Rillaboom was both excited and nervous. She finally had a chance to fight in front of a crowd with one of the greatest trainers in history by her side.

They would certainly need to think fast when Rapidash went down on all fours and raced toward them. He then reached his mane forward until it touched his horn and lit it on fire, shouting, "HORN FROM HELL!"

Dubwool also charged forward, but after a few seconds, she tucked her arms and legs into her wool and rolled like a boulder toward Aipom, barking, "COTTON BOULDER!"

Much like when Wooloo had used this same move, Rillaboom could see that the ram's head was still exposed. Thus she turned to Aipom and stated, "Wait until she's in the right position and strike her face. Trust me on this one."

The monkey blinked in confusion but realized she had no time to question this. She simply nodded with a serious smile while Rillaboom waited for Rapidash to close in on her and grabbed onto his horn. The crowd stared as smoke rose from her palm, but she ignored it and lifted the unicorn up before she swung him downward and planted his chin into the canvas.

Aipom quickly caught onto Dubwool's pattern and leapt toward her. She spun vertically with her tail hand balled up into a fist and squeaked, "TAIL HAMMER!" sending it downward just in time to strike the ram right between the eyes.

The crowd cheered when Dubwool grunted in pain and stopped her attack. She then backed up before Rillaboom lifted up Rapidash again and hurled him into the turnbuckle. Dubwool gritted her teeth and thought, 'That ape, she just gave Aipom perfect advice. But there's no way she could possibly know about my weakness. No one has ever been able to exploit it. That must have been a fluke.'

Rapidash, meanwhile, rose to his feet and uttered, "Damn, that's impressive. You touched my flames without so much as a response," Rillaboom grinning and replying, "Yeah. I often fight my best after I take in a hit from my opponent."

The unicorn was much more intrigued now, thus he said, "I had a feeling this would be difficult, but I figured Aipom would be the big threat here. Seems like this partner of hers is just as big of a problem, eh?" Dubwool grunting, "You're right. Aipom must have taught her a few good tricks. Nevertheless, we won't let that happen again, right?"

Rapidash nodded before he went down on all fours again. He then sprinted forward while Rillaboom readied herself, thinking, 'So just like Rapidight, he has an incredibly limited move set. I can take full advantage of that.'

Aipom watched Dubwool closely when she also charged toward her. But just as she was ready to deliver another punch, the ram suddenly curved her cheek horns downward. Before Aipom could respond, Dubwool proceeded to extend them downward before one reached right between the monkey's legs.

Aipom's eyes widened when the horn curved upward and reached around, piercing her back before Dubwool exclaimed, "DOUBLE BATTERING RAM!"

The name made much more sense when she extended her upper horns forward and rammed them into Aipom's forehead. She then kept the lower horn in her back and lifted her up before racing toward Rillaboom who was just about to counter Rapidash again.

As it so happened, the unicorn's move was simply a distraction, thus he leapt to the side before the gorilla could grab him again just in time for her to take Dubwool's horns to her side. She grunted in pain before Rapidash shifted to the opposite side and performed a handstand, ramming his feet into her cheek.

With Rillaboom distracted, Dubwool retracted her upper horns and leapt into the air before Aipom could attempt to pry herself free from the lower horn. She then tucked her arms and legs into her wool, bounced into the air and flipped backwards one hundred and eighty degrees.

"RAM SUPLEX!" she exclaimed before she rammed Aipom's skull into the canvas. The monkey cried out in pain before the ram finally retracted her lower horns and flipped herself upright. While Aipom may have been smart, her tail hand was the only strong part of her body. As such, it only stood to reason that an assault like this would already leave her feeling weak.

Rillaboom saw this and gasped, "AIPOM!" before she noticed Rapidash about to strike her with a roundhouse. As such, she lifted her up arm before the leaves around her wrists spun around and transformed into barrels. Thorns then sprouted out of the sides of them just in time for the unicorn's foot to lodge itself into one.

Rapidash's eyes widened before he let out a loud cry of pain. He then fell on his side and rocked back and forth while clutching onto his bleeding ankle before Rillaboom leapt up and planted her elbow into his side.

As soon as Dubwool saw this, she released steam from her nostrils and tucked her arms and legs into her wool. She then rolled toward the gorilla and shouted, "COTTON BOULDER!" before thinking, 'I'm sure that was a fluke before, but just to be safe-'

She then propelled herself high into the air and descended toward Rillaboom, barking, "COTTON METEOR!" Luckily, the gorilla was more than ready for this, thus she knelt down on her arms and knees and sharpened her hair, preventing her from taking in any pain from the incoming attack.

The crowd stared while Dubwool's eye twitched, Rillaboom shouting, "ROSE BUSH CATAPULT!" flipping her hair up, launching the ram high into the air. Aipom just happened to regain consciousness at this exact moment and when she saw this, she smiled with confidence.

Rillaboom did not let it end there when she leapt onto the nearest top rope and bounced up to Dubwool's level. She then whipped the vine that resembled a lock of hair forward and bound it to the ram's neck only for her to fume and bark, "I don't think so!"

She then proceeded to shift her top horns forward until they looked more like spear heads. The gorilla stared at this and thought, 'Oh, shit, she can use that too.'

However, she realized this would be even worse when the ram extended all four of her horns forward. The top ones pierced Rillaboom's shoulders while the lower ones went into her sides before Dubwool flipped backward and shouted, "RAM SKEWER SUPLEX!" trying her hardest to ignore the pain Rillaboom's vine dealt to her neck.

Aipom squeaked in panic and was just about to leap into the air to save her partner, thinking, 'Rillaboom's already done a lot for me! Now it's my turn to help her out!'

However, her eyes went wide when Rapidash leapt at her from behind and quipped, "I see you got up! That's fine by me! I'd have been disappointed if it was that easy!"

He then sent a barrage of rapid kicks with all four of his hooves into her back and shouted, "FLYING CENTAUR!" But while this certainly hurt, Aipom realized immediately how she could take advantage of this. Thus she rose her tail hand and placed a firm grip on Rapidash's left ankle before she swung her tail backward and planted his back into the canvas.

The monkey then proceeded to fling the unicorn toward Dubwool and right into her side. However, this proved ineffective when he bounced right off of her wool and landed against the mat.

'It's just as Rillaboom said,' Aipom thought before the gorilla's skull made contact with the mat, 'Her wool is insanely tough. If she hadn't told me to go for the face, I wouldn't have dealt the first hit.'

Rillaboom's vine loosened before Dubwool retracted her horns back to their original size and released her. She then ran over to Rapidash and enquired, "Are you okay?" the unicorn slowly rising to his feet and sighing, "Yeah. Seriously, that wool of yours is tough."

The ram nodded and blushed lightly, uttering, "Yeah, sorry about that." She then turned as Rillaboom pushed herself back to her feet, Aipom running over to her with concern. Dubwool narrowed her eyelids and grunted, "I gotta say, that ape really is a major threat. As if making thorns on her wrists wasn't bad enough, I wasn't expecting her hair to be so strong. And while I did manage to hit her, she still dealt considerable pain to my neck."

Rapidash blinked and uttered, "You know, I was wondering about that," Aipom whimpering, "Are you alright? I'm sorry I couldn't have been more helpful. If only I'd aimed for her face..."

"It's fine," Rillaboom replied with a light smile, "The way you countered Rapidash's kicks was amazing, just what I'd expect from you."

The monkey smiled lightly before turning toward Dubwool and Rapidash. Now was her chance to contribute, and she would certainly need to come up with something soon when the unicorn leapt onto Dubwool's back. He then proceeded to place his tail right up against the ram's wool, everyone staring while a ring of fire circled around it.

"Oh my god," Rillaboom uttered, "It's so tough that she doesn't even feel flames," Aipom narrowing her eyelids. This would be difficult, but she was certain she and the gorilla could work around this.

Rapidash once again extended his mane until it touched his horn and lit it on fire. With that, Dubwool proceeded to race toward them, both shouting, "SHARP FIREBALL!" the ram once again pointing her upper horns forward and extending her lower horns to match their length.

Aipom took a deep breath as Rillaboom enquired, "Which move should we use?" the monkey tapping her chin and saying, "I know exactly which one. Give me your hand."

The gorilla nodded and extended her right hand toward the monkey before she grabbed her with her tail hand. Needless to say, Rillaboom was beyond impressed when Aipom managed to swing her around with ease and exclaim, "MONKEY-GO-ROUND!"

Rapidash and Dubwool's eyes widened when Rillaboom held out her left arm and leg, her fist ramming into the unicorn's cheek while her foot did the same to the ram. As such, both opponents groaned in pain before Dubwool skidded sideways, Rapidash falling off of her back and landing on his side.

The crowd cheered wildly before Aipom beamed bright. Now her confidence had completely returned as she gave Rillaboom a thumb up with her tail hand and asked, "Ready to end this?"

"Hell yeah!" the gorilla replied before she held up Aipom and hurled her toward Dubwool. The ram was truly shocked when she regained focus just in time for the monkey to latch onto her forehead and propel herself high into the air.

Once high enough, the monkey flipped Dubwool upside-down and placed her tail hand against her rear end, pushing her down toward the canvas. At this moment, Rillaboom grinned and raced toward Rapidash. She then took hold of him before he had a chance to react and fell backwards against the canvas. Finally, she latched onto the unicorn's arms and legs and forced them back until his belly was pointed upward in a bridge formation.

The crowd's excitement was through the roof now. After all, this was the same move Aipom had used with Machoke to defeat Vespiquen and Smeargle in the previous tournament. To see this in action again was a real treat as Dubwool's face was pressed into Rapidash's gut, both coughing up blood while Rillaboom and Aipom shouted, "BRIDGE BOMBER!"

The gorilla and monkey released their hold and allowed their opponents to collapse before taking a deep breath and smiling at one-another. They also kept their guard up, though, just in case this had not been enough.

Luckily, it seemed as if they had nothing to fear when a bell rang after ten seconds. As such, Aipom had the biggest grin on her face while Rillaboom had a huge smile. After a couple more seconds, the gorilla rose her fists in the air while Aipom held up her tail hand in triumph.

"We did it!" Aipom squealed with excitement, "I definitely made the right choice teaming up with you!" Rillaboom chuckling, "Well, that was a brilliant strategy you came up with at the end."

The monkey blushed lightly, though deep down, she knew she would not have done quite as well if it had not been for Rillaboom. Either way, with both advancing to the first round, she would soon be able to fight in front of everyone and not just a portion of the crowd.

During this time, Shaymin and Melmetal had finally reached an exit. The hedgehog took a deep breath and said, "Well, here we are," the cyborg nodding and replying, "Sorry I couldn't be faster."

"It's fine," Shaymin said with a shrug, "Besides, what matters is beating our opponents, not making it in first. Besides, at least this way, we can see who we're up against in advance. If it's someone well known, we might be extra prepared for this since I've studied the fighting styles of all famous heroes."

When she peered her head around the opening, her eyes and mouth widened. This almost seemed like fate. The two heroes who had entered this ring before them were none other than Beedrill and Butterfree. Shaymin actually had an opportunity to face the chairman of the past.

Melmetal, meanwhile, looked at this and sighed, "Oh, darn, I was hoping it would be Dialga and Palkia," Shaymin uttering, "Oh yeah, we're trying to stop them."

She the bit her lower lip and groaned, "Whatever. I don't wanna look around forever. Let's just hope that whoever faces them can put up a good fight."

With that in mind, the hedgehog entered with Melmetal right behind her. Beedrill blinked and said, "Oh, look, honey, we finally have someone to fight."

"Thank god," the butterfly sighed, "I was getting restless," before gazing upon Shaymin and uttering, "Speak of the devil."

"Oh, hey, it's you, the wild one," Beedrill chuckled before Shaymin blushed and thought, 'Did he really have to call me that?' the wasp adding, "You know, I was actually hoping I'd get to face you at some point. It's just a shame we only have a small percentage of the audience watching us."

Melmetal looked among the bleachers and said, "He's right. Only a fraction of the audience can actually see this ring," Shaymin nodding and replying, "Well, this is probably for the best, anyway. After all, I'd feel awful beating history's youngest chairman in front of a huge crowd."

She then folded her arms with confidence and pride while Beedrill remarked, "We'll see about that," the hedgehog's smile becoming a smirk as she thought, 'That's right. Even though these two have only taken part in one recorded fight, I've watched that match more than enough times to know how their techniques. And I've also heard enough about Beedrill and Butterfree's match to know they like to get in the first move. This will be easy.'

She held her ground and turned to Melmetal, whispering, "Let them attack first," the cyborg nodding as Beedrill faced Butterfree and said in his own low voice, "They probably expect us to attack first. No matter how tempting it is, we gotta lure them out. After all, we have no idea how these two fight."

As much as it pained the butterfly to admit it, he had a point. Thus she held her ground while Shaymin bit her lower lip nervously. Melmetal gave her an odd look before she took a deep breath and whispered, "Change of tactics."

She then proceeded to explain her plan while Beedrill narrowed his eyelids. But just as he and Butterfree felt prepared for whatever their opponents had in mind, they were shocked when Melmetal extended his arms toward them like rubber and shouted, "STEEL KNUCKLES!"

Both bugs tensed up and flew up into the air just in time to avoid the incoming punches, Beedrill uttering, "Okay, so his liquid metal is stretchy, apparently," but just as he and Butterfree felt like this was all they needed to know, Shaymin proceeded to transform into a deer and spread out her ears.

Beedrill, Butterfree and the crowd were all equally shocked when she exclaimed, "SKY CLOTHESLINE!" flew upward toward the bugs and rammed her ears into their necks.

'She can transform into a flying deer?' Beedrill thought with his eyes wide open, 'What the hell is she?' he and his wife plummeting and landing skull-first against the canvas.

Seeing a golden opportunity, Melmetal said, "Sorry about this, but we need to win this," his liquid metal gurgling and vibrating. He then inflated himself like a balloon until only his shoulders and head stuck out of his body and rolled toward Beedrill and Butterfree, shouting, "LIQUID MARBLE!"

Both opponents barely stood up in time before they took the incoming strike to their faces and flew backward into the ropes. Beedrill took a deep breath and sighed, "Okay, these two are weird, but this isn't too bad. At the very least, we're both good at aerial combat."

Butterfree nodded and waited for Shaymin to fly toward them again. She then soared toward the hedgehog with her skull pointed forward and spun around like a twister, shouting, "WHIRLWIND!"

Shaymin smirked and thought, 'I'm more than ready for this,' but when she flew upward to evade the incoming strike, her eyes widened when Butterfree shifted her body upward and rammed her skull into her gut. This was just enough to catch the hedgehog off guard before the butterfly latched onto her and flipped back ninety degrees.

Melmetal gasped and readies his arms only for Beedrill to fly toward the cyborg and jab his arm stingers into his shoulder. He then exclaimed, "TWIN NEEDLE SIDE SUPLEX!" lifting Melmetal up, leaning backward and planting the side of his head into the canvas.

The crowd cheered as the back of Shaymin's head was soon slammed into the mat as well. Butterfree smiled with pride before Beedrill removed his stingers from the steel shoulder and stated, "Like you, we have no intention of losing. After all, what kind of chairman would I be if I let a couple of strangers walk all over me so easily?"

Shaymin grunted and pushed herself back to her feet after Butterfree released her. But just as she was about to get her revenge, her eyes widened when the butterfly flew a slight ways away from her and shouted, "This isn't over yet! Now face the wrath of my STUN SPORE!"

The hedgehog squeaked in panic before a smirk formed on her face and she turned to Melmetal, barking, "Hey, looks like we have a reason to use a defensive team move!"

The cyborg nodded before he reached his arms toward her, his hands gurgling. A set of fingers came out and reached past the hexagonal nuts on the fronts of said hands before he took hold of Shaymin. He pointed her skull forward and twisted his arms in a spiral formation before Butterfree released an orange powder from her wings. And once Melmetal was ready, he allowed them to spin like a windmill while Shaymin released a huge gust of wind from her ears and squealed, "EAR TWISTER!"

Butterfree and Beedrill's eyes were wide with terror when the powder blew toward them. Luckily, both had managed to fly over it in time to avoid it, but this hardly mattered when Shaymin reverted to her hedgehog form and had Melmetal hurl her toward the wasp.

Beedrill cried out in agonizing pain when Shaymin curled up into a ball and sprouted thorns along her back, shouting, "THORNY HEDGE!" large cuts forming on his body while the thorns scraped up against him.

Butterfree stared at her husband in horror before Melmetal sighed, "Again, sorry to take advantage of you," spinning the hexagonal nut on his left hand and sending it straight into her cheek, shouting, "HARD BUZZ SAW!"

Butterfree flew out of the ring and into a wall surrounding it while Shaymin folded her arms and quipped, "As if I'd fall for your Stun Spore. This move may not have been recorded, but I've heard enough about it to know how it works."

"Wait, how have you heard about it?" Beedrill enquired, Butterfree sighing, "Well, I did kinda show it off that one time. You know, when Ditto and Ditta were exposed? Someone could have told her about that," the wasp blinking and uttering, "Oh yeah."

Shaymin blinked and thought, 'Oh, right, the fight between Beedrill and Butterfree wasn't officially documented until twenty twenty. If I reveal any more info that I'm aware of, they might actually figure out I'm from the future.'

Butterfree smiled and said, "No matter. I got another skill that'll blow you away!" flying toward Shaymin while she frowned and thought, 'That's right, when Butterfree uses her Stun Spore, she can't use it for a total of seventy two hours. That means she'll likely try the one tactic no one saw from her.'

With that in mind, the hedgehog got ready only for Beedrill to fly toward her with his stringers at the ready. Shaymin squeaked and leapt away from him before Butterfree flew right over her and exclaimed, "SLEEP POWDER!" releasing a blue powder from her wings.

'Dammit, and I was prepared for that, too,' Shaymin thought before the particles sprinkled all over her and her eyelids started to drop. Melmetal also felt himself start to feel weak, thus both were out like a light. Butterfree smiled at Beedrill and said, "Well, darling, we got a minute to kick the shit out of them. Let's make this count."

The wasp nodded before he flew toward Shaymin and pierced her shoulders with his arm stingers. Butterfree, all the while, dealt an onslaught of kicks to Melmetal's skull before she latched onto his arm and swung him face-first into the turnbuckle.

Beedrill then lifted Shaymin up and shouted, "TWIN NEEDLE SUPLEX!" before he flipped over and rammed her skull into the canvas. He removed his stingers from the hedgehog and said, "Alright, darling, let's do it."

Butterfree nodded and flew over to Shaymin before Beedrill approached Melmetal. After all, the move they had in mind required both to lift up their opponents, and as much as the butterfly hated to admit it, the wasp had always been physically stronger than she was. And after she took hold of Shaymin, she turned and asked, "You ready, Beedrill?"

Her eyes widened when she noticed Beedrill's arm stingers stuck inside of Melmetal. As it so happened, he had jabbed them into the liquid metal right below his collar, thus he trembled and cried, "Oh my god, I can't get my arms out!"

Butterfree stared and uttered, "Honey?" as Shaymin slowly opened her eyes and groaned, "Oh god, I can't believe I actually let that happen."

When she noticed Butterfree holding onto her, she was just about to kick her in the gut before she saw Beedrill struggling to free his stingers from Melmetal. A smirk formed on her face before she said, "You made a big mistake there, Mr. Chairman. Melmetal's body can absorb sharp things."

Butterfree gasped, "Oh my god, you're awake!" Beedrill all the while tensing up and uttering, "What did you just say?"

Melmetal then opened his eye and looked down, saying, "Wow, I always wondered what would happen if the sharp weapon was part of someone's body," before he stood up with an implied smirk, "Still, that was smart putting me to sleep like that. Too bad it won't help in the long run."

His body then gurgled before he exclaimed, "LIQUID METAL MACHINE GUN!" releasing long protrusions from his body and sending Beedrill flying out of him and into Butterfree's face. This caused her to let go of Shaymin who took full advantage of this. She wrapped her arms around the butterfly's waist, leaned backward and planted the back of her head into the canvas while the crowd was truly amazed.

Shaymin had a big grin on her face as she released Butterfree and stood upright. She then noticed the bugs looking rather weak, thus she nodded and leapt backward toward Melmetal, shouting, "Let's end this now!"

The cyborg nodded and formed his fingers before he took hold of her again. She tucked herself into a ball before Melmetal swung his arm around like a baseball pitcher only for Beedrill and Butterfree to rise to their feet.

The wasp narrowed his eyelids and grunted, "We can't let them beat us this easily!" Butterfree nodding and replying, "Damn straight! There's one move that can beat them for sure!"

With that in mind, she took hold of Beedrill's waist and lifted him up before he pointed his arm stingers forward. The butterfly flew toward the two and spun like a twister, she and her husband exclaiming, "TWIN NEEDLE TORNADO!"

Melmetal released his hold on Shaymin before she once again formed thorns on her back and spun vertically toward them, squealing, "ROSE BUSH BASEBALL!"

Soon enough, both heroes collided while the crowd watched in awe. A bit of blood flew from Shaymin, but in the end, the momentum of Melmetal's throw proved just enough for her to overpower Beedrill and Butterfree. As such, both stopped their assault and dropped their guard. And when the hedgehog struck them, they coughed up green blood and flew away from her, landing hard against the ring on their backs.

All went silent among the crowd after Shaymin landed on her feet and breathed heavily. A light smile formed on her face, and it only got bigger when the bell rang and confirmed her and Melmetal's victory. As such, she rose her arms in the air and squealed, "OH MY GOD! I ACTUALLY BEAT THE CHAIRMAN!" Melmetal uttering, "You mean we beat him, right?" the hedgehog nodding and replying, "Yeah, of course."

Either way, she could not have felt happier. Sure, she had not defeated Dialga and Palkia, but this was certainly something to brag about when she returned to her time. But either way, she was certain that if none of the other teams could defeat the dragons this round, she and her partner would be ready for them in the next one.