While Hoopa had gotten quite a few good moves in, it seemed the Slashing Explosions might just have what it took to win this match after all. However, things were likely to change when Nori rang the bell, signalling the tornado tag portion.

Talonflame entered the ring and smirked, saying, "Good job, buddy," Scyther giving him a thumb up as Diancie entered, saying, "You did a good job, Hoopa. Let's finish what you started."

The genie nodded and replied, "Yeah, they may think they got the drop on us, but they're dead wrong."

With that, Nori stated, "Things are sure to heat up now! This match has already been pretty intense with just Hoopa in the ring, but now that Diancie has joined him, will things be as difficult for the Slashing Explosions as it was for the Fancy Fighters?"

"I doubt it," Machoke replied with a grin, "If anything, those Demonic Angels are in even more trouble now," and it seemed so as Scyther leapt toward Diancie with both feet forward.

Before either one of the Demonic Angels could respond, Talonflame flew over to Scyther and planted his talons against her shoulders, allowing her to fly faster. Thus when her feet made contact with Diancie's chest, she took more pain and fell on her back.

Before Hoopa could retaliate, though, Talonflame leapt off of Scyther and wrapped his arm around the genie's neck, planting his back hard against the mat. The crowd went wild as Scyther proceeded to send an axe kick into Diancie's gut, leaping backward as Talonflame did the same. He remembered full-well how Hoopa had taken advantage of Lucario when trapped in a camel clutch. There was no doubt he could easily do the same if Talonflame caught him in a submission hold.

But just as the Slashing Explosions seemed even more likely to win, Diancie placed her hands against the mat, uttering, "Gem Growth," but it seemed Scyther and Talonflame saw this coming as both leapt to the side, avoiding the gems.

"Do you think we're stupid!?" Talonflame barked only to find his arms locked in place, Hoopa having caught him as he said, "Nope, but you were so easily distracted by the gems that it gave me a perfect opportunity to grab you."

Before the falcon could even respond, Hoopa threw his hands backward, slamming his head into the canvas. And it would not end there as Diancie rose to her feet, gems sprouting up from under her dress.

Hoopa and Diancie's fans cheered now as the sylph stood on the tips of her toes, twirling toward Scyther while shouting, "SUGARPLUM FAIRY SLASH!" Scizor thinking, 'That was a mistake. My daughter can easily block that.'

And it seemed so as Scyther sprouted her arm blades, using them to block the incoming gems. However, she was shocked when Diancie increased the speed of her twirl thus forcing the insect's arms to the side, striking her midsection hard as she cried out in pain.

Some members of the crowd gasped as Machoke winced, groaning, "It's more painful watching it the second time," green blood flying out of Scyther as she flew into Talonflame just as he had risen to his feet, both falling on their backs.

"Wow, that turned out better than expected," Hoopa said with a smirk, but just as he was about to have Diancie set up for the Diamond Meteor that had defeated Lucario and Clauncher, both rose to their feet, breathing heavily with annoyed looks on their faces.

Hoopa frowned and asked, "How are you both still standing?" Talonflame remarking, "First off, you guys haven't done that much to us yet, but also, we can sustain a lot of pain," Scyther nodding and stating, "Growing up, I was put through hellish training from my mother, the likes of which no one has ever dealt with. I've taken in far worse pain than you could ever dish out."

"And as for me, I got an incredible resistance," Talonflame explained, "It'll take a lot more than a stab to the shoulder and a few measly punches to take me down."

"Yeah, take it from someone who fought him before," Machoke stated, "Talonflame is not to be taken lightly," the crowd even more excited now as Hoopa gritted his teeth.

"Dammit," he whispered, "I underestimated these two. I figured since they didn't make it to the Olympic finals like Lucario did, they would be nowhere near his level, but so far, they're proving to be just as annoying, if not more."

"What should we do?" Diancie asked as Talonflame turned to Scyther, asking, "Are we just gonna stand here and let them come up with a strategy?"

"Nein!" the insect remarked as the two charged toward their opponents, Diancie gasping as Hoopa exclaimed, "I know!" snapping his fingers as his left hand and horn both teleported.

However, rather than forming a distance away from the two as usual, each one appeared right next to a fighter, the hand grabbing onto Scyther's wrist as the horn lodged itself into Talonflame's ribs. Not even the falcon could ignore pain like this as he cried in agony, Scyther finding herself dragged toward Hoopa as the genie winked at Diancie.

The sylph nodded and dashed in front of the insect, shouting, "DIAMOND HORN!" the diamond atop her head stretching forward until it formed that very shape. However, knowing that doing what she did to Masquerain could potentially get her disqualified, she lowered herself just enough for the horn to jab Scyther's midsection as opposed to her skull.

The fans of the Demonic Angels cheered wildly as Machoke had panic all over his face, and it would only get worse from here as Hoopa snapped his fingers once more, sending his waist ring high above the mat and sending the ring around his horn under Talonflame. After round one, everyone knew what was coming as a vortex formed inside each ring, the falcon pulled into it, the ring returning to Hoopa's horn as Reika snapped, "SCYTHER, TALONFLAME'S IN TROUBLE!"

The insect's eyes widened as she gritted her teeth, shouting, "ARM SCHWERT!" sending one arm blade sideways toward Diancie. Since the sylph still had her body lowered, she managed to block it with her diamond, but the force of the slash sent her back as Scyther charged toward Hoopa when Talonflame emerged from the waist ring.

Unfortunately for her, Diancie would not allow this as she slapped her hand against the mat, shouting, "GEM GROWTH!" as once again, a big gem rose up in front of Scyther's face, the insect unable to react in time to avoid making a collision with it.

As if that was not bad enough, Hoopa managed to reach Talonflame as he latched onto his arms, shouting, "HYPERSPACE HOLE!"

Talonflame was just about to used his wings to soften the blow only for Diancie to leap backward toward the ropes, bouncing off of them with her feet aimed at the gem she had formed. And to top it all off, a familiar light surrounded her legs as the big diamond she had used on Lucario took form.

"What's she doing?" Machoke uttered, Scyther attempting to stop Diancie only to receive a hook to her neck when the sylph passed her, falling on her back as the diamond struck the gem. Thus the top half flew toward Talonflame, hitting him hard in the forehead as it came open, a light trickle of blood forming as he groaned in pain.

This provided just enough of a distraction for Hoopa to plant Talonflame's head hard into the mat, his fans going wild as the others stared in shock, Lopunny shouting, "TALONFLAME!" Heracross gritting his teeth and grunting, "This is just painful."

As if that was not enough, Diancie refused to allow Scyther to rise to her feet as she kept her legs in their diamond form, floating above the insect's back. Seeing this, Reika exclaimed, "SCYTHER, LOOK OUT!" but it was too late as Diancie descended toward the insect, shouting, "DIAMOND METEOR!" planting the diamond hard into her back, Scyther coughing up blood.

Scizor could no longer hide her presence as she removed her cloak, shouting, "SCYTHER, ARE YOU OKAY!?" the crowd gasping as Nori exclaimed, "Just as the Demonic Angels make an incredible comeback, the legendary Scizor seems to have graced us with her presence!" the red insect ignoring the attention and tensing up, hoping Scyther would not be mad at her for coming to the event.

However, Scyther still had enough consciousness to see her as she grinned, saying, "Hallo, mother. I'm glad you could come, but I wish you were here under better circumstances."

Diancie gasped at the sight of this, not so much because Scyther's mother was there but because the insect could still move. As it just so happened, Lucario was not the only one to fall to a single use of her Diamond Meteor, and yet Scyther was still kicking.

Machoke smiled wide and exclaimed, "Thank god! Scizor could give her a few tips to get out of this!" Reika nodding and saying, "Yeah, she'll know what to do."

However, it seemed their intuition was wrong as Scizor bit her lower lip and said, "Scyther, as you know, I have decided to let you live your own life, to be independent. As such, I will not give you advice, but I will say that there is a way out of this and I'm sure you're aware of it."

Hoopa had been too distracted by the older bug's presence to notice Talonflame rise to his feet, wrapping his arms around the genie and barking, "HEY, DID YOU HONESTLY THINK THAT WOULD FINISH ME OFF, PUNK!?" the falcon taking to the sky with his body engulfed in flames.

The crowd went wild for him as Scyther nodded and said, "Ja," placing her hands and knees firmly against the mat, pushing up thus forcing Diancie's diamond out of her back, the sylph's eyes wide with shock.

And it did not end there as Talonflame performed a U-turn in midair, shouting, "FLARE BLITZ!" Scyther leaping up to Diancie's level and wrapping her arms the sylph, leaning backward and barking, "FLYING HAMMER!"

With that, the Demonic Angels found their heads making contact with the canvas, a big cloud of smoke surrounding Hoopa as he had just taken in the devastating move that had defeated both Blaziken and Scyther during the Next Gen Battle. Needless to say, this combined with all the damage dealt to the genie earlier led the crowd to believe that at least Hoopa must have been dealt with for good after that.

And it seemed so as the smoke cleared to reveal that Hoopa had coughed up quite a bit of blood as a result of the collision with the mat, his eyes stuck wide open as his tongue hung sideways out of his mouth. And Diancie seemed to be down for the count as well, despite having not taken in a lot of hits prior, the crowd going wild.

"Well, with two powerful slams, it seems that the Slashing Explosions may have actually won this match!" Beedrill exclaimed as Nori started the ten count, Machoke grinning wide and exclaiming, "YEAH, YOU ROCK!"

Aipom had a more serious look, thinking, 'Please let that be it. Tell me they didn't survive that,' as Reika and Scizor both had confident smiles on their faces.

Talonflame and Scyther both breathed heavily, grinning at one-another before holding their thumbs up. But just as Nori reached nine, the crowd was shocked, the announcer stopping the count when Hoopa and Diancie mustered up the strength to grab each respected opponent's ankles.

Before Talonflame could even respond, Hoopa used his hands to cross his legs together, thus causing him to trip and fall flat on his chin. However, Diancie had more plans for Scyther as she encased her hands in the material that made up her gems.

Because she was clinging to Scyther, the material also covered the insect's ankles as she struggled to free herself but to no avail. And it would only get worse as Diancie rose to her feet, lifting Scyther up with her and leaning backward, planting the back of the insect's head into the canvas.

Diancie's fans cheered as Nori exclaimed, "And just when it seemed to be over, the Demonic Angels make a shocking recovery and get their revenge!" Diancie removing the material from Scyther's ankles before resting on top of her, saying, "You may have resisted Hoopa's punches, but his weren't as strong as crystals, were they?"

Scyther instinctively held up her hands to block the inevitable onslaught of diamond-encrusted punches, though this only provided a little bit of protection as the material caused the backs of her hands to come open, green blood trickling down while the crowd watched in horror. And while this went on, Hoopa proceeded to float over Talonflame, smirking and saying, "You said mere punches wouldn't be enough to hurt you, but what if I aimed them at a spot that's already bleeding?"

Talonflame's eyes widened as Hoopa sent an onslaught of punches, his right hand striking the falcon's shoulder while his left hand went for the bleeding ribcage. Not even Talonflame could ignore so much pain as Tsuya spat, "THIS IS SO UNFAIR! HE'S TARGETING TALONFLAME'S TENDER SPOTS!" Cici nodding and whimpering, "Hoopa's scary."

Heracross could not take anymore as he stood up, shouting, "COME ON, GUYS, YOU CAN RESIST THIS!" Lopunny adding, "YEAH, FIND A WAY TO COUNTER THIS!" Scizor nodding and shouting, "You can do it, Scyther!"

With that in mind, Scyther threw her legs up, latching them to Diancie's waist. And unlike Hoopa, if the sylph were to continue her assault, she would end up dealing further harm to herself.

Unfortunately for the insect, Diancie was much more focused on making Hoopa happy as she continued her assault, seeing an opening before sending a hard punch straight into Scyther's forehead, the crowd truly astounded. This one punch was more than enough to draw blood, Scyther now too hurt to keep her arms up as Diancie continued her assault.

"And Diancie's just whaling on Scyther right now!" Nori exclaimed as Beedrill added, "Yeah, and Talonflame doesn't have it much better. Look, his wounds are getting bigger."

And this was certainly true as the multiple punches opened up the wounds more. However, Talonflame would not stand for this as he spat, "THAT'S IT! I'VE HAD IT UP TO HERE WITH YOU!"

With that, he proceeded to plant his hands against the mat, lifting up his legs and sending them into Hoopa's midsection. With the genie distracted, the falcon used his legs to lock him in place, performing a handstand and throwing said legs forward, sending Hoopa flying head-first into Diancie. This caused the sylph to cough up a bit of blood as she fell on her side, thus allowing Scyther to rise back to her feet, breathing heavily and trying to ignore the extreme pain dealt to her face.

"Hey, you hanging in there, Scyther?" Talonflame asked as the insect nodded and replied, "Ja. I think it's time to end this."

With that, the two proceeded to hold hands as Scyther thought, 'Forgive me, mother, but I need to use my wings for this move to work,' the insect lashing out the blade on her free arm, Talonflame engulfing his own free arm in flames.

With that, Scyther revealed her wings as she and Talonflame both flew above the ground, the crowd gasping as Machoke uttered, "Is she doing what I think she is?" Aipom nodding as Heracross stated, "She's actually flying during a match!"

"Honestly, I'm more surprised by Scizor's reaction," Gallade uttered as the others turned to see what he meant, and sure enough, the red insect did not look the least bit upset. In fact, she had a smile on her face, almost as if she was proud of her daughter for going against her teachings, but why?

'As impressed as I am by the fact that you never once felt the need to rely on your wings, it might just be necessary here,' Scizor thought as the Slashing Explosions spun around in mid-air, headed toward their opponents while shouting, "ARM SCHWERT INFERNO!" a twister of flames surrounding them.

But just as the move was about to hit, Diancie quickly placed her hands against the ground, focusing hard as a pink aura surrounded her. And after a few seconds, the sylph exclaimed, "GEM GROWTH!" as a wide assortment of gems sprang up out of the ground where Talonflame and Scyther were headed, slowing them down as a big one rose up in the middle.

This particular gem struck both of their hands, thus forcing the two away from each-other as Hoopa grinned and said, "You are awesome, Diancie!" the sylph blushing and uttering, "Awesome? Me?"

However, the sylph quickly realized she could not pass up this opportunity as she changed her legs into a big diamond once more. With that, she once again propelled herself off of the ropes and aimed the diamond straight for Talonflame, Hoopa flying behind her and pushing on her shoulders to increase the speed, both shouting, "DIAMOND ROCKET!"

Seeing this, Scyther immediately lashed out her second arm blade and dashed in front of her partner, crossing both of them together. And thus it seemed she and the falcon would be safe when the diamond made contact with her blades.

The crowd was silent as Machoke sighed with relief, saying, "That was too close," Aipom whimpering, "I wouldn't be so calm right now if I were you."

The boy's eyes widened when he noticed what the monkey meant, most of the crowd terrified when they noticed Scyther's blades start to crack. And before either of the Slashing Explosions could react, the bottom halves of the blades shattered as Scyther took the diamond to her gut, said part passing straight through her and piercing Talonflame as well.

With that, both coughed up blood before being forced up against the ropes, the material coming open as the crowd stared in shock. And sure enough, it was not long until the ropes snapped open, Talonflame and Scyther flying out of the ring, the falcon's back hitting the wall hard as the collision left a small crater in the material.

The crowd gasped as those sitting behind said wall looked down, Nori exclaiming, "And with an impressive team move, the Demonic Angels have sent the Slashing Explosions outside of the ring!" Beedrill nodding as the woman started the ten count.

"Come on, you two, get up!" Reika spat as many others in the crowd started to show their support as well, Scizor exclaiming, "Scyther, you can still fight, can't you!?"

"Yeah, where's that fighting spirit!?" Heracross snapped as Lopunny sighed, "I hate to say it, but it might not be enough."

And sure enough, Nori managed to reach the number ten as she rang the bell, exclaiming, "And the final match of the second round has ended with the Demonic Angels claiming victory!" Hoopa and Diancie's fans cheering while the rest of the crowd was mortified.

As if that was not enough, neither Scyther nor Talonflame were able to move. As such, Scizor immediately sprouted her wings and flew toward them, exclaiming, "SCYTHER!" landing in front of her and letting down tears, a light smile on her face as she sniffed, "I'm so proud of you. You may not have won, but honestly, I think you did a lot better than you would have if I had given you advice."

"Oh, my dear, sweet Talonflame!" Tsuya exclaimed as she raced toward the ring, medics coming in to place the Slashing Explosions on stretchers.

Sure, Scyther had been badly damaged before, but never had a post-fight injury been this bad. Not even Talonflame dislocating her arms and legs compared to what she had felt when Diancie pierced her.

"As I said, without help from others, she's a joke," Hoopa said with a smirk as Diancie let out a sigh, refusing to bring up the fact that she and Talonflame had come very close to winning.

Reika also joined them as Machoke glared at Hoopa. Diancie may have been a scary opponent, but she did not give off nearly as bad of vibes as the genie did. And of course, there was also his match with Smeargle and Vespiquen to worry about and those two had already proven themselves to be a major threat as well.

"So, when should I expect to meet my new partner?" the boy asked as he turned to Aipom, the monkey replying, "As I said earlier, she will show up for the match, but her fighting style is a bit similar to my own, so I can actually replicate the team moves that she came up with. She's studied your fighting style and is one-hundred percent certain that these moves will work for you."

Machoke had a light smile as he replied, "Almost sounds too good to be true. I look forward to meeting her," a look of concern taking over as he went to join Reika and the others. He knew all of them were likely headed to the hospital and he wanted to join them, not just to make sure Scyther would be alright but to also check up on Gardevoir.

And sure enough, Heracross and Lopunny nodded at one-another, heading out of the dome. Unlike Machoke, they wanted to get to training as soon as possible. After seeing just how tough Hoopa and Diancie really could be, there was no way they would take a break, even if they had finished a match not too long ago.

But as the two started to leave, Lopunny looked back and noticed that Diancie looked rather exhausted when leaving the ring, more so than Hoopa. But why? The genie had taken in the most damage during the fight and had done the most work.

"Just like before, we only have two days before the next round, not counting today of course," Beedrill stated, "So everyone had better prepare themselves! And to those in the audience, you definitely do not want to miss this one!" the crowd beyond excited. After all, the semi-finals may not have always had the most exciting matches in any tournament, but they always came very close.

Soon enough, Machoke and the others arrived at the hospital as Scyther and Talonflame were immediately rushed down the hall. However, when the two heroes were wheeled to their room, Machoke's eyes widened when he noticed both Masquerain and Florges in separate beds, the flower girl sound asleep while her friend's eyes were still droopy, the butterfly not even budging.

Reika turned and gasped, "When did they get in here!?" as a nurse explained, "Miss Florges was brought here earlier today. Masquerain, on the other hand, has been here for three days."

As worried about Scyther as Reika was and as much as Tsuya wanted to make sure Talonflame was okay, both were fixated on Masquerain right now. While Florges' injuries were not too much different from what heroes in these tournaments often dealt with, Masquerain's were another thing all together.

"I feel sorry for her," the nurse sighed, "No one knows how it happened, but someone or something pierced her brain," Machoke uttering, "So she's basically a vegetable now?"

Sure, Florges had told the group that Masquerain was badly injured, but she never said just how bad it was. But who could have done this to her? Was it Ditto? He had been posing as Beedrill, after all, so that was a possibility.

Either way, he had a feeling at least one of the remaining teams in the tournament was responsible for all of this and he intended on dealing with this. At the very least, he would defeat Smeargle in the semi-finals.