Written by: Granny Pie
Edited by: HeaLnDeaL

CAP Survivor was a forum game played in the CAP Metagame Subforum during early 2017. The basic premise follows the plot of the Survivor TV show in which contestants are assigned to tribes, compete in challenges, and form social-based alliances to slowly vote each other off. At the end, the last few players then must convince a jury (comprised of voted-out players that made it far into the game themselves) that they were able to outwit, outplay, and outlast the competition and thus deserve to win the game. Then, the jury votes to declare the winner.

The events depicted here in the CAP Survivor “Episodes” reflect the content of the game that was played by real people on the forums. Much of the dialogue is taken directly from player’s interactions and from their various thoughts that they shared with me throughout the game. To fit the theme of the TV show, some elements were altered to transform the forum-based events of the game to represent rough equivalents as if they were happening on a deserted island, like in the show. By and large, the episodes express what actually happened in the game and have been written to try and mimic the actual feeling on the TV show.

CAP Survivor took the basic approach of Survivor and focused all of the challenges to be related to aspects of the CAP metagame. Challenges typically ranged from CAP tier matches with the occasional twist in banlists to trivia about the CAP metagame or the CAP creation process.

The Create-A-Pokemon Project is a forum based community that invites users across Smogon to help create and play with new competitive Pokemon. The CAP Metagame is made up of all previously created CAPs and any Pokemon created by GameFreak that is available in the OU format.


CAP Survivor Episode 1: Let Me Leave, Damnit


The beginning ship scene will try to briefly explain a number of contestant’s relationship to CAP. Being CAP survivor, many of the contestants know each other and this ship scene info hopefully will share some of the basic thoughts known by the contestants… It’s essentially just giving context to the players’ relationships towards one another at the time when they were all just entering the game. Many CAPpers unavoidably knew each other.

Upon a small cruise ship, 18 people congregated on deck, peering out over the horizon before them. The midday sun scorched down but the ocean breeze and the speed of the ship kept the passengers comfortable. A looming island with a tall mountain grew ever closer and nerves were starting to set in. Cameras were set up at various angles on deck and the passengers were still getting used to the fact that their actions would be recorded almost every step of the way.

The group was a motley collection of CAPpers and even a few general Pokemon players in search of the excitement that only a new challenge could offer. Eyes wandered as potential tribe configurations were played out… The group contained a good mixture of experienced leaders and people new to the CAP scene.

Among the group, four leaders stood out in particular. Reachzero was perhaps the most grizzled veteran of the group, having been the Topic Leader of the creation of Tomohawk. However, he had taken a long absence since his most active days of fame. He had only returned to CAP a few weeks earlier and many of the newer players were finding it difficult to get a good vibe on him. He had the experience, but everything he had done was so long ago it was as if they were reading a history book when gazing upon his accomplishments.

Reachzero: I’m here to play and prove that I still am a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield.

DarkSlay held a similar story of mystery; he had been an extremely active CAPper who abruptly left for a few years and had only returned a few months ago. He had been the elected TL for creation of Plasmanta, a CAP much more recent than Tomohawk, allowing the majority of the current CAPpers to share familiarity with him. However, right after Plasmanta’s concept assessment, he vanished, necessitating someone else to step up to the plate and finish it for him. Certainly his absence during the middle of a project left a bad taste in some CAPpers’ mouths, but he had returned to CAP for a number of months now and was in the process of mending fences and fixing relationships. He had become more active in the CAP metagame than he had maybe even ever been before, earning himself Room Driver.

DarkSlay: I’m excited to see how the tribes shake things up and I look forward to working with my teammates.

Standing awkwardly near DarkSlay was a silent young man named jas61292. He seemed to be fidgeting consistently as he eyed over the competition, never quite sure of his place in the whole ordeal. He tried relaxing by leaning his elbow on a barrel on the ship but he could just never quite stay still for more than a few moments. There was a young woman standing a few paces away that seemed to be the source of his discomfort.

jas had been the only person in CAP history to TL two projects; Malaconda and Crucibelle. He was an active Room Owner and played the metagame fairly frequently. His social positioning however was a bit unusual for someone with as much experience as himself. When in the CAP room, he was almost always all business and hadn’t developed many clusters of friends among the other contestants. He knew he would have to make connections with new people if he had any chance of getting it far in the game.

jas61292: I fear going into this that there are a lot of newer players that I just don’t know very well. I’m a big survivor fan and I worry that my accomplishments with CAP will put a target on my back, so I recognize that I need to start out early by building up a strong social game… I just have no idea how I would build a social game with a girl… I have almost zero experience talking to girls… Well, I have little experience talking to most people, actually, but girls are a… particularly challenging subset.

cbrevan was certainly the youngest and newest of the four visible leaders, but his accomplishments were still significant. He had recently been promoted to Room Owner and after the original TL left during the middle of Kerfluffle’s creation, cbrevan had stepped it up and took over the leadership duties. He was widely considered one of the best players in the CAP metagame but he had rarely participated in tournaments up to this point and had little opportunity to prove his skill. Unlike jas, he was friendly with the CAP room and thus could see a number of very clear potential allies on the ship with him.

cbrevan: I’m just here to play some CAP and have some fun. It seems like there’s a handful of much more serious Survivor fans than myself but I’ll find a way to manage through the game.

The ship grew ever closer to the mountainous island and it was only a matter of minutes before it slowly eased into the dock. The camera crew signaled for the contestants to head out to the beach, where they noticed a lone figure standing.

“Hello CAPpers!” HeaLnDeaL boomed out. “Welcome to CAP Survivor, a competition that will test 19 players and their wit, fortitude, and commitment over the course of the next 39 days. To start the game off, we will be dividing you up into three tribes.”

cbrevan: Hmm? HeaLnDeaL said 19 players, but there’s only 18 here… did he misspeak or is there something else going on?

The contestants were still shuffling off the boat, but HeaLnDeaL seemed to be wasting no time as he continued. “TraceOfLife, LucarioOfLegends, Galvantula Tank, PenQuin, Kyubics, and reachzero; you will be on the Tomo Tribe.”

The group of young men slowly found themselves as they spilled out onto the beach. Reachzero tried to give them a one over as he eyed his group.

Reachzero: I know next to nothing about my tribemates… I have no idea how things are going to go at this point.

TraceOfLife: I’m a huge Survivor fan and I’m thankful to get another chance to play after I didn’t make it as far as I wanted to in Circus Survivor Season 1. I’m definitely nervous because everyone on my tribe seems to be much more involved in CAP than I am. However, I am kind of relieved I ended up being on reachzero's tribe. I know for a fact he’s a very good player. I wouldn't try getting on his bad side at all, and if he’s not targeted early on then I would like to work with him.

Galvantula Tank: So I vaguely know who reachzero is from his past, and it does make me feel safe to be on his tribe. However, I think I want to work more closely with PenQuin since I have more of a history with him. Everyone else on my tribe? I really just don’t know who they are.

After he saw that the Tomo Tribe had assembled its members into a rough cluster on the beach, HeaLnDeaL moved on. “snake_rattler, Okamu, Frat Dude, Marjane, Granny Pie, and jas61292… You will form the Mala Tribe!”

Snake_rattler: I think I have a pretty good tribe and I seem to be in a pretty good place within my tribe at that. I think Fratty, jas, and myself can form a solid alliance of skilled players. I don’t think I’m the biggest threat and I’m far from dead weight in battle challenges, so I’m feeling pretty comfortable.

The group of five guys and the lone girl congregated on their portion of the beach. Immediately Frat Dude began jumping up, patting snake_rattler on the shoulders and even tried to give him a noogie. Marjane, the young woman, seemed to eye the rambunctious activity from a distance.

Frat Dude: This is going to be a party! I got my bro snakey and it’s not like jas is going to lose a challenge. I don’t know who these other kids are but oh well doesn’t matter when we’re on fire as a tribe!

Marjane: Some of these guys seem a bit… much. I think I’m going to just keep a little bit of buffer space and look for an opening down the road to integrate myself into the tribe.

“And the last tribe will consist of the remaining six of you here.” HeaLnDeaL said. “Snorlax in the way, Broken Phobias, Sundar, GreenGogoatttt, cbrevan, and DarkSlay… you will be on the Plasma Tribe.”

Broken Phobias: My tribe is more or less really nice. I love Plasmanta and it is my favorite Pokemon so it is nice to have it as my tribe mascot. I think we have a great shot at winning this whole thing. That said, of course I am afraid that everyone thinks I am the weakest link when it comes to battling. I’ll have to find someone to partner with early to make sure I’m not the first one to go.

GreenGogoatttt: I can’t wait for the challenges with my tribe! We're gonna win because I’m on the team and I’m gonna try hard and build and test and win. Simple as that.

Within a matter of seconds, the Plasma Tribe assembled and began jostling around as a group. DarkSlay jokingly rest his arm on cbrevan’s head, who was clearly the shortest member of the tribe, while Broken Phobias and Sundar began to whisper about the girl on the Mala Tribe.

“As you can probably tell,” HeaLnDeaL said, “the tribes have been organized roughly based on three CAPmons and the Topic Leaders of the respective CAPs are on their corresponding tribes. Reachzero led Tomohawk’s creation and will now have the option to lead the Tomo Tribe to victory. jas was the man behind Malaconda and now he represents the Mala Tribe. And Darkslay was Plasmanta’s first TL, and I bet most of us hope that he sticks around longer in CAP Survivor than he did with CAP19.”

Pulling out a bundle of parchment, HeaLnDeaL began walking around and giving a map to each of the tribes. “With your map, you will be able to find where your tribal camp is. You will start out with next to nothing; only a bag of rice and a few buckets or pots for water. Making shelter and securing food will be imperative to setting yourselves up to do well in the coming challenges. Good luck everyone, and I’ll see you all later.

The tribes began unrolling their maps and after some excited chatter, they were on their way onto the adventure of a lifetime.

--- Plasma Tribe ---

“High-hoh, it’s off to camp we go!” GreenGogoatttt chanted as he led the Plasma Tribe, carrying the parchment map but barely referring to it. Though there were occasionally spots of smooth sanded beach areas across the terrain, most of the land was covered with rough rocks, abrasive to the touch.

“Hey, look over there!” Snorlax in the way shouted, spotting a large alcove in the rocks, creating a beautiful beach spot with about 100 yards of oceanfront. “That looks like a perfect campsite!”

cbrevan eyed the location but then crouched down to gaze at the map held loosely in GreenGogoatttt’s hand. “Hmm… I think the map is saying the campsite is just a bit further down. We’re not there quite yet.”

“Butbutbut… this is so cool!” Snorlax in the way exclaimed.

“Look around, Snorlax. There’s no trees or anything nearby,” GreenGogoattt pointed out. “We couldn’t make a campsite here even if we wanted to. It would take waaaay too much work to haul so many materials down here.”

“But DarkSlay, don’t you want to be on the beach too?” Snorlax in the way asked, his eyes pleading for DarkSlay’s approval.

DarkSlay gazed at the spot for a moment. “Hmm… let’s just follow the map a bit longer. We’re almost at the real spot, right?”

“Yeah, I don’t think we’re that far away,” Broken Phobias stated, having taken the map right from GreenGogoatttt’s hands. “Maybe fifteen more minutes and we’ll be there? Something like that.”

Trudging on without even the map, GreenGogoatttt giddily skipped through the sand and was almost past the beach site before Sundar began to reluctantly follow him. Broken Phobias sprinted to catch up, flailing around the map and trying to make sure that GreenGogoatttt was actually going the right direction.

DarkSlay glanced at cbrevan, who glanced back before looking at Snorlax in the way.

“I think we better get going before we lose the rest of the group,” DarkSlay meekly said before turning his back and jogging to catch up with the others.

“I don’t wanna go, cbrevan. That dumb goat thinks he can just take charge like that?” Snorlax in the way pouted.

cbrevan paused for a bit, his body standing sideways and his head turning back at forth to look at Snorlax in the way and the rest of the Plasma Tribe. “I don’t think it’s quite like that, Snorlax… He’s just following a map. Come on, let’s just follow them for now. Who knows, maybe the real campsite will be just as cool as this.”

cbrevan waved his hand back, motioning for his tribemate to follow him. And slowly, the two began to catch up with the rest of the group.

--- Mala Camp ---

The six Malas walked into their camp, discovering a roughly 20 by 20 foot clearing in the forest about 100 yards away from the beach. Palm trees and bamboo stalks were plentiful, but coconuts seemed to be a rare sight.

“So uhh how about we briefly introduce ourselves before we get started?” jas61292 suggested. His eyes darted between the group as he tried his best to avoid direct eye contact with Marjane.

“Sure, I can go first I guess,” snake_rattler volunteered. “I’m snake, I’ve been in CAP for a few years now. I like to build Trick Room teams but I’m up for almost anything really. I, umm, can also bestow my snakey powers to our snake-themed tribal mascot.”

“Hey all, I’m Fratty and I’m a student and yes I am part of a fraternity and yes it is super dope,” Frat Dude said. “I just want to say that I’m really glad I’m on this tribe and I think we’re going to run through the competition on auto-pilot. Our tribe is STACKED!”

There was a brief pause in the conversation and to break the awkward silence, jas opened his mouth and began his first sentence… but right on cue, Marjane attempted to speak at the same time. For a moment they just looked at each other, trying to gauge who should go first. jas’s face was growing redder by the second.

“First… you… err, I mean, you can go first… sorry,” jas barely seemed to choke out.

“Oh, thanks,” Marjane replied. “My name is Marjane and I just joined CAP a few weeks ago. I’m super excited about the community and I hope this little adventure will help me get closer to everyone and will help me learn about the metagame.”

“And, umm, I’m, umm, jas61292,” jas said, trying to collect himself. “Hello Everyone. You guys probably know me as a forum moderator and a Room Owner for CAP. It’s probably also know that I’m a survivor fan, so when I saw the opening I just decided to go for it and try out.”

“Like Marjane, I’ve been a part of CAP only for a short while,” Granny Pie said. “This is definitely the biggest thing I’ve been a part of and I look forward to being a team player and to help out in whatever way I can.”

“So that leaves me, huh?” Okamu said, looking out at the ten eyeballs gazing at him. “Well, I guess like jas I’m a fan of survivor. I’m really completely brand new to CAP. I’m getting good, cheery vibes from this group and I’m glad to be part of it. So, umm, should we get started building up camp?”

It took only a few moments for the labor to be divided between the tribe. jas was hoisting Fratty up so that he could climb a few palm trees and gather leaves, tossing them down to Marjane who began weaving them together to make a makeshift tarp. Okamu and Granny Pie began chopping down bamboo and inserting pieces into the ground to make the framework for the shelter. Meanwhile, snake_rattler was going around talking to all the snakes in the area and making sure they’d stay away from camp at night.

Marjane: So while I do feel weird at times about being the only girl here, in the end I don’t think it really matters that much. I think snake_rattler and Fratty seem pretty close and I don’t know if I can infiltrate their pairing at this point. Overall, the camp seems really laid back and no one’s talking game yet… Surely this will change at some point, so I’ll just sit back and observe from a distance. So far, I think Okamu and Granny Pie are the most similar players to me. But I can’t help noticing how jas doesn’t really socialize that much with the other veterans on the tribe… And you know what? I kinda think both Okamu and jas are cute in their own… unique, nerdy ways.

--- Tomo Camp ---

With map in hand, reachzero led the Tomo Tribe along a narrow path that cut through lush forest vegetation. Galvantula briefly winced as he accidentally scraped his arm against a thorny vine but he remained quiet and persevered, following at the rear of the single file line. The sun was inching westward and it felt like the group had been walking for almost an hour.

Finally, the dense plant growth dissipated and the tribe found themselves in a large clearing with a water well just barely visible behind a small fence. There was a vague pile of rocks in the clearing with a bag of rice on the top while a couple of black metal cooking pots and a few axes were strewn about across the damp forest floor. Other than that, the only resources around were the plants.

“Well, so much for living on the beach,” TraceOfLife said, registering somewhere between sarcasm and grumbling.

After an awkward moment of silence, reachzero decided to silently take charge. After grabbing an axe, he walked over to a gather of the smallest trees he could find and began swinging with powerful blows.

Kyubics and PenQuin each grabbed one of the two remaining axes and began helping reachzero. Slowly, a silent assembling line began where reachzero and PenQuin would cut down logs while LucarioOfLegends, TraceOfLife, and Galvantula Tank would drag them into the clearing while Kyubics would refine the cuts so that the logs could be assembled together. After eventually finding some vines to bind the logs, the group was well on their way to finishing their shelter before sunset.

Kyubics: I've wanted to get more involved in CAP for a while, and I saw this experience as an opportunity to get to know more people involved in the project. So... I went for it! First impressions of my team were good, we have a good mix of more and less experienced players and there's no one that I don't get on with especially well. I look forward to getting to know them a little better, for how long though, I don't know. I know it sounds a little cliché but my goal is honestly to make it through the first round and after that is bonus, really.

LucarioOfLegends: This camp is so quiet, but in a way it’s sort of peaceful.

PenQuin: Well, after only a few hours we managed to build a really sturdy shelter, decked out with a full back wall and a roof covered in leaves. We even made a firepit with some of the rocks, but the area is just a bit too damp and we failed to make a fire… Overall, we’re really not talking much and it’s very hard for me to get a read on this tribe.

--- Plasma Camp ---

“So this is our campsite?” Snorlax asked incredulously.

The Plasma Tribe eyed over the spot that their map had led them to. They had to traverse through a small maze of craggy rocks to get to it, but now they were standing in front of a rather large cave. A small bag of rice was sitting near the entrance. Towards the middle, a large hole in the cave ceiling gave the impact of a skylight or oculus, but the light never quite reached the edges of the cave, which looked dark and maybe even a bit wet. About a hundred feet behind the cave was a gentle incline that led to a sparse forest.

“Woah, look how cool this is!” Sundar exclaimed. “It’s like we have our own fortress!”

“I mean sure, if you like dark and dumb places…” Snorlax mumbled.

“Alright, does anyone know how to start a fire?” DarkSlay asked, his eyes looking through the hole above him to see a pinkening sky.

“Ooh, lemme try!” GreenGogoatttt volunteered. “Is there any wood nearby or will we have to climb up to the wooded area?”

Broken Phobias looked around and found a few pieces of dry driftwood near the entrance of the cave and some odds and ends here and there. GreenGogoatttt helped him move them to be slightly off center from the cave’s skylight; the ideal spot to protect a campfire from any rain while still allowing the smoke to escape.

The tribe eagerly stared at Green as he vigorously rubbed a stick between the palms of his hands, the rotation creating friction against another stick, which was surrounded by a pile dried bark flakes (scraped from one of the pieces of wood found). It didn’t take long for smoke to form, and then without warning an ember surged forward, eating through the bark. The tribe, minus Snorlax in the way, all cheered and Sundar quickly stepped in to help feed the flames with small pieces of kindling and helped ease the flame to be strong enough to fully take hold.

GreenGogoatttt stood up and took a comical bow. “Thank you, thank you… I hereby dub this campsite the Anime Lovers Hangout!” Taking a charred end of a stick, he walked over to the cave wall and drew a crude anime girl. He started to write the words “best waifu” next to it, but then suddenly stopped and used his shirt sleeve to erase it.

After some brief discussion, DarkSlay, GreenGogoatttt, and cbrevan decided to head up to the woods to scrounge around for some more wood before it got too dark. Sundar and Broken Phobias went out in search for a water well, leaving Snorlax in the way to stay and watch the fire.

The five others returned at roughly the same time. The fire was still gently blazing, but Snorlax was not to be seen at all, though the bag or rice was opened and a small portion was missing.

cbrevan briefly face palmed. “Ugh, he must have went back to the beach site…”

--- Beach Site near Plasma Camp ---

Angrily marching through the rocks, Snorlax in the way finally spotted the wonderful beach alcove that he so cherished.

Snorlax in the way: Ugh, that dang goat makes me so mad. He thinks he can just march in here and take charge of the tribe and decide where we sleep? Well, I don’t want nothing of that. I got some rice in my belly and I’ll sleep by myself on the beach. That cave is so hard and gross, the sand over here is so great. I’ll show them…
Snorlax then proceeded to pile up the sand and make a makeshift bed, and tried to bury himself a bit into the sand. He lay on his back, just waiting for sleep to come as he stared up at the star filled night sky.

--- Day 2 ---

--- Mala Camp ---
The sun peaked over the horizon and a few rays flickered over Okamu’s face. He was already awake but still held tired eyes as he sat upright on the makeshift shelter, his feet caked in sand and his arms huddled across his torso, trying to recover from the cold night.


Filled with quiet eagerness, Okamu sat up and watched the sun rise through the palm trees and bamboo as the rest of his tribe got up in various states of restlessness, grogginess, or nervousness.

Marjane, laying closest to Okamu, groaned and put her arms over her head in an unwinnable struggle to fend off the day.


Okamu chuckled. “Good morning, Marjane.”


“Nnnnnnneeeeh,” she growled in response, but eventually conceded victory to the sun, and lifted her head.


A stretching snake_rattler approached the two, grinning widley. He gestured over his shoulder with his thumb to the other tribesmen. “I’m glad you two rose pretty well. The others…”


Behind him, Granny Pie laid with his head literally buried in the sand to hide from the sun, jas sat apart from everybody, blinking slowly with a tired stare, and Fratty was sprawled out, snoring.


But the commotion of just a few people was enough to get the whole camp moving. jas61292 rose silently, stealing a look at Marjane while Granny clambered up, muttering incoherently, and Fratty gave one final snore before sitting up.


And so the day began for Mala tribe.

--- Tomo Camp ---

The Tomo day began silently.

Wordlessly, all six members rose. Slow. Steady. Silent. PenQuin’s eyes met with TraceOfLife’s for a split second, prompting an awkward wave that was made a few seconds too late; Trace had already quickly looked away. The tribe lay silent until reachzero spoke up.


With a low, but powerful, voice, a voice made with years of authoritarian practice, reachzero said, “We need to check camp. See if anything changed since last night. HeaL’s supposed to be leaving us messages from the production staff regarding challenges, right?”


TraceOfLife followed reachzero to the beach, as LucarioOfLegends combed the trees with PenQuin and Galvantula Tank searched inside the camp itself with passing glances from Kyubics. Galvantula Tank gave a saddened look at the cold, flameless firepit.

--- Plasma Camp ---

The sun had hardly entered the cave when GreenGogoattt jumped up and yelled, “What a beautiful day to be alive!” Everybody else in the camp was jolted awake with a startle.

cbrevan, used to such outbursts already, smiled acceptingly at Green, and rose onto his feet. “I guess that’s one way to wake up.”

Sundar stretched on his back, looking at the walls and ceiling of the cave as Green moved in his peripherals. He settled back, hands underneath his head, feeling safe for the first time in a while.


DarkSlay and Broken Phobias rose together, close to the mouth of the cave. DarkSlay spoke up. “So what do you guys think is going to happen today? Do you think we’ll get our first challenge yet?”

Nonchalantly, Broken Phobias turned to him and replied, “I hope it’s today. I’d like to get started as soon as possible. Whatever challenge comes, I think we can handle it.”

GreenGogoattt beamed at this statement, spread his hands, and responded to both BP and DS by saying, “Well, let’s see if HeaL left us a challenge letter! Alright, Plas! Let’s go look for that letter! What’s this stuff called in Survivor? Tree Mail?”

cbrevan looked at him and dubiously asked, “How do you know if it’s a letter or not? Or if it’s in a tree?”


Hands still spread, GreenGogoattt replied loudly, “I don’t! Let’s go!”

The Plasmas split up, DarkSlay checking the inside of the cave, Green and cbrevan combing the sparse forest, and Broke Phobias looking around the outside of the cave.

It didn’t take long to find.


“Did I or did I not say it’d be a letter?” GreenGogoattt yelled out. You could hear the smile in his voice as he yelled in triumph. “Heh, it was even at a tree. Come check this, guys!”


Not too far up the incline away from camp, the Plasmas gathered around Green and cbrevan. Standing right behind them was a tree surrounded by wooden benches, selectively painted with violet and yellow circles. Sitting on one of the benches was a red Shiba Inu wearing a satchel on its back with a letter sticking out.

--- Mala Camp ---

“It’s… It’s a shib,” jas61292 said, rubbing his forehead in disappointment. “Really? A mail carrying shib? HeaLnDeaL just had to throw that in there, didn’t he? This doesn’t even make sense. Shiba Inus have nothing to do with CAP or with Survivor…”

The Shiba Inu gave jas a very unamused look with its squinted eyes.


“How’d you find it?” asked Okamu.


Snake_rattler beamed. “The snakes showed me where it was!”


Fratty and jas looked at him with cocked heads and flat expressions, and he just stared back incredulous.


“What? They did!”

--- Tomo Camp ---

A little disappointed to have to be the one to break the calm, LucarioOfLegends called out to the rest of his tribe.


“Hey, guys? PenQuin and I found something. You might wanna check it out.”


reachzero came over, his gaze completely uninterested in the small dog as he immediately grabbed the letter and opened it. Kyubics stood over his shoulder and read it out loud.

“Hello, contestants.

Welcome to CAP Survivor. Your first night is over, and your second day has begun. Tomorrow will be the day for your first challenge and Tribal Immunity will be on the line. Win the challenge and you and your tribe will be safe from Tribal Council.


For your first challenge, each of you will have two CAP metagame battles, facing one member from each of the opposing tribes. Tapu Lele and Genesect will be banned from this challenge.


You will each pick a number between one and six, and you will be pitted against the members of the other tribes who picked the same number. Each win will count as a point for your tribe, and the tribe with the most points will win the challenge. Lose the challenge and you will have a date with HeaLnDeaL (oohlala, so romantic, such wow, much jealousy) at Tribal Council.


You all have one day to prepare, as the battles take place tomorrow. Ready yourselves. The game is only just beginning and CAP Island will have many surprises in store for you.

Good Luck,

Mail Shib”

--- Plasma Camp ---

“Why couldn’t it have been Art2D2?” Sundar asked. “You know, since he has a mail command and is actually a part of the CAP room…”

The Shiba Inu narrowed its eyes at the practically blasphemous comment.

“HeaL just loves his shibs,” cbrevan shrugged, not caring one way or the other.

Broken Phobias spoke up immediately. “I’ll go tell Snorlax what’s up.”


“You don’t have to,” GreenGogoattt replied, looking up from the letter in cbrevan’s hands. “He doesn’t want to be a part of this anyway.”

Broken Phobias looked down, and said softly, “Maybe, but he’s still our team, and we owe him this much.”

“Green, I think you and I should go see Snorlax,” cbrevan suggested. “We gotta at least try to clear the air.”

The Mail Shib wagged its tail and stared at cbrevan, who caringly gave it a pat on the head. Green sighed and together he and cbrevan trudged towards their separated tribesman.

--- Beach Site near Plasma Camp ---

Snorlax in the way had fallen asleep to the sound of lapping waves, and woke to much of the same. Halfway buried in the sand, the morning sun spread warmth across his body. “This is surprisingly comfortable,” he muttered to himself. “They don’t know what they’re missing.”


With a long sigh and a stretch of his arms, Snorlax sat up, sand falling off him in large, moist clumps. He gazed upon the sun rising in front and slightly above him, content to just bask in the warmth.


Irritatingly, that peace didn’t last long. Snorlax caught sight of two figures approaching him. As they slowly walked towards him, he was able to identify them as Green and cbrevan.


“Hey, Snorlax in the way. Good to see you’re up,” cbrevan said, gently waving with an apprehensive smile.


Snorlax let out another long sigh, and turned his upper body around, his lower body still buried in the sand. “Yeah, great. What do you guys want?”


Green stayed eerily silent.


“We just got some Shib Mail…” cbrevan replied, taken aback. “It looks like for our first challenge each of us will be fighting someone else from both of the opposing tribes. We’re supposed to each to pick a number between one and six to organize who’ll battle who.”


Snorlax snorted and rolled his eyes, turning back around. “Great.”


“So… Do you want to come back to camp with us so that we can work together and practice before the challenge?” GreenGogoatttt asked, crossing his arms and periodically tapping his foot. “It really isn’t that bad of a campsite and I think you’d like it if you gave it a chance.”

Snorlax, turned around one final time and looked in the direction of the campsite. He screwed up his face and said, “Nah. I’ll be fine without you nerds.”


“But. It’s. A. Good. Campsite.” GreenGogoatttt sighed. “Everyone else is using it and it makes communication super easy.”


“Yeah but well, you’re there so I think I’ll pass,” Snorlax replied and shrugged, turning away.

GreenGogoatttt shook his head and with heavy steps began marching back to camp. cbrevan stared at snorlax’s back side before turning around to follow Green. “Good luck Snorlax, we’re really going to need you in this challenge,” he said just as he walked away.

And after a few moments of his tribemates trudging through the sand, Snorlax was all alone again.


--- Tomo Camp ---

PenQuin eyed the few remaining drops of water in his tribe’s bucket and frowned. “Hey can someone please grab me some more water so that I can cook up some rice for us? I’m hopeful we’ll have a fire ready any minute now…”

“Yeah, no problem,” TraceOfLife replied, quickly grabbing the bucket and heading off to the far side of the campsite where the well was. On the way, he passed by reachzero and for a second gently tugged his shirt before continuing on to fetch the water.

At first reach just stood there, not sure what to think of the unusual gesture. But after a few moments of hesitation, something clicked and he began walking towards the well, trailing quite a ways behind Trace.

“Hey, reachzero,” TraceOfLife spoke up once they both reached the well. Reachzero glanced at Trace and regarded him silently, clearly sizing the boy up. Gulping, Trace continued. “Do you want to ally with me for this season? Like, we can work together, and stuff… If you want to.”

Considering the offer, reachzero looked away and slowly said, “Sure… I’m in favor of that. It’s not that meaningful at this stage, but it might be useful for the future.”


Encouraged, TraceOfLife inquired further, “Also do you know some good players from CAP? I want to learn more about it so I don’t get donked early. I’m still relatively new to this type of battling.”

reachzero paused for a bit to think. “Yeah, Jay is really good. Sparktrain is really good. Marjane is reasonably good, but she’s on a different tribe.”

Trace looked at him confusedly. “Heaven Jay?”

“Yeah, him.”

Trace screwed up his face, and commented, “I don’t know why, but I wasn’t really impressed by him. He’s misplayed and choked multiple times against me for no reason.”


reach chuckled “Yeah. That’s understandable. He sometimes can’t read newer players just right.” He turned away to hide a smile and then continued. “You’ll do fine out here.”

“Thanks.”

After their chat was over, Trace promptly filled the bucket with water and returned to PenQuin, who was eagerly waiting. He poured some water in the pot and then turned his head to look at Galvantula Tank and Kyubics committed to working on a fire. In a flash of orange, embers took hold of the dried material that had been scavenged earlier.


It had been almost a day and the Tomo Tribe was eager to finally eat.

PenQuin: As of now, I think the opposing Plasma Tribe is gonna wreck this challenge. I'm fairly scared of Snorlax in the way and Broken Phobias because of their stall teams. But from my tribe I'm really liking GalvantulaTank and TraceOfLife. Especially Trace. He has a lot of good, positive energy, as well as having decent skills. So hopefully we can pull off a few more W's this round. But really, I don’t think we have the strongest battle tribe and that’s making me really nervous.

--- Mala Camp ---

Sitting on a stray log, Okamu looked up from his makeshift notepad made of tree bark. Underneath the charcoal that he had accidentally smudged on his face from holding his blackened writing utensil, a concerned look was firmly planted. His gaze fell upon his other teammates, each in some state of study and preparation.

“Alright, guys, could I have a little help? I made a few adjustments to a team I was making after seeing Lele wouldn't be allowed. If anyone's got some free time, would they mind looking it over for advice? I really don't wanna completely fail this first round.”


jas looked like he was about to speak up, but Marjane swiftly got in the first word, and accidentally silenced the poor man. “Yeah, sure, Okamu! Let me have a look at it!”


Inexplicably blushing as Marjane moved over to sit next to him, Okamu handed her his notepad, which she then looked over, muttering to herself.


She finally spoke up. “It looks pretty solid, Okamu. Do you want to try it out?”


“Uh… Sure! Th-thanks!” Okamu rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, yelling at himself on the inside. Neither of the two noticed jas’s unreadable stare, however, as he watched them both get into position on the beachfront.

Each contestant hurled out their first Pokeball and the two flashes of light indicated the battle’s commencement. Okamu loosened up, and the two contestants kept a constant dialogue, critiquing both teams, and coming up with ideas for the future.

“Oh, haha! Look at that. I kept Solarbeam on my Leftovers Heatran from when he used to be Grassium Z,” Okamu laughed.


At the end, Okamu walked forward and shook Marjane’s hand, them both smiling and laughing as jas looked on, notebook right underneath his eyes, unreadable.

“How about those new kids haha,” snake rattler chuckled.

“Well, that Okamu has a long way to go,” Fratty replied.

Okamu: Well, let's see... Overall I'm just going to guess my odds of winning in challenges is quite low, and by extension I'm not at all going to be surprised if I'm gone by the end of the first Council. Pretty much everyone on my team has more experience than me, and by extension better battling ability. The only real way I see me surviving past the first time we go to council is if I come off as not enough of a threat, and everybody else votes for who they think is a bigger threat. I'm guessing that at the beginning though, strategy probably isn't going to run that deep. I might try to ally with some people, not exactly sure who yet though. That's pretty much how I see the state of things right now.

--- Plasma Camp ---

“Man, Snorlax is such a grumpy smurf for not coming back,” Broken Phobias commented, staring down at his own makeshift notes as he tried to assemble a CAP team together.

“Eh, we shouldn’t let it get to us,” DarkSlay replied. “It’s a bit annoying, but we have a challenge to win either way.”

Broken Phobias reclined on his back and started holding his notes at varying angles above his head as if that would allow him to see the flaws in his Pokemon team. “Hmm… I guess you’re right. I wish we could trade Snorlax for snake_rattler to be honest… but oh well. If we lose, let’s definitely vote out snorlax first.”


“Hey, cbrevan?” Sundar inquired. “Can you check a team that BP helped me to build so that I can use it for my match tomorrow?”

“Sure thing. Lemme see what you got,” cbrevan replied.

Sundar handed him the notepad, and continued “DarkSlay said that it was similar to reachzero’s teams of the past, but then Broken Phobias suggested some mons into the team, sooo…”

As Sundar trailed off, cbrevan nodded. “Wow. This is almost literally his team.”

Sundar cringed, and then backpedaled. “Yeah that’s a problem in my case. I don't want to be accused for stealing, like, the core of his team. Which includes Mollux, MSciz, and Zygarde. Honestly, I just wanted to test out Zygarde. It’s apparently boss.”

cbrevan cocked an eyebrow and looked at Sundar sideways. “The Colo set is bad, but I don’t remember what my good EV spread I made for it is, right now.” He paused. “Run speed creep on the Tomo. Run speed creep on the Colo, too. This isn’t ladder. You speed creep in tournament battles, man, so you can win mirror matches.”

A little confused, Sundar replied “I mean, Tomohawk is at full speed. Due to it being Offensive Hawk, and all.”

cbrevan snorted. “Sure. All zero speed EVs.”

“… Wait, what team did I hand you?” Sundar took the notepad back, and went “Ohhhhh. Oops.”

Chuckling lightly, cbrevan replied, “Yeah, that’s definitely Rocky Tomo.”

Both of them laughting now, Sundar flipped the page to the right team, and they both sat down, writing, erasing (well, as best one could erase with charcoal), and scribbling all over the page.

“Take 16 EVs and put it into Tomo’s speed. He doesn’t need full HP or Defense investment at all.”

“Okay, so this is the spread I got when I added 16 EVs into Colo’s speed.”

“Man, we really need to update Colo’s analyses. These things are a gen old.”

“Honestly, I feel like the team has a major weakness to ice.”

“Dugtrio is nasty. Like, it literally makes people cry.”

“I think that Zygarde and Gren and Ash-Gren will be the mons to beat tomorrow.”

The sun was beginning to set upon the island as Cbrevan and Sundar separated, seeking to get some shut-eye for tomorrow’s challenge.

And so the second night fell upon CAP Island.

Broken Phobias: Snorlax, cbrevan, DarkSlay, and I are all skilled. I don’t know about Sundar, though. I’ve never watched him play… I feel like Laxy and I will make a great team if we end up teaming up, but of course it’s fun to make people think that I don’t like him. And if we do end up losing this challenge, I’m voting cbrevan off. I think he’s the biggest threat, at the moment.

--- Beach Site Near Plasma Camp---

Snorlax was buried in sand once more but this time with an empty stomach, looking up at the starred sky. “Wow,” he thought. “Almost makes you forget about how much everyone else sucks.”

But sadly, reality came jarring back to Snorlax as a lone figure walked towards him in the sand, his features obscured in the shadows but his presence palpable.


“Goddammit, I just want some sleep! Who are you and what do you want?”

“Y’know, your tribe’s camp is up there.”

“Yeah? Well, I wanted to camp down here.”

“I think you should connect with your teammates. ”

“Nope.”


“Well, it’s not my fault if your tribe eliminates you then. The production crew sent me down here to make sure you were alright, but I guess you are… So I guess I’ll be leaving, have a good night.”

Snorlax sat up. “Wait, is that HeaLnDeaL? Well, I’ll blame you for my elimination, and you know it. Don’t piss me off. Gogoattt’s a rude little shit anyway.” He huffed. “I refuse to play.”

HeaL looked on, saddened and a little disappointed. “I think you’ll go far with just a little positive communication.”

“I’ve already made my choice.”

HeaL sighed. “Look, I can’t force you to communicate with your tribe if you don’t want to.”

But Snorlax continued over him. “If Gogoattt’s gonna be so gung-ho about it being his way then I… I just would just like to be removed.” Snorlax turned to HeaL. “Let me leave, damnit.”


HeaLnDeaL cocked his head. “Do you really want to leave or are you just pouting because you don’t like GreenGogoatttt?”


“Why would I care about that kid?” Snorlax replied, running his hand across his brow.

“Do you really want to leave?” HeaLnDeaL repeated.

“I… I don’t know. But I don’t want to hang out around GreenGogoatttt. So I’m drawing the line there. And if he wants to draw lines in the sand too, then so be it.” He continued. “I’ll just let him have his castle, and I’ll leave. With no real way to communicate with my team, I’m the weak link to vote off. If you can’t communicate, you are a detriment to the team winning, plain and simple. And I don’t want to get voted out first.”


“Well, I'm not saying you won't get voted out first, but this is a game that can change on a dime,” HeaLnDeaL replied. “If you really want to leave then I won’t stop you, but I’m getting the vibe that you’re just momentarily frustrated and you want an opportunity to overcome your bad start. And I’m trying to tell you that you won’t ever get that opportunity unless you trudge onward in this game.”


Snorlax sighed, defeated, and returned his gaze back to the starlit sky. “I mean, my spirit is kinda crushed. I really wish the others would have set up camp here so that we weren’t in some gross cave. But I’ll continue.” He settled back down into the sand. “I’ve made up my mind honestly, but, that doesn't mean it can’t change, I guess.”


“Great words of wisdom right there,” HeaLnDeaL said, almost sarcastically. He let out a sigh of relief. “I’m quite tired after all of that. I think I’ll take my leave now. Don’t get too lonely out here by yourself.”


And once more, the lone Snorlax gazed up at the night sky, so full of stars.