While things had looked bad for Rillaboom at first, now she was absolutely sure that she could defeat Melmetal. It was a very close call, but she had finally discovered the one ability with her hair that she had been unable to figure out. And while she did not have enough knowledge to use it at will a second time, she would not allow herself to fall victim to another powerful strike.

Melmetal implied a smile with his eye and said, "Wow, that was amazing. I would have been so disappointed if the match had just ended like that. Good to know you still got fight in you."

'Yeah, keep up that positive attitude for now,' Rillaboom thought with a frown, 'You won't be so happy when I take you down. Vaporeon, this is for you.'

The others felt equally confident, Rolycoly breathing a sigh of relief and saying, "I knew she'd be okay," Morgrem and Geneva both giving him an awkward glance.

Melmetal stretched out his arms and aimed his fists right at Rillaboom only for her to fold her arms in front of her face and block them with her wrist barrels. She then proceeded to latch onto his wrists and reel him in before she rammed her forehead into his face.

The cyborg backed up before she formed her hammerheads and barked, "WOOD HAMMER!" ramming her left hand into his skull and the right hand into the side of his head. She kept at it, whacking him multiple times. After all he had pulled off before, she could not allow him a chance to fight back, not at this point.

All the while, the majority of the crowd cheered wildly while Tori stated, "And Rillaboom refuses to give Melmetal a break! It seems that after all that torment she took in earlier, she knows better than to hold back against such a mighty foe!"

Just as Rillaboom was about to deliver a thirteenth strike to Melmetal, though, he spun his right nut and held it up in front of the incoming hammerhead, shouting, "HARD BUZZ SAW!" Fortunately, the gorilla saw this coming and redirected her hammer in front of her face and forward into his hand.

The crowd gasped, Melmetal's eye wide with terror when the hit proved powerful enough to force his own hand backward into his face. As such, he ultimately fell victim to his own attack and backed away from Rillaboom, breathing heavily and thinking, 'Oh, come on! She wasn't nearly this good before! Where did this level of skill come from!?' though he tried his hardest to hide his frustration.

But before he could come up with a countermeasure, Rillaboom saw an opportunity and wrapped her arms around him. She knew she would need to connect her next move quickly before he unleashed his Liquid Metal Stalagmite. As such, she whipped her vine around his neck and leapt into the air, wrapping her legs around his.

Melmetal's eye was wide with terror while she flipped backward multiple times. Sure enough, the top of his head hit the canvas hard before Rillaboom barked, "VINE BOULDER SLAM!"

More and more cheers emanated through the area while Thwackey and Obasi both grinned, glad to see their daughter able to use this on an actual opponent. All the while, Scorbunny and Drizzile both stared in amazement along with the others. They already knew Rillaboom was amazing, but she had never been able to pull off something that incredible before.

However, Melmetal now realized just how much of a threat Rillaboom really was. As such, he could not allow her to release her hold on him. So when she was just about to release him, he implied a frown with his eye and barked, "LIQUID METAL STALAGMITE!"

Rillaboom's eyes and mouth widened when his spike once again protruded from him and stabbed her in the gut. And before she could even attempt to retaliate, Melmetal gazed blankly into her eye and uttered, "Don't think you've actually won. This is only the beginning."

The gorilla's fear that she had spent this whole time trying to overcome returned at this exact moment. As such, she tensed up as Melmetal's body started to wobble and churn again. After a few seconds, various parts of him shot forward as he yelled, "LIQUID METAL MACHINE GUN!"

Unlike the metal on his belly, the rest of it was not pointed but rather each protrusion had a rounded edge to it. Nevertheless, this was still painful as they jutted out rapidly and pounded away into Rillaboom's flesh at a rapid speed. After ten seconds, Melmetal ended his assault and removed his spike, allowing the gorilla to back up while small streams of smoke rose from the indents his barrage had left on her body.

"Oh, come on!" Scorbunny groaned, pulling down on her ears, "She was so close!" Morgrem uttering, "Hey, it's okay. She's not down for the count or anything, right?"

"And Melmetal continues to amaze us more and more!" Shaymin squeaked, "Just when we think we've seen all he can dish out, he shows off yet another move his liquid metal can perform! It's amazing Rillaboom can still stand after that!"

'It really is,' Rillaboom thought with a look of terror in her expression, blood trickling from the hole in her gut, 'I can see why Vaporeon lost to this guy. He already looks powerful enough, but he keeps coming up with one new move after the next.'

The gorilla realized she would need to act fast, though, when Melmetal once again inflated his body like a balloon. Everyone stared in confusion as Drizzile groaned, "Of course he can do that."

As if this was not enough, Melmetal proceeded to form the same protrusions from earlier all over his body before he rolled toward Rillaboom and shouted, "JACK MARBLE!" Sure enough, Rillaboom was unable to react in time to avoid taking a strike to her front side, coughing up blood and flying backward into the turnbuckle.

The Russian fans cheered while everyone else watched with concern. Rillaboom trembled and thought, 'No, I can't lose, not when I've come so far. If I can figure out how I sharpened my hair like that, I can counter this move,' and she would certainly need to think fast for Melmetal was still rolling toward her.

Once he got close, she frowned and leapt to the right just in time for him to ram into the turnbuckle. But unfortunately, he easily ignored this and continued to roll toward her while she focused as hard as she could, thinking, 'Come on, work! Do what you did before!'

When she saw Melmetal headed toward her again, she narrowly managed to leap out of the way only for him to hit the ropes and bounce off toward her. And unfortunately, Rillaboom did not have as much time to react, thus she took a strike to her back, unable to sharpen her hair in time to prevent herself from taking in damage.

Melmetal finally stopped rolling before he took a deep breath and said, "I'll admit, you really are as great as I'd heard. But I think it's time for this match to come to an end, don't you?" the gorilla thinking, 'Come on! I'm so close!'

Scorbunny bit her lower lip and spat, "Come on, Rillaboom, you can still win!" Drizzile adding, "You've been preparing so hard for this! Don't give up now!"

Thwackey, meanwhile, took a deep breath and snapped, "Rillaboom, try not to over think your tactics!" the gorilla's eyes wide with shock, "If you try too hard, that power you used earlier won't come back to you! You mastered all of your other abilities because you just let them happen! Do the same here and you'll be fine!"

Rillaboom's eyes widened as Melmetal backed up slightly and inflated his body once again. And like before, he formed the protrusions all around his body and exclaimed, "JACK MARBLE!" once again rolling toward her.

However, this time, Rillaboom felt ready when she took a deep breath. And sure enough, her hair managed to sharpen before she turned to face the cyborg and tucked in her arms and legs. She then rolled toward him and barked, "ROSE BUSH BOULDER!" ramming into him as both fighters clashed.

Sparks flew from Melmetal while each tried to overpower the other, the crowd cheering wildly as Shaymin squealed, "And with that, both seem to be evenly matched! No one knows where Rillaboom's new power came from, but it's given her another chance at victory!"

While the two fighters kept at it, Rolycoly uttered, "Oh my god, Rillaboom's amazing. I wouldn't stand a chance against her now," Morgrem uttering, "No kidding."

Allie and Drizzile's eyes sparkled while they shouted their own words of encouragement, Scorbunny barking, "You got him, Rillaboom! Keep it up!"

But while it seemed like the gorilla finally had the upper hand, her eyes widened when she started to breathe heavily. Sweat poured down her while she thought, 'No, I can't be tired, not yet,' but deep down, it made sense. While her onslaught earlier was great, she had lost blood and Melmetal had not.

Sure enough, he showed no signs of slowing down, and thus Rillaboom's hair returned to normal before she took in one final strike from Melmetal. She coughed up one last bit of blood and flew backward into the turnbuckle, her eyes closed as she lay limp against it, her arms spread out on the top ropes to prevent her from collapsing.

But while she was not exactly down, it was clear that she would not wake up anytime soon. Thwackey shook her head and uttered, "No," Obasi calling out to her, and while the monkey would certainly not stop her husband from giving his support, she could tell it was pointless.

"COME ON, RILLABOOM, GET UP!" Scorbunny cried, "You were so close! You can still win!" Drizzile adding, "Remember what he did to Vaporeon! Are you gonna let him get away with that!?"

"Remember the torment you took from me!" Rolycoly pleaded, "You dealt with all sorts of pain and still won!" Morgrem shouting, "You're the toughest fighter I know! You can take anything!"

Allie nodded and stood up from her seat, chanting, "Rillaboom! Rillaboom!" the others joining in. It was not long until the coliseum was filled to the brim with people crying out her name. And all the while, Tori had no idea how to go about this.

"Um, Shaymin," she whispered, "She's not moving but she's not exactly knocked down, either. How do I rule this?" the hedgehog looking at the clock on her phone and sighing, "Give her another twenty seconds."

Melmetal, all the while, folded his arms and sighed in a tone quiet enough for the crowd not to hear, "I'll give you this. You've got a lot of support here in Edmonton. Too bad it means nothing. Once I deal with your little friends and become world champion, my plan will be complete."

His eye widened when Rillaboom slowly started to open her eyes. She coughed up blood and pushed herself away from the ropes before she grunted, "What plan?" the crowd dead silent.

"What the hell are you plotting?" Rillaboom groaned only to cough up one last bit of blood, close her eyes and fall flat on her face. This was all Tori needed to see, thus she rang the bell and exclaimed, "After a very rough match, Melmetal is our winner! Therefor he will face Scorbunny in the semi-finals!"

Rillaboom's friends all stared in horror while even Thwackey looked disappointed. The fact that her daughter had managed to move at all was a true miracle, and for a second there, it seemed as if she might be able to get the upper hand back. But now it was too late.

But before the Russian fans could cheer, many of them noticed a look of terror on Melmetal's face. He breathed heavily while they simply could not believe that. He had never looked frightened before, after or during a match, not even when he fought evil.

However, he soon calmed down and rose his arms in the air, thus the Russians all shrugged and cheered for their representative. Scorbunny, meanwhile, narrowed her eyelids and growled, "Enjoy your victory for now. I'm gonna wipe that happy look off your face."

With all said and done, everyone was ready to head home, save for Rillaboom's friends who wanted to make sure she was okay. On top of that, they also wanted to visit Vaporeon and Corviknight at the hospital. But after that, there was no doubt Scorbunny and Drizzile would train extra hard. After all, both of their opponents were frightening and had the ability to morph their bodies.

Upon their arrival at the hospital, Rolycoly mostly stuck by Rillaboom along with her parents, Geneva joining him. After all, the gorilla was the first one to ever best him in combat, so he had deep respect for her. Morgrem also stood there and sighed, "I still can't believe it."

"I know," Rolycoly groaned, "It's bad enough that Vaporeon lost, but Rillaboom? She's never lost," uttering, "Well, since she turned good, anyway."

Thwackey sighed and smiled before she said, "Well, even though she lost, she did a really good job. I'm still proud of her for coming this far," Obasi adding, "Besides, it's not like she lost to a villain, right?" a nervous grin on his face.

"That's true," Geneva replied with a light smile, "Besides, I'm sure Scorbunny can kick Melmetal's butt. We'll just have to give her all the support we can."

The others nodded before Thwackey smiled and said, "It's really good to know that Rillaboom has such great friends. I wish we could be here to see her wake up, but it's great that you will be here when that happens."

Geneva blinked until the monkey added, "Oh, I guess Rillaboom didn't have a reason to tell you, but our vacation time ends really soon, so we're headed back tomorrow."

"Oh, man," Morgrem groaned, "And the last thing you got to witness here was your daughter's failure," only for Thwackey to chuckle, "Again, it's fine. We got to see her pull off many impressive feats and win her first match. But even if she had failed the sporting events and not made it to the tournament, just spending time with her was worth it."

All the while, Scorbunny, Drizzile, Allie and Bailey looked at Vaporeon with concern. The rabbit frowned and grunted, "You just lay here and take it easy. I'll make sure Melmetal goes down."

Drizzile nodded and added, "And I'll be sure to beat Unown, then Scorbunny and I can fight in the finals. I really hope you'll be awake for that."

After a few more minutes, everyone went to check up on Corviknight. Surprisingly, he was still unconscious, although the nurse told them he would only need a couple more days, meaning he might be able to catch Drizzile and Scorbunny's matches. Either way, they hoped he would recover soon.

And so, with all said and done, everyone returned home for the night. Once again, Scorbunny made dinner, though it felt wrong to make a whole meal for only two people. Even so, she tried her best to stay positive. If she thought too hard about Vaporeon and Rillaboom's condition, It would likely effect her training, and that was the last thing she wanted.

Sure enough, the following day was devoted to just that. Both Drizzile and Scorbunny went to separate locations to train for their upcoming matches. Specifically, the chameleon chose to stay home and train in the back yard while the rabbit went to Hawrelak Park again. Scorbunny had Rolycoly and Morgrem help her prepare along with Geneva while Drizzile had Allie and Bailey to give him support.

But after he delivered hundreds of palm punches to a sandbag, his eyes widened when he heard Allie utter, "What the hell?" As if that was not enough, he felt a tap on his shoulder right after she said that, thus he tensed up and slowly turned his head around.

However, his fear died down when he saw a tall chameleon standing right there. She folded her arms with a smile and asked, "Is that how you greet me after I came all this way? I thought I raised you better than that."

Allie and Bailey both stared before Drizzile gave Inteleon a hug and exclaimed, "It's so nice to see you, Mom!" the tall chameleon patting him on the back and replying, "Nice to see you, too."

It was not long until everyone had gone inside and introductions were out of the way. Needless to say, Allie was beyond ecstatic to finally meet Drizzile's mother. And of course, Inteleon was just as happy to meet her since she had been the one to give her son the push he needed to become great.

Bailey simply sat nervously on the couch with her face beet red. Despite the fact that she was friends with six heroes, it still felt amazing to be in the presence of another. But of course, Allie was used to this sort of thing by now, so she had been completely comfortable during the whole conversation.

"Well, I have to say, it is wonderful to finally meet you," Inteleon said with a big grin while looking at Allie, "I can't thank you enough for all your help," only for Allie to chuckle, "Oh no, all I did was give him words of encouragement."

"Not true," Drizzile remarked, "You also helped me work out," the tall girl nodding and replying, "Oh yeah, I did do that, didn't I?"

Inteleon smiled sweetly and turned to face Drizzile before she enquired, "So, do you remember why I've come?" the chameleon blinking and scratching the side of his head. But after a few seconds, he blinked, nodded and said, "Oh yeah, you're here to help me master that manoeuvre that I used to beat Sandaconda."

"Oh, right," Allie uttered, "I'd just about forgotten about that," Inteleon narrowing her eyelids and remarking, "You seriously forgot I was coming?"

Drizzile laughed nervously only for the tall chameleon to chuckle, "Relax, I'm kidding," punching him lightly on the shoulder, "I get it. A lot's happened since our phone call, not to mention your friend lost pretty badly yesterday."

The chameleon nodded and uttered, "By the way, I tried using the ability without your help, but I didn't really make any progress. Honestly, I'm starting to wonder how I even used it the first time," Inteleon sighing, "Well, you were blinded and deafened at the time, but don't worry. I can guarantee that by the time these next couple of days pass, you'll be ready."

Drizzile beamed bright along with Allie. Both were fully confident that Inteleon knew what she was doing. And of course, Bailey still could not muster up the courage to say anything.

And so, after the conversation, Inteleon took Drizzile all the way to the mountains, but only him. As much as it pained him to do this without Allie around, his mother told him that she would likely distract him from this particular training. And as much as it hurt the two teens to admit it, they felt like she had a point.

Inteleon looked around and said, "Yes, this is the perfect spot." She then turned to face Drizzile and added, "I hope you're ready for this. Once we start training this skill, you will run the risk of getting hurt pretty badly. Since you have hero DNA, you should be able to recover from this easily enough, but it's still dangerous. Are you sure you want to master this skill?"

Drizzile took a deep breath and looked at the rocks all around the area. He could tell exactly what his mother had planned, but he would not let this bother him. As such, he nodded with a serious look in his eyes. After all, ever since he became a hero, he had dealt with far worse.

As such, Inteleon gave him a light smile and said, "Good. The first thing you need to do is block out all sense of sight and hearing. Cutting off your sense of sight is easy enough. You just close your eyes. But hearing is another thing."

Drizzile blinked in confusion before she nodded and added, "That's what I thought. Luckily, our family can do that since we don't necessarily have ears, so to speak. Instead, we have microscopic holes. But did you know you can actually seal them up pretty easily?"

"I can?" the short chameleon enquired as Inteleon nodded and had him look closely while she sealed hers up. And so for the next little while, she taught him how to do just that.

Needless to say, this would not be easy, but Drizzile was fully confident that he could pull this off. He had to be ready for this. He was not sure why, but he had a feeling he would need this skill for his match with Unown.