After a long second round, it was almost time for Rillaboom to face Melmetal. Currently, everyone was on their way to Northlands Coliseum, though Ben had decided to stay with Rapidight at a local hospital. While Scorbunny may not have knocked her unconscious, she had dealt enough damage for medical treatment to be necessary.

Even so, while she and the others road in their assigned limo, a part of her did feel a twinge of guilt now as she bit her lower lip and whimpered, "I hope she's okay. It didn't seem that bad when she left the area," Rillaboom patting her on the shoulder and replying, "From what I can gather, this sort of thing is to be expected. At least she's still conscious," glaring at Melmetal who was seated far away from the trio.

"That's right," Drizzile uttered, suddenly remembering that he would have to face Unown soon, "Rillaboom, if there's anything we can do to help you prepare for this match, we'll do it."

The gorilla smiled and replied, "Thanks for the offer, but I feel like I should do this on my own. This is the first time I've entered a match with complete knowledge of what my opponent's capable of. I should be fine."

Both Drizzile and Scorbunny lowered their eyelids. After what they had been through up to this point, they felt like this might have been too big of a risk. And when Rillaboom saw this, she sighed, "Really, guys, it's fine. Besides, you've both exhausted yourselves today."

Her friends continued to stare at her for a few more seconds before Drizzile sighed, "Alright, you seem to know what you're doing," Scorbunny nodding and adding, "Besides, you're the only one of us who hasn't lost an official match since we turned good. Yeah, you got this."

Rillaboom smiled at the two and breathed a sigh of relief. While she had not figured out any other techniques that she could use with her hair, after all of her training, she felt beyond confident. Although there was another reason she had declined their offer, but what?

Whatever the case, the group soon arrived at the coliseum shortly before everyone else. Rillaboom waved to the others and went on ahead to train while they waved back. And it was not long until their friends showed up, Rolycoly and Geneva exiting ahead of Morgrem who grinned at the two.

When they all spotted Scorbunny and Drizzile, they smiled and approached them, Bailey squealing, "I know I said it before we left, but oh my god, your were amazing, Scorbunny!" the rabbit chuckling, "Well, I have had plenty of experience."

Allie nodded and said, "And just think, if Rillaboom wins this match, you two will face off in the semis," Scorbunny nodding and replying, "Hell yeah. I can't wait for that! I've already dominated her once, but not in front of a crowd."

At that moment, the group noticed a certain monkey and her husband walk by. Just as they were about to enter the building, Thwackey turned and smiled, saying, "Oh, you're Rillaboom's friends."

The group nodded before they approached the two, Drizzile suddenly feeling tense. This was his first time ever meeting people related to either Rillaboom or Scorbunny and the last thing he wanted was to leave a bad impression. However, he calmed down when Allie patted him on the shoulder and said, "A pleasure to meet you. I'm Allie."

Morgrem bowed to Thwackey and Obasi before she said, "Hello. I am Morgrem, and this is my BFF, Rolycoly," pointing to the golem who smiled and waved his fingers.

Obasi nodded and replied, "Oh, yes, Rillaboom's told us a lot about you. Apparently, you used to be in the same boat she was," Morgrem and Rolycoly grinning nervously at one-another before Thwackey noticed Geneva and Bailey staring at her.

She could not help but stare awkwardly until they squealed, "Oh my god, you're Rillaboom's mom!" the monkey chuckling, "Yes, I am."

She then turned to face Scorbunny and Drizzile before she bowed her head and said, "And I know full well who the two of you are. Thank you so much for giving my daughter companionship. I mean, I don't exactly approve of you feeding into her desire for vengeance, but I guess it made sense at the time."

Drizzile chuckled nervously and uttered, "Yeah, of course," though deep down, he really wished she had not brought that up. Even so, Scorbunny happily shook her hand and squealed, "It is so nice to meet you! Oh, I wish my father was here right now!"

"Oh, yes, Cinderace, right?" Thwackey replied, "He was a legend back in the day," before sighing, "Makes me wish I had entered Hero School so I could become a legend too. Maybe then I wouldn't have had to steal to survive."

Scorbunny blinked and uttered, "Wait, how did you know-?" the monkey chuckling, "You look very similar, so I put two and two together," Drizzile enquiring, "So does that mean you know my mother, too?"

Obasi blinked and turned to Thwackey who shrugged her shoulders before the chameleon explained, "Well, her name's Inteleon," the monkey nodding and replying, "Yes, I have heard of her. You have her power to manipulate water. I can't believe I didn't notice."

Obasi nodded and said, "Well, it was wonderful meeting all of you, but we'd like to have a word with our daughter before her match if you don't mind."

The others nodded in understanding and gave them a nice goodbye. Needless to say, Thwackey was happy to know that her daughter had such nice friends. And the others were certainly glad to have met her and Obasi in person.

Rillaboom was hard at work in a training room where she sent an onslaught of punches into a sandbag. She then whipped her vine around the top and used it to lift the bag into the air. She then leapt up, wrapped her arms and legs around it and flipped backward multiple times, barking, "VINE BOULDER SLAM!" ramming it into the floor and causing its top to burst open.

"OH YEAH!" Rillaboom cried with her fists raised in triumph, "Melmetal won't know what hit him!" her eyes wide open when she heard a familiar voice say, "Good job, honey."

She turned and saw her parents there and grinned. Both then approached her and gave her a quick hug before Obasi said, "I can see you're coming up with new skills to use with that vine."

"Well, it's not too hard coming up with new skills," Rillaboom replied, "Still, I just know this'll make things so much easier."

She then rubbed the back of her neck and added, "Thanks for being here, you know, to cheer me on," Obasi laughing, "As if we'd miss our little girl's match!" Thwackey uttering, "Still, though, we will have to return to Kenya tomorrow. Our vacation time's almost up."

"In that case, I'll make this match especially memorable," Rillaboom replied before all three held each other in a tight embrace, this one longer than the first one. While Rillaboom had not been entirely certain of her chances before, now there was no way she would lose.

Time passed until everyone was seated, Thwackey and Obasi having just entered the area. Shaymin and Tori were both more than ready to begin when the hedgehog stated, "We have had quite a round so far, but we still have one last match to go! And I gotta say, this one's especially exciting!"

Tori nodded before she pointed to the eastern side and announced, "In the red corner, coming to us from Kenya is the mighty gorilla who defeated Wooloo! With brains and brawn, Rillaboom!"

The African fans cheered wildly when Rillaboom marched toward the ring. However, this time she took things a step further and had a bongo drum she had made herself strapped to her chest. She beat against it in sync with a military theme that played in the background, moving her feet in time as well.

Scorbunny stared and uttered, "Wow, that's so professional," Drizzile nodding and replying, "Maybe I should ask her to make me an instrument for my next entrance. I've never really been good at playing one, but I could try."

"You could just ask her to play it for you while you approach the ring," Allie replied, the chameleon sighing, "Yeah, that's probably a much better idea."

Needless to say, her parents could not have been happier as they gave her a round of applause. Obasi whistled to her while Thwackey held up her sticks and clicked them together to create her own melody.

Once Rillaboom entered the ring, she held up the drum and hurled it toward the African crowd like a frisbee. A teenaged girl in the front row grabbed it, her eyes sparkling as she uttered, "I've just found my new calling," her mother chuckling, "Hopefully you won't give up on this one."

Once the crowd seemed to calm down, Shaymin pointed to the western side and squealed, "In the blue corner representing Russia is a powerful metal warrior! He defeated Vaporeon and I can only imagine how much Rillaboom wants vengeance! But for all we know, he might just be able to prevent that! Give it up for Melmetal!"

It seemed that much like the others, Melmetal had chosen to take things a step further. The Russian crowd watched with big smiles when he rode toward the ring on a motorcycle. Morgrem simply waved her hand dismissively at this and scoffed, "Big deal. His motorcycle isn't sentient," Rolycoly adding, "Yeah!" before turning to her and barking, "Hey!"

Once the cyborg was close enough to the ring, he jumped off of the vehicle and landed hard against the canvas before forming fingers on his hands and flashing two peace signs toward the crowd. Needless to say, the Russian fans were even more excited than before while Rillaboom folded her arms and thought, 'Big deal. That entrance won't mean a thing when I wipe the mat with you.'

While Melmetal still gave off bad vibes, he no longer intimidated her. If anything, she was far more determined to win this match than ever before. He may have seemed reasonable compared to most other contestants, but there was just something about him that made Rillaboom feel like she had to defeat him at all cost.

But just as she was calculating a strategy in her mind, she blinked when he held out his hand and said, "Here's to a great match," implying a smile with his eye.

Rillaboom frowned while one Russian fan said, "Wow, what a poor sport!" another exclaiming, "Yeah, Vaporeon had no problem showing respect! I guess it's too much to expect a former villain to be civilized!" many others jeering her while she tensed up, Thwackey frowning at them.

However, Melmetal simply held up his hand toward them and barked, "That's enough!" The Russian fans stared at him while he added, "She has every right to be upset with me!"

For some reason, these words brought back Rillaboom's fear of him while he sighed, "Even though I didn't mean to, I did go overboard against Vaporeon. I imagine you probably want nothing more than for me to pay for my actions. I understand, but just know that I'm not going to make it easy for you. I have a country to represent. You understand, right?"

Rillaboom simply nodded as she saw no need to argue with him. And this seemed good enough when he implied a smile and sighed, "Thank you for being so understanding," the Russian crowd figuring perhaps they had been too hard on Rillaboom. But while Melmetal had taken some of the pressure off, the gorilla could not help but feel as if this was an act. Regardless, all that mattered to her was winning the match, so it hardly seemed all that important whether he was sincere or not.

Once both stood on separate sides of the ring, Shaymin nodded and squealed, "Well, folks, it looks like the fighters are ready and raring to go! Let's begin!" ringing the bell before both fighters struck fighting poses. However, neither one advanced forward.

Rillaboom knew she would need to think logically about this. While Vaporeon had gotten an early lead, she was much faster and capable of pulling off such a thing. Besides, she had a feeling Melmetal would not allow her to get in the first hit.

After a few seconds, Melmetal narrowed his eye and said, "If you're not gonna make the first move, then I will," stretching his arm out like rubber and aiming the hexagonal nut on his hand toward Rillaboom.

The gorilla smirked and thought, 'Perfect,' but just as she was about to block his hand, her eyes widened when he arched his forearm upward and planted his nut into her face.

The Russian crowd cheered when Melmetal implied a smirk and said, "Nice try, but I learned all I need to from your match with Wooloo."

He then formed his fingers, only this time they were pointy and resembled picks. Before the gorilla could even process this, he planted the tips into her face and exclaimed, "LIQUID METAL ICE PICK!"

Blood squirted out while most of the crowd could not help but wince. Thwackey watched in horror while Obasi spat, "Oh, come on, how long has he been able to do that!?"

Melmetal kept a firm grip on her and lifted her up off the mat, stating, "I could tell from your match with Wooloo that while you may not always make the right decisions during matches, you're still a good strategist. So it only stands to reason that I should go out of my way to one up you. It's why I specifically chose to save this ability for this match."

But while Rillaboom had been spellbound at first, she could not let this get to her. As such, she smirked and grunted, "Wow, I'm touched," forming her barrels around her wrists before spikes formed around them. She then grabbed onto his hand, jabbed the spikes into it and shouted, "THORN BARREL SUPLEX!"

Melmetal's eye widened when she managed to lift him up. This allowed her to land back onto the mat, lean backward and plant the cyborg's head into the surface. The African fans cheered wildly after she released her hold on him and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Nice try, but something you should know is that I tend to do my best after my opponents hit me," Rillaboom stated with a smirk. However, her smirk turned into a frown when Melmetal flipped himself back to his feet and turned to face her.

Looking her over, he could see what she meant. After all, her physique was impressive, so it only stood to reason that she could handle a great deal of pain. With that in mind, Melmetal narrowed his eye and stretched his right arm toward her.

This time, Rillaboom was completely prepared, thus she grabbed his wrist once it was close enough. However, her eyes widened when she suddenly noticed he had sent his left hand toward her as well. But rather than simply striking her, he shifted his forearm behind her back, formed his sharp fingers and planted them into her, yelling, "LIQUID METAL ICE PICK!"

Even the Russian crowd was surprised by this tactic, and things only got worse when Melmetal pulled the gorilla toward him and barked, "LIQUID METAL STALAGMITE!"

Before Rillaboom had a chance to come up with a counter, she was right up against his chest as he had his metal seep into the nut in his midsection. Sure enough, he formed a long spike and sent it into the gorilla's gut. He then leapt into the air and flipped her over, saying, "You know, both the legendary Lucario and his son Jackalu had a move just like this," before shouting, "STALAGMITE BEARHUG DRIVER!"

The Russian fans went wild when Rillaboom's skull hit the canvas hard. And all the while, her friends and parents stared in horror. While the gorilla had performed an impressive counter early on, it seemed as if Melmetal already had this match in the bag. Sure, it was not as if the gorilla had never started a match at a disadvantage. She probably started more matches like this, but she had mentally and physically prepared herself so much for this one.

"Things are not looking good for Rillaboom," Shaymin stated, "That piledriver looked especially bad. Let's see if she can get up from this."

Drizzile tensed up and uttered, "There's no way that's it. She's taken worse than that, right?" Rolycoly uttering, "I dunno. I may have dealt a lot of hits to her, but they weren't that powerful."

However, while Thwackey was mortified at first, she took a deep breath and thought, 'No, I'm certain our daughter can overcome this. I can already see a surefire way to turn this in her favour. I'm sure she's already figured it out.'

And it seemed so when Rillaboom smirked and said, "I'll admit, I definitely wasn't expecting that," Melmetal tensing up when she suddenly wrapped her arms and extended her hair vine around his lower body, "But I can handle this."

The African fans watched in amazement when she propelled herself and Melmetal into the air. She then used all her might to flip him over, her wrist spikes once again planted into him. Soon enough, the cyborg's skull made contact with the mat before Rillaboom barked, "REVERSE VINE PILEDRIVER!" her legs wrapped around the bottom of his head.

The gorilla released her hold and allowed Melmetal to collapse while more cheers erupted throughout the area, Scorbunny squealing, "Way to go, Rillaboom!" Drizzile sighing, "I knew there was no way this match could possibly end that early."

Allie nodded with a sweet smile before Thwackey barked, "Alright, he's down! Take advantage of that!" Rillaboom nodded with a confident smile and leapt into the air. She then formed her hammerheads and sent them both into Melmetal's gut before she barked, "WOOD HAMMER!"

Melmetal's eye widened briefly, but just as Rillaboom was about to distance herself from him, he narrowed his eye and sent a hard punch into her chin. Her eyes and mouth were wide with terror as he formed his fingers once again and clasped onto her face. He then used her as leverage to pull himself up and grunted, "Not bad, but you're not the only one who can handle a lot of pain. After all, I am made of metal."

Rillaboom released nervous sweat but quickly took a deep breath and frowned. She then whipped out her vine and latched it to his wrist, tightening her hold on it. Unfortunately, this proved ineffective when Melmetal showed no reaction, once again sharpened his fingers and pierced her flesh. He then reeled her in and sent a hard punch into her gut, spinning his nut and barking, "HARD BUZZ SAW!"

Due to a lack of spikes on his fists, this did not cut her open, but much like when Rolycoly used a similar move on her, it left a bad scrape on her flesh. Rillaboom gritted her teeth and rammed her hammerheads into the sides of his head, but he once again ignored the pain and lifted her up before he slammed her chin into the canvas.

The crowd gasped as he leapt high into the air, his body gurgling while he sighed, "It really is a shame. I didn't think I'd be able to end this match so soon, but again, I have a country to represent."

The Russian fans knew exactly what was coming and cheered while his body inflated like a balloon. The others all stared in horror and wished they could do something to help. After all, this was the same move that defeated Vaporeon.

"LIQUID IRON PRESS!" the cyborg shouted before he descended toward Rillaboom. Thwackey shook her head and Obasi gritted his teeth. All the while, Drizzile covered his eyes and trembled while Scorbunny clenched her fists and bit her lower lip, the others equally concerned.

Rillaboom closed her eyes tight and gritted her teeth, a great deal of shame deep inside. After all, she had entered the match with so much confidence and yet she had lasted even less time than Vaporeon. However, after a few seconds, she started to hear talking amongst the crowd and felt nothing against her back.

"Oh my god!" Shaymin exclaimed with her jaw dropped, "It's a true miracle, but Rillaboom's hair has just guarded her from Melmetal's finisher!" the gorilla's eyes and mouth wide with shock as she slowly turned her head around just far enough to see what she meant.

Thwackey's jaw was dropped while Obasi smiled and released a small tear. Her friends also stared for it was just as Shaymin said. Rillaboom's hair had just hardened and now resembled an actual thorn bush. And while this did not put any holes in Melmetal, it had proven just enough to keep him from crushing her.

When Rillaboom saw just how distracted he was, she smirked and exclaimed, "ROSE BUSH CATAPULT!" flipping her hair forward and launching the cyborg into the air. She then propelled herself up to his level, took hold of him and barked, "BOULDER BASH!" before flipping one hundred and eighty degrees and ramming his skull into the canvas.

The majority of the crowd went wild while Tori exclaimed, "And in a shocking turn of events, Rillaboom not only prevents herself from taking in damage with her hair, but she also lands a move I don't think anyone thought she'd use again! Seems this match is still far from over!"

Thwackey embraced Obasi and shouted, "She did it! She actually did it!" shaking him by the shoulders while he chuckled, "Yeah, she really did."

"That was amazing," Bailey uttered before Geneva and Allie nodded, Scorbunny blinking and saying, "You know, in hindsight, I'm surprised it never occurred to me that she might be able to do something like that."

Drizzile nodded and replied, "I always wondered why her hair looked so spiky. I guess now we know," before he yelled, "Way to go, Rillaboom! Keep it up!"

The others shouted their own words of encouragement while Rillaboom released a light tear and thought, 'Yes, I don't know how, but I've finally figured out my grass powers. I'll need to practise with this once the match is over, but at least I can still fight.'

Though it was just as Tori said. Despite such an impressive comeback, the match was not over, and it showed when Melmetal deflated his body and flipped himself back onto his feet. He took many deep breaths and turned to face Rillaboom with a blank look in his eye. Thankfully, the gorilla was no longer intimidated by him. Now there was no doubt in her mind that she could win.