Survivor: Dewford Islands

by Gomamon

Sixteen castaways are about to begin an adventure of a lifetime. For thirty nine days, they will be stranded on the islands of Dewford with a minimal of protection and assistance against the harsh environment. Who will be the Sole Survivor?

2. Episode 2: Two Divided By Love

Survivor: Dewford Islands

By: Gomamon

Last Time on Survivor:

A surprising twist at the beginning of the game forced Takuya and May to abandon their old tribes and become leaders of the opposing tribe instead. In the Gorebyss tribe, Cassidy quickly angered some of her tribe members with her aggressive leadership, while Butch annoyed his fellow Huntail members due to a lack of leadership. Some tribe members worried that ill Delia may become a liability, but she was saved when Takato made a fatal mistake at the immunity challenge, causing the Huntail tribe to go to tribal council.

An alliance was formed by Butch to oust Takato out of the game, but Brock formed a counter-alliance to save Takato from being voted off. At the end, James and Drew went against The Breakfast Club, making Butch the first casualty of the game. Fifteen remain, who will be voted out next?

Episode Two: Two Divided By Love

Gorebyss: CASEY - CASSIDY – DELIA – MIMI – RIKA – SUZIE – TAKUYA – ZOE

Huntail: BROCK – DREW – JAMES – JP – MAY – TAKATO – TK

- - -

DAY 4

Growing up, there wasn't a moment that TK Takaishi remembered in his life when he didn't love running. When he was a child, he would always beat his brother and the other kids in tag. At school, he was the star runner of the marathon team. And now, even when marooned on an island, TK did not give up his love for running. Every morning, he would just jog aimlessly along the river, enjoying the wonderful sensation of the fresh island breeze pressing on his skin. It gave him the energy that he needed to carry through with the rest of the day.

Sometimes, TK might get lucky and see some of the unique wildlife on this island, such as a swarm of Ledybas dancing merrily in the morning sky, or a pair of Bellsprouts bopping on the ground. But even when there weren't any critters around, TK could still enjoy the glorious sunshine and the breathtaking scenery. The dense forests, the blooming flowers, the endless sea, and the sky-scraping mountains…this was the type of imagery that TK only saw on postcards before. But to actually experience and live in this, TK was grateful. If he could spend every morning in his next thirty six days doing this, he would be very grateful.

TK: You see, there's this long river in our camp that leads out to the ocean. And everyday, I just run along the river to gaze out at the sea. The scenery is breathtaking. I mean, the ocean…it just soothes my mind, as if all my problems will drift away in the water. Besides, you won't see any of this nowhere outside of Dewford Islands, so I must enjoy it as best as I could.

And this morning started out no differently. TK began his morning by jogging along the river, dressed in his white sneakers and white bucket hat. He wasn't being particularly speedy; it was just a leisurely and relaxing scroll. During his jog, he could hear the rapid river waves in his ear, beating like a rhythmic tune in his ears. At one time, he even saw a golden bird – no, it looked more like a golden phoenix, soaring mightily in the sky. But TK couldn't identify what species of Pokemon that was. He made a mental note to himself to question Brock about it later today.

But for now, there were other things on his mind.

"Last night was a big eye opener for me, because I didn't expect Butch to leave. JP and I got blindsided at tribal council last night. Nobody told us that they were going to switch votes and keep Takato around." TK confessed. A cameraperson had to run along side with him in order to catch up. "Butch was in the Breakfast Club alliance. I…I truly intended for the five of us to stick together through the end. But now, after one tribal council, it has all fallen apart."

The blonde continued running, although he was slowing down his pace.

"There's really no point of hiding it, it's pretty obvious who was disloyal to our alliance. Drew and James were the traitors. I don't like them for breaking their word with me…but hey, what can I do? I'm in the minority now."

TK flashed the cameras a frustrated smile. His teeth were as white as his bucket hat.

"I don't hold anything against though…they're just playing strategically, I guess. Their actions in this game shouldn't reflect on how they are in real life. I'm sure both Drew and James are great guys outside of this game, and…hey!"

He stopped in the middle of his confessional when he spotted something in the distance. A little Wingull was parked on a tree branch. It had a roll of parchment in its beak.

"We got treemail! This is so cool!" TK laughed, running over to retrieve the mail from Wingull's mouth. The tiny bird dropped the parchment in his hands and then flew away. "My tribe is going to love this!"

JP: TK is the golden boy of Survivor. He's Mr. Perfect with his golden blonde hair, athletic body, and sparkly white teeth. One look at him and I thought I'd hate this guy so bad. But it turns out that TK is a freaking saint, man! He is the nicest guy I've ever met and he has the best personality ever. Like, he's so nice that the dude should have a freaking halo above his head or something.

JP bellowed a laugh. He was leaning against a tall palm tree while giving this confessional.

JP: Just listen to what I'm saying right now, for crying out loud! I'm showering the golden boy with these golden praises. It's so ridiculous!

By the time TK jogged back to his campsite, Brock and May have also woken up. They were doing their usual duties, cooking breakfast and boiling water for the rest of their tribe. Takato was also up as well, slicing an apple with a knife blade. Ever since Butch's ejection last night, Takato appeared more chipper and jovial than TK ever saw him in the past.

"Good morning, Huntail!" TK smiled pleasantly as he took a seat beside May on the log. May giggled, blushing softly. She always had a soft spot for the handsome blonde.

"Hey TK, glad you're up and running this early!" Brock laughed, handing him a bowl of water.

TK politely thanked Brock as he drank the water. As he was drinking, he couldn't help but notice that there was a small sketch nearby Takato's feet. He looked up and saw Takato holding a drawing stick (that Drew carved) in his hand.

"What's that drawing over there?" TK asked.

"Oh, that is our sketch of what the shelter should look like! We've been working on the blueprint for the entire morning." Brock chuckled. He turned to look at Takato and May with a confident smile. "We're going to start building a shelter after breakfast."

"Wow." TK mumbled, tilting his head to the left to take a closer look at the sketch of their future shelter.

"It's got a roof and everything!" Takato said, pointing at the top part of the drawing with his stick. "And look here, this is going to be where we keep all our firewood…" He moved the drawing stick to the left. "Here, there's going to be where we keep all our containers of food. Pretty cool, huh?"

"It's not just cool, it's awesome! I'm glad that we're finally building the shelter after the fourth day. I don't think I can sleep on the sand any longer! It's so dirty and I've all these bugs climbing over my legs!" May griped. She rubbed her legs, which were full of mosquito bites.

"The rest of us are fine except you and TK. Guess they only attack the good looking ones, May!" Brock laughed, while May playfully jabbed him in the ribs. He shuffled through his pockets and pulled out a yellow bottle. "There was some bug repellent in the supplies, may be that'll help."

"Oh my god, Brock! I don't know what we'll do without you around! You're the man!" May laughed.

"I told you, he's like a superhero." Takato grinned widely.

Brock: This is the first time that I felt as if we're coming together as a tribe – a winning tribe. We're finally going to start building an actual shelter today, no more sleeping on the sand and pretending it's comfortable kind of shit. Everybody is getting energized and motivated to do stuff. We're making progress in our tribe. Progress – that's what a team is supposed to be about.

Brock chuckled softly.

Brock: We have a pretty good tribe here since we've gotten rid of Butch. We're stronger now, not weaker. Guess he wasn't that great of a leader after all. I could do better, a lot better.

- - -

The Gorebyss camp was ran in an orderly and organized manner. Of course, there was no room for mistakes with a strict leader like Cassidy. She viewed this tribe no differently from the Team Rocket association teams that she often led in real life. Every morning, she would assign various tasks for her tribe members to do, such as collecting firewood or boiling the water. If somebody slacked off, Cassidy would know. If somebody did more or less than they were supposed to do, Cassidy would also know. And when somebody didn't follow Cassidy's instructions, they were going to get a long lecture from the Team Rocket leader about the importance of obedience and procedure.

Nobody in the tribe dared to defy Cassidy's commands, with the exception of Rika and Suzie. The free-spirited Suzie was merely forgetful, since her mind often drifted off somewhere else when Cassidy was instructing her on what to do. But Rika, the lone wolf, was just plain-out defiant. She didn't slack off from work by any means, although it's understandable how that conclusion could be made. Simply put, Rika just didn't care about Cassidy's long and dreadful instructions. She explained to the cameras that she listened to orders from nobody. Not her mother, not her friends, and certainly not Cassidy.

Rika: If Cassidy wants to micromanage every single thing I do in this tribe, then she could kiss my ass.

She sneered, pointing her thumb down to the cameras.

Rika: Unlike how she treats the rest of this tribe, I'm not her bitch.

This morning, Cassidy assigned Delia and Casey to retrieve treemail from the Gorebyss mail box.

"How adorable! This little Wingull has our treemail." Delia smiled. She gently removed the piece of parchment from the bird's beak.

"I can't wait for the next reward challenge so we can begin an unstoppable winning streak," said Casey. She also smiled, flashing a soft dimple on her left cheek.

"I just hope there's no more boats involved like the last challenge. I get seasick when I'm in the water," Delia laughed nervously. "I'm sick enough already, thank you very much."

"Mrs. Ketchum, you've got to step up to the plate! Have some confidence in yourself!" Casey shouted, being unintentionally loud. "Look at me! I'm so pumped about this challenge!"

Delia smiled weakly, brushing a strand of her brown hair from her pale face.

"Please, you can just call me Delia. It makes me feel more comfortable that way."

"I've been taught to always respect my elders by not calling their first names," Casey said, shrugging. "But whatever floats your boat, uh…Delia."

"Elders? I know I'm the oldest castaway, but I'm not ancient! I'm not Granny Delia yet!" Delia gasped, putting her hands playfully by her hips. Casey snorted in laughter.

The duo turned around and began to make their way back to camp, with their reward challenge parchment in Delia's hand. Although she might have a weak smile on her face, Delia wasn't feeling particularly bright and chipper today. Despite her optimistic beliefs in the past few days, she still hadn't recovered from the dehydration. She was still throwing up on frequent occasions, although she did her best to do this outside of her tribe member's sight. Her forehead was sweaty, but her hands were cold. Her whole body was trembling, and she felt completely under the weather.

But Delia was trying her best to fit into the tribe. Although the women wanted her to rest in the shelter this morning, Delia insisted that she should get treemail with Casey – just to get a breath of fresh air and to stretch out her tiring legs. She knew that if she didn't make an effort to integrate herself into the tribe, they would vote her off as soon as she loses them an immunity challenge. Most importantly, she just wanted to prove to her tribe members that she wasn't lazy and she wasn't worthless.

Casey: Delia is still feeling sick. She isn't really contributing much to the camp because she feels tired all the time. But you know what, I still like her. She is a great woman with a motherly attitude, and she really makes me feel at home, even when we're out here on this scary island. You can tell that Delia is trying her best to survive out here. She didn't give up just because she threw up so much. And you've got to give her props for that.

Casey smiled, tilting her Electabuzz baseball cap to the left.

Casey: Besides, we've the number advantage over the other tribe in challenges. Delia could always be a reserve in the immunity challenges. She won't hinder us at all.

By the time Casey and Delia returned with the treemail, all of the tribe members were up and about, working busily on whatever projects they were assigned to. Cassidy and Mimi were nearby the fire, playing around with different ways to cook the apples ("Why don't we make apple juice?" Mimi suggested). Zoe and Suzie were cleaning their dirty clothes by the river, being very careful not to lose any clothing in the rapid current. Takuya and Rika were somewhere in the forest, collecting firewood presumably.

"We've got treemail for our reward challenge!" Casey announced.

Treemail time, like the meals, was important enough for all the present tribe members to stop what they're working on and gather around a circle. Casey unrolled the parchment and cleared her throat.

"Please send one person to meet with Professor Birch for the reward challenge. Gorebyss tribe, the person you send for the reward challenge will be sitting out at the immunity challenge." Casey began. She then stopped. "Uh, that's all there is. Weird, I was expecting an awkward rhyme like last time."

"Ah! We only have to send one person to the reward challenge?" Mimi said in surprise. "We aren't going together as a tribe? That sucks!"

"I could go, if that's what you girls want. I want to beat the guys again." Zoe volunteered.

"This is an easy decision." Cassidy said dismissively. She turned her head to look at Delia. "I think Delia should go compete in the reward challenge."

"Me?" Delia sounded surprised herself. She had a confused expression on her face. "I'm sorry, but shouldn't someone healthier take my place instead?"

Cassidy smirked as she planted a hand on Delia's right shoulder.

"Delia, if you compete in the reward challenge, then you can sit out at the immunity challenge, and you won't cause us to go to tribal council. Get it?" She said this very slowly, almost in a condescending manner, just so Delia could understand every word.

"Oh, I see. It's actually a pretty good idea." Delia smiled weakly. But in reality, she didn't like the extra pressure on herself at all. Competing in a solo challenge was just too much to ask for!

Delia wasn't the only person who felt uncomfortable about the decision. Standing behind the Pallet Town mother, Zoe Orimoto was twitching with uneasiness after Cassidy dictated her choice. For the past few days, the blonde bombshell has been holding her sharp tongue from saying how she really felt about certain things. She didn't want to create a commotion and she didn't want to spark up a confrontation. If there was one thing Zoe knew about herself, it was that she knew her honesty would get her in a lot of trouble. So whenever Cassidy did something she didn't like, Zoe would just smile and shrug it off. No need to stir the pot.

But this time, Zoe found it more difficult to just sit back and watch Cassidy take charge again. Here was the bossy lady making all the decisions of the tribe and nobody had the courage to speak up against her. The Gorebyss tribe was making the wrong decision about the reward challenge, she just knew this. Zoe knew she had to say something to stop them, or at least give them a fair warning about what they're about to do.

Zoe: I think it was a bad idea for us to send Delia to participate the individual reward challenge, because she is ill and not in the best physical shape. She won't get any help from us, and she'll most likely lose that challenge for us. I thought it would be a better choice if Gorebyss sent someone who could at least have a chance against the other tribe, because…

She clenched her fist tightly.

Zoe: Because I don't want us to lose this challenge. I don't like the prospect of losing one bit.

"I don't know, the reward could be something really big…shouldn't we at least try to win the reward challenge?" Zoe asked.

"And give up immunity because of a stupid reward?" Cassidy laughed, rolling her eyes. "Are you insane or what?"

"Delia has to compete by herself in the reward challenge, but she can rely on six of us at the immunity challenge though," Zoe argued.

"I think Zoe is right!" Suzie suddenly interjected her opinion out of nowhere.

Cassidy glared at the purple-haired child for a moment and then rolled her eyes. She quickly returned her focus on Zoe again.

"And if we lose the immunity challenge, then we've to go to tribal council. We'll have to vote out someone and that very someone could be you." Cassidy said. She didn't look very impressed with the blonde. "Do you want to risk it?"

"We might not win the immunity challenge even if Delia didn't participate in it!" Zoe was raising her voice. She was starting to get aggressive.

"True, but if she did participate in it, we'll have no chance of winning. Do you hear me?" Cassidy raised her voice even louder, drowning out whatever Zoe was saying before.

Zoe bit her lips. She turned to look at her other tribe members, and all of them looked very uneasy watching this disagreement. Zoe could already imagine what they were thinking in their heads: Why is she creating a scene? Why can't she just agree with Cassidy? And it was then she decided it wasn't worth losing her peers' respect just to continue with this pointless confrontation.

Fine, she'll let Cassidy have her way.

Again.

- - -

When Drew arrived at the reward challenge as the representative from the Huntail tribe, he was surprised at two things that he saw on the beach. First was the sight of Delia Ketchum, the most unlikely contender the opposing tribe would choose. Drew expected that he would compete with the better athletes of that tribe, like Cassidy or Takuya, but Delia Ketchum didn't fit into the criteria. No, Drew would explain to the cameras that Delia was in a completely different league, playing a completely different game. What a stupid choice! He almost wanted to laugh at the other tribe in ridicule.

But it was the second thing he saw that shocked him the most. There were two white boats parked at sea, presumably part of whatever the reward challenge was. But these weren't just any boats – not the cheap canoes they rode in the previous challenges. These boats were motorboats.

"Welcome to the Reward Challenge!" Professor Birch announced, smiling. "As you could see, we'll be doing the reward challenges a little differently from now on. It's going to be one versus one at every reward challenge until the merge. If you win the challenge, you'll win the reward for your entire tribe"

"It's a lot of pressure on us, Professor Birch!" Delia laughed nervously. Standing beside her, Drew just smirked.

"For today's challenge, each of you will ride on these motorboats in the ocean." Professor Birch said, gesturing towards the two white motorboats behind him. "You've to go around each of the three checkpoints in order, which are the three green buoys floating at sea." A quick shot of buoy #2 is shown in the water. "After going through all three checkpoints, drive your boat back to shore. It'll be a race for the fastest time. Whoever is the quickest will win the reward for their tribe."

"I've got it made." Drew grinned confidently.

"What's that?" Delia exchanged a confused glance at the Pokemon Coordinator.

"I said that I already have this challenge won. Sorry old lady!" Drew laughed. He raised his hand. "Professor, I want to go first."

"That was a bold statement to make. You sound pretty cocky, don't you?" Professor Birch narrowed his eyes at the green-haired boy.

"Not cocky, I'm confident. There's a difference between the two." Drew explained.

"Anyway," Professor Birch darted a stern glare towards Drew's direction. "Want to know what you're playing for? We wanted to start the reward challenges with something big."

Delia nodded her head excitedly, although she already had a wild guess in her mind.

"For those who want to explore the waters a little bit, what is a better reward than a personal motorboat for your own camp?" Professor Birch grinned. "That's right. The winning tribe will receive a motorboat, personally delivered to your camp the next day."

Drew whistled, sounding impressed. Delia clapped her hands together with joy.

"Is the reward worth playing for?" Professor Birch smiled, while the other two nodded their heads. "I thought so. Okay, let's get started. Drew, you're up first."

An excited Drew ran over to the sea and leapt into one of the white motorboats. He was sitting in the driver's seat and clutched his hands to the black steering wheel. The boat itself was petite and roofless, and it was shaped like a stretched pentagon. It was not a boat designed for racing in the water, so this challenge depended on how skilful the driver would be at navigating the boat.

"On your marks, get set…begin!"

Once Professor Birch gave the signal, Drew immediately departed from shore. The first checkpoint was floating distantly to the left, so Drew steered his boat towards that direction with ease. He navigated through the sea with agility, having no problem with the controls or whatsoever. It seemed obvious that he had experience driving a motorboat before this challenge.

Within seconds, Drew breezed past the first green buoy. He steered his motorboat to make a flawless right turn. He was heading towards the second checkpoint with no problems. Watching from the shorelines, Delia was growing increasingly apprehensive as she watched that boy navigate the boat like a pro. There was no way she could master driving this moat in seconds. There was no way she could win this challenge against someone like Drew!

"Wow, just look at him! That boy is born to be in the seas," Delia laughed.

Once Drew passed the second buoy, he delayed some valuable time when he had trouble finding the third checkpoint. He drove in the wrong direction once before he corrected himself. He reversed the boat and crossed the third checkpoint. And then, he made his way back to shore unscathed.

"What's my time?" Drew asked as he hopped out of his motorboat.

"One minute and thirty two seconds." Professor Birch said, looking at the blue timer that he was holding. He then turned to Delia. "This is the time to beat, Delia. If you could finish the course in less than one minute and thirty two seconds, the motorboat is yours."

"I'd be happy if I finished this within five minutes." She joked.

"Drive safely. Don't forget to put on your seatbelt, Mrs. Ketchum." Drew added. Although his words seemed considerate, it was evident from his tone that Drew was being unnecessarily sarcastic. Professor Birch shot him another glare, which silenced the mouthy Pokemon Coordinator.

Delia climbed onto the motorboat next and took a deep breath. One minute and thirty two seconds – that was the time to beat.

"On your marks, get set…go!"

Unlike how Drew performed at the beginning of the challenge, Delia was already stumbling as soon as she ignited the engine. Struggling with the steering wheel, she was unaware that her boat driving at the wrong direction. It should've been a red flag when she hit a green buoy so soon, because she had arrived at the third checkpoint instead of the first.

"Oh darn! Wrong checkpoint!" Delia smacked her forehead, turning her boat around awkwardly to get back on path.

It took her a long time to reach the first checkpoint, and an even longer time to arrive at the second checkpoint since she got lost again. By the time she got comfortable with the gears and settings, it was just too late. She passed through the third checkpoint and made her way back.

"I know I did poorly." Delia grinned. "I just don't know how bad I was."

"Yeah, it looked pretty bad from here too," Drew chuckled.

Professor Birch looked at the red stopwatch that he was holding. As much as he wanted to announce that Delia had the fastest speed just to wipe that arrogant smirk off Drew's face, he had no choice but to announce the obvious and official results. It was part of his responsibility as host to remain neutral, despite personal bias and attachment to certain players.

"Delia, your time is three minutes and fifty seven seconds." Professor Birch frowned. "Sorry Delia, but that means Drew has the faster time. Huntail wins reward!"

"What did I tell you before the challenge started?" Drew smirked.

"Only a true winner shows humility after a victory." Delia said, smiling weakly. "Remember that, Drew."

"Well, they say that the tortoise beat the hare because it was slow and steady…guess that wasn't the case either. It certainly didn't help you." Drew laughed. He flipped his green hair behind his shoulders.

Professor Birch cleared his throat. Enough was enough.

"Delia, I've nothing for you unfortunately. Drew, your motorboat will be delivered to your camp first thing in the morning. You can both head back to your camps."

As the two participants head back to camp, Professor Birch took a brief glance at Drew, who was walking back to the Huntail camp with a bouncy skip in his steps. The boy was gloating triumphantly, looking as if he would drown in his own pool of self-satisfaction. Later today, Drew would arrive back at camp with the good news, and he would then indulge in even more ego-boosting celebration from his tribe members.

He knew that he wasn't supposed to develop favourites and he wasn't supposed to let his personal feelings get in the way of impartial hosting. But starting from now on, Professor Birch was secretly rooting for Drew to lose.

- - -

Delia had some bad news for her tribe members when she arrived at camp. And although most of them expected it, she still didn't want to be the one who delivered it. It made her even sadder when she saw that her entire tribe was waiting for her to come back from the challenge with the results. She decided that the pain would last shorter if she didn't get their hopes up.

"I lost the reward challenge." Delia dropped her head in shame. "Sorry girls."

Delia: It's like pulling a Band-Aid over a wound. It wouldn't sting my tribe members as bad if I just told them the news immediately. I mean, I just want to get it over with. This wasn't a good day for me. I just lost the reward challenge for my tribe, and it was a huge reward too. I feel like throwing up…literally.

"It wasn't your fault, Mrs. Ketchum!" Suzie said, running over to give the single mother a gigantic hug.

Delia smiled. Suzie always had a knack at comforting people, even when they're feeling down. It was a special trait that made her so special to the rest of the tribe.

"What was the reward?" Rika asked in an indifferent tone.

"It was a motorboat…" Delia sighed. Some of her tribe members looked shocked. "Yes, an actual motorboat for our own tribe."

"Oh." Rika responded flatly.

"Well, don't worry!" Casey smiled, trying her best to bring some optimism after the defeat. "We'll beat them for sure in the immunity challenge."

"Who needs a stupid motorboat anyway? We already have a canoe in our tribe and we never use it!" Mimi added.

"Besides, the river is too rapid. Their boat will get wrecked for sure after one ride! What a waste of a reward!" Casey widened her grin.

"Thanks. You don't need to cheer me up, really." Delia smiled weakly. "I…I…" She paused, as she started to twitch. "Excuse me."

Delia ran towards the nearest tree and kneeled down. The rest of the tribe members looked at her in a combination of confusion and fascination. Several mumbled their concerns, but they didn't realize what she was doing until she started to vomit.

"Eww!" Mimi quickly turned away. She made a disgusted face at the rest of her tribe members.

"Oh my god, are you alright?" Casey asked.

It took a minute or so before Delia stopped throwing up at the tree. But at last, she pulled herself together and returned to the rest of her tribe. Her head was shamefully pointed down. She couldn't look at any of them in the eyes.

"Sorry, I was just a little bit seasick after riding the motorboat." She sighed again.

"Somebody has to clean that up." Cassidy said, pointing at the place where Delia was keeling over a minute ago. "It's going to attract bugs and I don't want that in the tribe."

Mimi made another disgusted face. Just the thought of getting anywhere near the vomit disgusted her.

Rika: She's throwing up all over the place, she's the laziest around camp, and she is losing all these challenges for us. Delia might be a great mother figure around camp, but she isn't holding up to the environment out here.

As always, Rika didn't express any emotions while giving a camera confessional. It was hard to tell if she even liked Delia or not.

Rika: She could be the queen of Pallet Town for all I care, but I'm not afraid to get rid of the weakest link if it'll make our tribe stronger.

After a while, Rika excused herself from the rest of her tribe. She disappeared into the forest, mumbling something about collecting firewood for their camp. She was a worker bee and she definitely didn't like sitting on her ass just to chit-chat. In her opinion, talking wouldn't get any fires started or any water boiled around camp. Why waste so much time talking when she could get some productive work done?

"There should be a little less conversation and a bit more action." Rika said to the cameras. It might not be her intention to do so, but she always came off as bitter and vindictive every time she spoke.

The rest of her tribe barely noticed Rika's absence. Since the first day they've met her, she has always been a lone wolf. Rika has always done things based on her schedule. She might come off as a bit standoffish, but they've gotten used to her. Plus, she always gets a lot of work done around camp. That's always a good plus.

The other seven tribe members remained in their circle, conversing in minor discussions here and there. They strayed from topics to topic, just talking about any random things that popped up at the top of their heads ("Is blonde really your natural hair colour, Zoe?"). Eventually, something of interest was brought up in the middle of their conversations.

"Who did the other tribe sent? They didn't have to sit out in the immunity challenge, do they?" Takuya asked curiously.

"Huntail's representative was Drew. And no, they don't have to sit out the next challenge." Delia replied. She frowned. "I didn't like that boy very much. He was very unpleasant to be with."

"Why's that?" Cassidy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Before the challenge even started, Drew was so confident that he'd win it. Overconfident would be the better word. He boasted his abilities and taunted my loss." Delia shrugged. "If my son acted like that, I'd give him a long lesson about being humble with his victories."

"What a jerk! And to think that I thought he was cute earlier!" Mimi gasped.

"I lost a lot of respect from him because of that." Delia shook her head. "It's one thing to celebrate your victory, but to act like Drew…I don't know. It's classless."

"Drew doesn't know the tribe that he's messing with." Cassidy nodded her head, trying her best to hide a smirk.

Cassidy: I know Delia is upset about this, but I'm having a blast hearing her talk about this Drew guy. He reminds me a lot of how Butch acts like. May be she actually got the names wrong, because her description of Drew sounds a lot like the Butch that I know of! Cocky, egoistical and arrogant – yep, I bet this Drew kid would really get along with Butch.

Cassidy grinned. She didn't mind mercilessly trashing her friend in her confessional, because she knew they'd have a good time laughing about it together after the show was over. Unfortunately, she wasn't aware that her friend and partner-in-crime Butch has already been voted off at the last tribal council.

All hell was going to break loose when she finds out that it was Drew who voted out her best friend.

Cassidy: I don't know how Butch is doing in the other tribe, but I bet he's the top dog around there. And when we unite together at the merge, he'll have his union of minions and I'll have mine. And then, ladies and gentlemen, we're going to kick everybody's asses. Yeah, Team Rocket rocks!

"Well, I always thought Drew looked like a major asshole, if you could find any consolation in that," said Takuya.

Sitting beside him, Zoe grinned impishly at her friend. Only she had the right sense of humour to get Takuya's jokes and antics. The others might find the impulsive goggle-head to be a little too weird and vulgar with some of the things he says and does. But in Zoe's mind, they just didn't get Takuya at all.

"I can't say I'm overly impressed with that boy." Delia sighed again.

"Can I declare Drew as the official sworn enemy of Huntail? Can I?" Takuya joked as he formed a fist with his right hand.

"Oh Takuya…" Zoe giggled softly as she put her arm on his shoulder. "You're such a guy."

- - -

DAY 5

For the first time since he arrived on Dewford Island, Brock finally had a good night of sleep.

Brock would admit that it was difficult to play Survivor, especially if you live in the Huntail tribe. For the past few days, this scattered team had no shelter, had no food, and had no security against the dangerous wilderness. They lacked the direction and the work ethics to get any work done. If somebody asked the sarcastic Pokemon Breeder how he felt about this tribe, Brock wouldn't hesitate to say that his tribe was not only a mess, it was a disaster. But that would've been his answer a few days ago. This morning, Brock had a different opinion about his tribe.

"I'm not going to lie to you two. I actually got a few hours of sleep yesterday night, which was a pleasant change!" Brock laughed. His friends Takato and May sat behind him on a long log, both of them were preparing apple slices for breakfast.

Like every morning in the past, the hard-working Pokemon Breeder was kneeling over the fire, carefully tending to the flame. It had become his little mission to never let this fire die out. On rainy nights, he would cover their campfire with a pot before he went to sleep. Not only was it crucial for cooking and boiling water, fire also represented the symbol of life in this game. And under no circumstances was Brock willing to let the life die out from this tribe.

"Our tribe is unstoppable now!" Brock concluded with a toothy grin.

The tanned man had been in good spirits ever since the Huntail tribe finished constructing their shelter yesterday night. For the past few days, Brock was fed up with the laziness and the aimlessness that corrupted the camp. But instead of just bitching endlessly about it, he decided to do something to improve their camp status. Building the shelter was exactly the event that was needed to pull his tribe together. It was a team project and it emphasized on team unity. After they finished building the shelter, Huntail finally felt like an actual team.

"Now that we'vefinally built a shelter, it means that there will be no more nights of sleeping in the sand!" May said. She clapped her hands together happily.

"No more nights of sleeping in the rain," added Takato, smiling.

"No more nights of waking up with an aching back," said Brock.

"No more nights of having bugs crawl all over my body." May shivered at the thought of those pestering insects.

"No more nights of getting sand in places I couldn't even talk about," Brock chuckled.

"Ew! That's gross, Brock!" Takato made a face, half-laughing and half-disgusted at the same time.

May: Yesterday, the seven of us worked through morning till night just to build a shelter in our camp. It has a roof and a floor and it's so awesome. I think it's great to have a place you can call home around here. After we finished building, I felt so proud of myself! I mean…I built something! I actually built something with my two hands!

May laughed as she waved both her hands at the camera.

May: It was the most work I've ever done in my life, but it was entirely worth it when I went to sleep last night. Oh my god, it was so comfortable to actually be sleeping on a flat surface instead of the sand! I can't believe it took us five days before our senses came to us! What were we thinking? We should've built the shelter on our first day!

"I think I see TK!" Takato said, pointing his finger at the vague figure running along the river.

TK was making his way back to camp after he finished with his daily jog. His blonde hair was neatly tucked under a creamy white hat, his athletic body clutched nicely to a snowy white tracksuit, and his athletic legs ran in a pair of dirty white sneakers. It would be difficult for an average person to transform this colourless outfit into a radiant presence, but the handsome blonde managed to do just that with the help of his dreamy eyes and energetic smile. When TK smiled, his blue eyes would squint slightly downwards and his mouth would open widely, revealing a set of sparkly white teeth.

The athletic blonde looked up at the trio by the fire, smiled, and waved at them. While Takato and May returned the friendly gesture, Brock just sat there with an amused expression on his face.

"How does that guy do it? He could run for hours and he still comes back looking like someone in a modelling catalogue." Brock chuckled as he watched TK run towards them. "He probably smells like roses too."

"That's because he's the golden boy of Survivor!" May giggled.

Takato threw an odd glance at her, looking very confused.

"JP made that nickname for TK." May quickly explained. She shrugged her shoulders. "I thought it was funny."

"Good morning, Huntail." TK smiled energetically, taking a seat beside May. He turned to her excitedly. "Guess what I found by the river today!"

"Did the motorboat arrive?" May asked.

"Oh yeah!" TK nodded his head and grinned. "And it looks spectacular!" He gestured his thumb over his left shoulder. "The boat is parked somewhere there by the river. It was there when I woke up this morning."

"This is so cool! We've an actual motorboat in our camp!" Takato giggled.

"Somebody needs to wake Drew up. That kid would be pleased to know that his boat finally arrived." Brock grinned.

"Oh please." May rolled her eyes, showing a bit of disdain for her Coordinator rival. "I'm surprised his shoulder didn't fall off from all the self-patting he did last night, boasting about his stupid victory against Delia."

- - -

After everybody ate breakfast, Drew suggested to his tribe that they should take a ride on their brand new reward. Some of his tribe members politely declined the offer, preferring to dwell on land. But Drew was accompanied by the trio of Brock, Takato and May. He would privately comment that those three were almost inseparable everywhere they went in the camp ("They're like the evil three-headed monster, Cerberus", Drew joked). Brock would always lead the group, and following closely behind him would be Takato and May. Nonetheless, Drew was glad that he had company with him on the boat.

Drew: I won the reward challenge yesterday, so we're going to have a new motorboat in our camp, all thanks to me. When I was young, my dad used to have a boat like this and he took me to the sea all the time. The sea is almost like my second home. Ah yes, I'm very excited about exploring the magnificent river in our camp. This narrow and rapid river is…hmm, it resembles like a tropical snake. Long, curvy and just by looking at it, you know there is danger lurking within its mouth.

The motorboat was exactly the same model used in the reward challenge. It was petite in size, but big enough to fit four people inside. Drew climbed into the boat first, planting himself right behind the steering wheel. Brock sat beside him, holding a map in his hands. And behind them were May and Takato, the backseat passengers. Takato took the extra effort to buckle the seatbelt around his waist. Better safe than sorry was always his motto.

"Welcome to another episode of May's Expedition! Today, we'll be exploring this mysterious river in our camp," said May. She held her index finger and thumb at right angles, forming a little square when she put both her hands together. She placed the square right over her left eye and spoke as she looked through the imaginary camera lens. "It has been suspected that this river leads out into the wild and dangerous ocean. What danger awaits us outside? Will any of us make back to camp…alive?"

"Aren't you a little too old for this make-believe stuff?" Drew asked, looking down at May with ridicule.

"Wow, what do we have here?" May leaned over and focused her imaginary camera lens on Drew. "Could this be one of those loud-mouth Pelippers whose habitat is on this island? I wonder why it has green hair and speaks like an irritating jerk. Could it be ill?"

"Ha ha. You're so funny." Drew said dryly. He rolled his emerald green eyes as May returned to her seat, wearing a triumphant smirk on her face.

Drew turned the boat to its right and drove in the direction where the narrow river widens. He found that he didn't even have to accelerate because the rapid sea waves were strong enough to move the boat. But since there were many sharp turns in this long and unwinding river, Drew had to keep his hands tightly around the steering wheel. The passengers were having a much more relaxing time as they gazed dreamily into the ocean, absorbing all of the island scenery in awe.

"Now I could see why TK runs by this river everyday. The scenery is so beautiful here!" May squealed. She already had abandoned her cameraperson persona.

"It's amazing, isn't it?" Brock grinned at her.

As the boat traveled farther down the river, they all noticed the subtle changes to the river. The width of the river has increased and the curves have lessened. The rapid river currents have surprisingly slowed down to a much steadier pace. And it was only a while later before Brock studied his map and realized that they were no longer in the river that flowed in their camp. They were now in the middle of the Dewford Ocean.

"The problem with the river in our camp is that its currents are too fast. No fish could ever live in that river," said Brock. "But this ocean is a whole different story. There are calmer waves and cleaner water, so there'll be more fish living inside. If only we've some fishing rods, we could bring back seafood for dinner tonight!"

"I'll sculpt some fishing poles for us when we get back," said Drew, the self-appointed craftsman of his tribe.

Brock: Now that we've the motorboat, the ocean out there is easily accessible. Now if we are able to build some fishing rods, we might be able to catch some fish! It's another source of food, so we won't always have to eat just corn and rice for our meals. I believe fish will give us the protein and the energy to do well in challenges, so I'm going to try my best to provide my tribe with it – tons of it. My dear friend Misty taught me a lot about fishing, hopefully all those lessons will pay off!

Brock laughed, running a hand through his spiky hair.

Brock: But we've discovered something better than fish on our trip. We actually found a tiny island in the middle of nowhere!

"Oh my god, I can't believe there's another island here! This island is right by our island too!" May said in astonishment.

"If my proficiency in history didn't fail me, I believe this is Shipwreck Island." Brock explained. "A cruise crashed here long ago and all the shipwreck survivors lived here for several months before they got rescued." He then smiled. "If we're lucky, we might be able to find some useful tools they've left behind!"

"This is turning out to be the best day ever!" Takato giggled.

Drew drove the tiny motorboat towards Shipwreck Island until it arrived on its sandy shoreline. Brock and Drew had to park the boat together, tying the boat engine to a nearby boulder so it wouldn't drift away. May and Takato dispersed immediately, gasping in awe as they ran around the mysterious island.

"Seel! Seel!"

Takato turned around and saw two white seal-like Pokemon lying lazily on the sand with their eyes closed. Both of them have a short white horn on their heads. Takato cautiously tiptoed towards them for a closer look. One of the Seel opened its black marble eyes, gazed dreamily at Takato and then winked at him. It closed its eye again and drifted back to its relaxed daydreaming.

"Hey May, are these Pokemon called Seel?" Takato asked curiously.

"I think they are." May said as she walked towards the Pokemon to examine them. "Oh, I wished I have my Pokedex with me!"

"Of course they're Seels! Are you people deaf or are you just stupid? Can't you hear what they're saying?" Drew rolled his eyes. "Seels are often found asleep on the seabed in shallow water. They'll probably be in the water again when the sea is at a high tide."

"Oh wow, that's so cool." Takato smiled. He turned to Brock. "Can I pat them?"

"They're usually very friendly Pokemon, so go ahead. Just don't pinch its skin or pluck its fur or anything stupid like that." Brock said, "They'll attack you if they feel like they're in danger."

Takato kneeled down next to one of the Seels and gently placed a hand on its back. The Seel let out a soft moan, but did not move from its position.

"Their fur is so comfortable!" Takato grinned. "It feels like…a beanie baby."

"You know what I'm thinking?" Brock licked his lips. "We should probably hunt some of these Seels and bring them back to tribe for food!"

"That's a fantastic idea! I heard Seels are quite nutritious once you cut out all its blubber." Drew said, as a thin smirk spread across his face.

"No!" Takato suddenly sprang up from his knees. He shot an uncomfortable glare at Brock and Drew. "You can't harm the Seels! They're…they're creatures – not human food!"

"Takato…you want something to eat other than corn and rice, right?" Brock asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not if it means killing one of the Seels!" Takato frowned. "I'm not a vegetarian, but…I don't think we should harm these animals in their natural habitats." He shook his head frantically at the thought of Brock and Drew skinning these friendly animals. "It's just not right."

Brock and Drew exchanged glances with each other, unsure of what to say. May just had a vacant expression on her face.

"Takato, you know that the food we eat in our everyday life is actually-" Drew began, but he was interrupted by Brock.

"You're right, Takato. We won't hurt these animals." Brock smiled artificially at the goggle-head, and Takato smiled back. "Don't worry."

Drew: I know Takato doesn't want to hunt the Seels because human interference will disturb the Seels' habitat on Shipwreck Island. I fully understand his logic and his beliefs behind this. But isn't it a bit naïve and even foolish for us to starve to death, just so we could preserve nature or whatever? I mean, the people on Shipwreck Island obviously must've killed Seels to stay alive and I don't see why it's any different for us to do so. We need to eat too!

Drew flipped his green hair over his shoulder as a crooked smile spread across his face.

Drew: Brock and I decided that we'll just kill the Seels at another time, when Takato isn't watching us. Hey, we're doing that kid a favour. What Takato doesn't know won't hurt him, right?

- - -

When it came to camp chores, it always seemed like the Gorebyss tribe was one head ahead of the Huntail tribe. They built the campfire before the other tribe and they built their shelter before the other tribe. Now, it looked as though they would make their first hunt before the other tribe. And for a competitive person like Takuya Kanbara, this was a good thing. It felt good to be first.

"I think I see a Taillow in that tree!" Suzie gasped.

"Hush! You'll scare it away!" Rika angrily scowled at her bubbly companion. She then turned to Takuya. "Are you ready, goggle-head?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," whispered Takuya.

Rika drew out an arrow from her bag and handed it over to Takuya, who set it on his wooden bow. He closed his right eye and scanned the trees for his prey, until he located a lone Taillow resting obliviously on a tree, chirping a melodious tone. In one swift motion, Takuya pulled the string and fired the arrow. It shot the Taillow right in the chest. The tiny bird Pokemon let one last tiny shriek from its body before dropping onto the floor, dead.

"Yay for Takuya!" Suzie screamed, jumping up and down excitedly.

"Yes! We're going to have roast bird tonight for dinner, baby!" Takuya laughed, pumping his fist triumphantly in the air.

"Good job, you big loser," snickered Rika, playfully shoving the goggle-head by his shoulder.

Takuya: Rika and I have been hunting in the forest lately. The blades of our knives have fallen off, so instead, we attached them to a long stick – and voila, we made an arrow! The bow was a little harder to make because we had to get the shape right and we had to use fishing line as the bowstring. But it's all good! We have the bows and the arrows to hunt whatever animals we want!

Takuya grinned. He held up an arrow in front of the cameras – the same arrow that he shot the Pidgey on the tree with. There were still blood stains on some parts of the arrow.

Takuya: I fire an arrow and these birds drop dead from the trees. It's awesome that we're bringing back lots of food back to our camp. Man, I feel like I'm the Robin Hood of Survivor!

"You know everybody will be so freaked out when we bring back these animals to camp!" Takuya grinned. He ran over and picked up the bloody body of the Taillow, wrapping it around his crimson red buff. "All this time, they think we're in the forest collecting firewood!"

"They should be happy. We're providing them with food." Rika said in a flat voice.

"I bet Mimi will find a good way too cook this." Takuya said. "I want to have a feast today!"

"Takuya, I don't think one bird will be enough for a feast." Rika sniped.

"Piece of cake! We'll just shoot more birds," Takuya said, turning his head around. His confident voice suddenly lost its volume. "That is…if we could find any more…"

And out of a sudden, Suzie started dancing on the spot. She closed her eyes and swayed her body left and right as if she was moving in a trance. Her arms were waving randomly in the air and her head was bopping up and down. Takuya dropped his mouth in shock as he watched Suzie dancing on the spot.

"Uh…Suzie, what the hell are you doing?" Takuya asked.

"I'm doing my bird dance!" Suzie giggled.

"Bird dance?" Rika repeated with a raised eyebrow. She spoke as if she hadn't heard Suzie properly the first time.

"Yeah! If I dance like this, more birds will come!" Suzie explained. She was now hopping up and down in the same spot like an energetic rabbit.

"Of course, the bird dance always works! Why didn't I think of that earlier?" Takuya said, smacking his own forehead lightly. "Duh!"

Takuya looked over at Rika with a lopsided grin. She just shook her head and looked away, mumbling something inaudible to the cameras.

Suzie: I'm having a really, really good time on this island! At first, I thought the people here would be really mean to me just because I'm the tiniest and the youngest. But everybody is so nice to me and I just love Gorebyss! How much do I love my tribe? Let me count the ways.

Suzie giggled girlishly and held up ten stubby fingers. She began counting them off one by one.

Suzie: I love the name Gorebyss. I love the colour red. I love the shelter that we built together. I love the food that we eat together. I love the girl power. I love the smiles on everybody's faces. And most of all, I love my tribe members. I love every single one of them.

- - -

The four people on the motorboat ride did not return from their expedition yet, so there was an unusually quiet atmosphere in the vacant Huntail camp. James liked this type of solitude, away from the chattering, away from the cliques, away from the paranoia that swarmed the tribe. That was why James didn't join the others on the boat trip today. Sometimes, he just needed to escape from reality and have a little personal time for himself.

He needed a time for reflection.

Last tribal council, James voted out his Team Rocket rival Butch. It was a spontaneous decision that he had made with Drew in the very last minute before tribal council. Whether it was a good game move or not was still up in the air. He got rid of the person he despised, although he had to side with the cliquish twerps in order to achieve this. Was the payoff worth it? He wouldn't know until he won or lost the game. But James had realized that as long as a dictator like Butch was in the tribe, he would just be one of Butch's many puppets, disposable at any given time.

James didn't want to be anybody's puppet, a pitiful spare vote that could be easily replaced. He was a man of his own free mind. That was why he ran away from his prestigious home when he was young. He wanted freedom from his parents' domineering grasp, freedom from structure and order, freedom from the pressure that society laid upon his kind. Joining the treacherous Team Rocket organization provided him a taste of what he wanted, but if James wanted to be truly free – he needed money, lots of it. And although he was considered as a criminal, James was still a very moral person. He didn't want money to be handed over to him on his parents' silver platter. He wanted to earn the money that he actually worked for.

That was why James needed to win this game. He wouldn't be just winning the money. He would also be winning his freedom.

James: I want to win the money so badly that I can almost taste it. It's just Day 5 of the game and I'm probably looking too ahead in the future, but…yeah, I want it. And I'll do whatever it takes to win. If I have to backstab my allies in order to improve my position, then I'll do it without an ounce of remorse. They're not my real friends, why should I care about them?

James shrugged his shoulders. He flashed an enigmatic smile to the cameras.

James: It's Survivor, not a soup kitchen. Only the strong will survive.

James was resting in their newly built shelter, happily engrossed in his solitary reflection. Unfortunately for him, solitude was a difficult thing to find in the busy game of Survivor.

"Hey James, we'd like to talk with you."

The young Team Rocket member sighed when he saw TK and JP standing outside of the shelter, both wearing a serious expressions on their faces. James couldn't even distinguish the identity of the voice. They both sounded pretty much the same to him.

"What is it?" He asked as he reluctantly dragged himself out of the shelter.

"It's just a man-to-man talk, from one dude's heart to another." JP said, pounding his fist to his chest twice. He sat down inside the shelter. "Come, sit with us."

A wary James took a seat, right in between JP and TK. Suddenly, James found himself sandwiched between both of the men. He instantly knew what this little meeting was about. Move over, self reflection - it was time for interrogation.

"James, why did you vote Butch out at the last tribal council?" JP asked, getting straight to the point.

"We had an alliance of five," added TK.

"Err…well, you see…" James began, although he didn't know how to end this sentence. He sighed, "Butch was so annoying."

JP had a bemused expression on his face.

"That's it? You backstabbed the poor guy because he was annoying?" He yelled, sounding a lot more loudly than he intended to.

"I didn't like him either, but at least Butch didn't go back against his word to our alliance," said TK. He shot James a dirty glare, "Unlike you, James."

"He was going to screw me over next, I just had a feeling." James shrugged his shoulders.

"Dude, that's an awful excuse." JP shook his head.

"As soon as Butch has power, he would have corrupted. He's a power-hungry leader and I wasn't going to be one of his mindless followers!" James replied hysterically. He paused for a few seconds and then added, "Unlike you, TK."

"Wow. Just wow." TK shook his head, clearly looking surprised at what James just said.

TK: After last tribal council, both JP and I realized that James was playing a very selfish game. It's one thing to vote a person at tribal council…it's part of the game and that's fine. But when you actually make an alliance with the person you're going to vote off, well, that's just low and classless.

The blonde looked at the cameras with an unimpressed frown.

TK: When he backstabbed Butch after making that alliance with him, he proved that he was a traitor who only has his best interests in mind. Let this be a lesson for us all: James is a rat and he can't be trusted for his word.

"You're unbelievable, James." JP shook his head as well. He spat on the sand right outside of the shelter. "You're one selfish dude who doesn't care about anybody but yourself!"

"Whatever! I don't have to sit here and take this shit from you two." James rolled his eyes. He got up from the shelter and walked away.

JP leapt up from his seat and shouted.

"Yeah, you just run away from us! But guess what, James? You can't run away from everything in this game! Sooner or later, you're going have to face your consequences like a man!"

- - -

After a delicious dinner tonight, the Gorebyss tribe decided to retreat early in order to preserve energy for the immunity challenge tomorrow. It didn't take long before the observant Mimi realized that there was something very strange about their sleeping arrangement today. Normally, it was very crammed and crowded to have seven people sleeping in the shelter at the same time (Takuya, being a gentleman, always volunteered to sleep on the sand) and Mimi was always being pushed and shoved by some random arm or leg. But tonight, she only counted six people present in the shelter.

"They aren't in the shelter!" Mimi said in a rushed whisper to her tribe members.

"Who's missing?" Cassidy asked, yawning.

"Takuya and Zoe," Mimi replied, instantly detecting who the two absentees were.

"Should we look for them? They might be hurt!" Delia asked in a concerned voice.

"You're so naïve sometimes." Cassidy waved her hand in dismissal. "One good looking boy and one good looking girl disappear on a stranded island in the middle of the night. I don't think those two are having a conversation about world peace, darling."

"I'm guessing that those two are probably making out under the stars," laughed Mimi.

"Noooo…!" Delia gasped, sounding surprised at any chance of romance blossoming on the island. Then she lowered her voice to an uncertain murmur. "Are they really?"

"The pair of lovebirds wouldn't want to be disturbed," giggled Casey.

"If he play his cards right, Takuya might get lucky tonight." Cassidy snickered, nudging a giddy Casey with her leg.

"That's atrocious!" Delia said nervously.

"No, that's what we call luvvvvv!" Mimi said in a dreamy voice. "Aww…young love!"

"It sounds more like lust to me," laughed Cassidy cynically.

Suzie: I don't know where they went, but Takuya and Zoe aren't spending their nights in the shelter anymore. I think they might be falling in love with each other! Everybody in the tribe knows about it!

Suzie giggled girlishly. She raised her tiny hand to cover her enormous mouth.

Suzie: Takuya and Zoe sitting under a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!

Mimi suddenly cleared her throat, demanding absolute silence from her tribe members. Everybody instantly went quiet to hear what Mimi has to say.

"I'd like to dedicate this song to our island couple, Takuya and Zoe." Mimi said in her melodic voice, "Elton John, sing your heart out!"

"What song is it?" Casey called out.

"The song is called "Can You Feel The Love Tonight?" –
I can see what's happening,
And they don't have a clue.
They'll fall in love and here's the bottom line,
Our trio's down to two.
The sweet caress of twilight,
There's magic everywhere,
And with all this romantic atmosphere,
Disaster's in the air."

Mimi paused for a moment to catch her breath. The other women in the shelter were humming and clapping along as she sang. She politely thanked them and continued with her song.

"Can you feel the love tonight?
The peace the evening brings,
The world, for once, in perfect harmony,
With all its living things…"

"Wow Mimi!" Delia said in astonishment. "You've a beautiful voice."

"Thanks Delia." Mimi beamed. Her smile was almost bright enough to illuminate the dark night.

"I don't know though." Casey mumbled, "Do you think Takuya and Zoe would make a good couple?"

"Please! Zoe particularly throws herself on top of Takuya like a cheap hooker on the street," said Cassidy.

"They're perfect for each other!" Mimi snapped, her voice growing subtly harsher. "After all, I don't think I've met two people more self-absorbed than Takuya and Zoe!"

"So true, so true!" Cassidy laughed, clapping her hands together.

"I like Takuya and Zoe! They're so nice to me!" Suzie suddenly said out of nowhere.

The women ignored her.

"Takuya walks around here, thinking he's the man, the stud, the almighty breadwinner of our tribe." Mimi continued, rolling her eyes. "He's so egoistical."

"Zoe isn't any better," added Casey.

"Zoe is a bitch." Cassidy said dramatically as if her statement was an astounding conclusion. "Did you see her trying to one-up me yesterday? About who should go on the reward challenge?"

"Oh I know! She is always trying to outsmart you, Cass! She is probably just mad because the attention isn't on her again." Mimi hissed.

"Can we all shut up and just go to sleep now?" Rika asked.

The women ignored her too.

Rika: The women of this tribe are extremely catty. The second you've your back turned, they'll drop their false smiles and instantly talk trash about you behind your back. Of all the offenders, Mimi is probably the worst one. She admits that she is pretty much the queen of all nosy gossip. Mimi likes meddling into other people's personal lives when she should just keep her big blabbering mouth shut.

As always, Rika's expressionless face remained unchanged as she was giving this confessional.

Rika: This is the reason why I'm always alone and off by myself out here. I'd rather hang myself than spend time with these hollow women. They disgust me.

It was a while before the women finally stopped talking, but that was only because Takuya and Zoe were walking back towards the shelter. All of the women were still awake with the exception of a fatigued Delia, who had fallen asleep in the middle of their conversation. Zoe tried to make as little noise as possible when she climbed into the shelter, but Mimi rose up nonetheless.

"Hey Zoe, you're back!" Mimi whispered. "Where did you and Takuya go?"

"We were just gazing at the stars," Zoe replied softly. She was slightly startled to see that Mimi was still awake, since she expected the women to have all fallen asleep by now.

"Gazing at the stars, huh? That sounds so romantic!" Mimi said, with an artificial smile on her face.

"We don't see this type of thing in the city…so Takuya and I thought we should take advantage of it while we can," said Zoe.

"Aww!" Mimi gushed.

"Yeah…I should get some sleep now. We've a big day ahead of us tomorrow!" Zoe said as she lied down beside Suzie. "Well, good night, Mimi."

"Good night, Zoe," said Mimi sweetly.

Mimi: It's suspicious how much time I see Takuya and Zoe hang out together, especially during the night. Everybody can see that there's something going on between the two. Is it a silly crush, or is it an alliance in disguise? In the game of Survivor, intimacy is a very dangerous weapon. I'm all for happy endings in relationships, but Takuya and Zoe need to be separated. Oh, haven't they ever heard of that song by Grassroots?

Mimi paused and smiled to the cameras. She cleared her throat, indicating that she was ready to sing another song in her soft, melodic voice.

Mimi: Two divided by love can only be one, and one is a lonely number. Two divided by love can only be sad, can only be broken hearted…

- - -

DAY 6

Sometimes, Delia Ketchum felt like this game was stacked up against her just so she would lose.

Coming into this game, she knew she would be at an instant disadvantage because of her age. What she didn't expect was that she would be plagued with an illness on the second day, an illness that she couldn't recover even on the sixth day of the game. And now, Delia was helplessly at the mercy of her seven tribe members. If they win the second immunity challenge today, she would be guaranteed three more days on this island. If they lose however, Delia would probably go home tonight.

She didn't want to go home yet. Her spiritual journey couldn't end now, it hasn't even started yet! How could she truly enjoy the adventure of Survivor if all she had been doing so far was sit inside the shelter and rest? In that sense, Delia was very much like her stubborn son, Ash. Both of them thrived on adventure and neither of them was willing to give up, regardless of the many obstacles ahead. Delia's age and illness might be handicaps, but she wasn't ready to give up this opportunity of a lifetime.

Her perseverance must have come through, because Delia's luck in this game was starting to change. When she went to get treemail this morning with Casey, the baseball lover told her something that made Delia very happy for the rest of the day.

"You aren't going home, Delia!" Casey said with a grin.

"What?" Delia asked, although she heard the words clearly the first time.

"We want to keep you around our tribe, regardless of what happens in the immunity challenge later today." Casey repeated. She smiled genuinely. "Even though you've fallen slightly ill, rest assured that none of us wants to see you leave."

"Oh, that's a relief." Delia mumbled. She looked at Casey with a hint of gratefulness in her hazel brown eyes. "Thank you, Casey."

Casey smiled proudly as she adjusted the Electabuzz baseball cap on her head. Walking beside her, Delia also had a small smile on her face.

Delia: I'll admit, I was pretty depressed in the last couple of days because I'm sick and I thought my elimination was inevitable. But they say don't count your chickens before they hatch, and I'm overjoyed to hear that I'm not on the chopping block tonight! I have been…uh…spared by the queens of Gorebyss, if that's what you'd like to call it.

Instead of looking happy as one would expect, there was a sad smile on her oval face.

Delia: But in the game of Survivor, there is a drawback to everything good that happens…

"Let's say we lose the immunity challenge today, who is going to get voted off then?" Delia asked, her smile fading slowly away from her face.

"We haven't decided yet, but I'm leaning towards either Rika or Suzie," replied Casey.

"May I ask why?" Delia sounded surprised to hear the two Tamers' names that came up.

"Rika might be a hard worker, but she's also a bit of a loner, you know. She doesn't try her best to socialize with anybody in this tribe, so it'll be easy to vote her off since nobody knows her anyway." Casey said hesitantly. "And Suzie…umm…I like her, but she is a bit of an airhead. I don't get the sense that she is playing the game at all. We can vote her off without causing a huge division in the tribe."

"I see," said Delia quietly, kicking a small rock with her foot. She didn't like the sound of this at all.

"But we're thinking about breaking up Zoe and Takuya too." Casey continued. "Takuya is probably more likely to stay because he is a good provider, but I think we can all agree that the Frontier couple is getting too close for their own good."

"Yeah," muttered Delia.

"Don't worry though, that's only the worst case scenario." Casey said in a cheery voice. "We aren't going to lose the immunity challenge, so we aren't going to tribal council tonight…" She looked up at Delia for her response. "Right, Delia?"

Delia smiled weakly at her and nodded her head.

"You okay with everything, Delia?" Casey asked with a raised eyebrow. "You're going to vote with us, right?"

"Of course! Of course!" Delia said quickly, waving her hand in dismissal. She looked at Casey with an earnest gaze. "You have my word on this, I promise."

Cassidy: Survivor is a numbers game. I'm not going to vote Delia off because it will put me at a five-against-two disadvantage with the children from the Digimon series. And even though I'd like to break apart Takuya and Zoe, voting one of them lovebirds means that I'll have to deal with whoever remains here the next day. It's not a good time to do that just yet. If we've to go to tribal council tonight, I think I'll play it safe and vote out a scapegoat…somebody who the tribe can unanimously agree to vote off.

Delia and Casey returned to the tribe with their treemail, but the campsite was surprisingly idle. Only Mimi and Cassidy sat by the fire, cooking breakfast together. Rika and Takuya have gone on one of their hunting trips, while Zoe and Suzie were still sleeping inside the shelter.

"You're back with treemail. Let's see what it says," said Cassidy, slowly rising up from her seat on the sand.

Delia walked towards Cassidy, with Casey following behind. But instead of presenting the treemail, Delia embraced the Team Rocket member in a friendly hug.

"Thanks for keeping me around, Cassidy." Delia whispered in her ear.

"Oh that," said Cassidy, glancing over at a smiling Casey. Although she was a little startled at first, a thin smirk appeared on her face. "No problem, people like us need to stick together."

"It means a lot to me, what you did." Delia smiled as she pulled herself away from the Team Rocket woman. "I'll remember your kindness."

"Yeah, yeah." Cassidy said dismissively. She had never been comfortable with signs of affection. "Anyway, you aren't going to participate in the immunity challenge today, so I thought you needed to know that you're safe – no matter win or lose in the challenge." She paused and then added, "People like Zoe and Takuya wanted to vote you off because you were ill, but I thought that was too shallow of a reason to vote out somebody. Don't worry though, you're safe with me."

That was a manufactured lie by Cassidy, who thought of it right on the spot. No, Takuya and Zoe haven't once mentioned about voting Delia off, but Cassidy thought that her little speech needed some oomph. If Delia wasn't convinced about Cassidy's loyalty before, she should have no question about it now. This little white lie worked; the single mother from Pallet Town was beaming with the utmost joy, thinking of Cassidy as if she was her saviour in this game.

There had been an ulterior motive for keeping Delia around of course, as expected from a shrewd character like Cassidy. Not only did the Team Rocket mastermind want to keep her numeric advantage in this game, but Cassidy also knew that out of everybody in this tribe, there were a few people who she didn't have any control over. Some of them were just too free-willed and too rebellious to follow Cassidy's lead. As long as these rebels stay in the game, Cassidy would never have total control, total dominance, and total power over the Gorebyss tribe.

Cassidy has determined that there could only be one fate for those who defied her commands.

They were simply walking into their demise.

- - -

Professor Birch gestured the two tribes to come forward to their mats for the second immunity challenge. Cassidy led the way for the Gorebyss tribe, waving their crimson red flag proudly in the air. Following behind her were her seven courageous warriors, all with red buffs wrapped around their heads. Suzie was the last in line, happily holding the golden Pokemon in her tiny hands.

"Welcome to your second immunity challenge," announced Professor Birch. "Gorebyss, take a new look at the Huntail tribe, without Butch."

Cassidy suddenly glared at the opposing tribe, clutching her fist angrily as she noticed the absence of a certain tall and lanky man. For the first time ever, she realized that Huntail had voted off Butch. Her Butch.

"First things first, Gorebyss, I need that immunity idol back," said Professor Birch.

Suzie skipped merrily over to the professor and handed him the golden Pokeball. He placed it on the wooden pedestal next to him.

"Immunity…back up for grabs!" Professor Birch said. "For your challenge today, it's a simple matter of catch and toss. One member from each tribe will be the designated thrower. This person's job is to throw the opposing tribe's pokeball into the ocean as far as possible." He held up a red pokeball and a blue pokeball. "The other participants will be waiting at the starting line," A shot of the forest could be shown, "And then at my signal, they'll sprint to the sea and try to retrieve their tribe's pokeball. The first tribe to grab it will win one point for their tribe."

Casey smiled confidently, delighted that her baseball pitching skills will be of great assistance in this challenge.

"Once a tribe member catches a pokeball, they can no longer participate any further in the challenge," continued Professor Birch. "The first tribe to earn four points will win immunity…guarantee three more days in this game."

TK nodded his head, grinning. If his morning jogs were any indication, running was definitely one of his fortes.

"Delia, since you've participated in the reward challenge, you'll have to sit this one out." Professor Birch said, and the obedient mother shifted away from the red mat. "Everybody else, select a thrower from each tribe and then get into positions."

Casey, the baseball fanatic, was the natural pick for Gorebyss, while the chunky JP was chosen to be the thrower for Huntail. The two throwers stood by the shoreline, each holding a pokeball in their hands. Delia sat on a bench nearby, watching the challenge as a spectator. Everybody else was at the mouth of the forest, perched right in front of a white line painted of the sand. Some of the men were doing stretches as warm-up, while Cassidy was lecturing her tribe members on a challenge strategy.

"As soon as JP and Casey launch their pokeballs into the ocean, you can start running to retrieve the pokeball," yelled Professor Birch. "Survivors ready?" Casey and JP both nodded their heads. "Throw!"

True to baseball fashion, Casey pitched the blue pokeball as if it was a baseball, straight and speedy, but lacking the power for it to travel a far distance. Her petite size was an inconvenience in the challenge, especially in comparison to the strong and largely built JP. The chunky man swung his powerful right arm, hurling the red pokeball high in the sky. It traveled in a long arc in the air before dipping somewhere into the sea, a good distance farther than where Casey's Pokeball had landed.

As soon as the pokeballs were thrown, the twelve runners dashed off from the start line immediately. A few seconds later, it was obvious that TK and Takuya were the front runners of the race. The two athletic men were neck to neck with each other, both running at around the same speed. The other tribe members trailed behind them, none of them fast enough to catch up to the two men. Poor Suzie fell down at the start and was trampled by several foots, but Zoe helped her get up and the little girl continued the challenge with a huge smile on her face.

TK and Takuya were the first to arrive at the ocean. They jumped into the sea without hesitation and they began swimming their way towards their tribe's pokeball. It was here when Takuya was forced to slow down. He had immense difficulty locating where the Gorebyss pokeball was in the water, partly because of his poor eyesight, but mostly because JP threw the pokeball to a very far distance. On the other hand, TK immediately spotted the Huntail pokeball nearby. The blonde swam towards it and snagged it in his hands before Takuya even knew where his tribe's pokeball was.

"Huntail wins one point!" Professor Birch announced. "TK, you're now out of the challenge. Everybody else, go back to the starting line!"

Without TK's presence, Takuya effortlessly dominated the next round as he snatched the red pokeball in the sea before anybody else. Nobody from either tribe even came close.

"Huntail and Gorebyss, both with one point! Takuya, come join TK and Delia by the bench!"

It became a closer race now that the two fastest runners have been removed from the challenge. Casey finally changed her technique when she realized that a farther distance was more important than speed. Instead of pitching the pokeball like a baseball, she decided to throw it as if the pokeball was a slightly heavier tennis ball. The technique was more effective, and she closed the gap between the two pokeballs, although JP's throw was still a little stronger than hers. It came down to a close race between James and Cassidy, but Cassidy managed to snatch the red pokeball before the other Team Rocket member.

"Cassidy is out. Gorebyss leading by one!"

In the fourth round, Zoe surprised everybody by making a quick dash into the ocean. She has been conserving her energy for the past few rounds, knowing very well that she couldn't beat the fast runners until they've been removed. Despite her early lead, she lost it when she was in the ocean and couldn't locate where the blue pokeball was. Just like the problem that Takuya experienced before, JP threw their tribe's pokeball way out of eyesight. By the time Zoe finally spotted where it was, Brock and James have caught up to her. And although the tanned Pokemon Breeder wasn't too agile in water, he grabbed the blue Pokeball before Zoe did, thus scoring a second point for Huntail.

"Gorebyss and Huntail now tied at two!" Professor Birch announced, "Brock is out and there are now eight runners left in the race! Drew, James, May and Takato for Huntail; Rika, Suzie, Zoe and Mimi for Gorebyss."

JP made a flimsy throw in the fifth round, so the Gorebyss pokeball came a lot nearer than the last few times. But although the red pokeball was closer in distance, the lack of decent from the Gorebyss tribe was evidently a problem. By the time Zoe and Rika made their way into the water, James had already searched and located his tribe's pokeball. Huntail scores another point.

"Huntail now has three points! One more point and they will win immunity!"

The seven remaining runners jogged back to the starting line. After running down the same path five times, some of them were growing increasingly tired, not to mention increasingly discouraged. Some, like Takato, could barely lift their feet from the sand anymore. But this round, the pressure was on the four Gorebyss ladies. They knew that if the opposing tribe scores one more point, the challenge would be over for them.

JP and Casey launched their pokeballs into the ocean, roughly about the same distance. Immediately afterwards, the runners took off from the starting line. Zoe and Drew were the fastest, although May and Rika were right on their tails. Bringing up the rear were the usual: Takato, Mimi and Suzie. It wasn't surprising because these three have been the last in every race so far.

"Zoe is making some good progress!" Professor Birch announced. "She is the first one in the water!"

As Zoe swam further into the sea, she frantically turned her everywhere to search for the red pokeball. But she looked high and low, up and down, left and right, and she still couldn't find it. Where is it? The frustrated blonde asked herself. It didn't help that her opponents Drew and May were catching up. Both of them were in the water now, and both of them knew exactly where their tribe's pokeball was.

"Yes!" Somebody exclaimed joyfully.

Zoe immediately turned around when she heard the voice – it was a voice that belonged to a female. But it wasn't Rika or Mimi or Suzie. None of her tribe members were even in the water yet, they were still desperately running on the beach. It was then when Zoe dropped her head disappointedly. She finally realized that this was May's cry of joy. It was May who had found the last pokeball for her tribe, who had found the pokeball before Zoe did, who had won the immunity for her tribe.

"May has the pokeball! Huntail wins immunity!" Professor Birch announced.

On land, TK, Brock and James cheered loudly. Brock raised his fist triumphantly in the air as he received the golden Pokeball from Professor Birch. The three men put their hands together and then shouted, "Go Huntail!" in one unified voice.

"I'm sorry, Gorebyss, but this means that you're coming to tribal council with me." Professor Birch said sadly as he sees the dejection on Delia's face, "One of you will be going home tonight"

- - -

Amongst all spicy food and people with bad breath, Zoe Orimoto also hated to lose. It wasn't just because she lost to a tribe dominated by men, but Zoe didn't like losing to anybody at all. When she lost, it almost felt like somebody stripped her of her triumph, her glory, her victory. She felt so bare and naked, so sick and disgusted at the same time. It was an ugly feeling. No matter how hard Zoe tried, she could never wash this feeling away. It remained on her mind like a food stain on a shirt.

After the immunity challenge loss today, the competitive blonde returned to the Gorebyss camp slightly disappointed. She didn't sulk in the shelter to cry over spilt milk, that just wasn't her style. She believed that the best way to recover from a loss was to simply move on. But today, her face was lacking that energetic smile, that feisty flicker in her eyes, and that magical warmth on her face.

Takuya: You might not know this about Zoe by a first glance, but she is a girl who wears her heart on her sleeves. She is very emotional and very sensitive about some things, especially losing. Zoe is a tough chick and all, but nobody likes to lose. I can't stand not seeing that bright smile on her face. I need to cheer her up.

"Oh my fair Zoe…" Takuya said in a jovial voice as he ran up to Zoe, who was standing alone under a tree. "It's your knight in shining armour!"

"Ha, it's only Takuya…" Zoe smiled the instant she saw the goggle-head. "You pack your bags yet?"

"Yeah, a t-shirt and two pairs of underwear," Takuya grinned dumbly. He shoved his hands into his pockets and pulled out an apple core. "What does this look like?"

"An apple core…" said Zoe slowly, with a raised eyebrow.

"No, look closely! Use your imagination!" Takuya said, waving his arm wildly in the air. "Come on, you can do better than that!"

"Well, I think I see a witch." Zoe's emerald green eyes squinted closely together. "The stem looks like her hat and that small bite in the apple resembles a crooked nose."

"You're close! It's actually supposed to be Cassidy." Takuya said, grinning.

"The apple is Cassidy?" Zoe said in surprise.

"Yeah, see these seeds here? They resemble her black heart – although I'm not sure she has a heart in the first place. May be she got a heart implant, since she has plastic surgery on every part of her body anyway. Anyway, this section of the apple is her big mouth because she never stops yapping," explained Takuya, pointing his finger to the apple core he is holding.

Zoe paused for a moment and stared at Takuya blankly. Then she burst out in laughter, which made Takuya's grin even wider.

"I'm sorry, Takuya…but that's just so…stupid!" Zoe laughed, putting her hand over her chest. "I love it. I really do."

Takuya grinned foolishly and scratched his head.

"Anything that draws a smile on your face is a good thing," said Takuya. "You look really pretty when you laugh…you should do that more often."

Zoe blushed, flipping her beautiful blonde hair over her shoulder.

Zoe: Takuya is a fun guy with a great sense of humour. My days in Survivor wouldn't be half as exciting without him around, always trying to entertain or cheer me up. Not a lot of people actually get Takuya, but I do. And I love him to death as a friend.

Zoe grinned mischievously.

Zoe: Yes, friend…what were you expecting me to say? He isn't my boyfriend or anything…I mean, no…not really. He is cute and he is totally my type, but it'll feel so weird if we hook up, you know? Yeah…you know. But then again, Takuya and I are a little weird…oh, I don't know.

"You're so sweet sometimes, Takuya." She giggled. She then casually put her arm on Takuya's shoulder. "But oh Takuya, I hate her sooooo much…"

"I know, I know. I hate that bitch Cassidy too." Takuya sighed, tossing the apple core aside.

"Cassidy is practically telling us who to vote for tonight in tribal council. We have no choice but to follow her freaky dictatorship!" Zoe said angrily.

"It sucks. If anybody deserves to go tonight, it's Cassidy." Takuya made a face.

"But that's not going to happen, Takuya. You and I both know that," sighed Zoe.

"Not unless we team up with Rika and Suzie. Zoe, we can force a tie at tribal council against her." Takuya said encouragingly. "If we're lucky, we could even get Mimi on our side too."

Zoe shook her head slowly. She took her arm off his shoulder and looked at her friend very seriously.

"Takuya, we can't do that. Right now, we're safe, we're in a good position and I don't want you to do anything to ruin this. If we defy Cassidy, she'll chop our heads off. We will become the next targets on her list." She shook her head again. "I don't want this to happen. I don't want her to break us apart."

"This really sucks," said Takuya. He snarled angrily at a random tree. "We need to stand up for ourselves!"

"But I thought you would understand, Takuya." Zoe sighed sadly. "Now is not the time to do it."

Zoe: Takuya is sometimes a bit impulsive and he doesn't really make the right decisions when he is caught in the moment. I think I help keep him in check. I am no more of a Cassidy fan than he is, but this is not the right time to take her down, not just yet. She has the power right now and she is calling all of the shots. But sooner or later, somebody is going to take Cassidy down. Her reign as the Gorebyss queen will be a lot shorter than she anticipated.

Zoe smiled confidently at the cameras. There was a defiant flicker in her emerald green eyes.

Zoe: If anybody is going to dethrone Cassidy, I will make sure that it's going to be me.

- - -

The tribe members of Gorebyss arrived to tribal council at various states of distress. Some marched with a confident stride, certain that they would not receive a single vote by their name. Others were less secure with their chances, mumbling a quick prayer when they took a seat on the stone bleachers. Professor Birch watched over them cautiously. He was standing beside the majestic Dewgong glass sculpture. It looked so mighty and magnificent, yet so cold and so stoic at the same time.

As usual, he repeated his standard tribal council speech to the tribe. There was no interruption. Some kept their heads down as the professor spoke, while others turned their heads around to examine the tribal council set. But when Professor Birch was finally ready to move on to the questions, everybody paid attention to him.

"Delia, you have been sick for the past couple of days." Professor Birch began.

"Nobody is going to let me forget this!" Delia chuckled softly, throwing her arms up in the air in playful desperation. Several others laughed.

"Do you think you will receive a few votes because of your illness?" He asked.

"Of course! My age and my health condition are not the best combination for a game like Survivor." Delia smiled weakly. "I know my head is on the chopping my block. I just hope I survive it."

Casey glanced over at Delia nervously. Was the single mother just being modest, or did she not trust her when Casey told Delia that she was going to be safe tonight?

A worse thought suddenly struck Casey's head. What if there has been a change in plans tonight and she didn't know about it?

"Takuya, how are you adapting in Gorebyss, being the only man amongst seven women?" Professor Birch asked.

"Professor, I feel really lucky and blessed to be stuck on a tribe with seven gorgeous and wonderful women." Takuya grinned. "I know Brock must be regretting that he didn't pick to be the leader on the first day!"

"So I take it that you're getting along with everyone?"

"Yeah, most of us are great people." Takuya said with a small smile. He put his hands on Suzie's shoulders. "I mean, Suzie here is just adorable. She is everybody's cheerleader." He then pointed at Mimi. "And Mimi keeps us all entertained at night with her beautiful voice and songs."

"Ah! Mimi, I'm hearing some good things about your singing!" Professor Birch turned to the tall brunette. "Care to sing a song?"

Mimi quickly shook her head. Several others could be heard nudging her encouragingly to do so.

"I'm afraid it would be a sad song, so I don't want to sing it." Mimi smiled sheepishly.

"Why is it a sad song?" Professor Birch elaborated. "Is the person you're voting out tonight somebody you don't want to vote out?"

"Everybody in this tribe is wonderful, but we have to vote out someone tonight and that really sucks." Mimi said sadly.

Professor Birch looked up at Cassidy, sitting with her long legs crossed and a thin smirk spread across her face.

"What will you base your vote on tonight, Cassidy?" He asked curiously.

"Professor Birch, I'm going to vote out the person who I think contributes the least to the tribe. This is the least important member in our tribe, if you may." She replied diplomatically. "If this person goes, our house of cards wouldn't crumble without her presence."

"Her presence? Is it going to be a female who's leaving tonight?"

"Yes." She shot Takuya a quick glance. "All the guys will be safe."

"Oh lucky me." Takuya said sarcastically.

"Okay, it's time to vote." Professor Birch pointed his thumb at Cassidy. "Cassidy, you're up first."

Cassidy got up and walked to the voting booth, wrote down a name and showed it to the cameras.

"You and I just didn't click," she said with an indifferent shrug. "And frankly, you bore me."

She shoved the parchment into the voting urn and returned to her seat.

Casey, Delia, Mimi, Takuya, and Zoe followed. All five of them had been apologetic when casting their vote, mumbling the word "Sorry" at least once during their farewell speech. Zoe returned from the voting booth with misty eyes, while Takuya put a comforting hand on her shoulder. It had not been an easy decision for her tonight.

The seventh person to vote was Suzie Wong. The cheerful child skipped her way to the voting booth, with a huge smile on her round face as usual. She cast a vote, although she was barely tall enough to reach the table. On her parchment was the name Cassidy written in big bubbly letters, except that it was spelt wrong – it was missing one 's'.

Nobody had informed Suzie about the voting plan tonight. It was hard to trust Suzie with a secret without constantly worrying if she will accidentally open her big mouth and tell everybody. They all liked the little purple-hair child, they really did. But nobody was willing to risk their necks to include Suzie in their plans, no matter how much they liked her as a person. To the members of Gorebyss, Suzie was just a non-entity who smiled a lot. She was too unpredictable and too disobedient to follow through with any strategic plan.

So they had decided it was best if Suzie was kept in the dark in this tribal council.

"Cassidy, you're a big meanie and you're getting my vote!" Suzie said. She waved to the cameras. "Bye bye!"

Rika walked up to the voting booth last. She picked up the parchment and wrote down five letters on the piece of parchment. She then held it up to the cameras, revealing Delia's name on it.

"Too weak and too ill, you're only hindering us in challenges," said Rika. With hesitation, she added, "You should be in the losers' lodge getting some proper rest."

Rika returned to her seat with an emotionless expression on her face. She glanced over at Delia, who was blinking vacantly into the fire.

"I'll go tally the votes," said Professor Birch.

All eight votes have been cast.

And the Gorebyss tribe was about to find out who the second person voted off will be.

- - -

"Once the votes have been read, the person voted off will be asked to leave tribal council immediately," said Professor Birch. "I'll now read the votes."

He pulled out the first parchment from the voting urn, sighed softly and turned it over.

"Delia."

Delia nodded her head, smiling weakly at the professor. She had expected to receive votes at tribal council.

"Second vote," said the professor as he pulled out another parchment from the urn. He turned it over.

"Cassidy."

A thin smile spread across Cassidy's face when she saw her misspelled name on the parchment. Although her name was written on the parchment, she didn't look worried at all. She knew she wasn't going home tonight.

Professor Birch pulled out the third vote from the urn. He took a long pause before turning it over.

"Suzie."

Then the fourth vote.

"Suzie."

And then the fifth vote. This one had a sad smiley face drawn beside the name.

"Suzie."

Lastly, Professor Birch drew out the sixth and fatal vote.

"And the second person voted out of Survivor: Dewford Islands…"

He turned the parchment over.

"Suzie."

Suzie smiled lightly, wearing a slightly puzzled expression on her face. Some of her tribe members turned their heads away, trying to evade from Suzie's gaze. They didn't have the heart to face her after what they've done tonight. Suzie hopped up from her seat and smiled genuinely at the rest of her tribe. That bright and energetic smile never left her face once even as the barrage of votes appeared out of nowhere. She might not have expected the results, she might not have liked to exit the game like this, but she didn't hold a grudge against any of them. Suzie grabbed her torch and walked over to Professor Birch.

"Suzie, the tribe has spoken." Professor Birch declared, distinguishing the flame from Suzie's torch.

"Have fun, everyone!" Suzie said, blowing an air kiss to her tribe members. "Bye bye!"

Cassidy quietly watched the petite girl walk into the forest, her short and stubby body soon disappearing from sight. Some of her tribe members might have felt sad to see the energetic Tamer leave the game, but Cassidy had a different feeling about tonight's results. After all, it was her who had manufactured Suzie's departure at this tribal council. She had suggested the Tamer's name and everybody instantly jumped on the bandwagon – everybody was too afraid to take a stand and defy her.

It wasn't uneasiness that she felt tonight. It was power. Absolute power was what Cassidy had over the Gorebyss tribe.

Suzie was one of the few people who dared to defy Cassidy and her totalitarianism, and now she paid the price. She was merely a worthless cheerleader, an airheaded mascot, an uncontrollable wildcard – Suzie didn't have a defined role in this tribe. Had she not been so defiant and rebellious, she probably wouldn't have been on Cassidy's black list. But Cassidy had no use for anybody who didn't follow her commands. Suzie was strategically useless to her, so Suzie had to go.

"Gorebyss, your time is done here." Professor Birch said. "Have a safe trip back to your camp."

Rika was the first to get up from her seat and she quickly walked away from the rest of her tribe. Cassidy had informed her that the perky Tamer would be voted off tonight, but Rika defied her wishes to make this a unanimous vote against Suzie. Her vote against Delia was just a vote cast out of spite. And Rika could tell that Cassidy wasn't happy that she didn't get her way. And Rika knew that Cassidy would lecture her about this vote the first thing tomorrow morning. And Rika guessed correctly that her head was now on the chopping block because of this.

But Rika didn't care, she was proud to be a rebel.

As Cassidy would soon learn about the game of Survivor, there will always be rebels.

- - -

Suzie's Final Words

I really had fun on the island, but six days is too, too, too short! I wanted to stay longer and I don't understand why they voted me out. Nobody told me anything about the vote, so I just voted for the person who has been the least nice to me. But it's alright, I'm very happy to be sitting in the lodge right now with my strawberry milkshake! Hee hee! I guess it's bye-bye for me then, Survivor. But it's been fun!

- - -

Next Time on Survivor –

JP and TK campaign to save themselves from elimination…
JP: We don't need him on our tribe.
(TK snaps his fingers in front of somebody's face.)
TK: We can dispose him just like that.

Cassidy goes sunbathing in the nude…
(Cassidy's hands are unhooking her black bikini top.)
Cassidy: You need to showcase them…
(She tosses it aside.)
Cassidy: …or they won't be at their money's worth.

And a disagreement amongst the women turns ugly…
(Cassidy is sitting in front of the fire, smirking smugly.)
Mimi: Get over yourself!
Casey: Exactly.
(Takuya is giving a confessional. He laughs nervously.)
Takuya: These ladies could either be the best of friends or they could be the worst of enemies.

All of this and more on – Episode 3: Mean Girls

Author's Notes: Thanks to everyone who reviewed the first episode and I hope you enjoyed the second episode as well! Please take some time to go visit my website and fill out the Episode 2 Poll. It will only take a few minutes, but provide me with a lot of input from you as the reader. Thanks you so much, and don't forget to review!