Note: Magneron is not Magneton spelled incorrectly. It's a fake name I came up with since Magneton is in Earth's Protectors II. Also, for those who didn't read the first part of this particular instalment, Burstoise is Mega Blastoise.

Once Rillaboom and Aipom had left the area, Shaymin and Melmetal were loaded up onto stretchers and taken away. All the while, Dialga and Palkia exited the ring and headed toward the bleachers.

Scorbunny frowned and thought, 'This is even more serious than we thought,' Drizzile hoping Rillaboom and Aipom could defeat them if they really did advance to round two.

Either way, the crowd applauded the dragons a little bit longer, and when they finally calmed down, Beedrill stated, "Well, folks, it seems as if Rillaboom and Aipom have already headed off to prepare for their match. Hopefully, Squirtle and Magnemite will do the same."

The turtle and slender cyborg stood up and nodded at one-another before they headed off to a training area to prepare their entrance. While they did so, Squirtle turned to her partner and whispered, "Hey, Magnemite, did you find out anything about this Rillaboom?"

"That's a negative," Magnemite replied, "Seriously, I've never heard of her before in my life. If I had to guess, I'd say she's probably a student of Aipom's who she's been training in secret for a moment like this. If that's the case, I can probably deduce a way to defeat her since I do at least know enough about Aipom's fighting style."

Butterfree watched them go and said, "You know, I gotta admit, I'm a little surprised Dialga and Palkia would rather be advisers. They'd make great full-time heroes," Beedrill replying, "I know. Seriously, they're incredible."

During this time, Rillaboom was with Aipom in the back as the monkey asked, "So, you ready for our grand entrance? I gotta admit, after being subjected to Machoke's entrances in the past, I'm kinda relieved you came up with something a little more subdued."

"Yeah," the gorilla replied, "This kind of entrance suits me much better. It's still dramatic enough to get the audience going."

Aipom nodded and said, "You know, I mostly just joined you because you seemed to really want a partner. But I have to admit, I feel like I couldn't have asked for a better ally," Rillaboom grinning and replying, "I hate to say it, but I feel the same," groaning, "Oh man, I just hope the others never find out I said that, especially after how well we've fought together in the past."

"Oh, have you fought in a team match before?" the monkey enquired before Rillaboom explained, "Yeah. The very first time we ever fought a villain, we did it together, all three of us. Yeah, it goes against tradition, but, well, we didn't fight him in a ring. And the last fight we had before this tournament was against three really powerful adversaries."

She would have gone further, but she felt as if it might be wrong to reveal that she and her friends had been challenged by gods. After all, something like that definitely would have been all over the news, and seeing as Aipom and her friends had never heard of their achievements, she would have found that suspicious for sure.

Either way, the monkey smiled and asked, "So, how'd it turn out?" Rillaboom sighing, "It was very tough, but we barely managed to win that match. Well, I'm not sure if you could really call it a true victory since they forfeited. See, for some reason, they were just testing us to see how well we could fight as a team."

Aipom blinked and replied, "Well, that is strange, but I think they made the right call. After how well we fought together three days ago, I'd say you're definitely a team player."

She then gave the gorilla a warm smile and added, "And don't worry if it's a default victory. As far as I'm concerned, a win's a win. As long as everything turns out well in the end, that's all that matters."

Rillaboom smiled sweetly and nodded in understanding. Now any doubt she had before had truly left her. She was certain that she and Aipom could defeat Squirtle and Magnemite, then they would beat Dialga and Palkia for sure. While the gorilla could not reveal her reasons for wanting to beat them out of all the other teams in the tournament, she knew she could count on Aipom to help her.

After ten minutes passed, Butterfree stated, "Well, folks, it's now time for the sixth match to get underway! Just remember that once it's over, we'll have another hour-long break before the seventh match can begin!"

Scorbunny let out a sigh and said, "It's a shame Rolycoly couldn't have been here to make a banner for the two of them," Machoke and the others staring until she explained, "Oh yeah, he's also a professional painter. He makes his own banners and everything," Gardevoir squealing, "That's so cool! We should ask him to make us one when he wakes up!"

Machoke grinned and replied, "Yeah, I'll even pay him!" Zeraora thinking, 'As if these guys aren't amazing enough.'

"In the red corner is a very unexpected team up!" Beedrill stated, "The first member is one everyone thought wouldn't even compete, yet she's here to amaze us with her incredible skills for a second time! Her partner is yet another newcomer, but those who saw her last fight say she's incredible too! Give it up for the Super Simians!"

The crowd was truly amazed when Aipom and Rillaboom rode toward the ring atop a small float. The gorilla was dressed like a drummer in a marching band and beat on a wooden drum that she had carved herself. Aipom, meanwhile, wore a kimono and blew into a bamboo flute, Gallade uttering, "Wow, I never thought Aipom would just agree to an entrance like this."

"Who cares?" Blaziken replied with a grin, "This is adorable!" Vaporeon watching with a serious look in her eyes. Zeraora turned to her with concern, hoping she was okay. After all, she had been so enthusiastic about cheering on her friends up until now.

As much as the fox wanted to cheer, all she could think about was how much she hoped Aipom and Rillaboom would win. She figured at the very least, this would give her a better chance at winning the tournament.

Soon, both simians marched into the ring before bowing to the crowd, a big smile on Nori's face. Out of all the matches, this was one she had looked especially forward to. After all, she remembered when Aipom and Machoke teamed up and how shockingly well the two worked together. She could not wait to see what sorts of moves she and this new fighter would use.

The crowd cheered wildly while Beedrill stated, "And we have another music-themed entrance, though this one did not include vocals. Even so, the crowd certainly seems excited to see what this new ally for Aipom can do."

Butterfree nodded and stated, "Anyway, in the blue corner, we have a familiar duo who has been together since the very start! Even though they haven't won a lot of matches, they have proven themselves to be a great mix of strength and intelligence!" before groaning, "In fact, they came really close to beating both of us in the last tournament."

Nori nudged her, thus she cleared her throat and added, "Anyway, one member has an insanely high IQ and a vast assortment of battle tactics while another has a tough shell! Give a round of applause for the Electric Shells!"

The crowd cheered wildly when Magnemite surfed toward the ring on the back of Squirtle's shell. Once they were close enough, the turtle poked her tail out the back and used it to launch them both into the air. She then retracted her arms and legs and landed on all fours, Magnemite waving to the crowd.

Aipom smiled and said, "You know, I gotta say, I feel honoured to face you in the first round, Magnemite," the cyborg replying, "Same here. It's not often I get someone with an intellect that even comes close to matching mine."

Squirtle blinked and looked back and forth between Aipom and Rillaboom. In a way, their team seemed rather similar to hers, though she could not quite figure out why. But whatever the case, she would certainly do her best to outdo them.

Both teams shook hands before stepping to their own separate sides of the ring, Nori saying, "It's always so nice to see great sportsmanship between opponents. It's clear that at the very least, these fighters certainly respect each other."

Butterfree nodded and added, "But they still must fight, therefor, let's begin!" ringing the bell. Magnemite turned to Squirtle and said, "Let's start with tactic eighty seven. If we can at least catch Aipom off-guard, we can gang up on Rillaboom."

The turtle nodded before she tucked herself into her shell and allowed Magnemite to pick her up. He then pointed his magnets at her and barked, "SUPERSONIC MISSILE!" He released a large shock wave that sent Squirtle toward Aipom, but just as it looked like the monkey would take in the hit, Rillaboom transformed her leaves into barrels and shifted her arm in front of her.

Magnemite's eye widened as he thought, 'That must be her grass type ability,' Squirtle ramming into the barrel. And while this dealt some slight pain to Rillaboom's arm, the barrel softened the blow significantly. Thus she smirked, ignored the pain and swung her arm forward. This caused the turtle to fly backward into a spellbound Magnemite's face.

He gasped in pain and fell hard on his back while the crowd cheered wildly. Squirtle retracted from her shell after she landed and gasped, "Oh my god, Magnemite! I'm so sorry!" the cyborg slowly rising to his feet and panting, "It's fine. Neither of us could have predicted that."

Even Aipom was truly amazed as she squealed, "That was awesome!" the crowd cheering wildly before one said, "Wow, she is good," Scorbunny and Drizzile folding their arms with confident smiles.

'Of course,' Vaporeon thought with a big smile, 'There's a reason Rillaboom has the least number of losses out of all of us. She's incredible, a perfect mix of powerful and strategic. Only she could have pulled that off without a second thought.'

Rillaboom shook her hand briefly before a grin formed on her face. She then turned to Aipom and said, "Well, I got my first hit in. What say you get yours, eh?"

Aipom nodded and squealed, "Hell yeah!" latching her tail onto the Rillaboom's left barrel. The gorilla proceeded to swing her arm around, causing Aipom to spin around it before releasing her hold. This allowed her to fly toward Magnemite who implied a frown with his eye and grunted, "Squirtle, tactic seven, now!"

The turtle leapt up in front of him and tucked herself into her shell only for Aipom to spin vertically with her tail hand balled up into a fist. Once she was close enough, she managed to extend her tail just far enough to ram the fist into Magnemite's skull as she squealed, "TAIL HAMMER!"

Magnemite's eye went wide as a light tear dripped from it. Squirtle gasped and was about to ask if he was okay until he grunted, "Tactic eleven!" The turtle nodded with a serious look and took hold of Aipom's tail. However, the monkey was more than ready for this, thus she lifted herself into the air and swung downward, planting her feet into Squirtle's forehead.

The crowd went wild as Squirtle backed up into Magnemite and caused him to fall down with her. Drizzile blinked and uttered, "You know, I think I'm starting to realize why these two had significantly more losses than victories on their record," Scorbunny replying, "Yeah, I thought Magnemite was supposed to be a tactical genius. Magnezone and Burstoise are much better than these two."

"Magnezone?" Machoke uttered before Blaziken added, "And Burstoise?" Scorbunny and Drizzile covering their mouths. However, Raboot simply blinked and said, "Oh, you must mean their parents, Blastoise and Magneron."

Scorbunny blinked and uttered, "Yeah, of course," all the while feeling ashamed of herself for having forgotten that Magnezone and Burstoise had not been born in this time line.

Strangely enough, this had actually helped Vaporeon completely snap out of her trance earlier as she glared at the rabbit and chameleon. She then took a deep breath and said, "Right, I should be cheering for Rillaboom right now," Zeraora smiling and saying, "I'm glad to hear you say that. I was starting to worry."

"Well, yeah," the fox replied with a light grin, "It's just, after seeing how tough Dialga and Palkia are, I got a little nervous about the idea of facing them. But I have a feeling we might not end up facing them anyway, and even if we do, we can beat them."

Zeraora beamed bright and said, "And I'll do my best to make sure we do," their friends all smiling sweetly at them before turning back to the ring and tensing up.

During their conversation, it seemed that Magnemite and Squirtle had gotten the drop on Rillaboom and Aipom. The cyborg had latched onto the gorilla from the front while the turtle struck the monkey in the face with her tail.

The cyborg shifted his magnets backward and exclaimed, "SONIC BOOM!" before releasing shock waves and blasting himself forward while Squirtle leapt behind Aipom and kicked her forward. As such, both Super Simians collided with each other and grunted in pain, the monkey flying toward Squirtle who swung her tail into her back and knocked her on her face.

Many members of the crowd cheered for the Electric Shells as Magnemite continued to hold onto Rillaboom. Only this time he aimed his magnets downward and launched himself into the air. He then flipped the gorilla upside-down, wrapped his legs around her neck and aimed his magnets upward.

"MAGNET BOMB!" he barked before releasing more shock waves and falling toward the mat. Sure enough, the gorilla's skull hit the surface hard as she gritted her teeth, her eyes wide.

The gorilla's friends watched in horror only for Vaporeon to frown and bark, "Come on, Rillaboom! You are so much better than this! Where's that awesome fighter who defeated an opponent who was much faster than her after succumbing to so much damage!? Where's that badass who bested a powerful villain after I failed to do so!? And how about the time you kicked a dinosaur's ass!?"

Machoke blinked and uttered, "Did she really do all of that?" the others nodding before Gallade said, "Wow, I wish all of that had been recorded. I'd love to watch those matches online."

Raboot was equally intrigued, though it shocked him that none of this had been recorded. As such, he stroked his chin and eyed Scorbunny. Could it be that he had figured out who she really was?

Either way, when Rillaboom heard this, a smirk formed on her face as she grunted, "She's still here," taking hold of Magnemite's arms before big thorns formed around her barrels and dug into him. Thus his eye widened as she barked, "THORN BARREL REVERSAL!"

She then used all her might to flip herself over, planting the back of Magnemite's head into the canvas. When Aipom saw this, she grinned and used her tail hand to latch onto Squirtle's ankle. She then lifted her up and hurled her toward Rillaboom before she squealed, "Incoming!"

The gorilla grinned and rammed her fist hard into the turtle's face before she had time to react. Thus she groaned in pain and fell on the back of her shell, the crowd ecstatic now.

Rillaboom took many deep breaths and faced Vaporeon in the crowd. A big smile formed on her face while she thought, 'Thank you, Vaporeon. I needed that.'

All the while, the fox had a smile of her own as her mind added, 'It's not just about me. We're all in this together. I still wanna make it to the top, but I don't want my friends to lose to anyone else either.'

Squirtle waved her arms and legs around before blinking and uttering, "Wait, I've never had a problem with this," using her tail to push herself back up. Magnemite also rose to his feet and thought, 'This is rather strange. While Aipom has come up with a couple of good strategies, she's done them on her own. Everything Rillaboom has done she planned in advance. So not only is she tougher than Aipom, but she might be just as smart in combat whereas Squirtle almost always needs my advice.'

It was at that moment he narrowed his eyelids and his mind added, 'Now that I know this, I might be able to come up with some better strategies. There's no way I'll let this get us down.'

With that in mind, he faced Squirtle, narrowed his eye and held up nine fingers followed by four. The turtle nodded with a smile before she noticed Rillaboom reach for her. Thus she used her tail to launch herself into the air and tucked herself into her shell. She then descended hard into the gorilla's skull and barked, "SHELL METEORITE!"

Rillaboom pursed her lips and widened her eyes before Squirtle propelled herself back into the air and squealed, "SHELL METEOR SHOWER!" striking the gorilla in the skull again, Magnemite thinking, 'That's right. As long as she stays away from those wrist barrels, she'll be fine.'

He noticed Aipom leap up to help Rillaboom, thus he pointed his magnets backward and launched himself toward her, shouting, "SONIC BOOM!" Sure enough, just before Aipom had a chance to strike Squirtle, the cyborg rammed his arm into the back of her head.

He did not let it end there as while she descended, he latched his legs onto her neck and threw them downward. This allowed him to slam her skull into the canvas even harder than if he had just allowed her to fall. He then latched onto her tail with his right hand and wrapped his arm around her legs, pulling back and explaining, "Admittedly, I don't rely on submission moves an awful lot. I'm not exactly strong enough to make them work, but luckily, you're not the usual opponent that I get."

However, just as it seemed like the Electric Shells had this in the bag, Rillaboom smirked and said, "Not bad, but you're gonna have to try better than that," leaning forward. Most of the crowd was shocked when her hair sharpened and caught Squirtle's shell in its grasp.

"ROSE BUSH CATAPULT!" the gorilla grunted before she stood upright and flung her hair backward. This allowed her to launch Squirtle toward Magnemite, the cyborg unable to respond in time to avoid taking her shell to the face for the second time.

He slowly closed his eye, released Aipom and fell hard on his back while the crowd cheered wildly for Rillaboom. Thus the monkey flipped herself back onto her feet and breathed a sigh of relief, giving her partner her tail thumb up.

Squirtle retracted from her shell and gasped, "Magnemite, are you okay!?" the cyborg's eye not opening. Thus she tensed up, breathed heavily and thought, 'Oh no, what do I do? Whenever we go down, we go down together, but he went down first without me!'

Aipom realized she needed to take advantage of this, thus she placed her tail against the turtle's head and said, "Sorry to do this, but I wanna win," hurling her backward toward Rillaboom who spread out her arms. But just as Squirtle was close enough, she tucked herself into her shell before the gorilla clapped her hands together. But while her initial goal was to strike the turtle's cheeks, Rillaboom was prepared for this outcome, thus she cupped her hands together and swung them downward into the shell, knocking it downward into the canvas.

While the shell spun, everyone watched in silence until Squirtle emerged with her eyes spinning. When Rillaboom saw this, she smirked and formed a hammerhead around her hand, barking, "WOOD HAMMER!"

But just as she was about to ram it into the Squirtle's head, everyone gasped when the turtle suddenly squeezed herself out of her shell, Rillaboom's hammerhead striking the mat instead. Her eyes went wide when the turtle grabbed hold of the shell, moved it away from the arm and leapt into the air, barking, "TIME FOR TACTIC NUMBER FIVE HUNDRED AND ONE, SHELLIKEN!"

She then hurled the shell like a frisbee into Rillaboom's face and caused blood to squirt out of her nostrils. The shell bounced off and returned to Squirtle before she thought, 'I didn't know it could do that.'

Aipom bit her lower lip before Squirtle yelled, "And now, tactic five hundred and two, SHELL CURLING ROCK!" and slid it toward Aipom. The monkey saw this coming and leapt over it only for Squirtle to leap toward her and ram her skull into her gut, shouting, "SKULL BASH!"

Aipom coughed up a bit of blood and flipped backward before Squirtle grabbed hold of her tail, lifted her up and hurled her back-first into the canvas. Many members of the crowd cheered wildly for Squirtle while Butterfree exclaimed, "And in a shocking turn of events, Squirtle starts really holding her own while Magnemite is unconscious!"

Vaporeon bit her lower lip as the others watched with concern, Gallade uttering, "Damn, that's actually kind of impressive. I want Aipom and Rillaboom to win, but I can't help but be amazed."

Squirtle's shell bounced off the bottom rope and returned to her before she picked it back up and thought, 'Don't worry, Magnemite. I'll keep them busy, but I'll try to let you get a bit more of the action. Even so, I gotta take at least one of them out.'

Aipom bit her lower lip and tensed up, thinking, 'I've never seen her fight like this. I'm not sure what to do,' only for Rillaboom to grin and race toward Squirtle. However, for some reason, her form was off. She looked unprepared for this, and it showed when the turtle grinned and hurled her shell right into the gorilla's gut.

However, Squirtle's eyes and mouth went wide when Rillaboom said, "Hook, line and sinker," and took hold of the shell before it could ricochet off of her. Aipom nodded with a smile and thought, 'Of course she took that on purpose,' before leaping toward the now shell-less Squirtle and spinning around, ramming her tail hand into her back.

Machoke grinned and stated, "Rillaboom's amazing! I just suggested Aipom team up with her so she could have a partner, but man, she's the perfect ally!" Gardevoir giggling, "Oh, I'm pretty sure you were better than her."

Either way, Squirtle was now flat on her face while she thought, 'No, I have to do this,' slowly pushing herself up only for Rillaboom to hurl her shell toward her. Thus Squirtle's eyes widened as her mind added, 'Shelly, how could you?' taking the object to her face.

This left her completely vulnerable only for Magnemite to finally open his eye and bolt upright, gasping, "I'm up!" watching a naked Squirtle struggle to stay on her feet. He stared at this and thought, 'What the hell happened?'

But when he saw a bruise on Rillaboom's snout, he blinked and thought, 'She did that much damage without my advice? I'm impressed,' but this moment would not last long when Aipom leapt over to Rillaboom who whipped out her hair vine and latched it to her tail. With that, the monkey leaned forward and grabbed hold of the gorilla's ankle before both formed a wheel.

Rillaboom sharpened her hair again as she and Aipom exclaimed, "ROSE BUSH MONKEY BOULDER!" Aipom's tail fist sticking out of the wheel. Sure enough, Squirtle was unable to regain focus in time to avoid having both ram into her. And it was not long until Magnemite fell victim to the move as well.

Blood and oil spewed out of him while he whimpered, "I should have stayed down," before he and Squirtle fell hard on their backs.

Nori started the ten count while Beedrill stated, "And along with Rillaboom's help, Aipom pulls off an even more powerful version of a move she and Machoke used all those years ago! Can the Electric Shells recover from that!?"

It seemed that was not the case when Nori reached ten seconds and rang the bell, exclaiming, "And our winners are the Super Simians!" the crowd going wild, Rillaboom holding her fist high in the air with a grin on her face.

She then turned toward Dialga and Palkia with a serious look while the blue dragon said, "Not bad. I'll admit, that Rillaboom could be a problem, but Aipom doesn't seem all that great."

Palkia nodded and replied, "Yeah. She has a weak body. If we can take her down first, Rillaboom will be easy pickings."

Dialga stared briefly at the purple dragon before he said, "Well, how very perceptive of you. That was exactly what I was thinking."

Aipom clenched her tail hand into a fist before pounding it against Rillaboom's. Just like their previous match, she felt like she had picked the perfect partner for this tournament. A part of her even believed that she might just be able to claim Machoke's championship title from him by the end of this.

After a few seconds, Squirtle slowly opened her eyes and groaned, "Sorry, Magnemite," only for the cyborg to open his half way and reply, "No need to apologize. Even though I wasn't awake to see it, I can tell you did a really good job by yourself. I can't help but wonder if I should give you more chances to think up your own strategies."

Squirtle's eyes sparkled before she and the cyborg fell asleep and were taken away on stretchers. Rillaboom blinked and uttered, "I hope they recover soon. I didn't actually mean to deal that much damage to them," Aipom sighing, "I'm sure they'll be fine."

With this match out of the way, Beedrill announced an hour-long break until the next match. And while these ones would likely not be quite as intense as the fifth one, everyone had been looking forward to these two in particular. After all, the seventh match would feature Lucario while the final one had Machoke and Gardevoir, and all three were the favourites to win the entire tournament.