PokeMorphisis
Edit: Forgot to mention that the A.R.C devices have been renamed to PokeLink(s). It still functions the same, just a rename :)
My eyes had to readjust to the sun as we exited the tunnel, but what greeted my eyes when I opened them back up was nothing that I had expected. The color green flashed my eyes, until my eyes calibrated to the light. Green was probably the best way to describe this place…it was all over! The grass, the trees…the bushes. It all stretched who knew how far. The three of us that were being carried by Shelby were lowered to ground, stepping onto the soft blades of grass. It was quite the beautiful environment, I could even see a pond in the distance.
Everyone else was just as dazzled by the environment, some of the others going off on their own and exploring the area. I followed Shelby, who had gone off on her own to inspect a bush. A couple of other pokemon had started climbing up the trees, some resting after the long wait. What really caught my attention though, was a canine with black fur all over and a white snout standing all alone near the exit of the tunnel, gazing at what was happening in front of him, away from everyone else. It was sort of standoffish in a way.
To my farthest right I spotted that Houndoom named Diablo from earlier, and from what it looked like he found an unfortunate Murkrow to pick on. And near him was that same Fennekin associate of his, Edith…her eyes glued right on me.
"Lookie here my doggie!" Shelby interrupted, putting a digit in the air and reaching out her other arm towards me with a blue, textury ball in hand. It was quite plump, the berry being softly squeezed in her hold, emphasizing on its squishiness. "This…is an oran berry. You may or may not be able to remember it, but it's very sweet!" With a pointed digit, and a formed claw, she swiftly cut the berry into two.
"Here, try it. It wont turn you blue, I swear!" Shelby snickered. The juice of the berry had stained her fur blue, and was starting to leak on to me. The insides did look pretty inviting…so without hesitation I chomped it out of her hand. The juices of the halved berry trickled down my taste buds, flowing my senses with euphoria. It really was sweet! Not just sweet but it also felt replenishing. I'd have to look for these later…
"HELLO!"
I was knocked off my feet. Shelby was startled far worse than me, clinging on to a branch that was above us. The voice had come from behind me. Everyone else must have heard it as well, the crowd of pokemon looking around hopelessly for wherever the voice came from.
"It's a-me, Lizardon! I'm talking through the speaker of your PokeLink. Pretty cool ay?"
That explains it…
Shelby dropped down from the branch, landing on all fours.
"Now, let me run down how today's event will go. There will be three different courses, each unique with their own event. Each round will be elimination based, so try your best will ya?"
There was a collective gasp in the area, all except Shelby. Of course, she'd done this before so this format wasn't new to her.
"I'd explain it myself how this first course would go, BUUUT they've already prepared an explanation for it, so I'll just let it play out for you guys! I'll chit chat later!"
…
A new, robotic voice entered through the speaker of the bands. "Welcome contestants to the 40th annual tryouts. You'll be facing various other opponents looking for the opportunity you are pursuing, but you'll also be grouped up with pre-selected peers."
"Ah! That's new. Would have been nice for me to have…" Shelby shook her head.
"As for the rules of this first course, your task is with your group, collect as many berries as you can within the ten minute time limit. The minimum amount of berries you must collect is 10. It can be of any type. Failure to do so results in elimination."
The PokeLink around the dock of my tail began to vibrate. The blue orb on it pulsed before it emitted a light that hovered in the air, displaying a picture. There was a picture of a Zorua to the bottom right of the hologramed square frame, along with the words "Alex" right under it. There were three other picture frames.
Soup and Teddy. Those two were the same Skitty and Poochyena that Shelby offered a ride. Guess I was grouped with them. Neat! Just as I was about to look at our final member, I was tackled by a black-grayish blur. I was pinned to the grass, relentlessly being licked all over.
"I just HAD the feeling back there in the tunnel we'd become acquainted! Good to be fighting alongside you, new friend!" The Poochyena continued to lick me against my will.
A loud YOWCH broke my eardrums as the assailant was pulled away by the tail by his Skitty companion. She was biting into it pretty hard…yowch! His whimpering and whining was understandable.
She pulled him a few away, his claws marking a trail on the grass. "Sorry about him…he tends to be too friendly. But hey! I hope we can ace this together! Mrow!"
"Sniffle…That hurt…"
"Will this make you feel better? Myah? :3" She turned to his cheek and gave a quick peck, nuzzling at it. His fur poofed up like he had been charged with static, and his tail, onced curled to his side, was now up in the air and flicking like a loose metronome. His mood shifted in an instant, and so did the color on his face. He tucked his flushed face between his paws.
"S-soup!"
"Same to you…" I replied to Soup. Shelby went to greet the both of them, while I took another look at the hologram. So far it was me, Soup and Teddy, and for this last person…
It was that strange, black furred Furfrou. Eddy, under his picture frame. I looked back towards the exit of the tunnel where I had last spotted him, but he was gone. I looked towards my teammates and they appeared to be looking as well. He was nowhere to my left, nowhere to my right, nor nowhere in the distance! Where could he have possibly gone to…
Rustle. Rustle. Rustle.
It came from behind me. Before I could even turn to look, I felt something round, pointy and squishy poke at my side.
"You must be Alex."
I craned my neck upwards to my left. There he was, the last piece of the fleet. His PokeLink rested on the nook of his long, fluffy right ear. His inky black fur was frizzy and nourished, making me feel a bit conscious about myself…
"Eddy? Heh, looks like we're on the same team. The other guys are over there." I nodded towards the guys, who were now climbing on top of Shelby.
"Right." He nodded.
He sat on his rear next to me. Perhaps he wasn't much of a talker. It didn't appear like anything was bothering him, nor did he really express anything at all. Maybe he's the type to not really talk at the start but then as conversations go, he starts to open up and let loose. I'll figure him out eventually.
The other guys rushed over, beaming enthusiastic smiles on their way. Teddy was about to jump at the Furfrou, but stopped himself mid jump as he felt a slight tug at his rear. Now that Shelby was closer to him, her mouth formed an "o", and walked closer to him, inspecting him all over.
"Say…you wouldn't happen to be related to Sue right? The only other shiny Furfrou on campus, right?" She inched her detective face closer to his, Eddy, slowly backing away in response.
"Myah! You mean the leader of Team Flawless? Oh my gosh I had no idea she had a brother, can you get your sister to call me?" Soup jumped all over, bumping into Shelby and Teddy a couple times.
"I…yes. Sue is my sister. I can probably share you her number after we're done…"
"EEEE!"
Our PokeLink's vibrated again, the holograms disappearing but the robotic voice coming back.
"Contestants, with your group please find a location away from other teams. You'll have two minutes, starting now to do so and start your preparations. Remember, for this first game you must collect at least 10 berries of any kind. Your collection will be tracked with your PokeLink. Once you reach the minimum, you must keep them safe in the basket you are about to receive. You may eat the berries, but not until the very end when the clock runs out. As of now, you may not use your element to attack others. Only as a utility. Again, please find a location away from other teams, and glory to all of you."
We trekked past trees, bushes, tall weeds, until we finally rested near a pond surrounded by even more trees. As we came to rest, a big shadow eclipsed us. It passed by so fast that we didn't even get to see what species of pokemon it was, but we were able to spot a box being held by a parachute falling our way. It must be the basket the robot voice was speaking about.
And sure it was. Inside the box was none other than the basket, lined with a soft fabric inside. Its straw-like make made it flexible and easy to carry.
We didn't really have a strategy other than just sticking together and doing our best, like Shelby suggested. I guess we were just aiming to do just that, doing our best. Though, even if it didn't seem that necessary this round, I still had to get Shelby to explain to me how this entire "element" thing worked. With the time that remained, perhaps she could explain that to me.
"Hey, Shells?" I called out to her.
Her head snapped in my direction. The grin on her face almost looked devilish. "Hey! Using that name already? Haha! What's up though?" She tilted her head to her side, almost appearing as if it were about to snap off her neck.
"Uh, well I just wanted to know how the entire element thing worked…," at the mention of element, Shelby snapped her fingers and apologetically shook her head.
"I believe I should have explained it to you earlier. Well anyways, it wont be the same since I'm not a dark type nor do I have dark element. Pretty much for my typing, grass, I focus on my surroundings, and breathe in. Sometimes it helps if I'm around a patch of grass and place my hand on it. Once I'm feeling one with nature, I focus that into an attack. It can come out as a ball of energy, or even a sharp blade! It all matters how you manifest!" She tilted her head to the other side, putting two thumbs up.
That made sense for her, but dark is completely different from grass. I don't think the method would be the same for me.
"I see. Do you think you'd have any idea on how a method for a dark type would work?"
"One minute remaining."
She shrugged in response. "Well pretty much like I said, I can't really say much since I'm a grass type. Though…if I took an educated guess, dark type moves are built off negative energy. Perhaps if you think of some bad memories?"
"30 seconds remaining."
That…that didn't sound like a bad idea. But I didn't really have any bad memories, after all I don't have any at ALL other than the minor annoyances when Shelby would pick me up. Oh well…I shouldn't be worrying too hard right now.
"You may now begin."
The stadium erupted into cheer. With us over here, how were they watching?
"Don't day dream Alex! C'mon your team already ran ahead, go catch up boyo!"
The first two minutes weren't eventful, in fact we had yet to find a berry…not looking good, 8 minutes left. Since Shelby had a lot of restrictions, she had the task of carrying the basket. It was a good thing she did because I couldn't imagine us quadruplets trying to carry it. It would slow us down to a turtle's pace. She was more than happy to carry it, labelling herself the "Cat-mobile."
At the 7 minute mark is when things started to pick up.
"Ah! I think I see one! Mya Mya! I've got it!" Soup put her paws and claws to work and started to climb up an aged tree. She climbed and climbed and climbed, until she got on a branch. Lo and behold, right at the end of that branch was a periwinkle shell surrounding a bit of brownness. The Skitty tip-toed on the branch until she reached the berry and nabbed the stem of it with her mouth. She triumphantly shimmied, then turned to the ground below.
"Geronimyah!"
"I've got you Soup!"
No he did not. The Skitty jumped off, and landed on the poor Pooch before he could prepare himself to catch her. PWUOOHHH.
Soup stood up, dusting herself with her hand-like tail, all the while Teddy laid out flat underneath her.
Finally noticing the poor squished pup, she scoffed and moved off him.
"Is this your way of saying I'm FAT? Which I clearly…am NOT! Mrrrrr…" She grumbled, making her way to Shelby to drop the berry in the basket.
His tongue goofily stuck out in his compressed form, eyes swirling. "No…but…I could use a hand…right now."
Shelby dropped the basket and walked over to Teddy who was nearly imprinted into the ground. Just as I was about to walk over as well, I felt a poke to my side. Nudging at my side was the Shiny Furfrou, Eddy, who motioned his head past some bushes.
"I think I spotted some. Uh…follow me."
I was about to ask the other three if it were fine, but Shelby already had an answer ready, simply flashing a thumb while assisting Teddy back in shape. Not thinking twice about it, I followed Eddy's lead.
It was quite the awkward stroll. Eddy made little to no noise, nor did his eyes dart around like mine, instead choosing to look straight ahead. Though the silence was a bit pleasant, I couldn't stand the awkward tension between the both of us. Now to figure what to bring up to start a conversation with this guy. He was kind of hard to read. Maybe chose not to talk unless needed to…to remain unpredictable? That'd be a good strategy, but he was part of our team so he'd no need to be with us. Or…perhaps he was afraid to slip up on accident, afraid he'd make someone uncomfortable? Or…
I should just talk to him instead of thinking of assumptions.
"So, your sister is a member of the guild, huh? Trying to join her team?"
Eddy turned to me, his expression relaxing and appearing relieved, like he waited for me to say something. He faced forward again, and I was worried he was going to ignore me but he opened his mouth.
"Yes…and no. My sister…she's always been an inspiration to me for being the leader of her own team, but I'm not looking to join hers or anyone's."
I nodded, though feeling a bit unsatisfied with his response.
"That sounds sweet. But uh, if you're looking to make your own team, that would mean you'd already have a partner or two, right? I don't suppose they'd allow you to just form a team just by yourself, no?"
His face grimaced for a second. He shook his head, muttering a swear under his breath. He stared at the ground for a bit as we made our way to the berries, but picked his gaze back up to speak. "Unfortunately." He seemed defeated afterwards. "Do you think they can…kick me out?"
"I'm not too aware about how that would work but I don't think they can just do something like that! Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Now I feel bad. I almost made him believe he was going to be disqualified! "Besides! Maybe you'll find someone willing to join you?"
The worry in his face froze for a second, until it shifted to a confident small smile. The first smile I've seen from him!
"Ah, there they are. Uh…I'll go get the rawst berry." Eddy almost whispered, making his way to a peculiar blue berry. Assuming that the other one he had spotted was near this one, I followed his path and broke a bit to the right.
I shuffled around some bushes, accidentally getting myself poked by a few loose branches. My eyes caught on to a round, yellow object. My heart jumped. I made my way closer to it, its appearance being clearer. But as I got closer…my excitement reached bigger heights. There wasn't just one, but THREE of the same orange spotted yellow berries! All under the same branch. Jackpot! Eddy emerged from some bushes, carrying the "rawst berry", as he called it, by its stem in his mouth.
"Oh-, it's a sitrus berry. Wait…there's more?" Eddy rushed over, a new look of enthusiasm adoring his features. "This…this is amazing. Let me carry one, and you carry the other tw-"
"Yes yes! Give me all of it~"
Oh no. It was that familiar, high pitched voice of the Fennekin that was being a flirt. I flinched at the voice, thinking she had found us, but I couldn't find a single orange fennek. What I did spot though was Eddy sticking his fluffy body halfway into a bush. I also spotted three colorful figures, one pup and two felines, marching toward our direction. They stopped midway, also hearing the commotion coming from the other side, quickly mimicking the Furfrou and peering through the bush. Seeing no other option, I did the same.
And it was quite the sight…
"Of c-course, my goddess!" Said a Mankey, offering a plump blue berry with open palms. Following his action were three others. A Riolu, Magby, and Charmeleon. All four of them had a love stricken look on their face, a barely visible pink cloud floating around their head. Their pupils also appeared off, an unnatural pink hue filled into them.
"What…what are they doing?" I asked, turning to my team. Nobody took their eyes off what was happening in front of them, but I received a response from Teddy.
"It looks like she used attract on them. I know because Soup has used it on me before to get me to buy stuff for her…"
"I've never used it on you before, myah?"
…
"Actually she's never used it on me…" Teddy's face flushed heavily.
The four pokemon started taking out all their berries one by one, and placing them in her basket. Farther away, watching with a malicious gaze was that horrible, horrible Houndoom. Two others emerged, a Vigoroth and Togedemaru. They had a berry in each hand, placing them in the basket. I had counted the total, and it came around 17 berries; MORE than enough.
"I'm guessing this 'attract' thing forces the victim to fall in the control of the user? That's kind of shitty…" That was very low. Those poor guys…they probably waited years for this opportunity and now it was being stolen from them. A distaste for that Fennekin and Houndoom was starting to grow within me. Those two were already established as a team, why are they taking the opportunity for others?
My body was trying to push itself forward to confront her for her manipulative methods, but a paw pink tail prevented me. Soup shook her head before whispering.
"Don't. This could end badly for us. It's unfortunate but we'll put at risk our own findings. Besides…you wouldn't want to be under her control right, myah?"
I cringed at the thought. I'd probably have to kill myself after if something like that happened! The Fennekin had already been head over heels with me before, and the last thing I wanted was to give her the satisfaction of doing anything to me. It would be SUPER duper incredulously humiliating for it to happen in front of Shelby and my new friends too…
"Yeah…we should worry about ourselves first. We still need about, what, five more?" I counted off the berries me and Eddy found, along with the one Soup found, and indeed we had five in total.
"Good! I really thought we were doomed for the first few minutes! Alright pals, let's find some more!" Teddy enthusiastically cheered, being the first to move out of the bush, everyone else following along.
I'll remember this, Fennekin.
My blood boiled as I took one last look at the public display of manipulation. The Houndoom that was previously just sitting and watching was now holding on to the Riolu by the scruff with his sharp, honed teeth, nearly piercing through skin. With velocity he raised his snout and swung it down, slamming the Riolu into the grass with a loud thud.
Something briefly flashed in my eyes, a dark hazy shadow that I only grasped for a few seconds before it disappeared. I could care less whatever it was, all I wanted was payback for those guys.
By the end we had found 10 berries, 13 with the ones we found on our way back to the exit of the tunnel we came out of. Once we arrived, there was a crowd of pokemon, most likely those who had already met the quota. I was quick to spot the Houndoom, along with that freak Fennekin. I had so much in mind that I wanted to lay on those two. But before my feet could set path to them, Lizardon's voice came through the speaker of our PokeLink's.
"And that's that, my friends! Give it up for our first round victors!"
Inside the arena, the crowd erupted as a buzzer went off, signalling the end of the first round. There must be a way they're watching…probably on that big screen Lizardon and those other two were on. But where were the cameras? I had yet to see any camera or recording device that could stream the event into the stadium. Lizardon's voice interrupted my thoughts as he talked through the speaker again.
"So! There were a hundred of you, and with this round…eighty remain! Give it up once again for the winners of the first round! Take five to refresh y'all!"
There was a collective cheer amongst the winners, my team doing the same. Soup and Teddy broke into a game of chasing after each other's tail and tackling each other, Eddy just nodded triumphantly. Unfortunately for me, a big green cat was making her way towards me, arms wide open. Oh just dig my grave already…
"Alex! Can you believe it," ughhhh…she picked me up and raised me high in the air, spinning around and around and around and around and around and aroouuund. "You're one step closer to being a part of the Ravioli's! Woot woot!"
My vision was spinning, and I was seeing multiple Shelbys. Oh god…if one wasn't enough.
"Ye-ye-yeah-? J-just put me down, I'm getting d-dizzy!"
"Oh! Sorry Alex! I'm just SO psyched to have you on my team!" She swung an arm outwards, lifting a single thumb and winking. "You'll be tootin' it up with us in no time!"
I was struggling to stabilize myself after being spun around like a toy doll. Soup and Teddy came over to my sides to help keep me steady, while Shelby sparked up a conversation with Eddy asking about his sister.
As everyone was still cheering their victory, a pack of other pokemon were making their way through all the victors and towards the tunnel. A few of them look pretty beat up…a couple of them sporting some nasty marks and scratches. The most noticeable of that group though, were the poor guys that had been put under the move attract by that Fennekin. The Mankey was trying his best to console his battered Riolu teammate who was past inconsolable, his sobs so loud that they drew the attention from the winners. The other two, the Charmeleon and Magby, were about the same. The same defeated look, same amount of tears.
The group of Pokémon disappeared into the tunnel, leaving nothing but a trail of tears and disappointment.
"Haha! Better luck next time rookies! NOT! Guess I can't say you're rookies since you guys didn't make it!" Diablo snickered, a puff of black smoke escaping from his nostrils.
That was it. If what happened earlier didn't make me hate him enough, this would be the final straw. I was going to confront him. Something had to be said about his and that Fennekin's actions.
Luckily Shelby was still in conversation with Eddy, she wouldn't be stopping me. I turned a few heads as I marched my way to the Houndoom. I didn't care enough to look back at any of them, my sights were fixed right on Diablo. He soon also turned to see what the commotion was about, grinning quite devilishly at my approach. It was right at the moment he started to approach me as well when I heard my name being called out.
"Ah! Changed your mind, perhaps? Ready to join some winners?"
"I don't want to join a pack of assholes. What was that about back there? Not only did you manipulate those guys but you felt like it wasn't enough so you had to beat them up? Did you not hear? No attacks!"
Diablo's face slightly scrunched at my outburst, but quickly returned to chuckling. "Heh-hah! I knew I picked up a familiar scent earlier! And you've got it all wrong! They didn't say you couldn't attack…just couldn't use any attacks involving elements…" he slowly wobbled his head side to side, showing off those razor sharp teeth.
Well he'd be right about that…unfortunately. But the both of them were already on a team. How miserable could they be to use such methods on a bunch of guys looking for an opportunity?
"What's going on Alex?" I heard from behind me.
"Well, that still doesn't excuse that skank ass Fennekin's behavior." I barked, a little bit louder so I could receive her attention.
"I have a name you know? There's no need to refer to me as my species sweetie~," she strutted past Diablo and invaded my personal bubble but I took a few steps back. She had that look on her face again, nearly making me regret growing the balls to even come up to these guys. Something about her eyes seemed off as well. They had started to glow with a dim, pink hue but it quickly disappeared. Catching on pretty quick, I shuffled backwards, my sights never leaving the Fennekin. I eventually bumped into someone, that someone putting a paw to my back.
"What did she do Alex?" Asked what sounded like Shelby, her paw massaging down my back in an attempt to soothe me.
"She tried to hit me with attract!"
"Oh, silly fox~, I was only testing your reflexes! Besides, I wont be needing to use that once I've got you all for myself…I'll make you feel like you've never been touched before~"
I shivered and cringed. "I would never want to be touched by you, not even a ten foot pole…"
Her expression faltered for a second, looking as if she had been hit by a wave of thunderbolts, but she picked back up on her antics. "P-playing hard to get, I see dear. But don't you worry, I know under all that all bravo you just want to feel my warmth, inside and out~. You wouldn't have been staring so hard the first time our eyes laid upon each other if it weren't love at first sight!"
Yeesh…hard headed and dumb. What a horrible combo.
"Just take a hint Edith…he doesn't want you." Shelby finally spoke up, earning the Fennekin's attention. Her expression turned pretty fast, from bedroom eyes to a "I wanna beat this bitch up", type of look.
Before the Fennekin could start her approach, our PokeLink devices rumbled.
"Alright everybody, who's ready for the semi-finals?" From Lizardon's voice, the entire stadium erupted, loud enough to be heard from outside where we all stood. "In this round, you'll REALLY be put to the test! Or at least, four of you. Again, I'd love to explain this myself but tsk tsk…they already had a speech pre-recorded for this. I'll see you guys in the finals!"
…
"Welcome to the semifinals. You were previously tested on your ability to collect items and preserve them from damage. For this semifinal, a select group of teams will be given a device that will be worn around the selected individual's body. These are targets. Those who receive a target must avoid the target being hit. If you are hit more than eight times, you are out. Everyone else will work individually, and must strike a target at least three times to qualify. Attackers may use element or any other methods to strike a target, but excessive force will result in a loss of points or disqualification. Now, for the chosen teams…"
Suspense filled the air. From how it sounds, I'm pretty nobody would want to be the target, that would be absolutely TERRI-
"WOO! That's us! Flipping yeah people! Ooms-ooms-ooms-ooms~," Teddy cheered, shuffling his paws in place, kicking up some dirt in the process. "Huh? C'mon why aren't you celebrating with me Soup? Oh yeah! Finals here we-"
Smack
"Did you not hear a single thing! We're the targets! Mrrrr…"
"Oh…"
Well…damn. Shit. On the projected image from the PokeLink…it was me and my team, and another team that consisted of a Glameow, a bipedal red Lycanroc, Gabite, and a Luxio.
Suddenly I felt a warm presence towering above me.
"Perhaps you should have accepted my invitation…kekeke…" His hot breath crept onto my forehead. "You'll be lucky enough if I don't get to you first~"
Before I had the chance to look up at him, I was pulled away by Shelby.
"You will have two minutes to prepare. Targets, please group up once more and separate yourselves from the attackers. Good luck."
I may have dug my own grave here…
We all grouped deeper into the greens.
All of us were given this big red hexagonal target. They forgot to tell us that they would not be able to be removed until the round was over…I accidentally placed mine on my mane. It also appeared like a dog tag like that…
There hadn't been much of an exchange of words between us and the other group other than the usual greeting. I wasn't really satisfied with that, so with the time we had left I'd make sure we were all on the same page.
"Guys, perhaps we should be more cooperative with the other guys, no?" I broke the silence between us, fetching my team's attention. Both Teddy and Soup had uncertain looks on their faces, while Eddy remained the same unreadable Furfrou. Shelby fiddled around with her yo-yo.
No response from anyone. I guess we were all equally bummed out over our role this round. Still though, at the very least they could show some type of determination to win. After all, if we lose now we're toast! Not to mention that this is a requirement for me…not only would I be toast, the law would be up my ass…
Fortunately for us, the aforementioned team appeared in my peripheral vision coming towards us. At least they appeared to be in high spirits, in contrast to the pokemon that surrounded me at the moment. The Glameow at the front of the group walked with a bounce in its step, the tip of its curled, springy tail waving over as if it were saying hello. There were these orange, green, red and blue colored loops from the start to the end of its tail.
"How y'all doin'?" The Glameow opened with a surprisingly thick, feminine accent. "Y'all seem like an interestin' bunch! Name's Jessie." She winked.
Next was the Luxio. Unlike in his photograph, he had green goggles with a red, transparent tint on the glass that rested atop his head. He had a pretty intimidating face, but welcoming smile. Nonetheless, he nodded before speaking.
"Radio. Pleasure to meet you all."
It was the Charmeleon's turn to introduce himself. "Randy! Let's hope all goes well!" He said in a scratchy voice.
We all turned to look at the last member of their group, who was leaning against a tree. The red Lycanroc's head was turned away, staring off into the distance. I guess no introduction for them…
"'Y'all, don't you go payin' him no mind, he's got his mind stuck in the gutters over some teeny tiny ol' mistake, bless his heart. His name's Cane." Jessie chuckled.
"What happened, myah?" Soup myah'd.
The Glameow shook her head. "He made the mistake of enterin' without an invitation from an existing group or coming with a friend!" The Lycanroc was now redder than before, now facing completely away from the rest of us. Eddy appeared to be backing into a bush, attempting to hide himself.
Say…Eddy and the Lycanroc are in the same boat! Maybe later on these two can become friends and form a team…
Now that introductions were out of the way, I needed to ask the real question. As I approached Jessie, I noticed some small leather belts wrapped around her ankles. They did look quite nice on her.
"Hey! I was just curious to know if you guys had any plans? My team was super bummed out when we got picked and…," I looked around me to see if anyone was close enough to hear our conversation. "Between you and me…there's this Houndoom that has a target on my back right now…so my heart is nearly beating out of my chest…"
She chuckled while she nodded. "Shoo, that sounds like a right ol' mess! But don't you go gettin' all riled up, partner, 'cause I reckon we got us a plan... " she gestured her head towards her behind. Her tail went up in the air, and from there she twirled it around.
…okay? That's a nice tail…I guess. Am I missing something? We kind of just engaged in a staring contest, her smile never fading. She was still twirling it around, my confusion remaining. I did notice again those weird colors along her tail though. I originally thought they were just some loops, but now that I was closer to her tail it almost appeared as if they were painted on to her tail.
"So…the plan?"
"You're looking right at it, sugah!"
?
"You may now begin."
I'm so screwed.
We were two minutes in and fortunately we had yet to have an encounter with an attacker. We decided to all stick together…and behind the overconfident Glameow. Jessie wasn't telling what her plan was but she was so confident in her plan that she took the opportunity to lead the way. Even if I really didn't have confidence in her because of how ambiguous she was about her plan, I really didn't have any good ideas.
Schwoop.
"Ah! I'm hit!" A stream of water struck Teddy's side, not strong enough to knock him over but accurate enough to strike once at his target.
"Boom! Oh yeah baby, one point for Croco!" The voice came over from a bush, where a small and blue crocodile jumped out of flipping his arms and legs around in celebration. "Now, one of you stay still, Croco has got to get two more points! WAH!"
The Totodile was launched towards a tree by a powerful headbutt from a charging Furfrou, thumping into it with ferocious velocity. His body bounced off the tree and landed on the grass out cold.
"No! Croco I'll avenge you…take this!" An orange rodent creature jumped out of the top of a tree. It looked like a Pikachu…but was taller, had a piece of fur that looked like hair on its forehead, rounder ears and chubbier arms. It brought its hands close together, a storm of blue energy crackling and buzzing within his grasp. The ball of electricity grew until it was larger than his head, which it hurled downwards…straight towards me at a high speed.
The world slowed as the ball of electricity approached. I was about to jump out of the way, but a feline-like shadow passed overhead.
Oddly enough, the ball of electricity started to deform, its form being stretched like spaghetti into a twirling tail like a black hole. As the tail twirled in the air, the spaghettified ball of electricity circled around the top of the spring-like tail, until it popped into a ball again.
The ball of electricity rested atop the end of Jessie's tail until the wind gave it a little push, causing the ball to spiral down, tracing along her tail until it slotted down at the base of her tail. Her tail retracted and then loosened, causing the ball of electricity to launch upward.
"Right back at cha sugah'," with a quick somersault, she hit the ball of electricity with her tail, sending it right back at the Pawmo. Just before landing, Jessie curled herself so she could tail first, using her tail as a spring to propel herself high in the air.
"Shoot! More comin'! All'a y'all should follow me!" Jessie said as she came down, rushing towards the other direction and narrowly avoiding a strong current of flames.
As we followed the Glameow, I couldn't help but replay that sequence from Jessie in my mind. I'm guessing that was her plan? I had to admit though it was pretty cool…
Catching up to her pace, I turned to face her while jogging. "That was amazing Jessie! What kind of move was that?"
"Yeah! Don't think I've ever seen a Glameow do something like that before, that couldn't have been simply a move!" Shelby added. Everyone else in the pack agreed with their own appraisals.
She chuckled at our amazement, a slight red hue adorning her cheeks. She came to a stop and so did we, catching our breath.
"Ever hear 'bout pokerus, fellas?" Jessie opened, earning a mix of expressions. Some nodded in understanding. Others, like me and Shelby, gave confused looks. What was a pokerus? Can't say I've heard of it. Jessie took quick notice of both of our confused faces, and continued to explain.
"It's pretty much what allows me to do what ah just did," Jessie said, sticking her tail up in the air once again and twirling it. "By swishin' mah tail 'round, ah can soak up any ol' attack, long as it's a projectile comin' straight fer me." She raised a paw and held up a single digit. "I can sho nuff hold up to five at once y'all!"
"Allow me to give you another demonstration," a booming voice interrupted. Suddenly the Luxio from before impressively leapt over the three and went towards the direction we were running from. As he started to jog, his four feet started to spark, very dimly, but as he jogged faster, the sparks under his heels started to pop and flare up.
"Go easy on them Radio!" His Charmeleon teammate cheered.
From afar past some trees, a Machop emerged, its hand glowing red readying an attack. Radio ran even faster, the sparks under his feet now outbursts of electricity that echoed throughout. His speed inclined so much, he was starting to become a bullet! Bushes, leaves, trees shook as he ran, the electricity now fully engulfing his body. After that it was all a flash. Quite literally. A bright light consumed the shadows casted by the trees, and in a blink of the eye, where Radio stood once he stood no more. He moved too quickly for any of us to catch, only leaving behind a sparky yellow zigzag trail. The Machop was also just gone, like he was never there before.
SHZWOOOOOFF
A powerful wind knocked us off our feet.
The agile Luxio stood heaving and huffing, his green goggles placed over his eyes. His fur was completely matted all over, a couple of loose tree branches and sticks stuck in different parts of Radio's body. With a paw he lifted his goggles and placed them back on his forehead.
"WOOOOOOO! THAT'S MY BUDDY!" The Charmeleon from before cheered even louder. He'd be a good cheerleader…
"So…what'd you guys think?" The electric kitty asked.
"You nearly gave us all whiplash over a simple wild charge attack, you dingus!" An angry Lycanroc complained. Cane dusted himself and stood back on two.
"N-no! That was not just a wild charge did you guys not see it! C'mon! You've gotta be kidding!"
Well…the trail of electricity he left behind was pretty cool I guess, but it all kind of just happened too fast. Though…I couldn't help but wonder what happened to that Machop. If Radio really went so quick, then the poor fighting type was either launched or completely disintegrated. Either one couldn't have been pretty…
"Seven minutes remaining."
We, or at least most of us have managed to remain with our targets untouched. I had a pretty close encounter with a Sneasel, the Sneasel's ice spear nearly hitting my target but was melted thanks to Radio's Charmeleon teammate, Carbon, spitting out a quick flame right on the spear. The Sneasel was quickly dealt with by a quick headbutt from Eddy. That Furfrou and his headbutts…
Unfortunately, Teddy had been struck right on his target again by a stray leaf after a Chikorita launched a blizzard of leaves. The attack was so poorly executed that it missed her main target, but somehow still hit the Poochyena.
By now everyone, sans Shelby, had used an attack to defend themselves. Soup launching a set of stars to deflect attacks, Carbon incinerating all of his opponents, Cane with some powerful fissures that spiked attackers with a large stone coming out of the ground…
Everyone has used an attack…but me. No matter what I tried, I couldn't even get a squirt of my element to come out.
"Hnnnngghh…" I struggled, shutting my eyes and squeezing my body, to see if it would work like this. That also did nothing but earn me some weird looks.
"Dude, if you need to take a shit at least go behind a bush or something! Have some decency…" Radio covered his nose and shooed me away.
"N-no….I don't need to shit, it's just…" would it be too late to tell everyone now? I already feel like I'm weighing us down by basically doing nothing but cardio and zero effort this entire time. Would they get upset if I told them? Suddenly all the attention was on me, making me feel even more anxious. Oh boy…
Pat. There was that paw that I was familiar with, tapping on my back. Who else other than Shelby here to save me again. "Please be patient with him, he doesn't really have control over his attacks yet…"
Understanding oo's and oh's circled around the group. Teddy and Soup came up to me and nuzzled my sides, nearly crushing my skull.
"Oh buddy, why didn't you say anything earlier? We would have gladly stayed by your side all the time!" Teddy offered.
"Yeah! Ooh, wouldn't it be just adorable to build a defense around you? Let's name it the itsy-bitsy Cat Defense Force, or CDF for short!"
"Uh, I think you mean Dog, Defence Force? There's two dogs here…"
"Nyah-uh! It's Cat, Defence Force because cats rule and dogs drool!" Soup retaliated.
"Well, actually it's the other way ar-"
"YOU'RE CRUSHING ME!" I finally snapped, feeling my skull about to turn into putty with these two bickering at each other. My bones relaxed as the feline and puppy separated. Sheesh…now I have a headache. The two gave apologetic looks, though the bickering continued between them.
At least that was off my chest. Nobody seemed to be upset, and that's all that mattered right now.
I wonder how the other teams are matching up right now. I'm lucky enough to have had such strong teammates this round, most especially Jessie and Radio. Their attacks, or…as Jessie called it, "pokerus", was definitely something I'd have to find out more about later.
Interrupting my thoughts was the buzz of my PokeLink and that robotic voice.
"Attention, all members of Team Two have been eliminated."
What…
Everyone else was just as shocked. All eight of them…in just three minutes? Maybe half of them was understandable, but all of them was just unreal.
"I think we better start moving again…we can't just stay in one place." There we no words between all of us but we all mentally agreed with Carbon. We were about to go on the move, but unfortunately we found ourselves cornered. All around us an attacker emerged from the bushes looking ready to jump at us. I nervously backed away, only to bump into my other teammates who were doing the same.
"What do we do now?" I whispered to the Glameow next to me, who did not seem as tense as myself and others. Jessie remained calm and collected, with a big smirk on her face. This was definitely not her first rodeo.
"Ah'm tellin' y'all, ah was dead set against this, but now it's prob'ly our onliest choice, so on the count a three…
"one."
"two.."
…
"SCRAM!"
And so I did what we were told, run in a random direction.
Unfortunately…this meant I would have to fend for myself…
I don't know how far I ran but I was sure I was far from where we were cornered.
I took the opportunity to settle down under a tree and catch a breather. I knew this was going to be a challenge but, not THIS stressful. I probably aged like 20 years with the amount of stress I've been facing so far in this world…
Gwwoooorrrp…
My stomach emerged from its hibernation with a serious attitude and demanded I eat something. I was in the middle of a tournament.
To my luck, there was an oran berry hanging off a loose tree branch. It wouldn't fill the tank but it would be enough to shut the noise my tummy was making. The ripe smell of the sweet oran berry filled my nostrils as I neared it, almost salivating at the mouth just imagining biting down on that round, blue deli-
Scrunch
The berry was squeezed right before my eyes, its juices all over my face. Before it was ruined there was a pink glowing hue surrounding the berry. With a paw I wiped away some of the juice that splashed on my face, and when I opened my eyes…I was met with a nightmare situation. Just a few feet away from me…with that desperate look and those twinkling eyes of hers stood no other than-
" You thought slipping away from me would be that simple, darling boyfriend? Think again, my love." Edith slurred.
Boy…friend?
"I'm not your boyfriend! What do you want?"
She giggled at my response, hiding her mouth behind a paw. Her cheeks burned red. "I just want to look at you," she started to advance towards me, narrowly avoiding me and brushing her side to mine as she rubbed past me. "Swooning over an adorable face shouldn't be a crime, should it?"
"Well, personal space shouldn't be a crime either…"
"Teehee! You're funny…"
She stayed circling around me. I kept my eyes on her, but I soon found it to be a mistake as I just fell to the ground dizzy.
"Don't lose yourself looking into my eyes~," I could feel her minty breath as she stood right above me . "My offer is still up by the way, you can still forget about this come get all this in my room~" Edith said twirling in place.
"You really think I'd want to go anywhere with you after what you did to those poor guys?" She must think I'm running on desperation fuel to give her offer a chance. "Not only that, but you also blew my lunch all over my face! How am I going to get this off my fur before it gets sticky?"
I shouldn't have said that last bit. Unexpectedly, Edith stuck out her surprisingly long tongue and started licking off the juicy substance off my fur. I cringed and inched away from her. She once again giggled at my reaction. I watched as she circled her tongue around her lips, which were now stained with the color of the berry. She circled her tongue around her lips for another round, but her lips remained stained blue.
I couldn't help but chuckle at her. Blue was NOT her color.
"What's so funny?"
I continued to chuckle and stared right at her lips.
"H-hey! Don't be like that! Tel meeeeeee…" there was a sudden look of desperation on her face, one that almost made me feel bad for her. Should I even tell her? After all, she has been pretty weird to me since we've met.
Her cheeks grew red and she frowned. "S-stop laughing! Or I'll toast you!" She said as a small ember spat out of her mouth that quickly evaporated right before it could touch me. From the heat the ember gave off I could tell it wasn't used at its full potential, but it was still hot enough to make me jump back.
"O-okay okay! Your lips are looking a little…pfftt…blue…" I wasn't going to, given her threat to incinerate me, but I just couldn't help but laugh at the look on her face plus her dyed lips. Her entire face was now red, and she looked more annoyed than before. I was laughing so hard I thought I'd spontaneously combust, thrashing about like a fish out of water, while she looked like she was about to blow her top off!
"Wheeze…Gosh you should see how mad you look right now! You can toast me all day, but it won't warm up those icy smoochers of yours!"
I could tell from the face she made she was about to yell my ear off…or reduce me into ashes, but surprisingly she stopped herself to…laugh? The Fennekin raised a paw to point at me, using the other to hide her snickering. "Looks like my 'icy smoochers' branded you~, don't thank me just yet honey, I've got plenty more to heat things up~"
Out of the blue, she started to approach me with her blue-tinted lips pursed. Obviously there was no way I was going to let this unrestrained fox demon even lay a finger on me, so quickly thinking I pawed off some of the juice off my mane and flung it right at her eyes, inciting a yelp from the vixen. Without skipping a beat, I turned heel and made my escape.
I eventually came across a Poochyena, who was stuck halfway into a bush headfirst. Assuming with the downed Dewpider and Fletchling that were sprawled out across the ground, Teddy had most likely gotten into it with those two. I softly bit down on his tail and…pull…pull… pull.
Pop!
"Ah! Thank you kind sir!" Teddy shook his fur and rubbed his eyes, turning to face his savior. "Oh hey! It's you Alex! It was crazy I tell you, I was being chased by those crazy two then BAM I was struck once with water and then tackled to the ground by that Fletchling. Aw man I thought I was a goner and then-woah woah woah woah, what happened to you buddy~?" Teddy wiggled his eyebrows, his eyes lazered right on my lip stained mane.
"Uhhh that's not important-"
Sniff Sniff.
"Hah Hah! You son of a gun, don't tell me you were getting frisky with that Fennekin, aye buddy?"
"It's not like that!"
He raised a paw and scribbled around my mane. "Then how do you explain all this? You know lips don't lie Alex boy!" Teddy nudged me with his head, teasing me by playing with his paws and making them kiss, with sound effects and all. I could feel the heat on my face rise.
"Alright enough! Why don't you tell me if you've managed to find anyone else?"
"Alright alright, sorry! Heh heh. But no, it's just us two paisanos! Oh and I may have had my target hit two more times…"
"Are you serious? That's three in total, you do know two more and you're out right?" I really had good luck so far. Teddy has had it rough so far and the only problem I had come across was a thirsty Fennekin who had no interest in attacking me. Teddy and his Skitty buddy wanted to make a defense around me, but it's looking like he might need that defense more than me at the moment.
The both of us jumped and turned at the sound of footsteps. Teddy jumped into a defense, a dark, shadowy ball forming at the escape of his snout. I jumped into defense…but without knowing how to use any attacks I sure I just looked like a lost puppy. Fortunately for us, it was just a black Furfrou, Eddy. Coming along with him was a red Lycanroc. Cane looked just as battered as Teddy, his fur going in random directions.
It was now the four of us making our way throughout the forest. I would be enjoying our silence and taking in the beautiful environment if it weren't for the circumstances I was in. We could be jumped at any moment. Even with the four of us we could still be outnumbered in the matter of seconds. At the very least, there was less minutes remaining on the clock, roughly five minutes remaining.
That at least made me feel a little bit at peace. A little bit of peace when yo- SPLAFF
The wind was knocked out immediately. My body was power washed in an instant by a strong current of water that swallowed me and sent me crashing right into a bush. Without a doubt my target was most likely hit by that. I heard my name being called out by my peers, but I was too winded to even whimper out a response. I could hear them starting to battle it out. I remained frozen on the ground until I could feel my lungs start to gasp as I slowly got up.
But just before I could, I was smacked right on my target by a speeding force, sending me right back into the opening where the others were fighting. That would make it two hits on me. I stared right up at the Ratata that was staring me right back down, a look of displeasure on their face.
"S-sorry uh, guy! I just needed one more to reach the minimum! ByeByeGoodluckToYou!" The Ratata said in a hurry. In a blink she was gone.
"Y-yeah…whatever, you're welcome you rat…" Poison nearly spilled from my teeth. Could she have not waited until I recovered at least…
Cane was busy with a Wartortle, while Teddy and Eddy handled a Beheeyem who looked like it was quickly regretting ever crossing paths with the two.
Cane grunted as he slammed his fist on the ground, causing sizeable rocks to sprout from the ground that got larger as they approached the Wartortle. The water type was quick to react and turned away, his glowing shell taking the hit as the stone only managed to knock the water type a tad bit. Back with the Poochyena and Furfrou duo, the Beheeyem stood frozen in fear with his arms in a desperate attempt waving out in defense, but it was not enough to stop Teddy's glowing dark fangs and Eddy's strong forehead from eliminating the psychic type.
Despite being the only that was hit, twice, I found myself just watching my peers battle it out for me once more. It made me think, should I really be as stressed as I have been so far? After all, I was basically just being carried by my awesome team.
"I've been hit by stronger fire types! Was that all you had?" The Wartortle taunted, readying a water blade on his right hand and charging at Cane, who himself had a pointy, long rock ready. They ran at each other, the Wartortle's blade being raised in the air while Cane swung his makeshift weapon in an uppercut, that successfully hit its mark on the Wartortle's chin. It was the butt of the stone that hit the chin, so no blood was drawn. The water type was knocked into the air, but it was not over for him.
"Shut up!" Cane angrily answered.
Recollecting his consciousness, the turtoise tucked into his shell and from the hole that his head fit in, fired a quick and steamy blast of water that sent him crashing down shell first like a meteor.
"Unexpected turtles raining from the sky!" Cane did not react fast enough to avoid the water type. The Wartortle's shell came crashing down on Cane at alarming speeds, instantly burying him into his own crater. The Wartortle jumped out of his shell and looked down at his opponent, a whirling pool of water preparing in his hand.
"Thanks for making this easy for me bub!" Just as he was going to throw his attack-
WOOOOOOOF
He was launched by one of the loudest barks I had heard yet. It was so loud that the shockwaves were visible. Needless to say the Wartortle was gone, launched who knows where.
Eddy stood exhausted, drained from his booming attack.
"So you DO know how to use other attacks other than your voice…" I teased.
"One Minute remaining."
The four of us eventually found the others, who were also in similar battered condition, save for me and Shelby. Nobody looked happy, most especially Soup whose fur was poofed, almost making the Skitty look like a ball of cotton. She had a glare fixed on a very ashamed Luxio that had his gaze fixed on the ground.
"Mrrrrr…either you pay for my salon visit, or I'll make you lick me all over until it all goes down…"
"N-not a problem! I-I-I-I can pay for it, promise!"
"Mouuuw…hopefully Teddy doesn't see me like this…"
Unfortunately for her, Teddy had already spotted her from a mile away. He jogged his way over to her, smiling brightly.
"Soup!"
Upon hearing her name from her buddy, she jumped into panic and started frantically looking around, trying to find something to hide herself. She took to long, the Poochyena was already up in the air with his objective on lock. He crashed into her and rolled into the ground, holding on to her tightly. His rampant licks came soon after, though with the Skitty's poofed fur it made his throat gag. Soup stood very still, as if it would lead to Teddy believing she were a statue.
"PUAF, Aw man, am I glad to see you! Hot diggity dog what happened to your fur?"
"I…accidentally charged up while she was near me…" Radio confirmed. He bowed his head apologetically towards the pair.
"I'm sorry you had to see me like this Teddy…" Soup curled her tail around herself, hiding most of her face behind her tail. Teddy, unaware of her shame, chuckled and teased his friend.
"You look like one of those 'pomeranian' breeds I read about in one of those history books about humans! Haha!"
Shelby muffled a laugh. This seemed to anger the Skitty, her face reddening. Swiftly she stood up and as she turned around to walk away, her tail SMACKED him right across the cheek. It wasn't hard enough to leave a mark behind, but it was enough to get the message across Teddy's cerebrum.
"Ugh…men. Mya-mya-mya!"
Soon, the buzzer that indicated the end of the round interrupted our conversations.
"That's it for the semi final!" Lizardon's voice broke through the speaker of the PokeLink. "All twenty of you that remain, make your way back to the arena, would you?"
The arena was booming with cheers as we exited the tunnel and entered the arena. It was quite overwhelming to say the least. Me and Shelby made our way towards the seating area where our Team Ravioli buddies were sitting. Andy was completely fangirling, completely in support as he chanted my name. The Buneary next to him glared at the Pikachu with crossed arms, but still managed to throw out a thumbs up when she spotted me.
"Finally I wont have to be the only man in the team," Andy cheered, rather a bit too loud for the people next to him that equally glared down at him as much as Audi.
A ping brought our attention up to the screen high on top. On the screen sat once again Lizardon in the middle, and two VERY rough looking individuals sitting to his sides.
"Hello again! As you can see, Nova and Christie have come back! Care to explain why you two look so banged up?" Lizardon gave his coworkers and former teammates a very subtle look, just barely giving them an eye.
"H-hah you see-"
"We were just having a nice sparring match, that's all! In spirit for this event! Haha!" Christie interrupted the Lucario.
"How inspiring! Maybe we can see some of that action someday? I can only imagine how intense and frantic that was, right Nova?" The big red lizard punched an elbow at the blue jackal that was slowly turning red.
"Y-yeah! You bet…"
I once again felt a soft paw on my back. I turned to look at Shelby who began walking towards the wall.
"Hey, where are you going?" I asked curiously. Extending out her yo-yo and holding it by the string, she swung it upwards until latched on to the top of the wall. She started her climb upwards, stopping midway to look back at me.
"This is the most I'm allowed to go with you, Alex! I know I wasn't much help but hey! If you've made it this far surely you can handle what comes next, I believe in you!" With impressive strength, she pulled on the string and launched herself right up, doing a quick maneuver at the peak of her jump and landing on all fours on the backrest of a seat.
"Anyways! Back to our amazing little helpers. Those were some amazing rounds! Here are some highlights to recap the day!" From a box up above a beam projected a three dimensional animated image of Jessie. It was a replay of her when she did that little trick with her tail and took the Pawmo's ball of electricity and turned it on him. The crowd applauded accordingly.
Next to be shown was a Fennekin, who was IMMEDIATELY booed. Edith just rolled her eyes and blew air into her paw, massaging her face with it. In the projected hologram her eyes glowed pink, and she quickly took control of those four unfortunate guys.
"Hm…I wonder who they're booing!" Edith dismissively chuckled.
The highlights went on for a few minutes. About everyone who remained had their own highlights. I of course wasn't expecting anything of me to pop up. Even if there were to be any highlights, it'd probably just be me running and running. Finally, the presentation came to an end and another round of cheers.
"And finallyyyyy…to conclude an amazing event, we wanted to introduce something that hasn't been done before in this guild's history." Lizardon extended a claw and pressed on a button on the table. Once again, the arena started to rumble, but this time on the ground we stood. The dirt on the ground almost appeared to shift, a vague large rectangular shape taking form in the middle of the arena. Inside the rectangular, splitting the middle was a straight line.
"Hey y'all, I reckon this might be volleyball! Alright! I used to play this a whole lot back in my younger days! Y'all best watch out, I was plumb good at it!" Jessie pumped herself up, tapping her paws on the ground.
"Before I reveal what you guys will be doing this final round, how about I reveal your matchups first? You'll be working one hundred percent alone here, so every friend you've made along the way, put them to the side ya hear? Haha!"
The scene on the screen transitioned from Lizardon and friends to a chart that displayed a random portrait next to another random portrait. There were at least twenty of them.
I spotted some of my new friends on there. Soup would be going against a Pawmo and Teddy against a Stunky…
And then I came across my name…
And the one I was matched with.
"Well isn't this just jolly?"
A puff of smoke filled my vision.
Aw shit.
So many line breaks, aye?
I knew I was going to take a long time on this one but a whole month was unprecedented lol. This chapter is roughly 11k words, a new high for me! Aweasomesauce!
Reviews are always appreciated :).
Bye Bye !
