Ongoing Summer Story!

[LightningTopaz]

Welcome aboard to the first annual Ongoing Summer Story!

Here's how this works:

I will start a story, and you guys write a few paragraphs to continue it (at least two paragraphs at a time) all the way until the story ends. But do keep in mind:

--All forum rules apply. (if you're not sure if a section breaks a rule, PM it to us for review)
--Be consistent with what has already been posted (so if Ash, Misty, and Brock are in a forest at the end of the last section, for example, don't start the next section with them in a cave unless you have a good explanation as to how they got to the cave from the forest)
--No godmodding--In other words, don't overpower the characters to the point the story ends before it begins (or kill everyone off so we have no story left)
--No characters from other universes (Ideas and concepts from other universes are okay, if they make sense with the rest of the story)

If you have any questions or concerns, let me or the other mods know.

That said, here we go!:

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The afternoon sun sparkled on the water, illuminating one small boat headed for an island in the distance. A black haired boy and his companion, a tiny yellow mouse creature, stood on the deck, watching as the island grew larger and larger as the boat approached. "It's gonna be so awesome seeing Misty and Brock again..." he smiled at the mouse creature. "We have a ton of stories to tell them about our adventure in Unova..."

"Pika..." the mouse creature agreed.

"I can't wait to tell them about Iris and Cilan, and Bianca, and Cheren..." the boy went on, counting off his new Unovan friends on his fingers as he named them.

The ship intercom interrupted his roll call. <i>Attention passengers--we will be arriving at Knot Island shortly. Please gather your belongings and make sure your Pokemon are accounted for...</i>

"Pikachu." the mouse creature smiled as he set the boy's bag at his feet.

"Thanks, Pikachu." the boy smiled. But as the boat approached the island dock, he saw two familiar faces waving at him from the dock--an orange haired girl and a brown haired boy with tanned skin with a large pink humanoid at his side.

"Ash!" he heard the girl call to him. "You're home!" The brown haired boy whistled in agreement.

"It's good to be back!" he called back from the deck before motioning for Pikachu to follow him to the loading platform...

<i>Later, on the shore...</i>

"Welcome back, Ash..." the brown haired boy smiled as he embraced his friend. "How was your adventure in Unova?"

"Amazing, Brock!" Ash replied before noticing the large humanoid. "Wow...Happini evolved???"

"Yeah--still has a fondess for princesses and my storytelling, though." Brock smiled. "I asked for some time off so we could spend a week on the beach together--just the three of us."

"I missed you so much, Ash..." the girl smiled. "What was it like in Unova?"

"Well Misty, there was the magnificent Castelia City, Pokestar Studios in Virbank, Worlds of Adventure in Nimbasa..." Ash started, showing Misty the album of photos he had taken on his journey. He was about to flip to the next page of pictures when a sign on a pole got his attention:

<i>The Great Sevii Island Treasure Hunt is coming up!

Follow the clues and play mini games scattered around the Islands and you could win 250 million credits, passes to the exotic region of Kalos, and other fantastic prizes!

Solo-and team sign ups welcome--inquire and sign up at the Pokemon Center</i>

A grin formed on Ash's face. "How bout it, guys--shall we try and find the island treasure?

"A treasure hunt???" Misty gasped. "How exciting!"

"Let's try--it'll be an adventure, in a way..." Brock smiled...

What happens next?

 

[LightningTopaz]

...and led the way into the Pokemon Center, where a line was forming to sign up for the treasure hunt.

Just then, some dark skinned hands covered Ash's eyes. "Guess who?" a familiar voice giggled.

"Iris?" Ash guessed.

"How'd you know?" the voice replied--and Ash noticed Iris and Cilan standing before him!

"Iris...Cilan...what are you guys doing here?" Ash stammered.

"I wanted a taste of the Sevii Islands, so we agreed to come here on a bit of a vacation." Cilan explained.

Iris, meanwhile, noticed Misty and Brock by Ash's side. "So these are the famous Misty and Brock you were telling me about..."

"We mustn't forget our manners...it's introduction time!" Cilan smiled. "I am Cilan of Striaton City, at your service."

"Nice to meet you..." Brock smiled as he shook Cilan's hand.

"They say your Pokemon chow and knowledge of Pokemon lore is the taste of legend." Cilan continued.

Brock just chuckled. "Well, I'm honored my Pokechow is even famous in Unova."

"You should tell Iris and Cilan some of your stories later." Misty suggested.

Ash, meanwhile, was studying the rules sheet for the treasure hunt:

<i>ISLAND TREASURE HUNT RULES:

--You can compete alone or with a team of no more than eight people--this number does not include Pokemon.

--All competitors must follow the same route--straying from the route too much may result in disqualification

--When playing a mini-game on the route, teams must elect a representative to compete in the mini-game. You may have the same person play each game, or have different people play different games. There are some games where the whole team must play. Winning the mini games will grant you your next clue and possibly an advantage against other competitors.

--The competitor or team to complete the route the fastest wins the treasure!</i>

Iris joined Ash in looking at the poster. "We should all compete in the treasure hunt--I'll be your ace at climbing games!"

"I'll compete in water games." Misty volunteered, trying oh-so-hard not to laugh at Iris dragging Ash to the sign up line...

"Brock is a shoo-in for performance games..." Ash agreed as he filled out the sign-up form

"If there's any food games, I'll bring you the taste of victory!" Cilan volunteered.

"Ash will do anything else." Brock conceded as Ash handed in the sign up form

"Okay, we're in as Team Kantova!" Ash announced to the others as he returned with the map of the route and bags of supplies for the week-long trek. "We meet the other teams by the Pokemon Center in the morning!"

What happens next?

 

[LightningTopaz]

The day of the treasure hunt dawned clear and sunny, but the number of teams that had signed up amazed Ash. "Wow...THAT'S our competition?"

"Relax--if we all play to our strengths in the games, we'll get the taste of victory." Cilan assured Ash as the newly formed team walked up to receive their first clue from the coordinator.

"Let's see...'You've embarked on a treasure hunt, that's quite a feat; your next stop relies on a an island beat.'" Iris read the clue, then stashed the tiny piece of paper in one pocket. "What does that possibly mean?"

"Try the sounds of steel drums coming from over that way..." Misty suggested, pointing out some sand dunes by the surf, where an oddly pleasant melody drifted on the ocean breeze.

Ash motioned for the others to follow him, but was surprised to find that the sounds were not coming from steel drums, but stone runes that flashed and made the sounds when hit. He watched as a boy played a long sequence of notes, only for the girl playing the game to stumble on the tenth note in the sequence. "Aw...too bad..." the boy sighed as the girl trudged away to another coordinator's table,where she received her team's next clue.

He then spotted the group watching in the distance. "You made it to your first checkpoint--prove your memory to receive your next clue and possibly a prize!"

"I'll play on behalf of the team." Brock told the boy before hurrying to the circle of stone runes. He suddenly recognized the formation the runes were arranged in. <i>This is just like Forest's old Simon game I would always play when he was at school!</i>

"Okay...the object of the game is easy--I'll play you a sequence of notes on my runes, and you have to repeat them back to me." the coordinator explained. "Remember as much as you can." With that, he hit the first three notes of the sequence: <i>Re fi la...</i>

What happens next?