Survivor: Dewford Islands

by Gomamon

Sixteen castaways are about to begin an adventure of a lifetime. For thirty nine days, they will be stranded on the islands of Dewford with a minimal of protection and assistance against the harsh environment. Who will be the Sole Survivor?

10. Episode 10: Hopeless

Survivor: Dewford Islands
By: Gomamon

Last Time on Survivor:

After Cassidy was voted off, Drew and Casey find themselves on the chopping block. At the reward challenge, Drew wins an item that could propel him to win immunity the next day. Despite having confirmation from James that Casey was the next target, Drew spent the entire night practicing a Rubik's Cube puzzle, hoping that he would excel at the immunity challenge. Unfortunately, Casey emerges as a dark horse in the challenge and wins her first individual immunity at her most desperate time.

JP quickly accepts Drew and Casey into his alliance, although they both doubt the sincerity of his offer. Furthermore, he lies to May about her safety in order to secure her vote. An enraged Drew feels used and turns to the Gorebyss alliance for help. He promises to protect Gorebyss by forcing a tie at tribal council against JP. When the tie occurs during the first round of tribal council, May realizes that JP has lied to her. She switches her vote, thus getting JP voted off in a 4 to 2 vote. Seven remain, who will be voted off next?

Episode Ten: Hopeless

Clamperl: CASEY – DREW – JAMES – MAY – RIKA – TAKUYA – TK

- - -

DAY 28

Hope was an important attribute in the game of Survivor; nobody understood this more than TK Takaishi.

Voting in the minority was never a pleasant indication of a player's status. As soon as JP's name appeared on the final parchment last night, TK realized that there had been a shift in power once again. The game was constantly changing, with allegiances crumbling as quickly as they were formed. Although it pained him to watch his dearest friend depart, TK knew his Survivor experience was not over yet. He could sense there was a crack somewhere in the dynamics of the Clamperl tribe, which he would not be afraid to exploit in order to get back in the game. But until he found that hidden splinter, TK must remind himself to never lose hope.

TK: I think it's too easy to feel discouraged in this game. Doom is only inevitable because we believe we can't defeat the odds against us. We need to remember that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. No matter how difficult a problem is, there will always be a solution.

The handsome blonde smiled faintly at the cameras. Being the carrier of the crest of hope, he constantly maintained an optimistic and positive outlook in life.

TK: All we need is to have hope, and a light will eventually guide us out of our hardships.

Looking up at the murky sky this morning, TK realized that it would be difficult to search for his vague definition of 'light' under this hazy weather. Judging from the thick sheet of grey clouds accumulating in the sky, a heavy rainfall was soon expected. Even the Survivor gods seemed to be frowning on his fortune, removing the chance for TK to enjoy the island glory as he retrieved treemail in a pessimistic greyness. Fortunately, TK found a bright source of light and optimism to accompany him today. And she came in the form of a spunky little girl.

"Yeeeeeaaahhh! I'm so stoked about the reward challenge!" Casey shouted. She grinned enthusiastically at the handsome blonde. "What do you think the reward will be, TK?" She gasped and clasped her hands together. "Please let us win some food! Please, please, please!"

"I think the reward challenge might get cancelled today. It looks like it's going to rain," said TK.

"Oh. That sucks." Casey muttered, sounding slightly disappointed. She cast a quick glance at the darkening sky before turning her face towards TK again. "Hey, are you feeling okay, TK? You don't seem like your usual self…"

"I…I miss being around JP's presence, that's all." TK replied.

"I know. I know how you feel." Casey smiled sympathetically at the blonde. She was no stranger to losing close friends in the process of this game. She shook her head quickly to rid herself of any burdening memories arising. "Yeah, it's so quiet everywhere! It's kind of spooky. The whole camp just seems less lively without JP around, you know what I mean?"

TK nodded his head. He kicked a small rock on the ground with his right foot. It bounced a few times on the sandy ground before it flopped into the rapid river.

"I'm also worried that I'll become the next target at tribal council." TK admitted.

"Hey, don't worry about it. After last night, I'm proud to say that I've voted for the wrong person in tribal council...twice!" Casey chuckled, forming a victory sign with her hand (which could also be interpreted as the number two). "I'm so out of the loop that I am the loop!"

"I take it that you didn't vote for JP last night?" TK asked. Casey shook her head in response. "Then, it has to be Drew and May who betrayed us."

"I knew it! Drew is a weasel!" Casey shouted, snapping her fingers. "And May isn't any better.'

"They're both playing the game very hard." TK nodded.

TK and Casey arrived at the mailbox by the large tree. Usually, there was a Wingull perched on a tree branch with a scroll attached to its beak. Today, there was nothing waiting for them there. The reward challenge was obviously cancelled, at least for today. TK shrugged his shoulders at Casey and they both turned around, walking back in the direction of their camp.

"You know what I like about you, TK? You're a really loyal guy." Casey said. "I'm grateful that you haven't started campaigning against me…" She paused. In a softer tone of voice, she added the word 'yet' to the end of her sentence.

"Thanks, Casey. That means a lot to me." TK said. He flashed a genuine smile at the petite baseball lover.

"You're so different from Drew." Casey added. She scrunched up her nose to display her dissatisfaction. "I thought we were in an alliance together, but he dumped me faster than a hot potato. So much for his allegiance!"

Casey: When a person is in danger, that's when you see that person for who they really are. Drew wouldn't even look at me straight in the eye a few days ago. He wanted absolutely nothing to do with me! I'm pretty sure he was campaigning against me too. That guy is such a weasel! Compare him to TK, who has been upfront with me this whole time. And I respect that a lot. He's a class act.

Casey smiled in approval. The dimple on her cheeks was very prominent to the cameras.

Casey: Drew can tell me whatever I want to hear when we're in power together, but the moment the power is gone, so is his loyalty. That tells me a lot about him. It really does.

"Honestly, I'd rather see you win this game than someone like Drew," said Casey.

"Look at it this way, Casey. This game encourages people to partake in as much deceit and betrayal as possible. We get rewarded for being liars and backstabbers." TK said in a quiet voice. "And I'm one of them. We all are."

"Right…" Casey muttered, although she looked dubious.

"What we would do to stay for another three days is an endless list. Somehow, I don't think a good person is going to win this game. Only the two most ruthless people will make it to the end." TK sighed.

Casey could now see their camp ahead of them. She was a little surprised that the rest of the tribe already woke up, considering that they were still asleep before Casey and TK went to retrieve treemail. Now, the five players were huddling in a circle around some object, but Casey couldn't tell what it was.

"Watch out, TK! I think I see May holding a knife." Casey grinned, pointing her finger at the small circle of people nearby the shelter. She had stopped walking momentarily so that TK, who was lagging behind, could catch up to her.

"We're approaching enemy territory straight ahead." TK laughed jokingly. He placed a comforting hand on Casey's shoulder. "Let's proceed with caution, for we never know when we'll get stabbed in the back."

Casey snorted in laughter. She glanced over at TK and he gave her a small nod of head. The two of them began marching towards the Clamperl camp. TK inhaled a deep breath as he walked.

"Let's hope we survive…" TK muttered. He had a small sheepish smile on his face. "We must have hope."

- - -

It was only when Casey and TK reached a closer proximity to camp did they realize something was wrong with the sombre tribe atmosphere. Their tribe members were circling around a container of rice in the kitchen area and none of their expressions were pleasant. Casey felt a wave of distress sweeping past just by looking at their solemn faces. Out of everybody, May looked the most upset – her entire body was practically quivering from shock. Beside the slender girl was Drew, who glanced uncertainly at the Coordinator's direction, almost as if he was contemplating on whether he should console the emotional girl or not. Across from them stood Takuya and James, both looking equally tense and somewhat startled. Rika was the only person who maintained an air of calmness and tranquility that surrounded her, just like always.

Although Casey did not know what was going on yet, she knew the news would not be enjoyable.

"What's going on, guys?" Casey asked as she cautiously approached the group of five. TK followed behind her, displaying an equal amount of concern and bewilderment at the bizarre situation.

"Something happened to our rice supply." James replied with a sigh.

"Huh? What's wrong with our rice?" Casey asked. She gently pushed the Team Rocket member aside to take a closer look at the container of rice. The lid was already removed, allowing the petite baseball lover to leer inside the wooden cylinder. "I don't…oh my god!"

There were two tiny centipedes inside the container, swimming leisurely in the pile of rice. Casey immediately jumped back, shrieking in fright. She recognized these insects as Weedle, the hairy and poisonous bug Pokemon.

"Whoa…wait a minute here! Whoa! Whoa!" Casey shouted loudly. She clasped her hands over her mouth, looking a little nauseated. "Please don't tell me those things were found inside our rice!"

"Don't throw up." Drew smiled cynically at the petite girl.

"I wanted to check how much rice we have left this morning." May explained. Her hands were still trembling in fear. "Then I found those…those Weedles buried underneath the rice. They were at the bottom of the container and I saw them munching on the rice. It was…it was just…ugh!"

"Needless to say, we all shitted our pants when we found out." Takuya concluded bluntly.

James: It turns out that two creeeeepy Weedles have been living inside our rice supply for…oh, I don't even know how long they've been in there! I may not know a lot about Pokemon, but here's what you have to know about Weedles: they're hairy, they're ugly, and they're poisonous. And oh yeah, they've been eating all the rice that we have in our camp! Arrrgh!

The Team Rocket let out a strange combination of a high-pitched squeal and a frustrated growl. He looked very upset as he ran his hand through his lavender blue hair.

James: It…ugh, it's just horrendous! An absolute nightmare! We…we have a crisis in our hands – a serious crisis!

"So that's why it feels like there's less rice in the container each time…" Casey muttered to herself.

"Somebody probably left the lid open. The Weedles must've sneaked in during night…or perhaps even while we were gone for a challenge." Drew explained. He shot a dirty glare at the container, where the two centipedes were crawling inside. "They liked it in there so much that they chose it as their new habitat."

Casey dropped her head in shame. She suddenly came to the realization that she was most likely responsible for this incident. After all, she had forgotten to close the lid of the container for several times after cooking (and some tribe members politely reminded her to correct this mistake each time).

"What should we do with them?" Takuya asked with a small sigh.

"Throw them away." Rika grunted.

"No, I meant the rice." Takuya frowned. "It's obvious that we've to throw away the bugs, but what are we going to do with the rice?"

"Throw them away." Rika repeated. She folded her arms across her chest. "The rice is contaminated and we can't eat it anymore."

"Hold on…we don't have to throw everything away, right?" May looked up for the first time. "I mean, there has to be some rice that we could still eat!"

"They're just bugs. We see them everywhere on this island." TK added.

"They're not just bugs. They're poisonous bugs." Drew leaned his body against the rice container. He cautiously inserted his index finger inside and pointed it at one of the centipedes. "You see those pointy barbs on top of their heads? They may seem harmless, but they actually contain some mildly poisonous venom."

"And their tails too…don't forget their tails." Casey added.

"I think I'm going to be sick." James groaned, putting a hand on his flat stomach.

"But we've been eating the rice for so long and nothing has happened to us!" May argued.

"Not yet, anyway. We can't take that risk. Think about the long-term effects. We don't know how long they've been living in our rice supply." Drew responded hastily. "For all we know, they could've contacted a disease or a virus on this island. It's too dangerous for our well beings."

"It just seems like such a waste of food…" May mumbled.

"That's how life goes." Rika grunted.

Rika: We were already low on our food supplies to begin with, so this is exactly the type of thing that shouldn't be happening to us right now. But it does, because we're idiots.

Rika wore an angry scowl on her face.

Rika: We have nobody else to blame but ourselves. Considering how precious food is out here, we should've been more careful with what we have. We've been reckless and now we're going to pay the price.

"Are we overreacting here?" TK asked, raising his right hand in the air as if he was asking a question in a classroom. "We aren't living in an environment where we can afford to throw away an entire container of rice. I don't want us to starve during our final days."

"I don't know about you, but I don't want to eat any more poisonous centipede poop." Takuya muttered.

"I strongly discourage this. It's just too dangerous." Drew shook his head. "Don't ever underestimate how these acids can burn through our intestines."

"Well, what do you think we should do, doctor?" May asked. She glared at the short Pokemon Coordinator beside her, perhaps thinking in her head that he was being an annoying know-it-all. "Are we going to starve?"

"I'm trying to be reasonable." Drew replied coolly.

"It's not the end of the world." Rika piped up. "If we ration the rest of our food carefully, we can still endure the next eleven days."

A few players mumbled underneath their breaths, sounding as if they were in doubt.

"We have corn, we have apples, we have fish…we have a lot of resources on this island." Rika continued. She did not care that she was offending anybody right now – she just wanted to speak her mind. "Tough it out, people. We'll just have to make the best of a bad situation."

"I agree." Takuya nodded his head. "We'll just have to rely on other sources of food."

"I'm glad some people have common sense." Drew smirked.

May: I have a bad feeling about this. I don't think it's a smart idea for us to just throw away all the food. We were barely getting enough food before, and now our hunger is going to get even worse. We need the rice. We need food. I know I'm not being optimistic about this – and I'm not, but we'll see how it goes. We'll see…

"Okay, it's decided then. The rice has got to go." Takuya said. He picked up the lid on the floor and put it over the rice container.

"I've got to admit…I'm not looking forward to a diet of just apples and corn." Casey mumbled sadly. "The rice might have been bland and flavourless, but at least it was something, you know?"

"I think we can make through this. We're all in it together." TK said, putting an arm around Casey's shoulder. Casey nodded her head and smiled gratefully at the blonde for his support.

Suddenly, Casey felt a drop of water on her nose. She looked up at the sky and realized that it was raining. The players hurried as they retreated inside the shelter. But even there, they were not completely dry. Some of the rainwater found its way and seeped through the gapped roof.

"Oh damn, I can't believe it's raining at a time like this." Takuya mumbled as he watched the drizzling sky.

"The icing on the cake…" Drew smiled pessimistically.

"What a horrible day." James agreed. "I hope it doesn't get any worse."

- - -

It was still raining.

Sitting inside the shelter, Takuya watched the heavy rain pour from the sky, creating splashes of puddles scattered everywhere across camp. Despite their best efforts to protect the campfire, the weak flame was already extinguished, which meant that they would have to redo the tiring process of starting the fire after everything was dry again. Takuya sighed softly to himself. He never liked rainy days. Too miserable. Too gloomy. Too boring.

Takuya: Rainy days are the worst. Everybody is forced to sit under the same roof together, even though I don't like a few of that people that I'm stuck with. I'm an active and energetic type of guy, so I don't like being crammed in a small, confined space for a long time. Sometimes, I'm like 'Screw this!' I want to run out of the shelter and dance in the rain or something, you know? I just want to do something! Anything!

Reluctantly, he crawled over to the other end of the shelter and joined Drew and Rika, who seemed to be indulged in a serious conversation or some matter that Takuya wasn't too enthusiastic about. May sat nearby, entertaining herself by playing with the adorable Baby Brock. The rest of the players were either sleeping or attempting to sleep in this noisy weather.

"Whether we like it or not, it became a necessity for us to bring in more food each day." Rika said, looking serious as usual.

"Absolutely." Drew nodded his head. "We need to offset the imbalance in our supplies. When we throw away the rice, there's going to be a shortage of food."

A loud yawn escaped from Takuya's mouth unintentionally, but both Rika and Drew ignored him.

"I'll do my part." Drew said. "James and I could go on a few more fishing trips from now on."

"Right…and I'll continue hunting in the forest." Rika added.

"Hey, I know!" Takuya grinned as he saw an opening to contribute in this conversation. "I could work on my bear trap!"

For the next few seconds, Rika and Drew didn't say anything. Both of them just stared at Takuya, wearing blank expressions on their faces. Finally, Rika cleared her throat and broke the uncomfortable silence.

"Goggle-head, we're having a serious discussion." Rika arched an eyebrow.

"I am serious!" Takuya argued. "Look, I've got this idea in my head for the longest time. I have the whole thing sketched out already. I wanna catch a bigass bear! I don't want us to worry about food ever again!"

"Okay then…" Drew said, hiding a malicious smirk from his face.

"I think there are more productive things to do around camp." Rika frowned. "We have a serious issue at hand. This is not the time to fool around with a schoolboy dream."

"I thought you were on my side, Rika…" Takuya muttered. He sounded as if his ego received a huge bruising.

"I'm just telling you how it is." Rika said coldly.

Drew: There hasn't been a leader in Clamperl since Cassidy is gone. Takuya, being the ignorant alpha male that he is, tries to fill this role, but he doesn't have the maturity to do it. I must admit, I prefer Rika's leadership skills so much more. She knows when to take charge, she knows how to stay calm in crises, and she can organize things even amongst this chaos. And a lot of people respect Rika more than Takuya too. He just talks a lot of nonsense, but nobody really listens to him anyway.

Drew smirked. He flipped his emerald green hair with his right hand.

Drew: TK is another good candidate, but he's too afraid to step on anybody's toes to become a great leader. At a time like this, it's important for a strong leader to emerge and take control of this disastrous situation. I'm glad Rika adopted this duty, even if it's somewhat unconsciously.

"You know, I don't really feel that hungry. So may be I could just eat less…" Takuya said.

"Of course, you got to enjoy a food reward a few days ago with JP." Rika quickly responded, narrowing her eyes at the cheeky Frontier, who grinned and smacked his forehead in realization. "The rest of us don't have that luxury."

"Oh yeah!" Takuya laughed, with his hand still planted on his forehead.

"You guys…" May whispered, turning her head towards the trio. She had been listening to their conversation for the past while and found a chance to interrupt. "I'm a little worried about Casey. She didn't seem too happy when she found out that we have to cut the food supply."

Takuya cast a glance at Casey, who was lying on her back on the other side of the shelter. Her baseball cap was covering over her face while she slept.

"She lost a lot of weight since she arrived on this island." Rika said quietly.

"Right, we noticed it too back when we were still in Gorebyss." Takuya added.

"I feel really bad for her." May said, holding her right hand close to her chest. "I took a shower with her the other day and she's so skinny! Her body looks like it's wasting away…"

"Poor girl." Drew muttered.

"It's not just her." Rika said as she stared bitterly at her own hands. "The lack of food is affecting all of our bodies."

"It's tough living out here. It's tougher than anybody gives it credit for." May nodded her head.

"Yeah…just look at me!" Takuya said. A boyish grin slowly spread across his face. He lifted up his shirt to reveal his undefined abs. "I lost my six-pack out here!"

"What six-pack?" Rika smiled teasingly at the athletic Frontier, while May and Drew giggled. "I don't think you have any of that to begin with, goggle-head."

"Hey, hey, hey…" Takuya grinned. He waved his finger playfully in front of Rika's face. "I'm very sensitive, you know."

"Hardly." Rika muttered, still smiling.

She knew Takuya was cracking a joke at his own expense, but she did appreciate him for breaking the icy tension within the group. If the cheeky Frontier was good for anything, it was how he added his unique sense of humour even in the most serious situations. That was one of the reasons why Rika tolerated Takuya's presence, even when others often found him a loud and obnoxious nuisance. Sometimes, Rika even enjoyed being around the charming and charismatic Takuya.

But of course, she would never admit that to the goggle-head. No way.

- - -

A few hours later, the rain had finally stopped. The players took this opportunity to enjoy the remaining hours of daylight before it turned dark. Most of them scattered across the campsite, finding something to entertain themselves for the rest of the day. In May's case, she was currently sailing across the ocean in the tribe's motorboat, with James as her driver. Holding Baby Brock closely in her arms, there was something delightful even in this dark and depressing atmosphere. She was just glad that she could take a breath of fresh air outside. Well, the air felt mild and a little murky, but she didn't seem to mind.

"I'm glad that it stopped raining." May said.

"Me too." James nodded. He was sitting behind the steering wheel, calmly navigating the boat to the direction of Shipwreck Island.

"Thanks for driving me to the island." May smiled politely at the Team Rocket member. "You and Drew are the only people who know how to drive a boat, and I don't want to owe him a favour…"

"Once you get to know him, he's really not that bad of a guy." James chuckled.

"I just don't want to let him see me cry." May muttered. She tried to maintain a friendly poise, albeit she came off a little too bitter.

"Oh." James nodded his head. "I understand."

Their brief conversation ceased and a tranquil silence eased in between the pair. May turned around and faced the gentle sea waves surrounding her. She must admit that she never had much to say to James. Their conversations always ended up being pointless and superficial. They never got along with each other, although they tried their best to be friendly and polite towards each other. Of course, there were unresolved issues between the two of them, but both May and James were too non-confrontational to ever sort out these differences.

James: I'm not extremely keen on May as a person. That girl is quite the manipulator. I talked with Drew a few times and he seems to share the same feelings as me. Sweet girl, but she also has a very conniving side to her. She hid it fairly well amongst these people, but I've seen that side of her a few times…and it wasn't pretty.

James shuddered dramatically to emphasize his point.

James: She deals with people in a terribly underhanded way. You'd think she's being sincere, but she's really not. Underneath that sweet girl-next-door smile is a snake. That's what she is…a scheming snake. She's just not my cup of tea.

They arrived at Shipwreck Island a few minutes later. James parked the boat on shore, tying it to a tree trunk with a rope. May hopped off and landed with both feet on the sand. She still held Baby Brock closely in her arms as she walked. James respected May's wishes and left her alone on the island, choosing to wander aimlessly elsewhere as he gazed at the tropical scenery with a gratifying smile.

May settled down on a nearby boulder in the island. There was another Seel lounging on the sand at a distance.

"I guess…I guess this is goodbye." May mumbled.

Kneeling down on her feet, the slim Coordinator placed Baby Brock on the sand. The tiny Seel had an oblivious expression on its face.

"I'm really sorry, Baby Brock. But we can't afford to have you live at our camp anymore." May said, whispering her words to the Seel. She petted the seal gently on its furry white body. "There's a shortage of food, you see."

May paused. Her shaky voice was getting a little choked up as she spoke each word.

"You eat up a lot of the fish that we catch and…and we can't afford that anymore." May said, wiping a tear from her eyes. "We need all the food that we can get."

Baby Brock stared at May with an innocent look. Its lack of movement seemed to indicate that it did not comprehend what May was saying. Nevertheless, May smiled weakly at the seal and nodded her head.

"You've recovered from your injuries. Brock did a great job nursing you back to health." May said in her best motherly voice. "And now, it's time for you to live in your natural habitat."

She slowly got up on her feet. May brushed some of the sand from her knees.

"I'm not abandoning you, I promise I'll come back and visit you some time." May said.

May nodded her head. She began walking away from the Baby Seel that she left behind by the boulder. It began clapping its paws together in a rapid manner.

"Goodbye, Baby Brock..." May murmured sadly.

"Ready to go?" James asked, approaching the Pokemon Coordinator at the appropriate time. "Or do you want to stay here and reflect your thoughts for a few minutes?"

"No, we can leave now." May said.

"Okay." James nodded his head as he walked towards the boat. He flashed a warm and friendly smile at May's direction. "I must admit, I got pretty emotional just watching you guys. Or may be it's because I'm such a big sucker."

May: I think Baby Brock symbolized my friendship with Brock and Takato in this game. They were the two original people who found this injured Seel on the island, so it's a bit ironic that they aren't here anymore to send him off. Still, even though Baby Brock is gone, I know I'll always value my friendship with Brock and Takato in my heart. I haven't abandoned them at all.

May nodded her head a few times to the cameras.

May: But I've learned that some changes are mandatory. Brock and Takato may have been a part of me before, but they aren't playing the game anymore. And if I want to continue surviving on this island, I'm going have to make several changes to my strategy. I will have to forge new friendships and new alliances in this game. So goodbye Brock, goodbye Takato, goodbye Baby Brock…

A faint but radiant smile spread across May's beautiful and girlish face.

May: It's time for me to move on.

- - -

DAY 29

Rika woke up with a bizarre feeling that she was living in the Gorebyss camp again. Here she was, sitting inside a clumsily built shelter, where the only occupants were Takuya, James, Casey and herself. There were piles of clothes sprawled everywhere, making it difficult for Rika to find her sneakers buried underneath the mess. In the background, she could hear several birds chirping in the forest nearby, but their harmonious tunes were outdone by Takuya's loud snoring and the annoying whistle that happens every time Casey breathes through her nose. If Rika didn't know any better, she would have mistaken this oddly familiar setting as the Gorebyss campsite.

Rika: I'm feeling out of sync lately. The food deprivation, the sleep deprivation, and everything else are setting into my system. God help me, I'm talking to myself everyday in these confessionals. How can this be considered normal behaviour?

Rika pressed her lips together to form a thin smile on her face.

Rika: Yeah, I might be losing my mind.

When she finally located her shoes in a remote corner of the shelter, she slid them on and climbed outside in her usual quiet, discreet manner. It was a chilly morning today and Rika found herself gravitating towards the campfire out of instinct. On days like this, Rika needed several minutes to clarify the foggy thoughts in her head. How she longed for a cup of coffee to wake her up – and she wasn't even a coffee drinker back at home. But out here, with her basic luxuries stripped away for nearly a month, Rika was starting to feel a little desperate. She craved for a warm cup of coffee, a simple meal, and a chocolate bar since she was feeling greedy. Of course, Rika didn't feel this oriented a few weeks ago, back when she was still living with Gorebyss. Mimi, for all her faults, was an excellent cook who made some fantastic meals despite the limited supplies. It was the delicious food that kept Rika from sinking into insanity back then.

It took her several seconds to shake her head from the sudden wave of nostalgia. No, this wasn't Gorebyss. The merge happened eleven days ago. She was now living in the Clamperl tribe, or more accurately, the former Huntail campsite. There wasn't a trace of Gorebyss anywhere in camp but the four tribe members who lived here.

"Drew, TK, May…" Rika muttered to herself as she gazed inside the shelter. She finally realized the astonishing absence of the three original tribe members. "They're not here."

Without the presence of these three, Clamperl had temporarily become a tribe of four. More precisely, it was now a tribe that consisted of the final four members of the Gorebyss tribe: Rika, Takuya, Casey, and the friendly intruder – James. They entered the merge together in an obvious minority, and miraculously enough, the four of them were still intact three tribal councils later.

"Fishing…" Rika suddenly blurted out to the cameras. She was now staring at the empty space where the tribe's motorboat was parked at. "That's right…they're fishing."

She nodded to herself, vaguely remembering the conversation held last night at dinnertime. In an attempt to fix the problem with a potential food shortage, Drew mentioned something about going on an early morning fishing expedition. As usual, Drew started boasting about his amazing fishing skills somewhere in the discussion and Rika quickly lost interest in what he was saying. But May and TK insisted on helping the Pokemon Coordinator with the fishing. The three of them agreed to wake up early today to go on a fishing trip before the reward challenge.

"Fishing trip, huh?" Rika grunted, raising an eyebrow. She was now staring vacantly into a camera "Or is it more like a strategizing session away from Gorebyss?"

She flashed a rather cynical smile at a camera.

Quite obvious, isn't it? Rika thought.

Drew: Huntail came into the merge with an obvious advantage over Gorebyss in numbers. We were supposed to pick them out one by one, like cherries off a tree. But the problem is that we've turned against each other way too soon. We've self-destructed, leaving Gorebyss four strong. It has come to a point where their alliance has become very threatening to me. Takuya and Rika have a strong bond…and James is more than happy to ride on their coattails to the end. If I don't do something to stop them, they're going to take over this game.

Drew casually tossed his hair with his hand.

Drew: So, that's why I gathered TK and May on the boat this morning for a so-called fishing expedition. There was an ulterior motive behind this, of course. The three of us are away from Huntail, so we can discuss strategy in whatever way we want. And I want to propose an alliance to the two of them. If they're smart, they'll accept it.

The three Huntail members had been sitting in the motorboat for nearly half an hour. Occasionally, they made light conversations to pass time, but the discussion never drifted to the topic of strategy. Drew was holding his face with his right hand and a fishing rod in the other. The fish weren't abundant in this area of the ocean, but Drew didn't mind stalling time. He was just waiting for an appropriate moment to propose his idea to TK and May, who were sitting quietly beside him. Drew would later explain to the cameras that setting the right atmosphere was a pivotal aspect to building an alliance. If he spoke too soon, he might come off as desperate. If he spoke too late, he would sound like he's in a powerless position. Drew knew he needed to spring the question at the right time in order to acquire the best response.

But Drew never expected that someone else would beat him to the punch – someone like TK Takaishi.

"I was thinking…" TK began, turning his head to glance at both Drew and May. "I was thinking that the three of us should start working together." He paused, scanning their faces for their reactions, "In an alliance."

Drew widened his eyes in surprise. He was a bit startled that TK had pulled the exact words from his mouth. It was almost as if TK had been reading his mind!

"We all know that Takuya, Rika, and James will stick together until the end." TK continued, "Keeping them around is dangerous at this stage of the game. They're a force to be reckoned with."

"You have a valid point." Drew said, nodding his head.

"I absolutely agree." May added.

"Good…this is good! I'm glad we were thinking on the same lines." TK smiled faintly at his two tribe members. "I know we've wronged each other in the past, but are the two of you willing to team up with me? And take down Gorebyss?"

"Yeah, I'm in!" May replied enthusiastically.

"Definitely. Count me in," said Drew. He was still a little upset that TK stole his thunder – his moment, but the calm Pokemon Coordinator didn't express his frustration through his emotions.

"Alright! This is really awesome, you guys!" May giggled giddily. "I've been thinking about it for a long time. Oh my god, I really wanted to say something, but I was so afraid that you wouldn't agree to it!"

"All we need now is Casey's vote. It'll be easy to convince her to do whatever we say." Drew snapped his fingers and smirked. "The four of us could set our plans in motion at the next tribal council."

"Then, we'll vote out Casey at the Final Four…" May grinned.

"And that leaves us three Huntail members in the Final Three." TK finished, nodding his head in approval. "Just like how it's supposed to be."

TK: What brought the three of us together is a common enemy. We knew that the Gorebyss alliance needs to be separated apart, so it was just a matter of somebody speaking up. And I'm glad I did, because I now have a final three pact with May and Drew!

TK laughed, flashing a set of straight white teeth that gleamed perfectly in front of the cameras.

TK: Pretty good for someone who was at the wrong side of the vote, right?

"I know that we've betrayed each other in the past." Drew said, looking earnestly into the eyes of May and TK. "But let's not hold any grudges. Make amends and move on."

"No problems here." TK grinned, "Unless the two of you have any problems with me that I'm not aware about?"

"Nah, you're a good fellow, TK." Drew chuckled.

Then, Drew extended his right hand to where May was sitting. He had turned his body towards May so that he was now talking to her face to face. That way, May could see the seemingly sincere smile on his face in all its glory.

"Truce?" Drew asked.

For a brief moment, he saw a small dash of scepticism flitter in her large, turquoise blue eyes. She would never be able to fully trust him, not after the numerous times that Drew lied to her in the past. But the second quickly passed, and May managed to conceal her distrust under the façade of a cheerful smile. She grabbed Drew's hand and shook it vigorously.

"Yeah, let's start out fresh!" May nodded.

"I promise I'll turn over a new leaf." Drew said this with an impish smile.

"I bet." May smiled, albeit her smile appeared a little strained. "You shook on it now, so there's no going back on the deal."

"I understand the importance of a handshake," said Drew in a vague manner.

"No, that's not good enough." May shook her head. "I want a straight answer out of you, Drew."

"Fine, if that's the way you feel about me." Drew shrugged his shoulders. He raised his hand midway in the air as if he was giving a vow. "I'll honour this alliance to the end. Happy?"

"Very." May muttered.

"Do you guys want to shake hands again? It seems like there's something unresolved between the two of you." TK chuckled. "A little sexual tension perhaps?"

"Not in a million years! Oh my god, how can you say something like that?" May slapped TK lightly on his knee like was a mother scolding her naughty son. However, her words didn't seem to match her reaction, since she was now blushing a little in her cheeks.

"Why's that? Am I not good enough for you, princess?" Drew teased. "Geez, you really need to stop putting yourself up on a pedestal."

"Hey, I didn't say that!" May protested. "I was…"

"Okay!" TK clapped his hands together, interrupting May in the middle of her retort. "No more bickering! We're starting out fresh, remember?"

"Ever the diplomat, TK." Drew grinned.

May: This…this is a very shaky alliance. I don't know if the three of us will stay together for long. We're definitely not going to be the Final Three, I can guarantee you that. Drew has a bad record of keeping his promises in the past. I think that as soon as Drew gets what he needs, he's going to backstab TK and me. But nuh-uh, I'm not going to let him do it. I'm not the same girl as before. I'm more perceptive, I'm more determined, and I'm definitely a lot wiser. And I'm not going to let Drew walk all over me.

May smiled eagerly at the cameras.

May: If Drew wants to be a backstabber, then two can play that game.

It was only a few minutes after the new alliance was built, but plague and paranoia were already plaguing on some of the players. In a sense, May had a perfectly logical reason to worry. Because she was right – this was an unstable alliance that wouldn't endure in the long term. Drew didn't want to take somebody as likable as TK or May to the finals, while May knew she didn't want the despicable Drew anywhere near the million dollars.

For now, the three of them were working together in order to achieve their one common goal. They all wanted to separate the Gorebyss alliance, and they were even willing to put aside their differences to do so.

At this moment, their alliance contained potentially all the power in this game.

But how long will they last?

- - -

Professor Birch was pleased with the improved weather today, which meant that the long anticipated reward challenge would finally take place. The seven players of the Clamperl tribe arrived at the challenge beach with equally enthusiastic attitudes. Although the reward challenge wasn't as pivotal as winning the immunity necklace, it was still a huge morale booster that many of them felt they needed (especially after what happened to them yesterday).

"Welcome to the reward challenge, players." Professor Birch said. He gestured his hand towards his left, where a steep hill was located. "Your reward challenge is waiting for you…on top of that mountain!"

A few players groaned.

"You have five minutes to run to the top of the mountain. If you make it there before time runs out, you'll win the reward." Professor Birch explained. "Since this is a timed challenge, it means that there could be more than one winner."

"All of us could win this!" Casey gasped in delight.

"That's right. If all seven of you make it to the top of that mountain before time runs out, everybody will get to enjoy that reward." Professor Birch nodded. "So, want to know what you're playing for?"

"Yeah!" Takuya pumped his fist energetically into the air.

"You'll have to find out by yourself when you get to the top of the mountain." Professor Birch teased. "Oh, and one more thing…"

Professor Birch picked up a large brown sack on the ground. He bent over and pulled out a large watermelon from the bag.

"You'll have to carry these watermelons as you climb up the hill," said Professor Birch.

"You're too cruel, professor…" James laughed nervously.

"Each of you will get one watermelon and then, you'll assign it to another player." Professor Birch explained. "Whoever you choose will have to carry the watermelon that you give them. Do you see how this works?" He paused and skimmed over some uncomfortable expressions on the players' faces. His gaze eventually stopped at Rika, who was standing the closest to him. "Rika, who are you giving your watermelon to?"

Rika looked somewhat uneasy to be asked first. She was put on the spot with little time to prepare for her decision. Scanning over the faces of the other players, she decided that she would base her decision solely on what happened in tribal council. So, whoever voted against her was about to receive a tiny dose of karma.

"Casey." Rika replied, offering no explanation.

Professor Birch nodded his head and walked over to where Casey stood, dropping a watermelon by her feet.

"Drew, you're next." Professor Birch said to the green-haired Coordinator, who stood to the right of Rika. "Who's getting your watermelon?"

"I'm picking Casey as well." Drew said. He understood that this challenge was designed to cause rifts between the players, but being the cautious player that he was, Drew didn't want to expose who his number enemy in public. Of course, he despised Takuya with an extreme passion, but there was no need for the goggle-head to find out how much he was hated until tribal council. Instead, Drew chose a much easier alternative: copy Rika. After all, Casey was just a harmless non-entity in this game. She was an easy pick.

Casey frowned a little as Professor Birch dropped the second watermelon by her feet. Next was James' turn, but he didn't look like he was looking forward to it at all. Professor Birch gave him a hasty glance, signalling the Team Rocket member to state his choice.

"Casey." James sighed apologetically. He didn't like alienating anybody in particular, but at times like this, James would rather jump on a bandwagon than put a large target on his back.

Casey's body stiffed a little as Professor Birch gave her the third consecutive watermelon.

"If I had any doubts before, I now know where I stand in this tribe." Casey tried putting on a dignified smile on her usually cheerful face, but her shaky bravado was very apparent to all of the players.

"I'm sorry." James added, but the petite baseball lover ignored him.

"May, your decision please." Professor Birch said.

"I'm going to give Casey a break." May smiled sympathetically at the little girl. "I'm giving my watermelon to Drew."

Drew didn't seem overly bothered when Professor Birch dropped a watermelon by his feet.

"Takuya, how about you?" Professor Birch asked.

"Casey." Takuya instantly replied. His lack of hesitation indicated that this had been a very clear decision to Takuya from the start.

"Casey, this is your fourth watermelon!" Professor Birch announced. As he walked over to Casey with another watermelon from the sack, he made a somewhat insensitive joke. "If this was tribal council, you'd be out already!"

Casey didn't find the professor very funny. The reality was too sad to be funny.

"Casey, who are you giving your watermelon to?" Professor Birch asked. "Are you out for revenge?"

"Takuya." Casey shot a spiteful glare at the athletic Frontier. "Give it to Takuya."

Professor Birch dumped a watermelon by Takuya's feet. Finally, he turned towards TK, the last person in line.

"Casey has more than enough to carry on her shoulders." TK said, smiling graciously at the petite baseball lover. "I'll give my watermelon to Takuya."

"Bring it on, bitches!" Takuya laughed jokingly as Professor Birch gave him another watermelon.

"The end result: Casey has four, Takuya has two, and Drew has one. For those of you who have more than one watermelon, you'll receive a sack where you can put all of your watermelons in." Professor Birch said, tossing two sacks to Takuya and Casey. "Unfortunately Drew, that means you'll have to use your hands."

"No big deal." Drew shrugged his shoulders.

A few minutes later, the seven players gathered at the foot of the mountain, where the starting line of the challenge was located. Professor Birch raised his arm high in the air.

"Survivors ready?" Professor Birch exclaimed. He made a quick motion and dropped his hand. "Go!"

The professor clicked a button on his tiny yellow stopwatch to time as the players began dashing up the steep hill. With his athletic physique and his unoccupied hands, James was naturally leading this race with ease. May and Rika were following closely behind him. There was a larger gap between the two girls and TK, who was already struggling in this challenge with his injured leg. Drew walked at roughly the same cautious pace as the blonde. He took extra precaution not to drop the watermelon and let it roll down the hill.

It was clear from the start that the heavy sacks of watermelon would hinder the progress of Takuya and Casey. Both of them were trailing behind the other players due to the massive weight that they had to carry on their backs. At least Takuya was moving up the mountain as he dragged the sack of watermelon up the hill, albeit very slowly. Casey had trouble even moving her sack (which contained watermelons inside) and she was using both of her hands.

"Damn it." Takuya muttered. He was a little peeved that he was sixth place in this uphill race. The sack of watermelon was anchoring him down, although it was only half of the weight of what Casey had to carry.

It was a little over two minutes when the first competitor, James, arrived at the top of the mountain. Seconds later, May and Rika both joined him by his side, ranking second and third respectively. James smiled sweetly at the two girls, feeling pleased that there would be others accompanying him in his reward.

Another minute passed before Drew stumbled past the finish line, looking slightly out of breath. Nonetheless, he kept his graceful poise as he gently placed the watermelon on the ground and walked over to join James, Rika, and May in the winner's circle.

"Nice try, May." Drew smirked as he walked past the female Pokemon Coordinator. She forced a weak smile on her face and mumbled something inaudible under her breath.

Soon, TK arrived, ranking fifth place in this uphill race. He had walked throughout nearly the entire race, but still managed to finish below the time of four minutes. The blonde looked satisfied with his results and joined the others as they waited for Takuya and Casey to finish.

"Only two left…" James mumbled as he watched the sandy path where Takuya and Casey were expected to arrive. "I hope they make it in time."

"It'd be nice if everyone could win this reward, whatever it is." May agreed. Drew also made a sound of consent, although he seemed more curious about the mysterious reward that they had won.

Finally, Takuya arrived at the top of the mountain. He was vehemently pulling a sack of watermelons with his muscular arm. As soon as he took the final step and crossed the finish line, he collapsed on the ground, taking a huge sigh of relief.

"Did…I…run…out…of…time?" Takuya asked, gasping for breath in between each word.

"I hope not." May said hopefully.

Just then, Professor Birch showed up from the other side of the mountain. The beefy professor was carrying a picnic basket in his hand, which brought a few delighted smiles on the players' faces. He waved at the six players as he walked towards them.

"Congratulations to everyone for completing the course under five minutes!" Professor Birch grinned. "James, Rika, May, Drew, TK and yes, you too, Takuya – you've all won the reward!"

"Oh, that's great!" James exclaimed. But his joyous reaction changed quickly when he looked around and realized that someone was absent from the group. He murmured sadly, "But Casey isn't here yet…"

"Sorry, but that's way the challenge goes. She's not here, so she won't win anything." Professor Birch said. "But look on the bright side, here's what the six of you have won! I know you guys are going to love this!" He grinned boyishly as he raised the picnic basket high in the air. "Enjoy your very own Survivor picnic!"

- - -

It seemed like forever since Casey had been walking up this mountain, carrying (although Casey would attest that dragging was the more accurate term) a sack of four watermelons. By now, her hands felt painfully sore and her legs were trembling from exhaustion. Had it been ten minutes? Twenty minutes? Casey didn't know the exact time that she spent on this challenge, but she realized that it was certainly over by now. She couldn't even see any of her competitors now. This was it – she lost. She lost a seemingly impossible challenge. The challenge itself was easy enough, but it was just that her callous and calculating tribe members wanted her to lose no matter what. They intentionally gave the tiniest girl four watermelons to carry up this steep mountain, knowing that she would fail. Even Takuya, who was a fantastic athlete, had difficulties just carrying two watermelons. And Casey had to carry double that amount.

Right from the start, it was impossible for Casey to win this challenge. And her tribe members knew it. And they did this to her anyway.

"Never give up…" Casey muttered her personal motto to herself. She forced a weak smile on her boyish face. "Never give up."

No matter how hard she tried and how long she climbed up this mountain, it seemed as if Casey was making little progress at all. But no, she could not stop! She could not let her tribe members look down on her. Casey already imagined the malicious and patronising smirks on their nasty faces. They tried to bring her down, they tried to vote her out, they tried doing everything to exclude Casey from the group, but Casey will keep persevering no matter what. She could endure anything they throw at her. She was a survivor, and she would never surrender to anybody.

It was a while later when Casey saw the burly structure of Professor Birch walking down the hill, greeting her with a warm and affectionate smile on his face. He offered his right hand to Casey, which she grabbed with a tinge of gratefulness. He felt like a heavenly oasis in the middle of a desert. Although his overlarge lab coat and unfashionable sandals made Professor Birch look like a hippie most of the time, the professor always had a fatherly aura surrounding him. Casey found immense comfort in merely holding his big and beefy hand. At that moment, she felt like he was the only person who understood her pain.

"Casey, I'm sorry. The challenge is over already." Professor Birch flashed a sympathetic smile to the petite girl. "The rest of the players are at the top of the mountain, enjoying their reward. Since you didn't complete the challenge in time, you'll not be allowed to participate in the reward."

Casey nodded her head timidly.

"You don't need to finish this challenge, it's alright. You can drop your sack on the ground." Professor Birch said.

Casey sighed in relief. She released the heavy sack of watermelons from her grip. When she glanced at the ground, she was surprised to see the sack dyed in a deep shade of crimson red. It was originally a brownish beige colour, but the juice that oozed from the crushed watermelons made the sack into an ugly colour of bloody red.

"Let's go," whispered Professor Birch. He still clutched Casey's hand tightly as the two of them walked up the hill at a leisurely pace.

"What did they win?" Casey asked, but the professor did not reply back.

A few minutes later, the two of them finally arrived at the top of the mountain. And that was when Casey got her answer. And that was when Casey's heart sank in disappointment. And that was when Casey saw her tribe members, sitting on a large blue blanket, all enjoying a rambunctious and pleasant picnic together. Actually, it seemed like more of a celebratory feast where everybody was having a good time – except Casey.

Takuya was at the centre of attention as he tried stuffing an enormous sandwich into his big mouth, with a half-laughing May scolding him for not chewing his food properly. TK, Drew and James partook in an animated conversation together, while Rika sat there quietly by herself, absorbing the pleasant atmosphere as she sipped on her glass of lemonade. Everybody was chatting, laughing, eating, and enjoying themselves – all without Casey. In fact, none of them even noticed her presence until Professor Birch cleared his throat.

"Casey!" James gasped in surprise. His once joyous face was immediately filled with remorse as he saw the petite girl, whose sweaty face carried a sour expression and her legs trembled shakily from exhaustion.

Casey stared at the plate of sandwiches by James' knee. Beside that plate was a gigantic chocolate cake and a bowl of fresh fruits (which May was currently endeavouring). Casey closed her eyes and turned away. This was too much, having all this delicious food in front of her that she couldn't even touch. This was not a reward. This was more like torture.

"Professor, can we…?" TK began, but he was cut off by a sharp and piercing noise all of a sudden. He immediately turned around and realized that the noise originated from Casey's direction.

She was crying.

"I…I can't take this anymore." Casey sobbed. A few tears streamed down her face, but she quickly wiped them away with her fist. "I can't…I can't…I can't take this."

Casey threw the professor's hand away from hers as she collapsed on the ground. She buried her head into her knees and bawled. Professor Birch stood beside her, helplessly staring at the petite girl like she was a dying animal on the road.

"You hate me! Everyone hates me! I try so hard to get back on my feet, but you just keep pushing me down over and over again!" Casey screamed hysterically. "You're all trying to break me down!"

The players watched her in absolute bewilderment. May had her mouth gawked open, but she was speechless and had no idea what to say. May be that was for the best anyway, since it didn't seem like Casey was rational enough to reason with anybody here.

"I want to leave." Casey muttered, suddenly lowering her voice into a raspy whisper.

"Casey, please calm down…" Professor Birch said, putting a comforting arm over her shoulder. "Here, I'll take you back to your campsite. We can sort things out as we go."

"Nobody wants me here. This isn't fun anymore." Casey sobbed. The professor grabbed her hand and the two of them began walking down the hill together. "I don't want to be here any longer. Anywhere but here…"

- - -

"What the hell was that?" Takuya asked. It was the question that pretty much summarized everybody's feelings at the moment.

The six confused players were sitting on the blanket, now quietly eating whatever was left from their picnic. Their previous rowdy celebration ceased almost immediately, with the festive atmosphere replaced by a sombre and depressing gloom. James picked up his sandwich and took a small nibble before letting out a loud and dramatic sigh. He was already regretting the fact that he gave his watermelon to Casey earlier in the challenge.

"The pressure is getting to her." Rika explained coolly.

"She's the only one who's left out of the reward. She feels excluded from the group." May added in more detail.

"I feel really bad for her…" James murmured.

"I don't." Takuya wore a cheeky smile on his boyish face as he said this. "There has to be winners and losers in every challenge, right? We're all winners and she's the loser. It's as simple as that."

"Have a heart, Takuya." TK glared at Takuya, looking unimpressed.

"I do have a heart, it's just…" Takuya paused, searching for the appropriate words to finish his sentence. "It's just that somebody has to lose in the challenge. If all of us are meant to enjoy this reward, then we wouldn't need to compete in the first place. Do you see what I mean? It would be more of a reward rather than a reward challenge."

"No, I don't see what you mean." TK shook his head. He took a quick sip from his lemonade before he spoke again. "There was no way anybody could expect Casey to carry four watermelons up that mountain. She's probably the weakest person in terms of strength, not to mention that she hasn't eaten a proper meal in days. She had no chance to win the challenge, and that is unfair."

"But she did well in the last immunity challenge." Drew said slyly. He was playing the devil's advocate, hoping to fuel a potential argument within the group. Luckily for him, Takuya took the bait.

"Yeah, that's right!" Takuya exclaimed. "Besides, none of us had a proper meal in the past twenty nine days. You can't just single Casey out!"

TK: I don't agree with Takuya at all. It's a sign of bad sportsmanship for him to say that Casey got what she deserves. Sure, it's easy for him to say something like that when he's stuffing his mouth with food, whereas Casey has to go back to camp on an empty stomach. But Takuya is justifying his actions with an excuse to soothe his conscience. He still thinks he's in the right and…and it's just so ridiculous.

TK shook his head slowly and sighed.

TK: The worst part is that this whole incident is partially Takuya's fault. He knew that Casey had to carry three watermelons already, but he gave her another one without even about the consequences. He could have assigned it to anybody else, but Takuya wanted to kick the poor girl while she was down. I look at him in the picnic and he's gloating as if he was so proud of his accomplishment. And I'm thinking…wow, this guy is a jerk!

"If I knew this reward was going to involve food, I wouldn't have given my watermelon to Casey." James muttered. Rika glanced at the Team Rocket member sceptically, but she did not add anything to the conversation.

"Instead of piling all the watermelons on Casey, I thought it was logical for everyone to allocate them to the more athletic players." TK said, "We know that she wouldn't be able to carry all that weight."

"This is a competition and everybody should be treated equally." Takuya argued. "I don't see why Casey should be favoured over others just because she's less athletic."

"But not everybody was treated equally in the challenge! That's the problem, Takuya!" TK said, gritting his teeth together with intensity.

"So what? I have to drag two damn watermelons up that mountain! You didn't even have to carry anything in the challenge, pretty boy! You shouldn't even be talking!" Takuya shouted angrily.

"Casey is crying at camp because of you!" TK yelled back.

"Oh, so suddenly everything is my fault?" Takuya leaped up from the ground, towering over TK in a hostile manner. After all, the best defense was an intimidating offense. "Is that what you're trying to do? Make me look like the bad guy?"

"Sit down, Takuya. Look, I'm not trying to argue with you." TK said.

"Neither am I." Takuya muttered as he returned to his seat on the blanket. He still wore a stern expression on his boyish face. "But I don't like the way you're accusing me of making Casey cry. I did what I had to do."

"I apologize if I've made you upset." TK bowed his head a little.

Takuya grunted in approval, although he still looked a little peeved at the whole situation. TK bit his lips with his front teeth, as he always did when he felt nervous.

"I'm not sorry for what I did. If you have a problem with this picnic, you can leave right now. Nobody is forcing you to eat this food with me." Takuya said. "I don't know. You can join Casey and cry together or something."

"I'm not leaving, Takuya." TK replied.

"Good, I didn't think you have the balls to do it." Takuya sneered. "So, get off your high horse and stop talking down to me."

TK bit his lips. He didn't respond back.

Takuya: I know we're all supposed to love that guy who can do no wrong, but TK really, really bugs me. Honestly, I don't understand what other people see in him. He's just a boring pretty boy who acts like he's better than the rest of us. If everybody would just pull their heads out of TK's ass for one second, they would realize what a completely moralistic and self-righteous tool he is!

Takuya laughed disdainfully at the cameras.

Takuya: TK thinks his shit doesn't stink, but he's not as perfect as everyone thinks he is. Let me be the first to say that I'm not on the love bandwagon for TK. Unlike everybody else, I won't be kissing his ass - that's just not me.

"Shut up, you knuckleheads. Both of you – just shut up." Rika grunted. "Everyone was enjoying this picnic until you two butted your big, egoistical heads together."

Takuya pouted a little and folded his arms across his chest.

"We know that this challenge would cause divisions in our tribe. That's what they wanted in the first place – the conflicts, the confrontations, and the unnecessary drama." Rika shook her head in disapproval. "And you're both just stupid enough to fall for the trap."

"Boys will be boys." May whispered to herself.

"Do us all a favour and stop making complete asses out of yourselves. Let the rest of us eat our meals in peace." Rika concluded, glaring at both TK and Takuya with an icy stare. "We've been through hell for the last couple of days, so we could use some damn peace around here to make us feel better about ourselves."

"Yes, ma'am…" Takuya replied sheepishly. He paused as a small, teasing smirk formed on his face. "Ah, Rika sure knows how to put her men in place."

Rika turned to the Frontier with a blank and humourless expression, but several players couldn't resist giggling at Takuya's comment. It seemed as if the hostility and tension had temporarily evaporated, bringing in a much needed change in the unpleasant atmosphere from before. Only Drew looked mildly upset that the argument was dissolved, but both May and James seemed relieved that Rika cleared any animosity within the group.

"Before we go, let's pack some food for Casey." James said as he wrapped a napkin around a sandwich. "It's the least that we could do for her."

"Yeah, that's an awesome idea, James!" May nodded her head with enthusiasm.

"I always knew we were good people." Takuya grinned.

"One big happy family again…" Drew muttered under his breath. His voice was barely loud enough for the cameras to capture his words audibly. "Fantastic. That's just fantastic."

Drew: I find it hilarious that those two guys got into an argument today, because TK has the patience of a saint, but Takuya still manages to piss him off. If you're able to make the calmest and most reasonable player lose his cool, you know there's something seriously wrong with you!

Drew chuckled as he tossed his emerald green hair with his hand.

Drew: I swear, Takuya Kanabara is a little messed up in the head…

- - -

Talking with Professor Birch helped Casey sort out her befuddled emotions, but only by a little. When she returned to the Clamperl camp by herself, she immediately retreated inside the shelter to rest. She found a strange comfort in doing nothing else but lie on her back and stare at the gapped ceiling above. There was plenty of work to be done around camp, but she had no motivation to do any of it. She just wanted to lie there and drift off to an eternal sleep – sleep all of her problems away.

Casey: I lost control of my emotions today. I mean, I've been standing on a cliff of misery for a while. But the final push off the edge came when I saw everyone…devouring all that delicious food. I was excluded from the group, like always. It was literally the lowest of my lows. I don't know why…why I even bother in this game. Everyone hates me. All of my friends are gone. And all of the food is gone too. This isn't an experience of a lifetime. This isn't fun anymore. I just…wanted to go home.

Casey sighed and put her head down on her knees. She concealed her face from the cameras.

Casey: I try, I try, I try so hard to be friendly and optimistic each day, but it's useless. Those people never made me feel like I'm included as part of the tribe. I'm fighting an uphill battle that I know I can't win. I can't win immunity forever. Sooner or later, my luck is going to run out and then…it's going to be over. I keep fooling myself into thinking that everything is alright, but it's not.

Casey sniffled a little before continuing her confession.

Casey: I don't want to think about it. I just want to go to sleep.

By the time the players returned from their reward, Casey was already asleep inside the shelter. James began walking towards her, holding a couple of sandwiches that he bagged from the picnic. However, May held him back with her arm. She pressed her index finger on her lips as if to indicate silence.

"She hasn't eaten anything all day." James protested in a murmur. "She needs to eat this."

"No, let her sleep. We shouldn't disturb her." May whispered.

"We can save the food for her tomorrow morning." TK added, carrying a comforting smile on his handsome face.

James nodded his head, albeit he looked slightly disheartened as he walked away from Casey. He joined the other players who were sitting around the campfire.

"Make sure you put the food at a place where a Weedle can't reach it." Drew said, wearing a small dainty smirk on his face. Takuya laughed as well, but they were the only two people who were amused by the humour in this sombre atmosphere.

"Do you think she'll be alright?" May asked, glancing at the petite baseball lover inside the shelter.

"She's still here, so she decided that she didn't want to quit the game." Drew replied in a much more serious tone.

"Good for her," said James.

"She's going to be okay. Casey will never give up." TK smiled. "She's a tough girl and I know she'll never lose hope for the future."

"No matter how hopeless it might seem…" Rika muttered cynically.

"Well, I'm getting a vibe that Casey doesn't want to be here." Takuya said. He tried to sound as neutral about this situation as possible. "Don't you think it's best if we put Casey out of her misery? Shouldn't we spare her the pain and vote her out at the next tribal council?

A few players exchanged nervous glances with each other. Nobody knew what to say.

"It's just a suggestion." Takuya shrugged his shoulders. "If she's struggling out here, then why keep her in the game?"

"That…that might be a good idea." May mumbled in consent. She began nodding her head to Takuya's words. "May be it's better if Casey got some proper food and rest at the jury's lodge."

"Let's not rush into an impulsive decision." Drew said, choosing his words very cautiously. He narrowed his eyes at May, hoping that she would catch what he was hinting at. "If Casey doesn't want to be here, she'll let us know herself."

"But she's so fragile." May sighed. "I don't want anything bad to happen to her, you know what I mean?"

TK: A lot of us are very protective over Casey because she's young and inexperienced. Don't get me wrong, I'm not underestimating her abilities. I know she's a very capable girl, but…but I treat Casey like a little sister. We all do, actually.

TK paused and bit his lips a few times. He looked hesitant before continuing the rest of his confessional.

TK: Nobody wants to see their little sister get hurt in the game…

- - -

DAY 30

Clamperl was supposed to indicate the unity of Gorebyss and Huntail as one official tribe, but Takuya felt otherwise. The ultimate evidence of hypocrisy over this so-called unison lied in the fact that they were living in the former Huntail camp. Even after the supposed merge, this game remained a constant battle between the two sides. For the past thirty days, a heated competition took place between Gorebyss and Huntail over a difficult struggle for power. Unfortunately, Gorebyss always seemed like the inferior tribe. They were less successful, less triumphant, and generally less dominant. More often than not, Takuya found himself on the losing side in challenges and tribal councils. In comparison to the remarkable successes and victories of Huntail, Gorebyss was supposed to be the lesser tribe.

That was the way it has always been. The members of Huntail were supposed to be a band of triumphant winners, whereas the members of Gorebyss were supposed to be a clad of defeated losers – until now, anyway.

"We have the power to change this game," said Rika.

When Takuya first heart these mind-boggling words, he stared at his alliance member in disbelief for a few seconds before he shook his head and chuckled.

"No…no way. That's just crazy talk. You are crazy, Rika." Takuya grinned.

"Don't dismiss my idea before you even know what it is, goggle-head." Rika shot Takuya an impatient glare that immediately wiped Takuya's cocky grin from his face.

The two former Gorebyss members were sitting around the campfire, partaking in a private conversation with each other. James, who seemed like an odd third wheel in the duo, was also included in this discussion, but he was more occupied with cooking breakfast. Occasionally, he would mumble a few words of consent, but he kept his eyes fixated on the frying pan and his ears open to the quiet discussion.

"Since you're Rika Nonaka, almighty queen of Dewford Islands, I'm sure your plan is just absolutely brilliant." Takuya joked.

"Don't humour me, you idiot. I can't handle your shtick early in the morning." Rika said as she cracked the knuckles on her right fist.

James: Takuya and Rika might squabble a lot, but I believe that they understand each other the best. They spent so much time together that they've formed a very strong bond and…and I know no matter how hard I try, I'll always end up as the third wheel of their alliance. But I don't really mind. I'm just thankful that they've taken me under their wing and they've included me in all of their plans.

James smiled faintly at the cameras. He brushed a few strands of his lavender blue hair away from his large, innocent eyes.

James: Besides, they remind me so much of Jessie and Meowth. May be that's why I feel obliged to stick with Takuya and Rika. I kind of see the three of us as the Team Rocket trio of Dewford Islands, heh! Ooh, that reminds me…we still need a motto!

"Okay, okay…you're no fun." Takuya sighed in exasperation. "Tell me. I'm listening."

"We should team up with Casey." Rika said.

"What?" Takuya exclaimed.

"We should offer an alliance to Casey." Rika repeated, looking a little impatient with the Frontier. "The four of us will vote out Drew at this tribal council, and then, we'll have an advantage over Huntail."

"No, I heard what you said for the first time, but…" Takuya paused and made a face. "But Casey? Of all people, we have to team up with the girl who hates our guts?"

"She only hates you." Rika shrugged her shoulders.

"Oh, thanks Rika. That makes me feel so much better." Takuya rolled his eyes. His voice was layered with a thick coat of sarcasm. "No seriously, how can you expect us to align with her? She's a traitor!"

"She's a traitor out of circumstances." Rika grunted.

"That doesn't even make any sense!" Takuya smacked his forehead. "Anyway, we know Casey almost has the word Huntail tattooed on her forehead – that's how loyal she will be to us. Have you already forgotten who she voted against at the last couple of tribal councils?"

"She betrayed us only because you made it perfectly clear that you wanted nothing to do with her." Rika scowled at the Frontier. "Everyone knew about it. People were manipulating your dislike towards Casey for their own benefit."

"Still, Casey is so damn sneaky. She has no backbone." Takuya shook his head and spitted on the ground nearby James' feet. The Team Rocket member made a face at the unhygienic Frontier before he returned to his cooking. "Don't you remember? She voted Delia and Mimi out even though they were her friends. If she's willing to do something like that, there's no way in hell she'll vote with us!"

"We don't know unless we try." Rika muttered.

"Last night, I propose that we vote out Casey as a group and Huntail seems okay with the idea. That's exactly the break we've been waiting for! The targets have been deflected off our backs!" Takuya snapped. "The three of us can stay intact for three more days on this island, so let's not ruin this awesome opportunity!"

Rika: The problem with Takuya is that he's not a long-term thinker. He does things without thinking about the consequences afterwards. He doesn't understand that if we vote Casey out now, we're also voting out the only person who can put Gorebyss into a majority over Huntail. But he doesn't see it. All he can see is his personal dislike for Casey and how he wanted her out since the merge.

Rika stared emotionlessly at the cameras.

Rika: What else can I say? He's a dumbass.

"You're not seeing the big picture, goggle-head. You're just being stubborn," said Rika.

"And you're being stupid." Takuya argued. "No, if we tried aligning with Casey, she'll use it as an excuse to run to Huntail and save herself!"

"Idiot, listen to me…" Rika grunted, but she was interrupted by James' shrieking voice all of a sudden.

"Good morning, Casey!" James exclaimed as he waved animatedly at the awaken Casey, who was walking towards them. He glanced quickly at Takuya and Rika as if to give the two of them a subtle hint to stop talking.

"How are you feeling, Casey?" Takuya asked, quickly changing the topic of their previous discussion.

"A little better." Casey forced a weak smile on her face. She hesitated for a moment before continuing, "I'm really sorry about what happened yesterday. I didn't mean any of the things I say."

"We understand." Rika said, nodding her head.

"You were just having a bad day." James added. "We've all had one of those!"

"Thanks." Casey muttered, with her smile fading away from her face.

She glanced absently at the campfire as if she was deep in thought. There was an uncomfortable silence between the four former Gorebyss members where nobody knew what to say. Finally, Casey took a deep breath and began walking away at the direction of the river.

"I'm going to get treemail." Casey said nonchalantly.

"But…but didn't May already got treemail this morning?" James asked in an uncertain voice. He searched around his pockets until he pulled out a scroll of parchment from his pants. "Uh…Casey? Casey?"

A preoccupied Casey appeared not to have heard the Team Rocket member's warning. She continued walking further away from the trio, stumbling in her steps, until she finally disappeared from their sight. After she was gone, James exchanged nervous glances with his two alliance members. He was clearly concerned about Casey's state of mind.

"Casey isn't the same as before. She totally lost her spirit." James murmured. "May be Takuya is right. May be we should vote her out now and make her feel…feel happy again."

"That's right!" Takuya nodded his head enthusiastically. He smiled triumphantly at Rika. "See? James agrees with me!"

Rika stared at him with a look of utter disdain. At this moment, she had several choice words that she wanted to say to the athletic Frontier, but none of them described her thoughts more concisely than this elegant seven-lettered word.

"Dumbass."

- - -

The tenth immunity challenge involved a box of darts, a long white line spray painted on the sand, and a gigantic brick wall with many multi-coloured balloons attached to it. Although the unique set-up seemed bizarre at first, the sharp-witted players quickly made a connection between these three items, accurately predicting what their upcoming challenge will be. In particular, Takuya's face lit up when he first saw the setting. There was an enthusiastic grin spread widely across his boyish face.

"This reminds me of those carnival games where you throw darts at the balloons and try to pop them for prizes!" Takuya exclaimed. "So cool! I love those!"

"I know what you're talking about." May giggled, nodding her head in recognition of the game.

"Welcome to the immunity challenge, Clamperl." Professor Birch greeted the seven players with a zealous smile. The smile faded away a little as he turned to face Casey. "First things first, I need the necklace back."

Casey cringed. She slowly removed the necklace around her neck and handed it back to the professor, albeit demonstrating a fair amount of reluctance. The only item that could keep her invulnerable in the game was now gone.

"Immunity is back up for grabs!" Professor Birch shouted, raising the necklace high in the air. "Now, on with the challenge…as some of you have already guessed, we'll be playing a fun game of balloon darts."

The beefy professor gestured towards the gigantic brick wall placed in the middle of the beach.

"There are exactly two hundred and ten balloons on this wall. That's divided between the seven of you, so each of you has thirty balloons on the wall." Professor Birch continued. "Your objective is to take darts from this box and throw them at the wall, popping as many of your competitors' balloons as possible. If all thirty of your balloons are popped, then you're eliminated from the challenge. The winner will be the last person standing, or the person with the most balloons left once all the daggers run out, whichever comes first."

Drew took a casual glance at the wall and noticed that the balloons came in seven different colours: red, yellow, green, orange, violet, and two shades of blue – light blue and a richer, darker blue. He figured that these seven colours would help distinguish the players' sets of balloons from each other.

"You can only throw the darts from behind the white line. In fact, do not cross over the line at any time. If you want to get new darts, you must make your way to the box and grab a handful of it. Don't try to retrieve it on the ground." Professor Birch explained. He was speaking in a low and stern voice, stressing the importance of obeying his instructions. "I do not want anybody getting hurt in this challenge. Do I make myself clear?"

The players nodded their heads. A gentler smile returned to the professor's face.

"Okay, that's good. Now, pick the colour of balloons that you want and we'll get started." Professor Birch said.

It didn't take long for the seven players to divide the colours between them. Drew seemed content to possess the green balloons, while Takuya was equally pleased that he had the red balloons (to match the official tribal colour of Gorebyss). The yellow balloons belonged to TK, the orange to Casey, the violet to May, the light blue to James, and the dark blue to Rika.

"Survivors ready?" Professor Birch raised his arm in the air and then swung it down. "Go!"

A lot of the players immediately grabbed a handful of darts from the large box on the sand. Once they got their supplies, they ran towards the lines and began throwing the darts at the balloons. Only TK and Drew thought of carrying a large pile of darts in both of their hands and placing them down on the ground beside their feet, so that they wouldn't have to make multiple trips back and forth.

"Casey is the first to throw a dart!" Professor Birch announced as the petite baseball girl aimed her dart directly at a red balloon. It flew in a straight line and the balloon made a loud 'pop' sound. "And Takuya takes a hit!"

Takuya returned the favour, hitting one of Casey's orange balloons with ease. Meanwhile, Rika had no difficulty as she shot down three of Drew's balloons in a row. May and James were also throwing their darts, but they landed either too far or too close from the target. One of James' darts even flew over the wall, but none of the throws successfully hit the balloons.

TK and Drew began throwing their darts at the same time, both of them hitting the same red balloon. Drew exchanged a grin with the blonde, and that grin widened when Casey broke another of Takuya's balloons on the other end of the wall.

"They're all gunning for me!" Takuya shouted furiously, directing his comment to nobody in particular. He aimed one of his darts at a yellow balloon, but the direction was slightly skewed to the left and he ended up hitting a violet balloon instead.

"Goggle-head! Concentrate!" Rika yelled.

An increasingly agitated Takuya turned his head to the Tamer and saw that she was mouthing the name 'Drew' to him. He nodded his head once, indicating that he understood her message.

Nearby, James was finally beginning to get the hang of the challenge as he made the occasional hit on the board. May wasn't having as much luck and she still failed to hit even one balloon so far in the challenge. To make matters worst, she was the first person to run out of darts. Groaning a little, May jogged back to the box of darts. Casey and James soon followed her.

Drew and TK continued to aim their darts at Takuya's balloons. They made infrequent hits every now and then, but their accuracy was poor and mostly off the mark. Rika and Takuya fared much better due to their archery experiences. Rika hit every single balloon that she targeted so far, while Takuya knew exactly what he was doing.

"Takuya has eighteen balloons left." Professor Birch announced. "Drew is close behind with nineteen. Casey has twenty four. May has twenty six. TK and Rika both have twenty eight. James has twenty nine – only one balloon hit so far!"

"Don't jinx it!" James chuckled as he returned, carrying a large pile of darts in his hands. He imitated Drew and TK's strategy of bringing a large supply of darts and placing all the excess on the ground. In addition, he conveniently placed the pile between where he and Rika were standing, so both of them would have easy access to the darts.

Over the next few minutes, balloons were popping left and right on the wall. Realizing the threat that Rika was becoming in this challenge, TK and Drew shifted their targets from Takuya's red balloons to Rika's dark blue ones. Only Casey seemed insistent on breaking as many of the crimson red balloons as possible. At the same time, Rika and Takuya continued their persistent strategy, taking down Drew's green balloons one by one. James occasionally helped them out by breaking one or two of Drew's balloons, although it seemed like he was throwing his darts at random. May was still the only person who couldn't hit a single balloon.

Feeling slightly frustrated, May closed her eyes and threw a dart blindly at the wall. To her surprise, she heard a loud 'pop' sound. She gasped in delight – she did it! She hit something! She made it on the board!

"Welcome to the challenge, May! Too bad you hit one of your own balloons." Drew sniggered. May sighed softly and hanged her head in shame.

"Drew has two balloons left! He's getting close to being elim-" Professor Birch announced.

But before the professor could finish his sentence, Rika and Takuya both shot down Drew's final two balloons, knocking the Pokemon Coordinator out of the challenge.

"And just like that, Drew is out!" Professor Birch shouted. "Drew, please take a seat elsewhere."

As Drew bowed out of the challenge, Rika and Takuya exchanged glances with each other again. Nodding their heads in agreement, they both decided to target the darts on the yellow balloons, which belonged to TK.

May was improving, but her throws still lacked the strength or distance for the darts to hit any of the balloons. She lucked out every now and then, occasionally breaking one or two balloon. But compared to the other players, she clearly did not pose a threat.

"Takuya has twelve left. TK is down to sixteen. Rika has seventeen. Casey has twenty one." Professor Birch said. He paused as he watched James accidentally break an orange balloon. "Okay, make that twenty balloons. May has twenty four balloons. James has twenty seven."

Think of it as shooting a basketball through a hoop. TK thought to himself. He closed his right eye as he aimed for one of Rika's blue balloons. You can do it, TK…

Just as TK was about to make a throw, he did not expect Takuya to suddenly launch his body at his feet. A startled TK dropped the dart in his hand, which fortunately did not land on any part of Takuya. The Frontier didn't seem fazed at all as he grabbed a handful of darts from TK's pile on the ground.

"Hey, give them back!" TK shouted, looking a little undignified that Takuya stole his darts right in front of his face.

"Nobody said that they were exclusively your darts, pretty boy." Takuya sneered.

TK snarled in disapproval, but he returned his concentration on the wall. He aimed his dart at Takuya's red balloon – most likely out of personal revenge – and smiled when he successfully broke one of them. That'll show him.

Unfortunately, TK's glory did not last long, for Takuya and Rika finished the last of his balloons soon after. TK was also eliminated from the challenge. The blonde now joined the green-haired Coordinator on the sidelines.

"TK is out!" Professor Birch exclaimed. "Right now, Takuya has nine balloons left. Rika has eleven. Casey has fifteen. May has twenty. James has twenty three."

Pop! Pop! Pop! Casey cringed as she watched her orange balloons break one by one. Now that TK was out of the challenge, Takuya and Rika moved on to targeting Casey's balloons. Pop! Pop! Pop! Casey threw a dart at one of Rika's dark blue balloons, but narrowly missed. It was getting more difficult hitting the balloons since there were less of them on the wall. Pop! Pop! Pop! She tried again, aiming her dart at a red balloon this time, but it collided with another dart and both of them landed on the ground. Pop! Pop! Pop! She threw two more darts in quick succession, with both of them hitting Rika's dark blue balloons. Pop! Pop! Pop!

"Casey is out!" Professor Birch shouted, gesturing the petite baseball lover to join Drew and TK on the sidelines. "Right now, Takuya has eight balloons left, Rika has nine, May has sixteen, and James has twenty two."

Inevitably, May was next on Rika and Takuya's line of firing. It didn't take long before her violet balloons popped one by one. May didn't put much of a fight to defend herself, and soon, she was also eliminated from the challenge. She exchanged knowing smiles with Drew and TK as she joined them on the sidelines.

"May is out!" Professor Birch exclaimed. "Right now, Takuya and Rika both have eight balloons left. James has twenty one!"

Feeling a bit more relaxed, Rika ran to the large box to retrieve more daggers. What she didn't expect was the fact that Takuya went straight for her balloons as soon as her back was turned. A few players gasped in surprise – weren't Rika and Takuya supposedly working together? By the time Rika got back with a handful of daggers, she noticed that she was down to two balloons in this challenge, which Takuya quickly broke in the next five seconds.

"Rika is out of the challenge. Takuya still has eight balloons. James is down to twenty!" Professor Birch said. "Some players seem a little surprised with Takuya's decision to take out Rika."

"It's just a competition, you guys." Takuya said, flashing an apologetic smile to Rika. She had an impish smile on her face, almost as if she comprehended his actions, but the stern Tamer said nothing in return. As she sat down beside Drew, he studied her face with an odd fascination. The wheels in his head were already turning.

The challenge continued as a battle between Takuya and James. Although Takuya had fewer balloons on the wall, he was quickly closing the gap by destroying James' light blue balloons in rapid succession. James managed to put up a good fight, popping two of Takuya's balloons until Takuya had caught up to him. But it was evident that he was no match to the athletic Frontier. Very soon, his final balloons were popped by Takuya's darts.

"Takuya wins immunity!" Professor Birch exclaimed, staring at the brick wall. There were only six balloons remaining – all of them were red. As soon as he heard this announcement, Takuya pumped his fist energetically in the air.

"This is unbelievable." Takuya grinned. "At the start of the challenge, everybody was gunning for me. I thought I'd be the first person eliminated!"

"But you pulled through, Takuya. You're the last person standing." Professor Birch said, handing the immunity necklace to the enthusiastic Frontier. "You won immunity, and you're guaranteed to stay in this game for three more days."

He paused and turned his body towards the other players.

"Unfortunately, the same could not be said to the rest of you. I hate to be the barrier of bad news, but somebody will be going home tonight." Professor Birch continued. "Alright, you can go now. I'll see you at tribal council in a couple of hours."

- - -

While the Gorebyss trio plotted their strategy for the upcoming tribal council, there was another trio doing exactly the same thing elsewhere. Drew, May and TK were sitting inside the motorboat, going on yet another 'fishing trip' (which was quickly becoming their codeword for 'strategy session').They even brought their fishing gear to maintain their façade, but in reality, the fishing trip was merely an excuse for them to get away from the rest of Clamperl. The privacy and isolation of the sea created a perfect setting for the newly formed alliance to discuss their strategies and their future game plans.

"Are we still going with the plan?" TK asked. The term 'plan' was very vague, but both May and Drew knew what the blonde was referring to.

"To be honest, I'm starting to have second thoughts about it." May said in a hesitant tone of voice. "I think it's a bad idea to chain Casey along with our alliance, especially if she doesn't even want to be here."

"Well, I understand…sort of." Drew muttered insincerely. "But let's take a look at priorities here. If we don't break up the Gorebyss alliance now, how will we be able to deal with them at the next vote?"

"Yeah, that's another problem." May groaned.

"If we don't break them up now, we might never get a chance to do so in the future." TK added.

"So, what we have here is a dilemma. Either way, someone is going to get screwed." Drew chuckled.

Drew: Takuya and Rika work extremely well together. The immunity challenge today showed everyone exactly how dangerous they are as a team. Keep them in the game and they'll bulldoze the competition. I think of them as the Bonnie and Clyde of Survivor, because they're the bastards who could rob me of my million dollars.

Drew grinned sheepishly at the cameras, looking like an amused schoolboy who was guilty of making a bad quip.

Drew: Rika needs to be removed from the Gorebyss equation. I don't prefer to see her leave over the likes of May or Takuya, but Gorebyss just can't stay together. And the truth is…it'll be so much easier to break apart that trio if we have Casey's vote. Four votes and Rika is out, done and done. But after we witnessed Casey's episode yesterday, things got a little more…complicated, so to speak.

"I feel really bad that we're keeping Casey around just because she benefits us strategy-wise." May sighed. "I…I feel so heartless doing that."

"Separate your emotions from your strategy." Drew said sternly.

"But it…it feels so wrong, you know? It's wrong of us to use Casey because she's an extra vote in our favour. It's wrong of us to manipulate Casey into joining our alliance and then abandon her later. And it's wrong of us to disregard Casey's feelings and only use her to advance ourselves further into the game." May closed her eyes in frustration. "I mean, only a jerk would do something like that."

"If you wanted to call me a jerk, you could've said it explicitly." Drew smirked.

"No, this isn't about you, Drew. We shouldn't be thinking about ourselves. It's not about us – it's about Casey's well being. We should make this decision based on her best interests." May sighed. And my gut tells me that Casey should go to the jury's lodge, get some proper rest and eat some proper food."

"Casey has already been here for thirty days. It's not going to make a big difference if she stays for three more days." Drew maintained his cool poise as he spoke. "Besides, you can't honestly be stupid enough to think that Casey is a larger threat than Gorebyss?"

"How do you know Casey isn't making her final plea to Gorebyss right now? May be she has already turned against us." May argued.

"That's ridiculous. You worry too much." Drew scoffed.

"Guys, we need to make a decision." TK said. "If we're going to vote for Casey, we'll have to inform Gorebyss that we're voting with them. Otherwise, we grab Casey and tell her about our plan."

"Casey." May replied somewhat uncertainly. "I think it should be Casey."

"I still say we vote out Takuya like we originally planned." Drew said, but May was already shaking her head in disagreement.

"What do you think, TK?" May asked, facing the blonde.

"Drew has a really good point." TK paused, biting his lips. "But I'm worried about Casey's emotions. The longer we keep her in this game, the more we'll trample her feelings. We give her hope, but then we snatch it away from her, because sooner or later, we're cutting Casey loose from our alliance. And I'm already dreading for that day to come…"

May: Part of me is pushing for Casey to go because I do believe that she needs to live in a more comfortable environment. Another part of me also knows that if Casey is voted off, it'll keep Gorebyss and Huntail at odds with each other, and yeah, I want that to happen! The more Drew sees Gorebyss as a threat, the more I want to keep them around. This means Drew will stay loyal to Huntail and he won't try to do anything funny. It also removes a target off my back, because I know Gorebyss will vote off Drew or TK over me. So yeah, I think it benefits me if Casey is voted off at this tribal council. And I'll do whatever it takes to make sure that's what happens tonight – with or without Drew's vote.

- - -

Each player carried a different attitude when they arrived at tribal council. For May, she dreaded the unpredictability of this game, knowing that a surprising outcome could spring upon her when she least expected it. For Takuya, he had been here so many times in the past that he was starting to view the process as a boring chore or a monotonous routine. For Drew, he felt relieved that he could take out one of his competitors tonight, making him one step closer to winning a million dollars.

But no matter what methods the players chose to approach tribal council, they all shared one common trait: caution. Tribal council was a place full of surprises. Nobody could be guaranteed absolute security unless they possessed the immunity necklace. Even the most confident of players knew and expected that the vote will not always go their way. And Drew was no exception. As much as he thought he would be safe tonight, he would never know for sure until he saw that a torch was snuffed – preferably not his torch.

"I'll now bring in the members of the jury." Professor Birch announced.

Tap. Tap. Tap. That was the sound of Cassidy's high heels clicking against the cement pathway. The self-confident Team Rocket member marched into the set, with her chest thrust forward and her head held up high. She walked over to the jury's bench and sat down in the front row. JP followed after her, but he chose a seat in the furthest end of the back row, making sure that he would be as far away from Cassidy as possible.

"So, where do we start?" Professor Birch smiled lightly. He clapped his hands together. "Casey, I've got to ask you a few questions about yesterday."

"I was afraid you'd do that." Casey hanged her head and chuckled nervously.

"You found out that you were the only person who didn't win the reward." Professor Birch said. "And when you got to the top of the mountain, you obviously got very emotional…"

"Yeah, I…I uh, regretted saying those things." Casey smiled weakly at the rest of the players. "I want to make it clear to everyone that I do not want to leave the game. That's why I'm still here. I still have some fight in me!"

"Why did you say that you wanted to leave?" Professor Birch asked.

"I…I've been so stressed out lately. You know, with Cassidy getting voted out, umm…and then throwing away all the rice. It…it was just too much to handle at once." Casey forced a brave smile at her face, but her shifty eyes betrayed her, and she gazed elsewhere away from the professor. "Simply put, the game got the best of me. I got some sleep, ate some food, and now I don't feel that way anymore."

"Okay, that's good to hear." Professor Birch nodded his head. "Now, Casey mentioned something about throwing away your rice. That sounds like a serious matter! May, tell me what happened."

"It was pretty disgusting, professor." May said, sticking her tongue out to emphasize. "A few days ago, we found two Weedles living inside our rice container. We don't know how they've got in there or how long they've been in there. But the rice was contaminated, so we had no choice. We had to throw it away."

JP widened his eyes in surprise, while Cassidy wore a self-satisfied smirk on her face.

"On the list of the creepiest moments I've encountered in my life, seeing those bugs crawling in the rice is definitely in the top ten." Takuya added with a boyish grin.

"I'd bet it was, Takuya." Professor Birch chuckled. "So, I gather that the last three days has been unpleasant? Am I right, James?"

"The last three days has been absolutely miserable!" James exaggerated in his usual dramatic flair. "We suffered a really devastating loss!"

"Now, I know that things might not look optimistic for us, but I think we'll get through this. We're all in this together." TK interjected, raising his hand in the air to speak. "Losing the rice is not going to make life any easier, that's for sure, but it's all part of the experience. We can learn from this." He paused and bit his lips. "We just need to ration the food, make some more catches, and have a small dose of hope for our futures."

"True. That's very true." James nodded his head quietly.

"On the bright side, you have just nine days left on this island." Professor Birch said. The smile on his face slowly faded away as he added, "Unfortunately, only two of you will be there on the final day. And tonight, another person will be leaving us." He paused, glancing at Takuya. "Okay, it's time to vote. Takuya has immunity, so he's safe tonight. Everyone else is fair game. Drew, you're up first."

Drew crossed the bridge and arrived at the voting shrine. On the piece of blank parchment, he wrote 'Casey' in a neat and tiny handwriting. He held his vote in front of the cameras with a nonchalant shrug.

"Why did you have to go and cry and lose immunity to Takuya? You foolish girl. We would have included you in our plans for sure. This is essentially a vote cast out of pity, that's all it is. Wish you could be around to kick Takuya's ass. Say hi to Cassidy for me."

May was the next person to vote. Like Drew, she cast another vote against the petite baseball lover.

"You're a great girl and I wished things would've worked out differently. I know the last couple of days haven't been fun for you. If there was one thing I could do differently in this game, I would've encouraged the tribe to include you more in our camp activities. I'm really sorry, Casey."

Casey received her third vote of the night, courtesy of TK Takaishi. The blonde smiled faintly at the cameras as he held up his vote, with the name 'Casey' scribbled neatly across the parchment.

"Go to the jury's lodge, chat with your friend Cassidy, sleep on a comfy bed, and eat a big delicious chocolate sundae for me! Take care, Casey."

Takuya voted. Rika voted. James voted. All three Gorebyss members returned to their seats without displaying any evident emotion on their faces. The last person to vote was Casey. The petite baseball lover picked up the black ink marker and scribbled four letters on the parchment.

"The reward challenge confirmed what I already know. You turned your back against me as soon as we were in danger, so an eye for an eye. I think the vote will surprise you. I hope it teaches you that you're not invincible in this game."

- - -

A few minutes later, the professor returned from tallying the votes. He placed the small voting urn on a pedestal in front of him. The players stared at the box apprehensively. Another player was about to be voted off.

"When the votes are read, the person voted out will be asked to leave tribal council area immediately." Professor Birch said.

He pulled out the first parchment from the urn. He unfolded the vote.

"First vote…" Professor Birch said, turning the parchment over. "Casey."

Casey nodded her head knowingly. This was the first vote she received in the past thirty days. Unfortunately, Casey had a terrible feeling that it won't be the last. She tilted her Electabuzz baseball cap down so that the hat was covering her big brown eyes. There was no need for her to see her own name appear on the parchment. Hearing it being declared was already difficult enough to manage.

"Casey." Professor Birch read out the second vote.

On the jury, both Cassidy and JP had a look of disappointment on their faces. It was clear that the petite baseball fan was not who they wanted voted off tonight.

"Casey." Professor Birch repeated the name for the third time.

This could become the most anti-climactic tribal council ever. Casey joked to herself. She did a small sigh and turned around, glancing at her former Gorebyss members. Takuya and Rika remained calm and enigmatic, but James looked a little wobbly in his seat. His shaky posture reminded Casey of someone who wanted to share a forbidden secret with everyone.

Professor Birch reached into the voting urn and pulled out the fourth vote. He turned it over.

"Drew." Professor Birch declared. "That's three votes for Casey and one vote for Drew."

Drew stared fiercely at the vote. He recognized that it was Casey's messy handwriting, but seeing his name show up at tribal council didn't comfort him at all. He could only hope that this would be the last time he saw his name tonight. Otherwise, Drew knew he would receive one hell of a surprise tonight.

Professor Birch grabbed the fifth vote from the urn. He took a brief glance at the name and waited for a few seconds before he turned it over.

"The tenth person voted out of Survivor: Dewford Islands…" Professor Birch said, "Casey."

Drew gave a small nod of approval at the outcome. Although he did not express his feelings in his calm and graceful face, Drew instantly felt a wave of relief wash over his body. Stranger things had happened at tribal council before. Luckily for Drew, tonight was not one of those nights.

Casey received several hand squeezes and a few pats on the backs as she got up from her seat. She grabbed her torch and walked over to Professor Birch. She had a faint smile on her face.

"Casey, the tribe has spoken." Professor Birch said as he snuffed her torch. Even in the darkness, he caught a brief glimpse of the cute dimple on Casey's left cheek. "It's time for you to go."

Nodding her head, Casey waved to the remaining players before she walked away, soon camouflaging with the dark shadows of the brooding trees. TK clasped his hands together and put them over his mouth. He sat there silently as he watched her disappear from his sight.

"The past few days have been rocky for Clamperl, but things will get better in the future." Professor Birch said, holding his hands behind his back. The impish grin on his face widened as he shrugged his shoulders. "Or not."

Several players laughed nervously at the professor's cynicism. Cassidy seemed the most amused with his remark.

"In the game of Survivor, there're a lot of things you can't predict. Accidents, misfortunes, disasters…" Professor Birch continued. "In situations like those, all you could do is hope for the best. Alright, I'll see you tomorrow." He paused, and then added, "Goodnight, Clamperl."

Before he got up from his seat, TK took one final glance into the forest where Casey took her walk of shame. Casey was gone. What was supposed to be the zesty spirit, the cheerful persistence, the endless optimism was forever vanished from the Clamperl tribe. While he was comforted knowing that Casey would enjoy a hot shower and a luxurious meal, TK still felt a lingering emptiness within his heart. Because he knew – he knew that her exit tonight could have been easily prevented. The Huntail alliance was willing to team up with Casey and offer her security for at least three more days. If only she didn't lose immunity. If only she didn't have that breakdown. If only she didn't give up hope.

The story of Casey should have been an admirable one. Here was a petite, slightly eccentric girl who faced against unfavourable odds for most of the game. Although she watched her friends leave one by one, she remained a fighter who would never surrender. But for one brief moment, Casey lost hope. She lost hope in her abilities, lost hope in her judgment, lost hope in her future. And that was when Casey also lost the game. Up until then, her determination never faltered. Her continuous optimism kept her alive in this game, whether it meant accepting new opportunities or winning immunity at the most desperate time. She was supposed to be a fighter. She was supposed to never feel hopeless.

"We must always have hope." TK muttered to himself, suddenly remembering a particular conversation between him and Casey. Only now did he realize how true those words were.

Hope was an important attribute in the game of Survivor. Nobody understood this more than TK Takaishi.

- - -

Casey's Final Words

I wished I had a time machine, so I could take back some of the things I said yesterday. Now, everybody is going to think of me as a quitter. I wanted to stay! I worked too hard for the past thirty days to just give up like that! All I did was lose touch with reality for one moment and that brought me a one-way ticket to the jury's lodge. Oh well, that's me – Casey the bigmouth. I wished I didn't say those things to my tribe. I wished I knew how to shut up. I wished I didn't wear my heart on my sleeves.

I wish, I wish, I wish. There're a lot of things I wished were different, but this Survivor experience was in the past. I live in the present and I look forward to a bright future ahead of me.

- - -

Next Time on Survivor –

James feels the pressure…
Drew: One, two, three.
(Drew holds up three fingers in front of James' face. He smirks.)
Drew: Vote with us.

The loved ones come for a surprise visit…
May: Oh my god!
(May screams in joy. She embraces her mother affectionately.)
May: I miss you so much!

And Takuya turns on the charm…
(Rika and Takuya are chatting in the forest.)
Takuya: We just need to convince one person.
(May giggles as Takuya helps her balance on a surfboard. The men watch from a distance.)
TK: He's flirting with her.
Drew: I don't trust May.

All this and more on – Episode 11: Three Plus One

- - -

Author's Notes: Don't forget to review and take the survey after you're finished reading! Just three more episodes to go. Thanks to everybody for your patience and support!