Hello! Episode 1 is here? It's been so long. Do I even know how to write introductions? Okay… maybe I didn't learn much but yay, time to get this started.
An uncharted island in the middle of nowhere… like always. It wasn't even unique or special compared to other uninhabited islands. It was just… floating in the middle of the ocean, doing normal uninhabited island things.
The scene continues to transition to give a clear image of what the island has in store: a mushroom forest in the deeper sanctums of the island with wild Parasect and Amoongus congregating and planning on how to torment the island's soon-to-be temporary inhabitants; some abandoned building that would be refurbished for the purpose of the competition; an empty campground with some random pieces of garbage lying around, signs that somebody was here before. A bored-looking Timburr groaned as he picked these up in prepration of the game; and to cap the impromptu tour of the island, we get a bird's eye view of the dilapidated docks leading out to the ocean.
A-
Nihilego frowned at the camera as she floated over the now fully-repaired docks. "Are you seriously reusing your intro a month ago?! The total gall and audacity."
"..."
"Ugh. NOW, you're being quiet," Nihilego grumbled, rolling her eyes. "Whatever, I have a show to run anway." She then faced the camera and boom, quick personality overhaul as she forced a smile onto her face, waving wildly to fake enthusiasm, "Hello Pokemon world! I'm your host… Nihilego, cutest Ultra Beast ever, according to the polls! And this is… TOTAL! POKEMON! ULTRA REVIVAL!" She then deadpanned to turn to the cameras… specifically the cameraperson, "Satisfied, Whimscott?!"
"Yes!" A voice off-screen responded, but from the tone, it can be said that the owner could barely contain herself and was this close to screaming in joy but for the sake of the show, kept her mouth shut.
This is Nihilego. She is just a regular 'ole Ultra Beast, who had a taste of stardom, when hosting a reality tv show… unfortunately, it wore her down too much, so she stepped out of the spotlight, to focus on her life. But you know what they say? You can't hide from the spotlight… or something like that. Well… she was forced back into the spotlight, to make up for some failures in the Ultra Beast community as a whole and that meant Nihilego had to go back to hosting, this time… she's being accompanied by another co-host, because Guzzlord was busy.
It's Poipole. No fanfare, no dramatic flare. The little Poison-type Ultra Beast wore a cute purple bowtie, to match the color of his skin. He waved at the camera, unaware at how much this is killing Nihilego inside. "Hello, Pokemon World! I'm Po-"
"Ugh! It's not your turn yet. I haven't even introduced myself. But yeah… yada yada, we edit the intro a little bit. The island's now fully fixed up for the contest and everything," Nihilego interrupted, making random hand gestures with a bored expression. She then made various hand gestures as she continued explaining, "In a few minutes, twenty Pokemon from different walks of life will be arriving to compete for yada yada, one million pokedollars… lifetime supply of poffins and berries… fame if that's what you want. They're going to be competing in challenges in groups, where the losing team will have to vote for one of their own members… but as we reach a certain point in the game, the groups will merge and the game will turn to an individual battle for the prize. And well… that's the basic gist."
"And I'm Poipole! I like dress-up, ice cream and-"
"This is not your Bindr account…"
"I don't have a Bindr account!" blustered Poipole, blushing in embarrassment. "I just wanted to make a good first impression on the Pokemon world! This is my first time hosting… errr… co-hosting!"
"Yeah, I think it's better if you make no impression, so that they can forget about you after the show and you can avoid being the target of a media nightmare," Nihilego admitted with a shudder, remembering the aftereffects of her first gig.
"Awwwww…"
"Don't worry. You're not missing much… and besides, we're already off-schedule and the first contestant is about to arrive! Yep… WE- err… Whimsicott, stop focusing the camera on us, and point to the ocean!" Nihilego directed, gesturing a tentacle towards the water. A loud sigh can be heard from behind the camera but is quickly shut up by Nihilego glaring to its direction.
A Lapras was fast approaching. A Lapr- okay, that's enough description on that honestly. Onboard the Lapras was a blue bird-like creature with large green circular eyes and a flat yellow beak. The bird had white feathers around their neck and behind it as well; and had webbed black feet. She also wore a light blue backpack on her back.
The Lapras slowly approached the docks, to let its passenger disembark. The bird-like Pokemon jumped off, landing onto the dock with a sharp thud. But… she wasn't even paying attention to her surroundings, eyes fixated on her phone. Unsurprisingly, she bumped into Nihilego, who looked annoyed at this.
"I thought we told you not to bring any phones here, Cramorant?" Nihilego asked, arching a brow.
"El oh el, I like… totally forgot!" Cramorant answered, hitting herself on the forehead with her wing that was holding a phone, tongue sticking out of her beak playfully. "I'm like totes sorry… but I promise I won't cheat since there's like no cell service out here."
"Uh huh… are you sure you'll even be able to focus with a phone?" Nihilego questioned in suspicion.
"Omigosh. Like totes, yes. Like and subscribed. Hashtag peacesign out here, roughin' it!" Cramorant exclaimed, holding out her wings before flashing a peace sign with one wing. "Can we take a selfie together, el oh el~"
"Yay! I love selfies!" Poipole answered, clapping his hands together… before suddenly stopping as he blinked in confusion. "What's a selfie?"
"Omigosh! Were you living in like… the stone ages or something? A selfie's like when you take a pic with like other people but like, you're holding the phone you're like… using taking a pic with… and you're like in the picture," Cramorant explained, not even stopping to breathe. "It's like basic math. Like one plus one. I didn't bring a selfie stick with me cuz like, I know we're only allowed to pack what we need to like, survive or camping or whatever."
Poipole blinked as he was actually writing everything down on a notepad that he brought along, just in case, "Do I take a picture before or after I bring out the selfie stick?"
"It's either or. It's like… 2021, so you don't need a selfie stick if it's just you and a friend, lol. You really need to study hard if you want to pass math class… or uhh… phoning," Cramorant giggled, amused at Poipole struggling to understand her… strange lingo.
Nihilego face-palmed at this conversation, struggling to find any words to even say.
"Are you like… okay? Is there a bug on your face?!" Cramorant queried, oblivious to how much she's affecting the hostess.
"Ugh… I'm fine. Just… go over to the beach and start… socializing?" Nihilego said, tentacle still on her face as she slowly composed herself.
"But there's like… nobody there-'' Cramorant interjected, only to back down, as Nihilego removed her tentacle to glare at her. "Omigosh, ruuuuude much?! I'm going, I'm going."
The vapid flying-type slowly made her way to the beach, eyes focusing on her phone as she walked… then she accidentally walked off the dock, falling into the water. "ERRRRMAGEEEERRRRRRDDDDDD"
"..."
"..."
"Are we going to save her or something?" Poipole queried innocently, as if the answer wasn't obvious or anything."
"It's okay. She can use her phone to call for help," Nihilego drawled, rolling her eyes. "Besides, the next contestant is on the way… so yeah, we can't give her too much screen time."
"Okay…"
Shortly afterward, the next Lapras arrived to drop off the second contestant before leaving. The contestant had a mostly yellow body, aside from his really rosy red cheeks, the black tips of his ears and the brown horizontal stripes on his back. He was dragging… an oddly large amount of luggage… one would wonder how he could even do such a feat. He looked a bit nervous as he walked down the docks to greet the two hosts. Nihilego extended a tentacle to him in greeting and he looked at it, a bit unsure.
"Welcome to the show, Pikachu," Nihilego greeted, trying to maintain a chipper image for the camera.
"Errr… should I be shaking your hand?" Pikachu asked, still eyeing the hostess' extended tentacle in concern. "What if you turn out to be an alien, who's scamming me and this show is just a front to eat me?!"
Nihilego blinked in confusion. "What did you just say?"
"You'll never eat me…" Pikachu muttered, hugging himself with a shudder. "I… know tai chi and my sister once said my Thunderbolts were stronger than a regular Pokemon…"
"Aw, Pikachu! Nobody's going to eat you!" Poipole assured, flashing a thumb's up. "Big Sis and I are both kind and won't hurt you at all!"
"No promises," Nihilego added, looking back at Cramorant, who was struggling to climb back onto the dock. "Just swim to shore, girl."
Pikachu gasped as he saw this, eyes basically bugging out of their eye sockets, "W-what did you do to that poor girl?! I knew this was a bad idea… but my friends told me it wasn't… why did I listen to them?!
"Chill, Cramorant is an idiot, who fell on her own. Nobody pushed her or anything," Nihilego said, crossing her tentacles. "Are you seriously having a panic attack on Day 1?"
"It's not a panic attack… just me regretting past decisions," Pikachu said, laughing nervously. "So many wrong decisions…"
"Well, you can regret them, once you head over to the beach and get some time to think," Nihilego directed, pointing to the beach at the other end of the docks.
Pikachu gulped with a nod as he dragged his luggage to the beach… only to stop to scream as Cramorant finally succeeded in climbing back onto the docks… while SCREAMING, which scares Pikachu even further.
"ARE YOU OKAY?!" Pikachu questioned, taking a step away from the bird Pokemon.
"MY PHONE!" Cramorant cried loudly as she hugged her phone… or well, what remains of it, as after being dropped into the water… it… just somehow, broke apart. "I should've invested in a waterproof phone! This is the worst day ever!"
"..." Pikachu continued to take a step back… before deciding to just run to the beach to avoid his competition. "Okay, bye. Don't talk to me."
Cramorant pouted as she followed the electric rodent, left eye twitching. "And there goes my phone… on the first fucking day. This is like, so terrible already…"
"Aww, poor Cramorant's phone," said Nihilego, feigning sympathy before looking away. "Okay, the next contestant is about to arrive anyway."
On cue yet again, the Lapras arrived to drop off a round bipedal tapir-like Pokemon. Her upper body was pink while her lower body was light purple in color while pink mist was being released through the mark on her forehead. She… levitated off the Lapras, still pretty much asleep impressively, snoring really loud. Her luggage floated after her and again… surprisingly, she managed to make her way to Nihilego WHILE asleep.
"Uhh… I guess this is the weirdest entrance of the season? Welcome, Musharna!" Nihilego announced, a bit impressed.
"..." Musharna doesn't reply as she continued to doze off.
"Uhh… Musharna? Earth to Musharna, wake up!" Nihilego shouted to wake the Drowsing Pokemon from her deep slumber.
Musharna stirred from her sleep, opening her eyes with a yawn, "Mmmm? Are you… Arceus? Am… I dead..?"
"Okay, you're awake now. W-"
Musharna's eye then closed again as she returned to her sleep and casually floated over to the beach, to join Pikachu and Cramorant, who were both minding their own business.
"Weird… where did we even get these contestants?" Nihilego said with an exhausted expression. "And we're just at the third one…"
"I'm shocked it was the sleeping one, that made you more tired… or maybe not," Poipole pointed out, smirking at his unintentional joke. "But we'll get there. We're almost one-fourth through the cast!"
"I'm one-fourth through my way to a mental breakdown," Nihilego drawled. "But sure, it's almost time for the fourth contestant's arrival anyway."
A few minutes later, the Lapras arrived to drop off its passenger… but it didn't leave, annoyed with something. Its passenger was a grayish-brown squirrel-like Pokemon with a large fluffy tail. His fur was darked around the ears and at the tips of his tails while his nose and some parts of his ears were orange in color, while the area around his eyes and mouth leading to his belly were lighter in color.
"Hi!" The squirrel Pokemon greeted cheerfully, walking to the hosts with a small bag. "I'm Skwovet… or well, that's what I'm gonna be called!" He chuckled to himself as he said this. "Contracts and all… what's the deal with that?" He paused, chuckles weakening a bit, "Okay, don't actually answer that."
"Uhh… why is your Lapras not leaving?" Nihilego asked.
"I dunno about her but I wanna get a good look-see on my mark… err… competition!" Skwovet answered with a faux-bashful expression.
"YOU STOLE MY WEDDING RING!" Lapras shouted, glaring at the small squirrel. "HOW DARE YOU!"
"... No, I didn't," Skwovet said with a cool-headed expression. "Oh yeah… on completely unrelated news… you dropped this." Reaching into his fluffy tail, he pulls out a diamond-studded ring. "Don't blame me. You dropped it on the dock and well, I picked it up!"
"..." Lapras didn't reply, still annoyed as Skwovet approached to give back the ring. "THIS ISN'T OVER!" And with that, the Lapras left. Skwovet skittered back to the two hosts with an innocent expression.
"Uhh… what?" Poipole asked, blinking in confusion.
"... what?" Skwovet repeated, arching a brow, waiting for a question.
"Did you seriously steal one of our Lapras' wedding rings?" Nihilego queried, arching a brow. "Kudos, I guess. But don't even think of stealing any of mine."
"No promises~" Skwovet teased, winking at the jellyfish-like Pokemon. "I mean… let's just say… I have the stickiest fingers out there."
"Did you eat glue or something?!" Poipole responded, eyes twinkling, impressed… and unaware of the moral implications. "I wish I had sticky fingers too… that would mean I'd stop dropping Nihilego's expensive limited-edition very fragile mugs."
"That was YOU?!" Nihilego intoned, gritting her teeth. "Ugh… we'll talk about this later, Poi… but Skwovet, are you feeling all hyped up to play?"
"I guess you can say that," Skwovet provided vaguely as he walked over to the beach to commiserate with his fellow contestants. And just in time, Musharna's eyes slowly opened with a loud young.
"... hi…" Musharna greeted, eyes opening and closing slowly and steadily.
"Hello?" Skwovet answered back, a bit confused for once. "I'm Skwovet. You?"
"Mush… ar… na…" Musharna answered, pausing to smack her lips. "Nice to… meet… y...aaaammmmm…" Musharna's words are interrupted by her going back to sleep yet again.
Skwovet just gaped at this, not knowing how to respond. There was a difference between completely lethargic and… sleeping and waking up every ten seconds just to respond.
To spare us the boring footage of Skwovet and Musharna just… pingponging the same conversation all over and over again, the next Lapras arrived. Hopping off the Water-type was a yellow bird-like Pokemon, whose wings resembled pom poms and has fluffy feathers near her feet with her tailfeathers resembling a skirt.
"Give me a H! Give me an E! Give me two Ls! Give me an O! What does that spell?!" Oricorio chirped as she carried her luggage to Nihilego, who shook her hand. "HELLO! Nice to finally be here!"
"You sound like you didn't enjoy the Lapras ride, hmm?" Nihilego queried with a smug expression.
"Not really," Oricorio admitted, putting her wings on her waist. "Not because it was scary or anything… It took ages to get here. Give me a TWO! Give me a HOURS! It took two hours to get here. I'm shocked I managed to survive through the boredom."
"You'll get used to it," Nihilego assured, waving a tentacle dismissively.
"Hopefully!" Oricorio sighed before looking over to the beach. "... hmm… so, that's my competition too?"
"Yep, so have fun… or don't?" Nihilego said, getting the 'really' expression from Oricorio who decided to just ignore her pessimism and walk over to her competition to mingle.
"She sounds like a lot of fun!" Poipole commented. "I wish I can spell like her…"
"I don't think her shtick was being a speller," Nihilego shot back, rolling her eyes. "Her application said she's a cheerleader… so I guess she wanted to be cute or something."
"At least, she tried to be original," Poipole pointed out… Nihilego shrugged in reply, making the younger Ultra Beast sigh, "Yeah yeah… I get it."
"Cool, you're adapting. Maybe there's still a chance we can be in sync with the decisions regarding the show in the future," Nihilebo said with a smug smirk. "Thaaaaat aside, it's Contestant Number 6's turn to shine!"
On cue, the next Lapras was quickly approaching. It stopped in shock as somebody jumped off into the water. Swimming fast to the shore, the Lapras' passenger emerged from the water to reveal his identity. He was an orange weasel-like Pokemon with long hands and two tails. There was a light colored patch of fur on his face, the tips of his tail and most of his belly. He also had a yellow… floatation sac (Scientists are still on the cast) around his neck, which helps him float on water. He jumped and landed on the dock… gracefully? Okay, he actually landed wrong and ended up stubbing his toe, making him wince but he bit his tongue and smiled as he walked over to the hosts.
"Hey, really stoked for some JUSTICE!" Floatzel exclaimed, flashing an enthusiastic thumbs-up. "Point me to the villains AND I will take! THEM! OUUUUUT!"
"I love the enthusiasm but there's no villains. We didn't cast any psychos… or well, total psychos at least," Nihilego assured, arching a brow while crossing her tentacles, intrigued by the weasel Pokemon's outburst.
"NONSENSE! This is a Total Pokemon game! There will be LIARS! BACKSTABBERS! CHEATERS! And those matters need to be addressed!" Floatzel explained, balling his hands into fists. "I can't stand such… inJUSTICE!"
"Uhh… excuse me? You signed up to a reality t-"
"I DON'T CARE! I SIGNED UP TO STOP SUCH INJUSTICE!" Floatzel shouted, scowling at nobody in particular. "I can't bear to see anyone get hurt for the sake of this…" He clenched a fist, "Dastardly GAME!"
"... oookay, just uhh… go to the beach to meet your comp-"
"FRIENDS," Floatzel corrected with a confident grin. "Today's competition is tomorrow's friends after all."
"Ookay…" Nihilego muttered before whispering to Poipole, "Ookay… he's definitely weird."
"I think he's nice!" Poipole commented, with his ever-perpetual grin.
"Sure?"
Floatzel moseyed over to the other contestants, waving… and SHOUTING AT FULL VOLUME, "HELLO!"
Musharna groaned, eyes both finally opening in annoyance, "What… the… fuck?"
"Woah, you actually woke Musharna up… nice…" Skwovet commented, smirking.
"... whatever…" Musharna mumbled before returning to her slumber. "Mmm… smack smack…"
"Is she INJURED?!" Floatzel queried, cocking a brow.
"I've just been here for fifteen-ish minutes and I think she's just really sleepy," Oricorio explained, folding her wings. "And uhh… can you please tone it down. Give me a L-"
"Shut up with that already," Skwovet interjected, rolling his eyes.
"I j-just arrived, though…"
"It gets old fast," Skwovet explained, deadpanning. Oricorio frowned, crossing her wings in disappointed. "Hey now. At least, I told you the truth."
"It doesn't mean I have to like it," Oricorio muttered to herself..
With the arrival of the (probably) loudest contestant, the mood quickly changes with the next contestant's relatively quiet arrival. She was a small plant-like Pokemon with a large yellow flower on her head and her body was green with orange petals on her back and below the yellow flower. She had… a really weird aura. She carried a distinct air of the upper-class… while still having a weird down-to-earth vibe… she didn't even bring any luggage to the island, despite her upbringing and lack of camping experience.
"Hello!" The flower greeted with a warm smile. She then looked around at her surroundings, looking a bit unsure, "I haven't gone camping before… so I didn't know what to pack so in the end, I ended up packing nothing."
"Uhh… don't you think that would be a problem, Gossifleur?" Nihilego asked the flower, intrigued.
"No. There are… expectations… on well… it's quite hard to explain," Gossifleur started, tapping her chin as she gathered her thoughts. "Well… I don't want to disappoint anyone. I am hoping that despite my… lack of belongings, the living accommodations are well…" She smiled sheepishly. "Not terrible."
"Major mood!" Poipole agreed with a wide grin. Nihilego gave him a look. "What? I searched it up. I thought it meant relatable!"
"Yeah yeah… don't worry too much, Gossifleur." Nihilego assured. "Just head to the beach to meet the other contestants."
Gossifleur nodded as she began to make her way to the other contestants… gracefully, if one can call it that.
"Hello everyone!" She beamed at everyone with a cheerful expression. It almost tasted like diabetes.
"Uhh… hi?" Pikachu replied, unsure of how to respond before covering his mouth. "Can we have a redo?"
"You look like a fashion model! Can we like be friends?!" Cramorant chimed in, composing herself after the destruction of her phone. It seemed to be working. "I wish I didn't drop my phone so we can like… take a selfie but lol hashtag life problems hashtag waterproof phones next time omg. Ttyl."
Gossifleur… surprisingly understood all of that? She nodded and giggled sweetly, "Let's take a picture after the game." Cramorant blinked at this, before blushing in embarrassment. The two girls giggled between each other, which kinda looked creepy since they weren't even laughing at anything in particular.
Moments later, the 8th contestant arrived. He looked… not too bad… okay, that would be an understatement. He was a bipedal with purple skin, which was way darker than others. He had sharp claws and his eyes were clear white and shaped like gems. He also had a pink gem on his belly and another white one on his backside. But his fur… looked messy and one could even notice the greenish aura surrounding him. It wasn't even malicious. He just really smelled bad. He carried a small red bag at his side.
He walked forward to the host… but Nihilego, who already noticed his 'interesting' stench the moment he arrived, took a step back. He cocked a brow in confusion, "Are we playing tag or something? Hehehehehehe, is that the first challenge or something?"
"Uhh… ever heard of a shower?" Nihilego asked, covering her nose… or what seemed to be her nose. Weird to say, given her seeming lack of it. Poipole was faring better as he didn't seem to notice the weird smell.
"Heheheehehehehehe… I'm sorry. I was so excited that I forgot," Sableye explained, hands gripping on his bad. "It's like… a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity after all. But don't worry, heehehe… I'll take a bath here."
"Ookay… ugh… I know I'm Poison-type but I do not like these smells," Nihilego commented as the small Dark-type walked past him to greet his future friends… or enemies. He prefered to be optimistic.
Gossifleur's face suddenly flushed at the little gremlin's arrival, "What an… exotic smell…"
"I SMELL INJUSTICE!" Floatzel yelled out, covering his nose, looking around for the source of the smell, before focusing his eyes on the approaching Sableye, "Cease and desist. You shall never destroy our sinuses!"
"H-hey, hehehehe… funny story… I forgot to take a shower," Sableye admitted, waving weakly. "S-sorry…"
"You smell like a dumpster!" Oricorio said without thinking before blushing in embarrassment. "Give me a NO! Give me an OFFENSE! NO! OFFENSE!... but yeah… you smell, no joke."
"Sorry… hahahahahahahaha!" Sableye said, breaking into awkward laughter. Surprisingly, Pikachu joined in, equally awkward. The two looked at each other in realization before looking away, confused and embarrassed.
"I'll be WATCHING you!" Floatzel warned, turning away. "YOUR SMELL WILL BE YOUR UNDOING!"
"I'm really sorry…" Sableye started, rubbing the back of his head. "People tell me it's also my natural smell so like… I don't think a shower would've changed much… I really try."
"It's okay…" Pikachu said, unsure of himself. "H-haha… we all have our off days!"
"So you don't mind that I smell terrible?"
"No, your smell is unbearable. I can't stand it," Pikachu said flatly before covering his mouth again. "Ugh… maybe I shouldn't have said that… d-did I hurt your feelings?! Ugh… I really need a redo of today now…"
"I'm f-fine, hehe!" Sableye answered, trying to lighten the mood before looking away sheepishly, rubbing the side of his arm.
As Sableye tried to get along with his fellow contestants, the next contestant was quickly dropped off. She was rather large and oval-shaped with pink skin. Her body splits off into three extensions on both sides, to look like hair, a short tail and she has a darker pink belly that looks like a pouch carrying a white egg. She wore a white hat with a cross symbol on the front while carrying her luggage, which consisted of a first-aid kit and a pink duffle bag with her personal belongings.
She walked slowly with a chipper expression, bowing politely, "Hello! I'm Chansey! I'm actually shocked my application was accepted." She giggled cutely, "I'm ready to assist everyone in need of help and assistance."
"That would be great! Nihilego forgot to hire a medic-" Poipole said only to get jabbed by Nihilego, who grunted at annoyance.
"They're not yet here," Nihilego corrected. "But I hired a medical staff. I'm not that incompetent."
"I'll still be happy to assist," Chansey insisted, bowing politely. Nihilego cocked a brow in confusion at this, "Okay? Uhh… crap, I didn't expect to meet someone this polite. Not even Gossifleur was…"
Chansey giggled, waving a hand playfully, "It's just my job after all. And well… I can't bear to see anyone get hurt in my watch."
"That's a kind sentiment but don't forget that they're also your competition," Nihilego reminded, tentacles on her waist with a neutral expression.
"It's what I signed up for," Chansey reaffirmed with a nod, hands clasped in front of her body. "I hope to get along with everyone and if they need help, then they shouldn't hesitate to ask me for help… unless it's in the middle of the night." She giggled, leaning closer to the jellyfish to whisper, "Don't tell anyone else but I get really cranky if I don't get enough sleep…" She then leaned back. "But you didn't hear that from me."
Chansey then walked past the host with a congenial smile to introduce herself to her competition… or well, in Chansey's opinion, future potential patients, in case they got hurt.
Oricorio was the first to notice her arrival, eyes landing on the hat on her head, "Huh? Are you a nurse or something?"
Chansey nodded, flashing a neutral expression, "Yes, I'm Chansey. I may be a nurse, but I'm currently off-duty so you can forgo the Nurse part. Though I am here to assist everyone, to the best of my abilities."
"Do you have anything to wake Musharna up or something?" Skwovet inquired, curious. "I think she might have a sleeping condition or-"
"It's… not a condition," Musharna interrupted, waking up from her really short (?) nap. "It's… mmm… just too… good…" She then closed her eyes and returned to a minutely-scheduled nap.
"Sweet dreams?" Skwovet commented coyly.
Chansey smiled weakly at the tapir, "Okay… it's nice to know." She turned to a nearby Oricorio, "I was this close to prescribing some vitamins since I thought she had some vitamin deficiencies that made her this sluggish."
"Girl, sluggish is an understatement… and I just met her not long ago!" Oricorio admitted with a weak giggle, looking over to the sleeping Musharna, once in a while.
The next contestant then arrived shortly, disembarking from his Lapras with a sheepish expression. He was a small bipedal mouse-like Pokemon with a round orange body with darker-colored cheeks, mostly white ears with black edges, two long black whiskers growing from his cheeks and a long black tail with a rough fuzzy end. He wore his black backpack on his back and a cute black bow accessory on his belly. He carried a nervous expression, looking around his surroundings, looking particularly disappointed.
The mouse Pokemon nervously twiddled their fingers as he approached the hosts, "This is… quaint."
"We bought it for cheap," Nihilego shrugged, indifferent. Dedenne gawked at her in shock, "W-what?"
"Don't worry. It's safe. If we wanted you guys to suffer, we would've bought the toxic island in Unova with green sewer water and everything," Nihilego answered, remaining truly impartial. An inspiration to hosts everywhere?
"Do I have to introduce myself or… do I wait for my cue?" the little electric-type questioned.
"Knock yourself out, kid!" Poipole urged, giving him an encouraging thumbs-up.
The orange Pokemon blinked in confusion, as he just noticed the smaller co-host. "You're… smaller than I expected but okay… I'm uhh… Dedenne…"
"Good intro," Nihilego said dryly.
"It's not exactly my expertise," Dedenne explained coyly before starting to walk past the host… then stopping to look back, "Uhh… where do I head now?" Nihilego pointed over to the beach in response. Dedenne nodded gratefully, "Noted. Thanks."
"We're halfway through!" Poipole chimed in as the young rodent Pokemon left. "Isn't this fun? OOOOH, I wonder how you and Guzzy felt when you were hosting years ago!"
"Eh… it's okay, I guess," Nihilego shrugged, scratching the bottom of her face. "But woo, we're halfway done. I can't wait to get some shut-eye."
"Oooh ooh! Big sis, are you copying Mush-"
"What the fuck? I don't just copy the personality traits of the contestants I host, y'know?!" Nihilego interjected, crossing her tentacles. "Except you know… Meowz- ah… Meowstic. While I still question her… life choices, she really did know how to unwind."
"I wish I knew who that is!"
"You're better off not knowing," Nihilego asserted with a deadpan expression as the next contestant reached the island, rinse and repeat.
Though… the next contestant… seemed to be arguing with her Lapras. She was a butterfly-like Pokemon with a gray body and antennae with light blue wings. It's said to be called a Polar Pattern. She had a haughty expression and wore sunglasses on her head.
"First, you forced me to leave MOST of my luggage and then, you take me on the worst boat ride ever?! UGH! This is why I always travel first class!" the insect complained, rolling her eyes as she carried a small pink handbag hanging around her neck.
"..." The Lapras was shooting a death glare at the most recent arrival in frustration before quickly leaving.
"The nerve of these people…" The new arrival muttered to herself, flying over to the hosts, feeling really really annoyed. "Hi, I'm fucking Vivillon. Really hella excited to play this… or whatever."
"You seem like you're the life of the party, huh?" Nihilego drawled sarcastically.
"Can it. I had a horrible day and I'm not going to let you ruin it any further," Vivillon snapped, glaring at the jellyfish-like Pokemon. "I specifically asked for cold mocha frappocinno with STRAWBERRIES but they gave me one with BLUEBERRIES instead. Lapras was also a terrible swimmer and probably gave me a fear of drowning now. And to cap that all off, I packed a lot but I wasn't even allowed to bring them here."
"Well… we're short-handed so yeah…" Nihilego explained, matter-of-factly.
Vivillon then decided to choose the moment to lead into a long tirade, complaining about everything but for the sake of children everywhere, it was all censored.
"Are you done?" Nihilego queried smugly.
"FUCK YOU!"
The Bug-type then flew towards the beach, face red from embarrassment, to torment her fellow contestants instead of the hosts. "Don't ever talk to me, HMPH!" Vivillon intoned, glaring daggers at everyone, before looking away.
"Okay?" Dedenne responded, taking a step back, feeling mildly intimidated.
As the group slowly silently stew in silence, because of the prissy bug's arrival, the next contestant was about to arrive, to lighten the mood.
He stepped off his Lapras slowly, first making sure that the dock wouldn't collapse from out of nowhere. He was a pale yellow quadruped with a long neck, red eyes, a short, rounded snout, and a stubby tail. A leaf was sprouting from his forehead and there were leaves around his neck too. He gulped as he walked over to the hosts, carrying the few luggage that he packed.
"H-hi…" the nervous contestant greeted, eyes darting from left to right in record time.
"Heeeey Bayleef! How'sa'cha'doin?!" Nihilego questioned, flashing a cute grin in an attempt to play up her personality for the cameras.
"How'sa… what?" Bayleef blinked in confusion, unsure how to answer. "Can I g-get another question?"
"Chill. This isn't a pageant… though, that might be more entertaining to watch. Just wanted to ask what's shaking," Nihilego explained. Noticing Bayleef still stumbling over a response, she face-palmed, "Ugh… fine. I'll give you a softball question… why is the sky blue?"
"... light?" Bayleef responded, still unsured if he's correct or not. "Or is it a trick question? The sky is actually blue only in mornings and o-orange in the sunset and pitch black at night… w-was that right?"
"Are you serious?"
"Y-yes, I am. I'm here to win!"
"That was rhetorical…"
"Aw, you two are so cute! I ship it!" Poipole cooed annoyingly from a safe distance.
"Poipole, why are you doing this to me?"
"What?"
"You've been commenting once in a while, in the background. You're my co-host. Give me some support," Nihilego pointed out.
"Okie dokie!" Poipole agreed, inching closer to her fellow Ultra Beast. "I'll be the best co-host ever!"
"Uhh… am I involved w-with this conversation?" Bayleef asked in confusion.
"Just go to the others. We still have eight more introductions to go through with," Nihilego directed, pointing a tentacle to the beach. Bayleef nodded awkwardly, as he made his way to the others.
"H-he-" Bayleef started only to gulp as Vivillon glared at her for even talking. "W-wh-what's going on?!
"Vivillon's just feeling all pissy and annoyed for some reason," Skwovet scoffed, rolling his eyes. "And it's not because I stole her perfume or anything, wink wink."
"Oh please, I woke up at 5 o'clock sharp for this depraved competition," Vivillon hissed, tone dripping with venom.
"Oh… you must be very tired then," Gossifleur commented with a neutral expression.
"I hate you…"
"I don't hear anyone," Gossifleur said innocently, surprisingly retaining a really good poker face.
"W-wow… everyone's looking scary al-" Bayleef said to himself, only to be intercepted by Sableye who decided it would be a good idea to jump on his back. Scared, he stomped around to lose whatever was riding him, making Sableye fall to the ground with a sharp thud. Bayleef's eyes widened in realization. "I'msorryI'msorryI'msorry…"
"No worries, I'm a ghost-type," Sableye assured. "I just wanted to try riding on you, hehehehe."
"LANGUAGE!" Floatzel shouted, appalled.
"SHUT UP!" Vivillon shouted even louder, waking up from her self-proclaimed well-deserved beauty nap.
"Sableye looked like he had a really hard fall…" Chansey commented in concern.
"He'll be okay! He's a Ghost-type!" Dedenne mocked, rolling his eyes.
"That's not exactly reassuring…"
The comical scene continued to happen as the next contestant arrived. She was a cute small brown bear with a moon on her face and a cute bushy tail. She winked at the camera, breaking into a really adorable giggle fit. Snapping her fingers, one of the interns, who was a Gallade, walked to the docks to carry her luggage to the beach.
"Thank you, dear~" The new arrival said sweetly as she made her way to the hosts… well not before, posing cutely at random intervals, that confused the hell out of Nihilego. Poipole just stared at her, amazed. "Hello! I'm so peachy keen excited to play the game!"
"Peachy… keen?" Nihilego commented, confused. "Uhh… is this the current internet lingo? Ugh… and to think, I thought Cramorant would be the only one…"
"Oh onesies! I'm just saying that cuz it sounded adorable" The bear explained with a sharp giggle. "I'm just so oh so adorable! I'm Teddiursa, I like trains!"
"I like trains too!" Poipole blurted. "Especially purple ones, but they're not too common. Don't you like it when they ch-"
"Uhh… Poipole, you're moving off-topic here," Nihilego pointed out, folding her arms. "But welcome, Teddiursa. I think I might need some time to… uhh… get used to your… vocabulary you have there."
"Don't'cha worries about me. I'm a supah dupah friendly lil' bear!" Teddiursa said with yet another giggle. At this point, it's getting too much. "I'll go say nice to meet'cha to everyone else now, okie dokes!" The young bear Pokemon walked cutely to the beach where the Gallade intern left her things. And with another giggle, she waved, "Hellosies! I'm Teddiursa! Let's all be besties~"
"I'll be your bestie, hehehehehe," Sableye said with a wide grin.
"You're not fooling anyone, BACKSTABBER," Floatzel warned, rolling his eyes.
"I feel so blessed!" Teddiursa giggled, surprisingly still having the voice to giggle despite giggling so loudly since she arrived.
The 'touching' moment of Floatzel saving Teddiursa from Sablyeye with the arrival of the next contestant. The next contestant was four interlocking gears. Only one of the gears had a face on it. The contestant had a blank expression as he floated on over to Nihilego, for his introduction.
"Title... Competition. Day 1. Status… Eager. Preparing introduction," The gear Pokemon rambled, expression unchanging as the gears of his moved. "I am Klingklang. While I am genderless, I identify as male."
"Like the assertiveness already. How are you feeling, dude?" Nihilego asked.
"Processing query… gathering data," Klingklang droned, eyes flitting open and close. "Please recall what I said approximately 100 words ago. Replaying the clip. Status is eager."
"Oookay?" Nihilego commented. "Now-"
"I observed all of the contestants are at the beach… so I gather that I must be heading there," Klingklang guessed, expression unchanging.
"Yeah… uhhmm… a minor question… Why are you talking like… that?" Nihilego blurted out, starting at the gear Pokemon.
"I don't understand. I always talk this way," Klingklang said, oblivious to how… strange and unfamiliar he sounded. "I'll be heading to the others, if this conversation remains unproductive."
"Sure. Knock yourself out," Nihilego responded, rubbing the back of her head. Klingklang doesn't react as he started wordlessly floating to the beach.
Nihilego shuddered as he left, "Okay, I know I read his application but looking at it, in the flesh… yep… mistakes were definitely made."
Contestant number 15 then arrived and well… it was a shocking sight to behold, that even the contestants on the beach were interested for once. Cramorant was trying to see if her now-broken phone could still take a picture but just sobbed as it failed to turn off. Gossifleur gasped before turning to gossip with Chansey and Teddiursa. Klingklang looked rather unabashed by the contestant. Pikachu fainted for some reason. It was… Magearna, a Mythical Pokemon in the flesh. She had a blank expression as she skittered to the hosts.
"Hello, Nihilego. Hello, Poipole. I expect to be amazed by this game," Magearna commented with a deadpan expression. Ice cold to the point Nihilego shuddered a bit. "If I must introduce thyself, I am the Magearna."
"Okay… I didn't even know you were part of the cast," Nihilego commented, twiddling her tentacles with a sheepish grin. "I probably shouldn't have chosen applications at random…"
"You didn't though," Poipole pointed out, tapping his chin curiously. "Unless you're doing like… those twist where you let celebrities play too!"
"Ew, we're never doing that twist," Nihilego answered, stroking her forehead in confusion. "But seeing as only contestants can actually get a Lapras here… I guess Magearna really is playing?"
"You still don't sound so sure about it…" Poipole murmured sheepishly.
"No worries. I intuited that you both would have been suspicious. Thus, I brought my application," Magearna said, procuring a stack of papers from out of nowhere, further confusing the two hosts as she shovered them to their hands with a huff. "It contains all of my qualifications to be a contestant. And well…" Magearna smirked as she stroked her chin, "My purpose of signing up was to ease the boredom wreaking havoc on my daily life."
"We're uhh… glad to have you here!" Poipole commented, breaking into a grin.
"Uhh… yeah… totally stoked to have you here," Nihilego intoned as she pushed the applications back into Magearna's hands. "Just go to the beach, where everyone else is waiting then, dude- err… ma'am… lady Magearna sir?!"
Magearna smiled at the Ultra Beast's struggles, "Understood." She sashayed gracefully to the beach, where everyone was still barely computing that they're playing against a MYTHICAL POKEMON of all things.
"OMIGOSH OMIGOSH! Can I like like like," has crashed, as the bird was starstrucked. She didn't know Magearna at all beforehand but she recognized the name from one online forum, discussing the Legendary and Mythical Pokemon status of some Pokemon and judging from that, Cramorant KNEW that they were a HUGE deal so any legendary or mythical Pokemon would've left her speechless.
"You may be a mythical Pokemon but you're not as cute as me!" huffed Teddiursa childishly, face red.
"Or as rich as me," Vivillon added, rolling her eyes, not particularly caring at all.
Chansey, on the other hand… was basically setting down a blanket on the sand, to serve as a makeshift red carpet for Magearna, kneeling on it after she finished setting it up, "I'm honored to be playing with a Pokemon as esteemed as you, Lady Magearna."
Magearna arched her brow in confusion, "What are you doing exactly?"
"Milady! You have served as a huge inspiration for me, for your numerous feats of philanthropy! Saving lives everywhere. You also have that childish purity that never fails to make me smile!"
"Thank you… truly," Magearna answered, speechless. "I… don't know what else to say."
"Where was MY red carpet?!" Vivillon snapped in frustration.
"Maybe when you save the Skitty from being crushed by Wailord during intercourse," Skwovet quipped with a smug smirk. Vivillon doesn't respond, glaring at the rodent in silent fury. "Hey now, I'm just giving you a helpful suggestion now and it's not cuz your leather purse is suddenly missing. That's your own problem."
The next contestant can't compare to the arrival of the 16th contestant… who was surfing?! He was quickly swimming to the docks, without riding on anything. He was a large navy-blue penguin with a sharp beak that extended to three pointed horns that look like a trident. From his neck, to the center of his body was a blue fin-like protrusion. The edges of his wings were the same color as these protrusions. He swam to shore with a cocky expression, skipping the dock entirely.
He walked to the contestants with a cocky expression. Wing quickly moving over to his head, he scoffed, "So this is my competition?"
"Yes!" Gossifleur answered politely.
"W-who are you and where did you come from?!" Bayleef quivered in fear, just from the sheer intimidation that his fellow starter Pokemon was exuding. "S-stay away from me!"
"Empoleon, don't forget it," the penguin answered, flashing a confident smirk, which made nearly half of the contestants roll their eyes. "And don't worry. I'm not here to hurt anyone. I'm here to dominate!"
"Uhh… duly noted, I guess," Dedenne muttered under his breath, eyeing the penguin Pokemon cautiously.
"You're HUGE!" Pikachu commented before covering his mouth. "Reminder to self… buy duct tape…"
Poipole walked over the contestants with a weak smile, twiddling his fingers awkwardly, "Uhh… Empoleon, you were supposed to meet with me and Nihilego on the docks first."
"I defy expectations. Just give me the one million Pokedollars already. I've got this," Empoleon boasted. "I mean…" He gestured to his whole body. "Look at me. I'm a total powerhouse. You must be smoking some weird shit, if you think I don't got this in the bag."
"Uhhmm?! I could still win," Vivillon scoffed, rolling her eyes before scowling, "I mean, I'm the richest so…"
"EAT THE RICH!" Sableye shouted suddenly, raising his hands up before putting them both down slowly, realizing nobody got his joke. "T-that was a joke to lighten the mood, hehehehe…"
Floatzel shot him a death glare, clenching a fist, "I'm watching you..!"
"See. Everyone else here is a psycho. I'm the rightful winner. Just crown me already. Shortest season ever," Empoleon intoned, gesturing to the other contestants on the beach, placing his navy blue duffle bag on the sand.
Pikachu opened his mouth to interject before putting it back down, whispering silently in a tone nobody else can hear, "You know what… you might actually have a point…"
Poipole blinked at the fast-paced conversation transpiring in front of him, "Oh… sweet? I guess you got settled. I'll uhh… go back to Big Sis so we can finally get the last four contestants out of the way." And with that, Poipole took two awkward steps away… before breaking into a run to escape the… general awkwardness and silent tension of the beach.
"So… Empoleon?" Nihilego inquired, eyes narrowed into slits.
"Yeah, he's here. He's uhhmm… making a weird first impression… I'll uhh leave it at that, since I'm not biased at all!" Poipole answered, laughing nervously. He rubbed the back of his head with a frown, "He's probably the scariest contestant already."
Nihilego shrugged, shaking her head, "I still think Cramorant and Teddiursa were more frightening… you know how old text lingo can get… that's what Teddiursa's shtick is, right? Remind me. I literally forgot the names of five contestants by now. I'm already itching to get started."
"Well… it's soon, cuz the next contestant is here!" Poipole said, pointing to an incoming Lapras.
The 17th contestant coolly jumped off her Lapras, carrying her pink overnight bag around her neck. She was a bird-like Pokemon with primarily dark gray with lighter gray markings. The light gray markings consist of a heart-shaped patch covering its face and throat, two patches divided by a lacy line on its wings, and intricate stripes with dark rimming on its tail feather. Her beak and eyes are yellow, and has light gray legs with three clawed toes and a spur on the ankle. She wore a 'dead inside' expression as she walked over the hosts.
"'Sup…" The bird said with a cool expression. "This island looks… neat… could be worse, I suppose.
"Unfezant! I'm glad you finally have the time to get here," Nihilego joked mechanically, as if she was reading off a script.
Unfezant cocked a brow, shaking her head with a scoff, "Uhhh… I was told I would be the seventeenth contestant to arrive…" Putting her wings to her waist, she frowned, "I didn't want to be here… but my mom well… she told me it'd be a learning experience. And well, I was sold when I found out you were hosting because I was intrigued about your… hosting skills but well… regretting that decision already."
"No offense taken," Nihilego replied, smirking a bit. She winked smugly at the bird, "In fact, I'm thankful to know I'm not too good at hosting, because that'd mean I'm off-the-hook after this season."
"Neat… but save that for therapy," Unfezant commented, wing clasped on the strap of her overnight bag.
"Too intimidated by my star power, hmm?" Nihilego drawled, winking at the Flying-type. The jellyfish groaned, as she noticed her shrug, "Can you at least try to be interested? You signed up for this."
"My mom signed up for this," Unfezant corrected, crossing her wings, annoyed. She snorted, waving a wing at the Ultra Beast's face, "So yeah… this is sorta against my freewill… ugh… she's a professional at knowing the right things to say..."
"Well, good luck out here, I guess. You'll probably need it," Nihilego tried to assure her… keyword being try, since Unfezant arched a brow at her lack of trying.
"Cool? I'll go to the others, if that's gucci," Unfezant breathed out, walking to the other members of the cast after Nihilego nodded to give her permission to move forward.
As Unfezant left, there was no rest for the weary as the next contestant was already eagerly waiting by Nihilego's side, surprising the hostess as the new arrival didn't even think of informing her of his arrival… nor make a sound. He just had a wide grin, expression dripping with a lot of positive expectations and excitement… which will be thrown down the gutter but a very willing Ultra Beast. He was limbless snail-like Pokemon, made up of mostly red magma. He had a round nose and carried a gray rockhard shell with fire leaking out on his back. So the look of excitement… almost looked scary.
"Uhh… Magcargo… I didn't notice you actually arrived. That was well… fast!" Nihilego commented, taking a step back from the slowly approaching snail.
"I'm super stoked to be here! I set my alarm early and told my Lapras to go fast. I think being really hot helped too since Lapras went running as soon as she dropped me," Magcargo said really fast, eyes flickering with interest. He stopped to blink. Nihilego was about to open her mouth to reply but Magcargo then continued droning on, "I'm not a fan of the show but wow… an adrenaline rush is one hell of a drug. When I saw the application… something in me just told me to… just do it! So yeah, here I am and-"
"Are you done or are you going to share your life story with the rest of the class?" Nihilego asked smugly, gesturing to the contestants on the beach.
"Ooops! I'm so sorry. I tend to be a chatterbox," Magcargo admitted with a weak smile and if he had any limbs, he would be scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "Didn't mean to take up too much of your time, y'know?"
"It's alright. Just head on over to the others and mingle! I'm sure they'll enjoy some casual conversation," Nihilego urged, gesturing to the beach like she did with all of the other contestants. Magcargo nodded and began slowly crawling to the beach. Nihilego sighed as she gave a thumbs-up, "We're fortunate that we fire-proofed most of the island… since you know… Magcargo are really hot!"
"Yep! But I'm 100% sure the Pokedex information is LYING!" Poipole joked with a wide grin. "Oops, I almost sound like Floatzel but Contestant #19 is now here!"
Nihilego smirked sweetly at her co-host, "See you're already getting the hang of it." She then turned to the direction of the approaching Lapras, sighing in relief, "Only two contestants to go. Introducing them… is so exhausting honestly."
"At least it's not 48 this time!" Poipole pointed out. Nihilego shuddered in response. "S-sorry if that brought up bad memories for you."
"Nah, the game went by fast… seeing as it was cancelled but props to Rae- err… Noivern and Se- err… Kommo-o for making it to the end of that. Hope they didn't mind having that be off-screen or whatever," Nihilego said with a shrug. "Anyways…" Her expression quickly changed to a smile as she faced the 19th contestant. "Welcome, Gourgeist!"
The 19th contestant had a listless expression and wore headphones on her head… which weren't connected to anything. Her body was a grayish-brown pumpkin with an eerie smile carved on it. Her neck, and by extension her head, were sticking out of the pumpkin. She had long, light pink hair with arm-like tendrils framing its face and bangs that were covering most of one of her left eye. She doesn't seem to notice Nihilego's greeting… or more clearly, she was ignoring her as she turned to look down at nothing and pretending that she was typing on her phone.
"Status update: I'm on my way to meet the most annoying person ever… related to showbiz too, so you know it'll be terrible," Gourgeist blustered flatly. Nihilego winced at her… mannerisms but sighed, knowing that this wasn't the first 'weird' contestant she had encountered during the day. Looking up from her make-believe phone, she flashed a half-hearted smirk, "But I'll take you up on that greeting. Hey." Her hair-like tendrils suddenly moved to shake Nihilego's tentacle. "Stoked to be here… or whatever."
"Uhh… appreciate the enthusiasm?" Nihilego commented, failing to hide her reaction. While Gourgeist's expression kept changing… her tone remained dull, flat and basically uninterested.
"Indubitably," Gourgeist replied, forcing a weird accent which doesn't stick with her naturally dry tone. "I'll be heading to the beach and…" She waved her tendrils to denote enthusiasm to make up for her lack of interest, "Yay. Fun. I can't wait to meet my future new bestie. Hurrah."
And with that, she uneventfully walked over to the beach, dragging her purple stroller bag behind her. Nihilego and Poipole stared at her back before looking at each other with shared confusion, speechless.
But they're not given any time to breathe as the final contestant floated over to the duo with a teasing expression, "Ice to meet you!"
He was a two-headed Pokemon, whose body seems to be covered in snow. This along with the rest of his body were shaped like an ice cream cone. He had a wide grin on one face and a permanent smirk on the other. He didn't carry any luggage… which is probably due to his stubby appendages sticking out of his body hindering him. He bounced his eyebrows as he faced the hosts. A clear picture of confidence. "Who LOVES ice cream?!"
"Uhh… ew…" Nihilego commented, deadpanning. "You do get that…"
"We-" Vanilluxe was about to respond when… 'SPLAT', something fell on the poor ice cream's head. His eyes suddenly twitched at this, "W-what?! Is it suddenly raining?!"
Nihilego blinked at this before facing the camera, "CUT!"
Minutes after Vanilluxe's introduction, the ice cream and the two hosts were back at the docks after they let the ice cream clean himself from the… thing (sure, we'll go with that) that fell on him. He forced a smile, laughing nervously.
"That was a curveball, h-huh?!"
Poipole arched his brow, tilting his head to the side cutely, "I know right! There weren't even any flying-types nearby! You know… aside from the contestants here."
"Yeah yeah… let's uh… move along… follow me, Vanilluxe," Nihilego asked as she started to make her the beach with Poipole dragging his heels behind him, a little bit jealous he can't float.
"I still had more jokes to tell… I had a really funny one too and it was about a shoe!" Vanilluxe muttered to himself in disappointment as he followed after them.
Nihilego silently sighed in relief as she gathered all of the twenty contestants on the beach. The first step was finally over despite some… bumps toward the end.
"Is everyone excited fo-"
"WAIT WAIT! Are we gonna take a groupfie?!" Cramorant chimed in, waving her phone on one hand with a distressed expression. Sighing, she placed her free wing on her waist, "I mean… isn't this like a memory we want to like… keep in our hearts metaphorically and literally through like photos."
"What's a groupfie..?" Gossifleur silently whispered, looking towards Magearna, who shrugged in shared confusion. I guess, being a Mythical Pokemon doesn't automatically let you keep up with the trends.
"I… didn't bring a camera actually," Nihilego admitted with a shrug. "Just uhh… rewatch the show when it comes out… and let's get going?"
Cramorant pouted at this before sighing, "Awks, I guess you are like correct… but I wore my make-up and everything cuz I like thought we were taking a group picture like some orgs el ehm ey oh."
"You can use your phone, hehe!" Sableye suggested, not knowing that Cramorant… had a bit of an accident earlier. The cormorant glared at him, thinking he's being insensitive. Sableye was none the wiser, "Or not… sorry, hehe!"
"Uh-huh… sorry for disappointing you or whatever. I would advise everyone to just… watch this when it comes up and get a screencap of some parts you like," Nihilego urged, gesturing everyone to follow her. "We're running on a one hour time slot so let's go."
"I can't believe we're actually on international television!" Gossifleur commented following after the jellyfish. "This is such a NEW experience!"
"I don't know about you but I don't feel too good a-about this!" Pikachu chimed in, shaking silently. "I c-can't make to be forced to make bad decisions… oh no…"
Floatzel put a reassuring pat on his shoulder, which made Pikachu shudder in surprise as he followed closely behind them, "Don't worry, young boy! As long as I'm here, there won't be anything BAD on this island!"
"Not exactly what I mean but… thanks?"
One by one, most of the group all began walking ahead, deeper into the island. While Nihilego didn't say it outright, everyone knew… the game was afoot… though, not everyone was following the group. Unfezant just stood on the beach with a bored expression with a still-sleeping Musharna.
"Ugggggh… walking?! I didn't sign up for this!" Unfezant complained, crossing her wings with a huff. She looked over to the psychic-type with, shaking her head, "I'm shocked you're not following them though."
"... mmmmm… mom… is that you?" Musharna was still asleep, making Unfezant groan in exasperation before stomping to the direction of where the group headed. As the pigeon was finally out of sight, Musharna's eyes slowly opened. "Huh? I had the weirdest dream..."
"..." Nobody was with her. She was alone. Musharna deadpanned at this, "I must've overslept again…" Without saying another word, she slowly levitated deeper into the island. "I wonder what's for dinner…"
And for the first time this afternoon, the beach was vacant. The game was ON!
TO BE CONTINUED...
20 Unlucky Campers
Males - Bayleef, Dedenne, Empoleon, Floatzel, Klingklang (Identifies as male), Magcargo, Pikachu, Sableye, Skwovet, Vanilluxe
Females - Chansey, Cramorant , Gourgeist, Gossifleur, Magearna (Identifies as female), Musharna, Oricorio, Teddiursa, Unfezant, Vivillon
And that's the first chapter! Or well part of it…
Notes: This was supposed to be a long chapter but it was reaching 20k and like… no, I don't think anyone can read that much, especially when you can't bookmark what part of the story you're currently reading so I trimmed it into two pieces. This MIGHT happen to future chapters IF and only IF they get too long. But most chapters would be one part. Just wanted to explain that for those confused.
Everyone gets introduced. I decided to just make it straight-to-the-point with my approach. Nihilego introduces them to the camera. They introduce themselves, have a bit of screentime with the hosts OR with the contestants or rarely, both. I didn't want to bloat the episode too much since it's the introduction.
It was actually easy writing this episode since it only took a week, editing included (If there are grammar errors, then I'm just blind okay). And that also included the 2nd part which is just as long so yeah. I'm not yet done editing that but I decided to finish up with this and divide it into parts for easier reading.
Some characters didn't get a lot of screen time in this chapter but as an introductory chapter, some people had to be forced to the background so if your favorites are UTR (Under the Radar) for now, they'll break out in future chapters… errr spoilers, aside.
Nihilego: Please review. It's for my paycheck.
Poipole: We have food!
Nihilego: No bribing…
Poipole: We appreciate it, either way!