The Mole: Pokemon/Digimon Edition
By: Gomamon
Disclaimer: I don't own it.
Episode 4 – Let's Play Mind Games
Inoue, Yolei/Miyako (Digimon 02) --- EXECUTED THIRD
Ishida, Matt/Yamato (Digimon 01) --- STILL STANDING
Jessie/Musashi (Pokemon) --- STILL STANDING
Katou, Jeri/Juri (Digimon 03) --- STILL STANDING
Ketchum, Ash/Satoshi (Pokemon) --- EXECUTED FIRST
Kitagawa, Kenta/Kenta (Digimon 03) --- STILL STANDING
Oak, Gary/Shigeru (Pokemon) --- STILL STANDING
Sketchit, Tracey/Kenji (Pokemon) --- STILL STANDING
Takenouchi, Sora/Sora (Digimon 01) --- EXECUTED SECOND
Waterflower, Misty/Kasumi (Pokemon) --- STILL STANDING
Dumbest: Jeri Katou
Satisfied with the answer, Jessie slowly flipped to the next page of her tiny booklet, carefully reading the next question. Her red beautiful lips curled to a wicked smile as she tapped her leather pen to the desk in a catchy rhythm.
Most Obnoxious:
"This is harder than I thought!" Jessie maliciously grinned to the cameras, "They are all obnoxious here! Can't I just put down everybody?"
Early on the brisk morning of day five, Yamaki instructed all the players to fill in a questionnaire based on their remaining players, and the questions were not pretty. Who was the most clueless player? Who was the biggest hypocrite? Jessie slowly devoured the questions in her little booklet, putting deep consideration on each question. Truth be told, she was having too much guilty fun filling in the names down to their respectable titles.
Anybody who knew Jessie can tell you that she had a very sick sense of humour.
Quietly filing all the available answers in her head, the voluptuous Team Rocket member finally wrote down 'TRACEY' beside that dishonourable title. Even though the unlikable Pokemon watcher was an easy and unanimous answer, in Jessie's honest opinion, all six of the remaining players fit into the same dirty mold.
"Me? Petty?" She would say in a mock voice, carrying an innocent look on her face before bursting out in hysterics. "Well no duh!"
With a feisty and straight attitude like that, Jessie simply did not get along with many of the players here. Quiet ones like Jeri and Kenta avoided her, while all the others simply ignored her. She was the single personality that clashed with everybody else in the game. They tried their best to minimize possible conflict with the mouthy diva, but it was impossible. Jessie was a decaying virus, and whenever she went, trouble followed.
"Jessie is a bitch," Misty said in a confessional, with a sheepish smirk on her face, "I hate to use that word, but there is no other way to describe her."
And Jessie was damn proud of the title she carried in this game. Amongst all the generic goody-two-shoes in this game, she was the lone villain fighting endlessly with all her might. She might not be liked and she might be called a bitch sometimes, but she was not here to make friends at all.
"Everybody is boring like dry paint here. They all want to get along, and that's nice…if you are attending summer camp. But who wants to see that in an intense competition like this one? It's not interesting at all!" argued Jessie. Coming into this game, she was determined to stir the pot, causing hectic waves within the harmonious group.
Suddenly, an inspiring idea sprouted in her head. She erased her current answer TRACEY off the page, and then with careful and sophisticated writing, she printed:
Most Obnoxious: Jeri
Nobody will expect this answer – a brutally ruthless answer opposing against the sweet and innocent portrayal Jeri beautifully mastered throughout the game. Ever since the first day, Jessie hated that sickeningly sweetheart everybody treated like a little sister. Everybody just loved Jeri Katou and the pitiful image she desperately tried to pull off – except for Jessie of course. She absolutely cannot tolerate Jeri, the polar opposite of her abrasive personality.
"Repeat after me, everybody…that Jeri twerp is full of bullshit," Jessie said boldly to the cameras, with a wicked grin on her face. Not willing to elaborate on the topic any longer, she closed the booklet on her desk. Nobody will expect the answer coming at all.Nobody will.
And the hurt look on meek little Jeri's face will be priceless.
Misty sighed as she stumbled out of her room with the booklet in her hands. Yolei was executed, so that was the first hint that things weren't going to be good. Plus, the players were still giving Tracey the silent treatment, which Misty absolutely hated but can not do anything about. She suddenly felt very powerless and lonely – almost on the verge of abandoning this game altogether.
"Good morning Kasumi, you are the first to finish your questionnaire," Yamaki said. The gym leader sadly nodded as she entered into the Pokemon Centre lobby where the blonde host was standing with his laptop. They had not returned to Toronto yet, and were still situated in the wondrous Pokemon World.
"Do I get a prize for it?" She joked, handing in her booklet to the host.
"As a matter of fact, you do," Yamaki replied, gesturing his hand to the coffee table, "Take one of the briefcases on the table."
"What's in them?" Misty asked curiously, glancing over at the seven grey briefcases, each with a number labeled on them. She shuffled through the pile to retrieve briefcase number seven, her lucky number.
Yamaki shrugged, carrying a slimy smirk on his face.
Gary then walked in with his completed questionnaire, eyeing the briefcase in Misty's hands very suspiciously until Yamaki explained to him that it was part of the challenge. The young professor didn't hesitate as he grabbed the briefcase labeled "#1" from the table. That made Misty giggle softly, wondering if it was intentional for the arrogant teenager to picked a number that reflected his huge ego.
Soon, the remaining players all gave in their questionnaires and chose a random briefcase. Jessie was last, wearing a usual sly grin on her gorgeous face. She swiftly lifted the remaining briefcase, number five, off the table and joined the others in the lobby.
"There will be one exemption given in this round," Yamaki announced, slowly placing his laptop a table, "You can buy that exemption in a silent auction right here."
"Where?" Tracey asked inquisitively, scanning his eyes around the Pokemon Centre.
"You will place individual bids for an exemption inside this laptop, just type your name and the amount of money you are willing to give up for this exemption." Yamaki explained, "However, the money you are biddingg with will come directly from the pot. In addition, none of the bids can be higher than $40,000."
The players gathered around the laptop, studying the tiny monitor. On the screen, there were two blank fields requesting for "First Name" and "Bid", as well as a button labeled "Submit".
"What if there is a tie?" Gary asked.
"In the case of a tie, then neither of the players will win the exemption. The player with the second highest bid will take the exemption instead."
"That's awesome," Kenta grinned enthusiastically. He was one of the players who had yet to receive an exemption, so he was excited to finally have an opportunity.
"Once your name is submitted into the computer, it will not let you put in another bid, so you can only enter one bid." Yamaki said, "This auction will end after we finished with our second challenge,"
"Um guys, I have an idea…" Matt suggested, "I don't think any of us should bid higher than $20,000."
"Good idea. We can reduce our losses this way," Gary nodded his head in agreement.
"Actually I don't think any of us should participate in this auction," Jeri said quietly, too nervous to look up at her fellow players.
"Why not!?" Tracey exclaimed in a spontaneous outburst, feeling the need to defend himself immediately. "We all deserve a fair chance at this exemption!"
"I mean…we are taking money directly out of our pot," Jeri muttered, "We worked so hard to put money in the pot…I j-just don't think it's right for us to spend it on an exemption."
"Jeri has a point," Misty said, "May be none of us should bid on this exemption."
"Uh no, I don't think so. That's a bad idea, twerp." Jessie wiggled her finger in front of little Jeri's face.
"Well," Jeri shrugged, "I won't be bidding on the exemption, and I hope you all do the same."
"You are not going to?" Kenta asked in surprise.
"Nope, and you shouldn't bid either, Kenta."
Is she for real? Matt raised his eyebrow at the young girl, seemingly so genuine and innocent. He truly didn't believe any player in their right mind would make such a selfless sacrifice for the exemption. But yet, her words were so sincere, so angelic…so true.
"Perhaps we are the selfish and pompous bastards for bidding at the auction, but…" Matt scrunched up his handsome face as he confessed, "I don't know. Jeri tries to play up her girl-next-door image way too much. I don't buy into her bull. Nobody can be that innocent and generous."
"I feel bad doubting Jeri, but she is too nice sometimes." Kenta quietly admitted, "May be even a little naïve. But no, I don't think she is the Mole. I hate to say this, but I don't think Jeri has it in her to be the Mole."
"Just to clarify though," Matt looked around his fellow players for support, "The maximum bid for this auction should be $20,000. Not forty grand, okay?" The players somewhat mumbled in agreement.
"Now, I need two players who would participate in a challenge involving answers from these questionnaires," said Yamaki. Two hands instantly rose from Jessie and Jeri.
"Okay, that challenge will come later in the day," Yamaki explained, "As for the other five players, change into your swimsuits. We'll be meeting at the swimming pool outside in five minutes for your challenge."
"Swimming pool? Sounds like a water challenge. This one should be right up your alley," Matt nudged the grinning aquatic gym leader.
"Yeah," Misty beamed, "Hopefully we will sail to an easy win."
"We know you are the best swimmer here. Don't squirm out on us, you little twerp," Jessie added, in a half-playful tone, "Or we'll know you are the Mole for sure!"
After changing into their swimsuits, four of the five participants reunited around the rectangular pool outside of the Pokemon Centre. The players were very impressed with the gigantic size and immense depth of the pool.
"Whoa! Dude, this looks like a swimming pool used in the Olympics!" Matt joked, chuckling softly under his breath.
Ignoring the remark, the host marched solemnly to the edge of the swimming pool. Yamaki pulled out six pokeballs from his jacket pocket, and released the pokemon inside one by one. Out came six fierce looking Tentacruels, causing huge splashes before diving agilely into the pool. Then afterwards, he also tossed the six pokeballs in disperse locations of the pool. Those tiny sphere devices quickly sank to the bottom.
"Aww! I love Tentacruels!" Misty gasped in delight as she watched the blue jellyfishes frolic in the water.
"Awesome!" Kenta added, still enamored by the sight of any Pokemon from previous experience.
Just then, Tracey jogged over to join the four players by the pool. Gary shot an irritated glare at the late Pokemon Watcher, who only guiltily apologized for his delayed arrival. As expected, he had been hanging around at the lobby, getting first dibs on bidding in the silent auction.
"Using pokeballs located at the bottom of this pool, your objective will be to recapture these Tentacruels in under five minutes. When all of the poisonous jellyfishes are restored in their pokeballs, the challenge is won and I will add $25,000 into the pot."
"That's so easy. This will be a snap," said Gary conceitedly.
"In the process, you will also have one thin piece of red ribbon tied to your leg," Yamaki said, "When your ribbon is removed, you're eliminated from the competition and must leave the pool immediately. Keep in mind that these Tentacruels will try to rip the ribbon off your leg."
The five players tied a piece of red ribbon to their right leg, or in Misty's case, the left leg. During some last-minute warming up, Yamaki suddenly added, with a trademark smirk:
"Oh, and please select one player you feel will perform the worst in this challenge."
Kenta nervously looked around the taller players, trying to search for an answer to this surprise question. Standing beside him was Matt Ishida, and although the handsome blonde was not familiar with Pokemon like the others, he was a great athlete much needed for this physically demanding challenge.
Despite being the sole female contender, the avid Misty was an excellent swimmer, given her background in the Cerulean gym. She probably would give the best performance, hardly the worst. Tracey and Gary were two skilled experts of Pokemon, both equipped with depth and experience on the Tentacruel race.
It was no surprise to anybody when the clumsy Kenta was unanimously selected.
"Kenta, please come with me," Yamaki instructed as the pair walked to a distance outside of the group's earshot.
"So do I get to sit out? Please?" Kenta laughed, feeling slightly embarrassed as his new title.
"Your fellow players underestimated you by claaiming that you would do the worst in this challenge," Yamaki said, "Now is the chance to prove them wrong. I'm willing to add $50,000 to the pot, instead of the standard $25,000, if you are the last player remaining in the pool. All of the players must be eliminated, and all of the Tentacruels must be captured in order for you to double the stakes."
"Wow, that's a lot of money," muttered Kenta.
"You must be the only thing left in the pool after five minutes. No Tentacruels and no players, for the price of $50,000." Yamaki said, "Do you accept the offer?"
"Mmm…yeah, it wouldn't hurt if I tried, right? I'll just end up looking like a big goof, like always. But let's go for it." Kenta smiled weakly. The prospects of this challenge sounded way out of the little boy's abilities, but he wasn't one to surrender on a tempting challenge.
Besides, it would be the perfect chance for Kenta to redeem himself. This could be his shining moment proving to everyone that he was NOT worthless.
Wearing an anxious but excited look on his childlike face, Kenta returned to join the other players by the pool. They all glared at him suspiciously, not knowing what type of proposal Yamaki had made for him. Was it good? Was it bad? However, they didn't have time to develop their paranoia because the challenge was about to commence.
"Let the games begin…" Yamaki raised his arm as the players scurried to the pool before the signal, "The timer is starting…NOW!"
Misty dived gracefully into the pool immediately, shifting through the water with elegance as she searched for a pokeball in the deep bottom. The four men follow closely behind the girl, with Kenta trailing loosely behind. But only seconds into the pool, the little boy was stunned when he barely dodged a stream of toxic goop flung out of nowhere, only mere inches from his face.
"They can attack!?" Kenta exclaimed in shock, looking at the black goop sizzle lividly in front of with awe. It was an Acid attack from one of the Tenatcruel, and it proved to be deadly.
"Silly kids…of course they will attack! They're specially trained just for this challenge!" Yamaki replied, wearing his trademark devil smirk as he watched the men fret nervously while the Tentacruels continued an array of poisonous attacks.
"Yamaki, you evil bastard! You did…not…mention…this!" Matt yelled before diving down, merely escaping a splatter of toxic goop from Tentacruel.
Just then, Misty's pointy little head popped out of the water, and the avid swimmer carried a red pokeball in her hand. Fiercely, she tossed the pokeball to the nearest Tentacruel, capturing it into the tiny device in one swift motion.
"Five Tentacruels left in the pool!" Yamaki announced, "Kasumi caught one! Four minutes and thirty seconds left!"
Without any hesitation, the Cerulean gym leader dropped the device into the water and then swam down to retrieve another pokeball. Elsewhere in the pool, Gary also held a pokeball in his hands. But unlike the talented Misty, the professor was having a much more difficult time. He cannot capture a Tentacruel because it was too far away in a distance that was out of the pokeball's limited capabilities.
"Damn it!" He muttered as he swam closer to the targeted jellyfish.
"Shigeru is struggling with a capture! Four minutes left!"
Spotting another pokeball at the corner of the pool, Misty eagerly swam closer to retrieve the nearby gadget. But to her surprise, a pair of Tentacruels launched their bodies directly at where Misty was. One of the Tentacruels swiftly lunged for Misty, but she easily escaped by squeezing her agile body through the narrow spaces between the two Tentacruels.
But then something happened that Misty had not expected. A third Tentacruel drifted quietly behind her, catching the exceptional swimmer in a rare moment with her guard down. Those few seconds proved to be the fatal, as that Tentacruel swiftly brushed past Misty's body, snatching the red ribbon off her leg.
"Kasumi is eliminated from the challenge! Exit the pool immediately!"
Shocked at her early demise, the Cerulean gym leader resurfaced and slowly moved to a pool ladder to exit. The four remaining males were all nervous, seeing as how their most skilled swimmer was already eliminated. The odds of a victory had now severely decreased.
At that time of Misty's elimination, the athletic Gary finally managed to close in the distance from his target Tentacruel. In one quick motion that he was used to doing, he swiped the Tentacruel into the Pokeball.
"Three minutes and thirty seconds left! The second Tentacrruel is caught!"
On the other side of the pool, Tracey was having trouble with capturing the agile Tentacruels with his pokeball. Every time he attempted to catch one, they would immediately jump right out of the spheres. It was beginning to frustrate the patient Pokemon Watcher.
"Damn it, they need to be weakened first!" Tracey said, "But how!?"
Elsewhere, the two Digimon males were in a totally different scenario. Staying closely to each other, Matt and Kenta were frantically dodging left and right from the toxic attacks of an aggressive Tentacruel. Although Matt had a pokeball in his hand, he was to busy escaping the poisonous spit to actually utilize his device.
Taking this golden opportunity for what it's worth, the clever Kenta unexpectedly dove underwater. Although his swimming skills were far from superb, he managed to draw nearer to where Matt's legs were dangling. His vision was foggy without his glasses, but he could still see the knot that tied the red ribbon to Matt's leg. And without any further delay, the young boy reached for his leg and snapped the ribbon off.
"Hey! What's going on here!?" Matt suddenly jerked back, reacting at once to the unexpected yank on his leg. On the sidelines, Misty gasped with surprise again to see Kenta resurfacing, proudly holding Matt's red ribbon in his hands.
"Yamato, you are eliminated from the challenge. Exit the pool immediately!"
"You weasel! You got an exemption proposal, didn't you?" Matt shook his fist at Kenta before leaving the pool like a true sore loser. Tracey and Gary stole a quick glance at the incident, but they were too occupied capturing the Tentacruels to do anything about it.
"Three minutes! There are still four Tentacruels in the pool!"
In a swift and flawless moment, Gary managed to sneak behind a Tentacruel and successfully confine the jellyfish in his pokeball. Meanwhile, Tracey and Kenta were both diving down to retrieve a new pokeball.
"Three Tentacruels!"
Sensing the potential threat that Gary became, a pair of Tentacruels swarmed toward the defenseless professor at both directions, giving him very little space or time to escape. At the very last second, Gary quickly stroked backwards, dodging the sandwich tackle the pair tried to perform. Instead, the two Tentacruels jammed into each other, and consequently knocked each other to an unconscious state.
Soon Kenta resurfaced, and the little boy swam with all of his might to capture one of the motionless Tentacruels, drifting senselessly in the water.
"Two minutes and twenty five seconds left! Two Tentacruels remaining to be captured!"
Seconds later, Tracey also emerged out of the water, imprisoning the second unconscious jellyfish into his pokeball.
"Good job, guys! Keep it up!" Misty cheered. Although out of the action, the Cerulean gym leader was still very involved in being a thrilled spectator at the challenge.
"There is only one Tentacruel left in the pool! Two minutes and ten seconds remaining!"
Underwater, Gary was having trouble finding the last pokeball in the bottom of the pool. Where is it? His eyes frantically darted everywhere in all possible locations, but he could not find it! He could not find the last pokeball anywhere!
Tracey, however, spotted the pokeball right only a few feet away from where he was. Swimming dexterously to retrieve this remaining pokeball, the observant Pokemon Watcher scooped the device into his hand. Without wasting any precious time, he pitched the pokeball powerfully and accurately at the floating jellyfish. And thus, the last Tentacruel was finally captured into the pokeball.
All was silent as everybody turned their utmost attention to the wobbling pokeball. Judging by the vigorous shakes made by the device, Tracey predicted that the Tentacruel will jump out any second now…any second. But yet, nothing happened. The pokeball finally ceased any movement, lying motionlessly in the water.
The day was saved by Tracey Sketchit.
"Booyah! Way to go!" exclaimed a joyous Matt, pumping his fist up in the air triumphantly.
"We won! We did it!" Misty laughed, clapping her hands together to celebrate the victory, "You're the man, Tracey!"
But for Kenta, the challenge was far from over. While everybody was celebrating over their assumed victory, the little boy swam to where Tracey was, who was making his way to the pool ladder. Kenta snuck behind the incautious Pokemon watcher, and in a move that will surprise everybody, he tore the ribbon off Tracey's stubby leg.
"Kenji is eliminated from the challenge! One minute and fifteen seconds left!" Yamaki announced, smirking as the unaware players gasped in shock. The festive mood vanished immediately into the air.
"What the…what's going on?"
"Kenta was offered an exemption! He must have! That's why he is doing this!"
"Stop him! Don't let him sabotage the pot!"
Taking a deep breath, Kenta dove down into the water, stretching his hand as he reached for Gary's ribbon. But the athletic professor also dived underwater, swiftly escaping his approach. This aquatic tag continued between the two, with Kenta frantically chasing Gary in circles around the pool. As the pair dwindled underwater, the players watched anxiously from land.
Finally, Gary emerged out of the water. As always, he wore an intense and intimidating look on his emotionless face.
There was a red ribbon in his hand. It was Kenta's ribbon.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Tracey exclaimed in joyous gasps as soon as he caught sight of the ribbon.
"The challenge is now over," Yamaki declared, "You have successfully added $25,000 to the pot."
A smug smirk formed on Gary's face as he swam to the pool ladder, gloating in silent joy. He drowned in the pool of the endless compliments and praises of the three other players, boosting the young professor's huge ego even further.
"That was a great performance, Gary!" Matt patted him on the back as he walked out of the pool.
It is ME we are talking about, so obviously it was a great performance, Gary thought. But not wanting to spoil the glorious moment, he kept those conceited words inside his head, only nodding receptively to the flattering of the other players.
Defeated, Kenta slowly and sadly exited the swimming pool, shaking his head in disappointment. He put all of his effort in the challenge and exceeded beyond his limits, but yet he still failed. He did not prove himself at all. And he watched the four other players cheering from a distance, knowing how it will soon fade away as Yamaki explained all of the details.
"I made an earlier proposal with Kenta before the challenge. He was given a task to be the last player remaining at the end of the challenge," Yamaki said, "He did not succeed."
"And that means no exemption for him!" Tracey grinned. Kenta sighed loudly, still shaking his head.
"Actually no, I did not offer Kenta an exemption. But if he had succeeded, I would add $50,000 into the pot instead of $25,000."
Matt's jaw dropped in awe as he heard Yamaki's statement. Huh? What is going on?
"Y-you mean…Kenta wasn't playing for an exemption?" The handsome blonde stammered.
"No. He was playing to double the pot. But he failed. If you remembered what I said earlier today, there would only be one exemption given in this round."
"Ohmygosh," Misty slapped her hand to her mouth as she came into realization, reacting as if she was going to vomit into the pool.
"Well, that JUST sucks big time," grumbled Tracey.
POT: $177,000/$270,000
But nobody was more shocked at the news than Gary Oak, he was stunned beyond belief. He watched Matt and Misty making approach to Kenta, praising his efforts apologetically. Those exact words that were flowing melodiously into Gary's ear a minute ago was now gushing to Kenta all at once. In a sudden twist of fate, his supporters had abandoned him. Gary was no longer the savior of this challenge who succeeded in stopping Kenta from winning an exemption.
Instead, he became a very guilty suspect.
Tracey took a sip of coffee from his mug, trying to warm up after the vigorous swimming challenge earlier in the day. Coffee was like a battery for the Pokemon Watcher, and it was the root ingredient to all of his enthusiasm and energy. But there was an unfortunate side effect of drinking too much coffee, because the Pokemon Watcher was growing very jumpy, very hyper and very, very paranoid.
"In summary of today's challenge, the most obvious suspect would be Gary," said Tracey rapidly, "If he didn't rebel against Kenta's advances, then we would have doubled the pot. If he had just let Kenta rip the ribbon off his leg, like I did, then we wouldn't have lost all that money. So in a way, you could say that Gary lost the challenge for us."
Tracey took another sip of coffee before continuing his confessional.
"But Gary was under the assumption that Kenta was playing selfishly for an exemption. Before his eyes, Kenta suddenly eliminates me without any reason or logic. I think it would be a natural reaction for Gary to defend himself, jumping immediately to the conclusion that Kenta was trying to sabotage the challenge. In his mind, he thought it would be the right move – the heroic move, to stop Kenta. If you look at it this way, I don't think Gary is responsible for the loss at all. He was totally unaware of what was happening."
Tracey grinned slyly, taking a third sip from his green mug.
"I think Kenta is more suspicious for not winning the $50,000. If he tried harder to eliminate Gary, we probably would have won the whole damn challenge. But ultimately, Kenta failed on the duty he was assigned to, he just didn't bring home the bacon. May be he was hanging back and not putting in all of his effort, who knows? He should have tried harder to obtain Gary's ribbon. Kenta has just as much to blame for the loss as Gary."
The speed of his voice was increasing, as the Pokemon Watcher goes on total analysis mode.
"However, Misty really let us down in this challenge. We had high expectations of a Cerulean gym leader to do so well in a swimming challenge. This swimming challenge was totally in Misty's element. But in the first minute of this challenge, she was eliminated! She was the first player to be eliminated, despite being the best swimmer out of all of us! I think that statistic spoke volumes. Best swimmer, first eliminated? Something doesn't add up."
With no intentions of stopping, Tracey was now talking in such a rapid speed that his words were almost unintelligible.
"And Matt…he contributed nothing to this challenge. He didn't capture a single Tentacruel in the whole time he was out there. Every time I saw Matt, he was just staying still in the water like a piece of log. I don't know what he's trying to catch, except may be some dead brain cells. But the point is that Matt didn't do anything at all! Personally, I think he was holding back, and Matt also indirectly sabotaged the challenge. The challenge would have been so much easier had Matt helped."
Tracey suddenly stopped, taking a final sip of his coffee as he concluded his speech.
"And then there's Jessie and Jeri, who didn't even show up for the challenge at all. Okay, it's true that they weren't participating, but why didn't they even show up as spectators? They know that this challenge will be on the quiz, but yet they didn't even bother to show up for the challenge. Suspicious? Definitely."
Placing his coffee mug on a nearby table, the Pokemon Watcher grinned to the cameras in a slightly flustered manner. He was always guilty of over thinking a topic until it was completely thorough. While his clever brain provided him lots of details, scenarios and questions, Tracey soon found out that he lacked the most important thing: an answer.
"Screw it, everybody is the Mole!"
"Hello ladies," said Yamaki. "Please take a seat as we begin our next challenge."
Jessie sat on a cold and uncomfortable stool in the middle of the room, holding a tiny chalkboard and one piece of white chalk in her manicured hand. Sitting across from her was Jeri Katou, wearing a naively sweet smile on her face that almost made Jessie want to puke.
"I will be asking both of you five questions based on the questionnaire you've filled in," Yamaki began, "However, you will be trying to predict what the other player answered on her questionnaire. So Musashi, you want to answer what Juri answered on her survey, and vice versa."
"Got it," said Jessie, wearing an edgy smirk on her face.
"For every correct answer, I will award you with one letter to a ten-letter word. At the end of the questions, the two of you will then try to solve this ten-letter word, using the letters you earned in this challenge. With onlyy one guess, you must decipher the word to earn $30,000 into this pot."
"Mmm-hm."
"So without further ado, let's begin. Just remember that you're trying to answer what the other player answered on her questionnaire."
"Yes, we got it already," Jessie snapped impatiently, "Just hurry up and start the challenge."
"Alright," Yamaki shot the feisty Team Rocket member a dirty glare, "The first question is…which remaining player in the game is the vainest?"
Both women thought for a while before scribbling an answer on their chalkboards. Jessie seemed quite confident in her choice of answer, while Jeri looked rather nervous and unsure, as always.
"Reveal your answers."
Turning their chalkboards over, both had written "MATT" on their chalkboards.
"I'm sorry, Musashi. Juri had answered you as the vainest player in this game."
"Oh," Jessie smirked slyly to the nervous girl, "Thank you for that honour."
"But Juri is correct however. Musashi did answer Yamato for this question."
Correct: 1/2
"Next question: which player is the most paranoid?"
Without any hesitation, Jessie immediately scratched a name on the chalkboard. Jeri thought it over briefly, but also quickly wrote down an answer.
"Reveal your answers."
With no surprise to anybody, they both wrote "TRACEY" on their chalkboards.
"Both of you are correct," Yamaki said, stifling a laugh, "In fact, all of the players answered Kenji for this question, even Kenji himself."
Correct: 3/4
"Third question: which player is the most focused?"
Unlike the previous question, the two women had a much more difficult time putting an answer on their chalkboard. Scratching her head furiously, Jeri slightly frowned as she put down her answer on the board.
How do I know what that girl is thinking? Jessie glanced up at the innocent girl sitting in front of her. How do I get into her head when she is totally different from me? Grunting softly in dissatisfaction, Jessie put down "GARY" on her chalkboard, as it was what she answered on her survey. Hopefully Jeri would think the same.
"Reveal your answers."
Jessie sighed as she saw the name "TRACEY" written on Jeri's blackboard, knowing it was the wrong answer.
"Sorry Juri, but Musashi had said that Shigeru was the most focused player. Musashi, your answer is also incorrect; Juri answered Kenta as the most focused player here."
"They're friends, so obviously they answered each other," Jessie said as she erased the name from her chalkboard, "I should have known that."
Correct: 3/6
"Fourth question: Who is the sleaziest player in this game?"
After putting some consideration into her answer, Jeri wrote down "MATT" as her answer. That was not her honest opinion though, because she thought the handsome blonde was very charming. But the little girl figured that was the answer Jessie would most likely put.
Because Jessie has too much face to actually admit that she is the sleaziest player here.
"Reveal your answers."
Jessie turned her chalkboard over, with the answer "JESSIE" on it.
"Both of your answers are correct."
"Oh my, do you really think I'm vain and sleazy…" Jessie smiled wickedly at Jeri, always one to insert a snide remark, "I guess you have a very good impression of me, don't you, little one?"
Jeri's lips quivered, but the fragile little girl refused to look up at the intimidating Jessie.
Correct: 5/8
"And the last question: who is the most obnoxious player?"
Jessie confidently wrote her name down on the chalkboard, fully aware that Jeri's simple answering pattern by now. Because every time there was a question involving a negative personality trait, Jessie would always be the correct answer. The little girl just didn't have the heart to badmouth anybody else but Jessie.
So predictable and naïve, Jessie thought in her head.
"Reveal your answers."
Jessie revealed her own name on the chalkboard.
"Musashi, you are correct."
And Jeri also turned over her chalkboard, also with her own name written down on it. And although Jessie was glad that she answered the question correctly, there was a tiny tingling part of her that was disappointed.
"Juri, you are also correct."
Oh poo, she was supposed to be shocked to tears that someone actually doesn't like her. But how did she know?
Correct: 7/10
"The first part of this challenge is complete," said Yamaki, "Since you have answered seven questions correctly, you will receive the first seven letters of the ten-letter word. You have to unscramble themm and try to guess what word that spells out."
"We have only one guess, right?" Jessie asked.
"Correct. And here are the first seven letters of the word in alphabetical order: A, B, C, E, F, I and R."
Jeri wrote the seven letters on her blackboard, and the two women pulled their seats together to discuss over the word.
"Well, I was thinking that the word probably starts with a consonant, since it has ten letters," Jeri meekly said, looking up at Jessie for reassurance.
"I guess so, so it should start with B, C, F or R."
Using Jessie's empty blackboard, Jeri began writing some of the letters down, trying to find the correct combination.
"How about F-I-R-E-C-A-B?"
"Is that even a word?"
"Ooh, what about R-I-C-E…uh…F-I-A?"
"Huh?"
"Never mind."
Scratching another suggestion from the blackboard, Jeri closed her eyes as she arranged the letters together in order visually in her head. Jessie, on the other hand, is scribbling down various letter combos on the blackboard.
"Hmm…B-R-A-C-E-I-F…no, that doesn't make any sense."
Slowly erasing the word from the blackboard, Jessie suddenly became eerily familiar with this word. She had saw this word somewhere before! The pieces to the puzzle were finally coming together for her. She looked at the word again: B-R-E-I-F. By swapping the third and fourth letter, she came up with the word: B-R-I-E-F.
"And then," she slowly said as she shifted her chalk across the mini-blackboard, "Add C and A…Voila! I've got it!"
"What is the word?" Jeri's head turned to her partner instantly.
"Briefcases!" Jessie proudly replied, "It makes sense, doesn't it? We had to pick briefcases this morning!"
"I guess it does," Jeri smiled sweetly. "I think that's the right answer. Is the word briefcases, Yamaki?"
"Is that your final answer?" Yamaki asked, sounding very intimidating in his deep and ominous voice.
"Yes."
"In that case," Yamaki tilted his head and paused in dramatic fashion, loving the suspense in the air, "Congratulatioons. You've added $30,000 into the pot."
"Oh my gosh, this is wonderful! How did you know, Jessie?" Jeri gasped in delight.
Jessie just grinned and then shrugged.
POT: $207,000/$300,000
Kenta and Jeri were sitting together in a sofa at the Pokemon Center. With none of the other players around, the two coalition partners were able to comfortably discuss their strategy and suspicion.
"Jessie just pulled the answer out of nowhere. It was amazing," Jeri shook her head in astonishment, "But it's also very suspicious."
"How did she know the word was briefcases?" Kenta rubbed his chin, "Heck, how did she even know that the word would be in plural form?"
"I don't know…that's why I think that victory was so…how do you put it…skewed. I'm happy that we won, but she just pulled the answer out of thin air, in my opinion. It's very suspicious." Jeri whispered.
"That's very weird indeed," Kenta nodded his head, "I'm starting to think more and more that she might be the Mole."
"I know. I saw her hovering around the laptop when you guys were at the swimming pool," Jeri informed, "For a program that only required you to type in a name and a few digits, she took an awfully long time with the laptop. I think she's doing something sketchy."
"Yeah…Jessie is always suspicious like that."
The conversation between the young pair ceased as Matt planted a seat beside Jeri in the lobby. Running his hand through his golden blonde hair, the handsome prince instantly made himself comfortable in the interrupted conversation.
"What's up, guys?" Matt grinned charmingly, "Great job on the challenge today, Jeri!"
Jeri blushed modestly, "You did a good job too, Matt."
"Nah, I sucked." Matt waved his hand dismissively, then he leaned over to pat Kenta on the knee, "But Kenta here, whoa, he was exceptional in that challenge! Our MVP, hands down!"
Matt continued their light conversation with some playful jokes, causing Kenta and Jeri to emerge into hysterics. Both children genuinely enjoyed his golden charm, because the charismatic blonde always knew the right words to say. Matt always knew how to make someone feel special, and it was very evident as the two kids expressed in their confessionals.
"I like Matt a lot," Jeri had said, blushing madly like a little schoolgirl, "He is so funny and friendly all the time. I mean, he is really someone who reaches out for you, like a big brother in the game. I think he's a great guy."
"Matt is an awesome dude, that's all I have to say," Kenta grinned.
Both of them were oblivious to how much influence Matt had over them. Just like how he had his girlfriend Sora clinging out to his every word, before eventually leading her into the painful demise of this game.
The other four players filed into the lobby, all taking a seat in the sofa couches. Yamaki arrived last, carrying the laptop in his hand. He placed it on a desk that was set up across from the sofa before stating the instructions.
"Hello, you have reached the end of this silent auction."
But before Yamaki can continue, Gary abruptly cut into the middle of the host's words with a raise of hands.
"Yamaki, I couldn't enter my bid into the laptop," he said, "The computer said that my bid was already submitted…but I haven't entered a bid yet."
Yamaki raised his eyebrows, not expecting a problem like this to suddenly rise now. Like the producers instructed, he was only supposed to announce who the winner of the exemption was. But maintaining his calm composure, the host asked,
"Did anybody else have this problem?"
Matt's arm darted up in the air. It took a few seconds before Misty sheepishly raised her hand as well, feeling slightly embarrassed to admit on bidding.
"So, did you guys get the same message?" Yamaki questioned, feeling flustered.
"Yeah, it said something about that my bid was already submitted," Misty said, "But I didn't even put in a bid yet."
"This is alll very strange," said Yamaki as he began to type quickly into his laptop. And although there was some forced emotion in his monotonous voice, it didn't seem very genuine to most of the players.
"I don't think it's very fair that we didn't get a chance to bid when there is a technical error," Gary protested.
"But I had no problem with my bid…" Tracey said, raising his eyebrows in fascination at all of this.
"Okay, it says here that the three of you did enter in a bid…"
"That's preposterous." Gary countered angrily, "Something must be wrong!"
"I know!" Matt argued, with Misty nodding her head in agreement, "We didn't even get a chance to enter in a bid yet."
"Sorry, I can't do anything about it." Yamaki shrugged, "The laptop has information of your bids and I can't do anything to change that."
Ignoring three unsatisfied looks from Gary, Matt and Misty, Yamaki turned the laptop monitor over for everybody to see. There was nothing on the screen except a field of black.
"The highest bid will win the exemption for this round," Yamaki said before clicking the enter key on the laptop, "And the first bid…" The black screen suddenly blinked until it exposed a name:
MATT ISHIDA
--- $40,000
"Huh?" Matt looked at the screen with a dumbfounded expression, "That isn't my bid. I was the one who suggested that we wouldn't go over $40,000!"
"I can't believe this!" Tracey angrily stared at the bid, fiercely glaring at the blonde. "You lied to us! Screw that whole heroic act of not going over $20,000!"
"I didn't lie, Tracey. I'm telling the truth and whether you believe me or not, I did not enter that bid. I was only going to enter five thousand dollars, at most!"
"The second bid," Yamaki ignored all the commotion going on, continuing the revelation:
MISTY WATERFLOWER
--- $40,000
As soon as the Pokemon Watcher saw the monitor he sighed in a deep breath of relief, "Good grief that it was a tie. So according to the rules, neither of you will get the exemption."
"Is that all you care about?" Matt mumbled resentfully. "Especially when there are some of us who were wrongfully accused of their bids and could do nothing about it?"
"But I didn't enter that bid!" Misty argued, shaking her fist at the laptop, "My bid wasn't allowed into the laptop!"
"The third bid."
GARY OAK
--- $40,000
"That's not my bid," Gary shook his head.
"What is going on?" Misty wailed in distress. But regardless, Yamaki continued with the revelation of the bids.
"The fourth bid."
KENTA KITAGAWA
--- $40,000
"Okay, wait a second! I didn't even enter a bid!"
Kenta's raspy voice suddenly piped up for the first time since the auction started. Not a person who liked to get involved in drama and confrontations, he stayed quiet throughout the feud, but that was enough. He was completely innocent and he knew it.
"I didn't even enter a bid into the laptop! I stayed away from this whole auction altogether!"
"Yeah right," Jessie scoffed, finding the scenario very entertaining.
"It's true! I didn't want to bid on the exemption and take money out of the pot!"
"Yamaki, I think you should do this whole auction again," Gary said, "There is obviously something very wrong here."
"Yeah, I demand a redo!"
"I trust the computer more than you guys, no offeense. What's on the database is raw facts," Yamaki shrugged, continuing as he clicked on the enter key to reveal the next bid, "The fifth bid."
Jessie
--- $12,345
"Yep, that's my bid," Jessie said, always there to stir up the pot a little more. "Nothing changed since the last time I entered it, and quite frankly, I'm getting tired of the bitching from some of you people."
"But it's true-" Kenta complained.
"You know, this means that Jessie may now have the exemption, right?" Tracey asked, interrupting the little boy. "Since all the tied bids cancel each other out? So Jessie has the highest bid?"
"Very nice," Jessie smiled as she saw Yamaki nodded his head in response.
"But here comes the sixth bid," said Yamaki, pressing the keyboard key.
Tracey Sketchit
--- $20,500
Tracey grinned, now very assured that he had this exemption in the sack. All those lying fools tried to outsmart each other and bid $40,000 on the exemption and canceled each other out! Losers!
"I can't believe Tracey is going to get another exemption," Gary scowled.
"This is his fourth one," Matt chuckled at the irony.
"Why don't you actually try to take the quiz for once? You may like it," Jessie mocked, jumping in the anti-Tracey bandwagon. That caused a few stifled snickers from most of the players. But Tracey was happy, oh, he was very happy now.
Screw them! I got an exemption, again!
And just when it seemed like Yamaki was going to close his laptop, just when it seemed like Tracey Sketchit would breeze through a fourth exemption, just when everything was going to wrap up in one nice gentle fold…everybody was shocked when Yamaki revealed one final bid.
"Here is the final bid," Yamaki announced, "And also the winner of our exemption goes to…"
He clicked the enter key on his laptop, revealing one very distinguishable name:
JERI KATOU
--- $39,000
"What!?" Jeri yelled, leaping out of her seat in genuine surprise. "I didn't enter a bid at all!"
"Traitor!" Tracey shouted, pinning his eyes toward the little girl. He was absolutely furious that his exemption was suddenly stolen away by…Jeri Katou? What is going on!?
"Guys, you have to believe me," Jeri frantically turned her head to all of the players, "I didn't put that bid. I swear."
"Well, look at Miss little goody-two-shoes here, showing her true colours." Jessie rolled her eyes in resentment, "Weren't you the one this morning who oh so self righteously stated that none of us should bid on the auction?"
"Yeah, I think her exact words were: I'm not going to bid on this auction, and I hope you do the same." Tracey mocked, raising his voice to imitate Jeri, "What a load of bullshit!"
"I d-did not do this," Jeri stammered, "I don't even want the exemption! I forfeit the exemption! Take it back and put the money back into the pot!"
"Sorry, I can't do that. Those are not flexible rules," Yamaki said, "Juri, you are the exemption winner, but in result, $39,000 is taken away from the pot."
POT: $168,000/$300,000
"What a waste of the money we've worked so hard to earn," Gary sighed.
"This is not my fault," Jeri murmured softly, tears already coming to the corners of her eyes, ready to leak out at any second.
"Oh puh-lease, girlfriend! We all heard it!" Jessie exclaimed in disgust, "It is totally your fault! You probably set this whole thing up too!"
"It's funny how you are the only person who actually kept under the limit, Jessie." Matt raised his eyebrows in interest. "Isn't that funny in a sense?"
"I can't believe this. You're all liars!" Tracey yelled, his face almost turning red with anger. Then he pointed his stubby finger at Jeri, "And you. I truly did not see it from you, but you are the biggest liar of them all."
And then poor little Jeri couldn't take it anymore. She began to cry, bawling her beady little eyes out. In her mind, none of this was supposed to happen. She didn't want everybody suddenly hating her for something that she didn't do. This was all going very, very wrong.
"Guys, I think that's enough…It's a done deal. Jeri has the exemption and nothing you say could change that fact." Misty said, and although she was still confused about the whole thing, it tore her heart to see Jeri cry like that. She immediately moved to Jeri's side and supported her as a crying shoulder.
"I didn't…do…it," Jeri sobbed emotionally as Misty patted the crying girl sympathetically on the back, "I'm innocent!"
"Yeah right. I'm really sick of this obnoxious innocent girl act you always try to pull off. I saw through it since day one, and I know you were the biggest lying treacherous bitch in this game." Jessie scoffed before angrily stomping out of the lobby.
"Gee, talk about a sore loser," Matt rolled his eyes. "Don't cry, Jeri, we support you. If anything, Jessie is the real bitch around here."
"And a drama queen," Gary added.
"The fourth execution will be held soon tonight. All of you, except for Juri, are in danger of being executed. Remember to bring your briefcases to the execution, and good luck," said Yamaki, only to put more burden of bad news to the misery already present. Then the blonde host took his laptop and slowly departed.
One by one, the players shuffled out of the lobby, all feeling different emotions as they made their departure. Some were flat-out furious at the turn of events, they were absolutely fuming that their chance at an exemption was stripped away from them. Some felt betrayed by Jeri and her surprisingly deceitful ways – they never saw it coming. And then there were some who simply felt confused and clueless to what was going on.
What exactly was going on!?
Eventually even Misty needed to leave Jeri's side for preparation of the upcoming execution quiz. The compassionate gym leader took one last sympathetic look at the little girl, weeping her eyes out for somebody to believe her.
And then she abandoned Jeri to drown in her own miserable agony.
All alone.
Players were taken to different rooms in the Pokemon Centre as they took their fourth execution quiz, ten questions about the identity of the Mole.
Still livid from the events earlier today, Tracey Sketchit angrily slammed his stubby fingers into the mouse to answer the first question of the quiz.
"When it comes down to it, Kenta was the reason why we didn't win all of the money in the Tentacruel challenge. I swear that his movements in the water were very swift and shifty. He wasn't as bad of a swimmer as he proclaimed to be. But I didn't understand why he couldn't rip the ribbon off Gary's leg when he already did it to Matt and me. Kenta could have tried harder, but I think ultimately he purposely lost and set Gary up for the blame."
Kenta Kitagawa is currently reading the question of: What is the briefcase number that the Mole had?
"Although he did a great job at catching all of the Tentacruel, I think Gary was the reason why I wasn't able to add $25,000 into the pot. Everything he did for the past few days were all very suspicious in my eyes. He keeps making these little sabotages to the pot and he keeps getting away with it."
Matt Ishida clicked No for the sixth question, slowly brushing his blonde hair with his hand.
"Jeri was very vocal this morning to stop us from bidding on this exemption because all those crap speeches about not taking money from the pot. Then all of a sudden, she bid $39,000 and won the exemption! In Jeri's defense, my $40,000 bid was also wrongly submitted. But my biggest nitpick about Jeri was: why was her bid $39,000 instead of $40,000 like some of us? Why did she win the exemption when none of us did?"
Jessie instantly clicked on an answer for the last question of the quiz: Who is the Mole?
"We just went through a very twisted day, and I love every minute of this lying, backstabbing and deceit. The Mole is doing a very good job at causing chaos within the group and I can sense that this kind of havoc is far from over. But I'm ready for everything you throw at me. Let the mind games begin."
The seven players reunited at the lobby before Yamaki made his daunting entrance into the room. Instead of sliding over to his computer laptop like he always does, he just mysteriously stood across from the players.
"Welcome to your fourth execution, players. For one of you, your journey ends here."
Yamaki stopped his regular monotonous speech there, and the players instantly realized that something was different. There was something very odd from the normal execution routine they were so used to.
"I have told each of you to bring your briefcases to this execution, and now you'll see why. Will the person with briefcase number seven please step up?"
A gush of whispers rushed through the room, but Yamaki quickly silenced them. Then slowly, Misty rose from her seat, unconfidently holding up her grey briefcase. A huge "#7" was marked in the middle of her briefcase. As gestured by Yamaki, the girl slowly marched to his side.
"Kasumi, please open your briefcase with this key."
After inserting the key into the briefcase, Misty slowly opened the lid of the briefcase. She softly gasped as she saw a huge stash of money neatly put out in front of her. The other players from the sidelines were either in total awe or in total confusion.
"In front of you is $50,000, Kasumi. I'm offering you the chance to take this money on the condition that you leave the game immediately."
Misty opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. She was stunned at this exciting and surprising opportunity right in front of her. There was a wad of fifty thousand dollars right in front of her, and now she was forced to make a very difficult decision.
"The surprises just keep coming and coming," Matt whispered under his breath.
"What do you think?" Misty turned to her fellow players for help.
"I'd take it if I were you and run, girlfriend!" Jessie suggested.
"Fifty thousand dollars is a lot of money," Gary said, wearing a smug smirk on his face.
"You don't get this opportunity very often, Misty." Tracey said earnestly, "You should really think about it."
In the gym leader's mind, the answer was quite obvious to her from the start. She just wanted to hear what the other players have to say about this decision. But she knew the answer all along.
"No, I'll not accept this money," she said, closing the briefcase lid, "Because I'm in here for the experience and the competition. I am not a quitter. I'm not taking the easy way out."
"Are you sure?" Yamaki asked.
"I will not take the money," Misty said in a reassuring and confident voice.
"Okay then, we will resume our normal elimination," Yamaki awkwardly nodded his head, putting away the briefcase as he slid over by his laptop. "Please return to your seat." Misty marched back to her seat between Tracey and Matt, arching her chest forward proudly, confident that she had made the right choice in refusing the money.
"Again, welcome to your fourth execution," Yamaki said, "I will randomly begin typing your names into the computer. When your name comes up, if the screen flashes green, you are safe. If the screen flashes red, you are the Mole's fourth victim."
Yamaki placed his hands on the keyboard, ready to seal somebody's fate.
"Kasumi."
Smiling weakly, Misty stared into the monitor with hope. She crossed her fingers, mumbling some unintelligible words for reassurance.
tic.
tic.
tic.
tic.
The screen flashed green.
Misty sighed in content, happy that she didn't make a regretful choice of refusing the money. At the moment, she was still in this game.
"Musashi."
With her long and stunning legs crossed, the voluptuous villain plucked her lips together as she casually watched the screen. Covered by heavy make-up, one could see little emotions on her beautiful face.
tic.
tic.
tic.
tic.
The screen flashed green.
She leant back in her seat, enjoying the new relief of escaping another execution.
"Kenta."
The meek boy coughed slightly, carrying a very solemn look that he always had in each execution.
tic.
tic.
tic.
tic.
The screen flashed green.
The worried look began to slowly fade on Kenta's pale face. He smiled gratefully at the green screen.
"Kenji."
The Pokemon Watcher anxiously stared at the screen, his hands wrapped around his mouth nervously as he waited for the results.
tic.
tic.
tic.
tic.
The screen flashed red.
Tracey dropped his head to his knees in disappointment. It was over.
"Tracey, you are the Mole's fourth victim. Please come with me."
After a huge depressing sigh, the dejected Pokemon Watcher stood from his seat. And though he wasn't too popular amongst the players during the game, he still received many genuine farewell hugs and pats on the back, even a short respectful handshake from the icy Gary. He ended the round of farewells in a warm embrace with his good friend Misty. The polite teenager squeezed her hand and whispered softly into Misty' ear,
"I think you made a good choice anyhow. Win it for me, Misty."
Misty nodded as Tracey swooped down to retrieve his bag before following Yamaki out of the Pokemon Centre. Gary wore a smug smirk on his face as he started a farewell speech for the enthusiastic Pokemon Watcher.
"Isn't it funny how he gets executed immediately when he didn't have an exemption? I guess I shouldn't have blamed him for hogging all of the exemptions. He needed it."
And then Misty said the three inspiring words that were in everybody's minds at the moment. In fact, she was regretting that she had not said these words earlier when Tracey was still in the game:
"Shut up, Gary."
Exiting the digital portal and arriving back into the real world, Tracey took another deep sigh as he waited for the mini-bus to arrive. He wore a gloomy look on his face, constantly making disappointed gestures such as shaking his head and hopelessly looking up at the sky.
"I tried so hard, I really did." Tracey shrugged, taking another sigh, "But thank goodness I don't have to go through this hell again."
"Why not? You were always the most enthusiastic and intense competitor in every challenge."
"This game just isn't healthy, you know? There is so much mental pressure worrying about exemptions and quizzes and everything. I was going paranoid and overly obsessive. My head was going to explode! Screw it!" Tracey waved his hands in the air, frustrated. "Plus, I'm so pissed that I didn't outsmart the Mole."
"Your record is very impressive. Three exemptions for the first three rounds," Yamaki whistled, "And you did everything you could to get into the next round, even faking a death."
"Yeah, not my proudest moment of the game," Tracey laughed bitterly, putting his hands behind his head, "But sometimes you got to do what you got to do."
"If given a choice, would you do this game a second time?"
"I wish I had the willpower to say no," Tracey sighed as he saw the mini tour bus arriving, "But sign me up for the second edition! I fell in love with the game, and quite frankly, it's becoming an unhealthy obsession. But still, I'll play again in a heartbeat."
"That's the spirit."
After one final disappointed sigh, Tracey hopped onto the vehicle with a spunky spring to his step. Then as soon as he was seated, the eager Pokemon Watcher took out his journal and began analyzing every single page to see where he went wrong on the quiz.
The bus drove slowly along the path of demise before vanishing into the lonely streets of Toronto.
END OF EXECUTION #4
Next Episode: Hello, Sherlock
A pair of friends goes on an investigative game where everybody is a suspect…including their own friends and family members!
Author's Notes
So…much…drama! Isn't it great? The absence of Rika made the twist at the end rather bland and less ironic than what could have been. But I had to incorporate briefcases into this episode somehow (for the second challenge), so I left this rather out-of-place twist in.
For those of you who read the script form, you may also notice that Tracey's exit was a little out of order from the original one (he should have been gone next episode instead.) Does this mean youknowwho will stay for the long run!? And what is up with that sketchy silent auction, what was going on? Have fun with wild deductions until the next episode comes, and please review!
And here are the official poll results of Who is the Mole from Episode 3, thanks for participating!
16 percent- Jeri, Kenta, Matt
15 percent - Jessie
13 percent - Tracey, Gary
12 percent - Misty
Go vote in the Mole Poll for Episode 4 now!