With the participants for the Hero Olympics confirmed, every one of them took a flight to Edmonton. Needless to say, Vaporeon was looking forward to reuniting with her friends, even if they would only be able to enjoy one day of downtime before the event started.

And sure enough, when her plane landed, Allie and her parents were there waiting for her and the others to arrive. Surprisingly, it was not too long until they were all reunited, Vaporeon giving them all the biggest hug and telling them the good news. And while she was not surprised that the others won their respective tournaments, she still felt happy to compete with them nonetheless.

When Rolycoly told Morgrem how his match went, the goblin grinned and gave him a high five. In the end, all six had made it and they could not wait for everything to begin. Though before that, Brian offered to treat everyone to a fancy meal on him, and none of them could possibly refuse.

The day passed by with everyone now up to speed with how things had turned out. As it so happened, Rillaboom had convinced her parents to accept her offer to pay for their own flight tickets, so she knew they would be there to cheer her on. Scorbunny's folks, on the other hand, would support her from home as would Inteleon for Drizzile. As for Morgrem, only Dhelmise would be there since Impidimp had to work.

Either way, the day passed by and all six heroes had trouble getting to sleep. They knew they would need it since tomorrow would be a long day for them, but they could not contain their excitement.

And when noon rolled around, the seats at Commonwealth Stadium were jam-packed as not only were there tons of people from Edmonton but also from other countries. After all, many of them wanted to support their representatives in person.

Allie managed to get decent seats along with her parents as she squealed, "I can't wait for Drizzile to come out onto the runway!" Wendy nodding and replying, "Yeah, this is so cool," pulling out her phone, "I'm gonna record every moment."

Shaymin sat behind a podium along with Tori while the human woman exclaimed, "We are here live at Commonwealth Stadium where those competing will soon walk down this very runway! It's been many, many years since the Hero Olympics were held in Canada and let me tell you, it is an honour to host such an event."

"I can't blame you," Shaymin replied with a grin, "It's been quite a long time since we last held this. I simply can't wait to see how everyone does, especially with the events I have planned."

She then grinned and thought, 'Past chairmen have always gone with at least one familiar event. This year, I'm doing everything differently. I'm gonna stand out from all the rest and show that I'm the best Olympics host ever!' flames in her eyes while Tori stared at her awkwardly.

All the while, the heroes waited in a back room, Scorbunny excited beyond compare while Drizzile took a deep breath. After everything he had been through, he was certain he could face a big crowd like this. And of course, Rillaboom just hoped that she would be able to see her parents.

Rolycoly tensed up and uttered, "I hope I do a good job," only for Morgrem to pat him on the shoulder and reply, "Don't sweat it. We're gonna kick so much ass out there."

Vaporeon, all the while, thought hard about how she would enter when she suddenly felt a tap on her shoulder. She blinked and turned only for her eyes to widen when she saw who had done it. A big open-mouth smiled formed on her face as she squealed, "Incineroar!"

She embraced the tiger who grinned and patted her on the back, saying, "Hey there. I knew you'd qualify," Ben and Wurmple also standing there while she squeaked with excitement.

"Oh, hey, Ben," she said with a smile before turning to the caterpillar and adding, "Nice to see you, too, Wurmple," Wurmple bowing his head and replying, "A pleasure to see you too. It's been far too long."

"Yeah, that's true," Incineroar replied with a blink, "Hell, I feel lucky Ben and I got to see you at all after graduation," Vaporeon nodding and uttering, "I wish it had been under better circumstances, but yeah."

Just as Vaporeon's friends were about to ask about her new allies, Scorbunny spotted them and raced over to them, saying, "Hey there," before Drizzile and Rillaboom approached them more casually.

Incineroar blinked before a grin formed on his face. He then held out his hand and said, "Hey, it's nice to see you." Drizzile was rather shocked by this, but Rillaboom and Scorbunny easily shook his hand before he gazed down at the chameleon and asked, "You're not butthurt over your loss to me, are you?"

"Oh, no, of course not," Drizzile replied while he rubbed the back of his head, "I'm just a little shocked," the tiger staring for a few seconds. But after a while, he put two and two together, nodded and said, "Oh, don't worry about it. Villains turning to the side of good is a common thing. You may have been evil when we fought, but you're not anymore, right?"

Drizzile stared for a few seconds before a smile formed on his face. Thus he shook the tiger's hand before both formed a friendly grin. The chameleon never would have imagined someone so ruthless in combat could be this nice outside of the ring.

Ben, meanwhile, grinned at Rillaboom and said, "I heard you've gotten much better at strategizing since we fought," the gorilla nodding and replying, "Damn straight. I bet if we faced each other again, I'd beat your ass for sure," both sharing a laugh.

Wurmple felt a touch left out until Vaporeon introduced him. When she mentioned his parents, all three former villains stared in shock. Both Lycanroc and Caterpie were famous, especially Caterpie who had gone from one of Tokyo's worst heroes to surprisingly amazing in combat despite his small stature.

"Speaking of which," Vaporeon enquired, "Where's Rockruff? Did she not qualify?" Wurmple replying, "For some reason, she really wanted to compete in the same tournament I did, figuring it would be better than waiting to see if we would face each other in the Olympics."

The fox stared in stunned silence for a few seconds. She then rose her finger and uttered, "You're telling me you actually beat your sister?" the caterpillar rubbing the back of his head and chuckling, "Yeah, I'm just as surprised as you are."

Scorbunny turned toward Morgrem and Rolycoly and called them both over, thus they approached the group and were soon introduced to Vaporeon's old friends. All three were very happy to meet the duo, though Wurmple and Ben blinked when Grimmsnarl approached from behind along with Samurott.

"Ah, there you are," he said as Morgrem turned to face him, "When Mom called me and said you actually won, I had to see you here to believe it. Congrats, sis," the red goblin smirking and retorting, "Hey, I beat you, didn't I?"

Samurott then cut in and stated, "Hey, name's Samurott. I imagine Grimmsnarl's mentioned me, his super awesome partner in crime fighting, eh?" before Morgrem nodded and replied, "Yeah. He says you're amazing in combat."

The sea lion grinned with pride until she added, "He also said you're hardheaded and full of yourself," his eyelids narrowing as Grimmsnarl laughed nervously.

The conversation was soon interrupted when a loudspeaker came on and a female voice told everyone to line up in areas reserved for their respective countries. After all, they only had a few minutes before they were to walk down the runway.

Scorbunny smiled and said, "Do your best, guys," Rillaboom giving her a thumb up and heading toward the Kenyan side.

All the while, Thwackey had an old-school camera out and said, "How lucky is it that we just happened to have this in the attic?" Obasi saying, "Yeah, with this, we can create memories of this occasion."

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls!" Shaymin exclaimed, "It's time for the moment you've all been waiting for!" Tori nodding and adding, "Yes, in only a minute, all of the contestants will come down the runway! As you're all probably aware, we have far more participants than usual! Up until now, we have always had three per country, but this year, we have five! One can only guess how much more exciting this will be with so many!"

The first country to go up was France, but of course many followed close behind. Drizzile had to admit that he was a tad surprised when he wound up going before any of his friends. At the very least, he felt like England would have taken priority.

Regardless, he put on a serious face and walked down the runway with dignity and grace. When he noticed Allie waving at him, he smiled and returned the gesture.

Ben was up next along with the rest of the American fighters, the crowd especially excited to see a human in the Hero Olympics. After all, it had been ages since the last time this happened, so this was a big deal to say the least. And Japan was next with Wurmple feeling nervous but trying his best not to show it. While his family was not there to cheer for him in person, he at least knew they were all watching from home.

Next up were the British representatives. Scorbunny waved to the crowd with both hands and blew them a few kisses while Corviknight marched with the grace and dignity one would expect from a knight. Although he did break that for a few seconds to give the rabbit a supportive smile before she nodded at him and gave him a thumb up.

Next was Thailand, and of course, Vaporeon could not have just looked professional. After all, both of her parents had been known to always put on a big show whenever they entered the ring. As such, she performed a handstand while she walked and flipped upright, and while the other Thai heroes seemed embarrassed by this, she knew Eevee and Popplio had to have appreciated that greatly.

Next up was Poland, Samurott grinning and waving to the crowd. However, his eyes widened when he spotted Yanma among the crowd and waved with an open-mouth smile. He was especially flattered to not only see her wearing a bandana that resembled the Polish Flag around her head but she also held up a picket sign with his face on it.

When Romania came up, she flipped the sign over to reveal Grimmsnarl's face, the green goblin showing a great deal of appreciation. Morgrem noticed this and asked, "Is she your other partner?" Grimmsnarl nodding and replying, "Yeah. Hopefully you'll get to meet her properly during downtime."

Once the two were finished talking, Grimmsnarl lifted Morgrem up onto his shoulders before both waved to the crowd. The audience could not help but find this especially touching and sweet, mostly because no one had ever done that during an opening ceremony before.

"What an incredible display!" Tori exclaimed, "Even though both those heroes will compete against each other, their sibling relationship is clearly a strong one!" before turning to Shaymin who released tears and sniffed, "I'm so glad I gave them community service instead of locking them up forever."

Tori patted her on the back, her eyes wide with shock as she uttered, "Oh my god, your back is so soft." And while she caressed it, Shaymin blushed and uttered, "Please don't do that in public."

Kenya was up soon enough, and while Rillaboom waved to the crowd, she also looked among the bleachers before she spotted her parents. Thwackey held up a sign that said 'Rillaboom rules' while Obasi gripped a megaphone and released his own cheers into it.

The Grecian fighters were up next. Rolycoly wheeled down the runway with a look of confidence while many cheered for him. But while he certainly loved the attention, some of the other representatives of his country intimidated him.

India was up next, Incineroar waving to the crowd with a grin. And more and more countries came up before it ended with Canada. After all, the government always saved the host country for last.

And with all of that out of the way, Shaymin waited for the audience to calm down and stated, "Now that the fighters have been introduced, it's time for the first sporting event!"

While most adults in the crowd were not surprised by this, many teens and kids were confused until the hedgehog explained, "For those unaware, the sporting events to decide our finalists always start immediately after the opening ceremony! We on Hero Planet like to get this part out of the way as soon as possible!"

"Wait, we don't even get to prepare ourselves?" Drizzile uttered only for Scorbunny to beam bright and squeal, "Hell yeah! I can get behind that!"

Most other heroes seemed fine with this as well, and thus Shaymin grinned and directed everyone's attention to a nearby jumbotron. On the screen came the words 'Tug of War' with an image of two muscle-bound heroes pulling on a thick rope.

The majority of the heroes seemed to approve of this, though some looked a tad nervous. Wurmple, for instance, could not help but wonder if he was qualified for a test of strength, especially with his small stature and tiny arms.

Either way, everyone was interested when various parts of the ground opened up to reveal pits. However, many panicked when they noticed the pits were full of spikes. And while they were not particularly big or razor sharp, this was still alarming, Rillaboom barking, "Hey, is that what the loser falls in!?"

Drizzile tried desperately to maintain his confidence while Rolycoly trembled and uttered, "Oh my god, the chairwoman's insane," many others speaking up against this until one hero in particular enquired, "What's the big deal? Isn't this normal for the Hero Olympics?"

Everyone stared and noticed that the one who had spoken up was a cyborg made entirely out of liquid metal. Dark grey hexagonal nuts were attached to his shoulders, the middle of his arms and his feet and there was even a small one embedded into his midsection. A big golden one covered his neck like a collar and half of a small one represented a head. Finally, a small black eye floated within the head's boundaries.

"Well, I hate to say it, but he's right," Wurmple sighed, "Since we're heroes, we can handle stuff like this, so they often add gimmicks like these to make these events extra tough for us."

Now he was the one receiving all the stares until he tensed up and uttered, "Hey, my grandpa used to be chairman. I know this stuff," Vaporeon chuckling, "Oh yeah, I actually forgot about that."

Grimmsnarl shrugged and said, "I agree with the metal guy. It's not like this is any worse than fighting a dangerous villain," Shaymin grinning wide and stating, "Nice to see at least a couple of you get it! But yes, Melmetal is right! The Hero Olympics have always been a true test of the abilities of heroes and it was my goal especially to make this the most brutal one yet! To answer your question, Rillaboom, yes, the half who end up losing will fall into the spikes!"

Scorbunny smirked and replied, "Well, we all knew this profession would be dangerous," Drizzile sighing, "Well, as long as I don't die from falling in."

With that in mind, multiple staff members carried in not ropes but long chains and draped them over the pits. They then signalled each hero to pick a random nearby opponent to face. And soon enough, each one had a choice.

Scorbunny had wound up with a mongoose with yellow fur atop his head named Yungoos. Drizzile was face-to-face with a cross between a horsehair crab and a yeti named Crabominable. Rillaboom, meanwhile, was to face a toucan named Toucannon.

Vaporeon was up against a light purple slug named Sliggoo and Morgrem turned toward a barnacle with two hands for heads named Binacle. However, Rolycoly's fear returned when he noticed his opponent was a large red T-Rex named Tyrantrum.

Grimmsnarl noticed that his opponent was a small pink bird-like creature with a white mask and a curved beak. He stared in stunned silence while she implied a sweet smile with her eyes and said, "Hi, I'm Spritzee. Nice to meet you," waving her right wing at him.

'Oh god, this is way too easy,' Grimmsnarl thought, 'I almost feel like a bully picking on a child,' before smirking and saying, "Nice to meet you, too. Don't be too sad when I beat you."

Spritzee lowered her eyelids and thought, 'Oh, you act high and mighty now, but wait'll you see what I have in store.'

Once the heroes all picked up their respective chains, Shaymin stated, "One last thing. Because this is a competition for heroes, you may use whatever means necessary to make things easier for you. That means if you can attack your opponent from the other side of the pit or do something else to boost your chances, you may."

When Wurmple heard this, he blinked and thought, 'I might actually stand a chance after all,' before turning to face his opponent, specifically Melmetal.

And once the bell was rung, the caterpillar immediately released a string of silk from his mouth and wrapped it around his side of the chain, shouting, "STRINGSHOT GRAPPLING HOOK!"

With the chain secured, he pulled back as hard as he could while Melmetal seemed to put no real effort into his pull at all. But just as it looked like Wurmple would come out on top, his eyes sparkling and tears running down his face, the cyborg yanked back just hard enough to reel the caterpillar inward. However, the crowd was truly shocked when it turned out Melmetal pulled so hard that Wurmple had flown over the pit and landed right beside him.

Wurmple stared in shock as Melmetal rubbed the back of his neck and uttered, "I didn't want you to get too badly hurt."

While Wurmple was disappointed that he had lost already, he could not have felt more grateful right now, thus he bowed his head and said, "Good luck in the second event," the crowd applauding the two.

"Wow, what a nice guy," Allie uttered, Brian nodding and replying, "He's definitely a good sport."

Scorbunny easily overpowered Yungoos, although she could not help but wince at the sight of him falling into the spikes and crying out in agonizing pain. She knew she would have to witness this if she won, but even so, this seemed unnecessarily cruel despite what had already been established. But even so, she was still glad that she won, but she hoped that the mongoose would be okay.

All the while, Grimmsnarl was close to pulling Spritzee into the pit only for the bird to smirk and shout, "FAIRY DUSTER!"

A strange pink dust flew out of the sides of her mask and hit Grimmsnarl in the face. As such, he could not help but close his eyes. Luckily, this quickly backfired when rather than dropping his guard, the green goblin instinctively pulled even harder, thus guaranteeing his victory.

Sure enough, many others managed to overcome their opponents as well. Drizzile struggled at first but then gained the upper hand when he encased his hands in water and morphed it into a pair of big gloves, shouting, "AQUATIC POWER MITTS!"

Allie waved her arms in the air and shouted, "Way to go, Drizzile!" her parents joining in, Wendy saying, "Wow, I didn't know he had abilities like that."

And after Rillaboom pulled Toucannon forward, she gasped and stopped herself from falling in by flapping her wings. But since the gorilla had overpowered her, she still lost.

Morgrem struggled quite a bit. Binacle not only proved to be more physically strong than their skinny body implied, but they also had all four of their hands pulling on it, the red goblin grunting, "Dammit, I thought your heads just happened to look like hands."

The right head implied a smirk with his eyes and retorted in a male voice, "Yeah, people used to make the same mistake about our great grandpa," the left head adding in a female voice, "You never stood a chance!"

However, just as Morgrem was mere millimetres away from the pit, she gasped and realized what she could do. As such, she sharpened her hair and planted it into the ground, shouting, "GRIZZLY SPEAR!" She then used it to vault herself backward, allowing her to pull on the chain so hard that the conjoined siblings lost their grip on it. While they had not fallen victim to the spikes, their flesh had been scraped, and since they let go of the chain, they had also lost.

Despite his wheel possessing incredible speed, Rolycoly struggled just as much as he figured he would against Tyrantrum. But just as it looked like he would fail for sure, he noticed Morgrem had won and put on a serious look. Thus he let out a battle cry and pulled much harder. The dinosaur's eyes went wide when he found himself pulled forward just enough to step on the spikes, crying out in pain and backing up far enough to trip on the side of the pit, falling on his rear end.

Almost everyone had finished by this point. The only heroes still pulling on their chain were Vaporeon and Sliggoo. While the fox seemed to have superior strength, it hardly mattered as the slug did not even move from her spot.

A smirk formed on her face while she thought, 'Try all you like, Vaporeon, but my sticky slime makes it difficult to get me to move. Eventually, you'll run out of energy and I'll be declared the-'

Her train of thought was cut off when Vaporeon bit onto the chain and whipped her tail around to pull with that as well. And sure enough, the added strength was just enough for Sliggoo to slide forward. She shook her head in panic, and just as she was inches away from the spikes, she dropped her part of the chain and breathed heavily.

Vaporeon released the chain as well before Shaymin rang the bell and exclaimed, "And there you have it! We now know which heroes will advance to the second event!" the crowd cheering wildly while Scorbunny, Rillaboom and Drizzile walked over to Vaporeon. They all gave her a congratulatory pat on the back before all four shared a good laugh.

But while the heroes of Edmonton along with most of their friends had made it, there were still two sporting events left before the finals. But while it would be tough, they were all determined to make it.