Note: I did point this out in the last one, but just in case any of you decided to read this before that one, during this first part, I'm employing a tactic where each time I cut to a certain fight, I'm essentially turning back time to show what happened while all the others took place.

The crowd's excitement was at an all-time high when Beedrill stated, "Now, many of you are probably curious as to why we only allowed for thirty two teams to compete instead of, well, a whole bunch like last time. Well, it's because of an idea our new advisers, Dialga and Palkia thought up."

He then directed everyone's attention toward the dragons who waved while Shaymin scowled at them and growled, "Whatever they came up with can't be any good," Melmetal nodding and replying, "Yeah, but we can handle it, right?"

The hedgehog grinned at him and nodded before Butterfree explained, "You see, unlike the last tournament, we'll actually have a fight in every single round! Yep, we'll still stick to the sixteen finalist teams tradition, but the elimination round will actually serve as, well, technically the first round of the fighting portion!"

The crowd and heroes were beyond confused, thus Beedrill sighed, "Basically, it doesn't really count as the first round since it's still treated as more of a sporting event, but the general idea is that all sixteen matches will take place in one round. You know what? Maybe I should just show you what I mean."

He then nodded at Nori who pressed a button and caused a labyrinth to rise up from under the ground in front of the heroes. At the end of it were sixteen exits with a wrestling ring outside of each one, all of them separated by big dividing walls. As soon as the crowd saw that, they got a general idea of what it meant.

"The basic idea is that all thirty two teams will race through the maze before reaching one of sixteen exits," Beedrill explained, "Once two teams exit through one of them, a door will close and seal it off so no other team and pass through, and the two teams that went through that particular door will face off in the ring outside of it. The sixteen teams left standing will move onto the official first round."

Shaymin folded her arms and sighed, "I hate to admit it, but that's actually a cool idea," Melmetal patting her on the head while implying a supportive smile with his eye.

Machoke grinned and said, "We're gonna be the first to fight, eh, honey?" Gardevoir nodding with a big smile while Lucario thought, 'I'll make sure I get to the same exit as Machoke.'

Everyone else was more than ready, but of course, those from the future were all fixated on one thing. Would any of them pass through the same exit as Dialga and Palkia?

Shaymin narrowed her eyelids and thought, 'Yeah, this is it. We'll make it out the same exit and face them after they've exhausted themselves running around. It's perfect. Then I can brag about my big victory to the staff and be seen as a true hero.'

Scorbunny, meanwhile, thought about how satisfying it would be to kick in the dragons' faces as Rillaboom pictured herself using the best tactics she had ever used thanks to Aipom's help. And of course, Drizzile also felt confident, especially since he had won the Hero Olympics three years prior.

Rolycoly was dead-set on this while Morgrem could not help but wonder if they were the right team to face the dragons. But the one who wanted to fight them most of all was Vaporeon. Even with Zeraora's lack of abilities, she had a feeling they could still best them in combat. If anything, it would be even more impressive for the duo to take them down before the cat could learn so much as one electric type move.

The dragons, all the while, looked around at the competition while Palkia asked, "So, who should we target first?" Dialga replying, "I've done bit of research, and it turns out those two are the tag team champions," pointing at Machoke and Gardevoir, "If there's any team to take down, it's them. But there are plenty of other great options as well."

But just as the heroes got ready, Beedrill stated, "One last thing before we begin," nodding at Butterfree who turned to Nori. The woman gave them two thumbs up before they flapped their wings and rose up from their seats. They then flew toward the entrance of the maze before Nori stated, "As you can see, folks, once again, our very own chairman and his darling wife will compete in this tournament! Give them a round of applause, folks!"

The crowd cheered wildly as they could not believe this, even if it should have been predictable. Many of them remembered how amazing they were against Magnemite and Squirtle and could not wait to see them in action again.

Once all of the teams were ready, Nori smiled and exclaimed, "Alright, folks, this is it! Without further ado, let's begin!" ringing a bell and signalling the start of the race.

Everyone immediately sprinted into the maze, though Aipom chose to move at a slower pace. Rillaboom did not even need to question this as she understood entirely. After all, this was not like the marathon in the Olympics where those who qualified had to make it into the top sixteen. All that mattered was defeating whoever they wound up facing, and they would need as much energy as possible for that.

Drizzile and Gallade, however, sped through the area with the green man beyond excited to see who he would face. He was certain he would win this time no matter what, especially with such an amazing partner by his side.

Scorbunny and Blaziken were both especially competitive when it came to sporting events. As such, they both ran as fast as possible in the hopes that they would be the first ones to claim a ring. They knew it hardly mattered, but they did not care.

Vaporeon, meanwhile, seemed to have a similar idea, though not for the same reason. She just wanted to face someone as soon as possible and show just how far she had come and how much she had prepared Zeraora for this day. The cat, however, was beyond nervous, but he chose to follow whatever the fox had in mind.

After a while, Scorbunny and Blaziken wound up being the first ones to claim an exit. Both leapt into the ring and rose their arms in the air, the chicken exclaiming, "Man, we're awesome!" the rabbit nodding and holding up her guard, saying, "Just wait. Soon, our opponents will emerge and we'll be ready for them."

Machoke and Gardevoir made it to a ring soon after, Rolycoly having sped all the way to an exit himself, saying, "Hey, wow, we made it pretty quickly," Morgrem seated on top of him like a motorcyclist.

However, she did not look quite as thrilled as he did. Deep down, she was still scared that without her hair blade, she might not be the best teammate for the golem. But soon they would meet their opponents and she would need to ignore such thoughts.

Dialga and Palkia, however, briskly made their way through the maze. Since it was their idea, they already knew the layout, so they saw no need to rush. Shaymin, on the other hand, wanted to go as quickly as possible so badly, yet she could not due to Melmetal being much slower than her.

"How did you place first in the Olympic marathon?" she groaned as he uttered, "Well, I did beat the shit out of a lot of heroes to land myself that spot," chuckling nervously.

After a while, more and more heroes found their own rings, and soon enough, Scorbunny and Blaziken were the first to get a match. The rabbit was more than pumped when she saw that one of her opponents was a golden-white kitsune with red eyes aptly named Ninetales. However, her eyes went wide when she noticed who the other was.

Right next to Ninetales was a rabbit who was the exact same height as Scorbunny. However, his fur had more of a greyish tint to it and he had a yellow bandage on his forehead. His upper body leading all the way up to his chin was red and resembled a turtleneck sweatshirt that covered his mouth. The fur on his lower body was mostly black save for the red fur on his toes.

Blaziken smirked, folded her arms and said, "Well, ain't you a sight for sore eyes? I didn't think I'd get you as my first opponent, Ninetales," the kitsune smiling and replying, "Yeah, this is pretty awesome, but don't assume I'll lose just because Machoke beat me in the Olympics."

However, both then noticed Scorbunny staring at the other rabbit while he folded his arms and asked, "What are you looking at!? Is there something on my face!?" Scorbunny shaking her head and replying, "Oh, sorry. It's just, um..." biting her lower lip before fibbing, "Your fur is so cool!"

The male rabbit held the back of his head and chuckled, "Oh, isn't it? I always felt like I was blessed with the coolest fur on the planet," Scorbunny thinking, 'Yep, he's just as full of himself as Grandma said he was. That's my Great Grandpa Raboot, alright. Oh god, I feel kinda bad about having to beat him up, but then again..."

She then smirked and got over her nervousness. After all, in preparation for the Olympics, she faced her own father in combat and came out on top. This was just another one of those cases.

With that in mind, she smiled and said, "Alright, Blaziken, let's do this," the chicken nodding with a grin and replying, "Damn straight! I hope you don't feel too bad when I beat your ass!"

Ninetales chuckled, "As if! With my super awesome partner, you'll meet the same fate Scyther did when she faced me!" she and the chicken sharing a good laugh.

Scorbunny took a deep breath and thought, 'I hate to do this, GG, but I need to do this for a chance to face Dialga and Palkia. Besides, I'll never get a chance to fight alongside Blaziken again. I need to prove myself worthy.'

With that in mind, she waited until Blaziken and Ninetales were ready to fight. And once they were, she and the chicken nodded at one-another before leaping backward into the ropes. They then bounced off and sent flying kicks toward the faces of their opponents. However, Raboot was more than ready for Scorbunny's, thus he leaned backward, performed a handstand and propelled his feet up into the female rabbit's back.

Ninetales was also prepared for Blaziken when she simply allowed herself to take in the incoming kick to her chest. As it so happened, while the chicken headed toward her, she had expanded the size of her tails, thus allowing them to stretch forward and bind the feet that had just struck her in place.

Blaziken's eyes widened as she uttered, "Oh yeah, I forgot about that," the kitsune throwing her tails downward and slamming the chicken's back into the canvas. She then lifted Blaziken over her head until she was upside down and wrapped her tails around her neck, wrists, and ankles.

"KITSUNE BACKBREAKER!" Ninetales exclaimed before she pulled back on each part, pressing her middle tail right up against Blaziken's back to add to the pain. The chicken tried her hardest to break free, but all this did was cause her more pain while the kitsune sighed, "It's nothing personal, but you're not the only one who wants to win."

She then turned her back to Raboot and exclaimed, "Hey, Raboot, how about a little teamwork!?" the male rabbit currently on his back while he used his feet to juggle Scorbunny in place. The female rabbit's eyes were wide with terror as she could not help but wonder why she had never thought to use a move like this.

Either way, Raboot knew exactly what Ninetales meant, thus he kicked Scorbunny higher into the air and propelled himself toward the ropes. But just as he was about to launch himself forward, Scorbunny was ready as she thought, 'That may have been impressive, but I know a ton of a moves no one else in the family has ever used. You won't be the least bit prepared for this.'

With that in mind, she lit her feet on fire and spread her arms forward. She then threw them backward just hard enough to propel herself diagonally toward Raboot while exclaiming, "INFERNO AXE!" Once close enough, she flipped vertically and planted her feet into the male rabbit's chest before he gasped in shock.

Ninetales blinked and uttered, "Raboot, are you ready to complete our team move?" before she turned around just in time for to see a flaming heel coming straight for her. And before she could react, she took the blow to her face while Scorbunny squealed, "BURNING ROCKET!"

Many people in the audience watched in amazement when Ninetales released her hold on Blaziken. And this was all the chicken needed as she knelt down and swept her leg into the kitsune's ankles. This caused Ninetales to fall on her back before Blaziken latched her legs onto her neck for a figure-four headlock, Scorbunny adding to the pain by performing a similar hold on the kitsune's legs.

While the crowd was uncertain whether or not this stranger was a good fit for Blaziken at first, they could see just from the first few moves she had used that she was a far better partner than Gardevoir. At the very least, her style was similar enough.

But even so, there was no way Raboot would just lie there and allow Ninetales to lose. As such, he narrowed his eyelids, released smoke from his ears and grunted, "Oh, this is getting interesting!" Thus he leapt onto the top rope and bounced himself off, Scorbunny unable to respond while he flipped vertically with his left foot on fire and rammed it into her face, shouting, "BLAZING WHEEL!"

Scorbunny grunted and released her hold on Ninetales' legs before lifting up her hands and taking hold of Raboot's ankle. She then flipped him over and rammed his face into the kitsune's gut before she rose to her feet, her eyes wide as she thought, 'Oh, no, did I really just do what I think I did!?'

When Raboot rubbed his head and noticed her breathing heavily, he stared in shock and thought, 'Oh my god. She has the same problem I do. She also can't use advanced moves without straining herself,' narrowing his eyelids while his mind added, 'Well, at least I can always remember not to use such tactics.'

Blaziken, meanwhile, was concerned when she saw this and thought, 'Oh my god, she's worse than me. Sure, I used up quite a bit of energy the first time I used a suplex, but not that much. And the opponent I used it on was at least ten times this guy's weight.'

While she thought this, though, she failed to realize she had loosened her hold on Ninetales. This was all the kitsune needed before she grabbed hold of the chicken's ankles and rose back to her feet. She then threw Blaziken downward and slammed her upper back into the canvas before she lifted her up again and bound her in place with her tails.

Unlike before, though, she had a different move in mind as she proceeded to spin Blaziken like a car wheel. She then turned around and aimed her toward the rabbits just in time for Raboot to leap over Scorbunny's head and send a roundhouse into her back.

This caused the female rabbit to falter forward before Ninetales shouted, "KITSUNE BOWGUN!" and launched Blaziken hard into her. Both cried out in pain before they backed away from one-another. And of course, Raboot and Ninetales would not let it end there.

The male rabbit waited for Scorbunny to get close before leaping up, latching onto the sides of her head and forcing her backward. As such, the back of her head hit the canvas while Ninetails rammed her arm into Blaziken's neck from behind and knocked her down as well.

"You see that?" Raboot asked while he had his legs wrapped around Scorbunny's head, "That's how you slam someone without hurting yourself. Of course, I know that because I'm amazing," flexing while Scorbunny thought, 'I know that full well. That was definitely a spur the moment sort of thing, but it won't happen again.'

With that in mind, she spun her body around and forced herself out of Raboot's hold while Blaziken pushed herself up with her hands and swung her feet upward into Ninetales' chin. Raboot was shocked to see her escape from that so easily, thus he was spellbound when she spun around and sent him backwards with a roundhouse to the face.

Blaziken smirked and said, "That was a mighty fine escape, if I say so myself. Come on, let's end this," Scorbunny nodding before she leapt over Raboot's head. She then spun herself around, took hold of his ears and lit her feet on fire while Blaziken dashed behind Ninetales and mounted herself onto her back.

Once the chicken's feet were aflame, she and Scorbunny both nodded at one-another before shouting, "DOUBLE BLAZE KICK!" the female rabbit ramming her heels into the back of Raboot's neck while Blaziken planted her feet into Ninetales' shoulders.

Both opponents coughed up blood and fell flat on their faces while those watching the match cheered wildly for them. But while Scorbunny and Blaziken had dealt a lot of damage, both had a feeling this was not quite over yet.

And sure enough, their assumption was correct, and this was shown when Raboot pushed himself up and helped Ninetales back to her feet. The kitsune took a deep breath and grunted, "I knew Blaziken would be a challenge, but her partner seems almost too perfect. I swear, their fighting styles are practically identical."

Raboot nodded and added, "Yes, it's surprising, to say the least," scratching his forehead, "But we can still win. We have our ultimate combo move."

Ninetales nodded with a smile and proceeded to turn her back to the male rabbit. Blaziken and Scorbunny were both confused when she picked him up with her tails and started to spin him like she had done to Blaziken earlier. However, Scorbunny's eyes widened after a few seconds before she smirked and said, "Oh, we have the perfect move for this, don't we?"

The chicken blinked but soon realized what the female rabbit meant. As such, she smiled, nodded and gave her a thumb up before Ninetales launched Raboot toward them, both shouting, "KITSUNE FLAMETHROWER!"

Sure enough, Raboot lit both of his feet on fire and aimed it at the duo only for Scorbunny and Blaziken to leap backward into the ropes. Both then launched themselves toward the male rabbit with their feet out and on fire. The flames soon formed into a big phoenix before both shouted, "DOUBLE ROARING PHOENIX!" and their feet collided with Raboot's.

It did not take the male rabbit long to realize he stood no chance here, but there was no way he would show it. Thus he kept a look of confidence on his face before Blaziken and Scorbunny overpowered him and sent him careening over the ropes. And after he fell hard on his back outside of the ring, Ninetales grimaced when she took the kick to her gut.

She then felt her back pressed up against the ropes. After a few seconds, the material started to give way. And it did not take long for the ropes to split open, resulting in her flying right into the wall behind Raboot.

Not only was Ninetales out cold, but Raboot had only managed to get up after he had been out of the ring for twenty seconds. As such, a nearby bell rang automatically and confirmed Scorbunny and Blaziken's victory.

The chicken smiled down at Scorbunny and said, "Damn, that was incredible. I couldn't have asked for a better partner," pounding her fist against the female rabbit's.

Raboot, all the while, panted heavily and thought, 'Well, I guess that's only to be expected. After all, I just know that bunny has an impressive lineage, a very impressive lineage.'

Needless to say, those who had watched that particular ring were especially happy. After all, Blaziken was far more popular with the masses than Ninetales, so it only stood to reason more people had wanted to see her come out on top.

While this happened, Morgrem and Rolycoly sat down and waited for their opponents to arrive. The golem took a deep breath and said, "Good thing we got here so quickly. It gives us ample time to rest up, eh?" the goblin nodding with a light smile.

However, both tensed up when they heard a male Russian voice shout, "Alright, we've finally found a ring!" a male Romanian voice adding, "And it looks like we have us a couple of victims ripe for the picking."

Both turned and noticed that the Russian was a grizzly bear with a yellow ring on his front side named Ursaring. His partner was a black rottweiler with an orange muzzle, bones along his back and curved horns on his head named Houndoom.

In the past, Rolycoly would have at least been terrified to fight someone like Ursaring. But since the first opponent her ever defeated was a taller dragon made of steel, he felt like he could handle this. Thus he pounded his fist against his palm and said, "These guys aren't so tough, eh, Morgrem?"

Morgrem took a deep breath, stood up and grunted, "Hell yeah," though deep down, she was not sure if she truly believed it. If anything, she hoped these two were not as tough as they looked. After all, she was still unsure if she could really win without her hair blade.