Two days ago, Ruby's Pokémon were barely able to hold their own against the AT Crew. Now, after hours of constant training, learning new moves, and coming up with new strategies, Ruby's Pokémon were a lot stronger than before, with Eevee showing the most improvement. Ruby felt confident enough that she now had a chance of defeating Pyrrha, so after bidding farewell to the AT Crew, she headed back to Hriso City to claim her seventh badge.

Inside Hriso Stadium was a long line of people all holding valuable items they wanted to get autographed from Pyrrha Nikos. With no scheduled matches for the day, Pyrrha took her time talking to the fans and taking pictures with them. Standing behind Pyrrha were her personal assistants Jaune and Weiss. Jaune mostly held people's scrolls to take pictures with, while Weiss was keeping a strict watch over how much time each fan was spending with Pyrrha, making sure none of them overstayed their welcome, and keeping the line moving at an orderly pace. Pyrrha was currently doing poses with one of her younger fans as Jaune took pictures.

"Thank you, Miss Pyrrha!" said the fan.

"Thank you for your support!" said Pyrrha. "Who's next?"

"Excuse me," said a familiar voice. "Mind if I cut in for a minute?"

Pyrrha looked over and saw Ruby standing near the front of the line. Before Pyrrha or Jaune can say anything, Weiss immediately walked up to Ruby.

"Sorry Ruby, but rules are rules!" said Weiss. "No cuts!"

"It's okay, Weiss," said Pyrrha. "We can make an exception for her."

"All right, but keep it short and to the point!"

Ruby rolled her eyes at Weiss and went up to shake Pyrrha's hand.

"Hello again, Ruby," greeted Pyrrha. "I take it you're here for a rematch?"

"You know it," said Ruby.

"Not to place doubt on you, but most people who challenge me to a rematch usually wait a long time before doing so. I'm hope you're not rushing to fight me because of the deadline."

"Don't worry about me. I've done enough training to give you a run for your money."

"All right then. We'll battle as soon as I'm done here. Good luck Ruby!"

As Ruby walked off for the registration office, Jaune quickly ran up to her.

"Ruby!" said Jaune. "Are you really sure you're ready to take on Pyrrha again?"

"I'm confident I've trained enough to be on her level," said Ruby. "If I can't beat her today, then there's no way I'm ever getting into the Pokémon League. It's sink or swim time, right Eevee?"

"Eevee!" said Eevee, anticipating her chance to fight in the upcoming gym match.

"Well, good luck then," said Jaune. "I hope you win your badge!"

#

It was about noon in Vale, and as usual, Yang was sleeping in. Her sleep was interrupted by the ringtone of her scroll.

"This had better be important," muttered Yang. She rolled over and picked up her scroll, noticing it was a call from her uncle.

"What's up, Uncle Qrow?"

"Yang, where are you right now?" asked Qrow.

"Where am I? In my apartment. Where else would I-?"

"I need you to get to Beacon City immediately!"

"Why? You sound like something bad is going to happen if I don't."

"This is an urgent situation. The White Fang have found Subject M!"

Hearing that name suddenly caused Yang to jolt out of bed.

"Uncle Qrow, this better not be some kind of prank!"

"Look for yourself."

Yang's scroll went off to indicate an attachment was sent to her. Yang opened the attachment and saw several photos that one of Qrow's spies within the White Fang had sent him. It clearly showed the White Fang training a monster wearing a mask over their face. Based on the description that Ironwood had told the rangers about Subject M, it had to be them. Realizing the situation they were in, Yang immediately got dressed and put on her ranger uniform.

"Have you contacted the others, Uncle Qrow?"

"Coco is on her way now. Pyrrha hasn't replied back."

"She's probably in the middle of some gym battle. I'll head to Hriso City right away."

Yang hung up and then dialed Ruby's number. Wherever Ruby was, Yang had to make sure she was nowhere near where the White Fang were heading. Ruby's scroll kept ringing until it went into her voicemail, making Yang feel even more panicked than she already was.

"Ruby's not picking up either. As if I don't have enough to worry about!"

#

The stadium was once again jam packed for Pyrrha's match. Weiss was back in her box seat, anticipating seeing Pyrrha defeat Ruby for a second time. Jaune was front and center, this time without Ruby's Eevee by his side. Even though he wanted Ruby to win her badge so she can get into the Pokémon League, he also didn't want to see Pyrrha lose. Pyrrha and Jaune had become good friends in the short amount of time Jaune was in Hriso City, and so he felt conflicted having to watch his two closest friends battle against each other.

"Ladies and gentlemen, you're in for a real treat today! Some of you may remember our challenger who faced Pyrrha a couple of days ago, and unfortunately suffered quite a defeat. Now she has returned for a rematch! Will this be our challenger's revenge, or will Pyrrha triumph once again? Time to find out!"

As before, Ruby and Pyrrha made their entrances to the balconies perched over the arena currently filling up with the artificial lava. Ruby can already feel the sweat forming on her forehead, both from a mixture of the arena heating up and getting nervous that the rematch was almost about to begin.

"Keep cool, Ruby! Just remember everything you planned and you'll be fine! You've got this!"

"Once again, this will be a four on four battle. Should our challenger Ruby Rose be able to defeat Pyrrha, she will earn the Miló badge! Trainers, time to call out your first Pokémon!"

Pyrrha started the match with her Rapidash once again; Ruby called out her Graveler. The audience did their countdown and the match was underway.

"Rapidash, Fire Spin!" commanded Pyrrha. Rapidash spot fire from her mouth and trapped Graveler in a fire vortex.

"Graveler, Self-Destruct!" shouted Ruby.

"Self-Destruct?"

Graveler's body suddenly glowed molten red, and before Rapidash can do anything, Graveler's body exploded and sent parts of his body flying towards Rapidash; the extreme heat from the rocks combined with their sharp edges did severe damage to Rapidash. The sound of the explosion nearly deafened the entire audience.

"Unbelievable!" said the announcer. "Ruby has started the battle by immediately sacrificing her first Pokémon!"

Graveler limped over, knocked out from its own attack. The audience turned to see how Rapidash was doing, and she too had fallen over and fainted.

"And it looks to have paid off, as Rapidash has already been knocked out! Our four on four has now become a three on three!"

Nobody in the arena aside from Ruby herself could believe the gambit Ruby pulled off. Pyrrha was especially shocked to see Rapidash taken out so quickly.

"I see you've come up with some new strategies," said Pyrrha, recalling her fainted horse. "I have to admit, I never thought you would do something like that."

"There's no way I'm letting you get the numbers advantage again!" said Ruby, taking back her sacrificed Graveler.

"Show me what you've got then!"

With the battle now three on three, Ruby called out her Talonflame. Pyrrha decided to switch things up and call out the Pokémon she hadn't used in their last battle, Darmanitan. The Darmanitan slammed its fists on the ground and let out its battle cry, hyping the crowd up.

"Okay Talonflame, start with Agility!"

"Darmanitan, Fire Punch!"

Talonflame flew around the arena, gaining more acceleration to increase her speed. Darmanitan used his arms to throw himself up into the air and uppercut Talonflame with a Fire Punch. Talonflame barely dodged the attack as Darmanitan grazed Talonflame's wing.

"He's got quite a reach. Talonflame, Acrobatics!"

"Darmanitan, Rage attack!"

Talonflame flew on top of Darmanitan and dove down on him. Darmanitan growled and swung at Talonflame with a spinning back hand, knocking Talonflame away. Talonflame immediately tackled back and knocked Darmanitan down; Darmanitan got back up and swung his arm down on Talonflame, knocking her hard to the floor. Darmanitan clenched his fists and went for another attack; Talonflame flew straight up to avoid getting hit. Darmanitan pounded his chest and let out another battle cry, daring Talonflame to attack again.

"Talonflame, Flame Charge!"

"Darmanitan, Fire Punch!"

Darmanitan lit his arm on fire, while Talonflame's whole body became ablaze. Talonflame charged into Darmanitan, who got ready to swing once Talonflame was within reach. Darmanitan threw a straight right at Talonflame; Talonflame quickly flew past Darmanitan and instead nailed him in the back, catching him off guard. The force of the blow was enough to send Darmanitan tumbling towards the edge of the ring, almost tripping into the lava surrounding the Pokémon. Darmanitan regained his balance and stopped himself, only to turn around and have Talonflame push him off with another Flame Charge.

"Darmanitan takes a dive into the lava!" said the announcer. "This could be bad for our gym leader!"

Ruby looked over to see how Pyrrha was reacting to Darmanitan taking a lava bath. Despite the conundrum she was in, Pyrrha didn't look worried at all. Either Pyrrha was very good at keeping a straight face, or she had something planned in mind. Darmanitan grabbed the edge of the ring and pulled himself back in. Being a Fire type, the artificial lava didn't do any significant harm to him, but as he got up, Darmanitan was noticeably trying to catch his breath. While most people were worried that Pyrrha was going to lose her second Pokémon, Weiss smiled to herself.

"It looks like Darmanitan is getting weakened," thought Weiss. "That means we'll get to see his secret ability!"

"He's winding down!" said Ruby. "Talonflame, Acrobatics!"

Talonflame flew higher into the air, then folded her wings back and dove onto Darmanitan with everything she had. Before Talonflame can hit Darmanitan, Darmanitan suddenly folded his limbs together and transformed into a stone statue. Talonflame hit the statue Darmanitan, but didn't look like she caused any damage to him. Some people were confused as to what just happened to Darmanitan.

"What happened to Darmanitan?" asked Ruby. "Did he just turn to stone?"

"This is Darmanitan's secret ability: Zen Mode!" explained Pyrrha. "In this mode, Darmanitan protects itself and gains a boost in mental strength! Observe!"

Darmanitan's body glowed a light pink as he grabbed a hold of Talonflame with Psychic and sent Talonflame plunging to the ground.

"All right, no big deal!" thought Ruby. "He's got strong Psychic powers but can barely move. It'll be like fighting Gavin's Slowbro! I just need to be quicker on the draw!"

"Talonflame, Flame Charge!" Talonflame set herself on fire and rammed into Darmanitan, but suddenly stopped a few inches away from Darmanitan and was pushed back hard by his Psychic attack.

"Speed isn't going to cut it here, Ruby!" said Pyrrha. "Darmanitan's focus is top notch in Zen Mode! He can catch your Talonflame the instant she flies within his Psychic range!"

"Or maybe we just need to go even faster! Talonflame, Agility!"

Talonflame flew high above the arena, then started to fly around in circles to build up its speed. Reaching its peak speed, Talonflame appeared as nothing but a blur to the human eyes. Darmanitan tried to grab a hold of Talonflame with Psychic, but Talonflame was too far and too fast for Darmanitan to hone in on.

"Talonflame is too fast for Psychic to be effective," thought Pyrrha. "However, all of Talonflame's attacks require her to strike Darmanitan. She'll have to fly into Darmanitan eventually, and when she does, that's when I'll bust out his best attack! Sorry Ruby, but like I told you: Speed isn't going to cut it!"

"Okay Talonflame!" said Ruby. "Hit him with your Acrobatics!"

"Darmanitan, Overheat!"

In nearly the blink of an eye, Talonflame changed her trajectory towards Darmanitan; Darmanitan's body was suddenly engulfed in a huge pillar of flames that took Talonflame with it. Even though Talonflame was a Fire type herself, the sheer power of Overheat combined with Darmanitan's high mental strength was enough to do serious damage to Talonflame. Talonflame landed back on the ground, too injured to fly very high.

"It looks like Talonflame's goose is about to be cooked!" said the announcer.

"As you can see," said Pyrrha, "Talonflame is greatly outmatched. I'd recall her now before she seriously gets hurt."

"Tch, are you kidding me?" said Ruby. "You may have landed a pretty strong attack, but Darmanitan is the one who is outmatched!"

"Ruby, if you're trying to put on some kind of false bravado to get under my skin, it's not going to work! My skin is thicker than my armor, so spare me the theatrics!"

"This isn't some kind of ploy, Pyrrha. I'm being 100% honest: Talonflame is going to end this in the next move!"

"Bold words from our challenger!" said the announcer.

The audience wasn't buying Ruby's bluff for a second, and started cheering loudly in support of Pyrrha. The only one not backing Pyrrha was Jaune.

"I've seen Ruby fight more than anyone," thought Jaune. "Ruby would never try to act cocky just to throw someone off! If Ruby is confident she can end this, then it has to mean she has a plan to win!"

"So Pyrrha, how is your Darmanitan going to attack my Talonflame next?" asked Ruby. "Are you going to try and Overheat again? Maybe try and blast me away with Psychic! Or maybe you'll surprise me and use a physical attack to throw me off! Whatever attack you plan on using...my Talonflame is going to beat it to the punch!"

With Ruby boasting about Talonflame's speed, Pyrrha took a few moments to figure out what Ruby was going to do and how to counter attack.

"From the way Ruby puts it, she's planning to strike as fast as possible. Her Talonflame is fast, but even at its peak speed, my Darmanitan has the upper hand. Whether she uses Flame Charge, Acrobatics, or some kind of priority move, Darmanitan can land his attack the moment Talonflame flies close enough."

"Talonflame, get closer!" commanded Ruby. Talonflame took to the air and hovered over Darmanitan. Pyrrha decided now was the best time to strike and take the lead.

"Darmanitan, Overheat!" commanded Pyrrha.

"You first, Talonflame!"

Just as Darmanitan was heating up and about to unleash another pillar of flames, Talonflame's body quickly burst into flames and created a spherical outburst of intense fire; the heat emanating from the flames was even greater than Darmanitan's Overheat. Even in its Zen Mode, the flames took a devastating toll on Darmanitan and caused him to fall to his side, unable to right himself back up.

"Incredible!" said the announcer. "It looks like Talonflame attacked with her own Overheat, taking out Darmanitan in the process!"

"Yes!" said Ruby. "I knew it was going to work!"

"So you were planning to use your own Overheat against me?" asked Pyrrha.

"Actually, I taught my Talonflame the Me First technique. Whatever attack you were going to pull off, Talonflame would instantly copy it and use it herself just before you could, and you just happened to pick the one that favored Talonflame's typing. I guess Talonflame's speed was too good after all!"

"Alright Ruby, I'll admit when I've been bested. But don't let your hubris get the best of you!"

Pyrrha recalled her Darmanitan and sent out her Camerupt.

"I believe you know what's going to happen next. Camerupt, start your Stockpile!"

"Talonflame, Acrobatics!"

Talonflame flew into Camerupt and attacked it several times while Camerupt Stockpiled energy into himself to increase his defenses. Ruby knew that Camerupt was going to keep Stockpiling until it was full and then go on the attack, so Ruby had Talonflame keep using Acrobatics against Camerupt to take out what amount of health she could. After Camerupt was done stockpiling, it was now going on the attack.

"Let's end this quick, Camerupt!" said Pyrrha. "Eruption attack!"

"Get out of there, Talonflame!"

Talonflame took the air as high as she could, but the damage she took from fighting Darmanitan limited her reach. It hardly mattered however, as Camerupt was able to shoot his lava above Talonflame; Talonflame flew around to avoid the lava but the area of coverage Eruption covered made it nearly impossible to dodge. Part of the lava fell on Talonflame and caused her to crash into the ground, too injured to keep fighting.

"After falling behind, Pyrrha quickly ties it back up!" said the announcer. "Each trainer is down to two Pokémon each!"

"This is getting close!" thought Jaune. "Ruby's really trained a lot over the past two days! She might actually beat Pyrrha!"

Hearing himself think that suddenly caused an ill feeling forming in his chest.

"So why do I feel so worried? I want Ruby to win! I mean I don't want to see Pyrrha lose, but Ruby can't win if Pyrrha wins, and they can't both win, so Pyrrha HAS to lose!"

The feeling in his chest was getting worse, almost like his heart was trying to tear itself out.

"And yet just the thought of Pyrrha losing hurts my chest. Do I...do I really want Pyrrha to win instead? No, of course not! This isn't guilt, it's heartburn! Yep, definitely heartburn from the spicy nachos!"

Jaune took a huge gulp of his cold drink to calm his aching chest while trying to convince himself he wanted to see Ruby win.

"The match has officially reached the halfway point! Who will our challenger call out next?"

"Just one more before Arcanine!" said Ruby. "Let's do this, Tentacruel!"

Ruby threw out her Dive Ball and called out Tentacruel.

"I suspected she would call out Tentacruel thanks to Camerupt's severe weakness to Water," thought Pyrrha. "Switching out to Arcanine now would be a bad idea; if Tentacruel were able to land those Hydro Pumps on Arcanine, she'd be defeated, plus Ruby likely has new tricks up her sleeve to defeat Arcanine. Camerupt must damage Tentacruel as much as possible for Arcanine to finish it off."

"Tentacruel, grab Camerupt with Wring Out!" said Ruby.

"Camerupt, keep it away with Lava Plume!"

Tentacruel extended its tentacles and wrapped them around the legs of Camerupt, then twisted them as hard as it could. Camerupt leaned forward and fired Lava Plumes directly at Tentacruel, hoping to burn Tentacruel and stop it from twisting Camerupt's limbs.

"Keep up the Wring Out, Tentacruel!"

"Continue your Lava Plumes, Camerupt!"

Tentacruel kept twisting Camerupt's legs, dealing quite a lot of damage, while Camerupt kept shooting lava all over Tentacruel in an attempt to burn him. Jaune was surprised by Ruby's tactics, since last time Ruby just had to use Hydro Pump to defeat Camerupt right away. Ruby wanted to use Hydro Pump, but she was waiting for the right moment to do so.

"Camerupt still has those Stockpiles protecting it, so Hydro Pump may not be enough to KO it in one hit. I must hold off until Camerupt gets rid of them. C'mon Tentacruel, twist harder!"

Despite being hit by constant lava, Tentacruel was only taking some moderate damage thanks to being resistant to Fire attacks. Meanwhile, Camerupt's legs were slowly being twisted, almost reaching a 180-degree angle. Camerupt tried to resist the pain to keep firing Lava Plume, but once Tentacruel twisted one of its legs the full 180, Camerupt started howling in serious pain. Luckily it still had some health remaining, so it had time to recover.

"Camerupt, Swallow your Stockpiles!" commanded Pyrrha.

"Let go of him, Tentacruel!" said Ruby.

Tentacruel quickly let go as Camerupt Swallowed the energy he built up inside, instantly gaining all his health back. The audience was on the edge of their seats as they were anticipating what many thought they were about to see: A battle of a full-blown Eruption versus a powerful torrent of Hydro Pump. The two trainers, knowing exactly what the other was thinking, called out their Pokémon's strongest attacks.

"Camerupt, Eruption!"

"Tentacruel, Hydro Pump!"

Tentacruel opened its mouth and fired a heavy stream of water at Camerupt. Camerupt widen the gaps on his volcanic humps and unleashed a more powerful Eruption than before. The water splashed over Camerupt and did some serious damage, but not before the volcanic magma shot out and blanketed over Tentacruel. Some of the magma mixed in with the water coming out from the Hydro Pump, causing a massive amount of steam to be formed and rise in the arena. Thankfully the stadium was equipped with powerful fans to keep the arena from reaching dangerous temperatures. As incredibly humid as it was inside Hriso Stadium, the crowd was going nuts seeing an amazing display of Pokémon battling.

"I can barely see a thing down there!" said the announcer. "Per the officials watching below, both Pokémon are still standing!"

It took several minutes for the steam to clear. Tentacruel was a bit exhausted from all the damage caused by Eruption, but could stand and fight. Camerupt on the other hand was laying on his stomach, barely hanging on by a thread. It definitely didn't have enough stamina left to survive another attack.

"What do you say, Pyrrha?" asked Ruby. "Does Camerupt have one more attack in him?"

"I'm afraid not," said Pyrrha, recalling Camerupt. "I concede this round."

Pyrrha took out her final Poké Ball and held it to her chest. As Pyrrha did her signature ritual, the whole stadium started chanting for Arcanine. Up in the private box, Weiss couldn't wait to see Arcanine come out.

"It's about time she called out Arcanine!" said Weiss. "Ruby got lucky defeating her first three Pokémon, but there's no way she can beat Arcanine! Finish her off like you did before, Pyrrha!"

Once Pyrrha was done, she called out her Arcanine to a standing ovation from the crowd.

"There she is, ladies and gentlemen!" said the announcer. "Pyrrha is down to her final Pokémon: Her world famous Arcanine! Arcanine may be outnumbered, but she isn't outmatched!

"Arcanine, begin your Howl!" commanded Pyrrha. The whole stadium Howled alongside Arcanine in unison.

"Tentacruel, set up your Barrier!" commanded Ruby. Tentacruel formed a psychic Barrier to fortify its defenses.

"Arcanine, break through with Flare Blitz!" Arcanine set her body on fire and charged into Tentacruel, using her full strength to break through and tackle Tentacruel.

"Now Tentacruel! Toxic attack!"

Arcanine tried to jump back to avoid being hit, but Tentacruel quickly grabbed Arcanine with some of his tentacles and fired a heavy dose of Toxic liquid onto Arcanine, causing Arcanine to be poisoned. Pyrrha was so concerned about Tentacruel's water attack that she forgot to take status effects into consideration. Even if Arcanine was tough enough to fight under status ailments, being poisoned was going to put Arcanine on a time limit before ultimately fainting.

"Time to end this fast!" said Pyrrha. "Arcanine, Extreme Speed!"

"Tentacruel, Hydro Pump!"

Tentacruel opened its mouth ready to shoot out its powerful Water attack. Arcanine swiftly got behind Tentacruel and rammed into the giant squid, knocking Tentacruel down. Tentacruel got up and fired another Hydro Pump, only for Arcanine to avoid the attack thanks to her lightning fast speed and tackled Tentacruel once again. Tentacruel barely had the strength to get back up, so odds were Arcanine was not going to get hit with Hydro Pump at the rate she could outrun Tentacruel.

"Looks like I'm down to my final Pokémon as well," said Ruby, recalling Tentacruel. Even though she couldn't hit Arcanine with Hydro Pump, Ruby was still satisfied that she was able to poison Arcanine, setting things up perfectly for her final Pokémon.

"So Ruby, who is your final Pokémon going to be?" asked Pyrrha. "Will it be your Zoroark, or did you catch someone new I'm not aware of?"

"Neither," said Ruby. "Like yourself, my final Pokémon is going to be someone that means a lot to me."

Ruby bent down and picked up her Eevee. Eevee was psyched that her time to shine had finally arrived.

"Are you ready to win this, Eevee?" asked Ruby.

"Eevee!" shouted Eevee. Eevee jumped off the balcony Ruby was standing in and landed in the ring.

"It all comes down to this!" said the announcer. "Ruby has called out Eevee as her final Pokémon! An unexpected choice to say the least!"

When Eevee landed in the ring, Pyrrha noticed the way Eevee spread out her legs and had a fierce look of determination in her eyes. Seeing Eevee pose like that made Pyrrha chuckle.

"What's so funny?" asked Ruby.

"I can't help but notice the look in your Eevee's eyes," said Pyrrha. "It reminds me of the times I would look back on myself when I used to battle with a Growlithe. Growlithe and I would make the same kind of faces you're making now; the faces of a warrior ready to conquer their foe in battle!"

Pyrrha held out her fist towards Ruby. "I can tell from just the way your Eevee is standing, she's ready to take on whatever we throw at her! Ruby, Eevee, let's give these people a battle to remember! Let's show them what true warriors are made of!"

"You got it!" said Ruby, holding out a fist of her own and smiling with Pyrrha.

"Arcanine, Fire Fang!"

"Eevee, Sand Attack!"

Arcanine ran up to Eevee with her mouth lit aflame. Before she can take a bite out of Eevee, Eevee kicked sand into her eyes and blinded her, causing her to miss Eevee.

"Keep it up, Eevee!" Eevee moved aside and kicked up more sand to blind Arcanine more.

"Arcanine, Extreme Speed!" Arcanine backed off to avoid getting hit with the sand, then in the blink of an eye, tackled into Eevee hard enough to send her rolling to the edge of the ring, nearly pushing her into the lava surrounding them.

"Eevee, Swift attack!" Eevee powered up and shot several stars at Arcanine as she ran around the edge of the ring to avoid Arcanine.

"After her, Arcanine!"

Arcanine used her Extreme Speed to run through the stars and chase Eevee around the ring. Eevee was hoping to slow Arcanine down with her Swift, but Arcanine didn't lose a step and rammed into Eevee, sending her flying into the barrier placed around the audience. The audience thought Eevee was about to take a dip into the artificial lava; Eevee quickly kicked off the wall and got back into the ring, saving herself from getting burned. Eevee had to stop to catch her breath, giving Arcanine a prime opening.

"Arcanine, Fire Fang!" Arcanine immediately got on top of Eevee and bit down on Eevee's tail, causing some serious pain.

"Eevee, Sand Attack!" Eevee used all four of her legs to send sand flying into Arcanine's eyes. Arcanine tried to ignore the painful sting in her eyes, but eventually it became too much and she had to let go of Eevee to rub the sand out.

"Now's your chance, Eevee! Take Down attack!"

Eevee distanced herself from Arcanine, then ran at her with all her might. Eevee knocked into the side of Arcanine and sent her back a few feet, dealing quite a bit of damage.

"Not bad Ruby, but it's nothing compared to Flare Blitz!"

Arcanine stood back up and charged into Eevee with her body on fire. Arcanine was too fast to avoid, knocking into Eevee and dealing some serious damage, pushing Eevee back even more than Eevee pushed Arcanine. Despite being outpowered by Arcanine's attack, Eevee got up and was daring to go again.

"You might want to rethink challenging my Arcanine to a game of chicken!" said Pyrrha.

"Actually, that's exactly what I want to do!" said Ruby. "Take her down again, Eevee!"

"A foolish move, Ruby! Arcanine, Flare Blitz!"

Arcanine and Eevee charged into each other with their reckless all-out attacks. The two of them collided hard into each other in the center of the ring; the force of Arcanine's attack was enough to push Eevee back, but Arcanine's head felt like it was about to split open. The audience cringed at seeing two Pokémon deal such a huge blow to each other. Arcanine was starting to wobble around from the combination of the poison affecting her health and the brutal collision. She was still better off than Eevee, who was just laying down as if she was knocked out.

"Arcanine is still moving, but it appears Eevee is done for!" said the announcer. "We have to wait from the officials below to determine a final result!"

"I told you it was foolish to attack Arcanine like that, Ruby," said Pyrrha. "Sorry it had to end this way."

"No need to apologize, Pyrrha," said Ruby. "After all...this battle is still going!"

"Still going? Your Eevee is critically hurt!"

"Not for long! Eevee, snack time!"

"Snack time?"

Underneath Eevee's fur, something yellowish was starting to appear. Upon a closer look on the big screens above, it was a Sitrus berry that Eevee had tied around her neck, tucked into her fur so no one could see. Eevee slowly took a bite of her berry and was starting to regain some of her health.

"What a twist in the battle!" said the announcer. "It turns out Eevee had a Sitrus berry on her! The battle continues!"

The audience was starting to go nuts. Every time Ruby appeared to be cornered, she always came up with a new trick to stay in the game.

"Just when I think I have you figured out," said Pyrrha, "you keep me guessing! I can't remember the last time I felt this excited to battle!"

Eevee finished eating her berry and stood up, ready to fight once again.

"What are you waiting for, then?" said Ruby. "Let's fight like true warriors do!"

"With pleasure! Arcanine, commence your Howl! Arcanine stood proud and Howled to boost her strength.

"Eevee, Take Down!"

"Arcanine, Extreme Speed!"

Eevee charged for Arcanine just as before. This this Arcanine ran behind Eevee to avoid the Take Down and knock into her with Extreme Speed. Eevee stumbled but quickly recovered and fired her Swift stars in retaliation. Arcanine kept running circles around Eevee and tackled into her again at her lightning fast pace. Arcanine was about to run again but suddenly tripped and fell. She was losing the strength to run at such amazing speeds, and the poison was starting to get to her health.

"She's almost done for, Eevee!" shouted Ruby. "Take her down!"

"Eevee!" replied Eevee. She got back on all fours and headed for Arcanine.

"We're not out yet!" shouted Pyrrha. "Arcanine, Flare Blitz!"

Arcanine's fur went ablaze as she charged into Eevee. Just like before, the two of them collided into each other and caused serious damage to themselves and their foes. Both were laying on their side, exhausted from their reckless attacks. Not a single person in the stadium was sitting; everyone stood up and tried to look down on the two Pokémon giving their all. Weiss was waiting for Arcanine to get up and be declared the winner; Jaune was waiting for Eevee to get up and be declared the winner. Ruby and Pyrrha can feel their hearts beating rapidly, hoping their respective Pokémon would be the first to stand up.

Both Pokémon laid there for about fifteen seconds, but waiting for something to happen made it seem like it lasted a good five minutes. Arcanine started to stir and tried to get back up, but the constant blitzes and the poison effects were taking their toll on her body. Everyone started cheering thinking Arcanine had won, until a few moments later when Eevee started to get up as well. Both Pokémon were clearly down to their last bit of health; whoever landed their next attack the hardest would be the one to come out on top.

Once both Pokémon got back on their feet, the two turned their attention to each other. Knowing they each had only one more attack left, they started to distance themselves from each other as they walked in a circle. Eevee and Arcanine also knew by heart what move their respective masters were going to command. Arcanine slowly built up the flames to prepare herself for Flare Blitz. Eevee's body started to glow in a white aura, as now was finally the right time to use Last Resort. The crowd went dead silent as they were about to witness the end of the match.

"This is it!" said Pyrrha. "This moment will decide who is the stronger warrior! Are you ready, Ruby?"

"Hit me with your best shot!" said Ruby.

"Arcanine, Flare Blitz!"

"Eevee, Last Resort!"

As Arcanine's flames and Eevee's aura reached their peaks, the two Pokémon charged into each other with everything they had. Eevee jumped up and rammed herself head first into Arcanine, who bent down and rammed head first as well. When they crashed into each other dead center in the arena, the sheer power of the two attacks caused a mini-sonic boom to echo throughout the stadium. The force of the attacks caused both to be pushed back and collapse. Nobody knew what to make of the fight; they were sure at least one of them would be left standing.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it appears the battle may have ended in a draw!" said the announcer. "Neither Pokémon are getting up after using such devastating attacks!"

Everyone was waiting for either an official ruling to be given or for one of the Pokémon to prove they weren't knocked out. The silence was killing Ruby; she wanted to know if she had won the match or not. One minute passed by and nothing happened, causing some members of the audience to start yelling for a decision to be made.

"Well folks, we may have a first on our hands. Unless either Pokémon can get up, this match is going to end in a draw!"

"A draw?" thought Ruby. "I can't earn a badge on a draw! At this rate, I'll never get into the Pokémon League!"

"Per the rules, a challenger cannot earn a badge if the match were to end in a tie. Therefore, the match technically falls in favor of-"

Before the announcer can finish, Eevee started to open her eyes, causing the crowd watching on the screens to go nuts.

"Eee," moaned Eevee.

"Wait a moment! Eevee is starting to show signs of life! However, Eevee still needs to stand appropriately to be considered eligible!"

"Come on Eevee!" yelled Ruby. "Get up! I know you can!"

Every part of Eevee's body was in pain, but she needed to keep pushing and get on all fours in order for Ruby to be declared the winner. First she placed her front right paw flat on the ground, then her front left paw on the ground, then struggled with all her might to try and lift her body high enough for her legs to get the same footing. Eevee's front paws gave out and she collapsed flat on her stomach, causing the audience to moan in disappointment.

"Try as she might, it doesn't look like Eevee can get up. Eevee put up an amazing effort, but couldn't quite clinch the victory. Ladies and gentlemen, let's give our challenger a round of applause for-"

"Eevee!" yelled Eevee. Eevee grinded her teeth and placed her front paws back on the ground, then digging down deeper than she ever had before, found the strength to lift her back legs up and was back on standing on all four of her legs.

"UNBELIEVABLE! Eevee has gotten back on her feet, while Arcanine continues to remain down! I'm getting word from the officials below...Arcanine is officially ELIMINATED! Your winner of the match: RUBY ROSE!"

"YES!" shouted Ruby. "We did it, Eevee! We defeated Pyrrha!"

As loud as Ruby was shouting, she couldn't even hear herself from the deafening roar of the crowd. The lava around the ring was being drained as ramps appeared below the balconies for the two trainers to walk out onto the arena. Ruby ran as fast as she could and lifted Eevee up, giving her the tightest hug possible.

"You were incredible Eevee! Words can't express how proud I am!"

"Eevee," muttered Eevee, too weak to do anything but say her name. Pyrrha went over to her Arcanine and patted her on the head.

"A fantastic fight as always, Arcanine," said Pyrrha. "I couldn't be happier with the way you fought. Take a rest now; you deserve it."

After Pyrrha recalled her Pokémon, the announcer from the booth went down to interview the trainers as a small box from above containing the Miló badge slowly came down.

"Ruby, you have been able to accomplish what very few trainers could: Defeating Pyrrha Nikos in a four on four gym battle! How are you feeling?"

"Like I'm on clouds nine, ten, a hundred!" responded Ruby, trying to wipe some of the tears in her eyes while holding on to Eevee. "And I have Eevee and all my other Pokémon to thank for it!"

"Eevee!" said Eevee, feeling even more enthused than Ruby.

"Pyrrha, any comments you'd like to make to your opponent?"

"And people think I'm a prodigy!" said Pyrrha. "To be honest Ruby, I thought it would take you at least a week to challenge me again, but you've grown so quickly in just two days!"

"I've been training non-stop those past two days," said Ruby. "I wasn't going to come back a third time!"

"It's certainly paid off. For your hard-earned victory against me, it is my honor to award you the Miló badge!"

Pyrrha opened the box and took out a red and gold badge in the shape of a spear. Pyrrha handed the badge to Ruby and shook her hand.

"Let's hear it one more time for both trainers!"

Although the crowd were behind Pyrrha, everyone applauded for Ruby's victory and putting on what many were going to consider the greatest gym match to ever take place in the stadium. Jaune was especially relieved that the match was over and Ruby earned her seventh badge.

"Everything turned out for the best," thought Jaune, "even if I am going to miss hanging around Pyrrha. But first things first; I still have to find my calling!"

While everyone else was happy about the match, there was still one person who hated the outcome. Weiss was in shock and disbelief that Ruby defeated Pyrrha.

"Of all the people to lose to, she loses to Ruby? How could this be? How could Pyrrha 'The Human Moltres' Nikos lose to that amateur? Pyrrha had to have been caught on a bad day! Yeah, that has to be it! Pyrrha must be distracted by something work related and simply wasn't concentrating hard enough! Or maybe someone forced her to throw the fight in convincing fashion to attract ticket sales! Managers always love to sabotage these battles for sales! Or maybe...maybe..."

The truth was slowly starting to sink into Weiss. As soon as Weiss accepted the truth, she suddenly dropped the fangirl mentality and went right back to her better-known personality.

"Maybe you're not as good as I thought you were, Pyrrha. I looked up to you because I thought you were the best in the world, but you couldn't beat my father. Then you decide to become a gym leader instead of pursue the championship, realizing you would never accomplish that goal. If you couldn't defeat Ruby, then it's clear to me that I've surpassed you, Pyrrha. There's no point in looking up to trainers who are beneath me. It's time I stopped looking up to others, and have people start looking up to me. After all, A Schnee Never Loses!"

Dissatisfied with her former idol's poor performance, Weiss left Hriso Stadium in a hurry. She had wasted too much time indulging in her childhood fantasies, and needed to get back on track to earning her eighth and final badge.

As Weiss was leaving the stadium, she got a call on her scroll from her sister. Weiss wasn't in the mood for talking, but knew she was going to get lectured for missing calls.

"Hello Winter," greeted Weiss.

"Weiss, where are you?" asked Winter.

"I'm in Hriso City. Are you checking up on my status as well?"

"Weiss, whatever you do, I need you to stay away from New Vale City!"

"Away from New Vale City? Why you need me to do that?"

"You'll find out soon enough, and when you do, do NOT go there!"

"What's going on? Did something happen to our company?"

Weiss tried to get a response, but Winter had already hung up. Something had to be going on in New Vale City. Weiss went online to check for any news about events in New Vale City. It didn't take long to find out as the headlines were popping up all over social media. One of them reading: "Mass Evacuation Ordered in New Vale City."

"Mass evacuation? What for?"

Weiss tried to look up more info, but no one could report anything concrete, and as far as the public knew so far, it was supposedly just a drill. Why the city decided to pop a surprise drill wasn't making sense for a lot of people, and thus the city was already in a mass panic.

With no word as to why New Vale City was undergoing an evacuation, Weiss instead headed to another city where she can earn her final badge.

#

After the match was over, Ruby and Jaune met back up near the entrance of the stadium. Ruby used some of her potions to heal Eevee as a temporary measure before they reached the Pokémon Center. The two of them were waiting to say their final goodbyes to Pyrrha before they left the city.

"I can't believe I'm just one badge away!" said Ruby, looking over her new badge count on her backpack. "One more badge and I'm going to compete in the Pokémon League!"

"I still can't believe you defeated Pyrrha!" said Jaune. "I mean, I didn't think you couldn't beat Pyrrha, but she was-"

"I understand, Jaune. To be honest, I nearly gave up myself after hearing that it might end in a draw!"

"Well Ruby, I'm happy you won. I really am."

"Really Jaune? You're not upset that I'm taking you away from your new best friend?"

"She's not my new best friend, I swear!" said Jaune, turning beet red.

"Ha ha ha!" laughed Ruby. "I'm just teasing you, Jaune!"

Before Ruby can tease Jaune some more, Pyrrha arrived in her Pokémon Ranger uniform.

"Sorry I'm late!" said Pyrrha. "Ruby, that was a really awesome battle you put on back there. I really think that was the best battle I ever fought as a gym leader!"

"Same here," said Ruby. "You truly are deserving of the title 'The Human Moltres'."

"And Jaune, thanks for all your help these past couple of days. It was great getting to know you."

"I guess this is goodbye then," said Jaune, returning his front seat pass to Pyrrha. "Thanks for letting me hang out with you during my stay here."

"It was my pleasure, Jaune. Good luck in finding your true calling, and Ruby, good luck on your next badge quest. I'd love to see just how you compare against the Elite Four!"

"RUBY! PYRRHA!" shouted someone from above.

The three of them looked up and saw Yang flying down on Celica.

"Ruby!" said Yang. "Thank Arceus you're here!"

"Hey Yang!" said Ruby. "Check it out! I just won my seventh badge!"

"I'd love to celebrate with you sis, but now's not the time."

"You're sounding serious," said Pyrrha. "This has to be really bad if you're taking this seriously. What's the situation?"

"The White Fang have found Subject M."

"Subject M? Are you sure they found it?"

"Qrow just received photos from one of our spies."

Yang showed Pyrrha and the others the photos of the White Fang with Subject M.

"There's no doubt about it," said Pyrrha. "That's Subject M!"

"Subject M?" said Jaune. "What's that?"

"A dangerous and powerful Pokémon! If the White Fang have it under their control, we're all in serious trouble!"

When Ruby saw the Pokémon referred to as Subject M, a memory suddenly triggered in her head. She remembered seeing something that resembled Subject M back on Patch Island, only she had no idea if it was actually a Pokémon.

"That Pokémon...I swear I've seen it before!" said Ruby.

"I doubt that Ruby," said Yang. "This thing's been in hiding for nearly twenty years."

"What are the boss' orders?" asked Pyrrha.

"He wants us to meet with him at Beacon City."

"I'm coming too!" said Ruby.

"So am I!" said Jaune.

"You know I'd rather you didn't come," said Yang, "but I don't have time to argue. I'll let Uncle Qrow decide whether you come or not."

"Then let's get to Beacon City right away!" said Pyrrha.

Yang called out her Flygon, Altaria, and Celica. Yang got on Celica, Ruby got on Altaria, Jaune got on Flygon, and Pyrrha got on her Pidgeot. The four of them took the air and flew their way towards Beacon City, where a perfect storm of catastrophe was about to begin.