What's this? A second chapter in the span of a month? What sorcery is this?!

Welcome, everyone, to the next chapter of PDI! Yes, I'm just as surprised as you are about how early this one is out, but I suppose there won't be any complaints about that. It's nice to finally feel like I'm not slacking on this story again!

I don't have any particularly interesting news to give all of you, so I'll just update the poll results instead:

4 votes - Clauncher and Seviper

3 votes - Jolteon

2 votes - Chandelure and Beedrill

1 vote - Chatot, Dusclops, Reuniclus, Lopunny, Vaporeon, and Lilligant

0 votes - Castform, Combusken, and Mienshao

Vote if you haven't! You know the drill.

Onto the chapter!

A great tension filled the air. Two Pokemon were situated on each side of the campground, facing each other down in what could only be described as the single most important battle in history.

"S-so, uh…" Combusken trembled nervously next to Clauncher as they watched Reuniclus and Beedrill from across camp. Both sides were waiting for Clauncher to give the call before they began their battle. "This is really going to help me get stronger?"

"Best way to learn is by doing, my friend!" Clauncher reaffirmed, clicking his claws in excitement. "You ready to fight?"

"I...I guess?"

"THEN LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!" Clauncher shouted. He was engulfed in a bubble of water immediately, which shot in a curved arc towards Reuniclus and Beedrill's location. Reuniclus held up his hands in front of him with intense concentration, and Clauncher's Aqua Jet was suddenly stopped in midair, causing Clauncher to collapse to the ground.

Beedrill was charging forward to take on Combusken, who was taking a nervous battle stance. The bug readied his needles and took a few swings at Combusken, which the bird managed to block fairly well with his arms. Combusken opened his mouth and blasted a few scorching embers at Beedrill, which caused him to let up on his attacks and fly back a safe distance.

"You're getting good at this," Beedrill even commented, giving Combusken an approving nod. Combusken felt a pleasant sensation at hearing Beedrill's praise, but unfortunately for him the bug wasn't quite done trying to fight yet. Beedrill began to concentrate on his target, much like Reuniclus had, but when he flew in for a Fury Attack Combusken could tell this one wouldn't be as easy to block.

Beedrill struck Combusken with several critical blows, and Combusken fell over in a defeated heap. Beedrill stood there for a few seconds to see if Combusken was done with the fight, and eventually offered a needle to the chicken to help him up. Combusken took it gratefully and pulled himself to his feet.

The two of them then turned to see how Reuniclus and Clauncher were faring. They were still engaged in combat, with Clauncher now relying on his ranged attacks to overwhelm Reuniclus before the psychic could stop them. Reuniclus was hit with a barrage of water blasts, letting out a little shout each time one hit him. Clauncher laughed at Reuniclus's struggle for a moment before the psychic took this brief opportunity to lift Clauncher into the air with his mind and throw him into a tree. Clauncher landed on the soft leaves painlessly, but Reuniclus had gotten him tangled in the branches to the point where he couldn't easily escape.

"Looks like we beat you two again," Reuniclus said with a smirk. Clauncher let out a sigh, which was echoed by Combusken. "Keep up your training. You'll get us one of these times, I'm sure."

"Man, we get so close every time, too!" Clauncher complained with an exaggerated huff. He peeked at Reuniclus with narrowed eyes. "You better not be going easy on us."

"I'm not, don't worry," Reuniclus assured him. "But if I may, I'd suggest that you take your training somewhere else besides camp. Beedrill and I see you training all the time, and it kind of makes it easy for us to counter your strategies. In a real match, the other campers could take advantage of that, too."

"Hm. Good point," Clauncher said thoughtfully. He looked to Combusken. "Well, Combusken, you heard him. Want to head down to the beach for our next training session this afternoon?"

"Uh, y-yeah! Sure," Combusken agreed eagerly.

Clauncher gave him a brief grin before turning back towards the others. "All right, let's grab some lunch, guys. I'm starved!"

Beedrill murmured a quiet agreement and the four of them headed off to the cafeteria. From her seat on the cabin steps Lopunny watched them leave, a bit disappointed that their match was over with so soon.

-static-

"I know that we're technically in an alliance now, but I don't actually spend that much time with Mienshao and the others," Lopunny confessed. She looked to be in higher spirits than last week, though there was still some pain buried deep in her expression. "Most mornings I just stay here at camp watching Combusken's friends teach him to fight, or I go jogging in the woods by myself. I don't feel like I have much to talk about with anyone here, especially since Vaporeon's gone off to spend all her time with her new boyfriend."

Lopunny's facial expression had changed during the last sentence to a look of resentment. "And above all else, I still don't trust Mienshao. Not after everything that she did to our team, especially the ones she used to consider her allies. I can tell she's actively trying to get on my good side, too; she's not that good of an actor.

"But at this point she seems like the only shot I have left at finding a team," Lopunny surmised. "So if she says she wants to take me to the end with Chatot and Jolteon, I guess I'm along for the ride. We'll settle things between us when we get there."

-static-

In the cafeteria, Mienshao was already discussing new plans with Chatot and Jolteon. Or perhaps more accurately, she was discussing them with Chatot; Jolteon was sitting there as well, but he distracted by Vaporeon, who was waving at him from a few tables over with her tailfin. He gave her a goofy smile, which caused her to smile in return.

"Jolteon. Focus," said Mienshao, snapping her fingers in his face in irritation. The Electric-type turned to see Chatot shaking his head before the two resumed the discussion, with Jolteon now included. "So, our plan is to take out the big alliances that still remain in this game so we can become the dominant voting power. Of all the contestants in the game, I can only think of four that are in an alliance anywhere near as big as ours."

As Mienshao said these words, Beedrill and Reuniclus pushed open the cafeteria doors, Clauncher and Combusken following them inside. Mienshao sneered as she watched Reuniclus get in line for the soup Diancie was serving. "Reuniclus's alliance," she finished, as if it wasn't obvious enough already. "They've been a thorn in my side since day one, and I want them gone. The sooner they're gone, the better. For all of us."

Chatot and Jolteon didn't seem immediately convinced. "I don't care about whatevah petty squabbles ya had before the merge, Mienshao. We're tryin' ta look at the big picture now," Chatot told her plainly. "Are they really that important ta target?"

"Yes," Mienshao hissed, giving Chatot a serious glare. He raised a brow. "Look, do the math for yourself. Four votes can't outweigh another four. As long as all of them remain, we can't do anything to directly stop them without the involvement of another alliance."

"Hm. Ya got a point," Chatot conceded, leaning back in his seat. "I don't care for most of them eithah way, really. But if we want ta take out the big threats, we gotta target Reuniclus or Beedrill. They're both powah playahs."

"Agreed," said Mienshao, leaning back in her seat. Those two had caused her by far the most trouble, with Reuniclus poking his nose where it shouldn't be and Beedrill trying to get her eliminated since she took out his closest friends. With both of them gone, there was a chance that she would no longer be the biggest target in camp—but that was only if they left.

"I say we should target Reuniclus first," Mienshao suggested. "He's clearly the one keeping them together. And as dangerous as Beedrill may be, if we take out the ringleader, we may possibly destroy the alliance from the inside. Beedrill isn't as close with Clauncher and Combusken as he is with Reuniclus, from what I can tell."

"Seems that way ta me," Chatot agreed, though he decided to withhold his opinion on her plan until she finished.

Mienshao smirked at the bird. "And you've still got a score to settle with Reuniclus for stealing that golden key from you, don't you?" she asked smugly.

Chatot visibly tensed up. "Who told ya about that?" he growled aggressively.

"Jolteon told me," Mienshao said nonchalantly. Chatot gave his partner a withering glare, and the Electric-type shrunk down in his seat. "We're allies now, after all. It's important to talk about these things."

"Sorry," muttered Jolteon quietly. Chatot sighed and made a mental note not to trust Jolteon with any important secrets; as useful as he was in challenges and voting ceremonies, he had a certain way of screwing everything else up.

"Anyways, I'm sure you can agree that getting rid of Reuniclus is in the best interest of everyone at this table," Mienshao said. She held out a hand to Chatot. "Do we have a deal?"

He deliberated for a few seconds before reaching out to take it. "We have a deal. But don't try anythin' stupid. If you get caught tryin' ta sabotage him mid-challenge, we ain't gonna have ya back on that one," Chatot said bluntly.

"Fair enough," Mienshao agreed. "We need to keep it subtle anyway. The plan has to be easy to execute so we can ensure that Reuniclus becomes a target."

"Er, why don't we try tying him to something incriminating?" Jolteon offered. The other two looked at him weirdly. "I mean, if we can paint him as a bad guy for doing something behind everyone's backs, that could turn people against him pretty fast."

"You're saying we should spread false information about Reuniclus?" Mienshao asked. By her tone Jolteon could tell she was impressed. "That could work. We just need something believable enough that it could turn the whole camp against him without seeming like he was set up."

"Yeah, um…" Jolteon paused. "That's the part I'm still working on."

He chuckled nervously as Chatot sighed beside him. Vaporeon watched him from afar with a smile on her face as he laughed. She didn't know why he had suddenly started hanging out with Mienshao of all people, but if they were having this much fun, maybe Mienshao wasn't as bad as Vaporeon had thought her to be before. She certainly hoped Mienshao had changed for the better.

Mienshao caught Vaporeon watching them from the next table over, and after a moment a devious smile worked its way onto her face. A new idea had suddenly come to her; it was a big risk, no doubt, but it could be just what she needed to stir up some new drama.

-static-

"I'm glad Jolteon's got some other friends here. I mainly hang around with Lilligant and Seviper now, since Lopunny's gotten kinda...distant lately," Vaporeon muttered with a hint of sadness. "I still don't know why she stopped talking to me, but she won't explain anything, so I guess that's that."

She stared blankly at the camera. "Anyways, I've barely ever talked to Chatot, and only really talked to Mienshao at voting ceremonies. And those weren't exactly friendly conversations," she said, thinking back to Minun's elimination. "But I'm hoping Jolteon will introduce me to them later. Mienshao seems different, but actually in kind of a good way. I hope I'm not wrong in saying that."

-static-

Meanwhile, the rec room was currently being occupied by Lilligant, Dusclops, Castform, and Seviper. The former two were situated at the pool table, with Dusclops trying to find the best angle for his next shot while Castform and Seviper observed.

"Take your time, why don't you," Castform said sarcastically as Dusclops spent a ridiculous amount of time lining up his shot.

"Thanks, I'll do just that," Dusclops retorted, keeping his eye on the ball. He stood up a bit straighter to get a different perspective on the game and let out a dissatisfied hum. "No, wait, that's not right. Lemme just readjust—"

Seviper rolled her eyes and Castform was even starting look bored. Castform was glad she wasn't the one playing, because it seemed like only Lilligant had the patience to wait for Dusclops to make his perfect shot.

"All right, think I got it," Dusclops muttered, finally satisfied with the amount of time he had spent lining up his shot. He was prepared to hit the ball with enough power when suddenly the intercom blared, causing him to jerk his hands reactively and knock the ball completely the wrong way. Dusclops let out a massive groan as Jirachi's voice rang through camp.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS!" Jirachi's charismatic voice boomed. "COME ON DOWN TO THE MULTI-PURPOSE BUILDING! WE'VE GOT SOME SURPRISES FOR YOU. JIRACHI OUT!"

The intercom let out an indiscernible click as it turned off. Lilligant awkwardly glanced up at Dusclops. "So...you want to finish this later?" she suggested.

"No, I'll let you have this one. You're actually getting pretty good at this anyway," Dusclops remarked with a genuine compliment. Lilligant flushed slightly at the praise, but Dusclops didn't notice. "We should go see what Jirachi wants."

"It's about time," Castform said sarcastically, floating over next to Dusclops so the two could travel to the multi-purpose building side-by-side. Lilligant headed out after them, and Seviper slipped out behind her without a word.

-static-

Slowly but surely the rest of the campers made their way to the multi-purpose building and filed inside. Chandelure was the first one in, and she noticed that the inside was much like it had been during the paintball challenge—empty, with the exception of some shelves in the middle of the room. A set of bleachers was set up on the side for the campers to sit on.

The campers all took a seat as Diancie floated into the building behind them and closed the doors. Jirachi cleared his throat and the campers all focused their attention on him. "I'll assume everyone's here," the host said, glancing quickly at the campers to assess whether they all seemed to be present. "Okay, listen up, everyone! Today Diancie and I have decided to have a little mercy on you. This challenge shouldn't be excruciatingly difficult for anyone here, though you'll have to be resourceful if you want to have any hope of winning."

Jirachi's introduction to the challenge seemed to have the intended effect. Most of the campers were curious about what could be awaiting them, even the ones who didn't visibly show it like Chandelure. The host continued. "Today's challenge will be a game of tag."

This garnered some confused looks. "Tag?" Chatot repeated. "What's bein' resourceful gotta do with that? The fastest Pokemon here is just gonna win!"

"Now, now, Chatot, it's not that simple," Jirachi lectured with a shake of his head. "You should know that by now! It's tag with a twist. As for what that twist is…"

He pointed to the shelves in the center of the room, which were currently covered by a purple cloth. "It'll be different for each one of you," said Jirachi, rubbing his hands together excitedly. "I can't wait to see how this goes. Diancie, would you like to do the honor of showing the campers how this will work?"

"Of course," Diancie graciously accepted. She pulled the cloth off from over the shelves, revealing what appeared to be a random assortment of objects on each shelf to the campers.

"In this challenge, every camper will have something assigned to them," Diancie explained. "One of the objects here will be given to each of you, and you'll either have to carry or wear it throughout the challenge. Failure to do so is disqualification from the challenge, and you'll lose your chance at tonight's immunity."

"Seems simple enough," Reuniclus stated. "What's the catch?"

"The catch is that each object is a handicap of sorts. You might have to carry a heavy iron ball, or wear a blindfold that forces you to rely on your other senses," Diancie told the campers. "Obviously this complicates the game of tag a great deal, and it's because of these handicaps that this is even considered a challenge."

"Are we getting handicapsss asssigned randomly?" Seviper asked. Diancie nodded. "Well, I sssuppose that'sss about what I expected."

"So wait," Vaporeon interrupted her. "If everyone's getting some sort of handicap, who's going to be doing the tagging? We all have to be running from someone, right?"

"Correct," Diancie answered. "To start things off, we'll have a couple of our interns roaming around to tag anyone who's not expecting it. But once the first camper is tagged, the interns will step out and it comes down to all of you campers to tag each other."

"If you get tagged, you can then tag any other Pokemon you come across. As many as you can find, really," Jirachi said. "There's no reward for doing so besides screwing them over and potentially helping your allies stay in. And you don't have to tag someone if they're an ally—you're allowed to help your friends stay in!"

"Once only one Pokemon remains untagged, they will receive immunity in tonight's voting ceremony and the challenge ends," Diancie restated. "Any questions?"

Nobody raised a hand. "Good!" Jirachi said in a chipper voice. "We'll distribute the items to you now. Since there are no more teams, we'll just do this in order of where you're sitting. That means you're first, Combusken!"

The chicken sat up straighter after hearing his name called, and Jirachi used his telekinetic powers to hurl the first object at Combusken before stopping it right in front of his face. "You get these handcuffs!" Jirachi said brightly. Combusken swallowed nervously as Jirachi opened them with his mind and clasped them around the bird's wrists.

"H-how do I get these off?" Combusken whimpered.

"You don't! Not until the challenge is over," Jirachi cackled. "Hope you like them, because you're gonna have to get used to them real quick!"

Combusken shifted his arms around to find a more comfortable position to sit in while Jirachi levitated the next object over to Clauncher. "Claws, you get the googly goggles!" Jirachi called out as a pair of spectacles with swirl patterns on the lenses landed in front of Clauncher.

"...what?" Clauncher asked with a laugh, putting them on. Suddenly everything became a blur, and his vision started swimming. It was as if everything around him was making him dizzy; although he slowly started to adjust to the change after a few moments, he could tell wearing these wasn't going to be easy.

Jirachi smirked as he saw Clauncher's reaction. "It'll take some time to adjust to those," he chuckled. "Anyways, Reuniclus, you're up next! And you get...that iron ball we mentioned earlier! How lucky!"

"Oh Arceus," Reuniclus said as the iron ball was floated to him. "How heavy is th—ow."

Reuniclus had the wind knocked out of him as Jirachi dropped the ball onto his lap. With a pained grunt, Reuniclus lifted the ball with a tremendous amount of effort and dropped it down onto the floor. "Jerk," muttered Reuniclus.

Jirachi snickered at the psychic's misfortune and glanced at who was next in line: Beedrill. The host hummed something to himself and the fourth object flew off the shelf and over to the bee.

"A...bell?" Beedrill stated, giving Jirachi a confused look as a bell hovered in front of him.

"That's right! You have to carry this bell with you at all times," the host explained. He waved it around a few times telekinetically, causing a loud clanging sound. "Pretty loud, huh? Good look concealing your movements with this one."

Beedrill took the bell with a distasteful look. "I'll figure something out," he said quietly, more to himself than anyone else. Reuniclus gave him a curious glance, wondering what tricks Beedrill had up his sleeve.

"Next up is...Castform!" Jirachi announced for all to hear. "And lucky you! You get the comfiest prize we have!"

"Dare I ask what that means?" asked Castform hesitantly.

"Exactly what it sounds like! You, my floating friend, have to wear this pile of sweaters!" the host exclaimed, tossing them at her with his mind. The pile of sweaters landed with a thump on the seat next to her, causing her to jump slightly. Well, as much as a levitating Pokemon could jump, anyway.

Castform took one disbelieving look at the sweaters and then the host, chuckling. "What?" was all she managed to get out amidst her laughter.

"Well, normally additional clothing would not be a problem for any of you. At least, not those of you with the proper amount of limbs," Jirachi clarified, looking at Seviper as he said this. She glared at him from the bleachers. "But that's a hefty pile of sweaters there, make no mistake! There's twelve of them, if you're inclined to count."

Castform didn't bother counting, not all too concerned with the actual amount of sweaters. "Anyways, wearing that many layers is sure to weigh anyone down, not to mention being downright dreadfully hot after a while," said Jirachi, shuddering at his imagination of what the temperature would be like underneath all those layers. "So have fun with that!"

"Will do," Castform said with a roll of her eyes. Dusclops snickered until he was hit in the face by a pair of old boots chucked at him by Jirachi.

"NO LAUGHING," snapped the host as Dusclops rubbed his face. "Sweaters are serious business! Anyways, these boots are yours."

"And what do they do?" asked Dusclops, going to put one on his foot.

"...I wouldn't try that yet if I were you," Jirachi told him with a knowing look. Dusclops slowly removed the boot from his leg and set it down on the ground. "But I assure you, those boots are no ordinary footwear!"

"Oh, wonderful," Dusclops muttered. It was now Castform's turn to snicker at him, and she certainly didn't pass up the opportunity to do so.

"Seviper, you're up next." The snake stiffened slightly as her name was called by the host. It was Diancie who gently tossed her an item this time, though. "You'll have to wear these earmuffs."

Seviper was also perplexed by her item. "How isss thisss a handicap?" she inquired suspiciously, eyeing the earmuffs with distrust.

"Try them on, if you must know," Jirachi said, stifling a laugh. The snake reluctantly obliged, slipping on the earmuffs with the precise use of her tail. As soon as they were on her head, all noise was gone—she couldn't hear a thing.

"Noise-cancelling earmuffs," Jirachi explained to the campers, although the one who couldn't hear him was probably the one who would have benefited most from his explanation. "It's hard to tell when someone could be sneaking up on you if you can't hear them!"

Combusken, despite being initially unhappy with the handcuffs given to him, was slowly growing to appreciate that most of his senses would at least be intact during the challenge. Clauncher was still dizzily glancing around the room while Seviper seemed oblivious to what anyone was saying, as she was currently locked into the struggle of removing the earmuffs with only her tail.

"Let's see...we've done half of you already, so we'll go to Lilligant next," Jirachi decided, pointing at the plant Pokemon, who kind of squirmed uncomfortably as he focused on her. "You get the leaking bag!"

A bag of some mysterious orange liquid substance was floated over to Lilligant, who didn't seem to understand what it was. There appeared to be a patch applied to the bottom of the bag that was keeping the liquid inside; underneath the patch Lilligant could tell there was a hole.

"Once the challenge starts, you'll remove the patch from that bag," Jirachi explained to her. "And then the stuff inside starts to leak out! It'll be pretty hard to hide a trail of that stuff no matter where you go—it stands out anywhere."

Lilligant puzzled over what to do with the bag in her head as Jirachi moved on to the next camper. "Vaporeon, your challenge is to carry these speakers."

Diancie handed a pair of speakers to Vaporeon, who was able to balance the fairly small objects on her back. "What do these do?" she asked immediately.

"At random intervals, loud noises will play from those speakers," Diancie said as she returned to Jirachi's side. "There's no telling when they'll happen or quite how loud they'll be, but they'll give away your location to anyone nearby. It's important to remain on the move with those."

"Got it," said Vaporeon, giving a determined nod to the hosts. Diancie smiled at her as Jirachi handed off the next item to an eager Jolteon.

"What do I get?" Jolteon asked with an excited grin. The idea of this challenge was more fun to him than anything, and it was a welcome break after the last challenge had kept him on his toes the whole time.

Jirachi plopped what was shaped like a witch's hat onto the Electric-type's head, where it sunk down and covered most of his face. Jolteon gently tipped it back with one paw so it didn't block his eyes, giving Jirachi a curious look.

Jirachi rubbed his hands together, mirroring Jolteon's excitement. "This one's my personal favorite!" Jirachi admitted. "Jolteon, you get the Magic Hat! Enchanted by our very own wonderful Mr. Mime, anything is within the realm of possibility when you're wearing the hat!"

"You mean I can have magic powers with this?" Jolteon breathed in awe. Chatot slapped a wing to his face from the seat behind Jolteon.

"Well, not quite. See, the Magic Hat has a mind of its own," Jirachi detailed. "Whatever the hat wants goes, I should specify. You don't really get a say in whatever happens."

Jolteon was visibly disappointed, but he still looked genuinely pleased to try out the hat. "The Magic Hat could decide to make you float in the air without any control, or suddenly start pouring out water from itself...you just never really know!" Jirachi giggled. "Good luck with that one!"

Jolteon smirked and adjusted the hat onto his head so it fit him better, giving Mienshao an ecstatic look. She gave him a subtle smile in return, although Jirachi calling her name pulled her attention immediately away from Jolteon once more.

"For you, Mienshao, it's the wheelchair!" Jirachi said. "Now that we've got no use for it since Chesnaught's, er—well, we're putting it to good use! You'll have to use it for the entire challenge—if you get up from it at all, you're disqualified."

Mienshao gave the hosts a look that showed she clearly was not pleased, but Diancie rolled the wheelchair over to her and Mienshao let out a defeated sigh. "Next up for us is Lopunny, who will get the blindfold!" Jirachi said with a little clap. "Nice, simple, and easy, that one! Please tell me you don't have any questions about how a blindfold works."

"No, I think I get this one," Lopunny responded snidely, accepting the blindfold from Jirachi. There didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary about this blindfold; it was just a black piece of cloth to tie around her head.

"And that leaves us with you two," said Jirachi, glancing at Chatot and Chandelure, the only two campers remaining without a "gift" from the hosts. "Chatot, we'll give you this pole."

A long wooden pole was levitated to Chatot, who gave it a bizarre once-over to inspect it but found nothing special. The ends were rounded off, so it clearly wasn't meant to be a weapon or anything of the sort. "What the heck is this?" Chatot squawked.

"It's just a pole," said Jirachi with a shrug. "It's pretty long and all, and probably hard to carry around without being noticed."

"So lemme get this straight," Chatot said with a huff. "Sevipah's deaf and Lopunny's blind for this challenge, but all I gotta do is carry around a pole?"

"Do you want us to give you something more?" asked Jirachi, the slightest hint of an evil smile on his face.

Chatot shut up immediately. "Er, no. Pole's good with me," he decided. Lopunny seemed a little bitter that Chatot's item was easier than hers, but Seviper was too busy trying to get the earmuffs off to hear any of this.

"And lastly, Chandelure, you get a deck of playing cards!" Jirachi announced, tossing it to her. She let it fall onto the seat at her side. "Once again enchanted by Mr. Mime, these are no ordinary playing cards! Play one and just about anything could happen, good or bad!"

"So I get to choose whether I want to use these or not?" Chandelure assumed.

"There's a risk-reward system for deciding when to use them versus when not to," Jirachi stated. "If you're in a pinch and you get cornered, you can toss a card down and see what happens! Or if you just want to shake things up, you can do it then as well."

"But I don't have to use them?"

"I mean, you don't HAVE to." Jirachi was obviously disappointed by Chandelure's lack of enthusiasm about the cards. "...You're not going to use them, are you?"

"Not planning on it," said Chandelure flatly. Jirachi scowled at her.

"Okay, you know what? Now you have to." He flew over and snatched the deck of cards from the seat next to her, removing three-quarters of them before handing it back to her. "There's thirteen cards left in there. If at least seven of them aren't used by the time the challenge ends, you're automatically disqualified from getting immunity."

Chandelure's expression didn't change, but the host could tell she was livid. "And that wraps things up, I suppose!" Jirachi said with another clap of his hands. "So, any questions about how this challenge will go?" No hands went up. "Good! Everyone head outside and start searching for hiding places. We're going to send the interns after you in five minutes."

The campers dispersed quickly, spilling out the doors and in various directions in and out of camp. Some of the campers remained together while others decided to test their odds by themselves.

Jirachi rubbed his hands together and cackled evilly. "Now all that's left is to—why are you still here, Seviper."

The snake glanced up in confusion, wondering whether she had heard her name or not. "WHAT?" she shouted, still attempting to get her earmuffs off.

"IT'S TIME FOR THE CHALLENGE, SEVIPER!" Jirachi shouted back.

"I'M SSSORRY, WHAT WASSS THAT?"

Jirachi mimed the act of taking the earmuffs off, but this seemed to be the very thing Seviper was struggling to do. Jirachi sighed in exasperation and used his telekinesis to lift Seviper up and throw her out the doors.

"Couldn't you have just taken the earmuffs off for her?" Diancie pointed out as she rolled the shelves off to the corner of the room.

Jirachi stared at her for a second. "I guess I could've done that," he murmured. "Oh well. I'm sure she'll figure things out."

-static-

"This challenge is going to be wicked," said Jolteon with a grin, balancing the Magic Hat on his head. "I can't wait to try this thing out! Anyways, I really should be out there looking for a hiding place and not in here, so bye!"

He raced for the door but paused once he reached it. "Wait a minute. I could just use this as my hiding place!" said Jolteon in realization.

A knock at the door interrupted him. "You done in there?" asked a different voice.

"Never mind, that would probably be stupid anyway," Jolteon muttered, pushing the door open to let the next camper in.

-static-

"Here we go," Clauncher chuckled, holding up the googly goggles to his face. "Once these are on, I can't take them off, so…"

He took one last prolonged look at the confessional walls around him. "...Maybe I should be looking at something cooler instead of the inside of an outhouse," Clauncher said. "Ah, screw it. Let's do this."

He slipped the goggles on with a grin and punched the door open, shooting outside with an Aqua Jet attack.

-static-

Castform and Dusclops were sharing the confessional space as Dusclops helped Castform get all twelve sweaters on. She was beginning to sweat by the time half of them had been put on.

"Man, I didn't think they were called sweaters because they actually made you sweat!" Castform joked. "You learn something new every day, huh?"

Dusclops didn't seem impressed by her joke, instead busy struggling to fit the next sweater onto her somehow. "I really don't think the hosts thought this one through," he muttered. "No offense, but you do not have a body that's meant for wearing sweaters."

"I'd smack you if I had hands."

"You'd be putting on your own sweaters if you had hands."

-static-

And so the challenge commenced. Clauncher found himself in the woods alongside his usual group of friends: Beedrill, Combusken, and Reuniclus. They'd almost been forced to abandon Reuniclus as the additional weight of the iron ball had slowed him down significantly until Beedrill reminded him he could use his psychic powers to levitate it.

"I hope this challenge doesn't go on too long," Reuniclus mumbled as the iron ball did circles around his body. "Using my powers for a long enough period of time is going to tire me out."

"But it's better than physically having to carry that and wearing out your body," Beedrill pointed out. "Your mind is a lot stronger than your arms are, no offense."

"None taken. You're not wrong," Reuniclus admitted, though his face showed that he was a bit hurt by the comment.

Clauncher stumbled into a tree as Combusken watched him try to sort out his surroundings. "Wha—" Clauncher let out a stifled yelp as he walked right into a thorn bush next. "Man, I can't see anything!"

"Here, let me h-help you," Combusken offered, walking over and guiding Clauncher away from the bushes. Beedrill gave the chicken an appreciative look as he did his best to fly steadily, preventing the bell he was carrying from making too much noise.

"So what's our plan of action?" Reuniclus asked Beedrill. Despite being the one who started the alliance, it was clear to even Reuniclus that Beedrill was the one who led them most of the time.

Beedrill gave it some thought before responding. "Let's make it to the lake," he decided. "We'll have a pretty clear advantage there, seeing as most of us can swim or fly in some manner. You can fly, right?" he asked Reuniclus curiously, not knowing the extent of the psychic's hovering abilities."

"I mean, I'd have to use some extra power to fly over a lake. It's doable, but with the added weight of the iron ball I'd probably plummet into the water in a matter of minutes," Reuniclus said nervously. "I'd feel a lot safer on land."

Combusken took this opportunity to point out that he also had no distinct advantages near a body of water. "Fair enough," muttered Beedrill. "Okay, so Combusken and Reuniclus can split off from us then. Clauncher and I will continue to the lake."

"Is that really the best course of action?" Reuniclus asked doubtfully.

"If we're all in one place, we're easier to tag. This way we've all still got someone at our backs without being vulnerable all at once," Beedrill said. "Any objections?"

"Uh, I can still only make out vague shapes," Clauncher spoke up. "And they're kind of, like...shifting. Constantly."

"You may want to keep a closer eye on him," Reuniclus whispered to Beedrill, who nodded.

Combusken took a step toward Reuniclus. "W-well, we should go," he said. "Let's find someplace else to hide."

"Will do. Good luck, you two," Reuniclus said, giving a quick wave to Beedrill and Clauncher. The crustacean waved goodbye as well, although it was completely in the wrong direction.

Beedrill stared off in the direction of the lake, making sure Clauncher followed closely behind him. This was going to be a tough challenge to keep everyone safe in, that much he could be certain of.

-static-

"I suppose the good news is that only one of us can win immunity tonight," Beedrill confessed. "If it comes down to the two of us, well, I think we can safely agree Clauncher never really stood a chance anyway."

He stared at the camera guiltily. "...It's not bad if I take the immunity for myself in that scenario, right?"

-static-

Chandelure stared at the deck of cards in her possession with distaste. "May as well start getting rid of these," she said with a scowl, pulling the first card from the pile and tossing it on the ground. It fluttered through the air and came to a rest in the dirt. Nothing seemed to happen right away.

"Figures," Chandelure muttered. "They don't even work."

Her eyes went wide as a sudden explosion went off right behind her and a pillar of flames erupted from the earth. Chandelure whirled around in fright, but the pillar was gone as soon as it had appeared. She glanced around to make sure no one else had seen it.

Much to her chagrin, her plan to use the cards early was not going well. Mr. Mime appeared from around the corner of one of the cabins, alerted to her presence from the cacophonous plume of hellfire that she had inadvertently summoned. Chandelure tucked herself behind a tree, hoping her flickering flames wouldn't give her away.

Mr. Mime peered at the burnt patch of grass in confusion, scratching his head. He shook his head crossly and went into the hosts' headquarters to fetch some supplies to clean the mess up. Chandelure took the opportunity to flee the scene, not looking back. Mr. Mime hadn't caught her, but avoiding the interns was key.

-static-

Castform was with Dusclops at the steps to the male Milotics' cabin, waiting while he put on the boots that Jirachi had gifted to him. There didn't seem to be anything strange about them, but that was all the more suspicious to Castform.

"So what gives? What's up with the boots?" Castform asked Dusclops curiously.

He frowned. "I don't know. They don't feel weird or anything. I guess maybe I should try walking around," he said. The ghost stood up, and as soon as he took his first step, a shrill sound akin to that of a security alarm blared out from the boot.

"Well," Dusclops said, wincing at the sound, "I guess that's an answer for you."

Castform stared at Dusclops's boots in dismay. "It's going to be impossible to hide in those!" she said. "There's no way they can expect you to hide if—wait, you can't walk on your hands, can you?"

Dusclops shook his head. "Dang it. Well, there goes that plan."

"I mean, there's a first time for everything, right?" Dusclops said with a chuckle, attempting to balance himself on his hands. He tumbled over face-first and sent a little cloud of dust into the air from the impact. "Okay, no hand walking."

"We need to disguise that noise somehow. But if each step you take makes that much noise, that seems impossible," Castform sighed, trying her best to think of a solution that just wasn't coming to her. "Got any ideas?"

"If we make a louder noise somewhere else, it could draw anyone who's searching for us away," Dusclops suggested helpfully. "We'd just need some kind of system in place to make noise from far away."

"Wait, we don't need to!" Castform said, grinning at Dusclops. "Vaporeon's got the speakers! We just need to turn her into a distraction!"

"You mean hook up to her speakers somehow and sabotage her?" Dusclops said. He didn't seem so keen on the idea. "I don't know if I want to do that."

"Yeah, now that you say it out loud I have no idea how we'd do it anyway," Castform muttered. She leaned back on the steps, doing her best to relax despite the smothering warmth of the many sweaters she was wearing. "You're kind of screwed, dude."

Dusclops sighed, but he wore a faint smile. "Yeah, I know. Let's get out of here—we might as well enjoy our time until we inevitably get caught."

"Speak for yourself! I'm not getting caught," said Castform adamantly, giving Dusclops a confident smirk. "But I'll stick around with you until they find us."

"Sounds like a deal," said Dusclops with a grin. The two of them began to travel into the woods, Dusclops's boots causing a deafening amount of noise as they went.

-static-

Vaporeon was elsewhere in the woods, traveling down the path that would take her to the lake. Her plan right now was to hide underwater; it would be hard for anyone to find her there, unless they could breathe underwater as well. And while a number of campers and interns could do that, they numbered far fewer than those who couldn't.

She arrived at the shore and took one look at the water before glancing at the speakers on her back. They were tiny little things, but also probably not waterproof.

"If I dump them in the water, they probably won't work anymore," Vaporeon reasoned aloud. "Which means the hosts can't play noise through them, so I'd be safer. That's good."

She paused to think. "On the other hand, I could probably get electrocuted if I carry them into the water," she realized. "That's...not as good. That's bad, even."

The aquatic Pokemon shrugged and decided to hide herself somewhere else. The lake wasn't the only place she could hide from the interns, so there was no need to take that risk.

-static-

Lopunny tied the blindfold around her head and over her eyes. She couldn't see anything, but she could still make out the voices of Mienshao, Jolteon, and Chatot.

"Okay, here's the plan." Mienshao's voice. "The most incapable members of our group right now are myself and Lopunny, since I've got to ride around in this stupid wheelchair and she can't see. You two are responsible for making sure we don't get caught."

"That ain't how this is gonna work," Chatot countered sharply. "Just because one of ya goes down doesn't mean all of us go down with the ship. Jolteon an' I will look after ya for as long as we can, but we ain't all goin' down at once."

Lopunny could tell by Mienshao's voice that she was already getting irked. "Then what's even the point of this alliance?" the weasel snapped. "We're supposed to work together!"

"Workin' togethah doesn't mean losin' togethah," Chatot argued. "Face it, Mienshao, it's not gonna be you OR Lopunny winnin' this one. Jolteon an' I will take care of this challenge. Besides, ya've still got that immunity idol. You have the least ta worry about if this goes south."

There was a brief lapse in the conversation as Mienshao presumably mulled her next words over. "Fine," came Mienshao's bitter voice after a moment. "But if you cause us to lose this one, don't expect me to have your back when you need me to."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Chatot retorted. "Let's get movin' then, everybody. Don't want ta get caught while we're—"

He let out a sudden squawk as he felt a tap on his shoulder, and he glanced over to see Spinarak dangling from a thin string. "You're it," said the spider, crawling back up her string as Chatot stood there in shocked silence for a few seconds.

"Jolteon," Mienshao barked at the Electric-type. He swiveled to face her. "Let's get out of here. Chatot, go tag as many other campers as you can. Lopunny, follow us."

"Sorry, which way are we going?" asked Lopunny helplessly as she waved her arms around to feel for Mienshao.

Mienshao sighed irritably and shoved Jolteon towards the bunny. "Jolteon, make sure she doesn't get lost. The three of us should stick together from here on out so we don't lose," she said, glaring at Chatot as she said this.

The bird scowled at her meanly as she wheeled herself into the woods, Jolteon following her as Lopunny held onto him. Chatot let out a frustrated sigh and turned to face the campsite. "Well, time ta tag some campahs," he murmured. "Bettah start lookin' in the obvious places."

-static-

"Oh! There you are, Seviper," Lilligant said, running up to the serpent as she emerged from the multi-purpose building. "I was wondering where you were. Vaporeon already went off on her own, so I was wondering if—"

"WHAT?" asked Seviper loudly, tugging at the earmuffs on her head.

Lilligant stared blankly at Seviper before repeating herself. "I was wondering if you wanted to stick toge—"

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU."

Lilligant groaned and went to remove the earmuffs from Seviper's head for her. The serpent sighed in relief as her auditory senses returned to her. "Sssorry about that. What were you sssaying?" Seviper asked at a more appropriate volume.

"I was wondering if you wanted to stick together," Lilligant said timidly. "I'm a bit hesitant to go off on my own like Vaporeon, so…"

"Oh. Sssure," Seviper agreed easily. She saw Lilligant smile in gratitude. "It'sss probably not a good idea to go off wandering alone unlessss you're really confident in your hiding ssspot, anyway."

"Thanks, Seviper," said Lilligant shyly. Seviper gave her an understanding nod, but Jirachi and Diancie suddenly floated out from the building behind them with bad news.

"Seviper, you're out," Jirachi announced out of the blue.

"What?" Seviper hissed, whirling around. "We jussst ssstarted!"

"Yeah, and your earmuffs are off," Jirachi explained to her. "Lilligant just got you out."

Seviper turned to Lilligant with a look of disbelief and Lilligant gave her an apologetic look. "I didn't know! I'm sorry," she apologized hastily, covering the bottom portion of her face with both hands.

"Whatever," sighed a defeated Seviper. "What doesss that mean for me?"

"That means you're it, technically," Diancie told her. "Since you're out of the challenge, you can now tag your fellow campers."

"I can?" Seviper asked with raised eyebrows. Diancie nodded. "Great." She lightly smacked Lilligant with her tail from behind as Lilligant clumsily held her bag of mysterious orange fluid.

Lilligant gave Seviper a perplexed look. "What was that for?" she asked in confusion.

"That wasss payback. You're out, geniusss," Seviper said snidely, slithering off into the woods. Lilligant dropped her bag in surprise and looked to the hosts.

Jirachi shrugged. "She got you."

Lilligant sighed and followed the snake towards the treeline. It looked like neither of them would be getting immunity tonight.

-static-

"I had a plan for how to carry my bag and everything," Lilligant lamented in the confessional, holding up the bag of orange liquid. "The hosts never told me the patch had to be on the bottom, so…"

She flipped the bag over so the patch-covered hole was at the top. Nothing leaked out of the bottom of the bag. "Problem solved," she sighed. "Or it would've been, anyway. I guess I deserved what I got."

-static-

Clauncher dipped his legs into the water. "I wonder if these goggles work the same way underwater!" he shouted up at Beedrill, who was flying over the surface of the lake. "I'm gonna go find out!"

"You do that," said an amused Beedrill, watching Clauncher disappear beneath the surface. Moments later, Clauncher emerged from the lake, giving a thumbs-up gesture to Beedrill.

"They do!" Clauncher shouted up to him. He swam back underwater, gazing at the scenery around him. What normally felt just like home to him was now a distorted, hazy mess of erratically moving water and strange blobby shapes. Clauncher squinted his eyes to try and make out what the shape was that was that was casting a shadow over the water and coming down towards him, but he couldn't quite tell what it was.

"Clauncher, look out!" Clauncher heard Beedrill's distorted but frantic shout from the other side of the water as the figure flying down to get him finally became clearer: Chatot. The bird's talons dipped into the water, scrambling to get a grip on Clauncher, who was not yet deep in the lake.

Clauncher flailed around to avoid Chatot's grasp, figuring that the only reason the bird would be after him is if he was already it. He managed to jet his way through the water, escaping Chatot successfully and bursting through to the surface before splashing back down again. Beedrill looked relieved to see him for that brief moment, but immediately went back into panic mode as he saw Chatot flying straight at him instead.

Beedrill did an evasive maneuver, doing a flying spin through the air to just barely dodge Chatot's wings as the bird lashed out towards him. Chatot adjusted his course to pursue Beedrill, and the two flew off across the island, leaving Clauncher alone at the lake.

Clauncher spun around dizzily, trying to reorient himself after his invigorating escape from the clutches of Chatot. This didn't quite go the way he had hoped, though; the way the goggles worked made it excruciatingly difficult to right oneself if one's sense of direction was already thrown off, and Clauncher spent a good few minutes just trying to find the surface again.

When he did manage to find it, Beedrill was already far out of sight, not that he could reliably tell with his new eyewear. "Beedrill?" Clauncher called out, hoping his friend was nearby. After a few more repetitions of his friend's name, Clauncher was forced to assume he was not.

"Well, I'm on my own now," said Clauncher nonchalantly. "Better swim back to shore!"

Clauncher then proceeded to swim to the opposite side of the lake compared to the one he intended to.

-static-

Dusclops and Castform both did their best to drown out the noise as Dusclops's blaring siren boots went off with each step. They knew it wouldn't be long before someone found them, and sure enough, they found that they weren't alone in the next clearing they entered.

Seviper slithered around the edge of the clearing to block the way they had come in while Lilligant stepped out of the bushes sheepishly. "Uh, we're just going to...you know," Lilligant trailed off lamely. Castform raised an eyebrow. "We're going to tag you, I mean."

"You can certainly try," said Dusclops daringly, putting up his fists. Lilligant immediately took a step back, but Seviper lunged at Dusclops and was able to touch his leg before he could react. He looked down in surprise, apparently unaware that she had been there prior to this. "Oh. I guess I'm out."

"I guessss you are," Seviper hissed, eyeing Castform next. The heavily sweatered Pokemon took off as fast as her non-existent legs would allow her, disappearing into the bushes. Seviper attempted to give chase but got tangled up in the bushes that Castform had been able to float right over. Seviper quickly untangled herself and circled back around to face Lilligant and Dusclops.

"Well, consssider yourssselvesss lucky we didn't get both of you," Seviper told Dusclops. He still gave her a frown, crossing his arms. "Don't give me that look, thisss isss a challenge. You'd have done the sssame if our rolesss were reversssed."

"You don't know me," said Dusclops defiantly. Seviper rolled her eyes.

"Come on, Lilligant, let'sss get out of here," the snake hissed. Lilligant gave a meek little wave to Dusclops, which he returned halfheartedly before splitting off from them to head back to camp on his own.

-static-

"Haha, take that! No amount of sweaters can hold me down!" Castform boasted. She let out a deep exhale. "Boy, they sure can get hot, though. Sweaters and summer weather really do not agree with each other."

Suddenly, her form shifted into one mostly orange in color, with seven round orbs adorning her head. "That's a little better," sighed the sunny form Castform. "It sure is nice being me! Wish I had hands sometimes, though. That part kinda sucks."

-static-

"Guess we're stuck together a-again, huh?" Combusken nervously mentioned to Reuniclus as the two of them crept through the woods back towards the direction camp was in.

"I guess so," Reuniclus agreed absentmindedly, focused on the task at hand, which was traveling unnoticed. So far they'd been lucky, but Reuniclus had no idea how many Pokemon, if any, had been tagged already. The hosts had not publicly announced anything since the challenge had started, so anyone besides Combusken could realistically be a threat.

"H-how much longer do you think it is until we reach camp?" Combusken asked Reuniclus as they walked.

Reuniclus pondered the question. "Probably a few minutes or less. We didn't go that far into the woods," he answered. "And honestly, I think our odds are better at camp, where at least we have the advantage of home turf."

"But so does everybody else," Combusken pointed out.

Reuniclus turned to the chicken with a grin. "As far as I recall, nobody else is hiding a shovel," he said with a cocky chuckle. Combusken felt an uncomfortable twinge at the mention of the shovel, but he decided to trust Reuniclus's judgment. Hopefully Reuniclus wasn't actually implying that he was going to beat people with a shovel.

"Looks like we're here," said Reuniclus a few minutes later as they arrived. He directed Combusken towards the male Gastrodons' cabin, which was exactly where Reuniclus wanted them to be. Combusken instinctively took a fearful step back as Reuniclus brandished his weapon of mass destruction, wielding it like some sort of maniac. Which he very well might be, Combusken realized as he put the pieces together in his head.

"We'll be safe now," Reuniclus assured Combusken with a somewhat menacing look. Combusken swallowed nervously and let Reuniclus go through the doorway first. The two of them exited back into camp, where they locked eyes with Dusclops, who had just returned. Dusclops's eye narrowed as Reuniclus gripped his shovel tighter.

Combusken peered over Reuniclus's shoulder to see why they were stopped. The standoff with the specter didn't seem to be going anywhere, so Combusken tapped Reuniclus on the back. "What's going on?" he whispered.

"He could be tagged," Reuniclus whispered back, twirling the shovel in his hands. Judging by Dusclops's body language, it was exactly what Reuniclus anticipated—he was acting mighty suspicious compared to the usually jovial Dusclops.

Reuniclus decided to take control of the situation. "What are you doing here, Dusclops?" he asked plainly. "Have you been tagged?"

Dusclops grinned and charged up a Shadow Ball in his hands. "Sure have. You gonna fight or make this easier on me?"

Reuniclus pointed the shovel blade at Dusclops. "Don't bother asking when you already know the answer."

Combusken cowered behind Reuniclus as Dusclops launched the Shadow Ball, initiating combat. Reuniclus took the brunt of the attack and darted forward out of the cabin, crossing the campsite to get a better vantage point. Dusclops shifted over into the shadows, where he disappeared in an instant. Reuniclus blinked in surprise.

"Shoot, he's a Ghost-type!" Reuniclus reminded himself. "Of course he'd be able to do that!"

The psychic wasn't able to react in time as Dusclops's Shadow Sneak attack caught him off guard, sprawling him on the ground, his shovel flung a distance away. Reuniclus struggled to get up as Dusclops walked over, giving him a huge grin.

"Underestimated me, didn't you? Sometimes type matchups work exactly like you'd think," Dusclops said smugly. Reuniclus was about to make a retort before a spray of embers blasted Dusclops in the back, causing the ghost to yelp in pain and jump away from Reuniclus.

"B-back away from him!" Combusken stuttered, trying to sound brave. He tried to get a better look at his friend. "Reuniclus, did he t-tag you?"

"Not yet," said Reuniclus. He didn't waste a single moment in picking up the fallen shovel with his mind before shooting it over at Dusclops. The blade slammed the ghost in the gut, and Reuniclus reared it back before whacking him on the side of the head. Dusclops let out a pained shout from the impact, disappearing into the ground before Reuniclus could repeat the attack again.

The psychic looked around wildly before seeing a strange shadow behind Combusken. "Combusken, move!" Reuniclus ordered urgently. The chicken jumped, fortunately just out of the way of Dusclops's hand, which had materialized next to him. Dusclops went in for another grab, reaching out for Combusken's arm, but Reuniclus thrust the shovel at him again, hitting Dusclops's hands and causing the ghost to back off.

"What's with the shovel, man? Seriously!" Dusclops groaned, shaking his hands to rid them of pain. Reuniclus only responded with a slight smirk. "Did the hosts let you have that? That's got to be against the rules somehow!"

"Run along while you still can," said Reuniclus smoothly. "Or we can keep playing, but by now you know that I play rough."

Dusclops was actually quite unnerved by Reuniclus's sudden shift towards intimidation, and he blinked out of sight with a step backward into the shadows. Reuniclus motioned for Combusken to stay close to him, but Combusken stood frozen in place, wide-eyed. As Reuniclus was about to ask what was wrong, he felt a strong pair of talons latch onto him from behind and lift him further into the air.

"I believe we have some unsettled business, you an' I," he heard Chatot mutter. The bird dropped him on top of the cabin before fluttering down to face him. Reuniclus picked himself up and looked at Chatot; while the bird didn't appear outwardly angry, it was clear that he hadn't forgotten about Reuniclus taking his key a couple challenges back. Even though it hadn't really been Chatot's to begin with.

"What do you want?" Reuniclus asked, figuring that being straightforward would be the easiest way out of this.

"Nothin'. I already got ya out," Chatot said with a little hoot. "You're it."

Reuniclus stared at him for a good few moments before speaking. "That's it? No strong words or fighting or any combination of the above?" Reuniclus asked, almost sounding disappointed.

"Oh, don't ya worry. I've still got plans for how you an' I can settle this later," Chatot said, a hint of malice in his voice. "But right now, we're doin' a challenge. I'm a patient guy; I can wait."

With a tip of his hat, Chatot flew upwards into the air again. Reuniclus stared after him for a few seconds before he saw Beedrill flying down next to him.

"Chatot managed to catch me while I was in the air, as well," Beedrill said to Reuniclus. "I still don't have quite the same air speed he does, unfortunately. He's a force to be reckoned with up there."

"He's a force to be reckoned with, all right," Reuniclus agreed, wondering what Chatot could possibly have in store for him later.

-static-

"Full disclosure? Never really meant to make an enemy out of Chatot," said Reuniclus, cradling his head in his hands. "Why do I feel like this is really gonna bite me in the ass later."

-static-

Combusken had managed to get away from the scene unscathed, with Chatot's attention being focused on Reuniclus and Dusclops being too hurt to come after him. This now meant that he was alone, just beyond the outskirts of camp. He glanced up to see Chandelure floating there, just as surprised to see him as he was to see her.

"What are you doing here?" Chandelure asked the out-of-breath Combusken suspiciously.

"I just, u-uh, escaped from Chatot. And Dusclops," Combusken told her. "Wh-what have you been doing?"

"None of your business," Chandelure responded coldly. Combusken frowned at her response. "The two of them aren't following you, are they?"

Combusken glanced behind him. "...Not that I know of?"

"Good," Chandelure said. "I need to get rid of these enchanted cards somewhere, and I don't want to do it when anyone who's already tagged is around."

"How do you know that I'm not tagged?" Combusken asked her, only to realize moments later that he probably shouldn't put that idea in her head.

"You're not going to tag me," Chandelure said dismissively, almost in a commanding sort of way. Combusken shrank down; she was probably right. Even if he was tagged, he probably wouldn't go after her.

Chandelure pulled out her deck of cards and drew the top card. "Make sure nobody sneaks up on us," Chandelure instructed Combusken. "If you help me get rid of these cards safely, I'll keep you safe for the rest of the challenge. Deal?"

"Uh, deal!" Combusken agreed hastily, not wanting to upset Chandelure. She gave him a nod and split the deck with him, so that they had six cards each. "Er, wh-what exactly do these do again?"

"We'll have no idea until we play them," Chandelure stated grimly. "The last one I played spawned a pillar of flames from the ground."

This did not inspire confidence in Combusken.

"Ready?" asked Chandelure seriously. Combusken was too scared to answer anything but a squeaky 'yes'. "Good. Three, two, one, go."

She immediately tossed the first card in her pile at the ground, where it suddenly disappeared in a poof of smoke and a small gold coin appeared in its place. Chandelure looked expectantly at Combusken, who hesitantly threw a card that transformed into a wave of water that washed over him and Chandelure, thoroughly drenching them both. This seemed to be quite a displeasing outcome to her.

"Great. Now I'm soaked for the rest of the challenge," Chandelure said, shuddering violently. Combusken couldn't help but notice that her five purple flames were flickering weakly now; he was morbidly curious about what would have happened had they been extinguished. "Let's get this over with."

She threw the next card, which exploded into a blinding flash of light and a thunderous boom sound. Chandelure cursed as she realized their location would now be incredibly easy for someone to find, but Combusken was already following up the flash of light with another card toss, this one transforming into an extremely confused Lopunny.

"Wha—" The rabbit let out a startled cry as she appeared out of thin air and her feet hit the ground again. "What happened? Where am I?"

"Combusken. Let's move," Chandelure commanded him, giving him a stern look. Combusken swallowed and hurried after her as she quickly made her way away from their current location, heading out towards the mountains instead.

All that was left was a bewildered Lopunny, who still had no context for her sudden disappearance from Mienshao and Jolteon's side other than Combusken's name and what she guessed was Chandelure's voice. She felt around for them, but no one was there.

"Combusken?" she called out. "Chandelure? Anyone?"

"Sorry, Lopunny," came Dusclops's apologetic voice as he tapped her on the shoulder. She sighed and took off the blindfold, revealing that Dusclops was indeed there in front of her. "Uh, you're it now, by the way."

"I figured as much," she said to him. "Did you happen to see Combusken or Chandelure around here? I have...NO idea how I got here."

Dusclops scratched his head. "Er, no, I haven't seen Chandelure at all yet, and I lost track of Combusken a little while ago," he confessed. "Also, you were wearing a blindfold, so it's not really surprising that you got lost."

Lopunny was about to retort that she'd been with Mienshao and Jolteon the whole time, but she decided not to. Clearly Dusclops had no information to give her about this. She'd probably have to figure out what happened at a later time.

-static-

"That was...weird. It was almost the same sensation as when Jirachi teleported us, except there was no warning," Lopunny said with a slight shudder. "Kind of creepy, if you ask me. I had no idea Chandelure was capable of that, at least if I'm correct about her bringing me there."

-static-

"Uh, Mienshao? Where's Lopunny?" Jolteon asked in a worried tone as he wheeled Mienshao through the woods.

"What? You were supposed to look after her!" snapped an angry Mienshao, turning around to face him.

Jolteon went pale. "I-I was! She was right there a moment ago!" he sputtered defensively. "But then she just, uh, poof! She's gone!"

"Poof," Mienshao repeated in disbelief. Jolteon let out a nervous laugh. "Jolteon, you had literally ONE job."

"Two, technically. I have to push you," Jolteon reminded her.

"Okay, but forget about that!" Mienshao snapped, waving a hand dismissively. "Your more important job was watching Lopunny! I can wheel myself if need be!"

"Sorry," Jolteon apologized submissively. Mienshao's expression softened slightly. "She, uh, probably just got off track a little while back. I'll see if I can go find her."

"No, let her go. She was never going to win anyway," Mienshao said. "It's more important for us to stay safe."

"If you say so," Jolteon agreed without much thought. He resumed the act of pushing Mienshao's wheelchair through the woods; while it was a bit eerie that Lopunny had just disappeared, he still had to look after Mienshao. Nothing else could distract him right now.

Or at least, not anything in his control. The Magic Hat atop Jolteon's head suddenly spewed a strange green goo all over his head, which caused him to stop wheeling Mienshao and rub the goop away from his eyes. He was careful not to remove the hat, as he recalled that the hosts would probably disqualify him for that.

Mienshao seemed to be irritated that they were stopped again so soon. "What's the holdup now?" she asked before turning around. Her eyes widened in surprise as she saw the reason why. "...What is that?"

"I don't know," Jolteon responded with an honest shrug. He held up some of the goo that was on his paw and gave it a lick. "It doesn't taste horrible, though! So it's probably not too bad."

Mienshao gave him a disgusted look. "Please tell me this isn't a normal thing for you."

He gave her a sheepish look. "It's not! The stuff just came out of the hat, though," he told her, quickly changing the subject. "The Magic Hat!"

"I know which hat, Jolteon. There's only one hat between the two of us," Mienshao said sharply. He seemed to shrink down at her criticism. "Whatever. As long as the hat's not distracting you anymore, we should stay on the move."

"Roger that!" said Jolteon, giving her a salute and pushing the wheelchair again. The Magic Hat didn't seem to act up again, but Jolteon couldn't take his mind off of it all the same.

-static-

Clauncher had finally crawled his way onto the nearest beach. With the goggles on, he still couldn't be quite sure of where he was, but he could tell he was by the edge of the woods from the green blurs taking up most of his vision. He hummed a quiet tune to himself as he crept along, trying to stay out of sight of anyone who might be nearby.

Unfortunately, he really couldn't see anyone who was nearby thanks to the goggles, so Lilligant and Seviper were able to sneak up on him quite easily. "Oh! Is someone there?" Clauncher asked as he caught the slightest glimpses of movement in front of him.

Seviper lightly tapped him on the head with her tail as Lilligant just stood by and watched. Clauncher tensed up as he felt Seviper tap him, but he proceed to remove his goggles with a sigh. "You got me," he admitted.

"Sssorry about that. You probably ssshould have ssstayed in the water, though," Seviper advised him. Clauncher shrugged.

"It's no big deal. I would've gotten out anyways," he confessed. "It's impossible to see straight in these things, I swear! Want to try wearing them?"

Seviper shook her head in disinterest, but Lilligant seemed curious, so Clauncher passed them to her. She put them on and took a few steps before falling down. Clauncher snickered and even Seviper couldn't hide a smirk.

"You weren't kidding," said Lilligant with a laugh as she took them off and passed them back to Clauncher. He grinned at her before his eyes widened at something across the lake.

"Wait, Seviper got tagged, right? So I'm it now?" Clauncher asked. Lilligant nodded. "Cool, I'm gonna go tag Vaporeon then! See ya!"

Clauncher broke into an Aqua Jet immediately after he finished speaking, and Lilligant and Seviper watched as he shot across the lake and smacked into Vaporeon on the other side. She let out a surprised shout as he crashed into her. She seemed to get mad at him for doing so, but Clauncher was laughing too hard to care.

-static-

"And that's how you tag someone!" Clauncher said with a grin.

-static-

"This isn't the last you'll see of me, Clauncher!" Vaporeon vowed, waving a fist at the camera. "You'll rue this day!"

-static-

Castform floated along lazily as she followed the trail that led from camp toward the distant mountains. Oddly enough, she thought she heard someone coming up behind her, and she ducked behind a rock to avoid being seen.

As Castform peeked out to see who it was, Chandelure and Combusken rushed past, trying to look for a safe area to dispose of the rest of Chandelure's cards so she could claim immunity if she won tonight. Castform watched with interest as the two of them threw cards at the ground, with various events taking place. First a teapot appeared from the card Chandelure tossed, followed by lightning striking a nearby rock from a card Combusken threw. Chandelure then tossed another card as Combusken remained frozen in fear from the lightning strike, this one causing her to turn invisible for a few seconds.

"Wait," Chandelure muttered, counting up the cards that she and Combusken had combined. "We've used enough. Jirachi said I had to use seven, and we've used more."

"O-okay. G-good," Combusken choked out, still paralyzed from the lightning strike that had scared him to the point of immobility.

Chandelure stared at him unsympathetically. "Are you going to move or not?" she asked bluntly. "If you're not going to move, I'm not going to protect you."

"I-I'll move," stammered Combusken, working up the nerve to follow Chandelure as she hid them behind a bigger rock.

"Someone's bound to come this way soon, thanks to that lightning," Chandelure said quietly. "So we'd best stay hidden if we want to make it through this challenge."

"G-got it," said Combusken, trying to quiet his breathing to match the level of complete and utter silence that Chandelure had now achieved. It didn't really work, but Combusken felt better about himself for trying.

Movement in the skies told them that Chandelure's predictions had been right, however. Chandelure caught sight of Beedrill flying down towards them as Reuniclus, Dusclops, and Lopunny approached from the ground. Chandelure ducked behind the rock again; they were stuck hiding here now. Moving again would cause them to be seen for sure.

"See anyone around here?" Reuniclus called up to Beedrill.

The bug did a few circles from the sky before reporting back to Reuniclus. "Yeah, I see someone," he called back. "Giant pile of sweaters."

Castform let out a sigh as Reuniclus, Lopunny, and Dusclops surrounded her soon after. Lopunny walked over and tagged Castform, who knew there was little point in trying to get away with a psychic nearby.

"Aw, man," muttered Dusclops, who had been hoping that Castform would be the last one standing. "Sorry, Castform."

"I'll never forgive you," said Castform with a serious face, but Dusclops knew her well enough to tell she was only kidding. "Say, do you have any idea how many Pokemon are left?"

"Probably not many, since all of us are out," Dusclops told her. "Did you see anyone else around here?"

Castform grinned meanly. "Oh, just Chandelure and Combusken."

Chandelure silently cursed Castform for disclosing her hiding spot as Lopunny perked up at their names. Conveniently enough, those were the exact campers she was looking for. Castform gestured with her head over at their hiding spot, and Lopunny took a cautious step towards it.

Not willing to go down without a fight, Chandelure revealed herself and immediately tossed a card from the deck at Lopunny's feet, hoping to spark an event that would allow her to escape. Sadly, this card only seemed to have the effect of shooting a pathetically small stream of water upwards for a few seconds before stopping. Lopunny gave Chandelure a blank look as they both struggled to find an appropriate way to react.

"Well, that didn't go as planned," Chandelure muttered crossly. "Let's try that again."

She flung another card at Lopunny, and this one burst halfway through the air into a cloud of thick black fog that obscured Chandelure's form completely. Lopunny let out a cough as the cloud traveled her way, with Chandelure attempting to slip past Lopunny amidst the smoke.

Castform suddenly form-shifted into her hail form, blowing a gust of icy wind at the cloud to dissipate it. She snickered as Chandelure's figure was revealed, and Reuniclus went over to tag her. "You're out," said the psychic. She gave him a glare with such intensity that he almost felt like she wanted to kill him.

Reuniclus glanced past Chandelure to see Combusken booking it in the other direction. Seeing as he was on the same side as Combusken, there was no need for him to go after the chicken—that wouldn't benefit anyone involved. But Lopunny was already starting to give chase, and that was unfortunately something Reuniclus couldn't allow.

Lopunny felt her movement slow as an unseen force took hold of her body and threw her to the side. She picked herself back up and cast a glance at Reuniclus, who was holding his arms out as if he had been using his telekinetic powers. He was watching her carefully, and as she began to move to follow Combusken again, she felt him trying to hold her back with his mind.

Lopunny stopped struggling rather quickly, not wanting to start a fight where one wasn't necessary. After all, it didn't matter to her whether Combusken was caught or not—she was already out, so immunity wasn't an option for her anymore. She decided to approach Chandelure instead, who seemed visibly perturbed with everyone around her.

"What," Chandelure spat venomously as Lopunny walked over to her.

"Was it you who warped me back to camp earlier?" Lopunny asked calmly.

Chandelure paused for a second before responding. "Yes," she stated simply. "It was the cards. I have no control over what happens."

Lopunny nodded with interest. "I see," she said. "Well, that would explain it. I mean, it's not really explained, but I don't expect to understand how these psychic tricks work. It's basically magic."

"Hey, can you do any cool stuff like the cards?" Castform asked Reuniclus excitedly. "You're a psychic!"

"I hate to disappoint you, but it takes a trained professional to do those things," Reuniclus said. "And realistically, I'm not even sure a Pokemon like myself possesses the capabilities of enchanting items like that at all."

"Oh," Castform mumbled. "Well, that's boring." Reuniclus gave her an annoyed look.

"Well, the good news is that Combusken got away," Beedrill said contently as he landed next to Reuniclus. "Hopefully he makes it to the end."

"I hope so too," Reuniclus agreed, watching the chicken run off in the distance.

-static-

"Lift, Jolteon."

Jolteon grunted with effort as he pushed Mienshao's wheelchair over a rocky ledge. The difference in elevation around this part of the forest was causing him serious trouble trying to get Mienshao from place to place, but she had insisted on coming here as it was "the most secluded and therefore safest part of the woods."

Jolteon panted from the rather unconventional workout he was having, stopping to rest for a moment. "Can...can we stop for a second?" Jolteon pleaded.

Mienshao didn't turn around. "Sure. Just make it quick."

Jolteon sat down on the ground in the cleanest patch of grass he could find. No one had managed to find them yet, so there might be something to what Mienshao had said about this being the safest part of the woods. Still, they hadn't come across Lopunny again at any point during the challenge, so Jolteon was operating under the assumption that she was probably out already.

"Are you good?" asked Mienshao impatiently, turning to face Jolteon now. He nodded, despite the aching feeling in his joints, and got up to start wheeling her again. The two of them continued for some time before Jolteon heard a rustling in the bushes not far behind them.

"Jolteon! Behind those trees!" Mienshao hissed at him quietly. He shoved her wheelchair a bit more roughly than intended in his hurry, and knocked a pebble across the ground, causing a quiet clatter that was still quite audible in this part of the woods. Jolteon yanked Mienshao's wheelchair behind the trunk of a thick, sturdy looking tree as whoever was following them caught up to the noise they'd been making.

As Vaporeon stepped into the light, she saw a pebble skidding to a halt not far from her. She glanced up at where it might have come from, but there were no signs of immediate movement, or sounds of any kind. She cautiously proceeded toward a large tree across the clearing from her; maybe there was someone behind it?

"She's going to find us," Mienshao whispered to Jolteon, so quiet that only he could possibly hear.

Still, Jolteon being Jolteon, he went into a panic. "Shh!" he urged her desperately. "She's right there!"

Mienshao studied Jolteon's panicked expression for a moment before smiling. "Do you trust me, Jolteon?" she asked sweetly.

He stared at her in confusion. "Yeah, I guess...why?" he whispered back.

She winked at him. "I was just curious," she said before shoving them both out from behind the tree. Jolteon stumbled backwards, barely keeping the Magic Hat on his head with both paws as Mienshao pushed herself out after him abruptly. Vaporeon stopped in her tracks, puzzled by Jolteon and Mienshao's sudden appearance.

Vaporeon was about to ask what they were doing until Mienshao grabbed Jolteon suddenly and pulled him close. She froze as Mienshao wrapped her arms around the back of Jolteon's head and pulled him into a kiss. Jolteon's head was turned away from Vaporeon so that he couldn't see her, but Mienshao could.

After a few seconds, Mienshao broke the kiss and opened her eyes to see Vaporeon. She pushed away from Jolteon with a gasp of feigned surprise and started wheeling herself off in the other direction quickly. Jolteon stood there, unable to move. He was like that for a few seconds until he heard Vaporeon's shaky breathing behind him becoming louder as she stifled the urge to cry.

He whirled around to face her. "Vaporeon, wait! I—" Jolteon's words got caught in his throat as he saw Vaporeon's face. She turned away as he looked at her and started running away, back the way she had come. Jolteon felt his knees getting weak, and he crumbled into a pile on the ground.

Another rustling in the bushes could be heard soon after Vaporeon left, and an excited Clauncher jumped out. "Aha! Found you!" Clauncher shouted at Jolteon. He rushed over and tagged Jolteon, but the Electric-type didn't put up any resistance.

Clauncher gave Jolteon a puzzled look. "You okay, man?" he asked, a bit worried.

Jolteon covered his eyes with both paws. "I screwed up," he moaned, letting the Magic Hat topple off of his head and onto the ground. Nothing came out of it this time.

-static-

"ATTENTION, CAMPERS! COMBUSKEN HAS BEEN TAGGED!" Jirachi announced over the intercom as Chatot returned to camp with Combusken, meaning that only one camper had been left untagged. "THE CHALLENGE IS NOW OVER! RETURN TO CAMP AND WE'LL WRAP EVERYTHING UP!"

Shortly after the announcement, everyone had been brought back to camp. Clauncher escorted the miserable Jolteon back to camp, wondering what had happened to him in the woods. Mienshao appeared shortly after, a wide grin on her face and a folded-up wheelchair in her arms.

"I see you're all here," said Jirachi once all of the campers were actually there. "So, congratulations to the winner of our challenge! Immunity is yours tonight," he stated. "And our winner this time was...Mienshao!"

There was a collective groan among most of the campers as Mienshao's grin grew even larger at Jirachi's announcement. "Since you lasted the longest, you're immune in tonight's voting ceremony," Jirachi explained to her. He paused to think. "But since you've also got the idol, that's...basically double immunity. Not bad, Mienshao. Not bad."

Jirachi shrugged. "I guess we'll give you free immunity tonight and you can save the idol for later. That seems fair to me," he decided. "So, with that out of the way, we'll be having our elimination ceremony in six hours! Don't be late. Or else."

Jirachi clapped his hands twice and vanished, leaving the campers there alone. Lilligant glanced over in concern at a sniffling Vaporeon, who had kept to the back of the crowd. Everyone else was beginning to disperse, seemingly oblivious that anything was wrong. Clauncher and Lilligant locked eyes and there was a sudden realization between them that whatever happened to Jolteon and Vaporeon had probably transpired between both of them.

Vaporeon walked off to her cabin before anyone could ask her what happened, and Lilligant hesitantly followed her there. Jolteon didn't say anything to Clauncher before heading back to his cabin.

-static-

Once Lilligant finally got Vaporeon to open up to her, it didn't take long for the news to spread. Word got out that Jolteon had kissed Mienshao in the woods, and there was a general sense of unease among the campers that hadn't been there before. Once the news reached Lopunny's ears, she stormed off angrily. No one dared to follow her.

Jolteon was down at the campfire pit, staring at the ground glumly. He was playing over the events in his head again: the kiss itself, the moments leading up to it, the time he'd spent talking with Mienshao. Had this been her plan all along? Was she using him? Did she genuinely have feelings for him but expressed them at the worst time and in the worst way possible? The last one didn't seem likely, but Jolteon considered it in his head anyway.

But that didn't really matter, because she had colossally screwed him over. Vaporeon had seen what happened, and he needed to repair things with her before he could talk to Mienshao. Unfortunately, she probably wasn't in the mood to talk right now, so he'd need to find a chance to catch her when she wasn't expecting it. After the voting ceremony could be a good time, maybe? Or it could be a terrible time. Jolteon worried that it would be the latter.

He was about to get up and go to the confessional when he saw Lopunny entering the campfire pit area, glaring daggers at him. She was moving at a quick pace, and Jolteon instinctively started backing up when she got close to him. This didn't slow Lopunny down; she kept walking until she had Jolteon cornered against the side of the confessional, at which point she started speaking.

"You," she practically spat at him. Her voice was filled with anger, and trembled ever so slightly with each word. "You made her cry, didn't you?"

Jolteon was terrified at this point; he'd never seen Lopunny so furious before. "I-I didn't mean to—" he squeaked, but Lopunny cut him off.

"I don't want your excuses," she growled at him, pounding a fist on the wall of the confessional. Jolteon shut up immediately, knowing now was not a good time to argue. "She liked you. She…" Lopunny stopped for a second, as if the words were actually hurting her. "She chose you. And you threw her away like she was nothing...for Mienshao?"

At this point, Lopunny was almost shaking with rage. Jolteon opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Lopunny took a step back and kept her harsh gaze on him; Jolteon averted his eyes towards the ground, unable to meet hers.

"You're done," said Lopunny angrily. "Everyone at camp knows what you did now. And after this is all over, Mienshao's gone too."

With that, she stormed off. Jolteon stood there stiffly until he finally found the strength to move his legs to go to the confessional.

-static-

"Shit shit shit shit shit," Jolteon muttered under his breath, rocking back and forth. "I'm so screwed! How could I let this happen? Why did I trust Mienshao?! Why did I think that was a good idea?!"

-static-

"Trusting Mienshao was...clearly a mistake," Lopunny said icily, a cold look in her eyes. "She may be immune tonight, but that won't save her in the long run. An idol only goes so far when you've turned the whole island against you."

Lopunny scowled at the camera. "She's just as guilty as Jolteon is. I doubt she believes we're just going to sweep this under the rug, but that begs the question...what's she playing at?"

-static-

A few more hours passed, and eventually it was time for everyone to convene at the campfire pit to make a decision. Jirachi was eating up the tension; once he'd learned about the drama surrounding Jolteon, Vaporeon, and Mienshao, he'd been all over it.

"My, my, some of you have been naughty today!" said Jirachi with a cackle. "Oh, I can't believe it! It's our first true relationship drama of the season!" he added with an excited shake of his hands.

Diancie didn't seem to share Jirachi's enthusiasm, but she passed him a tray of thirteen Pokeblocks, which he accepted with a smile. "Anyways, it's none of my business what's going on with all of you," lied Jirachi. "So I'll let you decide amongst yourselves how this is going to play out. One of you won't be here by the end of the night, but that Pokemon is not Mienshao. She remains immune tonight."

Upon hearing this, Mienshao's lips curled into a smile, and she received a number of glares from the campers. Vaporeon couldn't bring herself to look at Mienshao, but Seviper was glaring enough daggers at the weasel for both of them.

"So get to it!" Jirachi said cheerfully. "Confessional's that a-way!"

-static-

Lilligant stood in the confessional, arms folded. "Jolteon. I don't know what possessed him to do this to Vaporeon, but...I can't forgive that," she said solemnly. "Vaporeon's my friend. Mienshao's not."

-static-

Clauncher shook his head sadly. "I hate to do this, but it's got to be Jolteon," he told the camera. "Not cool, dude."

-static-

Chatot sat in the confessional silently, his hat tilted downward over his eyes. He reached up for the box of votes and tucked a card inside, carefully shielding it from the camera.

-static-

Dusclops had his arms crossed as he tucked his vote into the box. "Jolteon."

-static-

"Jolteon goes home this time," Lopunny said with a scowl, scribbling his name down and tossing it in the box. "And once Mienshao loses that idol, she goes home next."

-static-

Mienshao sat there with a condescending smirk. "Oh, this is just too good," she said with a grin. "Now the whole island has someone they hate as much as they hate me. That wasn't too hard after all!"

She let out a cruel laugh. "I never truly intended to keep this new alliance around for long. Lopunny's too volatile in this state, and Chatot's made it clear already that he has no intentions of listening to me. Jolteon was useful while he lasted—but there's only room at the top for one, and he's done his job."

She waved at the camera with a sickening smile. "It's time to say goodbye, Jolteon."

-static-

Vaporeon sniffled lightly before writing a name and putting it into the box. She turned away from the camera as she left.

-static-

"That should be all the votes," Diancie told Jirachi as Castform, the last camper, went in to place hers. Jirachi gave her a nod as she passed him the box of votes.

"Okay! Let's see what we have here," said Jirachi. He sorted through the votes and chuckled. "Man, I knew this was gonna be a slaughter, but not by this much. Let's get through the ones who are safe first."

The campers were all seated at this point, and Jirachi called Mienshao up first. "Mienshao, you're immune tonight," the host said to her. He shook his head as she walked up. "Despite this, you managed to rack up three votes. I'm...almost impressed."

She took her Pokeblock from him with a smug look as Jirachi went on listing names. "Also safe are Beedrill, Castform, Seviper, and Reuniclus," the host stated. Beedrill and Reuniclus gave each other a confident nod as they went up, while Castform barely reacted. Seviper cast a cold glare in Mienshao's direction, but the weasel didn't seem to care.

"Clauncher, Dusclops, Lilligant, Combusken. Come on up," Jirachi said. Clauncher bumped fists with Combusken as Dusclops and Lilligant went up wordlessly. "Chandelure, you're good to go as well."

The chandelier took her Pokeblock without so much as a glance at the other campers. Only Chatot, Vaporeon, Lopunny, and Jolteon remained without a Pokeblock. "Chatot, you've got nothing to worry about either," said Jirachi. "There were no votes against you."

The bird nodded and took his Pokeblock, but he didn't look happy about it. Jirachi tossed one Pokeblock up and down in his hand as the tension rose. "Vaporeon, you're safe too," he announced finally. She slowly walked up to claim her Pokeblock. "Nobody voted for you, either."

Uncomfortable silence enveloped everyone as only Jolteon and Lopunny were left. Jolteon cast several fearful looks at the rabbit, but she seemed to be willfully ignoring him. Her eyes were instead set on Vaporeon, who looked like she had been crying throughout the afternoon.

"Well, well, well," Jirachi said with a grin. "It's got to be one of you two! Anyone want to take any guesses who tonight's loser is?"

"Just send him home," said Lopunny coldly. Seviper nodded in agreement, and the host shrugged.

"Okay," Jirachi said. "Jolteon, you got the most votes. You're out."

Another silence followed as Jolteon stared at the ground, defeated. He wouldn't get a chance to apologize to Vaporeon after all. Finding himself unable to say anything, Jolteon got up to pack his things, but a different voice interrupted him.

"No, he's not."

Jolteon stared in confusion as Chatot made his way forward through the crowd towards Jirachi. The host seemed just as surprised to see the bird, but he waited patiently for Chatot to say his piece. Chatot simply held up a yellow ticket as he reached Jirachi.

"You gave this ta me ta save any contestant but myself from elimination whenevah I want," the bird reminded him, handing the ticket over to Jirachi. "I'm savin' Jolteon."

Stunned silence followed. Most campers had completely forgotten about Chatot's prize from the battle tournament. Those that hadn't seemed shocked that he would use it now, of all times. Jirachi simply took the ticket in one hands and gave Chatot a smile.

"Well then," the host said, drumming his fingers on the podium he stood behind, "that does change things, I suppose. Much like the immunity idol used by Baltoy earlier, this ticket will instead eliminate the contestant with the next highest amount of votes."

Jirachi directed Chatot's attention over to Lopunny. "In this case, that would be Lopunny," the host informed him. "Do you still want to use this?"

Chatot and Lopunny locked eyes for a second, and Chatot could see it was taking all she had to conceal her anger. He turned back to Jirachi and nodded. "Yeah, I still want ta use it."

Jolteon let out an involuntary sound of relief, which resulted in a death glare from Lopunny, who then stormed past Chatot to the confessional. Chatot could feel that everyone's eyes were still on him; he walked over to Jolteon and started to guide him away from the pit area.

The two of them made it a distance away before Jolteon started talking. "Thank you," Jolteon stammered, his heart still racing from the voting ceremony.

Chatot's eyes were downcast; he didn't look happy at all that his friend had just been saved. Jolteon noticed this and stared at Chatot with worry.

When Chatot finally spoke, they weren't the words Jolteon was hoping to hear. "Don't make me regret doin' this," Chatot said. He took off into the air and left Jolteon by himself; Jolteon stared after him unhappily before wandering back to the cabins.

-static-

"Time will tell if I made the right move or not," Chatot sighed. "I don't like what he did, nor do I have any idea why he did it, but Jolteon's helped me get this far. Any debt I owed him is considered paid now. He's on his own after this if he pulls any similar stunts."

-static-

Mienshao was scowling in the confessional, clearly frustrated by Chatot's meddling. "Well, isn't this just fantastic," she snarled at no one in particular. "Jolteon stays another night after all. I should've remembered that Chatot had that ticket, but it must have slipped my mind at some point."

She took a deep breath and cooled down. "Whatever. It's not an issue," she convinced herself. "It's just one more Pokemon down. Only twelve left until I can claim that prize."

She glared at the camera. "Chatot, you're next."

-static-

"I can't believe this," Lopunny said, clearly upset but not wanting to throw a tantrum in her last confessional. "Jolteon and Chatot must have voted for me after I cornered him earlier. I can't believe I forgot Chatot still had that ticket."

Her face was full of emotion, and she was evidently having difficulty putting her emotions aside to speak. "But I guess this is it for me, whether I like it or not," she muttered. "So I'll go out with some dignity. Vaporeon, I'm sorry for ignoring you. I know I should've handled things differently, but everything's...a bit of a jumble in my head right now."

She fiddled with her hands. "I hope either you or Lilligant can win, since you've both been good friends to me," the rabbit said. "And I hope you take down Mienshao as soon as you can. Don't trust Jolteon and Chatot; I always thought they were untrustworthy, but I placed my trust in Mienshao, and that...that was my mistake."

Lopunny looked like she wanted to say more, but whatever it was she wanted to say wasn't coming out. She stood up shortly after and exited the confessional.

-static-

Lopunny finally had her bags packed and was currently standing at the dock as her Lapras swam up to her. The sound of shuffling footsteps coming after her caught her attention, and she turned to see Lilligant there with the rest of the Gastrodon team behind her. All of her old teammates were there, except Mienshao.

"I'm sorry you have to go so soon," Lilligant apologized, though it was hardly her fault. "We all voted for Jolteon, just so you know."

"I know," Lopunny said softly. She seemed to have regained control over her emotions by now, and she seemed sad to be leaving her friends from the island behind. "I'm going to miss you guys."

"See you, Lopunny," Beedrill said with a respectful nod. Reuniclus and Combusken waved from the sides as Clauncher gave her an especially enthusiastic wave with his big claw.

"It wasss nice having you on our team," Seviper commented. "I'll be sssure to take down Mienssshao while you're away."

Lopunny wore the faintest hint of a smile at Seviper's remarks until she turned to see the last Gastrodon who hadn't spoken. Vaporeon was there behind the rest of them, but she stayed silent for a few seconds. Nobody wanted to say anything after what had just transpired today, but eventually she spoke up.

"I'll miss you, Lopunny. You're a good friend," Vaporeon choked out.

Lopunny smiled sadly and walked over to Vaporeon. The Gastrodons watched as Lopunny gently embraced the Water-type in a hug. "I'll miss you too," Lopunny told Vaporeon quietly before pulling away.

Lopunny gave one last friendly wave to her old teammates before stepping onto her Lapras. "Good luck, everyone! Don't get eliminated too early," Lopunny told them. "And make sure to take out Mienshao!"

"Oh, we will," Beedrill said with a reassuring grin. Lopunny smiled at him and gave her Lapras the signal to leave. As Lopunny finally departed the island, the ex-Gastrodons gathered together one final time.

"So," said Reuniclus. "I think we can all agree that Mienshao needs to go home. Who's with me?"

He held out a hand, and everyone who could physically do so extended a hand forward into the circle as well. "Then let's take her down!" he shouted. The Gastrodons cheered and threw their hands in the air. They slowly filed away from the docks, talking with one another about how they were going to eliminate Mienshao. Beedrill and Seviper seemed quite active in this conversation, despite ordinarily being on the reserved side.

Only Vaporeon didn't travel back to camp with the other, newly invigorated campers. She slumped down on the surface of the dock instead, sticking one paw in the water and just watching as the ripples formed around it.

This was Jolteon's fault, Vaporeon thought to herself. If he had been able to control himself and not kiss Mienshao, none of this would have happened. He and Chatot were responsible for Lopunny's elimination. She couldn't let herself forget that.

Vaporeon's brow furrowed in anger as she stood up. She'd see to it that all of them—Chatot, Jolteon, and Mienshao—finally got what was coming to them.

So...some of you probably hate me for what just went down. I don't blame you, but before you attempt to kill me dead, let's talk about what happened!

Mienshao somehow managed to destroy the alliance she formed just last chapter by being generally horrible and screwing all of them over, which I'm sure will have absolutely no consequences for any of them in the future. Seriously though, she screwed EVERYONE in that alliance—Jolteon and Chatot are now the most disliked Pokemon on the island besides her, and Lopunny got booted because of Mienshao. If there was ever any hope of anyone on the island trusting Mienshao again, it's probably gone by now.

Speaking of Lopunny, she is unfortunately this episode's victim of elimination. I'd say she had one of the better runs on the show—she was consistently a powerful contender in challenges, acted as a great team leader pre-merge, and managed to forge quite a few friendships, even if most fell apart at one point or another. Lopunny was one of the most dangerous competitors in the game, but that also meant that she'd probably become a target down the line anyway now that it's a free-for-all post-merge.

And if you're a bit upset about Lopunny's elimination, don't worry, you're not alone. This was one of the hardest for me to write probably because Lopunny feels like one of few competitors who probably left the show in worse condition than she entered. Seriously, she has to have some emotional trauma from all of this. Poor girl.

Of course, we can't forget to talk about the love triangle in the room. I'm sure those of you who possess observational skills to any degree have noticed the situation building between Vaporeon, Jolteon, and Lopunny—it was a matter of time before this exploded in all of their faces. And that time was this chapter! It's...all downhill from here, probably.

For most characters outside of Mienshao's (now fractured) alliance and excluding Vaporeon, this chapter was a nice relaxing break from most of the drama that's been going on. Now that the Mawile arc has been resolved, Dusclops and Castform took a little bit of a backseat and served mostly as comic relief this chapter. Which is good, because that's necessary to keep this from descending into an all-encompassing angst-fest, which it feels like sometimes when I'm writing it.

Anyways, there's not much else to discuss since we've covered most of the important progression that occurred this chapter. The last major event to cover is Jolteon and Chatot's relationship, which seems to be pretty badly damaged after Mienshao used Jolteon and Chatot was forced to play his yellow ticket. If you don't remember where that came from, he received it at the end of the tournament challenge as a prize for winning—it's about time he used it.

That's all from me for now, but I'd love to hear from you. What are your thoughts on the characters after this chapter, and what do you expect might happen next? Leave your comments in a review below, I'd love to read them.

Lopunny: Yes, please leave a review to join the fight against Mienshao. Every review helps!