In a large building in Voyanna Square, there was a television crew getting ready to start recording a very important advertisement. The building had been destroyed more than a year ago due to Scarlet's attack, and had been rebuilt two months ago.
This building belonged to Pokéstar Studios, the largest film studio in the world. Originating in the Unova Region, the film studio has long since branched out across the world, having studios in every major city in every city.
They even had a small studio in the Insulae Region, a vast region that was eighty seven percent wilderness. Thanks to very good investments and whatnot, they even owned part of the Insulae Region.
Because of the vast wilderness of the Insulae Region, it was one of the best places for Pokéstar to host and record reality TV shows; they had already done at least fifteen of them. This advertisement was for their next one.
"Director Adam? Are you ready?" asked John Aitken, the assistant director of Pokéstars of Calzei.
The Director of Pokéstars of Calzei walked onto the stage. He was wearing a gray and white plaid shirt, a lavender business suit, gray business pants, a gray top hat with a white stripe, and a red bowtie.
In addition to this, he wore a silver wristwatch, had a thick mustache, and was bald.
John put up three fingers. "We're going live in three, two, one, now!"
The director cleared his throat before speaking. "Greetings citizens of the Calzei Region. For those of you that don't know me, I am Director Adam of Pokéstars in Calzei. We all know what transpired in this location more than a year ago, one year and four months to be exact. Due to that event, our headquarters was destroyed and our shows and movies stopped."
He paused for a moment so his audience could take everything in. The advertisement was to be broadcasted over TV and radio next week, and he had to make sure the message was clear.
"But now, our headquarters has been rebuilt, and the shows will go on! To celebrate the reactivation of Pokéstars Studios in Calzei, we shall host a new reality TV show, the Island of Challenge! Anyone can sign up, but not everyone can make it. The premise of the show is simple. Eight trainers shall begin a fresh new adventure, journeying through the Insulae Region! They will get new Pokémon and meet new friends as they battle through twelve extremely difficult gyms, four elite members, and even a hand selected champion, almost mirroring a standard Pokémon league! This show will truly be an adventure, and I hope you're as excited as I am."
"But," he said with a pause. "There's a catch, only the first two hundred people to sign up after this message will have a chance, and it'll only play once, so I hope you're tuned in. A panel of five judges will review each submission before cutting the number down to a mere fifty. After that, a raffle will judge who our lucky eight will be. So, type the link on the screen now or enter islandofchallenge/signup into your web browser to put your submission in. Once again that's islandofchallenge/signup. See you there, Pokéstars!"
One week later - Kendra Sorel
Kendra Sorel was a tall, slender woman at the age of eighteen. She was somewhat pale and had light freckles on her face, black hair, and dark eyes. It was a quiet afternoon, at least for her. She was reading a book in her room while her mom watched TV downstairs.
The Voyanna Monthly Tournament was going on, and her brother, Damein, was one of the contenders. Her parents were very supportive of their son, as he was a very recognized competitive battler, ranked top hundred.
She had turned eighteen almost two weeks ago, and everyone had expected her to become a competitive battler like her brother and travel around the region, fighting tournaments, and maybe even try for the Pokémon league. But she had little interest and would rather live quietly.
"Kedra!" called her mother. "Come downstairs!"
Kendra sighed and rolled off her bed. Her brother probably defeated an opponent, or styled on them in some amazing way.
As she made it downstairs, a TV advertisement had just finished airing.
"You missed it," said her mother, a bit disappointed. "I didn't catch everything myself, but there's a battle event or something going on. The island challenge I think."
"The one in Alola."
"I don't know of any other island challenge. They said you had to sign up quickly before it's too late."
Kendra sighed. "Uh, well."
"Come on Kendra, you should be more like your brother Damein. Free trips around the Calzei Region to compete in tournaments. He's already collected all eight gym badges and got top thirty two in the Regional Pokémon League Tournament!"
"But the first place winner didn't even beat the second elite four member," muttered Kendra. "Fine, I'll do it."
"Great!" exclaimed her mother. "That's the spirit! I still remember the website, let me see your phone."
Kendra pulled her phone from her pocket and gave it to her mother. She took it back and skimmed through the website, heading directly to the submission form.
As she walked away, filling out the form, she started muttering to herself. "This is just going to be a relaxing journey with a few guidelines, that's all."
She finished her form and checked all the boxes before submitting it. "I'm done!"
If only she read the contract.
Zeke Enator
Zeke Enator is a tall, somewhat lanky twenty four year old man with some muscle to his frame. He had grayish-blue hair and a small scar over the left side of his mouth and a Sharpedo tooth necklace resting lightly on his shirt.
He was currently in his backyard, training with Pokémon. It wasn't really a backyard considering her lived in Fortree City, it was mostly a small plot of land around the trees that held up his house
"All right Clauws! Use Metal Claw!"
His Kantonian Sandslash charged forward and attacked a plastic board Zeke was holding, the board split into three parts as he slashed it.
"Alright! Burt, your turn!"
Zeke picked up another board and held it out. His Mudbray used Double Kick and broke the board like Clauws did. It broke with a resounding crack and fell to pieces.
"Great job you two. How about some strength training?"
The two Pokémon nodded and went over to the side. He turned on a radio that was on top of a crate and tied a thick rope around a group of heavy wooden planks.
"All right," he said, attaching a harness around Burt. "You ready?"
He and Clauws grabbed the end of the rope. On the count of three, all three of them pulled heavy wooden planks as much as they could. They all strained against the weight of the planks as they hauled it slowly.
They pulled it for about twenty seconds before Zeke signaled for them to stop.
"We did good. What's next?"
At that moment, the song that was playing on the radio stopped with an important broadcast.
"What's this?" wondered Zeke out loud, turning up the radio.
The Pokéstar Studios broadcast played out, ending with an extra message stating. "Applicable in your region."
Zeke raised an eyebrow. "That's interesting, imagine having a chance to be a superstar. What do you think guys?"
Burt gave a bray, nodding his head. Zeke shrugged and went to the front of his house, climbing the ladder up.
He entered his house and got out his laptop. He closed his eyes as he brought back the website link and typed it in.
He read through the website and frowned. "It seems that I can't bring you guys along. But I'll be getting my own starter Pokémon and the opportunity to catch new ones along the way. But this event seems extremely fun, there's even a cash prize!"
Zeke thought for a moment. He would miss his Pokémon, but they'll be safe with his family back in Olivine City. Winning the cash prize would pay for his medical school. His current carpentry job was taking a long time to pay the bills. He was due for a break anyways.
"I think I'll do it," said Zeke. Clicking on the form submission.
He filled it out, read the contract, and e-signed it. He clicked the submit button and was given a confirmation notice.
"All right guys," he said, shutting his computer. "What we do now is wait."
Katsuya Hasegawa
Katsuya is a medium height nineteen year old with an eboy style haircut. The left half was blonde and the right side was black, matched with his bright violet eyes.
He was currently in the middle of playing chess in a community center. It came naturally to him. He glanced at the board, took in the position of the pieces, and looked away to look at something else.
He didn't know much about his opponent, but he didn't really care. He didn't focus on what wasn't interesting to him, and despite his tendency to memorize everything in a room, he didn't find much interest.
He glanced back to the board and saw that his opponent had moved a piece already. Within two seconds, he figured out what had been moved and where. He made his move immediately and turned away.
"How do you do that so easily?" exclaimed his opponent, furious at Katsuya's nonchalance towards their game.
"I just do, there's a reason I'm called Lord Katsuya."
Suddenly, the TV switched from a home improvement show to an advertisement. Katsuya made his move and turned around, looking at the advertisement.
"I've made my move!" said his opponent.
Without looking, Katsuya moved his queen into a new square. As Director Adam recited a link on screen, Katsuya pulled out his phone and went to the site to sign up.
"Why not sign up," said Katsuya. "I've got nothing to lose."
"Hey!" shouted his opponent. "What's wrong Katsuya, why aren't you moving? Is it because I captured your queen? I guess you can say goodbye to your lord status! I've captured your queen. Come one now! We ain't done!"
Katsuya slid his bishop into a square left opened by the piece that had captured his queen, resulting in an easy checkmate.
"Now we're done."
Alicia Prescott
Alicia is a short and petite eighteen year old woman. She had black hair styled in a bob cut with one of her bangs being blue. She had blue eyes and a blue heart shaped tattoo on her left leg, as well two golden triangle earrings.
She was currently relaxing under the sun in her private pool, resting on the side of the olympic sized area. To her side was a huge mansion located close to Lumiose City.
In the distance was Lumiose Tower. She remembered the time when Scarlet had attacked more than a year ago. Her father had been extremely worried if Scarlet would come for them. But fortunately, Scarlet had only been interested in the Prison Bottle.
"Madam!" cried a voice from near the mansion.
Alicia opened her eyes and looked to where the voice had come from.
It belonged to a man in his mid fifties, getting close to sixties. He wore a butler uniform and had a gray cap, his bushy gray hair peeking through it. He served the Prescott family for thirty years, and worked specifically for Alicia since she was born. His name was Marius.
"I thought I said I wasn't supposed to be bothered during my relaxation time," said Alicia, slightly annoyed.
"Of course madam, and I apologize, but-"
"But what?" sighed Alicia.
"I thought you'd be very interested in this, which is why I took it upon myself to humbly intrude on your relaxation time. You see, Pokéstar Studios is hosting a special live TV show that you have a chance to participate in."
Alicia was now interested and turned fully to face Marius.
"In simple terms, you get to go on a journey through the Insulae Region. A massive island inhabited with wilderness. It is very focused on competitive battle, as you will get a chance to fight gym leaders and elite four members picked throughout different regions."
Alicia thought for a moment. "That does seem interesting. And I assume the whole world will be watching me?"
"Yes madam! It's going to be one of the biggest events of the year! It's to celebrate the reactivation of the Pokéstars of Calzei."
"That place?" asked Alicia in disgust. "I'm sure the people there would just love to rob a pretty girl like me. I'm not going to be there for long. Sign up for me Marius. Be sure to capture every good thing about me."
Marius bowed. "That would take a very long time, madam," he said as he took out a phone to sign up.
"That's what I like to hear."
Jax Ambrose
Jax is a tall, lean, and physically fit nineteen year old man. He had messy, jet black hair and sky blue eyes.
He had just said goodbye to his two dads as he left to spend some time with his friends outside.
They wanted to meet on the football field for a practice game. Jax wasn't really interested in joining an actual team, but he liked having fun with his friends.
He jogged down the streets of Voyanna City. As usual, the streets were rushing by with cars. It didn't matter if it was a Summer weekend, there was always traffic.
He passed by Sliggoo Coffee on his usual route to the football field. He stopped by and watched the usual crowd amble in and out of the shop. It was a surprise that such a great place was managed by three people, all of them ex-criminals from a dangerous group known as the Gamma Team.
He shrugged as he moved on. People changed. All of them plus their compatriots had been pardoned after their contribution in The Scarlet War, so it didn't matter much.
As he continued on his way, he passed a group of girls at a crosswalk. One of them was from his school and instantly recognized him. She waved as he went by, so he waved back.
She burst into excited giggles as her friends started excitedly chatting. The same girl blew him a kiss, so he just waved again as he jogged past.
He never really understood what was going on.
He made it to the football field in a few minutes. The thing he liked about it was the fact it was isolated from all the bustling roads.
He waved to his friends and jogged over to them. They were all huddled around their phones, talking about something excitedly.
One of Jax's friends spotted him and waved him over. His name was Anthony and he was a giant of a man. Extremely muscular and bulky, as well as the captain of his college football team.
"You made it just in time. Look at this!"
Jax looked at his phone and saw a website about Pokéstar Studios hosting a new reality TV show called The Island of Challenge.
"You can really just sign up for free?"
"Yeah, I'm not doing it. But Umar and Drayden are. You should sign up! Imagine being on TV! At least one of us should make it in."
"Let me ask my dads," said Jax. "It;s good to let them know."
"Sure," said another one of Jax's friends, named Carl. "But hurry up man, there aren't a lot of open slots."
Jax texted his dads on their group chat and waited for a moment. Umar, a slightly bulkier person compared to Jax, looked over Jax's shoulder.
"Chill man, my dads have stuff to do other than respond- nevermind."
Both of Jax's dads had said yes without much hesitation, saying that it was a good opportunity for Jax to branch out and adventure.
Jax followed the link and filled out the form, putting in the necessary identification information and details.
"K, I'm done."
"Dude," said a man named Oscar. "Imagine what would happen if you got selected."
"It'll be exciting for sure," said Jax.
"Charlotte would die for you," said Anthony.
"Pfft," scoffed someone else named Louis. "She's already head over heels for him."
"What are you talking about?" asked Jax. "She's just friendly, that's all."
Drayden slapped his hand against his face and held it there. "Jax, you are dense as hell!"
All of them laughed, including Jax, who still thought he was right about Charlotte only being 'friendly'.
Claire Baker
Clair is a tall, eighteen year old woman with light brown hair with a fishtail braid over her left shoulder, matching her light brown skin and green eyes.
She was currently battling on a field at a public battling center in Croyania City. They were hosting an unofficial one versus one tournament there, attracting many people from around the district.
Her next opponent was called up for a battle. His name was Diego Sol.
A young man around the age of eighteen walked up. He was pretty tall, standing at around six feet. He had a brownish black crew cut, brown eyes, and light brown skin.
"I hope you're ready for a battle," said Deigo.
"Of course I'm ready," said Claire, selecting a pokéball. "I woke up at six am for this. Go, Helena!"
"I choose you, Pius!"
A graceful Ninetails appeared from Claire's pokéball while a large Raichu appeared from Diego's ball.
"Start the battle off with Fire Blast!"
"Counter with Thunder!"
Pius gave a cry and fired a powerful bolt of electricity that cut through the flames. Helena leapt to the side as she dodged the attack. The sky above them became sunny as the temperature increased.
"The Drought ability," mused Diego. "Coupled with her fire moves, this will make a powerful opponent. Let's do our best! Nasty Plot!"
"Your Raichu isn't the only one with that move!"
A dark aura surrounded Pius as he powered up. The same happened for Helena as her already red eyes glowed with more intensity.
"Solar Beam!"
"Dodge it and use Focus Blast!"
Helena glowed with energy from the intense sun as she fired a beam of powerful energy. Pius dodged the attack and leapt into the air, charging his mental power as he fired a Focus Blast.
"Leap to the side and use Fire Blast!"
Under Claire's direction, Helena dodged the attack and used Fire Blast again. Pius ripped through the attack with another Thunder and slightly hit Helena as she dodged again.
"Psyshock!"
Helena fired purple orbs from her tail that crashed into Pius. He was thrown backwards as the attack hit, but he leapt forward and continued fighting.
"Use Fire Blast!"
Diego noticed that Claire's Ninetails was shifting positions as it used Fire Blast, using the attack as a sort of smokescreen. So he changed his approach.
"Volt Tackle! Through the fire!"
Pius surrounded himself in electricity and charged forward. The fire was dispersed as he charged through before he hit Helena.
"Solar Beam!"
"That Ninetails speed is too much, use Grass Knot!"
Pius narrowly dodged the Solar Beam, the beam of energy grazing his side. He landed on all fours on the ground and focused his energy into the ground, causing the grass to wrap around Helena.
"Now, Thunder!"
The powerful Thunder attack was a dead on hit. Helena gave a groan and fainted as the intense sun faded.
"Good battle," said Diego, returning his Pokémon.
"Thanks," said Claire, returning her own Pokémon. "You did good. That Raichu of yours."
"Thank you. He recognizes me as his trainer, even if I don't."
Claire furrowed her brow, slightly confused. Before she had a chance to ask what he meant, there was an announcement from the loudspeaker poles.
"Hello battlers! This is an announcement telling you that there is a special TV show battle event called Island of Challenge. Sign up at islandofchallenge/signup!"
"A battle event?" asked Diego. "Sounds fun to me. I think I'm going to sign up. What about you Claire? I think you'd do good."
Claire thought for a moment. "Sure. I'm sure they're going to be a bunch of guidelines. I'll read them first."
Diego nodded, pulling out a phone and walking away. "See you there."
Seth Grey
Seth is a tall, nineteen year old man with slightly short black hair that reached his dark brown eyes. Streaks of his hair were dyed silver, matching the silver headphones he constantly wore. Either on his ears or around his neck.
He was currently in his room, listening to music as he drew on his computer. His mom had gotten it for his fifteenth birthday. It was one of those fancy, foldable computers meant for art.
He was so intent on the webcomic he was working on that he didn't notice his door slowly unlocking. As he nodded his head along with the song, his door opened and hit the wall with a bang, causing him to jump.
His eight year old sister stood there, clutching Pokémon plush dolls and an angry look on her face. In her other hand was a magnet and a bent paper clip, two of them actually.
"Maya, what the hell are you doing here?" asked Seth in an annoyed tone, pulling down his headphones..
"You promised to play Pokémon with me, at this exact time!" she said indignantly. "Look at the clock!"
The clock read ten fifty-nine, almost one minute before he said he'd play with her.
"You can't tell time. I still have one minute."
The minute hand moved onto the twelve, making it officially eleven o'clock.
"See, now you have to play with me."
Seth gave a growl. "Come on Maya! I'm nineteen! That's twice your age plus three! You're a big girl, I'm sure you can do the math to realize the huge age gap, and why I can't be playing with dolls!"
Maya stopped and started sniffling. Seth closed his eyes and took a breath.
"Fine! But I'm heading to my friend's house at one thirty for a few rounds of Kalos Tarot and pizza, so you can't come along for that. Got it?"
Maya nodded, brightening up.
"I swear," muttered Seth as he stood up. "One blasphemous statement about the Pokémon type chart and I quit."
His music paused as an advertisement played. He sighed and was about to skip it when it caught his interest.
"Wait, hold on," said Seth, putting on his headphones.
"Aww, come on!" cried Maya.
"Actually, hold on!"
Seth listened to the Pokéstar's ad and raised an eyebrow.
"Huh," said Seth. "A show eh?"
"What show? What show?" asked Maya excitedly, leaping for his headphones.
"The kind of show that someone can sign up to be in. And I'm going to sign up! With my battling ability, I could definitely be famous."
"Sign me up to!"
"And then it'd be the kind of show that makes you wish for a refund. You're not even old enough."
"Not fair! Now come play with me!"
"Sure," said Seth, filling out the form. "Alright, gimme a moment."
Seth sighed as he finished filling the form and pocketed his phone.
"Not sure what's more exciting, getting a chance to be away from you. If it weren't for mom I'd be living as a tenant in a nice house as I got my art degree."
Twelve days later - Pokéstar Studios
Director Adam stood on the stage. Behind him out of sight were the eight chosen people for the had been selected five days before so Pokéstar had ample time to set up. The people who lived in the Cazei Region had been told the day before, while those who lived in other regions were told three days in advance.
Assistant Director John held up three fingers and did his usual countdown from three to one before Director Adam began.
"Welcome folks to the Island of Challenge! As you know, this is a reality TV show that will follow eight trainers on an epic Pokémon journey through the Insulae Region!. We are so excited to start this show, as well already have our eight trainers picked out for this special occasion. Introducing, in alphabetical order by first name: Hailing all the way from Lumiose City in Kalos, Alicia Prescott!"
Alicia ran onto the stage, taking her position next to the director and flashing a cocky, award winning smile. She was wearing two large blue ribbons in the back of her hair, as well as extremely expensive sunglasses on her head. She wore a white, cropped halter neck shirt over a black sleeveless shirt and a blue mini necktie, along with a gold tie pin. She wore a loose blue jacket and a pleated white skirt with a belt. She had expensive white boots and an extra blue coat worn loosely around her back. Finally, she had a luxury black bag with gold accents held with her left arm.
"Next we have Claire Baker!"
Claire Baker calmly walked onto the stage. She was wearing a red and white hoodie over a black undershirt, as well as black tights.
"Diego Sol!"
Diego marched up the stage, waving to the cameras. He wore a navy blue shirt and light blue shorts with a lightning bolt deco on the sides. The same lightning bolts were on the zip up vest he wore as well. He wore a cap on his head, and strangely enough, had a beautiful sword scabbard strapped to his back with silver and gold linings on the leather.
"Jax Ambrose!"
Jax smiled and ran up the stage. He wore a light gray T-shirt and an unzipped black and blue hoodie, along with khaki pants.
"Katusuya Hasegawa!"
Katsuya walked up to the stage, sporting a bored expression. He looked around, examining the equipment around him. He wore a gray white sweatshirt with black and white stripes on the sleeves, black pants, and running shoes. He carried a yellow and black backpack with him as well.
"Kendra Sorel!"
Kendra shuffled her feet onto the stage, moving almost like a zombie. She had a nervous and somewhat blank expression as she was visibly sweating. She wore periwinkle shoes, white shorts, a black pokéball belt, a pink T-shirt, and a baby blue trainer's coat.
"Seth Gray!"
Seth waltzed up to the stage, a relaxed and slightly cocky look on his face. He wore a T-shirt with gray, red, blue, purple, and black stripes all clashing together in what looked like a maelstrom. He wore gray sweatpants and a gray unzipped hoodie. His silver colored headphones were hanging around his neck.
"And finally, coming all the way from Fortree City, Zeke Enator!"
Zeke walked onto the stage, nodding towards the cameras. He wore jeans, a dark green T-shirt, and a gray jacket. He wore a brown belt and similarly colored boots. His Sharpedo tooth necklace was visible on top of his jacket.
"I hope you're all excited for our Pokéstars," said Director Adam. "Because I am! Congratulations to all of you for making it here. I hope you'll enjoy your stay in the Insulae Region once we head there. Stay tuned folks, up next we have interviews and preparations before our stars get to the island!"