Total Skarmory Island Chapter 20, a Pokémon + Total Drama series Crossover fanfic

I apologize for the long delay. There are three reasons as to why I failed to keep my promise. First, I underestimated how much time it took to complete this chapter. Second, I procrastinated. Third, my health suffered from excessively long periods of writing. Halfway through this chapter, I began to feel sick. Next chapter won't be coming soon as I will take a vacation to Japan for a week. I really need that rest.

Reply to Reviews

Parousia45

Rhyhorn's backstory is a plot point that I will continue even beyond this story. That psychic isn't ordinary, per say. That's all I'm willing to tell. Trumbeak needs to go. As much as I like him, I don't want him to leech the spotlight.

Random Potato Master

I really appreciate your kind words. I never thought that I would be an inspiration. Your prediction is certainly interesting. For the sake of both of our time, I will keep this short. If you happen to release your story, I might check it out.

OctoRiter

It means a lot to me that you are willing to read until the very end. I will make sure the ride is enjoyable till the finale. I finished plotting out points already. Casting for season two is going pretty well also. I got even more unique locations coming. Stay tuned if you like them.

Fallenstreet01

What's up with people thinking my favorite Pokemon is dead? I don't understand. Hickery-o might even return as a contestant. Hint, hint.

Worma-Sir

Yes, Lucario is mad at Miltank because of Heracross. You can see that there is tension between them. Lucario didn't talk to her often, did he? He only ordered her around to deliver messages and stuff. You can get the idea that their relationship isn't smooth. Meowth might also play a part in this…

Shedinja got disowned. His song doesn't explicity say it but it should be pretty obvious at this point.

Don't worry about the villains. I will admit that Meowstic's elimination could have been better but not all the villains will go down the same route. One might even win…

InfernoMaster64

That zen moment is glorious, I agree. Well, I don't want to keep you waiting anymore. Why don't you read the chapter now? I already PM you multiple times anyways.

Episode 20: Savor Your Weakness

Skarmory yawned as he walked unsteadily to the dock after a long night. He shook himself awake before focusing at the camera.

"Viewers, I got personal matters yesterday. Hope you all understand. Anyways, last time, our contestants entertained themselves in Toucannon Island. They socialized with the stall owners and visitors alike, working hard to bring back the best local delicacy to me." Skarmory yawned a little.

"Sorry, I missed my breakfast coffee. Like I said, they worked hard. Like, Nosepass. He went on a date. That sure was hard. Scolipede got some stuff stolen. Yeah, hard on him. Lucario gave Dedenne and Farfetch'd a hard time while Shedinja and Cryogonal made Trumbeak's life a lot easier. In the end, most of the local delicacies tasted horrible except for the meat skewers. Yummy. Trumbeak quitted and Dedenne got eliminated. What will happen this time? Find out on Total Skarmory Island." Skarmory looked lethargic as he finished the intro. His eyes shut themselves.

Nosepass sneezed and shivered inside his blanket, hugging the wrapping paper. The rainstorm from yesterday really did a number on him. He pulled his blanket over his face, not feeling like doing anything for the rest of the day. His bed felt warm and comfortable, pulling him magnetically into a state of laziness.

"Call me when the challenge starts or better, just forget about me." Nosepass told no one in particular.

As Bisharp heard what Nosepass said, he turned to look at him worriedly. "Are you alright? You seem sick. Do you require my assistance?" He asked, urgency and kindness mixing in his voice.

"No." Nosepass rejected simply. Bisharp nodded and left the cabin.

After Bisharp closed the door, he sighed quietly to himself.

Confessional

Bisharp: "I feel very lonely. Even Nosepass didn't want my help. Everyone here gives me the cold shoulder. Do I look that threatening to them?"

Nosepass: "It is morning already but Rhyhorn is still inside his secret base. Does he even care about his little brother anymore?"

Darmanitan was stuck in a trance, staring at the ceiling of his cabin on the edge of his bed. He eventually frowned and lowered his gaze on the ground.

"Am I too harsh on the homie?" Darmanitan wondered.

"I doubt it." Scolipede stated his opinion. Darmanitan lifted his eyes to face him.

"That will knock some sense into Lucario. You did the right thing." Scolipede reassured.

"I guess." Darmanitan didn't sound reassured. Scolipede stared at Darmanitan skeptically before he left.

The fanboy glanced around the room and sighed, stopping at the sight of Lucario's empty bed. The bed was properly organized. The pillow located exactly in the middle. The bed sheets had scents of sweat on them. No windows connected it to the outside world. It wasn't an inviting bed to sleep on by any means.

However, the bed was surrounded by many other beds, making it the center of attention. It enjoyed company and friendship of others. Something it held dear…

Yet, the owner was nowhere to be found since the rainstorm.

Confessional

Darmanitan: "I want the homie back. The homie that cares about his team but doesn't take things too seriously. I guess that's too much to ask for. The homie never seems to chill."

Ledyba hummed happily to herself, flying around the forest area. Apparently, the bug type got attracted to a flower patch. She picked up a rose and smelled its sweet fragrance.

"Ah, love. This is what it smells like." Ledyba relished, inhaling deeply. However, her happy-go-lucky mood ceased once she saw the thorns. She frowned and accidentally dropped it. Looking down, she gasped at the sight of the yellow chrysanthemums (slighted love). They all swarmed the rose, consuming it completely.

Ledyba was very knowledgeable with the subject of floriography. She knew the meanings of these flowers.

"Don't remind me…" Ledyba muttered under her breath, averting her eyes and quickly left.

Coincidentally, Meowth passed by. He raised his eyes in question at how she reacted.

"My lovely customer, what is wrong? Did you receive a defective product?" Meowth asked in concern.

"No, nothing." Ledyba denied, shaking her head. "I'm just enjoying my time, smelling flowers."

Meowth glanced at the flowers and returned his attention to her. "I see… Do you own a flowering shop by chance?" He asked in a friendly manner.

"Me? No, my parents own a berry garden. However, we happen to grow flowers as well. They make everything look nicer." Ledyba informed.

"Wise idea. They can also be an extra source of income. Many events need flowers whether it be a wedding or funeral ceremony. Perhaps, you should consider selling them. A friendly advice from me." Meowth suggested, flashing her a warm smile. Ledyba nodded.

"Alright, I will think about that. Thanks, Meowth." Ledyba took it into consideration.

"Oh, another thing. I appreciate the fact that you stay loyal to me and voted for Dedenne." Meowth said gratefully.

"It's no big deal. We are friends. Dedenne didn't seem happy staying here anyways. She complained all the time." Ledyba assured.

"Good point. Why don't we-" Meowth was interrupted by someone, he skittered with a worried expression to his girlfriend.

"Ledyba, you are here! I told you to leave a note or something, didn't I? I was worried sick because I couldn't find you. Why are you with Meowth as well? Tell me!" Scolipede expressed his anxiety.

"Scolipede, can't I have my privacy for just a moment? Do I need to tell you everything?" Ledyba looked annoyed, tired of his overprotective nature. Meowth stared at Scolipede disapprovingly.

"I guess you are right. I will leave now, take care." Scolipede seemed hurt by what she said. He reluctantly left… Not before he glared at Meowth momentarily.

Confessional

Ledyba: "I like that Scolipede cares about me but… I need my time alone as well. I'm not ready to share everything with him yet."

Scolipede: "Is it so wrong that I want to keep her safe? Do I really look like an obsessed, paranoid freak in front of her eyes?" He sighed. "I guess she is right. I should be more relaxed and carefree. Let go of your worries, Scolipede. Come on, you can do this. For your girlfriend."

Meowth: "What a bickering couple. Let's say I'm a family lawyer, a divorce lawyer to be more specific. And… I want my income, what will I do? Just like Houndour and Duosion, I will make sure to break them apart and collect my pay. No hard feelings, right? I'm just doing my job." He grinned evilly. "Ledyba will be in my hands, Scolipede…"

Duosion floated over to the mountain area. Based on her intuition, he would be there. The psychic wanted to clear things up with Rhyhorn. She wanted to tell him that she didn't tell anyone what happened and that his secret was safe with her. She wanted to understand him more.

Duosion knew that it was risky going there alone but from her calculations, this was the move with the highest chance of success. The move that could lead to a peaceful solution.

The psychic observed around the rocky pathways and lifted a few rocks up. She found nothing for now. Going up the stairs, she noticed a giant rock was covering up something. Using Psychic, she revealed the entrance to the secret base.

Gathering her confidence, she infiltrated Rhyhorn's lair. There was nothing but silence the entire time she was heading down deeper and deeper.

"Eerie." Duosion commented, braving through the threats with weakening bravery. To the psychic, fighting fear was nothing more than calculating the probability of danger and coming up with counter measures to minimize the risk afterwards. As a result, she was fearless most of the time.

Duosion gathered data on many things. She knew the rate of death by car crashes, the rate of death by drowning, the rate of death inside caves and etc. Therefore, she didn't have any fears of the irrational kind. Rather…

She feared uncertainty. Things like love and Rhyhorn's sanity couldn't be calculated or translated into statistics.

Duosion finally reached the moment of truth. Rhyhorn stood in front of her, surrounded by his traps. He didn't utter a single word or turn to face her properly. He was still and solid like a stone.

"Rhyhorn. I want you to know that I didn't tell anyone about what happened yesterday. However, I feel unsafe around you. Can you please justify your actions yesterday to ease some of my concerns?" Duosion asked, anticipating his reaction nervously.

Rhyhorn lifted his eyes at her slowly and replied. "Just get out. Don't be near me and you will be safe."

Duosion didn't seem pleased with that answer. However, upon seeing how tense Rhyhorn was, Duosion decided to flee.

Confessional

Duosion: "I feel pretty fortunate. Things could have been worse."

Drifblim spectated from a far distance as Lucario threw multiple Aura Spheres at trees and nature in general. The professional athlete rampaged in the forest for ages, destroying everything to quench his anger.

"How dare they?!" Lucario charged all of his rage into a single, giant Aura Sphere (roughly the size of himself). He then blasted it against a group of trees. The ball of destruction exploded in a huge radius, sending trees flying into the air.

Drifblim clapped silently as she left, not reckless enough to mess with Lucario.

What Drifblim didn't see was that Lucario dropped down to his knees shortly after. He did the unbelievable…

Lucario teared up, pounding the ground.

Confessional

Drifblim: "While I want to push myself and try something impossible. I rather not risk my health and try to manipulate Lucario. Meowth can have all the pleasure of doing that. I got different targets and plans." She smirked.

Lucario: "Why, Darmanitan, why? Why, everyone, why?"

Miltank and Heracross chatted with laughter inside the mess hall. They were content with the events of yesterday.

"I beat the Minior kid up, wrestled control out of Lucario's hands and eliminated pipsqueak. My co-workers sure are going to praise me. With our mighty fists, everyone will listen to us! We are the strongest!" Miltank asserted, raising her fists up proudly.

"Yeah girl! We will mop all of them on the floor and win this stupid show. No one can stand up against us, we will just intimidate all of them after Lucario is gone. They will all submit to our might." Heracross agreed, raising her fists as well.

"Geniuses, learn to be quiet. I'm tired of listening to your foolproof plan." Shedinja mocked sarcastically. The two weren't aware of his presence the entire time.

Heracross seethed. Miltank gave her a good slap on the right shoulder.

"Ignore him. He is a goner. Nobody likes him. We will vote him out today." Miltank assured and Heracross got a smug grin.

"You are right. It's my turn. Finally, Shedinja. I will get my final, ultimate revenge against you." Heracross' eyes danced impatiently for Shedinja's elimination.

Shedinja scoffed as he left to sit with Cryogonal. The two shared a great time together as well.

Confessional

Miltank: "Heracross and me got a real bond going. We will split the money if either of us wins."

Heracross: "The nerve of that guy. He thinks he is the *beep* around here? I will mop you on the streets first, Shedinja. The money will be mine. I deserve it more than a convenience store, burger flipping boy like you."

Shedinja: "Those meatheads will never win. All they know is how to abuse their strength. I will butcher their brains up."

Cryogonal: "Shedinja is smiling and enjoying his time more. I'm glad to change his life for the better."

Bisharp took a stroll around the forest, widening his eyes at the damage a certain Pokemon caused. Fallen trees blocked his path, leaves scattered across the ground messily.

"Lucario is crossing the line. What gives him the right to destroy someone else' property? Trees take time and effort to grow, you know? Skarmory should penalize him." Bisharp castigated.

"Mr. Stalk agrees. Lucario should be considerate, only cut trees when it is necessary." Farfetch'd supported from behind.

Bisharp turned around to face him, staring deep with loneliness.

"Indeed. Mr. Stalk and Farfetch'd, why don't we take him down together? We need to prevent him from winning immunity today." Bisharp proposed, pleading for company.

Farfetch'd glanced at Mr. Stalk and nodded to Bisharp. "We accept your offer. You work hard and we will also work hard to win the challenge."

It wasn't exactly what Bisharp expected but he gave a weak smile nonetheless.

Confessional

Bisharp: "Lucario is worsening this experience for me. I lost Jumpluff and now I have to deal with him. His competitiveness reminds me of my parents and I can't live with that."

Farfetch'd: "Mr. Stalk is still mad that his soufflé got ruined by Lucario. As a professional in many areas of expertise, he won't give in to that athlete."

Nosepass finally got out of his bed and entered the mess hall once it was lunchtime. Looking around, he spotted Rhyhorn in the corner all by himself. Nosepass grabbed his plate of special delicacy and slowly headed over to his big brother, fear prevalent in his steps. It took a long time for Nosepass to make any sort of progress.

Placing the plate down, Nosepass turned to him and gathered his confidence.

"Rhyhorn, are you a-alright? I-I'm w-worried about you." Nosepass stuttered, shaking slightly.

"…" Rhyhorn's reply was silence.

"Big brother, y-you care about me, right? Y-you aren't some murderous, bloody psychopath, right? What I heard yesterday wasn't t-true, right?" Nosepass questioned in a very unconfident manner.

"…It is better if you are no longer around me." Rhyhorn finally spoke up, advising Nosepass to distance himself. He then quickly averted his eyes and focused entirely on the food.

Nosepass grabbed his plate and changed his seat depressingly. He turned back to look at Rhyhorn one last time. The rocky rhino completely ignored him, munching on the sludge. Nosepass drooped his head on the sludge as well.

The door of the mess hall slammed open and Lucario entered. He scowled at all of his 'teammates' and sat alone in a corner as well. Rhyhorn took the top left corner and Lucario took the top right one. Many contestants seemed to notice this.

Darmanitan lifted his plate up and hesitated, wondering whether or not he should sit with Lucario. He hastily eyed his 'role model' for a second. The professional athlete folded his arms grumpily as he isolated himself from everyone.

Darmanitan returned his attention to his current table. Upon seeing his actions, Duosion, Scolipede and Aromatisse gave him disapproving looks. Ledyba gave him a sympathetic smile.

In the end, Darmanitan sat back down on his seat with sagged shoulders.

Confessional

Rhyhorn: "Nosepass, it is safer for you that way."

Nosepass: "Looks like Hickery-o is the only one I got left."

Meowth: "While those lower-class Pokemon enjoy their sludge, I savor some meat skewers. Skarmory seemed more energetic than usual selling them today, I wonder why."

Scolipede: "That corporate monster, Meowth was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Did he have limitless supply of Skarmory tokens or something? Skarmory sells stuff nowadays at ridiculous prices. No one but him can afford them."

Drifblim: "I like the tension. This is what Total Drama is all about. Arguments, petty conflicts and fragile relationships."

Duosion: "Personally, I will vote for Rhyhorn after Lucario is eliminated. I won't feel safe until he is gone."

Darmanitan: "Once the homie gets better, I will go back to him."

Lucario: "No one crawls back to me… I'm meaningless to them? Even in the eyes of Darmanitan?" He looked emotionally broken.

Skarmory announced that the challenge will take place inside the haunted area. As usual, Nosepass was scared. However, there was one difference this time around…

Rhyhorn wasn't there beside him.

Nosepass sluggishly walked alongside the group, trailing behind Drifblim and Meowth for comfort.

"Want me to carry you?" Drifblim offered helpfully.

"No, I can walk on my own." Nosepass was too ashamed and embarrassed to take the offer. Drifblim looked a bit surprised, smirking a little.

The group eventually reached the haunted Skarmory mansion once again. As scary as a kindergarten, a contestant once said.

Skarmory stopped and turned around just before the entrance.

"Contestants, this time, I won't explain the rules to any of you." Skarmory revealed a shocking piece of news.

"Lazy host, you will make Chef Drapion explain it for you?" Drifblim assumed scornfully.

"No, what makes you think that? Ridiculous…" Skarmory muttered. "Anyways, there will be no rules regarding the challenge given. You need to find everything out on your own with your brains, exciting?" He observed the reactions of the contestants.

"Boo! Stupid, complicated challenge." Heracross complained.

Miltank groaned. "Just make it simple."

"Meatheads…" Shedinja whispered something to Cryogonal and she laughed. Miltank and Heracross glared suspiciously at him.

"I appreciate a mystery challenge." Duosion had the opposite reaction.

"Mixed reception, I see. Well, follow me inside. We are about to start." Skarmory instructed.

Soon enough, everyone gathered inside the foyer. Some glanced around the slightly familiar surroundings, trying to find clues of some sort.

Skarmory faced the contestants, standing in between the two grand staircases.

"Everyone, get close in the middle." The host motioned with his wings. "Perfect."

Afterwards, Skarmory communicated with a certain psychic through his earpiece quietly. None of the contestants heard what he said. Soon enough, the host finished his private conversation and faced the contestatants.

"The challenge begins…." Skarmory paused dramatically. "Now!"

Suddenly, the floor underneath them disappeared and a vacuum sucked all of them down the mysterious black hole.

Confessional

Aromatisse: "Way to start things off the non-fabulous way, Skarmory."

Drifblim: "This is just like the prison challenge. I can't believe that I fell for it again."

Nosepass: "This isn't a Nosepass friendly challenge. Can't Skarmory be considerate for once?"

Duosion: "Skarmory designed the surprise trap well. Pokemon that levitate and fly couldn't escape because of the vacuum."

The contestants slowly recovered, opening their eyes. They found themselves collapsing on the ground, somewhere.

The place got torn, plain white wallpapers, revealing the rotten and disgraceful wooden walls. There were no lights, only a chandelier on top. The flames flickered a little. The candles vacillated between blissful death and insufferable life.

Couches got damaged. Red paint turned to brown. Cuts and scratches were evident all over, cotton leaking out.

An antique black wooden table settled next to the couches, luring the contestants with second-handed leftovers.

A grandfather clock passed away, living in heaven by now. The hands stopped at exactly six o'clock.

Located to the sides were four doors, two on each side. The lower left door said 'Confessional' while the lower right showed the multi-gender restroom.

The upper left door connected to the west wing of rooms while the upper right door connected to the east wing.

Front of them was a pair of staircases. Obviously, they weren't grand this time around. They were made out of wood, the worst kind that bends when you step on it. Luckily, concrete and stone blocks supported them, preventing accidents… hopefully.

Behind them was another door, leading somewhere.

Locating around the center between the stairs and the couches was a receptionist counter. On it were many items, including a box of stationary equipment, a guest list book and an obsolete, rotary dial phone. Behind the counter was a wooden stool with a broken leg.

To summarize it all, this place was an ancient, ruined hotel.

"Where the hell are we?" Heracross asked as she rubbed her bottom. Apparently, she got a rough landing.

"I don't care. I want to get out. Help!" Nosepass panicked, running around wildly. The uneven wooden floor made creaking sounds and Nosepass screamed. Rhyhorn looked at him with pity but didn't do much.

"Now, this is a little bit scarier. From a kindergarten to a primary school." Drifblim seemed impressed, nodding at the neat little touches.

"We should investigate. Our objective is to find out about the challenge and compete for the immunity." Bisharp reminded the contestants and they separated to explore either individually or in small groups.

"This place isn't chill." Darmanitan commented as he looked at the wallpapers, touching it a little. Dust collected on his fore finger immediately. He blew it away before noticing Lucario next to him. Darmanitan quietened and soon distanced himself from the athlete.

Lucario frowned, noticing how everyone isolated him as if he was a monster. The professional athlete tried to open the west wing door but it was locked.

Aromatisse rested on the couch uneasily. It certainly wasn't comfortable but it wasn't as bad as she thought.

Nosepass eyed the bag of chips. He picked one up and stared at the black burn marks before putting them back inside.

"Who burns the chips?" Nosepass wondered.

Miltank opened up a bottle of milk and invited Heracross over. It got a logo of a Miltank. The color of the milk was yellow and the smell was wretched and sour.

"Girl, this milk reminds me of my farm. Try it." Miltank encouraged, handing her the bottle.

Heracross smelled it. "Not bad. I have tried worse on the streets." She told before drinking the entire bottle.

"That's it, girl. Don't be scared of spoiled milk. You are the real deal around here." Miltank praised with a look of respect.

"The expiration date is one year ago." Shedinja drawled, pointing out the date on the bottle cap.

Heracross scoffed it off. "Not a big deal. I'm not scared of the expiration date like a burger-flipping, convenience store boy like you." She dealt a low blow at his occupation.

In the past, Shedinja wouldn't care but, times changed. He felt humiliated to work at a convenience store while everyone else studied for a better job. He started caring about his future since yesterday.

Shedinja looked down on the ground in shame. Heracross grinned victoriously. Miltank smiled mockingly as well.

"Go away, you two jerks!" Cryogonal furiously shouted, swinging her snow chains at them. The two left, looking satisfied.

"Chill girl, hot temper makes you melt." Heracross annoyed her before she left. Cryogonal glared at her before she turned to Shedinja.

"Are you alright?" She asked with concern, placing one of her snow chain on his back.

"Alright." Shedinja assured in a not very reassuring tone. Cryogonal still looked worried.

Confessional

Heracross: "I drank it because of the logo. A sign of our friendship, get what I mean?"

Miltank: "Skarmory is out here promoting my products. (You aren't the only Miltank in the world. Moomoo Milk is popular.) Still, I hate the milking process. It is better if I force the other Miltank to do the dirty job."

Cryogonal: "Those two jerks! Shedinja just got better, for god's sake."

Darmanitan: "I want to chill with the homie again but I can't. He needs to learn from his mistakes."

Lucario: "Darmanitan, what the hell is wrong with you?! I thought you understand me the most." He started throwing tantrums.

Drifblim floated up the stairs. Seconds after, she floated down with a curious expression.

Duosion analyzed the grandfather clock. It was next to the east wing door.

Farfetch'd checked the door behind them, south of the room. It was unlocked. He opened it to see a flight of stairs descending downwards. This time, the stairs were metallic.

"Mr. Stalk, detect anything?" Farfetch'd talked to his trusty partner. He decided to not go down there just yet.

Ledyba flew up and checked the chandelier, remembering that Skarmory hid an envelope there once during the fear challenge. Sure, it was a different chandelier but Skarmory could use the same trick twice, right? Speaking of the fear challenge, it sent a chill down her spine. She felt very fortunate to avoid facing her traumatizing fear.

"Scolipede, I found nothing." Ledyba reported, shaking her head.

"That's fine. Let's search somewhere else." Scolipede suggested.

Bisharp investigated the receptionist counter, picking up the stationary box and inspected the equipment. The pen worked just fine. He tested it by writing on the front page of the guest list book. The ink was blue. The pencil, however, broke immediately once he gripped it, such a delicate thing. The last item was a wooden ruler. Intriguingly, a few numbers were underlined:

5 cm

12 cm

13 cm

15 cm

Bisharp memorized them before moving on to the next object, the guest list book itself. He read the contents and found a few things.

The following contestants had their rooms reserved in the west wing:

Ledyba 301

Scolipede 302

Heracross 303

Shedinja 304

Nosepass 305

Drifblim 306

Darmanitan 307

Miltank 308

The following contestants had their rooms reserved in the east wing:

Bisharp 309

Cryogonal 310

Meowth 311

Farfetch'd 312

Rhyhorn 313

Duosion 314

Aromatisse 315

Lucario 316

Furthermore, the back of the book stated that using moves weren't allowed and only minimum violence was legal. However, if you lacked any sort of proper limbs like Duosion, you could use moves like Psychic to open doors and move objects.

"Everyone, I found something." Bisharp decided to share the information with the other contestants, raising the book in the air.

"What is it?" Scolipede came over to take a look.

"Better be something good." Heracross demanded, trying to take the book rudely by force until Bisharp politely removed her hands. He glared at her as she crossed her arms.

"Can I see?" Drifblim asked with curiosity as many other contestants surrounded Bisharp.

"This book shows the rooms of all the contestants. The back of the book shows some of the rules. Read it to see for yourself." Bisharp informed, handing the book to Scolipede first since he arrived before everyone else. Heracross groaned immaturely.

Soon enough, the book made its way to everyone. Some nodded in understanding, some still looked puzzled.

"Skarmory probably put that minimum violence thing in there to stop Lucario from killing all of us." Drifblim speculated. Lucario gave her a cold, unamused glare.

"Why is there blue ink in the book?" Duosion wondered.

"I tested the pen. It's nothing." Bisharp clarified. Despite giving the other contestants some information, he kept some to himself. In a mystery challenge like this, he knew that you need to give and take to succeed.

"Whatever, I will head to my room." Shedinja lost interest in the book and floated slowly to the west wing. He tried to penetrate through the door with his ghost abilities. However, a mysterious force repelled him. Heracross and Miltank laughed at his failure.

"What happened?" Cryogonal asked, baffled.

"Cleanse tag." Drifblim told as she tried to infiltrate the west wing only for the door to push her back. "Well prepared."

"How are we supposed to get in our rooms now?" Miltank complained.

"Yeah, stupid crappy challenge." Heracross agreed.

"Sleep on the ground." Shedinja retorted. "You can drink spoiled milk so I don't see why you can't live without a room."

"Shush you." Heracross said in a hostile voice. The two stared at each other with spite.

"Everyone, the east wing can be accessed." Duosion got all of their attention. She used Psychic to open the door fully, revealing a long hallway with four rooms to the left and four rooms to the right. The room's number increased in a sequence from right to left (Bisharp's room to the right, Cryogonal's room to the left…). Below the doors were dusty carpets. Above the doors were room number tags. Beside the doors were yellow bells.

Most importantly, Ursaring patrolled the hallway. He wore a white cap, black pants and an orange T-shirt with flower designs. In addition, a black backpack strapped securely on him. The bear looked as if he was on vacation as the baggage carrier around here. He wheeled a cart without any luggage, his back bent over slightly.

"Any luggage?" Ursaring asked in an uncaring manner.

"No. I will just go to my room." Duosion replied. Ursaring gestured for her to follow him. Shortly after, Bisharp, Cryogonal, Meowth, Farfetch'd and Aromatisse entered the hallway to check out their rooms. Lucario and Rhyhorn didn't seem interested at the moment.

"How unfair." Miltank eyed them with jealousy. "Can't we at least sleep in hay beds?"

"There must be a reason why certain contestants got access to their rooms…" Drifblim looked deep in thought.

Ursaring opened the door for Duosion. The psychic observed her new room. Surprisingly, it looked better than expected. The plain, white wallpapers were clean. The restroom situated to the left. A cabinet of decent quality located to the right. Heading further, a bed was seen with a lamp to the left. There was even a television facing the bed. Underneath the television was a mini fridge. Last but not least, a chair with a table located at the end of the room.

"Tip, please." Ursaring requested, motioning his hands for money. He had a serious look on his face.

"Umm… sorry, I want to reward you but I have nothing." Duosion refused in a polite and apologetic tone.

"No tip?!" Ursaring yelled in rage. He suddenly went on a rampage and rushed to the television. The baggage boy punched the screen, shattering a perfectly good television. He then used his sharp claws to shred the bed sheets. Duosion witnessed the situation with a horrified expression. All the other contestants gathered around her room to check all the ruckus.

Aromatisse gasped. "Barbaric baggage boy, stay away from all the fabulous furniture."

"Barbaric?!" Ursaring finished flipping the table over and stomped intimidatingly toward Aromatisse. She gulped immediately.

"Say that again." Ursaring dared, pointing threateningly.

"I meant to say that you are strong." Aromatisse corrected in an apprehensive voice. Bisharp quickly left at this moment before anyone else.

Ursaring roared and started chasing all the contestants.

"I will tip in credit! Just let me go." Meowth promised as he ran down the hallway.

"Cash only!" Ursaring refused, rolling the empty cart toward the contestants.

"Mr. Stalk, what should we do?" Farfetch'd asked his partner for help. He shortly nodded after.

"What is his suggestion?" Cryogonal asked out of desperation.

"Mr. Stalk said that we should run!" Farfetch'd told. Everyone followed Mr. Stalk's idea, fleeing for their lives.

The five contestants (Bisharp quickly hid in his room) scrammed out of the east wing.

Confessional

Aromatisse: "My not-so fabulous face nearly got destroyed." She sighed in relief.

Farfetch'd: "Mr. Stalk said that the homefield advantage is in Ursaring's favor. Mr. Stalk can't fight comfortably there, especially with the minimum violence restriction. Running is the best option."

Duosion: "Apparently, the minimum violence rule only applies to us."

Meowth: "Ursaring is old-fashioned. Most transactions nowadays use credit."

Bisharp was quick-witted enough to sagaciously flee before everyone else and hide in his room. Ursaring wasn't aware of his presence, leaving him unharmed in his room without any tips.

Bisharp carefully searched around with his eyes wide-opened. However, it was very difficult to spot any clues, hints or secrets because the room was mostly empty. Sure, there was a television but there wasn't a remote. Sure, there was a restroom but it didn't come with anything like a toothbrush, soap, toilet paper and etc.

"The poor accommodation might hint toward something. Ursaring's behavior should be taken into account as well. This hotel is dirt cheap and frugal, a one-star resting place at best. The equipment like the rotary dial phone is obsolete. How could this hotel stay in business after many years?" Bisharp contemplated many questions to himself as he picked up a pillow. Nothing was under there. Suddenly, he heard a loud voice from outside.

"I'm not scared, Ursaring. Are you sure that I won't dare to punch your face even if I get disqualified afterwards? Get out of my sight!" Lucario shouted threateningly.

Bisharp sighed, seemingly fed up with Lucario. He continued his search after the noise died down. What happened?

Bisharp opened the mini-fridge, something catching his eye in the freezer. He saw a book frozen inside a huge ice block. Bisharp removed the ice block from the fridge. Luckily due to his steel typing, the block wasn't too cold for his hands. Bisharp placed it on the table and stabbed it repeatedly with his blades to shatter the frigid rectangle. The book was wet but the content inside was still readable.

"All the staff here have gone crazy! They revolted against us! Ungrateful, low labor… Gah! If you are reading this, we have an emergency. The hotel is a mess. The staff hid the keys to certain rooms, blocking certain areas. If you manage to defeat them, you might get something. I don't know what it might be but perhaps it can be useful. Expose their weaknesses and find an opening. Don't be reckless. Signed by Skarmory." Bisharp read, scanning through the page. He nodded in understanding and closed the book.

"Time to prove my problem-solving skills to my parents and admirers. I can't lose, I have honor to protect from failure and friends to protect from Lucario." Bisharp smiled in determination.

Confessional

Bisharp: "Us and we? Is there someone with Skarmory? Regardless, my first course of action is to collect information before I confront the interns. Perhaps, the mystery behind the ruler can be a good starting point. Do the numbers refer to the rooms?" He wondered, tapping his chin.

Lucario stared disapprovingly as the contestants ran away from Ursaring.

"Cowards, I will show how it's done." Lucario pushed all of them away and confronted Ursaring all by himself.

"Way to be a jerk." Cryogonal muttered at how he pushed her.

"Hope he loses to Ursaring." Aromatisse talked behind his back.

"Mr. Stalk doesn't not appreciate the insult." Farfetch'd looked offended.

"Statistically, Lucario has a 99% chance of being eliminated if he loses the immunity challenge." Duosion stated. Meowth nodded quietly.

Ursaring smirked as he saw Lucario. "You can't hurt me. It is against the rules." He sounded overconfident.

"I'm not scared, Ursaring. Are you sure that I won't dare to punch your face even if I get disqualified afterwards? Get out of my sight!" Lucario shouted threateningly.

Ursaring sweated as Lucario stomped toward him intimidatingly. His footsteps didn't command respect and obedience, not any more. They commanded fear.

"Alright, sir. This way." Ursaring submitted like a docile weakling as he guided Lucario to his room. Lucario seemed satisfied. As the monstrous athlete reached his room, Ursaring bowed his head down.

"Sir, if you need anything, feel free to call me at any time." Ursaring spoke formally in front of the beast.

"Good, here is your tip." Lucario reached his hand out and gave Ursaring thin air. The baggage boy accepted gratefully. Lucario grinned in a conceited manner.

"I will treasure it, sir. You taught me a good lesson." Ursaring shuffled his feet away nervously as Lucario closed the door.

Ursaring clenched his fists as he gritted his teeth. "This will be the last time you degraded me, Lucario." He had a serious and dark expression.

Confessional

Lucario: "I found nothing in the room. What a waste of my time."

Ursaring: "Skarmory didn't say that I can't sabotage the contestants." He whistled. Suddenly, the intern stared at the camera with a self-aware look. "Hey, I didn't cheat or do something that bad. I just changed the location from the fridge to under the toilet."

Scolipede and Ledyba headed upstairs since they couldn't access their rooms. They soon reached a black door, the boundary between two floors.

Ledyba stretched her hand out to the door knob until Scolipede blocked her.

"Ledyba, it might be dangerous. Let me head inside first." Scolipede alerted.

"Scolipede, it's nothing." Ledyba stressed.

"B-but…" Scolipede sighed, accepting the fact that he was being paranoid. "I'm sorry. Go ahead."

Ledyba frowned slightly as she turned on the door knob, pushing the door open slowly and cautiously. The door creaked, releasing darkness from the second basement floor.

A hollow hallway lay ahead, challenging their awareness of the surroundings. There was little to no light to guide our blinded contestants. Debris scattered across the ground, waiting patiently to cause accidents. There were seven doors, three to the left, three to the right and one straight ahead. However, light only leaked from the top left door. It was a dim, weakened glimmer of hope.

"Be careful." Scolipede reinforced.

"Don't worry." Ledyba reassured as she flew around. The flying type was having a much easier time than Scolipede, who struggled to avoid stepping on the dirty and dangerous debris.

"Let's head to the room with lights first." Scolipede suggested, crawling carefully.

"I agree." Ledyba felt a bit creeped out, hugging herself for comfort.

"Why are there so many pieces of stuff on the ground? I can't even see them properly." Scolipede complained, irritated with the debris.

Ledyba turned to Scolipede, trying to get a clear look of his progress and condition. Her boyfriend did just fine, despite his anxious look and scrambling eyes. Scolipede moved in a careful manner, clinging to the wall and stepping across debris when necessary.

It's not like Ledyba hated how protective her worrywart boyfriend could be. His distrust was of a good kind. The kind that existed to minimize dangers and missteps. Unlike the entitled kind that boasted itself, deriving from premature assumptions and ignorance.

Ledyba could relate to Scolipede in many ways. Therefore, she refrained to criticize or scold his behavior. Still, it was just too much sometimes. Being his girlfriend was hard but… vice versa. She remembered a painful memory and quickly shook it off.

"We are finally here, are you alright?" Scolipede asked, raising his eyes at her troubled look.

"Yes, nothing's wrong, Scolipede. You did great." Ledyba complimented. Scolipede smiled as he opened the door…

…only to meet a Solar Blade to the face.

Confessional

Scolipede: "I got caught off guard again. Unbelievable. I thought I'm already careful enough."

Ledyba: "Poor and unlucky him… Luckily, he got resistance to grass type attacks." She tried to be optimistic at the end.

Meanwhile in the third basement floor…

"Let's leave. I want to find something to goddamn do." Heracross persuaded Miltank.

"Yeah, let's check that door, girl." Miltank agreed, heading over to the door connecting to the fourth basement floor. She opened it and Heracross followed as they descended down fearlessly.

"I better go check down there as well. See you all later." Drifblim waved as she left as well.

"I guess I will go and chill." Darmanitan followed the three girls.

"I won't. This challenge isn't my challenge. It is too scary. When will I get a challenge that is Nosepass friendly for once?" Nosepass whined, sitting on the couch lazily.

Shedinja stared at Nosepass, who basically did nothing. He yawned in boredom and decided to head downstairs as well.

Suddenly, there were noises of rapid, fast footsteps. Contestants ran out of the east wing because of Ursaring. Nosepass jumped off the couch, startled.

Confessional

Nosepass: "Can they stop scaring me like that? I will give the Nosepass seal of disapproval to every single one of them. I can't rely on any loud, noisy, scary, threatening, unfriendly and especially psychopathic Pokemon." He seemed to be in a bad mood.

Heracross and Miltank soon arrived at the fourth basement floor, widening their eyes at the aesthetic. The clean, yellow marble floor magnetized their feet, tempting them to stay forever. The opal texture of the wall indicated the luxury nature of the place. Many light bulbs hung on the ceiling, illuminating the brain-blinding casino.

There were three doors inside, one to the left, right and middle. There was a mini alcohol bar next to the right door.

Slot machines of the exact same kind lined up in rows and rows, luring money away from greedy fools. The soul-sucking screens had flashing lights and big bold letters. Pictures of the sixteen contestants rolled down randomly in the three columns. This particular type of slot machine was apparently called 'Elimination Frenzy'.

"Gambling is why many Pokemon are on the streets. Hell, if I got money, I won't spend it all in one place." Heracross made a wise point.

"Not like we got money anyways. Work, stupid thing!" Miltank pointed out, trying to pull the lever but it got stuck. She slammed her right fist against it in frustration.

"I meant outside of the show." Heracross clarified. Upon seeing how the lever budged a little, she got a cheeky grin on her face.

"Trying to cheese it, huh?" Heracross questioned.

"Yeah, maybe we can eliminate the other contestants with this thing. It's gotta work if I beat it senseless." Miltank said stubbornly.

"Let me help." Heracross joined in as the two bashed, struck, kicked and damaged the slot machine in general. What a sight. Poor slot machine, it wasn't protected by the minimum violence rule.

Drifblim and Darmanitan showed up, the former chuckled.

"Keep on trying girls. Exploit a loophole in the challenge." Drifblim seemed supportive of their actions.

"Yeah! You watch girl, we are going to destroy this thing." Miltank vowed as she punched the screen.

Darmanitan recoiled, looking uncomfortable. Drifblim tapped him on his shoulder and motioned for him to follow her over to the left door. There was a neon sign above with the word, 'Arcade'.

"Chill…" Darmanitan mumbled before entering the arcade.

The arcade was one fun and exciting place. Claw machines attracted the eyes of plush collectors. Air hockey and basketball targeted sports enthusiasts. There was something for everyone here, including the eliminated gaming bib boy. What would be an arcade without game machines? Space Invaders, Shooting Range, Munch-Man, Prime-Kong and Pika-Fighters were among the most popular games. The best part? They were all free.

"Arcade is pretty chill." Darmanitan nodded as he glanced around.

"You can choose what you want to play." Drifblim allowed.

"Air hockey seems chill, homie." Darmanitan decided, choosing a multiplayer game.

"Good choice." Drifblim sounded satisfied. The two grabbed their paddles and started the game. They sent the puck bouncing back and forth, crashing into the wall and entering each other's goal. The nature of the match was pretty casual and more for fun rather than competitive. Neither of them minded losing, especially Darmanitan.

On the other hand, Miltank and Heracross continued their path to destruction. They pummeled, wrestled, thrashed, smacked and crushed the machine. The lever was broken, the screen turned completely black, bits of glass scattered and wires electrocuted themselves for mercy. The slot puffed up smoke of defeat as it bowed down in submission. The two still didn't get to play for free, however.

"Stupid, cheap garbage. You belong in a garage sale." Heracross said, frustrated. She wiped sweat off her face.

Shedinja just arrived, laughing uncontrollable at the folly.

"Here we discover two common specimens of the meatheads. They have meat for brains, believing that everything can be solved through brute force alone. They get angry often, especially in casinos. Their favorite hobby is destroying slot machines and threatening to beat the owner up when they lose money. Remember kids, don't gamble and eat vegetables to grow strong, rich and smart." Shedinja documented.

Miltank and Heracross boiled up in anger, face erupting in flames.

"*beep*!" Heracross swore as she threw a chair next to the slot machine at Shedinja. Wonder Guard completely invalidated the attack.

"Beat him up!" Miltank shouted, running straight to punch Shedinja. Heracross tried to do the same.

Shedinja shook his head slowly as he absorbed the attacks.

"Kids, if you are watching. Don't be like them. They are bad role models." Shedinja educated genuinely.

Confessional

Drifblim: "Why am I so relaxed? Well, I don't need to win the immunity. Not anytime soon. It will only put a target on my back."

Darmanitan: "The homie needs to be more chill like Drifblim."

Heracross: "I swear I'm going to break his head with a rock tonight."

Shedinja: "Bad parenting probably turns them that way. I got bad parents as well so I'm just trying to help other kids. Eh, feel a bit of sympathy for them." He shrugged.

After watching Lucario threatened the baggage boy into a big baby, the five discussed how to get inside their rooms.

"Personally, I think we should just persuade him to perform the transaction through credit." Meowth suggested.

"Nah, we should just drug him with the leftovers." Cryogonal disagreed.

"Mr. Stalk has a feeling that we aren't supposed to be in our rooms yet." Farfetch'd stated his opinion.

"I agree. Can't we just forget about Ursaring and find somewhere else to explore?" Aromatisse encouraged, anxiety written on her face. "That barbarian is going to destroy my face."

Duosion considered all of their suggestions, calculating the risk and reward of each option.

At the same time, Bisharp sneaked out of his room with the book. Before he even got the chance to explore the other rooms…

"Tip!" Ursaring chased him out, rolling the cart straight at him. Bisharp scrammed, avoiding the wrath of the baggage boy luckily. He quickly closed the door, keeping Ursaring in the east wing.

"What did you find inside?" Duosion asked bluntly. "I want information so we can help each other to prevent Lucario from winning immunity."

"A book, it gives a fair amount of hints for our challenge. I believe every single room has one." Bisharp answered, holding the book up for view.

"Please share it with us. We all share a mutual goal." Duosion pleaded. Bisharp didn't hesitate to hand the book over. He made up his mind a long time ago to share the book with others.

Everyone surrounded the book except for Farfetch'd, who averted his eyes from the subject of interest. He walked away from the group stealthily, approaching the door that led to basement fourth floor.

Bisharp noticed and called out to him, raising his right eye. "You aren't interested in the book?"

"Mr. Stalk wants the satisfaction of getting the book on his own. I want it too. An easy victory isn't what we want. It is a victory that we can be proud of." Farfetch'd resolved as he left the room.

Everyone was surprised by his actions, even Nosepass and Rhyhorn. The former procrastinated on the couch. The latter glanced around there and then, mostly staring at the wall.

"My, my, what an independent sole proprietor." Meowth commented. Bisharp gazed at the door in a long thoughtful pose, upset.

"Focus everyone." Duosion regained their attention. "Without Farfetch'd, our odds of eliminating Lucario is still high. I suggest that we spread out to collect information and share them with each other." She took charge as a spearhead figure, trying to eliminate Lucario at all costs.

"I will stay here and make sure we won't be missing any clues." Aromatisse volunteered.

"I will go and see what Farfetch'd is up to." Cryogonal headed downstairs.

"I will head upstairs then." Meowth went to the opposite direction.

Bisharp peeped through a small, narrow gap on the door, analyzing Ursaring for potential weaknesses. Duosion watched as Bisharp struggled.

Bisharp clicked his tongue and shook his head a little before opening the door in a flash and stared at Ursaring.

"Tip! Give me tips!" Ursaring yelled furiously, bulldozing toward him. Bisharp slammed the door shut immediately.

"Find anything?" Duosion asked.

"I need some time." Bisharp tapped his chin. "I will check upstairs as well." He told and left. Duosion decided to go with him.

Confessional

Meowth: "I like our little business group that we have here except for… certain partners. They are too smart, they know that I want a bigger share of that profit pie."

Aromatisse: "I don't want to complain but this dirty hotel is the absolute worst. Grit your teeth and struggle through it, Aromatisse. Show them that you aren't only beautiful but strong enough to win the million. I need that money to fix my face."

Farfetch'd: "If I want an easy victory, I would make alliances, backstab other contestants with Mr. Stalk and break my promise. However, I want a victory that I can be proud of, not a hollow one. I can't live with that for the rest of my life."

Bisharp: "Why is he wearing a backpack and vacation uniform as the baggage boy? Something is out of place… especially that flower design on his shirt."

Duosion: "No matter how strong Lucario is, he can't take all of us at once. Zero percent chance."

Shedinja and Heracross competed against each other in Pika-Fighters, a game where every character belonged in the Pikachu family line. Shedinja chose Surfing Raichu as his character while Heracross picked Pikachu Libre.

As of right now, Heracross was in the lead. She mashed buttons rapidly and randomly, pulling off lucky combos.

"Take this Flying Press!" Heracross announced enthusiastically as her character slammed the Raichu down in a wrestling ring. Miltank cheered from behind.

Shedinja had a different play style, he memorized combos carefully and read his opponent. Heracross rarely blocked, mostly attacking relentlessly. Even though Shedinja's Raichu was sweating with a low amount of HP, he knew a comeback was possible.

Pikachu Libre tried to headbutt the Surfing Raichu. However, Shedinja made a perfect block. This created a huge opening. Shedinja excitedly triggered his special attack.

"Stoked Sparksurfer." Shedinja drawled, returning a special attack of his own. The Raichu surfed to the sky and slid down, electrocuting the Pikachu.

"Damn it!" Heracross banged her controller during the animation. Miltank booed.

"Don't eat too many pancakes, kids. It's not good for your diet. Unless, you want to grow up like this Raichu." Shedinja educated, executing a special combo by a single A button press after the attack animation.

Pikachu Libre got knocked down to the ground, unable to do anything. On the other hand, Surfing Raichu started eating pancakes, recovering its HP.

"Hey, not fair! You cheated." Heracross was now falling behind. Miltank realized this and cheated, stealing Shedinja's controller.

"What?!" Shedinja exclaimed, losing the game.

Shedinja frowned as Heracross celebrated her 'well-deserved' victory (Didn't she just complain about fairness? Hypocrisy at its fineness.), raising her arms up high. Miltank did the same.

"You suck, Shedinja." Heracross insulted like a sore winner. Shedinja felt frustrated, leaving without a word.

"Are you going to leave like this? Sure, you must be scared of a rematch." Heracross mocked.

"Hypocrite…" Shedinja muttered under his breath.

"Homie, want to play the claw machine with me?" Darmanitan invited upon seeing his frustration.

"Fine." Shedinja said unenthusiastically.

Miltank and Heracross played Pika-Fighters against each other. Their play sessions were filled with loud noises, cheering cries and apparently, fairness now that Shedinja left.

Darmanitan and Drifblim spectated as Shedinja played the claw machine. The claw crane dropped down, surrounding a Goomy Plush with its three fingers. It was pretty heavy but the claw was big enough to grip it firmly. The claw slowly rose then stopped haltingly. The plush shook a little as the three stared with anticipation.

The claw hesitated to give away the plush. It didn't want to disappoint its owner. However, it was forced to move to the opening.

"You can do this, homie!" Darmanitan clapped and cheered.

Suddenly, the claw opened and dropped the plush down... missing the opening just barely. Darmanitan gave a disappointed cry as he patted Shedinja's back consolingly.

"You are close." Drifblim uplifted.

"I'm okay." Shedinja assured. "I don't care that much about plushes."

Not too long ago, Farfetch'd entered the arcade to play Prime-Kong. He used Mr. Stalk to press the buttons and move the joystick. In the end, he got a fantastic score.

"Mr. Stalk, you did great." Farfetch'd praised his trusty partner.

Cryogonal entered the casino soon after, looking around for Farfetch'd. However, she redirected her attention to Shedinja immediately.

"Shedinja, how are you doing?" Cryogonal asked.

"Bad." Shedinja answered straightforwardly. Darmanitan looked down on the ground, believing that the plush was the reason. Drifblim listened to the conversation quietly.

"Let's talk outside." Shedinja seemed wary of the Pokemon around him. Cryogonal didn't mind it as the two exited the arcade.

Drifblim frowned and narrowed her eyes at the two before shrugging and finding something else to play.

"Skarmory, Furret, Bronzing, Goomy, Porygon and Aron, why aren't there any variety in these claw machines?" Drifblim complained (about the author's taste).

However, there was one claw machine without any plushes. Rather, it had a treasure box inside. This captured Drifblim's interest instantly.

"I think this involves the challenge somehow." Drifblim speculated as she started playing. However, she kept losing for quite some time.

Outside the arcade…

"I don't know why I'm mad at Heracross and Miltank all of a sudden. I used to be able to easily ignore them." Shedinja released his emotions, sighing.

"Well, it is natural for you to be mad at them. Those jerks bullied you!" Cryogonal didn't understand why the situation seemed so complicated to him.

"Honestly, I don't care. Those meatheads can't do much anyways." Shedinja tried to shrug it off.

"This isn't the right mentality, Shedinja. This is probably why Heracross likes to pick on you." Cryogonal disagreed.

"Yeah, I guess." Shedinja didn't seem convinced. Cryogonal glared at him disapprovingly.

Confessional

Darmanitan: "Everyone needs to chill. If I win the million, the first thing I will do is giving everyone a chill pill."

Heracross: "I totally destroyed him! That filthy cheater, who says that you can heal in a fighting game? You can only fight and fight. That is how life works."

Drifblim: "All the claw machines are rigged for sure. I tried like twenty times already. Anyways, what were those two talking about? Must they keep it a secret?"

Shedinja: "Heracross isn't my kind of rival. I mean I don't really want a rival anyways. She is just a nuisance."

Cryogonal: "I wonder if I need to deal with Heracross myself. Apparently, Shedinja didn't seem to care. Surprise, surprise."

Bisharp, Duosion and Meowth decided to separate once they reached the second basement floor. Bisharp took care of the left side, Duosion took care of the right and Meowth ventured straight ahead for the first basement floor.

Bisharp entered the bottom left room. It was pretty small and dark. Water dripped down from the ceiling. Bisharp could only manage to find a mop, a water bucket and cleaning sprays.

More interestingly, Duosion found Ledyba and Scolipede inside the bottom right room. Like everywhere else, the kitchen was dark. Bits of crackers and chips littered across the floor. There was a disorganized prepping table with outdated meat, rotten berries and expired milk, mixing together in a pile of mess. Other than that, we got ourselves a fridge without any electricity. We got a kettle, a frying pan, an oven and a microwave as well. Food entered this place to forever be lost in oblivion.

"What are you two doing inside here?" Duosion asked out of curiosity.

Scolipede's face looked a bit bruised up due to the Solar Blade. "Hiding from Lurantis, that solar freak tried to kill me, literally." He explained.

"I tried to reason with her but that didn't work." Ledyba added. She was completely unharmed.

Duosion nodded. "I get it now. Let me tell you the rules…" Duosion proceeded to tell them the rules in detail.

Confessional

Scolipede: "Weakness? I bet it's the moon for Lurantis. Can't be completely sure though."

Bisharp exited the room, accidentally overhearing a conversation inside the kitchen. Apparently, the room wasn't soundproof.

"I'm not sure about this whole ganging up on Lucario thing, Duosion." Ledyba expressed her concern.

"Please vote with us. Aren't you scared of Lucario potentially eliminating Scolipede?" Duosion reasoned.

"I don't think Lucario will do that." Ledyba said faithfully. Bisharp stopped listening after he got the gist of it. The dark type advanced forward in the dark, lured by the light.

Bisharp considered skipping the middle room to explore the room after it first. However, the strategist did things in a systematic order. He didn't dare to break his pattern for it would disrupt his organized mindset. In a mystery challenge, you couldn't afford to miss a single room, a single detail unless you were absolutely confident.

In the middle left room, wires coiled themselves over and over like snakes, slithering through small openings on the wall. Amid the darkness, rested a dormant beacon of light called the main electricity control unit. Apparently, it distributed the electricity across the board to all rooms.

Bisharp got closer to the control unit user interface. A power button symbol appeared on the screen. Bisharp touched it and unexpectedly, the screen turned on. Surprisingly, it was a capacitive touch screen. Shockingly, the hotel could afford something like this.

Bisharp inspected the highly-advanced piece of technology. Unfortunately, the control unit required a four colors combination passcode to validate his access.

"Color code?" Bisharp said with a degree of surprise. Usually, Pokemon nowadays used passwords or numbers for security. A color code was rare. Bisharp couldn't exactly guess randomly and hope for the best either. There were too many colors, even obscure ones like xanadu, mikado and amaranth. (They aren't made up.)

Bisharp didn't waste his time to insert random combinations. He was about to move on until the bright, white light of the touch screen illuminated a fixed piece of paper behind the control unit. Bisharp pulled it out in one try. Luckily, it didn't rip into pieces.

Bisharp started to read the following:

"God, it's dark and scary here. Ugh, darkness is just the worst. It is my biggest fear. Luckily, I knew the passcode. That's why I will turn all the lights inside the garden on. Just the garden. The hotel manager is becoming more and more unreasonable lately. All the staff are striking, including me. Tee-hee, this will be fun. Praise the SUN! From Lurantis."

Bisharp lighted up with knowledge. His vision brightened, embarking directly on the written path in his eyes. He didn't hesitate to storm inside the room next door, the garden.

Opening the door in a rather rash manner, Solar Blade edged close to his face. Unlike Scolipede, however, Bisharp got better reflexes. He rotated quickly and pressed the door forward, blocking the attack. Fortunately, Solar Blade didn't pierce through his wooden defense. Therefore, he entered the garden safely.

"I won't share my sunlight with any of you." Lurantis made her ill intentions clear as she charged another Solar Blade. Noticeably, she wore a green floral headband decorated with morning glories and sunflowers.

Bisharp scanned through the area immediately. The garden was pretty small and the ceiling was pretty low, just barely above his head. There were four lightbulbs in total, forming a square pattern. Only sunflowers and morning glories could be seen in pots of plants around Lurantis. They formed a semi-circle around her. Pretty much, the entire place was a mini indoor garden for guests to visit and enjoy a small sense of nature.

Proactively, Bisharp jumped up at the lower right lightbulb, smashing it into pieces with the sharp blade of his helmet.

"Stop!" Lurantis yelled, swinging her solar scythes at Bisharp horizontally. He responded quickly by ducking and kicked a pot of plant at her face.

"You are hurting the flowers!" Lurantis scowled. She targeted Bisharp with a cross slash with her scythes. The move was X Scissor.

Bisharp sidestepped away just in time. He raised his right arm up and smashed the upper right lightbulb.

In a rapid succession, he trampled through the flowers inconsiderately as he struck the upper left lightbulb. The room darkened, leaving a lonely lightbulb to fend for itself.

"You jerk! These flowers have feelings too, you know?!" Lurantis cried in rage, tear falling from her face. She quickly blocked the last lightbulb with all her might.

Bisharp looked guilty for a split second before rationalizing his thoughts. This was a challenge. These interns were hired to put up an act. Flowers- … At the mention of flowers, he was reminded of Jumpluff. This distracted him, creating a huge opening.

Lurantis brought down her wrath upon Bisharp with Solar Blade. The lightbulb lent her the last of its power.

"Gargh!" Bisharp had a grimace of pain as he fell down to his knees, clutching his wounded chest. Lurantis might be a bit slow but she sure dealt a lot of damage.

"You will pay for hurting the flowers." Lurantis said darkly as she charged up her finishing blow.

Bisharp couldn't get up. Was this his end? For sure, the lightbulb wouldn't magically implode or self-destruct. Even when his mobility options were limited, Bisharp didn't give up. He persisted on with that genius mind of his.

Through a last-ditch effort, Bisharp grabbed a nearby flower pot and threw it against the lightbulb. Lurantis had a horrified expression as she was taken completely by surprise. Bisharp smirked as he watched sparks flew.

"No! You-" Before Lurantis was about to finish, she was teleported away. Two things dropped down to the ground. First, a mysterious letter. Second, the floral headband.

"What is that noise?" Scolipede's voice was heard. Bisharp hurriedly snatched the two objects and fled to the previous room, pressed for time. The absolute darkness provided him the stealth he needed to remain undetected.

Scolipede, Ledyba and Duosion checked the garden, barely missing Bisharp.

"Who causes all this mess?" Scolipede wondered, looking around for any clues the culprit left behind.

"Bisharp? He is supposed to explore these parts after all." Duosion threw his name out.

"So, it is him." Scolipede said surely.

"It might be Lurantis. It is too early to start accusing anyone, everyone. Don't do it." Ledyba discouraged.

In the main electricity control room, Bisharp positioned the mysterious letter close to the touch screen so he could read it properly.

"Congratulations, you defeated Lurantis. The color code is fuchsia, emerald, red and navy blue. Oh, here is a special riddle for you: Get first, be greedy and you die. Remove death and remain natural to claim light." Bisharp stopped reading and observed the riddle carefully. He noticed a few italic letters.

Bisharp continued. "Hopefully, you got the headband as well. That is your special weapon to win this challenge. If you wear it and a contestant compliments you with the following: 'You are hot like the sun'…" He chuckled, rolling his eyes. "… exact word for word, you will eliminate that contestant from the challenge and take their vote(s)." He gaped for a moment, processing everything.

Confessional

Bisharp: "I think there is no immunity this time around. This is a vote stealing game. If I get at least nine votes, I control the elimination. Then, I can eliminate Lucario. If it is immunity, I'm fine with anyone except Lucario winning. However, votes are harder to control. What if someone like Ledyba or Darmanitan wins and decides to keep Lucario? I can't trust any of the Flygon members. Three Crawdaunt members were eliminated since the merge."

Bisharp accessed the control unit. Countless colors appeared on the screen in four columns with a text box above. Bisharp scrolled through the list. Fortunately, there was a description for each color or else this would be extremely difficult. Bisharp didn't know the looks of all the colors.

After some time, Bisharp inputted all the four colors in order successfully. However, the security system didn't grant him access yet. A question appeared.

"What is Lurantis' favorite color?" Bisharp read, confused. How was he supposed to know? Suddenly, the riddle came to mind.

Bisharp practiced solving puzzles before. This shouldn't be too difficult.

"Fuchsia for F… Fern… Greedy but don't die. Remove the d and y. Natural… N. Fern Green is the answer." Bisharp grinned proudly, he was greatly satisfied with his accomplishment.

He gave his answer confidently to the control unit. The result was…

The screen changed. A map of the entire hotel appeared. There were four floors in total. Basement first floor through basement fourth floor. Each room was highlighted either black or yellow. Black meant the lights were off and yellow meant the lights were on. Not only did Bisharp has the ability to control light, he also got more information.

The map revealed the location of all the interns. Eight in total, Raticate and Alakazam didn't participate. Druddigon was in the west wing. Shiinotic was in the room after the slot machines. Wimpod was in the library. It located opposite to the room he was currently in. The upper right room in the second basement floor also had Palossand. Snorlax blocked the entrance to the first basement floor, where Smeargle's studio was.

Bisharp memorized everything before he made his next move. Bisharp pressed the user tab and changed the color code. He chose amaranth, amethyst, xanadu and mikado as the four colors. Furthermore, he changed the question from Lurantis' favorite color to 'Access Denied' to cause confusion. The answer for this non-question was black. Once he finished typing on the touch screen keyboard, he logged off and left the room quietly.

Bisharp didn't bother turning any lights on. He worked in the dark as he put the headband on his head. It fitted awkwardly on the middle of his double axe blade. He looked much more feminine and funny to look at. Hey, at least, he could eliminate other contestants now.

Confessional

Bisharp: He adjusted the floral headband a bit, turning to the camera with slight embarrassment. "Time for sharing information is over. From now on, I work solo as well. My company sure won't be missed." Despite the serious tone, he couldn't be taken seriously with the headband on. "While it is quite humiliating and pride damaging to put this accessory on, I will sooner or later compete in a gardening contest. Therefore, this is inevitable."

Meowth frowned as he stepped on the debris. The cat dusted his feet off as he reached the door at the end of the dark hallway.

"My, my, this place requires demolition rather than renovation." Meowth castigated.

He soon opened the door and smiled slightly at the sight of red carpet on circular stairs, leading to the top floor.

"Maybe I will give this poor hotel a chance." Meowth changed his mind. He strode up with style, holding his hands behind his back as he brushed his feet clean on the carpet. Once he was about to reach the door at the end, he spun around stylishly to the door and bowed his head down with his right hand on his waist and his left hand behind his back.

"Welcome Mr. Meowth, to your new business empire. Having your presence here grace us with prosperity. We are forever indebted and eternally grateful." Meowth acted before he spun back to his original position.

"Goodness, such great greeting and service. I will tip you 100,000 P in credit." Meowth gifted, before spinning back.

"Thank you, a million times! Sir, you as a benevolent as an angel. Majestic as a king. Deserving to be the richest businessman in this world." Meowth exaggerated before he stopped his little play, lifting his head up. He fiddled with his claws as he eyed how sharp they were.

"I didn't come to this inadequate island to play games. No, it's all for the sake of business. I invested so much time and energy into this risky venture. I won't leave without lucrative profit. Failure is unacceptable. None of those commoners shall take victory away from me. I'm the great heir of a multi-billion company. No competition is too much for me to chew. I put so many competing businesses out of business and this time, it will be the same." Meowth finished his monologue.

Meowth's calm exterior contrasted greatly with his enraged interior. For a rich heir like him to stoop so low as to sleep on an uncomfortable bed, eat crappy food and deal with ungrateful customers like Dedenne, it required a lot of tolerance.

Tolerance was Meowth's unique selling point, it made him stand out from other heirs and heiresses. While Eevee whined and treated others like servants, Meowth actively helped out in challenges and socialized with others. Meowth's tolerance was tested time and time again. Each time, Meowth questioned his resolve.

It wasn't like he was a complete corporate monster like Dedenne or Scolipede made him out to be either. Meowth cared about his customers, especially their money. But, was it so wrong to prioritize money?

Meowth got a gigantic, prosperous company with thousands of employees. All of them expected him to maintain the success for the next generation. No, he couldn't fail them as the chosen heir out of his brothers and sisters. The pressure on his shoulders was no different than Bisharp's. Failure was purely unacceptable.

At last, Meowth turned the door open to meet a big and fat surprise. Snorlax blocked his way. The intern happily savored chips, chocolate, gummies, dried and roasted seaweed alongside other snacks.

"Yummy." Snorlax licked his lips before he consumed a slice of pizza.

"My lovely customer, what brings you here? May I ask you to move slightly so I can pass through?" Meowth asked politely.

"No!" Snorlax shouted with food in his mouth, sending some of it at Meowth's face. The businessman kept up a fake smile as he wiped the food off.

"Oh my, you certainly got many snacks. What is your favorite and least favorite? Please explain why as well. I'm conducting a research on customer satisfaction." Meowth surveyed.

"I hate my manager's favorite drink. Stupid bitter tea! His taste sucks." Snorlax insulted.

"I see… Anything else?" Meowth nodded, noting it down.

"Shut up, I'm enjoying my food!" Snorlax replied rudely.

"Can I get a closer look at your collection of snacks?" Meowth stretched his hand out for a bag of potato chips but Snorlax slapped his hand away. Meowth groaned but quickly forced a smile back on his face.

"Pleasure conducting a survey with you." Meowth bid his farewell politely as he closed the door.

Meowth seethed with anger, clencing his fists. He breathed quickly, each burst of air helped him to calm down.

Confessional

Meowth: "What kind of insolent customer does that to me? Unacceptable." He sounded malicious at the end.

Nosepass stuffed leftover cereal into his bag of chips. Inside the bag, he wrote his phone number (censored again by our host). Was he trying to copy what Hickery-o did?

The bag of chips had variety and quantity but the quality was unspeakably horrendous. Even though Nosepass handpicked the best Oran Berries (the ones that still looked blue) and mixed it with chips that weren't burned, it was still revolting to the very core.

Ancient chocolate bars landed on top of a green mushy puree substance. Corrosive lollipops were ready to annihilate someone's teeth. A bone gave off a bizarre smell with little to no meat. For the well-being of the viewers, Skarmory censored most of this dubious food thing. (Wait, I described it… Hope that you haven't lost your appetite.)

What Nosepass mixed together wasn't food but a method of murder. Was he trying to kill someone?

Nosepass grabbed the bag and headed to the restroom, humming to himself. Along the way, he caught sight of Rhyhorn heading to the east wing.

Nosepass averted his eyes immediately. He wanted to make things up with Rhyhorn… eventually. The guy meant a lot to him. However, Nosepass didn't dare to do it. He felt scared, submitting to cowardice once again.

Nosepass wanted many answers from his 'big brother'. However, he could only assume and guess hopelessly as he felt a sense of inferiority around others. Nosepass felt threatened as the weakest around here. Even Tyrunt was stronger than him, Larvitar too.

The coward entered the restroom. Inside there, he practiced confessing his love to Hickery-o. Unfortunately, he stuttered often and lacked confidence. His voice and body language showed it all. Worst of all, his 'gift' was… not something anyone would give to their love interest. (Obviously, Nosepass will find something better when the time comes.)

Rhyhorn entered the east wing. Obviously, Ursaring didn't welcome him with open arms.

"Tip!" Ursaring repeated the same word once again. The baggage boy rammed the cart at Rhyhorn but the rocky rhino wasn't fazed at all.

Not giving up, the bear repeatedly rammed the cart straight against him. However, it was a futile effort as Rhyhorn wasn't damaged one bit. Ursaring panted after attacking him with the cart for the twentieth time.

"Just go to your room." Ursaring sighed in defeat. Rhyhorn got access to his room and more information the hard way. He could just ask Aromatisse for the information, you know? She was still outside, sitting on the couch. Perhaps, Rhyhorn really wanted to distance himself from everyone.

Confessional

Nosepass: "I change the location to here. The restroom smells really bad. Alright, I will start now. Um… er, I-I" He coughed. "I r-really like you and I believe you f-feel the s-same." He sighed and dropped his head down. "Why is it so difficult? I managed to lie about going on a date but I can't do this simple task?" He groaned in frustration.

Bisharp went down to check on the third basement floor. His plan was to alternate between defeating interns and eliminating the contestants. He knew very well that opportunities wouldn't wait for him. When the tide rose, fetch the water. When the tide fell, collect the Pyukumuku. A real strategist operated like this.

Bisharp marked his first victim, Aromatisse. She was all alone since Nosepass was in the confessional and Rhyhorn was inside his room. Strangely, Lucario remained in his room.

Bisharp acted natural, walking ordinarily to her. Aromatisse lifted her eyes at him, giggling because of his new appearance.

"Bisharp, why are you wearing that? I never thought that you have a fetish for floral fashion." Aromatisse alliterated. "Did Jumpluff recommend it to you?"

"Yes, you are correct." Bisharp went along with it, keeping up the act. He didn't show any signs of embarrassment. "Jumpluff wanted me to experience a new kind of fashion. I will appreciate it very much if you say you are hot like the sun to me. I want some sort of reassurance to build up my confidence." He was a bit flustered near the end.

Aromatisse continued to laugh a bit before she stopped. Bisharp stared at her impatiently.

"Fine. Since I know very well how it feels to be uncomfortable with your appearance, I will help. Bisharp, you are hot like the sun. There, good?" Aromatisse fell for it.

Bisharp only gave her a smirk. Aromatisse raised her eyebrows. She was about to ask him something. However, she suddenly got teleported away.

"Aromatisse eliminated!" Skarmory broadcasted throughout the entire hotel. Bisharp was caught by surprise.

Confessional

Bisharp: "The letter said nothing about this…"

Aromatisse: "He came up with a good lie but I don't like how personal he made it to be. I really thought that he was being honest. It hurts to feel tricked like this. Did he think that because I'm now ugly, I will compliment any men? Do I look that easy and desperate to him?" She sighed. "I'm probably taking it too far. Still, it hurts. I don't usually compliment the appearance of men. That was one rare exception."

Meowth headed down to the second basement floor. He opened the nearest left door from his perspective. (Left and right got changed.)

The room was pretty big, twice the size of the garden. The wallpapers were varied from side to side. Started from the ceiling, the wallpaper had clouds on a blue background, simulating the sky. The north showed a vast and empty ocean. The west and east both had a beach area with umbrellas, seashells, palm trees and inflatable tubes. The south illustrated a grand sandcastle with two tower arms and a shovel on its head. The door that Meowth opened was considered to be the mouth.

The entire floor was made of sand. In the middle, there was a swimming pool with a ladder to the right side.

Meowth closed the door as he had no business there. Seemingly, he was looking for something.

The next room, the library, got exactly just that. Meowth found Duosion, Scolipede and Ledyba inside. The three of them sat around a table in the middle. None of them read any books. It was too dark to read anyways. Meowth squinted around at his surroundings.

The library cramped full of books. If we removed all of the bookshelves and reading tables, it would have a lot of space. The bookshelves were tall and thick, pushing the limits of the ceiling. Books organized themselves properly in rows. It was a well organized place but perhaps a bit too narrow and limited with the number of books and reading tables.

Meowth maneuvered his way to the three. "My knowledgable acquantances, may I ask where the kitchen is?" Meowth asked politely, flattering them.

Scolipede narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Duosion had a similar expression. Why would Meowth suddenly ask about the kitchen? How did he even know that there was one without knowing the location? Ledyba, however…

"The room next door. Head out, turn left and you will see it." Ledyba informed.

"Thank you very much." Meowth thanked before he left. Ledyba smiled contently. Duosion and Scolipede gave her disapproving looks.

"What? He is our friend." Ledyba didn't understand.

"Yeah, but you trust him way too easily. He is probably trying to win the immunity for himself." Scolipede told.

"Aren't we all trying to win?" Ledyba pointed out.

"That is correct. However, in this case, we all have the same goal. That is to eliminate Lucario." Duosion explained.

"Then, why can't Meowth win? We can still eliminate Lucario that way." Ledyba couldn't comprehend their contradicting logic.

Duosion and Scolipede glanced at each other, signaling each other to say something.

"Both of you need to trust Meowth a bit more. He is our friend. One of you is my boyfriend and the other is a close friend of mine. I'm disappointed in both of you." Ledyba scolded.

Scolipede looked hurt while Duosion was dumbfounded.

Confessional

Meowth: "I love my loyal customers. However, it seems like some aren't so loyal after all."

Scolipede: "Is she mad at me? What am I supposed to do to make up for it now?"

Duosion: "I don't want to be blunt and say that I hold grudges against Meowth for voting Houndour off."

Ledyba: "No, they shouldn't distrust him. Poor Meowth, what will he do now? I should check on him later, he probably feels hurt."

Drifblim slapped the joystick furiously after failing time and time again. She started to become obsessed with the treasure box inside the claw machine. She yearned for that feeling of victory.

"Skarmory rigged this damn thing. I tried for like fifty times already. This is no longer funny." Drifblim vented off her frustration. She tried one more time, positioning the claw above the treasure box. Sadly, the claw couldn't even lift it up.

Drifblim rage quitted as she slammed the window of the machine and left.

"Aromatisse eliminated!" Drifblim heard the announcement and lightened up.

"Now, things are getting more interesting. Hopefully, this challenge lives up to my expectation unlike your stupid claw machines, Skarmory." Drifblim complained as she left the arcade to investigate the reason behind Aromatisse's elimination.

"Girl, let's go and check." Miltank invited Heracross, both of them soon left the arcade as well.

"What happened to her? Aromatisse is upstairs, we should go as well." Cryogonal encouraged. Shedinja reluctantly followed her.

"I will chill here, homies." Darmanitan didn't follow the others, touring the place a bit more instead.

He spotted Farfetch'd trying the claw machine that Drifblim rage quitted.

"You can do this, homie." Darmanitan cheered as Farfetch'd used Mr. Stalk to move the joystick.

"Of course, Mr. Stalk is also a claw machine expert. He won many plushes, whether big or small. We give all of it to unlucky Pokemon out there." Farfetch'd showed off, pressing the button confidently with his leek stalk.

The claw crane descended and clutched the treasure box firmly before rising up. The claw wanted to drop the treasure but the sight of a claw machine expert intimidated it. The claw gulped as it obediently freed the treasure box down the opening. (Too much personification, the claw isn't alive, or is it? Mr. Stalk isn't alive too, right?)

"Woo! You did it, homie." Darmanitan applauded.

"Claw machines are always scared of Mr. Stalk. That's why he always wins." Farfetch'd said with superstition.

"Really, homie?" Darmanitan scratched his head, not understanding what the hell Farfetch'd was talking about.

Farfetch'd opened the treasure box. Inside, there was a small silver key.

"Mr. Stalk, where should we use this?" Farfetch'd discussed with a 'non-living' object.

"Homie, like there is a locked door in the casino. I can take you there." Darmanitan offered.

"Right. Although, Mr. Stalk already knew that." Farfetch'd deemed it as unnecessary.

"Okay. Your way, homie." Darmanitan seemed a bit weirded out.

Farfetch'd and Darmanitan reached the door at the far end of the slot machines. The duck inserted the key inside the keyhole and turned to unlock the door.

The room inside was rather poorly lit. A lone lamp lightened up the surroundings as much as it could. Luckily, the light passed through the door, supporting it with the much-needed power. The walls hung arms, legs, tails and body parts of many Pokemon like Charizard, Pikachu and much more. They were obviously artificial but the contestants didn't know that. Some could be fooled. Darmanitan looked a bit horrified but stayed chill.

There was a green table with a deck of cards. Behind it was a chair made out of Flareon's skin (artificial). It included wheels as well. A certain mushroom Pokemon sat on it. Shiinotic wore a short red and black dress. The dress barely covered the pink lower half of her body. Noticeably, numbers were written on the dress like the roulette. The dress had a pattern of switching between the black and red color, both were deadly. It also got green frills near the bottom and top. Moreover, she wore a black hat with an ace of spade card piercing through it.

Red heels fitted her feet perfectly. Shiinotic placed her legs on table, crossing them. She didn't care that she might look immodest in the eyes of the camera. Worst of all, she got a cigarette in her mouth. A lighter was in her right hand.

"Homie, don't smoke. It's not good for your health." Darmanitan warned. Shiinotic scoffed as she put the cigarette and lighter away. She removed her feet from the table as well, staring coldly at the two for a moment.

"You two have done well to make it this far. However, everything that you love, hold dear, possess…" Shiinotic set her sights on Mr. Stalk. Farfetch'd gripped his trusty partner tighter and glared at her. "…will be mine." Her voice hid hostility and aggression yet it was calm. Not in an overconfident manner but rather a threatening way.

Shiinotic got up from her seat and paced around. The two seemed confused. They didn't even know the objective of their challenge.

"You two seem confused. Allow me to light up your minds in flames of terror…" Shiinotic swiftly lighted up a fire in front of their eyes with a lighter. Her long, thin arms moved extremely fast. Too fast for Pokemon with normal vision to see.

"…before your untimely demise. You see, I worked here for several years. Every day was the same. I risked my life, gambling to earn money for this *beep* hotel." Her tone got darker and darker. "Without any money, I gambled with my body parts, loved ones and even my… virginity."

Darmanitan and Farfetch'd were petrified.

"I never lost even once. How? I cheated, of course. Luckily, no one realized that or else I wouldn't live. Here comes the cruel part. After all I did, you obviously expect me to be rewarded handsomely. However, that *beep* hotel manager. He paid me as much as he paid a *beep* baggage boy! What a sick joke that was. Everything I did..." Shiinotic started crying. "…was all for nothing!" She cried out in rage.

"It's okay, homie. Everything will be alright." Darmanitan consoled with sympathy.

Shiinotic snapped. "Fool! You are in no position to console me for I will destroy you and sell your body parts in a black market. Let's gamble. If you win, I will give you 100,000 P." She lifted up a heavy treasure chest overflowing with coins and placed it down on the table. Farfetch'd and Darmanitan were astonished.

"However, if you lose…" Shiinotic's eyes were brutal and merciless. "You will need to give me your body part!" Shiinotic grabbed a knife hidden in her dress and stabbed it down her table deeply with a loud piercing sound.

Darmanitan was about to wet himself while Farfetch'd raised his guard, holding Mr. Stalk in a defensive position.

"Homie, let's settle this peacefully." Darmanitan pacified.

"Mr. Stalk rejects the challenge." Farfetch'd didn't want to compete either.

"How about you gamble with that leek stalk instead, Farfetch'd?" Shiinotic adjusted the deal.

"No, not even for one million P. Mr. Stalk is priceless." Farfetch'd was unwavered by the temptations of money.

"Fine, cowards. Play it safe then. I will give you 1,000 P if you win but you will only get eliminated from the challenge if you lose. Fair?" Shiinotic said in an annoyed tone. She had no respect for cowards that were too scared to either go big or go home.

"No, homie. I just want to chill. Like, I don't even understand the point of this challenge. Are we supposed to find the hotel manager for the immunity or something?" Darmanitan didn't get the rules.

"Mr. Stalk doesn't accept the challenge. He hates the way you act, degrading him as if he is some sort of object." Farfetch'd refused stubbornly. Shiinotic groaned.

"Get out! I have no room for sissies like you two. What a waste of my time." Shiinotic chased them out of her room with the knife. (Don't worry, she is well trained. None of the contestants will die.)

Confessional

Darmanitan: "That shroom homie needs to chill. Don't swing a knife, fly a kite instead. It is a much more chill activity."

Farfetch'd: "Mr. Stalk is priceless. I will never sell, gamble or trade him for anything."

Bisharp was alarmed by the announcement. He quickly threw his headband away toward the receptionist counter and acted natural, thinking of a plausible plan.

Nosepass exited the confessional fearfully, expecting a monster to suddenly eliminate him. However, he only met a gaping Bisharp. The strategist tried to look bewildered by the 'strange' occurrence.

"What happened?" Nosepass asked, clinging to the door of the confessional. He prepared himself mentally to flee.

"Aromatisse suddenly got eliminated." Bisharp said in a confused tone. "I don't understand."

"There you are, Bisharp. I'm wondering where you have been the entire time." Duosion floated downstairs with Ledyba and Scolipede. She gave Bisharp a doubtful, suspicious look.

"What did you do in the garden? Explain yourself." Scolipede interrogated.

"Glad to see all of you. I beat Lurantis and got a clue. It led me here." Bisharp answered, sounding confident. Only Ledyba was convinced.

Other contestants from the fourth basement floor started to arrive. They all wondered about what really happened.

"Is Bisharp the suspect? He seems surrounded." Drifblim indicated. Bisharp sweated slightly.

"What is going on?" Cryogonal addressed Duosion with eye contact.

"Bisharp caused a commotion upstairs and Lurantis disappeared. Now, Aromatisse as well. It is in the realm of possibility for him to get a secret mission by Skarmory to be a spy." Duosion accused.

"A spy?" Bisharp looked offended, scoffing at the accusation. "Ridiculous. Where is your evidence?"

"I'm only stating a possibility, Bisharp. You seem defensive." Duosion edged Bisharp closer to the corner. The other contestants gave him distrustful looks.

"You done goof, tell me what this dang challenge is about!" Heracross demanded.

"No one ain't eliminating me. Spy, you will taste my fists!" Miltank threatened, stretching her muscles.

"Another spy challenge? Wonderful, Skarmory. Although, you should choose a better one." Drifblim criticized.

"I'm the spy once and nobody cares. Special treatment, I will gladly take it." Shedinja whispered to Cryogonal, she rolled her eyes and shook her head slightly.

"Thanks for hitting me on the head fair and square, both you and Chef Drapion." Cryogonal replied sarcastically.

"You can't trick me. I got my eyes on you." Scolipede didn't leave Bisharp out of his sight.

"Get rid of him now. I'm scared." Nosepass voiced his opinion as well.

"Confess now, Bisharp. That is your best move." Duosion suggested. Bisharp was now truly cornered, both figuratively and literally against the receptionist counter. How was he supposed to slide away from this mess?

"Stop, everyone!" Ledyba yelled, turning all eyes onto her. "Are we really treating him like a guilty prisoner before we even have evidence?"

Bisharp grinned at his luck. He couldn't believe that Ledyba defended him. A wrong but beneficial decision. Bisharp didn't have Ledyba and her friends in mind for elimination yet.

"His body language is evidence." Duosion interrupted.

"Are you one hundred percent sure? Duosion, if the court jumps into conclusion like that, the statistics of false prisoners will also increase, am I right?" Ledyba countered.

"Yes, but your example isn't comparable to our situation. I'm merely-" Duosion got cut off.

"Aren't we all in the same boat? We are all targeting Lucario, aren't we? I join the group now but I will leave if we continue to throw names around like this. Give him a chance to defend himself." Ledyba asserted, becoming the center of attention instead of Bisharp.

"I don't want another pipsqueak. Annoying as hell." Miltank grumbled. Heracross nodded in agreement.

"Wow, that's brave." Nosepass felt ashamed.

Ledyba didn't regret what she did. However, she seemed awfully crestfallen for some reason. This situation reminded her of something she wanted to forget.

"Are you alright?" Scolipede asked with concern. "I'm sorry for being such a horrible boyfriend. From now on, I will promise to trust others more even if they hurt me like that Octillery." He apologized, looking down on the ground. He seemed very sincere.

"It's okay, Scolipede. Cheer up." Ledyba assured Scolipede that she wasn't really mad at him. The latter looked a lot more relieved.

In the meantime, Bisharp successfully came up with a logical argument in his favor. He utilized the opportunity effectively and productively.

"Everyone, let me explain." Bisharp attracted their attention. "Please trust me on this one. After I beat Lurantis-" He was interrupted.

"Can someone freaking tell me the rule of this challenge first?" Heracross asked. Many Pokemon with rooms in the west wing agreed.

"Alright, let me explain. I'm pretty sure we are all going after Lucario. It is still pretty vague though." Duosion explained everything she knew and the others got a rough idea of the challenge.

"Find interns, beat them up and get stuff. Got it." Miltank nodded her head.

"Odd, Skarmory should've granted some sort of access to the west wing. How unprofessional." Drifblim criticized.

"Like I was saying, I beat Lurantis and got a hint. A riddle to be exact. Perhaps, I could have shared it with everyone sooner but I wanted to investigate first. The riddle mentioned something about be greedy and you die. I thought that it refers to the food so I came down to check. There, I witnessed Aromatisse unawaringly eating some Oran Berries and chips. Afterwards, she was eliminated." Bisharp pointed to the snack table. "See? Some food was eaten."

The others observed the table and it was exactly like Bisharp said. The story seemed believable, but not to everyone.

Nosepass wasn't sure how much food he took. He never ate any technically. He tasted an obsolete Oran Berry and puked it out immediately. Perhaps, that didn't count.

"Hey, I drank milk and I'm fine." Heracross stated.

"Perhaps, only certain food items eliminate you." Bisharp lied. There were many holes in his story but it was the best that he could come up with in a short span of time. Bisharp preffered if he didn't resort to revealing the truth. That would break their coalition against Lucario.

Sure, Bisharp could share everything with everyone and maybe that was the best way to eliminate Lucario. However, Bisharp got his personal objective as well. He wanted to prove himself to his parents. Bisharp knew his days were numbered and the odds of him winning weren't that great. Many saw him as a strategic threat. At the very least, he wanted to win this challenge.

"I believe you, Bisharp." Ledyba trusted him. "Everyone, don't you agree?" She said sweetly. Most agreed to spare Bisharp for now since they didn't have a concrete evidence. Perhaps, Bisharp was really innocent… not really. Duosion still suspected him.

Out of the door came a rushing Darmanitan, panting and sweating with a terrified expression.

"Homies, that hot-head Shiinotic nearly killed me. Go down there at your own risk. I'm outta here!" Darmanitan told before he fled upstairs. Many contestants fretted in fear. Darmanitan was usually chill. Something really terrifying must freaked him out.

"Let's check, everyone. I'm pretty sure Darmanitan is just exaggerating. It will be exciting." Drifblim encouraged fearlessly.

"Yeah, I ain't scared of some intern." Miltank folded her arms, looking brave.

"Beat her up and take her stuff. That's our mission." Heracross reminded.

"I prefer to see the situation with own eyes first." Duosion decided to head down as well.

Scolipede and Ledyba followed the group, holding each other close. Cryogonal and Shedinja followed soon after. Bisharp retrieved his headband and headed upstairs. Nosepass was too busy cowering in fear to notice.

Confessional

Bisharp: "I need to be more careful next time. If it wasn't for Ledyba, I'm done for. The best way to eliminate the other contestants is to single them out, which means I need to operate alone for the most part."

Ledyba: "It feels really nice and warm to defend Bisharp. I want to feel this kind of feeling again. I know that if I think positive and do good, nice things will happen to me." She masked a speck of sadness with her upbeat and optimistic face.

Scolipede: "My relationship comes first. Even if Bisharp really did eliminate Aromatisse, I no longer care."

Drifblim: "This is a game show. Darmanitan is such a scaredy-cat. None of the interns will hurt us badly."

Nosepass: "If Darmanitan is scared, I will be scared. If anyone is scared, I'm also scared. I'm the biggest coward around here. What am I going to do?" He trembled.

Duosion: "I want to compare the reward from Shiinotic to the reward from Lurantis. If what Bisharp said is the truth, it is very probable for us to get some sort of riddle.

Darmanitan: "I want to open a meditation class and teach everyone how to chill. Especially Shiinotic and Lucario."

Shedinja: "Shiinotic will kill me? I'm already a ghost. Death doesn't scare me much."

Heracross: "Most of the interns are weak, really. Not many can beat us."

Meowth heard the announcement. However, instead of going downstairs to investigate, he took the opportunity to brew tea for his customer instead. Scolipede and Duosion seemed suspicious of him. The businessman would take care of them later.

In his right hand was a cup of bitter tea. It was steeped and heated for too long.

Meowth opened the door and greeted Snorlax, hiding the cup behind his back. "Dear customer, I got a special delicacy for you."

"Give me, gimme." Snorlax salivated.

"Oh, close your eyes first." Meowth instructed.

"Ah…" Snorlax opened his mouth widely and gullibly. Meowth shoved the entire cup down his throat with sadistic eyes.

"This isn't your order? Too bad." Meowth watched as Snorlax flailed his arms and vomitted, feeling satisfied. Each droplet of tea burned through his stomach.

"Ack! Bitter tea." Snorlax got teleported away alongside most of his snacks. The only thing left was a small bag of cookies with a note attached.

"Give a cookie to other contestants. If they eat one, they are eliminated from the challenge. You will also receive their vote(s). Interesting." Meowth commented before he shredded the note into pieces, destroying the evidence. He then checked the brown bag of cookies. It got three chocolate chip cookies in total.

Meowth smirked as he headed downstairs, searching for potential customers. Along his way down, he met a panicking Darmanitan around the second basement floor.

"Homie, Shiinotic is crazy!" Darmanitan passed the message around, eyeing the bag with curiosity. "What is inside that bag?" He pointed.

"Oh, a special treat for my loyal customer. Want one?" Meowth offered, holding one in front of his face temptingly.

"Yeah, homie." Darmanitan accepted it. Meowth beamed as he was about to put it inside his mouth until…

"Wait, is it sugar free?" Darmanitan stopped momentarily.

"Of course. Don't worry." Meowth assured. Darmanitan got his tongue ready to taste the sweet treat. Unexpectedly…

"Am I hot like the sun, Darmanitan?" Bisharp asked, appearing out of the dark. He wore the headband.

Darmanitan turned around to face Bisharp as Meowth was overwhelmed by shock.

"Homie, you are chill like the moon." Darmanitan complimented with a thumb up before taking a bite of the cookie. He then got teleported away. Bisharp widened his eyes, not expecting this kind of outcome.

"Darmanitan eliminated!" Skarmory announced.

Meowth and Bisharp stared at each other, squinting their eyes.

"My dear customer, don't tell the others and I will do the same. Deal?" Meowth offered a truce.

"Deal." Bisharp accepted.

Confessional

Bisharp: "For sure I can't eliminate Meowth with the headband. I need to find a different item."

Meowth: "Bisharp, I will spare you with chump change for now. However, I got unfinished business with you…"

Darmanitan: "Hey! The cookie isn't sugar free. I don't want to be hyper because of sweets. I want to be chill like the moon."

Most of the contestants approached the dealer's room, Shiinotic's location.

"Gamble your body part for 100,000 P! Alternatively, risk getting eliminated for 1,000 P!" Shiinotic shouted loudly and clearly.

"I'm a ghost. How am I supposed to gamble my body parts?" Shedinja pointed out.

"You can sign this slavery contract instead. If you lose, you will work as a slave for the rest of your life." Shiinotic was well prepared. She placed an actual slavery contract on the table. Drifblim looked very impressed.

"Shedinja, why don't you work as a slave? Pretty sure it pays more than your crappy job, burger flipping, convenience store boy. Hahaha…" Heracross mocked. Miltank snorted at this and the two exchanged a hi-five. Shedinja looked unamused.

"Shut the *beep* up, jerks!" Cryogonal swore, swinging her snow chains furiously. Ledyba covered her mouth in surprise. She didn't expect her friend to have such a fury tantrum.

"Chill like the homie boy, girl. Are you in heat? Because it certainly looks like it from how you burn up in anger everytime we tease Shedinja. I can introduce you to a few female Rapidash friends, you know? They can help you with your… Oh wait, you are genderless. Hahaha!" Miltank made fun of her genderless nature and ice typing. Heracross and Miltank exchanged another hi-five.

Cryogonal was about to violate the minimal violence rule until Shiinotic got in between them.

"Follow the casino rules. No violence. If you have a problem, I suggest that you four settle it in Shiinotic Shuffle." Shiinotic recommended.

"Shiinotic Shuffle? What do you mean?" Heracross questioned.

"This game is very simple. Each of you start with a deck of twenty cards, including one ace. You shuffle and hide the ace inside your deck. Then, you take turns removing each card from your opponent's hand. The last player standing wins. Two players will compete alongside me. The two will gamble by betting their friends. If the gambler loses, the friend will be eliminated from the challenge instead. Interested?" Shiinotic explained.

"Why do we need to bet our friends? That's ridiculous." Ledyba protested.

"It is more fun that way. As a gambler, I bet these three things: body parts, virginity and loved ones." Shiinotic signified with her three fingers. Ledyba looked vexed upon hearing.

"I accept. I will bet with Miltank" Heracross didn't hesitate after a short discussion with her friend. Miltank looked very confident.

"Beat them all up, girl." Miltank cheered.

"Shedinja, bet me." Cryogonal gave him an assuring gaze.

"Fine." Shedinja sighed. Shiinotic smirked after they accepted her challenge. Foolish contestants...

The intern showed them a bag filled with coins. "In total, 1,000 P. Only if you win, of course. If I win, I take both of your loved ones."

"Yeah, as if you can win." Heracross had a cocky attitude for some reason. Shiinotic Shuffle was a game of luck. Did she have a plan?

"Just start already." Shedinja said impatiently.

"First things first, spectators, please leave." Shiinotic instructed.

"Why?" Scolipede asked. "I want to spectate."

"We have strict rules and guidelines here. Cheating is punishable by death." Shiinotic sounded serious. Scolipede didn't argue any further. Unwise, especially when she got a knife.

The other contestants left, murmuring among themselves.

"The game may proceed." Shiinotic initiated. She handed out the decks to each player and gestured for them to shuffle, both obeyed.

Heracross got a smug grin as she shuffled her cards without looking, trying to daunt Shedinja. The ghost bug shuffled sluggishly. He didn't seem interested in this gambling business.

"Roll the dice to see who starts first." Shiinotic rolled and got an eleven. Shedinja just dropped them down and got double ones. Heracross sneered before rolling as well. She got a three and frowned.

"At least better than you." Heracross tried to think positive. Shedinja seemed tired of her presence. He wouldn't bother her if she didn't bother him in the first place.

"I will pick one of you. Shedinja, show me your hand." Shiinotic chose randomly. Heracross seemed satisfied.

"You can do this, Shedinja." Cryogonal cheered from outside.

"Boo, lose." Miltank gave a thumb down. She earned looks from other contestants but quickly ignored them.

Shedinja was burdened by this gamble. He wanted to opt out of it at first but something was on the line here. If he didn't compete, Heracross will bug him. If he did and lose, Heracross will insult him. If he did and win, Heracross will get her revenge. He was in a lose-lose position no matter what.

Shiinotic waggled her long finger before picking the sixth card from the left. Shedinja only showed apathy.

Scolipede, Duosion and Drifblim observed from a distance. They checked to see if Shiinotic was cheating or not. Honestly, none of them could tell. No scratch marks, no hidden cameras.

Shiinotic flipped the card over slowly…

Cryogonal bit her snow chains nervously…

Heracross and Miltank wished for the worst…

Shedinja averted his eyes…

The card was an ace.

"Yes!" Heracross jumped up in joy. "Suck it, Shedinja."

Cryogonal shuddered before warping somewhere. Shedinja looked disappointed in himself.

The other contestants wondered whether he was unlucky or Shiinotic cheated.

"My turn now, right?" Heracross asked energeticly and eagerly.

"Yes." Shiinotic answered with a poker face.

"Can I check your deck? Just want to make sure." Heracross requested with a sneaky smile.

Shiinotic handed her deck over since she could shuffle it afterwards anyways. Heracross 'clumsily' dropped it down on the ground.

"Oops, sorry." Heracross apologized, collecting it up. Shiinotic glared at her.

The beetle eyed her oppenent's ace and secretly scratched it against the edge of the table. She then handed the entire deck back with an 'innocent' face. However, it didn't work. Shiinotic positioned the knife close to Heracross' neck in a flash.

"Do you think it's funny? Cheating in a game of life and death." Shiinotic asked sharply.

"Girl, calm down. What did I do?" Heracross acted innocent.

"Yeah, she did nothing wrong." Miltank supported.

"I guess scratching the back of the card isn't cheating then." Shedinja exposed.

"You!" Heracross gritted her teeth, casting him a despicable glare. She returned her eyes to Shiinotic, sweating down her vulnerable neck.

"If this is a real casino. You would have been dead." Shiinotic pulled the knife back as Miltank got teleported away. Heracross got disqualified, gulping quietly.

The spectators were intimidated by Shiinotic. Her acting skill easily got an A plus. (Or S, for alliteration purposes.)

Confessional

Heracross: "Tsk, stupid shroom head. Thinking that she is big stuff." She muttered. "On the streets, gambling riots over the place. Pokemon play tricks to steal other poor souls' money all the time. I know a few tricks. Only if that stupid Shedinja didn't expose me…"

Cryogonal: "Ugh! I'm so angry right now. It's all Miltank and Heracross fault. Skarmory told me that I also lost my vote."

Miltank: "Hey, we didn't lose. We just got disqualified. Geez, stupid gambling and their rules. They are as boring as bored games or board games. Whatever."

Everyone hesitated to challenge Shiinotic. Farfetch'd retreated back upstairs. Drifblim went back to the arcade. Heracross and Shedinja expelled their rage at each other with another round of Pika-Fighters. Their moods worsened once Darmanitan's elimination publicized.

Only Scolipede, Ledyba and Duosion remained near the dealer's room.

"Maybe we should leave like everyone else and play games in the arcade instead." Ledyba proposed.

"Then, we make no progress in this challenge." Duosion pointed out.

"We don't need to win, right? Winning isn't everything." Ledyba reminded.

"What is your opinion, Scolipede? You seem quiet." Duosion asked, noticing that he was in a trance.

"Oh, I think maybe I should compete against Shiinotic." Scolipede told.

"What?! Don't do that." Ledyba opposed straight away.

"Ledyba, please trust me. I know how those swindlers like to play. I think I can reveal their dirty tricks like what I did against Meowstic." Scolipede stared deeply into her eyes, pleading for faith.

"I'm just worried because I love you. Be safe, alright?" Ledyba reluctantly agreed. She gave him a good luck kiss on the cheek before he headed inside bravely to challenge Shiinotic.

Duosion seemed happy for them and their relationship. However, they also reminded her of her own relationship. She could only give them a bittersweet smile.

"Body part or-" Shiinotic got interrupted.

"I doubt that you will accept my body part anyways." Scolipede said realistically.

"True that." Shiinotic admitted, handing him his deck. Scolipede shuffled carefully and confusingly in case Shiinotic remembered the placement of his cards.

The skeptic paid particular attention to his opponent. He oriented his eyes at her dress, pinpointing all the tiny details like small creases and the numbers. They were the following:

1 (black)

12 (red)

3 (black)

15 (red)

These three numbers were on the back:

8 (black)

15 (red)

12 (black)

Unfortunately, Scolipede didn't see them and couldn't decipher the message. Instead, he saw her puffed up chest…

"Did you hide something in your dress? Can I check?" Scolipede asked shamelessly, bluntly and rudely. He even moved closer to her.

Shiinotic reddened with embarrassement and anger. She considered slapping Scolipede for a moment. Upon seeing this, he immediately got the message.

"I didn't mean-" Scolipede defended himself.

"Excuses! Pervert, get away from me." Shiinotic refused to hear any of that. Scolipede rolled his eyes as he returned to his seat.

"You are taking it too far. I already have a girlfriend." Scolipede muttered under his breath.

They rolled the dice and Shiinotic got to start first with a six against his four.

Scolipede placed all of his cards down in four rows of five cards. He watched as he eyes scanned over all of the cards.

Scolipede hid his ace in the bottom left corner. Shiinotic stretched her long arm out, aiming for his ace. Scolipede raised his eyes. How did she know?

Ledyba prayed for him, hoping for the best.

Scolipede tried to come up with some sort of accusation but even the skeptic himself failed to notice anything. This was because Alakazam told Shiinotic the answer using his psychic abilities. Good casino nowadays used psychic interference barrier to stop those pesky psychic types from cheating.

Psychic types were by no means overpowered. It was a myth that they could read the mind of others like an open book. Only those with the move Mind Reader could. Otherwise, Duosion and Meowstic would be able to predict all the eliminations. However, well-trained and strong psychics like Alakazam managed to keep track of the ace thanks to the cameras and transmitted the message through a mini microphone inside Shiinotic's dress.

So close, Scolipede…

Shiinotic revealed the ace and Scolipede got eliminated.

Ledyba looked down on the ground miserably.

Confessional

Scolipede: "Filthy gamblers and magicians. All of them are scamming swindlers!"

Ledyba: "I trusted you, Scolipede. You should have listened to me."

"Darmanitan eliminated!" The announcement reached Lucario's room.

The professional athlete sighed as he filled his glass with more alcohol and chugged it lifelessly. His eyes lost that competitive spark completely. Lucario dropped the glass and bottle down on his table and got off his chair to find some more. Several alcohol bottles already littered his table. The professional athlete rarely drank alcohol. He must had been severely depressed.

Lucario dragged his feet across the ground, collapsing like a drunk fool near the mini fridge. He held his head dizzily with his left hand as he opened it with his right. The mini fridge was filled with alcohol. Did Skarmory want his contestants to get drunk? Or was there another reason?

Lucario quickly refilled his glass and slumped down on the chair.

"Darmanitan, why did you leave me?" Why? What did I do wrong?" Lucario moaned in denial as he slammed his fist on the table. Alcohol bottles fell down, shattering across the ground.

Lucario hiccupped a bit before he started losing consciousness, lowering his head on the table.

(Sober up, Lucario. Get well soon. The viewers need you for some more action and fight scenes. Lucario, did you hear me?!)

Lucario was out of commission.

Confessional

Lucario: "It's all Duosion fault, it's all Miltank fault, it's all Aromatisse fault, it's all Crazy Crawdaunt fault, it's all their fault! They brainwashed my teammates. They ruined my team. I tried to help my team to win. I did nothing wrong, I did nothing wrong." Lucario laughed, cried and laughed again.

Likewise, Rhyhorn stayed in his room as well. He locked himself in a corner as he stared emptily into nothingness.

Both Lucario and Rhyhorn were as good as eliminated.

Confessional

Rhyhorn: "It is safer for everyone if I just stay in my room and lose, especially for Nosepass." He thought of the best for everyone, seeing himself as a monster.

Bisharp searched for Wimpod inside the library. The wimpy intern should be easy to defeat unlike the baggage boy, Ursaring. However, the difficult part was finding him, especially in the dark.

Bisharp removed books there and then, searching under the table to no avail. He started to consider changing his objective.

"Scolipede eliminated!" The pressure was on and Bisharp refused to spend anymore time searching for the cowering intern. As he exited the door, he glanced at the electricity control room for a moment. He could turn the lights on and it might help him with his search. However, he preferred to move undetected.

Bisharp headed to the swimming pool to find Palossand instead. He treaded carefully, his back pressed against the wall. Palossand could rise up at anytime and hug him. Bisharp didn't want that.

Through his knowledge, he edged his way closer to the pool. Palossand was weak to water. Perhaps, that could be his weakness if you ignore Water Compaction.

Bisharp left the wall and sprinted on the sand. Each of his steps was rushed, avoiding any chances. Before he reached the pool, Palossand sprang up.

"Give me a hug, please." Palossand pleaded as he opened his arms widely for that embrace.

Bisharp turned the opposite direction and quickly fled out of the swimming pool.

"Aw." Palossand sounded disappointed.

Confessional

Bisharp: "No way I'm hugging him. I saw what happened to Tyrunt."

Drifblim left the arcade after failing to find anything useful. She turned around to see other fellow contestants enjoying their time. Heracross shot a ball inside the basketball machine. Shedinja played the claw machine. Even Duosion relaxed and played Munch-Man with Ledyba spectating by her side.

Drifblim shook her head in disappointment. All the other contestants basically gave up trying to win the challenge, unlike her. To be precise, she didn't want to win. She wanted to try to win. The superfan didn't want to throw a challenge, neither did she want a target on her back.

For everyone else, they pretty much relied all of their hopes on Bisharp and Meowth to win. It was a well-known fact by now that everyone united against a common enemy, Lucario. Therefore, none of them really cared if Bisharp wins or Meowth for that matter.

However, none of them knew that this was a vote stealing game. What if Meowth decided to keep Lucario for whatever reason? Having more votes could be more powerful than an immunity, continuing the long-lived debates of immunity idols versus double votes.

Immunity guaranteed your safety. Votes granted you the power to control the elimination.

Drifblim searched for more clues. Potentially, she might find something regarding Shiinotic's weakness.

The ghost blimp opened prize hatches of slot machines, expecting Skarmory to hide something inside there.

Drifblim was right. She found a torn piece of paper inside one of the slot machines.

"Easy places, Skarmory. Rev up the difficulty next time." Drifblim challenged, reading quickly after.

The piece of paper said the following:

"Damn, I had a rough day today. That baggage boy, I'm truly envious of him. He got an easy job but the same pay as me. So… I decided to trick him in Shiinotic Shuffle. We gambled with our pay checks. That day, he brought some alcohol and cheered for me to drink it with pretty words. Imprudent me, I drank it all, not suspecting a thing. That sneaky bear, he knew that I'm a light drinker. Every time I drink, I spill the truth. God, I confessed that I cheated and he took my pay check. Wait until I find his weakness…"

Drifblim lightened up immediately. She headed over to the alcohol bar, next to it was a door. Curiously, she opened it.

The room was empty, except for a single sledgehammer leaning against the wall. The floor had a gigantic crack in the center. Drifblim didn't seem interested and closed the door. She lifted a bottle of alcohol up and hid it behind her back as she approached Shiinotic.

"Want to play? Do you think you can find my ace?" Shiinotic asked, excited to see another victim.

"Oh, it's on your hat. I found it a long time ago." Drifblim joked. Shiinotic chuckled.

Drifblim utilized this short opening to get close to her and forced the alcohol down her mouth. The liquor spilled all over her dress. Eventually, Drifblim thought that it was enough and stopped.

Shiinotic puked out the alcohol but it was too late. She started to feel lightheadedness, pointing at Drifblim dizzily. She failed to keep her fingers still as they circled in the air alongside her head.

"You know what's funny? Haha…" Shiinotic started laughing by herself. Drifblim stared at her awkwardly. The laughter soon died down into incomprehensible slurs. It was something about tricking, money and microphone, along these lines. Shiinotic soon teleported away, leaving a bag with 1,000 P alongside a note.

"Congratulations, you beat Shiinotic. You are allowed to use the money to play the slot machines to eliminate the other contestants from the challenge and take their vote(s)." Drifblim read. Luckily, the other contestants were too busy playing in the arcade to realize what's going on.

"Perfect. It is time to shake things up." Drifblim smiled, exhilarated.

Confessional

Drifblim: "I have countless options. This isn't mere immunity. Who should I eliminate? Lucario to please everyone? Farfetch'd to get rid of a second-time enemy? Meowth to mess up the hierarchy? Duosion to remove another smart contestant? I just can't decide!" She couldn't contain her euphoria.

Bisharp expanded his search vicinity to the first basement floor. He recoiled in disgust at the green liquid (Snorlax's vomit) and stepped across carefully. There were three doors, one to the left, right and middle. Bisharp remembered that Smeragle's studio located in the middle.

However, he wanted to explore the other rooms to possibly find her weakness first.

Bisharp headed to the left door. Inside, he found many paintings and cabinets around the wall. The room was a gallery.

The wooden floor covered the majority of the room, making it mostly empty. Cabinets were small, situating below the paintings. Bisharp glanced around at them, from left to right.

First was a picture of Ursaring in the east wing. He stood up tall, looking healthy without wearing any clothes. Next to him was a full luggage cart. He even got a small smile on his face as he leaned his elbow on the cart.

Next was Lurantis inside the garden. She wore her headband, pouring water for the flowers happily.

Third was Druddigon in the west wing. He placed his hands on his waist. Unlike all the other paintings, he didn't hold or wear anything. From the look of his eyes, he looked fairly satisfied.

The last painting on the left wall showed Shiinotic next to a slot machine. She grinned, holding a bag full of coins.

The closest painting or the first on the right wall illustrated Smeargle herself. A small part of the studio was revealed. Apparently, the floor got covered by a large piece of paper, absorbing paint dripping from the canvas. Smeargle wore a pink beret, holding her tail with her left hand and a paintbrush with her right. Dual painting, seemingly.

Another got Snorlax. He was enjoying a bag of cookies inside the kitchen.

Afterwards, we found Palossand next to the swimming pool. He hugged a red bucket.

Last but not least, Wimpod. He was in the library, holding a pearl.

The middle wall had a painting too, of course. The grandest and biggest painting of them all. Unfortunately, claw marks ripped it into pieces. Bisharp couldn't tell what the painting was about. However, he could tell that the claw marks were Druddigon's.

"Hmm…" Bisharp tapped his chin, piecing things together. "If I remember correctly, the staff revolted against Skarmory. Not strange if Druddigon tore his painting down. The objects in the paintings must be items used to eliminate other contestants. Meowth got his cookies and I got my headband. However, why does Druddigon have nothing?" Bisharp wondered.

He wasted no time further and searched through the cabinets. There were nine in total, under each painting.

Bisharp opened Ursaring's first. He was greeted with a toy set. It came with a figure of Ursaring in his vacation clothes, holding the handle of the cart. The set included luggages, with a variation of many different colors. The clothes were apparently removable. Lastly, a note attached to the toy set.

"Skarmory just denied my vacation today. I freaking got an injury while working and he wouldn't let me leave?! Money greedy *beep*. Anyways, looks like I need to earn money for the vacation myself. I need tip!" Bisharp scanned over the contents and nodded in understanding.

The investigator experimented with the toy set. Apparently, when he placed luggage on the cart, Ursaring moved slower. At first, Bisharp thought that Ursaring's weakness was a flower of some sort but he changed his mind immediately once he removed the shirt.

Ursaring sustained an injury on his back. A long bandage wrapped around it.

"I got it. You need to place something on his cart to hinder his offense and strike his weak spot, his back wound." Bisharp clapped for the revelation.

He searched all the other cabinets. However, they were all empty except for the middle one. Bisharp put his right hand inside to retrieve a peculiar box and a note. It said the following:

"The hotel is running into financial difficulties. What went wrong? Our hotel used to be booming with business. It's all the staff's fault! They cause all of this mess… No matter what, I will protect the one that I love the most. She is just so elegant, perfect and flawless. How lovely… I can only wish that I won't be a burden." Dust collected all over the note.

Bisharp started to get the bigger picture. This challenge was like one twisted, mystery novel, unravelling itself slowly.

The box got an imperial feel to it. Golden edges… Flashing red color… A diamond wheel on the top, adorned with seven pearls. It seemed to be missing one. Bisharp attempted to open it unsuccessfully. He put the thought of catching Wimpod at the back of his mind for now. Ursaring was the priority.

Bisharp left, going downstairs. The footage cut to the part where he arrived in front of the east wing. There, he witnessed Farfetch'd getting kicked out by Ursaring.

"No tip, no entry!" Ursaring shouted before slamming the door shut.

Farfetch'd brushed Mr. Stalk as he got off from the ground. Bisharp stared at him with sympathy. The duck raised his right eye at the floral headband, ignoring it soon after.

"Are you still struggling by yourself? Aren't you tired?" Bisharp asked with concern.

"No, I'm not. Mr. Stalk doesn't suddenly become a professional overnight. It takes years of preseverence and resilience." Farfetch'd answered adamantly.

"Just this once, Farfetch'd. I can help you with the challenge. I can tell you all the rules." Bisharp offered, almost begging.

"No. I don't want something handed to me on a silver platter." Farfetch'd still refused.

"You got eliminated once. Farfetch'd, this game is dangerous. There are threats like Lucario and Meowth in this game. They are relentless. They don't care about your honor or values." Bisharp placed his right hand on Farfetch'd'd right shoulder, giving him a pleading look.

"Mr. Stalk knew that but it is an obstacle that we must overcome. Take care of yourself, Bisharp." Farfetch'd bid his farewell, leaving with his head down. Deep inside, he really wanted to team up. However, he could never submit to that temptation.

Farfetch'd was really the type that prefer to help rather than receive help. He wasn't exactly a lone wolf.

Bisharp seemed heartbroken but proceeded inside nonetheless. Ursaring anticipated his arrival. The baggage boy ambushed Bisharp, bashing his head.

Bisharp yelped before he got knocked down on the ground. Ursaring lifted the cart up and clobbered his ribcage. Bisharp cried in pain as Ursaring started pulverizing him.

"Help!" Bisharp cried desperately for help as he blocked the hits to no avail.

"Give me tip or I give you death!" Ursaring threatened, steamrolling Bisharp.

Farfetch'd looked alarm at the sight, rushing in the east wing to help.

"Hang in there." Farfetch'd grunted, pulling Bisharp out from underneath the cart.

"Thanks." Bisharp whimpered. "Watch out!" There was no time to rest.

"Tip!" Ursaring thrusted the cart straight at both of them. Farfetch'd blocked the hit with Mr. Stalk, struggling as Ursaring pushed him slowly.

"What's going on?" Rhyhorn exited his room to check, gaping in shock.

"You again!" Ursaring changed his target and redirected the cart toward Rhyhorn.

Farfetch'd lifted Bisharp up from the ground. The latter immediately saw an opportunity.

"Rhyhorn, jump on the cart." Bisharp directed urgently. Rhyhorn followed, leaping on top of Ursaring's weapon.

"Hey. Get your dirty feet off my cart. I will charge you extra." Ursaring growled. The baggage boy couldn't move his cart at all. It was stuck.

Bisharp instructed Farfetch'd inaudibly. The duck nodded as he sneaked behind Ursaring's back. He lifted his backpack and shirt up, exposing his back wound. Farfetch'd quickly poked his weak spot with Mr. Stalk before Ursaring could even react.

The baggage boy disappeared through a pillar of light, a note landing on the ground in his place.

Farfetch'd picked it up, about to read it for everyone until…

"Farfetch'd eliminated." An unexpected announcement was made as Farfetch'd faded away.

Bisharp and Rhyhorn widened their eyes at this unprecedented event. Bisharp got a few ideas but he wasn't so sure. Most items required up-close interaction to eliminate the other contestants. However, there were a few that bypass that rule… like Drifblim's. In Bisharp's case, he didn't know what Shiinotic item was capable of so he was bewildered like Rhyhorn.

Bisharp picked the note up and read it silently. The luggage cart could eliminate contestants that stand on it if the user would shout: "Ding-dong, baggage delivery!" Bisharp lifted his eyes at Rhyhorn.

Rhyhorn was still on the cart…

"Ding-dong, baggage delivery!" Bisharp seized his chance, stealing another vote.

"Rhyhorn eliminated." Skarmory revealed as Rhyhorn teleported. Bisharp celebrated quietly to himself.

"Baggage delivery?! What the *beep* are you trying to pull, Ursaring? I want to sleep!" Suddenly, Lucario yelled out from his room. Bisharp heard his footsteps slowly approaching the door.

Bisharp ran out of the east wing as fast as he could, ditching the cart.

Lucario opened the door, glancing around with a confused expression before he slammed his door shut.

Confessional

Rhyhorn: "I'm fine with being eliminated."

Farfetch'd: "Mr. Stalk is a bit disappointed that the elimination is out of our control. Good luck… Bisharp."

Lucario: "Where is Ursaring and why is there an empty luggage cart outside my room? Should I just destroy it?"

Bisharp: "I dodged the bullet." He sighed. "Sadly, I left the cart there. Looks like I only got my headband to work with. How requisite." He didn't look too happy.

A long time ago…

Meowth searched through the kitchen. He could have sworn he saw something at the back of the fridge. He moved it a bit, revealing Snorlax's hidden stash of snacks. Meowth smirked mischievously, rubbing his hands together.

Confessional

Meowth: "The note doesn't state that I need to feed the other contestants the entire cookie to get their vote. I can afford to cut costs and feed them cookie crumbs instead. Without anyone of them knowing…"

Drifblim played the slot machine quietly, holding her head low. Luckily, the other contestants had so much fun in the arcade that they didn't realize what she was doing… for now.

Each try required 50 P. Mathematically, Drifblim only got twenty tries. It wasn't easy to eliminate the other contestants. First, it required great timing as each contestant's face moved down the slot machine in a flash. Second, even eliminated contestants were included in the mix. Eliminating them had no benefit. Third, it was possible for Drifblim to eliminate herself. Therefore, she couldn't just press the button randomly either.

Drifblim inserted her seventh coin. She hoped that it will be her 'lucky seven'. The ghost pulled the lever, watching attentitively as images of contestants rolled down.

An image of Bisharp passed, Drifblim pressed the button too late. She got Farfetch'd instead.

"Not a bad choice." Drifblim didn't mind it. She pressed the button again after Bisharp passed, getting the hang of the timing.

Farfetch'd's face appeared twice now. Drifblim only needed to do it again. Was it her imagination or was the slot machine getting faster?

Drifblim breathed in deeply and pressed the button.

"Farfetch'd eliminated!" The slot machine triggered the announcement.

"Yes!" Drifblim celebrated a bit too loudly.

"Enjoy eliminating the other contestants.' Shedinja drawled as he passed by. Drifblim froze, trying to come up with an excuse.

"Don't worry about it. I don't care. I mean Lucario will be eliminated anyways." Shedinja assured.

"Indeed, you are right about that. I just want to win the immunity so my friends will be proud of me." Drifblim lied.

Shedinja floated away, leaving her alone. Drifblim seemed content. Now, she aimed for Shedinja using the slot machine.

Confessional

Shedinja: "This challenge is pretty fun. I mean the arcade. Feels more like a vacation than anything."

Drifblim: "Gullible of you, Shedinja. I expect more from you. You are going down my threatening players list."

Duosion finished Space Invaders, she got a new high score.

"Wow, you are amazing!" Ledyba praised, clapping loudly. Duosion looked confused at her reaction.

"Statistically, there is a one hundred percent for me to set a new high score since I'm the only player. I don't understand why you are praising me." Duosion questioned.

"Oh, it's just that I'm trying to make you feel good." Ledyba answered.

"I'm not feeling good right now. Farfetch'd and Rhyhorn just got eliminated. While I prefer to rest and just let Bisharp eliminate everyone, I can't be overconfident. There is a slim chance that the prize might not be immunity but the ability to eliminate anyone." Duosion told.

"Come on, relax. Everything will be fine. I truly wish for Scolipede to do the same, you know? We could play so many things in the arcade if only he wasn't eliminated." Ledyba sounded sad.

"Sorry, I need to go. I think it is time for me to actually start doing something." Duosion bid her leave.

"Please don't." Ledyba held her back. "Cryogonal, Aromatisse and Scolipede were already eliminated. I got no one left but you." She pleaded. Sadly, Duosion left regardless, looking a bit guilty in the process.

Confessional

Duosion: "The library should be a good place to start. I need more information."

Ledyba: "Did I say or do something wrong? Why? Can't we just trust Bisharp or Meowth or whoever it is to eliminate Lucario? I don't want to distrust anyone or doubt anything, never again." Her eyes drowned in the blue ocean of time.

Bisharp sighed in relief as he escaped from the aura beast. He was about to head upstairs to continue his search for Wimpod until his eyes met with the rotary dial and the ruler once again. Bisharp got an idea that he wanted to test out.

Bisharp lifted the handset from the cradle. He listened for a dial tone and placed his finger on the number five, rotating it clockwise until he reached the metal stop and removed his finger. The dial returned to its original position and Bisharp repeated this step for all the numbers (5121315). Apparently, he knew how rotary dial phones work, what an old-fashioned guy.

Unfortunately, the number seemed to be invalid. Bisharp gave up, placing the handset back.

Bisharp thought about rearranging the numbers but it might be time consuming if he tried every single possible combination. Suddenly, he realized something. What if he translated the numbers to the Unown alphabet?

5 = E

12 = L

13 = M

15 = O

Mole was the first word Bisharp could think of.

He dialed again. This time, he heard someone's voice.

"Yo, smoking, ugly kid. What'sup? Want me to tell you one of the staff members' weakness?" Raticate offered.

Bisharp pondered for a moment. He got an idea on how to beat Wimpod and Palossand. However, he couldn't be too sure. Asking for Druddigon seemed unwise considering the west wing was locked. He wasn't sure if someone already beat Smeargle or Shiinotic yet. Meowth was no where to be seen for quite sometime. Could the businessman beat them, already?

It came down to Wimpod and Palossand…

"Hurry up, kid. I'm gonna leave if you don't." Raticate pressured.

"Palossand." Bisharp said hastily.

"Alright kid, here's the thing. Palossand likes to hug all the guests and other staff members, even if it hurts him. However, one day, a Chesnaught beat him up to the smoking gates of hell. Palossand is scared of Chesnaught and the arcade in the lowest floor just got the thing. There's a game called Shooting Range, get a score of one hundred and you will get a shield. It looks like Chesnaught's back." Raticate ended the call.

Bisharp smiled, satisfied with the information. He headed down to the fourth basement floor.

Confessional

Bisharp: "I chose Palossand because I saw him at least once unlike all the other interns. It was too risky at that moment for me to choose someone else. The Shooting Range game should be easy for a sharpshooter like me. Right up my alley."

In the library, Duosion selected a few books. One especially caught her interest. It was called 'The Mole'. The cover got a silhouette of a Raticate stealing money from a safe.

Duosion struggled to read in the dark but eventually, she adjusted her eyes just fine.

To summarize the whole story, Raticate stole money from the hotel and escaped. This sparked great distrust between Skarmory and the staff. Apparently, the working conditions worsened and the hotel manager gave them the cold shoulder from that point onwards. This set a chain of events that led to the downfall of the hotel. All because of Raticate.

The book suggested that Raticate's motive was the fact that he got paid the least. This was to be expected since he was often lazy and slacked off. One day, Skarmory gave pearls to all of his staff members for their hard work. Everyone received them except for Raticate.

Duosion was so absorbed by this book that time passed by relentlessly. A few contestants got eliminated in the meantime. However, Skarmory didn't reveal their names just yet.

Confessional

Duosion: "Even though I appreciate the story and all the contextual information, it is still useless if other Pokemon are still eliminated left and right. I wonder if there is some sort of special prize if I manage to catch Raticate."

Bisharp arrived at the arcade, deciding to remove the headband. He didn't expect the likes of Shedinja or Drifblim to call him hot. Therefore, he hid it under the receptionist counter. A low risk considering how weak the item was compared to the cookies and casino coins. Unlimited use wasn't a good enough buff.

Heracross saw him and stomped over intimidatingly toward him. Bisharp raised his guard.

"Calm down, I'm not here to mug you or anything. I don't even care if you eliminated all the other contestants in this challenge. Just vote with me and get rid of Shedinja, alright?" Heracross tried to make a deal with him. Bisharp hesitated. Honestly, he didn't agree to her terms. It was only beneficial on her side. However, what would Heracross do to him if he rejected? That was the question in his mind.

Luckily, Bisharp didn't need to answer as an old foe came back to haunt Heracross, the spoiled milk.

"I will be right back, keep your answer ready." Heracross fled upstairs to the restrooms.

Bisharp looked amused as he walked over to the Shooting Range game. He grabbed the gun up and blasted flying Pokemon into bits. This game discriminated against flying type Pokemon. However, there were games of all kinds that discriminated against all types of Pokemon, making it even. Most no longer cared about any of that in present days. It wasn't meant to be taken seriously anymore. Still, some like Dedenne would probably rage.

Bisharp never missed a shot, getting a high score. The screen showed a score of 150, the maximum amount. The sharpshooter blew the gun as he waited for his prize.

Something dropped down the prize hatch. Bisharp picked it up to see a mini Chesnaught shield toy, for safety reasons. It got four spikes on it.

Bisharp headed upstairs immediately. Along the way to Palossand, he saw Nosepass. The guy was waiting in front of the multi-gender restroom impatiently, holding his proposal bag.

"When will she finish her business? It already takes long enough." Nosepass complained irritably. The lovestuck boy spent his entire day practicing either in the restroom or the confessional the entire day. He missed all the events like when the three were fighting Ursaring.

Both the confessional and the restroom had their own advantages. The confessional smelt a lot nicer. However, the restroom got a mirror.

Bisharp left Nosepass, minding his own business.

Bisharp reached the swimming pool. He was so focused that he ignored whatever was happening inside the kitchen and the library as well.

The steel type raised his plastic toy defensively as he stepped on the sand. Palossand rose up with a terrified look upon seeing the shield.

"Why must you do this? I just want to hug other Pokemon. The hotel manager won't even let me hug him anymore. Fine, I will be hugless for life." Palossand wept before he got teleported away. Bisharp nearly felt guilty, nearly.

He dropped his shield down and approached a red bucket. It got a note attached to it.

"Congratulations, you beat Palossand. Soak your fellow contestants with this bucket and hug them to steal their vote(s) and eliminate them from the challenge." Bisharp read, nodding. It was certainly situational just like his headband.

Confessional

Bisharp: "I prefer this over the headband and the cart because it doesn't rely on the intelligence of other contestants." He blushed a bit, remembering the hugging part. "Although, this bucket is the epitome of embarrassment." (Watch out for your ribcage, Bisharp!)

Meowth rolled a cart of snacks out from the kitchen. He spent the majority of his time to prepare a 'glamorous feast' for his customers. He wheeled it downstairs with some difficulty due to the nature of those pathetic stairs. It shook up the snacks a bit but the cat held them in place.

The third basement floor had Nosepass, Heracross and Ledyba. The flying type flew up because she felt lonely inside the arcade all alone. Shedinja didn't seem to be interested in it anymore while Drifblim patiently timed her button presses with the slot machine.

Meowth smiled sweetly at his customers. They all stared in delight at all the food items.

Bag of chips were seasoned with cookie crumbs, chipping the contestants' tongue to elimination.

Bars of chocolate melted from the presence of cookie bits, burning the contestants' taste buds to elimination.

Rice balls contrasted with the pieces of cookies, balling impending elimination into the contestants' mouths.

Heracross licked her lips. "I don't care if I get eliminated. I will eat!"

Meowth stopped her. "Be patient. Wait until I set up the table and invite everyone." He told. Heracross crossed her arms grumpily.

"Thank you very much, Meowth. Let me help you by setting up the table." Ledyba was very grateful.

"No, I can do it by myself, lovely customer." Meowth assured as he wiped all the leftovers out and placed his delicious snacks. However, he made one great mistake.

Meowth accidentally knocked Nosepass' proposal bag away.

"Noooo…" Nosepass' voice was in slowmotion as he tried to save the bag from plummeting down. Unfortunately, Nosepass couldn't grab it fast enough as it collided, spilling the mess all over the floor. Nosepass' eyes twitched.

"Worry not, valuable customer. I can provide you with a better repl-" Meowth was interrupted.

"How dare you?! Screw your stupid snacks!" Nosepass snapped. This was rare. The timid coward boiled up in anger as he flipped the table over, ruining Meowth's snacks. His anger was short-lived and his cowardice came back as two angry faces glared at him.

"I will kill you, Nosepass." Heracross said in a hostile and aggressive tone.

"You will pay for the damage, both financially and physically." Meowth picked up a rice ball.

Nosepass gulped. "Don't hurt me. Ah!" He screamed, fleeing up the stairs. The two chased after him.

"Wait, everyone!" Ledyba tried to stop them.

"What? You should come up and beat Nosepass as well." Heracross encouraged, gesturing for her to hurry.

"No, I won't." Ledyba refused. "We should leave him alone. He must be scared."

Heracross scoffed at how nice Ledyba was being. She widened her eyes, however, once she saw a brown, cardboard box taped under the table.

"What is it?" Heracross walked down the stairs to check, pulling the box out and opened it to reveal a key. Ledyba was surprised to see it.

"Looks like I just hit jackpot." Heracross grinned.

Confessional

Heracross: "I will let Nosepass go because of the key. He is such a coward that I won't even waste my time beating him up."

Ledyba: "Poor Nosepass. I hope Meowth isn't being too rough on him."

Nosepass: "Stupid Nosepass! You are such a stupid coward. What were you thinking? Who are you? An impulsive coward!" He bashed himself.

Nosepass ran up the circular stairs to the first basement floor. Meowth followed him from behind. Noticeably, Bisharp also joined the chase.

Bisharp completely filled his bucket with water, walking up slowly so he wouldn't spill it.

Nosepass ran straight to the right room (the dressing room) and locked himself in there. If he was lucky, Bisharp might eliminate Meowth…

Meowth banged the door like a crazy creditor. "Pay up!" He yelled.

Bisharp rushed over. He was about to splash Meowth until the businessman turned around.

Bisharp immediately dropped the bucket down and acted natural.

"Are you going to eliminate me?" Meowth stepped back slowly, splitting the rice ball in half.

"No, I'm here to defeat Smeargle, the artist. She is in the studio nearby. Her weakness is water. I need to wash all the paint off." Bisharp lied pretty well.

"I see…" Meowth seemed to believe it but he had a degree of skepticism. "What are you waiting for then?"

"I just want to help you eliminate Nosepass." Bisharp clarified.

Nosepass gulped as he heard this, glancing around at his surroundings for any useful objects.

The dressing room was filled with clothing racks. The clothes all got price tags on them. They weren't for sale, however. Rather, they were for rent. They were designed to fit Pokemon of all kinds. Ranging from blue pants with multiple holes for the likes of Octillery and Tentacruel or shirts that got holes to accommodate Bisharp's ribcage. In addition, there were hats and headgears varying in size.

Nosepass looked around. Seemingly, he got his eyes on a familiar pair of pants. It was long with red and pink stripes, imitating the appearance of Lurantis' legs. The renting price was 1,050 P. Nosepass pulled it out and a note dropped down on the ground. It said the following:

"Today, I got my eyes on a girl inside this hotel. She is just beautiful and her body shines bright like the Sun. Ugh, I want to confess my love to her but I can't. She will never love a Rough Skin Pokemon like me. Stupid ability of mine. It helps me in battles but when it comes to love, it is such a burden. I guess my strength is also my weakness. On a different subject, *beep* that hotel manager! He recently cut our pay!"

Nosepass thought that it was totally useless and threw it away after reading it. If it couldn't help him fend off Meowth and Bisharp, it meant nothing.

However, Nosepass saw something else that was useful… The pants itself.

Nosepass snapped it on his head and walked toward the door. He inhaled deeply and tried to be brave as he opened it.

"Don't get near me or I will use my pants power on you!" Nosepass bluffed, trying to sound confident.

Once Meowth saw Nosepass, he laughed uncontrollably.

"Very funny, Nosepass. However, I recall that someone already beat Lurantis." Meowth didn't fall for it to Nosepass' dismay.

"Please don't hurt me. I will do everything! Eek." Nosepass cowered in fear, closing his eyes as he waited for his inevitable demise.

Meowth was ready to force-feed Nosepass the rice ball. However, Bisharp splashed water on both of them.

"Why-" Before Meowth finished, Bisharp carefully hugged him. The businessman got teleported away.

"Meowth eliminated." This was music to Nosepass' ears.

"My hero!" Nosepass exclaimed. "Thanks for saving me."

"Indeed, I'm your hero." Bisharp walked over slowly in an unthreatening manner before hugging him carefully as well. Nosepass didn't care about the elimination anymore. He was just glad that Bisharp eliminated Meowth.

"Nosepass eliminated." This was music to Bisharp's ears.

The strategist smiled as he claimed two more victims, leaving the room.

Confessional

Meowth: "Bisharp, you shall regret tricking me. I will use my wealth of resources to destroy you."

Nosepass: "Wow, I luckily survived that. Thank god."

Bisharp: "I wonder if Smeargle's weakness is actually water. Nonetheless, my next target is Wimpod."

Heracross opened the door fearlessly, challenging the dark hallway. Four doors were on each side like the east wing. However, the room sequence increased from left to right this time. Ledyba's room (301) was on the left like Heracross' room (303).

Ledyba followed apprehensively, shaking slightly. She grabbed the doorknob of her room and twisted it awkwardly before getting inside. As she glanced around her room (which looked like all the other rooms in the east wing, except it was dark), the door slowly closed itself like a horror movie.

"Heracross, is that you?" Ledyba called, her back facing the door. "Don't scare me like that. Heracross…?"

Ledyba trembled rapidly as she turned around hesitantly.

"Ah!" Upon hearing Heracross' scream, Ledyba started to panic. She tried to escape but the room was locked tight. The doorknob didn't budge.

The two elimination announcements made things even worse for her.

Heracross was too careless. She strode inside her room like there was no danger.

A white claw tapped her shoulder. Heracross assumed that it was Ledyba and turned around in an uncaring manner.

The color from her face faded away once she saw that Druddigon was holding the fear helmet.

The staff wore a green night vision goggle, grinning darkly as he forced the helmet on her head. Heracross screamed, hallucinating her worst fear.

In her dream world…

Heracross pitched coins on the streets, aiming at tiny tin cans. A female Miltank, a male Zoroark and a female Archeops were all watching her.

Heracross perfectly pitched all of the coins inside the cans effortlessly.

"You go, gal. Show 'em who's the boss! Zero misses. Woo, *beep* yeah!" Zoroark cheered, making noises everytime she shot successfully.

"Crush the competition with your mighty fists! You are the best, girl." Miltank praised.

"Heck yeah! I'm the *beep* around these streets. No one messes with me and get away with it! Not without a beating from me." Heracross felt flattered.

"Eat some grub, boss." Archeops passed her a can of beans. Heracross swallowed all of it in one go, wiping her mouth with her right arm.

"Nothing tastes like home better than canned food. Cheap but tastes like crap." Heracross commented.

Suddenly, a male Scrafty ran toward her urgently.

"Boss, I ran out of money. Spare this son of canned food some change." Scrafty begged, going down to his knees.

"Gambling again? Fine, I will give you some money real fast. Don't spend it all in one place though. Buy second-handed junk from a garage sale and sell it back for more money." Heracross advised.

'Boss, you are a genius." Scrafty admired. "I swear I won't be gamblin' again." He apologized, lowering his head.

"Hey, no big deal." Heracross didn't seem mad in the slightest. "I will show you how to find money in a jiffy without needing those stupid loans." Heracross led everyone to an automated teller machine (ATM) and cracked her knuckles, stretching her muscles.

Heracross punched the screen once. The machine looked as good as new.

"Boss, you sure this will work?" Scrafty asked doubtfully.

"Hell, it does work. Watch." Heracross sounded irritated. She punched the screen again and again, rapidly to no avail.

"Boss, maybe you should stop…" Scrafty spoke softly.

"Shut that yapper, you *beep* son of a *beep*! If I say it will work, it will work. Work, you piece of *beep*!" Heracross swore, beating the machine relentlessly. She heard sounds of bone cracking and red liquid splashing on the screen. The machine was completely unharmed.

Heracross had a horrified look on her face as she stared at her bloody hands, lips quivering.

"Meathead, you are an imbecile. You know nothing other than your fists." Heracross heard a voice that she despised the most, Shedinja's. She clenched her bloody fists.

"Die, you *beep* bug!" Heracross turned around swiftly and punched Shedinja in the face, only for Wonder Guard to nullify the effect. In addition, she was met with a sickening surprise.

Heracross widened her eyes, it wasn't just Shedinja that was in front of her. Everyone else… Miltank, Archeops, Zoroark and Scrafty… Their faces all turned into Shedinja faces, surrounding her.

"What the *beep* is going on?" Heracross rubbed her eyes, seeing red.

The four spoke in unison. "Heracross, we don't need you anymore, imbecile. We got Shedinja now. He is a rich convenience store owner, unlike a street punk like you."

"I will kill all of you *beep* traitors, tear through all of your *beep* and let your corpses rot in that *beep* convenience store!" Heracross went on an outrage like a deranged psychopath.

She punched, kicked, slammed, slapped and bit fruitlessly. Wonder Guard nullified all of her attacks. The only thing she managed to accomplish was worsening her wound.

Heracross hyperventilated after none of her attacks worked. She retreated, back against the ATM.

"Our turn. Heh, heh." The five spoke in unison. It scared the *beep* out of Heracross' mind.

The ground underneath Heracross disappeared, sending her into an inferno burger grill. Heracross burned in the flames of purgatory as Shedinja flipped her up. She screamed in utmost, excruciating agony as she landed on bedrock bread. Shedinja covered her with life-leeching lectuces and tormenting tomatoes. He then squished her with a mega-sized meat. The bread on top was the nail in her coffin. Heracross bled really badly. Most of the brutal imagery was censored out.

"This is my finishing blow, sever!" Shedinja shouted in sadistic joy. The legendary Toucannon sword magically appeared in his hand. Shedinja charged up the final blow as Heracross cried helplessly.

"I give up! I give up!" Heracross repeated desperately.

Shedinja sliced her in half and the fear ended.

Druddigon removed the helmet and Heracross fainted due to the traumatizing fear. The intern left her unconscious body and headed toward Ledyba.

Confessional

Heracross: "S-shedinja, I will… k-kill y-you." She stuttered.

Ledyba hid in the restroom, pushing her back against the corner. The door creaked open and she turned silent. She didn't dare to move or make any noises.

She heard noises of someone removing the bed sheets and opened the fridge. After a while, everything became silent.

Unavoidable, Druddigon opened the doors of the restroom.

"Please let me go." Ledyba pleaded for mercy. Her pitiful look aroused sympathy, but not from Druddigon.

"All guests must be terminated and the hotel manager must be destroyed." That was all Druddigon said before he advanced slowly toward her.

Ledyba was petrified with fear as Druddigon forced the helmet on her head.

Ledyba's worst nightmare started out in a peaceful, grassy clearing. She sat on a swing set alongside a Zorua.

In this world, the present Ledyba was only a spirit, watching her past self.

The Zorua had lonely and miserable blue eyes. They longed for empathy and filial warmth. His fur was unkempt, giving off the vibes of a delinquent. The way he used his paws to brush and fidget with his body antsily suggested that he was insecure. Perhaps, he preffered to disguise himself in an illusion.

The past Ledyba only eyed herself and the view in front of her in a vain manner. She grabbed the rope of the swing stubbornly. The present Ledyba eyed her past self with disgust and shame.

Zorua eyed her with deep affection. To him, Ledyba's beautiful eyes shined light upon his blusing face. Her wings flapped a soothing breeze that excited his skin.

Ledyba turned to face him coldly. "How long are you going to stare me stupidly for? You are wasting my time." She said in an unfriendly and inconsiderate manner.

"I just thought that since we are a couple, we should spend more time together." Zorua told, wishing for her to stay.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I'm only your girlfriend because you are such a loser. A crying little thief that sobs in a corner all alone. I feel sorry for a friendless Pokemon like you." Ledyba insulted.

"Ledyba, I told you many times already that I returned everything after I stole them. I just want to gain the attention of my parents for just a moment." Zorua defended himself. "I know that it's still wrong but… I thought that you know me better. I'm your boyfriend."

"As if I believe you." Ledyba scoffed. "I need to go home to practice for my Pokeflute contest now. Don't waste my time like this again."

"Ledyba, don't leave." Zorua grabbed her arm. "Why do you need to compete in the Pokeflute contest? If you win, they will transport you as an exchange student and I might never see you again. Can't you stay with me?" He pleaded.

"Selfish thief, am I like the stuff that you stole? Do you think I'm an object? I don't care. All those times we spent together were like meh at best." Ledyba retorted harshly. Zorua looked heartbroken as he let her go.

A male Purrloin smirked, oogling with lust from a distance.

The present Ledyba gritted her teeth with teary eyes. The scene soon changed place.

Ledyba was in her school. She accessed her locker, trying to find her Pokeflute since the contest was about to begin. She panicked when she couldn't find it, however.

"Where is it?" Ledyba scrambled around frantically.

Zorua passed by and looked at her worriedly. "What's wrong?" He asked, trying to help.

Ledyba scowled at him. "You! You stole my flute, selfish thief of a boyfriend." She accused him immediately.

"Stop. Are you really treating me like a convicted, guilty prisoner before you even have proof? I'm your boyfriend." Zorua reasoned.

"Are you trying to make fun of my not so good knowledge of words?" Ledyba looked offended. "You don't want me to compete because I will leave you. That's proof."

"No, that's an assumption of a possible motive." Zorua corrected.

"Shut the *beep* up! You are just trying to make me look bad." Ledyba swore. The present Ledyba looked appalled. She had long forgotten how much of a potty mouth she was.

"Fine." Zorua was hurt by her words. "I guess you don't want me as a boyfriend anymore. If you don't trust me, I guess it's over for us." He broke up with her, sobbing as he left.

"As if you will really break up with me. Without me, you have no one." Ledyba thought that he was just bluffing. Did he want her to suck it up to him? No way in hell she would do that.

The present Ledyba started crying. She knew what was about to happen next.

Purrloin grinned with satisfaction as he left.

The final scene took place on the rooftop of the school. Ledyba flew hurriedly to her former boyfriend. She didn't take any breaks, flying non-stop to prevent his impetuous act.

Zorua stood on the edge of the railing, gazing down at the ground. Young Pokemon were playing with each other. Some ran to their parents to give them a hug. Some Pokemon spent their time with their special loved ones. He got none of that.

Zorua wasn't afraid of heights. At least, this kind of death wouldn't be too bad. He wondered whether or not he should actually commit suicide. However, at that point, he got nothing left in his life. He couldn't think or see clearly. His brains replayed all the bad times in his life over and over again.

Sweet release of death invited him. The air was unfit to breathe and his heart was too desolate to live.

"Good bye, cruel world." Zorua cried as he jumped down.

"No!" Ledyba just arrived, flying down as fast as she possibly could to catch him. She realized all the good times they had just then…

Zorua brought a cup of Moomoo Milk over to Ledyba eagerly.

"Everything for you." He gave it to her with a warm smile. Her boyfriend didn't mind to spend his money at all.

A male Kricketot, a female Chatot and a male Whismur cornered her in an isolated area inside school.

"What do you jerks want?" Ledyba asked, looking scared.

"Stupid Ledyba, I can't believe that you beat us in a Pokeflute battle. Even though you have better music skills than me, your spelling sucks. Seriously, who spelt excellent as Xcelent anyways?" Kricketot mocked. Ledyba reddened in humiliation.

"We are going to teach you a lesson so you won't ever mess with us when it comes to music again." Chatot told threateningly.

"Yeah." Whismur joined in. The three slowly got closer and closer to her. They were about to beat her up until…

A Gumshoos appeared and roared at them.

"Run! Principle Gumshoos is here." Kricketot alarmed. The three scrammed in an instant.

Zorua deactivated his Illusion ability and smiled comfortingly at her.

Ledyba and Zorua stood next to each other on top of a hill. They watched the sunset together. Zorua gathered his confidence and turned to her.

"Ledyba, this sunset marks a new beginning. From now on, I promise to never steal any stuff or use my Illusion ability for wrongdoings ever again. I give you my word and I won't go back on it. Just… stay with me, alright?" Zorua's words captivated her heart.

Until this very day, Ledyba contemplated why she couldn't remember these things until it was too late. She lost Zorua and she must live with this guilt for the rest of her life. By helping others like Scolipede, Ledyba appeased her guilt by a little. However, that didn't mean that Ledyba would let it hold her down for long. She changed, she erased her past from her memory entirely.

The new Ledyba was much more different than the old. She learned to think positive and live an optimistic life. How did she recover if Zorua actually committed suicide?

Well… Zorua didn't die.

"Help my lovely darling, quickly!" Purrloin hastened a male Machoke. He was the school guard. The Machoke caught Zorua before he fell to his demise.

"Why am I still alive?" Zorua pinched himself in disbelief.

"Because of me, darling. I love you so much. Let's be a couple, we will have so much fun together. I know all about your family situation. Don't worry, my parents will be like your parents. Will you be my boyfriend?" Purrloin proposed, revealing that he was in fact, homosexual.

At the moment, all Zorua wanted was to spite his former girlfriend.

"Good news, I'm bisexual. I accept your proposal." Zorua accepted, glaring at Ledyba. Purrloin jumped up in giddiness.

Purrloin carried Zorua away in his arms. The two looked so happy together.

While the past Ledyba cried in depression, the present Ledyba couldn't help but smile for them.

"Zorua, I'm happy for you. You will finally get to meet someone that loves you back." Ledyba sobbed a little. "I'm not sad one bit. Not one bit. I…" Ledyba paused, trying to force her words out. "I will also move on. I got someone else as well so forget about me. Ignore me. Erase me from your memory. Don't let it hurt you again. I hope that everything works out with your family as well."

Ledyba's tone was bittersweet. The conflicted feeling of past love still lingered somewhere. However, she took this opportunity to resolve her love for Scolipede. That incident was all in the past.

"I will also erase you from my memory. I lived in denial for so long but this might be the time to come clean. I never prevent any suicidal acts. I deluded myself so that I won't feel hurt. I-I…" She wept tears of joy. Yes, tears of joy.

"I'm so glad that I managed to change. I'm so glad. I'm so happy. I'm happy now. I'm happy." She repeated, laughing in an ambivalent manner.

"I used to be pessimistic. I thought that thieves will always be thieves and magicians are liars. However, I saw it now after being blinded for so long. The good that you saw in me. I will always see the good in others from now on just like when you saw something special inside this horrible girlfriend. Both of us have someone special to take care of. Scolipede got hurt by a lot in the past. He reminded me of you. Suffering all alone in a corner. Such a shame that I forgot why I became your girlfriend that day. Was it just sympathy or was there something else…?" Ledyba paused.

"I will protect Scolipede… Purrloin, take care of Zorua for me. I'm not mad that you stole my flute and costed me the contest. Not one bit. You did it for Zorua. I deserved it. Bye, old friend…" Ledyba finished her long parting speech. Her figure slowly faded away from the past.

She left with a genuine smile.

Little did Ledyba know that she actually prevented the suicide. The thought of Ledyba made Zorua hesitate for one more second. Just enough for Machoke to save him.

Confessional

Ledyba: "Scolipede, I will tell you everything after this is all over, alright? Everyone else too…"

Druddigon scratched his head after he removed the helmet. Ledyba collapsed with a smile unconsciously.

Regardless, the revenge thirsty staff waited for more victims. He opened the door slightly to lure in more contestants.

Shedinja yawned as he floated up the third basement floor. The ghost bug focused his eyes on the door, surprised that it was open.

"I guess I will check." Shedinja drawled as he floated inside.

Confessional

Shedinja: "Well, that sure escalated quickly."

Lucario finally woke up and left his room. He still looked lifeless and demotivated. It was as if he gave up on this show.

"Perhaps, I should eliminate myself. Maybe, my team will have a calmer working environment then. I just want one of them to win." Lucario talked to himself.

He heard noises from the west wing and decided to head over there.

Apparently, Shedinja and Druddigon were having a tamed conversation.

"Just get it over with, already. I don't really care." Shedinja didn't seem scared.

"What? Don't you have a fear?" Druddigon was baffled to hear that.

"Well, it will probably suck to relive what happened but I kind of desensitized myself. Sure, I got some of my feelings back but I'm not really feeling it. My fear is boring. Ninjask is boring. My parents are boring and everyone around me is just boring. I guess I'm just scared of them boring me to death. Oh, watch your back." Shedinja cautioned.

"As if I will believe you." Druddigon thought that it was ridiculous.

The staff regretted his decision immediately as Lucario snatched the fear helmet away from him. Druddigon gulped.

"Don't you dare hurt my teammate." Lucario gave Druddigon a taste of his own medicine by forcing the fear helmet on him.

The intern teleported away, leaving a note and the fear helmet. Lucario picked it up and read it alongside Shedinja.

Basically, it told them that putting the helmet on another contestant allow you to steal their vote. Simple enough.

Lucario handed the helmet to Shedinja. The latter seemed hesitant to take it.

"Shedinja, I'm your team leader. I'm just trying to help you win the challenge. Take it or… do you hate me that much like everyone else?" Lucario questioned, his heart aching.

"You are pretty meh to me." Shedinja answered truthfully, accepting the helmet at the end.

"Why? Is it because of our win rate? Is it not good enough?" Lucario asked him inquisitively. He wanted feedback. Although, Lucario wasn't the type to take them seriously if they conflicted his opinions.

"You aren't even close to me. I expect you to fix your relationship with Darmanitan before anyone else. You like to give him special treatment, don't you?" Shedinja indicated.

Lucario averted his eyes. "Yes, I'm a biased leader. You can call that a weakness but to me, it is my strength. You see, Shedinja. In the Aura Beast, everyone competes for my attention. I reward members that dedicate and devote themselves to the team. Members that don't reach that goal will then feel envious and try even harder. I want to inspire all of you to do the same but it seems like none of you understand me well enough." He explained.

"Say what you want but no one will believe you when you eliminated Houndour. Lucario, in my honest opinion, you aren't even sure what kind of leader you are. Are you a dictator? Are you a democrat? You are just too used to working with the Aura Beast. They are all you have. You never try to open your mind-" Shedinja was interrupted.

"Shut up!" Lucario shouted rudely, blocking his ears. Shedinja obeyed carelessly.

"Sorry, Shedinja." Lucario sighed. "I… I hope that you know how I feel about you. You helped me with Smeargle and contributed decently to the team." Lucario opened his mouth to say something else but decided against it, leaving the west wing.

Shedinja glanced at the helmet and headed over to Heracross' unconscious body to eliminate her.

"Heracross eliminated." Skarmory broadcasted. Shedinja was about to leave until a voice called out to him.

"Shedinja, eliminate me." Ledyba requested.

"Why?" Shedinja asked, confused.

"I want to see Scolipede. Please." Ledyba pleaded. Shedinja granted her request.

"Ledyba eliminated." Skarmory announced again.

Confessional

Shedinja: "I don't even know why I waste my voice with Lucario."

Lucario: "Perhaps, I really made a big mistake by eliminating Houndour. Duosion turned against me. Aromatisse turned against me as well as many others. I thought that I'm helping the team to be competitive that way."

Duosion saw a figure approaching the library and hid under the table. Bisharp opened the door, glancing around a bit before he left.

The psychic thought that it was no longer safe to stay here so she left silently. Not long after, Bisharp activated the lights only for the library, and searched for Wimpod.

Confessional

Duosion: "Only five of us remain. Statistically, it is highly likely that I'm the only one left that is defenseless and unarmed."

Lucario headed down to the casino. He toured around the place a bit, missing Drifblim. He found the empty room with the sledgehammer and decided to enter.

"Might as well practice for the hammer throwing event in Pokeathlon. Everyone is going to eliminate me. With no team to lead, there's no point staying here anymore." Lucario mostly addressed the viewers.

The professional athlete swung the hammer around. He got faster and faster. Eventually, he stopped with a powerful, ground-shaking slam against the crack on the ground. This revealed a secret ladder leading down to a secret floor. The sound of the smash was ear-shattering but Drifblim didn't seem to hear or care. Otherwise, she would have checked.

Lucario didn't know what to do anymore so he decided to explore the secret floor.

Confessional

Drifblim: "I heard that but I feel like this is the time for me to get eliminated. Final five isn't too threatening or bad."

Shedinja confronted Drifblim with the fear helmet. She turned around to face him confidently, hovering one of her arms above the button. Two Shedinja appeared on the screen.

"Come any closer and you will regret it." Drifblim threatened to press the button.

"If you time it correctly that is." Shedinja added. "Now that votes are on the line here, I can't just let you win."

"Me neither." Drifblim braced herself.

Shedinja floated forward, aiming for her head. Drifblim dodged sideways, leaving the slot machine vulnerable.

Shedinja changed his target and pressed the button, timing it so that it wouldn't eliminate him. An image of Cryogonal appeared instead. This distracted Shedinja for a second, allowing Drifblim to escape with her bag of coins. Currently, she only got two coins left.

Drifblim played another slot machine, one that was pretty far from Shedinja. The ghost bug chased after her.

Drifblim timed one button press and flew up. She diverted Shedinja's attention with the slot machine. Using this opportunity, she lifted the fear helmet out of Shedinja's grasp.

"You aren't that challenging to beat, you know?" Drifblim tried to get on his nerves.

"What is challenging for you then, Lucario?" Shedinja asked, distracting her. He used this opportunity to time the button press to get himself. Wait, what?

"That's too challenging. His skill level is light years away from me." Drifblim answered humbly.

Drifblim tilted her head, noticing that Shedinja pressed the button and got his own face.

"Better luck next time." Drifblim said, half-consolingly, half-mockingly.

"Oh, I want to eliminate myself. You won't get my votes that way." Shedinja revealed, timing the last button press perfectly. He smirked as Drifblim widened her eyes but soon, she smirked as well.

"Shedinja eliminated." The announcement was made as soon as Shedinja teleported away.

"Drifblim eliminated." This announcement was not to the surprise of Drifblim.

The bag of coins was empty. Duosion stole one and took the opportunity to eliminate Drifblim. The ghost was aware of this but she wanted to be eliminated anyways.

Duosion acquired the fear helmet.

Confessional

Duosion: "I hid near the slot machine behind them, waiting for my chance to strike. Since I got no special item of my own, this kind of tactic has the highest chance of success."

Drifblim: "Heracross couldn't beat Shedinja? How disappointing. If I really want to beat him, I could actually take him out." She looked fairly confident, but not overconfident.

Shedinja: "The other ghost in this island got a lot of tricks. Drifblim is dangerous but well it isn't my job to clear up the villains around here. Honestly, I don't care if she wins. She is a lot less insufferable than the likes of Heracross."

Current Standings

1st place Bisharp with 6 votes: Aromatisse, Rhyhorn, Nosepass, Meowth, Darmanitan

2nd place Duosion with 3 votes: Drifblim, Farfetch'd

3rd place Lucario with 1 vote

Wasted votes: Cryogonal, Miltank, Scolipede, Heracross, Ledyba, Shedinja

Items

Floral Headband (ownerless)

Luggage Cart (ownerless)

Cookies (out of uses)

Casino Coins (out of uses)

Bucket (Bisharp)

Fear Helmet (Duosion)

After removing most books from bookshelves inside the library, Bisharp found Wimpod. Seemingly, his weakness was not having a place to hide. Like all the other interns, he teleported away. Wimpod left a note alongside a pearl. The note said the following:

"I wish that things can go back to the way they used to be. I don't understand why we couldn't all forgive each other. Am I the only that wanted that? After the Raticate's incident, everything went downhill. It was all his fault, that filthy mole. If you happened to learn about all the events inside this hotel, please don't be mad at Skarmory or the other staff. Just be mad at Raticate. Anyways, I got nothing but this pearl. The symbol of servitude. I hope you will find a use for it. From Wimpod."

Bisharp remembered something inside the gallery. The investigator didn't waste any time, heading there as soon as possible. He was thrilled to be so close to winning an individual challenge.

Confessional

Bisharp: "Father, mother, Jumpluff, everyone, watch as I win my first individual challenge." He seemed optimistic.

Lucario climbed down the ladder, jumping down after he was close to the ground.

A red carpet led him to a grand, double door. The professional athlete opened it, observing his surroundings.

The room was neatly decorated with clean marble floors. It was fairly moderate in size. The room fitted a coffee machine to the right side, a tea machine was next to it as well. A fridge was beside them. There were cupboards and cabinets around the room. Although, Lucario wasn't so sure what was inside them.

To the left, a gigantic television was on full display. Movies were stored underneath alongside footage of the episodes. Opposite of the television, sat a couple on a long comfortable couch.

Of course, one of the two was Skarmory. He wore a silver bracelet with bronze stripes on his left leg. The other Pokemon was new though…

She was a very slim and slender Furret. Thin and light enough to wrap around Skarmory's neck without burdening him. On her right arm, she wore a silver bracelet with bronze stripes. The end of her tail went down his back, knotting Skarmory's tail.

Skarmory enjoyed the skin to skin sensation. He seemed very close to her. Both of them eyed each other with affection. They were talking to each other while watching a romance-adventure movie.

"Those two remind me of our early days. I still remember when I called you Silver Spoon." Furret recalled, teasing him.

"That nickname is outdated. I no longer waste my inheritance day by day. I also got a job now." Skarmory blushed.

"That's my love. I can't express how joyful I'm to see you maturing so much." Furret said proudly.

"Good enough for some spooning today?" Skarmory made a pun. Furret smacked his head lightly in disapproval.

"Goodness, stop with your stupid puns. Nosepass made better ones than yours." Furret stated honestly. Skarmory pouted in jealousy.

Soon enough, Lucario came up in front of them. Both of them looked terrified for a moment before calming down once they realized that he got no harmful intentions, judging from his friendly face.

"Can I sit with you two and watch the TV?" Lucario asked. The two glanced at each other in confusion before they moved a bit, allowing Lucario to sit with them.

Lucario grabbed the remote control away impolitely as if he was the owner and changed the channel to a sports program. Neither Skarmory or Furret objected. Although, they looked annoyed. The situation was very awkward.

"So, how are you and your wife, Skarmory?" Lucario tried to break the ice.

"Good." Skarmory answered simply. He seemed very uncomfortable with Lucario around. Furret signaled, suggesting the two of them to leave. Skarmory agreed without a doubt.

"Er, Lucario. We are going to go outside a bit. Enjoy your sports program." Skarmory said before both of them left.

Lucario ignored them, enjoying his sports program. He wanted to increase the volume. Unfortunately, the remote wasn't made specifically for his hands. Therefore, he accidentally pressed the wrong button.

The screen changed, showing him a certain part of the previous episode.

"Troglodyte…"

"Cave dweller…"

"Dirty barbarian…"

Did these lines seem familiar to you? Lucario fumed, crushing the remote. The professional athlete found a new source of motivation. Revenge.

He slammed the door opened, scaring the couple. Lucario ignored them inconsiderately and climbed up the ladder furiously.

"I hate that guy." Furret commented. Skarmory nodded in agreement.

Confessional

Lucario: "Was that how they treated me after all I have done for them? I thought about going down for their sakes… Now, *beep* that! I will destroy all of them."

Skarmory: "I will give him that footage as a reward for finding us. Actually, he can get a special advantage if finds a secret hint. It is inside Smeargle's studio. Such a shame for you, Lucario."

Bisharp reached the gallery once again. He retrieved the peculiar box and inserted the pearl on the wheel to unlock it. Inside, there was an envelope.

Bisharp opened it, widening his eyes.

Confessional

Bisharp: "I never expect something like this to happen…"

Duosion inspected the grandfather clock once again, carrying the helmet with Psychic (not against the rules). This time, she found a hidden note underneath it.

"Fighting isn't the only the method of winning. Clocking out your opponent is one as well. You will keep your votes if you survive." Duosion read, eyeing the time of the grandfather clock. It stopped at six o'clock. She considered hiding and keeping her three votes since Lucario didn't seem to have that many.

"Bisharp eliminated!" Duosion froze for a moment at the announcement.

Confessional

Duosion: "Lucario must have eliminated him. That is the only possible explanation. If I don't win, Lucario will win. I must eliminate him at all costs."

Lucario: "Duosion eliminated Bisharp? Impressive. You are now a worthy opponent. I will send you packing to your beloved Houndour."

Lucario dragged the luggage cart with him to Smeargle's studio. It was the last place he didn't visit yet. The professional athlete couldn't find Duosion so he decided to confront his fangirl instead.

On his luggage cart, there were many items like cleaning sprays, glasses of water, books and pot of plants. Since he didn't know her weakness, he could just try everything.

Lucario opened the door with a serious expression.

The room was filled with potraits and paintings. One illustrated two silver bracelets. The other showed a statue of a golden Magikarp. Regardless, one painting stood out from all. A painting of Smeargle and Lucario in their wedding uniforms. Lucario wore a dark blue suit. The suit had a hole at the back for the tail. Smeargle wore a beautiful white dress. They seemingly got wedding rings as well.

Lucario gaped, speechless. Smeargle noticed him and halted her work, turning to him excitedly.

"Lucario, are you-" Before Smeargle was done. Lucario grabbed two cleaning sprays with each hand and leaped up into the air, erasing all the paint in an instant. Never before had we seen Lucario at his full speed, moving too fast for our mere, ordinarily eyes.

Smeargle looked heartbroken as she got teleported away. Lucario only got one goal in his mind, winning. He no longer cared about anything else. He blazed through the note, comprehending it in mere seconds.

Using Smeargle's paintbrush, he wrote Duosion named down on the canvas. Apparently, beating Smeargle gave you the ability to eliminate anyone of your choice as a one-time per game power. You wouldn't get the votes though.

"Duosion eliminated." The announcement echoed throughout the entire hotel. Did this mean the challenge was over? Did Lucario reign of terror finally begin?

"I'm the winner. Teleport me out so I can destroy those ungrateful losers." Lucario demanded.

"Not so soon." A voice interrupted. Lucario turned to see Bisharp ambled inside the studio.

The strategist wore his floral headband, equipped his Chesnaught shield on his left arm and his right hand held a bucket full of water. Bisharp raised a golden chance card for Lucario to see.

It was called False Alarm, the ultimate wimping out ability. Self-explanatory enough. Bisharp threw it away and grinned, bracing himself for the final battle.

"You will pay for tricking me, Crazy Crawdaunt!" Lucario shouted, running toward Bisharp. The latter splashed water at him. However, the professional athlete expected this and backflipped to dodge. Bisharp tossed the bucket away, increasing his mobility.

"Am I hot like the sun, Lucario?" Bisharp tried just in case.

"Stop joking around and fight!" Lucario roared, striking Bisharp's fragile shield away with his right fist. The shield broke into pieces. Bisharp took no damage, however. Lucario tried to limit his violence so that he wouldn't be disqualified.

Lucario swung his arm to hit Bisharp's headband. However, Bisharp quickly ducked and pushed Lucario closer toward the luggage cart.

Bisharp just realized something. Lucario didn't know how to use the cart. This could be advantageous for him.

Lucario didn't have much information. Therefore, his options were very limited. If he couldn't go into offense, he would play defense instead.

The professional athlete tried to grab the headband. However, Bisharp threw it behind Lucario. It landed next to the luggage cart.

"The power of sunlight, come to me. Set up the flower bomb and eliminate Lucario in ten seconds. You better hurry." Bisharp bluffed. Lucario panicked and blazed to the headband. He stomped on it, flattening the accessory.

Bisharp utilized this golden opportunity. He ran up to Lucario and pushed him against the cart.

"Ding…"

Lucario fell down on the cart.

"…dong…"

Lucario recovered his footing.

"…baggage…"

Lucario acted confused. This wasn't a good sign.

"…delive-" Bisharp stopped as Lucario jumped off the cart. He was fooled! Lucario tried to get information out of him. The professional athlete went easy on the strategist.

It was Lucario's turn as he laid Bisharp down on the cart, locking both of his hands and legs. Bisharp struggled helplessly as Lucario finished him off.

"Ding-dong, baggage delivery!" Lucario said the magical words.

"Bisharp eliminated." The challenge ended.

Confessional

Bisharp: "I'm so close!" He looked really frustrated.

Bisharp and Lucario both teleported outside the mansion. Nearly everyone seemed disappointed once Skarmory announced that Lucario was the winner. Meowth beamed happily, unlike the others.

Ledyba didn't mind it either. Although, she didn't seem to pay a lot of attention. She seemed very attracted to Scolipede at the moment.

Everyone headed out for their own businesses. Cryogonal chatted with Aromatisse… Darmanitan meditated… Nosepass continued with his love confessing stuff… Bisharp paced around worriedly… Duosion anxiously anticipated her elimination… Things were along these lines.

Most importantly, Meowth discussed with Lucario about the elimination.

"I'm the only one you can trust, Lucario. Don't you agree?" Meowth said in a persuasive tone.

"You are the only one that I have left, Meowth." Lucario agreed. He seemed somewhat desperate.

"Good, you just need to win all the challenges from now on. I will take care of the votes." Meowth arranged their roles. "Who do you want to eliminate today?" He asked the most important question.

Lucario whispered a name inside his ear.

Confessional

Meowth: "Today, a strategic threat is going home."

Bisharp: "It will probably be me…" He seemed to accept his fate.

Duosion: "Statistically, I have a fifty percent chance of leaving. Bisharp had the other half."

The elimination ceremony was different today. Instead of Skarmory giving out Leppa Berries, he ordered everyone to gather near his stall. Lucario grinned boastfully as the center of attention.

"Lucario, choose someone to eliminate." Skarmory instructed.

"Everyone but Duosion and Bisharp, leave." Lucario commanded. Everyone obeyed. Before Darmanitan left, he casted a sorrowful gaze at Lucario.

Lucario paced around as he observed the two.

Bisharp straightened his posture, refusing to show any signs of weakness so that Lucario wouldn't get that satisfaction.

Duosion remained unwavered. Her eyes held deep animosity toward Lucario. Would Lucario eliminate his own 'teammate'?

"I choose to eliminate…" Lucario paused to build up suspense.

…

"Bisharp." He skipped joyfully to the confessional, feeling unburdened. It was a rare sight to see Bisharp acting like this.

Elimination Confessional

Finally, this demanding and pressuring nightmare is over. I can relax now. I played how I want to play. My parents should be proud. I… tried my best. Even if I didn't win a single individual challenge, I gave it my all! I didn't step over that line on the sand. I'm proud of how I play this game. Thank you, Jumpluff for giving me this feeling. Instead of feeling frustrated due to defeat, I will treasure it as a learning experience. Hey, I got eliminated by one Pokemon. It's better than everyone voting me out as a heartless villain.

Bisharp sat on his Lapras, swinging his legs freely. Farfetch'd came to see him off.

"Bisharp… I got something to tell you." Farfetch'd hesitated.

"What is it, Farfetch'd?" Bisharp asked with curiosity.

"You know… thinking about it, you pass as a friend. Perhaps, after this game ends, we can truly be friends then." He offered Mr. Stalk for a shake.

Bisharp was surprised and very touched. He shook Mr. Stalk with a huge smile on his face.

"Thank you, friend." Bisharp said as his Lapras departed. Farfetch'd continued to wave to him until he was out of sight.

Skarmory landed to end the episode off.

"Wow, what a long challenge. Luckily, I contacted the broadcasting station and they allowed me to double the timeslot for this episode. See you next time on Total Skarmory Island for a torturous episode of…" Skarmory paused, waiting for someone to continue.

"My smoking revenge!" Raticate yelled.

The episode didn't end yet.

Heracross threw rocks inside the Flygon boys' cabin.

"Die, Shedinja!" Heracross lost her mind as she kept disturbing the peace.

"Meathead, be quiet. Leave now or you will regret it." Shedinja warned from inside.

"*beep* you!" Heracross didn't listen to the voice of reason. She threw another rock. It pierced through the window and hit… Lucario.

"*beep*!" Lucario raged as he stormed out of his cabin to pelt Heracross with rocks. The beetle ran away, terrified.

Votes:

Lucario: Bisharp x 7

Bisharp: 7 (eliminated)

This episode is extremely long! I promise this won't happen again. Honestly, I feel like you can't digest everything by reading one time. I suggest that you re-read while waiting for the next episode. I also apologize for mistakes. I save a day by proof-reading less.

The spotlight of this episode is definitely on Bisharp and Ledyba. Heracross as well, to a lesser extent.

Ledyba is one of the subtle backstory characters. It is hard to connect all the dots due to her optimistic nature. I dropped a few hints. However, they are all very misleading.

When I casted for Season 1, I want a couple with a trust/distrust dynamic. Scolipede represents distrust while Ledyba represents trust. However, I flip things around with their backstory. One is hurt by trust, the other by distrust.

Putting the two next to each other, most viewers will like Scolipede more than Ledyba since he got his development early on. It is also due to my inexperience with female characters. As a boy, it might be a bit difficult to write about the opposite gender. However, I will try my best to improve like always.

I wanted both of them to share the spotlight but that proves to be difficult as I kept writing.

Ledyba's behavior sure is interesting, isn't it? I thought about analyzing it for all of you but I feel like it is more fun as a reader to come up with your own interpretations.

Next time, a challenge that I hinted at a long time ago (Chapter 11) will be used. Expect a twist as always for unoriginal challenges.