender shit!" Dusclops exclaimed. "Shut up about it already!"

"You guys started it this morning!"

"And it needs to end. NOW!" Houndoom growled. "Now come on…"

"You're not the boss of-"

"QUIET!"

-000-

The Enteis entered the theater, still led by Mightyena. "Alright, so who wants to help me out in there?"

Almost all of the guys exchanged looks, not wanting to step foot inside.

"Ugh...you guys are wimps…" Zangoose said as she started walking forward, with Servine, Breloom, Goodra, and Jolteon following her.

"Hey, go girl power", said Umbreon. "You have fun…"

Espeon body checked him, making him chuckle.

The girls scoffed and went on into the rom-com theater.

"So...what? Now we wait?" asked Braviary.

All of the girls glared at the bird.

-000-

The girls inside of the theater began searching each row in order to find a clue. This was going to be rather difficult considering the entire place was dark and there was a movie playing already, distracting them ever-so-often.

"I don't know why guys think that romantic comedies are god-awful…" said Breloom. "They have guys that are better men than they are…"

"I think they feel like they'll have to fulfill the same standards as the guy in the flick…" Goodra theorized. "They're scared of actually having to do a lot with us to get some…"

"That's all most guys want, isn't it?" Zangoose said, giggling. "I just wish the ones here weren't pansies…"

"Hey, not all of them are. They're just being guys. Guys hate mushy stuff for the most part, so i can see why they wouldn't like these movies…" Servine said as two Machamps kissed on the movie screen.

"If they hate mushy stuff, how can they watch porn?" Breloom countered. "That's mushy…"

"No that's just sex...which is what some guys only yearn for in a relationship…" Jolteon said.

Hearing all of this made Mightyena uncomfortable and rather irked.

"Come on girls, can we not talk down the entire male gender?" Mightyena asked. "Not all of them are the same. Hell, I don't even like romantic comedies that much. I just watch for the awkward humor…"

"We're not downing them, Mighty…" Breloom giggled.

"Yeah, it's just weird how they act like these movies are worse than death…" Jolteon giggled. "It's fun to theorize…"

"Why don't we just ask them instead?" asked Mightyena as she got out of a row.

"Like we'll get a real answer then…" Goodra laughed before her expression changed from amused to irritated. "I'm still trying to get over Ursaring and Dusclops' bullcrap statements…"

"They're just dumb. I left it at that", said Servine. "I don't want to even think about it…"

"To me, if that's what they think, I don't really care that much", said Mightyena. "It just means that they're never gonna have a lasting relationship…"

"As if they could get in one in the first place…" Breloom commented.

"Alright, girls...let's focus here…" Servine said, giggling as she continued moving across the rows.

As they all looked around, Goodra took notice to something similar about all of the chairs and groaned. This was definitely going to make things more tedious.

"Um...are all of the chairs auto-folding?" she asked.

Upon hearing that, all of the girls looked at the chairs in the row they were on and found that they were all folding.

"Yeah, why?" asked Jolteon.

Goodra sighed. "What if the clue is in one of them?"

All of the girls looked back at the chairs and groaned in annoyance.

-000-

The Suicunes were at an open manhole in the middle of the lot. The entrance to the sewer was rather small, 3 feet in diameter. Everyone looked down in unamusement and angst, minus a few.

"Oh well, too small. Looks like I won't be going down…" Aggron said with false disappointment, leading to Haxorus rolling his eyes as she leaned against him.

"It looks like barely any of you big guys can go down…" said Gligar, peering down and plugging his nose-area instantaneously.

Garchomp groaned. "Great, we have to rely on the little guys…"

"...that barely contribute to anything good on the team…" Pangoro finished, making them give him offended looks. "Yeah...take offense."

"Well at least this will give us more credibility than you'll ever have", Cubchoo said firecely. "You're just a bully!"

"WHAT'D YOU SAY, RUNT?!" Pangoro growled, showing his claws. Cubchoo covered her head.

"Pangoro! Leave her alone!" Vaporeon growled. "She's telling the truth and you know it…"

"Yeah yeah, you're still mad you didn't get any lion dong…" Pangoro teased. "Keep your bitching to yourself."

Vaporeon growled. She didn't need anyone knowing about her interaction with Pyroar. Especially since he was the one who ruined it!

"Uh...what is he-"

"Hey, so who're we gonna get to go down?" Mismagius asked, not wanting the heat to be on Vaporeon. She, Skuntank, and Popplio would deal with it, not the whole team.

"Well, Gulpin's going down for sure…" Manectric said.

"YAY!"

"Uh...we need actually intelligent players to go down there, too…" said Mandibuzz.

"Okay...you go down then, since you're adamant that they're too unintelligent to go on their own…" Honchkrow suggested.

"Yeah...why don't you be the intelligent one?" asked Gligar, folding his arms.

Pangoro kicked him into the hole, sending him down as he screamed. Almost everyone glared.

"Okay, Let's just get this over with…" said Milotic. "Shieldon, Gulpin, Bronzor, and Mandibuzz, you guys go. Gligar's already down there…"

"Uh-huh and why aren't you going down there?" asked Bronzor. "Your body's slippery and slender enough. I think I'm just fine…"

"Just go!" Garchomp growled. "We don't have time for complaints!"

Bronzor groaned. "Fine. But you'd better not have any complaints if you get chosen to do something…"

"Whatever…" Garchomp said, rolling her eyes.

Bronzor started floating down as Gulpin and Shieldon slowly made their way, only to be shoved in by Pangoro, which was really getting annoying to everyone. Mandibuzz used Aerial Ace on Pangoro, knocking him out before flying down into the manhole after the others.

Honchkrow sighed in relief.

"They'd better hurry up. We need that advantage…" said Eelektrik.

-000-

"I can't fucking believe this…" Mandibuzz muttered as she fluttered down and kept flapping her wings to avoid touching the floor. "Stuck with idiots…"

She made it down, where a few of the guys were climbing out of the swamp water.

"Pangoro's getting on my ASS FUCK DICK nerves…" Shieldon said, shaking himself off.

"Yeah, but you get used to it after a while…" Gulpin said. "Now, where's Gligar?"

"The dork should be around here somewhere…" Mandibuzz said, looking around. The odorous, moist environment was bringing unwanted tears to her eyes. "Ugh… WHY THE HELL DO I HAVE TO BE DOWN HERE?!"

"Because you're the one who talked about intelligence…" Bronzor stated simply. "You should know that groups of people don't take kindly to being told what they need sometimes. They'll throw you in it immediately to shut you up…"

"Hey, so maybe that means you should shut up more!" Gulpin commented, not intending to be rude.

Mandibuzz used Aerial Ace, knocking Gulpin into a pile of grime. She flew back to her original location with a satisfied smirk, only for it to fade once Gulpin emerged after sucking all of the grime into his gaping maw. "Yummy!"

All three of them recoiled in disgust.

"Okay, let's just find Gligar and the clue before I mentally puke up my guts", Bronzor groaned dismally.

"GLIGAR!" Shieldon shouted. "WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"He couldn't have gone far…" Mandibuzz said. "He doesn't even know where he's going…"

"Neither do we…" Gulpin said. "There's two ways, here…"

"Hmm...how about you and Shieldon go that way…" Bronzor started, gesturing to the right. "And I Mandibuzz and I will go this way…" he said pointing the other way. "And whoever finds him just goes after the other two and we search in one big group. Agreed?"

"Whatever…" Mandibuzz said, rolling her eyes, making Bronzor's eyes droop in annoyance.

"You two?"

"Sure…"

"Alright, let's get going…" Bronzor said as they split up.

000

Luxray led them all to the romantic movie set, with some of them panting from the distance.

"Alright, we're here…" said Drilbur. "Is this where you think the clue is?"

"Unless these sick fucks have a porno set hidden somewhere, this is definitely where the next clue is…" Luxray said as he entered the set. Pyroar purred to himself at the thought before shaking his head.

Going in, Luxray immediately headed toward the bed. He and Mightyena pretty much knew this set like the backs of their paws. He made it to the bed and turned around to see that no one else had followed him inside. He groaned before re-focusing, turning back to the bed. He hopped on and began feeling around on it to see if the normally soft mattress had even a sliver of hardness.

Eventually, he felt something near the top corner of the bed. Removing the covers, he groaned at seeing that it was only the standard paper labels that were usually on the corners of beds. He hopped off the bed, irritated. He turned back toward it, not wanting to give up so easily, and bent down to peer under the bed.

Seeing nothing but dust and old candy wrappers, he rose back up and started looking around, this time using his x-ray vision. Funnily enough, once he looked back at the bed, he saw a piece of paper between the mattress. He reached a paw between them and pulled it out before running back out.

-000-

He exited the set, where he saw the rest of his teammates waiting. He gave them all peeved looks upon seeing their oblivious, blank faces, looking as if they knew absolutely nothing.

"You know, a little extra help would've been greatly appreciated!" Luxray exclaimed.

"Did you get the clue or not?" asked Delcatty.

Luxray waved it around in an obvious fashion.

"What does it say?" asked Noibat.

Blissey walked forward and snatched it from him in order to look at it before having it snatched away from her by Typhlosion.

Typhlosion looked over the paper and was confused, as she started twisting and turning the paper around to see if it was messed up. The clue had a pile with concrete and wall rubble on one side and a circle with an arrow pointing to the middle of it. This was nonsensical to her; why couldn't they have just gotten normal words as clues?

"What the hell is this?" she asked aggravatedly, holding the paper tighter out of annoyance.

"Let me see…" said Shellder, wanting to help.

Typhlosion placed the paper on the ground in front of the Bivalve Pokemon. After a quick inspection, Shellder came up with the solution. "This is taking us to the Recreational Center…"

Pyroar tilted his head in confusion, pulling the paper towards himself and seeing the pictures. "Uh...how the hell do you get recreational center from this?"

"Well, see, the pile of rubble indicates that there was a wreck and the arrow is pointing to the center of the circle…" Shellder expounded.

"Shellder, how'd you get so smart?" asked Spheal.

"Yeah, we're lucky to have more intellect on the team…" said Lanturn.

Shellder blushed with a shy laugh. "Aw shucks...thanks…" he replied. "And well...when you're petrified of any and everything that has the chance to destroy you...it gives you the opportunity to learn and understand things better…" he elucidated, a bit of sweat dripping from his shell.

"Alright, are we just gonna keep marveling at the 'amazingness' of Shellder, or are we gonna get a move on and get Tropius?" Blissey asked as she started walking off on her own.

Noibat growled. "Okay...Delcatty, you are no longer the bitchiest person on this team…"

Delcatty glared daggers at the bat. She hadn't even been saying anything that rude or 'bitchy' for the past few challenges and now Noibat decides to open back up the can of Wurmples that she thought had been closed due to their lack of communication.

"Why did you even have to say that?" asked Delcatty. "I haven't been bothering anybody for these past challenges!"

"I know...which is why I said that…" Noibat stated as she flapped her wings to follow the rest of the team. Delcatty growled and followed them.

The team made it to the rec center, passing by the Enteis, who were all standing around the sewer. A few looks were exchanged, but they proceeded to go about their business and focus on their own challenges.

They all entered the recreational center, where Tyranitar took a breath. "Well...time to split up...the clue has to be around here somewhere…"

000

"About time!" Ursaring exclaimed as the girls finally exited the theater with Goodra holding the clue.

"Shut up, you contributed to nothing", Zangoose growled. "Now come on, we need to go to the beach set…"

"And how do you know?" asked Dusclops, adamant that they were incorrect, as the clue hadn't been shared with everyone.

"The clue literally just says 'sun, sand, and surf'..." Goodra said, looking at the clue once again.

Dusclops floated over and grabbed the clue, getting a bit of goo on his hands in the process. He looked at the paper and saw that they were correct. He sighed and tossed it. "Welp, we're following the scrubs. To the smaller replica of the land of sunburn…"

Everyone started leaving the movie theater and headed to the beach movie set.

-000-

Now at the beach movie set, they stood there as if they were expecting something to happen. The tension was rising as they stood idle.

"Uh...why the heck are we just standing here?" asked Wooper.

"We got the last clue. It's time for some of you to go in and deal with the searching part…" Breloom said.

Umbreon groaned. "What a team…" he said as he entered the set, with no one following him initially.

Espeon didn't want to be the one to go with him, as she had a feeling something would happen between the two of them; she was still trying to focus. However, the option of going in with an intent to look only for the next clue was pulling her in; eventually, she went in after him.

Seeing this, Dusclops sighed deeply. "Okay, someone else go in. Those two are likely going to be making eggs in there instead of looking for the clue…"

"They're your friends…" Braviary commented.

"I have no friends and I am completely fine with that", Dusclops said steadfastly. "They're simply acquaintances and nothing more…"

"Aren't they the same thing?" asked Wooper.

"No", he replied quickly.

"Okay, I'll just go. Fuck this…" said Houndoom as he walked in after the two of them.

"You are the laziest person on this team!" Absol growled. "You only want to do something when there's a disagreement!"

"At least he's doing something!" Jolteon countered. "Seriously, all you're doing is putting him down every time he actually participates in the challenge while you don't do anything!"

Mightyena got between them, seeing Absol start growling. "We don't have time for this. Jolteon, calm down! Absol, could you stop talking shit about Houndoom? He didn't even said anything to you!"

Absol didn't respond and just looked away annoyedly.

Jolteon growled to herself upon seeing that. She had absolutely no respect. She then turned her attention to Hawlucha, who was muttering while walking into the beach set.

"Ugh ... Voy a ir. Discutir parece suceder en cada desafío, de todos modos …" she made out as he entered the room.

"Okay, what was he muttering?" asked Cherrim.

"He said that he was gonna go and that it seems that there's always an argument when we do a challenge…" Metagross explained before Jolteon could talk.

"Wait, so you could understand him this entire time?" Ursaring growled.

"Duh…" Metagross said, rolling his eyes. "I can understand all languages…I'm practically a supercomputer..."

"And you've been staying idle this entire time because…" Dusclops trailed off, expecting him to finish it.

"We've been winning haven't we?" Metagross asked rhetorically. "There hasn't been that intense of a challenge for me to actually do a lot…"

"Hey, thanks for admitting that you're just as useless as the other three…" said Type: Null. "You may now join the reject club…"

"Type: Null, put a proverbial sock in it", Servine stated bluntly. "You're the one who's completely useless. All you do is put others down while not contributing to anything yourself!"

"Oh, I'm sorry your highness, you know that what you say actually means something to me. Oh wait...it DOESN'T!" she exclaimed angrily.

Servine growled, getting ready to use her vines, only to be stopped by Grovyle. "She's not worth the effort, darlin'...just let her say what's on her mind and we'll take care of her as a TEAM later…" he whispered.

Servine gained a small smile. "Okay...fine…" she said, turning back to Type: Null. "You can say whatever you want, but you'll still be more useless than Cherrim…"

"Hey! I'm the one who helped with the first riddle!"

"The first real contribution you've ever made…" Delphox mumbled.

"Okay, this is just stupid. Instead of focusing on the fucking challenge, you're arguing over who's doing what and in what nature", Froslass exclaimed. "As long as we WIN...WHY THE HELL DOES IT MATTER?!"

"Because there's always a chance that someone will screw something up…" Type: Null replied. "And you're in the same boat, missy…"

"Um...no I'm not", said Froslass. "Whoever fucks up the challenge is the one to blame, not everyone who didn't do anything!"

Everyone kept quiet after that. That made much more sense than what they were arguing about.

"Okay, I'm just gonna help them inside…" said Grovyle as he started going in.

"Here...have some help", Ursaring said as he picked up Quilladin and threw him inside, with him struggling and shouting.

Breloom growled and kicked Ursaring in the goods, making the bear squeak and drop to his knees while holding his private area.

"Nice one…" Goodra commented.

"Fuck you…" Ursaring strained.

-000-

Quilladin groaned in pain as he hit his head on the edge of a green screen-covered sandbox. He rubbed his forehead while getting back on his feet. He was beginning to get extremely irritated by Ursaring and others putting him down. Just because he wasn't the best looking strength-wise didn't mean that he wasn't useless. He was smart, but Metagross was smarter because he was a computer. That was literally the only difference. And any time he did try to contribute to the team and give them an idea, someone else interrupts him or they ignore him. So, in a sense, they were the ones making him useless, but they were getting mad at him for it.

Grovyle entered a few seconds later and approached him. "You alright there, partner?"

"No", Quilladin replied brashly as he hopped into the sand box. There was a mechanical surfboard in the middle of a large pool of water, which was surrounded by the sand.

"Any major damage?" Grovyle asked as he got in with him.

"Other than my sanity, no…" Quilladin replied with a glower. "I'm not useless. You guys MAKE me useless because you either ignore or interrupt me when I try to help!"

"Hey, now. Not all of us feel like you're useless, partner…" Grovyle cleared up. "Get that straight. Ursaring, Dusclops, and Type: Null don't speak for the entire team. And if yer feeling that way, express it! You may see a change that benefits ya…"

Quilladin looked down briefly before looking back up with a smile. "Thanks…"

"We're teammates. We gotta stick together…" Grovyle expressed.

"Right…" Quilladin said sheepishly. "Sorry I got frustrated…"

"No need for apologies…" Grovyle replied. "We've all gotten ticked off and taken it out on someone else before. Now...where are them Eeveelutions and Hawlucha…" he said, looking around.

"Yeah, I was wondering that, too", said Quilladin. "This set doesn't look that big…"

"Hmm...you go look for them and I'll look for the clue…" Grovyle directed.

"Uh...okay", said Quilladin as he hopped out of the sand and went around the back to look. Once out of sight, Grovyle took a deep breath and walked toward the surfboard. He didn't see a slip of paper on it, so he decided not to bother with it. He jumped into the water and looked underneath the board first. Seeing nothing, he mumbled something to himself before gaining a scowl and looked down in the water.

000

"Come on. It can't take that long to find a damn clue down there!" Pangoro growled.

"You do realize that sewers are pretty huge, right?" asked Vaporeon. "It could be hours before they find it!"

"If they lack common sense…" Honchkrow said. "Knowing these hosts, the clue is placed somewhere obvious and they've already passed over it…"

"Crap…" Skuntank moaned.

-000-

"Wait, you want what?" asked Mandibuzz. She and Bronzor had been floating, looking for the clue, for the past half hour. The odorous, scummy underground area was really disgusting them and they really wanted to just leave and move on. During that time, Bronzor was bargaining with Mandibuzz to see if she'd agree with eliminating Tepig.

"I want you to help me and Eelektrik eliminate Tepig…" he repeated. "He is useless, he is a candidate for an underdog story, and he annoys the hell out of us because he keeps making the sprinklers turn on in our apartments!"

"Uh huh…" Mandibuzz said as she continued flying forward.

Unclear about her answer, he groaned. "Is it a yes or a no?"

"Depends. What can you do for me?" she asked.

Bronzor gave her a look. "What do you want?"

"I want Honchkrow gone…" Mandibuzz said with a serious glare. "Just like Tepig is a thorn in your side, that bastard is a thorn in mine…"

"Uh...okay? I'll see what I can do…" Bronzor replied, both surprised and unsurprised to hear her make that request. They were always together with Garchomp and the others, so he was a bit suspicious of her now.

"Then we're in agreement…" Mandibuzz said. "I help you get rid of Tepig, you help me get rid of Honchkrow."

"Deal…" Bronzor replied just as a scream echoed through the sewer.

"That sounded like Gligar!" Bronzor exclaimed.

The two of them flew in the direction of the scream.

-000-

Gligar screamed as a multicolored Muk and two green Grimer chased him, firing Sludge Bomb at him numerous times.

As he flew, he found himself running into something hard, which so happened to be…

"BRONZOR! MANDIBUZZ!" he exclaimed happily. "I'm so glad you're here! You gotta help me!"

"Help you with wha-"

The Alolan Muk and Grimer made their existences known, using Gunk Shot and striking the three of them. Mandibuzz and Gligar fell on the ground, while Bronzor remained unaffected.

He used Mirror Shot, blasting the three of them before turning to the others, who were getting up. "Get up! We need to get out of here!"

"No kidding!" Gligar exclaimed, rubbing his head.

Mandibuzz got up and started flying away, with the other two following suit instantly.

-000-

"So, do you think Gligar's okay?" asked Shieldon. Getting no response, he looked around. "Gulpin?"

Turning around, he saw Gulpin eat an entire, scum-covered tire and burp in the aftermath. He shuddered.

"CUNT!" he blustered suddenly before groaning. "What are you doing, Gulpin?!"

"Huh?" the stomach asked, turning to him. "Nothing…"

"We're supposed to be looking for Gligar, not eating dirty tires!"

"...Why can't we do both?"

Shieldon sighed. "Let's just keep going. I'm sure we'll find him eventually…"

A threatening roar was heard from the direction they were going, making them stop again.

"Welp, it was nice knowin' ya, Gligar…" Gulpin said as he started turning around. Shieldon sighed and ran around before pushing Gulpin back in the right direction. "Come on…"

"GULPIN! SHIELDON! WE FOUND HIM!" they heard echo through the tunnels.

Shieldon and Gulpin rushed to them, following the sound of their voices. Eventually, they made it to them just as they were passing the open manhole.

"HEY! HAVE YOU FUCKS FOUND THE CLUE YET?!"

"You try to look when one of the underlings get lost!" Mandibuzz shouted back.

"Hey!" Gligar shouted.

"Ugh...this is stupid…" said Tepig before sneezing. "For all we know, the clue isn't here and we got it wrong…" he said, sitting down next to the manhole cover. He looked over to hit and his ears rose upon seeing something white sticking from underneath it. "Uh...I see something under the manhole…"

"It's probably just sludge, now will you focus?" asked Eelektrik as he looked back down in the manhole.

"I don't think sludge is white...unless it's that kind of sludge…" said Tepig as he stood up. "And this is pointed like-"

"Shut it, bacon!" Pangoro exclaimed.

Tepig groaned as Piloswine came over. "Ignore them. What're you talking about?"

Tepig gestured to the manhole cover, which Piloswine promptly flipped over, revealing a slip of paper with a few red splotches.

Hearing the clang from the manhole cover, Leafeon and Milotic came over and saw the paper as well.

"Hey, you were right", said Leafeon, carefully picking up the clue. "Thanks Tepig."

Opening it up, he saw red splotches, resembling blood, around it, with a black silhouette of a knife dead center. He groaned. "Murder set...but there are dozens around here!"

"We're gonna actually have to split up into those groups, aren't we?" asked Milotic.

"Yep…" Leafeon said. "Guys! We've got the clue!"

000

"Ugh...where is it!?" Flygon exclaimed, getting out of the sauna. "It should be somewhere in here!"

"WAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Spheal screamed as he seemingly fell from the ceiling, bouncing before settling. "Ugh…."

"Spheal...how the hell did you even-"

"Air vents…" he groaned. "Shellder thought that it'd be a good idea…"

"Okay...and where's-"

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Shellder screamed, landing on Spheal and bouncing off of him.

Salandit was watching Drilbur look in the cage of basketballs inside of the court. She was growing bored of him already now that she knew all of his info. Even this morning she was tired of him, she was just acting like he mattered to her to avoid suspicion.

She was ready to move on, but she wasn't sure about who her next target would be. She'd definitely have to wait until both he and Flygon were eliminated, but she needed to think ahead to see who she could control. While Drilbur continued throwing the balls out of the cage, she gained an idea. Why stick with just her team...when she could manipulate guys on ANY team. Just thinking about a few of the guys on other teams made her lick her lips.

000

"Hmm...gathering info on guys from the other teams seems to be muy delicioso…" she commented. "This will be fun…"

000

Tyranitar and Typhlosion were still at the front of the rec center. The team was big enough, so they decided to just sit back against the front desk and wait.

Tyranitar sighed as Typhlosion rested her head against him. "Man, it feels good to rest a while longer…"

"Yeah…" Typhlosion agreed, nuzzling him. "I wish we could actually sleep together at night, but I don't think the others would feel comfortable…"

"Yeah, I think we'd be too loud…"

"What? NO!" she said, playfully smacking him. "I meant literally sleep. I was thinking that they'd get jealous or feel weird having a guy in the room in the morning while we take care of business…"

"Oh...uh...right", Tyranitar said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

Typhlosion rolled her eyes.

"So, you two are just gonna sit on your asses while we do all the work?" asked Blissey, approaching them.

"Oh, I'm sorry, were we disturbing you?" Typhlosion asked sarcastically. "Why don't you just mind your own business and look?

"I will when you two get the hell up and help…" Blissey retorted. "You complain about me, so now I get to do the same to you…"

"The fact that you think any gives a shit about what we do is amusing…" Tyranitar said with sneer. "We've been the ones leading the team this whole time; why the hell would they complain about us sitting and talking?"

"Oh...I get it…" Blissey said, nodding. "Having a personal strategy in case of a team loss is unacceptable because I'm knew, but sitting on your asses and not helping is completely fine because you're veterans…"

"Blissey, get the fuck away from us with that shit…" Typhlosion growled, her neck beginning to spark. "None of this has to do with what our status with this shitty show is! We're supposed to be a team, you wanted to preplan and eliminate-"

"Y'know what, just shut up", Blissey growled. "I'm not gonna be treated like public enemy number one, you fucking hypocrites!"

"Um...and how are we hypocrites?" asked Tyranitar.

"You're saying that I'm bad because I wanted to target, but most of you assholes had alliances in your last season that did the same thing and no one gave a fuck!" Blissey said, which made Tyranitar pale.

"We had actual reason. It wasn't just 'they're veterans, AAAH!'" Typhlosion stated with a glare.

"In the merge, I'm sure-"

"That's different', it's the MERGE!" Typhlosion cut her off. "Now GO!"

Blissey glared before going on her way, leaving the two. "Well...now I've got a headache…" Tyranitar admitted, holding his head as Typhlosion rubbed his arm to comfort him.

-000-

"You find anything up there?" Luxray asked as he rose out of the pool. There was a set of chairs and boxes that led to the roof, where Pyroar was actually watching Luxray the entire time while hiding behind a large vent. He hadn't even thought about searching for the clue. What would the clue be doing on the roof anyway?

"Uh...no, nothing…" Pyroar said, stuttering a bit while hiding a blush.

Luxray groaned before completely climbing out. Pyroar was heading down when he looked at Luxray and immediately shuddered, causing him to misstep and fall on the ground with a THUD!

Luxray turned over and saw his fallen comrade. He snickered a bit before walking over to help him up. "You okay?"

Pyroar chuckled before sitting up, purring. "I am now~"

Luxray rolled his eyes. "Come on, we gotta keep looking…"

Pyroar licked his cheek. "Lead the way…"

Luxray gave him a stern glare, making Pyroar back away with a sheepish expression.

000

"What is taking those screw-ups so long?!" Type: Null exclaimed.

"Shut the hell up!" Mightyena growled. "Be patient for once in your life!"

"Oh go suck a-"

"She gets more from her only boyfriend than you ever will…" Goodra said, cutting her off. "Keep, your trap, shut…"

Type: Null growled.

-000-

"Umbreon...s-stop…" Espeon moaned as Umbreon licked her neck. "I'm trying to focus on finding the clue!" she said, breaking away from him.

"Come on, babe. You have to stop teasing me!" Umbreon pleaded.

"I'm not teasing you. That's just YOU wanting me every time we're alone…" Espeon countered as she walked over to a couple of boxes.

"And what's wrong with that?" asked Umbreon, coming up behind her, wrapping his paws around her waist. Espeon sighed at this. Did he not get it?

"You're a distraction to me...there", she expressed. Hearing that, Umbreon's grip loosened around her.

"Wait...what do you mean I'm a distraction to you?" he asked, giving her a look.

Espeon looked down. "Sweetie...I love you, believe me, I do. But…"

"What? Am I not focused enough on this shitstorm of a game for you?" he asked, upset.

Espeon, instead of getting angry like she would with others, tried to settle things down. She knew that when he got this way, things were going to get rough between them and she didn't want it to happen. Not again.

"No, no, it's just...we can't screw everyday, especially during challenges!" Espeon explained. "If we're in private, I can handle it, but...during-"

"Stop...I know that you're not upset about us screwing. Especially when we still get the challenges done in the aftermath and we win or get in neutral ground", Umbreon said with a glare, making Espeon feel small. She looked around nervously., which he noticed. He sighed, hating seeing her like that. "Just tell me the truth…"

Espeon took a deep breath, tears actually starting to form in her eyes. "I just. I think that not having you around first season really pushed me into doing better and that's how I got far."

"Wait, so...you don't...want me around?"

"No, it's not like that!" Espeon said, getting close to him. "I just...I don't think that our relationship would be beneficial for-"

"So you're putting the money before me? After all that we've been through?"

"NO!" Espeon exclaimed. "I want to win the money for both of us! Please understand…"

"Oh yeah...I understand", Umbreon said as he started walking away. "Have fun with your quest…"

Espeon looked down as tears started streaming from her face.

000

"I can't believe this. I came into this stupid game so that I can be with her again and spend more time with her. But, all she cares about is the money…" Umbreon growled. "Why can't she realize that I love her for her and that I don't care about the money! I mean, it'd be nice, but I love her more!"

"So fucking STUPID!"

000

Hawlucha, who was sitting on a stack of large crates in the corner, watched the entire scene and shook his head in disappointment. Seeing that reminded him of why he didn't want to be in any relationships. Too much drama and senseless arguing.

He glided overhead and went past Espeon, who started searching for the clue yet again. She was upset, but she wasn't gonna let it stop her.

Hawlucha was now on a high support beam, where a bag of sand was sitting. "Que?"

He approached it, only for the sand to rise, with a red shovel jutting out of it. "GAST!"

"Ay dios mio!" he exclaimed as he jumped back, accidentally falling off of the beam and landing in the water.

Grovyle ran back over just as he started leaving the area. He saw Hawlucha rise from the water and climb onto the surfboard, only to be thrown back into the water.

"You alright there, partner?" he asked.

Hawlucha climbed out of the water. "Si…"

"You find any sign of the clue?"

Hawlucha sighed. "No, pero vi una telenovela…"

"...Right…." Grovyle said, still not understanding what he's saying. "Well, did you see Umbreon or Espeon anywhere?"

"Si. Ahí es donde ocurrió la telenovela…"

Grovyle sighed. "Well, I don't know what you're saying, but it don't sound promising."

Umbreon walked past them in silence with an angry glare on his face. Grovyle was about to ask him about the challenge, but Hawlucha stopped him and shook his head. Grovyle didn't get it initially, but what happened next made him get it.

Espeon walked forward, Quilladin following her, holding a slip of paper in her tail. She looked distant and her eyes were a bit red. She held the clue out in order for one of the two to grab it, which Hawlucha did.

Once he did, she walked out without saying a word. Quilladin made it to the two of them.

"Some'n must've happened between them…" Grovyle observed.

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking…" Quilladin said. "But, we can't dwell on their issues. What's the next clue say?"

Hawlucha handed the clue to Grovyle.

"Special and physical are labeled as such, come out on top, maybe even a clutch…" Grovyle read.

"Special and physical...those are types of moves", Quilladin started. "So...we go to the battlefield!"

"Nice deductive reasoning, partner. Let's get goin'!" Grovyle said.

-000-

The three of them exited the set, only to see the others looking at them.

"Did you guys find the clue? Because obviously these two didn't…" Type: Null commented, eyeing the former couple angrily.

"Hey, leave them alone, they had some...problems in there…" Quilladin explained.

"Y ella fue la que encontró la pista de todos modos…" Hawlucha said, folding his arms, tightening his glare.

"In English, please?" asked Dusclops.

"Espeon is the one who found the clue…" said Jolteon, turning to the Sun Pokemon, who held a frown.

"Well, where do we go?" asked Ursaring.

"Quilladin figured out that we need to get to the battlefield…"

"Okay...and what's the real place we need to go to?"

"It's the battlefield!" Quilladin exclaimed. "Pull your head out of your ass and learn to listen!"

Everyone froze before looking to Ursaring, who was growling with a furious glare. Quilladin gulped in fear and started backing away.

Ursaring was about to use Hyper Beam, but Breloom punched him in the gut before he could. He growled and glared at the Mushroom Pokemon.

"Don't...you...dare…" she growled.

Ursaring glared back, but calmed down anyway. Breloom was surprised, but pleased, and then scared.

000

"Uh...don't tell me that Ursaring really likes me…" Breloom said. "That would be horrible…."

000

"She's lucky she's cute…" Ursaring growled, folding his arms.

000

The Enteis made their way to the battle field, where they saw a dunk tank sitting in the middle of it. This was peculiar, as there wasn't anything new to the other areas they had to check. Something was up.

"Okay….a dunk tank…" Servine started. "What does this have to do with anything?"

"Is there a clue anywhere?" asked Zangoose, looking around.

"Why don't we ask the dunk tank with the paper inside of the bubble?" Dusclops asked sarcastically while staring at the bottom part of the tank, which had a bubble extending outwards with a piece of paper facing backwards.

"Okay...by the looks of this, one of us is going to have to get in the tank and get the clue for us…" Breloom guessed as Metagross walked over to the tank.

CRASH!

Everyone turned to the tank, where the bubble was now shattered, with Metagross holding an indifferent expression.

"Or we could do that…" Wooper said.

Mightyena went forward and grabbed the clue before coming back over. Cherrim took the clue and started looking over it.

"The last place that you need to go, the famous home of the Old Gateau…" she read. "To the Old Chateau!"

000

The Suicunes all split up upon learning about the next clue being a murder set. There were numerous murder movie related sets, so they went with their predisposed groups.

-000-

Bronzor, Eelektrik, Skuntank, Mandibuzz, and Tepig were at the murder set that resembled 'Nightmare on Elm Street', as they saw fake claws, gallons of fake blood, and numerous sets inside of the area.

"Huh...interesting…" Bronzor said, eyeing all of the equipment and details.

"Uh...what's interesting about this?" asked Tepig, sniffling. "It's more morbid than interesting to me…"

"Well we didn't ask you, now did we?" asked Eelektrik.

"I just fail to see what this challenge has to do with spy movies…" Mandibuzz commented. "As far as I'm concerned, they're making us find shit again...only this time it's alive shit…"

"Yeah, but in spy movies, they have to look around for-"

"That's mystery and suspense…" Mandibuzz countered before Skuntank could finish. "We're supposed to be doing sneaky stuff, not finding clues…"

"FYI, MANDIBUZZ, SPY MOVIES HAVE HOSTAGE SITUATIONS SOMETIMES AND PEOPLE HAVE TO FIND THEM. THIS IS ONLY THE FIRST CHALLENGE, SO KEEP YOUR BEAK SHUT!"

Mandibuzz rolled her eyes.

000

"Sensitive jackasses…" Mandibuzz commented.

000

"Alright, let's get looking…" Skuntank said. "There are plenty of scenes to look around, so we need to check every nook and cranny of this place!"

"Skuntank...that's a bit obsessive", Eelektrik said. "We get that it's your boyfriend, but calm yourself…"

"You realize that me being a bit frantic about finding my man is a good thing since it is part of the CHALLENGE, right?!"

"Yeah, but still...this place is massive. You expect us to search the ENTIRE place?" asked Tepig.

"You wanna win the challenge or not?" Mandibuzz inquired with a piercing glare. Tepig gulped in fear, not wanting to deal with her wrath.

"Y-Yes…"

"Then keep your trap shut and just do it!" Mandibuzz exclaimed, causing not only him, but the other three to jump as well.

000

"Sheesh, why the hell is she so abrasive?" Skuntank asked agitatedly.

000

Manectric, Vaporeon, Popplio, Cubchoo, and Gligar were inside of a set that was extremely cold. The entire floor was slippery and there were numerous bloody hooks hanging from the ceiling.

Vaporeon stuck close to Manectric, eyeing all of the hooks warily.

"Well, I hate this place already…." Gligar commented, shivering.

"S-Same here…" Popplio said, looking at all of the hooks.

"Hey, maybe one of these hooks has the clue…" Cubchoo said.

"I hope not...there are dozens of them", Manectric said, looking around. "And it's freezing in here!" he said, looking at his own breath as he spoke.

"Well, we don't have any choice…" said Vaporeon, moving away from Manectric a bit. "The others are at-"

"There are more than five murder sets, y'know…" said Gligar. "We just came to the first one we saw…"

"Well...you guys wanna get outta here and check another one?" asked Manectric.

"I'm sick of having to find stuff…" Cubchoo commented as they started exiting the set.

-000-

"WAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Gulpin screamed as he slammed through the window of a set.

"That's what you get for sighing so much!" Pangoro growled.

The girls both gave him agitated looks, while Charizard remained calm. Pangoro turned around abrasive. "Now...get looking…"

"I'm sorry, but who are you talking to exactly?"

"I'm talking to a tranny Gyarados, a wannabe dragon, and a chum guzzler. That answer your question?!" Pangoro growled.

Both girls growled, but Charizard calm stepped forward.

BAM!

Charizard uppercutted Pangoro, knocking him unconscious. He shook his hand for a few seconds. "Much better…" he said as he flew over to check on Gulpin. Milotic followed him, while Garchomp had a small sneer on her face initially before regaining her normal expression.

"You okay, Gulpin?" asked Milotic.

"Uh…" he groaned. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks…"

"Okay, he's fine…" said Garchomp, strutting over. "Now, let's focus on finding the clue…"

Charizard noticed her gait and smiled to himself before clearing his head. Milotic saw how the two acted and groaned to herself.

000

"Great...they're into each other...how sweet, but cliche…" Milotic commented. "Ugh...I miss my drugs. They'd probably help me give them advice, but Leafeon and Manectric found and stole everything and I don't know where they put all of them! This sucks…"

000

They went on the set of a Friday the 13th-esque movie, so there was fake blood everywhere and a wide assortment of knives, among other things.

Gulpin yawned. "I don't know where to look and I don't wanna…"

"Well that's too bad, because we don't care!" Garchomp exclaimed. "We need to-"

"AND THE ENTEIS WIN THE FIRST CHALLENGE!"

"WHAT!?" Milotic exclaimed.

Charizard growled to himself.

"EVERYONE REPORT TO THE BANK HEIST SET FOR YOUR NEXT CHALLENGE!"

They exchanged annoyed looks.

000

Everyone made their way to the bank heist set, near the other side of the lot. A couple of players were still missing, but one was obviously back.

"Why the hell did you have to choose me, you jackasses?!" Zebstrika exclaimed.

"Oh, because you're irrelevant to your team…" said Raikou. "We expected them to not care that much…"

"You should have taken Type: Null or Dusclops in that case…" Braviary said.

"WHERE'S DEWOTT, YOU FUCKS?!" Skuntank roared.

"Calm. Down…" Vaporeon said.

"And...where be Tropius?" asked Clawitzer, a worried expression on his face.

"Uh...Dewott's behind you..." Suicune stated. Skuntank's eyes widened and she immediately turned around. Seeing the Discipline Pokemon come up behind them, she immediately charged forward and tackled him to the ground.

"Okay...there's Dewott. But where's Tropius?" asked Meganium, actually showing a bit of concern for him.

"Uh...he's in the infirmary…" Raikou said sheepishly. "He had a bit of a panic attack...so we're exempting him from the rest of today's challenge…"

"Wait, a panic attack?!" Lanturn exclaimed.

"Yeah, we don't know what happened…" said Suicune. "And he wouldn't tell us anything, so we just let him be…"

"Okay, boo-hoo. Can we get on with the challenge now?" Type: Null asked.

"Can someone just duct tape her mouth shut?!" Mismagius exclaimed.

"As wondrous as that would be, she's right…" said Metagross. "We should get on with the challenge if we want to have our social lives back for the day…"

"Bring on the bullshit…" Zangoose said, agreeing with the Iron Leg Pokemon.

"Alright...this next challenge will involve two tasks that must be done simultaneously", said Raikou. "The first task...disarm a bomb with the limited resources that are given to you…"

Everyone's eyes widened in an instant.

"Wait...t-the bomb's not real is it?" asked Leafeon.

"Who's show do you think you're on?" asked Entei. "Of course it's real…"

"To be more specific, it is a paint bomb", Suicune added. "If it goes off, you get covered from head to toe in paint…"

"And it takes two whole hours of washing for it to come off if skin contact is made…" Raikou added with a smile. "So you'd better work efficiently."

"Okay...paint...very threatening…" said Eelektrik, rolling his eyes. "What's the second task?"

"The second task...grab as many valuables as you can from inside of this place…" Raikou explained, gesturing to the bank replica…"

"Huh...that sounds easy enough…"

"We were hoping one of you would say that…"

Everyone threw a Wooper an irritated glare.

"Since this is a spy movie, you're gonna have to be extremely stealthy", Suicune explained. "There are two Drampa, a Turtonator, and a Hariyama inside that will be on guard inside. If they catch you, you lose your chance…"

"And there's also lasers inside that if you trigger, you get shocked…" Raikou added.

"Each team has to choose five players to do each task, meaning thirty of you overall will be participating…" said Entei. "Whichever team detonates their bomb, collects the least amount of objects, or just fails both tasks entirely will be up for elimination. AND you can only vote for who participated in the challenge!"

Each team gave each other wary glances.

"Wait, what happens if we detonate the bomb, but we still get the most items?" asked Dragonite.

"Then it's up to if someone else DIDN'T detonate the bombs like dumbasses…" Entei replied.

"Someone's irked. Did you not get anything shoved in you last night?"

"UGH! YOU'RE JUST AS BAD THE BACON!"

Tepig looked confused. "What'd I do?"

"Don't worry about it. It's just Entei being dumb…" Raikou said, glaring at Entei.

"As usual…" Drilbur muttered, only for Salandit to smack him with her tail. Flygon saw this and growled to himself.

"Alright, choose who's doing what...you have three minutes or else we choose for you…" Raikou stated.

000

"Alright, so who are we going to have do this?" asked Honchkrow.

"Well, birdbrain, if we want to win...we have to put the capable players up!" Mandibuzz exclaimed.

Honchkrow growled. "No duh, bitch...but if we put capable players up, if we lose...WE CAN ONLY VOTE FOR THEM!" he squawked back, causing her to flinch momentarily. The two glared daggers at one another.

"So...are you two gonna kiss or-"

Upon hearing that, the two blushed and moved away from each other, holding scowls.

"Never in a million years…" they both exclaimed simultaneously.

"Riiight…" Gligar said, rolling his eyes.

000

"Those two are like an old married couple. They're almost always together and they argue over the lamest things…" Gligar said. "They deserve to be together…"

000

"Okay, so if we choose players that can do it well and we end up losing, we're screwed, and if we send out our weak links, we're screwed, but we can only vote for them…" Pangoro said. "Hmm...I wonder what is the better choice?" he asked sarcastically.

"I agree with the panda…" Eelektrik said before gaining realization. "Huh. Never thought I'd say that…"

"So, you want to throw in all of our little guys and just vote one of them off knowing we might lose?" Vaporeon asked. "What kind of plan is that?!"

"A smart one…" Mandibuzz said. "Plus, for all we know, they could be great in the challenge…"

"I doubt it…" Pangoro said, rolling his eyes and folding his arms.

"Okay, how about all of you big talkers go in and get to work?" Skuntank asked with a glare. "It'd be much fairer that way…"

"Popplio, Cubchoo, Gulpin, Shieldon, Bronzor, Gligar, and Tepig are going. Case closed…" Garchomp finally said. "They are all intelligent in their own rights. And since there are three spots left...Pangoro, Eelektrik, and Manectric will go…"

"Huh? I didn't even say anything!" the Discharge Pokemon barked out. "Why do I have to go?"

"Do you really think you have a high chance for elimination?" Aggron asked, raising a brow.

Manectric eyed Leafeon and Milotic out of the corner of his eye. "Well, I know I may get a couple of votes…"

"But not as many as the one who fucks up the most…so you'd better hope it ain't you…" Haxorus commented.

Manectric whimpered to himself.

-000-

"I can't believe Tropius gets a free pass just because of a so-called 'panic attack'..." Blissey commented venomously. "What'd he have to panic about? Dewott and Zebstrika were fine, so he should be fine, too…"

"Yeah, I admit, it is a bit suspect, but whatever happened happened and we can deal with it…" said Tyranitar.

"I don't even see how it concerns you", Typhlosion chimed in with a glare. "Not everyone is the same, Blissey. You can't judge or talk down about the guy when you don't know shit about him!"

"And the hypocrisy returns!" Blissey replied. "You don't know shit about me, but you're using a strategy I had to define my entire personality!"

"Ugh...this is getting redundant and annoying…" said Delibird. "Can't we just agree to disagree and leave the pink egg alone?"

"Yeah, Delibird's right", said Shellder. "We need to focus and choose who's gonna do the challenge."

"I volunteer Blissey", said Farfetch'd.

"What'd I just say!?" Delibird exclaimed.

"If we get rid of her, we have no need to leave her alone…" Farfetch'd retorted.

"I CAN HEAR YOU!"

Delibird groaned. "Fine. Then who else is going to go?"

"I say you…" said Luxray. "Nothing personal, you just haven't been doing much…"

"Eh, fair enough…" Delibird replied.

"Oh, if we're going by that logic...almost everyone who's NOT a veteran should go..."

Typhlosion's neck ignited and she attempted to attack Blissey, only for Tyranitar to catch her and hold her back.

"Blissey, just keep your mouth shut!" Flygon exclaimed. "Just for that, you definitely ARE going. Now, how about we address who has the certain skills in order to complete the challenges…"

There was silence. "Pretty sure noone here knows how to defuse a bomb…" Lanturn stated.

"Sneaking wise, first…" Luxray said exasperatedly.

"Hmm...why don't we have Shedinja and Spiritomb go?" asked Delcatty. "They're both ghost-types, so sneaking should be a cinch for them!"

"That makes sense…" said Drilbur before turning to the two. "You guys up for it?"

Shedinja said nothing, making Spiritomb groan. "Yeah, I'll do it. And we can take his silence as a yes, too…"

"Great. That's four players", said Flygon. "Now we need six more…"

-000-

"Alright, so let's get the obvious ones out of the way…" said Servine. "Dusclops, Ursaring and Type: Null are definitely going."

"Says who?" asked Ursaring, raising a brow.

"Everyone who agrees say 'Aye'..." Mightyena stated.

Numerous 'Aye's echoed from the others.

"Wow, you guys are idiots…" Type: Null growled. "Instead of choosing the weak links, you choose the ones who are actually strong!"

"Your negativity is a pain and you haven't done shit!" Delphox said with a glare, folding her arms.

"Okay, and tell me witch bitch, what have you done?" asked Type: Null. "You're all looks and no brain, just like the rest of you females…"

"WHAT?!"

"Okay, I don't care anymore, I am going to destroy you!" Zangoose growled as she tried to attack, only for Type: Null to use Thunder Wave, paralyzing her.

"Nice try…" she teased stoically.

"Okay, we have three players that are definitely going. So, now we need some volunteers…" said Jolteon.

"None of us wanna be up for elimination, so I don't see that being a thing…" said Umbreon commented.

"You won't be up for elimination if you actually win!" Goodra replied. "We just need some players who are smart enough to not screw up…"

"I say we put Metagross, Type:Null, Dusclops, Quilladin, and Absol for the bomb since they seem to have a high intelligence and competence in certain areas…" Froslass suggested. "Well, as for Type: Null...she's annoying."

Type: Null glared.

"Yeah, Absol knows how to turn people off, so maybe she can do the same for a bomb…" Houndoom commented.

"Uh huh...and you, Cherrim, Swirlix, Ursaring, and Froslass should go. You're pretty good at being sneaky and getting attention from noone…" Absol retorted.

Houndoom chuckled. "You're giving me attention, so...that's flawed logic…"

"Okay, you two REALLY need to stop", Mightyena said, getting between the two.

"No, what's the problem?" asked Dusclops. "If they want to put each other up for elimination, just let them. If they fuck up the challenge, one of them goes…"

"We'll see about that, mono-brain…" Absol growled.

"Um...pretty sure almost everyone has one brain…" Dusclops replied. "Just stop trying to insult…you're embarrassing yourself."

Absol growled.

"TIME'S UP!"

000

"Alright, Enteis, since you guys won the last challenge, you get this", Suicune said, handing Goodra a stocky, folded piece of paper. "It'll help you in the challenge…"

"And since you won, you get to choose which team goes first…" Raikou added. "We'll give you a couple of seconds to consult with-"

"Raikous go first…" Type: Null said.

Raikou twitched a bit, but took a breath. "Okay...fine. Raikous, send your players forward…"

They exchanged glances.

"We uh...only have four chosen…" said Tyranitar. "There were a few disagreements…"

"Hmm...alright. Send forward your four and I'll choose the rest…" Raikou said.

Blissey, Delibird, Shedinja and Spiritomb came forward.

"Huh...interesting choices…" Raikou commented. "Now, let's see-"

"Hey, hey, hey….that's not gonna be fair. He may just choose people who will do good!" Jolteon yelped out.

"And if you guys were in the same situation, Entei would've chosen yours…"

"Oh that's bullshit!"

"Mierda…" Hawlucha commented, folding his arms with a glare.

"Now...Shellder, Meganium, Flygon, Clawitzer, Dragonite, and Tyranitar, you guys are going…"

"That's perfect…" said Blissey. "Thanks Raikou…"

Typhlosion growled.

"Alright, Meganium, Shellder, Shedinja, Spiritomb, and Flygon, you guys will handle the inside and the rest of you will handle the bomb…"

"U-Uh...s-shouldn't Shellder come with us?" Dragonite asked, petrified of having to deal with a bomb. "I mean, he's the smartest on the team. N-No offense to anyone…"

"No, that's a fact. No apologies need…" said Noibat.

"Shoulda chose him earlier. Now I call the shots…"

"But wouldn't you want your team to win?" asked Pyroar, raising a brow.

"Stop stalling and just do the damn challenge! We don't have all day!" Type: Null exclaimed.

There was silence for a few seconds before Skuntank spoke up. "Please tell me that she's participating…"

"Don't worry about us. Worry about yourselves…"

Skuntank glared.

"Alright. Everyone get in position…" said Suicune. "That's enough…"

000

Dragonite, Tyranitar, Clawitzer, Blissey, and Delibird were in alley on the side, where the bomb was located, while Meganium, Shellder, Spiritomb, Shedinja, and Flygon were in front of the entrance to the large, faux bank.

"Alright, when I yell go, the bomb will start ticking and you have to send your first player inside!" Raikou explained.

"Wait, how do we know when time is up?!" asked Meganium.

"You have just twenty minutes for both tasks…." Raikou stated. "And you begin in 3...2...1...GO!"

-000-

The time on the bomb began ticking down. The bomb was against the wall and extremely complex. There was a pad of nine with small red squares, red, blue, and green wires on the side of the bomb. There was a blue screen showing the time ticking down, and there were numerous paint canisters around it. There were a couple of cables extending from the top of it that led to two steel boxes high above it. In the center was a key hole.

Dragonite was sweating bullets, which was warranted given the situation. The others remained level-headed, however...

"Dragonite, calm down…" said Delibird. "It's just paint…"

"I-I just hate bombs in general…" Dragonite explained, his legs shaking slightly.

"Great….Raikou chose a weakling…." Blissey muttered.

"Blissey...no one asked for you to comment. It's a rational fear!" Tyranitar growled, hearing her statement.

"And no one told you to acknowledge my comment", Blissey responded. "Now we're both wrong, huh?"

"LADS! We don't be havin' th' time t' argue! The hour be tickin'!" Clawitzer exclaimed, his accent adding a sense of urgency. He turned to the bomb and started looking for anything that he could identify. The key hole grabbed his attention the most, as they were not given a key for the bomb nor were they told about a key.

"Uh...lads...we be needin' a key, and we don't got one…" Clawitzer said.

"WHAT?!" the four of them exclaimed.

"S-So we're just doomed?!" Dragonite exclaimed.

"Not to worry, folks. There's probably something in my tail we can use!" Delibird said with a smile, holding his tail.

"Why the hell would there be something in your tail?" asked Blissey. "Did you prepare for this competition and just not tell anyone about it, or is this just a part of your 'keeping everyone jolly' bullshit and you're lying?"

"Aye, ye be a breath o' sunshine, ye know?" Clawitzer said sarcastically with an irritated expression. He turned to Delibird. "Whaddya got, lad?"

Delibird released his tail and an assortment of weapons, toys, sweets, and electronic devices spilled out from it. Everyone looked at the haul and then back at the penguin with shocked expressions.

"What?"

-000-

While they handled the bomb, Flygon had volunteered to go first and had already collected two pearl necklaces from corners of the bank. He hadn't seen any sign of the Drampa, Turtonator, or the Hariyama, so he was feeling good.

As he continued slithering and silently flying above ground, he caught sight of a painting leaning against a chair...which had a Hariyama sitting on it. Flygon sighed.

000

"Why am I not surprised?" Flygon asked.

000

Flygon slowly flew toward the Hariyama to try and snag the painting. The Hariyama was sitting in a rather narrow hall that lead to a larger part of the bank. He picked up the painting, causing a bit of creaking from the frame of it.

He flinched, thinking that the Hariyama would wake up. He sighed in relief when the Arm Thrust Pokemon didn't wake up. He looked into the larger area of the bank and saw two Drampa patrolling the area. He looked at the three items in his claws and then recalled how much time they had. He didn't want to take up too much time, and growled to himself. He then eyed a fuse box above the Hariyama's head.

He turned his attention back to the area with the Drampa, which luckily hadn't noticed him. He looked up at the lights and suddenly took a deep breath.

"Let's see…." he thought to himself, as Phillip. "By pressing the correct pressure spots, I can induce an involuntary slumber for a longer time…"

Using his claws, he pressed down on the side of the Hariyama's neck and slammed his palm against its chest, causing it gasp and topple over, alerting the Drampa.

When they looked over, Flygon was already back on the other side, hiding. He was unsure if they were still looking or not. He looked at a mirror on the opposite side and saw that they seemingly shrugged it off and were now back in their rotation.

He smirked and crawled beside the Hariyama. The 7'07'' Fighting-type was carefully shoved forward a bit, still unconscious. Flygon was a whole foot smaller than it was, so he used it as cover each time there was an opening to move. He kept his items back near the door and he spotted three bags on the counters on either side. They looked to be filled with other items, so he was hoping that this would be efficient.

Still as Phillip, he pulled open the fuse box before ducking again. He then rose back up and flipped a switch, plunging the bank into complete darkness, with only the front door giving light.

Flygon flew stealthily around, scooping up all of the bags before heading towards the light. He had to dodge a few Dragon Pulses from the Drampa, who saw him moving towards the door.

On his way, he scooped up the three items he first got and flew out.

-000-

15:43, 15:42, 15:41…

The time continued ticking down as the five of the Raikous designated to disarm the bomb struggled to even understand what they had to do. At the moment, Tyranitar was hitting the bomb with a golf club, with absolutely no results. Not even a dent was put into it.

"This is getting us nowhere…" Blissey said as the Rock and Dark-type continued hitting the bomb.

"Wouldn't damaging the bomb cause it to detonate faster?" Dragonite said, his legs still shaking. "Maybe you should stop…"

Tyranitar retracted the golf club, only for the head to snap off. He growled and threw it down. "How the hell are we supposed to work this thing?!"

"Hey, maybe Clawitzer can try to cut the cables leading to those other boxes!" Delibird said, pointing to the cables. "Maybe those two things are powering the bomb!"

"Hmm...it be worth a shot…" Clawitzer said. He moved forward and nicked the cables with his smaller claw.

The bomb continued going down, rendering Delibird's suggestion uneffective.

"Well, that didn't work…" Delibird commented.

14:53, 14:52, 14:51, 14:50….

"Ugh...stand back, I'm gonna try something…" Blissey said.

The guys did as they were told, but they couldn't go far unless they went deeper into the alley. Blissey pulled out her egg and held it steadily in front of the bomb. The egg glowed before exploding. Blissey pulled the still intact egg away and placed it back into her pouch. "Not even an Egg Bomb stopped it…"

"Welp, we're fucked…" Tyranitar said, plopping on the ground.

-000-

Meganium was inside of the bank hiding along the side. Flygon had told her and the others that he had knocked out the Hariyama for a while, so she only had to worry about the Drampa and the Turtonator, wherever it was.

The building was still dark, so she was standing somewhat close to the door so that she could see a bit. Looking across the pitch black darkness, she saw a few red beams going across each other farther back. She knew that she was going to have to see in order to get anything done, but she had no idea where the fusebox was.

She looked around the area she was already in and didn't see anything on the tiled walls. She used Flash, lighting the flower around her neck. She walked forward and saw the Hariyama lying unconscious on the floor. She then looked up and saw the fusebox.

She heard grumbling and turned to the side and , thanks to her light, saw Drampa staring directly at her. She gulped. She quickly stopped using Flash, but her silhouette was still visible thanks to the light from the door. She used her vines to open the fusebox and turn the lights back on so that she can see.

The two Drampa charged towards her. She looked upwards and saw a few poles. She used her vines again to hoist herself up and turned the lights off before lifting up.

She saw the lasers and swung down in front of them. She only had light from the lasers now and she could see a Turtonator on the ground, sleeping. She cursed to herself.

"How am I supposed to-"

She didn't get to finish her own question as she was hit by a Dragon Pulse and pushed into the lasers, electrocuting her.

"MEGANIUM, COME ON OUT! YOU'VE BEEN HIT!"

Meganium sighed.

-000-

Meganium came out empty-handed with a disappointed look.

"You couldn't get anything?" Pyroar asked, shocked.

"I tried, but I couldn't see! And the Drampa kept on seeing me!" Meganium said, defending herself.

"Well, that sucks for you…" Garchomp said with a sneer.

"Who's next? Time is ticking!" Typhlosion exclaimed.

Shedinja floated inside silently.

"Weirdo…" Dusclops commented.

-000-

"Come on lads, thar has to be somethin' we can do to disarm 'tis thin'..." Clawitzer said.

11:34, 11:33, 11:32….

"We're approaching ten minutes and we haven't even made a dent in the damn thing…" said Tyranitar. "I'm thoroughly convinced that this is rigged…"

"Maybe Delibird can try to freeze it?" Dragonite suggested, still far from the bomb.

The others turned to the penguin, who groaned. He used Icy Wind on the bomb, encasing it in ice. The timer was still ticking down.

"That did nothing…" Blissey said melancholically. "Any other suggestions?"

Tyranitar got an idea and stood up. He walked over to the bomb and punched it hard, effectively shattering the ice surrounding it, but not the bomb itself.

"Well, that didn't set the sails. Nice give a go', though…" Clawitzer stated.

"Dragonite. You think you can just use Outrage or something?" asked Blissey. "Because all of us have physically tried something except for you. And you wouldn't want to be the one up for elimination if we end up getting last place, do you?"

"Scare tactics aren't the answer…" Delibird said. "Very naughty…"

"Your tail is full of weapons…"

"Touche…"

"Plus, if we've all tried and he's the only one who hasn't, isn't that ground for possible elimination if we're being fair?" Blissey asked.

The guys exchanged looks. She was right. It was fair. Instead of saying anything, they just turned to Dragonite with wary glances. Seeing this, the Dragon Pokemon looked down. "Come on...that's not fair. I have a fear of bombs; that's almost blackmail!"

"No, blackmail would be: 'If you don't try to help us with this bomb, I'll make sure you're eliminated…'" Blissey explained.

Dragonite frowned hopelessly. If he didn't do anything to the bomb, he'd probably get the boot, and if he did, he's probably piss himself. He then thought about Goodra and how he didn't want to disappoint her. His first girlfriend and he could be eliminated before they even truly got somewhere because of this. He didn't want that to happen.

He took a deep breath. "Fine…" he said shakily.

He walked forward toward the bomb just as it hit the ten minute mark. He looked over it and started feeling around it. He felt something underneath it and looked underneath it to see an 'On' and 'Off' switch underneath it.

"Wow…" he stated, getting the others' attention.

"Wow, what?" asked Delibird.

Dragonite stood up and flipped the switch underneath, causing the timer to stop.

Tyranitar jumped up from surprised. "Whoa whoa whoa...what'd you just do?"

"There was an on and off switch under it…" he said simply, pointing underneath it.

"Well, nice work, lad!" Clawitzer commented, patted his back with his large claw.

"So, are you better with bombs now or-"

"NO!" Dragonite exclaimed. "That was just luck! I still hate bombs. The death challenge was pushing it and I had to try to keep from screaming and running!"

"Oh...so that's why you were just sitting around with Metagross and Goodra…"

"Yeah…" Dragonite said, hiding a blush.

"Well, let's go check the others…" said Blissey as she started heading out of the alley.

-000-

Shedinja had returned with numerous items, and Spiritomb was currently inside.

"Hey guys!" Delibird called, flying over.

"You guys did it!?" Mandibuzz exclaimed, shocked.

"Yeah, it was easy…" Blissey lied. "Maybe make it harder next time…"

The hosts glared at her.

"So, how many objects do we have?" asked Tyranitar, seeing that Shellder was the only one in front of the bank at the moment.

"We're gonna do the final count after Shellder goes…" said Suicune, alerting a few of the others.

"Hold up, I thought that you said that we have twenty minutes for each task!" Breloom exclaimed.

"There are 7 minutes left for them…" Suicune retorted. "Unless Spiritomb takes a long time in there, Shellder should go in and either grab one thing or be caught in an instant…"

"HEY!"

"Hey, it's the truth.." said Entei.

"W-Well, yeah. But still…"

Spiritomb came out with a few more objects. Signifying that it was Shellder's turn. The Bivalve Pokemon gulped and hopped inside. Upon entering, he saw that it was very dark. The skittish little guy shook uncontrollably and looked around for anything that was probably left in the first room. He did NOT want to go in there.

He looked around and, while he didn't find any objects, he saw a small vent. He had already been in a vent in the rec center, so he wasn't really worried about it, but he was unsure if he would have enough time.

He decided to go for it and hopped over to the vent, but it welded shut. "Dangit!" he exclaimed. He looked back toward the darkness and sighed.

"It's not that bad...it's not that bad...it's not that bad...there's red lasers and you can sorta see, but there are also dragons inside...making it bad again…" he said as he hopped forward. As he passed the Hariyama, he heard groaning and looked to the side, starting to sweat. He hopped into the darkness.

The Hariyama stood up and rubbed its head. Looking around, it saw that the lights were off and immediately turned the switch, illuminating the bank once more. Shellder was hiding in a potted plant and could now see clearly. There were not many valuable items he could see, but he could see that there was another hall filled with lasers past this area. He looked at the teller desks and counters he was beside and began his attempts to jump.

This, unfortunately, garnered the attention of the Drampa, who attempted to hit him with Flamethrower and Thunderbolt. He quickly hopped towards the next hall, dodging the attacks left and right as the Placid Pokemon began chasing him. He was screaming his head off, which could be heard from outside.

He made it to the lasers and was short enough to dodge a few, but he was so preoccupied with the Drampa that he forgot about-"

"Turto-..."

Shellder had bumped into the Turtonator, who was lying at the end of the laser-guarded hall. "Uh...heh heh…"

-000-

BOOM!

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Shellder shot out of the bank door, covered in soot.

"Whoa!" Spheal exclaimed as he and Lanturn hopped up to him. "Are you okay?"

"Mommy, I don't wanna go to school...it's Saturday…" Shellder muttered before passing out.

"And...time's up!" Raikou exclaimed. "Let's tally up the items…"

-000-

ONE BORING COUNTING SESSION LATER

-000-

"Alright...the grand total for the Raikous is 41 items!" Raikou announced. "Not bad…"

"How is that possible?" asked Mightyena.

"The items inside of the bags count, too…" Raikou explained. "And the bag itself, too…"

"Bullshit…" said Delphox. "You won't count the same way for us…"

"Entei's gonna count for you guys and Suicune's gonna count for her team. Stop complaining…" Raikou stated with a glare. The items were teleported back into the bank, but in different areas.

"So, 41 is the number to beat. Which team is going next?" asked Suicune.

"I think we're gonna go last…" said Type: Null. "It makes more sense that way…"

"Alright then, Suicunes...you're up next", said Raikou.

"Oh goody…" Gligar said, rolling his eyes.

"Send forth your players…"

Popplio, Cubchoo, Gulpin, Shieldon, Bronzor, Gligar, Tepig, Pangoro, Eelektrik, and Manectric went forward, the little ones going up rather reluctantly.

"Alright, go on and split yourselves up so that your time can begin…" said Entei. "We don't have all day…"

"You have us doing this for an hour, go fuck yourself…." Aggron growled.

Entei growled. "Just for that, I hope you guys lose…"

Aggron rolled her eyes.

Bronzor, Eelektrik, Gulpin, Pangoro, and Cubchoo went to the bomb, while the others stood at the entrance.

"Shitty choices...I look forward to this…" Entei commented with a smile.

"Alright, you both have 20 minutes. 3...2...1...GO!"

-000-

Manectric ran inside first to look around. The Hariyama was on guard now and guarding the hall. Manectric gasped at that. "Fuck…"

He looked around and saw a few items around on the ground and hanging on the walls. He grabbed the items quickly as the Hariyama glared. Cupping its hands, a burst of wind hit Manectric, sending him out of the bank and right into Luxray, ironically.

Manectric groaned and opened his eyes to see Luxray glaring at him. Manectric immediately hopped off and hid behind Milotic.

"Next…"

-000-

Bronzor floated around the bomb, which was identical to the Raikous'. However, this one had a different disarming trick.

"So, are you going to do this alone or do you need our help?" asked Cubchoo.

"Oh I don't know. I mean, it's not like this is a TEAM effort or anything…" Bronzor replied.

"Move out of the way plate…" Pangoro said, pushing Bronzor out of the way. Pangoro used Focus Punch and hit the bomb, only to whimper upon impact. He retracted his arm slowly and screamed in the aftermath.

"That's karma…" said Eelektrik, chucklin. He floated over to it. "Now, let me try something."

He used Thunderbolt on the bomb, actually causing the bomb to short out and reduce the time to 6:43, when it was initially 19:43.

"Oh what the hell!?" Bronzor exclaimed.

"Nice one fish face!" Pangoro growled as Cubchoo trembled in shock.

"Hey, I didn't know that'd happen!" Eelektrik exclaimed. "There shoulda been a warning about no electricity…"

Gulpin, who remained silent the entire time, simply moved forward as the others argued. Cubchoo saw him moving. Gulpin opened his large mouth and gulped down the bomb without trouble. He belched in the aftermath as the bomb was dissolved.

Everyone stared at him for a few seconds.

"Why are you staring at me? I just did the challenge and got a snack…" Gulpin said as he started waddling away.

000

"Yeah, after Tepig, he's definitely gone…" said Bronzor.

000

They came back just as Popplio was blown out, only to be caught by Milotic's tail.

"What the hell is going on?"

"Wait...you guys are done ALREADY?!" Absol exclaimed.

"Yep. Suck it…" Pangoro said, making the gesture.

Absol growled.

"I ask again...what the hell is going on?!" Bronzor repeated. "Why did she just get blown back?"

"Because the fucking Hariyama's awake and it keeps using Whirlwind!" Manectric exclaimed. "Luckily, I got a few things before it blew me out…" he said, patting the objects he got.

"I'm not even sure if this is going to be possible with that dickhead awake now!" Gligar expressed disdainfully.

"We never said you couldn't attack…" Suicune said. "Flygon knocked it out when he first went in, what's stopping the rest of you?"

They gave her a look. Gligar stepped one foot inside and was immediately blown back out.

"Hey, you guys still have a little over fifteen minutes inside, you wanna keep trying or are you gonna just forfeit and keep what Manectric brought? Which isn't much..."

"Are we allowed to switch?" asked Skuntank.

"Nope…"

The Suicunes all groaned. They were going to lose at this rate. Manectric then got an idea that he thought was foolproof.

Manectric ran inside again, this time, dodging the Whirlwind by the Hariyama. He used Thunder Wave, paralyzing the Hariyama and making it groan before dropping to its knees.

Manectric smirked and jumped over the Hariyama. He caught the attention of the Drampa, who proceeded to attack him. He jumped up over the counters, as Shellder attempted to do earlier and snagged each bag that was behind them. He even looked underneath and found a few gems, and a few documents in folders.

He grabbed them all and one he rose up, he was met by two Flamethrowers.

"MANECTRIC! COME ON BACK OUT!"

The wolf groaned.

-000-

He limped his way out with his haul and collapsed once he was out of the doors.

"Much better…" said Suicune. "Someone else had better get in there!"

Shieldon ran inside immediately in order to just get it over with. He started running past the Hariyama, only for it to smack him back against the wall with an Arm Thrust. Shieldon was unconscious.

-000-

"How much time do we have left?" asked Tepig.

"About 7 minutes…"

"Okay, we're done…" said Gligar. "I don't think this is gonna get any better…"

"Alright then...consider yourself lucky you guys disarmed your bomb quickly…" said Suicune. "Let me see what you have…"

-000-

ANOTHER BORING COUNTING SESSION LATER

-000-

"Alright, we know that Manectric isn't up for elimination if you guys lose. You guys only got 32 items, including the bags and the items themselves inside of the bags…" Suicune explained.

The Suicunes groaned. "Nice work Manectric, but the rest of you-"

"Oh-ho no, don't give us that crap", Popplio snapped, shocking them. "YOU guys told us to go when we all knew that things wouldn't go our way. And Pangoro just ran off to do the bomb knowing that he didn't even do anything!"

"Oh yeah? And where's your proof?" Pangoro asked, folding his arms.

"She's right…" Eelektrik said. "He just punched the bomb, screamed, and then Gulpin swallowed it whole…"

"Wait...Gulpin did what?" Entei queried.

"He disarmed the bomb by eating it…"

"You didn't say anything specific about disarming the bombs, so don't start!" Mismagius exclaimed.

Entei glared.

"Okay...Enteis...you guys are up. All you have to do is make sure you disarm the bomb and gather enough objects and you win. Screw up the bomb and you guys lose…" said Raikou.

"Well, that won't be a problem…" said Goodra as she handed the advantage paper to Quilladin.

Metagross, Type:Null, Dusclops, Quilladin, Absol, Houndoom, Cherrim, Swirlix, Ursaring, and Froslass separated into their groups, Type: Null and Ursaring going annoyedly.

Once they got into position, Raikou started the countdown. "3...2...1...GO!"

-000-

"Alright nimrods, get to work", Type: Null said. "You'd better not screw it up, either!"

"Shut up!" Absol exclaimed, padding over to Quilladin. "What's the paper say?"

"Um...it says-"

Before he could fully open it, Type: Null used Shadow Claw, shredding it. "I said, get to work!"

"YOU IDIOT!" Absol exclaimed. "You just ruined our advantage!"

"Watch yourself, Lack Panther...if those other cucks could get it without a clue, why do we need one?"

"Uh...to get done even faster?!" Dusclops answered.

"Like it means anything…" Type: Null retorted. "Didn't you hear them? We just have to hope those idiots collect more than 41 items…"

"Uh...we need just 32-"

"That's the minimum!"

"Oh, I've had enough of you!" Metagross snapped, punching the bomb hard with one of his legs, actually causing it to short circuit.

He stomped over to the 6 foot chimera with an annoyed expression. She didn't look phased and was uninterested in what he had to say.

"Ugh...no one cares about what you think. You've been irrelevant to this entire game-"

"No lady, I don't know where you got your superiority complex, but you need to get rid of it ASAP. You are NOT better than ANYONE. Nobody in this show even fucking likes you!"

"Am I supposed to care?"

Metagross was shocked to hear her say that and growled.

"YES!" he blustered, starting to lift off of the ground so that he was face to face with her. "If you're on a team, WHICH YOU ARE, you should actually care about what others think, because these same people will be the same ones who fuck you over because they don't like your ass!" he exclaimed.

"Oh please, what allies do you have? You barely talk to anyone and you're just spouting nonsense at me to make yourself look cool. Take a seat…"

"I DON'T TALK A LOT BECAUSE I'M NOT THAT SOCIAL!" Metagross exclaimed. "At least when I do voice my thoughts, it doesn't come with idiotic choices and insults to people I barely know! You, Popplio, and Salandit are newer than ALL of us, and you're the only one who seems to think that anyone is supposed to give a damn about you! NO ONE HERE LIKES OR EVEN CARES ABOUT WHAT YOU SAY BECAUSE IT'S ALWAYS NEGATIVE!"

"S-so wh-" she started before flinching at his loud voice, making her shrink and walk back slowly as he continued coming closer.

"STOP THAT! YOU'RE NOT RIGHT! STOP BRUSHING OFF ALL OF THE CRITICISM YOU GET AND GROW THE FUCK UP!" he exclaimed. "I don't know what the hell's happened to you to make you this way, but I know damn well that your behavior isn't warranted at ALL!"

"YOU DON'T KNOW ME!" she cried as she started running off.

Metagross landed on the ground and turned back to the bomb as the others looked at him in astonishment.

"Wow. You made her cry...very productive…" Dusclops said sarcastically.

"Don't start…" Metagross said in a threatening tone. "I didn't WANT to make her cry nor do I LIKE to make others cry, but her attitude was pissing me off."

"It's okay Metagross, you told her like it is…" Absol said with a small smile. "She deserved it."

"Well, I don't know how we're gonna get this challenge done, now that she shredded the advantage…" Quilladin said.

Dusclops floated next to Metagross, who was using Psychic to try and decode what to do. Dusclops reached a ghostly hand into the bomb and yanked out a microchip, causing the bomb's timer to be reduced to static. "Done…"

"Ugh...if only you were that useful socially…" Absol commented.

"Ugh...if only you weren't so gullible…" Dusclops retorted, making Absol bare her teeth in a growl.

000

"None of them know what I've been through and they aren't going to know!" Type: Null exclaimed, sniffling. "That jackass is going to pay!"

000

The Enteis' bomb squad, minus Type: Null, made it back.

"Yes! You guys made it back!" Grovyle exclaimed.

"Yeah, now how are the others doing?" Absol asked.

"Well, so far, Ursaring got his ass kicked and brought out nothing, Swirlix got a couple of packages, and Cherrim got caught by Drampa…" Servine explained.

"So the cotton candy is the only one who has done something useful so far...good to know…" said Dusclops. "And uh...how much time do we have left?"

"About 15 minutes…" Entei said.

"And who's inside right now?"

"Froslass…"

"What?" she asked, coming out with numerous bags around her arms filled with items.

"You're back already? How much stuff did you get?" asked Braviary.

"Uh...you seem to forget that for a Ghost-type, stealth is nothing…" Froslass said. "And I was able to freeze all of those morons except for the Turtonator, so I pretty much got everything that was in the middle room and the part past the lasers…"

Entei started laughing. "Looks like my team wins AGAIN!"

"Uh, uh, uh...you'd better count that shit…" said Raikou with a glare.

"She went to the far back...none of these other morons-"

"I have two Ghost-types on my team. I'm sure they made it back there, too. Now count!"

Entei groaned.

000

ONE LAST BORING COUNTING SESSION LATER…

000

"And the end total is 54 items. I say again...my team wins!" Entei announced as the Enteis cheered.

The other teams glared. They were getting tired of them winning. They had only lost one player in the entire game so far! It was very irritating.

"Alright, Suicunes...looks like you're heading to elimination", Raikou said with a smile.

"No, no...I think a change is needed", said Suicune. "Enteis...you lose."

"WHAT?!"

"WHAT?!" Entei growled through grit teeth.

"That's right…" said Suicune. "Don't you agree, Raikou?"

Seeing what she was doing, he smirked. "Oh yeah, I agree alright. Enteis, you're going to elimination tonight…" Raikou said. "Two against one…"

"Oh that's horsecrap!" Delphox exclaimed.

"If that's the case, every time we don't wanna lose, we can do that, too!" Mightyena yelped.

"Nope, this is a one time thing since you guys haven't had the burden of losing a player since the first challenge!" Raikou said. "The rules still apply, so you can only vote for the ones who participated in the challenge!"

"And what if we don't go?" Houndoom asked with a glare.

"Oh-ho, you should know that nothing good comes from not doing what we say…" Suicune said. "So it'd be in your best interest to go…"

Entei was fuming.

"You have fun…" Raikou said as his and Suicunes' teams started leaving.

000

"This is complete BS!" Zangoose exclaimed.

000

"Odio este juego…" Hawlucha said, folding his arms.

000

Tropius' eyes flickered open as he found himself in a hospital bed. He groaned in pain and looked around his surroundings.

"He's right in there…" he heard.

Looking at the entrance near him, he saw Meganium, Lanturn, Clawitzer, and Shellder enter He had a small smile on his face.

"Hey guys", he greeted raspily.

"Are you okay?" asked Lanturn. "What happened?!"

"I-I...I don't know", he lied.

Clawitzer gave him a stern look. "Lad...tell 'em th' truth…"

"Clawitzer, I-"

"LAD…if ye don't be tellin', I will…"

"I thought I could trust you…"

"Ye had a panic attack, lad. It be better that they know!"

"What are you guys talking about?!"

Tropius looked away stubbornly.

Clawitzer groaned. "The lad be a-feared o' bein' tied up…he be havin' extreme anxiety when it comes to that. He was a-feared ye'd view him as weak."

Meganium scoffed. "Uh...can you guys give us some time alone. I need to talk to him…"

"Uh...okay", said Shellder as he, Lanturn, and Clawitzer left the area.

As soon as they left, Meganium gave Tropius a harsh look. "Why didn't you tell us that you were afraid us being tied up?"

"You heard Clawitzer…" Tropius replied.

"No, what's the real reason. Because you didn't seem to be bothered when I used Vine Whip on you this morning…"

"That's because I didn't want you to think I was crazy or weird! Well, at least weirdER…" Tropius said. "You claim to see me as just a friend and you seem to not really care about me as an individual, so I didn't want to give you something else to look down upon…"

Meganium raised a brow. "And where did all of this come from? Because I said I didn't wanna go out with you because of personal reasons?"

"No! I can read people well from their body language. I just get this feeling that you don't like having me around, even though you seemed fine challenges ago. Your like of me just feels like it's dropped…"

"So you didn't tell us about your SERIOUS problem...because of my body language being negative in your favor?!"

"Why are you being so abrasive about this!?" he exclaimed. "We aren't dating, we're just in an alliance!"

"Because I DO care about you! AS A FRIEND!" she exclaimed as she started leaving the area.

Hearing that and seeing her leave, Tropius immediately got up, despite having a massive headache and ran after her. "Meganium wai-AAH!" he growled as he stopped, his head throbbing.

Meganium turned around, and seeing him, she sighed and walked back towards him. She used her vines and laid her head against his, starting to use Aromatherapy. He opened his previously clenched eyes and saw what she was doing. She really did care…

Meganium was healing him, but she still felt hurt that he had it set in his mind that she practically despised having him around. She actually thought he was cute and just didn't want to go out with him. She didn't mean to make him feel like he didn't matter to her, that was just the way she dealt with guys who ask to go out with her when she wasn't looking. The Aromatherapy was making them both feel like they were in a dream.

Meganium opened her eyes, which met his. Their heads still pressed together, they stared into each other's eyes for a while before Meganium shifted her gaze elsewhere. However, her eyes immediately went back to Tropius'. The two unconsciously started leaning forward, a blush appearing on each of their faces.

Just as they were about to connect-

"TROPIUS!"

The sudden exclamation brought them both back to reality. They turned back to see an Audino standing at the entrance of the room he was in holding a bottle of pills. The two went back over to her.

"What are you doing out of bed?"

"I just...I needed to-"

"I understand that you and your girlfriend want some alone time, but your panic attack was still a very serious ordeal", she explained.

"Oh, no-no-"

"We're not-"

She rose a hand before handing him the pills. "Take two a day for the next week or so and your anxiety should go a bit down…"

"Thanks…" Tropius replied.

"I'll take them for him…" Meganium said, using a vine to take the bottle.

"Uh huh...totally not together…"

"Hey! Stick to doctoring, please..."

The Audino rolled her eyes and left the room.

"So, uh...we should head back to the others, huh?" he asked.

"Yeah, but first…" Meganium started. She kissed his cheek, causing a blush to appear on his face as he turned to her. She had a playful smirk on his face as she started leading the way out. Tropius smiled and followed her.

000

"So who are we voting for?" asked Breloom, as she and the rest of her alliance met up at the rec center.

"We can only vote for the ones who participated in the challenge…" said Mightyena. "And according to Absol, Quilladin was about to explain what they had to do, but Type: Null ripped it up. Metagross told her off, she ran off crying, and Dusclops disarmed the bomb in seconds…"

"Alright, so Type: Null it is…" Servine said.

"Actually...now that I think about it...maybe we should give her the benefit of the doubt. Just for now…" said Jolteon. "Maybe Metagross shouted some sense into her and she'll be an actually good teammate!"

"Hmm...that's a possibility…" Goodra said. "But then, who do we eliminate?"

"Ursaring...he's useless!"

"Not as useless as Cherrim still is, though…" said Mightyena said. "I'm not defending Ursaring, but compared to Cherrim, he's a godsend. Cherrim didn't even help a LOT in the challenge even though she claimed to be great at riddles…"

"That makes sense…" said Servine. "Hmm…"

000

The Enteis were at elimination. Their first one in a while. Entei came up grumbling in annoyance. "Alright, since those two want to be jackass sore losers, we're at an unearned elimination…" Entei said. "I don't have anything for you, so just know that if I call your name, you're safe."

"If you didn't participate, you're automatically safe anyway…" he started. "Houndoom, Absol, Metagross, Swirlix, Ursaring, Quilladin, Dusclops, Froslass, and Type: Null. You're all safe…"

"WHAT?!" Cherrim exclaimed. "You voted for ME over Type: Null?! She screwed over the challenge!"

"A challenge that we still won", said Umbreon stated. "You're still more useless, so get over it!"

Cherrim frowned angrily and started walked down the red carpet towards the limo. Once she was out of sight, Entei rolled his eyes. "Well, at least it wasn't a huge loss. Get your asses back to the apartments…"

The team started to leave as the grumpy lion started his way to the trailer. "These fucks had better not give me a punishment…"

000

Entei entered the trailer, to see that nothing was out of the ordinary so far. He checked the kitchen and downstairs bathroom before heading upstairs to his room. There, he saw that everything he had inside was wrapped up in wrapping paper. He growled in agitation. "This is BULLSHIT!"

000

And there's another chapter. Cherrim's finally gone, but like Entei said, it's not that big of a loss. A bit of development here and there isn't that bad, either. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you next time on Ultimate Total...Pokemon...Action! See ya guys, BYE!

P.S.: Also, what's going on? Do you guys just not like this series or something? Just seems like the amount of interest in it has gone down significantly. Let me know.