The crowd was truly excited as Blaziken was ten minutes away from gracing them with her presence. Despite her rather mixed track record, she was still massively popular among the citizens of Tokyo. On top of that, those who saw Scorbunny fight alongside her had told many of their friends just how much chemistry she had with the chicken.

Both heroes were currently preparing themselves in a training facility while Scorbunny stated, "Anyway, I hope you don't mind, but I kinda had a sports theme in mind for our entrance. I'm not even really involved in sports, yet I like to base my entrances off of athletic activities."

"Okay," Blaziken replied with a nod, "That sounds interesting. I was just gonna march toward the ring showing peace signs, anyway. So, what sport were you thinking of?"

Scorbunny grinned and squealed, "Football!" the chicken's eyes sparkling as she exclaimed, "Oh my god, it's like we're in sync! That's exactly what I had in mind the minute you suggested sports!"

A big open-mouth smile formed on Scorbunny's face. As if the fact that she could fight alongside her idol was not enough, it felt as if the two had already become best friends. And while it made her a little sad that she would eventually have to leave this time line to return to her own, this moment made her so happy that she hardly cared.

All the while, everyone congratulated Zeraora on his efforts. The cat felt nervous, especially since he still had not entirely figured out how his electricity worked, but this still felt incredible. Never in his life did he ever think he would do something worthy of this much praise.

Drizzile smiled and said, "Seriously, I'd love to face you in the semis," Zeraora chuckling, "Well, if we make it that far, it would be a pleasure," sighing, "Now I really hope Scorbunny wins. At least then, I'd feel less pressure."

Vaporeon nodded and replied, "Same here," though she had a slightly different reason. Ever since the rabbit moved into her home, the two of them had grown an incredible bond. Along with sharing the same bed, Vaporeon had taught Scorbunny how to cook. All the while, the rabbit had not once felt the least bit spiteful over the fact that she was the first fighter to ever lose to the fox. Of course, the two got along great in many different areas as well, so much so that Scorbunny had immediately thought to have Vaporeon as her partner and only teamed up with Blaziken after being given permission to do so.

But even with that in mind, the fox felt as if her victory over Scorbunny back in the day had been a fluke. As such, she wanted a chance to face the rabbit in a true rematch to see if she really had earned that victory or not.

All the while, the rabbit and chicken's opponents, Alcremie and Stonjourner were getting ready in their own way. The cream girl grinned and said, "This is gonna be awesome. We'll get to defeat one of Tokyo's own heroes in front of all these people."

"Are you sure we can do it?" Stonjourner whimpered, "You've heard how she beat Onix, right? Do you know how tall he is?"

Alcremie turned to him with concern and patted him on the leg. She then smiled up at him and cooed, "Come on, you're better than that Onix guy ever was. Who's my big brave partner?"

"I am?" Stonjourner uttered before Alcremie nodded and squealed, "Very good! Now you're ready!"

Soon enough, all ten minutes had passed, thus Beedrill exclaimed, "Alright, folks, that was a great first match, but now it's time for the second one to begin! In the red corner are two mighty warriors! While they may not look like a good match, it's best not to let that deceive you! One looks delicious but is actually quite nasty in the ring while the other is a gentle soul outside of combat but quite deadly if you look at him the wrong way! Presenting the Rocking Candies!"

The crowd watched in amazement when a giant cake was wheeled into the ring on a float shaped like a serving tray. Machoke drooled and uttered, "I know I shouldn't, but I kinda wanna dive into that," Gallade sighing, "It's obviously fake."

Sure enough, the top opened up while a dramatic score played in the background. Alcremie rose up on a platform with her hands cupped together and Stonjourner by her side dressed like a sumo wrestler. The cream girl then cleared her throat and sang, "To all of you beautiful people, gaze upon us on this day!" Stonjourner adding, "Because we are going to dominate!"

The music came to a halt as Machoke lowered his eyelids and uttered, "Wait, that was it?" Gardevoir equally disappointed while Shaymin groaned, "I was hoping for a full musical number! Why would you waste such a beautiful setup for that!?"

Melmetal shrugged and replied, "Well, the crowd seems to like it." And sure enough, the vast majority of people watching gave a round of applause, Morgrem blinking and uttering, "I just got the greatest idea ever."

Rolycoly turned to her before she enquired, "We got an hour before our match. Can you paint us something amazing in preparation for it?" the short golem nodding and replying, "I think I can."

Once the crowd was settled and Alcremie and Stonjourner were in the ring with the tall golem's costume removed, Butterfree stated, "And in the blue corner, one is the mighty Texas Phoenix! She has defeated quite a number of opponents over the past, and while you could argue she's actually lost to as many villains as she's defeated, she still has incredible spirit! Her partner is a newcomer who many have said has perfect chemistry with her! Presenting the Flying Phoenixes!"

The crowd waited in anticipation while Scorbunny stood by the entrance with a Soccer uniform on, Blaziken sporting one of her own and sighing, "Why didn't it occur to me this is the Football you were referring to?"

Either way, the jersey certainly suited her a lot more than an American Football one would have, thus she was fine with this. With that in mind, she and Scorbunny raced toward the ring while the rabbit kicked a soccer ball made of iron. Both heroes traded it back and forth before Scorbunny lifted it up with her foot and sent it into the air.

Blaziken smirked and leapt up to its level, flipped three hundred and sixty degrees and sent a hard kick into it. This caused it to fly into the middle of the ring, but the chicken made sure not to break the surface before the match began. She and Scorbunny then leapt into the air, landed against the ring and rose their arms up high, the crowd truly ecstatic.

"OH MY GOD, THAT WAS AMAZING!" Gardevoir squealed while she clapped rapidly, "You look so good in that jersey, Blaziken!" the chicken looking up at her with a sweet smile. She then grinned at Scorbunny and gave her a thumb up, the rabbit's cheeks flushed pink.

Machoke grinned and said, "She almost looks as good as you with one of those on, eh, honey?" turning to Gardevoir who giggled, "Yeah, she really does," Gallade uttering, "Maybe I should start wearing a jersey."

"Good show!" Raboot shouted while he gave a standing ovation, "A Football theme! Bloody brilliant!" before he sat down and thought, 'Don't you dare lose, Scorbunny. You're too awesome for that.'

"Hell yeah!" Talonflame cheered from the crowd, "That was awesome, Blaziken!" the falcon currently seated next to his girlfriend, a woman with long white hair named Tsuya.

She held onto his arm and said, "I'm really looking forward to this," sighing, "I just wish I could have seen your match," Talonflame groaning, "But I lost."

The woman gave him a peck on the cheek and replied, "Yeah, but you lost to Lucario. That's understandable, right?" the falcon chuckling nervously.

Alcremie folded her arms and said, "Not bad. It's good to know you take us seriously enough to go all the way," Scorbunny grinning and replying, "I take all my opponents seriously!" Stonjourner trying not to feel intimidated by this.

The female rabbit then picked up the Soccer ball and kicked it out of the ring before it fell against the floor and put a dent in it. Thus she winced and uttered, "How did you avoid doing that?" Blaziken chuckling, "I have been using these feet for a long time."

Once the teams were both prepared, Beedrill nodded and stated, "Well, folks, this is it. Without further ado, let's begin," thus he rang the bell and signalled the start of the match.

Blaziken knelt down and allowed Scorbunny to leap onto her shoulders. The female rabbit then launched herself off of them and flipped vertically toward Stonjourner with her feet on fire. The tall golem folded his arms in front of his face only for Scorbunny to plant her heels into his skull and squeal, "INFERNO AXE!"

Stonjourner's eyes widened while Blaziken dashed toward Alcremie and sent a knee kick into her gut. The cream girl winced before the chicken delivered a roundhouse to her side. All the while, after Scorbunny landed in front of Stonjourner, she knelt down and delivered a sweep kick to his right leg.

But as he winced in pain, the female rabbit tensed up when this failed to knocked him down. This left her vulnerable, thus Stonjourner forced a serious look, reeled his foot back and swung it forward into her face.

While this seemed like a simple hit, it actually dealt a considerable amount of pain as she rolled backwards into the ropes. Alcremie smirked and said, "Good job," before she took hold of Blaziken's leg and added, "Oh, by the way, those kicks of yours didn't really hurt me all that much. I'm made of whipped cream. I can handle it."

Blaziken's eyes widened as the cream girl inflated her arm and twisted her body up in a spiral formation. She then reeled her body inward, causing her and the chicken to spin like a pinwheel before she shouted, "SPIRAL SWING!" hurling Blaziken head-first into the turnbuckle.

The crowd stared in awe while Drizzile uttered, "Oh god. These guys are almost as bad as Scolipede and Geodude," Gallade gulping, "Yeah. At the very least, they can clearly handle more pain."

Alcremie smirked and thought, 'Everyone assumes I'm weak from my outward appearance. No matter how many matches I've won since graduation, no one ever takes me seriously enough. But once we win this tournament, that's gonna change.'

She remembered it plain as day, her graduation. It was the happiest moment of her life. And to top it all off, her assigned ally, Stonjourner was a wimp who had just barely managed to pass his graduation. As a result, she was left doing all the work, defeating a total of four opponents, including the only one the tall golem had fought and lost to.

And yet despite all of this, no one knew how good she was. This competition was the perfect time for her to finally show the world just what she was capable of, and she could not have asked for a better opponent to show off against.

With that in mind, she sped toward Blaziken before she could recover, inflated her arms again and sent her fists into her gut. The chicken cried out in pain before the cream girl lifted her up and leaned backward, planting the back of her head into the canvas.

"And Alcremie shows off an incredible display of strength and skill!" Beedrill exclaimed, "She's certainly not as soft as she looks!" Butterfree nodding and uttering, "Seriously, it's kinda scary."

Stonjourner, all the while, shifted his legs sideways and walked over Scorbunny before she could rise to her feet. By the time she did, it was already too late as he folded the legs upward against his sides, shouting, "FALLING ROCK!"

The female rabbit cried out in agonizing pain when he fell on her back. While she had faced many tough opponents in the past, these two hits were enough for her to feel as if Stonjourner might be one of the worst. He seemed insecure, but he was still clearly a good fighter with a very odd combat style.

Rolycoly bit his lower lip and whimpered, "That looked painful," Morgrem sighing, "Come on, we all know she can handle it. She stood up to Zacian's moves, remember?"

Even Melmetal expected much better from the rabbit than this. While she had lost her fight with him, she also put up an incredible fight. There was no way two hits would be enough to take her down or break her spirit.

Alcremie mounted herself onto Blaziken's back before she wrapped her body around her, binding her in place. The chicken's eyes widened and her teeth were gritted when she felt the cream stick to her feathers. And of course, things only got worse when Alcremie wrapped her arms around Blaziken's chin and started to pull up on them, shouting, "SPIRAL CLUTCH!"

Scorbunny stared in horror while Stonjourner rose to his feet and flipped his legs up a second time so he could crush her again. But at this point, the female rabbit would certainly not allow this to continue, thus when she saw Stonjourner descend, she rolled out of the way and allowed him to hit the canvas.

Panic covered his eyes when she leapt toward him with her heels out. Thus he instinctively rose back to his feet just in time to avoid an incoming kick, but it seemed as if she had expected this when she turned around and allowed her back to run into the ropes. She then flipped backward, aimed her feet toward the back of Stonjourner and launched herself toward him from behind.

The crowd watched in awe, Rillaboom and Drizzile both grinning when Scorbunny's feet caught flame and flew into Stonjourner's back before she exclaimed, "BURNING ROCKET!" His eyes went wide and he started to fall forward, but just like before, he managed to stop himself. This time, he shifted his legs apart from one-another so they were more spread out, and since they were still faced sideways, this made it easily for them to support him.

As such, he reached his arms back and latched them to the rabbit, grasping tightly onto her before he flipped her forward and upside down. He then folded his legs up one more time, descended toward the mat and shouted, "FALLING ROCK DRIVER!"

Blaziken's eyes widened at the sight of this, the back of Scorbunny's head hitting the canvas hard. Now Scorbunny's friends were concerned again while Stonjourner took many deep breaths and formed a nervous smile on his face. He was doing better than ever right now.

Of course, he did not wish to end his assault right here, thus he flipped his legs forward and exclaimed, "STONE SLAB NOVEL!" slamming them into Scorbunny's sides while Blaziken gritted her teeth and growled, "Screw this! I am not letting us lose this easily!"

With that in mind, she lit her body on fire and shifted sideways. Alcremie smirked and quipped, "Don't even bother. It's like Mr. Beedrill said, I may look soft on the outside, but in reality, I'm a hard killer! After today, the whole world will realize that!"

The chicken smirked and grunted, "That does make me feel a tad guilty, but you're not the only one who intends to win this tournament." Thus she managed to spin her body around and force Alcremie to release her. She then swung her arm back and rammed her elbow into the cream girl's cheek.

While Alcremie once again showed hardly any signs of pain, this was at least enough for Blaziken to shove her away from her. Thus she raced toward Stonjourner, leapt toward him and planted an axe kick into his skull. This proved just enough for him to spread his legs apart, Scorbunny twitching all over with terror in her eyes.

Blaziken wrapped her arms and legs around Stonjourner's left leg, asking, "Scorbunny, are you alright?" the tall golem crying out in pain while Raboot grunted, "Of course she's alright! She's a Bunfire, after all!"

The others turned before Drizzile uttered, "How did I not see the resemblance?" Rillaboom whispering, "Never mind that. How does he know she's related to him?"

It seemed as if the male rabbit was right, though, when Scorbunny frowned and shook her head. Once she snapped back to her senses, she leapt over Stonjourner and rammed her feet into his right arm. She then wrapped her own arms and legs around it before biting the hand slab and pulling up on it, causing his arm extra pain.

The crowd cheered while Blaziken and Scorbunny exclaimed, "SCORCH SPECIAL!" Nori stating, "When people said these two have similar styles, they were right! Not only can Scorbunny use similar kicks to those of Blaziken, but both now have Stonjourner trapped in what can only be described as a double Torch Family Special! But to top it off, Scorbunny has also added to the damage by biting into her opponent's hand and pulling on it!"

Blaziken looked at this and thought, 'That's not a bad idea,' before she clamped her beak down on the Stonjourner's foot and pulled her head back as well. All the while, Gallade stared at this and uttered, "I get it now. I see why Blaziken chose Scorbunny as her partner. Not only do they have similar styles, but Scorbunny's even managed to improve upon her signature moves."

Raboot folded his arms and said, "Can't say I approve of her using someone else's style as opposed to our family's, but if it works for her, whatever," Morgrem uttering, "Was that really necessary?"

But while Stonjourner seemed to be trapped, there was one problem, and this was made clear when Vaporeon gasped, "Wait, guys, did you forget about Alcremie!?"

The cream girl inflated her arms, bounced off the ropes and flew toward her opponents with both parts spread out. Luckily, though, it seemed as if Scorbunny and Blaziken saw this coming, thus they both released Stonjourner, lit their feet on fire and barked, "DOUBLE BLAZE KICK JUNIOR!" And once Alcremie was close enough, the Flying Phoenixes spun backwards and planted their feet into her face.

Her eyes widened as she coughed up a mix of blood and strawberry jelly. She looked down at this and gasped, "What the hell!?" breathing heavily and looking up at Blaziken, "I don't even feel pain! How did I cough up blood!?"

"It's simple," the chicken retorted while she cracked her knuckles, "Just because you can't feel pain doesn't mean you're not taking in damage. You say you're not as soft as you look, but you're clearly a glass cannon. You can dish out a lot of pain but you can't take it very well."

Alcremie's eye twitched while she thought, 'No, that can't be. This was supposed to be my big moment! There's no way this overrated McNugget can beat me!'

With that in mind, she glared at Stonjourner and snapped, "Hey, buddy, it's time we give them a taste of your ultimate technique!" the tall golem uttering, "Are you sure? Honestly, I've never really liked the idea behind this move. I always feel like I'm hurting you every time we practice it."

The cream girl gave him a sympathetic look and squealed, "You don't need to worry about me!" the tall golem sighing, "Well, okay, if you're sure about that."

Blaziken and Scorbunny frowned and leapt toward the cream girl only for her to dive under them. When she reached Stonjourner, she had him turn his legs sideways again and press them together. After that, she wrapped her body around them like a spiral with a smirk on her face.

"Do it now!" she exclaimed, the chicken and female rabbit staring in stunned silence. With that, Stonjourner took a deep breath, spread out his legs and started to spin them around like egg beaters. This caused Alcremie to swirl around them. And once she had built up enough momentum she and the tall golem exclaimed, "SPIRAL BEATER ROCKET!"

With that, the cream girl launched herself toward both opponents and rammed her body hard into their faces. Both gasped in pain and fell hard on their backs while Alcremie continued to fly and landed behind them. She then grinned and turned toward Stonjourner and asked, "See? That was worth it, wasn't it?"

However, neither the tall golem nor the crowd looked particularly positive. It seemed as if Stonjourner's concern earlier was warranted as Alcremie had more blood trickling from her gums. And when she saw the look of fear in his eyes, she blinked and uttered, "What? Did those other two get up already or something?"

"Well, it's just as Stonjourner said!" Beedrill exclaimed with a look of horror in his eyes, "That team move may have dealt some impressive damage to the Flying Phoenixes, but it seems to have done far more to the one who used it!"

Scorbunny and Blaziken's friends all stared as well, Drizzile uttering, "It's just like when Scorbunny uses a slam move. That was a huge risk," Alcremie barking, "What are you tall talking about!?"

Stonjourner pointed up at his mouth before Alcremie blinked and held her hand up to her own mouth. Her eyes widened when she felt liquid against it and moved it away from herself. She then placed the hands under her mouth to catch more droplets, holding them up in front of her face. She started to pant heavily while she shook her head and gasped, "No! Blaziken was wrong about me! I'm practically invincible! I haven't taken in any serious damage throughout this entire match!"

Sure enough, Blaziken and Scorbunny had already risen back to their feet before the chicken sighed, "If it means anything, Scorbunny and I here have a similar handicap. We can't use slam moves without putting a serious strain on ourselves, so it's not like we can use every move without repercussions. If you hadn't used that, you wouldn't be bleeding so badly right now."

Alcremie gritted her teeth and growled, "SHUT UP!" racing toward them before Stonjourner gasped, "Wait!" the cream girl turning toward him and barking, "What!? What do you want!?"

The tall golem knew it was pointless to ask her to give up, thus he sighed, "If you're gonna keep fighting, then let me continue to help," the cream girl gasping as she could see a serious look in his eyes. For the first time in his life, he was fully focused on the task at hand.

As such, she nodded before she and the tall golem raced toward their opponents. However, at this point, Scorbunny and Blaziken could tell they had this match in the bag when Alcremie's movement started to slow down and her eyelids sagged lightly. It seemed as if she was finally starting to feel the effects of every hit she had taken in.

As such, Scorbunny raced behind her, took hold of the back of her head and lit her feet in fire before she lifted then up. Blaziken, all the while, slid underneath Stonjourner, leapt up onto his back and took hold of his shoulders with her feet ablaze as well. With that, the Rocking Candies went wide-eyed before Scorbunny rammed her heels into the back of Alcremie's neck and Blaziken sent her feet into Stonjourner's back.

"DOUBLE BLAZE KICK!" the Flying Phoenixes cried as their opponents coughed up one last bit of blood and fell flat on their faces. The crowd went wild while Machoke exclaimed, "Yeah! Way to go!" Gardevoir squealing, "That was so cool! They really are the perfect team!"

Palkia watched this and uttered, "Um, Dialga, are you sure having those two fight together instead of the rabbit and mermaid was a good idea?" the blue dragon biting his lower lip as he was uncertain how to answer that.

Blaziken and Scorbunny turned to one-another and breathed heavily while their opponents lay there. Nori started the ten count while light smiles formed on their faces. And Once ten seconds were up, the woman rang the bell and shouted, "Well, folks, that's it for this match! The Flying Phoenixes advance to round two!"

The area erupted with cheers and applause, Rillaboom grinning and saying, "I knew they'd win," Aipom sighing, "Still, if Alcremie hadn't hurt herself like that, it would have been a lot more difficult."

After a few seconds, Alcremie slowly pushed herself up and glared at Blaziken, barking, "No!" The chicken turned to face her as she stood upright, hobbled toward her and grunted, "I can't lose! You don't understand how important this is! Since I came to Earth, I've defeated a total of six opponents, including the two I beat three days ago, and yet the world still thinks I'm just some weakling letting Stonjourner do everything for me! This was my chance to prove them wrong!"

Just as light tears that looked like blueberry juice formed in her eyes, Scorbunny approached her, placed her hand against her shoulder and squeaked, "You have nothing to prove!"

Everyone stared before she added, "You're really tough. You're actually a lot like my friend, Rolycoly. Like him, you can't really take a lot of hits, but you sure as hell can dish out a world of pain. The world would be foolish to look down on you after what they saw today."

Blaziken blinked and thought, 'Damn, she put that better than I would have,' the crowd giving the cream girl a round of applause while Stonjourner slowly rose to his feet and uttered, "Oh my god, I can still move."

Alcremie slowly approached him with a light smile and rested her hand against his leg, saying, "Well, come on, Stonjourner. We've lost. That makes us part of the audience now."

The tall golem nodded and slowly walked toward the bleachers, and while his eyes had been closed at the time, he had been conscious enough to hear what Scorbunny said. And deep down, he could not have been more grateful. Hopefully, Alcremie's obsession had finally been put to rest.

And with all said and done, Blaziken ruffled the fur atop Scorbunny's head before both chuckled and exited the ring. After all, there were only ten minutes before the next match, and Drizzile and Gallade felt more than prepared for it.