It's time for a throwback…
Marill stared at her clipboard with a bored expression. Currently she was managing things in another clearing, busy with preparing for the next challenge planned by Nihilego. Staravia can be seen… struggling to push a log but winks seductively as a blushing Gallade tries to help her. Bellosom looked rather confused as she was positioning the spotlights around the stage. Carracosta was off to himself, doing the heavy lifting.
So far so good? Marill wasn't the type to keep things simple, with the potential for anything and everything to go wrong, but everyone was relying on her to keep things done so she had little room for error. She wasn't too sure about what the hostess was planning but from the looks of it… it was definitely more of a grand affair, compared to the previous ones… as if it was any contest.
Spelunking in a dark, dingy cave that changes its layout; Dodge balls; Hide and seek relay; Secrets revealing challenge.
None of those were exactly sticking out on their own as different. She giggled to herself… before quickly stopping herself. She was starting to get way too into this. A curious Whimsicott walked over to her, coffee cup in hand.
"Hey, do you want some coffee?" The cottonweed offered with a wink. "You're working really hard today!"
Marill rolled her eyes, swiping the coffee off the Grass-type's grip, "Oh please… you know I have to. It's my job." She narrowed her eyes, "Don't you have work to do as well? With editing specifically. I don't think you've finished editing the previous episode…" She face-palmed as she noticed Whimsicott's expression turn sheepish, "Seriously… you really need to take this job more seriously. I mean… this is a rare opportunity so we shouldn't w-" try to maybe separate the sentences if it gets too cluttered. Like maybe after the sentence (She narrowed her eyes) you could make it a different paragraph
"Yeah yeah, you keep telling me the same thing all over and over again!" Whimsicott huffed, "I mean… I'm a HUGE fan of the Total Pokemon series and you don't have to tell me twice that this is a HUGE thing… it's not every day you get the chance to get a front row seat to your favorite shows but I genuinely think you worry way too much."
"W-what are you even talking about?!" Marill sputtered out in disbelief, "I think I'm more stress-free recently. You must be overexagerrating things…"
"I think you haven't even slept for quite a while," The cottonweed pointed out, "I'm saying this cuz I'm concerned for you, Marill. If you have any problems… leave it to Nihilego or Poipole. They're not slavedrivers."
Marill sighed, grip tightening on the coffee cup as she thought silently to herself, "..."
"Hey! Breakfast is READY!" A peppy voice chimed in, walking to the two, holding a tray with two plates with… a red oozing slab of meat on both. It was Indeedee, who decided to take it upon himself to prepare the food for not only the contestants, but also the staff working for the show… to their chagrin. "I made some meaty mushy surprise… so I hope you can enjoy it! It will… GIVE you more energy to work harder!"
"..." Marill and Whimsicott both exchanged a concerned look, with the blue mouse mumbling, "Err… Indeedee, I do know your food is a… sore spot, for you but… are these even safe?"
Indeedee's expression darkened, tilting his face to the side, "What do you mean? Of course, it's safe. Magcargo likes it a lot. Sableye told me it was better than the trash he finds in the garbage disposal…" He sighed, "It's almost as if you don't-"
"Oh please, stop being melodramatic," Marill scoffed, "You do get we know that you never go far beyond threats… to think you have most of the campers scared of you because of a mild threat, of all things…"
Indeedee rolled his eyes, "I'm just trying to play nice and get people to like my cooking!"
"... no comment," Marill muttered.
"Uhh… I'm full," Whimsicott chimed in, "But you can join Marill and me on our coffee b-"
"Coffee break? I haven't seen you done any work today yet," Marill stated sternly. "So… get to editing… we're running on a schedule… this is a twenty-episode season and we're currently on Episode 6 so… you need to finish things, before they start to pile up."
"Uggggh… I hate it when you're right…" Whimsicott groaned, "I'll do it after I'm done help-"
"Help?" Marill asked, cocking a brow before sighing, "Don't tell me Nihilego sent you here…"
The cottonweed nodded enthusiastically, flashing a wide grin, "Yep! She told me that she figured my extensive TPI knowledge would be useful in helping out with the challenge and shit… so I'm glad to be of service! It's honestly boring just being in the background and filming…"
"What exactly is the challenge?" Indeedee chimed in, setting down the tray on the grass, "I don't exactly know much about this show… I was only hired to cook…"
"It's a throwback challenge," Marill explained, letting the cook get a small glance of her clipboard, "You see… this show is actually a sequel of a pretty ancient relative television show… but I guess calling it a sequel is being generous. It's more of a… revival, no pun intended."
Noticing the confusion forming on not only Indeedee's but Whimsicott's face, she face-palmed. "It's not hard to understand. We're bringing back some… things from the original show: Total Pokemon Ultra Space… and some other cancelled… install… ments?" Marill bit her lip as she looked to the side thoughtfully before covering her face with a clipboard.
"Oh oh oh!" Whimsicott interrupted, pointing to herself with a proud expression, "I was actually a contestant on a scrapped TPI show… it was uhh… Ultra Island? Okay, I think I'm embarrassing myself right now for forgetting the name despite being a HUGE fan but hey, it was kind of a wash."
"Thank you for bringing up something that's irrelevant to the situation at hand," Marill intoned sarcastically, "But continuing from where I've left off… it's basically like a variety show where the contestants will have to do mini-challenges, related to challenges from TPUS or contestants from TPUS."
"That sounds so fun! I wish I was playing!" Whimsicott squealed in cheer, quickly turning to Indeedee, who leaned away in discomfort. "Do you know EVERY future challenge?!"
"Err… yes obviously," Marill said, eyes widening as the cottonweed leaned to her direction acting like well… a fangirl. Slowly taking a step away, she stammered, "I-it's all confidential though… I'm only willing to share information about this challenge… s-so please stay away…"
"Aw…" Whimsicott looked disappointed by this, "I guess… I'll just find out AND probably make predictions since I wouldn't be a MASSIVE fan if I don't theorycraft!" She giggled as the blue mouse looked confused by what she meant, "Haha, now I'm the one intriguing you! Don't worry about it~ I'll go help the interns now!"
With a casual wave, the cottonweed floated away from the duo to help Staravia and Gallade with setting up the stage.
Indeedee sighed, picking up his tray with an annoyed look, "I'll be heading back as well since clearly nobody wants to eat my food here…" Grumbling incoherently, the disgruntled Normal-type stomped back into the woods to head back to the mess hall to cook breakfast for the contestants.
Marill sighed, slamming her face repeatedly with a clipboard, "Okay… thank ARCEUS they're gone… I need to de-stress… only a tad bit…"
"Oh Marill~" A singsong voice chimed in from behind her, which made her expression drop. The Water/Fairy-type quickly turned around, dismayed to find Gourgeist walking over, waving at her without a care. Oh great… her day was officially ruined.
"Gourgeist and I had… an agreement but obviously, I don't trust her" Marill admitted, hiding her expression behind a clipboard. "It's… very complicated. I don't even know why I'm even here, confessing even?!" She paused, deadpanning, "I'm going to leave now before I can share too much…"
"Gourgeist… why are you here?" Marill asked, hiding her discontent, "You're not supposed to be here…"
"I was just here for a chat…" Gourgeist explained, cocking a brow before giggling and winking at Marill, who looked to the side, "I mean, we're friends, right? So… I figured I can invite myself here, since we're just soooo close~"
"Please don't…" Marill grumbled.
"What do you mean?! I mean… I can help you!" Gourgeist pointed out, a mischievous glint intimidating the smaller Pokemon even further, "I mean… I k-"
"You do get we're not alone," Marill's tone lowered to a whisper as she looked around for anyone noticing them. She sighed in relief as everyone in the vicinity was focused on their work before looking back to stare at Gourgeist pleadingly, "We can talk later… preferably at night, when I'm less busy…"
Gourgeist pouted at this, "But what if I wanna talk with you now?"
"Didn't you just hear I'm busy?! And that fact that we have to talk in PRIVATE!" Marill reminded her sternly, "Like seriously… if you don't leave, I have to force you to-"
"Oh dear, oh my! Another visitor?" A calm and nasally voice chimed in. It was Bellossom hopping off the stage as she had finished with her job. She examined Gourgeist with a judgmental expression, "So… are you also an absolutely new and original intern? Since I don't recall remember seeing you last night…"
"Recall remember?! Slow down, girl… you're repeating your words!" Gourgeist criticized, "But hey, I'm Gourgeist and I'm a contes-" Noticing Marill glaring at her, she laughed casually, "Contest star, Gourgeist. I am here to be a judge~"
"... ?" Bellossom looked rather confused by this, while Marill face-palmed. That was probably one of the dumbest excuses she could ever come up with.
"Hmm? I was hired to be a judge for this, last minute," Gourgeist continued to lie with a straight face. "I mean… come on, don't tell me you haven't heard of me before~"
"I haven't heard of you before," Bellossom admitted flatly.
"... I'll be going now and QUIT this job then!" Gourgeist huffed haughtily, stomping back into the woods as sudden as she arrived.
Bellossom blinked… before blushing in embarrassment, "Err… I think I just… made the judge quit…"
"Don't worry. It'll be fine," Marill muttered, rolling her eyes.
"Marill is NO fun and all business," Gourgeist said, pouting childishly.
Inside the mess hall, breakfast was just being served.
The mood of the Shuppet table was… well, terrible was an understatement. It can be likened to a literal dumpster fire. Floatzel looked terribly exhausted, black circles around his eyes not even bothering about the fact that his mystery meat had just walked off his plate. Teddiursa, who was sitting on the other side of him, was bothered by this but forced a smile regardless. Chansey wasn't any better as she looked like she didn't sleep at all, laughing nervously to herself while wincing as Sableye was scraping a fork on his plate next to her.
Needless to say, nobody was having a great day.
Teddiursa giggled anxiously, stabbing her meat with a fork to prevent it from leaving her plate, "So… Floatzel… are you okay?"
The weasel looked up to the little bear, eyes flitting open and shut as he yawned. "Hmm… Teddiursa? Is that you?" He groaned, holding his head in his arms.
"Oh… sorry… Empoleon really kept me up all night, asking me about why I didn't vote him off… he somehow knew I voted against Bayleef… didn't exactly give me…" He trailed off, face-planting onto the table, making the Normal-type wince.
"Ooooh… Floatzel?! Floatzel?! Wake up, pretty please?!" Teddiursa twiddled her fingers awkwardly before glaring at her breakfast, which was basically squirming, "Don't you dare leave, UWU!"
She sighed as she swiftly stabbed the stillborn mush dead center with a frustrated expression, "This is shaping up to be a very uncute day…"
"So… the team is… in a very precarious spot right now!" Teddiursa admitted, leading on the wall with a pout, "I knew voting Bayleef off would really really mess with Empoleon… buuuuut…" She waved her hands around, slamming them on the wall with a groan, "He's reacting… MORE miffed than I expected. I knew that he's a big dick but… this is already worse than what I expected…"
Teddiursa scratched the back of her awkwardly, adding, "Okay… that's not the only problem. Chansey's very very very… concerned recently… and it's about Magearna and it feels really really weird. Not only that, Sableye is having those weird 'dates' with Gossifleur and it's making me oh so CURIOUS!" She face-palmed, steadying her pacing, "Okay… okay… maybe, I might've overplayed these couple past few rounds… maybe, I should've just let Empoleon get voted off but gosh darn it, I just wanted sweet justice!"
She deadpanned, "Turns out, sweet justice turns to be a pie in the face…"
"Uhhmm… g-guys… I don't know if you guys are actually eating but… I think my breakfast just moved…" Sableye chimed in, fork trembling in his hand, "I… I think i-it's alive, heh… wait, why did I laugh? That's not funny…"
"I mean… Indeedee's cooking is very very… weeeeiiiird," Teddiursa whispered, looking around, "H-he's not here, right? He'll probably kill us if he finds out we're talking shit about his cooking…"
"I mean… I think it's pretty neat," Sableye commented, taking a bite of his mush without making a weird expression, "Mmm… it almost tastes like chicken… or well, tastes like chicken if that chicken got run over by a speeding car then beaten to death before falling into a vat of acid… but all in all, still pretty neat!"
"REALLY?!" Teddiursa said before taking a bite of her meat, wincing, "T-t-this…"
"Teddiursa, are you okay? You look sick, haha…" Sableye pointed out, "Are you-"
Teddiursa regurgitated the chewed food back onto her plate, jaw slack, "Okay… what you said is a legit understatement! This is literal garbage…" She covered her mouth, groaning, "Okay… Indeedee's not here, right?" She sighed in relief as the gremlin shook his head in reply, 'Good… but uhhmm… this food is… terribad, and it's not exactly lifting my spirits here!"
"Oh… I guess our tastes must be different then, haha!" Sableye stated weakly, "I think it's alright… don't you agree, Chansey?" The nurse didn't reply, mind off elsewhere to his dismay as he turns back to Teddiursa, "I mean… Magcargo, that snail on the other team, likes it!"
Teddiursa shrugged indifferently, "I guess it's not for everyone then… definitely not for me OWO! But I'll try to sneak in a few bites and fool my brain that it's fried chicken cuz we need all the energy we need for the challenge… we lost… so many times."
"That's the spirit!" Sableye flashed a thumbs-up.
"Not really helping… but thanks 0_0…"
The Trubbish table, on the hand, were all in a good mood after their fourth consecutive win. Magcargo was happily eating the unwanted gruel of some of his teammates… which slightly concerned Klinklang and Dedenne, who just sat there to watch, having finished with theirs, through a battle of willpower and against the desire to vomit it back out.
Dedenne stood tiptoeing on his seat, watching the snail enjoy himself, "Uhh… up to this day, I still don't know how you could eat a lot of Indeedee's… 'food' without getting sick. I mean… I can barely get past one serving!"
"It's not so bad once you get past the weirdness… it's sort of an acquired taste honestly!" Magcargo explained in between bites, "It does have a weird aftertaste… but I like it, to be honest. It's interesting and makes my stomach churn and sound like a beating drum!"
Noticing the offput faces of his teammates, he smiled weakly, "Okay… maybe, that wasn't an enticing explanation. Maybe, I can get a do-"
"I don't think any… glowing reviews would make me like Indeedee's food," Klinklang drawled coldly, "I know steel is immune to poison, yet it feels like his meals have the Corrosive ability…"
"Are you sure?!" Magcargo asked, intrigued. Klinklang nodded, quickly poking his fork on Magcargo's mush pile… which dissolved into the mush. The snail's eyes sparkled with interest.
"WOW, that's pretty interesting. I mean, it can be pretty innovative and-"
"That's not the point… I just think Indeedee's food is toxic and can be harmful to one's health," Klinklang interrupted, "So… I'm trying not to overeat… or starve myself, since both is not exactly ideal… but it would be greater, if Indeedee gave us options to cook our own food."
"Eh… I literally know nothing about cooking anything…" Dedenne admitted, "But if you're volunteering, Klin-"
"I said nothing of the sort… let's just sit and wait for the challenge," Klinklang glared threateningly with a huff. Dedenne rolled his eyes, as he returned to watching Magcargo eat… wincing at the scraps being flung across the table. It was clear that Magcargo was a messy eater.
On the other side of the table were Oricorio, Gossifleur and Cramorant, who were focused on plowing through their food, with Cramorant honestly more into watching her phone than actually eating. Gossifleur quickly peered over her shoulder, asking, "What are you looking at?"
The bird blushed in embarrassment, quickly hiding the screen from view, "It's like nothing. Just some… black screen thing, since my phone broke on the first day… I'm just hoping by some miracle, it'd resurrect itself like zombies and work again but el oh el, that might be unlikely… not even praying to Arceus woulda help…"
"Phones are so addictive… you should focus more on the real world, Cramorant," Oricorio advised, "Just staring at a dead phone screen is an N to the O, it's a no no no… not because it's bad for your eyes… it just feels unhealthy."
"It's just a bit of a habit of mine, lol," Cramorant admitted, "I check online forums daily and try to chat with my online friends daily too and like, it's a total bummer than it's broken but at the same time, it's not like there's any phone signal or internet here…"
"I never had a phone before… while I do think that long-distance communication is groundbreaking, I am fine not having one," Gossifleur added with a chipper voice, "N-not that I am trying to drag you for your lifestyle choices. I'm just telling you… you can survive through this, with a broken phone!"
"Well, that's nice… I guess," Cramorant shrugged.
"Nice?!" Gossifleur gawked in surprise, "W-what? Wasn't I not rude for rudely interrupting you?"
"I mean… you were like trying to help me colon shrug colon emote," Cramorant pointed out. She cocked a brow as Gossifleur slammed her head on the table, "Are you like… alright? You might accidentally facedesk into your mush or whatevs… and I would honestly wanna take a pic of it but my phone is broken af so…"
"W-well… I'm trying… not to be… so… nice?" Gossifleur explained, starting to sound a bit unsure of herself, "Okay? Did that sound weird or do I need to elaborate further?"
"Why do you want to be… NOT nice?!" Oricorio asked, eyes widening, "You're so carefree, down-to-earth and very approachable! You don't need to change anything about yourself! If you're feeling insecure, I am here to act as your shoulder to cry on, a pair of ears that listens, a-"
"We get it, leader lol," Cramorant interrupted, rolling her eyes. Oricorio blushed in embarrassment and realized that she might've come off too strong. "But yeah, are you still on that bad boy kick? I know it's like sooo hot, in anime or a television drama, but I don't think that applies to real life el ehm ey oh…"
"Uhm… I think you're thinking of something else… I WANT to be a bad girl… n-not want a bad boy…" Gossifleur corrected, "I don't think I'm ready for a relationship anyways…"
"Like… why though?" Cramorant queried.
"Hmm… d-do I have to explain further than that? Now that you're asking… I'm starting to get more embarrassed…" Gossifleur muttered, face turning red.
"I mean… I'm honestly a bit curious!" Cramorant said cheekily, wrapping a wing around the flower's back, " You can trust us, ex oh ex oh~"
Gossilfleur shook her head, trying to shake off the look of embarrassment evident from her expression, "W-well… i don't think I… you know what, it's better t-to leave it a surprise…"
"Aw…"
"Cramorant, it's best to let this be… Gossifleur deserves to keep her secrets a secret," Oricorio pointed out.
Cramorant pouted at this, "But I still wanted to know…"
"While I presume everyone is acting all congenial, because of the fact that we are on a winning streak, it is quite disheartening to know that nobody is actually actively thinking about their game," Klinklang confessed with a cold gaze. "I can't not just… stand idly and wait for something to happen, but I know it's a foolish idea to try and talk strategy, if it just results in people distrusting me more. I aim to be… welcoming."
He deadpanned, "Whatever Magcargo meant about that… I've yet to find out."
"... Empoleon..?" Magearna muttered, twiddling her fingers after lightly knocking on the door to the men's side of the cabin, groaning as she failed to get a reply. "Are you not going to have any breakfast? You need the energy to help with the challenge…"
"..."
"Are you still hung up on last night?" Magearna asked, "Okay okay, I deeply apologize for the move, but if you must know… it was Floatzel and Teddiursa's idea to vote for Empoleon and I had no choice but to fold to their demands."
"I don't… FUCKING care…" Empoleon grumbled from within.
"Empoleon… you're acting like a child right now," Magearna pointed out.
"You didn't vote me off, like I asked! Can't I do ANYTHING right?!" Empoleon snapped back, "So, just save your breath. It's your own fault for keeping me…"
"..." Magearna blinked before rolling her eyes, "You're being quite overly dramatic…"
Empoleon didn't reply, making the mythical Pokemon slam her head on the door in exasperation, "Of course…"
Empoleon stared at the camera, stress evident with the swelling around his eyes, "I literally don't FUCKING care about my team… they never did anything for me. They can't follow simple orders to help win the challenge or HELL, vote me off… I literally can't… I don't deserve to be here. It should've been me sent home last night, not Bayleef. He had a lot of fight left in him, while I…"
The penguin crossed his arms, "I'll have to make sure that this team goes down with me then… for his sake."
Vanilluxe floated in the mess hall with a cheery disposition, approaching his team with a wide grin, "Hi cool team! What's for breakfast?!"
"Mush…" Vivillon answered, deadpan, "You shouldn't be too surprised at this point…"
Vanilluxe laughed nervously at this, "Uhh… t-thank you for letting me know? That is MUSH appreciat-" He sweated profusely as a groan rang out not only through his team's table, but the entire mess hall, "O-okay?! Maybe, I'm overusing that pun…"
"Maybe is an understatement," Skwovet drawled, rolling his eyes.
"Hey now…" Vanilluxe mumbled to himself, "It's not that overused, right?"
"..." He groaned as everyone averted their gaze at that moment, "Oh come oooonnnn! There's not mush puns you could make with a bowl of mush and mystery meat, okay!"
"... I'll pretend you didn't say anything… but…" Vivillon turned to Skwovet with an intense expression, "Don't think I haven't forgotten about what you did in the last challenge…"
"... you're still hung up on that?!" Skwovet gawked, jaw widening, "I literally apologized so many times already! Isn't that not enough?!"
"G-guys… let's not fight," Vanilluxe chimed in, paling a bit as he started to shake silently.
"NO NO, don't try to butt in… this is OUR conversation and I need to FIND answers," Vivillon snapped at the ice cream, who gulped with a reluctant nod as he retreated to sit further away from the arguing duo.
"Okay… this is a very tough crowd," Vanilluxe admitted sheepishly, "Nobody's really biting down on my jokes… and laughing at them, so wow… I'm honestly feeling intimidated by their standards! Well, it can't get any higher than this, right? Hmm… maybe, I should think of more… unconventional puns." He trailed off before shaking himself out of his thoughts, "Or not, sometimes simplicity is key, if I try to overcomplicate things, it wouldn't end well!"
"..." Skwovet silently scooped a chunk of mush onto his spoon, sweatdropping as Vivillon's intense expression didn't falter. Biting into his spoon, he winced as Vivillon shook her head in disappointment. Exasperated, the squirrel face-palmed, "Do you have to silently judge me while I'm eating breakfast?!"
"You have yet to ATONE for your sins!" Vivillon gritted her teeth impatiently. "Haven't you forgotten that I can literally buy and sell you to the black market?!"
"It was an acci-" Vivillon hissed before the squirrel could even finish his sentence.
"Accident?! It's not just about the 'poisoning' incident! You also committed felony against me, stealing a lot of my prized possessions!" Vivillon explained, narrowing her gaze. "So… you're NOT off the hook at all. Do you want me to file a restraining order against you?!"
"..."
"So, I'll have BOTH of my eyes on you to prevent any funny business. I was FINE when you pilfered my family heirloom during the first day… but TWO is just pushing it!" Vivillon chided as she cleaned closer to a shrinking Skwovet.
"... I c-can't help it!" Skwovet tried to explain only to be interrupted by the agitated butterfly.
"Hmm?! Well, really?! I was having a decent amount of sleep when I woke up, discovering that my diamond-encrusted pillow went missing and well, I immediately came to the conclusion that you stole it," Vivillon recalled, "How is THAT you not helping it?! You're getting on my last nerve and if we weren't in this blasted infernal game, I would've sued you by-" She paused, upon noticing Dedenne shake his head in disappointment.
"AHEM… as I was saying… I'll leave you on your way with ANOTHER warning. Don't try to steal from me again or I'll be… moderately frustrated…"
Skwovet laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head, "I don't even think I can keep that promise?! I mean… you can't expect me to… you know… stop doing it just because you asked…"
"I KNEW IT! THAT JUST CONFIRMS YOU STOLE MY DIAMOND-ENCRUSTED PI-" Vivillon snapped at the squirrel before taking a deep breath, "... I'm not mad… just DISAPPOINTED."
"You're seriously going to try to pull that card with me?!" Skwovet said flatly.
"... I'm benevolent!" Vivillon laughed, trying to pass it off as a joke, but her twitching left eye gave away the fact that she was doing everything against her better judgement, making Skwovet roll his eyes in annoyance.
"Just… let me eat, okay!? We can talk about this later…"
Vivillon slammed a wing on the table… before quickly apologizing as the whole room set their eyes on her, "AHEM… what if we don't even get the opportunity to talk later!? Time is money! I may be rich but you can't buy time… HELL, I tried, but daddy said 'Vivi darling dear… you can't just buy time. That's impossible'. And to that I say… FUCKING BULLSHIT… just buy Dialga!"
"... are you done?!" Skwovet continued to look unfazed, making Vivillon's blood boil further, "I mean… you're just going to repeat the same thing ad nauseam… so give up already. I'm starting to get annoyed… hell, that's an understatement with how fast it got old…"
"HMPH! Well, clearly you are terrible with listening to instructions!" Vivillon countered haughtily.
"... you know what, I'll just shut up now…" Skwovet grumbled, gritting his teeth.
Vivillon's stare narrowed even further, to the point that you can barely see her eyes, "I'll be watching you…" Grabbing her tray, she stood up to move another spot while maintaining a cold glare directed at the squirrel, who winced.
"Gee… great… this is absolutely wonderful…" Skwovet muttered under his breath, as he smacked the side of the table, surprising Dedenne, sitting next to him.
"Are you okay?!"
"I'm fine… absolutely PEACHY even!" Skwovet lied. The electric mouse deadpanned… before smiling with a curt nod.
"Oh okay… good luck finishing your breakfast though!" Dedenne said in a singsong voice, pointing at the squirrel's plate… as the Normal-type's stare went downwards, his eyes widened in realization of his meal somehow escaping and hopping off his plate.
"FUCKING DAMMIT! That conversation took way too long!" Skwovet whined.
"So… I was hoping ignoring Vivillon would work out… but apparently, she decided to be a NOSY Karen and sniff her ugly rich ass nose on my business for no reason!" Skwovet complained, arms folded. "Sure, I stole some of her stuff AND accidentally poisoned her but she's acting like it's the end of the world!"
He rolled his eyes, banging his head to the side of the confessional, "I literally can't stand her… I'll get her back for this…"
As most of the cast were eating breakfast, Nihilego, Poipole and Marill all entered the mess hall with their own brand of eager expressions… or well, in Marill's case: the desire to just get things over with. The jellyfish clasped her hands together as she situated herself in the center of the room with an announcement.
"Hello everyone! I hope everyone is enjoying their breakfast, since it's time for yet another…" She paused, noticing some campers missing, "Where's Empoleon, Magearna and Gourgeist?" Marill paled at this announcement.
"Gourgeist? El oh el! I think she went… somewhere?" Cramorant answered, "Hmmm… now that you like, mentioned it, I don't think I've even seen her the whole morning even when we're supposed to be bunkmates, es em etch…"
"Empoleon and Magearna are back at the cabin," Floatzel added, struggling to stay awake.
"Oh… okay?! We'll go get them, on the way to the challenge area then?! Just follow me… it's time for a new change of scenery!"
"A new place!? I can't wait! Last round, I met my new lifelong friend in Sunflora, so honestly, I can't wait to meet new friends!" Magcargo said with a grin, "I wonder what challenge it'll be… as long as it's not swimming, scuba diving, skydiving, awakeathons, bungee jumping-" He trailed off, listing all of the challenges he would inevitably struggle in.
"OWO?! A challenge… this soon?! I'm absolutely floored!" Teddiursa commented, waving her hands frantically, "Empoleon is pretty much very pissed and I expected there to be a cooling period for him between challenges, but I guess we're going to have to head into the belly of the beast, huh?!"
She face-palmed, leaning her head to the side of the confessional, "Okay… okay… we've got this, right?! Or… I don't frigging know. I'm honestly nervous for this, cuz I don't think we can afford to even lose another time… I can't stand for that!"
The cast were led to a clearing with a newly built wooden stage on it with a flat screen hanging on the wall, facing two bleachers of seats, marked with the team color and logo of each respective team. Nihilego quickly ushered everyone to sit with their respective teams, after which she made her way to the stage, positioning herself right at the center. Notably, Gourgeist was missing from her team.
"Welcome… to the TOTAL ULTRA: VARIETY SHOW!"
Vanilluxe looked confused by this, "Is this… another spin-off?"
"Uhh… it's your next challenge…"
"The challenge is a spin-off?!"
Nihilego face-palmed, "No, it isn't… it's going to be a throwback challenge… STARAVIA!" A gray-colored bird swooped down, landing on the stage gracefully biting into a rose. She bowed… before awkwardly looking to the side to where Gallade was pushing a wheel onto the stage. "OOKAY… I don't know why you didn't have it prepared beforehand… but moving on… STARAVIA, DO YOUR THING!"
The bird nodded… before glaring at the cast, clenching a wing, "Darn kids… I'm STARAVIA. Don't fucking forget that, I'm gonna be helping out fo' this challenge so don't you fucking cross me!"
"... Staravia, maybe… you should be… less…"
Staravia nodded… as her face abnormally shifted to a cheerful grin, clasping her wings together as she smiled at the contestants, "Hello~ I'm Staravia! There's so many kids here. I feel so warm, knowi-"
"Are you Unfezant's sister or something?" Skwovet asked, raising a hand. Staravia's eye twitched at this as she laughed weakly.
"I don't know what you're talking about. Who is this Unfezant? I am Staravia, I'm a caregiver. I wish to h-"
"OOKAY, now that STARAVIA is done introducing herself…" Nihilego said weakly before muttering silently to herself, "Cut all of that out, Whimsicott…"
"I'm not yet d-"
"You're not supposed to introduce yourself… you were supposed to help introduce the challenge… and since you clearly didn't do that, it's up to me to do the job…" Nihilego muttered, "OKAY…continuing on… it's a throwback challenge yada yada… Staravia was supposed to explain the wheel and shit."
She gestured to the large wheel pushed next to her, which had many symbols on it, ranging from a Crobat to a seashell, "Each round, each team will volunteer one person to compete for the mini-challenge, which will be determined through spinning this wheel. Completing the mini-challenge first gets you a point."
"The difficulty ranges from as easy as one trivia question to as hard as skiing down the tallest mountain on this island… don't worry, Gallade is on stand-by for teleportation needs. The winner of each mini-challenge can choose to knock somebody out of the opposing team and eliminate them from competing. Since the Trubbish… are missing Gourgeist, while Shuppet are down three people after that, the first three points that Trubbish earn won't lead to them knocking someone off of the other team, for fairness."
Nihilego twirled her tentacles as she neared the ending of her explanation, "The last team standing wins immunity! So take your positions… since this is potentially a long battle… or not?! Depending on how horrible you guys are at these challenges. So choose your first competitors. The same person can't compete again until everyone from the team has competed, not counting anyone who was already knocked out."
And with that, Nihilego left the cast to their devices to choose their first competitor. Most of the Shuppet were all panicking since this felt like a challenge they would struggle in, with a clear numbers disadvantage and some internal conflict within the team.
"So… how are we going around this?" Teddiursa asked, twiddling her fingers awkwardly, "Do… we start off with me or Sableye or hit them where it hurts, by sending a power player to do the first mini-challenge to knock off their strongest player?"
"..." Empoleon rolled his eyes, ignoring the little bear's words.
"Empoleon? Are you still mad..?" Teddiursa muttered, deadpanning before turning to Chansey, who was still a bit out of sorts, "Chansey, how about you? You seem durable enough, _"
"M-me?!" Chansey stammered, pointing to herself, "I… I'm not exactly confident… I don't exactly have a great track record i-in these challenges… s-sorry to disappoint…"
"I can volunteer! I will SAVE our team from elimination!" Floatzel suggested, waving a hand around with a proud smirk. "After all, if nobody else could do it, I can do it!"
"..."
"..."
Floatzel groaned at the lukewarm response of his team, "Does anyone even think I would throw this challenge!? Only a villain would ever think of doing such a devious act and I am very-"
"Yeah yeah, we get it! You're not a villain. But, well… uhh… I'm not too sure. Maybe, we'll be hit with softball mini-challenges firstly so maybe-"
"It's a fucking wheel. We can't expect it to be easy," Empoleon pointed out, rolling his eyes.
"Oh!? You're finally choosing to reply!? Welcome back!" Teddiursa scoffed, crossing his arms.
"..."
"And back to giving us the silent treatment, in less than a second?! Problematic much, UWU…" Teddiursa said, making an insulting face towards the penguin before turning away, "I'll just volunteer then, since nobody else wants to~"
"Splendid idea, Teddiursa!" Floatzel intoned, "I'll go next after you!"
Teddiursa giggled into her paws, giving the weasel a playful slap on the back, "Oh you~"
"Teddiursa is doing her best, despite… the many setbacks we've been hav-" Floatzel started before face-palming, "Okay… by many, I mean… the one: Empoleon. He's very unhinged… on the verge of turning into a villain. It's their ORIGIN story after all, so I need to keep my eyes peeled in case he thinks of doing anything stupid… for everyone's sakes…"
Cramorant clapped her wings together, facing her team with a confident stare, "Okay… so like, we need a proper order for this challenge so like… oh em gee, I dunno if there's a trick to this… but if we put our heads together, I believe that we can like…" She paused to gather her thoughts before snapping her fingers, "Dominate?!"
"... excuse me?" Klinklang commented flatly, "I can't quite follow…"
"Read a dictionary or an en-psy-clothe-pedia or whatever, lol?" Cramorant suggested, crossing her wings.
"Lol?" Klinklang eyed the bird inquisitively, "Clearly, you're not taking any of this seriously…"
"Ex-CUSE me!?" Cramorant snapped, starting to get worked up.
Oricorio instinctively jumped between the two, trying to maintain a calm expression, "H-hey now! We're a team… we should all learn to get along!"
"Hmph… it's not my fault Cramorant is hopelessly incompetent," Klinklang drawled, shooting a glare in between towards the phone addict, who huffed in annoyance, "Perhaps, you should be the one taking charge before we all start losing brain cells, trying to dissect her… weird lingual abilities."
"I HEARD THAT!" Cramorant squawked.
"Aw shucks… I'm sure Klinklang didn't mean to-" Magcargo to defend his friend only to be cut off by the gear in question,
"DON'T. We need to be more forward with our thoughts and I would just like to reiterate that Cramorant is very spatially unaware and has a high inclination, bordering on obsession, for her phone, so I am highly guarded on whatever suggestion she chooses to make."
Cramorant jabbed a finger towards the gear with a scowl, "Spatially unaware?! My ability is GULP MISSILE, beyotch…"
"I think he meant spatial UNDERWEAR!" Vanilluxe chimed in, "Hahahahaha, let's get along and not yell at each other SINCE that's not any funny business, if you know what I mean…" He paused before his tone turned pleading, "Pretty please?"
Klinklang rolled his eyes with a scoff, "... I'm only choosing to back down, because we need to reach a decision, for the sake of this challenge…"
"Uhhhmm… I ini-tee-ate-eed this convo, for the sake of dominating this challenge, weirdo!" Cramorant pointed out derisively. "So stop trying to act all hoity-toity for 'the sake of the challenge' when you're being all defensive and not even thinking of making an actual positive contribution and choosing to nitpick my ideas, just because I'm a phone ad…" The bird trailed off before she rolled her eyes, "But whaaaaatevs, it's not like I wanted to win this~"
"... you are a confusing person…" Klinklang grumbled beneath his breath.
Oricorio clapped her hands together as the awkward silence slowly begun to take over, "Uhmm… l-let's not dillydally over here! We h-have a challenge to worry about and I believe in us as a team. T-R-U-B-B-I-S-H pride!"
"I want to try out the challenge!" Gossifleur suggested, trying to muster her best confident look before stumbling a bit, "Uhm… if nobody else minds, of course!"
Klinklang glanced at the rich girl blankly before jeering, "We can't just let people volunteer because they want to 'try'. We need con-" Noticing the flower's expression sadden, Magcargo quickly (or well, the quickest Magcargo could ever go) jumped in front of the gear with a nervous grin.
"What Klinklang meant to say was… we need to hear from everyone! Dedenne, Skwovet, Vivillon, what do you guys think?"
Vivillon scoffed, lifting the eye mask over her eyes, "I was SUNBATHING!"
"... during a CHALLENGE?! And that's not what sunbathing even looks like…" Dedenne pointed out flatly.
"Oh please…" Vivillon slapped the back of the little mouse's head gently before eyeing the fire snail haughtily, "Anyways.. What were you even trying to ask?! What do I think about your sudden disturbance?! Well, it was very very rude and I am going to have to ask you to stop do-"
"Uhh… I was just asking if you guys were fine with Gossifleur being the one doing the first mini-challenge?" Magcargo explained, taking a step back as the butterfly leaned closer.
Vivillon cocked a brow, grunting, "WHO?!" She examined her tribe before it settled on the small flower, "Oh… HER!? Do you want us to lose?!"
"I mean, if YOU want to do it instead. I'm all-ears," Magcargo said with a faux-smile.
"Okay! Gossifleur can do it!"
"Yay!" Gossifleur cheered, clapping her hands together
"Klinklang is annoying and I kind of hope he BURNS…" Cramorant admitted, rolling her eyes.
"The team is barely holding itself together even though we won four times in a row. Guess not being able to vote anyone off has been putting everyone on edge…" Magcargo commented, huddled in the confessional. "We're like… a big ball of everything tied up by a string, held together by duct tape, glue and very very hypercompetent yet offputting pumpkin who's not here to help us with the challenge…" He paused, paling a bit.
"We're screwed."
"I don't like fighting… it's… unnecessary…" Vanilluxe said, color drained from his expression. "It brings back memories I don't want to see… so I do hope Cramorant and Klinklang can make up and laugh at my jokes like the good old… okay, maybe they didn't laugh at my jokes but it was still better than NOW!"
Nihilego yawned with a bored expression as she beckoned for the campers to take their places. "Has both teams chosen their first representatives? This challenge feels like it's been dragging on for AGES already…"
Teddiursa and Gossifleur stood up for their teams and made their way on the stage with an unsure expression. Nihilego smiled in satisfaction as Poipole gleefully rubbed the edges of the wheel in anticipation, "Oh good… we can get started… when I said 'make your first picks', I didn't expect both teams to have mini-arguments… sheesh, you guys can be a bit too much sometimes."
"Only a bit too much?!" Teddiursa said with a cheeky pout.
"... you know what… maybe more than that," Nihilego answered.
"Oh you~" The little bear giggled, rubbing the back of her head cutely, "Let's get this going~"
Nihilego nodded as she made a hand gesture for Poipole to spin the wheel. The younger Ultra Beast yelled in excitement as he got the wheel going and spinning around and around… until it stopped on the sliver with the picture of a Sceptile.
"What's the relation between a Sceptile and this game?" Gossifleur asked.
"Well… all of these mini-challenges are themed from… things from the 'original' soo… yeeeeah, the first challenge is simple. You have to walk through a tightrope over a vat of lava," Nihilego explained.
"..." Gossifleur and Teddiursa were both taking this in… before Teddiursa screamed in SHOCK, "LAVA!? What?! I thought these were mini-challenges?!"
"They are? It won't take longer than ten minutes," Nihilego assured.
Teddiursa was quivering at the sight as the stage suddenly changed shape to make way for a tight rope with Carracosta casually pushing a tub of lava to go underneath, "That's because we'll get BURNT in less than ten minutes!"
"You don't earn a point if you get burn-"
"We KNOW, couldn't it have been a tub of really cold water with CARVANHAs or something?!" Teddiursa said… before screaming as she and Gossifleur were teleported to the top of the tightrope, "NOOOOOOOOOO!"
"Uhmm…" Gossifleur was at a loss for words as she stared at the pool of lava on the ground, "Is this safe?"
"WE BELIEVE IN YOU, GOSSIFLEUR!" Oricorio cheered from the sidelines.
"Uh-huh, cuz it's not us at risk of being burnt af…" Cramorant added.
Gossifleur gulped at this, "S-so…"
"I'm obviously not going first," Teddiursa said.
"B-but…"
"Do you want my CUTENESS to be scorched to a blaze, until nothing but ASHES are left?!"
"I-I'm a grass type…"
"So you can take the BURNS, I believe!"
"I don't think you get it…"
"I like trying out new experiences… but I think this is one thing I can live without…" Gossifleur muttered, eyes shifting from side to side nervously.
"I d-don't think I can do it…" Gossifleur whimpered.
"T-then can we give up!?" Teddiursa suggested. "If both of us don't earn a point, that's gucci!"
"L-let's do it?!"
"I'm fine with it…"
Gossifleur nodded at Teddiursa's affirmation before crouching down and looking over to Nihilego and Poipole, who were starting to get impatient, "U-uhmm… both Teddiursa and I d-don't want to do this so… can we get down now?"
"Are you serious?! We didn't just get lava from an active volcano for you to wuss out…" Nihilego said flatly, "So get to it! Don't worry. We'll heal you… and besides, you're Pokemon… it won't scar… probably."
"T-that's not making us feel any less nervous…" Gossifleur said weakly before standing back up to face Teddiursa, "We can't back out…"
"... FINE! I'll d-do it first then!" Teddiursa said half heartedly as she placed one foot on the tightrope while stretching her arms far and wide to maintain balance. "This will be a piece of cake!"
"Good lu-" Gossifleur was about to say only for Teddiursa to immediately fall and land into the pool of lava. "WHAAAT?!"
"SJWQJWQJJQJQJWQJ!" Teddiursa screamed as she emerged from the lava… only for her eyes to narrow, "Wait a minute… lava strangely tastes AND smells like orange juice… really really got orange juice…"
"I can't believe… Teddiursa is DEAD…" Gossifleur broke into tears, collapsing on the platform, "We only met just now… but she was a very raw and real person…"
"You do get I'm still alive, right?!" Teddiursa yelled, obviously unamused.
"It feels like I can still hear her even when she's gone…" Gossifleur sniffed before taking a step on the tightrope. "For her sake… I'll cross…" Keeping her thoughts focused on the recently 'deceased' Teddiursa, Gossifleur managed to easily make it to the other side, gasping as she took her first step on the opposite platform.
"TEDDIURSA, I hope I made you proud!"
"And GOSSIFLEUR has earned the first point for the Twinkling Trubbish!" Nihilego announced Teddiursa and Gossifleur were both teleported back onstage, unscathed. Gossifleur broke into tears as she saw Teddiursa.
"Teddiursa… you're FI-"
"Save it… it wasn't lava. It was just really really really warm orange juice," Teddiursa explained flatly. "It still pretty much ruined my really cute fur…"
"Oh…" Gossifleur commented, turning to the hostess, "Uhm… you said it was lava?"
"It's deliberate misdirection to put in more pressure," Nihilego explained, deadpanning. "Don't read too much into it. You earned a point for your tea so the next mini-challenge can begin once you finish choosing… this time, I'll give everyone a more strict time limit…"
"Okay?!" Gossifleur said, still recovering from her mood whiplash.
Trubbish - 1 | Shuppet - 0 (NOTE: Trubbish have TWO more points to earn, before they can knock out any of the Shuppet)
"I like… didn't consent to this," Cramorant complained as she was forced onto the stage, alongside a bored-looking Floatzel. "Couldn't we have like… use a list randomizer or something, el oh el?!"
"Don't you want to help the team out?" Klinklang drawled sarcastically, making the cormorant hiss in retaliation.
"You beyotch, you didn't even bother to-"
"We have a time limit," Klinklang pointed out.
"You… you… you're lucky you're not my…" Cramorant muttered under her breath.
"I don't know why you're arguing but let's just get this challenge over with…" Floatzel said.
"HMPPPPPH! I'll win this obvi…" Cramorant replied.
Nihilego scoffed, as she leaned on the wheel, "I admire the confidence… but let's see if it holds up once we see what the challenge is…" Poipole nodded in agreement as the wheel was spun again… this time, landing on the Comfey icon, "... oh fuck… I HATED Comf…"
"What?!" Cramorant asked, confused.
"None of your business…"
"Well, none of us know what you were even talking about so… what threatening challenge can a COMFEY, of all things, even bring?!" Floatzel said, folding his arms. "So bring it ON. I'm ready…"
"Like… same~" Cramorant affirmed with a nonchalant shrug.
"Okay then… the challenge is simple… QUIT this competition," Nihilego said with a cheeky expression, leaving both of the participants more confused than ever.
"Ex… squeeze me?!" Cramorant gawked, looking around in confusion. "Like, that sounds like a dumb challenge. Why is quitting this game worth earning a point for our team. That's like very-"
"Just DO it!" Klinklang yelled from the audience.
"Klinklang…" Magcargo stammered with a weak look.
"She wants to help our team dominate, remember?!" Klinklang reminded coldly.
"Oh… uhhhm… that's rude?!" Cramorant continued to wave her wings around, starting to pace around the stage, only to accidentally bump into the backdrop, making Nihilego and Floatzel wince at the sound of a thud. "There was a WALL here?!"
Nihilego face-palmed, trying her best to remain unbothered, clasping her tentacles together as she began to explain, "Yes… there's a wall… since SOMEONE…" She turned to glare at a nearby Staravia, who was just SUNBATHING with sunglasses on, next to an unabashed Vivillon, "... said it was a good idea to put a fake background for the stage… but whatever… anyways… is NOBODY going to QUIT!?"
Nihilego groaned as she was met by nothing but complete and awkward silence… well, save for Vanilluxe, who tried to lighten the mood with another joke that everyone immediately chose to tune out, "Okay!? Does nobody want to earn a point?! Seriously, it's not that hard."
"... are you serious?!" Floatzel gawked at the hostess in disbelief, putting a hand to his head, "I don't think anyone would do it…"
"I dunno. It's probably the easiest point to get," Nihilego said cheekily.
"..."
"..."
"Well!?"
"Can we reroll?!" Cramorant asked, pouting.
"No," Nihilego repeated, waving a tentacle at the flying-type's face, making her roll her eyes with an offended scoff, making her roll her hands in response,
"I mean… it's not that hard?! I don't know why you guys are struggling…" She took a step to the right as Cramorant nonchalantly shot her phone at where she was standing, "Okay… that was rude…"
"... you were starting to annoy me…" Cramorant said, gritting her teeth.
"I can't just QUIT!" Cramorant said, poking a wing at the camera, "That's QUITTER talk and I'm here to win win, talk talk and well, do my unrelated stuff that I won't divulge because I dunno… I'm still RECOVERING from the fact that I broke my phone even further by throwing it at Nihilego's face… or well, tried!"
A small smile crept across her face ominously, "She deserved it though~"
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Okay, this is BORING. Someone, just say the words… 'I quit' and we're done!" Nihilego said flatly, examining the unchanging expressions of the two campers… before face-palming, "Seriously?!"
"Saying I quit isn't exactly easy-" Floatzel began to point out only for Nihilego to jab a tentacle to his ribs, making him flinch, "O-okay… what was that for?!"
"You get to ELIMINATE one of the Trubbish from the challenge!" Nihilego explained, "You 'quitted'!"
"No, I didn't…" Floatzel said, rubbing the place where Nihilego poked him.
"It was meant to be a TRICK mini-challenge and you succeeded," Nihilego answered, "You just had to say 'I quit' or something along the lines of that… and well, you win for your team. It's not exactly that hard."
"You should've told us in the first place!" Cramorant gawked at the jellyfish, "I mean… you could've saved us the stress!"
Nihilego chuckled into her tentacles, "It's less fun that way~ Though… you made this very very boring. Like seriously, I expected something more… fiery honestly…"
"Maybe if Empoleon did it for our team," Magearna chimed in, twiddling her finger-joints.
"Shut the fuck up…" Empoleon grumbled.
"I didn't mean to sound intrusive…" Magearna muttered, secretly rolling her eyes as she leaned back on her seat.
"ANYWAYS… Floatzel, make your choice!" Nihilego urged.
"Gourgeist?" Floatzel suggested.
"She's not here, so she's not counted for this challenge," Nihilego pointed out before stroking her chin, "I don't like no-shows though… something… has to be done about that, by the way…"
"... then I'll choose Oricorio then?!" Floatzel said before quietly muttering to himself, "I mean… aside from Gourgeist, none of them look too… intimidating…"
"Okay then, Oricorio… you can leave now," Nihilego announced to a shocked cheerleader.
"Wait… what!? But w-what if I want to support my-"
"Don't be too dramatic. You can stay if you want to…"
"Then, I'll stay and cheer on everyone else then…" Oricorio said, mustering a weak smile. "Not that I can be… too useful in any other way, now that I'm out from the challenge…"
SHUPPET LEFT - 6 (TWO more mini-challenge wins to successfully eliminate a player from this team)
TRUBBISH LEFT - 8
"Oh great… it's you…" Vivillon sneered at the Mythical Pokemon competing against her before groaning, "I would rather have wasted away on this island without ever meeting you again after what you did during the first day…"
Magearna blinked in confusion, "What do you mean..?"
"UPSTAGING me!" Vivillon said, glaring daggers at the Mythical Pokemon threateningly.
"I d-don't see the point of bringing that up during a challenge..?" Chansey chimed in, twiddling her fingers awkwardly, head still filled with thoughts.
"... shut up, you bore whore…" Vivillon said simply before turning to glare at the Mythical Pokemon, who began to sweat profusely, "I hope you're fully prepared to be destroyed."
Magearna laughed nervously, extending a hand to the butterfly, in the name of good sportsmanship. "Uhmm… I'm completely and utterly confused right now… but err… good luck?" She winced as Vivillon harshly slapped her hand to the side with a scoff.
"Oh please, I don't need luck. Just give us the challenge already…"
Nihilego nodded as her fellow Ultra Beast began to spin the wheel…
It landed on the picture of a bed.
"Uhh… okay… even I don't know why we had a bed slot here… but let's see… the mini-challenge is… defeating Darkrai in a 1-on-1 battle. Don't worry. We hired two Ditto for this."
Vivillon blinked… before groaning, "Are you serious?! I already have a severe disadvantage, since Magearna is a MYTHICAL Pokemon! HMPH… this is rigged."
"I well…" Magearna tried to speak up before blushing in embarrassment.
Nihilego rolled her eyes, putting both hands to her hips, "Don't worry. This'll be quick~" With a snap of her tentacles, two 'Darkrai' suddenly appeared on the stage. With a crafty smirk, she clasped them together.
"Good luck!"
Vivillon sat in the confessional, with a few scrapes and bruises. A sign of the battle that had ensued against the Darkrai. With a grunt, she clenched her wings, "I will literally sue this show…"
On another side of the island… a familiar pumpkin was making her way through the dark jungle with a surprisingly disquieting serious expression.
"I didn't know that the other side of the island was this…"
Shaking her head, she winced as she accidentally bumped her face into a stray tree branch. Spitting out a leaf that came into her mouth, she grunted,
"This better be worth it~ I'm sacrificing my game for this after all…"
One step, two steps… the pumpkin floated slowly but surely. With the information that she had received, she knew that the other campers and the hosts were off on the other side of the alliance, busy with the challenge…
The perfect opportunity to do some snooping…
The ghost and grass type's eyes twinkled as she reached the end of the path… leading to an out-of-place blue trailer, which according to some inside information, belonged to the hosts.
While others would be filled with… anxiety as they approached this hidden grotto, Gourgeist felt nothing but HAPPINESS and ENJOYMENT, for the thrill she's about to experience. Walking over to the door, a large smile crept up her face as she turned to doorknob.
CLICK
It was unlocked. A mistake, if she could see it… it was her lucky day after all.
The interior didn't look any special. There were two beds, one for each Ultra Beast, a dining table and a small cute kitchen area to the side. There was also a makeup table in the center of the room… and sitting in front of it was a familiar face, whose appearance was shrouded in a dark red cloak.
"Oh, hiiiiiii!' Gourgeist said casually, waving at the unknown figure… clueless to the severity of the current situation, "I didn't know you wanted to snoop too! I'm here to look for Nihi's diary or something…"
"... you really came…" An androgynous voice muttered before lifting their hood. Gourgeist didn't look too surprised with the identity of the stranger.
"Hiiiiiiii!"
"I love bunnies!" Gourgeist said, expression unchanging. 'If only I knew what that is… maybe, it would be BUNNELBIES?! Is that the proper plural form?"
"... so uuhhh… who's the person you've been working with again?" Gourgeist asked, cocking a brow, "I mean… I know you're not alone."
The unknown figure scoffed… before chuckling, feeling a bit amused by the pumpkin's odd mannerisms, "Hmph… I knew that you would be perceptive… but perhaps, I underestimated you. But rest assured… this is all for a good caus-"
"I don't care if you're good or bad, I'm curious… who's your number two? Your dragon?" Gourgeist asked.
"... they're not here. They're currently at the challenge area…"
Gourgeist blinked, tilting her head to the side, "So… your friend is a player in this game?! Woah?! Is it MAGCARGO… or heck, Vanniluxe!? They both exude shady vibes…"
The shadowy figures exhaled deeply before face-palming, "I'm not going to share too much… I don't even know if I could trust you… I saw you talking with… someone working with the hosts…"
"Hmmm?!"
"You know what… I'm sorry… but-"
Gourgeist blinked… before turning to the direction of the bed, "Oh I see… you're being careful because…" Slowly making her way to the bed, she crouched down, taking a look at the underside of the bed, grinning as she saw something blinking.
With a mischievous grin, she grabbed the blinking object… as the scene ominously faded to static.
Back at the challenge area, Vivillon whimpered as she dodged another Dark Void, sweating bullets as it barely scraped her wings. She quickly turned over to Magearna… who was already laying unconscious from just ONE Dark Void, falling asleep from the effects of the move.
"How the fuck did you lose already, when FAIRY is strong against Dark-type moves?!" Vivillon said in disbelief, dodging another Dark Void, "I can't just keep dodging this…"
"I mean, Dark Void has nerfed accuracy," Nihilego pointed out before shrugging, "You just have to defeat your Darkrai before Magearna wakes up to defeat hers…"
"Gee, that sounds easy," Vivillon drawled, rolling her eyes. "Let's see…" Closing her eyes, she batted her wings faster to shoot a silver gust of wind towards her Darkrai… which barely dealt any visible damage, making the butterfly's morale plummet even further.
"I can't believe that super effective damage does barely anything… I guess you can't make up for terrible stats…" Vivillon scoffed, gritting her teeth, "It's a GOOD thing I am rich!"
The Darkrai scoffed at this, preparing to shoot another Dark Void at Vivillon before blinking in realization that the butterfly somehow disappeared into thin air in the short three second timespan he was preparing his move. "..?"
His eyes widened as powder began to rain above him… and his eyes began to become droopy until they remained close as the fake Legendary Pokemon collapsed onto the stage, completely unconscious. A triumphant Vivillon flew down from right above Darkrai with a smirk… before collapsing right on top of the fainted transformed Ditto.
"That was not the real Darkrai and I still got… brutalized…"
"Well… I mean… even a fake Darkrai can deal a lot of damage," Nihilego pointed out before flashing a thumb's up. "But good job in defeating the fake Darkrai in a timely manner and uhh… Magearna is hopefully alright?!"
"Everything… hurts…" Magearna groaned, lifting her face off the floor… before slamming it back down.
"Okay, she's fine," Nihilego said, returning to a casually deadpan expression. "But Vivillon, you get another win for your team, so you're one win away from getting to eliminate players from the other team."
"Naturally, I did it!" Vivillon said haughtily, trying to lift her body off the Darkrai before collapsing back down, "I need some… beauty rest now…"
"I may have been beaten down… but I suppose I am glad I have gotten to showcase my many abilities to the untrained eye," Vivillon said, nose lifted up confidently, "I'm not just rich… I am rich AND talented. You can't get any better than that!"
"Okay… maybe, I didn't try much… but come on… I was at a type disa-" Magearna stopped herself. "But whatever… Empoleon is still acting like a big baby bitch so I don't think I have to worry too much tonight."
She leaned on the wall, bobbing her head to the side. "I mean… I'm grateful to have options, even at the expense of my teammates… if you know what I mean…"
SHUPPET LEFT - 6 (ONE more mini-challenge wins to successfully eliminate a player from this team)
TRUBBISH LEFT - 8
"You did a great job, Vivillon!" Oricorio extended a hand out for a casual high-five to congratulate the butterfly of her success with the mini-challenge, frowning as the Bug-type just flew past her to fall into unconsciousness on the seat behind her.
"Oh… I guess the Darkrai really hit her THAT hard…"
"I mean… I honestly didn't expect her to do that well…" Skwovet snarked, rolling his eyes. "I expected her to faint in the first ten seconds, like Magearna did."
Dedenne smirked, extending an open palm to the kleptomaniac, "Which means…"
Skwovet groaned, taking out an earring from his pocket and giving it over to Dedenne, "Yeah yeah… I lost the best… get over it."
"Well… we have to decide who's going next. Any volunteers? We don't have much time to decide so we need to do this as fast as we can," Oricorio said before sighing to herself, "I would honestly volunteer, but Floatzel decided to take me out of the competition… I don't even know why…"
"..." Oricorio face-palmed as nobody seemed to be speaking up, "Nobody wants to volunteer? It might be a potentially easy mini-challenge like what Floatzel did…"
Vanilluxe looked a bit unsure before turning to look at the other team, heart skipping a beat as he set his sights on an anxious-looking Chansey before turning back to Oricorio, "Uhh… I can do it!"
"Oh! Really!?" Oricorio looked surprised by this.
"Y-yeah… I chall do my best!" Vanilluxe inserted a pun, blushing in embarrassment. Klinklang eyed him suspiciously.
"Are you confident you c-"
Cramorant scoffed, waving a wing flippantly at the cold gear, "Are you serious, Klingy?! He literally volunteered so why are you trying to stop him like AWKS, nobody else was doing it and obvi, I can't volunteer again since I just played so it's literally between you, Maggy, Vanny, Dedenne and Skwovet on who gets to play for this challenge!"
"... I didn't mean to come off as rude," Klinklang said flatly.
"You're just a huge mega cunt without trying," Cramorant replied. Klinklang's eyes narrowed as he started to grit his teeth in annoyance.
"What is that supposed to mean?!"
"I mean… this is like… the SECOND time you complained because we got our shit together to do this challenge," Cramorant recalled with a smug expression.
"... stop this…" Klinklang warned.
"Psssh… you can't stop me!"
"You b-"
"Uhhh… I-I t-think we should just get going with the challenge?! I'm sorry if I'm… minitally challenged! Get it?! Cuz it's a mini challenge… hah… h-ha?!" Vanilluxe chimed in, sweating profusely as he positioned himself between the arguing duo.
"Vanilluxe is right. We shouldn't be fighting," Magcargo said, concerned. "It would give the other team the opening they need to win this and I don't think anyone wants that."
"She started it… AGAIN, as always…" Klinklang drawled, making the Cramorant cock a brow with a scoff.
"What the ef do you mean?! I was being NICE and you butted in like a super omega jerk. Ugh… I tried being friendzies with you before and you literally rejected me…" Cramorant countered angrily. "You are actually a fucking asshole…"
"... take that back," Klinklang said in the same monotone voice he keeps using… with a notable change in pitch as his temper began to flare up. "I'm not an asshole. Take it back…"
"Klinklang?!" Magcargo stammered, trying to diffuse the situation but kept getting flustered as he stumbled around the right words to say.
"K-Klingklang and Cramorant are fighting again and I'm disappointed to say that I don't even know what to say… HELL, I'm 100% sure the time limit to choose our players is over but Nihilego's just giving us an extension because we're bringing in the drama," Oricorio commented, twiddling her fingers. "I… I'm disappointed in myself… I-"
She held her head in her wings with a long sigh, "A good leader would know what to say to break arguments like these… but I'll be honest. My mind just drew a blank so I just… gawked at them so I feel completely useless in this situation and that's just disappointing to know…"
"You barely even talked to me," Klinklang pointed out.
Cramorant's eyes widened in frustration, waving her wings around, "UHM!? I tried?! During the hecking dodgething challenge and you ruthlessly turned me back in the worst way ever… by being soooo polite that I looked like the bad person and I still hate you for that."
"You…" Klinklang's cold exterior faltered for a split second before his gaze hardened. The ensuing argument attracted the attention of the other team… who was just silently watching with interest.
"Hmph! You're just a terrible person, I guess!" Cramorant said flippantly… before her eyes widened as the gear wordlessly aimed at a Flash Cannon at her direction, barely scraping her cheek.
"... WHAT THE FWUCK?!"
Klinklang blinked before sighing, "You were starting to get on my nerves."
"And you just tried to randomly ATTACK me without warning?!" Cramorant squawked. "Y-you… you bitch!"
"Hmph…" Klinklang grunted, deciding to look away from the phone addict.
"You guys…" Oricorio murmured, still feeling awkward the whole situation before turning back to Vanilluxe, "So… uhh… are you still go-" She stopped as she noticed that the Vanilluxe was shaking immensely as his face was turning paler by the second. The fact that the ice cream wasn't bothering to say anything to lighten the mood was already a red flag.
"V-Vanilluxe, are you okay?!" Oricorio asked.
"I-I just need a b-bit of air…" Vanilluxe stammered, floating off his seat and slowly starting to take his leave, to the group's confusion.
"Vanilluxe, we still have a challenge!" Oricorio pointed out.
"I don't feel so good…" Vanilluxe said, gagging a bit.
"W-wait-" Oricorio was unable to get the ice cream to stay as he disappeared back into the forest. Exasperated, she turned back to the hosts. "Uhhmmm… Vanilluxe just decided to lea-" She gaped to find that Nihilego was just sitting on a chair, eating popcorn next to a napping Poipole.
"You were just WATCHING all of that?!"
"It would've been way worse if we interfered," Nihilego explained with a nonchalant shrug. "Besides… Vanilluxe opted out of the challenge sooo… your team has one less person so we'll write him down as eliminated."
"That doesn't sound fair," Dedenne said in disappointment.
"Nothing's fair in life," Nihilego said. "Anyways, you still have to choose your next players…"
"I'll do it then!" Magcargo said, laughing nervously. "I mean… Vanilluxe isn't here… so uhhhm… might as well get it out of the way."
Slinking to the background, Oricorio sighed at the quick turn of events before she had an idea, nudging Cramorant next to her, "Cramorant?"
"Hmm? I'm still silently malding, lol…" Cramorant muttered, rolling her eyes.
"I'll go check up on Vanilluxe. I'm eliminated from the challenge already," Oricorio explained. "And I'm just very concerned for him."
"Oh… gee el on that, I guess…" Cramorant said with a shrug. Nodding with a newfound determination, Oricorio hopped out of her seat to run after the ice cream as the scene transitioned.
"Chansey, Magcargo, I hope you're BOTH prepared for the next mini-challenge!" Nihilego said, clapping her hands together.
"Err… hopefully? Magcargo, are you alright though? Your team had a bit of an argument earlier…" Chansey said, twiddling her fingerjoints.
"Oh, don't worry. It's all fine now… I think," Magcargo said with a weak chuckle. "Let's just get going with the challenge and not talk about awkward things since it makes things even more awkward, which makes sense since they're awkward for a reason.
Nihilego nodded at this, "Yep, let's get started then! Poipole…"
The smaller Ultra Beast nodded, spinning the wheel again. This time, it landed on the picture of a seashell. "Ooh, this minichallenge is interesting! You have to-"
The words are edited out as Magcargo and Chansey's shocked expressions are shown. "WHAT?!"
CURRENT STATUS:
SHUPPET LEFT - 6 (ONE more mini-challenge wins to successfully eliminate a player from this team)
TRUBBISH LEFT - 7
MISSING IN ACTION - Gourgeist, Oricorio, Vanilluxe
Shining Shuppet - Chansey, Empoleon, Floatzel, Magearna, Sableye, Teddiursa
Twinkling Trubbish - Cramorant, Dedenne, Gossifleur, Gourgeist, Klinklang, Magcargo, Oricorio, Skwovet, Vanilluxe, Vivillon
Eliminated: Unfezant, Pikachu, Musharna, Bayleef
I split the chapter in half, since this was shaping up to be a long chapter because of how its challenge works. Next chapter will have more development and plot progression and… the next elimination of the season! We're really getting to the bits and pieces!
I hope you enjoyed reading. This notes section is short since it'll be left for the second part!