This was it, just a few more minutes until the final match of the second round. After seeing his old ally defeated, Talonflame really wanted to win this match as he and Scyther had trained harder than ever before. After seeing just what kind of fighters Hoopa and Diancie were, they felt ready for this.

Once the two were done, Scyther turned to Reika, who had been seated there the whole time with Tsuya and approached her, saying, "Danke," the black-haired girl rather surprised to hear this.

"Okay, I know enough German to know what that means," Reika uttered, "But what are you thanking me for?" Scyther replying, "I know I often say you don't have to do this, but it means a lot that you've come to watch me train. I mean, first of all, it's kind of nice to have someone besides my mother monitor my training, but at the same time, it's nice to have a friend around to support me."

Talonflame rolled his eyes and sighed, "Alright, you two have your little talk. I'll just wait outside," the falcon exiting the room, Tsuya getting up and exclaiming, "Wait for me, my dove!" the falcon retorting, "Oh god, now you're comparing me to weaker birds!?"

Scyther rolled her eyes as Reika laughed, sighing, "I feel bad for both of them," the green bug nodding and stating, "Anyway, you've been a really good friend to me all this time, and I feel really grateful for this."

She then reached for a box and opened it up, revealing fresh sausage as she asked, "Would you like to share some of this with me?" Reika gasping, "Wait, aren't these your own homemade sausages, you know, the ones that give you strength for every match!?"

Scyther nodded and replied, "Ja, but there's no harm in sharing them," Reika nodding with a light smile and taking a bite, thinking, 'Wow, Machoke was right. These are the best sausages in the world.'

Her cheeks were bright pink as she let out a sigh. A part of her just wanted to lean in and plant a big kiss on Scyther's lips, but before she could do so, Talonflame opened the door and said, "Hey, we got five minutes! Hurry it up!" Scyther blinking and nodding, saying, "Ja. I'm coming."

With that, the bug grinned and said, "You'd better hurry too. I wanna see you cheering me on," Reika nodding and replying, "Right!" before heading off, thinking, 'Oh well, if I'd come clean about my feelings, it probably would have thrown her off anyway.'

All the while, Machoke and the others had already gotten front-row seats, saving them for Reika and Tsuya while Aipom asked, "So, I missed the last match. Who won?" Machoke replying, "Heracross and Lopunny."

"That doesn't surprise me too much," Aipom replied with a light smile before looking around and noticing that once again, Vespiquen and Smeargle were nowhere in sight. Why was it that after their matches, they felt like leaving the Tokyo Dome? Though this did also beg another question.

Aipom remembered how Vespiquen told Mawile that she had performed better than Gothitelle in the first round, but how did she know that? She and Smeargle were not even in the area to witness the event. Or maybe it just seemed that way.

As it just so happened, the two were actually watching from a TV in their apartment suite, Smeargle saying, "Remind moi again why we're not there," Vespiquen explaining, "It's because Gardevoir and Florges' friends wish to corrupt your mind. I would much rather you not be near them until it is time to fight again," Smeargle nodding in understanding.

And with that, it was finally time as Nori exclaimed, "Well, we've had a great second round so far, but it's time for the final match of the day!" Beedrill nodding and adding, "This is one people have certainly been looking forward to. Now that Lucario's been defeated, I'm sure his old buddy, Talonflame, would love to give his opponents a piece of his mind."

"No doubt about that!" Nori replied with a grin, "Knowing his temper, he's probably spent these last two-and-a-half days thinking about nothing more than wiping the floor with these two!"

"On that note, let's introduce the teams, shall we?" Beedrill asked as the woman nodded and stated, "In the red corner, two spirited and powerful fighters who have truly made a name for themselves! They proved too much for the mighty Bisharp and Scrafty to handle and enter the second round, likely raring for more! Give it up for the Slashing Explosions!"

The crowd went wild as Talonflame flew toward the ring like a rocket, Scyther standing on his back like a surfer. And once the falcon flew overhead, the insect leapt off of him and performed various backward flips before landing firmly against the mat. And to end the routine, Talonflame performed a spin over the ring before slowly descending toward the mat, fire surrounding him until he landed, the crowd truly amazed.

"Before you announce the next team, I have something I gotta say!" Talonflame exclaimed as Nori blinked and turned to Beedrill, the wasp nodding and saying, "I'll allow it."

"Thanks," the falcon replied with a smirk before exclaiming, "I can tell you right now, our announcers are correct! After what these two did to Lucario, I'm going to make sure they suffer like he did! We may not have always gotten along, but Lucario was my first real friend and, as embarrassing as it is to admit, he's dear to me."

Some members of the crowd had tears in their eyes, some even saying, "Aw," while the falcon gritted his teeth, groaning, "Why didn't I see that coming?"

He then cleared his throat and added, "As such, I know he'll rest much easier in that hospital knowing that Scyther and I defeated the so-called 'heroes' who gave him such a horrible beating!" the falcon spreading out his arms and forming two peace signs, the audience applauding him.

"Wow, it's not like him to be so open about a friendship," Machoke uttered as Tsuya gave the falcon a heavenly smile, sighing, "That only makes me love him more," the others face-palming.

"Well, that was certainly inspirational," Nori stated before adding, "And in the blue corner, two heroes no one even knew about until just recently! Since the two defeated Lucario, they've gained quite a following! With many surprising techniques, the Demonic Angels!"

And as Nori had said, Hoopa and Diancie had quite a following now, so when the two entered the area, they received many cheers. However, the audience was even more amazed by the fact that Hoopa had built himself a float and hired dancers to dress in Arabian outfits, all of them dancing to an upbeat melody representing said nationality. Hoopa himself even performed a dance of his own, Diancie swaying left and right and smiling light. She had to admit that she really enjoyed this entrance and hoped for more fun ones in the future.

"Showoff," Talonflame grunted, folding his arms as Scyther sighed, "It's not like we were exactly humble with our entrance either."

As much as the falcon wanted to retort to that, he had to admit she had a point. And besides, this was hardly relevant to the match itself anyway. Right now, he just wanted this match to start so he could wipe Hoopa's grin off of his face.

Knowing just how serious he was about this, Scyther rested a hand on his shoulder and said, "You can go first," the falcon blinking and turning to her, the insect grinning and saying, "I know I always like to be first for everything, but you have more motivation and drive than I do. Just try to save me a bit of the action, okay?"

Talonflame snickered and replied, "You really are a true friend. It's times like this I'm glad I gave up villainy."

And of course, Hoopa had already decided long before the match that he would go first, Diancie knowing better than to question this. After all, his happiness was more important to her than anything else in the world, but why?

Once Diancie and Scyther stood outside of the ring, Nori was about to ring the bell as Hoopa held out his hand with a smirk, saying, "I know I tricked Lucario with this, but I don't feel like doing that this time. Let's shake to a good match, eh?"

Talonflame frowned and stared for a few seconds before smirking and saying, "Alright," the crowd happy to see this, Beedrill saying, "Well, it is always nice to see good sportsmanship in the ring."

Hoopa smirked and thought, 'Wow, he's even dumber than I first thought!' but just as he was about to start the match exactly the same as how he started the one with the Fancy Fighters, Talonflame balled his hand up into a fist and sent it hard into the genie's face, sending him into the ropes.

The crowd gasped as Nori quickly rang the bell, Talonflame flapping his wings and leaping toward Hoopa just as he bounced off the ropes. And once close enough, the falcon engulfed his talon in fire, shouting, "ROUNDHOUSE INFERNO!" sending it hard into the genie's face, knocking him on his back.

While the majority of the crowd was unsure how to feel about this, Talonflame's most die-hard fans broke out into heavy cheers, one shouting, "Yeah, give him a taste of his own medicine!" and "Serves him right for pulling the same stunt on Lucario!"

And while no one was surprised by Talonflame's friends being fine with this, many were shocked when even Aipom rose her tail fist in the air and cheered for the falcon. Machoke stared and grinned, saying, "Well, good to know you're not always a goody-two-shoes," the monkey's cheeks turning bright pink as she quickly knelt down in her seat, whimpering, "Sorry, I wasn't thinking straight."

However, deep down, she was glad to see Talonflame get an early lead regardless of whether his tactics were dirty or not. Like a few others, she had a feeling Hoopa could not be trusted and that only bad things would happen if he or Vespiquen won the tournament.

"Dude, what the hell!?" Hoopa groaned as he pushed himself back up, Talonflame smirking and remarking, "Not so nice when you're on the receiving end, is it!?"

The genie gritted his teeth as Talonflame continued, "I know you probably think that just because I'm a bruiser, that must make me some kind of dumbass, but let me tell you, I'm a lot smarter than you think! After seeing the way you tried that bullshit on Lucario, there was no way in hell I'd let you do the same to me!"

Diancie blinked and uttered, "You okay?" Hoopa retorting, "Of course I am! I'm just shocked he'd try that, especially with the way he's been trying to convince the world he's good now! Or maybe that was a lie!"

The crowd was unsure how to argue against that until Talonflame smirked and retorted, "First of all, I couldn't care less about a lecture from someone who literally did the same thing in round one! And secondly, it's not like I'm the only one guilty of this! Surely you've heard of the mighty Bouffalant."

Hoopa blinked and uttered, "Who?" every member of the audience falling on his or her side while Beedrill nodded and explained, "That's right. While Bouffalant did eventually come around to the side of good after losing to Machamp, he never lost his brutality. If it meant getting himself a victory, he would resort to dirty tactics. It didn't change the fact that he was still fighting for the side of good."

"Oh yeah, I remember that," Machoke groaned, "He gave Blaziken a really hard time on Hero Planet," Gallade nodding and saying, "Whatever the case, it was certainly effective."

And of course, Talonflame refused to let it end here as he flew toward Hoopa again, the genie snapping his right fingers as his left hand vanished. Talonflame knew exactly what to expect as sure enough, the hand appeared right behind him, balled up into a fist, and flew at his back. But just as it was about to strike, the falcon turned his body just enough to block it with his palm.

"You didn't think I'd actually fall for that, did you?" Talonflame grunted as he smirked and bent half of the hand upward, the crowd wincing at the sound of Hoopa's knuckles cracking.

However, the genie was ready for this as he tried his best to ignore the pain, biting his lower lip while his eye twitched, a light tear rolling down his cheek. But while this went on, he swung his horn around before sending his ring toward the falcon, shouting, "DEMONIC RING!"

But it seemed Talonflame was even prepared for this as just when the ring was about to strike his head, he immediately turned it toward the projectile and caught it with his beak. The crowd was truly astounded as a smile formed on said part, many of his fans cheering.

"Wow!" Nori exclaimed with a big smile, "Talonflame is certainly not holding back! He's seen all of Hoopa's tricks and found a way to turn all of them against him! His desire to avenge Lucario is stronger than I could have ever imagined!"

But just as it looked like Talonflame had this match in the bag, Hoopa smirked and said, "Gotcha," as small holes formed in the ring, releasing an icy wind.

The falcon's eyes widened as he released his hold on the ring, crying out in pain as he let go of Hoopa's hand shortly after. With him being a fire type, it was hard to ignore cold being forced down his throat.

And it seemed the genie had more planned as when his ring returned to him, he quickly took hold of it and spun his body around, sending it toward Talonflame once more and shouting, "DEMONIC RING!"

Hoopa's fans cheered as spikes came from the ring, striking Talonflame's cheek as he winced in pain, a small cut forming on him. And it did not end there as Hoopa proceeded to lean his body forward, pointing his fists out and flying toward the falcon like a rocket. And before Talonflame could even respond, he took a hard punch to the gut as Hoopa floated upright, sending a barrage of rapid punches into his face.

His fans were even more excited now as Nori exclaimed, "And just like that, Hoopa has already turned the tides in his favour! Despite his incredible strength and skills, not even Talonflame can stand up to an onslaught like this!"

"You think so!?" Talonflame retorted before holding up his hands, blocking two incoming punches. Hoopa's eyes widened as the falcon proceeded to lean backward, planting the back of the genie's neck into the canvas while his fans cheered for him once more.

"Yeah, that's the Talonflame I know!" Machoke exclaimed with a grin, "Take it from me! It'll take a lot more than a few punches to knock him down!" Scyther nodding and thinking, 'That's why he's the perfect ally.'

Hoopa used his hands to propel himself back up, breathing lightly as Diancie was about to suggest tagging her in. However, she knew full-well that he would not want that. The only time he would want her help was during the tornado tag portion, and that was still more than three minutes away.

And with that, Hoopa snapped his fingers again, Talonflame smirking and tauntingly asking, "You're seriously trying that again?" but just as he was ready to counter the incoming hand, he noticed it was nowhere to be seen as Scyther pointed and exclaimed, "Talonflame, his hand didn't teleport!"

"Wait, what!?" the falcon remarked only to feel something sharp pierce his shoulder. He slowly turned to see that it was, in fact, Hoopa's right horn, the one that did not have a ring on it, soon turning toward the genie and noticing that said horn had, in fact, left the side of his head.

"Surprised?" Hoopa asked as he snapped his fingers again, this time having his left hand appear in the form of a fist right behind Talonflame as opposed to a ways from him, "My hands aren't the only thing I can teleport."

And soon enough, the falcon would feel even more pain as the fist flew into the horn, forcing it further in like a hammer hitting a nail. Talonflame did his best not to cry out in response to this while the crowd was truly amazed, and it would only get worse from here as just like Hoopa's hand, the horn was, indeed, trying to return to its owner.

"You're showing resistance now, but let's see if even someone as tough as you can handle this," Hoopa said with a smirk as the horn soon managed to push itself all the way through Talonflame's shoulder, putting a big hole in it as blood flew out, the falcon unable to contain a big cry of pain.

"THAT LOOKED HORRIBLE!" Machoke spat, now even more terrified of Hoopa as his horn return to the side of his head, Nori stating, "And in a shocking display, Hoopa reveals yet another power of his. And much like when Lucario used his spikes to overpower Machoke's Mach Cover, even the mightiest of flesh can be pierced by a blade."

And it would only get worse from here as Hoopa flew at Talonflame, sending a hard punch into the shoulder that had been stabbed. The falcon grunted in pain as he backed up, holding onto that very spot as Scyther held out her arm, shouting, "Tag me!"

The falcon frowned and let out a sigh, saying, "Alright," before slapping Scyther's hand, the insect taking his place as the crowd cheered, Nori stating, "And now Scyther had entered the ring. Let's see if she can finish what Talonflame started."

And Scyther would not allow Hoopa to start up another move, thus she sprinted toward him and sent a flying roundhouse into the side of his head. The genie grimaced in response to this as the insect proceeded to grab both of his horns, lifting up her other leg and sending her knee hard into his face.

The crowd went wild as Scyther sent Hoopa flying away from her with one last kick to his midsection, Beedrill exclaiming, "And with just a few kicks, Scyther already seems to have brought the advantage back to the Slashing Explosions!" Diancie wishing she had been the one to take those hits instead.

Reika cheered wildly and exclaimed, "Way to go, Scyther!" the others joining her.

Hoopa glared and said, "You may be fast, but honestly, I'd have much rather continued to fight Talonflame. At the very least, he was more of a challenge."

The audience was now silent as Scyther remarked, "What!?" Talonflame gritting his teeth, growling, "Don't listen to him."

Hoopa laughed and remarked, "Yes, don't listen to the one with the common sense here! Come on, Scyther, you build yourself up as this great successor to Scizor when in reality, you're a joke!"

Everyone gasped, Scizor sitting in the crowd and listening to this, gritting her teeth and thinking, 'He's not trying what I think he is. Nein, every time someone does this, it ends badly,' Reika narrowing her eyelids and thinking, 'Please, Scyther, don't take his words to heart. You know what he's doing.'

And it truly seemed to go that route as Hoopa said, "Come on, let's face it, you've never gotten past the second round of any tournament. Meanwhile, every opponent you ever defeated was a joke!" Gallade's eyes widening as he spat, "HEY, ARE YOU CALLING ME A JOKE!?"

"Of course I am!" Hoopa retorted with a smirk, "In preparation for this tournament, Diancie and I watched the most famous matches of the participants online! While it's been recorded that you actually have one impressive victory that was never caught on camera, every other match you've been in has done nothing to make you sound like a good fighter! You lost to Scrafty in a matter of minutes, you lost to Scyther even faster and ever since those weaklings you beat to qualify for the Olympics, you haven't won any other matches! Scyther beating you is nothing to write home about!"

Gallade twitched all over as Hitmonchan growled, "How dare you badmouth my man, you bastard!?" Scyther not sure whether to argue with that or not. Looking back, she certainly remembered Gallade not being much of a challenge.

"Hey, don't forget Hippowdon!" Reika exclaimed as the others nodded, Aipom saying, "That's right. Hippowdon gave her a lot of trouble," Heracross nodding and adding, "Almost bested her, he did, but she still pulled through."

"That only proves how pathetic you really are," Hoopa remarked, "Think about it. The only reason you won that match was because of Scizor's advice. If she hadn't told you exactly what to do when he had you trapped in his Sand Tomb, you would have lost.

"Hold on," Reika stated, "Scizor wasn't giving her advice when she fought Bisharp and Scrafty in the first round!" Hoopa nodding and remarking, "True, but she did have Talonflame's help. Heck, she wasn't doing all that hot until he joined the fray."

Now the crowd was really unsure what to say to this. Even Reika was trying to come up with some kind of comeback as Diancie said, "Well, it is also true that every time Scyther stopped taking Scizor's advice, it always ended in failure. Just saying."

"You often brag about how you're too good to rely on your wings for combat, yet you really haven't done anything to deserve your reputation," Hoopa said, "Let's face it, alone, you're nothing but one big joke," as Scyther remarked, "Nein!"

The genie blinked as she smirked and said, "You know, you're not the first fighter to try this sort of thing on me. I know, I have a bit of a temper that makes it easy for me to stop fighting logically when provoked, but I'm not gonna let that happen again. Besides, you tried the same thing when Lucario's Force Palm hit you and it didn't work on him either, so what made you think it would work on me?"

Both Scizor and Talonflame had light smiles on their faces, Talonflame giving the bug a thumb up and saying, "Good job. Now go in there and give him more of a beating!" the insect nodding and charging at Hoopa, Reika breathing a sigh of relief.

With that in mind, the genie frowned and exclaimed, "Diancie, now!" the sylph nodding, at least knowing she could get away with this once as she knelt down, placing her hands against the mat and shouting, "GEM GROWTH!"

With that, a big gem formed in front of Scyther as the insect wound up running face-first into it, grunting in pain. Hoopa then warped his left hand behind her in the form of a fist. Since Scyther was distracted by the pain caused by the gem, she took a fierce punch to her back as Hoopa floated behind her, reuniting with his hand before wrapping both around her waistline.

With that, he lifted her up and leaned backward, planting her head hard into the mat as his fans cheered for him, Nori stating, "And like the Transforming Terrors, Diancie has taken full advantage of the rule allowing teammates to help their allies as long as they don't enter the ring!"

Diancie nodded and thought, 'At least it's legal. That way I don't feel too bad about it,' Talonflame gritting his teeth and cursing, "Dammit, if only I had long-range moves as well, then I could go in there and help!"

And it seemed Scyther's situation would not improve any time soon as Hoopa proceeded to flip her onto her belly, sending rapid punches into the back of her head. Unlike Talonflame, who could handle this sort of thing, Scyther's body was nowhere near as strong and thus she felt intense pain from the multiple hits. Out of desperation, she even resorted to folding her arms behind her head, but all this did was redirect all the pain to her hands.

"Hey, Scyther, what are you doing!?" Talonflame snapped, "You know exactly how to get out of this!" Scyther nodding and lifting her legs back, latching them onto Hoopa's sides.

The genie's eyes widened as the insect knew his punches would not add strain to his body. As such, she shifted her arms and planted them against the mat before pushing herself up, flipping Hoopa over thus slamming his head into the canvas.

The crowd went wild as Reika squealed, "YEAH, I KNEW YOU COULD GET OUT OF THAT, SCYTHER!" and it would not end here as Scyther took full advantage of this, lifting her foot above her head before sending it crashing down upon Hoopa's back.

Needless to say, things were once again favourable for the Slashing Explosions. But could this advantage possibly last? After all, Hoopa and Diancie had both surprised everyone when they fought the Fancy Fighters, so who could say Scyther was on easy street at the moment?