To accept your fears is the first step to conquering them.
NOTE: There are references to the following episode - s/12074773/3/Pokemon-Drama-Island
Episode 9: Face Your Fears
It has been a few days since Magearna was eliminated from the game and the whole mood around the island has eased significantly once everyone had gotten over the fact that the Magearna they've known in the game was all a lie all along.
Though, throughout the whole experience, Nihilego's fever hasn't subsided as she laid on her bed, unconscious. Poipole paced back and forth in their trailer, wondering how he would have to deal with this problem, especially since Pheromosa agreed to only host one challenge since she had a busy schedule.
"Maybe I can contact Xurkitree or… Guzzlord?" Poipole thought to himself before shaking his head, a bright red flush spreading through his face. "Wait nevermind… I can't do that. Nihilego would kill me when she finds out that she owes Guzzlord for being a stand-in." He stopped on his tracks, smacking a fist at his open palm as he had an idea. "Wait, maybe I can host on my OWN!" But his confidence easily shattered as his knees gave out and he shuddered on the floor. "Nevermind. That's not a good idea either. I will forget all of my lines and that's not even mentioning my stage fright…"
"Nihilego, are you still sick?" Poipole's body reacted with a jolt at the sudden knocking, standing up. It was Bellossom, one of the interns they hired during the past few weeks to make up for the numbers in their staff. "Everyone's starting to get concerned and Marill has been drinking up all of the coffee reserves from all the stress! I need my daily caffeine intake or the bestest day ever will oh so change into the worstest day ever!"
Poipole nervously walked over to the door, opening it slightly to let his face peek out to talk to the intern. "Uhm… Nihilego is still sick, sorry." He told the Grass-type, who looked rather disappointed to hear that. "We need to have an episode today so I think we need to look for alternatives but honestly, I think the alternative is forcing Marill to be the main host for a bit while I co-host."
"Do people even care if there's a host?" Bellossom questioned innocently, which hit Poipole hard, as the flower basically downplayed his and Nihilego's involvement with the show. "I guess, someone has to tell the contestants what to do and announce things, I guess~"
"Uhm… sure? So does that mean my idea with Marill a bad idea or..?"
"Marill is not gonna be a good host. She drank too much caffeine. She's literally so hyper right now." Bellosom's expression seamlessly changed to a look of fear, which just told Poipole that it was a serious problem. "So that leaves us with the interns, you, Indeedee and Lopunny."
"Wow, those are pretty slim options… I guess Indeedee and Lopunny will have to get some unneeded exposure and replace Nihilego and I this week-"
"Actually, they hate each other."
"Wait what?! Since when?! Okay, I don't want to sound rude but I haven't even seen both of them talk to each once… hell, I don't think I've seen Lopunny outside the infirmary once!" Poipole looked shocked, opening the door further to slowly step outside the trailer.
"You don't know everything about us~"
"True. Remind me to eat dinner with y'all later. I want to catch up on everything I missed."
"Sure! Hehehehe."
"BELLOOOOOSSSOM!"
Another voice can heard in the distance, surprising Poipole, who didn't expect any more guests. "Okay, who was that!?"
"Uhm… oh no…"
"Why oh no?"
"Oh, it's nothing. You'll see eventually."
Poipole sat in the confessional, looking more battered than usual, left eye twitching. "I don't know how Marill found these interns but they're… INTENSE!" Shuddering, he fell off the toilet seat as he fell unconscious.
Oricorio was knocking on the door to the Shining Shuppet cabin with an optimistic smile on her face. A confused looking Skwovet stood next to her, just baffled by what they were even trying to do in front of the cabin of the OPPOSING TEAM. He didn't exactly held the bird in high regard since she acted a bit too haphazardly during the Vivillon vote but she wasn't helping her case either.
"So, what are we trying to do here again..?" Skwovet asked. "Don't tell me, you're going to pick a fight with the other team or something. I mean, that'd be pretty interesting but no offense, I don't peg you to be that type of person."
Oricorio gave her companion a look, puffing up her cheeks. "I just wanted to clear the air. Magearna… or whoever she was, got voted off last round and I think we all need to sit down and sort each other out…" Noticing the squirrel's expression remain unchanged, she face-palmed. "It's pretty clear we need to do some healing-"
"Healing from what? Personally, I don't even know what Magearna did. Feels like you're just dragging the rest of us into whatever you want to do for no reason. I get it. You're a nice girl, Oricorio but what? Healing?! Shouldn't they be the ones doing the healing? We have our own problems, you know." Skwovet pointed out, remembering what happened between Teddiursa and Floatzel after the last challenge.
"I just want to keep things civil." Oricorio reasoned as she resumed knocking, to no avail. "Chansey was severely affected and as a fellow player in this game, I want to check up on her."
"More like, you want to breach her privacy." Skwovet drawled, deadpanning. The cheerleader got flustered by these words, to which Skwovet shook his head in reaction. "Okay okay, I'm not trying to make you feel like shit here. I just don't want you to embarrass yourself."
"You're sounding like Dedenne right now." Oricorio commented. "I guess he really is rubbing off on you."
Skwovet laughed anxiously, eyes shifting to the side. "What is that supposed to mean? He's still mad at me for voting Vivillon off. Besides, it's not like he's the only one who could be sarcastic, you know? Vivillon was just taking up most of my time before she died."
"Anyways, it looks like nobody is answering the door anyways." Oricorio turned back to the door, disappointed by the lack of response. Did she knock too loudly and accidentally annoy the other team? Did she come here too early? I mean, she hasn't even eaten breakfast yet but she didn't think too much about it. She turned back to the squirrel, twiddling her wings together. "Do you think I should knock more vigorously or scream for someone to come open the door?"
"That sounds like an easy way to get an entire team to hate you, not gonna lie." Skwovet commented, flipping through the pages of a thin book, which was actually Vanilluxe's joke book that he spontaneously grabbed out of impulse. The cheerleader gave him a look, eyes going down to the book that Skwovet was currently holding, making the Normal-type close the book immediately with a huff. "O-okay! It's not like I could help it! Does it look like I WANTED Vanilluxe's joke book that much?"
Oricorio giggled, rolling her eyes playfully. "I mean, you and Vanilluxe hung out during the last challenge! Maybe, you're starting to appreciate his jokes."
"Five minutes of talking is not hanging out." Skwovet pointed out, deadpanning.
"It totally was."
"Nu-uh."
"Yu-uh."
"No, it was-"
Skwovet and Oricorio's back-and-forth was then interrupted by the door behind them just swinging open sharply, revealing an annoyed Empoleon, who has overheard their entire conversation from inside, taking the opportunity to eavesdrop but it turned out to be a waste of time as they were just having boring banter that doesn't seem to be worth his time.
"What the fuck are you two doing here?! And what were you even talking about?!" He yelled, putting his hands around his hips.
Oricorio was the first to notice the penguin, turning around with an awkward smile. "O-oh Empoleon? Uhm, long time no see?" The bird internally winced at her poor choice of words, knowing that in the little interaction she had with Empoleon, she was very sure they were never going to get along. "Oooh, sorry. Let me restart. I-"
"Don't drag things out. Just get on with it." Empoleon said stiffly, leaning on the door frame, unamused. Oricorio's eyes went over to Skwovet for support but the squirrel was feeling smaller than ever, within the presence of the Water-type, choosing to slowly hide behind Oricorio even though Empoleon was tall enough to look over the cheerleader.
"Uhm… uh…"
Oricorio sat in the confessional, cross-legged with an unsettled look. "I will be honest. I'm not the type of gal who balks at the face of… WHATEVER Empoleon is. But he just makes me feel uncomfortable for some reason. It's like we're polar opposites. A cheer… leader and someone who is forceful and acts like a tyrant."
She shook her head, face turning red from embarrassment. "W-we're also on different teams so he is really intent on just seeing me as his competition instead of trying to play nice. I mean, it's not like we're competing in challenges 24/7. Does he even have a single friend in all of this? Except for Bayleef of course, but he's gone now."
"Honestly, I just hope that we can try to mend bridges and be more civil with each other. With Magearna gone, I'm sure that's a huge weight off his shoulders so he should be receptive… right?" Oricorio looked unsure of herself as she said that, reciting a half-hearted cheer to improve her mood. "I can do it. Yes, I c-can! GO GO GO!"
"To make it quick, I'm here because I wanted to check up on you all and see if we can arrange a heart-to-heart session to ease the mood since Magearna got eliminated and she left ripples in this game, for sure." Oricorio explained, avoiding Empoleon's cold glare.
"A heart-to-heart?" Empoleon began in disbelief before scoffing. "Oh please, that sounds stupid. What's your REAL plan? I mean, it's hard to believe that you don't have a selfish goal in mind, bitch."
Gawking at the callous jab thrown at her, Oricorio made her rebuttal. "W-well… I'm sure that's easier to believe but I am genuinely concerned for the wellbeing of my competition. And yes, I'm AWARE that Magearna took advantage of people but I'm not Magearna. So please-"
"Yeah no, I'll stop you there. I don't trust you. You're the other team. You won't just go out of your way to…" He made air quotes with his fingers, tone turning sarcastic. "Care for our wellbeing. It's just pathetic. I almost wish you were more STRAIGHTFORWARD with how fake you are."
"F-fake?! O-K-A-Y?! That is very offensive!" Oricorio said, with Skwovet sweating bullets at this confrontation. The squirrel was having terrible luck, stumbling upon these arguments without even trying. "You're not even sure about that. I-"
The penguin didn't care about what she had to say, just pushing her aside, closing the door behind him. "Yeah no, I'm eating breakfast." Turning his head around, he grunted. "Don't even think of following me."
"Wa-" Before Oricorio could even catch up with the penguin, he sprinted as fast as he could, running away from the area to head to the mess hall, leaving the cheerleader and kleptomaniac to stare at each other, speechless at their failure… well, mostly Oricorio's failure. "Uhm… okay?!"
"I'm not shocked honestly. Empoleon's Vivillon but worse. He's actually useful." Skwovet commented, coming out from behind Oricorio with a relieved expression, not wanting to spend anymore time with the penguin. "ANYWAYS… since that's a failure. I'm guessing-"
"No." Skwovet looked shocked by Oricorio's determination. "We're staying. Empoleon might be against it. But I'm sure everyone else on his team would be more open to the idea."
"W-wait!" Before Skwovet could stop Oricorio, the flying-type was back to knocking on the Shuppet cabin's door, fire burning in her eyes that made her look just as intimidating as Empoleon in a way. Skwovet could do nothing but sit back and watch as they waited for someone else to answer the door.
"I don't know what Oricorio is thinking recently…" Skwovet started. "But I am not sure how to feel about HER in general honestly. Like sure, she is peppy, she is very optimistic but it's annoying. She tried making me and Vivillon 'friends' and look at where that went!? To the dumpster fire."
He face-palmed, laughing to himself. "I don't know if it's just naturally ingrained to her personality but ARCEUS, she just won't give up, even at the face of Empoleon. I'll have to make sure I'm not there when they face off again." He shuddered, hugging himself. "Maybe Sableye has room in his hiding spot or what fucking ever. I really want to lay low."
Meanwhile, Gossifleur has just woken up from her nap, after taking a walk around the island earlier in the day before going back to bed. Her first instinct was to see if Oricorio was still sleeping or by her bed but to her disappointment, she was nowhere to be found. She wanted to eat breakfast with her but that plan was thrown out of the window.
She jumped out of her bed, walking over to the bed of the other girl staying in the cabin: Teddiursa. The little bear had been rather loud the past few days and she suspects it had something to do with Floatzel, since the seemingly inseparable duo has never been together since the last challenge.
"Well… I guess… I can try and get to know her better now? Doh, doesn't that sound insensitive of me to just try and be her friend, AFTER she and Floatzel had a falling out?!" Gossifleur thought to herself before shaking off her anxiety as she arrived at the side of the little bear's bed. Teddiursa was notorious for being a messy sleeper, having thrown off the blanket, pillows AND bed sheet off her bed, leaving nothing but the mattress.
The little bear didn't look any better, lying down in the fetal position, snoring loudly. Gossifleur wasn't bothered by this though, having been trained to persevere through anything and everything, by her parents. "Teddiursa, wake up. It's morning!"
"No… mooooom… I just want to sleep…" Teddiursa mumbled, paws going to cover her face. "I want to sleep forever and forever…"
Gossifleur sighed at this. For someone who claimed to be the cutest on the island, she was certainly not looking cute right now. "Teddiursa, you're going to miss the whole day if you just sleep in! The weather is nice! You don't want to miss it!" Teddiursa just grunted in response, turning away from the Grass-type. Rolling her eyes, Gossifleur giggled to herself as she grabbed ahold of the mattress. Struggling a bit to drag it off the bed frame due to her weak build, after a few tries, she had managed to drag the whole mattress off, causing Teddiursa to hit her head with a long groan as she opened her eyes from the pain.
"B-bwuh!? GOSSIFLEUR?! What the fwuck was that for?!" Teddiursa exclaimed, sitting up, putting a paw to her head.
"It's morning!" Gossifleur began, hovering around the little bear intensely. "Let's eat breakfast together. I'm starving!"
The little bear gaped at the Grass-type in surprise. So, that was it? She just wanted to eat breakfast with her?! She didn't mind obviously but lately, she wanted to just catch up on her sleep. If Musharna was still in the game, she'd be laughing at her for even thinking of that but she has been struggling to gather her thoughts after… what happened. "That's it?!" Gossifleur just nodded in response, acting as if she didn't just rudely interrupt the little bear's sleep in a painful manner. "Okay okay, I don't mind but couldn't you have like, let me sleep for a couple of minutes? A cutie like me needs to have the right amount of sleep if I want to wake up every day in my most optimal level of cuteness!"
"Optimal… cuteness?" Gossifleur commented, confused by the Normal-type's strange words. "I do apologize if this might sound rude, but what does that even mean?"
"It's like your goal of being a baddie. Totes similar." Teddiursa explained dryly, not even trying to hide the fact that it's not supposed to make any sense.
"I still don't get it. My mama and papa never taught me anything about that." Gossifleur murmured, swallowing her anxiety. "But I am open to trying new things."
"Uhm… cool? That's great to hear?" Gossifleur's confusion barely lifted as Teddiursa's uncertainty was still evident in her tone. The little bear wanted to slap herself in the face all over and over again since it was clear that she was losing her touch just because of a simple argument. She was Teddi fucking Ursa. She can't just let herself go this easily. "Okay, you know what. I'm just very very on edge but let me freshen up and we can go eat brekkie together."
Gossifleur perked up at these words, clapping her petals together. "Y-yay. That sounds great!"
"Honestly, I'm a bit thankful that Gossi woke me up. I need a DISTRACTION. The best way to deal with stress is to avoid it obvi!" Teddiursa said, leaning on the wall casually with a deadpan stare. "I'm not even going to mention his name, nu-uh! I'm a strong independent woman! I never did get along with the guys anyways, mhm!"
Giggling playfully into her paws, she winked at the camera as she aimed a finger gun at the camera. "It's time for my metamorphasis. My independence arc or something like that. Magearna is gone! DING DONG, the witch is dead! So I can just worry on ME. Nobody else. Nobody on this team exists on this team other than the people I want to care about and that's what matters, mhm!"
Gossifleur looked a bit uncomfortable, writing something down on her notepad. "I was honestly eager on learning more from Teddiursa on how to become a menace to society but it feels like she has a bit on her plate and the only info I have on the situation is Skwovet telling me that Teddiursa and Floatzel had a fight, without elaborating further."
She bit down on her pencil thoughtfully before immediately making a spitting action, smiling awkwardly at the camera. "I would say I'd be onto her but my mother and father taught me to never investigate anything I don't have permission to investigate and while I COULD be rebellious and break some rules, I can't deny that some rules are there for a reason and if I want to be a bad person, I can't just break every single rules. That would be… villainous."
She put both hands onto her head as she got flustered. "That being said, I'm starting to think my goal might be an impossible dream at this point. Can I even do it? It feels like I can't…" She then shook her head, mustering a determined smirk. "No, I cannot give up. I have been studying throughout this game to better myself. I just want to feel that thrill again. The type that makes my heart race."
"Floatzel? Are you okay?" The guys on the Trubbish tribe weren't faring better on their side as Vanilluxe was trying to get Floatzel to get outside and eat breakfast with him and Sableye but the weasel refused their advances, choosing to hide under his blanket with a silent huff.
Vanilluxe floated back to Sableye who had a look of concern for his 'friend'. "I feel bad."
Sableye nodded in agreement, muttering to himself. "I thought Skwovet was joking about Teddiursa and F-Floatzel having a fight… but it looks like he was actually fight, h-haha… ha."
Vanilluxe looked a bit anxious to hear those words, looking over to the side. "Well, they need to make up soon. The tension in their air… I hate to say it but it's making me feel lightheaded."
"Was that an air pun?" Sableye asked, cocking a brow.
Vanilluxe's mouth was agape at this but he shook his head quickly. "S-surprisingly, I wasn't even thinking much about jokes. I'm just saying… all this fighting is making me feel queasy."
"I feel you there… it feels weird seeing Floatzel like this…" Sableye admitted.
"Agreed. I hope he can cheer up soon." Vanilluxe said, laughing nervously as he floated back to the hiding weasel to coax him out of his self-imposed isolation. "Floatzel… are you gonna wake up soon?"
"..."
"Floatzel?"
Underneath, Floatzel looked despondent and despite being stuck in bed for the past few days, he has barely gotten any sleep, stewing in silence as he laid down, regretting the words he said and memories from his past playing out all over and over again in his head. He felt like he was going to be crazy from all of that. He could barely even hear Vanilluxe's pleas to eat with him and Sableye for breakfast.
Noticing no movement from within the blanket, Vanilluxe sighed, turning back to Sableye. "Okay, it looks like Floatzel's just going to keep ignoring me." He then raised a brow. "Hm… how about you?" The gremlin tilted his head to the side in confusion. "Aren't you two friends or something? Maybe you can get him to come out?"
"M-me? Friends with him? Uhm… that's nice to hear actually, h-haha." Sableye admitted, flushed. He then sighed, expression hurt. "I don't think he likes me too much either. If he thinks Teddiursa is fake, I must be the worst yet."
"Uhmm." Vanilluxe looked curious but didn't want to pry any further. While he was used to getting lukewarm responses to his jokes, he always gets a headache when faced with stressful situations that involves people fighting or having problems with each other.
"I guess, we can just eat together then." Sableye said, eyeing his friend with a weak smile. Vanilluxe just nodded, hiding his discomfort.
"Okay. I hope Gossifleur isn't waiting for us too long!"
"I think I took my peaceful time on the OG Trubbish team for granted. We didn't have much stress there, other than Vivillon and Skwovet being at each other's throats but honestly, that felt natural, as weird as it sounds." Vanilluxe commented with a sullen expression. He forced a smile, going over his list of jokes in his head. "Uhh… but I guess… we have to make PEACE or we'll all end up in PIECES… right!?"
He laughed awkwardly at his own joke before paling. "N-not that I'm implying anyone is getting mutilated or terribly hurt but…" He trailed off, looking down. "Hah… you know, I had another reason to want to be a comedian but just saying it brings painful memories. I hope Floatzel and Teddiursa don't do anything they'd regret and make up soon since it just hurts to look at."
Chansey woke up with a refreshed expression. Ever since Magearna… or well MEW, got voted out of the game, her mood had improved considerably. She slept easily without any struggle, was able to open up to everyone else again (Empoleon aside, for obvious reasons) and she went back to her normal routine, like nothing ever happened. Magcargo was strangely more overprotective of her ever since, even opting to sleep in the bunk above her even though he struggled to get up there due to his weight.
As she sat up, the lava snail hopped off the top bunk to check up on her with a worried expression. It's almost as if he could FEEL that Chansey just woke up. Chansey felt a bit anxious about this but Magcargo was her friend so the discomfort passed quickly.
"C-Chansey, you're awake. I honestly had a hard time sleeping since my mind is still buzzed from the whole Mew-gearna business. I hope you're doing better than me though. Do you want to eat breakfast? I'm hungry but-"
"I'm fine." Chansey assured, patting the Fire-type's shell gently with a warm expression. "You don't have to worry about me too much, Mag. Magearna is gone and they weren't even the real deal so it's almost like the first weeks in this game didn't happen, as weird that might sound.
"I know but…"
"I'm glad that you're worried but I think you can be a bit too carried away sometimes. Focus on yourself, Magcargo." Chansey said. Magcargo grew even more flustered by these words, remembering Dedenne's derisive criticisms thrown at him at the last challenge.
"I'm sorry…" Magcargo apologized. "Dedenne just told me that I might be overprotective of you and want to keep you to myself that I kind of double down on everything since I was worried he might be right. You're my friend, Chansey; and I don't want to lose you. Ever."
Chansey was touched to hear this, wiping a tear of joy from her eye. "Magcargo, that's very sweet. You shouldn't listen to Dedenne though. He's just trying to get under your skin."
Magcargo looked shocked by this. "Are you sure? I pegged Dedenne to be the run-of-the-mill nice person who is easy to talk with. But I guess I shouldn't be too surprised since he's a good sweet talker. Now, I feel stupid even believing him there for a couple of days."
"I don't know what to think about Dedenne. He's definitely confusing." Chansey affirmed before giggling into her hands. "But let's not talk about him. Let's just hang out honestly. It's been so long since I enjoyed myself without worrying about a faker deceiving me."
"Oooh, that sounds great!" Magcargo beamed, perking up at the nurse's insistence.
"Walk around the beach, maybe? Or we can explore the island more! I haven't been to the infirmary yet but I definitely want to check it out." Chansey uttered with an enthusiastic tone.
"Let's do like… ALL OF THEM!" Magcargo suggested, leaning closer which made Chansey laugh heartily. The lava snail's enthusiasm was quite infectious after all.
As the duo were discussing their plans for the day, Cramorant sat up, wings gripping to her blanket tightly, having just woken up. Magcargo's voice was loud enough to stir her from her slumber so she was a bit annoyed about that, since she gave the Fire-type permission to sleep in their side of the cabin in the first place.
"Are you both done?" Cramorant piped up, face-palming. "Y'all really choosing the worst time to be noisy L-O-L…"
Magcargo blinked before bowing his head repeatedly with a flustered frown. "S-sorry about that. I got a bit carried away that I forgot you were still sleeping."
"Uhmm… rude much?" Cramorant scoffed, switching positions as she sat at her bedside with an annoyed expression. "Like, I get that you're hashtag besties but like, you're not the only people on this island!"
"I'm sorry about that, Cramorant. I didn't mean to be insensitive." Chansey said.
"Yah yah, I get it." Cramorant said sarcastically before giggling, waving a wing flippantly. "Or I-D-K, you both could invite me to your thing! I'm a fun gal after all so like, I need to roam."
"Uhm… what?" Chansey looked confused, trying her hardest not to say something bad to Cramorant for no reason. "Errr… I don't mind you joining us, Cramorant."
"Yeah! You know what they say! The more the merrier!" Magcargo nodded in agreement but squealed as Cramorant jumped up to rush and hug him tightly. "C-Cramorant?"
"Thank you thank you thank you! This is like, a thank you hug!" Cramorant explained, keeping the snail trapped in her grip for a few seconds before prompty releasing. "This team is highkey boring. Dedenne, Klinklang and Empoleon don't know how to treat a girl properly, so like, I ain't hanging out with any of them! But you two both seem like a lot of fun so… let's hang!"
"Let's- AAAAAAAH!" Magcargo screamed again as Cramorant jumped to hug him yet again. The phone addict has been strangely touchier lately. Chansey smiled awkwardly at this sight but at the very least, Cramorant didn't seem to have any malicious plans.
Cramorant stared at the camera, tapping furiously on her turned off phone, mostly out of habit. "I might not be good with I-R-L stuff but I'm not stupid like that stupid cunt Klinklang things. Like, I know I'm kind of in the bottom of this team. It's pretty obvi too, dead face emoji. Klingy has some alliance whatever with Dedenne and Magcargo, who also is besties with Chansey. Empoleon is like so bossy and I think nobody actually likes him but he's like strong at challenges? Question mark about that T-B-H since like, people might just use that as an excuse to vote ME. That's like not good obvi. I can't go home just yet after all!"
She sighed, leaning closer with a scowl. "I wish I can just click UNDO every time I make a mistake but that's just more reason why real life convos are worse than online ones. There's just a lot of quality of life shit missing."
As Chansey, Cramorant and Magcargo were about to head out of the cabin, they stopped as they noticed Oricorio and Skwovet waving awkwardly as they stood at the entrance while Klinklang floated in between them, having just opened the door just recently.
"Uhm… what is happening here?" Chansey commented, stopping in her tracks to observe the uncanny situation that was unfolding in front of her.
Magcargo crawled past the nurse, getting closer to Klinklang. "Klinklang, what's going on? Why are Oricorio and Skwovet here?" He perked up, eyes sparkling with interest. "Do they wanna join Cramorant, Chansey and I have fun!? The more the-"
"Awks, that sounds like too much though!" Cramorant commented, waving her wings around with an unamused expression. She paused, noticing the narrowed gazes directed at her, blushing in embarrassment. "UHM… delete that obviously."
"Uhm… we're just here to see-" Oricorio started before Skwovet immediately covered her mouth.
"Let's eat breakfast together. I'm STARVING!" Oricorio gawked at the squirrel but the Normal-type just ignored this as he continued speaking. "Like Magcargo said, the more the merrier or whatever."
Magcargo gasped at this acknowledgement, nodding earnestly with a warm smile. "Yep yep! That sounds good. I'm starving too! I hope Indeedee prepared something good for us today."
"Press X to doubt." Cramorant whispered, deadpanning.
"I am not hungry so you all can go by yourselves." Klingklang told the Fire-type nonchalantly. The lava snail was relentless though as he just… glomped him with a pout.
"Awwww Klingklang, you have to join us! I mean, you said it once, isolating yourself for no reason is not a good idea, seeing as ½ of the team is gonna be together." He did a fake gasp, eyebrows bouncing playfully. "We could be gossiping all about you, you know!"
The gear scoffed, a rare smile creeping up his face. "Have fun. I mean, Cramorant is accompanying you after all." The bird gawked at this, before glaring at him in response. "If anything, I would be shocked if she doesn't try-" He stopped talking as he noticed Magcargo's eyes dart over to the direction of the huffy looking bird. He understood that the lava snail didn't want the mood to be ruined so Klinklang sighed as he looked away. "… No further comment. I hope you all have an enjoyable time together."
The Steel-type didn't say anything else as he went back to their room. As he was soon out of sight, Cramorant breathed a sigh of relief before laughing awkwardly just from the pressure of being in the same room as her worst enemy in the entire game.
"So… like, let's go?"
"Yeah, let's!" Magcargo affirmed, starting to head out of the building with Cramorant, Skwovet and Chansey following after him.
Oricorio was still frozen in place at the fact that she hadn't been able to actually tell the group WHY she was there. Sighing in defeat, she trudged after them, hoping that she can bring it up while they're eating.
"Magcargo can make his own friends." Klinklang started before his eye flashed with intent. "As long as he prioritizes me over all of them. I am his first ally after all so he would be foolish to go against that." He paused, closing his eyes as he looked deep in thought before continuing, "I will admit. I do have much suspicions that he is closer to Chansey than I, but that is irrelevant in the current state of affairs, when we are still in a relatively large group but perhaps, I might have to reevaluate the situation if we start going down further in numbers."
He turned to the side, getting quieter than usual. "But if he even thinks of betraying me, I suppose I have to prepare for that situation."
Oricorio held her head with a frown, struggling to hide her disappointment. "I don't want to be the type of person to be pushed around but Skwovet, Magcargo and Cramorant are all very loud personalities that I feel embarrassed that I could do nothing but watch."
She mentally slapped herself in the face to psych herself out to no avail. Sighing, she leaned her head to the side, hitting the wall by accident. "Ow… anyways, I can't be a good leader if I don't speak my mind more. I can do it… no, I WILL do it!"
"I hope Floatzel and Teddiursa make up soon. Eating breakfast without them feels different…" Sableye commented, stirring his cold bowl of cereal with a frown. Vanilluxe cleared his throat, giving him a look. The gremlin laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head as he continued, "Uhm… n-not that you're terrible company, Vanilluxe! You're one of my best friends here after all, h-hehe."
Vanilluxe rolled his eyes, stuffing a spoonful of cereal into his mouth, wincing at how soggy and cold the cereal was. It was like Indeedee decided to just drown a bunch of cereal in milk then leave it out to soak for a long period of time. "W-wow… I'm soup surprised that Indeedee managed to fail at preparing a bowl of cereal! I guess he just wants to MILK his bad cooking skills for what it's worth for quality television!" he commented, face scrunching up in disgust.
"H-hey! I don't think it's that bad!" Sableye defended, eating a portion of his food with relative ease, though gagging a bit in the process with how much he's shovelling into his mouth at a time. He flashed a thumbs-up but the ice cream was still not believing him. "It's good! Or at the very least, tolerable?!"
Vanilluxe sighed, reluctantly eating another scoop. "Whatever. At least, it gives me more material for my jokes."
"Now you see me, now you cereal?" Sableye suggested awkwardly. Vanilluxe chuckled a bit as he playfully jabbed his arm.
"Don't steal my thing now, Sableye." Vanilluxe said jokingly.
The Dark-type awkwardly twiddled his fingers, unsure of what to reply. "S-sorry…"
"Don't feel bad. It was a joke! If anything, I was flattered that you'd tell jokes just like me!" Vanilluxe reassured as the two continued to eat in peace- or well, until Teddiursa and Gossifleur decided to sit across them, at Teddiursa's insistence.
Sableye's face turned red as he noticed this while Vanilluxe felt rather anxious, seeing Teddiursa. The last thing he wanted was for Teddiursa to start talking awfully about Floatzel behind his back but surprisingly enough, Teddiursa just… ate her bowl of cereal quietly, engaging in a bit of small talk with Gossifleur now and then until she finished her serving without any problems.
After she was done eating, she then noticed that Vanilluxe and Sableye were staring at her weirdly. Rolling her eyes, she folded her arms as she inquired, "What are you doing looking at me like that? You're gonna catch flies at this rate!"
Vanilluxe blushed in embarrassment, unsure of what to say. "U-uhm… it's nothing-"
"Oh, we're just shocked that you're acting all casual after what happened with Floatzel, h-haha!" Vanilluxe mentally face-palmed at Sableye's lack of filter. He wanted to just dance around that and try not even bringing it up but unsurprisingly, Sableye already spilled the beans. Teddiursa looked dazed at this but an anger expression crept up to her face as she smacked a fist on the table in frustration.
"Okay, let's not talk about that, puh-lease?!" Teddiursa put a paw to her face to hide her frustration but the anger was still evident with how red the rest of her body was. "I was just eating brekkie and you almost ruined it, I swear!"
"S-sorry. I just-" Sableye was about to say something but Gossifleur loudly dropped her spoon into her bowl with a stiff giggle.
"Sableye, I think Teddiursa doesn't want to talk about that so let's not talk about that please!" Sableye gulped, nodding profusely before muttering apologies beneath his breath as Teddiursa slowly calmed down.
"THANK YOU, Gossifleur! Tee hee, if I get even more stressed, my cuteness level will PLUMMET. So, let's talk about uhm… Mag-mew-arna instead. Like wow, she wasn't who she said she was!" Teddiursa cocked her head down, just jabbing her spoon repeatedly into an empty cereal bowl. "I really really really HATED Magearna but wow, she really made me look like a fool, even after death, mhm. I hope she is lying in a ditch somewhere, assaulted by the real Magearna or whatever. Sick of her, ughhhhh-"
Gossifleur cleared her throat, trying to level her gaze with the little bear's. "T-Teddiursa, couldn't we talk about something more lighthearted? I mean, Magearna isn't a pleasant topic either."
Teddiursa cocked a brow at this before looking up, biting her lips playfully. "I guess you have a point. Maybe, we can talk about your baddie girl thingie!"
Gossifleur was caught off-guard by this. "W-what!? I thought you'd talk about the game but uhm… it's doing fine?!" Noticing Sableye and Vanilluxe also staring right at her, she felt herself immediately shrink further back into her seat.
"Hey now! Give us the full deets!" Gossifleur immediately regretted changing the topic. While she was open with her goals, she felt like it would be too selfish of her to steer the conversation to just talking about herself.
"H-hey now! I am sure Sableye and Vanilluxe both have stories to share too!" Vanilluxe and Sableye both gaped at this, with the gremlin laughing awkwardly, looking away while Vanilluxe slowly short-circuited.
Teddiursa deadpanned at this. "Yeah sure. I'm sure they have some interesting stories to share…" She quickly turned back to Sableye and Vanilluxe, winking playfully. "No offense, obviously!"
"None taken." Vanilluxe murmured.
"Uhm… okay then. Well, I have been practicing changing up my behavior!" Gossifleur told the group, a bit unsure of how to phrase things without sounding too stiff. "I even made sure to be a bit mean towards Skwovet! I called him slippery. He gave me a weird look. I think he was offended! I'm one step closer to being a baddie!"
"Uh…" Sableye sweated nervously, chiming in. "That's uh… not an insult though."
"What about the time I said Vanilluxe's jokes are trash?"
"W-wait what-"
Teddiursa shook her head, shrugging. "Nah, I don't think that's 'baddie' enough, Gossi." She sighed, patting the flower's back to comfort her, confusing the Grass-type. "I mean, I thought you made a lot of progress but I guess you're still pretty sheltered."
"S-sheltered?!"
Teddiursa had a wide grin on her face, arms folded. "I will NOT talk about him, never ever! So let's talk about uhhhm…" She tapped her chin, leaning on the wall casually. "GOSSIFLEUR! I guess, she has more confidence but I don't think she has made too much progress with her bad girl image or whatever." She rolled her eyes… before laughing. "Honestly, I don't give a fluff but eh, it's fun and quirky of her! Let her cook!"
"I will be honest. It's always disappointing to know that all of your hardwork is amounting to barely anything." Gossifleur commented, teary-eyed. "I just w-want to act a bit rebellious. I want to feel that rush. Maybe then, they will notice-" She stopped herself, eyes widening. Shaking off her anxiety, she forced a serious expression. "I need to remain focused. My entire life was building up to this moment…"
"This cereal is very good! It's the right amount of soggy and the taste of the milk really brings out its flavor!" Magcargo commented, just going through his breakfast at an alarming speed, despite his species being notorious for being slow. He didn't even pay much mind when an irate-looking Cramorant shoved her unfinished bowl to his direction, just glad to have more to eat.
"Mhm, yeah. The cereal is very… easy to swallow." Oricorio commented nonchalantly, turning to Chansey who was sitting next to the lava snail. "Uhm… anyways, Chansey-"
Chansey looked a bit surprised that the cheerleader wanted to talk to her, given their lack of interactions before this. Honestly, she thought of the Flying-type as more of a stranger up to this point. "Oricorio? Why did you call my name? Do you have any problems?"
"Oh, I just wanted to check up on you. How are you holding up?" Chansey arched a brow at Oricorio's inquiry before the bird continued to explain. "I mean… you and Magearna were close so-"
Chansey gaped at the mention of her 'idol', accidentally dropping her spoon to the floor, which Magcargo jumped out of his seat to pick up for his friend. She leaned closer, a look of discomfort clear from her expression. "I have honestly gotten over the fact that 'Magearna' wasn't the real deal but i still prefer not to talk about it so I think it would better if you don't bring it up."
"Well, I just wanted to see if you're doing alright." Oricorio explained.
"L-O-L! Ori, you're on the other team! Why should you care?" Cramorant pointed out callously.
"It's called being concerned for the wellbeing of others!" Oricorio elaborated with a huff, "I mean, it's a big deal after all. I just wanted to check up on everyone and see if you're all still holding up fine."
"... I'm doing fine… just don't remind me. I know she wasn't real but the pain and heartbreak were definitely real." Chansey grumbled, looking down. Magcargo nodded in agreement as he placed down the dropped spoon back next to Chansey's bowl before returning to finish his food… err, a growing pile of bowls as Indeedee was passing by to put down more servings for Magcargo because he made a special request earlier.
"Oh, I apologize about that. I didn't mean to sound so insensitive." Oricorio noted with a sympathetic look. "I'm just glad you're all doing alright after… EVERYTHING. And yes, that includes Empoleon."
Cramorant winced at this, grimacing at the bird. "Empoleon is a bully but you didn't even mention KLINKLANG. Does nobody care about MY problems R-N?! O-M-G, so rude…"
"Hey! Klinklang is a nice person! There are worse things to be afraid of… like cramp spaces, underwater, Sharpedo, hackers-" Magcargo continued to drone on and on as Cramorant chooses to speak over him.
"I mean, Maggy was def a stinker but like, we're over her. There are some jerks still IN the game and like, that's a serious problem." Cramorant continued, gathering the attention of everyone else sitting with her. "Like Skwovet, don't you have a problem with Floatzel or whatever?!"
The Normal-type flinched at this, having noticed that Teddiursa was also in the mess hall so he wanted to keep a low profile but Cramorant wasn't exactly helping him. He began to sweat profusely as Teddiursa noticed his gaze, preemptively glaring at him with a scowl. "W-what?! M-m-me?! I don't know what you're talking about…"
"I mean, weren't you complaining to me last time when you returned my ph-" Cramorant looked annoyed when Skwovet quickly covered her mouth with a large scoop of cereal, gagging in the process. "Mmmph mhph mpp?"
"I'm sorry, but we don't understand gibberish. Try chewing?" Magcargo joked, having just finished rambling about his irrational fears.
Cramorant glared at the lava snail, swallowing the cereal Skwovet force-fed her. "Don't even joke with me like that, L-O-L…" She turned back to Skwovet, unamused. "What was that all about? Are you..?"
Skwovet struggled to meet Cramorant's gaze but when he did, his eyes darted over to Teddiursa, who was distracted in her own conversation with her group. Cramorant had a look of a realization, nodding in understanding as a playful smirk popped up.
"Ah, I see, I see! You're scared of Teddiursa. Understandable. After fighting with an Ursaring, I think I've gotten an irrational fear of Teddiursa by extension." Cramorant said.
"It's not like that…"
"I honestly have a lot of fears for some reason." Magcargo admitted, staring at the camera with the cutest puppy-dog eyes… which just looks jarring to see on a lava snail's scorching face. "I don't know why they came from but I guess not everything needs to have a reason but at the same time, some of them just come with being myself. I mean, I can't exactly swim or learn how to swim so just drop me at a moderately deep lake and I'm pretty much a goner."
He looked up, continuing to list out his list of fears. "Hmm… I don't know why I'm scared of heights or cramp spaces though since I have never been to a high-enough place before BUT I got locked inside a closet once and I hated every single second of it. It's the fact that it was so dark and there was nothing to do that got me. I also don't like tight knots since how would you even escape them?! I haven't been tied up before but-" Magcargo's confessional was then cut short as he continued to speak his mind freely.
"Seeing as we're all talking about fears now, what are you scared off, Ori?" Cramorant queried, looking over to the Flying-type who nearly spat out the cereal she was currently in the progress of swallowing.
Oricorio gulped down all the food in her mouth before answering in an unsure tone, "Me? Uhm… well, that's not exactly an easy question to answer, Cramorant."
"I mean, Skwovet, Magcargo and I said our piece. It's like, your turn." Cramorant pointed out.
"W-what?! I'm not scared of Teddiursa!" Skwovet argued but he immediately backed down when Cramorant ominously stood up. He knew Cramorant would go get Teddiursa herself if he kept arguing.
"Uhm uhm… well, if I were to say anything…" Oricorio looked up, tapping her chin. "It'd have to be a swarm of Beedrill." Cramorant stifled a giggle while Oricorio gave her an annoyed side-eye. "H-hey now! We were having cheer practice and we were supposed to be practicing our pyramid formation and well, a swarm of Beedrill suddenly started attacking us for no reason and well…" She laughed awkwardly, rubbing her wings. "... let's just say it was a GOOD thing that I was on the top of the pyramid, since I'm a Flying type and all…"
"I hope you all weren't too hurt from falling…" Chansey said.
Oricorio shook her head with a shrug. "It wasn't too much of a hard fall. They all landed on each other and thankfully, Altaria cushioned their fall."
"Oh… uhm… I hope Altaria is fine then." Chansey remarked, shifting her eyes to the side.
"Okay okay, that fear sounds totally completely valid!" Cramorant commented with a curt nod before she just turned to Chansey, not really too interested in Oricorio's story. "Chansey, it's your turn!"
"I'm not ready though." She answered meekly.
"Okay okay. I'll give you time to think." Cramorant replied, looking away to examine the rest of the competition in the mess hall. Teddiursa, she already looked at way too much… but Vanilluxe and Sableye were honestly a huge question mark for her. Sure, she was on the same team as Vanilluxe once but they never bonded or talked too much with each other, especially when Vanilluxe made it very clear he was going to say a pun in the worst moments in every conversation.
Slowly rising up from her seat, she made her way to the other table while making sure Skwovet was distracted with eating to ever notice her. She nearly panicked when Skwovet looked up from his plate, ears twitching but luckily, the rodent just went back to eating. Soon enough, she reached the other table and made her presence clear by smacking both wings on their table with an inquisitive grin.
"Hey y'all! I'm here to ask you a survey!"
This attracted the attention of Teddiursa, her friends and Cramorant's companions who came in with her… but most especially SKWOVET who decided to just hide his face in his bowl in realization that Cramorant was within range of Teddiursa.
"I'm n-not scared of Teddiursa but COME ON, she probably thinks I'm the one behind putting Floatzel against her!" Skwovet explained, raising both hands with a groan. "I mean, I was the only guy with Floatzel before she came in so I'm just… ignoring her. She could vote me out for that reason and no, I am not going to be stupid and let myself get voted off this early. Vivillon wouldn't let me live it down if I literally leave a few days after her."
"Survey? Uhm, sure?" Teddiursa looked unsure since she was NOT in the mood to even try and talk to people, after how everything went after the last challenge.
Cramorant looked delighted to hear this, pointing a finger-gun at her forehead. "You won't regret this. Since, you know… me and my friends were chatting about FEARS cuz it's quirky and I-D-K, I'm just bored so it's your turn to share your fear!"
Teddiursa blinked… before she grimaced, leaning her head on her paw. "Well, I don't want to share my weakness, y'know? There are many jelly rivals out there who want to destroy me because I'm just too cute!"
"I promise I won't tell!" Cramorant assured, trying her best not to sound non-commital.
"Sounds too contrived that people would just willingly tell you their fears though, don't you think? So I'm not telling." Teddiursa remained stubborn, folding her arms with a childish pout.
"Awww! Come on, Teddiursa! You're acting like Klinklang right now! Learn to lighten up!" Cramorant told Teddiursa who just looked away with a huff.
"Lighten up?! Me!? I'm the queen of lightening up! Or is that too fake?! Whatever, I won't tell you anything!" She answered, standing up to switch seats to the farthest seat from the cormorant.
Cramorant didn't let this get to her though. She was already used to being put down by Klinklang so she nonchalantly moved over to the seat next to Sableye, hoping he and Vanilluxe were more open than the little bear was.
"How about you, Sableye?"
"U-uhh… I d-don't think I'm scared of anything in particular." Sableye stammered, blushing in embarrassment. "D-does that sound weird? H-haha…"
"Yes, yes you do." Cramorant rolled her tongue playfully as she leaned her back onto the table. "I mean, everyone has a fear. So no use trying to act all high and mighty by acting like you don't."
"I… j-just don't know then…" Sableye said, to Cramorant's disappointment.
"My fear is nobody listening to my jokes!" Vanilluxe chimed in jokingly. He let out a drawn out sigh when Cramorant chose to ignore him.
"How about you, Gossi-" Craramorant turned to Gossifleur but flinched as the flower had a stony-faced expression as she shook her head.
"Wow… uhmmm… y'all really are boring, huh?" Cramorant commented… before clapping her wings together, bowing her head apolegetically. "No offense obviously. Have fun eating and uhmmm… see you… whenever?" With that, she stood up then returned back to her table, where Oricorio looked a bit taken aback while Magcargo and Chansey were talking to each other about Magcargo's many stories about high school life.
"I'm not sure what I'm really afraid of… b-but I'm sure it's something embarrassing." Sableye commented with a deflated expression, just from his short conversation with a forceful Cramorant. "Cramorant is a bit… bold too. It honestly reminds me of Floatzel." He laughed before it turned to a sigh.
"Teddiursa and Floatzel were best friends and they're both of my friends. I'm worried, h-haha… that they're going to let me choose between them. Maybe, that's my f-fear all along? Is this what Pikachu feels all the time?"
A few hours later, after lunchtime, Bellossom, Staravia, Poipole and a reluctant Carracosta were all gathered inside of the private interns-only area, to discuss their plan for the challenge later.
"Okay, the challenge will be later this afternoon… so we need to prepare FAST." Poipole explained with an anxious expression. "Usually, Nihilego has these prepared in advance but she's still sick. So…"
"Can't we just do this around the campfire or something?" Bellossom suggested. Staravia scoffed at this while the Grass-type put both of her hands on her hips with a huff. "What's wrong with that? Work smarter, not harder!"
"But the PRESENTATION! You can't just have a FEAR-FACING challenge while they're sitting around a boring campfire. You're not even setting the mood. There's no coherence. It ju-" Staravia argued, pointing a finger at the flower's direction. She grunted as Carracosta put his hand in front of her to prevent her from advancing closer to Bellosom. "C-Carracosta? I was MAKING MY POINT!"
Carracosta just grunted nonchalantly, eyes moving over to Poipole who was trying to get things in order in his thoughts.
"Hmm… Palkia had a simulation cottage that he used for one challenge for his show…"
"Palkia had a show?" Bellossom queried. Poipole chuckled into his hands.
"Cancelled obviously!" He added cheekily. Bellossom just tilted her head to the side, more curious about this cancelled show.
"Oh? But did it finish airing?"
"You shouldn't care about it too much." Poipole advised, making random hand gestures in an attempt to look more serious. He was rarely seen without Nihilego's support so it's safe to say that he was struggling. "It happened in another universe but that version of Palkia was my pen pal once! He vented a lot about some Teddiursa and Talonflame ruining his life."
"Uh-huh… so is this cottage thing on the island already or..?"
"It's here. Palkia texted me that he put it on the beach." Poipole explained matter-of-factly.
"So, we can do the challenge LATER then!" Staravia exclaimed. "That's good to know. I have been practicing my hosting lines-"
"Who said you were hosting?" Bellossom scoffed, giving the bird a weird look. "If anything, I should be the host over you. People usually say I have a good smell and-"
"No." Carracosta cut in nonchalantly.
"I would host but it just feels different without Nihi." Poipole admitted, saddened. "So I guess you guys can host while I take of Nihilego, in the mean time?"
Staravia cheered in triumph while Bellossom clapped her hands, excited. Carracosta just looked dead inside. He did not sign up to be an intern for this. Without saying a word, he just walked away, disinterested with even hosting.
"So… it's pretty obvious I should be the temporary main host!" Staravia said with a confident expression.
"No, I should!" Bellossom argued.
"You barely have experience on stage!"
"Does that even matter?"
"Yes, it does!"
As Staravia and Bellossom bickered among themselves, Poipole just stared at the camera… and Whimsicott, who was there with them, filming the whole thing.
"Whimsicott, do you have anything to share?"
"Oh, I'm just here to film!" Whimsicott explained chirpily.
"Shouldn't you be filming the contestants? This is confidential!" Poipole pointed out. "It's not like this would show up in the episode anyways."
"It definitely is."
It was some time since the interns and Poipole held their meeting and there was only a little bit of time left before Poipole would announce their next challenge.
Chansey, Magcargo, Oricorio, Skwovet and Cramorant were all unwinding by the beach and just spending time together. Oricorio and Cramorant were playing in the water, splashing water at each other. Cramorant had an advantage being a Water-type so she just spat out bubbles at Oricorio, which somehow included an Arrokuda that came out of nowhere. Magcargo and Chansey, on the other hand, were sitting on the docks while Skwovet reluctantly sat with them, having not much else to do.
"I didn't even know you're a year older than me, Chansey! That makes you my senior then!" Magcargo said with a smile. "You really need to teach me all your tips on how to be a better student since I'll be honest, my mind always goes elsewhere in class. It's an endless struggle!"
"Oh, I'm studying nursing and honestly, I am not exactly a standout student." Chansey admitted bashfully, rubbing her arm. "I just do whatever I can and try not to worry too much about competition."
"That'sa pretty great mindset, Chansey!" Magcargo nodded but his eyes widened as he heard Skwovet let out a huge sigh from right next to him. Instincts told him to ask the squirrel about this… by instinct, it meant the way he just bounces between conversations fast at a drop of a coin because of his overall lack of focus. "Skwovet, anything wrong?"
Skwovet leaned back, kicking his foot into the water. "It's nothing. I'm just annoyed, okay."
"Annoyed about what?" Magcargo asked curiously.
"We're not even on the same team! It's not your business-" Skwovet pointed out.
Magcargo gave him a look, eyes narrowing. "Like how it's your business to just swipe my lucky charm just now?" The squirrel laughed nervously as he awkwardly put back a clover keychain back on top of the Fire-type's shell.
"How did that get t-there?" He stammered, rubbing his hands together nervously.
"Is this about Floatzel and Teddiursa… or is this about Cramorant?" Chansey chimed in, listening in on the conversation. "Cramorant has been going on and on about how you took her phone or something."
"S-she said that!?" Skwovet gawked before shaking his head. "It's not her anyways. Notice how Teddiursa and Floatzel are giving each other the cold shoulder? Well… I was there when it started."
Chansey and Magcargo exchanged a look. They didn't know this since they haven't seen either of the two until today, and even that was just a short glimpse of Teddiursa in the mess hall but they never talked with her at that.
"Long story short, they had a fight so they're not talking to each other right now." Skwovet summarized, not interested in recounting the dramatic events that had happened.
Magcargo gasped in a comically overly-dramatic manner, looking at Chansey with complete concern. "Teddiursa and Floatzel were very close! Promise me we won't fight like them, Chansey!"
"Don't worry, Magcargo." Chansey assured, to the Fire-type's relief.
"Gee, it's nice to see both of you having no problems after Magearna left. It feels like the entire game is starting to stack up against me, ever since Vivillon got voted out." Skwovet said dryly, a little bit bitter towards the nurse and chatterbox's more wholesome relationship with each other. Dedenne was still frustrated at him about Vivillon and sure, he didn't have any problems with Oricorio but Oricorio hadn't exactly been seeking him out specifically and the only reason they were together today was because Skwovet caught up to her as she was leaving the cabin.
"I'm sure things will look up for you eventually!" Magcargo gave him words of encouragement as his eyes were basically sparkling. "Was that why you were trying to swipe my good luck charm? You want to get lucky too? I honestly don't believe much in superstition and I only have it because someone gave me a really good sales pitch but heck, if it works, it works."
"Yeah no, I prefer to not rely on something like luck." Skwovet intoned.
"Your loss!" Magcargo chirped as he went back to chatting with Chansey as Skwovet drifted apart from the pair to just take it easy and calm himself down.
"I won't lie. I think I need more connections in the game. Dedenne is mad at me but even that doesn't matter since he's on the other team… so that leaves me with Oricorio and Gossifleur as the people I actually chatted with seriously." Skwovet started, punching a fist to an open palm with a frown. "Teddiursa and Floatzel might've fought but that doesn't mean they'd want each other gone… right?"
Magcargo was hopping up and down in the confessional with a wide grin. If he had arms, he would be waving them around wildly.
"Chansey and I are getting along more and more. It's like Magearna was the stopgap that kind of made it hard for us to get it to this point but after she left, it's easier for both of us to pour our hearts into each other! It's so fun talking to her and I never get bored learning more about her. I hope we can be best friends forever, since hearing about Floatzel and Teddiursa fighting did make me feel a bit anxious."
He let out a lighthearted chuckle, leaning back on the wall. "But I'm focused on not worrying too much. Chansey just overcame a huge trial so I need to be there for her and make sure that she doesn't get treated like that ever again!"
"Everyone! It's been a while… but it's time for your next cha- Staravia, what the fuck are you doing here?!"
"I'm the HOST so I should be the one announcing!"
"We agreed that we'd sha- AAAAAAH!"
"Hello everyone! The challenge is about to begin. Please head to the beach where you'll notice a new building there! ASAP! Time is money! CHOP CHOP CHOP!"
The final 13 arrived at the beach, more specifically a new building situated at the far end of the beach, in the opposite direction of the docks and the campfire area. The new building was a quaint-looking cottage with a red roof shingles and moldy looking walls. The door was a menacing black color while next to it were seats for everyone to sit on while waiting.
The most noticeable attraction though was not this strange new building. Instead of an Ultra Beast, STARAVIA and BELLOSSOM were the ones standing in front of the building. Staravia wore a classy bowtie while Bellossom looked rather annoyed as she was forced to wear a gaudy-looking purple tutu.
"HELLO HELLO contestants!" Staravia waved while doing the worst talk show host impression ever. Dedenne grimaced in particular while Vanilluxe stifled a chuckle. "It's been so long. I missed each and everyone of you so THANK ARCEUS, it's time for another challenge! Who will get their redemption?! Who will flop yet again!? Find out… after the commercial!"
"Uhh…" Skwovet spoke up, raising a hand. "What exactly are you doing? Where's Nihilego and Poipole?"
"They're sick so-" Bellossom was about to explain but Staravia stood right in front of her with a smirk.
"They are ABSENT because of an unforeseen circumstance. My heart SHATTERS for them, but there is no rest for the weary and the show must go on!" She cut in, pointing at the squirrel, who took a step back awkwardly.
Magcargo is unaffected by this though and just chimed in, with a nod of understanding. "Poipole and Nihilego are both out of commission or Nihilego is out of commission and Poipole couldn't host this on his own so he decided to hand over the hosting baton to you two, since none of the other Ultra Beasts were available!"
Staravia blinked, surprised by Magcargo's… well… everything. She chuckled stiffly. "U-uh… what he said."
"What's the challenge though?" Empoleon asked.
"I'm GLAD you asked! It's something that will leave you at the edge-"
"It's a fear factor challenge basically." Bellossom interrupted smugly. Staravia just stared at her with her beak agape but Bellossom put a hand to her hair nonchalantly. "It's what you deserve for trying to make me the 'comic relief' this episode for no reason. Isn't that what contestants are for?!"
"You don't understand theater!" Staravia face-palmed but she went back to acting professional as she turned to the contestants. "Anyways, like my assistant-" Bellossom glared at her for this but she didn't care. "... said, this is FEAR FACTOR. It's time for everyone to face their greatest fears and this cottage will facilitate that because a simulated universe exist within it, allowing for one to live through their greatest fears in the comfort of this shabby island!"
"What?" Sableye looked confused, struggling to follow the conversation. He laughed nervously, eyes looking around for anyone to fill him in.
"It's basically wearing a VR Headset but it's a building!" Magcargo explained matter-of-factly, staring intently at the temporary hostess, who just looked rather intimidated by him.
"Uhh… yeah… what he said." Staravia turned to Bellossom, volume turning down to a hush. "Was this snail kid this weird?"
"It's just because you tend to drag things out for no good reason to get more exposure!" Bellossom called out bluntly with a fake smile.
"Yeah yeah, whatever." Staravia rolled her eyes as she clasped her wings together. "Anyways, it's time to have some fun! Here's how this works! Since one team has an extra player, they're sitting one member out of the challenge. Trubbish, it's time to vote for who sits out."
At this statement, Gossifleur, Floatzel, Sableye and surprisingly Vanilluxe all raised their hand. Staravia smiled weakly, as she crossed her wings. "Okay? So who is sitting out? You can't ALL sit out of the challenge."
"Uhm… F-Floatzel, I'm shocked you want to sit out but I really really need to sit this challenge out!" Vanilluxe stammered, sweating nervously. "If my fear is what I think it is, I don't ever want to face it ever so I'd be an automatic -1 point."
"I don't want to face my fear either." Floatzel said, not meeting the ice cream's pleading stare.
"Let's compromise by allowing me to sit out!" Gossifleur chimed in, uncertainty evident in her tone.
"Y-you know what… I-I'm fine not sitting out after all…" Sableye muttered, raising his hand only because he didn't know what his fear was specifically.
"OKAY… is nobody going to decide?!" Staravia yelled as the group were struggling to decide on who to sit out. She groaned, putting a wing to her hip. "SERIOUSLY!? You should be more decisive… so I will be deciding who sits out and it's eenie meenie money…" She examined the members of the team before she focused on one member in particular. "Oricorio!"
Oricorio gawked at this, surprised. "B-but I didn't even want to sit out-"
"That's the point, duuuuh. Your fear is probably not dramatic anyways." Staravia snickered as the bird was led to the sit-out bench conveniently placed next to seats next to the entrance of the cottage.
The cheerleader smiled awkwardly while Gossifleur, Floatzel and Vanilluxe all had distraught expressions of varying intensity with Vanilluxe even glaring at Oricorio… before realizing what he was doing, blushing in embarrassment.
"OKAY… now that that's settled. It's time for the rules! Basically, we're doing this back-and-forth, alternating between both teams and if a member succeeds in facing their fear, they earn a point for their team. The team with the most points at the end of this challenge wins immunity. It's simple enough." Staravia read out the rules from a small sheet of paper than Poipole provided for her. "So I'll give everyone a short break to comprehend these easy-to-understand rules then we'll get started."
Vanilluxe looked distressed as only the upper portion of his face was visible to the camera as he was cowering on the floor. He was shaking and his eyes weren't focusing on the camera at all.
"I'm honestly not prepared for this! I don't know how this VR thing works but it wouldn't… my fear wouldn't be the exact thing, r-right?! It's not like they'll be reading my memories to simulate the worst possible scenario, r-right?!"
He laughed nervously but he slammed his head on the counter with a whimper. "W-what do you call an ice cream that's scared? An I SCREAM because this is really scary…"
Floatzel had both of his hands on his head as he stared at the camera, exhaustion clear from the dark lines forming underneath his eyes. "I don't care if we lose this challenge. It's just too soon."
"My fear isn't too serious. But it might not be the same for everyone. I may be a nurse but psychological pain is something I can't treat." Chansey looked to the side gravely. "I just hope this challenge doesn't get too intense… but judging from the new hosts, I think it'd be hard for it not to be."
Shining Shuppet - Chansey, Cramorant, Dedenne, Empoleon, Klinklang, Magcargo
Twinkling Trubbish - Floatzel, Gossifleur, Oricorio, Sableye, Skwovet, Teddiursa, Vanilluxe, Vivillon
Eliminated: Unfezant, Pikachu, Musharna, Bayleef, Gourgeist, Vivillon, Magearna
Author's Note:
Hello everyone! It's been so long! (A week and a few days but ykwim) This chapter was fun to write and I decided to split it in half for an obvious reason: It's long and I wanted it to contrast with the second half so this half is mostly slice of life and the contestants having fun with each other and doing whatever. But the story is definitely starting to reach its midpoint so some layers that some contestants were hiding will be revealed. Won't spoil who since it might not be as obvious as this chapter indicated lol!
This is also the part of the story where the bootlist kind of shifted a bit since Magearna and Vivillon were pushed to earlier bootslots for the swap but I'm honestly excited.
Thank you for reading and don't forget to leave a review!
Palkia: JUST REVIEW ALREADY!
Nihilego: (coughs) What he said.
