The Mole: Pokemon & Digimon Edition Chapter 6: Episode 6: Along Came Zoe, a digimon/pokemon fanfic

The Mole: Pokemon/Digimon Edition
By: Gomamon

Disclaimer: I don't own it.

Episode 6 – Along Came Zoe

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) EXECUTED FIFTH

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

The Toronto weather was not kind to the five remaining players. Any trace of sunlight was buried under a thick layer of dusky grey clouds suspended in the sky. Since early this morning, a barrage of hail plummeted like an uncontrollable ammunition discharge. Four hours later, the disastrous weather still had not stopped.

CLING!

That was the sound of tiny glaciers crashing into the windowpanes.

CLING!

Misty Waterflower released a frustrated sigh. She kneeled down under her bed and retrieved a furry orange mitten. Her sister Daisy had carelessly left it behind in the room this morning. The ditzy blonde was gone now, along with all of the other family and friends, who all took an early bus ride back home.

"I hope it's safe to drive in this weather," Misty muttered as she stared doubtfully out the window.

The Cerulean gym leader would never admit it in front of the cameras, but she missed her older sister dearly. As much as the two girls teased each other like regular siblings every chance they got, there was also a tight sisterly bond between the pair. But nevertheless, Misty was glad that her sister was out of the picture.

"Don't get me wrong, seeing Daisy gave me a huge boost of energy and relief to my homesickness." Misty explained sincerely to the cameras, "But now that she's gone, I can go back and stay one hundred percent focused to winning this game."

Not once in this game had Misty lost the vision to winning this game. Despite all the other distractions that tempted the weak-willed players, winning was always the first thing on her mind. Nothing will be able to challenge her ambitious determination, no way.

Misty sat down on the couch, directly beside the window of her own room. It was time to record her thoughts in a confessional.

"I can't believe it. I'm in the Final Five!" She giggled softly, with apparent cheerfulness in the tone of her voice. "The five of us are past the halfway mark of this game. Wow, I'm astonished."

CLING!

"Gary's stay in this game is way overdue, in my opinion." Misty couldn't resist snarling a little as she thought of the pretentious professor from Pallet Town. "I tried to be nice to him because everybody deserves a second judgment. But ugh...he is just so darn conceited!"

Misty rolled her eyes. She could almost picture the pompous smirk he constantly wore on his pointed face.

"Gary thinks he is so much smarter and better than the rest of us. Can you imagine how inflated his humongous ego would be if he actually won? He will be rubbing his victory in our faces all the time. I don't even want to think about it."

CLING!

"I just adore Jeri however. She is so, so sweet." Misty beamed to the cameras. "I mean, c'mon! She is the nicest and most friendly girl in the world! How can anyone not like Jeri?"

The gym leader had taken a fond liking to the innocent Tamer with the big puppy eyes. Misty smiled as she glanced over to the pokedex on the desk. Jeri gave it to her this morning as a token of their friendship.

"I treat Jeri like the little sister I never have. Sometimes I feel like I have to protect her under my wing because of how aggressive the other players are. In a conniving group of people with Jessie and Gary, she really reminds me of a little sheep in a pack of wolves. The other players, they don't understand how hard it must be for someone so young to be away from her family and play this game! I'm so proud of Jeri!"

CLING!

"But speaking of Jessie…"

Misty closed her eyes for a second, bitterly smiling to the cameras. With her strong opinions against the Team Rocket member, she could easily write an entire essay on them. She wanted nothing associated with the diva villain, but yet ironically they almost seem inseparable from each other.

"She is everything I would imagine playing this ruthless game, only a hundred times worse." Misty winced slightly. "Jessie is such an extreme player. Everything with her has to be so over the top and dramatic. She seeks pleasure in confrontation, manipulation and stirring the pot to disrupt the harmony in this game. You can't compare her to anyone. There is no lesser of two evils with her, like…"

Misty flashed the cameras a toothy grin.

"Jessie is both…"

CLING!

The feisty redhead turned to the window to observe the weather. Fortunately, the hail was growing weaker and far more lenient.

"Matt and I have a coalition together. We formed it on the first night of the game." Misty said, with her glance transfixed to the window. The cameramen could tell that it was a sensitive subject. Misty Waterflower was an upfront person, and when she did not speak directly into the cameras, they all knew she was hiding something.

"I like Matt. He is very friendly and always makes me feel at ease." Misty smiled weakly. "It's just that…I don't trust him, not one bit."

The handsome blonde would be shocked to hear this, but the Cerulean water expert was onto his ingenious plan. While she was not entirely immune to his flirtatious charm, the sharp girl was slowing unrevealing the layers of his disguised manipulation.

Because Misty realized that with the recent removal of Kenta, Matt Ishida now had a coalition with every single player in the game.

And that made him suddenly very powerful…

The alert eyes of Gary Oak gazed up to the sky, pondering in fascination. Although the hail had cleared up, the ominous sky was still in a dull shade of grey. The young professor stood in the center of a huge oval-shaped ice rink. To his left, there was a net goal set at the end of the rink. The net was medium in size and almost resembled almost like a goal used in soccer. But the players weren't about to play soccer. They were going to partake in…

"Hockey, baby!" Matt exclaimed, as he finished tying the knot on his skates. Grabbing the remaining hockey stick on the ground, he carefully trekked to join Gary and the three girls on the ice.

"Are you feeling cold, pretty boy?" Jessie asked, grinning very mischievously as she saw the strapping blonde zip up his jacket. "Because I could always wrap my arms around your sexy neck for warmth."

While Jeri and Misty exchanged awkward glances with each other, Gary Oak only rolled his eyes. He was not impressed with the blatant flirting going on. After all, he never respected Yolei for hovering around him like a love drunken bee. He was, however, growing weary of the intimacy between Matt and Jessie. They were growing too close for Gary's liking. What if they developed something beyond harmless flirting?

What if they had a coalition?

Shaking his head in ridicule, the young professor from Pallet Town turned away. Now was not the time to overanalyze that problem right now. He had to stay focused in the challenge and not let other thoughts distract his mind.

And that's when he first saw her.

She came dressed in a hot pink jacket, cuddled with a cute magenta helmet and a pair of fluffy white scarf around her neck. Her radiant blonde hair blew like gentle waves in the soft breeze. Hidden behind a pair of dark shades, it only made the huge white smile grew brighter. Her slim figure and her poise went well together, showcasing its most beautiful traits about her.

"Players, I like you to meet Izumi Orimoto," Yamaki gestured as the Italian girl skated gracefully – almost flawlessly - across the ice.

"You can call me Zoe for short," Zoe winked flirtatiously, followed by a girlish giggle.

"Hello there, Miss Orimoto" Matt clicked his teeth together, never one to stop flattering a girl – let alone a beautiful one like her. "My heart is suddenly beating ten times faster when I see someone as beautiful as you."

"Miss Orimoto will be participating in this little hockey session with us," Yamaki said. "She is an excellent hockey player and will be spending the next two hours preparing you with the basic skills of hockey."

To demonstrate, Zoe picked up her hockey stick on the ice as she quickly positioned the stick to the puck. In one gentle and divine swing, the puck swooshed directly into the net.

"Wow…that's really amazing!" Misty gasped, blinking her eyes quickly to make sure they weren't playing tricks on her. Matt whistled in astonishment as well, and the picky blonde was usually very hard to impress.

"Come on, y'all! We are going have some fun playing hockey," Zoe flashed her brightest grin yet. Reaching out her long skinny arm, she grabbed Gary's hand, pulling him across the ice. "Starting with you, cutie!"

Her melodious voice sounded so sweet, so cute, and oh so innocent. There was a stint of purity to her soft and melodious tone. As Gary slowly followed the blonde beauty on the ice, he cracked a humble smile that rarely appeared on his stone face. He was a man of high expectations, but her seemingly perfection met with all of his satisfaction. It was almost as if the presence of Zoe finally added a little warmth to his icy persona.

Zoe Orimoto was truly a goddess.

But soon enough, Gary will learn that he couldn't be more wrong…

Although Zoe was a seemingly petite girl, she definitely came with a lot of brute force. Gliding through the ice with raging speed, she smacked the puck with her hockey stick, once again scoring another goal in the net. Along the sidelines, Matt and Gary both clapped and hollered.

"It's called a slap shot! Did y'all like it?" She asked in her girl-next-door voice. The guys responded and showered her with flattering answers. "Aww thanks, guys! You are so sweet!"

Elsewhere in a distance, Jessie scowled at the attention the blonde was receiving. She was not someone to be showcased or be outperformed by another person, let alone a puny skinny twerp like her!

"Did y'all like it? Did y'all really like it?" She mocked as she threw her hands up in the air. "As soon as that scrawny tramp appeared, the guys had been hovering around her like flies. Everything that plastic Barbie doll is so fake and phony, how can anybody not see through it? So what if she is good at hockey, who gives a damn?"

She smirked evilly to the cameras, flashing her villain side at its best.

"Y'all know what I'd like to do? I like to kick that skinny bitch's ass all the way back to Italy or wherever she came from"

Misty and Jeri were practicing together at a distant section of the rink. While Zoe had been nothing but genuinely friendly, both of the girls couldn't help but notice that their blonde instructor spent a lot of time flirting with the guys. Other than teaching them about the basics, Zoe had been neglecting most of the females throughout the two hour session.

"I'll admit...it is kind of annoying that Zoe is setting these obvious divisions." Misty shrugged. "I get it, she likes to hang out with the guys better. I get it, but I just don't like it.

"Zoe is a little snobby," echoed Jeri. "I don't like her that much either."

"It's just that she flaunts her sex appeal too much. She kind of reminds me of…"

"Jessie!" Both of these girls chimed the diva's name together and then giggled softly. The resemblance was too uncanny.

The two girls returned to their little practice together. Misty gently hit the puck with her stick to Jeri. Jeri lifted her stick up high and delivered an awkward stroke, but she completely missed the puck.

"I guess I'm not just an athlete," said Jeri, chasing after the puck.

"Aww! It's alright, Jeri! No one is good at everything," Misty wrapped one arm around Jeri and gave her a squeeze in the shoulder. "I'm sure you'll do better in the challenge."

"Thanks Misty…" Jeri smiled faintly to the friendly redhead.

Since the auction blowout, the shy little girl withdrew into her shell and refused to talk to anyone. But slowly and progressively, she was recovering from her self esteem. May be soon enough, she will learn to trust some of the players again…

"But never trust a player completely." Jeri sheepishly grinned to the cameras in a private confessional. "I know how to play the game too!"

Her big innocent eyes shifted over to Jessie, who was casually filing her nails. She was sitting outside of the rink, having already given up on hockey an hour ago. Suddenly, the Team Rocket diva looked up from her nails and shot a straight glare at Jeri. It was so intense that Jeri could feel like her fiery eyes were penetrating through her skull. As their eyes met and locked with each other for a few seconds, Jeri couldn't help but turn her head away.

Jessie had won this showdown.

Yamaki reappeared at the ice rink an hour later, as the players skated across the ice to meet him. Zoe and Gary were first to arrive, being the natural athletes that they were. Jeri Katou, not the swiftest player on ice, was the last to join the group.

"Players, welcome to your next challenges which will obviously involve hockey, so I hope you polished your skills," said Yamaki. "There will be two different types of hockey games going on. I'll need two players who are interested in playing the pinball mode."

"Pinball mode? What the hell?" Jessie exclaimed.

"That sounds fun!" Misty grinned, raising her hand. She was always someone anticipating an adventure. Beside her, Matt also raised up his hand.

"Great, you two will be playing in a later game. But as for the other three players, your game starts now. It's quite simple, really. Each of you will be facing against Izumi individually."

Jeri muttered something under her breath while wearing an uncomfortable look on her face. She could even barely hold a hockey stick properly. How would she ever defeat someone as good as Zoe? Sometimes the odds just weren't in her favour…

"You can either shoot or goal. Miss Orimoto will take the other position. If you shoot, you must try to score in a goal against Zoe. If you're a goalie, you must block a goal scored by Zoe. Easy enough?"

"What's the catch?" Matt asked. He had been in enough of these challenges to know that there was a catch. There was always a catch.

"If you are successful, you will add a certain amount of money. However, you will each be playing a different amount of money. One of you will be playing for 10,000. Another will be playing for 20,000. The last player will be playing for 30,000."

"I'll play for the 30,000 shot, seeing as I'm the best hockey player around here." Gary piped up.

"Who died and made you boss?" Jessie scoffed.

"I'll take the 10,000 shot..." Jeri said timidly.

"In that case Juri, you will be facing against Izumi first. Do you want to shoot or goal?"

"Goal. It should be easier."

"Take your hockey stick and get to the goal…remember, you will be trying to block her shot. So don't let her score!"

Jeri skated slowly and cautiously to the net goal. She didn't feel confident with this match up at all. She watched Zoe danced her way through the ice, gathering rowdy whistles from both Gary and Matt. And Jeri knew it was useless. There is no way I could beat her!

"Get to your position," Yamaki declared, "Get ready…set…go!"

Jeri tried to expand her tiny arms and legs to cover as much space of the goal as possible. Zoe did not hesitate to smack the puck with a powerful swing. Jeri lifted her hockey stick to stop the puck, but it flew right past her shoulder and landed into the goal. It wasn't even close.

"Izumi wins!"

"That was awesome, Zoe!" Matt shouted as Gary nodded his head in approval. Jessie immediately glared at the two men. What the hell? We are on the same boat, why are you cheering on the enemy?

"Aww thanks, y'all!" Zoe grinned, flashing a peace sign to the group watching from the sidelines.

Jessie wanted to rip that phony grin off her face. She hated that shrew.

"Our next match…Musashi versus Izumi! This is for 20,000 into the pot!" Yamaki said, watching Jessie angrily stomp on the ice. He had enough experience with women to tell that Jessie was furious right now. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

"I'll be the goalie." Jessie said in an angry voice. She quickly skated over to the net with her hockey stick, holding it like a warrior's sword. She was ready to take Zoe Orimoto down.

"Good luck!" Zoe giggled to Jessie. That only made her even angrier.

"Ready…set…go!"

Jessie narrowed her eyes in focus at the puck. At the corner of her eyes, she saw the swift motion of Zoe raising her hockey stick and slamming it on the black puck. The puck swiftly glided through the ice in a straight line. Jessie immediately shifted her feet, grabbed her hockey stick and blocked it. The puck hit the rim of the hockey stick and bounced off elsewhere.

"Musashi won the match! 20,000 into the pot!"

As the others clapped in applause, Jessie only smirked at the awestruck blonde standing in front of her. The tall beautiful Team Rocket member smirked. Nobody messes with Jessie.

"And the final match is between Shigeru and Izumi. This is for 30,000 into the pot!"

"I'll shoot," said the professor. Gary skid across the ice as he took a deep breath. Inside his head, he needed to constantly remind himself that to concentrate. He must concentrate in order to win this challenge.

But as soon as he took one glance at the beautiful Zoe Orimoto by the goal, his hearts faltered and his focus scattered, how could anyone stay focused? Gary put one of his shaky hands on the hockey stick, nervously glancing at the puck in front of him. It seemed like such an easy task to just put the puck into the net.

"Get ready…set…go!"

Gary took a hard shot…

…and he missed completely. The puck didn't even come close to the net, in fact, it went completely off course.

"Izumi won this match! Shigeru did not put 30,000 into the pot! You've added 20,000 into the pot, raising your tally to 208,000."

POT: 208,000/470,000

"How could you have missed that?" Jessie yelled out in rage, "You spent two freaking hours in a private teaching session with her!"

Gary didn't reply back. Always someone who doesn't lose his cool, Gary opted to ignore the feisty temper. He turned around to take one last glance at Zoe. The radiant, gorgeous Zoe Orimoto…

He knew this was worth it.

The skating rink was cleared for the next stage of the challenge. Misty and Matt watched in fascination as dozens and dozens of hockey nets were lined up next to each other at the end of the rink. In the centre, there is a very tiny net that was coloured gold from top to bottom.

"Welcome to the pinball challenge! Unlike the last challenge, you will not be facing Miss Orimoto." Yamaki said, "Instead, you will each get one try to shoot your puck into one of those goals. On each goal, there is a certain value of money you can add to the pot, ranging from 0 to 30,000."

"The gold one must only have 30,000 in it." Matt stated.

"Correct. You understand how this pinball concept works, right? Both Yamato and Kasumi will get one puck to score into one of the many goals. Whichever goal your puck lands in will be the amount of money you add to the pot."

"Got it," said Misty.

"So let's begin…who wants to go first? Remember, you only get one puck…"

"I'll go first," Matt volunteered. He picked up his hockey stick and skated to the designated spot he was supposed to stand in. In front of him, there was the black puck he was supposed to shoot in one of the goals.

"You're the man, Matt!" Zoe exclaimed. Jessie rolled her eyes in irritation. How she wished she could shut the tramp up.

Matt winked back at Zoe before raising his hand for a full swing. Like a professional golfer, Matt had the perfect poise as he swung the stick. The puck slid quickly in a straight line, heading directly to the golden net until it suddenly changed direction and narrowly landed in the 10,000 net.

"Damn it!" Matt sighed, running a head through his blonde hair. "So close, yet so far away…"

"Yamato adds 10,000 into the pot," said Yamaki. "Kasumi, you're up next."

The petite Cerulean gym leader skated to her position. With a hockey stick in her hand, she gave it a powerful whip. The puck went in a zigzag fashion very rapidly, bouncing all over the place, until it sharply nested into the 25,000 goal.

"Kasumi adds 25,000 into the pot. This brings up the pot tally to 243,000! Congratulations!"

"Yessss!" Misty raised her hand in triumph. Behind her, the rest of the players gave a round of joyous clapping.

"Great job, Misty!" Jeri beamed, "You are the best!"

"No kidding! You rock!" Matt added, putting his hand around the girl's shoulder. Even Gary and Zoe were clapping for her. Only Jessie stood there with her arms folded, wearing a slight frown on her face.

Jessie can never be happy at a twerp's victory. Misty smiled to herself. I couldn't ask for that much.

POT: 243,000/530,000

Matt Ishida felt like he was unstoppable. The magnetic blonde was now in a coalition with everybody left in the game. Misty, Jeri, Gary and Jessie…they were all dangling by his fingers, trusting every word that he says. This new position made Matt feel very comfortable, but at the same time, he was also very worried.

"Because if I'm not the Mole and I'm allied with everyone else in this game…" Matt paused, attempting to tease the cameraman a little bit. "That means one of my coalition partners is the Mole. I have been working with a Mole and I didn't even know it."

"To think all this time I was in a coalition with the Mole! Oh, the irony of it all!" Matt chuckled heartily, running his hand through his hair.

But deep inside, the charismatic teenager was confused, lost and even a little betrayed. He was tangled in a messy web of coalitions with four people he put absolute trust in. He spent so much time building a steady trust foundations and friendship with each ally – now it abhorred him that one of his trustworthy allies had been lying to him. One of them was the Mole.

And he didn't know who it was.

Realizing that the cameras had captured a few moments of his vulnerability, Matt tried to disguise it by seductively winking to the cameras. "Don't worry though. I have all my bases covered. I have access to everybody's thoughts. I won't even have to break a sweat!"

But needless to say, Matt did have his suspicions. He was always weary of one particular ally. She was the defect, the chip in his shielded armour, the virus in his fluent system. He was always suspicious of this young innocent girl who befriended him on the second day. Ever since that challenge when she showed a tiny hint of rebellion, Matt knew there was something wrong with her.

"Oh look, there she is. The little sneak…" Matt whispered to the cameraman. He stretched his long tanned arm and waved to the girl who exited her bedroom.

Misty waved back.

Jessie did not trust Matt Ishida from Day One. She didn't even trust him when they made the secret "kiss" coalition with each other. And now, Jessie was growing leery of the manipulative blonde. She had watched him go from Misty's room to Jeri's room to Gary's room all over the house the entire day.

"If he is having multiple coalitions, then he isn't doing a very good job at hiding it up," remarked Jessie in a confessional. "I mean, how much can I trust that guy?"

Jessie watched Matt Ishida strut his muscular body confidently into the dining room. The blonde placed a seat beside Zoe Orimoto and the pair immediately jumped into an enticing conversation, ignoring Jessie's presence in the room completely.

As all the other players gathered in the room for a quick lunch, it had a very light atmosphere. Matt was the center of all the conversations of course, chatting mostly to Zoe Orimoto. But nevertheless the mood was festive and even Jeri was starting to feel a little talkative in the conversation.

Matt's eye met the clock in the room. He doesn't know if he will have any more free time to talk with his final coalition partner Jessie today, so he will need to have a little strategic discussion with her now.

"Jessie," Matt cleared his throat as he got up from his seat. "I have something to show you in my room."

"What? Can I come?" Zoe giggled.

"May be next time, sweetheart." Matt grinned, patting the giddy blonde on the shoulder.

"Why am I not included? You've already talked with everybody in the room today! I saw you go into everybody's room!" Zoe grinned.

"What are you talking about, silly? It's nothing." Matt said sharply. He didn't like how this conversation was turning out to be.

"Wait a second here…" Gary narrowed his eyes at Matt suspiciously. "Are you doing what I think you are doing?"

"He brings his journal with him every time he goes into your room! I saw him!" Zoe laughed, oblivious to Matt's horror for her words.

"Hell no!" Jessie angrily rose up from her seat. "I knew it! You have been in a coalition with the other three members all along!"

"What? But-" Misty responded with shock.

"No!" Matt's face went white as he tried to defend himself. "You don't understand what is-"

"Damn it." Gary scrunched up his face. "I can't believe you have a coalition with everyone here! I thought you said I was your only coalition member!"

"Me too!" Jeri added.

"Guys and girls," Matt cracked into a nervous smile. "This is just a big misunderstanding…"

"We've caught you, Ishida. We've caught you by the tail. You have been manipulating us all along. I should've known better than to trust you." Jessie wagged her finger at the blonde's face.

"I can't believe you shared all my info with Jessie…" Jeri muttered, with a dejected look on her face. "I trusted you, Matt."

"He promised me that he won't tell anybody about what I wrote in my journal." Gary shook his head slowly and sighed. "Damn it."

"Traitor! Forget it, this coalition is over!" Jessie yelled. "I trusted you, Ishida, when you said that you wanted to work with me, and only me. But I didn't know you shared this info with everyone. You…you betrayed my trust. You do not mess with my trust!"

As the Team Rocket member stomped away from the dining room, the others followed in a less angry manner, leaving only Matt in the room by himself. Matt buried his face in his hands, unable to comprehend what just happened. The damage had been dealt amongst everyone. No sweet talking or charm could ever buy back his coalitions.

If Matt Ishida had any chance at a victory now, he will have to win it solely by himself.

Some players were livid, some players were disappointed…but they have all now broken ties with Matt Ishida. It was now officially an individual game.

"I'm really disappointed in Matt." Jeri said in a confessional, in a soft almost inaudible murmur. "When he asked me for a coalition, I trusted that he wouldn't share my info with anyone else. I worked so hard to collect this info and I can't believe everyone is getting a hold of it too. I guess you just can't trust anyone in this game."

"Matt really let me down today, when all his secrets come flying out. I must be a fool to trust him in the first place" Misty echoed.

But nevertheless the game must continue on, the five players quietly met with Yamaki and Zoe for the next challenge. They were in the middle of a forest. Dead trees and stumps surrounded the place like a daunting graveyard. There were also snow and ice everywhere, making it very difficult to walk in.

"Hello players," said Yamaki. The host sensed the unusual quietness amongst the chatty group. "It is time for our next challenge."

He pulled out a few digivices from his pocket. They were in various forms of colours.

"I hope you do remember these little gadgets…they are called digivices. There are twenty digivices scattered somewhere in this forest. Your task is to find ten of them and then bring it back here. For every digivice you bring back, you add 10,000 to the pot."

Yamaki paused to wait for a reaction. But none of the players seemed too excited or animated about this challenge.

"Miss Orimoto will be participating in this challenge as the hunter. She will enter the game at some time and can remove you out of the challenge with snowballs."

"Snowballs?" Misty raised her eyebrow.

"If she successfully hits you with a snowball at any part of the body, you are eliminated from the challenge on the spot. So be careful of that. There is no time limit in this challenge, but it will end if ten digivices are retrieved or all the players are removed. Understand?"

"Can we hit the girl back to eliminate her?" Jessie asked.

"No, you may not eliminate Izumi out of the challenge," replied Yamaki. He saw the evident disappointment shown on Jessie's face. "Please remember, you only add money into the pot if you bring the digivice back, right here."

"If there are no more questions, then let's begin. Bring back ten digivices to add 100,000 into the pot! On your marks, get set and go!"

Gary Oak was the first to dash off, running madly into the forest. It was difficult tramping through the snow wearing a heavy winter jacket, but he was moving at an agile speed. Matt and Misty quickly followed behind, running off in different directions. Soon, all five players were separated and scrambling everywhere in the deep dark forest.

Yamaki checked his watch and glanced over at Zoe, who was humming a casual and light tune. Slowly, he nodded his head.

"Miss Orimoto, it's time."

Zoe gently bent over and scooped up a handful of snow in her mittens. Tenderly and carefully, she rolled the snow up into a hard solid snowball. And then Zoe Orimoto disappeared into the forest, hunting for her prey…

Gary swiftly turned his head frantically to both sides, scanning around everywhere for a hidden digivice. Looking up and down, left and right…he finally saw a red one hanging by a tree branch with a rope. He ripped the digivice off the branch and put it in his pocket before continuing on.

Nearby, Misty trekked speedily through the snow, also searching for a digivice high and low. Using her keen eagle-like eye, she detected one poking out of the snow by a tree. She grabbed it in her hand and maintained her expedition…

Elsewhere, Jessie was having difficulty finding a digivice anywhere. May be because she was impatient, or may be she wasn't careful enough. But the Team Rocket member was already frustrated at this point of the challenge.

"Where could they have hid some stupid digivice?" Jessie asked herself, in a bitter and annoyed tone.

She leant back on a tree in exhaustion. Three minutes into the challenge and Jessie already lost all will to continue on.

May be I should just eliminate myself, she thought.

Just then, she heard some heavy footsteps approaching. It was the sound of a pair of boots squashing its way through the snow. And it was getting very near to Jessie.

Jessie held her breath, stealthily using the tree as a cover. If the hunter was really behind her, Jessie would not be detected standing behind this tree. But one movement or one sound would give away her position, so the vocal diva finally had to shut her mouth. She must be quiet…

The footsteps died down, or at least they seemed to be heading toward another direction. Carefully, Jessie turned her head and took a sneak peek…

She saw a glimpse of a figure with blonde hair move quickly behind a tree. Was it Matt or was it Zoe? Perhaps it could even be Yamaki!

Then she saw another figure running away into a faraway distance. This other figure was also a blonde too…and that's when Jessie realized the scenario. Zoe was hunting down Matt and the dashing blonde was running away from her.

But it was no use. Zoe pitched the snowball directly at Matt's back. He was hit.

"Matt is eliminated!" Zoe called out in the forest. There was an echo to her sweet loud voice. Matt hanged his head disappointedly, and walked off away. The blonde didn't even stand a chance in the challenge.

Jessie gasped and quickly returned to her hiding spot behind the tree. They didn't even collect one digivice yet and they were already one member down. Jessie suddenly felt a spark inside her. No, it wasn't a spark. It was more like a fire. Her competitive fire was burning up.

Oh, it was on!

Jessie was not going down in this challenge without a fight for her life.

Jeri Katou was moving very cautiously in the forest, almost like a mouse sneaking through the layers of snow. She had a digivice in her hand. Now all she needed to do was to return to the starting position and she would add 10,000 into the pot.

When she heard Zoe's singsong voice in the forest, announcing the elimination of Matt Ishida, it shook Jeri up a little bit. Zoe was on the move and Jeri had to be even more careful and watchful of her every step. One wrong move could get her eliminated from the challenge.

But Jeri wasn't an athlete like Gary or Misty, she was just a fragile little girl. Her only way of survival was to hide and be sneaky throughout. It would be a slow progress, but Jeri had the patience to complete this strategy. Jeri had the patience to win it all.

Elsewhere in the forest, Gary Oak was on a rampage. Like a monkey, he climbed up a tree to retrieve the digivice at an unusual height. After stuffing it in his jacket pocket, he grinned to himself. Having already found a number of digivices in this forest, it boosted his confidence and ego by a lot. This was going to be so easy.

Not as lucky was Misty, who despite a good start was now struggling to find a second digivice. On top of that, she was also getting a little lost in this dark dense forest. She had no sense of direction, so even finding her original starting position was going to be difficult.

"Good thing there aren't any bugs here," Misty laughed softly. "Or I will just freak out."

It was about fifteen minutes into the challenge, and fatigue clearly gotten into the little girl's body. She moved at a much slower speed than she originally started, and her guard was a lot lower. If Zoe was to attack her right now, Misty would be totally helpless. Although Misty had to wonder, can she outrun the swift Italian?

But one thing was for sure. Misty wasn't going to give up. Misty Waterflower was not a quitter.

Just then, her head perked up at a booming voice in the forest. It was Yamaki's monotonous voice.

"One digivice retrieved! 10,000 added to the pot!"

"Only nine more to go!" Misty whispered to the cameras as she continued walking through the forest without any direction at where she's going.

And just then, Misty spotted a digivice lying on a small boulder. It was just right there in the open. Grinning to herself, Misty dashed speedily over to retrieve her second digivice.

That's when she got hit by a snowball, struck at her left knee. In a shocked trance, Misty swiftly turned her head at the direction of the snowball. There Zoe was, standing there by the tree and smiling sweetly at the gym leader. It was a trap all along set by the hunter to catch the prey, and Misty fell right into it.

A little upset, Misty placed down her two digivices on the boulder, according to the rules. She caught another glimpse of Zoe's smile. But only to Misty, it wasn't so sweet and innocent as she thought before. It was very, very vindictive.

"Misty Waterflower is eliminated!"

Jessie couldn't help but grin at Misty's demise from the challenge. Even walking alone in this challenge with only a cameraman tagging her, Jessie was smirking and gloating with utmost joy.

"If there is justice in this game, that announcement would be what we called…foreshadowing." Jessie rubbed her hands together. "I'd love it if that little twerp got executed next. It would make my whole game out here worth it, just to see her scrawny ass get executed before I win."

She silently laughed, not wanting to alert Zoe. But as much as she was celebrating over Misty's elimination, Jessie also realized that it was slowing down the progress of this challenge. The sassy Team Rocket member still had not found one single digivice in this forest.

"Where are all these stupid digivices?" Jessie mumbled, flipping her hair furiously across her shoulder. "It's so hidden I can't even find one!"

While Jessie was having trouble with her searching skills, Gary did not have such a problem. He spotted another digivice nearby. It was on top of a sheet of ice. He would have to skate across it to retrieve the gadget.

But Gary was a very cautious man. Even as he approached the ice, he was extremely cautious. For all he knew, Zoe could be hiding somewhere…waiting for him to have his guard down.

Ah, beautiful Zoe Orimoto…

That's when Gary heard something moved. With his sharp ear, he was certain he heard a movement. But now Gary tensed up and paused on the spot. He knew he was being watched. And if it was who he thought she was…then Gary was in danger of elimination.

Slowly, he skated across the ice to retrieve the gadget. He was alarmed of course, knowing that someone was hiding from him. As he bent down to pick up the digivice, he heard a sharp sound coming his way.

SWOOSH!

Gary ducked as the snowball flew past his shoulder, landing a few inches from where he was standing on the ice. Perfect timing. Gary smirked and glided away. He didn't even need to turn around to know that Zoe was after him.

He easily avoided a few more snowball throws, although they came very close, Gary was just too agile to be hit. And soon Gary reached the other side of the ice, quickly and successfully escaping from his predator. He knew he could outrun Zoe with his fast legs on land, and that's what exactly happened here.

Ah, beautiful Zoe Orimoto…

Matt Ishida sat in a slouch on a big log quietly. After his early elimination, he had returned to the pit stop and needed to wait until the challenge was over. Beside him, Yamaki was busily working on his laptop and communicating with Zoe through his cell phone.

"She got you too, huh?" Misty smiled lightly as she dragged her feet out of the forest.

"That Zoe girl is a sneaky little thing," Matt grinned. Misty chuckled softly and took a seat in between Matt and Yamaki.

And suddenly there was a weary air of silence in between the two former coalition partners. Matt was looking down at the snowy grounds while Misty was looking hopefully up at the sky. But they both knew one thing…they couldn't trust each other.

Pulling his head up, Matt put on the best superficial chipper smile on his face. When all was said and done, nobody can deny the fact that Matt was a slick guy. If he wanted, he could easily charm and sweet talk his way back into Misty's good graces. Matt knew he could.

Time to work the Ishida magic…

"Misty, I know I'm not your favourite person right now," He snuck in a sheepish smile, "But will you please listen to my side of the story first before ignoring me?"

"I'm sorry, Matt. But I don't really want to talk about it right now," Misty replied uncomfortably. She turned away from him in hopes of avoiding a conversation she would not like to have.

"Misty…" Matt lowered his voice to a soft, gentle whisper. "Ever since Sora left this game, I felt so, so lonely…it's almost like I didn't have a single friend left in this game. I was so insecure and alone…that I needed to make a coalition with everyone."

Matt paused as he let his carefully chosen words sink into Misty's head. He knew that friendship was a sensitive topic that the Cerulean gym leader could relate to. He knew it would be in his benefit to manipulate this fact to buy back some trust from Misty.

"But I want you to know that you are the only person I'm true to, Misty. Jessie and Gary? Ugh, I want nothing to do with those people." Matt continued, "And you know I love Jeri to death, but let's face it, she doesn't have what it takes to win this game."

Misty closed her eyes, not replying as she attentively listened to Matt's plea. She was taking every word that he said and dissolving it carefully in her mind.

"The final three in this game should be you, me and the Mole." Matt grinned, running a hand through his fair blonde hair. "And the best way to achieve that goal is for us to work together again…"

Damn, this is getting good! Yamaki stopped typing on his laptop as he drew more attention into the blonde's captivating speech.

"After all, you don't want me to turn into another Tracey icon out here again, do ya?"

Matt knew he struck a sensitive topic that will surely earn him sympathy points. Misty always felt awful at how her Pokemon Watcher friend received a horrible treatment during his last few days of this game. If anything, Misty was not the type of friend to treat people like that. She would have to forgive him. It was the right thing to do.

Misty did not respond Matt in words, choosing to reply back by embracing Matt in a friendly and brotherly hug. And at that moment, Matt knew he had Misty under his control again. The two of them were in a coalition together until the bitter end. His Ishida magic worked like a charm.

But what Matt didn't know that Misty wasn't this naïve little girl he always imagined her to be. He was totally oblivious that Misty Waterflower did not believe a single word out of his mouth.

And suddenly, they heard footsteps approaching. It was the slow treading of Jeri Katou, huffing and puffing, as she dropped the second digivice into the host's hand.

"Two digivices retrieved! Another 10,000 added to the pot!" Yamaki declared as Jeri scurried off into the forest again with a train of thoughts running in her head. The little girl just saw the hug exchanged between Misty and Matt, and she did not like it at all.

Reaching his hand into a snowy bush, Gary Oak pulled out another digivice. Like all the others that he collected, he stuffed his newly found digivice into his jacket pocket before continuing on his journey.

"Three more digivices and I'll be able to add 100,000 into the pot." Gary smirked in front of the cameras, taking every chance he had to gloat.

But luck was not on Jessie's side. Unlike the conceited professor, she was having a lot of difficulty even finding or locating one digivice.

"Arrgh! It's almost like these digivices vanished or something!" Jessie complained.

"This is such a stupid challenge!" The tall diva sniffled as she continued to march in the snow. "I'm cold, I'm tired and I can't find a damn digivice! What does a sister have to do to locate one of them?"

And suddenly she heard another movement. Jessie felt someone moving sneakily behind her, jumping and hiding behind trees. Slowly turning her head around, Jessie saw nobody. But it didn't clear her doubts…it only made her more suspicious of her surroundings.

It has to be that little bitch Zoe! Jessie thought to herself as she picked up her pace in the snow. Imagine the humility of being eliminated without even collecting one digivice! No, it CAN'T happen!

She also heard the footsteps increasing its speed behind her. Jessie growled angrily, now running through the snow. As she was dashing through the snow with speed, a snowball flew past and whammed into a nearby tree. Jessie was now certain that Zoe was behind her, and if she stopped at any moment, Zoe would catch up.

As she was running mindlessly in the forest, Jessie spotted a round unidentifiable object lying in the middle of the floor. Was it a digivice, or just a shiny rock?

Should I take my chances and go for it? Even with that bitch right behind my tail? Jessie didn't have much time to think as she impulsively dashed forward to the object.

As she approached closer and closer, she identified it as a digivice. Jessie did it! She found her first digivice! The Team Rocket member was just about to bend down and pick up the digivice when another hand snatched up the digivice out of her reach.

"What the…?" Jessie looked up and saw Jeri Katou holding a digivice.

No, it wasn't just any digivice. It was Jessie's digivice.

"Give it back, twerp! I saw it first!" Jessie angrily demanded.

"What are you talking about? We are on the same boat here!" Jeri nervously countered. She wasn't about to be bullied by Jessie again.

"The digivice…I saw it first! Now fork it over or else!"

"N…n-no!"

Suddenly Jeri felt something hit the back of her jacket. Turning her head around nervously, she hoped it was not what she thought it was…But the fact was inevitable, she was just hit by a solid and firm snowball, delivered by no other than Zoe Orimoto.

"Jeri Katou is eliminated from the challenge!"

While Jeri still needed time to respond to the shock, Jessie did not waste a second of this valuable time. She grabbed the digivice out of the girl's hand and made a mad dash to escape from Zoe's wrath. The blonde hunter jumped out of her stealthy hiding place, chasing after the tall villain in her trails.

She quickly rolled up a patch of snow into a firm and solid snowball. Then using her best baseball pitch, she threw it at the Team Rocket member's direction…

"I only need one more digivice for a full set," Gary grinned confidently to the cameras. With Zoe busily distracted by Jessie's runaway, the whole forest was now open. The young professor had no difficulty roaming around the forest and finding all the needed digivices.

"This is kind of like a scavenger hunt. That's pretty cool…" he remarked.

Gary continued treading through the snow without a care. With laser-like eyes, he eyed his surroundings very carefully, without missing a single spot. From top to bottom, left to right, tree to boulders…

"Aha! There it is!"

Gary pointed his finger at a golden digivice hanging on top of a tall evergreen tree. The final digivice hung there like an ornament on a Christmas tree…just waiting to be taken off. With little effort, Gary managed to climb the tree and retrieved the golden digivice, completing his set. He was now making his way back, with a potential 100,000 in his jacket pocket.

Meanwhile Jessie was still being chased by Zoe. The Team Rocket member might have long beautiful legs, but she sure knew they weren't made for long distance running on snow! She was out of breath and almost pushed to her limit to stop. Worst of all, Zoe Orimoto showed no sign of fatigue.

Damn it! How can she follow me? How does she know where I'm going?

Jessie stared down at her feet and that's when she realized the answer. She had been leaving her footprints on the snow, making it very easy for Zoe to just follow wherever she went.

"I'm lost and I don't know where I am," Jessie scratched her head. She could hear Zoe's footsteps gradually increasing speed and distance, but on top of all that, she could also here the soft murmurs…of human voices?

Could it be?

Following her gut instinct, Jessie followed where she heard the noise. Sure enough, she found the original starting point. It was Matt and Misty's chatting that directed her to the place. Sighing in relief, the Team Rocket member gleefully handed a digivice over to the host.

"The third digivice is retrieved! Another 10,000 added to the pot!"

And just then, a snowball hit Jessie on the head. She still couldn't escape from Zoe's wrath.

"Musashi is also eliminated from the game…"

But Jessie never let Yamaki finish his sentence, for his monotonous voice was drawn out by a long frustrated howl from Jessie. It did not just contain frustration and exhaustion that was gradually building up in her system. Her growl was purely raging anger and bitter hatred. That was the last straw! Zoe Orimoto had cornered her with nowhere to go.

A cornered Jessie was not a pleasant Jessie.

The Team Rocket member swiftly bent down and rolled up two firm snowballs in her hand. In a perfect pitch, she chucked the snowballs at Zoe. Both of them hit her head with a strong force.

"Jessie!" Misty exclaimed from the sidelines with shock. "You can't hit Zoe! You aren't allowed to!"

But that didn't stop Jessie's furious rage as she continued to roll up more snowballs and threw them at Zoe like a madman. One by one, the snowballs bombarded the blonde at various parts of the body with the same deadly strength.

"Jessie! What are you doing? Are you out of your mind?" Matt yelled, overwhelmed with what he was seeing right now.

Jessie just kept throwing and throwing until it turned into a barrage of snowballs. The poor girl had no time to dodge these snowballs, let alone hide and run away. Each of the throw almost felt like being struck by a shower of hail…and the pain increased and increased…

"Musashi! Stop what you're doing immediately!" Yamaki leaped up from his seat and pulled Jessie away. The Team Rocket dropped her snowball, smirking in satisfaction as she watched Zoe hobbling away into the forest in fear and tears.

That'll teach the scrawny bitch. Nobody messes with Jessie.

Gary had no idea what was happening as he marched through the snow with caution. All he knew was that he needed to return to the starting point to win this challenge for the group. He was so close he could almost taste the victory…almost taste the glorious celebration that he wholeheartedly deserved.

He was finally going to be the hero, for once.

Since Gary made a mental map in his head throughout the journey, he knew exactly where he was going. All he needed to do now was to retrace his steps. It was that simple.

But the clever professor figured that Zoe Orimoto was lurking somewhere into the forest, watching him very carefully. And just when he least expected it – BAM! She will jump out and eliminated him.

Ah, beautiful Zoe Orimoto…

Gary was approaching closer and closer to the starting point, but he still kept his guard up to the highest degree. Zoe was here somewhere in this forest. He didn't know where, but he can just feel her presence ominously hanging above him in the forest.

Every step Gary took, he was getting closer…

Closer…

And closer…

"I've caught you, sweetie." Gary sharply turned around. His gut instinct was dead on. Zoe Orimoto was standing only inches from him, holding a huge snowball in her delicate hand. Gary gently took the snowball out of her hand and tossed it on the ground.

But something was wrong. No longer did Zoe Orimoto reflect the image of a beautiful cheerful goddess. That's when everything came into pieces for Gary. There was a huge ugly bruise on her forehead. And Zoe was trying very hard to fight back tears. Suddenly the magnificence of Zoe vanished and what stood in front of Gary was a real traumatized girl.

"Zoe, what's wrong?" Gary asked in disbelief. He remembered her cheerful smile that would bring even the unhappiest person into laughter. Oh how he missed that smile from her face…

"It's Jessie…" Zoe sobbed softly. A single tear trickled down her face. "She just started hitting me with these snowballs and called me all these nasty names…"

"Zoe…" Gary swallowed, for once in his life, he was lost for words. "I don't believe this. I can't believe she did that to you."

Zoe wrapped her arms around herself, with her head dropped down. She was shivering and sniffling at the same time. Gary could feel the innocent vulnerability she was exposing to him right now.

"I just wanted everyone to like me! I just wanted someone to like me for who I am…what was so wrong with that? Why must people hate me?"

And as Zoe continued to divulge deeper in her self-pity, Gary couldn't help but feel touched. Just seeing Zoe in her weak and vulnerable condition shook him. Was that lying beneath her strong and proud exterior all along? Just a weak little girl who wanted to be accepted?

For a split second, there was silence between the two. Gary just stared into the blonde's hollow green eyes, almost as if he was sending her a message: I've been there before. I know how it feels.

"Zoe, don't…be…this way." Gary's voice started to crack up a little. He wasn't used to being in emotional situations like this.

Walking slowly forward, Zoe nervously approached Gary. He could almost feel her soft breath on his neck. Unexpectedly, Zoe threw her arms around his neck and wrapped him in an awkward hug.

SPLAT!

Gary felt something smacked him softly on his back. He widened his eyes as he pulled Zoe slowly away from him. Could it be?

And then he saw the malicious smirk on Zoe's face. It was not just any smirk – it was a triumphant smirk. No longer was the girl weeping sad poor-me tears like twenty seconds before. No longer was she the same vulnerable and lonely girl whom Gary had felt sympathy for. No longer was she the beautiful goddess he always thought she was.

"It's a scam…I should have known." Gary muttered. His voice almost devoid from any emotion.

"I was a pretty good actress, eh?" Zoe winked, brushing the ends of her long blonde hair with her hand. Her tears had already evaporated from her face. "But just to make it official. Gary, you are the last player to be eliminated from this challenge."

Gary was already regretting any sympathy he had for Zoe a few minutes ago. The first time he ever showed any humanly emotions in this game and it was the reason why he lost this challenge. In his eyes, Zoe Orimoto was hardly a goddess anymore.

Suddenly, she was terrible.

"You only managed to bring back three digivices, so you have added 30,000 into the pot." Yamaki declared, and then he sharply glared at Jessie. "However, Musashi had crossed the line and broke one of the rules when she attacked Zoe after her elimination. Because of that, you will suffer a penalty. Any money that Jessie earned in this challenge will not be added to the pot."

"Which brings us to 20,000 only?" Matt groaned while Jessie grunted in disapproval beside him.

"Your pot now stands at 263,000." Yamaki announced. "After dinner, we will carry with our sixth execution quiz where one of you will be the Mole's sixth victim. Good luck."

POT: 263,000/630,000

"Hey y'all," Zoe sweetly smiled. "I think I have a good idea of who the Mole is, but let's keep it a secret between the two of us, okay? I have so much fun with everyone today and I love you all! Goodbye and may the best player win this game!"

Zoe quickly disappeared from their sight along with Yamaki and the five remaining players were left in a state of confusion. She came, she saw and she left after doing some unfixable damage to the group. The group would never be the same again after the impact of Zoe Orimoto.

As the five players make their exit out of the forest, each had a different thought in their mind. Leading the head of the pack was Jessie, who had her hands behind her head. She smiled devilishly to the cameras as she gave her last confessional of the night.

"Little Jeri Katou slips by again. She thinks that putting 20,000 into the pot will make her the least suspicious player, but it still isn't a lot in a pot out of a possible 100,000. Besides, did anyone remember how much she sucked at the first challenge today? She couldn't shoot a damn puck into a net to save her life. Hey, I'm just saying. Things like this should be put into consideration as well!"

Walking slowly behind Jessie was the perky Cerulean gym leader. Like her fellow team member, she was also lost in her ocean of thoughts.

"Gary really let us down in the challenge again. He claims that he collected ten digivices, but yet he contributed zero dollars into the pot. That's a huge letdown. Why couldn't he just come back when he had two digivices? Or four? At least that way, money would be guaranteed into the pot."

Misty paused, taking time to recollect her thoughts in an acute summary.

"Of course, the others didn't really do any better here, so I guess we are all to be blamed. I'm also surprised that Matt bailed out so early in the challenge. His early elimination must be an indication to something."

Gary was next in the confessional line up. The professor wasn't as normally egoistic as he was before, probably due to the fact that he was still shaken up by Zoe's 'revelation'.

"Matt and Misty top my suspicion list after today's events. Their performance was horrible in the last several challenges. It's pretty hard to believe that Matt didn't even find one digivice before he was eliminated. Hell, I found ten! How hard could it be?"

Gary gave a cold chuckle and closed his eyes.

"As for Misty, I always thought she was very swift. I saw her run before and with her speed, she could've easily outrun Zoe. I'm just really disappointed with how quickly she was eliminated from the challenge. We have two very strong contenders wiped off immediately at the beginning, and that's what cost us the challenge. It's so obvious. Matt and Misty are sabotaging..."

Next was Jeri Katou. The little girl slowly walked behind the other three while giving her confessional.

"We could have added 10,000 into the pot if not for Jessie's penalty. I didn't see what happened, but I heard that what Jessie did was very brutal and harsh. So in summary, it was pretty much typical Jessie."

Jeri let out a bitter chuckle as she continued on. She was always teasing the cameramen with the lack of clarity in her confessional.

"But this was not Jessie's first penalty in this game. Looking back, she constantly broke rules of the challenge and cost us a lot of potential money. I…I just think that it's intentional. This is Jessie's method of taking money out of the pot."

Last was Matt Ishida, the fallen coalition king. After having all his dirty laundry revealed at lunch today, he was left with no coalitions whatsoever.

"Today wasn't my lucky day, and I didn't really bring my A-game to the table." He admitted in a confessional. "But it's not like anybody else did any better. The only person who actually added money to the pot last challenge was Jeri Katou, so go figure. Everybody is still a suspect in my eyes…"

He suddenly grinned as he pointed his finger directly at Misty.

"Only some people are more suspicious than others…"

The players were at separate rooms as they take their sixth execution quiz, ten questions about the identity of the Mole.

Jeri Katou tapped her finger on the mouse as she read the fourth question of the quiz.

"I'm leaning toward Jessie in the quiz tonight. She could act like she is trying so hard in challenges, but she could just as easily lose all our efforts by breaking a few rules and suffering through penalties. I think it's very smart of her and the plan is working very well."

Misty Waterflower sighed a little while doing the second question of the quiz.

"I don't trust Matt Ishida one bit. All this time he has been lying and manipulating with each of us. He makes us feel very secure in a coalition with him while he knows exactly what we are thinking. And imagine how much more efficient the Mole would be if he knows everything the players are thinking off…"

Struggling on the seventh question of the quiz, Matt Ishida leant forward and reread the question on the computer screen.

"Misty's performances in challenges were hardly redeeming. It just seems to me that every time she gets a chance to add money into the pot, she screws it up. And even though I mended things with her, I still don't trust the girl. Not one bit."

Jessie was proceeding with the ninth question of the quiz.

"At the last challenge, the twerp Gary did have all the tools needed to add 100,000 into the pot and oh my, what a sum of money that would be! But the important key here is that he failed to actually put the money into the pot. Gary had it in his grasp, but he totally lost it. And that to me is very suspicious."

Gary was browsing his cursor down a five named list on the final question of the quiz: Who is the Mole?

"Jeri has been laying below the radar for the past couple of days after a few over-the-top incidents earlier. And now I think people are not suspecting her any more because she has been so damn quiet. It's that kind of psychology that makes Jeri get away with shit like this. She makes a big scene and then quickly fades away, so nobody will notice that she is the Mole."

One by one, the five players sat in a linear row of chairs across from Yamaki's desk and laptop. The host silently marched into the living room, making a very dreadful and unnoticeable entrance.

"Welcome to the sixth 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 sixth victim."

Yamaki sat down behind his laptop and looked at the group of players, searching for a name to enter in.

"Musashi."

The tall and villainous diva sat emotionlessly on her seat, not even moving one muscle as her name was slowly being typed on the keyboard.

tic.

The screen flashed green.

"Shigeru."

Wrinkling his nose a little bit, the young professor sat in a lazy slouch on his seat. Like always, he always had a look on his face that seemed to dare the screen to flash red.

tic.

The screen flashed green.

"Juri."

The raven-eyed girl was not as confident as her past two competitors. With the numbers shrinking down, Jeri felt very nervous as she watched the pending screen.

tic.

The screen flashed green.

"We are down to two players," Yamaki announced. He scanned his eyes between the blonde and the redhead. "Kasumi and Yamato, one of you will be executed from the game."

"Yamato."

Matt leant over and whispered a "good luck" to Misty. Misty just closed her eyes, knowing that a green screen appearing will automatically spell doom for her.

tic.

The screen flashed red.

Matt ran his hand through his blonde hair one last time. He turned to watch Misty smiling somberly at the screen.

"Yamato, you are the Mole's sixth victim. You've been executed from the game. Please follow me."

The strapping blonde leapt up from his seat and exchanged some type of farewell with each of the players. He gave a friendly hug to Jeri, whispered something into Misty's ear that made her smile, a congratulating handshake with Gary and a light peck on Jessie's cheek.

Afterward, Matt picked up his bag and waved a final goodbye to the rest of the group. The two blondes slowly left through the door.

"Despite his number of coalitions, I still think Matt is a great guy. He really took the time to know each and every one of us and often he makes us feel like we are the most special person in the world," said Jeri.

"Matt was awesome. He can always keep any conversation flowing," Misty nodded her head.

"Yeah, I'll give him props to that." Jessie echoed, in a rare moment of agreeing with Jeri and Misty. "He was also a great kisser too! If Sora wasn't such a lucky girl, I would definitely swipe him as my boyfriend without a doubt."

Outside of the house, Matt let out a huge sigh. Yamaki couldn't distinguish whether it was relief or disappointment. It was always hard to read Matt Ishida, despite how outgoing and sociable he was, there always seemed to be something very aloof about the handsome blonde. And in many ways, Yamaki often found himself relating to Matt – almost like he was a younger version of himself…

"Here I am, how the mighty has fallen!" Matt chuckled, running his hand through his blonde hair. "You can laugh if you want to."

"You were pretty powerful for a while," Yamaki smirked. "You did have a coalition with every single player in the game. You were the king of coalitions!"

"Too bad it backfired on me. I guess I am a fallen king." He laughed.

Matt watched the bus slowly pulled into the driveway, almost bringing his time in this game to an end.

"I have no hard feelings though," Matt continued. "I got defeated by four strong contenders and I have no regrets over that. Yamaki, you have the four best players left in the game. Any of them winning would be a deserving winner."

"Who are you rooting for?" Yamaki asked as Matt made his way to the bus.

"Riley, of course! Win it for me, baby!" Matt laughed as he greeted the purple haired bus driver. He winked flirtatiously at Riley, who could only muddle up a weak smile in response. Yamaki chuckled softly under his breath, shaking his head very slowly.

Even after he was executed from the game, Matt Ishida was still working his magic.

The engine started, the bus doors closed, and eventually the tiny bus disappeared into the lonely streets of Toronto.

END OF EXECUTION #6

Next Episode: Vile Villainous Victory

Being the lone male in the game, Gary Oak will just do about anything to make it into the finals. Is there room in the Final Three for his big ego? Or will girl power prevail?

Author's Note

Sorry for the delay of this chapter, but if there was any excuse, it was the longest chapter yet! Actually, since I never published a chapter beyond the Final Five in the original story, I had to start this chapter from scratch without any material to refer to.

Matt was a character that I really took a risk with. I took his character and warped him into this charming, slick and flirtatious camera hog instead. My Matt probably had no resemblance to the lone wolf from Season 1! But in result, it was always very easy to fit Matt into a scene. You can always insert a sexual innuendo or a great catchy quote with Matt around!

Nevertheless Matt was slanted to be the sixth victim. And now we are down to four. Is it possible to actually have an all-female Final Three? You will find out soon enough in the next chapter! The end is near…

By the way, there is a new title change for Episode 7! This one just sounds a little better! Sorry if you've caught a red herring!

And here are the official poll results of Who is the Mole from Episode 5! Misty and Jeri continue to be the top two suspects, but will your opinions change after reading this episode?

28 percent – Misty
23 percent – Jeri
20 percent – Jessie
18 percent – Matt
13 percent – Gary

Go vote in the Mole Poll for Episode 6 now!