Okay…

000

After hearing the frustrations of the other three contestants, well mainly Incineroar and Hakamo-o, and hearing a few of their ideas, Tsareena was rather skeptical about rather or not she should keep up the facade or not.

At this point, everyone had the same enemy and the same mindset, which she was happy about; it ate at her that she was debating this choice.

It was currently 8:49 in the morning; it was Monday, meaning that they had a challenge and Lunala would be the host. So, she could very well reveal herself to Lycanroc, Hakamo-o, and Incineroar and have them keep the facade alive.

Stretching, the Fruit Pokemon went into her bathroom to do her daily routine. She went inside of her still, relatively clean bathroom and turned on the hot water. She went ahead and sat down in the tub so that her body would adjust to the higher temperature early and she could just adjust accordingly.

As the tub filled up, the grass-type considered her options. She knew that she was going to let the others get to know her real personality and attempt to help them with Dhelmise in some way, despite the annoying jackass' current status, but then they'd know that she was actually a threat and eliminate her if a normal vote was involved.

It was a win and a lose at the same exact time; if Dhelmise hadn't cheated and won the challenge when the cast from Victini's show was here, he'd be eliminated instantly, no contest.

"Hmm… what do I do?" she asked herself as the running water reached the halfway point up her body. She reached forward and turned the water off before sighing and relaxing herself. "If only I had the bath salts and bath bombs back at home. This would be perfect…"

"Ugh, do I risk myself or just keep letting them think I'm dumb?" she asked herself. "It certainly would be a weight off my shoulders… my face and legs have been aching…"

The Fruit Pokemon began bathing herself, using a bar of soap and a loofah. After a fifteen minute scrubbing session, Tsareena drenched herself with non-soapy water before standing up. She pulled the drain up, allowing the water to begin draining out.

She sighed as she wrapped a towel around herself and stared at herself in the bathroom mirror. What was her decision going to be?

000

Lycanroc shuffled in her bed in her still disheveled room. No attempt had been made to clean the room, as she knew that it would only become damaged again when she was asleep. As the sun shined through her drapeless windows, the Wolf Pokemon moaned to herself and drew her covers over herself to avoid the sunlight.

After a few minutes, the red canine sighed and uncovered herself before noticing something; her room wasn't more destroyed. It was unusual initially, but when she moved her legs, she hit something else that was in her bed, startling her. She slowly turned over in her bed and was surprised to see a familiar tiger facing away from her, lying in her bed. She didn't find it completely awful or concerning, knowing how they both felt about each other.

"That explains why nothing was destroyed," she thought to herself with a giggle. She rubbed her head, trying to remember how the two of them ended up falling asleep in her bed.

She sat up and prepared to get out of her bed. As she did, Incineroar purred as he rolled onto his back and smacked his lips. She silently giggled and rose up before heading toward her bathroom. As she did, she noticed an envelope sitting at her door.

Intrigued, she bent down and picked it up. The envelope was addressed to her, and it apparently was

"From Charizard…" she read to herself. She looked back toward her bed, where Incineroar was turning over once again. She looked back down at the letter and went into the bathroom.

000

Lycanroc sighed. "Well, Charizard sent me a letter to apologize and explained everything. Didn't really expect this…"

"Well, I'm a forgiving girl, so… I'll try to respond the best I can…"

000

As the faint sound of the shower head spraying water entered the room, Incineroar groaned to himself. He slowly opened his eyes and looked around, noticing that he wasn't in his own room. "What the hell?" he asked to himself. "W-Why am I in Lycanroc's room?"

He could immediately tell that it was Lycanroc's room by the state of disrepair the room was in. He sighed as he sat up and popped his back. "Fuck me…" he groaned.

He decided to go ahead and go to his own room to shower and such. He passed by her bathroom door and headed out, all the while a bit skeptical about what happened that led to them practically sleeping together.

As he exited Lycanroc's room, Hakamo-o happened to pass by him, relatively unfazed at the fact that he was leaving her room. Then a thought hit him… why was he suddenly so weirded out about it? They'd slept together numerous times throughout the duration of the show, albeit not in an actual bed, but still!

He shook his head free of his sudden bewilderment and regained his primary objective at the moment: fucking over Dhelmise. He followed Hakamo-o, who had been heading toward the elevators.

000

Hakamo-o had pressed the down button on the elevator and, after a few seconds, it opened. She heard footsteps, and after seeing him the hall, inferred that it was Incineroar. She extended her arm to hold the elevator doors open and, soon enough, the tiger came from around the corner.

Upon seeing the elevator door being held open, he entered it, allowing Hakamo-o to remove her arm and press the door closing button.

"So, I see that you ended up falling asleep in Lycanroc's room…" Hakamo-o commented. "Did anything, uh..."

"Of course not!" Incineroar blustered, his face flushing in embarrassment. "I'm a taker, not a giver, and she's just a best friend!"

"Okay, okay," Hakamo-o chortled, gesturing for him to calm down. "I was just kidding…"

"Well...good, then," Incineroar replied, folding his arms bashfully. The usually abrasive and serious dragon- and fighting-type's sudden shift in attitude certainly surprised the tiger. She'd been different ever since she met Lucario from Victini's show. Did the Aura Pokemon really affect her that much? "You've certainly been more upbeat as of late. Guess Lucario really caused a change in you…"

Hakamo-o shrugged. "Not much of a change at all, really. Just a bit more quote unquote, playful," she responded, making the hand gestures as the elevator doors opened.

The two stepped onto the second floor, heading toward the buffet area. "So, what's our plan for dealing with anchor boy?" Hakamo-o questioned, shifting the subject to what they were discussing in the previous challenge and the following Saturday morning.

Incineroar started thinking about it before running right into the door of the cafe. Hakamo-o chortled at this before opening the door and heading inside. The tiger followed shortly after.

"I'm not entirely sure yet," the Heel Pokemon replied. "I guess it'd be based on the challenge. Plus, we don't know if the bastard will want to compete in the challenge or not."

Hakamo-o sighed in dismay as she headed to the breakfast buffet island with the fire- and dark-type. "So…" she started, grabbing a plate. "Essentially, we're hosed if he decides not to compete in tonight's challenge…"

Incineroar let out a sigh of his own, his eyes closing momentarily. "Pretty much," he said, grabbing his own plate.

Hakamo-o growled, smashing her plate on the marble in anger. Incineroar rose a brow, understanding her feeling.

"Great," she groaned. "So no matter what, we're still gonna deal with his bullshit. What a wondrous final five."

"Well, final three in the douchebag's case…" Incineroar said as he grabbed some bacon and a few scoops of eggs. He let out an irritated huff. "Well, we could probably knock him down a few pegs by insulting him back or something…or causing him grievous bodily harm."

"Hmm… I'm okay with that, but how would we do it?" Hakamo-o queried, her eyes glimmering in interest. "That jackass can spin everything back toward us!"

Incineroar groaned as he pinched the bridge of his snout. "We'll figure something out. At least I hope…"

Hakamo-o nodded as Incineroar started heading back out of the cafe. Once he was out of the vicinity, Dhelmise happened to pass him by. Much to his surprise, the ghost didn't utter a single word to him. Perturbed, yet relieved, the tiger continued on his way.

000

Dhelmise had passed by Incineroar, who gave him a scowl as he entered the cafe. The Heel Pokemon's usual aggressive disposition didn't faze the ghost- and grass-type. He had his own business to handle: satisfying his hunger.

With him being in the final three, undoubtedly, he decided that now would be the good time to mess with the minds of those he deemed weak. So, pretty much all of them. Seeing that Hakamo-o was grabbing a few Sitrus Berries and placing them on her plate, he saw that this was the perfect opportunity.

Already knowing the response he was going to get, he floated over and, with a blunt, uncaring tone, said, "So, which of your friends are you gonna betray in next couple of challenges?"

Taken aback by his abrupt question, Hakamo-o placed her plate down and turned to face the Sea Creeper Pokemon with a stern, unwelcoming glower. "What are you on about?"

"Or are you just gonna take the easy way out and get rid of Tsareena, making it harder for yourself in the future?" he continued, ignoring her response.

The Scaly Pokemon huffed. "Don't fucking start with me…." she threatened, her eyes lowering further as turned around to grab her plate again.

"You're evading the questions," Dhelmise retorted. "I'm only thinking on a grander scale. I mean… you want to win, right?"

"We all want to win, you idiot!" Hakamo-o growled, slamming her plate onto the table and facing the seaweed-anchor combo. "What kind of question is that?!"

"It's a strategy-based question…" Dhelmise replied simply. "All you need to do is answer…"

"Why the hell do you want to know so bad?!" Hakamo-o inquired. "You're already in the final three, you son of a bitch! What I decide to do is none of your business!"

"So you say, but like you said, I'm already in the final three. Therefore, since you are my competition and you have a possibility to get to the final three as well, what you do is my business…" Dhelmise replied smugly.

Hakamo-o clenched her fists, as he was correct in that sense. Her decisions did impact him in some way, but it wasn't only her decisions, it was the others' decisions as well. This brought a small smile to her face, giving her a sense of control over the bastard.

"Oh… so… you're dependent on me, huh?" she teased. "Little old me, huh?"

Dhelmise snorted. "As if. The only thing you have control over is who comes to the final three with me…"

Hakamo-o's confident sneer immediately turned into a frown. Dhelmise could always find a way to piss her off and strip her of any and all confidence she had.

"So, you have to ask yourself, which do you desire more?" Dhelmise started. "Do you enjoy your friends more… or would you rather win?"

Hakamo-o slashed at him out of anger, which he promptly dodged by swinging out of the way. "Nice try…" he mocked. "It was a serious question, but I should've known your pea brain wouldn't be able to comprehend…"

Hakamo-o snarled at the annoying anchor. "Get the fuck out of here…"

"Nah, I think I'm gonna get some breakfast and hang out here…" Dhelmise replied, unfazed by her anger. "You're free to get the fuck out of here, though…"

Twitching, the Scaly Pokemon grabbed her plate and stomped out of the cafe. Dhelmise chortled to himself. "Now, I wait for the results…"

000

"It's way too easy to get under her and Incineroar's skin," Dhelmise stated. "With me being safe until the stupid hosts decide to stop with the filler challenges and actually do eliminations, I'm gonna see if I can eat at these losers' psyche. Tsareena is an easy out, but then there's a major choice to be made for the three stooges…"

"Who do they get rid of?"

"It'll be very humorous to see their sadness and anger. Well, Incineroar and Hakamo-o's at least. Lycanroc is ehhh…"

000

After approximately eleven hours, Hakamo-o, Incineroar, and Lycanroc met up on the seventh floor. The three of them had spent the majority of the day hanging out in Incineroar's room and watching a few other shows that were going on.

"So, that dick head really sent you a letter?" Incineroar questioned, having just seen the newest episode of Victini's show with the girls.

Lycanroc nodded. "Yeah, I wrote a response to him to let him know that there's no hard feelings…"

"No hard feelings?!" Incineroar bellowed. "He-"

Lycanroc gave the Heel Pokemon a stern look, as if telling him to let it go. If she was perfectly fine at this point, he should be too. "Incineroar… I thought we talked about this…"

The tiger sighed. "Yeah, but I can't help it! That bastard injured you and put you into a borderline depression!"

"Incineroar… it's okay," Lycanroc giggled, stroking the fire- and dark-type's fur. "Don't think of the past. Focus on the future…"

"Easier said than done when there's a constant reminder," Incineroar countered, gently rubbing Lycanroc's stomach, where the scar was.

Hakamo-o had remained silent throughout the entire 'Total Pokemon' binge. What Dhelmise had talked to her about in the cafe was still eating at her, and watching these shows didn't help her thoughts at all. Everything the Arceus-damned Sea Creeper said, it was true. No matter what happened, one of them would end up getting eliminated before the final three.

She let out a depressed sigh, getting the attention of the other two, who looked to her in concern.

"What's up, Haka?" Lycanroc queried.

"Dhelmise…" Hakamo-o replied exasperatedly.

Incineroar growled. "What did that bastard say?"

"He was talking about how I'm gonna have to choose which of you I want to keep in the game because Tsareena is an easy out…" Hakamo-o replied. "It's bothering me…"

"How come?" Lycanroc asked, a bit perplexed. "It's true. We're gonna have to either come to an agreement or hope that there isn't an automatic elimination like the other shows have…"

"Plus, who's to even say that tonight's challenge is even gonna be an elimination challenge?" Incineroar replied. "They didn't have anything in the past two challenges, so there's probably not gonna be one tonight, either…"

"CONTESTANTS! COME ON DOWN! IT'S TIME FOR THE NEXT CHALLENGE!"

"Well, we're about to see, now aren't we?" Hakamo-o replied as she rose up from Incineroar's couch.

000

The doors of the elevator opened, allowing Hakamo-o, Lycanroc, and Incineroar to enter the lobby and meet Lunala at the doors. Much to their surprise, somewhat, Tsareena was already there, her arms folded.

Upon seeing the three approaching, and no sign of Dhelmise, Lunala greeted them. "Hello you four, I hope that all has been going w-"

Dhelmise floated down from the ceiling abruptly. "Alright you overgrown Zubat, is tonight's challenge an elimination challenge or not?" he interrupted abrasively.

Lunala tightened a glare toward the Sea Creeper due to his sudden interruption of her greeting. She too a breath. "It's an elimination challenge, dipshit. You're free to stay behind."

"Oh-ho no, I've gotta see this…" Dhelmise chortled. "This is going to be amazing to watch…"

"I really wish you didn't exist…" Hakamo-o groaned.

"And you also wish that you had Lucario sitting on your face, right?" Dhelmise retorted flatly.

Hakamo-o attempted to attack the anchor for bringing up the Aura Pokemon, but Lycanroc held her back. It really wasn't worth it.

Lunala took a breath again. She really didn't want to deal with Dhelmise or his non-existent mouth. She shouldn't have made the automatic final three reward a thing; she was seriously rethinking her choices.

"Alright, let's head out to tonight's destination before I suffer a brain aneurysm…" Lunala said through grit teeth.

"Then quit yapping and start teleporting," Dhelmise stated. "Geez, you two are as bad as those non-legendaries at hosting these shits…"

"OKAY, THAT'S IT!" Lunala screeched, causing the others to cover their ears. "TALK DOWN TO ME OR SOLGALEO AGAIN AND YOUR PLACEMENT'S BEING REVOKED YOU PIECE OF SHIT! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!"

Dhelmise was unfazed, but decided to keep his mouth closed.

000

"I finally struck a nerve," Dhelmise stated. "They, well she, finally gained a pair!"

000

"Now, let's get to our location on Melemele Island," Lunala announced, her anger slowly dissipating.

A blue aura surrounded the six of them before they teleported away.

000

The six of them appeared on a craggy mountainous area, where a sign pointed toward a large cave-like tunnel. Looking around, there was a bit more land and a bridge on the contestants' left side, and a more mountain-like area on the left side, along with a cliff area.

"Welcome to Route 3…" Lunala introduced.

"Uh… we're doing our challenge on a route?" Incineroar questioned. "That doesn't sound practical in the slightest."

"Neither does gay sex…" Dhelmise retorted.

Incineroar clenched his fists, cracking his knuckles while glaring daggers at the Sea Creeper.

"Well, no," Lunala continued, ignoring the interaction between the two. "Today's challenges are centered around Melemele Meadows, the Seaward Cave, and Kala'e Bay."

"Okay, so why are we on Route 3, then?" Hakamo-o queried.

"Because your first challenge is going to be to find the entrance to Seaward Cave," Lunala explained. "Melemele Meadow is a lush field filled with vibrant yellow flowers and other Pokemon, as well as a few normal pathways. Hidden somewhere in the meadow, however, is a relatively small opening that leads to Seaward Cave."

"The first one to find the opening wins an advantage in the second part of the challenge," Lunala explained. "It should prove easy enough…"

"Yeah, probably too easy," Hakamo-o opined. "Lycanroc lives on this island! She practically knows where the cave is, already."

Lunala rose a brow. "Is this true, Lycanroc?"

"Well, I haven't been in the cave or the bay ever since I was a Rockruff, but I think I still kinda remember where it is…" Lycanroc said, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. "Though I'm not sure…"

"That doesn't sound like practicality to me, Hakamo-o," Lunala replied. She looked up at the sky "Plus, it's rather dark at this time, so I don't think that she'll be able to identify the opening as easy as you think…"

Hakamo-o simply folded her arms in response.

"Now, on my call, you four will run into the meadows and search for the Seaward Cave opening," Lunala explained. "Myself and… it will be waiting on the inside of the cave to greet the winner."

Dhelmise rolled his non-existent eyes at the lame insult. However, due to the threat of immunity termination, Dhelmise remained silent.

"In… three… two… one… GO!" Lunala bellowed.

Incineroar, Hakamo-o, and Lycanroc ran into the cave tunnel, leading them to the meadow. Tsareena followed shortly after, much to Dhelmise's surprise.

"Huh, the ditz is actually doing something right," he commented.

Lunala didn't respond to him and simply teleported herself to the cave. Dhelmise groaned. "Yeah, that's mature," he grumbled to himself as he vanished.

000

Upon entering the meadows, Lycanroc, Hakamo-o, and Incineroar grouped together, while Tsareena went about on her own.

The Fruit Pokemon, having seen them group together, could infer that they were going to try to figure out which of them would get the immunity if they were to work together.

Due to this being an elimination challenge, she needed to work hard. She had decided to allow herself to simply participate normally in challenges and not say anything. It'd be much easier.

"Hmm, now if I remember correctly," the Fruit Pokemon said as she leapt off of a raised platform and into the lemon-colored flora. She began walking toward the rocky wall on the opposite side of the meadow. "The cavern should be around here somewhere," she said, placing her arms onto the wall and beginning to feel around.

The craggy feeling of the wall was expected by her, as a cave was connected to the meadow after all.

-000-

Glancing over, Incineroar noticed what Tsareena was doing. He raised a brow in interest before turning back to the girls. "Uh, so I think that we may need to hurry up before Tsareena accidentally finds the entrance."

"Okay, well since Lycanroc is the one who seems to semi-know where it is, I feel that she should get the advantage," Incineroar stated matter-of-factly.

Lycanroc sighed. "Incineroar, it's fine. Whoever finds it, finds it. I don't remember specifically where it is, but Tsareena has the right idea."

"It's getting pretty dark, so she may just be using it as a way to get around," Hakamo-o opined, having no confidence in Tsareena's abilities.

Incineroar folded his arms before eyeing the Fruit Pokemon again as she continued moving along the wall, feeling around. "Well, I don't think we need to keep standing here. Let's hurry up and try to find the cave entrance."

Lycanroc nodded in agreement before a faint memory entered her mind. She recalled that the cavern that she entered as a child was rather small and was settled against the craggy wall. "Tsareena has the right idea at this point. I just remembered that the cavern is along that wall somewhere…"

Hakamo-o immediately leapt off of the platform and into the flowers before rushing toward Tsareena's direction without saying another word.

Lycanroc hopped down after, with Incineroar leaping down and sprinting toward the wall on all fours, surprising the Wolf Pokemon thoroughly. She held back a laugh and leisurely strolled through the lush, flourishing flowers.

She looked around the meadow, having not been around this place in the longest time. The sweet aroma of the flowers comforted her vastly. She recalled her grandma giving her a single flower from this meadow to make her feel better when her mom was in the hospital.

Being around all of the flowers was bringing a sense of calmness over her as a smile appeared on her face. As she gazed back upward and over to the others, she jumped back in surprise upon seeing Incineroar right next to her.

Seeing her jump, Incineroar placed a gentle paw on her shoulder. "Whoa, are you okay?"

Lycanroc panted softly before giggling. "Y-yeah, you just scared me a bit is all…"

Incineroar ruffled her fur playfully. "Well, Hakamo-o found the entrance," the tiger explained, gesturing over to their scaly friend, who was starting to crawl through the tunnel.

"Alright, good, let's get going," Lycanroc replied, as she moved over toward the wall, as Tsareena got onto her knees to crawl after Hakamo-o.

The wolf and tiger headed toward the small opening.

000

As Lycanroc crawled through the rough tunnel, she heard Lunala speaking. Arriving on the opposing side, she saw Hakamo-o and Tsareena standing there in front of Lunala, who was in her Full Moon Phase, illuminating the dark cave.

"Congratulations, Hakamo-o, you're the first one to find this place in the darkness, so you get the advantage for this next challenge," Lunala expressed her joy for the Scaly Pokemon.

Hakamo-o smiled and nodded, while Tsareena kept her composure, despite being rather angry.

"The challenge wasn't even all that hard…" Dhelmise opined. "Literally, all they had to do was find a hole in the wall…"

"What did I-"

"I was criticizing the challenge, not your hosting skills, so you can't get mad," Dhelmise exploited a loophole in what she said.

Incineroar popped his head into the Seaward Cave and attempted to pull himself through, however, he found himself getting stuck due to his large upper body. The Heel Pokemon growled as he yanked his arms through and attempted to push against the wall in order to get inside. As he struggled, he roared in frustration.

"Come on!" he bellowed in discomfort, his torso scraping against the rough edges of the tunnel.

"Wow. Gay, a hot-head, and now a fatass," Dhelmise commented. "You're really adding onto your list of shitty traits…"

Incineroar glowered at the Sea Creeper Pokemon. He immediately attempted to blast a Flamethrower at the one who had harassed and irritated him to no end. Unfortunately for him, he dodged it.

"Nice try, nimrod. Aim better and maybe you'll actually accomplish something…" Dhelmise jeered.

Incineroar growled, attempting to yank himself through, a few cracks being heard.

"That's right keep pulling, your pain in humorous. I'm sure you make those same pained expressions when you're getting your ass torn apart by your dumb boyfriend. Seriously, what idiot has standards so low that he would want to date an ill-tempered, insecure pussy who knows damn well that his existence is only meant to offend normal, straight people?"

"Dhelmise!" Hakamo-o exclaimed, glaring at him as Lycanroc gaped in disbelief.

Incineroar snapped, that was the final straw. He roared furiously, successfully pulling himself through with indignation. Hakamo-o, Tsareena, and Lycanroc jumped back as the infuriated tiger charged toward Dhelmise. He grabbed hold of the male's shank before lifting him up and preparing to slam him into the ground like a hammer. However, he phased out of Incineroar's grasp before that could even happen.

"There. He's out of the hole. Now, let's move on with the next challenge…" Dhelmise responded, apathetic about what he said, as if he did no wrong.

Incineroar was fed up with the ghost- and grass-type's constant barrage of homophobic remarks and slurs, as well as all of the insults that spewed from his non-existent mouth in general. Now that he brought up Lucario… he was a dead boy. Not man, boy.

His brows were furrowed as he glowered at his target murderously. He was huffing, his fists clenched so tight that he was puncturing his own palms with his claws.

Lunala was a bit taken aback by the events that just transpired before her; she was actually looking forward to seeing if Incineroar would actually pummel Dhelmise to a pulp. Sadly, after seeing Dhelmise escape his grasp, she knew that it wasn't going to happen. "Well, let's get this next challenge started shall we?"

Lycanroc had her paws placed on Incineroar's chests, attempting to calm him down. However, Incineroar wasn't calming down, his murderous eyes remained glued onto Dhelmise's form.

"Throughout Seaward Cave, there are statues in the forms of your fellow eliminated contestants, as well as a few legendaries," Lunala explained. "You are required to smash the statues in order to look for a key. Only four out of the twenty-four statues hold keys. Once you retrieve a key, you must head out onto Kala'e Bay, where you will find ten treasure chests. Then, all you have to do is choose a chest. But, choose wisely, as two of the chests hold invincibility from tonight's vote."

Lycanroc, Hakamo-o, and Tsareena exchanged looks, while Incineroar was still focused on Dhelmise.

"Any extra precautions or rules?" Hakamo-o queried.

"No, this is essentially a free-for-all, so do whatever you feel that you need to," Lunala explained. "And, since you got here first, Hakamo-o, you get to choose three chests when you find your key."

Hakamo-o smiled. "Nice!"

Tsareena rolled her eyes, while Lycanroc looked proud.

000

"This… should prove to be very interesting," Tsareena commented.

000

"Alright, challenge begins in three… two… one… GO!" Lunala announced.

Immediately, Hakamo-o started rushing down the path. Tsareena blinked before taking her time and walking down after her.

"Incineroar… come on…" Lycanroc said, gently pushing him back as he growled throatily while glaring at Dhelmise. "Incineroar!"

The tiger slowly glanced down at Lycanroc, who had a very concerned expression on her face. He glanced back up at Dhelmise, who wasn't even bothering to look back at him. Incineroar started walking away, much to Lycanroc's happiness.

000

Tsareena walked down the path and immediately saw Hakamo-o using Brick Break on a statue of Drampa that was almost immediately to the right after entering far enough into the cave.

As the Scaly Pokemon did that, Tsareena scoped the cave. Jagged stalactites hung from the ceiling, a few of them dripping water onto the smooth rocky surface underneath. From where she was currently standing, she saw a small pond with a Pyukumuku statue sitting in it. She then looked over to her left and saw a pathway leading downwards, as well as further paths with statues sitting on them.

Seeing that Hakamo-o was almost finished with the Drampa statue, and hearing Lycanroc and Incineroar approaching behind her, Tsareena decided to take the left slope down.

"Let's see what we have here," she said to herself as she headed down. Turning her head, she saw two more large water pools, each with statues inside. The furthest one had a Manaphy and the closest one had a Phione.

Tsareena hurried down before looking back up and noticing that Incineroar and Lycanroc were starting to head down.

Quickly, she used Trop Kick on the Phione statue, causing a lot of gravel and statue pieces to fly in different directions, with a good portion of them staying in the water. Using Trop Kick a few more times, the statue was fully down. "Come on…" she said as she started searching through the rocks.

Lycanroc and Incineroar had both made it down and were heading toward the Manaphy statue. Tsareena acted fast and hopped up onto the higher pool, using Trop Kick on the statue of the Seafaring Pokemon as well before her competitors even had a crack at it.

"Tsareena? Do you even know what you're doing?" Incineroar queried, expecting a poor response.

"Breaking things. Looking for a key," she responded simply as she stomped on the statue to crack and shatter it further.

The two were surprised to hear her actually respond with that. They exchanged looks.

"Uh… alright then," Incineroar responded, a bit perturbed. He and Lycanroc proceeded down the next path, which had a Gumshoos statue sitting there. Tsareena smirked to herself, seeing them leave as she continued smashing the statue.

-000-

As the two walked toward it, Lycanroc decided to talk to Incineroar about what had just occurred. The two had remained in silence, with the smaller wolf holding the Heel Pokemon's hand and leading him forward.

"You doing okay?" Lycanroc queried as Incineroar continued strolling forward before stopping in front of the statue of the wannabe investigator.

In response, Incineroar struck the statue with his fist, hitting it right in the 'stomach'. His fist was about six inches into the statue and cracks were starting to spread across. Incineroar withdrew his arm before using his other arm and striking it again.

"Incineroar?"

Incineroar took a breath, withdrawing his other arm. "No, I'm not okay. I'm fucking sick and tired of that motherfucker Dhelmise constantly talking shit to me. I've never really pissed off around here unless that piece of shit is talking!" he roared. "I want to end him…"

Understanding his issues, Lycanroc hugged him, wrapping her arms around his waist. "I know that a hug won't make your feelings go away, but just try to control yourself. I didn't like how you were looking at him earlier…"

Incineroar glanced to the side. If Dhelmise was going to continuously belittle him, at this point, he wasn't willing to take it. "I don't think I can promise that," he replied, rubbing her back. "At this point, he's asking for it. Him talking about my Lucario like that and insulting me further… he knows what he's doing."

"He wants you to be like this-"

"Why are you guys just standing here?" they heard. Turning around, they saw Hakamo-o coming over, shaking her hands to allow dust to scatter off. "There are like over thirty more statues that need to be broken!"

Incineroar punched the Gumshoos statue once more, causing the cracks to spread further. He continued punching it before it finally crumbled, revealing no key.

Looking down past it, the three of them looked in shock, seeing that six more statues had been broken, making it unable to tell who it was a statue of. They saw Tsareena rush toward a statue of Victini and kick its head off with a Trop Kick.

"Uh… is it just me, or is Tsareena acting weird?" Hakamo-o queried as the Fruit Pokemon continued kicking the statue of the Victory Pokemon, eventually shattering the middle of it.

"Hey, maybe she finally understands her surroundings," Lycanroc expressed her amazement. "That's good…"

"No… that's bad," Hakamo-o replied. "If she's finally gaining sentience, then that means she could actually be a threat! We need to do something."

"Do what? Throw a rock at her?" Incineroar questioned rhetorically. He then folded his arms. "Plus, we each have a two in seven chance to get immunity since you get to choose three chests."

Upon being reminded of that, a thought entered Lycanroc's head. "Wait, what happens if you get both immunities?"

Hakamo-o honestly didn't think about that chance. She had just hoped that she'd get at least one! "Well, I think if that's the case, Lunala will let me give it to… one of you…"

Lycanroc and Incineroar exchanged looks as Hakamo-o rubbed her arm sheepishly.

"Well, that should be easy as all hell," Incineroar said with a shrug. "If that happens, just give it to Lycanroc and we'll vote for Tsareena…"

Lycanroc facepalmed herself. "Come on. I appreciate it, but I don't need-"

"Ah-" Incineroar interrupted, raising a hand. "You're gonna take it and like it…"

Lycanroc playfully rolled her eyes before looking back down and seeing that Tsareena was gone and that there were still numerous statues up. Her eyes widened. "Uh… Tsareena's gone."

Incineroar and Hakamo-o looked back over and saw that the Fruit Pokemon was indeed gone. "FUCK!" they both exclaimed.

000

Tsareena clicked her non-visible mouth. "They should have been more focused on the challenge at hand. Their sudden, and I mean sudden, need to try and plan everything so that they each benefit is only going to bite them in their butts."

000

"Well, let's just hope that the chest she chooses isn't a good one…" Incineroar commented.

"You morons seriously let the brainless ditz find a key before you?!" Dhelmise chastised as he floated down toward them. "Jeez! Just when I thought my expectations couldn't get any lower!"

Incineroar gained an evil grin as he turned to him and cracked his knuckles.

"Oh boy, hot pussy is back in action," Dhelmise drawled. "Listen, instead of getting your rocks off from the sight of me, maybe you, tweedle-dee, and tweedle-dum should focus on the challenge and get your damn keys…"

"Okay anchor boy, why don't you go drown yourself outside or something instead of talk more shit?!" Hakamo-o growled as she started walking toward the Passimian statue sitting on the left path.

"And why don't you see if that statue will give the rock hard treatment you desired when he was there?" Dhelmise retorted.

Incineroar immediately blasted a Flamethrower at the Sea Creeper Pokemon before his attention was back on him and Lycanroc. His attack hit, sending Dhelmise to the ground. With a roar, Incineroar pounced on the fallen anchor and began using Shadow Claw repeatedly.

"Incineroar, NO!" Lycanroc yelled as she rushed toward him and hopped onto his back, wrapping her arms around his neck, making Incineroar rise up.

Instantaneously, Dhelmise phased into the ground before rising back in front of the two of them, as if he was unscathed. Incineroar growled. "Lycanroc… get off…" Incineroar's face twisted in a furious expression.

"Incineroar, I'm not gonna let you-"

Dhelmise's compass glowed before he floated upwards. All of the water from the pools behind him began to bubble before it started to rise and join together to form a massive wave.

Incineroar and Lycanroc both gaped.

"Have a nice swim," Dhelmise said with his same monotonous tone. Using Surf, the two started to run, only for the wave to crash into them, sending them into the walls on the opposite side of the cave, Hakamo-o watched it unfold and gaped as the two were struck by the wave, and being that they were both weak against water, it did a vast amount of damage to them.

"WHAT THE HELL, DHELMISE?!" Hakamo-o roared as she stopped breaking the Passimian statue.

"Hey, he attacked me first!" Dhelmise replied. "What? I can't retaliate?"

Hakamo-o growled, hopping off of the ledge and landing on the now moist cave floor. She hurried over to the two of them. Incineroar was starting to get up, holding his head. He got onto his feet as his blurred vision slowly became more focused.

He growled before he turned to the side and saw Lycanroc slowly getting onto her feet, albeit rather shakily. "Lycanroc!" he exclaimed as he rushed over to her and picked her up, putting her over his shoulder in a hug.

Coughing, the wolf pat his back. "Incineroar, put me down…"

Obliging, he did so quickly as she caught her breath. "This is… another reason...why I don't like actual fights…"

"I'm so sorry about that…" Incineroar apologized. "I didn't think that bastard would willingly attack you, too!"

Lycanroc sighed. "It's alright. I was bound to get my blow to my self-worth sooner or later…"

Hearing her say that so casually shocked both Incineroar and Hakamo-o. She then moved toward the Bewear statue that was sitting in the corner of the cave.

"Wait, wait… Lycanroc, are you sure you're okay?" Hakamo-o asked, running up and placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah… fine," Lycanroc simply replied as she went up to the statue of the Strong Arm Pokemon. Her paws glowed as she jumped up and used Brick Break, shattering the statue. Much to her surprise, there was a key inside of the statue. "Wow, I was expecting to come up with nothing…" she said as she picked up the key.

"Wait… Lycanroc, how were you able to-"

Lycanroc tossed the key in her direction before she could even finish her query. Hakamo-o caught it and looked at her friend in confusion. Why was she giving away a major component of the challenge, knowing that she could get her own?

"Lycanroc… why'd you give me this?" she asked.

"I just want this challenge to end now…" Lycanroc replied, not looking in their direction as she moved toward the next statue, which was of Mudsdale.

"Okay, this isn't right," Incineroar responded, walking up to her. Just as Lycanroc was about to use Brick Break on the statue of the selfish sexaholic, Incineroar picked her up from behind by her waist. He brought the wolf back over toward Hakamo-o and put her down.

"Why'd you do that?"

"You are not fine…" Hakamo-o replied, her arms folded. "It's like every time you get hurt in some way shape or form now, you just shut down."

"And what was that thing you said about self-worth earlier?" Incineroar asked in concerning interest.

Sighing, Lycanroc explained. "Dhelmise just takes jabs at personal characteristics of others and attempts to cause damage to their self-worth and image…"

Incineroar and Hakamo-o exchanged looks.

"Uh… no," Dhelmise said, floating down before them all, immediately resulting in savage growled from Hakamo-o and Incineroar.

"FUCK OFF!" Incineroar snapped. "YOU'VE DONE ENOUGH DAMAGE!"

"First off, you attacked me, so you brought the Surf onto yourself," Dhelmise replied. "Secondly, my apologies, Lycanroc, but you were just damaged goods in that situation. Thirdly, I insult others because it's funny to me and it's easy."

"Don't you have anything better to do?!" Hakamo-o exclaimed.

"Well, given how you guys are doing in this challenge, I should have just stayed back at the hotel. All you three have done is flap your gums over irrelevant shit and distract yourselves from the challenge," Dhelmise replied. "If I wanted to watch a shit ton of talking and mild action, I'd watch a soap opera or something…"

"Then leave!" Incineroar growled. "Nobody wants you here!"

"Hush…" Dhelmise replied. "Now. You have another key, which is good, so get the fuck back to the challenge because this is boring as all hell to me…"

"LUNALA!" Hakamo-o shouted. "CAN YOU PLEASE TELL THIS BASTARD TO LEAVE US ALONE?!"

"THIS IS TYPICAL COMPETITION SHIT!" Dhelmise yelled back.

Lunala appeared before the four of them, as Tsareena ingressed back into the cave from outside to check and see what was taking the others so long.

"What is the issue, here?" Lunala queried, having been holding an ice pack to her head back at the hall, while checking on the live feed from time to time. After hearing her name be shouted as she went back to check, she teleported back.

"Dhelmise is fucking insufferable! That's the issue!" Incineroar exploded. "He just used Surf on me and Lycanroc and now she's acting weird!"

"That was retaliation, you big baby. You hit me with super effective moves, so I did it back. Boo-hoo for you, your brain is so small that you actually listen to what I say. Not my fault…"

"I WILL END YOU!" Incineroar yelled, lunging toward him, only for him to teleport out of the way.

"Remember, the results of your last attack on me is right next to you, so I suggest you tone it down…" Dhelmise replied, gesturing to Lycanroc, who was starting to walk back toward the statues.

"Alright, how many keys have been found?" Lunala pried.

"Well, Tsareena has one and Lycanroc just gave me-"

"Okay, half of them are found," Lunala replied. "All you have to do is find the other two and the challenge will be over. Just hurry."

"We would if Dhelmise would just shut the hell up!" Incineroar exclaimed.

"As if my voice is actually distracting…" Dhelmise replied, rolling his non-existent eyes yet again.

Lycanroc walked over with another key. She had just smashed the Mudsdale statue and came up empty. Following that one, she went to the Shaymin statue and used Brick Break again. This time, she had found a key.

Holding one of the silver keys, Lycanroc opened Incineroar's fist and placed the key inside before closing it back up.

"See!" Incineroar exclaimed as Lycanroc went back toward the statues.

"Pipe… down…" Dhelmise stated, getting irritated from the tiger's excessive complaining. "Unlike you two, she's actually doing the challenge at hand!"

Lunala twitched. "Dhelmise… shut up."

"Alright, now I just need to get my own key and we can get on with this challenge…" Lycanroc said to herself.

Lunala groaned. "Dhelmise, why is it that ever since you got immunity, the challenges have gone poorly? Oh yeah… YOU'RE A PIECE OF SHIT!"

"Oh boo-hoo," Dhelmise replied. "Solgaleo's challenge was boring and stupid to begin with, so you can't blame that on me, and this challenge isn't my fault because these morons can't keep their mouths closed to just get on with it!"

"Bastard! You made me burn up the flowers last time. That made the challenge end!"

"You're the one who burned them th-"

"QUIET!" Hakamo-o exclaimed before folding her arms.

"Okay, that's it. Dhelmise, following this challenge, you are no longer part of the final three. Your constant cocky behavior and lack of empathy for others is irritating, aggravating, and warrants an ass kicking…"

"So… for enforcing my right to free speech, I lose my reward that I earned?" Dhelmise rhetorically queried. "Okay… enjoy being sued for censorship when I get eliminated. Trash talk is typical competitive behavior…"

"Yeah yeah yeah, shove it up your ass…" Lunala replied.

"Nice maturit-"

"SHUT UP, DHELMISE!" Incineroar and Hakamo-o both exclaimed.

Lycanroc, after breaking a Cosmoem statue, retrieved the final key and started heading down.

Tsareena, watching the whole scene unfold, shook her head in disappointment.

000

"It hurts to see so much passionate hatred, but it is also wonderful that Dhelmise lost his power," Tsareena explained. "I'm surprised the correlation wasn't clear to them. With him being immune, he felt like he can do whatever he wants with no consequence, hence the increase in wretched remarks and actions toward everyone."

"Sadly, he is still immune for this challenge, but at least he was successfully knocked down a peg…"

000

"Alright, all keys are present," Lunala announced. "Let's head out into the darkness of Kala'e Bay and get these chests open."

000

Heading outside, the competitors saw ten treasure chests sitting on the ground. The chests were all made out of wood, with metal covered edges. They each had a number painted on their rather poorly.

"Alright, Hakamo-o, since you get three choices, go ahead and begin your choices," Lunala spoke. "Every chest has something useful, or at the very least, enjoyable."

Hakamo-o didn't feel like she earned this key, as Lycanroc glumly retrieved every key with the exception of Tsareena's. Nevertheless, she approached the line of chests. After looking them all over, she placed her key into the fifth one.

Opening it, she saw a fruit basket sitting inside of it. "Hmm, not bad, I guess…" he said as she took it out of the chest and closed it.

The chest promptly disappeared. When that happened, Hakamo-o decided to go to the first chest. Inserting the key into the lock, she was a bit nervous, hoping that immunity was there.

Opening the chest, she saw that a Z-Phone 9X was inside of it. Her yes widened as she took it out. "A Z-Phone 9?! This hasn't even come out yet!"

Lunala nodded. "Like I said, useful or enjoyable…"

"Hey, now you can make your booty calls while feeling like a fancy bitch…" Dhelmise commented, earning him a glare from the Scaly Pokemon.

"You're fucking lucky," Incineroar said, folding his arms. "Free fruit and now the newest phone that hasn't even come out yet. If you get something else good, I'm gonna be pissed off…"

Hakamo-o took out the phone and closed the chest, which disappeared like the previous one.

She looked over the other chests and decided to go to the tenth one. That way, she'd have one of the middle two, the front, and back of the line of chests.

Walking down to the tenth chest, she inserted her key and opened the chest. Inside of the chest was just a large bag of potato chips and a two liter of Ginger Ale.

Hakamo-o sighed. "Well, better than nothing," she said as she took out the treats. "Sucks that I didn't get the immunity…"

"You didn't deserve it anyway," Dhelmise commented, earning swipe from her.

"Alright, Tsareena, your turn…" Lunala said.

Tsareena blinked and headed toward the chests. Incineroar and Hakamo-o crossed their fingers and hoped that the ditz didn't get immunity.

Tsareena dropped to her knees in front of the second chest. She purposely fumbled with the key before finally getting it inside and trying to open the case.

"Twist the key, dumbass!"

Tsareena continued trying to open the case without twisting the key to throw them off a bit. With a sigh, Lunala turned the key in its lock, allowing Tsareena to open the chest.

Inside of the chest was a card.

"Paper?" she asked as she took it out.

Lunala's eyes widened. "No, uh… that's immunity."

The others gaped, while Tsareena showed no emotion, as she actually suspected that this chest had immunity. She didn't expect to be right!

"Is that good?"

"Yes. That means that they can't vote for you…"

Tsareena blinked as the chest disappeared. Dhelmise erupted in laughter. "Wow! Looks like one of you three losers is gonna be screwed!"

Incineroar clenched his fists. "Good, because that just means that we'll be free from your bullshit!"

Lycanroc decided to go up to the chests next. She went up to the fourth chest and unlocked it. Opening the chest, she found the same card that Tsareena had gotten. She rose a brow and let out a sigh.

"Congratulations Lycanroc, you have received the second immunity!" Lunala cheered.

Lycanroc looked at the card. "Could I give this away?"

"NO!" she heard from the others.

Lycanroc couldn't help but to giggle at their immediate response. But then she made the realization that one of her best friends had a fifty-fifty chance of going. She let out a depressed sigh as the chest disappeared.

She headed back to the others and Incineroar rubbed her head. "Do I still need to choose one or can we just go and get this bullshit over with?"

"I mean, I'm sure that there's still some good stuff inside, but it's your choice…" Lunala said with a shrug.

Incineroar sighed before deciding to go over to the eighth chest. He placed the key inside and opened it up. Inside, he saw five tickets. Raising a brow, he took them out.

"Ooh, the second best prize, in my opinion, anyway," Lunala announced. "Five tickets to an all expense paid Five Star Luxury Cruise Liner!"

"Boat stuff. Wooo…" Dhelmise drawled.

"This… this is incredible!" Incineroar exclaimed.

Tsareena, despite feeling a bit jealous, couldn't help but feel happy that both Incineroar and Hakamo-o received good items. At least they wouldn't go home empty-handed after making it so far.

"Alright, let's get back to the hotel and get the voting over with…" Lunala announced. The blue aura surrounded the six of them and they were teleported away.

000

Lycanroc sighed in the confessional. "This… this isn't fair. I can't vote for either of them! I'd rather just vote myself out then eliminate them. They've been there for me. We all bonded…"

"This just isn't right…"

000

"Alright," Lunala started. "The votes have been tallied, and I have to say, I'm a bit touched. You each voted for yourself, with the exception of Dhelmise…"

Everyone's eyes widened, minus Dhelmise who snickered. "Pathetic…"

"So, that means that both Tsareena and Lycanroc's votes cancelled out due to their immunity…"

000

"I… I'm voting for myself. I can't do this…" Lycanroc said, covering her face.

000

"The vote is inevitable, and knowing that those three are too close at this point to vote for each other, I won't arouse any suspicions and stay out of it," Tsareena explained, her legs crossed.

000

"That means that… Dhelmise had the deciding vote," Lunala said in an annoyed tone.

Incineroar and Hakamo-o glared daggers at the Sea Creeper Pokemon, who chortled.

"Yep, so bye bye, ya big pussy. Go back to your ugly boyfriend with low standards and suck him off to your heart's content…"

Lycanroc growled; she was already upset that one of them was going, and now Dhelmise is still talking trash?! "Shut up, Dhelmise, just SHUT UP!" she barked angrily. " He's already been eliminated, so you don't have to keep talking shit to him as if he did something to you! Is your life that insignificant that you have to talk down, annoy, and hurt the feelings of those around you to stay relevant?! LEARN TO SHUT THE FUCK UP AND MAYBE PEOPLE WILL ACTUALLY LIKE YOU!" she yelled, tears starting to pour down her face.

Everyone was shocked to have heard that come from her mouth. Incineroar hugged her as she cried into his chest.

"Like I said in the cave, it's just fun for me," Dhelmise chortled. "I couldn't care less about how you people or anyone else sees me. And what's funny is that you said my life is insignificant, yet you and your friends here get mad and yell at me… giving me significance. Kinda contradicting yours-"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Hakamo-o yelled as she ran over and attempted to use Dragon Claw.

Dhelmise dodged it. "You guys are such losers…" he said. "Anyways, I'm going to bed, seeya never…"

The Sea Creeper Pokemon teleported away.

"Alright Incineroar, it's time to go…"

Lycanroc sniffled as she moved away from the tiger and rubbed her back. "Hey, it'll be okay, Lycanroc. You still have Hakamo-o here. And since Dhelmise doesn't have immunity anymore, you can take him out. I'm sure of it."

Lycanroc turned to Hakamo-o, who nodded.

The three started walking toward the docking area. Tsareena headed back into the hotel.

-000-

"Well, it's been nice knowing you, Incineroar," Lunala spoke. "You've fared well in the competition, and luckily, you have five tickets for a cruise."

"Back at you," Incineroar replied. "Well, minus the competition part anyway…"

Hakamo-o and Lycanroc both hugged him. "See ya, ya big lug…" Lycanroc replied, rubbing her eyes.

"We may not have gotten along that fast, but I'm happy to have you as a friend," Hakamo-o replied with a smile.

Incineroar smiled back. "I'll miss you girls. I hope that one of you wins…"

"Hopefully one of us does…" Hakamo-o replied. "I don't really care who wins as long as Dhelmise doesn't."

Lycanroc nodded. "I'll try my best…"

Incineroar chuckled as the boat pulled up. "And there's my ride. I'll see you guys later. If you ever want to visit, remember I'm on Ula'Ula near the Haina Desert."

The girls nodded.

The boat started speeding away. Lycanroc looked down at the water, sad. She felt an arm drape around her shoulder and turned to Hakamo-o, who gave her a confident grin.

"We'll be fine," the Scaly Pokemon said.

Lycanroc nodded as they started heading back to the hotel.

As they left, Lunala sighed. "And there you have it. Incineroar's the next one gone. Dhelmise is completely insufferable; hopefully they're able to take him out in the next challenge. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed, even though I certainly didn't, and I'll see you next time on Total… Pokemon… Alola!"

000

DON'T KILL ME! Yeah… Incineroar's gone now. It sucks, but at least he won something and doesn' have to deal with Dhelmise anymore. Lycanroc finally gained some confidence to talk back to Dhelmise, which is always nice. Tsareena is still being the analyst. Seriously, what is she?! You have to feel bad for everyone dealing with Dhelmise. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you next time on Total… Pokemon… Alola! See ya guys, BYE!

000

"Review and I'll murder Dhelmise when and if he gets eliminated!" Incineroar grumbled.

000

An Incineroar was sitting on a couch. "Alright hi. You're gonna wanna pick me for your show because I have everything that your show needs."

"Intelligence," he said, pointing to his mind.

"Strength," he flexed his muscles.

"Charisma…" he said, rubbing his chin.

"And… uh… shit, I forgot what I was gonna say," Incineroar said, rubbing the back of his head. "But… uh… yeah. I'm gonna try to be in it for the money completely; I don't really expect to make any friends at this show since most of the time people in these shows are jackasses, but if it happens it happens. Who knows?"