"Hey guys! Do you want to play this new card game I've found?" May called out to Drew, Solidad and Harley. They were currently having a picnic as coordinators. After all, it pays off to bond as coordinators once in a while.

"What game?" Drew asks as he continued to brush the fur of his newly-hatched vulpix that was currently sleeping on his lap. Not once looking up at the excited coordinator shaking a box of cards.

"It's a game called exploding littens! I've found it in my house storage when I last went home. It looks interesting so I thought I'll bring it along. In fact, I've also gotten an extension pack called imploding Littens!

"Do you even know how to play it sugar cookie?" Harley teased, earning a glare from Drew.

"No... but I wanted to learn how to play it with you guys!"

"Can you pass the instruction booklet May? I want to learn the rules." Solidad asked politely.

"Sure!"

As Solidad unfolded the instruction booklet, May realized how Solidad seemed shocked as she read the first few lines. About a second later, she started laughing, earning her looks from the three other coordinators.

"What's up Solidad?" Drew frowned slightly, looking at her amused expression.

Without speaking, Solidad pointed at the instruction booklet.

(Author's note: Yes. I know that it's a terrible edit that I've made but I can't help it.)

"I'm definitely reading these instructions!" Solidad continued chuckling as she started on the real instructions, the other coordinators now interested and crowding around her.

(Another note: Yep. I'm terrible at edits (I'm sure I missed out some kittens). As these rules are slightly different from the ones that I have at home, I replaced the original rule 2 with the litten above. Before anyone asks, this is a real game with its actual name being exploding kittens.)
———————

"Wow. That's some intense game. What's on the other side?" Drew asks, apparently having read the rules over Solidad's shoulder.

"I'll flip it over!" May answers, flipping over the instruction sheet.

"Now... let's read the extension pack's instructions." Solidad unfolded another piece of paper.

I'm definitely going to screw May! Harley thought to himself as the rest finished up the rules. And I know just where to start...
——————

The coordinators took their places, each one ready to explode the other three.

May started off by putting down two harry potato mews, meaning that she gets to steal a card from any random player.

"I choose you! Harley!" She pointed a finger at him, causing him to pull back dramatically.

"Who? Me?"

"Yes you!"

"Couldn't be!"

"There's only one Harley here!"

Groaning, Harley fanned out his cards. May ran her fingers through them and randomly picked one of them.

Looking at the card, May squealed in delight as Harley looked down in defeat.

"Looks like someone got Harley's defuse." Drew chuckled. "He seems as though he could explode any minute!"

"I'm not a litten!" Harley folded his arms. "She was just lucky!"

May picked up her card from the draw pile to end her turn. "Phew. It's not a litten." She sighed in relief.

Harley decided to play a "see the future card" that allows him to see the top three cards of the deck. "Hmmm... there's some sort of Lurantis on this card..." he pointed out the pattern on the see the future card before viewing the deck.

To his dismay, he sees that the card that he was about to pick up was an exploding litten.

"Curse my luck..." he muttered softly.

"What was that?" Solidad overheard the conversation.

"Nothing!" Harley played a favor card. "Favor from you May!"

"Ok!" May handed Harley a glamemelon card that was useless to him as he didn't have another to play alongside.

"Ok then. Reverse!" Harley reversed the order of play and skipped his turn. Meaning that it was now May's turn.

"Nope! I won the nopebel peace price!" Drew slapped down a nope card, putting the reverse out of action. He fist bumped May, leaving Harley silently shipping them even as he was about to be exploded.

"Targeted attack using some kind of Pangoro! Drew!" Harley dumped a targeted attack on Drew, meaning that it was now his turn.

"Nope again! I'm using a nope ninjask!" May slammed down her card this time and the duel fist-bumped once more.

Right now, Harley only has left a glamemelon, a draw from the bottom, and a taco meowth. To make things worse for him, the taco meowth and glamemelon had no use in the game individually.

"Draw from the bottom, release fireworks from your underpants?" He put down his last hope, making everyone laugh at the graphics on the card. After all, each card in the deck was unique... minus the cat cards of course. Picking up the bottom card, Harley was dismayed to find out that it was also an exploding litten. He threw down his cards to signify that he has exploded, earning more laughter from the other three coordinators.

"You had to take my defuse, didn't you?! I'll be back in the next game May!"

"Harley, it's just a game." Solidad calmed him down. "Shuffle! Using some weird tornado storm!" She called out. Shuffling the deck so that the exploding litten at the top got lost somewhere in the deck of cards. She picked her card, ending her turn.

"May I have a favor, Solidad?" Drew put down his favor card. It spotted a few pachirisu giving someone a peanut butter belly rub?

"Sorry but nope!" Solidad put down another nope card. This time, it had some sort of fat, weird, bouncing creature on it. Shrugging, Drew picked up a card from the draw deck and started grinning.

"What's that Drew?" May questions Drew's suspicious behavior.

"Nothing!"

Deciding not to play any cards, May picked up her card to find out that it was an imploding litten.

"Oops! I activated a bomb!" Turning the card the right-side-up, she put the newly activated bomb back into the deck. Specifically, at the very top.

"May!" Solidad shook her head. She knew that if she picked up the imploding litten card the right-side-up, not even a defuse could safe her.

Putting down another shuffle card, she shuffled the imploding litten back into the deck. She picked up her card only to find herself holding an exploding litten.

"Urgh. Defuse! Via catnip sandwiches!" She discarded her defuse, placing the exploding kitten at the bottom of the deck.
——————

It was a long and intense game. Soon, Solidad found herself imploded out of the game while May and Drew started attacking, reversing and skipping to all their worth. The draw pile now only spotted one card, the last exploding litten itself.

"Five different cards!" Drew called out, putting a glamemelon, a harry potato mew, a beard Persian, a taco meowth and a feral skitty and exchanging it an already used defuse. It was an advanced move, to say the least. One that most would not do in their first game. He put down his last skip card, waiting for May to counter him.

"Skip as well"

Drew put down the defuse he got from the five card combo.

"Defuse using catnip sandwiches!"

Having only two defuses and three different cat cards, May put down the defuse she stole from Harley as a last resort.

"Defuse using laser beams!"

"Defuse using yoga classes?" Drew dumped down other defuse.

"Defuse using belly rubs!" May countered using her own original and last defuse.

"Defuse using farts!" Drew dumped down his last card.

"I've exploded!" May tossed her unused cards onto the discard pile. "Where did you get that extra defuse?"

"Easy. I drew it by luck." He winked at May.

"That was intense." Solidad remarked.

"Yea! Let's play it again!" May exclaimed as the group got ready for another game.

———————
Honestly, this is my favorite short story so far...

So... who here actually plays exploding kittens?

I personally do and it's a lot of fun! :)

Who here enjoys seeing the group of coordinators playing the Pokémon version of the game? Only me? Ok...

Here's the original box set:

Also, I would like to credit whoever who posted the pictures that I used and edited in this chapter.