So for the record, the first eight or so chapters are going to be absurdly long because I wrote these chapters with the intention of replacing the eight already uploaded chapters that were up on FFN. Back then, my writing style was simplified enough to fit a world into two chapters which is obviously not the case now. Starting with Chapter 9 and onwards, worlds will generally be around 3-4 chapters in length.

In a sensation that felt as if he was grasping for the last bit of air he'd ever breathe, Cody sprang awake. He could feel his body burning up and drenching in hot sweat, yet at the same time, he felt as cold as a dying corpse. His mind was cloudy, still processing the nightmare he just escaped from. As a young child, he always found it difficult to remember his dreams the night before which always made him jealous when his classmates would share their weird misadventures with anyone who would listen. These days, he envied his younger self.

Night after night. Death after death. The same dream over and over and over again. It had gotten to the point that he could remember every little detail that would occur like it were a video he would leave on constant replay in the background while fiddling around with something in his room. Clearly, this wasn't normal.

It was just a dream...right?

"...Hey...Cody? Are you alright?"

"Yo… Earth to the Codester? Did that shit make you go deaf?"

Cody turned around, still a little disoriented. His vision slowly started to regain its composure as he saw a familiar pair right beside his bed.

"Wow, you weren't kidding when you said he wakes up like he's dying," the girl said with a mix of amusement and incredulousness. "Does he have, like, sleep apnea or something? Did you guys check?"

"I mean, if he does, I'm not going to be the one sacrificing my sleep to find out," the guy replied. There was a harshness to his statement, but his tone sounded good natured despite that.

"Trent?... Gwen?... What are you doing…?" Cody was still feeling weak and dizzy, but sure enough, he was regaining his sense of self.

"It's almost three in the afternoon," Trent replied. "You were knocked out cold last night during the Survive-Chef's-Cooking contest. We wanted to check up on you to make sure you weren't dead or something."

Oh right, Cody thought. Man, that was a mistake.

"Did I win?" Cody asked in a mix between a moan and a yawn.

"You literally went down as soon as you took one bite," Gwen answered. "Even Noah lasted longer than you."

Even Noah.

"You've gotta be kidding me," Cody facepalmed.

"I mean, it's not like winning that would've net you any social points or anything." Gwen rose up from the chair she was leaning on and started towards the door. "Well, since you're okay, might as well hurry up before the 'Not-Chef-Food' is all gone." She gestured for Trent to follow her.

Before the two could make their leave, Cody quickly sprung out of bed, full of life as if his traumatic nightmare and the physical toll it gave him had never occurred to begin with. "Hey, wait up! If you guys haven't eaten yet, I'll join you."

Gwen stopped in her tracks. "No uh," she started with a mix of annoyance and guilt in her voice. "We actually ate already. We were going to help with clean up duty in the woods."

"Well, mind if I join you guys? I kinda don't wanna think about food after last night. Plus, I've got nothing to do."

Gwen was about to say something, but quickly gave it up and shrugged in both pity and defeat. "Yeah, sure, whatever."

Gwen eyed her boyfriend who had a look of amusement. He could tell she was hiding how annoyed she was and rather than sympathizing with her, he just found it funny. Gwen gave him a half scowl in response and signaled for him to hurry up as she rushed out of the cabin. Trent continued carrying his bemused face knowing that Cody would easily catch up with the two no matter how hard she tried to brush him away in the nicest way possible.

And sure enough, the duo once again became a trio for the day.

oOo

CAMP WAWANAKWA

oOo

For the past few months, a large group of teenagers had taken residence on the island campgrounds of Camp Wawanakwa to compete on a reality TV show. The place was dingy, lethal, and an all around terrible spot for casual living, yet here they all were spending their last few days together. A ventilation issue drove the teens out of the resort villa they were supposed to spend the rest of their time in, forcing them back to the place none of them wanted to return to. While everyone arrived moaning and groaning two days before, the tone shifted dramatically in almost no time flat. Soon, they were partying away all throughout the night and day, knowing their time with one another was soon drawing to a close.

They knew ahead of time that they would only know one another for barely a few months, but that was enough time for most to unwittingly meet lifelong friends, companions, and then some. Cody was never great at connecting with others, so even he was surprised at how quickly he latched onto some of his fellow campers. If they were going to be parting ways soon, he wanted to make sure the time they still had with one another would last.

Or at least that's what he felt.

Gwen eyed a stray pair of tattered underwear laying on a log. Of course she wouldn't dream of touching it in the first place, but the more she examined it, the more horrified she grew at all the unknown liquids and muck that surrounded it. "What in the hell?"

All the partying led the area surrounding the campgrounds to devolve into an absolute pigsty. No one was allowed home until everything was properly cleared up. And unfortunately for them, the majority of the show's staff members quit and fled before they had a chance to dump the task on to them as would have been expected.

"I am not touching that," she winced. "Trent?"

"Yeah, no, I'm good," he waved off. "Whose even is that?"

Trent called out to Cody. "Hey, dude, you wanna pick this thing up?"

Cody ran over. "Pick what u-uhhh, wh, ew! Whose is that?!"

"Right?"

"Are you picking it up or not?" Gwen interjected.

"No, of course not!" He wasn't sure if the pungent smell he was starting to notice was coming from the underwear, but he quickly pinched his nose. "Whoever made that mess is dealing with it. Not me."

An idea struck Gwen.

"Yeah, why don't you go back to the camp and maybe try to suss out who we're blaming this on? Trent and I will work around it."

"I mean, I just got up. I don't want to leave all the work on you two so soon," Cody replied, not sensing Gwen's true intent. "What if we just cleaned the whole area except for that? They'd have to notice."

"No, no," Gwen tried again. "Leaving us with all this wouldn't be a problem. You looked pretty messed up earlier, so maybe take it easy a bit and head back?"

"Nah, I'm used to it. I'm telling you, I'm a-ok to help."

"Yeah, but you nearly died eating Chef's food. If we run into something grosser than that, I don't think you'll be able to handle it." Gwen was growing more annoyed by the second.

"I'll be fine! It's not like I'm going to eat it."

"Okay, then how about you head back to camp and ask around about the underwear and get them to eat it?" Her eyes narrowed. Could this boy read the room?

"Why would I do-"

Trent calmly placed his hand on the geeky teen's shoulder. Cody looked up quizzically. Trent had his usual calm face, but even he was getting exasperated over the shorter boy's denseness.

"Hey, look. Gwen and I? We wanted alone time. Alright?"

The bluntness of his words caught Cody off guard. He was now starting to see the forced kindness on his friend's face and the look of pure irritation from Gwen. His face flushed in embarrassment and he was left stammering a quick apology before taking his leave.

It figured he didn't get the hint. He didn't even get the hint when Gwen kept making it clear she wasn't interested in him weeks ago. And he didn't get the hint all those times back at home when he was being a nuisance either. Cody was never exactly a people person. Not because he was antisocial, but he honestly never knew how to act around others. He knew the big goal in life was to make friends and build connections, but it had never been a strong suit of his. He'd spent years hiding behind masks trying to be accepted only to realize he went and did the wrong thing. The few people he did happen to befriend were just the ones who were somehow even denser than he was to fall for his disguises.

Cody looked around. The vast majority of the campers had settled into their typical groups, goofing off at the beach. Cody sighed knowing he didn't really belong to any of them in a strong capactiy.

Being his awkward dorky self chased people away, and pretending and failing to be someone who was the exact opposite did as well. It seemed he was just cursed to be that guy people tolerated but never anything beyond that.

"What was I even doing here?" He mumbled as he found a spot to doze off.

Slept until three and taking a nap already? The heck is wrong with me? It's never been this bad.

I'm just gonna have that same nightmare again too…

He was right.

Mysterious voice. Mysterious black creatures. Mysterious everything. Fighting. Darkness. Death. Rinse and repeat.

Darkside once again towered over Cody's dream self as he hopelessly became consumed by the dark creatures once more. Most nights, his dream self failed to meet a graceful end, often struggling through the hoard of creatures in a cowardly manner. Today however, Cody reached out towards the giant staring down at him. It's expressionless face always seemed like it was mocking him. One of these days, he'll finally take it down. And when he does, he'll say goodbye to these nightmares for good.

"You really are an interesting one, aren't you?" That voice again. "Yet you are still not ready…"

…

…

…

"...Co...hey…

"...I'm...bite...face...up...hey…

"BOO!"

"AAAAHHHHHH!"

Rather than waking up feeling like death once again, Cody was instead greeted by the sight of the island's resident weirdo, Izzy, just inches away from his face. Not much different from the feeling of sudden death to be honest.

"Izzy, what the hell?!" Cody cried. "You don't just do that to people!"

"Yeah, but you were all twisting and turning and scratching and screeching. Were you being, like, possessed by a ghost or something? I used to be a spirit medium you know. Beat up a bunch of ghosts in my time." Izzy was speaking several minutes worth of words per second and no matter how many times Cody tried to swat her away, she avoided it to continue her motor mouth.

"And like, you're here alllll alone being all ghost possessed and stuff. Like, everyone just kind of walked away except for a few of the guys who wanted to dunk a bucket of piss on you, but you started freaking them out enough to scare them away. Why were you napping alone on the beach anyway? Did Gwen and Trent shake you off? I guess you can't really have a party with just yourself especially when no wants to join."

He had enough.

"Will you just go away?!" Cody shouted.

Izzy jumped in surprise. Cody was normally a pretty friendly and easygoing guy. Or at least that's what he hoped everyone saw him as. In the time everyone had known him on the island, they'd never seen him get angry once. Izzy quickly got the hint and flashed him two cheeky thumbs ups before skipping away.

Cody groaned as he sat upward, reflecting over things yet again. He knew he was a loser. He knew it more than anyone else. He didn't need someone with as little regard for tact as Izzy to hammer it down on him.

"At least I'll be home soon," he sighed.

…

"...Hey, Codester?"

Cody perked up. It was Trent.

"Oh, hey," he replied awkwardly, still embarrassed over his very own lack of tact earlier.

"Were you sleeping again?" Trent chuckled as he sat down next to him. "Man, how are you still tired? The sun's already setting. You're gonna be up all night at this rate."

"Trust me, that won't be an issue," he sighed once again. "I don't know why, but I've been sleeping like crap the past few months. But, like, not in the normal insomnia way. I clock out the second I hit the hay and then it's like I'm in a coma. I can't even force myself to wake up on time. And then for whatever reason I just don't really have an appetite anymore either. I thought it was nerves over being on the show, but it never went away even after I got eliminated."

Trent raised his eyebrows. "Shouldn't you get that checked? Sounds like some kind of weird disorder to me."

"I mean yeah but," Cody continued. "Do you trust the medical staff enough to deal with a potential chronic illness?"

"Didn't you get mauled by a bear?" Trent chuckled. "I'm surprised you don't trust them enough even after that. They were pretty damn handy all those times I broke my bones."

"You know what I mean," Cody responded. He quickly began to chuckle as well. "Man, you and I got pretty messed up here on the island. I mean, everyone else did too, but us in particular."

"God, don't even remind me. I don't know how I'm still alive."

The two boys shared a small round of laughs as they reminisced before settling into a bout of awkward silence. There was a reason Trent was here.

"Hey uh," Trent began. "Sorry about earlier."

"No, no, it's fine," Cody sighed. "That was my bad, really. Sorry I've been forcing a trio between the three of us the whole time we've been here."

"Hey, you haven't been third wheeling us that much."

"I hope I wasn't," Cody grumbled. "Don't know if you've noticed but I suck at talking to people."

"I'm pretty sure everyone's noticed."

"What?" Cody jolted upwards, face hot. "Was it that obvious?"

"You go around trying to get people to call you Codemeister."

"Oh come on, that's a cool nickname!" Cody leaned backwards, lying on the sand as he blankly stared up into the maroon early night sky. "You know, I don't like to admit it to people, but I know how lame I am. I try not to be, I really do. I'm always trying to be the popular cool kid, but it's obvious I was never meant to be one. Every time I say or do anything, I'm always trying to be someone I'm not." He laughed deprecatingly. "I guess if it was obvious to everyone else, that really explains why I've never really made any friends before. Not even here on the island. If someone isn't calling me annoying, they're internally cringing at me."

Trent joined him on the sand. "I know that feeling. I guess without the whole 'making everyone cringe at me' part."

…

Cody turned his head over, eyebrows raised. "What?"

"The whole friendless background and faking everything stuff."

Huh?!

"You?!" Cody sat back up from the sheer shock. "Mr. Popular?"

"Hey," Trent shrugged. "I didn't get that reputation because I wanted it if that's what you were thinking."

Trent turned away for a brief moment. Cody sensed a moment of hesitancy from the guy and was ready to drop the conversation altogether. Before he could change the subject however, Trent went right back right into it.

"To tell the truth, I've always just been faking through life. Acting the way I know people are supposed to act. Speaking the way I know people want me to speak. Like if I just tell people I don't give a shit about them or anyone, I know people are going to look at me funny. Who wants to deal with that? Better to just smile and pretend I care about the same stuff every person is supposed to care about." Cody couldn't see it, but he rolled his eyes. "And in the end, apparently I was good enough at faking it to turn into 'Mr. Popular'. Who knew all you had to do was pick the right answers everyone wants to hear."

Cody blinked. What was he hearing right now? "So, wait, like...do you not care about people?"

"Don't care about people. Don't care about anything in life in general," Trent answered bluntly. He finally turns to look at Cody, a sarcastic grin on his face. "Freaking you out?"

To be honest, he's feeling some kind of unease from this, but he's not going to tell him that of course. "I guess...I…so like, is that the way you feel about Gwen too? Nothing?"

"Believe it or not, she's the exception. I can't explain it, but there's something about her that makes me want to trust her."

"Uh...huh. So...does Gwen know about this?"

"Nope."

"But you're telling me?"

"Eh," Trent shrugged. "We're leaving soon, so I just kind of felt like it. I'll tell her eventually. Just don't know when or how. Definitely can't be as casual as this."

Cody blinked. He never expected to hear this out of Trent of all people. It felt like he was unlocking something that he wasn't meant to unleash. But even then, he was almost touched that Trent picked him of all people to open up to, even if he was doing his best to brush it off as nothing.

"Well, I wasn't expecting any of that, but," Cody said as he returned to lying on the sand. "In a weird way, I'm kind of relieved to hear someone like you going through something similar-ish to me."

"I guess, yeah," Trent gave a slight smirk before changing his face to a dark deadpan. It wasn't the look Cody was used to seeing from him, but now that he had revealed what kind of person he really was deep down, he realized exactly what Trent meant when he said he was constantly acting as a people pleaser. This look felt more natural to him than the regular old cool smiles he normally saw on the guy.

"Man, how did either of us get this far in life?" Cody mused. "I wonder if I'm just going back to the whole same-old same-old once school starts up again."

"So, is that your big end goal here? To get popular?"

"Yeah. I know what you're thinking, but it's like a bad habit I can't break out of at this point."

"You gotta snap out of it somehow," Trent replied in a surprising sprout of encouragement. Or at least surprising in hindsight given how much this conversation had revealed about him.

"Yeah? And you got a solution to your whole personality problem there?"

"Well," Trent started to zone out into the sky. The sun was almost gone entirely and stars were very slowly making their way to take its place. "It's just a hunch, but I've always felt traveling around might do me good. Seeing different sights, checking to see if new experiences trigger anything in me. I've never really felt like I belonged where I came from so...maybe I would somewhere else."

"And if that doesn't work?"

"Burn everything down I guess."

"Damn, that's harsh," Cody laughed.

Another short string of silence passed by before Trent finally decided to get up to leave. "I'm starving. You?"

"Nope."

"Weren't kidding when you said your appetite's all messed up, huh?"

"I wish I weren't," Cody replied. "I think I'm just gonna lie around here a bit longer. If I'm not back in the cabin in an hour or two, just tell one of the guys to grab me."

"Got it." Trent made his first few steps before taking a pause to speak to Cody one last time. "This probably goes without saying, but don't tell Gwen about anything I said. Got it?"

A quick thumbs up from Cody, and Trent was off.

With him long gone, Cody was left to stargaze all on his own. His mind rewound to every moment of his earlier conversation. It wasn't anything he expected to hear out of anyone on this island, but the heart-to-heart surprisingly did put him in a better mood.

And hey, Trent had to count as his first real friend after all that, right?

"I wonder if there's somewhere else I belong too..."

oOo

In a far off land in a far off world, another bright and bustling day shined on in the vast Pokemon Kingdom. At the same time every morning, colorful creatures of all shapes and sizes begin setting up shop for the day in both quaint and oversized buildings. They happily conversed with everyone who passed by as if everyone in the town had known each other their whole lives. The children run around every nook and cranny until they ultimately get scolded for accidentally aiming an attack at public property. This was the typical morning in this world that felt nothing but peace for what felt like forever.

In the centermost of the town stood a towering castle. In most kingdoms, this building would either represent the pride of the land of the scourge of the masses. Here however, it was no different from another part of home. In fact, the castle denizens were no different from those outside the walls in the way they greeted, laughed, worked, and had fun with each other. Just like how the castle was akin to an extension of home, everyone was like family.

Almost everyone.

A much smaller than usual Alakazam walked through the halls, his head deep into the book that he telekinetically floated right in front of him. Occasionally, he shifted his eyes when he passed by other castle residents. Most of the time, they were already deep in conversation with their companions and paid him no mind, but on the few occasions someone did try to greet him out of obligation, he tried his best to pretend he was deep in work and study when in reality, he was hiding behind a comic book.

Alakazam stopped in his tracks, sighing. He'd been an advisor here for a long time now and yet he still felt like an outsider. Everyone here had a deep history with one another and he was the guy who just waltzed in for a job. If you're in a town full of your friends, of course no one is going to pick the guy they knew the least about to spend their day with.

Alakazam eyed the massive doors across from him. Despite everything, there were at least a few Pokemon who made him feel at home.

"Ugh, he was really worried last time I showed up all gloomy," the psychic Pokemon muttered to himself. After sighing once more, he immediately stood up straight, narrowed his eyes, and puffed out his chest as he attempted to psyche himself up before entering the room.

With the strength of his telekinesis, Alakazam brushed the doors wide open, revealing a vast yet modest throne room. He put aside the book he was using as a social shield and began to awkwardly march in.

"Good morning, your Majesty," he greeted, his proud but meek voice echoing within the hallowed halls. "Some of the paperwork from last week got sent back. Don't know what happened, but we're probably going to have to go through everything again a lot more careful…"

No one was sitting on the throne.

Alakazam blinked. Was the King late for his daily briefing?

"Do...I just wait here?" Alakazam looked around. "He's never been late the whole time I've been here."

Even though the King was not present, someone else was. And that someone was ready to pounce on the unsuspecting Alakazam with mischievous glee.

"GOOD MORNING!" Skitty screeched as she leapt out from behind the throne and on to Alakazam's head. Despite not even being a third of his size, the Pokemon screamed as the pink feline's sneak attack forced him onto the ground.

"Skitty!" He cried, prying the adorable jester off of his face. "What the heck are you doing here?!"

"Gooooood morning!" She repeated, completely ignoring his question as she jumped on his body.

"Hey, you, ow, answer me, oof, where is, ack, WILL YOU GET OFF OF ME?!"

All his patience lost, Alakazam slapped Skitty off in the most gentle way possible. Skitty landed smoothly just a few feet away, still in a giggling fit over her childish prank.

Alakazam was ready to start telling the court jester off, but his attention was taken away by something that had fallen to the ground after Skitty was swatted into air. It was a letter encased with a thunderbolt seal. This could only mean one thing.

"Is this from the King?" Alakazam asked as he picked it up. Skitty grinned in response before skipping away.

Alakazam stared at the letter in confusion as he carefully tore the envelope open. What could the King have possibly wanted to tell him that he couldn't do in person during their daily morning briefings?

…

…

…

…?!

Whatever was written in there, it was enough to make him run.

Oh Arceus, this is really bad, he desperately thought to himself. No, no, no. Do I...no he'll kill me. The Queen maybe? But I don't wanna be the one worrying her this early in the morning.

In the end, there was only one person Alakazam knew to tell right away. It wasn't another member of royalty, another advisor, or even a member of the guard. No, it was another fellow outsider. The bard.

"Loudred!"

A large purple Pokemon, much larger than usual for his species in fact, slept lazily under the massive apple tree in the castle's inner garden. Circlets of Everstones dangled around each of his limbs and antennae, and they roughly pushed alongside the wind as the large mouthed pocket monster snored and snoozed.

As Alakazam approached, he tried everything he could to wake the big guy up without causing any bodily harm. No dice. Shaking his head in disbelief, he started focusing his telekinetic energy, readying his last resort. Luckily, whatever he was planning on doing would not come to fruition as Loudred had already started to stretch his body awake, having woken up from his own volition.

"Morning, Al," Loudred yawned. Due to the nature of his species, his voice just naturally held a higher sound frequency than normal; a fact that Alakazam began cursing in his head for not remembering sooner. "A bit early to be freaking out this much, huh?"

"No, no, Loudred, you don't understand. This. Is. Urgent! Listen. What I'm going to tell you, I haven't told anyone else yet, so you better keep your mouth shut about it!"

"Not even Queen Lopunny or Piplup?"

"No! And I told you already, be quiet!"

"Why not though?"

"Because if they find out, they're gonna be questioning me and if they question me, I'm going to stress out and make you take over, and then we'll both be going down!"

"Well, I wouldn't be going down if you didn't come to me first. I'm just a bard after all," Loudred laughed.

"That's not- didn't I tell you to be quiet?!"

"If it's that important, I shouldn't be the one to know about it first. Go tell the Queen and I'll find out later. Good morning, your majesty!"

"I TOLD YOU TO BE-"

Wait.

Alakazam turned around in a jerky manner. Queen Lopunny and Captain Piplup were quietly standing there watching the two outsiders perform their comedy act. In fact, all the Pokemon he alerted through his frantic jog over here were watching on as well.

Alakazam was drenched in cold sweat. He wanted to do this as quietly as possible, but it was clear he already screwed himself over right from the start.

"So, uh," he nervously cleared his throat as he began to slowly hold up the letter. "I have a message from the King."