With Scorbunny's match out of the way, she and Hatterene exited the ring after the walkways were put back up. Both walked toward the bleachers with looks of respect toward one-another. And sure enough, Scorbunny soon took a seat near her friends and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Good job," Rillaboom said with a grin before Vaporeon nodded and squealed, "That was really smart thinking on your part! You were already amazing, but I didn't know you could be that smart!"
Scorbunny chuckled and replied, "Well, my mom did help me with that," Morgrem uttering, "If we fought again, I'd go down much more easily. I just know it."
Allie took a deep breath and said, "And just think, you could end up facing either Rillaboom or Vaporeon in the semi-finals," Scorbunny nodding and replying, "Yeah. If there's anyone in this tournament I don't mind losing to, it's you guys."
The next ten minutes went by rather quickly, and once they were up, Shaymin grinned and squealed, "Alright, everyone, it's gonna be hard to top that last match, but I'm sure these next two fighters can truly deliver!"
Tori nodded and stated, "In the red corner, hailing from Mongolia is a dragon that's a lot tougher than she looks! With speed and skills, we give you Flapple!" the Mongolian crowd cheering wildly while the dragon hopped toward the walkway. Since her tail was tucked into the lower portion of her apple-like shell and she had no feet, she could not actually walk normally.
But just as it looked like she would hop all the way to the ring, she spread out the portions of the shell attached to her arms, which were shaped like wings, and launched herself forward and just high enough to soar over the ropes. She then landed perfectly against the mat and bowed her head.
Drizzile blinked and uttered, "Huh, they actually function like wings. I didn't expect that," Allie replying, "I don't think they quite work like that. It looks more like she can give herself a boost with them but not actually fly."
"And in the blue corner-" Shaymin exclaimed, "representing the United States of America is a powerful and swift unicorn like something straight out of a fairytale! Though she may look beautiful, inside is the heart of a killer! Give it up for Rapidight!"
The American fans went wild when Rapidight galloped toward the ring on all fours. She then leapt over the ropes and landed perfectly. Afterwards, she rose up and held her arm hooves above her head with a grin on her face.
The unicorn turned to face her opponent while her mane flipped back and forth, Flapple gazing upon her and uttering, "Wow, you're beautiful."
Rapidight blinked and uttered, "Oh, why, thank you," only for the dragon to smirk and remark, "It'll be such a crying shame when I ruin that lovely face of yours."
The unicorn narrowed her eyelids and grunted, "I'd like to see you try. Believe me, I've had tougher opponents attempt that same thing. I may look delicate and fancy, but I grew up on a barn. I'm as rough and tough as they come."
At that moment, her eyes widened when Ben whistled to her and exclaimed, "Yeah, you tell her, Rapidight! Show em that Texas spirit!" Rapidight blushing lightly and chuckling, "Don't you worry your pretty little head, Ben! I'll make sure this snake doesn't know what hit her!"
Flapple frowned and thought, 'We'll see who the snake is when this is over,' Incineroar all the while turning to Ben and asking, "You know her?"
"Oh yeah, back when we lived at our old homes, she lived across the pasture from me," Ben replied, "My family's real good friends with hers. We still keep in touch every now and then."
Morgrem could just barely make this out since her ears were long enough, thus she sighed, "Oh, damn. I was just about to cheer for Flapple out of spite," Rolycoly staring in confusion before he suddenly remembered that Rapidight was the one who eliminated Grimmsnarl from the race. Though since he had not heard what Ben and his friends had said, he could not help but wonder why she had changed her mind.
Whatever the case, both fighters were ready, thus Shaymin nodded and squealed, "Well, folks, without further ado, let's get this underway!" and rang the bell.
Rapidight wasted no time and raced toward Flapple. Once close enough, she sent a barrage of high kicks toward her face. However, the dragon was ready for this and easily blocked them with the shell fragment on her arm.
Unfortunately for her, Rapidight had seen this coming. As such, she smirked after delivering a few kicks and lowered her leg, ramming her hoof hard into Flapple's gut. The dragon grunted from the pain and lowered her guard, thus the unicorn leapt up and sent a roundhouse into her cheek.
The American crowd went wild while Flapple backed up and rubbed the spot that had just been hit. And she would certainly need to think fast when she noticed Rapidight charge toward her on all fours. However, she also knew it might be too early to use her horn, thus she leapt up into the air and shouted, "FLYING CENTAUR!" sending a barrage of rapid kicks with all four hooves into Flapple's forehead, shoulders and chest.
Ben grinned and exclaimed, "Yeah! Way to go, Rapidight!" the unicorn's cheeks flushed pink while she rose up again and sent a barrage of high kicks into the dragon's sides.
Flapple gritted her teeth and attempted to block her kicks, but once again, Rapidight saw right through her strategy and leapt up into the air, wrapping her legs around the dragon's shoulders. She then leaned backward, placed her arm hooves against the mat and lifted Flapple up. And sure enough, it was not long until the back of Flapple's neck hit the canvas hard after Rapidight flipped her over with a frankensteiner.
The American crowd could not have been more ecstatic as Scorbunny uttered, "Wow. She's good," Vaporeon nodding and replying, "Not only is she tough, but she's using good strategy. She knew Flapple would block those first few kicks, so she simply allowed her to pull it off in order to give her a false sense of security."
Flapple growled and pushed herself up while the Mongolians could not help but look at her with concern. She then spread out her arms and launched herself toward Rapidight, grunting, "If you're gonna go on the offensive, so will I!"
However, the unicorn easily saw this coming and turned her back to Flapple. She then knelt down on all fours and lifted up her legs, sending her feet toward the dragon's chin. But just as it seemed like she would never take in so much as one hit during this match, Flapple smirked and shouted, "APPLEPULT!"
Many members of the crowd stared in shock when she suddenly tucked her body into her shell thus taking on the shape of an apple. The only thing the audience could see outside of it were her eyes, but this hardly mattered as Rapidight's hooves hit that instead.
The unicorn's eyes widened when not only did her kick deal no damage whatsoever, but her legs started to push and bend inward. This caused her quite a bit of pain, and it did not end there when Flapple opened her shell just long enough to close it in on Rapidight's ankles, binding them in place.
The Mongolian fans cheered while Shaymin stated, "Just as it seemed like this match was in the bag, Rapidight is now trapped as Flapple uses her egg shell like a mouth to bite into her!"
Things got worse when the dragon did something even more unexpected and somehow twisted her eyes in a spiral formation. As if it was not weird enough that she could pull this off in the first place, somehow, this caused her eyes no pain whatsoever. And even the Mongolian fans looked slightly disturbed by this.
"Wait, have they never seen her do this?" Rillaboom uttered as Morgrem groaned, "I can see why she wouldn't reveal that until now. That's just creepy."
Once Flapple's eyes were completely twisted, she released them and caused them to spin like a helicopter propeller. This allowed her to lift Rapidight into the air before descending toward the mat and shouting, "APPLE BOMB!"
The unicorn's back hit the canvas hard as she groaned in pain, Flapple retracting from her shell and using her arm fragments to boost herself into the air. She then tucked herself into the shell one more time and yelled, "EINSTEIN'S APPLE!"
While falling, though, she once against twisted her eyes up, only this time she did so in the opposite direction. As such, she when released them and allowed them to spin again, the wind current travelling upward and allowing her to drop faster. Thus she landed against Rapidight's gut three times harder, the unicorn's eyes wide while she coughed up blood.
The Mongolians all continued to cheer while Flapple retracted from her shell once again and leapt off of Rapidight. She then folded her arms and snickered, "Bet you didn't expect that, did you? I've been saving this ability for someone truly worthy, and I could tell my usual tactics couldn't possibly work on someone like you."
Tori blinked and turned to Shaymin, asking, "Did you know she could do this?" the hedgehog replying, "Nope. It's just as she said. This is the first time she's ever used this ability. Up until now, no one even knew she could tuck herself into her shell like that, let alone use her eyes like a propeller."
Incineroar frowned and grunted, "I hate to say it, Ben, but it's not looking good," the boy folding his arms and replying, "Yeah, but I know Rapidight can get around this. Back home, she used to peel, bake and eat apples all the time. This is nothing for her."
Wurmple blinked and uttered, "Well, if you say so," thinking, 'You do know Flapple's not an actual apple, right?'
Rapidight rose to her feet and breathed heavily, her eyes wide open with terror. She simply could not believe it. Flapple had managed to weaken her greatly from just that one strike. However, there was no way she would give up.
As such, she galloped toward Flapple again only for the dragon to smirk and say, "Try all you like, but I'm not afraid of you anymore," thus she boosted herself into the air just as Rapidight closed in.
Luckily, the unicorn had seen this coming, thus she leapt up to the dragon's level and reeled her leg back. But just as she aimed a roundhouse toward Flapple's side, the dragon easily blocked it with her arm shell and grabbed hold of her leg.
Rapidight smirked and said, "I thought you might do that," before aiming a kick at Flapple's midsection. But the dragon saw this coming and once again tucked herself into her shell, once again clamping down on the unicorn's ankle.
The American fans all winced when they saw blood squirt out this time. And just like before, the dragon twisted her eyes and spun them while a gust of wind pushed her and Rapidight downward, the unicorn's back hitting the canvas hard while Flapple exclaimed, "APPLE BOMB!"
After she released Rapidight, Flapple retracted out of her shell and laughed, "Not so tough now, are you!? When I'm in my apple state, I'm pretty much invincible! Face it, you can't win! All you can do is give up or let me defeat you!"
Rapidight rose to her feet and growled angrily while Vaporeon whimpered, "My god, I hate to say it, but Flapple might be right," Scorbunny frowning and grunting, "Well, if she does win, I'll find a way around that cheap ass defence, you can count on it."
However, at this moment, Rapidight narrowed her eyelids and barked, "This isn't over!" pushing herself up toward Flapple with her feet out. The dragon smirked and hid inside her shell once more only for the unicorn's hooves to strike her eyes instead, the crowd gasping while even Ben could not help but wince.
However, just as it seemed like Rapidight had finally found a weak spot, her eyes went wide with terror when Flapple suddenly wrapped said parts around her ankles and used them to hurl her into the turnbuckle. Everyone in the area stared while Tori uttered, "Flapple keeps finding new ways to surprise us. It seemed those disturbingly long eyes of hers are indestructible," Shaymin adding, "That might be a good thing for Rapidight, though, considering if that kick had hurt her, we would have had to issue her a warning. After all, striking the eyes is against tournament rules."
Now even the Mongolian crowd was disturbed as Morgrem uttered, "Oh my god. She's invincible. I don't think anyone can get around that kind of defence."
"I hate to say it, but you might be right," Rillaboom groaned, "And I get the feeling even you might not be able to find a way around that kind of defence," turning to Scorbunny who could not help but tense up. Her confidence had truly left her and now she could not help but wish Rapidight could find a way around this.
But as painful as it was for the unicorn to admit, her fighting spirit had been shattered. She lay weakly against the pole and thought, 'I can't possibly win. This defence of hers, it has no weakness to speak of. How did she go so long without once relying on it? Seriously, she wouldn't have even taken all those hits if she had just done this sooner.'
The unicorn then looked to the sky while her mind added, 'I bet she did that just to build up my expectations and shatter them,' Flapple about ready to deliver the final blow only for Ben to get up from his seat and bark, "HEY, RAPIDIGHT!"
Rapidight blinked and turned toward him before he spat, "What in the blue blazes are you doing!? If there's one thing I know about you, it's that you're not a quitter! I'm sure you can find a way around this! In fact, I know you can!"
While Rapidight's eyes widened, Flapple folded her arms and laughed, "I admire your loyalty to your friend, but come on! No one can beat me in this state! That champion title is pretty much guaranteed!"
Unfortunately for the dragon, Rapidight no longer saw it that way. In fact, she knew exactly how she was going to win this match. Thus she pushed herself away from the turnbuckle and went down on all fours. She took a deep breath and counted with her right arm hoof, Flapple rolling her eyes and preparing herself for the worst.
Rapidight sprinted toward Flapple with her horn pointed out. A pink and violet energy swirled around it while the dragon smirked and started to tuck herself into her shell again. When the unicorn saw that, she picked up and the pace and yelled, "MYSTICAL JAB!" her horn just close enough to be lodged into the shell when it closed.
All went silent among the crowd while everyone could not help but wonder if the horn had struck Flapple. Unfortunately, it seemed that was not the case when the dragon giggled. And that giggle soon grew into heavy laughter before she exclaimed, "Wow, what a waste! You went to all that trouble for nothing!"
Rapidight's horn was close to stabbing Flapple, but it was not quite there. However, while the American crowd looked disappointed, the unicorn smirked and said, "That's fine. I wasn't really planning on hitting your body anyway."
Everyone was now beyond confused as Flapple uttered, "What?" panic filling her veins when Rapidight remained on all fours and galloped toward the ropes with her horn still inside the shell. Before the dragon could even try to respond, the unicorn jumped over the top rope and shouted, "PONYVAULT DIVE!"
The crowd and announcers both stared in stunned silence when Rapidight tilted her body downward and dove right into the lake with Flapple still stuck to her. It was at that moment that the dragon finally opened up her shell, her eyes wide with terror while she flapped her arms. However, it was at that moment she suddenly remembered that she could not swim, thus she started to sink like a hammer while Rapidight swam back to the water's surface.
Ben bit his lower lip and uttered, "That was a lot crazier than what I thought she'd do. I hope she's okay," Incineroar enquiring, "Is she not a good swimmer?"
"Oh no," the boy replied, "She's a fine swimmer. It's just, well, she's underwater with her opponent. Who's to say she was able to get away?"
Ultimately, his mind was put to rest when Rapidight's head rose up from under the surface. She spat out a bit of water and breathed heavily while the Americans and Mongolians all stared in stunned silence. And when she swam back to the ring and climbed into it, Shaymin gasped, "Now I understand what Rapidight was doing! She took a big risk, but it seems as if she may have left her opponent to drown! But we'll have to wait and see!"
The staff was nearby and ready to dive in if needed. And sure enough, after a while, bubbles stopped rising from where Flapple was. As such, they all dove in while everyone watched in silence. After roughly ten seconds, the rescue team rose up from under the water's surface with Flapple in their arms and started to swim her back to shore.
Tori watched this and nodded before she rang the bell and exclaimed, "Well, folks, that's that! It was tough, but in the end, Rapidight has come out on top and will advance to round two!"
The American crowd went wild while Rapidight took many deep breaths and smiled lightly. Deep down, she wished she could have won in a more honourable fashion, but she came out on top. And of course, Ben could not help but whistle for her and cheer louder than everyone else while a blush formed on her cheeks.
"Damn," Rolycoly uttered, "Scorbunny, you've got your work cut out for you," the rabbit nodded and replying, "Yeah, but I'll be ready for her when the time comes."
"I don't doubt that for a second," Vaporeon replied, the others equally confident. But just as Rapidight started down the walkway back to shore, she looked at Flapple to make sure she was okay. After all, while she had technically won by ring out, she also had the drown her opponent in order to pull it off.
Luckily, it seemed she was okay when a staff member pushed down on her chest and all the water she had consumed flew out of her mouth. The unicorn breathed a sigh of relief and resumed her trip back to dry land while Ben got up from his seat and ran down the bleachers.
Once he reached the bottom, Rapidight's eyes widened when he held her in a tight embrace. He then patted her on the back and exclaimed, "I knew you could do it!" the unicorn chuckling, "Yeah," before sighing, "Thanks for the encouragement. I couldn't have done that without you."
"I'm sure you could have," Ben replied, "Now, come on. I'd like you to meet the others," Rapidight nodding and heading toward the bleachers with him.
"And on that note, we only have two matches to go!" Shaymin squealed, "Our final location for the day shall be Foote Field! You'd better hurry!"
Rillaboom grinned and said, "Finally, it's time for my match," before heading off along with the others, Allie, saying, "You'll win for sure."
Vaporeon tensed up when she noticed Melmetal gazing at her. After all, their match was the last one. But deep down, she knew she could defeat him.