Nerves. Everyone has them. If you don't…you're probably insane.
Inside the main lobby of Pokestar Studios, a small white rodent with blue stripes and a bushy tail was anxiously swinging his tiny feet and tapping his fingers together. This was none other than Pachirisu, and for this little guy, the nerves were skyrocketing. Next to him was a Rhydon, who was just quietly reading a newspaper. How was this Rhydon not nervous?! Pachirisu just had to talk to him or he was going to explode!
"So…you from around here?" The electric-type asked the rhino.
Rhydon just gave him a look, clearly not wanting to be bothered. Pachirisu chuckled nervously in response, "Yeah, dumb question."
The Ground/Rock-type turned back to his newspaper, and silence fell upon the lobby once more…which didn't last long.
"Soooo, what are ya here for? I'm here because I applied to host a reality TV show. In case you couldn't tell, I'm kinda nervous, haha. Are you nervous? Because it's totally okay to be nervous-"
"No," Rhydon gruffly responded, not eyeing the significantly smaller Pokemon.
Pachirisu seemed shocked by his response, before answering with feigned confidence, "Pssh, yeah, imagine being nervous, am I right, haha! I don't even know why I was nervous, hahahahaha! Man, I am laughing way too much right now-"
"Steven," Pachirisu couldn't help but flinch once he heard his name being called by a Watchog, the lady who was prodding him to come over with her hands. It was time.
"Welp, that's me!" The rodent chirped with false confidence, hopping from his seat and walking away, "Wish me luck! Not that I need it, hahaha," he chuckled, before completely dropping his facade and whimpering to himself, "I definitely need it."
Rhydon watched Pachirisu go with a purely uninterested look on his face, before muttering, "...He is going to crack," as he buried his head into his newspaper once again.
"Right this way," the Watchog that Pachirisu was following directed. As the two of them walked down the halls, Pachirisu felt his nerves kicking in once again…although they never really left, he just wanted to pretend they were gone. He just didn't understand how people could live so…carefree and nonchalant! Actual robots, he swore.
"Alright, here we are," Watchog said once they stopped at a door, snapping the squirrel out of his thoughts. The sign on the door read, "Darin Rock, reality TV supervisor & producer."
"Good luck," the weasel said, before leaving Pachirisu alone. The squirrel audibly gulped, before skittishly reaching out to knock.
"Come in!" He flinched a bit as he heard a gruff, booming voice from the door before he was even able to knock.
Taking a deep breath, Pachirisu slowly opened the door, revealing a large rock with four hands with black and yellow crystals sitting on his desk. This was Graveler, specifically an Alolan Graveler. Others knew him as Darin Rock, or just Rock for short. The Rock Pokemon smiled at the small rodent, "Ah, Steven is it? Come in."
Pachirisu blinked, "...Yeppers! That's me!" He responded, the words coming out way louder than he wanted them to.
Graveler chuckled, "Have a seat, young lad."
Pachirisu was actually in his late thirties and not that much younger than Graveler, but he didn't respond to that. Walking into the office, he hopped onto the chair in front of Graveler's desk, trying his best to adjust himself considering how much larger the chair was in his body.
"I'm Darin, which I'm sure you saw out there, but you can just call me Rock," Graveler said with a smile, reaching out his arm.
Unfortunately, Pachirisu's puny arms couldn't reach Graveler no matter how hard he tried. Even leaning forward didn't help as much as it almost made him fall from his seat.
"Let's…move on from that," Graveler said sheepishly, before pulling out a sheet of paper from his drawer, "So, looking at your application, you said you wanted to host a reality show that goes back to an old-fashioned summer camp?"
"Well, yeah!" Pachirisu answered with a big grin, "I used to love going to summer camp as a kid! The friendships, the fresh air, the activities, it was all so fun!" He chirped, before pausing for a moment and gaining an awkward look, "You probably think I'm a total nerd."
"Oho, not at all," Graveler chuckled, "So, after reviewing your application, I've decided to approve of-"
"Oh, well that sucks," Pachirisu said with a dejected look on his face, hopping out of his seat and beginning to walk away, "Guess I'll just cry myself to sle-wait, can you repeat that?"
Graveler chuckled again, "You're approved champ."
"...Really?!" Pachirisu couldn't believe it! The squirrel was now smiling from ear to ear; he actually did it! He ran up to Graveler, taking the Rock/Electric-type aback slightly, "Thank you so much! I really can't thank you enough!"
"Don't mention it," Graveler replied, offering a handshake once again, which was actually successful this time…at least until he squoze Pachirisu's tiny arm a little too much, causing the squirrel to squeak in pain.
"...Maybe we should refrain from the handshakes."
Clenching his teeth, Pachirisu shook his arm in an attempt to release the pain, before rubbing it a bit, "So, what do I do next?" He asked, his voice still somewhat squeaky, "And how do I know when to start-"
"Oh, you'll be starting right away," Graveler informed with a grin, "You'll be hosting The Decolore Islands Challenge which starts tomorrow!"
…Tomorrow?! There's no way, right?! "W-W-What?!" Pachirisu stammered, eyes widening, "B-But I won't have any time to prepare!"
"Don't worry, everything's already been prepared," Graveler assured, "The contestants have already been chosen and sequestered, the camp's already been prepared, the staff's on site, and the challenges have been planned. All you have to do is show up."
Still surprised and unsure of himself, Pachirisu scratched the back of his head, "I guess…but that still doesn't help me mentally prepare."
"You'll be just fine, Steven," Graveler reassured once more, "After all, this is what you wanted to do, right?"
Letting Graveler's words of wisdom sink in, Pachirisu's smile slowly returned to form, "Yeah…yeah, I do wanna do this. I can do this!"
"That's the spirit!" Graveler chirped with a chuckle, before gaining an apologetic look, "This type of last minute change doesn't usually happen, but uh…it's kind of a long story. Sorry."
"Oh it's fine!" Pachirisu boisterously laughed, beginning to make his way out. At this point, he wasn't even sure if he was faking it or if he was genuinely confident, "I got this! I totally got this!"
"Well, that's good to hear," Graveler replied, smiling at Pachirisu's confidence, "Meet me here tomorrow morning and I'll take you to the island."
"Sounds good, see you then!" Pachirisu said, before walking out of the office.
Once Pachirisu shut the door and was out of anyone's sight, he stood still for a moment and took a deep breath, slowly taking everything in-
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" He screamed, clutching his face.
…He was taking the news pretty well!
The next morning, Graveler was driving Pachirisu to the Decolore Islands by a motorboat like he promised. Beside Pachirisu was a small, cyan suitcase. Pachirisu couldn't help but notice the scenery surrounding him and how lush all of the islands looked.
The Electric-type also couldn't help but notice how sea sick he was starting to feel. Maybe it was also nerves? Or did he stress eat too much this morning? It was probably a combination of all three…but mostly the sea sickness.
Eventually, and thankfully for Pachirisu, they made it to land. Pulling up to the dock of the beach, Graveler declared, "Alright, we're here! Frond Island!" Not hearing a response from Pachirisu, he turned and saw the squirrel throwing up into the ocean.
"Are…you okay?" Graveler asked in concern.
Pachirisu coughed up the last bit of his vomit, before getting up and walking to Graveler with an awkward look, "Uh, y-yeah, I'm good! I am so good. Just…seasick, heheh…"
Graveler blinked, "Uh…okay, then. Follow me."
The two of them went into the tropical, palm tree filled forest. The atmosphere almost felt like Alola…not that Pachirisu's ever been. He wants to, though.
"Alright, here we are," Graveler said once they exited the forest, "Camp Frond."
What Pachirisu laid his eyes on was something…amazing. A wide space, wooden cabins, a large cafeteria, a few other buildings, and a fireplace at the center of it all. This was it!
"This…is amazing!" Pachirisu gushed with an almost child-like wide grin, "I can just feel the memories coming back!"
"Let's go meet everyone else," Graveler said with a smile, leading the way once more.
The two of them walked towards one of the cabins, Pachirisu excitedly gawking at the scenery all the while. Outside of the cabin were three other Pokemon. One of them was Stantler, a brown deer sitting on the stairs to the cabin. The second one was Marshtomp, a blue amphibian adjusting one of the cameras on top of the cabin, and the third one…
"Hey guys!" Graveler called, getting all of their attention, "Come meet our new host, Steven!"
Despite his name being brought up, Pachirisu was still enamored by the whimsy of his own nostalgia, before eventually turning his head to see…a squirrel, just like him. Only with yellow wings…and yellow cheeks just like his that looked…rather cute, along with her…pristine, well groomed fur that almost shined like the sun, along with her dark blue business attire that made her look…beautiful. To top it off, her eyes. Those… lovely, soulful black eyes. All Pachirisu could see beyond her were stars, and it became even better when the Emolga spoke-
"What is he looking at?"
Wait…oh crap!
Quickly snapping out of his daze, Pachirisu pathetically stammered, practically speaking gibberish before uttering, "H-Hi!"
Everyone just stared at Pachirisu, much to his embarrassment which was shown by his face turning a bright red.
"Did you uh…not hear us?" Marshtomp asked in concern, a camera in hand.
"You high or somethin'?" Stantler flatly inquired, sounding noticeably older than the others as she held up a cigarette between a hoof and was about to put it to her mouth-
"Bertha, you know you can't smoke on campgrounds," Graveler reminded, giving her a stern look.
The old lady gave the Rock/Electric-type a look, before groaning and complying, tossing the cigarette aside with a disgruntled expression.
Meanwhile, Emolga just sighed in slight annoyance, "Anyways, we need to finish getting ready so that we stay on schedule, but since you weren't paying attention…" she said, giving Pachirisu a judgmental look, one that caused him to scratch the back of his head with a sheepish expression, "I'm Bailey, and I'll be your assistant. The Marshtomp's Rick; he's the camera guy-"
"'Sup," Marshtomp casually greeted with a smile and a small wave, before suddenly losing his balance and falling to the ground with a yelp.
"And you already heard the Stantler's name; she's our cook," Emolga continued as if Marshtomp said nothing.
"Heheh, sorry about that, I was just thinking about…uh…stuff! Yeah…" Pachirisu lied, albeit rather unconvincingly.
"...Right," Emolga deadpanned, before walking away to the other cabin across from them. After dusting himself off, Marshtomp followed the Sky Squirrel Pokemon.
Stantler, on the other hand, walked towards the cafeteria with an unenthused expression as she muttered, "Time to cook for some ungrateful kids…"
Once the staff went their separate ways, Graveler turned towards Pachirisu with an awkward smile, "Okay, then! All that aside, let me take you to where you'll be staying."
With Pachirisu following Graveler once again, they took a path away from the main campsite, which led to a much larger cabin.
Pachirisu was already amazed, "Woah…"
"Wait until you see the inside," Graveler replied with a grin.
Once Graveler opened the doors, Pachirisu's eyes widened. The inside looked even better than the outside! The doors opened up to a wide living room that had a couch, two chairs, and a wide screen tv near a window. Beside the living room was the kitchen that had a stove, a microwave, and a kitchen island.
With a knowing grin, Graveler looked down at a speechless Pachirisu, "Well?"
"This is…great," Pachirisu marveled, "I honestly didn't expect this."
Suddenly, the two of them heard a vibration. Graveler opened up one of his smaller arms and looked down at it.
"Oh, I should get going," Graveler said, "I have some…uh, stuff to take care of."
"Oh, well, alright then," Pachirisu replied, as Graveler made his way out of the cabin, "Thanks for everything!"
"No worries," Graveler assured, "And don't be afraid to call me if you need it!"
The door went shut, and Pachirisu was alone. He looked around the cabin once again before walking down the hallway. On his right was the bathroom, which looked like your typical bathroom, and on the left, and the room he entered, was the bedroom. The room had a full sized bed, with a dresser across from it, and a wide closet.
It wasn't anything special, but it was…nice. In fact, all of this was nice. Looking around the room, Pachirisu felt rather content, even with the situation he was in.
The squirrel took a deep breath, "Well, this is it," he said. It was time for a new experience.
Hey everyone! So…these past couple years have been a hot mess for me due to…a lot of personal things that I don't want to discuss here. Beyond personal stuff, I'm busy with school, my motivation has been constantly up and down and I've constantly changed my mind on what I wanted to write. With everything going on, I generally just didn't(and still kinda don't) know what I was doing. I'll be honest, I don't know what I'm going to do with my SYOC story. I wanted to try out a SYOC but it was always meant to be a side story anyway and at the time I didn't have many other ideas. It's possible that I'll come back to it but I don't know for sure and it's not my main priority right now.
That aside, here's my new story, Total Drama: The Decolore Islands Challenge. The prologue is sort of just the same prologue that I uploaded last year when I attempted to make a horror-esque TPI, just reinvented for a different, albeit more basic setting. While I loved the idea of a horror/mystery type of TPI, it was quite ambitious and I kept complicating the plot, so I felt that it would be better to keep things simple. I actually finished this prologue a few months ago, but I wanted to get a head start on episode 1 before actually uploading anything. I've spent a lot of time planning this story these past several months and this is probably the most I've ever tried to plan out a story, so I'm really hopeful that this will be the story that I finally complete.
That's all I have to say for now. See you all for episode 1!