The red morning light kisses away the cold navy blue to signal dawn with many of the bright lights illuminating the city already shut off and plenty of cars and pedestrians filling the roads and sidewalks. It's a new day in Ravia and today is the second day of the knockout stage and for those who were immensely entertained by what they viewed yesterday were in store for another day of chaos within the tournament as the headliners of today's events saw many favorites take the stage for their first knockout round in the tournament. Hugh-Napri, Toka, Special Forces, and Beacon Hills, were among the teams that everyone had marked down to watch for today, especially since all games would be morning games with only Beacon Hills having their game start at high noon. Sleeping peacefully despite the messy transition to slumber laid Azule Royale, who had his arms spread out, his legs sprawled out covering the majority of the bed's space, and his head buried in the pillow letting out a snore; overhead he resembled a starfish under the covers. No doubt he had to be exhausted after the grueling match, and it was apparent from how messy he slept and how loud he snored. A glimmer of light piercing through the curtains preserving the darkness of the room, Azule's entire body awoke from in surprise to the buzz from under his pillow, inspecting the caller ID fully alert and awake thanks to their inconsiderate phone call.

"H-hello…?" Azule answered with a grumble, sluggishly dragging himself to the balcony to avoid disturbing sleep for the others; on the other line was his big brother Verde who seemed a little too cheerful for a call so early in the morning.

"I hope I didn't wake you." A cheerful Verde laughs after hearing the voice of his drained little brother.

"Are you a demon or something? It's sunrise over here..."

"The fish surface at night and the gull strikes."

Azule isn't amused, "Verde, it's too early for this." he sighed with an irritated look, rubbing his eyes with his free hand keeping his gaze away from the sky.

"Come on, you're the captain aren't you? You should've been up before I even called. Hey, Sky is up actually-I spoke with her just now."

"Ho? And what moved you to call me so early in the morning? I'd expect this from Lime but not you."

Verde suppressed his laugh to just a chuckle and reminisced, "Time really does fly by in life you know. You're really growing up and I just regret that I couldn't be there like a big brother should." His tone full of remorse on the other end, Azule didn't know how to respond since Verde wasn't the type of person to get personal and show his feelings. He was much more like their mother than their father. "A-anyways, I guess I'm calling to tell you that I'm very proud of you and everything you've accomplished. You've truly blossomed into someone special."

It took him a few seconds to register the sentiment since he was still getting his mind out of sleep mode, but hearing that from his big brother put a giant grin on his face because the intimidating second in command of the inkopolis army wasn't one to give praise-even to family. His words had value to Azule, who looked up to him in a different light to the other adults in his life. Verde wasn't simple just a reliable cool big brother, but he was a blueprint of the person Azule wanted to become. Someone poised and well guarded with their feelings who always acted rationally and never made a wrong decision due to that critical thinking.

"Hey, can you hear me? Huh. I wonder if it's our connection..."

Azule fumbled his phone, "I-I can hear you."

"Oh, cool. Anyways I wanted to call and tell you how proud I am-no, how proud we all are of what you and Sky are accomplishing. You've done an amazing job so far and I know you can go far if you keep it up."

"I appreciate it." Azule answered with slight blush embarrassed by the awkward praise, but little did he know how hard Verde was also blushing on the other line too-this wasn't his forte.

"That's not all, I'm hearing from Lime that mom and dad are planning to attend and watch the games. They said they were going to be available around the time of the quarterfinals."

"That feels so far from now even though it's only a week or so away."

"Lime said she'll be there for the round of 16 and for the following rounds, and I can make it for your next game actually."

At first Azule was processing the other dates but once he heard that last piece mentioned by Verde, he had to do a double-take. "WHAT?"

"Hm? Bad connection again? I said that I'll be attending the next game you play which is tomorrow, right? At uh-Hulabo Dome. Dango...High? Strange name for school to be named after a dessert but who cares."

Azule's jaw dropped, "Wait you're coming here?"

Verde found his reactions priceless, "It's not the same seeing it on television."

"Does that mean you're in Ravia?"

"Hm? Yeah, I was handling some business but now that I've taken care of that I'm free to come watch. I hope to see you make it to the other rounds since I know the rest will be excited to see you play in person."

"O-oh, well I can't let you and the others down now can I?"

"Hehe regardless of what you do I'm glad to call you my little brother and that's the reason for my call. I know it'll be a busy time for you so I'm not expecting you'll have any free time to hang with an old guy like me but...I'd like to spend some time bonding with you. Well that and I know Lime will hog you for herself when she comes around so I'd like to at least have some time with my precious little siblings."

Azule was at a loss for words. He never expected this kind of reaction from Verde given his personality but surely was it a welcome one. That experience of defending Ravia put into perspective the beauty and treasure of family, and ever since then did Azule truly gain a new perspective to when it came to cherishing family. Only able to give a single worded reply, Azule hung up the phone with a huge look of satisfaction-on the verge of losing his composure first thing in the morning. Calming himself down before he wakes anyone up, he notices the morning sun and recalls what games were due to air first thing in the morning. Recognizing a pair of interesting games already about to start, he rushed to the lobby to watch Hugh-Napri and the Joyriders kick off the day with their respective matches. Already at Alqamar stadium seated for the start of the game featuring the powerhouse Hugh-Napri were the trio of Cobalt, Apollo & Ollie who were on scouting duty for this assignment. The reason these three were put together for this mission had more to do with their ability to not only tell the quality of talent on the turf from Apollo and Ollie but also their judgment of character in Cobalt, with this trio together Fuchsia had a good chance to gauge just what would be needed to overcome such an opponent. Would mental warfare work or could it come down to a battle of physique? She hopes her answers would be reached through the results that the trio found. As for Squid Academy, their upcoming opponent wasn't as imposing as their most recent bouts but still offered them a significant challenge as one of the better teams in the tournament. Dango High was a school known for their skilled charger users and the ability to lock down teams-among the best in the nation at doing so. In hindsight, this should've been an easy match for the Squid Academy crew but Fuchsia knew different as an opponent so unique to the previous opponents faced so far meant more trouble than good.

The calming blue sky overhead and a subtle breeze present as morning continued, the Squid Academy squads were split up into sections performing their usual practice routines to the tune of a howling whistle from their overseer. Dressed for the occasion with a sleeveless t-shirt that had the team's name plastered on the front and some white gym shorts that'd bounce off the light later in the day, Fuchsia paced all over the place shouting out words of encouragement to her players while also pointing out the errors they made. Watching them work tirelessly while also carrying luggage of her own, plenty of thoughts were swirling in that head of hers as she digested everything from last night's impromptu meeting regarding Dango High that she held after dismissing the players to bed following the viewing of Kalebrough and Nimaroshi's victories.

"The scary thing about the knockouts is that unlike the group stage where you can look ahead to certain matches and be strategic on how to finish out the stage, the knockouts are a one and done. We screw up and we're eliminated. The fact that teams have time to focus entirely on you is what keeps me on edge. As we speak, their coaches must be brainstorming schemes and preparing to practice like mad for the next day in preparation. No doubt they'll find our flaws if we can see them ourselves. We can't overlook them just because we've become accustomed to fighting tougher opponents-these are the games that'll kill you!"

"But we've been fine as we are facing everyone thrown our way. Not to underestimate Dango but are they worth getting so pressed about this late at night?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty exhausted from today. Don't you think we could postpone this for tomorrow?"

"That won't do." Cobalt said shutting them down; "Our squad pulled their weight today, so it's our turn. They work in the spotlight and we work behind the scenes to assure they get the job done out there. If you want to take a break tonight then prepare to do twice the work tomorrow."

A dejected Corey slumps on the table with a sigh, "I guess we'll be pulling another all-nighter then?"

"Now now, it's not that extreme." Fuchsia gestures for them to settle down, explaining that although Dango aren't a team to take lightly, they're still not on par with the competition they've faced recently and that her caution mostly laid in how different they compared to the other opponents they've battled. She asked them to stay in their seats and turned off the tvs to have their full attention, her expression turning serious. "Dango is a troublesome opponent due to how swift they work and the presence their chargers carry. They love to roll with that charger trio as their front line of offense and defense and usually that shouldn't be as effective as it has been but there is one reason for their success: They play similar to Sky and Sally when it comes to that presence. In the same way our play makers are able to control their class rather than their class control them, so too do the Dango chargers. They don't move like charger users but they sure do hit like one. So one would have to ask how we'd combat them before worrying about anything else-that trio is the focus of our attack."

"A unit too dangerous to ignore or rush at recklessly...If it wasn't for some of the experienced players on our team and our recent battles I could see how we'd get tripped up. You've reckoned they are the team who'd upset us after our big win, am I right?"

Fuchsia snaps her fingers, "Right-o Cobalt! I'm sure that's what they're hoping for. They expect us to be starry eyed and a little arrogant after our recent form and that'll give them the chance to sucker punch us and throw us off our rhythm and slash our confidence away."

"In that case, I'd say the best way to approach them would be to outpace them with our speedsters and change up the starting rotation for this specific match. Rather than go with our usual rotation, we give players like Sandra and Zaneki a chance to start-the fresher the better." Kosami said with the pool lights shining brightly behind her with the water almost sparkling under the stars.

"A fine assessment, but they aren't the team we want a shootout with and we know for sure they'll be expecting us to play it quick too. We need an approach that has some reliability to it. I'm on board with making some changes but we still need to look further down the line for these rounds. It won't do us any good if we go all out and get stumped."

"But in that same breath we shouldn't be planning ahead since we have to survive today to fight tomorrow so to speak."

Fuchsia brings her fingers up to her chin with her eyes focusing on her nose, letting out a hum as she tries to puzzle all the unscrambled pieces together. "I already had an idea of how to fight them but after hearing your thoughts I might have to reconsider…"

"What was the plan?" Dustin asked.

An approach rich with detail, Fuchsia seemed to have either immense trust in her squad or really be throwing caution to the wind with how much assurance she had in her players to operate down to a tee. At this point none of them had their usual awe filled looks and jaws dropped since they were so used to the phenomenon of Fuchsia's crazy plans-this one wasn't any less crazier! Her hands at her hips with a beam shining, they could tell when that octoling started smiling like that, it was trouble for their opponents…

"And so! That's the plan!" Fuchsia finalizes the review, her arms crossed seeing the faces of her staff members just before they board the bus at dawn. "I'll do the assessment during practice, so I'm counting on all of you!" she said with a thumbs-up and her shoulders broadened; her staff members returned the sentiment mimicking her and nodding with mixtures of confidence and seriousness written on their faces.

Returning to the practice, she echoed in her mind what she needed to do for today: pick her starting team. For sure she knew Azule and Pastelle had to remain in the starting squad but as for the others, she was conflicted. From her usual rotation of Jory, Aaron, and Parker to the lesser used Evelyn, Audrey, and Mason, Fuchsia had to decide on a battle tactic. Should she strike early with the element of surprise? Or should she play it logically and plan out the rounds and fine tune the rosters to the outcome she envisioned? She would find her answer today while her comrades were out scouting the competition. Still not sold on the idea of using speed and mobility as a primary weapon against experienced chargers nor on holding out precious assets for a long run, she hoped her mind could be swayed by watching the teams practice but even that proved to be a challenge itself. From Azule and Sky who looked extra comfortable going all-out to Zaneki and Sandra pushing themselves even more, all the players knew the sight of only the head coach on the floor meant that there was extra priority in selecting the starting six for the upcoming game and all of them wanted to prove their case for being on the starting lineup. Azule and Pastelle knew they would be somewhat protected because of their roles as the captains but even they didn't want to be outdone by the others, Sky and the other regulars didn't want to give up that spot to the bench players who were looking far hungrier than ever, and the bench players wanted a chance to fight as a starter rather than as a substitute. From Fuchsia's perspective, this was plenty encouraging but still unhelpful since they were all making her decision even tougher. She wanted to go with her heart but she knew she had to stick with her mind when came to picking her starters for the trap game ahead.

I like the look in their eyes but I need someone who can be reliable yet explosive and give us an impact that the enemy wouldn't adjust to so easily but...who can I select from a pool of talent so focused on getting the nod for the starting spot?

Her answer came shortly after as a shot fired that had all the making of a dead-eye who pulled the trigger. Such sharpness on the strike with a blend of finesse in the pull, everyone stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to where the air cracking shot came from. At first Fuchsia suspected it to be the work of either Sky or Violet since it was a common occurrence for them but when she noticed that they too were stunned by the sudden surprise shot her excitement in finding the culprit grew further. A pair of charger users standing together, one had the biggest smirk on their face with their fingers pressed together trying to contain their joy and the other was stunned by what they just did.

Jory's jaw dropped in disbelief, "Was that…?"

"Evelyn!?" Sandra's agape mouth curls upward for a wide smile.

Pearl pats her junior on the back, "Looks like you're a true charger user now!" she cheered and glanced at the others with a smug grin shortly after, gloating about the spoils of Evelyn's growth. "Think you can do a few more? You got the coach's attention."

Evelyn nodded and took her aim, one eye closed and the other peering through the scope. A few more shots fired with the same emphatic power, all targets landed perfectly on the mark. Her senses locked in as her brows raised and her eyes grew wider, Evelyn couldn't even hear the praise she was receiving from the others who found her deadeye accuracy to be incredible-leading to Sky and Violet to join in on the fun and have a shooting contest. With everyone gathering together with clean targets set up for the four, the sniper squad of Sky, Violet, Evelyn, and Pearl all took their aim and fired. A close contest head to head, Sky managed to still emerge victorious with the cleanest target of the four, but the other three weren't far behind. Cheers pouring in all around from the other players who found it fun to see some friendly competition within the ranks, all of them shared the same thought in wondering how in the world Evelyn got so good so suddenly with the charger weapons that she was giving the likes of Sky and Violet trouble? Little did they know that not only was Evelyn playing the understudy to those great players, but she snuck in extra practice whenever she could and especially worked on her aim both with and without the gun. Dare it be said the Evelyn was on track to becoming the most dangerously accurate charger user of the group. A growing smile forming on Fuchsia's face, she found it beautiful to see such development from one of her players.

Time passes and it isn't long until the late afternoon arrives, a majority of the games in the books-a few teams breathing a sigh of relief they advanced and others overjoyed they survived, and others heartbroken their journey ended before it really got a chance to get going. The thrill and agony of the knockout competition in all its entirety, the scouts for Squid Academy witnessed up close what they narrowly avoided. The Hugh-Napri team witnessed an ugly blowout as the powerhouses didn't hold back against Dussels that resulted in a humiliating sweep for the losing side, the greatness of Shiore and Shiori apparent as the pair showed why they were among the most dangerous pairs in the competition. The Toka scouting unit of Tangie and Kosami at Mugil also had a quick viewing as the tenth ranked team washed Grove Tech in sweep of their own, assuring everyone they wouldn't drop a round to anyone until their eventual meetup with the other apex predators in the latest rounds. Dustin and Chlora-the Special Forces scouting unit-also had a quick visit as they saw their arch rivals led by Jin and the other seniors of the gold and black demonstrate why they were still the class of Inkopolis and among the best teams in the tournament. From their perspective, Jin looked far more terrifying now than ever before-the permanent glint in his eyes and his sharp movements on the turf an indicator that he meant business this tournament. Then there was Cannola and Phillip who were the Beacon Hills scouting unit and for them, this match was unwatchable. From the opening round to the fourth, Gin didn't allow Sierra Tech a moment of breath as he commanded a relentless attack each and every round, crushing the opponent's spirits by the third and leaving them defeated in the fourth.

With only Gileslie and Corey's report on the Knights left, Fuchsia's sea of thoughts piled once more as she dissected the information obtained by her trusty staff members who were on the return trip back from their scouting assignments. Hugh-Napri was an obvious problem, Toka was looking more and more frightening as well, and then there was the monster pair that made her skin crawl: Special Forces and Beacon Hills. Two teams that she held a special hatred for, Fuchsia's face wrinkled a look of dissatisfaction after hearing the performances of those teams, remembering the battles her squad had with those teams in the spring; some of the hardest matches she ever coached in. Just the thought of crossing swords with one of those teams made her blood run cold…

"We'll let you know when we're ready to get picked up." Gileslie said with the phone pressed between her head and shoulder with her attention fixated on the match below, sitting beside a focused Corey who was juggling taking notes and watching the match. On the other line was her head coach who was checking in on her for any progress. Concluding the current report she had thus far, Fuchsia let her get back to work on the double.

After exhausting her squad with a rigorous day of practice, Fuchsia had them all gathered in the conference room after freshening up to have them do a quick review on the tapes of Dango High from their group stage and knockout battles. The players struggled to keep their heads up with Sandra and Parker among some already nodding away and others barely remaining undetectable with the way they snored. Annoyance grew within the coach as she watched her players literally sleep on the competition. Deciding they needed something to wake them up, she flashed a smirk as a devious thought appeared in her mind instantly. She crossed her arms and stared down her groggy team and raised her chin, "Since the others are on their way back with Corey and Gil due to come back by the evening, I guess we can hold off on the film study until they return with their reports…" she teases with a shrug of the shoulders, closing one eye and peeking with the other to see their reaction-but there's no bite on the bait. "Well, I think now would be a good time to announce the starting six I'll be going with for the upcoming match."

Everyone's eyes opened and immediately murmurs and whispers fill the room with the players turning to one another with inquiry, their suspicions about today seemingly confirmed with this announcement. They all knew it made sense for her to offer some mystery about who the six starters would be since this next opponent was one full of opportunity. Of course there were the regulars like Parker and Aaron, who'd seem useful as experienced players against such an opponent, but then there were the more sporadic choices like Sandra and Taylor, who could throw Dango off their rhythm with their insertion into the starting lineup. A prime chance that they all capitalized during practice today, all the players watch with bated breath at what their coach had to say. Proceeding to the whiteboard with a black marker in hand, she drew out the faces of her players. First up was an inkling with big sparkling eyes wearing a cap with a massive smile present-a poor rendition but everyone knew that had to be Azule; Azule had to hide his face from the embarrassment feeling the stares from the rest of the teams who shot a glance at him once Fuchsia drew his hat. Next up was an inkling who had a similar expression to Azule except they didn't wear a hat-no one could figure out at first who it was except for the person who knew her terrible artistry anywhere; the second starter was Pastelle. Up next on the whiteboard drawn was an inkling in a bobble hat with a cool expression, which everyone knew had to be the big sister of the team: Sky. A predictable choice for the first three selections, the real interest was in the last three slots where their true motive would reside. Azule and Pastelle were certified slayers and anchors so it wasn't surprising that they were in the squad especially when they are the captain and vice captain respectively, and leaving Sky out of the starting roster would be criminal when considering she took the team on her shoulders and got them this far.

"And for the nex-"

"Can we skip the drawing please? I appreciate the effort in trying to keep us entertained but art isn't your calling, coach." Reice spoke out tiredly, a little too blunt.

"Oh my, is it that bad?" Fuchsia giggled with a smile so bright her eyes shut, although her eyes were shut because she was so close to blowing a fuse she couldn't even stand to look at Reice after he had the gall to say that considering he was one of the prime offenders.

Scary. The team thought at once, looking at Reice with sweat drops in hopes he'll mince his words.

"Since rolling stone wants me to hurry up I'll announce the rest of the starters. For our upcoming battle with Dango, in addition to the trio mentioned earlier in the selection I'm also selecting Violet, Pearl, and Evelyn."

"Evelyn!?" everyone echoed in disbelief.

"ME!?" Evelyn said pointing a finger at herself with a look of confusion plastered on her face.

Sally whistled, "Fuchsia has done it again." she chuckled.

"Wait a moment, can you take us through your thought process here? Four chargers? Are you serious!?" Todd slammed the table.

"As serious as the star." She smugly replied, shooting him a scary glare that warned him not to slam the table again.

The jaws of everyone dropped as once again Fuchsia found a way to stir up the pot and deliver another surprise and the reasoning behind her decision was all the others could think about in trying to rationalize such a decision. Azule, Pastelle, Sky, Violet, Pearl, and Evelyn. Four chargers and a pair of shooters, one of the boldest team comps to devise against an opponent like Dango high. Could this surprise work in their favor or would it backfire? The answer laid in a critical round of 32 match that quickly approaches.