The Mole: Pokemon/Digimon Edition
By: Gomamon
Disclaimer: I don't own it.
Episode 5 – Hello, Sherlock
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) --- EXECUTED FOURTH
Takenouchi, Sora/Sora (Digimon 01) --- EXECUTED SECOND
Waterflower, Misty/Kasumi (Pokemon) --- STILL STANDING
Kenta did not trust Jeri Katou. That much was clear.
She stood beside him by the sleet white evergreen tree, staring vacantly at the snowy streets of Toronto. A tiny snowflake fell on to the tip of her nose, and she quickly brushed it off with her gloved hand. Strapped in a hooded white jacket and a long creamy white scarf, Jeri more or less blended into the background along with the snow.
"Jeri is acting kinda…spacey today." Kenta said in a confessional earlier, carefully choosing his words. "She stopped crying, but oh boy, you should've seen her yesterday after the silent auction. She was bawling her eyes out so much that her eyes were red."
Kenta felt for his shy comrade, and he could still see the hints of pain and betrayal on Jeri's pale ghastly face, even if she was hiding these emotions very subtly. Thin strands of her long hazel brown hair dangled over her hollow black eyes. The healthy and vibrant colours were drained from her face, leaving the once sweet looking girl to look more or less like a dehydrated vampire.
"The silent auction is now a taboo topic, nobody talks about it in front of Jeri." Kenta explained to the cameras, "But as much as they try to hide their conversations, Jeri knows they are talking about her. Who wouldn't?"
Kenta grimaced softly, closing his eyes for a few seconds before continuing his confessional.
"I don't know which side I am on. I want to believe Jeri because she is my friend, but I can't do that. My gut and my logic all tell me that she is indeed the guiltiest player here. Nobody else is responsible for a whooping $39,000 out of the pot except for her. I can't trust Jeri, I just can't."
"I hate snow," murmured Jeri, her coluorless lips quivering due to the cold. Kenta quietly nodded his head in response. His head was hooded under a thick awkward orange jacket, with only his glasses visible from the hood. From a distance, he gave a funny resemblance to Kenny from South Park.
While the two Tamers were standing by the evergreen tree and trying to evade from the snow, the other four players were in the open as they unloaded their suitcases out of trunk of the mini-bus.
"Are we really going to live in this house?" Gary asked, dragging his black suitcase out of the bus. He was wearing a speckled headband around his head and covered in a long black trench coat. In front of him was a regular two storey residential house, completed with one driveway and a snowy front lawn, just like all the other houses in a typical suburban neighbourhood.
"Yes, and we'll be staying here until the end of the game," Yamaki replied as he helped Misty carry her blue suitcase out of the bus trunk.
"I'm glad we don't need to live in a hotel anymore," said Misty. The Cerulean gym leader was wearing a sparkling pink jacket, accompanied by a pair of Togepi-shaped earmuffs around her ears and matching pink boots.
"I love snow!" Jessie sighed dreamily as she reminiscence her childhood in the Alps. The sassy diva opened her mouth widely, hoping to catch a few snowflakes on her tongue. "I feel so alive here!"
With suitcases and bags in their hands, the group made their way to the door of the residential house. Before Yamaki could even find the keys in his jacket, the door suddenly sprang open, followed by six voices screaming in joyful unison.
"SURPRISE!"
"Holy crap!" Matt exclaimed in delight, "TK? What are you doing here?"
"KAZU!" Kenta's face lit up as he caught the glimpse of his best friend behind TK's head. "And Takato is here too!"
"I figure that some of you might be homesick by now," Yamaki said, "So we brought in your friends and family members to live with you guys in this house for the next two days."
"Awesome! This is so neat!" Kenta grinned like a boy who just woke up on Christmas day.
"Let's go in the house and I'll give you some time to get acquainted with each-"
"AHEM!" Jessie cleared her throat in interruption, breaking off Yamaki's words in half-way. "I'd like everybody to pay attention to this special announcement please."
Oh gawd, I know what's coming. Misty rolled her eyes and turned to look at Gary, who wore an amused smirk on his face. They both knew what was going on.
"Prepare for a trouble attack!"
"Make that double because James is back!" James squealed in his usual high pitched voice, shoving his body away from the crowded door to reunite with his old partner Jessie. Then the two villains suddenly started to dance together in a set of choreography moves they had memorized in their heads.
"To find the Mole before all these losers!"
"To plant some doubt on all those accusers!"
"I will win the money using sins and lies!"
"Watch out! She has an eye for all guys!"
"Jessie!"
"James!"
"Team Rocket has their fingers wrapped around this game!"
"Surrender now before we put you to shame!"
"WOBBUFFET!" exclaimed the blue blobby pokemon that jumped out of James's pokeball on cue and saluted to the crowd.
The others watched with their jaws dropped in absolute astonishment. The two Ishida brothers even clapped at the duo's spectacular performance. But standing at the back of the group, Misty Waterflower was not impressed with the motto routine she had unfortunately seen oh-too-many-times. In fact, she was a little appalled at what Jessie and James just did.
Leave it up to Jessie and James to make such a big scene and dramatic entrance.
Misty sighed. Some things never change.
The weak winter sunrays were beaming through the windows of the cozy living room, as the twelve players were gathered inside the house for the next set of instructions. Some sat on couches, while others found comfort on the carpet. Daisy Waterflower was sitting awfully close to Matt Ishida, batting her eyelids flirtatiously to the oblivious blonde. Her sister Misty was rolling her eyes in dismay, trying to hide the fact that her older sister was ruining her family's good name.
Yamaki entered the living room. All twenty four eyes turned towards the host as he started to address the group.
"As you could see, your family and friends have come to visit you, but…" Yamaki smirked.
"This doesn't sound good," muttered Misty.
"If the group comes to a unanimous decision that they'd rather add $10,000 into the pot, then all your family and friends will leave immediately. You have one minute to discuss about a decision, group."
Kenta grimaced. He didn't want to be separated from his friends already! It had only been five minutes, and they were going to leave again!?
"There are other chances to earn money," said Matt, putting his arm around TK's shoulder, "And I think seeing our family is way more important than ten grand in the pot."
"I agree with Matt one hundred percent," Kenta said as he bobbled his head.
"Oh definitely, Matt!"
"Yeah, good point."
"I'll go with the majority."
Gary Oak folded his arms and glared at the other players with ridicule. He was the only person yet to voice in consent. He clearly didn't see their broken logic about this matter. Why weren't these people trying to add money into the pot instead? And when Gary saw something that he didn't agree with, he sure as hell wasn't going to let it die down easily.
"I for one think that we should take the money into the pot," Gary objected, "Sorry gramps, but this game is drawing near a close and we need all the money in the pot as we can get."
"Gary, Gary, Gary…" Matt shook his head and sighed. "I know you don't have a single human emotion in your scrawny body, but the rest of us do and this family visit means a lot to many of us."
"Yeah, I'm getting homesick." Kenta grinned.
"You big wuss!" Kazu gave Kenta a noogie in the head and laughed.
"But don't you realize what you guys are doing?" Gary glanced at the other five players with a raised eyebrow, "We can add $10,000 into the pot right now! Doesn't anybody see my point?"
"Gary, we see your point." Misty said, trying to stay calm and polite even though she wanted to staple Gary's big mouth shut. "But what you don't understand is that we want to see our family and friends. We can earn this money at other times."
"I think you are making a big mistake out of this." Gary rolled his eyes. "You guys are just helping the Mole take money away from the pot."
"You know, that punk does have a point," said Daisy in her matter-of-fact voice.
"Sis! Whose side are you on?"
"Hey, that's just my opinion. If you are going to win this game, then I want the pot to grow as big as possible."
"Exactly my point! It's nice to find someone here with common sense!" Gary smirked.
"Well, let's take a vote." Matt suggested, "Who wants our family members to stay at the house?"
It wasn't even close. Gary's persuasion had no impact on the other players at all. With five hands raised in the air, the verdict was very clear. Gary was in the minority of group decisions, once again.
Fools. Gary thought in his head and shrugged. Whatever.
"Okay. For the price of keeping your friends and family here, you have sacrificed a possible $10,000 away from the pot," said Yamaki.
POT: $168,000/$310,000
"Our next challenge will be the biggest challenge yet," Yamaki declared, "But first, I need the six players to divide into two teams of three: Heroes and Villains."
True to her nature, Jessie raised her hand immediately to be a villain. "I am the biggest badass in the game, for crying out loud!" She cried, with a squealing James snickering maliciously beside her.
"Kenta, you gotta be the hero!" Kazu playfully jabbed his friends in the ribs. "I want to kick the bad guys' butts!"
"But Kazu, we don't even know what the challenge is about!" Takato reminded his impulsive friend.
"Ah, what the heck…I'll be a hero," Kenta modestly grinned. Jeri joined Kenta's side without a moment of hesitance. She wanted nowhere in the proximity of the vile Jessie.
"We need one more self-proclaimed hero," said Matt. He turned to Gary and Misty, "I'll go on the Hero's team unless one of you wants to."
Gary shrugged his shoulders casually, not showing any particular preference for either team. Misty just smiled cheerfully and gave a diplomatic answer with little substance, like the way she always does.
"Actually Ishida," Jessie's lips curled to a wicked smirk, "I want you to be on my team."
"Really?" Matt raised his eyebrows in pleasant surprise.
"I don't know if you are a villain or not, but I sure know you ain't a hero around here, pretty. Come join the dark side." Jessie chuckled and winked at the handsome blonde.
"Okay then, you win. I am a villain." Matt ran a hand through his hair. "A very sexy villain, that is." He laughed and returned an equally flirtatious wink to the Team Rocket member. He knew she was flirting with him. It was so blatant that even TK caught on to it by now.
And if there was one thing TK knew about his older brother, Matt was not someone to deny an engaging preposition from a seductive woman.
"I'll be on the hero's team," said Misty.
"Good. The hero's team and the villain's team will be living in two adjacent houses together for the next three days in this challenge. This is the hero's headquarter. So villains and their family members, bring your bags, we're heading to the house next door," said Yamaki, already heading for the door.
Although confused, the three villains obediently followed the host along with their family members. Matt waved a small goodbye to the remaining players before leaving the house. And soon the front door was shut, the group of twelve quickly trimmed down to half a dozen.
"Dude, how wicked is this!?" Kazu grinned excitedly, "We have our own slamming headquarter for the challenge! We're so going to kick the bad guys' butts!"
"Kazu, we don't even know what this challenge is about yet," Kenta reminded him.
"So what? We are still going to win, right?" Kazu playfully jabbed his friend in the ribs.
"Right…"
Meanwhile, the other team arrived at their personal headquarter. The two houses looked almost identical, except that this house was clearly darker. None of the windows were opened and none of the curtains were drawn. It was clear that they will be living in darkness.
"This place looks awful," James said, shaking his head in disgust. "Just because we are fat stinking scoundrels doesn't mean we actually have to live like one too."
"Please get settled in your new headquarter," said Yamaki, ignoring the unnecessary interjection. He took out three black envelopes from his suit pocket, "Each player will take an envelope. Somebody will receive a very special role in the upcoming challenge. Go open it in your rooms and do NOT show it to anybody."
Jessie picked first, choosing the envelope that was the farthest away from her reach. Matt took the second envelope which has an odd red sticker at the right corner, which leaves Gary as the owner of the slightly wrinkled envelope.
"I must repeat this. Do not show your envelope to anybody but yourself."
Jeri was once again staring out the window in silence.
The lonely girl was sitting on a leather armchair, ignoring the loud chattering and joyous laughter in the living room. She wanted no part of the happiness. May be she wasn't in the right mood, or this wasn't the right time…but for some reason, Jeri Katou just wanted to be alone. She could not indulge herself into any social scene right now.
Especially after what Jessie did to her.
Ugh.
"I was a little bummed out to see Jeri acting so sad," Takato confessed, feeling slightly uncomfortable talking to a camera. "Whatever they did to her, it must have left a huge scar on her emotions. She is a mess right now, and it tears me apart to see her like that."
Jeri had not spoken one word to Takato since his arrival.
"Her silence speaks volumes," the goggle-headed boy muttered, feeling a little hurt and concerned for his friend.
As Jeri sank in her pool of depression, her three Tamer friends were getting dressed up in their winter attire to play in the snow outside. Despite their friend's glum attitude, the three boys were wrapped up in jokes and juvenile conversations. Kenta was in the butt of many of their jokes, but he didn't seem to mind. He was delighted to be with his friends again.
"Kazu, you owe me ten bucks." Takato grinned as he put on his cotton wool hat. "Kenta is still in this game."
"What!? You were betting against me!?" Kenta exclaimed, "I can't believe it!"
"Dude, I thought that you would cry and drop out of the game on the first day! You totally exceeded my expectations!" Kazu laughed, quickly joined in by Kenta and Takato.
"Are you sure you aren't coming, Jeri?" Takato asked, flashing a worried glance at the pale little girl.
"Yeah, it's going to be fun, Jeri! Come with us!" Kenta added in an encouraging tone. But he knew what the answer was going to be. Jeri just wasn't ready.
"No, it's okay. Go on without me. Have fun, guys!" Jeri answered, without turning her glance from the window.
"Aww, party pooper." Kazu stuck out his tongue and skipped out of the doorway. With one last concerned look at Jeri, Kenta and Takato followed.
As soon as they got outside, Kazu rolled up two snowballs from the ground, snickering as he threw each at Takato and Kenta's heads. The two Tamers playfully shoved Kazu into the field of snow.
"Dude, what's up with Jeri though?" Kazu asked as he struggled to get up from the snow.
"She is acting…really different," Takato muttered, his eyes trailing back at the door.
"It's a long story," Kenta shook his head, "You guys don't want to hear about it."
"Man, just talking about her makes me feel sad! It's like she is hiding something from us, you know? Why would she avoid from us like that?" Kazu frowned slightly, scratching his head like a monkey.
Suddenly the laughter and noise ceased between the three boys as an awkward silence suddenly flown between them. Finally, Takato asked in a very solemn and soft voice.
"Kenta, is Jeri the Mole?"
The boy in glasses was caught off guard. He stammered through his words, a habit he always did when he was nervous.
"I-I don't know, Takato. I honestly don't know."
Silence again.
"Dudes!" Kazu broke the ice, throwing another snowball at Kenta. "Screw the game! Let's have some fun while we are out here!"
"Yeah!" Kenta chuckled, shaking his thoughts away from his coalition partner. "Can we build a snowman!?"
"I want to make Snow-Guilmon!" Takato laughed, adjusting his goggles.
"Or a wicked snow fort!" Kenta chimed in.
"Ooh, I know!" Kazu grinned, "Let's throw snowballs at that pretty boy and his metrosexual brother!"
"Huh? But Matt is a nice guy!"
"He might be a nice guy," Kazu's lips curled to a wicked grin, "But that doesn't stop him from looking like he is in a frigging boy band."
The villains soon found their sleeping arrangement in the headquarter to be quite inconvenient. Although there were two double beds in each of the three rooms, the right amount for the six of them, there was a concerning issue with the sole female of the house. She did not want to share a bed or even sleep in the same room with one of the five men.
"There is always a problem revolving around Jessie. Always." Gary said in his confessional, "She will bitch about the tiniest thing and make a huge blowout spectacle about it. Find the tiniest chip on a bridge and she will bitch about it. I'll tell you flat out, I have no respect for over the top drama queens like her."
"Guys, I have back problems. I have to sleep on a bed," James had explained.
"That's how Team Rocket is," Gary continued venting to the cameras, "Selfish people who only look out for themselves. Crooks will always behave like crooks."
So the men were left with a problem, one of them doesn't have a bed. Somebody was going have to sleep elsewhere.
"You sleep on the bed, gramps. I'll sleep on the couch in the living room," Gary said to his grandfather.
"No, it's okay Gary. You need the comfort of the bed much more than I do," said the legendary Professor Oak.
"Gramps, I'm giving you the bed, and I don't want to hear anything more about it," Gary said, taking his black suitcase as he left the room.
"I'm sure your grandson will be fine. Gary is a tough cookie." Matt said as he patted the famous Pokemon professor on the back.
"He's a good kid. He acts tough on the outside, but he really does have a nice heart inside." Professor Oak smiled for a brief second before excusing himself out of the room.
"What a delusional old man…if he only knew what the real Gary is like," Matt muttered, slowly unpacking clothes from his green suitcase.
"So how's the game treating you?" TK casually asked, plopping a seat on the bed.
"It's all good," Matt lifted his two thumbs up in the air and grinned. "Your brother is quite the popular guy around here."
"I'm not surprised." TK smirked.
"I have three coalitions in this game," Matt ran his hand through his hair, "Five before Yolei and Sora were executed."
"Ooh, what happened to them?"
"I don't know. Neither of them was really focused during the game," Matt shrugged as if the two names meant nothing to him, "But anyway, I've been meaning to bring my coalition number up to four."
"So you're going to make a new coalition?"
"Yeah…it's either Kenta or Jessie. Seriously bro, I'm thinking that the Mole is between the two of them."
"Really? Who's the Mole then?"
"Kenta is a bit of a flake and we have nothing in common whatsoever, but that kid is acting so freaking suspicious in every challenge. He only won one challenge out of like ten so far, for crying out loud. But nobody blames Kenta though, because he is so damn quiet and under the radar."
"Are you sure? Kenta looks like such a nice kid."
"I know. He is very self-deprecating. You can make fun of him and he'll still laugh about it with you. But at the same time you can't help but feel bad for the guy."
Matt paused a second and exhaled a long deep sigh.
"And then there is Jessie, the enigma. She has one of the worst challenge record out of everybody here it's not even funny. Sometimes I think she deliberately sabotages the pot just for the fun of it. May be she is just stirring the pot because she's one big bad bitch, or she is the Mole. But I'm going to find out. I'm going to form a coalition with the sassy diva."
"Uh…Jessie?" TK raised his eyebrows at his brother, "She isn't the type of player I'd hang around with. That woman has trouble written all over her."
"Keep your friends close and your enemies even closer."
"Ahh, I see." TK flashed his set of white pearls in a charming grin much like his brother, "You are playing a great game."
"Besides, aren't you forgetting something, little bro? I luvvv trouble."
"Make that double?" TK chuckled.
Misty Waterflower hesitated in front of the cameras. She was requested to record a camera confessional right now, but it was tricky to capture her feelings into precise words. Although she did a good job of hiding her emotions in this game, the perky Cerulean gym leader was upset. All of her friends – Ash, Yolei, and Tracey – had been executed in a rapid succession. Misty just found out that each of her friends' execution is growing progressively more difficult to handle.
"It's just so hard to see the people you are close with get executed," Misty confessed, "I know it's a part of the game, but that doesn't make it any easier."
But Misty was not a girl to sob over her sorrows. She wasn't going to cry over spilt milk. Just like the gutsy showing she demonstrated by turning down Yamaki's proposal last night, Misty was a stubborn competitor. Even if the going gets tough, Misty was not willing to back down.
"Oh well, I guess I just have to suck it up," Misty gently smiled to the cameras. "I played too hard and put too much effort in this game to be executed now. No way am I giving up to be defeated by the likes of Jessie or Gary. There's no way."
Misty returned to reviewing her journal under the solitary of her own room. Her journal was messy, full with scribbles and scratches all across the page. It probably wasn't legible to anybody else, but that was Misty Waterflower's style. She was just about to write something until her beautiful blonde sister trotted in the room carrying a small case of nail polish.
"Mind if I sit beside you?" Daisy asked, "I'll look a lot prettier on camera if you are on screen with me." Misty rolled her eyes.
"I'm just teasing you, you know that right?" Daisy laughed, pinching the cheek of her little sister. Misty humored her with a dry chuckle, but she cannot pull herself together to please her annoying older sister.
Suddenly the pair of sisters could hear a loud shuffling of footsteps rushing up the stairs. They belonged to the wacky duo of Kazu and Kenta, who were still dressed in their winter jackets. Kenta's glasses were blurry, and there was still a little trace of frost on his hair.
"Have either of you seen Takato?" Kazu asked, shaking off his right glove.
"I haven't seen him since you guys left to play outside," replied Misty, closing her journal. Daisy nodded her head in consent.
"That's strange." Kenta mumbled, "We have been playing hide-and-seek outside for an hour now and we can't find Takato."
"Where is that little bugger!? We figured that he crawled back into the house, but where is he?" Kazu shouted and tossed his gloves on the air to express his frustration.
"Come on Kazu, have we looked in the basement yet? We need to find him before the next challenge begins," said Kenta, although his voice wasn't very reassuring. The two boys picked up the gloves and slowly marched down the stairs again, searching aimlessly for their missing goggle-headed friend.
Little did they know that the challenge had already begun, and finding where Takato was would be a lot harder than they could imagine.
"Heeheeheeheehee!"
Jessie and James were lounging on the armchairs in the basement as the two partners in crime exchanged endless chitchats and laughs. Now that she was in the comfort of heat conditioning, Jessie was dressed in a tiny black blouse and a tight red leather skirt that was way too short and revealing. In Jessie's eyes of course, it was a perfectly appropriate outfit as far as she was concerned.
"Don't tell me that you actually made a girl cry in this game!" James laughed, almost choking as he smacked his fist into his legs,
"I did, and I'm damn proud of it. You should have seen her, James. She was so obnoxious," Jessie gloated.
James giggled hysterically. Making a girl cry!? That's so typical Jessie!
"How about the skinny twerp? She didn't cause you any trouble in this game, did she?"
"Of the four people executed, three of them were the twerp's annoying clique of friends. I'm starting to think that she is a carrier of bad fortune. If you try to be friendly with that twerp, you get executed!"
"In that case, you should be very safe!"
"Hell yeah!" Jessie chuckled.
"What about the blonde?" James asked, leaning forward, "He seems to be a little sweet on you, if you know what I mean."
"After seeing his cute little brother, I can assure you that good looks run in his family." Jessie grinned mischievously. "I wonder if they're good in bed."
"Naughty!" James disrupted, wagging his finger in her face playfully, "That's not what I mean!"
"All perverted thoughts aside, I think Matt is the Mole."
"You do?"
"He's a schmoozer. All those girls have already fallen under his spell, and I think some of the guys are too. Everyone in this game is being manipulated by Matt Ishida and nobody knows about it."
"Except for you, of course." James corrected.
"Well obviously, had you expected any less from moi?" Jessie laughed, gesturing her hand to her bosom.
"Ooh la la! Tout savoir!" James giggled.
Suddenly the laughter was cut abruptly when they both felt a third person's presence in the tiny basement. Jessie looked up. It was Matt Ishida, wearing his usual trademark white-teeth grin.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the man himself," James said, scanning Matt with his eyes up and down. "Mister Ishida, how can we help you?"
"I'd like to talk to Jessie in private if I can."
"Whatever you want to say to me, you can say to James too," Jessie snapped, lingering her fingers around her blouse. Slowly, she began to unbutton her blouse.
"Jessie!" James gasped as he caught onto what his friend was doing.
A grin slowly appeared on the blonde's face as he nodded, marching closer and closer to where Jessie was sitting. Something about her gestures indicated to him that this was going to be a completely different approach than Misty and Jeri and Yolei. He knew Jessie was not falling for his flowery flattery that charmed so well with the other players.
"I want a coalition. Me and you in the finals."
Flattering words weren't going to work on her. Jessie wanted action.
"So you want a coalition?" Jessie smiled wickedly as she got up from her seat, "Kiss me, and then we'll talk."
James gasped.
"You are a woman with lots of requests," he smirked, quickly rebounding from the overwhelming request.
"You are a man with lots of needs," Jessie replied. "And I don't want those fluffy pecks on the cheek kisses. I want your tongue locked in my beautiful mouth."
"Kiss me, you fool."
"Let me be clear about this. If I kiss you, then you will have a coalition with me?" Matt asked.
"You're going to chicken out, Ishida. I can see it in your eyes." Jessie slowly shook her head in disappointment, "You can't betray your girlfriend Sora, ya big schmuck."
"Answer my question. Yes or no?" Matt's husky voice was sterner, manlier and much fiercer.
"Yes if you kiss me."
And he did.
For a second, their lips pressed against each other, making slippery and intimate contact. She can feel the inside of his lips sucking in all the lipstick she had applied earlier. It was gentle yet rough at the same time. But the pleasure only lasted for a few moments before Matt pulled his face away.
"Even a committed man can't resist my sensational beauty, tsk tsk." Jessie smirked. "You got guts, Ishida. I like that in a man. The deal is on."
"Good." Matt said, wiping the smeared lipstick off his face.
"You missed a spot!" James edged in. But Matt was already gone from the basement.
"Holy Wobbuffet, I'm impressed!" Jessie grinned as soon as she heard the basement door slammed shut, "I didn't expect that kiss. I was totally bluffing on all the bullshit spewing out of my mouth."
"He's desperate, totally desperate," said James, his eyes opened wide in shock.
"And best of all, Matt just exposed his hand to me. The fact that he was willing to betray his commitment to his girlfriend just to have a coalition with me meant a lot."
"Huh? I don't get it, Jessie."
"James, my naïve and incompetent dear…" Jessie maliciously winked to him and to the cameras, "Can't you see what just happened? It was the kiss of death."
Takato Matsuda was officially gone.
He was missing for four hours already. Nobody had seen him. Nobody knew about his whereabouts. Basically nobody knew where this quiet and mild mannered Tamer was.
Where is Takato? What could have happened!? Jeri was nearly in tears again as she joined the search with Kazu and Kenta around the house. They looked everywhere, but the boy could not be found. It was as if he vanished into thin air…
"Takato isn't someone to just leave like that," said Kenta, adjusting his glasses. "Something must have happened to him. Somebody must have done something nasty to him."
"No shit, Sherlock," muttered Kazu.
"Have you guys looked outside? He is a foreigner in Canada, you know," suggested Misty.
The trio of Tamers was about to search outside in the streets for the fifth time, Yamaki suddenly emerged at the door. Behind him followed the three villains and their family members, all intact.
"I think most of us have heard by now that Takato is missing for the past few hours," said Yamaki. "Or in a better phrasing, Takato Matsuki was kidnapped."
"What!?" Kazu almost choked hearing those words from the host.
"Impossible!" Kenta added.
"It was part of a challenge. Each of the villains received a black envelope, correct?"
Although slightly confused, all of the three villains nodded.
"Inside one of the envelopes, one of you was given a special role in this challenge as a kidnapper. That person's job is to kidnap one family member and lock them away in a secure place. So far, the kidnapper had succeeded."
"This is all part of a challenge?" Jeri asked.
"Yep, if the kidnapping case is successful, the kidnapper will win an exemption for the next quiz, but…" Yamaki smirked, "The three heroes are now in charge of investigating the kidnapping of Takato Matsuki. Who is the kidnapper?"
"Way cool," Kazu grinned.
"Detective Kenta, Detective Kasumi and Detective Juri…" Yamaki said, "One of the three there is a kidnapper, and it's up to your job to find out who it is in the next twenty four hours. You will be given one chance to identify the kidnapper. If done successfully, you will add $75,000 into the pot."
"Whoa," Matt whispered under his breath in amazement.
"And if the detective successfully finds out who the kidnapper is, the kidnapper will not only lose their exemption but also lose two points in their next quiz."
"Wow," Matt whispered again.
"So the stakes for this challenge are very high for the detectives," Yamaki stared sternly at a nervous Kenta, "And the kidnapper. At this time on the next day, the three detectives need to detect who the kidnapper is."
Kenta grimaced, feeling the peer pressure layering on him again. He already failed a challenge before from yesterday, and once again the players relied on him again to add a huge sum of money into the pot. He couldn't fail them, twice. He just couldn't.
"Have a nice day," Yamaki concluded.
Kenta turned his head to analyze the ten people surrounding him, all looking either shocked or amused. It was hard to distinguish guilty from innocent from the eerie look on their faces. Even the awestruck gaze on his best friend Kazu's face was indistinguishable from everyone else. And suddenly, something became very clear to Detective Kitagawa…
Everybody was a suspect.
Inside the basement, the three heroes along with Daisy and Kazu were discussing strategy for the investigation. Kazu was dressed in a long grey trench coat, accompanied by a black walking cane and plastic brown pipe in his mouth.
"Kazu, are you trying to be Sherlock Holmes?" Kenta narrowed his beady eyes at his best friend.
"Don't I look like the part?" Kazu grinned, although his words are jumbled together. It was hard for him to speak when there was a plastic brown pipe sticking out of his big mouth.
"I pity your sad attempt," Daisy shook her head and chuckled.
"I think the most important thing is to set a timeframe," said Misty, "We need to know when Takato was missing and what the three suspects were doing during that time."
"We know Takato was missing since noon," said Kenta, running through the facts in his journal.
"Kenta and I were playing hide and seek together right after we ate lunch at noon. I found Kenta in a minute or less, but Takato…was missing." Kazu added.
"So you guys haven't seen him since noon?"
"I don't know where he hid," Kenta shrugged. "That was the last time I saw Takato."
"Did any of you see something suspicious from Jessie, Gary or Matt?" Jeri asked.
"That reminds me! I saw Gary and his grandfather leave the house around twelve thirty," Kenta said. "I remembered because I asked Professor Oak for an autograph."
"Dude, you're such a geek!" Kazu laughed.
"When did they come back?" Jeri asked.
"I don't know…I didn't see them returning." Kenta shrugged again.
"Matt came around our house at one o'clock," said Misty. "He wanted to talk to me about something."
"What? How come I don't know about this? The stud came over and you didn't tell me about it?" Daisy suddenly perked with interest.
"Anyway," Misty ignored her sister, "I think he left our house around four…I don't know if it helps the case or not, but it's an interesting tidbit to know."
"Anyone see Jessie and James do anything suspicious?" Jeri asked, "I'm most concerned about them. They are criminals and could easily pull off a kidnapping case like this."
"I agree, I think Team Rocket is the most suspicious," Misty shivered, "As if Jessie wasn't bad enough solo…"
"None of us saw them leave the house though," said Kenta.
"I still think they are the most suspicious," Misty folded her arms and frowned. "Criminals will always be criminals. They've done plenty of stuff before when kidnapping Pikachu."
"I know. But can we really judge them in this challenge based on their past? It doesn't sound very fair to me," said Kenta timidly.
"You're right, Kenta. I am a bit biased after all." Misty smiled, "I think it's best if we interrogate them all separately and try to see if their stories match up. Whoever is lying probably has something to hide."
Gary Oak was marching down the stairs to the basement of the Heroes' headquarter. He was the first person sent for an interrogation.
"This mystery challenge is pretty cool. I am disappointed for not being the detective, because I would have solved this case in a jiffy. May be it's a good thing, I would have taken all the fun away from the challenge." Gary admitted to the cameras.
"Personally, I don't have high hopes for them in this challenge," said Gary, carrying the trademark conceited smirk on his face. "But I'll be pleased if they prove me wrong. I'll be shocked, but also very pleased."
"I'll try to help him with the best that I can." Gary knocked at the door to the basement. While waiting for a response, he noticed the two dark brown stains on the carpet. Tiny things like that always captured his attention. Being the grandson of the legendary professor, Gary was unsurprisingly very detail-oriented. It was the trait that kept him at this stage of the game.
"I think that's the reason why they wanted to ask me questions first. He knows I am good with details and will help out the case a lot," Gart concluded his confessional.
"Come in," hissed a low and ominous voice coming in from the room.
Immediately entering upon the alleged room, the door immediately slammed close behind him. The lights were all suddenly flicked off. Gary was trapped in total darkness.
"What the-" He began to curse. A small lamp on a desk then turned on, dimly illuminating the room.
"Are you the kidnapper!?" Kazu suddenly appeared behind him, shouting into his ear.
"No." Gary calmly replied, remaining perfectly unnerved.
"Are you lying!?"
"No."
"Okay, that's all I've got," Kazu shrugged his shoulders and collapsed into a seat beside Kenta. "He's innocent, I tell you."
"Welcome, Gary. Please ignore Kazu's frat antics and take a seat," said Kenta, who was sitting on the other side of the desk. Gary took a seat across from Kenta, feeling slightly weary of the situation.
"So where were you at eleven o'clock today?"
"I spent the entire morning talking with Gramps. We played a few games of backgammon together."
"When did you eat lunch?"
"Noon. You asked him for an autograph, remember? You saw us leave."
"What kind of lunch?" Kazu asked while chewing on his plastic pipe.
"Hamburgers and a bottle of pop, if you are so inclined to know every aspect of my meal."
"Dude, I'm getting hungry," Kazu said, rubbing his tummy.
"When did you come back for lunch?" Kenta asked.
"We came back at two o'clock. Gramps needed to make a call to the laboratory to see if everything is going alright."
"Gary, did you see anything oddly suspicious about Matt or Jessie today?" Kenta asked.
"When we came back to our house, nobody was there. It was only Gramps and me. That was kind of weird because everybody was in the house before we left."
"Where did everybody go?" Kenta asked.
"I don't know."
"You do know!" Kazu accused and pounded his fist on the desk, "Now fess up!"
"Talking with you is an insult to my intelligence."
"You are avoiding the question," Kazu smirked, as if he won the verbal war.
"That's because I don't know the answer."
"When did everybody come back?" Kenta asked.
"I don't remember seeing Team Rocket come back, but I know Matt's little brother came back home at two thirty."
"Holy crap!" Kazu exclaimed. "One of them must be the kidnapper!"
"Oh gee, how did you figure that one out, Sherlock?" Kenta said in a sarcastic tone.
"Elementary, my dear Watson!" Kazu patted Kenta on the back jokingly.
"You do know that Sherlock Holmes never said that in the novels, right?" Gary raised an eyebrow, with an amused smirk on his face. He got up and was walking toward the door before Kazu exclaimed back,
"And do you know what this means, smartass?"
Kazu flipped him the bird.
Misty and Jeri welcomed TK into the basement for his interrogation. Unlike the boys before them, the two girls made the basement into a very friendly environment with bright lights and even soft music in the background.
TK flashed a charming grin, running a hand through his spiky blonde hair. He was Matt Ishida's younger brother after all, so obviously he carried some of his brother's charisma.
"Hello ladies."
"So TK," Misty began, tapping her fingers on the notepad in front of her. Jeri was already writing something down in her journal. "Tell us about your events since arrival."
"Matt and I have been talking and watching some television together during the whole morning. Uh…I got kind of hungry around eleven o'clock so I ordered some Chinese take-out."
Jeri scribbled something down in her journal as TK continued.
"So we ate lunch around twelve. An hour later or so later, I took a shower. And then after that, I stayed in my room and had a good afternoon nap. I didn't know where Matt went though."
"Did you go out at all today?"
"Not unless you count the short trips between the two headquarters when we met for the challenge," TK shook his head. "I don't like going outside when it's freezing."
"When did your brother come back?"
"I don't know, but he woke me up around five and told me to get dressed for the challenge meeting or something."
"Did you notice anything suspicious about Gary or Team Rocket in the house?"
"I don't know about Team Rocket, although they seem like shady people. But Gary woke me up a few times during my nap to ask me where Matt was."
"Do you know why?" Misty asked.
"Not really, but Gary said it was urgent though."
"Very interesting…well, thanks for your help, TK."
As soon as TK left the room, Misty turned to Jeri and asked, "What do you think?"
"Well," Jeri murmured as she referred back to her journal notes, "I don't think TK has any reason to lie to us less Matt is the kidnapper, and he does seem genuinely honest."
"Yeah, me too. But his story doesn't match up with Gary's at all. Gary said that TK was gone from the house when he came back, but TK said that he never left the house today."
Misty closed her eyes and paused for a moment while collecting her new thoughts.
"At least one of them was lying…"
James did not like the situation he was in. Locked in the basement with that feisty redhead twerp was never a good indicator of good things from him…
"Okay fess up, you." Misty wagged her finger in front of the blue haired Team Rocket member. "What did you do today?"
"I was talking with Jessie in the basement the entire day."
"You're lying." Misty cocked her eyebrows up, "You left the house today."
"Merciful heavens! How did you find out!?" James gasped, slamming his hand toward his mouth.
"I have my sources…" said Misty mysteriously, then she raised her voice to a sharp tone. "Don't lie anymore, James!"
"Okay, okay. So Jessie and I followed the professors for lunch. We wanted to steal the key to Professor Oak's lab, so we followed their every move."
"And…?"
"We followed them for two hours, but to no prevail. When they returned home, we sneaked back in."
"So what did the Gary eat for lunch?"
"He ate a hamburger and a medium sized cup of Pepsi," James informed, "And the professor ordered a cheeseburger and a small bag of fries."
"Hmm, anything else after that?"
"Jessie and I gossiped some more in the basement, that's it."
"Did you notice anything suspicious about Matt or Gary?"
"Coming from a guy who lives on suspicion, I'll say they were pretty normal."
"Anything else you want to add?" Misty asked.
"Actually there is one more thing…" James sneered.
"What?"
"I think Matt will explain it a lot better than I could…"
"Hello, Sherlock."
"And you must be Watson, right Kenta?" Matt chuckled as he took a seat in the dark basement, "Cute…real cute."
"You shall refer to us as Mr. Holmes and Dr. Watson, pretty boy." Kazu snapped angrily.
"Excuuuuuse me. Sheesh." Matt made a face, "What's with the dark room anyway? Is this for atmosphere?"
"We are the one asking the questions around here!"
"So Matt," Kenta picked up his pen and asked, "What did you do at eleven today?"
"I was watching something on the tube with my little brother."
"No two sane guys can be in a room for so long without watching por-" Kazu leant forward in interest.
"KAZU! You can ignore that question, Matt."
"Okay, but if Kazu is interested, he can borrow the video after this interview," Matt winked mischievously, "Just kidding."
"What did you guys do after that?"
"I was pretty hungry, so we called take-out for lunch."
"Was there anybody else in the house there?"
"Everybody was still in the house."
"Okay," Kenta nodded his head, "What did you do after lunch?"
"I went outside for a walk alone."
"Alone? Hmm…what time was that?"
"I didn't have a watch with me," Matt said, running a hand through his hair, "I'm guessing around one o'clock or so. And then I paid a visit to your house by one thirty to talk with Misty. I didn't leave until four thirty."
"What were you doing between the times of one o'clock to one thirty?" Kenta asked puzzlingly.
"I told you already, I was taking a walk."
"That's it?"
"Uh yeah, that's it."
"Did you notice anything strange about Gary or Jessie?" Kenta asked.
"When I returned home, Gary was waiting at the door for me. It was kind of creepy," replied Matt, twiddling his fingers together.
"Why? What did you guys talk about?"
"Coalition stuff."
"Well, thanks for your time Matt." Matt got up from his seat and started heading for the door until Kazu chased after him.
"Hey Matt, you said that I can borrow-"
"KAZU!"
"Thanks for taking the time to be here, professor, this should be quick." Misty smiled courteously. The professor returned the polite gesture.
"No problem. Anything I can help with?"
"For starters," Misty started, "Can you tell us what you did this entire day?"
"I went to McDonald's with Gary around noon. We came back around one thirty or two o'clock. And then I have to make an important phone call back to the laboratory. It took at least two hours."
"Okay…did you notice anything weird about the players?"
"Yes, I was glad that you mentioned it." Professor Oak rubbed his chin, "When I was making my phone call in the living room, I remembered hearing a loud noise upstairs in one of the bedrooms. It was like a big thump or something."
"When did this happen?"
"It was around two thirty."
"Where was Team Rocket?" Misty asked.
"Oh…I don't know. I haven't seen them around for the whole day. I think they were in the basement, but I am not too sure…"
"Thanks for your help, professor."
Finally, the last player to be interviewed was Jessie.
The tall red haired diva slowly trotted down the stairs like a model on a catwalk. There was no need to rush in her mind. She had plenty of time! Step by step, she walked slowly down the stairs to the basement. Without knocking the door, she entered the basement.
Kazu was walking around the desk impatiently, turning his head in silence as the Team Rocket made entrance to the room. It was hard to not notice her. Jessie simply had an unavoidable presence about her.
That, and the fact she was in a really, really short mini-skirt that definitely caught Kazu's attention.
"Please take a seat, Jessie. We are almost over."
Jessie didn't make a reply to Kenta's request. She sat down, with one of her foot up on the desk. Kenta gulped. The tables were turned and it was the interrogator was going to be intimidated…by none other than the villainous Jessie.
"T-tell us a-b-bout your day," Kenta stammered.
"Chat with James in the basement, followed the arrogant twerp and his grandfather to McDonald's, tried to steal key, fail, return home, chat with James in the basement." Jessie replied, counting the list with her fingers. "Done."
"Uh…did Matt talk with you at any time today?"
"In the basement at eleven thirty. It only lasted a few minutes," Jessie licked her lips, "A few minutes and then he left."
"Okay so, what did Professor Oak eat for lunch?" Kazu questioned.
"Cheeseburger and a small bag of fries." Jessie did not miss a beat when answering.
"Did you notice anything strange around two-thirty this afternoon?"
"No."
"Did you notice TK around the house today?"
"No."
Suddenly Kazu interjected another impulsive question in.
"How much chance do I have a chance of dating you?"
"Not a chance in hell."
The eleven players were gathered at the heroes' headquarter where Yamaki was holding the final verdict. They were in the living room again, anxiously waiting for Yamaki to announce the results. Kenta in particular looked extremely nervous. He didn't want to lose another challenge again. He didn't want to fail the group again.
"Who kidnapped Takato? If you select the real kidnapper, you will add $75,000 into the pot, and the kidnapper will lose two points in the next quiz for failing." Yamaki said, "If you don't, the kidnapper will win an exemption."
"After going through the six interviews and comparing our notes," Misty said, "We realized that during the time of twelve thirty to two o'clock, Gary and Professor Oak were out of the house and ate lunch at McDonald's."
"Jessie and James proved that they were following them by knowing what they ate at the restaurant," Jeri continued the train of thoughts.
"So therefore, this means that TK and Matt had that entire period of time to kidnap Takato and destroy all the evidence," Kenta concluded. "Ladies and gentlemen, the Ishida brothers are…the kidnappers."
Matt raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. TK wore an uncomfortable look on his face and kept glancing at his brother for support.
"You think Takeru and Yamato are the kidnappers?" Yamaki confirmed.
"Yes, we do. Matt gave a very vague answer of what he was doing from one o'clock to one thirty," Misty said, "And TK's account simply did not match with anybody else's stories. They have to be the kidnappers."
"Okay then…" Yamaki smirked as he looked at Matt and TK, "May the real kidnappers please raise their hands?"
All eyes were targeted toward the two blonde brothers, hoping they would raise their hands. TK sighed and lifted his hand…to scratch his head. But alas, the Ishida brothers made no other movement.
Instead, it was Team Rocket who raised their hands.
"TA-DA!" James exclaimed in glee. "It was us!"
"Team Rocket rules, baby!" Jessie flashed a peace sign to the group.
"It was them!? But how?" Misty asked, feeing totally stupid for not going with her gut instincts. Deep down, she always suspected the nasty duo…but yet…
"Let me give you the whole story," James grinned, "Jessie and I dug our trademark hole in the ground and covered it with snow. The naïve twerp Takato fell right into our pit! Heehee!"
"You can't teach old dogs new tricks…" Gary chuckled at the irony, quickly joined by Professor Oak.
"The thing is that I was in the hole at the same time," Jessie continued, her sneer curling up to an evil nasty smirk, "I gagged and tied him up so he could not make any noise or escape. After patching up the opening again, we stayed in the pit for nearly an entire hour."
"Meanwhile, I followed Gary and Professor to McDonald's and spied on them. I made notes to what they did for lunch so we'll have an alibi," James giggled, "It was so easy! I just told Jessie what they ate and she memorized it! When you guys asked her what the professor ate, it was really what I told Jessie he ate!"
"The real icing on the cake is though…" Jessie's voice is almost sharpening to a cackle, "When Matt left the house at one o'clock to go who-knows-where, I realized that was the best time to strike. I think TK was in there taking a shower or something on the second floor, so he wouldn't hear me move around the house. I used that chance to take Takato from the hole into my room and lock him there. He is there right now."
"Oh, so that's why you wanted your own room!" Matt clapped his hands together, "Genius!"
"My idea!" James gloated.
"So congratulations, Musashi. You played the kidnapping case to a tee!" Yamaki said, "Not only will you receive an exemption this round, you will also know, as your letter informed, that I will add $25,000 into the pot for kidnapping Takato successfully."
"Ooh yeah!" Jessie whooped her hand up in the air. Some of the players clapped to hear that money was actually adding in the pot. It was a consolation prize in their minds.
POT: $193,000/$410,000
"BUT however, please remember that I said specifically you cannot let anybody see your letter," Yamaki held up one finger and suddenly cutting down all the soft applause. "Musashi, you showed your letter to Kojiro, so therefore I must take a penalty of $5,000 off."
"What?" Jessie snapped "Bullshit!"
"We've got it on tape, Musashi. You weren't supposed to show your letter to anyone. This is the consequences for breaking the rules. So the pot now stands at $188,000."
POT: $188,000/$410,000
Jessie sighed. Even at her highest moment, Yamaki has to take all the joy away. Oh well, she thought. I've got an exemption, at least.
But Kenta Kitagawa took the defeat extremely hard. He was staring at the floor, blaming himself for the loss with immense dissatisfaction. After losing to Gary in the Tentacruel challenge, Kenta swore to himself that he will not lose another challenge. This investigation challenge was supposed to be his time to shine, his time at a redemption.
Twice Kenta was given the time to redeem himself in front of the players.
Twice he had failed.
"There will be an execution quiz tonight. One of you will be the Mole's fifth victim. Good luck," said Yamaki in a brief ending note.
The atmosphere was not festive at all. Suspicions were running everywhere in this game.
"We suffered a blowout loss today, and quite frankly, I blamed it on the so-called heroes. It was so obvious that the kidnappers have to be Jessie and James and they couldn't see it! Idiots!" Matt shook his head and rolled his eyes in a camera confessional, "Now we lost seventy five thousand dollars all thanks to the incompetence of Misty, Kenta and Jeri. The three fallen heroes."
"I pulled it off! If only we could be this successful at catching Pikachu!" Jessie sighed dreamily. "I won myself a good ol' exemption and won't be executed tonight. Seeing James again really boosted my spirits. My bitch drive is on maximum and I'm ready to kick all their asses."
"The reason we picked Matt for this challenge was because he didn't cooperate with us very well. He gave very vague answers in the interviews and misled us with false information," Misty confessed. "If he had been clearer and more precise with his information, we wouldn't have lost the challenge. Matt is the one to be blamed for our loss."
Misty aimed her intense glance at the cameras, with a frightfully extreme look in her fiery eyes.
"Matt Ishida sabotaged the challenge."
The players were taken to individual rooms in the two headquarters to take their fifth execution quiz, ten questions about the identity of the Mole.
Gary Oak was scanning his eyes on the second question: Which team was the Mole on?
"This morning, we had a challenge where we could add ten thousand dollars into the pot if we agreed to let the family members leave. Well, these players all prove to be completely nuts by casting the wrong decision! I can't believe they played right into the Mole's hand like this! Am I the only sane one around here!?"
Misty Waterflower clicked the answer Three on the fourth question of the quiz.
"During the questioning, Jeri did very little talking. I had to conduct most, if not all, of the interviews by myself. I just keep thinking that Jeri didn't try very hard during the interrogations. It was as if her mind wasn't even in the challenge. So yes, I do think Jeri's lack of contribution is part of our loss. Added to yesterday's silent auction fiasco, I think Jeri's name is under a lot of heat."
Matt Ishida slid his hand into his blonde hair as he read the sixth question on the screen.
"If you look back in this game, Misty had done a lot of things that are very suspicious. She is a great swimmer, but yet she was eliminated first in the Tentacruel challenge! She has a good head on her shoulders, but for the life of her she can't figure out her biggest nemeses are the kidnappers. I know I am in a coalition with her, but I just realized…have I made a coalition with the Mole?"
After carefully reading the eighth question on the screen, Jeri Katou clicked True and then winced.
"Jessie broke the rules today here, no surprise. She was told not to show the letter to anyone and what does she do? She shows it to her good buddy James. Go figure. And she was the reason why we lost $75,000. If she just confessed that she kidnapped Takato, we could have easily gotten that money into the pot. I hate to say it, but I'm not surprised. Jessie is responsible for a lot of money lost in the challenge."
Kenta Kitagawa was hesitating on the final question of the quiz: Who is the Mole?
"I think all of us played a role in our big loss today. If it was so obvious that Jessie and James were the kidnappers, then why didn't one single person point it out? Matt could have pointed it out. Misty could have pointed it out. Gary could have pointed it out. But instead, we just wag our fingers at each other…and the Mole is disappearing in the midst of this chaos…"
Along with their family members, the six players were seated comfortably in the cozy living room. Yamaki made his lingering appearance in the room, slowly marching to the desk with his deadly laptop.
"Welcome to the fifth execution players. For one of you, the journey ends here. 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 second victim."
Yamaki opened his laptop, and began typing in a four lettered name.
"Juri."
The meek little Jeri closed her eyes as the screen stalled in retort. Takato was sitting beside her, now free from his captive, and was holding Jeri's hand very, very tightly.
tic.
tic.
tic.
tic.
The screen flashed green.
Jeri still had her eyes closed. Takato had to whisper in her ear to announce the happy results. She slowly opened her eyes and smiled weakly at the monitor.
"Kenta."
The young modest boy nervously rocked in his seat as he watched his name being typed in. His best friend Kazu looked mildly bored at the screen.
tic.
tic.
tic.
tic.
The screen flashed red.
Instantly he turned his head away. He could not bare the sight of the fatal red screen any longer. But Kenta could not hide the truth. His time in the game was due.
"Kenta, you are the Mole's fifth victim. You've been executed from the game, please follow me."
Kazu helped his meek friend get up from the couch. Reluctantly, the timid boy gave farewell handshakes with the other five players.After a brief embrace from a soggy looking Jeri, Kenta slowly dragged himself to the front door with Yamaki and Kazu.
As he made his walk of shame, Kenta felt a dim combination of dejection and disappointment. He didn't want to leave the game on a low sour note. After losing $100,000 in his last two challenges, Kenta had been waiting for a chance at redemption…the opportunity to prove to the players that he could achieve something grand. He wanted to make an ultimate underdog comeback, just a chance to demonstrate his worth to everybody.
Instead, he suffered the dwindling fate of mediocrity. He was leaving the game being the same bumbling mediocre nobody he entered the game as. Perhaps it was destined, but Kenta Kitagawa could never achieve greatness.
Then something happened.
It wasn't certain who started the chain reaction. May be it was Jeri, or a compassionate Misty, or even the well-mannered Professor Oak. But one person suddenly started to clap out of nowhere. It wasn't the sound of cruel mockery or mean spirited ridicule. It was the sound of honour, respect and admiration. More people joined in, and the clapping increased as Kenta slowly marched his way out of the door.
The quiet boy couldn't believe his ears. They were clapping…for him? Kenta was shocked. They were cheering him on?
That night, the round of honourable applause spoke more volume than a few farewell words ever will.
The mini-bus was parked at the driveway, ready to deliver Kenta out of the game. The young modest boy zipped up his winter jacket and shivered. It was beginning to snow again.
"Before you go, Kenta, any regrets about the game?" Yamaki asked, brushing a few snowflakes off his shades.
"I wished I did better in challenges," Kenta grinned. "I only won one out of the five that I've been in."
"But the one that you won…you ought to feel tremendously proud of that Pokemon battle, right?"
"You can't take my only win away from me!" He sheepishly laughed. "Yeah, winning that Pokemon battle was truly my highest point in the game."
"Looking back, you made a lot of selfless choices for the game. You refused to participate in any exemption challenges that took money out of the pot. You even volunteered to be neutralized for the sake of the group. I can understand why a lot of the players respected you."
"I guess I had a chip on my shoulder coming into the game. I didn't want to be underestimated, so you know, I tried my best."
"Oh dude!" Kazu suddenly gasped before walking on the bus, "That was the reason why they were clapping for you! They thought you played a great game!"
"No shit, Sherlock." Yamaki rolled his eyes behind his dark shades. Kenta snickered softly as he hopped onto the vehicle.
Slowly driving away, the bus with two passengers faded from the lonely streets of Toronto.
END OF EXECUTION #5
Next Episode: Along Came Zoe
The group reached a unanimous consensus: they are all flabbergasted at the new attractive blonde who likes stirring the pot a little too much. Just who exactly is Zoe Orimoto and what are her intentions?
Author's Notes
I have to admit, Kenta's exit was probably a little melodramatic, but I felt I needed to distinguish his departure from the other players. Kenta always got overlooked in the Tamers series and this was sort of my tribute to him.
This was the longest chapter yet, so I won't drone on. Thanks for reading this, and please review! We are halfway through the story…I'll try to get the chapters moving more quickily!
And here are the official poll results of Who is the Mole from Episode 4, thanks for participating! Misty rose from the least suspicious in Episode 3 to the most suspicious in Episode 4. Will she maintain?
24 percent – Misty
22 percent – Jeri
20 percent – Gary
12 percent
– Jessie, Matt
10 percent – Kenta
Go vote in the Mole Poll for Episode 5 now!