Total Pokemon Elemental Chapter 2 - Dive into the Game, a Pokémon + Total Drama series Crossover fanfic

Episode 2: Dive into the Game

Down by the beach, the sun just began to rise over the horizon. The orange sky shone down onto Normilne Island, illuminating the new day.

Standing at the edge of the beach, staring on at the sunrise, was Golduck, a warm smile on her face as she took in the morning atmosphere.

"Back home, I usually get up early before a big event to watch the sunrise," Golduck started. The duck was currently doing push-ups, the tent providing ample space to begin her daily workout. "It's my way of psyching myself up for a big game, or mentally preparing for a lousy test, or…I don't know, needing to go to a museum or something," she further explained inbetween pushes, before jumping to her feet with a gasp, flashing a smirk, "get your head in the game, y'know? Make sure you're ready for anything!"

Laughing, she tapped her chin in thought, "Usually I'd bring a teammate or two along back home; make it into a sort of bonding thing. Make sure we got that synergy going. But I'm not really sure who on my team would be up for that yet, especially cause…Well, no offense to those guys and all, but they don't exactly look like the "sporty" type."

Narrowing her eyes in determination, she punched her open palm and exclaimed, "Today's going to be a real exercise in extreme team bonding," shining a grin, she flicked back her hand to point at herself, "and I think I'm up to the task to get my team ready for some action! Hooah!"

After the sunrise ended, Golduck began to jog back through the woods, pacing herself so as to not tire herself out. And right now, she was feeling great; really honing in on her core. In fact, she was so in the zone, she didn't realize until it was too late that she was about to crash into someone.

Smashing into this unexpected force, both parties were thrown back with a thud. Hitting the ground, she groaned, rubbing her head and sitting back up, "Ugh…Sorry 'bout that! Wasn't really paying attention-"

Mid-apology though, she caught her tongue upon noticing just who she had crashed into; Lycanroc, the mutt grumbling as he brushed himself off, "It's fine," he stated flatly.

Golduck flinched at his tone, mumbling, "Doesn't sound like it…" As soon as he turned to leave though, she jumped into action, racing forward and lurching just in front of the guy, "Actually, really thinking about it, it's a good thing I ran into you-" She paused, seeing the deadpan look on the rock type's face at her rather…Informal phrasing, "I mean…I wanted to talk to you!"

"About?" He replied with uncertainty.

"Our team of course!" Pacing in place as she followed after the slow walking dog, she explained, "Listen, our first challenge is happening in a matter of hours! And in case it ain't obvious, this team's gotta be an absolute unit if we want any chance of winning, especially with who the other team's got. We gotta all be on the same wavelength, capeesh?"

"Uh huh," the mutt nodded along apathetically, only really half paying attention-

Until she jumped back in front of him, forcing him to a stop once more as he threw on a glare. The duck forced a smile and further explained, "So…I was hoping to maybe get some advice. You know…On how to make that happen."

Lycanroc just blinked at her, having backed up a slight bit in confusion. "Uh…Okay? But why're you asking me about this?"

"Because I trust you," she exclaimed, and somehow, this alone caused Lycanroc to flinch back in confusion, especially as she suddenly threw an arm around his neck and pulled him close with a laugh; he had only just noticed how strong she actually was, as her grip quickly began to suffocate him, "In case you forgot, dunderhead, you helped me out yesterday; not everyone here would have done that. Says a lot about your character."

She laughed again, though upon noticing he wasn't laughing along, she finally noticed her grip and loosened it, allowing the dog to finally breathe as he collapsed onto the ground. She sheepishly forced a smile, "Oops…Sorry! But uh…Yeah!" She offered a hand to the fallen canine, "What do you say?"

Caught between so many conflicting thoughts, namely between the pain in his neck and the frustrations of socialization, Lycanroc eyed the hand warily…Before sighing, reluctantly taking it and getting pulled to his feet, "Look, how about I get back to you on that…Later," he nervously answered, starting off once more, "I'm…Uh- gonna go eat first. So…Seeya!"

And without even bothering to wait for a response, he took off into a sprint, leaving the athlete behind to muddle in confusion by her lonesome. Perking up a brow, she awkwardly waved him off, "Uh…Yeah, seeya?" She muttered to herself, before eventually shrugging and going back to her jog.

Lycanroc was sitting in disbelief, his expression utterly blank as he looked over his paws with wide eyes. After a moment of contemplation, he let out a groan and slumped, gripping onto his head as he whispered, "She…Trusts me? She barely even knows me!"

"I mean…Sure I did her a favor, or whatever, but that doesn't mean anything; it would have gotten done either way!" Lifting his head to meet the camera's unyielding stare, he asked, "How could anyone just be so…Open like that, let alone come to me for my opinion on a bunch of guys I don't even know!"

After a moment, his eyes went wide again, and just like that, he went quiet, just lingering where he was sitting in conflict.

Back in the male's cabin, most of the guys had left, either to get breakfast or to be anywhere else. Although a few had lingered; Druddigon was in the middle of the cabin doing crunches as a warmup, something Pancham was mimicking, trying to prove he could keep up with the dragon. All the while, Dewott was on his bed, watching the scene play out, though his eyes had begun to wander to…Specific highlights.

"Oh…My…Arceus!" Pancham gasped out as he gave up and fell to the floor. The workout was too much for him.

Druddigon somehow managed to laugh in between his crunches, "I gotta admit, you put up a better fight than I thought you would." However, such flattery was swiftly cut off by a smirk, "But there was no chance you were beating this," he boasted, flexing his arms with gusto.

Pancham just groaned. "Screw off! What you're doing is way more intense than my own work outs."

Dewott looked over at the panda in response. "You work out?"

"Oh course I do!" Pancham shouted, getting up, "Look at me!" He proceeded to flex himself; to his credit, he actually was fairly in shape for his species…

Not that Dewott could tell. "I don't see it."

"Might not look like it," Druddigon started, "but the little guy looks like he can pump some iron. Not a lot, but it's something."

Pancham rolled his eyes, "I'm choosing to take that as a compliment. I'm going to the mess hall. Don't wait up." With that, the panda stomped out of the cabin.

This left Dewott little to focus on other than the dragon, still occupied with his exercise routine. He looked on…Watching…Staring…His world quickly getting overtaken by those ripping muscles, tensing up and relaxing with each huff. Each crunch tightened his form, the details of his flawless, marbled body shining through the sweat, as Dewott's face slowly began to light up with a blush, absolutely losing himself into watching…

"Dewott."

The otter leaned forward, resting his face against his hand as a flustered smile slowly formed.

"Dewott? You hearing me?"

The world shook in place and twisted along, his eyes warping and centering all along the candy of his eye. He could barely even tell reality to falsehood in the moment, his mind adrift in thought and pleasure-

"Hey Dewott!"

"Ahh!" Dewott yelped, his form leaning out enough to drop him to the ground, his face crashing against it with a groan. He was suddenly very thankful he had allowed Meowth the top bunk.

Lifting himself off the ground, he tried to push back his blush as he forced a smile, "Uhh- y-yeah! Sorry! What were you saying?"

"I said we should go grab some grub!" Druddigon answered with a dull, unimpressed frown as he stood up, "We ain't winning our first challenge on an empty stomach. And considering…Whatever that was, you need to seriously carbo load!"

"W-Wha- oh, no, I'm fine! Seriously!" Dewott chuckled nervously, scratching behind his ear awkwardly, "Just was…You know…" He looked over the dragon's body again, his blush returning with a vengeance, "...Distracted."

"...Uh huh…Whatever!" Druddigon shrugged, before leaving the cabin. "Well, come on, we're getting some breaky!"

"Y-Yeah, alright! Sounds…Sounds good!" Dewott nodded along, sending the dragon a fingergun in agreement…Before promptly facepalming.

Dewott was trying to take deep breaths as he sat down…Before throwing his head into his hands and groaning, "Why did they put me on a show with someone like that!? Arceus dammit…I need to calm down! Keep your head in the game, Dewott; head in the game!"

He breathed in…Then out…Then his thoughts lingered…And he blushed. Screaming, he stood up in a fit, "Noooooooooooooooooooo-"

Within the hour, much of the cast had assembled in the mess hall, all more or less silently agreeing they needed the breakfast, especially after a rocky first night. Especially since it was either eat and prepare, or be thrown into the coming turmoil without the necessary energy.

At one of the smaller tables, Skiploom broke through the silence with a simple question, "So…Where are you all from?"

The tables in question had Ninetales, Meowth, and Raichu as company; Glimmora was floating nearby, but mostly seemed to be off in her own little world.

"Finally, somebody asked," Ninetales started, showing off a smirk and a hair flip, as she explained, "you see, I'm known as the beauty of Ecruteak City-"

"That's barely an answer," Raichu explained, poking at her food with a fork, "also, we don't know what that means."

Ninetales narrowed a glare, forcing a smile as she said, "It means I'm the gal to go to for fashion, modeling, and more."

"And now I'm just wondering how you managed to both answer, and not answer her question at the exact same time," Raichu deadpanned, Meowth snickering to himself all the while.

Sick of the disrespect, Ninetales huffed out, "I gave her what she wanted and more, you miserable rat! Now spill."

Raichu blinked, "What?"

Skiploom kept her smile but looked just as confused, as Ninetales stared the electric-type down with a glare. Meowth, seeing the tension, just sighed and said, "Just answer the question, Raichu."

Rolling her eyes, Raichu grumbled, "Whatever; I'm from Sunyshore City."

"Oh! I've always wanted to go there!" Skiploom beamed excitedly.

"Eh. It's nothing special," Raichu said dismissively.

"I wouldn't say that," Meowth started, "I'd love to relax on those beaches one of these days…" After a moment of thought, though, he quickly added, "A-And for the record, I'm from Castelia City! So…I guess you could call me an alley cat…Heh heh…"

Meowth was sitting on the stump, giving an expression that resembled gagging.

"An Alley Cat?" Glimmora finally spoke up, looking right at Meowth. "Does that mean you're dirty?"

"Uh…I…No?" Meowth stammered out, trying to understand what he was just asked.

"Oh," Glimmora plainly replied. She then left a moment of silence between the group, before speaking up again, "Do you want to be a dirty-"

"Go away. Now." Meowth deadpanned oddly coldly. Thankfully for him, Glimmora did float away…Only to be floating in place a mere fifteen feet away from the table. Meowth sighed; at least she ended the conversation. Raichu had looked at him with a raised brow but didn't seem to say anything about it.

Skiploom didn't seem phased, continuing as if nothing happened, "I'm from Fuchsia City myself. My family even owns a gardening store there."

"Oh, that sounds nice…Must be fun," Raichu commented, glancing at Meowth for a moment before getting up. "I guess I'll just relax by the fire pit." She started walking out the mess hall, Glimmora following her. Why? No one knew, nor cared to ask.

"Okay, we'll see you at the challenge!" Skiploom beamed as she waved at the leaving duo.

"Okay, call me crazy" Raichu started, sitting as she was thinking, "But I feel like… I've seen Meowth somewhere? I don't know where exactly, but the feeling is there"

She sighed and shook her head, "Maybe I'm just overthinking it. He probably was just annoyed at Glimmora…Can't say I blame him."

"I can see all the colors," Glimmora whistled, floating aimlessly until she crashed into the side of the tent. She continued floating away, tearing the tent off its hinges and carrying it away with her, "weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee."

"My my, what seems to be going on here?" Gothitelle walked over to another table in the mess hall. There, Ribombee was glaring at Aegislash as she ate. Mightyena and Frillish were also seated and trying to eat as well. Gothietelle took her seat.

"W-Well, we were eating here together," Frillish started, clearly nervous, "b-but then, Ribombee j-just came over, took a seat, and st-started glaring at Aegislash…"

The mere mention of her name caused Ribombee's glare to only harden onto Aegislash. The sword Pokemon merely blinked.

Mightyena scoffed at the aggressive bee, asking, "What's your deal, anyway? I'm not dealing with you ruining another meal for me."

"I'm not ruining your meals. I am simply intimidating the competition," Rimbombee replied as she kept her glare squarely on Aegislash.

"Well now, getting ahead of the game already, aren't we?" Gothitelle commented.

"I have to if I want to show my enemies that I'm not to be underestimated," Ribombee stated, pointing at the sword with a cocky smirk, "Hear me, loser! You will tremble in fear after today!"

Aegislash gave her a bored look in response.

Aegislash rolled his eye…Then just stared. After about a minute, he left without saying a word…End the confessional-

"And I've lost my appetite again," Mightyena said, getting up from his seat. "If any of you need me, I'll be anywhere but here…So don't need me." With that, he left the table, Aegislash following not far behind.

Now alone, Frillish anxiously tapped her fin-like hands together as Ribombee turned her glare onto her. "D-Don't you think you-you're being too harsh?"

Ribombee huffed, "I should be harsher on his type. But I think I'll let actions speak for themselves in the challenge." The bee then gave Frillish a harsh look. "And I expect that you don't drag me down with you."

Frillish gulped in a bit of fear. Meanwhile, Gothitelle ate her food as if nothing was going on.

Gothitelle was filing her nails, though she seemed somewhat disinterested in the results. "Ribombee has been on this island for less than a day, and she's proving to be quite the character. She's…Entertaining, to put it nicely. However, what she does is not my issue by any means. She leaves me alone, and I get to watch her madness unfold her hand in this game from afar. Simple exchange really."

Just like the day prior, Dolliv was out resting on the beach, having settled down onto a picnic blanket to enjoy her bowl of slop from the mess hall. Taking in the scenery before her, she breathed in, and was about to eat-

Only for her peace to be interrupted by the sound of an engine.

"Hm? What in the world could that be?" Standing up, she listened up, "...Another boat? No, wait…Two?"

"Ah, right on time!"

Yelping, Dolliv jumped back in surprise, looking over to see Floatzel walking toward her with his usual smile. "Oh…Hello Floatzel."

"Mornin'! Hope you're ready for the first challenge," Floatzel egged on excitedly as he ushered the boats in with a wave of his hand.

"Um…Maybe?" Dolliv replied, uncertainly.

"That…Certainly could have sounded a bit more confident, don't you think?" The host muttered boredly, before shrugging, "Oh well; not like I care too much."

And once assured the boats were on their way, he made his way toward the shore, "Anyway, just sit tight here. The rest of the gang should arrive within a few minutes, then off we go!"

That last part made Dolliv light up slightly, turning her attention toward the sea. "So…We're really heading to another island?"

"Well duh, it's almost like that's the season's gimmick," Floatzel confirmed, his eyes rolling alongside it, "and besides, a first challenge here would be so boring! We got five islands to work with, why not use 'em?" And the answer to said non-question came in the form of the otter's own laughter as the boats encroached onto the sand.

Dolliv, on the other hand, stood uncertain of what was to happen. And yet, the building excitement almost felt overwhelming.

"I'm nervous about what the challenge will have to offer," Dolliv explained softly, mindlessly looking around the tent as a smile formed, "but I cannot lie…This anxiety is almost level with how happy this opportunity has made me! To think, a first-hand experience with these grand wonders…How enticing!"

"Everyone, make your way to the beach! It's time for the first challenge!"

Everyone arrived at the beach over time. Once there, the eighteen of them settled among their teams as instructed by Floatzel.

"Alright, looks like everyone's here!" Floatzel said, rubbing his hands in excitement, "So, who's ready for the first challenge!?" The cast gave a fairly excited response of shouts. "Perfect! Now, get on the boats!"

"Uh, is this part of the challenge?" Dewott asked, confused.

"I doubt it," Raichu answered, "unless the first challenge is driving a boat to another island."

"It's not!" Floatzel replied, "But I am writing that down."

Raichu pinched her forehead, "I wasn't being serious"

Gliscor scoffed, "Enough of this dribble. What is the purpose of these boats-"

"You guys are idiots." Mightyena flatly stated. "We're going to another island. Considering that's…You know, the whole point of this show, remember?"

Floatzel chuckled at the small infighting, "Correct, Mightyena; your challenge will be explained on site. Now get on, we're burning daylight!"

Everyone got themselves on one of the boats and soon they were on their way. It didn't take long for an island to come up on the horizon, and even sooner the boats arrived. As everyone got off the boats, a few noticed something.

"This place smells horrible!" Ninetales gagged out.

The distinct scent of a pungent rotten egg was in the air. It wasn't strong from their current location, but it was certainly there.

"Welcome to Hydroxin Island everyone!" Floatzel announced, "An island that is largely one big floating marshland! Hope you like the smell of manure and sewer canals, because it'll be burned into your memory!"

"I'm already regretting all my life choices," Raichu said flatly, her hand over her nose as she glared at the host.

"Great to know!" Floatzel laughed, before adding, "It's also worth noting that parts of the island's marsh are thicker, densely packed with all sorts of strange, toxic bacteria and creatures, thus the island's association with both the water, and poison typing."

"...Please don't tell me that our first challenge will be us being poisoned," Dewott commented in concern.

"Nah, not this time." Floatzel relied, getting a sigh of relief out of the blue otter. "Today's challenge will be simple; I'll be taking you all to a deeper part of the marsh. From there, your team will have to dive into the water in order to grab a bag- OOF!" Floatzel was cut off by one of the interns throwing a bag- that unfortunately hit Floatzel right in the face.

The larger otter collapsed across the ground, groaning in pain, the cast bellowed in laughter. After a moment, a Sableye ran onto the scene, calling out, "Oh! S-Sorry, boss!"

As the gremlin approached, Floatzel growled to himself, before grabbing onto the ghost-type by the neck as soon as he got close, "Watch where you're throwing things! Next time will cost you your job!"

Sableye gulped, nodding along, "Y-Yes, boss!"

Floatzel growled a bit more, before letting go of the gremlin and clearing his throat, "As I was saying…" He leaned down and picked up the bag that had hit him, looking like a red, drawstring bag. "You will dive for one of these…Only, y'know, it'll be in your team's color. Some of them will be stuffed to the brim with whatever random crap we could get our hands on, while three bags will have puzzle pieces. Once you have all your puzzle pieces, one person on each team must complete the puzzle. First team to have a completed puzzle wins immunity! The losers will have to decide who has the honor of being the first person eliminated!"

As soon as the threat of elimination sank in, the cast's laughter died out into a measured silence, their bodies tensing up as Floatzel smirked at the return of his power.

"No pressure…" Dewott stated, before gulping.

"So, any questions?" Flaotzel asked.

"Yeah, I do," Ninetales replied, "do we all have to dive? Or can we just sit on the sidelines and cheer?"

Floatzel smirked, "Good question; unless you get all your puzzle bags early, all of your team must dive at least once. Whoever you have doing the puzzle is exempt from diving."

Ninetales groaned hearing that, much to Golduck's confusion, throwing up a brow at the complete lack of enthusiasm on the fox's part.

"So, any other questions?" Floatzel asked again. However, no one seemed to give a response. "Good. Now, follow me! I'd suggest grouping up in your teams as you walk!" Floatzel then started walking deeper into the island. The cast had no choice but to follow.

For once, Meowstic wasn't reading a book, rather looking at the camera with an emotionless expression. "Whatever sort of puzzle a manchild like Floatzel could think of will no doubt be child's play in my hands, so that'll be no such issue. What truly matters is the rest of the morons on my team pull their weight and gather those pieces without an issue."

Meowstic scoffed, "Not that I have too much faith in them…"

"I-I have a bad feeling…" Frillish muttered nervously, "But…But I f-feel like this ch-challenge won't be as s-simple as it sounds…Is…Isn't marsh water really m-murky?"

As they walked to the location of the challenge, Golduck had the Gigantic Groudons huddle up the best they could.

"Alright team," Golduck started, "I think this will be a good chance to see what we're capable of as a team!"

"I'm not sure how diving into marsh water will exactly show off all our capabilities," Raichu noted boredly.

"Point is, if we play our cards right, I think we can win this first challenge!" She cheered out.

Ninetales scoffs, "Whatever, I just hope you're all good at diving, because I'm not doing it. I'll be working on the puzzle, thank you~"

"Oh? Potentially uncooperative already?" Gliscor teased, chuckling to himself, "So willing to prove yourself as our weakest link so soon, aren't you~"

"Oh shut it, bat!" Ninetale retorted, "I'm just not getting in swamp water if I don't have to. I mean, hello? That's disgusting!"

"Actually, it's a marsh," Meowstic stated matter of factly, "you can tell since they're swamplands often characterized by low-lying land regularly flooded by high tides."

"Ha! He got you!" Pancham snickered, much to Ninetales's annoyance.

"Whatever."

"Don't be like that, Ninetales," Skiploom reassured, "I'm sure it won't be that bad!"

"Wait…Didn't Floatzel say parts of this island are poisonous? Lyranroc asked.

"And he also said we're not going there, so it's A-okay," came the quick reply from Skiploom.

Aegislash poked Ninetales, getting her attention as he pointed toward Meowstic. "What? Why are you pointing at him?" Ninetales questioned, which got others to notice.

"He's saying that the bookworm should work on the puzzle rather than you," Gliscor pointed out. Meowstic rolled his eyes at the insult, though also couldn't help but smirk at the acknowledgement.

"Credit where it's due," Raichu started, "basically the whole time he's been here he's been nothing but a know-it-all…An annoying one at that. But it's something, I guess."

Golduck nodded, "I agree. Meowstic, you'll be on the puzzle! Sounds good?" The feline nodded in response, confirming his position in the challenge.

Though Ninetales couldn't help but growl under her breath at the alteration, "You've got to be kidding me."

Skiploom, sensing the potential for drama, quickly floated up to the fox, "Don't worry, Ninetales; with how great our team is, we may find all the puzzle pieces before you even have to dive."

The fox continued to growl, though such easing words eventually silenced her, "You better…"

"Alright, great, everything's settled," Golduck smirked, already excited for things to play out.

Pancham laughed, "Man, with the dork on the puzzle, we're gonna win for sure!" Snickering, he nudged the cat, "Though don't go straining your brain with all your words and junk, nerd. Or maybe you should, might just you up when we get back to the cabin as champions!" The panda broke down into a full-blown cackle-

Before Pancham was abruptly cut off by being psychically thrown into the nearby marsh, his short-lived scream silenced by the thick body of water and moss. He resurfaced moments later, gasping for air, before coughing up some gunk he had swallowed upon impact.

Some like Ninetales and Gliscor laughed seeing the humiliation on display, while Lycanroc turned to Meowstic, "Was that-"

"Yes."

"Look at my tails," Ninetales requested the viewing world, as she held some of her tails in front of her, "my tails don't look this fab without some hard work, and I don't want some stupid swamp water ruining it! And these losers are expecting me to just deal with it?" She groaned. "That stupid plant better be right…Gah, this damn money better be worth this trouble!"

Like the Groundons, the Krashing Kyogre were all huddled up as they were walking.

"U-Umm…Why are we g-grouping together?" Frillish timidly asked.

"I dunno," Glimmora admitted, "but the other guys did, so why not!"

"Oh, okay…"

"It's not like there's all that much to plan." Meowth said. "We just need to decide who's doing the puzzle"

Dewott opened his mouth, but was quickly shot down as Ribombee spoke up instead, "The answer is obvious," Ribombee started, "I shall be the one dealing the final, killing blow to the enemy! It's the only answer."

"Sounds good to me!" Druddigon simply shouted.

"Wait a minute," Mightyena counted, "you're annoying, but you look athletic. We need you to dive." Ribombee turned to him, before laughing in his face. "The hell are you laughing about!?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I just didn't realize that you were more dim witted than I thought," Ribombee insulted, calming down from her laughter, before pointing to her wings. "Duh! I have wings! I can't swim in the marsh even if I stupidly wanted to. A flightless dog like you would never get it."

Mightyena growled at the bee before walking ahead of the rest of the team, deciding he had enough of his team for the moment.

"Did…You have to be so harsh about it?" Dolliv asked meekly. To which, she got a response of Ribombee shrugging before flying off.

After that, everyone started to follow behind the bee to get to the challenge. Dewott, however, hung back for a moment and sighed before following the rest.

Dewott had his head low as he looked to the side, "I um, sort of wanted to do the puzzle. Sure, I'm a water type and can swim, but I could have helped there. More than the diving at least…I mean, sure, I'm a water-type, but I…Uh…Actually can't swim too well…Heh…"

He sighed, "I guess I'll just go along with the others. They probably know what they're doing better than I do anyway…"

After enough time, everyone had arrived at the challenge destination. In front of them was a large marsh lake, filled with reeds poking out of the water and surrounded by muddy soil that the cast and host stood on. Besides each team was an easel set up with room for puzzle pieces.

"Alright everyone, I hope you prepared yourself," Floatzel started, "because your first challenge begins now! First diver on each team in the water, let's go!

Golduck gave her team a thumbs up, "I'll give us a good start, team. Just watch!"

"Yay!" Skiploom cheered excitedly, the rest of her team following the plant's lead, with the exception of a grumbling Ninetales.

From nearby, Druddigon flashed a grin of his own, "Oh-ho-ho! Well if you're going, then I'll just have to show you up then!"

"In my own element?" Golduck questioned, "Oh it is on!"

"Bring it!"

Golduck laughed, giving the camera a smile, "Druddigon's pretty cool; sure, guy doesn't seem like he's got a lot going on upstairs, but he's good fun!"

She sighed, "Too bad he's not on my team. We would be unstoppable!"

"The duck's got heart, and I respect the Hell outta that!" Druddigon boasted, laughing to himself as he slapped his knee, "Certainly has more of it than some of my teammates."

He sighed, "Wish she could have been on my team. No way we could ever lose then!"

The two walked up to the water's edge, grinning at each other, before rushing forward and jumping into the lake itself with a large splash.

"And thus, it begins!" Gliscor laughed, as Raichu just backed away from him slowly.

Once under the water, Golduck just swam downward, scoping out her surroundings to find any of the bags. She quickly took notice of how the water wasn't perfectly clear, partly because the water was a tad murky, but also due to all the reeds blocking sightlines. Regardless, she kept up her path, as she could at least see Druddigon swimming down alongside her.

Eventually the two could see the bottom of the lake, and some bags for their teams…Along with a group of Totodile, eyeing them with more than just curiosity. The two competitors glanced at each other, before determination took over, and they swam down at twice the speed toward their impending doom.

Golduck sat in her seat with a few bite marks on her body, proudly showing off a broken smile, "I didn't exactly account for the local wildlife, but I wasn't about to let that stop me! Can't give my team the wrong impression of what I can do. Besides, it was a good workout."

"Uh, they've been down there for a little while," Raichu said with concern, "should we be worried about that?"

"M-Maybe…" Frillish replied

"Maybe they're enjoying their swim!" Glimmora exclaimed.

Dolliv walked up to the water's edge and looked into it. She pondered for a moment, before Dewott walked up beside her, "Is everything okay Dolliv?"

"Yes, but I think this challenge might be harder than we assumed," Dolliv replied to Dewott, calmly.

"Why do you-" Dewott didn't get to finish his thought as Golduck shot out of the water, causing the otter to fall back in surprise. A red bag in her hand as she panted, the cast slowly noticing the bite marks on her body.

"Woah! What happened to you, toots?" Pancham asked.

"I think the more important question is if she's okay," Meowth stated.

Golduck walked over to her team, dropping the bag into Meowstic's hand, "Oh I'm fine; frankly, you should see the locals!" Unbeknownst to her, Meowstic was barely holding the bag up, his body physically straining as his eyes went wide.

Lycanroc's eyes shrunk bak, as he questioned, "Um, what do you mean by 'locals'?"

Floatzel couldn't stop himself from laughing, "Oh right, I forgot to mention. In these waters, there should be a whole family of Totodile! And they have quite the biting habit, so enjoy that!"

Gothitelle crossed her arms, "That seems like valuable information to know beforehand."

"Yeah, but where's the fun in that?" Gothitelle rolled her eyes in response.

"Um, we still have a challenge, losers," Ninetales stated pointedly, "so like, someone get in the water already!" Before anyone else on the Groudon could reply to that, Aegislash just floated into the water.

"If that's settled, can you all keep it down? I'm mentally preparing" Meowstic said as he opened up the bag, dumping out its contents- only for a Joltik to jump onto his face. All Meowstic could do was scream before it zapped him.

Floatzel broke down laughing again, "Man, I love this show!"

Meowstic glared at the camera, his body twitching erratically, "...No comment."

Around this time, Druddigon came out of the water, blue bag in hand as he walked over to Ribombee with a grin. "Delivery!"

Ribombee huffed, taking the bag. Once it was open, she looked in it, before tossing it aside. "This is just a bunch of dirt! Do better next time!"

Mightyena rolled his eyes, "I'm going in." As promised, he quickly dived into the water.

"Awwww, you brought a friend! So cute!" Glimmora exclaimed to Druddigon, the dragon giving her a look in response.

"Hm? The Hell are you talking about?"

"Druddigon, look at your tail please," Gothitelle said, pointing to the dragon's backside.

Druddigon looked himself over, and quickly noticed a Totodile latched onto his tail. "Oh! I got bit so many times, I didn't even notice! Hey, little buddy."

Dolliv walked over and pet the Totodile's head a little, relaxing it enough for it to let go of the dragon's tail. "There we go. Now be free."

The Totodile blinked at Dolliv, before running off…Shortly after which, a yell could be heard.

Pancham was sitting in the confessional tent…With the Totodile biting his head. Pancham looked less than pleased, growling out, "I hate it here."

Mightyena came up from the water, his fur dripping wet while he carried a bag in his mouth. Walking over to his team, he launched the bag from his mouth towards Ribombee, who barely dodged it.

"Mightyena, that could have hit her!" Meowth said with concern.

Mightyena just rolled his eyes, "I know; should've aimed for the body, head's too small."

"Insolence!" Ribombee shouted at the hyena, before retreating behind the bag as if it were a shield.

"Don't even imply I was loyal to you to begin with!" Mightyena snarled.

"L-Let's not fight…" Frillish said as she floated over. "Someone n-needs to dive."

"Uhhh…Dolliv already went in." Dewott pointed out, causing others on the team to notice she wasn't there.

"...When did she-" Meowth's question was cut off by a loud frustrated groan, turning back just in time to dodge under a bag, its contents revealed as nothing but bricks. Had that hit him in the head, it'd have no doubt done some damage. "Uhhhhh…Nevermind."

Meanwhile with the Groudon, Aegislash floated next to Meowstic as the latter looked into the bag. Said feline's expression turned into one of interest.

"Puzzle pieces. Good work." Meowstic simply said. Aegislash gave what looked like a nod in response.

"What? How did he get that so easily?" Pancham asked, envious of the sword's accomplishment.

Back when he made his dive, Aegislash had made it to the bottom of the lake, gabbing one of his team's bads without much of an issue. Once he turned to go back up, he saw some of the Totodile looking at him, likely ready to bite.

Aegislash just closed his eye, before opening it again, giving the small water types a horrible look, one that read as a thousand threats all at once. Seeing that, the Totodile were unnerved to their very core, floating out of the way and not bothering Aegislash further as he simply floated back up to the surface.

In the present, Aegislash just shrugged while side-eyeing Pancham. Taunting him.

Pancham growled, falling for it, "Well fine then, I'll just have to do it faster than you!"

Mewostic rolled his eyes while organizing the puzzle pieces, "Then go already. You're annoying me."

Pancham glared at the feline for dismissing him, "We'll see about me 'annoying' you when I come back with puzzle pieces and a massive lead! Then you'll see!"

Aegislash went up to Pancham's face, giving the panda a cold expression. It was unnerving, which caused Pancham to drop the bravado and just go into the late. The sword brought a hand up to where a mouth would be, as if to cover up a non-existent smirk.

Afterwards, Skiploom floated over to the duo, "Did you two goad Pancham into the lake?" She asked, the smile still on her face, but more forced than normal given what she witnessed.

"He asked for it," Meowstic answered bluntly. Aegislash shrugged along with that answer, his expression now normal.

"...Okay…" Skiploom responded, slowly floating away from them as she did.

"I don't think I can exactly agree with what they did…" Skiploom said, her voice a mix of cheery yet strained as she smiled at the camera, "But…Maybe it'll work out?" Shortly after, her smile slightly twitched.

In the lake, Dolliv had made it to the bottom and was looking for a bag. While swimming, her presence started to attract the attention of some the Totodile. As such, as soon as she managed to grab a bag, she was already completely surrounded by them.

Dolliv saw her situation and tried thinking about what she could do. The bag in her hand was kind of heavy for her, so swimming up with that likely wouldn't end well for her. However, before she had to make any hard choices, one of the Totodile swam up to her.

She wasn't sure what it meant at first, but then she tried something…Petting it. The Totodile gave Dolliv a goofy smile before it got the rest of the Totodile there to help bring Dolliv and the bag up to the surface. Dolliv couldn't help but smile.

"I'm really thankful for the kind Totodile helping me," Dolliv said, still smiling as she was reminiscing. "A little bit of kindness can go such a long way in the world…Not to mention, I didn't think I could have carried that bag before I ran out a breath."

Pancham was swimming through the water, his eyes narrowed in determination and a smirk on his face- before he noticed something…Something that was getting closer.

Which quickly revealed itself as a swarm of Totodile carrying Dolliv!

He yelled out in horror, forgetting he was underwater, and turned to swim away- but it was too late! The swarm powered through, completely engulfing the panda. Within moments, he couldn't even be seen, but his muffled screams could certainly be heard.

"W-What even was that?!" Pancham called out, his eyes wide as he held onto himself in terror.

Dolliv comes back to the surface with her Totodile escort team, getting back on solid ground and taking the bag from them before they jumped back into the water to harass the contestants further. She pulled the bag along, struggling with dragging its weight, eventually leading Druddigon to come and pick it up with ease. "Thank you, Druddigon"

"No problem!" The dragon went over and dropped the bag by Ribombee's side, who just huffed at the rough behavior.

Gothitelle looked over at the other team, quickly noticing something, "Well now, it seems that Pancham hasn't returned for them as of yet."

"...Oh, hey, you're right," Meowth added on, "hasn't he been gone a bit though?"

"Well…Then let's hurry up! Maybe we could get a bit of a lead on them while he's gone," Druddigon exclaimed.

"Indeed, let's not waste time," Gothitelle nodded, before turning to Dewott and Frillish, "you're both water-types, so you're our best bets on capitalizing any sort of lead we have."

Dewott gulped, ready to answer, before Frillish fought through her nerves and said, "Um…W-Well…I can go, I suppose. I don't w-want to let the team d-down. I…I'll do my best."

Smirking at this, Gothitelle motioned toward the water. With a deep breath to mentally prepare herself, Frillish jumped right into it. As her teammates watched her go, their attention was taken by Ribombee.

"Finally! Progress!" Ribombee cried out, showing off the bag full of puzzle pieces. "Soon, the enemy will cower in fear for how I'll- May I help you?

Glimmora had floated over to Ribombee to look at the bag, "Does that mean we won?"

"No you toxic creeten! Now go away!"

"But someone is already in the water? Where do I go?" Ribombee could only groan in detest of the crystal flower before her.

Meanwhile Lycanroc was standing at the water's edge, looking out trying to see if he could look into the water…With middling results. Groaning in frustration, he was then caught off-guard by a scorpion tail wrapping around his left leg, before tugging in an attempt to trip him up…Which didn't work, the dog instinctively bringing down his foot and imbedding itself into the dock.

Instead, all it did was cause Lycanroc to look back in annoyance, where he saw Gliscor. "Blasted all…You must have strong legs- ACK!" Gliscor's potential ramblings got cut off by Lycanroc kicking forward, flinging the Gliscor into the murky water with a loud splash.

For a moment, Lycanroc couldn't help but smile to himself for standing up to the scorpion…Until he didn't come up. In fact, the bubbles on the surface quickly dissipated, leaving nothing behind.

"...O-Oh shit!" Lycanroc muttered, panic quickly settling in as he felt regret begin to pile on. Sure, he was snuck up on and acted out of mostly reflex, but he just launched a ground-type into the water! He didn't even know if Gliscor could swim, oh shit oh-

"HAHAHA! That was amazing!"

Lycanroc blinked, an uneasy glare forming as he looked off to the side just in time to see Gliscor resurfacing from the water, perfectly fine to boot. He was lying on his back, his wings stroking through the water as he calmly floated back to the edge of the lake. He looked up at Lycanroc with a toothy grin, to which Lycanroc looked less than impressed.

Thankfully for the wolf, the moment was broken up by Pancham appearing at the lake's edge, gasping for air. He looked pretty roughed up but had in his hands a bag for his team. He got to dry land before collapsing on the ground, the bag falling beside him. "P-Paaaaaain…"

Lycanroc and Gliscor looked at the fallen panda, before Gliscor started snickering, only to get a hardened glare from the wolf, "Do you have to laugh at him?"

"What? It's funny." Gliscor replied as he chuckled, "Now be a doll and get that bag to our feline friend will you," he watched as Lycanroc's expression switched into some type of bewilderment, laughing to himself at the sight. "I'll be back, don't wait up wolfy~"

"W-What-" Lycanroc barely could let his words out before Gliscor dived into the water, leaving Lycanroc both with heavy bewilderment and a roughed up Panda. "What…Even just happened?"

Gliscor was currently laughing his ass off, cradling his head with one of his claws, "That was brilliant! Oh to relive watching that expression on his face! I think… I just…"

He never finished that thought, getting lost in his laughter.

Raichu was seated in the tent, rubbing her head with a puzzled expression on her face. Shifting her gaze back and forth from the camera and off to the side as she tried to think of what to say.

"So like… Gliscor isn't exactly a quiet person, so a few of us sort of watched that interaction from afar. And all I'm left with, is wondering what the hell I just witnessed."

Ribombee opened up the bag that Frillish brought back, seeing there were puzzle pieces inside. "...It appears that you aren't useless after all."

"U-Um…T-Thank you?"

"You're welcome. Now hurry it up over there! I need one more bag!" Ribombee glared over to a small group of her teammates trying to discuss who would be diving next.

"You'd extend our lead," Mightyena said bluntly, staring at Dewott who shuffled uncomfortably.

"Y-Yeah…Maybe?" Dewott replied, unsure as he looked at the other team. Meowstic looking at puzzle pieces. He then looked back over at Ribombee and the bags she had by her side. "Maybe I could stay here? I think I could help here."

Mightyena looked at Dewott with a deadpan expression. Rolling his eyes at the otter's uncertainty despite the advantage. "I severely doubt that."

"Now now," Gothitelle started, "if he wants to help the team, let him help the team. What's the worst that could happen?" Dewott gave the girl a look, to which she responded with a wink.

"To be truly honest, I consider either option as a win; either he dives with all that reluctance on his part and obviously fails…Or he stays on the surface, can't help there, and fails anyway," Gothitelle says in a calm manner, looking at the camera before she shrugs, "but that is purely speculation. Still…Doesn't hurt ensuring there are more bodies on the line than myself, no?"

"Look, we don't have time to argue," Meowth pointed out, "Gliscor could be back any second. Let's let Dewott do…Whatever he's going to do. But he has until someone else gets back from the lake."

Gothitelle looked over at the feline, a look of slight interest on her face. "And who might you suggest goes in?"

"Easy, Glimmora," The two turned to look at Glimmora, who was once again spinning mindlessly.

Dewott blinked in confusion, eventually asking the obvious question, "Uhhh…How is she suppose to grab a-"

"Hey, Glimmora! Get diving!" Mightyena yelled out, cutting off and overpowering Dewott's concern.

"Hm? Okay!" Glimmora replied before floating over to the lake, and slowly submerging herself into the murky water.

"There, problem solved," Meowth said, a satisfied smile on his face.

"If by problem solved, I mean get an annoyance away from me for a while? Then I did a good job," Meowth said with a smile. He then quickly looked out of the confessional to be sure no one was around, sighing in relief once this was confirmed as he sat back down. "I'm not over her calling me a dirty cat. Bleh."

"Oh, you're insane if you think I'm going in that gunk!" Ninetales shouted out Raichu and Skiploom, both of whom flinched at the fox's raised voice. Skiploom somehow kept her smile through all this.

"Please, calm down Ninetales," Skiploom said soothingly.

"Hell no!" Ninetales shouted once more, "I can't believe you! What happened to everyone else going instead, huh?! Where's that logic of yours, sunshine?!" Skiploom flinched back with a small whimper.

"Woah woah! What's going on!?" Golduck rushed over to the scene, seeing the discord between her teammates, something of which she was not having right now!

Raichu sighed, pinching her forehead, "Ninetales started making a scene when we so much as hinted at the idea of her going into the water." She rolled her eyes as she was saying that. "But at this point, only 4 of us haven't touched the water, so Skiploom started the conversation."

"I thought it would be efficient if we could get an order going," Skiploom added.

"Oh, great idea Skiploom!" Golduck replied, causing the grass type's smile to brighten. Golduck then took her attention over to Ninetales. "And besides, if there's not a third bag in time, you'll have to get in there."

Ninetales groaned, "But have you seen my tails? That murky water will ruin them! And I can't have that on international TV, no way!" Ninetales flaunted her well maintained tails in front of the other girls on her team, trying to prove a point to them. However, none of them were really convinced by her complaints.

"And you signed up for this show knowing you might have to get down and dirty?" Raichu questioned, being the most unimpressed of the three.

Ninetales just huffed in response. She likely would have made a retort but the conversation was interrupted by crazed laughter…Gliscor had returned from the depths of the lake, now purposely draped in some of the lake reeds as he laughed in victory while Meowstic held up a puzzle piece from the newly collected bag. "Bow to me, kitten! For I have salvaged our chances!"

Meowstic just looked at Gliscor with a dead expression for a good minute, before taking the bag and going back to his observation of the puzzle pieces. All without a word to Gliscor.

"Hey! I said bow!"

The female Groundon members looked among each other. Pancham brought back a dud (tofu, to be specific…gross), so this was the second bag; one more and Mewostic could do his thing. So now, they needed to move and they needed to move now!

Skiploom shook anxiously, and eventually ended up snapping out, "Raichu, you need to go!"

"What!? Why me?"

"Because I probably can't even carry a bag, Ninetales…Needs some time, and Lycanroc isn't with us. You have to go if we want a chance!" Skiploom explained.

"She makes a good point," Golduck nodded, "hit the water, Rai!"

Raichu opened her mouth, but just sighed in resignation. There was no point fighting it, she turned around and went towards the lake. Ninetales, meanwhile, sighed in relief that she didn't have to go in the depths of the disgusting lake water.

"That rat better come back with the puzzle pieces or I swear to Arceus," Ninetales said plainly, glaring at the camera.

Meanwhile, Dewott went over to the team's easel set up where Ribombee was flying, seemingly guarding the puzzle pieces. The otter looked over the easel for a bit, noticing that the easel was a bit big, likely able to hold a lot of puzzle pieces. Still, there was the matter of just what the puzzle-

"What are you doing!?"

Dewott let out a small scream in surprise, turning to see Ribombee looking at him. With her arms crossed and a harsh look painted on her face, Dewott gulped nervously. "I um…Was hoping to maybe help you with figuring out the puzzle-"

"You can help the team by doing what your type does best and going under water! We're still missing one bag, and I doubt the poisonous wench will do anything to help that." Ribombee rolled her eyes.

"I-I'm sure Glimmora will be fine…" Dewott spoke out, looking over at the bags, "H-Hey, do you mind if I look at our puzzle pieces?"

Ribombee immediately got into his face when hearing that question, glaring point blank daggers at him. "Why would I ever let you do that?"

Dewott started to tremble a little, "W-Well…I just…To help I-"

"It was a rhetorical question, otter. I'm to be the only one who sets up the demise of our enemies, and I will not risk any of you sabotaging my efforts! So shut up, and get into the lake so I can have my victory!" Ribombee used Fairy Wind on Dewott, doing it strong enough to send the otter flying away from her.

Ribombee was seated on the stomp, her arms crossed.

"That otter thinks he can get in my way, does he? Hpmh! And here I thought he would be tolerable. He's lucky that I'm going to cause our victory today or else I would send him packing!"

Dewott, after being blown away, crashed into Druddigon's back and fell to the ground with a grunt. The dragon turned around and saw Dewott, helping him up. "Hey bud, what happened to ya?"

Deowtt groaned, sitting on the ground as he got his bearings. "Ribombee happened. She literally blew me off." He sighed, defeated. "There goes that agreement I had with the others."

Druddigon patted Dewott's back, causing the water type to blush a little. "Look, I have no idea what was going on for a while. But, I think if you tried to help the team, Ribombee stopped you. That's more on her than it is you. Besides, the game isn't over-"

"You didn't bring a bag!?"

Druddgion blinked, "Or maybe it might be."

The duo looked over at Mightyena stomping away from the rest of their teammates, including Glimmora returning from the lake. And there was no extra bag in sight. Meowth was pinching his forehead and he took a deep breath to compose himself. He spoke through clenched teeth, "Glimmora, why didn't you bring back a bag?"

Glimmora looked at him and blinked, "Oh, was I supposed to bring them? I thought I just had to spend time with the Totodile." She then giggled, "They tickled."

"But, why didn't you think about the colorful bags?" Dolliv said, looking concerned.

"He only told me to go into the water." Glimmora said, looking over at Meowth.

The feline silently cursed to himself, realizing how…Out of common sense Glimmora was. Gothitelle looked over at Meowth with a mix of a bored yet judging look. Meowth turned away, "Don't give me that look. I thought it was a good idea given everything, okay? I made a mistake."

From afar, Ribombee couldn't help but smirk at the scene, humming to herself confidently, "Useless; just as predicted!"

Chuckling nervously, Meowth was seated while scratching the back of his head. "You know, I might have been just a little too petty there…My bad."

"Well, there's only one thing left to do." Gothitelle started, "I suppose it's your turn to dive Meowth." The feline sighed, seeing that he had no real choice in the matter.

"Wait!" The rest of the group looked over, seeing Dewott being held by Druddgion going towards the lake. "I'm going in!"

Gothitelle rose an eyebrow to this, curious as to what would transpire. "Oh, quick to give up on your puzzle efforts, are you?"

"I uh…That's not working out.." Dewott resigned, "But we need to make up time right?"

"B-But, why is D-Druddigon with you?" Frillish question.

"For this…Go long, Druddigon!" Dewott ordered.

In response, the dragon held Dewott like he was a football and threw him toward the lake. Spiraling through the air, Dewott hit it with a splash and used the momentum to spike downward through the water.

"Woooh! I still got it!" Druddgion shouted in glee at the throw working. Gothitelle, Mewoth, and Frillish all gave him a bit of applause. They had to admit, it was an impressive throw.

The noise, of course, got the other team's attention as they watched that unfold. Aegislash gave a thumbs up to no one in particular, as Golduck whistled. "Oh yeah! Now that was something!"

"Uh, they're the enemy, morons; stop encouraging them!" Ninetales spat, receiving looks from the two as she looked at the lake, "And where is Raichu?!"

"The mouse shall return, no doubt having the ticket to our victory in her grasp." Gliscor stated, grinning devilishly for no particular reason.

"Oh, she better!" Ninetales growled out.

"Hey! I think I see some ripples over here!" Pancham shouted to his team. All of them looked in that direction, as shortly thereafter, Raichu came out of the water with a bag in hang. Panting she tried tossing the bag to Meowstic- only to get it about ten feet, almost smacking Ninetales in the face.

"Hey! Watch the face!" She spat out.

"Sorry…" Raichu barely got out, before collapsing onto the shore to catch her breath.

Golduck walked over and looked down at her, "Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah…I'm fine," Raichu replied, between breaths, "Just…Swam fast…To avoid…The Totodile…Oh, Arceus."

"Just stay there Raichu, you'll be just fine," Skiploom added supportively.

Meowstic used Psychic to pick up the thrown bag and checked it…Before tossing it into the trees. "Nothing but rocks."

"You are joking!" Pancham shouted in disbelief, only to receive a shaking head from Meowstic in response.

Aegislash points at Ninetales and Lycanroc. One of them had to go and dive.

"No way, I'm not doing it!" Ninetales started her defiance to preserve her appearance. The sword rolled his eye, and looked at Lycanroc, who was taking deep breaths.

"I…I'll go." Lycanroc stated, before walking towards the water.

Skiploom floated over to him, looking concerned despite the smile on her face. "Are you sure? You're type tends to struggle in the water…Maybe we can get Ninetales to-"

"No. It's either I do it, or we're losing," Lycanroc flatly stated. "Just…Let me deal with it."

"Alright…" Skiploom conceded, floating away as Lycanroc went into the lake.

Little did the mutt know, Gliscor was looking on at the scene with a growing smile, nodding his head to himself as he watched the dog dive in.

Lycanroc was looking off to the side while taking a deep breath. He then started looking around, trying to form the words he wanted to say. "I…Have no idea why I did that. I guess…I didn't want to lose…I don't even know."

Not long after Lycanroc submerged himself, Dewott came back to his team! The momentum he gained worked in his favor as he spent less time in the water compared to others. Once out of the water, he rushed the bag to Ribombee, who begrudgingly accepted it. Looking inside, she gasped before forming a smile. "Well now otter, it looks like I might just forget your uselessness yet. Victory is ours!" She pulled out a puzzle piece from the bag to show the team; they had all their puzzle bags.

Druddigon pumped his fists, "Hell yeah!"

"Y-Yay!" Frillish cheered while clapping.

"While I am happy for this development," Gothitelle started, "we mustn't forget that the puzzle needs to be completed for us to win."

Glimmora gasped, "We have a puzzle?"

Ribombee ignored her, taking the bags and dumping them each out on the ground. "Finally, victory will be ours!"

She looked at the many puzzle pieces…From what she could tell, it was some type of color puzzle. With a smirk she started working on the puzzle in order to win. Although Dewott came up to her. "H-Hey, do you mind if I-"

"Silence! I am working, otter! Don't push your luck with me," Dewott just sighed and backed up to avoid further conflict, leaving Ribombee to her work.

On the Groundons, Gliscor turned to his team, looking a tad more serious than usual. "They are working on their puzzle. Whatever lead we might have had is truly squandered!"

Raichu groaned, still on the ground, "Sorry team; if I got the right bag, we could have had it."

"Hey, don't be hard on yourself!" Golduck said, looking right at Raichu, "You did your best for the team. Right now, that's what matters most" As she said that, she gave a pointed look at Ninetales, who huffed and turned away.

"How long is Lycanroc going to take down there?" Pancham asked, "He's been gone for a while, and he might as well be here when we lose."

"He's a rock type under water with Totodile, I don't think he'll be-" Golduck's sentence was cut off by Aegislash, who then pointed to the ripples in the water, causing the duck to stand up excitedly, "Or maybe I'm wrong! I'm fine with being wrong here!"

The team looked as Lycanroc did come out of the lake, bag in hand. Once on the land he coughed up some water, before tossing his bag to Meowstic, who caught it with Psychic. "Oh Arceus… That was terrible!"

"Welcome to the club," Pancham deadpanned.

"Meowstic, what's in the bag?" Skiploom asked, going over to the psychic type in anticipation.

Meowstic looked up at her with mild disinterest…But regardless opened the bag. And after a few moments of suspense from the team, he dumped the contents of all the bags and held up the puzzle pieces with psychic. For the first time that day, he smiled, "Checkmate."

"Umm…R-Ribombee, I don't want to alarm you…B-But the other team h-have the puzzle pieces." Frillished stammered out to Ribombee. The bee was placing another piece of the puzzle, already about forty percent done with it all.

Ribombee rolled her eyes, "That is of no concern to me. They're still behind, so my victory is-"

"And we have a winner! The Gigantic Groudons have won the challenge!"

Ribombee dropped the puzzle piece that was in her hands as she looked at the other team. Their puzzle completely finished, topped off with Mewostic, who had a satisfied smirk on his face. The fairy type's left eye twitched as she trembled with rage. Frillish floated away from Ribombee before she could become collateral damage.

Ribombee was shouting at the camera of the confessional. None of which could make it to air, as it was currently being censored for her…Colorful use of the English language.

Floatzel had the cast gathered back at the beach they arrived on. Teams standing together as host grinned at them all. "After what I'm sure was a fun challenge for you all, I'm glad to say in the end, the Gigantic Groudons have won immunity and are safe for the night!"

The members of the Groundons cheered, some more than others. Meanwhile the Kyogre looked less than pleased.

"For winning the first challenge, you all will be given front row seats to the first ever elimination of the season!" That announcement led to a lot of gasps among the cast. No one prepared for the winning team to watch the elimination play out. Floatzel chuckles with a grin, "What's with the surprised faces? It's the first elimination, a big event! Everyone deserves to be a part of it! Speaking of that, Kyogre, you'll have a few hours once we return to Normilne to handle any strategy. Then, it's showtime! Everyone back on the boats. Dinner's calling!"

Everyone started piling onto the boats back to Normilne island. The Kyogre exchanged a variety of looks at each other, knowing that by the end of the day, one of them would not be there anymore.

Mightyena growled at the camera, his expression reading just how pissed he was. He then took a deep breath and shook his anger off. "It blows that we lost. We had it all in the bag, but somehow, it all got totally fucked!"

He scoffed, visibly annoyed by the whole situation. "Now I gotta pick who to off around here. And frankly? I have a lot of options."

"I don't think I was fully prepared for this aspect of this game." Dolliv sat in the confessional tent, a solemn expression planted on her face.

"To think I will have a hand in ending the experience of one of my teammates. And to happen so soon as well. I don't have too much of a plan…Perhaps I need to give myself the space to think."

"Yeah baby! We won!" Golduck shouted excitedly, pumping fists while sitting on the stump. She grinned with glee over the results. "My team brought it back and none of us are going home! Too bad for the other team. Put up a good fight, but my team is gonna go all the way to the top!"

She then suddenly frowned. "Now if only everyone was on the same wavelength. And by everyone, I mean Ninetales."

Once the cast returned to their main island, everyone dispersed around the island, from going to the main campgrounds to clearing their minds in the wilderness.

Among them, Meowth was seated in the mess hall, left with some slop and his thoughts. He wasn't worried that he'd be voted off. Sure, he screwed up with Glimmora, but he doubted anyone would eliminate him over it. These people would have to be mental to do that.

His thoughts were interrupted as Raichu sat down across from him. "Is this seat taken?"

"Not at all. If you don't mind dealing with brooding elimination thoughts, that is," Meowth chuckled to himself, thinking it was funny.

Raichu, meanwhile, rolled his eyes at how corny it was. "Sure. Whatever you say."

From there, the two ate silently, due in part to Meowth thinking about the oncoming elimination. But also because Raichu was often stealing glances at him, still bothered by that feeling she had earlier in the day. But no matter how much she looked, she couldn't pin down the where to which she'd recognize him. Although it didn't help that around the seventh glance, Raichu looked to see Meowth giving her a charming look, wiggling his eyes for effect.

"You know, if you're going to keep stealing looks, I'm either going to have to charge, or begin thinking you're in love with me~"

Raichu blinked at him, before her expression morphed into one of disgust. "What, no!" She saw Meowth barely holding back a laugh at her expense, to which she rolls her eyes and got up. "Not funny, Meowth. I'll see you at the elimination." With that, she left the table as Meowth tried to hold back his laughter.

Mewoth was laughing his ass off in the confessional now. He didn't even say anything, he just laughed and laughed like he was the comedian of the century, eventually falling off the stump.

"Can you leave me alone already!?" Mightyena shouted to someone he wasn't facing. He was walking among the trees, trying to clear his mind after the challenge left him irritated.

However, behind him was Frillish, trailing behind, whimpering at the shout. Hearing that, Mightyena sighed before turning to look at her. "Sorry. Not in the best of moods. And I don't need someone following me around either."

"I-I'm sorry," Frillish quickly apologized, not wanting to catch the hyena's ire. "I…Um…I just wanted to s-see if you were okay. You…When you left the b-beach…Um…You seemed really upset."

Mightyena raised a brow hearing that, a little surprised that someone around here gave a damn. "Well, I'm fine. Let me clear my head before I do something I regret later. Alright?"

Frillish nodded…Mentally relieved that Mightyena wasn't raising his voice anymore. "O-Okay…" She turned around, ready to leave as to not bother the wolf anymore…That is…Until she heard-

"Thanks." That made her stop for a moment. She turned around to see Mightyena walking off. Did he just thank her? And…Why? Frillish didn't fully understand it, but it made her smile a little as she went on her way.

Although not too long after she did, she ended up bumping into Gothitelle, who was in the forest as well. The psychic type turned and waved at her teammate. "Oh, hello Frillish. What has you so happy?"

"O-Oh it's nothing…R-Really." Frillish replied, not wanting to discuss the interaction she just had. That would have likely bothered Mightyena more. So she changed the topic, "H-Have you thought about our e-elimination? I, um, have been too nervous to think about it myself…"

Gothitelle looked a little caught off guard by the question, but simply composed herself. "The elimination? Well, I think your thoughts would be very insightful. If you don't mind, that is? I'll share my own thoughts in exchange."

"O-Okay."

"I-I didn't know if hiding that from Gothitelle was a good idea…" Frillish uncertainty mentioned, "B-But I just s-started without thinking too…Too much about it! M-Maybe it'll be fine. I'm…Just overthinking it."

"Truthfully, I knew she was talking to Mightyena; he wasn't exactly quiet," Gothitelle calmly stated, "however, that wasn't important to me. Truthfully, I wanted to pick her brain about the elimination, though I came out of it with nothing incredibly interesting. Although when she changed the topic on me?" Gothitelle formed a small smile on her face. "I must admit, I have to respect you for that Frillish."

In the girl's cabin, Ninetales was going through her luggage, looking for some make up for the occasion. All the while, Golduck was doing some push ups in the center of the cabin. She looked over at the fire type as she seemed to have brought out some nail polish. "Ninetales, what are you doing?"

"Just getting the right nail polish," Ninetales replied matter of factly, "If we get to watch the losers vote someone off, I have to go looking my best~"

Golduck stopped her push ups, looking right at her with a deadpan expression, "Ninetales-"

"Oh! I know exactly what you're going to say!" Ninetales rummaged through her bag more, "I'm sure I have the perfect shade for you! You'll actually look fetching"

"No, I'm not talking about that!" Golduck got up, making Ninetales look at her, "Is this really necessary? Sure, they lost. But treating this like some humiliation? That's excessive, don't you think?"

Ninetales rolled her eyes, "Uh, no? We win, we should be able to flaunt it. Duh."

"Even when some people didn't do anything to help us win?" Golduck crossed her eyes, a glare sharpening in her eyes

"Please. You didn't help either, you didn't even get a bag."

"I still went into the lake, while you just sat around and-" Golduck stopped herself, taking a deep breath. "Know what? I'm not doing this right now. I'm going on a jog." Golduck then left the cabin, slamming the door behind her. Ninetales huffed, not caring about what Golduck had to say. She just decided to get started on painting her claws.

"Can you make me look pretty too?"

Ninetales froze with wide eyes…Turning her head to see Glimmora just floating there haplessly, causing the fire type to shriek.

"She annoys me. Simple as that," Golduck said, her arms crossed as she was seated. "I need team players, not slackers, let alone disrespectful slackers. Maybe if she put in the effort I'd overlook it but, ugh, she's pissing me off with how she acted at the challenge! If your beauty is all that matters, then good luck working well on my team."

Glimmora floated in the confessional, a pink substance covering part of her face. She blinked a few times before saying, "I feel pretty," and giggled.

Lycanroc was laying on his bed in the guy's cabin, just trying to reflect on the day. Golduck talking to him in the morning, Gliscor during the challenge, and him just…Leaping into the lake despite his obvious weakness, and helping his team win despite that not being something he'd expect of himself.

I mean…He wouldn't do that normally. He knew that…Right? At least, he thought so…But after today, doing it so suddenly and with so little prompting- Hell, his team understood! They weren't pressuring him! They didn't expect him to go in, and yet he ignored it and just…Did it?

He had no idea what to think at the moment. He was still trying to grapple with some of the others actively trying to be around him to begin with already, and after all this that didn't exactly change; Hell, it might get worse. The thought they might start bothering him- talking to him. Asking him things, about himself, his life. No, it's too much. He didn't need a bigger headache.

Sighing, he abruptly felt a tap on his shoulder, looking over to see Aegislash. "O-Oh, hey Aegislash."

The sword looked at the wolf. Pointing at him and then raising a thumbs up, before switching it down and so on. "Oh, are you seeing if I'm okay?" Lycanroc got a nod in response, "Uh, yeah. I'm fine…Thanks?"

Aegislash nodded, beginning to float away. However, he stopped and looked over at Lycanroc, pointing upwards for him to see before he left the cabin. Lycanroc was a little confused as to what that meant, so he went and looked above his bunk- only to find Gliscor above, a bowl of slop in his claws ready to swing down to Lycanroc. When spotted, all the ground-type could do was chuckle nervously.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh nothing. Nothing at all," Gliscor smiled innocently, but Lycanroc didn't look all that convinced. So Gliscor just presented the bowl. "Care for some slop. Fresh from the mess hall…I think"

Lycanroc just looked at Gliscor before taking the bowl and going back to his bunk. "Thanks, I guess."

Lycanroc was just sitting and looking off to the side contemplatively. "I…Still have no idea why anyone would trust me, or Hell, even talk to me…"

"But…At the lake today, for some reason I put my all into that challenge. And it felt…Nice? I guess. The bravery part, not the being swarmed by the Totodile part." He went quiet for a moment, just looking out the tent. "Doing this is still stupid…But I guess it could be worse."

Gliscor was hanging upside down, looking displeased. "Damn sword. Ruining my fun."

"Everyone, It is time for elimination! If you all could kindly take the path behind the mess hall, I'll be waiting for you there!"

Dewott was walking down the path much like the others. He was a little nervous. Given how the challenge went, he both helped his team but didn't at the same time. He could only sigh when thinking about it.

"Why are you so tense?"

"Huh- ah!" While trying to turn around, Dewott ended up tripping over his feet and falling on his back. As he groaned, Dolliv stood above him with concern. "Oh, hey Dolliv."

"Hello. Do you need any help?"

"No, I'm fine," Dewitt replied, getting up and brushing himself off. "I guess that's fair enough after I startled you yesterday."

"If that's how you want to look at it," Dolliv giggled, "but if you could answer my first question?"

"Oh right, well," Dewott had to stop for a moment to think, "I guess, I'm just worried. I have no idea what is going to happen over there."

"But you retrieved the last bag, did you not?" Dolliv questioned.

"Well, yeah. But-"

"Then maybe you're worrying too much. Allow nature to take its course tonight. Whatever happens, happens." Having said that, Dolliv started down the path, leaving Dewott a little confused.

"Whatever happens, happens?" He thought about how to take that advice, but then shook his head. He'd be stuck in his head if he thought deeply about what seems like simple advice. Thankfully, that wasn't allowed to happen, as Druddgion suddenly picked him up from behind.

"Come on Dewott! We got an elimination to get to!" The dragon went charging forward with reckless abandon, Dewott in his grip, a blush quickly enveloping his face.

"H-Hey, Druddigon! P-Put me down, I can walk!"

Dolliv took a quiet sigh, a soft smile on her face as she looked at the camera, "I have nothing more to add. I've made peace with how to handle this aspect of my time here. Now we wait for the results."

At the end of the path was a small clearing overlooking a beach. Ten large flat rocks were positioned as seating, which were mostly taken up by the members of the Kyogre. The members of the Groudons were standing off to the side of the seats. A small controlled fire separated them from their host. Floatzel had a small wooden table set up, with a plate of Passho berries. Eight to be specific. The waves from the beach softly crashed behind them all, adding to the tension of the situation. Tension that Floatzel cut through.

"Welcome, everyone, to the first elimination of the season. Here you will make a decision, cast your votes…And by the end of tonight, one of you will no longer be competing on Total Pokemon Elemental." He paused for dramatic effect, letting it settle in for the cast, especially the Kyogre. "In a few minutes, Kyogre, you will walk down to the beach. From there, you will find a tent with a camera inside. To cast your vote, just say who you want to vote for to the camera and it'll be recorded."

"Can't they just write down their votes and put 'em in a box?" Pancham asked.

"Doing this lets us save some money on resources; it's easier for everyone, and this way, no one can rig the votes if they were thinking about it." Floatzel replied, smirking at the panda, "Now can the peanut gallery keep it down, I'm trying to run a show here, thanks." Pancham rolled his eyes at the host, which Floatzel ignored as he faced the Kyorge. "Now, does anyone have anything they want to say before we go to vote?"

The Kyorges looked among each other, nervous, not sure what to say. However, someone broke that silence.

"If you louts know what is the best for this team, you'll vote accordingly!" Ribombee spoke out harshly, sending a glare to Glimmora…Who was floating haplessly in circles.

"Yes, I suppose this vote should be about what fits best for our team," Gothietlle said calmly, "but it does seem like a matter of what we think is best for the team, no?"

"Do you have to make it sound so mysterious?" Meowth asked with his arms crossed, to which he got no reply but a coy smile from the psychic type.

"It doesn't matter how you word it," Druddigon started, "this is for the team. Simple as that. I don't want to keep ending up here. If we gotta lose someone, let's at least try to give the other team some stress, you know?" He flashed a competitive smirk at Golduck as he said that, who returned it in kind.

Mightyena rolled his eyes impatiently, "Can we just vote already?"

Floatzel grinned, having waited for someone to ask, "Oh, gladly. One at a time you'll do as I directed a moment ago. Mightyena, you can go first.

Mightyena was in the voting tent, which unlike the normal confessionals was white. He took a seat and looked at the camera. "I've had a while to cool off and think about it. And there are two idiots here that royally pissed me off today. Couldn't care less about which one leaves, but one's worse."

Gothietlle giggled to herself, "Oh, how interesting this will be."

Meowth looked like he was mulling something over, "I could just vote for him…Mess with his head a little. But it might be safer to vote normally."

"It's as I said, I am letting nature take its course…Cruel as it may be." Dolliv said softly

Druddigon glared into the camera, "We ain't winning with your attitude. Let a guy help."

Frillish's eyes darted around nervously, eventually muttering out, "T-Too much shouting…"

"The toxic flower on this team will be plucked on this day!" Ribombee shouted, "There will be no exceptions. And I'm sure the rest of this team understands that."

Glimmora was spinning in the tent…Not even saying anything, just spinning. The Sableye intern from before had to poke her in order to get her attention. "Hm? Was I supposed to do something?"

Dewott took a deep breath, "I'm still a little nervous. But I think when it's all said and done…I have to vote for-"

With the votes tallied, Floatzel got the message from an ear piece to know who is eliminated, to which he nodded to no one in particular, "Alright, the votes have been counted and the results are in. If I call your name, you'll receive one of these Passho berries as a sign of safety. If you do not receive one, however, you will need to say your final words, go to the beach, and leave on the boat stationed for departure. Now if we're ready…Those safe are…"

"Dolliv…Gothitelle…Frillish…"

Each of the gears caught their berries without any difficulty, with Frillish sighing in relief.

"Mightyena…Druddigon…Meowth…"

Druddigon and Meowth caught their berries with their hands, while impressively, Mightyena caught it with his mouth.

Floatzel looked at the remaining three whose names he didn't call yet…

Dewott. Glimmora. And Ribombee.

Dewott was shaking in place, arms outstretched in front of him and gripping onto his face anxiously. Ribombee was confident, a smirk stretched across her expression as she gave the side eye to her fellow bottom placers. Glimmora…Didn't even seem aware of what was going on, still just spinning.

Flotaztel kept up the pause for a moment longer, before revealing the next name.

"Dewott!"

"Whoo- OW!" While cheering, Deowtt was hit in the face by his berry due to his lack of attention.

"Sorry about that," Floatzel lied, holding back a chuckle. He moved on to looking at the bottom two. "Ribombee and Glimmora…I only have one berry left. One of you will be the safe. And the other will be eliminated. And the final safe player is…"

Ribombee smirked, glancing at the slowly spinning Grimmora. Of course the rock voted for her, but at least the rest of the team had-

"Glimmora!"

Floatzel just tossed the berry forward with little effort, Glimmora watching it hit the sand with a blank look. When she looked down, she blinked. "Oh! A magic berry!"

Ribombee looked shocked beyond belief. "What…What just happened!?"

"What happened," Floatzel started, "is that you just got eliminated from Total Pokemon Elemental. Say your goodbyes, cause you ain't coming back!" He laughed while the bee's eyes started to twitch.

"Why…Did you idiots keep this…This imbecile over me!?" She shouted, pointing to Glimmora as she observed her "magic berry". "She failed in the challenge. She's not even remotely useful in every sense of the word. And-"

"And she's not a total bitch, '' Mightyena said pointedly. "She pissed me off, but at least I can stand to be around her." Meowth rolled his eyes in the background when hearing that comment about Glimmora.

"Your failure during the challenge certainly made the deciding factor that little bit easier," Gothitelle stated.

"Lies! I would have been victorious if the otter didn't bother me so much!" Ribombee now glared at Dewott, who gulped.

Druddigon got up to get in front of the fairy type, "How was he bothering you? Wasn't he trying to help us win."

"Well-"

"Actually, Dewott, what was your plan anyway?" Meowth asked, "You never told us."

"Oh…Well, I wanted to look over the puzzle pieces. I saw Meowstic doing that, and I thought it could help save time on the puzzle. Floatzel didn't say we couldn't look at them beforehand. But Ribombee wouldn't let me."

"Correct! You were in your right to look over and prepare setting up the puzzle beforehand. Just couldn't actually do it until you had all your pieces." Floatzel admitted, "Meowstic took full advantage of that."

Gliscor laughed, "And to think you all might have had a chance if you had done the same! You had the lead after all!"

Ribombee's eye twitched more, "What!?"

"Huh…Guess when you think about it…Your dumb pride got the better of you." Mightyena said, smirking.

Ribombee was seething, crossing her arm and glaring at her team, "...Y'know what, fine! But you'll all fail without me! I was the best there was here, and none of you could stand up to my value! Enjoy failure, you cowardly louts, I'll be sure to laugh at your demise!" With that, Ribombee quickly flew to the beach, not looking back to the fools around her.

Floatzel whistled after that, "Well then. First elimination, and explosive exit to boot. Love it! Alright, all of you are dismissed. We'll see which team will end up here next time. Good night."

Floatzel walked off to the beach as well, leaving everyone to tend to themselves awkwardly.

"So…" Lycanroc started, unsure of how to handle everything, "Is anyone else just a little more comfortable with her gone?" A lot of the cast gave murmurs of agreement to him. "Oh, okay, cool."

Gothitelle gets up, "Well, that was quite exciting, but I must admit to feeling quite tired. So I'll be returning to my bed. Good night everyone." She walked back down the path to the camp grounds, the rest of the cast slowly but surely following suit.

Floatzel was in front of a boat, which had Ribombee sitting in it. Still very upset about her elimination, which the host just chuckled about. "Any final words for the viewers at home?"

"I have nothing to say to anyone watching! You will be hearing from my people when they hear about the injustice that is-"

She was interrupted when a bored Floatzel suddenly pushed her, the bug flopping against the boat as it took off. Ribombee kept sounding off as the boat engine blared, drifting into the ocean with the first boot.

"Oops. Guess we'll never know what she wanted to say." Floatzel laughed, looking at the camera. "Well, that's the first one down! Ribombee is the Archipelago's first victim, but there are many more to follow! Especially if the drama from these competitors heats up. What's in store for them next? Who will take over as the main problem on the Krashing Kyogres? And just who will be the next one on the boat off the island?" Floatzel smirks and points at the camera, "You'll have to find out all this and more, next time on Total…Pokemon…Elemental!"

Sableye walked onto the scene, folding his arms uncomfortably as he muttered, "H-Hey, that sounded better than last time."

Floatzel, not taking such wording as a compliment, turned a glare onto the intern, "What's that supposed to mean!?"

"Ah! N-Nothing!"

And that is a wrap on the second chapter. The first challenge, elimination, and a lot of character interactions and dynamics. Oh boy was it a lot. But very worthwhile! And in the end we lose Ribombee... Won't lie, I did in a way enjoy writing her in her short time but she was not long for this game. Not at all. With all this said and done, this is just the beginning and we have a lot more story to be told and I hope you all stay seated for the read. Be sure to review when you can, and until next time... farewell.

[Once again, thank you to TPReboot for editing the chapter]