Total Pokemon: Underdogs

by Dark Arcanine 33

Oh god, they're back AGAIN! This time, 44 Total Pokemon underdogs have been brought back for a chance at 5 MILLION POKE! What will happen this time? Find out here! (Season 7)

33. You Snooze, You Lose

Announcer: Last time on Total Pokémon: Underdogs, the cast dealt with a blast from the past as Mewtwo made an appearance for another military-themed challenge. Just like all the way back in the first season, the players were thrust into physically and emotionally draining challenges, with the player that did the worst getting automatically eliminated.

Following the loss of not one, but two of their alliance members, Kojo and his alliance essentially dissolved, with Sally and Aura moving back to Shine's group, and Phill and Kojo eventually aligning themselves with Connor and Titan. But, that was a big no-no, since apparently Amethyst had gotten to them first, and could ruin everything out of spite.

Meanwhile, with Sally and Aura back on their side, Shine's alliance was thirsting for power in the game. They only needed one more person to be on their side in order to shift the game in their favor. With Phill's unwillingness to turn on his friend, and Ashton being a non-entity, Amethyst was their best perceived bet.

During the actual challenges, which were thrown at them back-to-back-to-back, the players grew increasingly exhausted both physically and mentally, as Mewtwo's attitude and insults were seen as irritating and demeaning, which… is a staple of military boot camp, but I digress. Points were given depending on placement, and where some succeeded, others failed, and some even went into 'the hole', where they were unable to compete.

At the end of the day, after a lot of worry and irritation, the challenge ended earlier than planned, and due to having the lowest score, Aspen got the boot.

We're down to the final ten, and the ultimate battle is about to begin. Who's gonna come out on top and who's going to flop? Find out right now on Total… Pokémon… Underdogs!

000

*Intro plays*

000

Following Aspen's elimination, Mew, Virizion, and Xerneas teleported back to the Hall of Origins. It was still somewhat early compared to other days, where they'd make it back sometime during the night. Due to the challenge ending somewhat prematurely, and the ladies wanting to get it over with as quick as possible, it was somewhat late in the afternoon.

Mew took a breath, mumbling to himself, "Okay… We've only got ten players left. Soon this hell will be over…"

As they made their way back toward the living room through the kitchen, Virizion suggested, "Let's make a note to never have anyone else have control of a challenge unless they're actually going to be serious about it…"

Xerneas nodded in agreement, "Yeah. It'll be a lot better that way-"

"Better at making the show worse!" they heard as they entered the living room. It was no surprise who that comment came from.

The living room was occupied by a few of their fellow Legendaries and Mythicals, who had just finished watching their show's feed. Victini had his arms folded and was shaking his head. "Way to kill the vibe by pulling an Articuno…" he groused.

Hearing that, the Freeze Pokémon squawked, "Hey!"

"No, we're just actually trying to make the show tolerable and not treat the players like total shit," Virizion argued. "I know that's probably hard for a sociopath to understand, but the audience doesn't always need to see the players in pain!"

Victini rolled his eyes, "Don't give me that. You decided that this is the challenge that you wanted to do, and literally nothing was different about it than the first time it happened. Oh wait… you decided that the girls should participate this time, unlike last time."

Virizion and Xerneas narrowed their eyes at him in annoyance, while Mew just floated there with a blank expression. He just couldn't bring himself to care anymore.

Victini continued, "And because you, apparently, can't handle seeing girls get the same treatment as guys-"

"Wait, wait," Raikou chimed in. "You guys ended Mewtwo's thing because the females were getting treated like the guys in a military situation?"

"Exactly," Victini concurred.

"That wasn't the case at all," Xerneas stated with a glare. "He was being a jackass in general and making them do everything back-to-back with no breaks while also being demeaning and irritating."

"He did the same thing in the first season. What don't you understand?" Victini questioned in a deadpan tone. "You two were just being sensitive babies, and if you keep it up, the season's gonna get worse than it already is…"

"And why the hell do you care, exactly?" Virizion shot back with a glare. "You wanted this season, not Mew. Then, you jumped ship and we had to take over and try to get things back on track because the season was already going terribly!"

"You just answered your own question," he replied, folding his arms. "Not to mention, it's fun seeing how it's going with a sad husk and two sugar mommas."

"Last time we checked, you stopped watching the show after you left, and then gloated to Mew about how you were glad that you left since the show was doing awful!" Xerneas growled. "Which, again, was because of you."

Victini rolled his eyes, ignoring their comments. He couldn't care less about their concerns or them blaming him. "All I'm gonna say is this… There's only ten players left, so don't screw up the rest of the season by trying to be all soft and gentle with them. This ain't a daycare, it's a competition."

"You jumped ship, so you don't get to decide what we do," Xerneas argued. "Worry about your damn self…"

"And you should worry about keeping your baby under control…" Darkrai tonelessly commented, pointing between them.

Virizion and Xerneas were initially confused by what he meant before the pair looked around and saw that Mew was no longer there. Virizion growled, glaring at Victini. "You're such an insufferable ass…"

The two of them immediately turned around, leaving to find Mew. The others in the living room, which mainly consisted of Darkrai, Raikou, Suicune, Articuno, Zapdos, and Thundurus, all looked at Victini, who stifled a laugh. Aside from Darkrai, the others agreed that Victini was indeed an insufferable ass. However, at the same time, they didn't really care about their drama. Seeing the looks that he was getting, Victini huffed. "What?!"

000

Mew was back in Solgaleo's room. He didn't feel like sitting through Victini, Virizion, and Xerneas' argument, so he returned to the one place, aside from his own room, that he considered his 'safe space'.

After explaining why he was back in the Sunne Pokémon's room, Entei sighed. It wouldn't be a regular day at the Hall of Origin without someone having or causing issues for someone else.

"Mew, at this point, you just have to accept the fact that shit's never gonna be normal around here. We're all gonna get on each others nerves sometimes since we're all different," he explained.

"I know," the New Species Pokémon replied, lying on Solgaleo's back again. "I'm just sick of Victini, mainly."

"Join the club," Entei responded gruffly. "You don't think I wanna ring the fucker's neck for making 'Leo's depression worse? Hell, the bastard still occasionally comes in here while I'm out of the room to berate him for being down."

"What?" Mew responded in surprise. He groaned, "What the hell is wrong with him?"

"Everything," Entei responded, shaking his head. He glanced lovingly at Solgaleo, who hadn't said a word since Mew entered. "But… 'Leo's been getting better at tuning him out… Right?"

Solgaleo's eyes went to Entei's for a few seconds before going back to the wall. The Volcano Pokémon sighed softly, looking back to Mew. "You only have like ten players left. Just get through it and you'll be fine."

Mew let out a breath, "I keep telling myself that, but things just end up feeling heavier…"

"You're almost to the finish line," Solgaleo tonelessly chimed in. "Just push harder and ignore the bad stuff. Letting it continue to eat at you will just make everything worse."

The New Species Pokémon didn't respond, staring at the ceiling. Entei looked at the two Psychic-type felines beside him and let out a crestfallen sigh. He loved Solgaleo, and despite his annoyance, was actually beginning to consider Mew a friend because of how often he was coming around.

Seeing that the two of them were having such a tough time mentally actually hurt him, and it was rare for Entei to feel this way about others. He was still irritable and brash, but he was becoming much more empathetic and sympathetic as time passed. He would never admit it to anyone besides the two that were already in the room with him, but he was really changing for the better.

Soon, there was knocking on the door, much to the Volcano Pokémon's chagrin. "Who is it?" he asked.

Virizion's voice was heard, responding, "It's us. Uh… Did Mew come in there?"

"What do you think?" Entei deadpanned, considering it a dumb question.

Taking the hint, Virizion and Xerneas entered the room, where they saw Mew lying on Solgaleo's back. Xerneas let out a sigh of relief. They knew that he probably hadn't done anything drastic, but they were just worried about his mental state.

"Mew, you've really got to try to brush off the negativity that that bastard keeps throwing at you," Virizion stated. "Victini is literally a worthless troll. You shouldn't let him get to you like that."

"Especially when you should be used to it," Entei concurred. "You and Victini have been partners in crime for decades. Centuries even. You should be used to him talking shit. He talks shit to everyone."

Mew didn't respond. He already knew all of that. He didn't really care that Victini was talking shit in general, it was the circumstances surrounding it. He thought that they would understand that by now.

Xerneas sighed, "Come on, Mew. We just want you out of this slump. This season's almost done. You should be happy!"

"Exactly," Entei added. "I'd be happy to know that a season I hated doing was about to end…"

Sitting up, Mew snapped, "This season shouldn't have happened to begin with!"

The sudden outburst startled the ladies and Entei, while Solgaleo didn't budge. He was listening intently, though.

He continued, "I-It's been a fucking shitty experience ever since season four! He got a lot more annoying and the situations got worse with the contestants, but he didn't give a damn. But hey, at least he got his comeuppance at the end right? Sure, he gets locked up for a few years and I start All-Stars with Palkia. Things are going pretty well… sorta. Then Kyurem releases the bastard and now he's back to ruin everything and make the challenges more disgusting and dangerous while not giving a damn about anything awful that happened!"

Hearing his voice start to crack again, Xerneas began, "Mew-"

"Oh, I'm not done!" he interjected, letting out a forced laugh. "We lose the damn island after All-Stars, but Victini still wants to do another season. He makes us wait ten fucking years just so Chase and Autumn are actually eligible to compete. Yes, that's why we had to wait so fucking long, he wanted the other kids that were born during the show to play! Right! That's totally ethical and fun, right!?"

"Mew…" Virizion started, becoming more worried.

The New Species Pokémon continued, "He made us wait ten years and gets a damn island that he neglects to tell any of us is infested with old trainer zombies. And let's not mention the fact that one of the two kids that he decided to wait a decade to compete for was pushed into a collapsing burning building! Yea-HAH! RATINGS!"

Xerneas and Virizion exchanged looks, remembering that incident. However, they never knew that Victini literally waited for Autumn and Chase to grow up so they could be on the season. That… really was low. Entei didn't care to keep up with all of what happened during their seasons and only knew about certain things when 'watch parties' happened.

Beginning to get a bit upset, Xerneas hesitantly tried to calm him. "Okay Mew, I think you-"

Mew just continued on, tears now streaming down his face. "Then we come to this god awful season that he only wanted to happen because he saw all of the drama from All-Stars and wanted to see what happened with people he thought were 'boring'. And the amount of negativity was monumental! I don't want to be there, and none of the contestants want to be there, but Victini had to get his way. And what happens? ONCE AGAIN, HE DECIDES THAT HE WANTS TO FUCKING LEAVE JUST LIKE IN ALL-STARS AND WHATEVER THE HELL THE NAME OF THE ONE AFTER IT WAS!"

Mew slinked down off of Solgaleo's back and onto his actual bed, holding his head as Virizion and Xerneas cautiously approached him. "I wanted to fucking stop after the last season. It was fucking pointless to keep going after that. Arceus and Giratina even said that we wouldn't have to do any more since we're so far ahead, but no. Victini needs his torture fix, so now we're here. And he fucking berates us and gloats about how he's glad he left and that the season's doing bad and how he doesn't even fucking watch…"

Virizion rested her head against Mew's, "...and now he's trying to act like we're making the show worse when he's the one who started this in the first place."

Xerneas nuzzled the other side of Mew's face, sniffling. "It's okay, Mew. We're here…" she softly whispered.

Entei couldn't find any words to say. Hearing all of that was honestly brutal. Seeing Mew break down like that and seeing that Xerneas and Virizion were still trying to comfort him just made his hate for Victini rise tenfold. He looked at Solgaleo and noticed that the Sunne Pokémon's eyes were a bit watery. He approached and nuzzled him, wanting him to feel better.

000

The next day, Sally, Shine, and Morgan once again sat in the jail's office, Aspen's elimination still fresh on their minds. Sally wasn't there, as she had returned to the Winner's Cabin after Mewtwo told them to return to the beach, so she didn't really know what happened until afterwards.

"I just don't get it…" the Ampharos groaned. "So you guys didn't even get to have the last challenge?"

Morgan shook her head, "Nope. Most of them voted to end the challenge early and Aspen had the least amount of points at the time, so she got the boot."

"So we really need Amethyst on our side, now," Shine stated. "It's down to four of us, and I'm just gonna assume that the four guys are working together since they were all sitting at the same table talking. Did she say anything when you were with her?"

Sally knew that it wouldn't be in her best interest to lie to them just yet, so she decided to tell the truth about how Amethyst felt. Clearing her throat, she explained, "Well, she said that she's not stupid and that she knows that we'll only use her until we get what we want from her. So..."

Morgan let out a sigh, shaking her head, "You've gotta be kidding me." They didn't have that many options, and if Amethyst wasn't willing to work with them, what could they do? "So are we just screwed?"

"Of course not," Sally responded. "I know that we were mainly going to Amethyst for help since she left the alliance, too, but Ashton was almost always right there with her. And between the two of them, I'm pretty sure Ashton makes the more logical decisions…"

"That may be true, but if Ashton didn't really 'leave' the alliance like you guys did, then she may still be close with the guys," Shine explained. "And I did sorta exclude her when we were talking to Amethyst, so she may believe that we're not interested in her."

Sally facepalmed herself, "Well, that doesn't sound good. Luckily, Ash didn't really have much of an opinion when I was sitting with them, so she may actually be open to it."

"Well, we'd better talk to her soon," Morgan urged. "I don't want this to be a last minute thing, because things can change fast in this game."

Shine and Sally nodded in agreement. The next vote or elimination was extremely important, as it would likely dictate how the rest of the game would go.

000

"This is the furthest that I've gotten in this game," Shine sighed, a few beads of sweat dripping from her head. "I've been underestimated for years since everyone just saw me as 'wife of Shade', 'wife of the Devil', 'scorned spouse'. I think I've proven that I'm much more than that."

"I'm not one to be toyed with and I'm not some pushover," she stated firmly. "I'm going to win this and show all of these people that I'm not just Shine's 'piece of ass'. They'll have to s-see me as an actual p-person."

000

After Aspen's elimination, Aura was devastated. The Furfrou had been her closest friend since the beginning and they had been in that game for months. She knew that she would see her again and that it was part of the game, but the circumstances surrounding it just angered her.

After she and Phill made it back to the cabins, she couldn't help but break down. Knowing that this was rough for her, Phill did his best to comfort her until they eventually fell asleep. The next morning, knowing that she was still sad, Phill decided that they should just walk to the cliff and rest there for a while.

Aura was lying down, looking out to the distance, while Phill sat next to her, stroking her back. "You feelin' a bit better?" he inquired.

Aura didn't respond for a while before rolling onto her back, a soft sigh escaping her lips. "Not really," she answered, her tone despondent. "It can't really be helped. Not sure why you made us come all the way out here."

Phill smacked his lips, eyeing her. "Well, honestly, I wanted to see if you wanted to fuck…"

Aura's eyes almost bulged out of her head as she quickly got to her feet. "WHAT!?" she exclaimed.

Phill chuckled, "Quite the reaction. You know that I was joking, right?"

Aura sighed; she should have known. Phill was never really upfront about things like that, but it was still a shock to hear from him. "Just never expected to hear that from you…"

The Raticate stifled a laugh. It may have been minor, but he was glad that she was off of the ground. "Yeah, sorry. No hanky-panky, especially since you're still upset. On the bright side, though… We made it to the final ten," he chuckled. "You should at least be happy about that."

The Glaceon took a breath, sitting back down. He was right; she should be happy about that. It was the furthest she'd gotten in a season, after all. However, Aspen's unfair, at least to her, elimination just put a damper on things. She'd likely get over it eventually, but right now, she just felt disheartened.

Having not gotten a response, Phill looked down. He didn't really understand why this was affecting her so much. If Kojo got eliminated, he'd be a bit upset, but he'd just keep going strong. Or well, keep going at his own pace. "Aspen really meant a lot to you, huh?" he said inquisitively.

Aura turned to him, before looking back out in the distance. "After years of being called a whore, slut, homewrecker, horrible mother, rapist cunt, desperate skank, just… every name under the sun, most of which are… true…" she sniffled, looking down at her paws. "It just felt nice to have somebody who could look past it and just accept me as I was… even though I was still a shithead during the start of this season."

"And then you both grew out of that and it turns out that you're both actually cool people," Phill commented, understanding what she was getting at.

Aura nodded. "I just felt alone before…" she explained. "It doesn't excuse anything I did or said, but… she and I really bonded and she was like a sister to me here. She helped set me straight."

Phill wrapped his tail around her. "Well… I can be her replacement until one of us gets the boot," he offered. He wasn't sure how much he could really do, but he was willing to try.

Aura shot him a curious look, "You're already my boyfriend. You don't need to be a replacement. How would that even work?"

"Well… You could talk to me about whatever things you would usually talk to her about!" Phill explained.

Aura gave him a look. Phill was a guy, and guys were generally known to tune out or try to avoid hearing 'girl talk' unless they legitimately shared an interest. She felt that if she had the conversations with him that she had with Aspen, it would be awkward for him. She replied, "Uh… I don't think-"

"Come on…" he insisted, cutting her off. "It can't be that bad. Gimme that juicy gossip, girl…" he said, snapping his fingers sassily.

Aura stifled a laugh, at his gestures and shift in tone. "Why are you like this?" she rhetorically inquired, shaking her head.

Phill pretended to think for a few seconds before shrugging. "Not sure," he answered with a straight face, "but, at least I got you smiling again."

Aura scoffed, playfully nuzzling him. Aspen may have been gone, but at least she still had one other person on her side.

000

Aura sighed, "I'm really gonna miss Aspen, but… I'm glad that I still have Phill. I may be in an alliance with Sally, Morgan, and Shine, but… I don't think any of them really see me as a 'friend'."

"I think I'll be okay. I just have to hope that things don't go wrong again…"

000

"Wait, what do you mean there's probably three immunity statues out here!?" Amethyst exclaimed.

Despite deciding to work on her own instead of with a group, Amethyst still decided to meet up with Connor and Titan to see what they were planning. They didn't have an immediate plan, but Connor did bring something up that shocked both Titan and Amethyst.

"Yeah… What are you on about, mate?" Titan inquired, confused by his statement. "You just used the one to save yourself. Where did three come from?"

Connor sighed, as he felt completely foolish. "Do you guys remember what they told us at those first elimination ceremonies?"

"Mate, those were months ago," Titan deadpanned. "Just explain…"

"They said that there were two immunity statues hidden on the island, but I guess nobody found them since no one ever mentioned them again!" Connor expounded. "And I guess Mew forgot about it, too, since he brought that extra one at the merge and acted like there weren't any on the island already."

"Well, I wouldn't put it behind Victini to lie to us about that," Amethyst huffed, rolling her eyes. "But... if he wasn't lying, then why would Mew-"

"The bloke did say that he never wanted this season," Titan recalled, cutting her off. "Plus, with how down under he's been, I wouldn't put it behind him to forget."

"We all forgot," Connor stressed. "I only remembered because while I was sleeping, I was debating about whether or not I should try to look for the new one again."

The EleSpider Pokémon hummed to himself before reasoning, "So, unless Mew, Virizion, and Xerneas did remember and just nixed them, we have two, maybe three, immunity statues out here."

"Yeah," Connor nodded. "And if we find them, we'll be perfectly fine!"

Amethyst smiled to herself. With multiple statues in play, she most definitely had a chance to win the game now.

"The question is… Where the hell did they hide them if nobody's found them for months?" Connor inquired, looking around their vicinity. There was a chance that the statues were right under their noses.

"Who knows? You have fun looking for them, though, mate," Titan commented. The Galvantula had already told the Bouffalant his stance on the immunity statue situation, so he wouldn't be partaking in the search.

Amethyst was confused by his statement, not knowing his stance. "Wait, you don't wanna look for it?"

The Galvantula looked up at the Aurorus, explaining, "Like I told him yesterday, I'm not putting another target on my back. It may have only been since people found out and it got spread, but I'd just rather not deal with it again."

Amethyst nodded in understanding, hiding a smirk. If Titan wasn't going to be searching, that meant that she'd have a much higher chance at finding them. She honestly wasn't too worried about Connor, as Titan was the one who found the first statue anyway.

Connor groaned in annoyance at Titan's stubbornness. He understood where he was coming from, but the fact was that if their enemies didn't know, then it shouldn't be a problem. "Whatever," grumbled. "At least we still have a chance. So even if something happens, we'll be set."

Amethyst smiled to herself.

000

"If Ash and I can find those statues, we'll be golden!" Amethyst chirped. "We're already in a good spot right now since nobody's trying to vote us out at the moment. Shine's side needs me as an extra vote, and the guys aren't really focusing on me or Ashton. At least Connor, Titan, and Phill aren't."

She still didn't trust Kojo and hadn't really spoken to him since the alliance broke apart, so she didn't know where he stood. All she knew was that he was a prime target.

"We just have to make sure that only we, Titan, and Connor know about it. Although… if they know about them, then they probably should be the next ones to go. That way, only Ashton and I would know and be looking," she said to herself.

It was a valid idea, but there was also a chance that she probably wouldn't find it due to her size. So, keeping the guys around would actually be beneficial. And if Titan was willing to give the statue to Connor, then there was a chance that they could all protect each other.

She sighed after thinking about the situation. "Okay… I guess I'm not just gonna work alone. I'll keep working with the guys for the time being. I'm sure Ash will be happy…"

000

Kojo was lying alone on one of the bunks in the Loser Cabin. He felt very lucky, but also very uncertain about his place in the game. There were only ten players remaining in the game, and he was one of them.

In the first season, he was voted out since he was a threat and in the second season, he was voted out because of Mason's hypnosis spree. He honestly hadn't expected to do this well, nor did he expect any positives to being brought back again. Now he had a fiancée that he loved dearly, he grew a bit as a person, and he was nine people away from winning it all.

Despite all of that, he still had a major problem. Just like in his first season, he was one of the threats that others were gunning for. His original alliance was dead in the water, and his 'new' alliance, if he could even call it that, couldn't really talk to him because of Amethyst.

The only way the Martial Arts Pokémon could hope to make it further would be to win the immunity challenges going forward. However, with Shine and Morgan back in the picture, he wasn't sure if he would be able to. He let out an aggravated sigh as he sat up, momentarily covering his face.

He looked out of the open door of the cabin and noticed Ashton walking past. Aside from the other guys, he felt that Ashton would be the only one willing to talk to him. He got up and immediately started after her. "Ashton!" he called.

The Meganium halted upon hearing her name called. She was about to head to the gazebo to see if there was anything there or not. Turning, she saw Kojo walking toward her. "Oh. Hey, Kojo. Everything okay?"

The Mienshao gave her a look, "Not really. You know that…"

Ashton sweatdropped in response. She should have guessed given what all transpired the day prior. The Mienshao was practically on his own right now. "Right…" she awkwardly replied. "Sorry…"

Kojo shook his head, believing that she didn't have anything to apologize for. "Nah, you were actually trying to get all of us back on track, but it spiralled. So you don't have anything to be sorry about," he responded, folding his arms. He then let out another sigh, "Plus, you're probably the only girl left in the game that'll give me the time of day without simultaneously conspiring against me."

The Martial Arts Pokémon was right in that regard. Ashton, personally, didn't really think that Kojo was that big of a threat. The real threats in her head were Shine and Morgan, but she had learned by now to be quiet and try to stay out of the way. Showing too much initiative and being actively strategic made you a target.

The Herb Pokémon nodded, wanting to downplay herself to keep her under-the-radar status. "Well, there's not much reason for me to. Shine and Morgan are the ones with the bigger alliance."

Kojo let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you! I don't know why Sally and Aura decided to work with the two biggest threats in the game. They're gonna get their asses handed to them."

Ashton had already been filled in on Sally's plan, but she wasn't entirely sure about Aura. She thought about telling Kojo about Sally's plan and getting him involved, but she felt that it would backfire. If she told him, then he'd probably relay it to the other guys, and since Aura and Phill are dating, Aura would spill the beans. The end result would either be Sally's elimination or her own for bringing it up.

"We can't control them," Ashton replied with a sigh. "So, whatever happens to them is just gonna happen and they'll have to deal with it."

Kojo scratched the back of his head. The only way to save himself, aside from winning immunity, would be if the target moved elsewhere or he convinced one of the girls to not vote for him. He knew that Shine and her group would be coming after him, but there were only four of them. Or five, he wasn't sure if Amethyst was with them or not, but he knew that she'd vote him out when given the chance.

Ashton could very well be his saving grace, although he wasn't sure if he'd want to risk a tie. He looked to the Herb Pokémon, who had continued walking toward the gazebo. Catching up with her, he asked, "So… uh… I dunno if it would be too much to ask, but if the other girls try to convince you to vote for me, could you not?"

Ashton cocked a brow in confusion. "I… wasn't planning on doing that anyway," she replied.

A small smile formed on his face. "Thanks…"

Ashton nodded as the two of them made it to the gazebo, checking if there would be any challenges that day. Seeing that there were numerous takeout boxes sitting on one of the tables, Ashton hummed. "I… guess we don't have a challenge today?"

Kojo chuckled, "Hey, that's fine by me! Let's see what we've got." Opening one of the to-go boxes, the pair saw just two pizza bagels sitting inside.

Their non-challenge breakfasts were usually more 'standard' and 'full', so this was a bit questionable.

"Or… maybe we do have challenges," Ashton followed, seeing the somewhat lackluster breakfast.

Kojo chuckled, "I remember these things from back in high school. Used to get others to go through the line so that I could get more."

"Are the really that good?" Ashton inquired, opening a box of her own.

Kojo shrugged, "Eh, all I know is that I liked them." He took a bite out of one of them, his eyes widened. "Yep… and I still do."

The Mienshao grabbed his box and started heading back to the cabin, leaving Ashton at the gazebo with the other boxes and her thoughts.

000

Ashton let out a sigh, "Okay, all I know is that I need to just remain in the middle and not make myself a target. If he loses immunity, I won't vote for Kojo, so he won't be going home. It'll probably end up being a tie if the guys fill me in on their plan."

"Unless… hmm…"

000

Mew's eyes slowly flickered open. After his breakdown the previous afternoon, he just remained in Solgaleo's room, with Entei insisting that Virizion and Xerneas leave him there for a while. He felt a bit relieved after pouring out everything, but it didn't change the fact that he still felt like garbage.

The New Species Pokémon found himself on the bed between Entei and Solgaleo. He noticed that one of Entei's paws was covering Solgaleo's and that their heads were closer together. After the ladies left the room, Entei had to try and console both him and Solgaleo, which took a while.

The Volcano Pokemon spoke about himself, his early insecurities, dealing with the Raikou and Suicune situation, and actually apologized for his prior behavior that could have negatively affected both Mew and Solgaleo in some way. He ended up crying in the aftermath as well, which was shocking to the two other felines.

The fact that Entei was still actively trying to help him and Solgaleo feel better was still surprising. Sure, there was an obvious underlying reason for him treating Solgaleo so well, but himself? He decided not to question it and instead get ready for the day. The odor of depression and musk saturated his fur, so he definitely needed a shower.

He teleported himself out of the room and started floating toward the entrance of the washroom. As he approached, staring down at the floor, he ended up bumping into someone wet. "Oh, sor-"

He looked and saw that it was Zeraora, causing his eyes to widen. Seeing water drip off of her fur, allowing it to glisten a bit, Mew blushed. "S-Sorry, Zera…"

"It's fine, Mew," Zeraora replied, petting his head. Virizion and Xerneas had filled her in on what all transpired the previous day, so she felt awful for the New Species Pokémon."Is everything okay?" she asked. "I heard about… y'know."

Mew let out a sigh, a bit disappointed that Xerneas and Virizion told her. He still felt rather low, but he didn't want anyone to worry anymore. At that point, it didn't matter. He was tired of pouring his heart out, only for nothing to get better in his eyes.

"I… I'm fine," he lied. "Just gotta move on. Almost finished, so… just… gotta go through..."

Zeraora could tell that he was lying, but decided not to press further. Instead, she nodded, saying, "Well… You can always talk to me if things are still feeling bad."

She pet his head again before walking past him. Mew watched her leave, a blush still on his face. He let out a sigh before entering the washrooms. Given that a good amount of the people in the hall slept in, he wasn't expecting to see anyone else.

However, he was surprised to see Zacian sitting in his cubicle letting water run over him, in his Hero of Many Battles form. He hadn't really spoken to the Fairy-type since he hosted that competition for the gay males in the hall. Not wanting to be rude, despite still feeling low, he greeted the male Warrior Pokémon.

"Hey there, Zacian…" he greeted. "Are you doing alright?"

Turning in his direction, the wolf responded in a hushed, yet somewhat deep, husky voice, "I'm decent, I guess. The better question is, are you alright?"

As he turned his water on, Mew's head snapped back in his direction, his eyes wide. Had Zacian just… spoken? Stunned by this, the New Species Pokémon stuttered, "I-I… I'm s-sorry, did you just… talk?"

Zacian huffed, smirking while shaking his head. "Yeah… I'm not mute. I just usually don't have much to say about anything, so I tend to not waste my breath. That… and I always end up getting interr-"

"I'm sorry, I just… I know Zamazenta said that you don't speak much, and I've never heard you speak even without her around. Not even when the guys… wanted you," Mew cut him off, shaking his head, still a bit surprised. Not only was he talking, but his voice was raspy and deep, which he was not expecting.

Zacian gave him a look, as Mew had just demonstrated why he doesn't really talk.

Seeing the look he was receiving, Mew realized what he'd done and quickly apologized. Sheepishly chuckling, "Yeah… Sorry about that, but… I'm just surprised."

The Warrior Pokémon let out a soft sigh, expounding, "It's fine, but yeah. I tend to not have much of an opinion on most things and I'm not really the most social to begin with. So, I just keep everything to myself."

Mew nodded in understanding as the wolf continued, "And regarding the situation where a few of the more flamboyant males were pining for me, I was just very diffident and uncomfortable."

Mew couldn't help but chuckle to himself, "I can understand that entirely." His small smile soon fell as he glanced back over to the Warrior Pokémon, whose water stopped. "And… as for your question… I still feel like utter garbage and that I'm losing my sanity. So, I guess for me that counts as being decent as well."

Zacian nodded in response. He had been hearing a few people around the hall complain or belittle Mew for whatever reason, but it was typically from the Legendaries that were brash or assholes anyway. After shaking himself dry, he proceeded toward the exit, preferring to air dry instead of using a towel. "Well, you're almost done anyway. Just… try to keep your head up," he replied.

Mew sighed to himself as the wolf exited the washrooms, leaving him alone. "My head'll be up once this crap is over," he mumbled to himself, finally picking up his sponge.

000

After a while, everybody had come to the gazebo to retrieve their breakfast. With the prospect of a challenge on the horizon, despite not knowing what it would be, a few of them were going to try and make a plan.

Amethyst was the only one who stayed behind with Ashton, as she needed to discuss what Connor and Titan had told her.

"Wait, so… There's more than one statue?" Ashton inquired, stupefied by what she was being told.

Amethyst nodded with a smirk. "Yep. Connor remembered that they had told us about two hidden statues earlier in the game, but nobody ever found them, so they added the extra one at the merge. That means that there are three free immunity statues out here!"

Ashton was stunned by that revelation, but at the same time, she wasn't sure if it was true. She asked, "How are you so sure? They could have just gotten rid of the other ones when nobody found them and brought in that one at the merge."

"That's… also a possibility," Amethyst concurred. "But they would have mentioned that, wouldn't they? That's why we think that all of them are still here."

"Yeah, but they also haven't said anything about the merge statue being back in play," Ashton reminded her. "I'm not doubting that there's possibly still a statue out there, but without asking them, we'll never know."

"We can't ask them," the Aurorus stressed. If they asked the hosts about the statues, they'd make an announcement, and then everybody would be on the hunt again. "If we ask and they say yes, then everyone will be looking again, and we'll be screwed. This needs to stay between you, me, Connor, and Titan."

Ashton sighed softly. If they didn't ask, then how were they supposed to know for sure? They'd just be wasting their time searching for things that weren't there. However, if she was this adamant, then she wasn't going to go against her.

000

"If people have an idea, but I don't think it's worthwhile, I think I'm better off letting them figure things out for themselves," Ashton explained. "We all know that if some people are set on an idea, they won't listen to those who oppose it."

"I'd rather avoid an argument…"

000

"So, whenever we're free, we're gonna have to search high and low for-"

"CONTESTANTS! PLEASE REPORT TO THE STADIUM FOR YOUR FIRST CHALLENGE!" they heard Virizion's voice echo across the island.

Letting out a groan of annoyance, Amethyst muttered, "Great…"

"It's fine, Amy," Ashton responded with a giggle. The Meganium already knew that Amethyst wasn't going to say anything groundbreaking. She was just going to insist that they spend their free time searching incessantly for the statues that may or may not even be there. "We'll deal with all of that after the challenge."

Amethyst huffed, "Whatever…"

000

The remaining ten players made their way to the stadium, none of them looking forward to what was possibly in store due to yesterday's shenanigans. They sincerely hoped that there wouldn't be another 'guest host'.

Walking alongside Ashton and Amethyst, Sally informed in a hushed tone, "The girls wanna talk to both of you later…"

Ashton cocked a brow, surprised to hear that. The last time she checked, Shine and Aura only cared about talking to Amethyst. "Both of us?" she responded.

Sally sweatdropped, letting out a sigh. She had a feeling that Ashton would react that way. "Yeah… I'll admit, it's pretty dumb that they didn't want to talk to both of you in the first place," she stated, rubbing the back of her head. "But, they've learned, so now there's a chance that this 'all-girls' plan can work."

Amethyst huffed, "Uh huh... They suddenly have an interest in Ash after they lose someone from their alliance. That totally makes us want to work with them…"

"You don't really have to work with them, but… at least hear them out," Sally pleaded. "Like I said yesterday, I'm not planning on staying with them either, but at least hear them out."

Amethyst and Ashton exchanged looks. Ashton was willing to hear what the ladies had to say, but she knew that the only reason why they were wanting to include her was due to them losing Aspen. Amethyst, on the other hand, now wanted nothing to do with them. It was just much more obvious that they only wanted them for votes since they lost an alliance member.

Before Amethyst could respond again, Ashton answered, "Fine. We'll listen to them."

Amethyst's eyes widened in surprise. "Why? They're just gonna wanna use us!" she whisper-shouted. The three of them were lagging behind the others, but they still didn't want to be heard.

The Herb Pokémon sighed, "It lets them know that we've listened and we're thinking about it. We don't want to be completely against them and we don't need them against us…"

Amethyst moaned in displeasure, pouting as they continued walking. "Fine," she grumbled. "I'll listen, but I won't like it."

Sally smiled, "Great, great…"

000

Sally folded her arms, "Okay, so Amethyst wants absolutely nothing to do with the alliance, which is honestly fine by me. Ashton, though… She's willing to listen despite being excluded at first, but only so she doesn't get on anybody's bad side."

The Ampharos thought for a moment. "Maybe Ashton's a bigger threat than we thought… but, she's not really worth worrying about right now."

000

Everybody entered the stadium, where they saw Mew, Virizion, Xerneas, and Zahku standing in front of a long table covered by a beige tarp. Once all of the players were present, the Grassland Pokémon greeted, "Hello contestants. First of all, congratulations on making it to the final ten."

"We know that it's been a long, painful, and mentally taxing journey to get here, but we're glad that you all are still alright, for the most part," Xerneas added, passing a sympathetic look toward the contestants.

"Now, today's reward challenge may actually be enjoyable for you all," Virizion began. "Mew?"

The New Species Pokémon, wearing a somewhat downcast expression, let out a sigh before his eyes glowed a bright blue. The tarp was lifted off of the table, revealing a large spread as an extremely fragrant smell filled the air.

The foods on the table included turkey and dressing, steak with potatoes and gravy, baked macaroni-and-cheese, rice and beans, corn salad, honey-glazed biscuits, mixed berry soup, vegetable casserole, and chicken and dumplings. A pitcher of tea accompanied all of the dishes and sat at the end of the table.

Seeing all of the food, a few of the players' stomachs started growling, despite having eaten not too long ago.

000

"Today's gonna be a good day," Phill chirped.

000

"Another feast?" Kojo inquired.

"No, they said that this was a challenge, remember?" Aura reminded the Raticate. "So, they probably did something to it…"

The ladies shook their heads. Once again, they understood the concern, but that was not going to be the case. Virizion set their minds at ease, explaining, "No, no, none of the food is spiked, guys. We understand why you'd think that, but that's not what's happening."

"Right," Xerneas concurred. "This is actually going to be an eating challenge!" she beamed.

Everyone's eyes immediately lit up. With the remarkable spread of food in front of them, they were about to absolutely throw down. However, at the same time, the bagels from earlier were still sitting in most of their stomachs, so they may not be as hungry.

"Now, there are nine dishes and ten of you," Virizion began. "Each dish will be a part of a different round. You have to finish everything on your plate in order to qualify for the next round. The last person to finish in each round will be eliminated from the challenge. The last person standing wins."

"What's the reward?" Titan inquired.

"You will receive an advantage in the immunity challenge," Xerneas answered. "Nothing too spectacular this time. Plus, we're pretty sure a good number of you will be tired after this, and we don't need you all falling asleep during the reward and not enjoying it."

"Fair enough," Morgan nodded approvingly.

"Alright, now that you all understand, let's get this challenge underway!" Virizion stated with a smile.

000

All of the players were seated at the long table with empty plates in front of them. They were given knives, forks, and spoons, as well as napkins. They each also had a glass of tea in front of them, complete with a bendy straw.

"Alright, first round. Turkey and dressing," Virizion stated as Zahku came up behind each player, placing a medium-sized dish of turkey and breading. The tasty odor was tempting a few of the players to start early, but they knew that they needed to wait for the hosts to call it.

"Man, I haven't had this dish in years," Aura commented, sniffing it. "I forgot how good it smells."

"Well, you're about to see if you still think it tastes as good as it smells," Xerneas stated. "In three… two… one… GO!"

-000-

Immediately, all of the players started scarfing down the dish. Those with larger mouths and bodies like Amethyst and Ashton didn't really have much trouble. Amethyst practically inhaled what was on her plate, not even savoring the taste. Ashton was able to eat her dish relatively quickly as well, savoring the taste as it went down.

The others went eating at a quick pace, though a few of them slowed down to enjoy the dish. Aside from pure enjoyment, they didn't want to accidentally choke or bite their tongues.

Kojo managed to finish his plate next, letting out a sigh of relief as he rubbed his stomach. He then looked at the glass of tea in front of him and asked, "Wait, does the tea count, too?"

Mew decided to speak up, explaining, "The tea is to help with getting things down faster. You'll get a refill every round, so no, it doesn't count."

Phill finished his dressing soon after hearing that, chugging a bit of the tea to help his food go down faster. "Ahh… Good leaf juice."

Morgan finished a minute later, smacking her lips in the aftermath. "Ugh, it tastes good, but I hate turkey. It's so dry for no reason…"

"Hey, that's what the tea is for," Aura responded, taking a sip from her straw before getting back to the rest of her dressing.

After a few more minutes, the Shiny Glaceon had finished, with Shine finishing right after her. The Espeon's stomach continued to growl, wanting more.

This left Connor, Titan, and Sally. Connor wasn't much of a meat eater, and focused more on the breading at first. Titan was eating slower than usual, seemingly having no interest in the dish. Sally was savoring the dish, eating rather slowly despite this being an eating competition.

After another five minutes or so, Sally finished up her plate, letting out a sigh. "Would've been better with a bit of gravy to go along with it, but still pretty damn good."

Connor and Titan exchanged looks, being the last two left. Connor stared at the turkey on his plate and let out a sigh before looking over at Titan's almost full plate. He inquired, "Wait, so you're not gonna try to win the advantage?"

Titan shrugged, "Nah, I'm not particularly bothered. You can move on, mate."

Connor let out a shaky sigh, looking back down at the remaining turkey on his plate.

000

"Okay, I'm not completely opposed to eating meat," Connor explained. "But… I don't know, it just makes me feel weird sometimes. I'm not really a… predator, so I just don't care to eat it sometimes…"

000

Swallowing the last bite, the Bouffalant shuddered, "Done…"

"Alright! Round one is over," Xerneas announced as Zahku began collecting the plates from the contestants. "Titan, you're out," she stated.

"Yeah, yeah…" the Galvantula grumbled, rolling his eyes. He moved away from the table and sat on the sidelines.

Morgan, Shine, and Aura exchanged smiles, glad that the EleSpider Pokémon wouldn't have a chance to get an advantage. However, they were still going to have to worry about Kojo.

Shine's stomach growled a bit more before a sharp pain jolted through her body. She groaned internally as her ears drooped slightly.

"Alright, round two!" Virizion exclaimed as Zahku returned a few moments later, now carrying a tray with multiple plates of steak and potatoes, smothered with gravy.

The Hariyama went down the line, placing a plate in front of each player. The tasty aroma once again assaulted everyone's nostrils. Nearly everyone was looking forward to it.

After Zahku came back around, refilling all of the glasses that needed to be, Xerneas began counting down. "Alright, round two starts in three… two… one… GO!"

-000-

Repeating the same technique from before, Amethyst took a couple of bites at her plate and just swallowed all of the food without a second thought. It took her a bit, as the steak was rather chewy, but she managed to get it down after taking a few sips of tea. She didn't know what the immunity challenge was or what the advantage was going to be. All she knew was that she needed to win.

"Done," she stated.

Nobody else paid her any mind, focusing on the food in front of them. Kojo was somewhat used to eating steak and potatoes due to all of the dinners and ceremonies that he would have to attend. However, what he wasn't used to was well-done steak, as it was taking a while to tear.

Morgan was having an easier time than the others for obvious reasons. She tore into the steak with ease and lapped up the potatoes and gravy with ease. The problem, though, was that she was becoming more full.

After around ten to fifteen minutes, a few of the other players managed to finish their plates until only Connor and Shine remained.

Shine, surprisingly, hadn't touched her plate at all. She usually loved steak and potatoes, but she just couldn't bring herself to eat it at that point in time. Not to mention that the sudden stomach pain was still causing an issue. She tried to take a sip of tea to try and relieve that pain, but it didn't really help. She rested her head on the table, moaning to herself.

Morgan noticed the Espeon's actions and grew worried. "Shine? Are you okay?"

The Sun Pokémon could only moan to herself in response.

Connor, on the other hand, finished off the potatoes with ease, but once again was faced with meat. Only this time, it was meat that was collected from species like him. He couldn't eat that! "Uh… I don't… I don't think I'm gonna be able to eat this," he expressed.

"And, I think Shine is starting to not feel that well…" Morgan added, rubbing the Espeon's back.

"Hm…" Virizion replied. "Well, I suppose that in this case, we'll go by how much was actually ingested. And since Connor actually ate something on his plate, we'll let him move forward to the next round."

"And since Shine is feeling sick, she can just rest on the sidelines," Xerneas added.

Morgan started walking Shine to the sidelines where Titan was. The Espeon didn't know what was going on. She was fine this morning, just a bit warm, but now she was having cramps and couldn't make herself eat food that she liked? What was happening? After a few seconds, the Sun Pokémon's eyes nearly bulged out of her head when she realized what was probably going on.

000

"I… I-I… Am I… p-preg…?" the Espeon could barely get it out as tears began to well up in her eyes. "I… I… D-Did the acupuncture actually work? I just… I don't understand. I haven't felt too different the past few days and… now…"

She sniffled as a smile formed on her face. However, upon remembering what the outcome would be, she paled. "W-Wait… Wait, no! I-I… The game! I just… I made it so far! I don't want this chance to go away, but…"

She looked down at her stomach, placing a paw on it as tears streamed down her cheeks. "Please…"

000

"Round three! Baked mac-and-cheese," Virizion continued.

Zahku placed the new plates in front of each player. Some of them were pretty full from the previous two dishes, but knew that they were going to have to force themselves to continue. The plate each had gooey macaroni, with a bit of the cheese being a caramel brown color and covered in breadcrumbs.

"I've never had baked macaroni-and-cheese," Phill commented, inspecting the pasta. "I've only ever had the boxed stuff with the cheese powder…"

"Oh-ho, you're definitely in for a treat then, my friend," Kojo responded. "The boxed stuff is garbage compared to the real stuff."

"I'll be the judge of that," the Raticate responded, picking up his fork.

Xerneas announced, "Alright, round three will start in three… two… one… GO!"

-000-

Immediately, all of the players started eating the pasta sitting before them. Unlike the previous two rounds, this one went off without a hitch for the most part.

Phill took a bite of the macaroni and his eyes immediately widened. The pasta was creamy, sweet, and had a slight crisp to it, all features that boxed macaroni and powder lacked. "Wow, this is good!" the Raticate beamed.

"Told ya," Kojo teased, taking another bite of his own.

Amethyst actually took her time in this round and savored the taste of the pasta. She actually enjoyed it a lot. She still ended up finishing first, which was becoming a common result.

Due to not having to eat the steak in the previous round, Connor's wasn't as full as his fellow competitors. It seemed unfair, but given the circumstances, it wasn't worth complaining about. The Bouffalant ended up finishing early, licking his lips as he asked, "Who made all of this anyway?"

"Just like you guys' other meals, all of the dishes were provided courtesy of Greasy Al's," Xerneas replied.

"Well, tell Al that his greasiness is appreciated," Phill stated as he finished off his plate, scratching at his stomach.

The only players still eating were Sally and Ashton. Truthfully, Sally didn't really care much about the advantage. She had all of the girls working with her, so she felt that she would be safe regardless of what happened in the immunity challenge. As a result, she was just taking her time and savoring the dish in front of her, even taking a few sips of tea in-between.

Ashton, on the other hand, was almost done. The macaroni was okay, but she didn't really like the multiple cheeses or breadcrumbs. The texture was just odd to her. She couldn't say that the chef didn't know what they were doing; it just wasn't her personal favorite.

After another minute, the Meganium finished, taking a sip of her tea shortly after. The Meganium cocked a brow, as a familiar taste met her tongue. She couldn't exactly place it, but she knew that it wasn't just standard iced tea.

"Sally! You're out," Virizion announced.

The Ampharos shrugged in response, getting up from her chair as she patted her stomach. "Hey, I got a good meal out of this, regardless."

She walked over to where Titan and Shine was, stretching with a soft yawn.

000

"If I have Shine, Aura, and Morgan working with me on one side, and I'm talking to Amethyst and Ashton on the other, there's no way that I'm getting voted out anytime soon," the Ampharos beamed, popping her back.

"So, why not just savor the food? It doesn't matter who gets the advantage as long as Kojo doesn't win the immunity at the end," she explained.

000

"Round four… something a bit lighter," Xerneas introduced as Zahku placed a bowl in front of each player. "Rice and beans!"

Aura smirked to herself, as this was a dish that she used to have a lot growing up. The right spices and the right beans made the dish great, so she was looking forward to this.

"Man, I'm getting stuffed," Morgan breathed, rubbing her stomach.

"That's what she said," Phill quipped, earning him a side-glance from Aura.

The Life Pokémon began counting down, "Alright, round four starts in three… two… one… GO!"

-000-

While everyone else immediately started eating the dish, Aura took her time and actually smelled it first before diving in. She wanted to test it and see if she could smell the spices that were used, that way she knew that it was flavorful and not bland.

When a spicy aroma filled her nostrils, she smiled and eagerly joined the others in eating it, though she had obviously lost a bit of time while trying to test it.

Amethyst was trying to eat faster, but saw that her fellow players were still taking their time. This was their fourth dish out of nine, so naturally a majority of them were full or becoming full.

The Tundra Pokémon looked down at her bowl and saw that she was already halfway finished within a few seconds. Like the previous round, she decided to slow down a bit and actually savor the dish in front of her.

Kojo took a swig of his tea, wanting to wash the rice and beans down a bit faster. He found himself eyeing the bowls of a few of his opponents and saw that he was doing better than they were. As an actor, he had standards to uphold and certain roles to fill. Because of this, he didn't eat that much aside from when he was invited to dinners and ceremonies.

He would probably have one or two small or medium meals a day, which would mean nothing due to his fast metabolism. So, whenever he had a chance to pig out, he took it. After another three minutes, the Mienshao finished, pushing his bowl away from himself as he sat back with a sigh.

Aura, despite starting last, ended up finishing a few minutes after him, licking her hips afterwards. "Not bad," she commented. "I prefer my mom's, but it was still pretty good.

Phill finished his bowl, yawning softly in the aftermath. He was becoming fuller and more tired the more that he ate. Hot meals combined with the warm temperature of the day and a cold beverage could easily cause the drooping of some eyes.

"Arceus, today's a good day," Phill groaned, sitting back.

Connor finished his bowl shortly after Phill did. As long as certain meat wasn't involved, the Bouffalant had absolutely no problem eating. "Man, I'm gonna have an extra 30 pounds on me after this…" he commented with a chuckle.

Amethyst finally finished a bit later and looked over to Ashton, who seemed to be slowing down. The Meganium was mostly full. She didn't really have much of an appetite to begin with, and she didn't think that she was going to be able to finish her bowl of rice and beans.

Morgan was the only other player who wasn't finished yet. She only had a few more bites left, but she was getting full. However, she knew that with Shine and Sally currently out of commission, that it was going to be up to her or Aura to win the advantage.

She forced herself to eat the last few bites, pushing her bowl away before taking a sip of her tea.

"Ashton! You're out," Xerneas informed. The Meganium sighed as she got off of her chair and started heading to the sidelines with the others.

She lied down next to Sally, who was lying on her back, trying to take a nap. However, due to the nature of the competition, that wasn't going to happen.

-000-

"Alright, round five," Virizion introduced. "Corn salad…"

After refilling everybody's glasses, Zahku replaced each remaining player's bowl with one full of corn and other assorted vegetables and seasonings.

"Blegh… salad," Phill groused, looking down at the bowl.

"Phill… It's literally just corn mixed with vegetables and cheese…" Mew deadpanned.

The Raticate blinked, looking down at his bowl again. "Oh…"

"Yeah…" Virizion confirmed, giving the Mouse Pokémon an unenthused expression. "Anyway… Round five starts in three… two… one… GO!"

-000-

Kojo started slowly shoveling spoonfuls of corn salad into his mouth. He had never really had or even heard of 'corn salad', but from how it tasted, it wasn't much to write home about. It was decent at best, but that was just his opinion, though.

Meanwhile, Connor was chowing down on the dish. Even though he was slowly getting full like the others, when it came to plant-based foods, he was all over it. It was sweet, salty, and savory all at once, so it was great for him.

Phill was being lackadaisical with this dish, scooping spoonfuls into his mouth and chewing with a bored expression. The flavors were decent, but he was actually finding himself getting a bit tired.

Morgan sighed as she started eating from the bowl. As she chewed, she breathed out, full and fatigued. The food was all great, but the Persian was stuffed at that point. She was still trying to force herself to eat the rest of it, but she was moving much slower than the others.

Amethyst managed to eat her corn salad relatively quickly. Her large size truly gave her a distinct advantage. She still was not as full as her fellow competitors, but she could feel herself getting there.

Aura sighed, unsure if she could eat another bite. "I don't know if I can do this one…"

Morgan turned to her upon hearing that, swallowing the last bit of salad that was in her mouth. "Please don't let me be the only one still going," she panted, "I'm almost tapped out…"

"So am I!" Aura argued. "A lot of us are nearly tapped out. This is round fi-"

"Aura, you're out!" Xerneas suddenly announced, interrupting the Glaceon.

Both her and Morgan turned to the Life Pokémon in shock. "What?!"

A small burp told them all that they needed to know. They turned back and saw that Phill's bowl was now empty, despite him not even liking the dish to begin with. "Sorry…"

Aura let out a sigh, climbing out of her seat. "It's fine… I was full, anyway." she stated, still sounding a bit defeated.

000

Aura groaned, rubbing her stomach. "I hope that I don't get sick later…"

000

"Alright, down to five…" Virizion marvelled as Zahku once again collected the bowls and did another round of refills. "This next round will be interesting…"

"Ugh… I don't like the sound of that," Morgan groaned.

Soon enough, Zahku returned with a new tray. He placed plates with three golden biscuits sitting on them in front of each player.

"Round six… Honey-glazed biscuits!" the Grassland Pokémon introduced.

"Oh god, you're gonna kill us and we can't even die…" Kojo groaned, holding his head. "But… at least these are glazed, so they aren't that dry."

"Hey, it's from Greasy Al's… There's no way there's anything dry coming out of there…" Xerneas responded. "Anyways, you all know the drill. Round six starts in three… two… one… GO!"

-000-

Phill immediately popped one of the biscuits into his mouth and found that it really was moist compared to most other biscuits he'd had before. The honey glaze just added an extra sweetness. "Wow… these are good," he complimented while chewing.

Morgan groaned as she stared at the three biscuits on her plate. Every time she went to a restaurant with Hex and Alexa, she and her daughter would wind up eating a lot of the bread rather quickly, leaving them semi-full before their actual entrees even got to them. With this in mind, she shot a look toward the hosts, "Bread is just gonna make us even more full… You guys are good…"

"Yep…" Xerneas replied with a smirk.

Connor and Amethyst were the major contenders in this challenge, as they were both doing well and not showing signs of feeling gorged. Though, the argument could be made that Connor was less impressive due to him wanting to avoid possible cannibalism.

Amethyst managed to eat each biscuit in one bite, smiling to herself as she looked at the others who were still eating. She was really proud of herself so far, as her size and body-shape weren't hindrances to her. However, once the biscuits went down, she began to feel it.

She was safe this round, but it seemed like what Morgan said was true. She wasn't the only one feeling it, though. After eating the first biscuit, Phill managed to eat a second one, but was having to force himself to eat the third. He groaned, "Okay… Okay, now this is just torture… but the best kind…"

Morgan was taking half-bites of the biscuits, as she was already full, but knew that she probably wouldn't be able to eat more too quickly. "Damn it… These are good…" she mumbled while chewing. She let out a sigh as she looked at the others and saw that Amethyst had finished, Phill and Connor were close and Kojo was… mixing his biscuits with his tea?

Kojo had developed a different type of strategy that he was hoping would work. He broke two of his biscuits and put them into his glass of tea before stirring it up. His plan was to just drink the biscuits along with his tea. If the biscuits were moist already, then drinking them could very well work.

Once he felt that it was good enough, he started to drink it. It… didn't taste that good, and he actually wretched a bit, but he held it down. Needing a break, he put the glass back down, only for his stomach to growl.

Phill sweatdropped, thinking that his idea was pointless. "Uh… dude, I don't think-"

Kojo chugged the last bit that was in his glass before slamming it back down with a groan. Connor and Phill both finished their own biscuits, which left both Morgan and Kojo as the last two. The Mienshao had just one biscuit left, but after chugging his entire glass of tea mixed with two biscuits, he was unsure if he was even going to be able to eat anything else going forward.

Soon enough, he started gagging before leaping from his chair and sprinting toward the stadium exit.

Seeing this, the hosts all exchanged looks of surprise. They turned their attention back to the players, who were now looking at them. Virizion cleared her throat, "Uh… well, due to Kojo's impromptu exit, he's out this round."

Morgan let out a sigh of relief as she put down the biscuit in her paw. "Thank Arceus…"

"Well, uh… let's get things set up for round seven," Xerneas urged as Zahku proceeded to do his duties.

000

Kojo held his head with a groan, sniffing a bit before coughing. "That… That was totally a bad idea…"

000

Kojo sulked back into the stadium, already knowing that he was out of the challenge. He joined the others on the sidelines, lying on his back.

"Alright!" Virizion announced. "Round seven. Mixed berry soup…"

Zahku had placed a bowl of violet soup with fruit chunks in front of each remaining player. Morgan twitched as she realized what the last three rounds have been. "Salad… bread… and now soup? Seriously?"

"Hey, at least this is mostly liquid," Connor chuckled.

"Yep, the classic restaurant starters," Xerneas replied. "Let's see how this goes. In three… two… one… GO!"

-000-

Amethyst leaned down and started lapping up the soup, as did Connor. Phill was scooping up spoonfuls of soup before shoving them into his mouth. The Raticate was getting fuller and felt that he was reaching his limit.

Morgan seemed to have already reached her limit and was slowly lapping up what was in her bowl. As she glanced over at the others and saw that they were still going at it, she let out a sigh of defeat.

Connor finished his soup first, slowly beginning to feel full like the others. The soup was sweet and savory, with a hint of spiciness. He let out a sigh before letting out a burp, which expelled a bit of the gas in his stomach. "Excuse me," he said. "Well, at least I feel a bit better now. The soup was great, by the way."

"Of course. With all of the food you're eating, gas is really building up," Mew commented, folding his arms. "We all know that gas in your stomach makes you bloated…"

Hearing that, Morgan got an idea. Maybe she would have a better chance if she expelled some of that gas as well. She heard another belch shortly after, as Phill pat his stomach with an empty bowl in front of him. "Excuse me… Man, that's good…"

Amethyst forced herself to finish her soup, letting out a small burp in the aftermath. "Done…" she said, sounding a bit tired.

"Well, Morgan, looks like you're out," Virizion stated, much to the Persian's annoyance.

000

Morgan let out a loud burp, blushing and covering her mouth shortly after. "Excuse me…"

000

Nearly everyone that was out of the challenge looked tired, with a few yawns coming from them every now and then. Morgan soon joined them, getting close to Shine, who was lying on the ground, staring at the dirt. Noticing her forlorn expression, Morgan grew a bit concerned. "Are you okay, Shine?"

The Espeon sniffed and let out a sigh. "I… I'll talk about it later…"

Morgan rose a brow, confused.

The point of view shifted back over to the actual competition. Zahku had once again collected the bowls and refilled the remaining players' glasses.

"Alright, last three…" Virizion began. "I'm both surprised and unsurprised that you three are still in the running."

Phill yawned, "I am, too. I thought I would've been done with the corn salad..."

"I'm mostly good with veggies and fruits, plus my species has multiple stomachs, so I'm just good," Connor explained.

"You what?" Amethyst froze, looking down at the Bash Buffalo Pokémon. She didn't know that Connor had four stomachs. That gave him an unfair advantage! She turned to the hosts with a glare. "That's not fair! Did you know that he did?!"

"Uh… Amy, I think it's a wide-known fact that cows and bison have four stomachs…" Sally chimed in from the sidelines, rubbing her eyes.

"And it's not four literal stomachs," Mew corrected. "They have one stomach, but it has four sections. So, it may sound unfair, but it's really not."

Amethyst huffed to herself. Connor sweatdropped at the misunderstanding, while Phill took a sip of his tea in order to keep himself from passing out.

"Well, moving on, it's about time for the penultimate dish in round eight," Xerneas introduced. "Vegetable casserole!"

Zahku placed a plate in front of each player. Each one had two scoops of a mixture of corn, peas, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, potatoes, cabbage, breading, and cheese.

Connor's small tail wagged feverishly as he looked at the meal in front of him. Amethyst let out a sigh, while Phill's stomach grumbled a bit.

"Alright, you all know the drill. In three… two… one… GO!" Virizion announced.

-000-

Connor began chowing down on the casserole, while Phill and Amethyst started off somewhat slow. The Bouffalant was very glad that all of the recent foods had been mostly meat-free, as this gave him a big leg up in the challenge. He never really ate a lot, but he knew how much he could eat.

To him, the casserole was just as good as the other dishes before. The vegetables were crisp, juicy, and moist, while the breading and cheese added an extra texture that he liked. "This is great!"

"It's… not bad. Could use more salt and pepper, honestly…" Phill commented, prodding the casserole with his fork.

Amethyst didn't say much, focusing only on eating. She didn't want to waste time. She had made it too far to lose now. She was full, but she wanted that advantage, no matter what it was. She looked over and saw that of course, Connor was already finished.

She growled to herself. Within another three minutes, her plate was empty, though her stomach was beginning to ache.

"Alright, Phill, looks like you're out…" Xerneas stated, seeing that the other two were now finished.

Phill swallowed the last bit of casserole that was in his mouth before immediately washing it down with his tea. "Welp…"

The Raticate got out of his chair and started walking over to join the others. He collapsed next to Aura, lying against her back.

000

Phill let out a burp before sighing. "Much better… This was probably the best challenge in the whole show," he commented, scratching his stomach.

000

Once Phill was out of the way, Zahku came over to pick up the few dishes and refill the players' glasses for the final time.

"Alright… time for the ninth and final round," Virizion stated with a smirk. "Chicken and dumplings!"

Connor's face drooped immediately upon hearing that, while Amethyst smirked to herself. The Bouffalant had been adamant about not eating much meat, so she definitely had this in the bag.

Zahku approached with two bowls filled with broth, dough, and shredded chicken. He placed each bowl in front of the players, with Connor letting out a sigh and Amethyst smiling.

"First one to finish wins the challenge and the advantage," Xerneas reminded them. "In three… two… one… GO!"

The final round's ending was rather anticlimactic, as Amethyst put the entire bowl into her mouth. Everyone stared at her in surprise.

"Uh… Amy-" Sally began, only to be interrupted as the Tundra Pokémon spit out the now completely empty bowl.

"Uh… and Amethyst wins the challenge!" Xerneas announced, still completely surprised by the Aurorus' actions.

Amethyst smiled proudly, while Connor let out a sigh before slurping up a bit of the broth in his bowl.

000

Everyone lined back up in front of the hosts. Exhausted and relaxed faces were on everyone's faces.

"So… I take it that you all enjoyed that challenge?" Virizion inquired with a smirk.

"You made us eat great food for like an hour, of course we enjoyed it!" Aura responded positively.

"I don't like that smirk on you gals' faces, though," Titan stated, seeing the smiles on the hostesses' faces. "You didn't lie to us about the food being spiked did you?"

Everyone immediately looked back to the hosts, who gave the Galvantula a look. Mew let out a sigh, "No, nobody lied. All of the food was perfectly fine. However, it did follow a specific theme that is going to tie into your next challenge, which is going to start in the next ten minutes…"

Everyone gaped in shock upon hearing that revelation. Most of them had just eaten a ton of food and wanted to rest! What could the next challenge be?

"What!?" Sally bellowed. "You can't be serious!"

"Come on, dude! Can I at least take a nap first!" Phill whined.

"I thought we weren't doing the back-to-back challenge thing anymore," Morgan chimed in. "You didn't like when Mewtwo was doing it, so why are you doing it now?"

The hosts exchanged glances before looking back at the players. Virizion stepped forward, clearing her throat. "Well, I guess I'll go ahead and explain what this next challenge is. It's another homage to one of the challenges from you guys' first season. The Awake-A-Thon!"

Upon hearing that, the players from the season in question all gaped in shock.

"You've gotta be kidding me…" Kojo drawled.

"Nope," Xerneas chimed in. "All of the food that you just ate were meals full of carbohydrates and tryptophan, and the tea you drank was chamomile."

Ashton gasped to herself, "I knew that I recognized that taste…"

Shine sighed, as she understood what they did. "So, once again, you filled us up with food before making us have to stay up for hours on end. Only this time, you didn't make us race first, you just made sure the food would kick our asses…"

"Precisely," Virizion averred, as Xerneas and Mew nodded affirmatively.

"Geez, you guys really are good," Connor stated.

"We know," Xerneas responded playfully. "So, for right now, you all had better start strategizing… or not. Just know that this won't be easy, especially since we'll be providing a few extra 'nudges'."

"Wait, so what's my advantage for this?" Amethyst inquired, confused as to what her advantage could possibly be."

Zahku approached the group holding a medium-sized box in his hands. The box was filled with an assortment of sugary items: snack cakes, candies, ice cream, and a few bottles of soda.

"You get the sleep deprivation box," Mew explained, patting the box. "It's got a lot of sugary candies and caffeinated drinks in there that'll surely keep you up for a while longer."

Amethyst stared as the box was placed before her.

"Alright, now that that's settled, everyone take a spot on the beach and the Awake-A-Thon will be underway," Virizion stated.

000

"More food? In a non-sleeping challenge? THAT'S MY ADVANTAGE?!" Amethyst roared in frustration. "Ugh… and doesn't sugar make you crash faster or something? How does that help me!?"

000

Shine lied close to the water, letting out a yawn as she stared out into the distance. She had no idea what she was going to do. She knew that pregnancies meant automatic eliminations due to safety concerns, despite them not being too worried about children being involved in their first season. This honestly could just be her being sick and misinterpreting it as a pregnancy. She just didn't know, and she was afraid to ask for something in order to find out.

She wanted to have her own children with Shade for years, but it just never panned out for them. Now,all of a sudden, when she has gotten further in the game than she ever has, now there's a chance that she has a bun in the oven. Perfect. Just perfect.

She let out a soft sigh as she suddenly felt someone lie next to her. Turning toward the new person, Shine saw that it was Morgan and laid her head back down.

"So… What's going on? It's not like you to bow out from a challenge so early…" Morgan inquired, nudging her.

Shine sighed, not turning to face her. "You know the one thing that I've wanted to have for years?"

Morgan cocked a brow, "What? Ki-" The Persian stopped herself immediately as her eyes widened in shock. Her eyes trailed across Shine's body before landing on her stomach. "No…"

She immediately looked over to the hosts, who were now lying on beach chairs, watching over all of them. Turning back, Morgan whisper-shouted, "Are you serious!?"

"I don't know for sure, but I think so," Shine responded, sounding a bit disappointed. "I felt a bit hot earlier this morning, and my stomach was cramping during the challenge. Those aren't definite signs, but…" she let out another soft sigh.

Morgan let out a sigh of her own, knowing how things were likely going to end if she truly was pregnant. "Well, I'm happy for you, if it ends up being true," she stated with a small smile, rubbing her back in order to comfort her. That small turned into a frown shortly after, with her asking, "How are we supposed to know unless we ask? I mean, you're a Psychic-type. Wouldn't you just… know?"

The Sun Pokémon stifled a laugh, "You'd think that…"

Morgan couldn't help but feel for Shine. She finally got what she wanted, but it was very poor timing. Really, it was poor judgment in general, as they all had been using the phone for both advice and hanky-panky, knowing that there was always a chance that someone would get pregnant.

"Well… What do you wanna do?" Morgan asked softly. "We both know how this goes…"

"I… I don't really know," Shine answered honestly, dragging her right paw across the sand. "This was a big thing for me. After all of these years of trying and failing to conceive a child of my own, and having to deal with what Aura did, I was just so down deep inside. And people acting like I was nothing but Shade's bitch didn't help."

Morgan could understand that, as that was essentially why Victini brought a good chunk of the females back for the season.

She continued, "And… At the moment, when they mentioned the acupuncture treatment at the spa reward… nothing else mattered. It was my key. Even though, in the back of my mind, I had doubts that it would work. But now…"

"...there's a chance that you finally have what you want, but you also want to just prove yourself," Morgan reasoned before yawning.

Shine nodded before resting her head back in the sand. Morgan got close to her, deciding to keep her company. However, knowing that this position possibly made it look like they were sleeping, she turned her head back toward the hosts to see if they were still watching.

The Persian knew that if she got too comfortable in the sand, she'd be out like a light, so she rose up. She looked back down to Shine and saw that the Espeon was asleep. She let out a sigh of disappointment, but completely understood why she was asleep.

000

"This means a lot to Shine," Morgan stated lethargically, rubbing her eyes. "She might actually be pregnant, which is great for her and her family! But at the same time, it's bad for her game, because if she truly is pregnant… then she has to leave."

"It's…" Morgan yawned. "It's… very complicated. If she is pregnant, then her game is over. At the same time, if she's not pregnant, she's still in, but she's still depressed…."

"We'll just have to wait it out and actually see…"

000

Amethyst grumbled to herself as she eyed her reward. She couldn't believe that she was given a box of sweets as a reward as if that was supposed to help her.

She yawned, as everything was starting to hit her hard. Having won the challenge, she felt like she was about to pass out.

"Amy… AMY!" Sally exclaimed, getting the dozing Aurorus' attention.

"What…?" she groaned.

"You look like you're almost down for the count…" Sally commented with a chuckle, despite feeling the same. "You should probably start eating some of those sweets you won."

"That won't help," Amethyst deadpanned. "How is eating more food supposed to keep me awake?"

"Well, if you're not gonna use it, then I'll happily partake," Sally said, slowly getting to her feet.

Seeing the Ampharos starting to head toward the box, Virizion called out, "Sally! The reward is only for Amethyst. No one else gets to eat anything inside."

The Light Pokémon huffed before arguing, "Amethyst said that she doesn't want it!"

"That opinion will change soon enough," Virizion responded before gesturing for her to move away from the sleep deprivation box.

With a sharp groan, the Ampharos walked away from the box, rejoining Ashton and Amethyst, who had watched it go down.

"Well… now we know that the reward really is only for you," Ashton yawned.

"Yeah…" Sally huffed. "And from how it sounded, you're gonna need it as time goes on…"

Amethyst glanced over at her box of treats and sighed. She got up and started walking toward her box. Using her teeth, she grabbed one of the edges and started dragging it back to the others.

The Tundra Pokémon let out a breath, "I'm not gonna eat any of it yet, but we might as well actually look at some of this stuff…"

"Or, we can actually try and strategize," Sally suggested, not wanting to waste time reading the labels of candies and drinks. She didn't know how much longer any of them would be able to stay awake, so she wanted to use their time wisely. "We need to figure out what we're gonna do, depending on who wins."

"Uh… Didn't you say that the other girls wanted to talk to us?" Amethyst reminded her, narrowing her eyes at the Ampharos. She still wasn't that interested, but she and Ashton said that they'd hear them out.

"Right…" Sally responded with a sigh, looking around. She saw that Shine was seemingly asleep, Morgan was walking into the water, and Aura appeared to be talking with Phill and Kojo. She let out a sigh before looking back at the two dinosaurs. "Well, I think Shine's asleep, so… I could try to get Morgan and Aura to explain the plan."

"Uh… isn't doing that out in the open a bit too obvious?" Ashton inquired.

"The guys can't do anything about it," Sally responded nonchalantly, waving away her concerns. "We have the numbers. At most, all they can do is complain or try to get together, so no worries..."

The Ampharos stood up and started walking towards Morgan, leaving Ashton to sigh to herself.

000

Ashton yawned, "I really don't think that having a meeting in the open is a good idea. It just feels like we're rubbing it in the guys' faces that there's more of us girls."

"I know that Sally said that she's just playing along with them for a while, but I'm starting to think that she's just saying that."

000

Aura was sitting with Phill and Kojo, mainly just talking with Phill in an attempt to keep him awake. Kojo was just listening in with a bored expression on his face. He was tired and bored out of his mind, but he knew that he needed the immunity to avoid going home.

He knew that Ashton had said that she wouldn't vote for him, but it was better safe than sorry. Talk was cheap, especially in a game like this. Seeing Aura and Phill interacting just made him miss Summer. The most ironic part of this was the fact that right now, he was being the third wheel to Phill and Aura.

Phill let out a yawn, which in turn caused Aura to yawn as well. "Okay, I'm pretty sure that I'm just about to die…" the Raticate stated.

"No, you're not," Aura responded, blowing a bit of cold air on him. The Glaceon was getting tired, herself, and Phill was acting as a source of entertainment with their conversations. She wasn't trying to lose that and be stuck with Kojo.

Seeing what she was doing, Kojo stifled a laugh. "Uh… you know that a lot of people like it cold and the combination of warm and cold will-"

Phill collapsed onto his back, now asleep. Aura gasped at what she'd done and growled softly. "Great… Just great…"

Kojo chuckled, "Hey, you tried…"

Aura narrowed her eyes at the Mienshao before standing up. She didn't want to stick around him if her boyfriend was already out cold. Seeing that Sally was going to Morgan, she decided to go over to Amethyst and Ashton.

Watching her leave, Kojo huffed to himself. He rubbed his eyes before looking over and seeing Connor and Titan talking. Given that this challenge was open-ended and depended on interactions in order to stay awake, he decided to walk over in order to talk to them.

"Alright everyone, it's time for some warm milk!" he heard. He cocked a brow in confusion as he turned to the source, the hosts. Zahku was standing next to the hosts, holding a tray with multiple glasses, some with straws, others without.

"Really?" he asked, rubbing his eyes as he and the others that were still awake looked at them with annoyed expressions.

"Yep," Xerneas responded. "We told you all that we'd have a few 'nudges'."

Virizion added, "Only two of you have dropped so far, so who knows? This could perk you up, or his could knock you down. All of you grab a glass, or… just start sipping from the straws."

Audible groans were heard as the players started approaching the hosts to receive their milk. Kojo and Sally grabbed their glasses, with Ashton doing the same, but with one of her vines. The remaining players had their milk placed on the ground, and they each started sipping from the straws provided.

After all of the milk was ingested, everyone returned to their groups, with some feeling even more full than before.

000

"Yep… Make things even harder by making us drink warm milk…" Connor deadpanned. He yawned just as his stomach began to growl. He let out a sigh, "Man, this is gonna suck."

000

"Well, I thought that I'd do alright since I was out pretty early in the eating section, but… guess not," Titan yawned.

Connor chuckled, "Well, compared to everyone else, you still don't have much in your system, so…" He paused to stretch before continuing, "...you may still be alright."

Titan looked around in order to gauge where everyone else was, sleep-wise. He saw that Shine was close to the water, still asleep; Phill was knocked out in the middle of the area, and all of the ladies were sitting together further away. As for Kojo, he was actually still walking towards them.

"Hey guys," he greeted lethargically. He sat down next to the guys, with the Bouffalant and Galvantula exchanging looks. Kojo looked over to the group of ladies conversing and sighed. "Well, what're we gonna do?"

Connor was tempted to tell him about the possibility of extra statues, but felt like it wouldn't be in his best interest. Instead, he glanced over at the group and hummed to himself, "No clue. I mean, hopefully Amethyst is still gonna work with us, regardless of what they tell her."

Kojo rolled his eyes, "If they mention a plan that deals with eliminating me, I'm sure she'll happily jump into it. I'm just glad that Ashton is in my corner…"

Titan cocked a brow in intrigue. "She is?" he inquired.

Kojo nodded. "She said that she wasn't planning on voting me out," he explained. However, upon seeing the looks they were giving him, he clarified, "Look, I know not to believe everything, but I feel like I can trust Ashton."

"Well…" Titan began. "If Ashton is in your corner, then there's a chance that she can convince Amethyst to get off your back."

"So technically speaking, we have the numbers," Connor chimed in, laying his head in the sand. "If the girls are still trying to target you, but Ashton doesn't want to vote for you, and Amethyst may change her mind, then we shouldn't have much to worry about."

Kojo sighed, letting out another yawn. "If the girls don't somehow convince them to do something else…"

000

"So… you all are still completely dead set on Kojo?" Ashton inquired, her tone tired.

"He's still the biggest threat in the game right now," Morgan explained. "The faster we get him out…" she paused to stretch. "...the easier things get."

Ashton didn't really see how that would make anything easier. Anyone could look at the remaining guys and see that, compared to the girls, they were relatively outmatched. Phill didn't pose a threat, Connor being a quadruped hindered him, Titan barely did anything anymore, and Kojo, despite being strong, was still outclassed. Heck, yesterday's challenge showed that the girls held more power!

She understood why they were saying this, though. They know that they're threats, but they're all in an alliance. They're just opting to target the guys to make things easier instead of turning on each other so quickly.

The Meganium hummed in thought. Noticing this, Aura, who was nearly asleep, inquired, "Did you not want to go for Kojo?"

Ashton knew that she couldn't tell them what she was really thinking, as they would likely target her in return. Instead, she told a half-truth, "Not particularly."

"Why not?" Sally inquired, a bit perplexed, as she was only planning on working with the alliance until the Mienshao and Galvantula were gone.

"I personally don't see him as much of a threat," Ashton explained. "I mean, if anything… Titan's a bigger threat."

Amethyst's eyes widened a bit upon hearing that. However, she kept her mouth closed.

Morgan yawned, but took what she said into account. "Hm… I guess. He was the one who found the statue first. And if there's another one out there, he'd probably find it again."

"Right," Ashton responded. "It's better for all of us if he goes first…"

Aura, having heard enough, rested her head on the ground, "Yeah… sure…" She wound up closing her eyes and falling asleep.

Seeing this, Morgan let out a sigh, "Damn it." She looked over to the group of boys and saw that they were all still awake. She knew that as long as the guys were awake, she would have to try and stay awake as well. She needed to make sure that none of them got immunity. "Connor made it really far and ate a lot, why the hell isn't he passed out yet?" she groaned groggily.

Sally stood up and stretched in order to try and keep herself up. "I dunno. Maybe he's used to it? I mean, it's been like half an hour and Amethyst's still up without using anything from her box."

"Barely…" Amethyst grumbled, lying on the ground.

Morgan huffed, "Well, I'm going back to the water. Hopefully, that'll keep me up…"

With Morgan walking away from them, Amethyst made sure that she was out of earshot before turning to Ashton. "What are you doing?!" she hissed. "Why are you trying to target Titan?!"

"I'm not," Ashton answered calmly.

Sally cocked a brow in confusion, rubbing her eyes. "Then why did you tell them to go for him instead of Kojo? If you don't see Kojo as a threat, and you're not targeting Titan, then-"

Ashton let out a sigh, knowing that she'd have to explain. "I couldn't tell them that they're the biggest threats in the game," the Meganium expounded. "They'd try to target me the first chance that they get, so I just threw out Titan since those are the main two that they're going for already."

"Shine and Morgan are threats, but I don't think that keeping Kojo in will do any of us any good," Sally explained. "He's biped, like me, but he's much stronger than me. Everyone else is on all-fours, not counting Phill because… he's Phill."

Amethyst gave Sally a look. "We've been complaining about Shine and her psychic powers for a long time. As much as I'd like Kojo to go, Shine's a better target," she replied with a yawn. "...and she's already asleep, so she won't have immunity tonight."

A thought entered Ashton's head as she turned to Sally. "Why are you gonna wait until Kojo and Titan get eliminated before turning on them?" she inquired. "We could just vote them out now and deal with Kojo later."

Sally already knew that what they were saying was true. Shine and Morgan were the biggest threats in the game; there was no doubt about that. However, they were missing the main point of why targeting Kojo first was important.

"Immunity," she answered. "Shine and Morgan may be strong, but if we get rid of them, that leaves nobody to oppose Kojo. I could try, of course, but there's no guarantee that I'd be able to beat him."

"Yes, but if we take Kojo out now, we'd still have to deal with Shine and Morgan," Ashton argued. "And given their track record with challenges, I'd rather go up against Kojo."

Amethyst sighed, the fact that this conversation was still happening annoying her. "Shine's won like… three or four immunity challenges. I'm pretty sure she's more dangerous. Let's just vote for her tonight and be done with it."

Sally sighed, "I really don't think that's a good idea…"

"Hey, if you don't want to... you don't have to," Amethyst responded with a yawn before finally settling in the sand, leaving her box untouched.

Ashton used a vine to facepalm upon seeing that. She had a box of things to keep her awake and she was too stubborn to use it.

000

"I get what they're saying, but I don't know…" Sally sighed. "I'd rather get rid of Kojo first. It's much better for my game."

"We'll have to see how the rest of this goes…"

000

After another twenty minutes, the only other person who had fallen asleep was Connor, with the remaining five players beginning to engage in different activities in order to keep themselves awake.

Morgan was still doing laps in the water, Ashton was walking around the area, Kojo and Titan were engaging in a battle, while Sally just watched all of them, shaking her head. She was just as tired as they were, but she didn't really want to do anything.

"Alright!" Virizion exclaimed, getting the remaining players' attention. "It's about time to kick things up a bit more."

"Oh no…" Kojo moaned.

"Meloetta!" Xerneas called.

A humanoid, white and black Pokémon with long green hair appeared in flashy fashion, whipping her hair as she landed in front of them all. "Hello~" the Melody Pokémon greeted.

"You've gotta be kidding me," Sally deadpanned upon seeing the Melody Pokémon.

"Welcome, Meloetta," Xerneas greeted. "We know that you don't want to be here for too long, so… Why don't you go ahead and sing a lullaby for the contestants…"

"Everyone gather around!" Virizion called. "Meloetta's gonna sing you a little song…"

The remaining five players reluctantly approached them. The players that had been engaging in activities were actually much more tired now, as one would expect. Titan, having only had a few bits of food and the warm milk, was still doing alright. He was bored and somewhat worn out from the battle with Kojo, but he wasn't as tired as the others.

"So, do I just start now?" Meloetta inquired, eager to finish and leave. The Melody Pokémon had an ego and loved to perform for other Pokémon, but when it came to the competition shows, she wanted no part in it after finishing hers. This was merely a favor for Virizion after she helped her clean her room after the paint bomb incident.

"Yep, you've got your audience…" Mew deadpanned, gesturing to the five tired players.

The Melody Pokémon cleared her throat, a soft, angelic voice following as she began to sing. "They were sitting…. They were sitting on the strawberry swing…"

Morgan immediately paled upon hearing those lyrics. They really knew what they were doing.

000

Morgan sighed, her tired eyes drooping more and more. "When Alexa wouldn't stop crying and being fussy, Hex's mother suggested that we find some soothing music to calm her down…" she explained.

"We looked up songs that were relaxing and found a list of songs that were the most relaxing…" she sighed. "That song's one of them…"

000

"Without you, it's a waste of time…" Meloetta finished, four minutes later. Once she finished, the Melody Pokémon bowed.

"Very nice," Virizion complimented with a nod of approval. "Thanks again for this…"

"Don't mention it," Meloetta responded before teleporting away. She reappeared a few moments later just to state, "Literally."

Mew rolled his eyes at that before she teleported away once again, leaving the hosts to assess the damage.

Surprisingly, out of the remaining five, only Sally and Ashton had fallen victim to the song. Morgan was holding her head down, covering her ears, Kojo was rocking back and forth to keep himself occupied, and Titan just remained resilient, the song not affecting him much, if at all.

"Impressive…" Xerneas marvelled. "That's one of the most relaxing songs in the world according to some research."

"Yeah, well hearing only the lyrics and not the actual song doesn't really do much," Titan commented.

The hosts looked at the sleeping pair before looking back to him, as them being asleep disproved his statement. The Galvantula elaborated, "...well, doesn't really do much to me."

Morgan groaned, removing her paws from her ears. "Hex and I made a playlist for our daughter full of songs like that. Hell, we ended up falling asleep while listening to them a few times."

"That explains why you covered your e-" Kojo began before realizing something. "Hey! Is that even allowed?!"

Morgan glowered at him, "They didn't say anything about it, so don't try and make it a problem."

"If she was smart enough to do that, then we're not gonna take it away from her," Virizion responded.

Morgan smirked, while Kojo rolled his eyes. It just seemed unfair that she could cover her ears to not hear the song clearly. However, the fact that they didn't say that they couldn't do that caused him to grumble. "Damn technicalities…"

"Now, the three of you can head back to the stadium with Virizion for a few more pushes," Xerneas instructed. "Mew and I are going to get the others to their actual beds…"

The final three players exchanged looks with each other before following Virizion back to the stadium, leaving Mew and Xerneas to deal with the scattered sleeping contestants.

000

Virizion led Kojo, Morgan, and Titan back into the stadium, where they saw that the table, food, and chairs were no longer there. Instead, there was now a large screen sitting in the middle of the area and a few sofa chairs sitting in front of it. A few fans were blowing cold air toward the chairs. Behind the chairs was a rolling cart with a projector sitting on it, hooked up to a laptop.

"You've gotta be kidding me," Titan groused upon seeing the set up.

"Nope," Virizion responded. "Go on and take a seat."

The three players hesitantly took their seats in the sofa chairs. The soft, comfy chairs swaddled them, and the fan blowing air at them just made things even harder.

Virizion smirked as she strutted in front of the three of them. "Now, I hope you're all comfortable, because you're about to watch one of the most boring documentaries that we could find. The Origin of Paint…"

"Oh Arceus, why…" Kojo groaned. "This is just gonna be middle school all over again…"

"Exactly," Virizion concurred. "Hit it, Zahku!"

Zahku, who had entered shortly after, turned on the projector and clicked the play button for the video.

000

Titan groaned, "This challenge wasn't too tough, but Arceus knows it was painfully boring. I'd rather watch a Komala fuck its log."

000

The documentary was as exciting as watching water evaporate. The narrator's voice was extremely monotonous and void of any emotion or energy. The imagery was also remarkably dull, as the images were mostly in black and white, ironically. The fact that the music that accompanied it was from an organ didn't help it at all.

About fifteen minutes in, Kojo fell asleep, resting his head on his hand. The combination of the cold vicinity, comfortable seat, and boring documentary created a perfect storm to knock him out.

Morgan, while happy that Kojo was finally asleep, was still struggling to hold on. She needed to win this immunity to guarantee her own safety. She wasn't entirely sure how the vote was going to go, but if Ashton and Amethyst didn't vote with the alliance, there was a high chance that either she or Shine was going to go.

Glancing over, she saw that Titan was still awake. He let out a yawn, but it seemed to be more out of boredom than out of true exhaustion. Morgan felt that she was going to pass out any minute, so she decided to try to negotiate.

"Titan…" she began, getting the Galvantula's attention. He turned to her with a blank expression. "Is there any way that you'll let me have this?"

Titan cocked a brow. "What's that?"

Morgan sighed, "I really want this immunity. I can't go home yet. Is there anything I can do for you to drop out?"

Titan was surprised that she was even trying to negotiate. He thought about it momentarily, as he seemed to be in the power position at the moment. However, there was no guarantee that she'd actually go through with whatever they agreed upon.

"See, I don't know, Sheila," Titan began. "You and your alliance have been very against myself and this bloke," he said, gesturing to Kojo. "So, it's a bit difficult to trust anything that you say."

Morgan let out a sigh, understanding his point. "Look, I'll vote for whoever you say tonight if you give me this. Please… I promise."

Titan gave her a look. Could he trust it? He honestly felt like she was trying to play him, but a part of him believed her. "Hmm… We'll see about that. I'm a man of my word, we'll see if you're a woman of yours…"

Morgan swallowed in response.

000

All of the players were awoken and brought to the gazebo. Nearly all of them were still very tired, aside from Titan, though he wouldn't mind going to sleep.

"Congratulations to Morgan for winning the Awake-A-Thon!" Xerneas announced. "Immunity is yours and you get to stay in the Winner's Cabin!"

Morgan gave a weak smile, with Titan giving her the side-eye.

"Now, we're sure that all of you would like to go back to bed, so we're gonna give you about ten minutes to do whatever you're going to do. Plan, talk, nap a little more, it's up to you. But after that, we're gonna go ahead with the ceremony," Virizion informed.

-000-

While the guys didn't seem to bother, a few of the girls all left to talk on an area of the beach.

Knowing that their time was limited and that they were all very tired, Shine decided to cut to the chase. Rubbing her eyes, she inquired, "Did you guys manage to talk to Ashton and Amethyst at some point?"

"We did…" Aura yawned. "But… I fell asleep during it, so I don't know what happened."

"Ashton just suggested that we vote for Titan instead of Kojo since Titan could find the statue again, if it's even out there," Sally explained. "I personally think we should still aim for Kojo, but it's up to you guys…"

Shine hummed to herself, as she could honestly go either way. She looked at Morgan, who was looking rather distraught. "What do you think, Morgan?"

The Persian yawned in response. "Um… Yeah, sure. Titan…" she responded.

Sally let out a sigh, "Fine… I don't think it'll be that great, but fine..."

The Ampharos was tempted to share Ashton's true intentions to sway them back to Kojo for the vote. However, she decided to leave it alone. She would just have to adapt to whatever happened. The other alliance was targeting Shine, and Shine was a threat.

"Alright then," Shine responded. "I guess we'll be getting rid of Titan, then. Hopefully Ashton and Amethyst keep their words…"

Morgan sweatdropped.

000

Once their time was up, everyone reported to the ceremony area. Tired eyes plagued everybody, with some players leaning against each other for support. After a while, the hosts joined them, once again having no marshmallows.

"Now, it's been a pretty long day for you all, and you all look on the verge of passing out, so we'll try to make this quick," Virizion stated. "Morgan, you've got immunity, so you're safe."

Morgan wore an indifferent expression. She just wanted the ceremony to be over already, as she had just said that they would make it quick.

"Connor, Phill, Aura, you guys are safe as well," Xerneas followed. "Kojo, Ashton, and Amethyst, you too…"

Shine, Sally, and Titan remained. Shine knew that she would get votes; she just hoped that there weren't enough to take her out of the game. Sally was somewhat surprised that she still hadn't been called yet. Titan gave Morgan a look, but she didn't meet his gaze. However, she could feel his eyes burning through her.

"Shine, you're safe, too…" Mew added.

Hearing that immediately caused the Persian's eyes to widen in shock. She sat up slowly, turning to Titan, who seemed to have a smug expression on his face. Morgan wasn't the only one confused, as Ashton, Amethyst, and Sally were just as bewildered as she was.

"The last player safe is…

…

…Titan. Sally, you're out!"

Nearly every girl gaped in shock, now much more awake. "WHAT?!" Sally exclaimed, getting to her feet. "How the hell did I get voted out?!"

000

Titan chuckled, "I'll have to thank Connor for that plan. The bloke's idea actually panned out. I told Morgan to vote for Shine. Then, when their alliance left to talk, I told the fellas, Ashton, and Amethyst about the deal. Ashton and Amethyst were just happy to hear that and decided to leave, so they didn't get to hear anything else."

000

"When Titan told us about his deal, a thought came to my head," Connor began. "There's still six girls and four guys. If Morgan's deal made it so she'd vote for Shine, and Ashton and Amethyst also wanted to vote for Shine, then that was three votes. The other three girls would vote for someone else, which meant that the four of us guys would get to decide who really went."

"It was a big risk, because Morgan could have gone back on her word and caused a tie," the Bouffalant continued, "but we pulled it off."

"Shine is still a massive threat in this game, but Sally was the best option," Connor explained. "We saw what she was doing when almost all of the girls were together during the challenge. If she somehow managed to get Ashton and Amethyst to work with them, the four of us would've been screwed."

000

Sally was standing on the dock with the other girls, as well as the hosts, who were still confused about what had just transpired. She let out a sigh, "This just doesn't make any sense… Who did everyone vote for?"

Seeing the look that Titan had, Morgan knew that she would need to fess up sooner or later. "It's… It's my fault," she revealed.

The ladies all looked at her in shock and confusion. What had the Persian done? How exactly did she cause this?

"What?" Aura inquired. "How is it your fault?!"

"Did… You voted for me?!" Sally inquired in shock. "I thought-"

"No!" Morgan defended herself. She sighed, explaining, "I… I made a deal with Titan so that he'd just give me the fucking immunity since he wasn't going to sleep anytime soon. He told me to vote for Shine, in return and… It turned into this."

Hearing that, Shine sighed in disappointment. She didn't take the vote personally, as they were all tired and Morgan wanted to make sure she was safe. but she could piece together what happened. "He used me as a fake vote so that he and the boys would have the numbers…"

Morgan groaned, "I should've just voted him out anyway! He made it seem like if I didn't, I'd regret it." Letting out a growl of frustration, she continued, "Ugh, if I had just voted him out, it wouldn't have mattered!"

Xerneas chimed in, "That's what happens when you're really tired. You can make mistakes since you're not thinking straight."

Sally folded her arms with a huff. "Well… at least I get to sleep in an actually comfortable bed," she responded as she began entering the Suck of Shame.

"Sorry, Sally…" Morgan apologized.

Sally took a breath. As annoyed as she was, she couldn't be too upset at her since she had gotten tricked. "Don't be sorry. Just kick Titan's AAAAAAAAAAAAAA-!"

The Ampharos was dropped down the tube, leaving the five remaining females to exchange looks with each other.

Morgan took a breath, a serious look on her face. "Okay… Tomorrow, we really need to talk."

The girls all nodded in agreement. If the guys wanted to play that way, then the girls would be coming back even harder. However, the problems with that had yet to be fully realized.

000

"I'm not gonna be rash," Ashton calmly said, yawning shortly after. "I'm gonna give the guys the benefit of the doubt, because I have a feeling that something happened after Amy and I left the gazebo."

"Sally leaving does sting, but we'll see what happens going forward," the Meganium stated.

000

Once the ladies retreated from the dock, the hosts all exchanged looks of surprise and intrigue.

"Well, that was very interesting," Virizion commented. "I guess all of the girls are actually gonna band together this time. This will be fun to watch."

"Yep. It's a shame Sally had to go, but that's the game and only nine remain," Xerneas added. "What's gonna happen now? Tune in next time to…"

"Total… Pokémon... Underdogs…" Mew finished, showing a slight bit of vigor compared to his previous closings. Hearing this, Virizion and Xerneas beamed before nuzzling the New Species Pokémon, causing him to blush in embarrassment.

000

See ya guys, BYE!