Time for episode 2! Okay! I'm not exactly good with intros… So let's get down to this!

In the Trubbish girls' side of the cabin, Gossifleur has taken it upon herself to wake up bright and early, even before the sun has finished rising. As she hopped over her bunk to head to the door, Oricorio stirred from her sleep with a tired grumble.

"Huh? ... what?" Oricorio mumbled, slowly opening her eyes, waking up from Gossifleur's light footsteps. She rubbed her eyes, steading herself as she leaned on the bed frame, noticing Gossifleur near the door. "Gossifleur?"

Gossifleur was caught off-guard as she yelped in surprise, turning to the cheerleader with a sheepish expression. "Oh! I see you're awake as well, Oricorio!"

"Mmm? I heard your footsteps…" Oricorio explained, placing her head back underneath her pillow to try and go back to sleep, to no success. "Where are you heading, anyway? It's… 4:00 AM?"

"4:30 actually!" Gossifleur corrected with a curt giggle.

"That's still pretty early…" Oricorio started, before groaning she gave up and decided to just sit up on her bed. "I didn't peg you to be an early riser anyway…"

"Well… I like taking walks around the island!" Gossifleur explained. Oricorio looked unconvinced. 'Back home… I took long walks around the house since we had a really spacious lawn. It helps me clear my head."

"So… you must have a lot on your mind, huh?" Oricorio queried, cocking a brow. "I mean… it's pretty early…"

"..." Gossifleur smiled sheepishly as she leaned on the door frame for support. "I guess… that's one way to put it. It's… pretty difficult to convey into simple words actually… I promise that I won't stray too far away from camp."

"Well… I guess I shouldn't be doubting you," Oricorio said with a short sigh. "I'm just feeling really tapped out right now so knock yourself out."

"I will!" The flower answered as she slowly tiptoed out of the room, closing the door as silently as she could, to not wake anyone else up.

Oricorio sighed as she flopped back on her pillow, "Time to peace out..."

Oricorio sat in the confessional with an exhausted expression. She yawned as she leaned to the side of the wall, "I'm still pretty sleepy… but it's okay. I'm not the type to complain… I'll just… rest my eyes and…" Her eyes suddenly drooped. "..."

She was then suddenly shaken awake as she hit her head on the wall. "Bwuh!? Give me a W! Give me a T! Give me an F! Ugh…"

A few hours have passed since Gossifleur and Oricorio had an early morning conversation. The sun was already rising in the near distance, as the campers began to wake up, one by one.

Empoleon stretched his arms as he woke up from a really deep sleep, yawning loudly. He smacked his lips as he greeted his groggy teammates. "G'morning."

Bayleef whimpered as he hugged his pillow tighter, "Give me five more minutes, mom…"

Empoleon rolled his eyes as he climbed down to the floor. "It's morning! Winners don't sleep in. We don't want to waste any time we have, when we could be training!"

"Maybe I d-don't want to be a winner," Bayleef whined… only to scream as Empoleon succeeded in separating him from his pillow. "E-Empoleon, t-the challenge's not soon yet?! C-Can I go back to bed?!"

"No, you're going to join me for breakfast then we're going to go jogging!" Empoleon said, crossing his arms. "You can't be a winner if you're just going to whine and sleep for the whole day. You signed up for this competition to WIN!"

"I think he heard you the first time," Pikachu commented with a yawn as he was standing by the dresser, freshening up. Noticing Bayleef starting to tear up, Pikachu smiled weakly, "B-Bayleef, you…" He stopped himself as his mind began to wonder.

"Don't you dare cry on me!" Empoleon scowled at his bunkmate. "Only losers cry."

"..." Bayleef continued to silently sob as he tried and failed to get his pillow back from the penguin's clutches.

"DON'T BULLY THE POOR THING!" Floatzel snapped at Empoleon with an unamused expression. "He's VERY tired!"

"We got a good 8 hours of sleep," Empoleon pointed out, gripping onto Bayleef's pillow. "Isn't that already enough?"

"Hehe… Bayleef might be a late-riser, judging from his reaction," Sableye commented from his lone bunk.

"Nobody asked you, SABLIAR!" Floatzel growled at the Dark/Ghost type accusingly.

"W-what are you even talking about?!"

"Ugh… I'm not in the mood for this…" Pikachu said as he walked to leave the room.

Sableye and Floatzel enhanced a look before Floatzel returned to a scowl. "SEE! You made Pikachu uncomfortable! You're SCUM!"

"I think it's-"

"SILENCE!"

As Sableye and Floatzel engaged in an argument, Empoleon and Bayleef both stared at them with a shared deadpan expression. "Uhh… do they have to fight every time?" Bayleef queried, sitting up, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

Empoleon shrugged at this as he turned to face his fellow starter Pokemon. "Floatzel was the instigator… and Sableye doesn't exactly fight back too much…" He then donned a serious expression. "I hope you're different though. I know you have potential, Bayleef."

"Aaaand it's b-back to this again…" Bayleef gulped, eyes shifting to the side.

Bayleef smiled weakly at the camera. "I had… confidence issues, even as a C-Chikorita but you know what everyone told me… hey just evolve! You'll feel better… and g-guess what?! It got worse!" He sighed as he tapped his foot on the wall. "I d-do appreciate Empoleon trying to make me a… 'w-winner' but…"

He gulped as he leaned closer to the camera. "He's the scariest person I've ever met!"

"I don't care if I'm being pushy," Empoleon said, arms crossed. "You have to be forceful, if you want something to happen. And while I was half joking about the 'potential' thing… but I guess Bayleef still has room to grow. I mean, at least he's not a fucking psycho like that Gourgeist or Floatzel."

He sighed, shaking his head. "I like a challenge… so he better impress me. But if he doesn't… I'm used to disappointment."

"I think everyone's already getting used to my smell," Sableye admitted before frowning. "Or not… I don't actually know… but Floatzel is thinking I'm shady or evil. Is it because I'm a Dark type? Or maybe it's a joke… cuz if so, then that's very funny, hahaha!" He laughed nervously before accidentally choking on his own spit, gagging.

"Ack! That was a close one!"

The Shuppet girls were also preparing to get started for the day, with breakfast waiting for them at the mess hall. Though, some weren't exactly enthusiastic.

"Gee… do we really have to go have some breakfast?" Unfezant asked rhetorically, feeling unamused.

"Well… you would starve if you don't… and I don't want that to happen," Chansey pointed out, clasping her hands. "Even if… Indeedee's cooking… leaves much room for improvement."

"Girl, that's an understatement," Unfezant said, fake-gagging. "I think I even saw my mush move yesterday… and don't get me started on Indeedee."

"He has a few loose screws," Teddiursa agreed with a nod. She gulped as her mind flashed back to the chef threatening her with a knife. "I was worried for my cute life for once." She turned to Musharna. "Don't you agree, Mushy?"

"..." Musharna yawned as she gave the bear a weird look. "Mushy? Very funny… the mush… tasted funny…"

"It's short for Musharna!" Teddiursa explained with a giggle. "But maybe, it's unfortunate that it's the same as… what we ate… last night." Her face suddenly turned green. "Ugh…"

"I think you're all overreacting," Magearna commented with a frown. "I'm sure Indeedee is a great chef. I mean, the mush didn't taste too weird. I mean… you can even say, it tastes like an unripe orange or chewed up bubblegum!"

"Blech. None of those are even delicious," Unfezant complained, rolling her eyes. "Besides, you're a Steel-type… so yep, can't get poisoned."

"You're being a bit too harsh," Magearna said quietly.

"Or maybe you're being too nice," Unfezant countered. Teddiursa nodded in agreement.

"I need some actual food to be a cutie!" Teddiursa added.

"Don't gang up on Lad- err… Magearna!" Chansey huffed, hands on her waist.

"Don't be a suck-up. Magearna might run out of juice to suck," Unfezant drawled, smirking smugly.

Chansey's face turned bright red in embarrassment. "W-we're not sucking anything!

"Yes, you are!" Teddiursa huffed, annoyed. "But this isn't between us girls! It's about INDEEDEE, uwu! Something needs to be done about him!"

"I-it's just Day 2!" Chansey pointed out.

Musharna yawned, as she forced her eyes to open. "We're in the middle of an uninhabited island… nobody would ever find our bodies… so I agree. Indeedee is scary."

Teddiursa and Unfezant both blinked in response before nodding in agreement, with Unfezant smiling weakly. "Yep… that's right. I do like talking about him behind his back but I'd rather not confront him… he's already Top 3 in my list of frightening people."

"Who are the other two?" Magearna inquired, arching a brow.

"My mom and Musharna when she's asleep."

"I'm sure your mother is a nice person!" Chansey interjected, crossing her arms. "I mean, they thought for your wellbeing to sign you up for this quaint competition!"

"Are you even hearing yourself?! This isn't even cool…" Unfezant scoffed, rolling her eyes. "And care for my wellbeing?! Oh please, that's just something people would tell their children to get them to behave." She slouched as her pitch squeakened. "Oh, do your homework! It's for your future!" She rolled her eyes, tone returning back to normal. "Oh please, I can do my homework at my own pace so don't even nag me around, mom!"

"Well… education is important…" Chansey pointed out, twiddling her finger joints together.

"Uh-huh… neat, that's good to know…" Unfezant drawled with disinterest. "But maybe you should tell that to someone who actually cares, hmm?"

"I care, UwU!" Teddiursa said, raising a hand.

"Eh, you're a ditz so I can't say education saved you there…" Unfezant countered, making the little bear pout as she put her hand down.

"I'm not a ditz!" Teddiursa said. "Just dangerously adorable!"

"I can believe that…'' Magearna said before turning to leave. "Anyways, let's head for breakfast?"

"What if I don't want to?" Unfezant said cheekily.

Magearna scoffed before smiling smugly. "I mean… unless you want me to spill the beans to Indeedee about what you think about his cooking~"

"Fiiiiiine," Unfezant groaned, following Magearna and Chansey out of the door. "Indeedee fucking scares me…"

"Chansey and Magearna are too preachy for my liking. I don't care if Magearna's a Mythical Pokemon or whatfucking ever," Unfezant started, rolling her eyes. "I thought all Legendaries slash Mythicals were dicks or big jackasses so wow, way to ruin my expectations… but honestly, that would've been better than being a borewhore."

She scoffed, twirling her head feathers. "But whatever… I'll play along… for now. I'm not usually that easily tamed but eh, let's see how this shakes out."

"I really look up to Magearna… she's such a huge inspiration… especially at a younger age, compared to other Mythical Pokemon. When I learned about her while reading through an online forum, it really touched my hourt," Chansey explained, making hand gestures as she spoke. "Usually, online media is full of… distasteful things so she was a bright light in a dark place."

She sighed, eyes shifting to the side. "I hope Unfezant sees my point… I don't want to sound too forceful though…"

As Teddiursa was about to leave, Musharna stopped her with a thoughtful expression. "Don't leave… yet."

Teddiursa cocked an eyebrow as she turned behind her, to face the sleepy tapir. "Hmm? What gives? You're not usually this… talkative, UwU."

Musharna gave her a look, mumbling, "I had an awful day… I'm still sleepy… and I can go auto-pilot if I wanted to… but I'm going to use all of the energy I saved up from sleeping through most of yesterday." She yawned loudly as she dismissively waved her hand around. "Anyways… I want an alliance… you and me?"

Teddiusa's eyes fluttered at her offer before making a pouty expression. "An awwiance? Awn Day 2? Don't you think you're rushing things?"

"... mmm?" Musharna muttered, closing both of her eyes again.

"W-what? Don't just go to sleep on me, after giving me an a-alliance offer, bestie!" Teddiursa stammered, starting at the barely moving Musharna.

"Bwuh? I wasn't sleeping…" Musharna retorted, rolling her eyes. "I saved a lot… of… ener- zzzzzz…" It was too late. Musharna was back to sleep, leaving Teddiursa to gawk at her.

"EXCUSE ME? What the cutey fuck?" Teddiursa yelled in disappointment.

"Uhh… are you guys having trouble?" Unfezant asked, peering back into the room. "I was concerned when you guys weren't following us to the mess hall."

"U-Unfezant?! That's oh so cute! Musharna was just telling me about her rock collection!" Teddiursa lied, trying to maintain a straight face. Musharna nodded weakly in agreement, despite… being asleep. Unfezant cocked an eyebrow in confusion, crossing her wings.

"Ookay? But… Musharna's asleep." Unfezant pointed at the sleeping tapir, then putting her wing on her waist. She then smirked smugly. "But whatever… any boring stuff you were talking between yourselves would be a THOUSAND times better than what Magearna and Chansey were talking about. Talk about being a total borewhore!"

"Awww… I think they're both cute, even if their opinions sometimes suck!" Teddiursa admitted, one hand on her waist and the other hand clenched into a fist. "Why are you..?"

"Maybe, we should vote for Chansey, if we lose." Unfezant started, leaning on the doorway with a smirk.

"H-huh? Okay… what?"

"Just tell me how you feel about that, if you have the time," Unfezant said before turning to leave, waving a wing at Musharna and Teddiursa. "Don't take too long… talking about your rock collection or whatever." And with that, Unfezant was gone again.

Teddiursa blinked before groaning in exasperation. "What the fuck is going on with everyone? This isn't adorable! Does nobody know how to have a PROPER convo without it moving really fast. Talk about getting up to eleven in less than a second..."

"You were never adorable anyway…" Musharna sleep talked with a strangely smug expression.

"_ Noooow, you're awake?!"

"I was waiting for Unfezant to leave…" Musharna murmured, smiling smugly. "But… what do you think about the alliance?"

"Uhh… can I get more time to think about it though?" Teddiursa queried.

Musharna deadpanned at this, unamused. "You do get that it's an alliance between two people. Literally no reason to refuse… unless… you're an idiot."

"Maybe I am!" Teddiursa said with a giggle. She then stopped giggling as Musharna looks unconvinced. "Fiiiine, let's be an alliance or whatevs. It's your problem and not mine, anyway."

"I mean… you're the person I trust the most on this team…" Musharna admitted.

"Bwuh?!" Teddiursa sputtered out, surprised. "But yo-"

"I guess you can say I know the boys on our team… are all… loud or annoying," Musharna explained flatly. "Unfezant is… Unfezant, while I think Chansey wants to start a relationship with Magearna and I don't want to be the third wheel…"

"That's a pretty cute assessment of the team, Mushy!"

"Don't… call me Mushy…"

"I think the girls on my team are all… really getting into the game," Teddiursa commented, looking to the side in discomfort. "Musharna's asleep for like… 90% of the day and she thinks she can make an alliance with me from out of the blue. And I know Unfezant doesn't like Chansey or Magearna based on first impressions, but I don't think she's the type to just… do… that! Oooh boy… as long as it's not me, I guess I shouldn't be mad."

She sighed, hitting her head on the wall. "But I bet the boys aren't this uncoordinated. This sucks!"

Musharna yawned before she stared at the camera, cobbling up the most confident expression she could make, which still looked tired and sleepy. "My goal is to be underestimated and use that to my advantage… nobody would expect the girl who's asleep 24/7 to be the one making alliances after all… but well… I'll be real. I'm not even faking anything… other than the fact that I don't fall asleep at a drop of a hat. I… have stronger willpower than that but eh, I like seeing people's reactions. And it helps me catch up on my sleep."

Magearna looked rather tired as she leaned on the wall for support. "I don't feel too… welcome on this team. I haven't gotten the chance to get to know the boys yet but the girls… I don't think they like me too much."

She looked at the side guiltily. "I don't want to throw anyone under the bus before we even meet the boys… but honestly, I'm not too confident right now."

The Trubbish girls were all gathered in the mess hall, thanks to Oricorio, with the sole exception of Gossifleur who was sleeping in, after waking up earlier.

"Ugh… this better be good," Vivillon groaned, rolling her eyes in annoyance. "You WOKE us all up for no reason AND you did NOT wake Gossifleur up. Is this favoritism?! I'm rich and can RUIN YOU!"

"Vivillon, calm down! Maybe, Oricorio called us for like… breakfast," Cramorant pointed out. "I mean, I'm like soooo starving. And she also like, mentioned that Gossifleur woke up earlier so like, Ori doesn't wanna be rude to her cuz she had like lack of sleep."

"Everything she said, but in a less cringey way," Gourgeist agreed with a deadpan expression. Cramorant glared at her but Gourgeist continued to ignore her.

"Ugh… this doesn't make this any less annoying," Vivillon grumbled. "Besides, we already know Indeedee's cooking is straight-up terrible."

"Shhh, don't say that! He might be listening in," Gourgeist whispered nonchalantly.

"I don't fucking care. It's terrible and I deserve better treatment. Nihilego should've hired better chefs," complained Vivillon, rolling her eyes.

Oricorio sighed, smiling weakly. "G-guys! We're not here to complain about Indeedee… and his cooking. I know he tries his best…" Oricorio's eyes looked to her left then her right, to see if the chef was anywhere nearby. "But err… breakfast aside, I gathered you all here to improve our team spirit!"

"What the fuck is that?!" Vivillon questioned in disbelief. "I would've preferred if you just decided to wake me up from my beauty sleep if it was for breakfast…"

"Your beauty sleep wasn't working anyway," Gourgeist drawled, laughing dryly when Vivillon growled at her. "It's okay. I always knew I would be controversial."

"Well… I would've asked the boys to join us but I didn't want to intrude," Oricorio said. "By improving our team spirit, I mean… like, improving morale to inspire us to win all of the challenges. I know it's a dumb thing to hear but trust me, morale really matters."

"Ugh, we know. You're a cheerleader," Vivillon scoffed with an unamused frown.

"And proud of it!" Oricorio huffed, pom pom wings on her waist. "So, let's bond and share stories! I mean, the closer we are to each other, the more we want to win! I believe in that! Give me a Y! Give me an A! And give me an S!... I would also do the splits but Vivillon might claim I'm wasting our time."

"You know me so well!"

"So uhhh… we like… introduce ourselves? Like awks, okay, I guess," Cramorant commented with a sheepish expression. "Maybe, you should've gotten the boys to join us. That'd be like great."

"Not yet!" Oricorio answered.

"Are we waiting for someone? I thought you already said the boys and Gossifleur weren't joining us," Gourgeist pointed out.

"Well…" Oricorio started as Indeedee entered the room from the kitchen with a warm expression as he carried a tray of food to the table.

"Breakfast is served!" Indeedee expressed, setting down bowls for the four girls. It was… a liquidy gray-colored stew? There were a few chunks of gray… things that were probably and hopefully edible. "It's some oatmeal! I'm personally proud that I made a fresh batch with only organic ingredients."

Gourgeist stared at it before blinking at the chef, "Oh… it definitely looks like a meal, alright…"

"Omigosh… like… uhh… thank you!" Cramorant commented, laughing nervously, averting her gaze from the 'oatmeal'.

"You're welcome. I woke up bright and early just to get ingredients for them," Indeedee said, rubbing the back of his head with a confident smirk. "Enjoy!' With a polite wave, the camp chef then walked to the kitchen, leaving the room.

The four Trubbish girls blinked for a few moments before Cramorant groaned audibly. "This like… sucks."

"For once, you said something agreeable," Vivillon commented. "I don't know why we were waiting for…" She gestured to her bowl with a disgusted expression. "This monstrosity…"

"Well… it's more enjoyable to chat, while eating," Oricorio explained, smiling sheepishly, before pumping her wings up one by one. "Say it with me now! NOM NOM NOM, we're gonna NOM NOM NOM! No mush problem! Trubbish will WIN WIN WIN!"

Gourgeist moaned in a deadpan tone. "Oh Arceus… did you just think of that on the spot?"

"I try."

"Never try… it's better that way."

"Don't be too rude. I'm not too good, when it comes to thinking of cheers, on the spot." Oricorio said, puffing her cheeks cheekily. "But let's get started with introductions. I can start us off!" She gestured to herself, flashing a bright smile. "I'm Oricorio. I'm a high school student from Melemele Island in the Alola Region. I'm also a cheerleader and while I do admit I'm not the best, I'm known for my infectious passion!"

"Like, what do cheerleaders even do?" Cramorant interrupted, raising a wing. "I only know them via Tiktok… kinda… do they do cartwheels and plankings lol?"

"Uhh… cartwheels yes… plankings… I don't think-"

Vivillon raised her wing, interrupting Oricorio's answer to the cormorant's question. "Are cheerleaders all loud and annoying?"

Oricorio rolled her eyes, forcing a wide smile. "No, but we have to carry on, even if people criticize us because of baseless assumptions, Vivillon~"

"I don't like how you phrased that…" Vivillon muttered, sinking back onto her seat.

"Anyways… that's everything. I don't have a dramatic life back home, to be honest." Oricorio continued, with everyone but Vivillon nodding to show that they're listening. "So… yeah. That's just me! Okay, Cramorant, you can go next!"

"Like omg… okay? Well I-" Cramorant began, only to be interrupted by more contestants walking into the mess hall for breakfast, specifically Sableye, Floatzel and Pikachu. Pikachu cocked a brow, curious as she noticed the girl but deflated when he noticed what they were eating.

"What… is that?" The electric Kantonian rodent asked, face paling.

"Looks like part 2 of the mystery mush, if you ask me, hehe," Sableye commented, eyes shifting to the side nervously, still feeling uncomfortable from his short altercation with Floatzel.

"It's apparently oatmeal," Gourgeist chimed in, stirring her spoon in her bowl with mild intensity. "I don't know what oatmeal is, so I'm assuming this is what all oatmeal looks like. I learned by now that things that have the word 'meal' in them are not delicious. It's basic knowledge."

"... ugggh…" Pikachu groaned as he walked over to the other table, to take a seat for breakfast. Sitting down, he held his head with a long annoyed sigh. "So… many… regrets…"

"Is he okay?" Oricorio queried, looking over to Pikachu with concern.

"He's a bit out of it, hehe," Sableye explained, avoiding Floatzel's occasional glances as he went to join Pikachu.

"HMPH!" Floatzel grumbled as he followed Sableye to the other table.

"A bit of bonding time can help a team," Oricorio started, legs folded as she smiled confidently. "We can win, if we have the right drive to win… so by organizing a light gathering to introduce ourselves to each would help push us closer… though, obviously, I can't proceed on, with the Shuppet boys listening in. I trust that everyone cares for their privacy."

"But don't worry! We're gonna win!" Oricorio declared with a righteous smirk.

"I don't know why Oricorio's trying to promote team spirit like a ten year old, but if it means she won't vote me off… well, I'll have to say I'm onboard with it," Vivillon remarked, looking to the side with a huff. "But if this doesn't work out and we lose, she really has to rethink her fucking strategy since this is dumb!"

"Like, Ori is sooo nice and helpful," Cramorant admitted, stroking her chin as eyes glowed in admiration. "She's suggesting a lot of good ideas and I'm like into it but she's like telling us not to continue since Pika and the other boys are in the room and like, I get it. They're on the opposite team. We have to keep our secrets el oh el. I'm like no stranger to those after all!"

In the opposing team's cabin, the Trubbish boys were just waking up… well, most of them. Vanilluxe was still deep asleep. Meanwhile, Klingklang was idly standing in front of one dresser, just sifting through the drawers without saying a word. Magcargo approached him with a curious expression.

"What are you looking for? I only just realized there were dressers in here but I guess it's so we can put our stuff in it! Do you think that someone lived in here before or are these cabins newly built, just for the show? Are yo-"

Klingklang gave him an unamused look, shutting him out. "Can't compute. Please talk slower."

"Oops… sorry… I kinda talk fast and that's a bit of a personal problem and well, I try to control it. I meditate, gaze at the stars at night, ask for help through online forums, but nothing seems to work and well, it's okay. It's just one of my personality quirks, if you can call it that. And that's pretty neat. Don't you-" Magcargo stopped himself as his eyes widened in realization. "Oh no, I think I said too much again…"

"Yes… yes, you did," Klingklang reaffirmed with a deadpan expression.

"Are you going to tell me what you were looking for though?" Magcargo perked up as he leaned closer to the gear.

"It's nothing important," Klingklang muttered to himself. "I'm just searching through my things."

"Oh… so you're not like… hunting for clues or whatever," Magcargo asked, bouncing his eyebrows. "I can help. Just tell me what you need to find."

"I don't need your help." Klingklang responded before sighing as he closed the bottom-most drawer. "Not here either."

Magcargo frowned, saddened by his self-proclaimed friend's disappointment. "Aww… don't worry! Whatever you were looking for will turn up eventually."

"I prefer not to remain complacent." Klingklang intoned, eyes shifting from side to side. "It's… a heirloom of mine."

"I didn't know robots have heirlooms. Is it like a brooch or a fine piece of china? Can I s-"

Klingklang scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Preparing rebuttal. Firstly, I would like to remind you that I'm not a robot…" Noticing Magcargo narrowing his eyes in suspicion, he sighed in response. "Why do you even think I am a robot? Is it because I'm Steel-type? That would be a bit of typist of you to even imply that all steel types are robots. Secondly, it's a secret."

"I thought we're starting to be friends though!"

"You wouldn't leave my side," Klingklang said matter-of-factly.

"I'm just really intrigued and interested."

"Can't compute…"

"Why are you back to the robot shtick again?!"

As this unfolded, Skwovet and Dedenne watched from their bunk with an interested expression.

"Okay… for someone who only met each other yesterday… those two are pretty close," Skwovet commented with a smug expression.

"What do you mean? I think Klingklang clearly hates Magcargo," Dedenne argued, peering over his bed to the bottom bunk. "Unless… you're saying they're like an old married couple then I guess… I can agree. What is Klingklang looking for anyway?"

"Beats me… I haven't pickpocketed him yet," Skwovet said with a nonchalant shrug. Dedenne cocked a brow in confusion, making the squirrel chuckle. "I have a bit of a tendency to get all grabby but don't worry. I return the stuff I pilfer… most of the time."

"Excuse me? Is there anything we don't know, Skwovet?" Dedenne questioned, biting his lip.

"Well… Vivillon was kind of an ass so I took it upon myself to steal some of her make-up," Skwovet explained with a lighthearted chuckle. "But I don't think she cares since she's so stuck-up… but at least, I can sell these for a light profit outside the game."

"Do you really think you should admit that on national television though?" Dedenne pointed out.

Skwovet scoffed, confident smile unwavering. "Oh please. That won't stop me. Keeping anything a secret would've been boring."

"So you're saying… being transparently bitchy and horrible?" Dedenne said, tilting his head to the side before tilting it back as he almost fell off his bed.

Skwovet snickered, covering his mouth. "Well… that's one way to put it, I guess. I mean, whatever keeps Floatzel off my back. One of the many perks of being obnoxiously transparent."

Dedenne groaned in annoyance. "Don't remind me. Floatzel was hellbent on searching for this... " He made air quote gestures, rolling his eyes. "So-called hidden evil. Oh please, he signed up for this game. He shouldn't be so stuck-up and obnoxious and I would be more surprised if anyone here wasn't lying about something."

"Yep, signing up in a game that's bound to have backstabbing and lying, to stop backstabbing and lying. He's kinda not bright," Skwovet said with a smirk.

"Duh," Dedenne agreed, rolling his eyes, copying the squirrel's expression.

Klingklang stared at the camera blankly. "I intend to play this game in the most logical and efficient method that I can ever manage… which is not a difficult task to complete. But I only planned around the strategic aspect of the game that I nearly forgot that the chess pieces can move… and be annoying."

His expression remained unchanged. "I wouldn't succeed if I faltered, just because Magcargo insisted on being my friend… but I will allow him to be my friend. There's a lot of avenues that will open up, with a few connections on the side… if you know I know what I mean."

"I guess Skwovet is pretty… down to earth, if you can ignore him having those so-called sticky fingers of his," Dedenne commented, eyes shifting to the right. "But I'm going to have to be extra careful since I don't think he's even trying to control it… but I appreciate his honesty, I guess."

He shrugged, leaning back on the wall. "I can see myself working with him, so I'm glad that there's some people who aren't as crazy as I expected." He coughed fakely." Floatzel, cough cough…"

Less than an hour since Pikachu, Floatzel and Sableye went to the mess hall to begrudgingly eat breakfast. The rest of the remaining contestants trickled into the mess hall for breakfast. Gossifleur, Magcargo and Klingklang were the last contestants to walk in.

Oricori waved the three to sit with their team. Gossifleur grinned from ear to ear as she skittered over and sat across the electric bird. Klingklang looked indifferent while Magcargo nudged the gear to save him a seat.

"Gossifleur, how was your nap?" Oricorio queried, gripping onto her spoon as she tried and failed to force herself to eat breakfast.

"Oh! It was great! I had a really colorful dream!" Gossifleur said with a giggle. "But Klingklang and Magcargo came to wake me up for breakfast! I didn't expect to be napping for so long!"

"It was Magcargo's idea," Klingklang stated dryly, closing his eyes with a drawn out sigh.

"I mean, we can't miss breakfast after all! Gotta get the energy we need for challenges!" Magcargo said, with an energetic stare.

Vanilluxe chuckled, winking at his team. "We're all in the same OAT!"

"..." Everyone deadpanned in mutual confusion.

"G-get it?! Boat! Oatm-"

Gourgeist shook her head, tendrils patting the poor ice cream on the head. "That joke wasn't well-timed. And explaining the jokes takes away the appeal… if I was a joke connoisseur, that's what I would've said…'' She blinked nonchalantly. "But I'm not."

Vanilluxe laughed nervously. "J-just wanted a good laugh, since I know someone's going to complain about the food!"

"Damn right I will and I will never stop!" Vivillon said with a scoff.

Skwovet chortled, patting the butterfly on the back. "Hehe! Good one, girl! You're really funny and I'm not saying this because I just nabbed your precious earrings or whatevers, even if you don't have any reason to have them since you don't have any ears." Dedenne gave him a 'really?!' look, making Skwovet roll his eyes with a smirk. "Don't give me that look. You know I'm honest."

"Ugh…" Dedenne head-desked in annoyance but everyone was too focused on 'eating' and complaining to notice his annoyance.

Nihilego, Marill and Poipole all walked into the mess hall, making their way to the center of the building. Gallade followed after them, carrying what looked like themed jerseys with different numbers behind them. They were either colored purple and green, based on the team colors.

Nihilego grinned as she grabbed the topmost jersey and a cap, with the words 'SEEKER' embroidered on it. "Hello everyone! Is everyone ready for the first challenge?"

"No!" "I'm still hungry!" "I'M PREGNANT!" "Justice will be served!" "Indeedee can suck his DICK!"

Nihilego face-palmed at the overwhelming sound of complaints. "Well, I don't fucking care! We have a schedule! So I intend to follow it! So let's get to it! The first challenge is-"

"Looking tacky and ugly as fuck?" Unfezant interrupted, with a smug expression. She folded her wings. "Cuz I think you already have that in the bag, dude."

Nihilego rolled her eyes, ignoring the bird's snappy remark. "It's Hide and Seek Relay!"

"So… basically hide and seek with a relay involved? UWU! I'm sooo clueless!" Teddiursa commented, hitting herself on the head gently, tongue sticking out of her jaw.

"Well… that's the simplest explanation but it's not that hard. Each team will have to select a seeker while the rest of the team will choose a numbered jersey. The numbers will determine the order you will have to be found. The first seeker to find the rest of the opposing team wins immunity. You can't go out of order so if for example, you're on Hider #2, you can't suss Hider #5 even if you find them. Hiders have the chance to change their hiding spots if they were found before their order. NO HIDING BEYOND CAMP. We don't want y'all to run into wild Pokemon and DIE. NO FLYING BEYOND ARM'S REACH, Vivillon, since I can see you raising your hand."

Vivillon scowled as she put her wing down. "This is fucking rigged… and it hasn't even started."

"Well, it has to be fair… right?" Pikachu pointed out, twiddling his fingers before gulping. "Uhhmm… not that I agree… or anything."

"You have to TOUCH people to officially consider them 'caught', so consider this a distorted version of tag as well. If you're found, you have to head straight to the mess hall, and we have cameras all over the island, so don't even think of cheating!" Nihilego continued to explain. "I'll give everyone some time to decide their seeker and the order they want to be found."

With a curt nod, everyone exchanged a competitive look before keeping to their respective teams to discuss the challenge.

"I don't think I would make a good seeker," Gossifleur admitted with an unsure expression. "I'm a fast runner… but I think being small would help me in hiding!"

Bayleef gulped as he leaned back on the wall of the confessional. "T-the very f-first challenge is here… and I'm already f-feeling the pressure… I'm s-so nervous… aaaaah! I'm n-not good at time pressure! AAAAAHHHH!"

He continued to hyperventilate. "At this rate, I-I'm g-going to be the first boot! Is this the purpose of my existence?!"

Empoleon pumped a fist, flashing a confident grin. "I'm ready to DOMINATE! All these losers better watch out! I'm here to WIN! Best seeker in all of Sinnoh after all… and maybe, that might not be true NOW, but there's never better time to prove it than the present!"

He chuckled to himself. "The other tribe better be shitting themselves. They have no chance!"

"Nowhere to hide! The Trubbish are going to win, because we have good… ICESIGHT!" Vanilluxe joked, smirking at the camera. "GET IT?! Because we're going to see the seeker from a mile away and hide and when you have good eyesight, you can see hiders from afar and like, ice because I'm ice cream and th-" Vanilluxe's confessional is cut short as he continued to explain his joke.

Empoleon decided to take charge of the Shuppet, pointing to himself as he declared loudly, "So, does anyone have any fucking complaints if I volunteer to be the seeker? Like come on! I'm perfect for this!"

"Well, you were bound to be useful in something… and I guess Hide and Seek's your forte," Unfezant drawled, rolling her eyes in annoyance. "But I guess you're too fat and big to hide anyway. Anyone can see your body sticking out of things, if you're a hider."

"Firstly, I'm not fat. I'm just fucking buff!" Empoleon argued, deadpanning.

"Aw, sounding insecure already… it's actually pretty cute," Unfezant said dryly. Empoleon grunted, looking away with a flushed expression.

"I have no problem with Empoleon being the seeker…" Pikachu chimed in, to break the awkward tension. He laughed nervously. "I think he's our best shot…"

"Less work for me…" Musharna mumbled.

"G-good lu-" Bayleef started only to be put aside by a confident Empoleon.

"Bayleef will also be our ace in the hole!"

The grass dinosaur blinked before screaming in shock. "W-W-W-AHWTAT?!"

"I'm pretty sure that's not a word…" Teddiursa commented, getting weird looks. "HEY! My cutienise is different from… THIS UwU!"

"Yeah… it's still pretty cringe," Unfezant said, with downturned eyes. The little bear huffed, looking away from her in response. "But for once, I think Bayleef's right… how is a fucking coward going to win us the challenge? Or are you trying to be prove everyone's suspicion that you're stupid."

Empoleon snarled at the bird to shut her up, face-palming. "Stop being annoying… Bayleef's just shy but he has winner potential, but obviously less than mine. And isn't it obvious? He likes to hide from dangerous situations and everyone who wants to talk to him. Trust me, I know, based on my whole fucking time being his bunkmate. He'll be a great hider."

"So… will he be Hider #1 so we can make a great lead early on?" Musharna deduced, cocking a brow. She yawned for a short while. "I think that would be a great idea… personally."

"... okay?!" Bayleef looked shocked to see everyone nod in agreement. "R-really, guys?!"

"Don't worry, short stuff. You're in good hands." Unfezant assured in a sarcastic tone.

"I think we should make the little guys be the first on the line, since they're harder to be found," Chansey affirmed with a nod. "And personally… well, I prefer to be middle on the line since I know my size will be a liability in this…" She said this with an embarrassed blush.

"DON'T WORRY! JUSTICE WILL HIDE UNDER THE WATER… stealthily!" Floatzel said, relatively quieter than usual so that the other team can't eavesdrop. "We shall not lose to the EVIL on the other team!"

"Like the enthusiasm, but I don't think there is any well… this evil you call, on the other team," Pikachu expressed with a tired expression.

"YOU NEVER KNOW!" Floatzel growled, clenching a fist. "I mean… SABLEYE is proof of evil!" He pointed to the gem-eyed gremlin… who was picking his nose in public. The weasel winced at this. "SEE! He's a picture of evil!"

"Sorry about that, hehe…" Sableye stammered, wiping his hand on himself.

Empoleon face-palmed, rolling his eyes. "We're moving way off-topic. We're here to discuss the challenge, not complain about how FUCKING weird Sableye is. So, here's where we are now… I'm the seeker. Teddiursa can be first in line, since she's the smallest. Then, Pika, followed by Bayleef, for the reasons I explained earlier. I'm sure Sableye has a lot of hiding spots in mind so he can be fourth." Sableye raised a hand to argue but puts it back down when Floatzel glares at him.

"Chansey can be fifth… and we're officially halfway done!" Empoleon continued, tapping his fingers on the table, itching to get started. "Unfezant, Magearna, Musharna and Floatzel… it would be a bit tougher to decide the order from there unless anyone has any idea."

"I'll go last, I guess… I mean, I can actually run away and hide unlike sleepyhead," Unfezant volunteered half-heartedly, crossing her wings.

"... mmmhm… I'm fine with that… more time to catch up on my sleep," Musharna expressed with a small smile forming near the edge of her lips. Noticing the looks her whole team gave her in response, she yawned in retaliation. "You need a good 12 hours of sleep if you want to be really awake in the morning…"

"More like 23.5 hours of sleep," Unfezant drawled.

"Nobody asked," Musharna snapped, smacking her lips, resting her face on the table.

"Okay okay… Musharna can go after Chansey then Magearna and Floatzel. Unfezant is last," Empoleon said firmly. "I trust that you are all smart enough to run away when the seeker is close… I mean, I'm on this team after all!"

Unfezant scoffed, rolling her eyes. "You're a paragon of modesty, Empoleon."

Shining Shuppet Seeker: Empoleon

Shining Shuppet Order: Teddiursa Pikachu Bayleef Sableye Chansey Musharna Magearna Floatzel Unfezant

Unfezant looked annoyed as she glared at the camera. "Empoleon is soooo full of himself. I could almost taste the barf already… gross… I kinda almost want him gone first, so that he'd get a taste of his own medicine… and maybe…" She flashed a smirk, rolling her eyes to the side. "He can be first for one… FIRST boot!"

"And the curtains for the first challenge… are pulled over to the side, revealing… sooo much," Musharna remarked nonchalantly as she laid on her side. She didn't look too personally invested. "Oh well… I'll do my best to win… or whatever… ugggh...:"

"Empoleon's surprisingly really assertive and self-assured," Magearna admitted with a sheepish expression. "I mean… I thought he would be the type of person who's just… all talk and do nothing, but I actually feel that he's capable of proving everything he's said… which is pretty frightening when you look at it…"

Magearna sighed, leaning back to the wall. "Maybe, we can win this… I don't know… but maybe… I know what to do… I'm just not too sure if it'll work…"

Meanwhile, the Twinkling Trubbish stared at Klingklang expectantly. The gear cocked a brow in confusion. "Shouldn't we be discussing who the seeker will be and the order of hiders?" He paused, deadpanning. "This is not funny. I'm not a robot. Stop looking at me like I am."

"... well… you know… couldn't you gather all our data and decide what's our best bet here to win?" Magcargo pointed out, eyes sparkling with interest. "I mean… I know you keep saying you're no robot but you're really smart and I bet you did a lot of research about all of us so you know… you're the leader. I trust you and I th-"

"TL;DR is we think you have a good read on what to do here," Gourgeist interrupted, fiddling with her tendrils with a nonchalant expression.

"Aww… you should've let me finish…" Magcargo breathed out sheepishly.

"We don't have enough time. We're living on crunch time right now!" Oricorio pointed out, waving her wings around. "So, we really need to get ourselves together. Flying's not allowed… so that ruins the advantage us Flyings type have in these challenges. So, if anyone has any special skills or abilities, do speak up. I BELIEVE IN YOU! We can WIN! WIN WIN!"

Everyone blinked as they all stared at the cheerleader. "..." Oricorio smiled sheepishly in response. "W-what's wrong?"

"You can be our leader," Gourgeist blurted out tactlessly. "I mean, Klingklang doesn't seem too interested."

"I… you know what, I cannot argue with that logic," Klingklang said with a frown.

"You're asking me to be the leader?!" Oricorio squawked out in shock. "I j-just wanted to get us all back on track, since everyone was starting to veer off-topic. No biggy." She frowned as nobody replied. "Okay… is everyone going to give me the silent treatment now?"

"We like… trust you, Ori!" Cramorant started, tapping on her dead phone. "I mean… like, you give off that girlboss energy and like, we think you'd make a great leader, totes!"

"She's ugly though…" Gourgeist murmured.

Oricorio gave the pumpkin a look before sighing in defeat. "Alright… since nobody else wants to step up… which is pretty shocking to say the least…" She cleared her throat as she scanned her team sitting around the table. "So… is anyone confident in seeking?"

"Ooooh oooh me!" Magcargo chimed in.

"No offense but you're pretty slow," Dedenne countered, making the snail groan in disappointment.

"I would volunteer but I'm pretty small so I'd be more useful as a hider," Skwovet added, arms folded.

"It would ICE to be a seeker but I'm not too good at Where's Waldo games…" Vanilluxe said out loud, puffing up his chest.

Gourgeist groaned at his repeated pun. "Ugh… please stop with the ice puns…"

"Yep, they're ICE puns!" Vanilluxe continued to joke. Gourgeist face-palmed with a nonchalant expression.

"I'll volunteer to be the seeker to get this conversation moving, ugggh…" Gourgeist said dryly. "Too many ice puns would do that you…"

"Okay, then! Let's move on to the hiders. The smaller Pokemon can be first in line, to hold up the line since they'll be harder to find." Oricorio said, with a determined stare. "Magcargo, Vanilluxe and Klingklang, I hate to admit it… but you three might have a harder time hiding, so putting you three in the middle of the list would be more advisable personally…"

Klingklang nodded in agreement. "I'm fine with that. I would suggest that it's I first, then Magcargo then Vanilluxe."

"And I'm guessing us flying types are last since we can be quick and hover close to the ground?" Vivillon queried, arching a brow. "Or we could easily climb tall trees to make them take longer to catch us."

Oricorio nodded in confirmation. "Yes! That's pretty much the idea! You're pretty wise, Vivillon."

"Don't say my name like we're friends…" Vivillon intoned flatly.

"Okay… so our seeker is Gourgeist. The order we're going for will be Skwovet then Dedenne then Gossifleur then Klingklang then Magcargo then Vanilluxe then me then Cramorant then Vivillon? Is everyone fine with that?" Oricorio finalized, tapping her chin curiously.

"... ugh, I would complain about you putting me last… but I guess it's fine…" Vivillon answered, rolling her eyes.

"Computing… it's a solid order." Klingklang remarked.

"I'm sure we'll win, win, win… in your words," Gossifleur said with a sheepish giggle.

Twinkling Trubbish Seeker: Gourgeist

Twinkling Trubbish Order: Skwovet Dedenne Gossifleur Klingklang Magcargo Vanilluxe Oricorio Cramorant Vivillon

"We're pretty much the dream team!" Magcargo began, eyes twinkling with confidence. "Klingklang might've not be the leader like I thought he was… but wow, Oricorio is pretty close! She has a lot of IDEAS… okay, we all pitched in but still, wow! I believe in her and she believes in us, which is great honestly!"

He squealed in delight. "We're going to be on a winning streak, aren't we?"

"Thankfully, there's not much decision making involved in deciding the order since we all reached an agreement pretty quick," Oricorio admitted, rubbing the side of her wing with a shy expression. "The last thing I wanted was to be the designated leader since well…" She sighed before shaking her head. "I just want to be the cheerleader, who keeps the morale of the team up and going, to motivate everyone to keep on winning!"

She twiddled her feathers, shifting her eyes to the side. "So… I'm pretty nervous that people would start relying on me, when a leader is more required…"

Dedenne yawned, leaning on the side of the confessional, looking pretty bored. "Oricorio is more reliable than I expected and sure, it was just a trivial task but… she really has a good head on her shoulders… so wow. I'm feeling pretty great about the team already and I trust that we'll keep this momentum going… or something generic like that… hey, I don't want to run of snappy remarks on Day 2, y'know."

Nihilego clapped her hands together, to get the contestants' attention. "Okay, that's time! Is everyone finished deciding their seeker and the order of hiders? Well, if you aren't… sorry, I literally don't care. Please line up in front me, to get your jerseys, one by one, starting with the seeker, first hider up to the last hider. Let's start with the Shuppet."

Empoleon smirked and grinned as he stood up to claim his jersey with the rest of his team, following suit. After Unfezant got her jersey, it was the Trubbish's turn, starting with Gourgeist, up to Vivillon.

Gourgeist cheered in a monotone voice as she fixed the seeker cap on her head. "Woot woot, Trubbish, represent!"

"Sorry to say… but we're gonna be winning this!" Empoleon boasted with a confident smirk.

"Yay! I love the enthusiasm already!" Poipole exclaimed.

"I don't. Wastes time," Marill said with a bored expression. She then procured a gun from out of nowhere, shocking most of the contestants.

"I k-knew this game was a bad idea! D-d-don't shoot me!" Pikachu pleaded, taking a few steps back.

Marill cocked a brow, rolling her eyes. "Don't get your briefs in a twist. It's just a fake gun… only makes gunshot sounds…" She pointed it at the electric rodent, mimicking gunshot noises. "Pew pew! It's just to signal when the game begins. Hiders have 10 minutes to hide, so make it count."

The contestants all exchanged a look before turning to face the blue mouse, waiting for the gunshot.

"..." Marill raised the gun, pointing it at the ceiling. Covering her ears with one hand, she pushed the trigger.

BANG!

"Hide and seek is not my type of game…" Pikachu admitted with a shaky laugh. "I mean… where do I even hide?! Good hiding spots are all…" His nose scrunched in dismay. "So… dusty. And dirty and smelly… uggh… and seeking is also really exhausting. How can anyone even enjoy this game?!"

He laughed nervously, hugging himself. "B-but obviously, I'm not here to complain because of a couple of bad decisions… maybe…" His breath shortened. "I can feel another panic attack coming…"

"So my competition is a pumpkin?!" Empoleon commented before flashing his trademark boasting smirk. "This will be a piece of cake. Might as well give the win to the Shining Shuppet already… I mean, come on! She's going to be fucking slow, so there's no way in hell she's going to seek faster than me!"

Teddiursa and Pikachu are running around the camp, searching for a hiding spot. The pressure was really on them, as the first two in line to be found. Pikachu was looking around frantically, before turning back to the little bear. "W-where are we even going to hide?!"

"Idk!"

"That's not reassuring!" Pikachu blustered with a flushed expression.

"Maybe, we can hide in the confesh?"

"What's a confesh?!"

"Confesh-ional!" Teddiursa explained, rolling her eyes. "Not that hard to understand." The pair stopped as they reached the edge of camp. "Or we can hide in the bushes?!"

"... that sounds… prickly…"

"Well, do you have any bright ideas, hmm?"

"Let's split up, so that they don't get two of us at the same time…"

"That's an oh-so good idea!" Teddiusa remarked, giving him a thumbs-up. She started walking away. "Hide in those bushes~ And I'll hide in the toilet, tee hee!"

Pikachu blinked, face turning red in embarrassment. "W-what?!"

"It's nothing!" Teddiursa assured, tongue sticking out teasingly.

Bayleef whimpered as he sifted through the drawers in the boys' side of the Trubbish's cabin. "... I can't fit…"

Vanilluxe, who by chance also chose to hide in the same place, gave him a confused expression. "Of course, silly! You have to be smaller than a Joltik to fit in those drawers!"

"... b-but, m-my t-team is c-c-c-c-ounting on me to find a good h-hiding spot!" Bayleef stammered, eyes shifting to the side with a faint blush.

"Well, that's pretty ice to be relied on."

"I-i… guess…" Bayleef muttered before pausing to look at the ice cream. "W-w-w-wait?! Did you just say ice to be relied on?!"

"... Polar you sure you heard me right?"

"Y-yes and you're doing it again!"

"I don't snow what you're talking about!"

"W-w-what?!"

"Haillo? Earth to Bayleef. Are you okay? We still need to hide!"

"... w-what?!" Bayleef looked rather shakened. "I… don't get it…"

"The cold shouldn't bother you anyway… or maybe, it should since you're a grass type! But it's okay! You have LEAF protection!" Vanilluxe quipped. "Maybe, I should leaf you alone. Tell you what… let's hide together and I promise I won't snitch on you!"

"..." Bayleef doesn't respond, brain still computing everything Vanilluxe was telling him.

"Bayleef?"

"..."

Vanilluxe's smile quickly turned upside down as the grass dinosaur just gaped at him… before collapsing on the floor with a thud. "B-Bayleef, are you snowkay?!"

"..."

"Okay, now I feel bad…" Vanilluxe muttered as he decided to start dragging Bayleef underneath one of the bunk beds. "Might as well help you hide since this is my fault…"

Vanilluxe then deadpanned as he stared from under the bed with Bayleef. "Snowone will notice us here, right? Bayleef, what do you think?"

"..." Bayleef was still unconscious.

"Oops… almost forgot… Is this even normal?!"

Chansey and Magearna were standing in the middle of the girls' side of the Shuppet Cabin… both staring at a sleeping Musharna, who was just… lying on her bed.

"..." Chansey put a hand on the sleeping tapir's head. "Musharna? There's a challenge going on…"

"..." Musharna doesn't respond.

Magearna laughed nervously at this, twiddling her finger joints together. "Uhhm… I'm guessing Musharna has a plan, which is why she's just sleeping out in the open, right?" Chansey doesn't respond, making the Mythic Pokemon cross her arms. "R-right?!"

Chansey lifted her hand off the psychic-type, turning to face her idol. "Well… you see…" She started to bite in to her fingernails as her face started to turn red. "H-hehe… I apologize. I'm still feeling…"

"Starstruck… that much, I'm aware about," Magearna guessed with a thoughtful look. "But… Musharna being here… we definitely can't hide here."

"... but where can we hide? Under the bed was the only idea I had…" Chansey admitted, rubbing her arm sheepishly. "Maybe we can hide under t-"

"I think we should split up… to cover more ground," Magearna suggested, closing her eyes.

"Are you sure?" Chansey asked, unsure. She had so many questions to ask her idol… after spending a whole day, biding her time, to wait for the perfect opportunity; So she felt a little disappointed yet understanding.

"Indeed…" Magearna said as she looked out of the window, noticing Unfezant taking to the skies to hide somewhere less accessible around camp.

"Okay… if you say so…" Chansey sighed, averting her gaze as the steel/fairy type left the room, leaving her alone with the sleeping Musharna. "Dang it… there I go again, not speaking my mind…"

"Grow… a… pair…" Musharna mumbled in her sleep suddenly, surprising the nurse. "Mmm…"

"Is that… a sign?!" Chansey asked rhetorically before sighing with a shrug. "Maybe not… she was sleeping…"

"I… need to make sure Chansey and I are safe here… hopefully?! Well, that's the best case scenario since I know she likes and trusts me," Magearna admitted, averting her gaze from the camera. "I know it's scummy to say that I only want to save myself… so I'll try to see what I can do… I mean…"

She shook her head, face turning to a listless expression. "Nevermind… maybe, I shouldn't…"

"Magearna knows better…" Chansey murmured meekly. "So I'll trust her better judgement… though, I would really appreciate it if she asks for my help and assistance too… I'm not good at hiding but I know we could've had a great idea if we brainstormed harder."

She smiled warmly at the camera. "I know she's feeling the pressure of being the only Mythical Pokemon in the game so I want to reassure her she's fine!"

Multiple shots of the other contestants' hiding spots were then shown in succession. Cramorant was balancing on top of a tree, still obviously… checking her phone with a determined expression. Dedenne was hiding within a log. Skwovet decided to hide in a small tree hole. Sableye was hiding in a trash can.

Floatzel opened the confessional door with a loud grunt, revealing a sheepish Teddiursa, who was attempting to hide inside the toilet. Deadpanning, he closed it again.

Back at the mess hall, Nihilego clapped her hands together with a smile. "Okay, that's enough time! Empoleon, Gourgeist, it's time to SEEK… but in case, you forgot the order of which contestants you have to find…" She gestured to Whimsicott and Marill, who were putting a poster infographic of the order decided by both teams. "Voila!"

"It took me a good ten minutes to get that printed…" Whimsicott grumbled in an annoyed expression.

Marill rolled her eyes, scoffing. "Oh please, this is child's play. If only you know what happened with the came-"

"Shhhh, that's private information!" Poipole shushed, before turning to the jellyfish with a smile. "Did I do that right?!"

Nihilego gave him an okay hand gesture. "8 out of 10." She then turned back to the two seekers, waving her tentacles offhandedly. "Final thing and an advantage for you guys, since you stepped up to be a seeker… is information. There is a hidden Nihilego idol on this island… and that's the information I'm going to share for now. But there'll be more ways to earn clues, yada yada."

Empoleon and Gourgeist nodded in understanding before turning to face each other with a competitive look… or well, in Gourgeist's look, she made a mocking imagery of Empoleon's stare, annoying the penguin.

Without any further words, the duo stormed out of the mess hall to begin the search… and at the exact same time, Vivillon exited the kitchen with an annoyed huff. "Where is Indeedee?!"

Nihilego blinked in surprise at this. "Uhh… woah, Vivillon… how did you get in the kitchen while Empoleon and Gourgeist were here?!"

"I flew in from the chimney… and yes, I still followed the rules and flew in a way where they could still catch me," Vivillon explained with an annoyed huff. "I was searching for Indeedee so that I can make righteous complaints about the so-called meals he chose to cook and serve us. It's a violation of Pokemon Rights. I'm rich and have the money to sue him!"

"WOAH NICE! Vivi, I didn't know you had the same idea as me!" A voice chimed in.

Everyone in the room turned to the direction of the voice, to find Gossifleur scurrying from underneath the table.

"Who are you?" Vivillon asked, deadpanning.

"I'm Gossifleur, your teammate!" Gossifleur chirped with a warm smile.

Vivillon's eyes narrowed as she scanned her supposed teammate before shrugging. "Doesn't ring the bell. Last I checked, there was an Eldegoss on our team."

Gossifleur's smile deflated as she pouted. "Okay?"

Nihilego put her tentacles on her waist with an impressed look. "I'm honestly impressed by the both of you… but let's see if Empoleon or Gourgeist will find out you're both in here!"

"Hopefully, Indeedee arrives and Empoleon doesn't walk in here," Vivillon said haughtily. "I am too good to go to elimination."

"I have the best ideas. Clearly, those idiots won't get the idea to ever check the mess hall again, since they think we all left to hide." Vivillon boasted, smirking menacingly. "Empoleon looked like his brain was the size of a walnut so I'm confident we have this in the bag honestly… period!"

Empoleon's first destination was the Trubbish cabin, starting with the girls' side… where he easily found Chansey barely hiding under the bed, her tail sticking out. He face-palmed at this. "Chansey, are you kidding me?"

"..." Chansey doesn't respond.

"You're lucky Gourgeist isn't here yet and is probably trying to find Teddiursa but you better fucking find a better place to hide," Empoleon scolded, with an annoyed look on his face.

"O-"

"WWWWWWWHAAAAA?!" Teddiursa's voice can be heard from a distance.

"What the..?" Chansey and Empoleon both muttered in surprise.

"THIS IS SOOOO UNFAIR!" Teddiursa whimpered as she was being dragged around camp by Gourgeist, holding her by her foot with her tendrils. "How did you know I was in the confessional?! Do you have ESP or something UWU! Firstly, you better teach me. Secondly, this is so unfair. I don't deserve this! WAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

Gourgeist ignored her pleas, continuing to drag her to the mess hall. "Sorry… not really."

"You d-didn't have to drag me! I would've walked to the mess hall on my own, wwaaaaaaah!" Teddiursa whimpered as her head hit another rock. "YOU'RE DOING THIS ON PURPOSE!"

"Don't worry. This would end as painless as possible for your team…" Gourgeist muttered darkly before nonchalantly turning to a bush behind her. "Pikachu, I know you're in that bush."

"..."

"Siiigh…" Sighing to herself, more of her tendrils extended to the ground, reaching the bushes, grabbing something from within. The bushes rustle ominously before Pikachu is dragged out until he is in the same position as Teddiursa. "This challenge is too easy honestly. It's not even funny."

"Wha..?!" Pikachu sputtered out in disbelief. "This can't be fair…"

"Don't worry. It's perfectly fair," Gourgeist countered. "It wasn't mentioned in the game rules…"

"How are you even doing this?!" Pikachu questioned, struggling to escape.

"... well, let's just say… I have special skills compared to other Gourgeist," Gourgeist revealed with a dark expression… before it dissipates into a nonchalant one as she shrugged. "Honestly, I just managed to hone my tendrils to do the work for me, I guess… they can stretch so far… helps that I'm a ghost type too… wait a minute…"

Closing her eyes, she yelled out. "THROW!" Pikachu and Teddiursa both hugged each other in fear as they were hurled across camp, to the mess hall door. "That's two hiders found…"

"Okay, I might be too broken… but eh, I literally don't give a fuck," Gourgeist admitted with an uncaring shrug. "I mean, it wasn't too hard. Sink my tendrils on the ground and see if people accidentally trigger them… think of it like a tripwire." She chuckled mischievously before rolling her eyes. "That's what I would say if it was that easy obviously. I mean, let's just say… being a ghost and grass type is really handy… sure, let's go with that."

Pikachu was cradling himself in the confessional, without uttering a single word. "..."

"THAT GOURGEIST IS A HECKIN' PSYCHO!" Teddiursa yelled out, hugging herself in the confessional with a pout. "Empoleon better be doing better, or we might actually lose this… last I've checked, Gourgeist can't use Vine Whip or Ingrain, right?! This is too unfair."

Unfezant smirked to herself as she sat on top of the mess hall, hiding behind the chimney. She was confident that Gourgeist would struggle to get up there and would have a harder time finding her. She rolled her eyes as she saw Teddiursa and Pikachu get thrown at the mess hall. "Oh great… the other team's winning. So much for Empoleon's cocky behavior earlier…"

"We still have a chance!" A familiar voice called out from behind her. It was Magearna, who twiddled her fingers sheepishly. The steel and fairy type floated over to the bird, waving politely. "H-hello there. I'm… going to hide with you, if that is fine."

"Uhhh, no? Back off, bub!" Unfezant waved at the Mythical Pokemon to leave her alone. "You're going to get us both caught!"

"H-hey, don't say that! I'm uhh… also here to talk…" Magearna started, making her bird companion cock a brow in interest. "I mean… I'd say it's better to be optimistic but… Gourgeist is surprisingly good at seeking and I don't think Empoleon even found Skwovet so… err… this might be awkward to bring up but…"

Unfezant tapped her foot on the roof impatiently. "Well? Don't leave me hanging?"

"L-let's talk about the vote?!" Magearna managed to sputter out, face red from embarrassment. "Sorry… I'm just feeling really nervous about that. I apologize for making it sound awkward."

"Gee… wow, you want me to seriously worry about two things at the same time?" Unfezant drawled, face-palming. "But I'll bite… I guess. Bayleef looks weak, so yeah… let's take him out."

"Hmmm?"

"What do you expect? Let's keep the team strong! Empoleon might be annoying but he's still one of the strongest people here," Unfezant explained.

"BAYLEEF, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING UNCONSCIOUS?! VANILLUXE, YOU'RE SCUM OF THE EARTH!" Empoleon's voice rang out from a distance.

Unfezant shuddered at this. "He's really scary too… uggggh… hate to be a weak bitch, I guess."

"Who knows? Maybe, this rage will help!" Magearna pointed out before floating to leave. "I'll get going then."

"Yeah, bye." Unfezant said, rolling her eyes as Magearna floated off the roof.

Unbeknownst to the two, Klingklang was hiding in a nearby tree, using its leaves as a cover. "..."

"I literally don't care too much about this game," Unfezant admitted, leaning back. "But whatever… I'll try to play it. Keyword is try. I think a lot of people are just too obnoxious for their own good so okay, I think I'm not going to be in too much danger here… but then again, do I really want to be on an island with crazy people just to win some easy money?"

She tapped her chin with a thoughtful expression before breaking into a scoff, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, right."

Klingklang hovered inside the confessional to ponder. "Getting to know about the other team, while they're none the wiser… is surprisingly not too interesting. All I found out was that Empoleon is crazy, Bayleef is weak, Magearna is really weird… in my opinion, and Unfezant is too disinterested. I did not expect groundbreaking information to fall on my lap… eavesdropping was a tremendous waste of my time."

"Thank you for exposing Bayleef for me," Gourgeist mused with a listless expression as she dragged Bayleef out of the Trubbish cabin, with Empoleon following after her with an unconscious Vanilluxe. "Though, I do not appreciate you knocking Vanilluxe out."

"Fuck you," Empoleon growled, before shooting a Hydro Pump at a random tree… making it snap. Cramorant and Skwovet both screamed as they fell as the tree fell. "FINALLY!" He quickly ran to the direction of the falling tree, STILL dragging Vanilluxe behind him.

"..." Gourgeist watched with disinterest as the penguin forcibly knocked BOTH Cramorant and Skwovet unconscious. "Seriously?"

"Hey. No rules against this." Empoleon grumbled as he left the unconscious Skwovet on the ground. "Skwovet's officially found so I don't have to drag him around."

"I don't think Vanilluxe and Cramorant like the taste of grass and gravel." Gourgeist commented as she watched the penguin drag the aforementioned contestants to look for Dedenne, while ignoring her.

A brief montage of contestants being found was then played. Sableye shrieked as Gourgeist opened a trash bin near the mess hall to find him in it… making a trashman for no reason. Deadpanning, Gourgeist put the lid back on before leaving. (SABLEYE FOUND)

Chansey wasn't hard to find as Chansey's tail was still sticking out from under the bed. Gourgeist rolled her eyes as she touched it to consider the nurse found. (CHANSEY FOUND)

Musharna was… still sleeping but when Gourgeist was about to tag her… she teleported away. Gourgeist turned to stare at the camera. (MUSHARNA… NOT FOUND)

Meanwhile, through sheer brute force, Empoleon managed to find Dedenne in a log after cutting it in half, forcing the electric rodent to leave in fear of being sliced. (DEDENNE FOUND)

"Jerk…" Dedenne grumbled, rubbing his arm with a frustrated expression.

"Gossifleur was next on the list… and it's already getting really tough," Empoleon mumbled to himself with an aggravated look. "Vanilluxe and Cramorant are still with me but it's no use, if I can't even find Gossifleur… where the fuck is she?!"

Unfezant was just… walking around, hiding at the side of the mess hall. She was then surprised by Musharna, who suddenly teleported in front of her. "BWUH?! Musharna?! Where the fuck did you come from?! Don't give me the heebie jeebies, girl…"

"Mmmm? Unfezant… is that you?" Musharna murmured, eyes half-opened.

"Answer my question first. Where the fuck did you come from?" Unfezant repeated with a frown.

"I don't know what you're talking about…" Musharna mumbled. "I mean… didn't you see me teleport a split second ago..? Or did I get my coordinates wrong again? Teleporting is not as fun and easy as it looks… mmm…"

"Oh… I guess it slipped past my mind…" Unfezant said, eyes shifting to the side. "But uhh… I guess you can fucking hide with me… but if I see Gourgeist, you better GTFO."

"Mmm… no problem with that…" Musharna murmured, smiling weakly. "But err… I also… want to talk about… what you said this morning."

"What did I say?"

"About… the well… Chansey and Magearna thing…" Musharna explained. "And targeting Chansey specifically, even if you mentioned it off-handedly."

Unfezant shrugged in response. "It was mostly a spur of the moment thing. I was still fucking pissy since I was signed up for this, against my own freewill."

"You don't want to play?"

"Yeah... I'm just here since well… my mom would hate me if I tried swimming back to the mainland or whatever," Unfezant continued, rolling her eyes but managing to flash a bemused smirk. "So I'm mostly fucking whatever. It's not any different to any summer camp I've been at before…"

"Interesting, I guess…" Musharna mumbled to herself as she stared, deep in thought.

"Yeah…"

"What's your age again..?"

"Why are you asking me that?! That's fucking weird," Unfezant groaned, annoyed.

"..." Musharna paused, eyes narrowing a bit before yawning. "Maybe, you're right… I'm not good with icebreakers… maybe, I should go and annoy Empoleon instead…"

Unfezant cocked a brow, intrigued. "So, you admit you were deliberately messing with me to annoy me?"

"Whatever… floats your boat."

"Well, good job. It almost fucking worked," Unfezant replied.

"Mmhm…" Musharna said, paling a bit.

"Are you okay? Our convo's just getting fucking good…" Unfezant queried. She then turned around… to see Gourgeist, gazing at them with a listless expression. "HOLY FUCK! Give us some privacy, girl!"

"... I love girl on girl action…" Gourgeist said plainly. "You know what I'm going to do next?"

"Hopefully, we can talk things through… I'm still out of energy teleporting around…" Musharna suggested nervously. "Let's talk about… things we have in comm-"

"Are you fucking cavorting with the enemy?! Let's fucking run!" Unfezant pointed out.

"O-" Musharna was interrupted by Gourgeist suddenly appearing next to her. "..."

"Sorry… this is for my dead brother," Gourgeist said morbidly as she poked the tapir on the nose. "... it is done… time to-" Gourgeist deadpanned as she turned around to find Unfezant gone. "Dear brother… where did that pesky little bird go… I always knew the only bird I could trust… was Yveltal all along…"

"..." Musharna arched a brow in surprise. "I knew she was fast…"

"No worries… Magearna's next… and I can smell her nearby," Gourgeist reassured herself with a nonchalant expression.

"Why are you making it sound creepy… and gross..?" Musharna questioned rhetorically, deadpanning. "..." Gourgeist didn't reply as she left the area, as quietly as she arrived. Musharna groaned in response. "Okay? At least, I can go back to sleep… mmmm, I already miss my comfy soft pillow…" (MUSHARNA FOUND)

"Unfezant and I… had a short chat," Musharna commented, lying down in the confessional to rest. "But… I think she said enough… I think. It's pretty interesting though, since I didn't expect her to be so… candid? Is that the right word…" Musharna yawned, only one eye half-opened. "Okay, she was straightforward with her insults but… yeah…"

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Magearna's voice can be heard from a distance. Empoleon, who was STILL looking for Gossifleur, groaned at this in annoyance as he dragged Vanilluxe and Cramorant who were both conscious but were… just vibing since they know they can't escape a self-confident strong fully-evolved Pokemon. He stopped on his tracks as he reached the currently inaccessible-to-the-contestants infirmary.

"Maybe she's fucking hiding in there…" Empoleon thought out loud, furrowing a brow. "She's too fucking small. This is really unfair."

"IT'S CALLED KARMA!" A loud voice rang from the bushes behind him. "You should know by now, that COMPLAINING too much is EVIL. So learn to be satisfied. But if you do not learn to change, I will have to lecture you!"

"Floatzel… why the fuck are you being so loud right now?" Empoleon face-palmed at this, rolling his eyes in exasperation. "Gourgeist might fucking find you…"

"JUSTICE IS N-"

"What are you doing here?" Another feminine voice chimed in, from the same bush Floatzel was hiding in. "I thought I was the only one who could talk to the trees…" The feminine voice giggled for a while… before taking a turn as it changed to a more colder tone. "But anyways, you're caught. Only Unfezant left."

"BWUUUUH?! How did you find me?! Are you cheating?! Cheating is WRONG!" Floatzel countered.

"I don't cheat… only talk to trees… or whatever. I also had a dead brother five minutes ago…" Gourgeist murmured as she emerged from the bushes, followed by a shell-shocked Floatzel. "This challenge is so close to ending!"

Empoleon groaned, annoyed. He glared competitively at the pumpkin. "How the fuck are you doing this? For once, maybe Floatzel is fucking right and you're cheating…"

"..." Gourgeist glared back… before deadpanning, with a shrug. "It just happens… maybe an otherworldly force wanted me to win or whatever. Correction: my team, which somehow just happened to have me in it."

"What are you saying?!" Floatzel yelled, rubbing the back of his head in confusion. "Are you confirming that you're the HIDDEN VILLAIN I was looking for?!"

"... oh? We're actually going to have a cutscene where we have a short chat?" Gourgeist queried nobody in particular, cocking a brow in interest. "Okay… I'm fine with that…" Noticing the weird looks the two boys were giving him, she rolled her eyes. "Are you going to ask me why I'm unfeeling or meta most of the time?"

"..." Empoleon looked at her expectantly. "Maybe..?"

"... you're the competitive bitchy but secretly a softie guy, right?" Gourgeist queried.

"What the fuck are you going on about?!" Empoleon snapped, annoyed by the pumpkin's spontaneity. "And don't even try to fucking answer with vague bullshit."

"Spoiler…" Gourgeist said simply, eyes shifting to the side. "Maybe, you should be talking to your tribemates instead while I look for Unfezant and win the challenge for my team." She suddenly burst into tears, surprising Empoleon and Floatzel. "Bwwwwaaaaaah… someone is going to leave and that is soooo sad!" She then returned to her nonchalant expression, showing no signs of having cried. "Okay, that's the amount of pity I feel for you guys."

"... I don't even know if you're a villain or not…" Floatzel commented, voice turning quieter to a whisper.

"It's Episode 2." Gourgeist pointed out.

"And?" Empoleon asked.

"Goodbye." Gourgeist answered, turning to leave.

"That was the most confusing conversation I was ever involved in," Floatzel murmured to himself, twiddling his fingers awkwardly. "Does that even count as a conversation? It felt… one-sided. Do we even have a chance to win?"

"... Gourgeist was lucky once… but they're not going to win anymore…" Empoleon grumbled to himself.

"You do get that you're still dragging me and Cramorant over here…" Vanilluxe pointed out, annoyed.

"..." Empoleon doesn't respond to this.

"If I told you all of my secrets, I wouldn't have anymore to give…" Gourgeist told the camera with a blank expression. "But just tell me how you want me to feel… and I'll do it… for now, I'm going to be happy since we're winning."

She abruptly pumped a fist, expression still nonchalant. "Woo… we're winning."

"Absolutely no comment. She's probably not evil… just really confusing and I don't even think that's any better," Floatzel said, leaning back onto the wall with an exhausted expression. "And we're probably losing too so WOW, I have to speed up my investigation!"

The challenge cont- oh wait, it's over. A shot of Unfezant being dragged around by Gourgeist can be seen, with the poor bird confused on how the pumpkin even got to the roof in record time.

"EVERYONE, WHO'S NOT IN THE MESS HALL, HEAD TO THE MESS HALL! THE CHALLENGE IS OVER! IT'S TIME FOR RESULTS!" Nihilego's voice blared through the loudspeakers around camp.

The contestants were now all seated in the mess hall, waiting for Nihilego to announce the results. Empoleon grumbled to himself in annoyance as Gourgeist kept smirking smugly in his direction.

"Well… that challenge was definitely a landslide," Nihilego started, pausing for dramatic effect. She chuckled weakly, upon noticing the impatient stares from the Shuppet table. "O-okay. I'll make this quick. Twinkling Trubbish are the winners of this challenge!

Cheering rang out from the Trubbish table as they celebrated. Nihilego turned to face the losing team with a sympathetic look. "Unfortunately… this means that the Shining Shuppet will have to head to elimination tonight. You'll have a few hours before the campfire ceremony to discuss."

"We even have marshmallows!" Poipole added. "Real authentic fluffy squishy marshmallows that might even give you a stomachache if you eat too much, but that's how you know it's delicious!"

"Now, I wish we lost immunity…" Magcargo commented, mouth watering a bit only to be interrupted by Gourgeist nudging him with a confused frown. "H-hey! Sweets are one of my few weaknesses… well, other than water, swimming, random dancing, memes, gh-"

"Oookay, Magcargo. I don't think anyone wants to find out about all of you nuances," Nihilego commented before smiling, putting her tentacles together. "I'll leave you all to your devices. Good luck again to the Shuppet for their impending triba-"

"CAMPFIRE CEREMONY!" Marill corrected, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah… that."

"We won all thanks to me," Vivillon said, with a prideful smirk. "Oh… Gossifleur too, I suppose. But honestly, I guess if we have to thank someone, it would be well…" She donned a faux-thoughtful expression as she looked to the side. "I wonder…"

She scoffed, flying closer to the camera. "Empoleon! Oh, that just came to mind. I almost forgot about his existence, with his dreadful performance in this challenge! I mean… he didn't even bother to re-check the mess hall… and to think that I was expecting him to actually do it. He couldn't be that stupid."

She made a popping sound. "Nope… he's as stupid as I expected… which isn't bad. Less competition and well-deserved for talking back at me, when I can buy and sell his whole life." She nodded her head along as she finished speaking.

"W-we lost… and that's r-r-really bad!" Bayleef stammered out, twiddling his toes together with a nervous expression. "E-Empoleon really had h-huge expectations for me and I d-didn't deliver… I w-won't be surprised if I'm o-on the hotseat this round but I d-do want to stay!"

His eyes turned to the side of the wall… before he banged his head on the wall repeatedly for a short while before turning to the camera with a whimper. "I d-don't want to be the first boot… s-so I hope a m-miracle happens!"

"Ermargerd, we actually won," Cramorant said, eyes glimmering as she grinned. "Empoleon was like… a HUGE jerk for knocking me out but Mrs. Karma was still knocking on my door to let me know that she has my back so like, yaaas. Hashtag, Trubbish stay winning."

She giggled haughtily, eyelashes fluttering. "But like, ay deee kay on what to do since we like… won. There was something I had to do, but like… my phone's totes dead so yaaaah, it sucks. I guess I'll just sit and look pretty in the cabin or something…"

"We lost…" Magearna stated, head on her arms before she turned to look at the camera with a drawn out sigh. "This wasn't the ideal situation… but I'll get through it… I think the foundation has been set… time to socialize with my team and see if it shakes out in my favor."

She pointed at the camera, putting on the most determined expression she could make. "This vote is either going to go my way… or not my way… so uhhmm… hoping it goes my way. I know I have Chansey on my side at least."

Chansey sighed as she sat inside the mess hall, to look after Cramorant and Vanilluxe, who were both still showing signs of injury from the challenge. "I'm glad you both found the time to come and see me…"

"Well, like… you kinda told us both to stay after the results were announced," Cramorant pointed out.

"I was concerned! I didn't expect this challenge to be too… violent!" Chansey said, as she treated Cramorant's bruises. "Did you fall off a tree?"

"Empoleon happened…" Vanilluxe explained with a nervous chuckle. "And no, that wasn't a pun. He's really… intense."

"And like, really competitive!" Cramorant added, annoyed. "Like yaaah, he's hot as fuck but he's pretty much a jerk so lol no, not gonna tap that booty, mmhm."

Chansey sighed at this. "I apologize on behalf of him. He is part of my team after all."

"Don't! You're really ice to even help people on the opposite team!" Vanilluxe intoned.

"Aw, t-" Chansey started only to blink in realization. "Wait… did you say 'ice'?"

"Don't mind him. He's like… really unfunny," Cramorant said, unamused.

"Hey now! I think… It was slightly funny!" Chansey said, smiling sheepishly.

Vanilluxe beamed at Chansey's compliment, before blushing in embarrassment as Chansey turned to focus on him.

"Vanilluxe and Cramorant may not be on the same team as me… but I can't bear to see anyone hurt. Not on my watch…" Chansey explained, looking to the side of the confessional thoughtfully. "Empoleon might've wanted to win this challenge… but he didn't have to go to such lengths but now when you think about it… he's really frightening. Nobody wants to mess with him."

"Not even Magearna…" Chansey whispered quietly to herself. She shook herself off her stupor, smiling weakly. "Tonight will be interesting and I hope that I'm not the first boot…"

"Chansey is really nice…" Vanilluxe said with a nervous chuckle, a red tint spread through his face. "She said my jokes are SLIGHTLY funny… it's a start! It's a bummer we aren't on the same team since… it really means a lot."

Skwovet, Dedenne and Oricorio are just lying on the grass around camp, near the Trubbish cabin, just… lazing around after their win.

"Winning is great." Dedenne said simply with a smirk.

"Don't have to tell that to us twice," Oricorio commented with a giggle. "Let's keep the momentum going and win, win, win! I believe in all of us!"

Skwovet chuckled a bit, rolling his eyes. "Do you really have to be so upbeat and peppy? Not that I mind too much, but it can be a bit… over the top sometimes."

"Well, it's just who I am," Oricorio explained. "I don't know what type of person I would be if I'm not cheering or uplifting everyone's spirits!" Oricorio sat up, waving her wings around. "That's just who I am. Don't you know what I mean? I mean… Skwovet, aren't you proud of being a total klepto?"

"Heeey, who told you?" Skwovet asked, bouncing his eyebrows with a curious smirk.

"It was an intelligent guess," Oricorio replied.

"Well, it's not like I was hiding it…" Skwovet commented with a small chuckle as he gave the bird a light jab on the wing. "And if you're curious… don't worry, it's more of a compulsive thing and I end up returning everything I get… unless your name is Vivillon, but I don't think she even noticed!"

"That's a bit rude." Dedenne pointed out, arching a brow.

"It's Vivillon." Skwovet rebuttered smugly, rolling his eyes.

Dedenne paused for a bit to think before smiling sheepishly. "You might have a point… but hey, at least Vivillon isn't as annoying as she was yesterday and well… she's not the most annoying person on this island…"

"Are you talking about Empoleon?" Skwovet questioned, putting a hand under his chin with an interested look. "He's a fucking jackass who hit me a fucking Hydro Pump… it still fucking hurts, by the way."

"My condolences," Dedenne offered before continuing, "But no, I was talking about Floatzel. Don't you remember? He was in our cabin for a short while yesterday…"

"What happened?" Oricorio asked, leaning closer to the electric rodent as she waited for a response.

"He was confronting us about… suspecting that there's a hidden villain among us or whatever," Dedenne explained with a sigh. "It was really annoying and he just might be the loudest person ever. At least, Vivillon doesn't yell that loud…"

"Oooh… I might've repressed that memory sooo hard then," Skwovet commented, eyes narrowing. "Yep, he was definitely annoying… oooh, I guess I'm thankful I'm not actually a robber or whatever then. He would've really skinned me alive…"

"I mean, you didn't tell him…" Dedenne pointed out, laughing nervously. "But you probably shouldn't tell him…"

"Tempting… but you're right there," Skwovet admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "He's pretty dangerous… I hope the other team votes him out… but on another topic, where were you two hiding during the challenge?"

"In a log!" Dedenne answered.

"I was in the chimney of the mess hall," Oricorio answered, blushing in embarrassment.

"Dang… you two had better hiding spots than me. And I thought I was the sneaky one this season…" Skwovet remarked, looking down in disappointment. "But whatever, you all did good! Gossifleur especially, since I overheard Empoleon trash-talking her for being a small bugger or whatever. Really proud of her."

"We all did our part masterfully!" Oricorio said with a giggle.

"Yeah, we all did very great!" Dedenne agreed, flashing a thumbs-up. "You really did a good job, choosing the order too, Oricorio. Maybe, you should try being the leader next round too!"

Oricorio blushed at Dedenne's statement, averting her gaze from her two companions. "M-me?! Be a leader. That's preposterous! W-we were just lucky this round and I honestly didn't do much this round anyway…"

"I mean, you're doing your best to keep the team morale high too," Skwovet pointed out. He frowned a bit. "Though, you should've invited me to your get-to-know-each-other session this morning though…"

"I d-didn't want to interrupt your sleep!" Oricorio explained. "T-the girls were all awake when I asked… well, save for Gossifleur."

"It was a joke! But yeah, I think you should try being the leader for the next round too," Skwovet responded. "Maybe, there'll be more important decisions for you to make and honestly, I trust you more than the bozos on this team… no offense to you, Dedenne."

"No offense taken," Dedenne replied with a nonchalant shrug. "I mean, I agree with you there."

"Hey now! Everyone on the team is nice enough!" Oricorio argued. "I mean… Klingklang is logical and has a good head on his shoulders… Magcargo is amicable and Gourgeist is really… interesting. You don't know what to expect with her."

"Yeah yeah, I like everyone too. But that's just the truth." Skwovet answered with a shrug. "So… are you down to be the leader?"

"W-what?! I thought we w-were done with that topic!" Oricorio stammered with a flustered expression. "I think Klingklang or Gourgeist would make a GREAT leader!"

"Mmmhm… nope," Skwovet and Dedenne both stated at the same time, deadpanning.

"Y-you guys…"

"Skwovet and I are really pushing Oricorio to be the team leader, since she's the most reliable here," Dedenne explained, hands on his lap. "I feel really good about us three and think we can be a power trio or whatever… but I know, it's only Day 3 so these little moments of teasing each other and just… casually chatting is a lot of help enough."

He then deadpanned. "But Oricorio really doesn't want to be a leader and I don't want to be too forceful." He shook his head with a sigh. "Does anyone even want the crazy pumpkin, who nobody even understands, to be the leader? I'm all for uniting the outcasts but even she's out of my level…"

He laughed weakly as he gazed at the camera. "No offense to her, if she turns out to be a normal gal with a weird hobby, when she re-watches the show!"

Oricorio was looking at her reflection behind the camera, arching a brow before sitting back down with a huff. "I need some time to cool off. I don't think I would make a great leader…"

She gulped as she put her wings to her mouth. "Are Skwovet and Dedenne messing with me? Oh no, they're probably teasing me and I'm taking it more seriously than they thought! I mean… it has to be a joke, right? I mean, I'm a cheerleader… not the cheer captain. I know leader's in the name and all, but I prefer to sink in the background and do m-"

She paused as she skittishly twiddled her feathers together. "Okay… maybe, I take charge sometimes… but only when necessary. That doesn't mean I'm a good leader…"

"Gourgeist, you were a really great seeker!" Gossifleur remarked as she sat on a stool on the porch of the Twinkling Trubbish cabin.

"Were?" Gourgeist asked rhetorically, rolling her eyes playfully as she lunged on the flower, surprising her with this sudden force applied to her. "I'm a professional seeker and I hope nobody forgets about it! Sure, they won't be anymore hide and seek challenges but who knows?! There might be a Part 2, if the hosts want to rig it for me~"

Gossifleur weakly waved at the pumpkin to move away from her with a small smile, "H-hey now. Don't lean on m-me. You might crush me."

"What if you're into that?" Gossifleur queried, winking suggestively, making Gossifleur blush in embarrassment. "Close contact is a good bonding technique. You heard that from me, on this day."

Magcargo nodded as his eyes shone, looking like it's emitting flames. "Interesting! You're really fun, Gourgeist. We should really hang out more. Though, you might be too intimidated by my flames but this challenge just showed how badass you are. Can I ask for an autograph? You carried us!"

"Oh you! You hid really well too! I mean, Empoleon didn't even find you, even though you're really slow and chunky!" Gourgeist complimented with a snicker. Magcargo pouted at her remark, arching a brow as he felt offended. "Yep, I meant to offend you. It's my job."

"Okay?" Magcargo murmured, taken aback by her statement. "I just hid in a bush… so I'm honestly shocked Empoleon didn't find me but honestly, I'm glad he didn't, since… water's one of my biggest weaknesses."

"Duel-effectiveness does that to you," Klingklang affirmed with a curt nod.

"Yeaaaah… he really hit me on the head really hard that I'm shocked that I wasn't evacuated!" Vanilluxe admitted with a low nervous chuckle. He paused with a blink before groaning in exasperation. "Don't tell me… we have to deal with HIM in challenges a lot in this game. That would be terrible and for once, I can't even say a pun to lighten the mood…"

"Nonsense. There is nothing stopping you from telling you a pun… other than Vivillon's mild annoyance," Klingklang retorted plainly.

"It hurts me emotionally but I don't mind it!" Vanilluxe stated with a huge smile plastered on his face. He then deflated as he stammered quietly, "Okay… maybe a little bit…"

Magcargo gave him a reassuring pat on the back… which made the ice cream flinch a bit. "Don't worry. We like your jokes. While not all of them are funny, we appreciate the sentiment."

"I hate your jokes." Gourgeist added with a nonchalant look.

Vanilluxe blinked. "O-okay? You didn't have to say that out loud…"

"Don't worry about Gourgeist's opinion too much. It flips a lot, with a drop of a hat," Gossifleur pointed out with a reassuring stare.

"Maybe." Gossifleur said, rolling her eyes.

Magcargo stared at the camera with a wide grin. "My Survivor experience is off to a great start. I'm making friends, winning challenges, making enemies! There- oh wait… this is Total Pokemon… I'll have to restart this. But ditto everything I said above!"

His grin then shrank as he chuckled nervously. "Not everything is perfect and my team… has a few cracks to work on. Like, Vivillon has been acting high and mighty since she arrived, Gourgeist is a walking enigma, Cramorant's lingo is really hard to understand… Skwovet also tried stealing my lucky keychain once but it was given to me by my mother so I'm confused. Is he deliberately sabotaging my g-" Magcargo's confessional is cut off as he continued to drone on.

"I'm not a social butterfly," Gourgeist said simply with a nonchalant shrug. "Deal with it."

Empoleon gathered the Shuppet in the mess hall for a discussion about the vote. He faced them all with a judging scowl on his face, "What the fuck was THAT?! That challenge performance was DREADFUL and I'm going to have to admit… I didn't do so well in it, but why the fuck did nobody hide in a less obvious place?!"

"I apologize…" Chansey murmured, twiddling her fingers nervously.

"Don't fucking apologize to me. You better promise you'll do better next challenge!" Empoleon snapped, face-palming. "Seriously…"

"Ouchie… don't be too harsh on us," Teddiursa suggested, crossing her arms with an apprehensize stare directed towards the penguin. "We lost. We failed together. Nobody dragged us down. We lost by a landslide. It's all of our faults."

Empoleon sighed in exasperation before sitting down with a weak nod. "You… you're right. So, that's why I think our decision here has to be unanimous. No random scheming. We have to put our heads together."

Floatzel smirked as he nodded. "Good idea! No liars, if we have all of our planning out in the open and it helps suss out potential backstabbers too! Empoleon, you are a GENIUS!"

"Uhh… thank you?" Empoleon answered in confusion before clearing his throat to continue speaking. "I'm going to speak, in defense of myself. Gossifleur was fucking hard to find and it's my fault that I didn't find her too… so if anyone wants to gun for me for that… I'll have to say that I'm literally the strongest person on this team. This challenge is a fluke."

"Well, it's not like some people are going to vote, based off challenge performances," Musharna pointed out with a long yawn. "But… that's just me."

"While, that's true… I prefer to keep the team strong." Empoleon answered. "We need to take out the weak links."

Nobody said a word at this.

Empoleon cocked a brow at the sudden silence. "Is nobody going to..?"

"I don't think a group forum would exactly help much…" Pikachu pointed out sheepishly.

"UGGGGH!' Empoleon groaned in annoyance as he face-palmed loudly.

"Of course, Empoleon's idea was never going to fly… since that would mean cutie little me would be in deep danger!" Teddiursa said with a childish pout. "And that's a no no, even if it means saving Bay Bay or Pikapika obviously."

She giggled into her hands. "So, expect a BIIIIIIG MOVE out there. Hehe… wink wink, spoilers obviously."

"Does nobody fucking care about this team?!" Empoleon complained with a scowl. "We need to trim the fat, so that we can actually WIN but of course, nobody's down for that… maybe, it's because everyone here is a fucking weakling!"

Empoleon groaned into his hands before staring at the camera, determined. "I have to keep it together… I'm a winner. I can take matters to my own hands!"

"I'm really nervous about the vote…" Pikachu commented, leaning on the wall for support as he hyperventilated. "I don't want to be the first boot, even when I didn't sign up for this… I thought things through and I would be a laughing stock if I'm the first boot… but what do I do?! This is why I didn't want to sign up… all of these decisions… it's really hard to make… and of course, voting is one of them."

He feigned a weak smile as he put a hand on his chest. "It'll all work out… right?"

The scene transitions to show Unfezant, Sableye, Chansey and Musharna chatting in front of the infirmary.

"So, we're obviously voting Bayleef off, right?" Unfezant said simply as she leaned on the infirmary wall. "I mean, Empoleon was all about trimming the fat and Bayleef's literally the most useless person on the team."

Sableye's eyes shifted to the side as he nodded. "I think that's the plan… right? Hehehe, I don't know what's going to happen and I'm worried people are looking at me for my… weirdness, haha…"

"You're definitely a weirdo," Unfezant commented, rolling her eyes. "But you're still useful. What is Bayleef even good at? He does jackshit for us in these challenges and let's not forget Empoleon claiming that he's going to be good at this challenge. Well… he fucking sucked."

"We all sucked. Don't forget about that," Chansey pointed out. "I… didn't have an easy time finding a hiding spot personally…"

"Yeah yeah, everyone sucked but we have to find someone to blame for this loss," Unfezant pointed out. "I mean… I hid on top of the roof but of course, Gourgeist is some sort of superhuman or something…"

"You were on the roof..?" Musharna asked in confusion.

Unfezant nodded in reply. "Yeah… I thought Gourgeist would struggle to get up there."

"..." Musharna didn't respond, eyes narrowed to slits.

Unfezant cocked a brow, waving a wing at the tapir's face. "Hey? Are you okay? You're onboard with booting Bayleef here, right?"

"Huh?" Musharna blinked in confusion, smacking her lips together. "Sure… I guess. There's still some time until the campfire ceremony so we can never be too sure…"

"Well, we only need 5 votes here max, since I'm confident everyone else will not vote together here," Unfezant pointed out, putting both of her wings behind her head as she continued to lean on the infirmary's wall. "Let's get Magearna onboard, since Chansey here is close with her."

"Wait… are we like… an alliance or something, heheh?" Sableye queried, gripping his hands together in interest.

"I guess you can call it that… I don't care honestly."

"Okay… I'll run this plan by Magearna then…" Chansey said, eyes shifting to the side.

"It's a no-brainer. Bayleef is fucking useless so let's take him out and as much as I want to boot Empoleon off first for hilarity reasons, it makes the most sense," Unfezant explained with a frown. "This shouldn't be complicated, people! Sheeesh… my mom better regret signing me up now, since this game's just going to get even more serious…"

She snorted, rolling her eyes. "Or not? That sounded fucking cheesy and scripted."

"Magearna told me that… Unfezant well… she doesn't like me too much," Chansey admitted, staring at the camera with a conflicted expression. "But she's suggesting voting Bayleef off to me… so she's probably not against me, like Magearna told me… right?"

She sighed as she held her body with a shake of her head. "It's really confusing… I don't quite know what to do here, to be frank."

"Hehehe, I'm still a bit worried but Unfezant's plan sounds fine by me,.. as one has one said, as long as it's not me." Sableye admitted, looking to the side of the confessional with a guilty look. "B-but obviously I don't want to wish this on anyone… it's just the way of the game, hehe…"

Bayleef, Empoleon, Pikachu, Floatzel and Teddiursa were the only members of the Shuppet, who decided to stay in the mess hall to discuss the vote. Currently, there was an awkward air because of Empoleon's early suggestion. Bayleef cleared his throat loudly before blushing in embarrassment, "I-Is nobody going to talk? I-I-I thought we all stayed behind t-to talk about t-the vote…"

"... we all like awkward silences," Pikachu mused before covering his mouth with a groan. "Forget I said anything…"

"No… Bayleef's fucking right. We can't just pity ourselves. We need a fucking gameplan and I apologize for offending everyone with my earlier idea…" Empoleon admitted, looking down at his feet with a small frown. "So… does anyone have any bright ideas?"

"Uhhmm… does this mean we aren't going to target each other for the vote?" Pikachu asked, raising a hand.

"Yeah, I guess." Empoleon answered with a rigid nod.

"I'M FINE WITH THIS SINCE WE ARE THE LEAST SHADIEST PEOPLE ON THIS TEAM!" Floatzel yelled, pumping a fist. "Let's take out the shadiest… SABLEYE!"

"I don't think Sableye's too shady… just misunderstood UwU," Teddiursa admitted with a shrug. "Chansey and Magearna are pretty close… maybe them? But idc honestly, I'm fine with whatever."

"Well… we don't have much time… so we have to reach a decision soon…" Pikachu said, eyes darting around the room nervously. "So… is it Magearna… or Sableye?"

"Or Musharna!" Teddiursa added. "Unfezant too honestly. She's a huge meanie. I think it's safe to say Chansey's pretty much the person who's not here that I'm not fine voting off… She understands me! Kinda in a weird cagey tsun tsun way."

"Musharna is more perceptive than she looks personally," Empoleon remarked. "And Sableye's… interesting to say the least. Maybe, let's cut our loss and vote him off, since he seems… unapproachable."

"S-Sableye's n-n-not that scary…" Bayleef sputtered out.

"HE'S SHADY!" Floatzel pointed out.

"He likes hanging out in dark spaces but that makes sense since he's a fucking Dark type…" Empoleon retorted, arching a brow with an unamused look. "You know what?! Let's vote with our fucking hearts and see where the vote lands, as long as we don't vote for each other here."

"Vote… with our hearts?" Pikachu queried rhetorically, narrowing her eyes.

"Yes, don't fucking ask any more questions."

"I-I-I don't want to rely on random chance to stay… s-since some people might vote on a whim and I-I-I might be in big danger…" Bayleef muttered with a whimper. "But what do I do?! I-I'm not good at talking to people and… Empoleon might listen to w-what I want since he's interested in m-m-mentoring me but he's scary…"

"So… this vote might be a mess," Chansey told Musharna and Magearna as she sat on her bed with a pondering expression. "Unfezant is suggesting Bayleef… but I'm not sure if it'll work out… what do you girls think?"

Musharna yawned as she sat up on her bed. "I think it's a solid plan… but… hm… if anyone has any bright ideas, I'm all-ears to it."

"I don't…" Chansey admitted bashfully. She looked up to Magearna, who had both of her eyes closed in thought. "How about you, Magearna? What do you think?" The Mythical Pokemon's eye shot right open at this, as she smiled weakly at the nurse.

"Well… I'm not too sure…" Magearna answered.

"Hmmm?" Musharna leaned over her bunk's railing, curious. "So, you're not fully onboard with the kill Bayleef plan… maybe, we should do the funny and… do something else."

"B-but Bayleef's the weakest one in the team!" Chansey pointed out.

"Arguable. Bayleef might be weak but he's not the quote unquote… weakest…" Musharna started, smiling coyly. "Pikachu is weaker but even I can tell he's more resilient than who I have in mind… since at the end of the day, if you don't want to be here, then you shouldn't be playing."

Chansey gasped in reply. "What do you mean? Everyone seemed like they were here to play…"

"Well… there are people who don't want to be here… and the challenge just opened my eyes on who the true weakest link of the team is."

"Pikachu?" Chansey suggested.

"Uhh… close, I guess. I guess he had a bit of doubts about joining but he's not the weakest link. I'm talking about-" Musharna started only to be cut off as the scene faded to black.

"I prefer to be proactive…" Musharna told the camera with a confident smirk. "And I intentionally… hid some things and spiced things up, to make things more interesting. Pikachu's really the weakest link here honestly… but why settle for less? Mmmm… I want my path to the end… to be as crazy and spontaneous as it can be… I mean, chaos is good for everyone."

She then yawned, one eye closed. "Besides… this is pretty much a test… since I had a gut feeling… let's just say, I'm keeping an eye on everyone since my boot suggestion's not going to fly but if it does… you know something's wrong."

Bayleef nervously stomped on the floor as he faced Empoleon as they stood near the edge of the campgrounds, preparing for the campfire ceremony. "E-Empoleon… I was doing a bit of thinking…"

"Hmm?" Empoleon eyed the dinosaur curiously.

Bayleef opened his mouth to speak, as his eyes shifted to the side. "What if we… vote together… since I'm your mentee after all!"

"I'm fucking down for it. I mean, you're 2nd place to me, so I want us to be on the same page, as we run circles around everyone else." Empoleon pointed out, folding his arms.

"Well… you see… I'm going to voting for-" Bayleef started only to be interrupted by the scene transitioning.

"Maybe Bayleef's more ballsy than I expected," Empoleon commented, rubbing the back of his head. "I'm actually fucking impressed that he even came to me about the vote. Maybe next, he should beat me in a battle next… but that's really unlikely."

Teddiursa is walking en-route to the campfire ceremony for the first vote only to be stopped by Musharna with a frown. "Bwuh? Mushy, are there any problems?"

"Well… I think I know what we should do for the vote…" Musharna started to explain only for the scene to fade to black.

The Shining Shuppet were all now seated, facing the fire pit for their first campfire ceremony. Nihilego and Poipole faced them with ominous expressions. The jellyfish waved at them before clasping her tentacles together. "Welcome… to the first campfire ceremony, where one of you will be voting off. Poipole here, has a tray of 9 marshmallows."

Poipole nodded, as he picked up a tray of marshmallows from the ground. "I put it on the ground, just in case I don't drop it, hehe! Marshmallows are delicious and present safety because it's a comfort food!"

"Just get on with it," Unfezant scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"Don't be too rude to the co-host," Nihilego chided with a huff as she took a short glance at the marshmallows. "But anyways, let's get this over with…"

"First ones safe with no votes are… Empoleon, Floatzel and Teddiursa."

Empoleon smirked as he stood up to grab his marshmallow. "As expected…"

"JUSTICE PREVAILS!" Floatzel added as he followed after the penguin.

Teddiursa tapped her foot impatiently as Poipole rolled his eyes before hurling a marshmallow to her direction. It lands at her foot. "Heeey, I can't eat floor marshmallow. It's totally superalidociously gross!"

Poipole ignored her as he waited for Nihilego to continue.

"Also with zero votes are… Chansey, Magearna and Pikachu."

Chansey and Magearna exchanged a smile as a marshmallow flew past their heads. Pikachu was covering his face before he sighed in relief… only to flinch as a marshmallow hit him in the face.

"Unfezant, Sableye, Bayleef, Musharna. One of you is going home and it… is not MUSHARNA, since you only received two votes!"

"Who… voted for me?" Musharna questioned with a tired look, ignoring the marshmallow hitting her on the nose..

"I mean, you do sleep most of the time," Chansey pointed out, awkwardly twiddling her fingers together.

"It's to catch up on lost sleep… but whatever…" Musharna mumbled, mildly annoyed.

"Sableye, you're also safe with 1 vote to your name!" Nihilego continued, hurling a marshmallow at Sableye, who caught it it with a relieved sigh.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE NOBODY ACTUALLY VOTED WITH ME!" Floatzel gasped in distraught. "Is EVERYONE a villain?!"

"How the fuck did Floatzel not receive any votes while I'm in the bottom 2?!" Unfezant grumbled, slouching in disappointment.

"Yep, you and Bayleef are the bottom 2! One of you received 3 votes… and the other received 4 votes."

Unfezant's eyes narrowed even further. "Chansey… did you tell Magearna to vote with us?"

"Uhhmmm… I d-did!" Chansey stammered, avoiding the bird's glares.

"ONLY ONE MARSHMALLOW REMAINS. It's between Bayleef and Unfezant… and the last marshmallow goes to…"

"..."

Bayleef was nervously sobbing in silence.

"..."

Unfezant's gaze remained focused on the last marshmallow.

"..."

Chansey looked rather nervous for the two.

"..."

Musharna yawned for the nth time today.

"..."

"Bayleef… you're safe," Nihilego finished, throwing a marshmallow at the snivelling dinosaur who catches it in his mouth. "Sorry Unfezant… this means, you're the first boot."

"What the fuck?!" Unfezant questioned, standing up from her seat with a confused look. "Are you fucking serious?!"

"Sowwy Unfezant, tee hee~" Teddiursa giggled into her paws with a childish wink.

"I can't… ugggh… this sucks!" Unfezant grumbled as she followed Nihilego and Poipole into the woods, leaving the nine remaining Shuppet members in silence.

"So… that was a thing, hehehe…" Sableye commented nervously.

"I… didn't expect that at all." Magearna remarked, closing her eyes.

"Yeah, I expected her to bash us all individually and drag our names to the mud but she's… surprisingly fine with this?" Pikachu said.

"Mmmm… nobody wants to be a raging bitch on national tv…" Musharna pointed out, sleeping on her stool.

"You have a point there…"

"So I'm the first boot…" Unfezant said, a bit shocked. "I guess I get to spend less time on this shitty island so that's not a problem but fucking seriously?! Over Bayleef, Floatzel or Empoleon?! This SUCKS big time. Who I'm rooting for, huh?! I guess I'll have to say Bayleef since he stayed over me so he better be in this for the long haul, or I'll eat a sock… or not, since his chances are pretty terrible, let's be real…"

Teddiursa pouted as she followed Musharna back to camp. "That was really close but uhhh… why did you suggest to vote Unfezant off in the first place?"

"Hmmm… well, I'll be honest with you. I didn't vote Unfezant off," Musharna admitted with a shrug.

"BWUH?! Then, why were you telling me to go vote her off? Like, I was 100% onboard but you didn't have to ice me by not actually doing it. That's a terrible joke!" Teddiursa complained, stomping her foot on the ground. "Who did you vote for then?"

"Bayleef… with Sableye and Unfezant, since it was 3 votes and Chansey will always vote with Magearna… so I'm going to guess Chansey and Magearna were 2 of the Unfezant votes… but as for the fourth… it's between Bayleef, Pikachu and Empoleon. We can discount Pikachu and Bayleef since I saw them looking away when I was asking for who voted for me… so that leaves Empoleon as the fourth vote."

"Did you seriously tell me to vote Unfezzy out just to make this bold assumption?!" Teddiursa asked, dumbfounded.

"Well… I wanted to be sure of something. The vote needed to be really close and while we could've switched places with myself voting Unfezant off and you with Bayleef… I still wanted to honor Unfezant's suggestion. I just wanted to use this vote to draw more attention to Chansey and Magearna since I had my suspicions since my chat with 'Unfezant' during the challenge."

"How are you so sure this will draw attention to them in the first place?!" Teddiursa queried.

"Hmm? Oh, it's easy. I was actually following Empoleon around before the vote and I saw him and Bayleef talking so they'll eventually talk about the vote soon, and they'll discover that they didn't actually vote together, which makes one of them a fake… or well, Bayleef specifically since I heard Unfezant's name in their discussion and Bayleef ended up voting for me."

"Do you usually stalk people in their freetime?" Teddiursa queried, with a shaky laugh.

"Maybe… but well, I had my suspicions that this fake wanted Unfezant gone from the start… remember Unfezant targeting Magearna and Chansey right off the gate… that Unfezant was probably a fake." Musharna continued.

"So one of Magearna or Chansey's actually a fake?! But uhhm… it doesn't make sense… like uhhm… there's no such thing as a fake Unfezant. Are you saying that a wild Unfezant who hates our Unfezant decided to join the game incognito style to sabotage her game?!"

"It'll make sense eventually… just you wait," Musharna told the little bear ominously as they reached the campground.

"I don't know about you, Musharna… but all of your theories make my head all hurty…" Teddiursa admitted, playfully rubbing her head as she rotated it.

"I never expected you to understand it immediately."

'H-hey now! I may be cute but I'm not dumb."

"Uh-huh."

As the camera panned over to the crescent moon. an unknown figure that was stalking behind the duo, can be seen for a brief moment, gazing at their backs with an ominous expression.

"..."

Vote Count:

Unfezant - Chansey, Empoleon, Magearna, Teddiursa

Bayleef - Musharna, Sableye, Unfezant

Musharna - Bayleef, Pikachu

Sableye - Floatzel

Shining Shuppet - Bayleef, Chansey, Empoleon, Floatzel, Magearna, Musharna, Pikachu, Sableye, Teddiursa

Twinkling Trubbish - Cramorant, Dedenne, Gourgeist, Gossifleur, Klingklang, Magcargo, Oricorio, Skwovet, Vanilluxe, Vivillon

And that's the chapter. The challenge was pretty much a landslide. Challenges also continue to be my weakpoint so I'll try not to be caught up and make it simple to understand.

ABOUT THE BOOT (Unfezant): Okay, this was definitely a hard decision to make and ultimately, it fell on Unfezant. For her entire stay in the game (the first episode is counted as two), Unfezant's arc was hating the island and the game so a concise story arc of her drawing the ire of her team for her… lack of filter. She was an interesting case for sure, since her story arc was one of the more lowkey ones but at the same time, she was slated to be the first boot so she had to be one of the more subdued first boots, who are not too visible yet not too under the radar, like Clay was in TPUS.

Unfezant: Review… or not...