You know, eggs are delicious, both the yolks and whites. I prefer the yolks but I think the egg whites are underrated. So this is a PSA to eat your egg whites. If you don't read past this PSA, at least you are informed of how underrated they are.
But PSA aside, progress on future episodes will be smoother. I'm writing for myself so hopefully, my motivation is enough for me to get this chapter of this series to completion so that I can say that the ULTRA series actually has 2 seasons :) I did a bit of editing to the season since there's been a couple of changes since it's been so long and chapters might only be 1 part, depending on their length which might bug me since there's no consistency with what chapters has parts or not, but I'll manage hopefully.
Episode 8: Yolkus Pocus
It was yet another sunny day on the Nameless Island, the setting of one of the most lowkey seasons ever of Total Pokemon. The birds were singing, the waves were gentle and even Gallade was out and about, playing beach volleyball with an eager Bellossom and Staravia. Though, not everything was perfect.
Inside the hosts' trailer, Nihilego laid on her bed, a damp towel on her head as she was biting onto a thermometer. Her face was noticeably redder than ever while her tentacles fell to the side of the bed, color drained from them. A concerned Poipole was on stand-by, looking over his friend in concern.
The smaller Ultra Beast was holding a warm mug of tea and a bottle of Antibiotics, focused on taking care of the jellyfish and making sure that she can return to good health quickly enough, seeing as she was the host of the show.
"Hang in there, Nihi… you will be very okay soon!" Poipole exclaimed, setting down the mug of tea, on the bedside table. He winced as Nihilego let out a hacking cough. "Hopefully?"
The jellyfish groaned at Poipole's hesitance, breathing out between coughs. "Don't… be like that. I'll… be fine… SOON!"
"But your fever isn't going down and we gave everyone a three day break. Extending it to a four day break might ruin our scheduling, especially when Episode 8 is supposed to be airing next week and I don't know if Whimsicott can edit an episode in a shorter timespan!" Poipole pointed out, replacing the towel on Nihilego's forehead with a fresher one.
Nihilego sat up, removing the newly placed damp cloth, body clearly shaking from exhaustion. "I… can… go back to hosting, I guess… it's not like… I'll show up on camera… too much."
"W-what?! You need REST!" Poipole reminded her, forcing her to lie down again. "Do you need me to remind you of the time I had to tie you onto the bed cuz you didn't know how to rest and relax?!"
"You sound… too much like… Guzzlord… right now." Nihilego grumbled loudly, tentacles tightening around her blanket.
Cringing at Nihilego mentioning her former co-host, Poipole chuckled nervously. "You don't have to mention him, if it brings back painful memories-"
"He always did… care for me… a little bit… too much." Nihilego whispered, eyelids starting to droop. Only a few seconds later, the jellyfish slowly drifted off to sleep, leaving a concerned Poipole to watch over her with a worried shake of the head.
"Guess everyone's just going to get another day off?" He paused, stroking his chin before his eyes widened in realization. Grabbing his phone, he pressed specific numbers on it then placed it to his ear, waiting for someone to answer. "Pick up, pick up…"
He cheered when a hoarse voice replied from the other end. "What?"
"Hey hey… I need to ask you for a favor."
While Poipole was doing his best to keep the game afloat, the rest of the campers were focused on enjoying their time off, taking it easy, knowing they didn't have to worry about elimination anytime soon.
Inside the girls' side of the Shuppet cabin, Chansey was sitting on the bottom bunk, reading a book that she brought along. It had a hardbound cover and a drawing of a Lucario and Lopunny in a provocative position on the cover. While she'd rather not stay in the girls' room given the events that happened during the last few episodes, she was alone right now so we had the luxury of enjoying herself without worrying about any interruptions.
"It's not you, it's me. I just don't think we could ever be together, Lope… it's just too painful for me to be with you. It brings back horrible memories… memories that I thought I have already forgotten." Chansey repeated the passages written in her romance novel, eyes sparkling with interest.
"L-Luca… you can't just leave me. I love you. No, I ABSOLUTELY ADORE YOU. You don't know how much you've meant to me. You are my whole world. I don't think I can live in a world without you."
"Lope. I'm sorry… but it's over."
Chansey flipped her novel to the next page. The story was reaching its climax with Luca and Lope breaking apart, crushed into pieces as Luca realized the toxicity of their relationship and how much she had been unconsciously using Lope for her own gain. While she hoped that they would get back together.
Chansey wasn't too naive though. She knew that they were terrible for each other and that the story would end with their respective downfalls. While romance novels aren't her favorite genre to read, romance stories with more nuance were interesting to her. She laughed ironically though, at how she could relate to the story.
Before Chansey could continue reading though, her ears tingled at the sound of knocking. It looked like her reading time was about to end abruptly.
"Chansey… we need to talk."
It was Empoleon. Chansey was a bit shocked by this and while she wanted to pretend she wasn't there, she didn't want to act all hostile with her teammate. So with a slightly shaky tone, she replied. "You can come in. There's nobody else here."
The penguin Pokemon opened the door and marched in, intimidating the nurse with his loud and strong footsteps. Walking over to the normal-type's bunk, he stopped as he noticed what Chansey was doing.
"I didn't know you liked reading."
"I… well… only found the time to do so recently." Chansey answered. It was technically not wrong, since she was more focused on bonding with her former idol until she found out the reason why you should never meet your heroes.
"Good to know, I guess."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Chansey closed her book, arching a brow. "So… why exactly are you here? Don't tell me you want to be the leader again?"
"It's not that. I'm here to apologize."
Chansey blinked. She didn't expect that. "So? Why are you apologizing to me? You did nothing to me."
"I was a forceful leader so you were involved. The whole team was. I already apologized to everyone else." Empoleon explained, eyes focusing on his target. "All except you, of course."
"This is a bit sudden-"
"Okay, I know it's fucking sudden but Dedenne kept-"
"So you're doing this because of Dedenne and not because you want to apologize." Chansey deadpanned, putting together the pieces. "Then, apology not accepted."
"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Empoleon looked shocked by this. Of all the people to refuse his apology, it was CHANSEY, of all people. Someone who he pegged as spineless and weak during the first few rounds. Sure, he was deliberately vague with his apology but it's not like he hurt his team ON PURPOSE.
"Empoleon. Stop apologizing. I don't want the first thing you say to me after a LONG TIME is literally an apology, without much explanation. Couldn't we chat casually first then try to bridge the gap from there?!" Chansey suggested.
"UGGGGGGH…"
"Empoleon?"
"YOU KNOW WHAT, fuck it. I wanted to apologize since I actually misjudged you. You're not so useless like I thought but you're spitting up my sincerity right at my face!" Empoleon exclaimed, pointing threateningly. "You literally fucking voted off Bayleef for no reason. It's all your fault!"
"What?! It wasn't even my idea-"
"Stop trying to play innocent and pretend that you didn't know what your vote would've done. You knew he was going to be voted out by the majority so you decided to vote him off instead of respecting my wishes to get voted out!"
"Wait! Empoleon!" Chansey tried to stop the penguin from leaving, but he was too fast and had stormed out the room immediately in a huff before Chansey could even explain her side of the story.
Chansey blinked, putting away her book back into her bag. "That was weird…"
"Empoleon and I haven't exactly seen each other eye to eye throughout this competition." Chansey confessed, hands nervously twitching as she brushed her fur. "So, it was a little bit awkward that he decided to apologize to me. It was a terrible apology that was obviously just to get closure. I don't know why he's doing this but he's still clearly bitter about Bayleef. I do want to make amends about that but he's going about it the wrong way."
Empoleon raised both his hands with an annoyed expression. "Okay, I might be doing this for selfish reasons but come on, I thought she was the type to take things at face value!? I expected this from Floatzel or Teddiursa but HER!? I feel embarrassed already. WHATEVER, this isn't a race. It's a marathon. I'll get her back on my side then stab her in the back when I don't need her anymore."
Dedenne held a spiteful gaze as he sat in the mess hall, arms folded. He found out a few days before that his former alliance had just voted Vivillon off without even telling him and it made him feel very annoyed with them. Worse yet, he felt that his former 'friends' were even avoiding him so that they don't have to explain their stupid decision to vote off one of their own numbers.
He internally screamed as Skwovet finally decided to approach him in the mess hall, waving and acting as if nothing happened.
Dedenne sat in the confessional with a blank stare, hands on his lap. "You know what… I get it. Vivillon was annoying…" He leaned closer to the camera, arching a brow. "But that doesn't mean voting her off. She was a NUMBER on our side! It was the perfect time to weaken the other side by voting Teddiursa or Floatzel off but I guess they don't know how to separate their feelings from the game…"
He paused, leaning back. "... or Gossifleur was the one who flipped. If that's the case then I feel stupid for saying all of this."
"Hey De-"
"Hold it!" Dedenne interrupted, tapping the side of the table impatiently. "Explain."
"Explain what?" Skwovet looked confused by this.
"Vivillon is gone. Why?" Dedenne iterated in a straightforward manner.
Skwovet blinked, before sighing in mild annoyance. "What about her? I didn't think you cared about her. She was a pain in the asshole."
Dedenne recoiled at the squirrel's words. "So you're saying… you were part of voting her off!? You do get that puts you in a terrible position?! Sure, the OG Trubbish still have a 4-3 majority but that's relying on fucking GOSSIFLEUR to save your hides. And I am not confident in that, seeing as she has bonded more with people from the other team than ours!"
"Okay, I think you're overexaggerating things." Skwovet assured. He winced as Dedenne's expression remained unchanged. "Ooookay, shouldn't you be more worried about YOUR team instead of trying to do a cross-examination on me or something."
"Tch. I honestly expected you to lean voting Vivillon off with your terrible history with each other…" Dedenne admitted, looking to the side. "But Oricorio and Vanilluxe? They barely know the other 3. Why would they just risk their guaranteed majority just because Vivillon is too abrasive for her own good."
"Or maybe, Vivillon is just so annoying we decided to come to an agreement to send her home." Skwovet drawled sarcastically. "It was a unanimous vote."
"Just because it was unanimous doesn't mean it was a good idea." Dedenne face-palmed before retracting his hand while taking short breaths to calm himself down. "I'm sorry if I'm being a bit manic right now but this is a numbers game and I don't want you or Oricorio to be in danger."
"Don't worry. We'd be fine."
"Are you sure you even have Gossifleur and Vanilluxe on your side? They weren't exactly part of our alliance." Dedenne reminded him.
"You worry too much." Skwovet commented.
"It's called 'playing the game'." Dedenne pointed out.
"Don't worry. I've got tricks up my sleeve." Skwovet said ominously as his eyes shifted to the side with a smirk.
"With Vivillon gone, I can focus more on the game! Dedenne worries too much. Did he forget I have a secret talent?!" Skwovet was basically glowing as he flashed his wide confident grin at the camera. Grabbing Cramorant's phone from his tail, he waved it at the camera playfully. "If I could get this to work again, I could work on ruining Floatzel, Teddiursa and Sableye's relationship! I just need to find the perfect opportunity! I'm not exactly a professional hacker or something…"
Tapping on the phone screen repeatedly, he gasped as the phone just flickered to life. "OOOKAY… maybe I AM a professional hacker. Wasn't this broken?! Guess I can now use this to record any shady conversations to ruin their friendship. The alternative was stealing their stuff and try to frame one of them but I'm pretty sure everyone knows I'm a shameless klepto."
"I'll let Skwovet handle things on his end. I'll focus on my own team for now." Dedenne droned on in a monotone voice. He face-palmed as he struggled to maintain his composure. "It's definitely not a good feeling to realize I might be the only one in this game to have basic common sense… and Klinklang, I guess."
He rolled his eyes with a sigh. "Whatever, I have a lot on my plate anyways. Empoleon is being erratic per usual and Magearna, I'm pretending to not know what her deal was but we all know she's two-faced. I mean, it's pretty obvious."
"Hello dearies~ Hello hello?" A feminine voice that was clearly not Nihilego, spoke through the loudspeakers scattered around the island.
Magearna looked up to a nearby loudspeaker in confusion. "Okay… did Nihilego's voice change or is it just me?"
A nearby Klinklang shook his head slowly, muttering. "No, I memorized everyone's voices and speaking patterns. This is clearly not Nihilego at all."
Magcargo gasped at this. "Are you implying Nihilego got KIDNAPPED?! But she's an Ultra Beast! Shouldn't she be powerful enough to evade capture. This is worrisome. What is happening-" Klinklang promptly covered the lava snail's mouth as the unknown voice continued with her announcement.
"Please go to the stage, everyone. It's time for your NEXT challenge. No more day offs, you have a show to compete in! See you there, my lovelies."
As the audio ended there, Magcargo blinked, more confused than ever. "So we're all lovelies?"
"Let's just go." Klinklang urged as he lead the Fire/Rock-type to the woods to make their way to the stage.
The cast were back at the stage area, sitting with their respective teams. Strangely enough, neither of the two hosts were there. Standing on the stage was a white mosquito with a tall and lean build. Its torso consisted of five thin discs that drooped downwards. She had two antennae growing out of her head and had golden parts where her elbows, knees, feet, fingers, collar and forehead were with her antennae ending with two yellow bulbs.
"Hi darlings. It is I!"
Confusion overtook most of the campers, aside from a certain few who actually recognized the new face that just so happened to show up.
"Why is Pheromosa here?" Cramorant queried, twiddling her finger joints awkwardly.
Pheromosa did a hair flip before jumping off the stage and approaching the campers in a seductive slow walk. "I am Pheromosa and I'm here to deliver your new challenge, since Nihilego and Poipole have somewhere to be~"
"What's a Pheromosa again?" Magcargo whispered to Klinklang.
Pheromosa's left eye twitched, overhearing this. "In case anyone absolutely NEEDS to know, I am Pheromosa. I am a dear friend of Nihilego and Poipole. I am also an Ultra Beast~ I have all the star power needed to be a successful reality television host but I have better things to do with my life!"
"Tl;dr, you're lazy." Skwovet said sarcastically.
"You are LUCKY I am not allowed to legally hurt you!" Pheromosa said in a sing-song voice that strangely felt threatening.
"Oh please-" Skwovet rolled his eyes but gulped when Pheromosa poked his chest painfully with her pointy fingers with an ominous smile. "- S-sorry…"
Pheromosa giggled as she retracted her arm, climbing back up the stage as Gallade and Bellossom arrived off-screen to carry a table with a blue sheet covering it. "ANYWAYS… moving on to the important details, as I already said, I'm here to deliver your new challenge and it's going to be EGG-CITING!"
Vanilluxe erupted in loud bursts of laughter at Pheromosa's pun while his teammates all gave him a deadpan stare. "Very funny, Pheromosa! EGG-CITING?! EXCITING! This challenge will have a lot of eggs in it, I'm sure."
Pheromosa blinked, slightly intimidated by the ice cream's sudden outburst. "Uhm… yes? Yes, it does." Giving the two interns a signal with her hands, Gallade and Bellosom lifted the blanket off the table, revealing two painted eggs, sitting on the table. "It's time for EGGS!"
"An egg hunt?" Empoleon guessed. "That's EASY. We got this in the bag!"
"No. It's not an egg hunt." Pheromosa said.
"Is it an egg-based cook-off?" Floatzel inquired, crossing his arms while arching his brow.
"EW NO. Please stop guessing." Pheromosa covered her mouth with an annoyed expression. She groaned as she noticed Chansey raise her hand. "Yes, Charice?"
Chansey blinked before scratching her cheek awkwardly. "It's Chansey."
"That's what I said, dearie~"
"Sure… but uhm… are these eggs you know…" Chansey started, looking to the side. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at the two eggs. "Actual eggs? I don't want to risk the lives of unborn children for the sake of a challenge."
"Drama queen." Magearna grumbled beneath her breath.
"Don't worry, Charity. The eggs are fake." Pheromosa assured, waving her hand dismissively at the nurse. "They're still very very fragile but they're fake so you don't have to worry about killing a stillborn."
"T-thank goodness!" Chansey sighed in relief, wiping off sweat droplets from her brow.
"Anyways, the challenge is simple. Both teams get a colored egg. Shuppet gets the purple egg while Trubbish gets the green egg. Your job is to TAKE CARE of it. Because these eggs work like those weird living dolls that you get from toy stores so if you take good care of them, I have a device right here that tell me the amount of love and care you give them." Pheromosa explained, waving around a tablet that had pictures of the two eggs and graphs on its screen.
"Basically, take care of your eggs, my device here tells me that and you get points for that. The team with the most points wins the challenge."
"Ugh, this is basically those school projects where you have to protect an egg." Skwovet groaned in annoyance, knowing that the challenge was something that actively bored him.
"So yeah! Grab your eggs so we can get this challenge started."
Oricorio and Empoleon came forward to grab their eggs for their respective teams. Empoleon growled threateningly at the cheerleader who just waved sheepishly before hastily returning back to their team with their green egg.
"Okay. This isn't a violent challenge so we should be able to get by, without any problems." Oricorio said, a bit unsure about herself.
"Well, let's get going then." Skwovet suggested. The bird nodded in agreement as she followed her team back to camp to take care of their egg.
Empoleon growled as they left, turning to his team with a competitive stare. "Let's get going too! Our egg is going to WIN this fucking challenge."
His teammates all exchanged an unsure stare as they followed Empoleon into the woods, mostly divisive about his leadership and his complete lack of concern for the egg itself, haphazardly grabbing onto it tightly. A little bit more pressure and it just might crack, which made some of the more caring members of the team in Chansey and Magcargo gulp as their egg might not even survive through the journey back to camp.
"We won the last challenge… which was great. But we need to keep winning if we want to pulverise the other team," Empoleon remarked, arms crossed as he stared at the camera judgementally. He rolled his eyes as he smacked his fist into an open palm. "I don't care if everyone else thinks I'm being harsh and bossy. I can't go on a losing streak again-"
"... we won't. Never again. I will never lose." Empoleon looked over to the side as he began reminiscing to himself. "I need to avenge Bayleef!"
"I don't know what the problem Empoleon has with… basically everything but he is a bit of an overbearing presence!" Oricorio admitted, cheeks puffed up from her pent-up frustrations towards the Water-type. "I'm not even on his team but-" She shook her head with a drawn out sigh. "You know what I mean…"
"This challenge is definitely a good palate cleanser though. It's taking care of eggs without any surprising twists. What's the worse that could ha… open?" She paused, blushing in embarrassment.
"Why do I feel like I accidentally just jinxed ourselves..?"
"It's kind of wild that eggs are either where babies come from or something we eat for breakfast. It's morbid when you think about that. Am I eating an unborn fetus or was there no baby in the egg in the first place, which is why it's sold for eating?" Magcargo pondered with a thoughtful expression.
The Twinkling Trubbish had reached the mess hall and are huddled up, around their egg which was delicately placed on top of a couch cushion, as they brainstormed ways to 'take care' of their 'baby'.
"So… if I eat the egg whole, do you think it'll be a point against us or a point for us since it'll be safe inside my belly?" Teddiursa asked.
"No, we're not eating the egg. It's too risky." Floatzel said with a deadpan look.
"I d-dunno… it sounds like a good idea!" Sableye chimed in.
"Oh please, you don't have any experience taking care of babies. So I'm going to take your agreement with a grain of salt," Floatzel drawled.
"Aww…"
"Don't you aww me. I need good ideas."
"Who even made YOU the leader for this challenge again?!" Skwovet scoffed, "Couldn't Oricorio take the lead or something?"
"W-wait, what?!"
"Oricorio, you lead the Trubbish to victory FIVE times in a row. You have the experience."
"B-but we lost the last challenge-"
"That was a fluke."
Floatzel rolled his eyes, smacking the side of the table to get everyone's attention, "You are all acting like complete villains right now. We don't need a leader. We need to gather ideas and work together as a team."
"Eh?" Skwovet commented, tilting his head to the side.
"Floatzel is right! This is a game about teamwork. We need to work together on taking care of our egg and…" Oricorio paused, eyes widening. "S-SABLEYE!" Oricorio yelled out, as her eyes focused on top of the table where the gremlin was already grabbing their egg off the cushion. "What are you doing?"
"Just checking it o- whoops." The whole team groaned as Sableye dropped the egg onto the table. Thankfully, the egg didn't crack or had any other visible deformations but they all glared at the Dark/Ghost type for his carelessness regardless. "S-sorry about that… I just wanted to… touch it. I haven't seen an egg before."
Meanwhile outside around the camp, Dedenne had a judging expression as he watched Cramorant and Chansey walk over to Empoleon with piles of leaves and twigs as the penguin built a nest for the egg.
"What exactly… are we doing?" Dedenne asked dryly.
"El oh el, we are building a quirky love nest to protect our egg so we can take care of it… like a VULTURE… or like, a bird." Cramorant explaining as she dropped her pile for Empoleon to use, then walking over to the little electric mouse.
"A what?"
"Yeah, idk what a vulture or bird is. But Empoleon explainined shit using those words so idc…"
"Up to this day, I still wonder how you can enunciate internet slang in real life…" Dedenne looked at the bird in disbelief but quickly shook his head as he gave the bird an inquisitive stare. "What exactly are we trying to achieve?"
"Didn't'cha hear Empoleon's plan?"
"I heard it. But it sounded so stupid that my brain just decided to chuck it down short term memory lane." Dedenne said sarcastically as the cormorant looked at him with sparkling interest.
"Aww, you should probably get that checked."
"I didn't mean that literally…"
"Done!" Chansey announced, putting the finishing touches on the nest, while avoiding Magearna's cagey stares at the same time. Empoleon nodded, for once, satisfied with the nurse's handiwork.
"Good job, Chansey."
"U-um… thanks?" Chansey looked rather intimidated by the penguin's compliment, having known him since the start of the game to be a bit of an… intense competitive force to be with. Chansey decided to shrug off her anxiety, relieved that the Water-type was trying to be less rigid on her team since the swap.
"What do we do next? Do we sing songs while waiting for the egg to hatch?" Magcargo chimed in, crawling over to the nest to observe their bright purple egg.
"No offense but that sounds like a stupid idea," Dedenne walked over, arms crossed as he stared at the spectable before him in complete and utter disbelief. "I don't see the reason why we even had to build a nest? Couldn't we have just gathered a lot of pillows from our cabins or something..?"
"Eggs are usually in nests, yes?" Magearna pointed out, tilting her head to the side.
"That doesn't mean we had to build a nest for this challenge!"
"Shut the fuck up. This plan is foolproof. This nest will protect the egg and help keep it warm!" Empoleon said, glaring at the electric mouse to get him to stop talking back at his plans.
"Don't tell me-" Dedenne face-palmed as he noticed Magcargo climbing onto the egg, and just… sat on top of it, awkwardly perched on top of the egg for no particular reason. "Okay, why is Magcargo sitting on the egg now?"
"Eggs need to be warm enough for it to hatch!" Chansey explained, twiddling her fingers awkwardly.
"And do you know what the external temperature of a Magcqrgo is?"
"..."
The group all looked silent at this before Empoleon yelled out, "M-Magcargo, GET OFF! I'll SIT on the egg instead!"
"This plan is so dumb," Dedenne said simply, brows downturn as he stared at the camera judgementally.
"Dedenne… do you think I have a chance?" Magearna floated over to Dedenne with a concerned expression, taking advantage of everyone else being distracted with the challenge. "I don't think Chansey has forgiven me at all, and she has made it her personal mission to poison the entire team against me, so Magcargo and Empoleon like me too much either."
"Uh-huh."
"Do you think Klinklang or Cramorant would vote to keep me? Cramorant is a bit of a wildcard."
"Yeah."
"Dedenne?"
"Mmhm."
"D-Dedenne!" Magearna raised her voice, grabbing the attention of other nearby players in Magcargo and Chansey who began whispering to each other, making her feel more on edge. She quieted down, hiding her anxiety with a weak smile. "Dedenne, you're sounding very noncommittal right now. Aren't you on my side? You believe me, right?"
"Magearna."
"Yes?"
"I didn't say I was on your side. I am just being the middleman." Dedenne rationalized his thoughts flatly.
"W-what is that supposed to mean? I need your help here. We need to take Chansey out of the game!"
"I don't want to make promises I can't keep."
"Oh, you fucking liar-"
"Hmm? I thought you said you were the victim, yet you're popping off at me? I thought you needed my vote here." Dedenne pointed out, taking a step back, a bit intimidated by the Mythical Pokemon's sudden outburst.
"Well, you're going back on your words! You said you would help me!" Magearna pointed out. "You even cried in front of Chansey's face for my sake!"
"I just wanted to listen to your side of the story and now, I am getting to see Chansey's point."
Magearna doesn't say anything, tsking at the little mouse's duplicity. It's almost like she's getting a taste of her own medicine. "You're a terrible person."
"Uh-huh, sure you do."
"I don't know what changed but everyone is acting more hostile towards me, including Dedenne and Cramorant. Did they just go to sleep and randomly decide to turn on me!?" Magearna glared at the camera, clenching a fist threateningly at the camera. "I'll just have to remain patient and try not to ruffle too many feathers. I will make it through this."
"So… all we have to do is stare at this egg for a couple of hours until we win this challenge, right?" Gossifleur stared at the egg intensely as it sat on the cushion.
"Nope, we stare at it WHILE making sure it is loved and pampered!" Teddiursa corrected, leaning over to give the egg a swift peck on the surface before gagging as she put a paw to her mouth. "Is this even hygienic wowie?!"
"Oh… so that's all we have to do?"
"Why do you sound disappointed about that, Gossi? I dunno about everyone else here but I'm GLAD we get an easy challenge for once. My legs are killing me from all the running we had to do last time."
"G-Gossi?" Gossifleur looked put-off by the little bear's casual tone while speaking despite this being their first serious one-on-one conversation in the whole game since she brushed her off after the last vote. "Er-hem… pardon me for my confusion but err, I just expected a little bit more to do with this challenge. Sitting around doing the bare minimum just feels like too much tedium."
"Tedi-um, you mean?"
"Ahaha… very funny! But not what I mean."
"Aren't you like one of those rich girls or somethin'?" Teddiursa pointed out. "Shouldn't you have a lot of experience doing nothing?"
"Uhm, rude?!' Gossifleur blushed in embarrassment as she struggled to piece together a competent argument since Teddiursa was partially correct with her statement. "I like to think I do things."
"Like what?"
"I read, I eat, I educate myself."
"No offense, but that doesn't like much."
"I-" Gossifleur tried to argue but looked away with a huff. "Okay, maybe you're right about that but I am making an effort to becoming a bad girl."
"Becoming a bad what now?"
"A bad girl! A menace to society!" Gossifleur explained as the little bear Pokemon looked back at her in disbelief. "Is that hard to understand?"
"Oh… yeah, you did mention once that you wanted to be a baddie," Teddiursa muttered, remembering her last conversation with the Grass-type. "Why again? You didn't explain it to me last time and I'm feeling a bit left out, UwU…"
"It's tough to explain in full detail but… the short version is well, I want to try becoming a different person and not just conform to the mold society has shoehorned me into," Gossifleur said, eyes sparkling as she opened up to the little bear, who was honestly a bit overwhelmed by the flower's open and candid personality.
"Uh-huh, that's kinda relatable! I'm glad you can see the benefits of joining the DARK SIDE!" Teddiursa ominously, wiggling her claws at the flower with a playful giggle. She grunted as a passing Floatzel smacked the back of her head with an annoyed grunt. "Oh boo, don't be a downer, Floatzel! I'm just having fun!"
"Err… you two are close, huh?" Gossifleur commented.
"We're practically besties-"
Floatzel casually hits Teddiursa on the back of her head yet again with that remark. Teddiursa pouted, rolling her eyes playfully as she leaned on the table to get closer to the flower.
"You didn't hear this from me, but the more Floatzel smacks you, the more he trusts you!"
"R-really?"
"Okay, maybe not… but eeehh, we're friends at the very least and that's what matters in the end."
"I see. He seems a bit too abrasive." Gossifleur laughed nervously, eyes shifting to the side awkwardly. "I will admit, his pursuit to defeat 'villains' does make me anxious as someone whose goal is to become a bad girl on the island. Will he target me for that?"
"Nah, you're a sweetheart through and through. He won't take you too seriously when you say you want to be a bad guy!" Teddiursa remarked, to the flower's chagrin.
"You don't have to say it like that…"
"Teddiursa is quite an exuberant person. High energy, flighty and easy to talk to. I need to apply myself more into fulfilling my goals so that I can be a great person just like her!" Gossifleur looked in awe as she continued to say words of admiration towards the cute normal-type. "If I can somehow combine Gourgeist's playful and 'bad girl' aura with Teddiursa's massive amount of self-confidence and vibrance, I think I will be able to cobble up together something that will make my parents' jaws drop."
"I'm glad that the swap has given us more opportunities to get to know each other better. She definitely piqued my interest since the variety show challenge and honestly, she is such a good friend! I hope we can have each other's backs in this competition!"
"Gossifleur is a nice girl but something feels off. It's like those cryptic shit that you can find online that looks normal but once you read between the lines, you can see that they're really messed up as a whole. I don't want to sound too much like Floatzel but why would a girl who has lived a full life of privilege be this interested in being a… bad girl. That doesn't make any sense and you don't even need'ta get Straight As to see that, y'know?" Teddiursa looked rather skeptical as she hugged herself in the confessional.
"..." Chansey was sweating nervously as she watched Empoleon casually sit on their egg while… READING A FAIRY TALE to it in a surprisingly soothing and low voice, which made her feel a bit uncomfortable since Empoleon has been acting very off recently, in her honest opinion. It was a nice change of pace but given how he acted during their time on the Original Shuppet, it made her feel uneasy.
"The little Tepig said 'No no no, you can't come in, Mister Wolf!'." Empoleon read aloud, doing his best to replicate a squeaky voice for the pig, which made Magcargo, Cramorant and Dedenne chuckle under their breaths. Empoleon grunted at this, forcing a grin as his left eye twitched. "I will huff and PUFF and BLOW YOUR HOUSE down!"
As Empoleon continued to read the story, Magearna crouched down to observe the egg closer, rubbing it gently. "Hmm, the egg looks… pretty safe right now. The story must be working, Empoleon. You're doing a great job. Keep it up." Empoleon doesn't respond to this other than a stiff and forced nod as he focuses on reading. Magearna looked disappointed with the penguin's lack of reaction to her thinly-veiled compliments, eyes bulging out of their sockets intensely as she slowly backed away from the nest to stew in silence.
"Err, thank you?"
Magcargo, who was watching this, turned to whisper to Klinklang who was laser focused on making sure that egg stayed within the nest, "Do you think Magearna is acting very obvious about the fact that she just might not be a good person?" Klinklang just nodded, yet Magcargo is relieved to see that his closest friend shares the same sentiment as he does.
"Do you think everyone else would vote her off with us if we do lose this challenge though? I mean, Chansey is pretty much done with her but everyone else, I'm not sure if they know. Cramorant is kind of phone-obssessed for the most part. She was screaming the whole time last night and it didn't help me sleep at all. Dedenne is nice but I don't know what he's even thinking for the most part but-"
Klinklang immediately put a gear to the snail's mouth, stopping him from speaking, "We should remain patient and lay low. We have a challenge to worry about." Slowly removing his appendages off, Magcargo took the opportunity to continue talking.
"I'm honestly just feeling a bit skittish since we haven't done anything but watch Empoleon read out a lot of stories. It was fun for the first few stories but it lost its novelty and I'm bored. Maybe, we should check out how the other team is doing and copy their tactics if it's working out for them and-" Klinklang gave him a judging look, making him laugh nervously in response. "W-what? Was that too much of a bad idea or what..?"
"Actually, I think it is a decent idea. But I will be the one spying on the other team. I am not confident that you won't just strike up a conversation with the competition and forget about your initial goal." Klinklang started, examining his nearby surroundings to check if there were any eyes on them, "Now, if you would excuse me…"
Pushing through past the lava snail, Klinklang covertly floated to the direction of the mess hall, planning to spy on the other team by entering through the back entrance. As the Steel-type slowly disappeared into the distance, Magcargo deflated, disappointed that he lost his favorite conversational partner. Maybe he can talk to Chansey instead, but before he can even think of doing that, Dedenne has somehow made his way over to him with a strangely uncharacteristic smile on his small face.
Dedenne began, waving casually, "Hey Magcargo. Do you want to talk while Empoleon is busy embarrassing herself with…" He tilted his head to right cutely, "The Little Mermaid. He is basically speedrunning through the whole storybook. It's pretty obvious he regrets even suggesting to tell stories to make the egg feel more at home but at least, it's him being embarrassed and not me." He shook his head, rolling his eyes with a stiff chuckle as he waved a hand dismissively around the air. "That aside, I feel like this game has been going on at a snail's pace… no offense obviously. I feel like nobody here is worrying about the rare situation that we do get to eliminate one of our own, if you know what I mean."
"Uhm…" Magcargo tried to take a step back from the leaning electric mouse, who was somehow just creeping closer and closer to him. "I see what you mean but don't you think that we should just hope that we keep winning and not worry about elimination since I think that just might isolate someone and-"
"Don't try to pull that card on me, Magcargo. I heard your conversation with Klinklang just now. You want Magearna gone." Dedenne pointed out his hypocrisy, deadpanning.
"U-uhm! Okay, maybe I don't have an excuse there but it's different. Magearna is just giving me bad vibes most of the time, especially with how she's treating one of her biggest fans!" Magcargo explained.
"Mhm, I see, I see." Dedenne started, nodding with his eyes closed before he opened them, faux-concern washing over his body, "Or are you saying that to keep Chansey to yourself? I mean, you haven't been discreet about the fact that you have a very close friendship with her. Maybe, you're being overpossessive."
"W-what?! Am I?" Magcargo asked rhetorically as doubt started to take a hold of him. While his first interactions with Chansey were by pure coincidence after running into her saving Sableye at the beach, he can't deny that he did want to get even closer to Chansey since then. "We're just friends. She is just a very nice girl and I noticed that Magearna is taking advantage of her and not giving her any cre-"
"You can't just implicate Magearna without any concrete and visible evidence." Dedenne pointed out.
"I-" Magcargo tried to argue but realized that he hadn't exactly shared any visible evidence with anyone else so all they could take as proof where his own words and Chansey's, but the nurse has strangely not shared much about her relationship with Magearna, choosing to remain ignorant and keep to herself. "Okay, maybe I don't have any proof. But-"
"But what?"
"Okay, you're a pretty smooth talker, Dedenne. I don't know why you're coming to her rescue all of a sudden and starting a conversation with me that pretty much feels like a blatant attempt to get me to target someone else but I can't just ignore my gut here!" Magcargo reasoned to the callous Electric-type who just took a step closer.
"Let's just see how things go when we do lose."
"When?"
"Oh, I meant if. Sorry, the pessimist in me just doesn't believe in Empoleon's strength in challenges outweighing his ability to casually throw every challenge in existence." Dedenne said sarcastically, turning his back to the Fire-type who was left with no words, pondering about Dedenne's sharp yet somehow half-true statements.
"Honestly, I don't care if Magearna leaves now but I just can't let MAGCARGO, of all people, be in the power position on this tribe. No offense to him, but he strikes me as the impulsive type. The type to be the center of attention and push me to the side since of course, they would!" Dedenne explained, tone dripping with an underlying resentment. "He has Chansey. He has Klinklang. Who does that leave me? The table scraps?! I am not interested in working with Ms. Text to Speech or Empoleon. They're not even worth the energy!"
He leaned closer to the camera, scowling. "I need to take a more hands-on approach with my game. Playing passively cost me Vivillon, one of my closest allies! I can't just stand to the side and do nothing! I want to win this game and I can't just make it further if I don't want to get my hands dirty in the process. It comes with the game, yada yada. Literally, get over it."
He shook his head, with a long sigh. "I did alienate Magearna a bit earlier but I was honestly just very annoyed by her. I thought she would be more devious but she's just an amateur all along."
"What did the egg say to the clown?" Vanilluxe started, grinning over the egg as he was the one currently in charge of keeping watch. "You crack me up!"
A nearby Skwovet groaned as he walked over with a grouchy expression, "Okay, please stop it with the puns! You have been doing nothing but say boring egg puns ever since you were asked to watch over the egg!"
"I don't know about you but I'm sure our baby is HAPPY to hear jokes. It's the light-hearted side of life and it's always nice to greet our baby into the world with a smile too! I mean, they're still in the egg obviously but these puns will basically tell them… Hey, you're not alone. You'll be okay." Vanilluxe intoned with a confident smirk, for once unaffected by the squirrel's burning apathy towards his jokes.
"I won't be shocked if we're actually losing points for this…" Skwovet said sarcastically, face-planting onto the table in a comical manner to help him forget the past 30 egg puns Vanilluxe kept repeating.
"Oh come on, lighten up. It's just a joke!"
"Mhm, THIRTY jokes. Yep, you definitely didn't go overboard…" Skwovet reminded him in a sarcastic tone.
"Well?! What else was I supposed to do? Just watching over an egg isn't going to earn us points to win! Pheromosa mentioned that we had to make sure that the egg is well taken care of. Just looking over it is not enough, when we're n-egg-lecting their basic needs!" Vanilluxe said, making sure to insert an egg pun right in between.
"I hate that you said something competent but made sure to ruin it with a random pun."
"Just wanted to lighten the mood!"
"You don't have to do that, really! Maybe you can help me with something instead!" Skwovet suggested, putting a paw to his tail to grab something out of it.
"B-but I'm supposed to be watching the egg-"
"Who cares? I mean, it's not like the other team is planning on snatching our egg themselves. They have their own egg to worry about." Skwovet pointed out.
Vanilluxe laughed nervously as he looked around the mess hall. Their teammates were all focused on their own respective business that they weren't paying attention to him and squirrel just talking about ditching the challenge for something Skwovet wants to do.
"Uhm, what exactly do you want to do exactly?"
Skwovet started, taking a hold of something from his tale. "I'm glad you asked!" Pulling out a familiar phone, Vanilluxe gasped, recognizing it immediately.
"Isn't that Cramorant's broken phone?"
"Yep! But I got it to work so we can use this to weaken the Shuppet and get them to turn on each other!"
"H-how exactly?"
"Here's how we're going to do it. I need you to have a private convo with Teddiursa and get her to trash talk Floatzel even if it's without context while I take a video in private then I show it to Floatzel, mhm."
"That sounds convoluted." Vanilluxe commented, furrowing his brows in concern.
"Vivillon was a bitch but she's gone now, so who do you think they'll vote off? Gossifleur has some friendship with Sableye and Oricorio is pretty much untouchable so it's between you and me on the boot. We need to do whatever we can to survive, you know?" Skwovet pointed out as Vanilluxe quickly averted his gaze, wanting no part in his schemes.
"I don't want to start an unnecessary conflict… I mean, we haven't lost the challenge yet." Vanilluxe pointed out, tone dropping off as he tried to distract himself from the current conversation by staring at their egg.
"Ugh fine… you're boring!" Skwovet complained, tightening his grip around the phone while putting it back into his tail. "Do your boring thing or whatever and I'll focus on keeping us alive in this game." With a huff, the squirrel stomped off the table and slowly walked away from the ice cream, who mustered a smile throughout the conversation.
"O-okay?"
Unbeknownst to them both though, Klinklang has successfully snuck into the mess hall, taking advantage of Indeedee's strange absence and overhearing their conversation.
"Stealing eggs, hmm? I see. To maximize our chances, sabotaging the other team is also a fair option." Klinklang whispered to himself, ducking back into the kitchen to mull over his options.
"And they lived happily ever after. The end." Empoleon finished his most-recent story: Cinderella, with a noticeably exhausted expression. He has been sitting on their egg while reading bedtime stories for approximately 2 hours now without any break. Chansey can't help but feel worried for the penguin's wellbeing as he was about to begin reading the next story in the book.
"Empoleon, shouldn't you take a break or something?"
"What do you mean? I'm not tired. Not tired at all!" Empoleon failed to argue in his favor as he slumped on the egg, eyes drooping down as he held back a yawn. "I literally did nothing but tell stories and sit on an egg. If anything, I have more energy to run a marathon and win the Pokeathlon or something."
"Uh-huh… you're overexerting yourself-"
"Shut the fuck up." Empoleon gritted his teeth in frustration, still annoyed about the nurse not accepting his apologies earlier that day. Chansey looked taken aback by her poor choice of words, rolling her eyes as she turned away.
"Well, SORRY for being concerned for once."
"Yeah, I don't need your... ugh…" Empoleon thought of the snappiest remark he could reply but exhaustion then overpowered him as he fell over the egg, collapsing on the grass, fast asleep.
Chansey immediately turned back around, shaking her head in disappointment. "See, I told you… I guess someone has to take over sitting on the egg."
"Magearna and Empoleon have one thing in common: They're both too terribly stubborn for their own good and honestly, it annoys me. I hate to say it, but it really does get on my nerves." Chansey confessed, with a disturbed expression.
"So why did you drag me here again?" Magearna asked as she was currently stuck in the mess hall's kitchen with Klinklang, at the steel type's insistence.
"I have a plan to guarantee the victory for our team." Klinklang explained. The Mythical Pokemon cocked a brow, curious as she waited for Klinklang to continue explaining, eventually grunting in annoyance as the gear Pokemno remained silent.
"And what exactly is this plan?! Don't just leave me hanging!" Magearna snapped, jabbing her finger on Klinklang's sides in frustration.
"I overheard Vanilluxe and Skwovet having a discussion and Skwovet mentioned an hypothetical situation of our team stealing their egg to be a low-chance situation but unfortunately for him, I analyzed the probabilities for this challenge and this just might be our best method of winning, no matter how heavy-handed it may be."
"And… what exactly is this hypothetical situation? I'm not a psychic!"
"..." Klinklang recoiled back at the philanthropist's choice of words, but continued to explain, "We steal their egg then drop it to the floor to break it."
Magearna gasped, feigning concern. "That sounds like an awful plan, but I'm willing to do it, for the sake of this challenge, just because the eggs aren't actually real eggs, if you know what I mean."
"I'm glad you see it my way then."
Magearna then peered over Klinklang's shoulder to check the situation in the mess hall where Vanilluxe was coddling the egg with affection as he continued murmuring his many egg puns to it. "So, what's the plan? I mean, we obviously can't get caught or they'll try doing the same thing with our egg."
"You sneak in there and take it."
"M-me?! What if I get caught?"
"It's not like your reputation could get any worse." Klinklang said derisely, as Magearna glared in response.
"What exactly do you mean with that?!"
"It's nothing. Just do it. You're more sneaky than me. My gears creak." Klinklang lied with a nonchalant stare. Magearna face-palmed in disbelief, shaking her head slowly.
"Fine…"
"Okay, I don't like how Klinklang is acting like he knows me. NO, nobody really does know me." Magearna said, biting her fingernails repeatedly as she spared a few glances towards the camera. "I don't know if it was Chansey or Teddiursa who spread rumors about me, but it feels like Dedenne and Cramorant are the only people on this team to truly be on my side. That's not even the majority. I can't get voted off this early. I haven't had my fun yet!"
"Magearna, while predictable, is still unpredictable in her own right. I definitely did NOT expect her to do THAT in front of my face but it does open up a lot of avenues for me to proceed through this game and does make me think that perhaps keeping her in the game might be better overall." Klinklang remarked, with a rare shocked expression on his face.
"Give me an E! Give me a G! Give me another G! What does that spell?!" Oricorio was repeating a haphazardly written chant to herself while she was wandering around the entrance of the mess hall, "EGG! Egg, we can do it! You are FINE. We will WIN WIN WIN!" Just pacing back and forth, she was too caught up with her cheers that she failed to notice another person within the vicinity, bumping into them in the process. "Oof… okay, maybe I should stop being peppy in front of the entrance." Oricorio thought to herself, feeling a blush rising to her face.
"Ori, watch where you're going next time!" Oricorio looked up to see Cramorant with a uncharacteristically frantic expression evident on her face.
"Cramorant, are you okay? You look stressed." Oricorio commented, backing away slowly, accidentally bumping on the side of the mess hall, grunting in the process.
"Of course, I am like W-T-F?! I lost my phone. Someone fucking took my phone. I was totes fine earlier since I was playing mindsweeper in my head but this challenge is very boring. I need to do my dailies ASAP!"
"Wasn't your phone bro-"
"Truw true that but it's the placebo effect that comes from holding my phone that makes me feel calm and forget all worries!" Cramorant explained, waving her wings around, nearly hitting the mess hall with the huge span of her winggs.
"Well, I don't know where your phone is. I'm just… destressing myself right now!" Oricorio remarked, rubbing her wing in an awkward fashion that seemed to increase Cramorant's anxiety for no particular reason.
"Are you sure!? I like, asked everyone on my team. Nobody would come forward. I think the swamp monster ate it… or WORSE, that Ursaring from the last challenge ate it! I can't fix a digested phone! Never ever!"
"I'm really sorry about that. I can't exactly help you find it, since I have a challenge to worry about here."
"Can't you ate least call up my number so I can find my phone through the ringtone?"
"I thought your phone was broken?" Oricorio pointed out before swaying her head from side to side. "That, and I don't even have a phone myself. We were explicitly told not to bring any phones or electronic devices onto the island, remember?"
"Does it look like I can READ?!" Cramorant's wings slowly went down her face as she looked around in place. "Denial is starting to set in. I'm starting to see double! Is that my phone!? Nooooooo!"
"C-Cramorant? Cramorant?!" Oricorio's mouth was agape as the cormorant just screamed like a banshee as she ran into the mess hall to search for her phone. She laughed awkwardly as screams can be heard from inside, mostly from Cramorant, but Vanilluxe, Gossifleur and Sableye's screams joined the mix as sounds of them arguing with Cramorant can be heard even from outside.
"My phone is SERIOUS business!" Cramorant said… before casually pulling out another phone, this time blue-colored to contrast the original yellow phonecase she had on her original phone. "I hate to say it, but it's time to pull out the BACK-UPs. Yes, I had back-up phones!" She vigorously tapped on the dark phone screen in between sobs but just ended up breaking it in half. "OKAY, all of them DIED in the WATER!"
"So Chansey, how long do you even have to sit on the egg again?" Dedenne asked, watching over the dozing Empoleon.
The team was somehow down to the two of them as everyone else… just disappeared for no reason. Klinklang and Magearna had other ideas that Klinklang clearly wasn't interested in telling him for some reason. Cramorant decided to resume her journey of recovering her lost phone. Empoleon was UNCONCIOUS from the challenge while Magcargo decided to randomly go off on his own for no reason without even telling him or Chansey why he left. Dedenne had a strong feeling it had something to do with his spontaneous confrontation with Magcargo earlier. While he regretted coming off as too bold and forceful, he knew he had to do something to improve his position in the game although he felt slightly bad that he doesn't feel remorse for his harsh words.
"I'm not sure. Pheromosa didn't exactly give a hard deadline so I guess we're stuck here, taking care of our egg for a while." Chansey answered, caressing the surface of the egg sweetly. "Honestly, I think we should take a more proactive approach and try doing things to make this egg hatch faster."
"I mean, that sounds like the way to go." Dedenne started, folding his arms. "If this egg was an actual egg but it isn't. I don't think it can even hatch. It's like those scam Mystery Eggs that only end up to have an egg in them. An egg in an egg in an egg. That sounds stupid but it's actually true."
"Uhm… yeah." Chansey said half-heartedly. Dedenne shook his head, knowing that there is a bit of an awkward tension between him and Chansey after his haphazard attempts to get her and Magearna to make up, which didn't pay off.
"Chansey, be real with me. Are you still bothered about me with the Magearna thing?"
"No, I-"
"I just said be real with me. Magcargo told me enough." Dedenne said matter-of-factly, wanting to try and lay things out for their relationship to 'flourish' or something along those lines. "I will admit. I am just clueless about whatever the fuck went on with you and Magearna so I'll admit that I was easily swayed by Magearna."
"W-wait, are you saying you're not on Magearna's side then?" Chansey asked cautiously.
"I want to see both sides of the story." Dedenne explained.
Chansey looked disappointed by this but forced a smile. "I see. That makes sense… I guess."
"And if you really need to know, I'm fine voting Magearna off too."
"Oh!" Chansey sat up at Dedenne's words, relief washing over her being. "I'm glad to hear that then!"
"Mhm… weren't you and Magearna friends though? I want to hear it straight from the Horsea's mouth. What happened between you two?"
"Hmm? Oh, she just crossed a line I didn't expect her to cross. I admired her but now, I realized that I wasted a huge amount of time looking up to her, only to realize that she's not actually the person I thought her to be."
"That sounds a bit vague, but I think I get the gist of things."
"Now, it's your turn. You and Cramorant have been rather off lately. You were crying to me to get me to forgive Magearna for no reason. And Cramorant was very weird with how insistence she was in gaslighting me to believe that I was the one to blame."
Dedenne looked shocked by this, putting a paw to his mouth. "Wait, Cramorant did that?" Noticing Chansey's growing unease, he shrugged it off with a casual expression. "Not that I care about that, but isn't Cramorant rather foolish? I don't think she's smart enough to even think of doing anything like that. I mean, her personality is literally 'I love phones. I don't know how to use real words.'"
"You have a point there, but…" Chansey's voice weakened as she clenched a fist. "It's just something I can't ignore and honestly, you were an awful person for trying to make me feel guilty."
"Oh really." Dedenne looked taken aback. He didn't expect Chansey to be rather bold and straightforward with her words. She always did strike him up to be demure and shortspoken but Chansey's personality was slowly changing for some unknown reason that Dedenne wasn't sure why, but he just knew it had something to do with Magearna. "Well, if you need an apology, I'm really sorry for doing that. I should've listened to you first before believing whatever Magearna was spitting out since she was honestly too laser-focused on playing the victim."
"Yeah…" Chansey murmured, feeling a bit worn out from the conversation, redirecting her gaze towards the egg she was currently perched on. "For w-what it's worth, I am mad at Magearna and not you. Let's focus on the challenge first and foremost… seeing as everyone else decided to not help out, aside from Empoleon."
"S-"
Before Dedenne could respond, Empoleon jolted awake with a pant, looking around frantically. "Did I fucking collapse? Where am I? Is the challenge over?!"
"Empoleon, glad you're awake! Want to chat?" Dedenne chirped, tilting his head to the side, eyes closed giving off a menacing aura.
"What?"
"OKAY, Cramorant is finally taken care of! I don't know why she randomly decided to scream like a banshee but it's over now…" Floatzel grunted, rubbing his paws together with a frustrated expression. The bird entered the mess hall awhile ago and just had a spontaneous outburst, accusing everyone of… something. Floatzel was unsure why she's even doing this. Didn't Skwovet give back the phone already?
"Cramorant has a really strong diaphragm, h-heh…" Sableye whimpered, sprawled over a vacant table, having received the brunt of the outburst.
"I would say you deserve it but Cramorant really did a number on you, huh?" Floatzel commented, helping the gremlin up, to the Dark-type's mild surprise, not expecting Empoleon to be casual with him instead of keeping his distance like he usually does.
"Uhm, thanks Floatzel. Didn't expect Cramorant to be cuckoo back there." Sableye leaned on the weasel's arm for support as the Water-type turned to look at Vanilluxe who was fainted on the floor near where their egg was placed on.
"Vanilluxe, are you okay? And is the egg still intact? Don't tell me you accidentally crushed it."
"Bwuh? I can only hear nothing but Ring RING RING! No, d-don't hit me. I'll be good, I swear…" Vanilluxe was a babbling mess, eyes replaced by swirl marks to indicate that he has fainted on the spot.
"Move." Floatzel quickly rushed over to the ice cream's location, hopping over him to check on the egg… eyes widening to see that the egg wasn't even on the cushion anymore. "OKAY, did Vanilluxe or Cramorant break the egg?! It's over. It's over. We lost!"
Sableye hopped off of the table, raising a hand awkwardly. "A-actually, while we were fighting off Cramorant, I noticed a… pink thing grab the egg before r-rushing into the kitchen."
"And you saying that to me NOW?!"
"S-sorry, Cramorant's screams were just too loud…"
Floatzel sat in the confessional with a listless expression. "I don't know what Sableye meant with the pink thing but it's clear Cramorant left him delirious but that's not what matters. Someone took our egg and we have to get it back!"
Magearna was nearly out of breath as she was running out of the mess hall with Klinklang in tow, with the Trubbish's egg in her grip. "D-did they see us?"
"You know we can stop now." Klinklang reminded her in his usual monotonous voice. "Just drop the egg already and we can end this challenge."
"Oh!" Magearna exclaimed, stopping in her tracks, holding the egg above her head. "I guess, it's time for us to win then. Goodb-" She threw the egg afar but she gasped as it was easily caught by Gossifleur who used her vines to form a net for it to fall on. "W-wait, what?!"
"Maybe, you should've thrown it to the ground at a lower trajectory instead of throwing it at a distance, leaving it to be prone to being saved by an external force." Klinklang chided her, to the Mythical Pokemon's annoyance.
Gossifleur smiled weakly as she quickly grabbed the egg from her vine net. "I-it's a good thing Floatzel told me about this…" She then gulped, noticing the fastly encroaching Msgearna and Klinklang. "Okay, you know what, I'm out!" She scampered to the side, dodging a Gyro Ball that grazed her petals by a tiny smidge.
Gossifleur was on the run, escaping from two Steel-type, interested in destroying their egg- "Wait… destroy our egg… they're doing this to auto-win the challenge so maybe I can threaten them by going over to their egg!" She thought to herself as she can see Empoleon, Chansey and Dedenne nearby, watching over their own egg.
Her train of thoughts were immediately interrupted as she got hit by a Gyro Ball, causing her to fall on the ground, dropping the egg in the process. Panic filled in her brain but she is relieved to see that the egg has safely landed on the grass without any visible cracks. However, that didn't last long as Magearna floated over to her fallen body, prepared to shoot a Gyro Ball to destroy the egg.
"U-uhm, please don't do this?"
"This is for the challenge." Magearna explained, expression darkening. "Good-"
"OH NO, YOU DON'T!" Teddiursa headbutted onto the floating Mythical Pokemon, to both Klinklang and Gossifleur's surprise as the duo fell to the ground as a result, both fainting as a result.
"U-uhm…" Gossifleur muttered awkwardly, deftly grabbing their egg, hoping Klinklang was distracted but she screamed as Klinklang glared at her direction, floating over to take ahold of the other end of the egg. "K-Klinklang?!"
"No, we are winning this challenge." Klinklang said menacingly.
"F-Floatzel. Help?!" Gossifleur whimpered as Klinklang snatched the egg from beneath her grasp. Defeated, she nervously skittered away from the area.
"Finally… time to destroy this." Klinklang said ominously, lifting the egg above his head which was again, interrupted by Floatzel hitting him on the back with a Hydro Pump, making him drop the egg to the floor… which surprisingly survived the fall without any scratches. Klinklang had an annoyed look at this. "Okay, are these eggs made of metal?!"
"Teddiursa might have won that battle but she hasn't won the war yet." Magearna rubbed the bruises on her head, flinching in the process. "
"I can't believe I have been involved in a scuffle in a challenge that was clearly designed to be pacifistic in nature!" Gossifleur remarked with a wide smile on her face. "I won't lie. It made my heart race. I won't deny that I quite enjoyed the thrill as well. How have I not experienced something like this before?"
"There there, little egg. Papa Empoleon is here…" Empoleon said in an awkwardly sing-song fashion as he rubbed their team's egg with an off-putting expression. Dedenne and Chansey exchanged a confused look, which was amplified when Empoleon draped a blanket over their egg. "Bayleef Junior, you're going to grow up to be big and strong."
"Did he just…" Dedenne whispered to Chansey. "Okay, I know I egged on him a bit but WOW, I didn't think he was that obsessed with Bayleef!"
"Uhm… he was probably the only person Empoleon 'liked'... or at the very least tolerated." Chansey explained, walking over the penguin, tapping the back of his shoulder awkwardly. "Empoleon… uhm-"
"Chansey, I'm busy right now. Unless you're going to accept my apology, leave me fucking alone."
Chansey blinked, taking a step back. "Okay, I see. I'm glad to hear that, I guess."
"Hmph."
"Empoleon being weird aside, did anyone hear fighting?" Dedenne chimed in. "It sounded like it was-" His eyes widened as a blast of water nearly hit him by the side. "OKAY, who wanted to attack me?!" Turning around, Chansey and Dedenne both find Floatzel standing nearby with a growl, holding onto his team's egg as in the distance, the fallen figures of Teddiursa, Magearna, Gossifleur and Klinklang could be barely seen.
"Floatzel, what-" Chansey could barely respond as Chansey was hit with a Hydro Pump, pushing her back until she landed on her back with a long pained groan.
"E-Empoleon-" Dedenne tried to beckon for the penguin's attention but was swiftly taken out by a powerful Hydro Pump, falling unconscious unlike the nurse, due to his weaker defenses and overall bulk.
Empoleon's ears twitched at the sudden noise, growling as he turned around, eyes widening as he too, was hit with a Hydro Pump that he easily shrugs off. "Okay, what the fuck are you doing here!?"
"Doing the challenge." Floatzel said matter-of-factly, using Aqua Jet to get closer to the penguin faster.
"Okay shut the fuck up. This challenge is all about the eggs!" Empoleon called him out, preparing a Gyro Ball as the weasel drew closer. With a grunt, he shot a ball of steel energy, hitting Floatzel's arm, making him call out in pain. "Well, I wanted to play NICE but since you asked for it."
"Very funny! You're not even nice." Floatzel said, stopping at his tracks, which made Empoleon feel more uneasy.
"Okay, weren't you planning on attacking me?! Why did you…"
"Who said I was planning anything?" Floatzel said, pointing at something behind Empoleon. The penguin looked confused as he slowly turned around, horror slowly forcing its way onto his expression as he saw Sableye hitting his team's egg with a blunt meat cleaver that he grabbed from the kitchen.
"W-wait WHAT?!"
"Yeah, I'm glad I got our egg back AND distracted you enough for Sableye to sneak from right behind you."
"Okay, that's unfair!" Empoleon fell to his knees, hands shaking in front of his face as Pheromosa's voice played out through the loudspeaker.
"The Shining Shuppet's egg has been destroyed. No egg means they automatically lose the challenge. This means that the Twinkling Trubbish has won this egg-celent challenge!"
"..." Empoleon's eyes twitched as he tried his best to hold back on his anger, wanting to appear calm but his annoyance was evident with his expression.
"W-we actually did it?!" Sableye cheered, waving the meat cleaver around with a smile.
"Please drop the meat cleaver, Sableye." Floatzel urged, folding his arms.
"S-sorry…"
"I…" Empoleon raised a finger to say something but immediately put it down. "You know what… I respect Floatzel for doing something as ballsy as that. Props to him."
Floatzel covered his face with a long sigh. "That was honestly very immoral of me to do, using underhanded tactics to win the challenge but it's not like I had much of a choice. Klinklang and Magcargo decided to play this challenge offensively so it's a retaliation strike! I do feel bad that I had to do it but at the same time, I didn't have the idea first and-"
He paused, hitting the side of his head on the wall. "Okay, making justifications for doing things like these are something a villain would do so I will own up my actions and move on."
After the challenge ended, the cast dispersed and did their own things. The Twinkling Trubbish though, were all gathered together in front of their cabin, chatting with each other and basking in their recent victory.
"Woah, we won?! Wow!" Skwovet walked over to the Trubbish cabin, to celebrate with his teammates. "I honestly didn't expect that."
"You can thank Floatzel for that! He made the plan and it paid off!" Gossifleur said with an earnest nod. Floatzel looked embarrassed by this, turning to the side. "Maybe, we should thank Klinklang and Magearna for giving us the idea in the first place though!"
"Er-hem… yes, I would've preferred if we won by normal means but they started attacking us for no reason." Floatzel remarked.
"A win is still a win regardless." Skwovet pointed out. He then looked surprised as Floatzel stood up from his seat, slowly walking over to him. "Yes?"
"Skwovet, we need to talk."
"Uh… sure?"
"Not here though." Floatzel started, opening the door to the cabin. "Get in."
Skwovet laughed nervously, rubbing his arm. "The way you say that kind of gives me the creeps, dude."
"Just get in." Floatzel repeated, smiling ominously. Skwovet gulped as he hesitantly followed the weasel into the cabin.
"So what did you want to talk about?" Skwovet asked the Water-type as he sat on his bed, facing Floatzel who was just standing in front of him menacingly. Sweat drops were already forming around the squirrel's forehead as he tried his best to maintain his composure. This surely wasn't about Cramorant's phone… right?
"Did you give Cramorant her phone back?"
"Oh crap, it really is about the phone…" Skwovet thought to himself, as he just laughed awkwardly in response. He was notorious for being terrible under pressure that it would make Sableye look calm and collected in comparison.
"I gave it back-"
"Okay, don't lie to me. Cramorant showed up in the mess hall and she was acting off. As if her phone was still missing." Floatzel said, smacking the side of the bed, making it shake a bit causing Skwovet to land on his back. "I'd appreciate it if you are honest."
"I didn't take it-"
"Hmm?"
"I gave it back, I promise."
"You're saying that but you're acting more fidgety than usual. It's very obvious to see that you're lying, Skwovet. You're even more of an obvious villain than Sableye."
"Sableye's a villain-"
"That's besides the point. Cramorant needs her phone back or she'll be running around again while screaming like a banshee!" Floatzel pointed out, leaning closer, fear evident in his eyes. It's almost as if his eyes have seen the devil before and have barely survived that encounter.
"Uhm… not even going to ask what Cramorant did to you to make you feel this way but I definitely don't have the phone! Promise!" Skwovet said, waving both of his hands around.
Still suspicious, Floatzel sat next to the squirrel and began searching through his tail, to Skwovet's embarrassment. "O-okay, what are you doing?!"
"I'm checking your tail. I know you hide everything you stole in there." Floatzel explained with a calm tone, as if he wasn't just breaching Skwovet's privacy right now.
"I don't know what you're-" Skwovet froze as Floatzel waved a bottle of nail polish at his face. "O-okay… maybe I do put it all in there."
"I'm giving this back to Teddiursa…"
"..." Skwovet gulped, with a shaky nod.
Floatzel continued searching through Skwovet's tail but a look of confusion wormed its way onto his face as the phone doesn't seem to be in Skwovet's tail.
"Okay, where did you put it?"
"I already told you, I gave it back!"
"Really?"
"Yes really."
"I don't trust you."
"You don't trust anyone!" Skwovet pointed out, snatching his tail out of the weasel's grasp. "Dedenne told me that you're very paranoid and creepy but wow, you're just proving him right."
Floatzel flinched at his words, hands shaking. "W-wait, he said that? I was just being a little bit careful. You don't know what someone is hiding from you-"
"Maybe they WANT to hide their secrets because it's a fucking secret. I know you're being some white knight type of guy, who is out here to defeat evil or something like that but you're having double standards, dude."
"Double standards?" Floatzel arched a brow in confusion as Skwovet ran his fingers together with a smug expression.
"Teddiursa."
"What about her?"
"Your 'best friend'-"
"We're not best friends."
Skwovet gave him a look, clearing his throat as he continued explaining. "Your FRIEND is literally one of the fakest people in this game and you trust HER. Like come on, I get that I'm a klepto but you don't see me hiding that side of me! I'm one of the realest people I know."
"Does it look like I WANT to trust her?!" Floatzel yelled at him, grabbing a hold of his arm. Skwovet tried to squirm out but his grip was too strong. "I haphazardly put my trust in her, for the SAKE OF THE GAME. She might backstab me since I don't trust her completely but it's better to put the backstabbers on your side than against you. We're just allies who benefit off each other but I'm probing her. Keeping my distance. I know she's fake. I know she can't be trusted but it's stil-"
"You said enough."
Floatzel tensed at a feminine voice chiming in from right behind him. He has been so focused on arguing with Skwovet that he didn't even hear someone entering the cabin. Turning around, he found a teary-eyed Teddiursa.
"Fake?! I know you thought I was annoying but FAKE?! FUCKING FAKE?! What the actual fuck, Floatzel!? I thought we saw each other eye to eye. And I thought you already knew my cutie pie shtick was just that, a shtick!"
"Wait, Teddiursa-" Floatzel tried to reason with the sudden appearance of his closest friend but a rare scowl popped up on Teddiursa's face as she slapped Floatzel's hand away.
"No. I can't believe you. Seriously, find another fucking friend. Since I'm too much of a BACKSTABBER!"
Floatzel could say nothing as the little bear Pokemon stormed out of the room. The Water-type fell to his knees, gaping in shock at what just happened. It was quick yet effective.
"I-"
Skwovet laughed nervously at this but looked to the side, sweating more profusely than usual.
"That worked out. I gave the phone back to Cramorant after the challenge obviously but uhh… I didn't expect my actions to… do THAT. Like, I wish I could say I had a master plan to orchestrate this argument but whoops, I kind of just stumbled into it. I guess I know how Sableye feels when he randomly stumbles into the slot of being the shadiest person on the island with minimal effort." Skwovet looked at the camera with a look of pride which changed to a nervous look immediately.
"Floatzel is fucking RUDE for that. To think, I went in just to spend some fun times with him and he was actually talking behind my back with his new but less cute friend in Skwovet?! Like what?! What the actual fwuck?! You never just do that!" Teddiursa said with a growl, clenching a fist at the camera threateningly.
Meanwhile, Magearna has gathered Cramorant, Dedenne and Klinklang in front of the infirmary to discuss the vote that they had to face later that night.
"Okay… I didn't expect us to lose again but we all should be fine if we vote together here."
Klinklang looked nonchalant at this but was the only one among the three to speak up. "I wasn't doubtful of my survival through this round anyways. I have charted a path that basically guaranteed my path to tomorrow after all."
"And that path includes voting Chansey off with me!"
"Chansey? I thought you two were BFFLs or something?" Cramorant chimed in, more focused on her recently returned phone rather than the conversation.
"WERE, that's the keyword." Magearna explained, averting her gaze in an attempt to garner sympathy. "I thought we were inseparable during the first few weeks but something in her just snapped into place or something. I fear that Chansey is exposing her true colors. I actually saved her from being eliminated during our last vote. If Gourgeist didn't quit, it would've been her… but I saved her."
"And when did she backstab you exactly?" Dedenne asked flatly, with a disinterested look. While he was initially keen on keeping Magearna when they first swapped. The Mythical Pokemon was starting to establish herself as a wishywashy and unreliable presence and with what happened with Vivillon, Dedenne preferred some stability for his game. "I want to hear you out here but you shouldn't keep things vague, you know?"
"That-" Magearna tried to piece together an answer but Klinklang abruptly cuts in.
"Magearna, cut the bullshit. Your life is on the line here and I would prefer if you are more honest with your case."
Magearna bit her lip, shaking at these words as she reluctantly nodded. "Fine… Chansey, I was honestly always planning to stab her in the back but I genuinely did want to get further in the game with her but she started doubting me and I can't let her stay in the game for that. T-this is for my game…"
"Hey Empoleon… you really did great at the challenge. It's such a shame that Klinklang had to ruin everything."
Those words confused Empoleon who was just sitting in his room, unwinding and keeping to himself since he knew he'd be SLAMMING all of his teammates to the ground when he sees them for leaving their egg unprotected during the challenge. Yet, Cramorant was standing in front of him right now with an uncharacteristic dazed expression. It felt weird. He never knew the bird personally but he KNEW that Cramorant wouldn't just say a full sentence without text lingo interwoven in it.
"Uh… yeah? Explain."
"You didn't hear this from me, but Klinklang grabbed me and Magearna during the challenge and he told us to fuck off from the challenge to try and steal the egg of the other team. I got caught, by accident and might have accidentally lead the other team to want to smash our egg but it was all the stupid gear's fault for even having that stupid idea in the first place!"
"You shouldn't have followed him easily in the first place."
"Klinklang is a smart person so I thought his ideas were smart but it turned out that he just so happened to be the smartest idiot in the game! All that brain power is being put into how robotic he sounds a hundred percent of the time. I hate him." Cramorant said, light fading from her eyes which was unsettling to look at.
"Magearna was just as annoyed as I was so I heard she will be voting for Klinklang. I hope you can join us, since you're such a GREAT leader after all."
Empoleon snarled at Cramorant's tone dripping with a tinge of sarcasm. "Are you looking down on me?!"
"I'm a Flying-type. It's inevitable." Cramorant reasoned, laughing stiffly.
"You…"
"Magcargo… maybe I misjudged Magearna…" Chansey said with a long sigh as she sat across Magcargo in the mess hall as they ate dinner together. Magcargo gaped at the nurse's words, confused. "I think we shouldn't vote her off. She's not a bad person… unlike Empoleon."
"Woah woah woah, Chansey? What are you even saying?! I thought you wanted her gone!"
"I still don't trust Magearna completely but Empoleon hasn't been a good person either." Chansey pointed out with an anxious expression. "He is too forceful and I feel like he still doesn't like me for voting Bayleef off."
"... are you really serious about this?"
"Yes. I am. The most serious I have ever been."
"Okay?"
"This is the end… one way or another." Chansey muttered, casting her vote.
"I did all I could do. Let's just see if it worked out. At the very least, I hope the vote is very messy." Magearna leaned back with a strangely disinterested expression.
Another day, another elimination. The 7 members of the Shining Shuppet were seated in front of the campfire, waiting for their fates to be announced. Instead of Nihilego and Poipole, an overly-eager looking Staravia was the one standing on the other side, lifting a tray of marshmallows for all to see.
The dynamics were evident, just looking at the seating arrangement. Magearna was sitting separate from everyone else, arms crossed while everyone else were together on the other end.
"Hello hello everyone! Staravia here and I'm your lovely HOST!"
"Just get on with it. We have THINGS to do!" Cramorant yelled, inspecting her wing with a bored look.
"Oh come on! Let me HAVE THIS! This is literally 90% of my screentime this episode!" Staravia complained with a childish pout. "Hmm… is it because I'm playing as myself? Would your interest be piqued if I was Mareep Poppins instead?"
"Oh great, a theater kid." Dedenne said, rolling his eyes. "I hate it when people just assume I'm one for some reason."
"No comment!" Staravia said, smiling at the little mouse as she grabbed a marshmallow off the tray. "But it's time to announce who is safe and who is not. I even have a speech prepared!" Clearing her throat, she continued. "Marshmallows are a delicious treat. They are soft, fluffy and sweet. So it is quite uncharacteristic to see that they will be representing life for each and everyone of you. If you get one, that means your torch stays lit, you survive to live another day. While receiving none means that you are eliminated from the game. Goodbye, don't let the door hit you on the way out. My father never did feed me much… he hit me tw-"
"What the fuck are you even saying?!" Empoleon growled, stomping a foot on the ground. "We don't have all day to hear about your fake life story or shit."
"... now I know the pains of hosting. Alas, it just proves that I was meant for the STAGE instead of reality television!" Staravia said, waving her free wing around for dramatic flair. "But fine, we'll get started! The first person safe is…"
"Dedenne." The electric mouse looked unfazed as he caught his marshmallow. He wasn't in any danger after all. "Cramorant." The bird doesn't even react to the marshmallow hitting her square on the forehead as she seems to be looking at her phone.
"Magcargo, you are safe. Proving that WORDS speak louder than actions!"
"What is that supposed to mean?! I know I talk a lot but I don't think I'm that much of a chatterbox. I mean, I-" Magcargo was shut up by the marshmallow landing inside his mouth. Staravia did a fist-pump at her successful aim.
"Four people left. One of you is leaving and it is definitely not…" Staravia started. "... Empoleon and Klinklang."
Empoleon and Klinklang both dodged their marshmallows, not caring much about it in the first place, just glad to hear about their safety. Magearna sweated bullets at this while Chansey leaned forward, muttering prayers to Arceus at an alarming pace.
"Magearna, Chansey. It's the end for one of you. Magearna, you are a Mythical Pokemon. You are guaranteed to be a threat in this game and according to my sources, you just might be a bitch." Magearna scoffed at the avian's words, rolling her eyes. Subtlety has flown out the window basically. "Chansey, you are a nice girl and that's not good television. Maybe, try having a personality?" Chansey gasped at this before glaring at Staravia, who waved the last marshmallow around tauntingly.
"The last marshmallow goes to…"
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
"Chansey." Chansey cheered in triumph as she caught the marshmallow while Magearna sighed, uncharacteristically casual about just being eliminated from the game.
Chansey turned to her former friend, rubbing the back of her head. "Magearna, I know our relationship here ended badly but uhm… good game?"
Magearna scoffed, refusing the nurse's handshake, putting both hands on her hips with a smug expression. "Nope, I should be the one to say that seeing as nobody but Klinklang actually knew what I was."
The rest of the team looked confused by the Mythical Pokemon's words but it all clicked. The fact that they all had clashing conversations before the vote, uncharacteristic actions from some people during the whole game up to that point. Klinklang smirked, shaking his head.
"Honestly, you weren't that good at hiding it. But I didn't think you would actually be-"
"Nope, let ME make the reveal!" Magearna(?) said, doing a light twirl around the air as she slowly increased in elevation.
"Is she a Ditto or something? That's such a predictable twist…" Staravia muttered to herself, covering her beak with a wing. "I mean, of course, it would be absolute bullshit that there'd be an actual Mythi… cal?" She gaped in shock at what she saw in front of her. It wasn't a Ditto. HELL, it wasn't a Zoroark either!
Floating at the center of the group was a pink cat-like creature with playful blue eyes and a long wavy tail that was twitching as the new Pokemon in front of them revealed their true colors.
"M-Magearna?" Chansey was at a loss of words.
"No, it's a Mew." Klinklang broke the silence, unsurprised as he had caught a glimpse of Magearna's true from during the challenge. "You must've been really bored to have actually played in this though. Very very bored."
"Maybe~ It was fun messing with everyone though and I hope Magearna can REST EASY knowing that I ruined her reputation!" Mew said, giggling into their paws. "That's what she gets for being so condescending most of the time. Like come on, she acts like she knows what's good for me~ But whatever, thank you for playing along, even if I did wish that I stayed here."
Nobody said anything in response. They were at shock with the reveal. The Mythical Pokemon… was a LEGENDARY Pokemon instead. A Mew at that so nobody knew how to actually react. Cramorant's mouth was agape as she tried to take a picture before remembering the state of her phone.
"That's the end of me then! I won't stay at Losers Island or whatever it's called. I have an entire season of Black Mirror to binge! Ta-ta~" Mew said playfully as they twirled around only to disappear in a flash, leaving no trace. That was one way to make an exit.
"..."
"..."
"S-so uhm… what do we do now?!" Magcargo asked nobody in particular, laughing awkwardly.
"We just… go to sleep… I guess…" Dedenne answered, standing up from his seat, slowly trudging away from the area, head still spinning from the last-minute revelation. Slowly, one by one, the rest of the team followed after the electric mouse with Staravia bringing up the rear, in the same position as they were, despite being an intern.
Magearna might've not been real but her presence was definitely felt. Among the crowd, Chansey looked rather relieved knowing that she wasn't lied to by her actual idol while Magcargo kept sparing her a glance from behind, worried about how she's dealing with the new information. It was the end of an era for the original members of the Shining Shuppet though. Nothing left but uncertainty in their future.
The vote was unanimous against Magearna.
Shining Shuppet - Chansey, Cramorant, Dedenne, Empoleon, Klinklang, Magcargo
Twinkling Trubbish - Floatzel, Gossifleur, Oricorio, Sableye, Skwovet, Teddiursa, Vanilluxe, Vivillon
Eliminated: Unfezant, Pikachu, Musharna, Bayleef, Gourgeist, Vivillon, Magearna
ELIMINATED: Magearna, the Fraud (14th Place)
It's pretty weird to be booting her on a SET-UP chapter after being built up to be a threatening evil player but it turns out, she was here to TROLL. Yes, one of my plans when I first drafted this story was to put a faux-Mythical/Legendary Pokemon in it but instead of being a Ditto/Zoroark, they're actually a Mew. And lo and behold, this was the result. She had a lowkey exit but as someone whose whole character was fake all along, I felt like she deserved it.
Her elimination definitely left ripples in the game though but it'll take a bit for them to show. Honestly, this chapter was moreso for build-up for future chapters. Magearna was always meant to go at this point since she was also a… hate to say it… PLOT DEVICE for other characters to grow. She has faux-depth in the earlier chapters because it's to make people believe she'd actually get an arc but surprise, she's not even Magearna. She's just a character meant to be hated and like Vivillon, she was never going to survive a vote realistically even with Dedenne and Cramorant's initial support with how well-known her duplicity was at this point. Her slip-up during the last challenge with Klinklang didn't help either.
ANYWAYS, if you're edging. Some characters were actually Magearna during those scenes:
- She was Unfezant during the whole interaction with Klinklang. She was Sableye during one vote scrambles where he talks to Empoleon. She was Bayleef too in a previous episode who was more confrontational than usual. And some others that I'm too lazy to re-check. Every Shuppet scene after they lost had MAGEARNA in it, posing as someone else in a last-ditch effort to survive by muddying up the votes since everyone else was fully set on taking her out, even if Cramorant and Dedenne did change their mind over the course of the day.
Staravia: FINALLY! The final 10% of my screentime this chapter! REVIEW, you won't regret it… EVER!