For the last day before the quarter-finals could begin, all of the teams were hard at work. Scorbunny and Blaziken did their absolute best to make sure they would be a worthy challenge for Vaporeon and Zeraora while Drizzile and Gallade were determined to defeat the team that hospitalized Morgrem and Rolycoly. And of course, Rillaboom and Aipom had worked the hardest seeing as they had easily the toughest opponents for their match.

Machoke and Gardevoir, all the while, were focused on their match with Lucario and Clauncher, though they had made a vow to work extra hard just in case they had to fight the dragon duo. After all, if what Shaymin said about them was correct, the fate of the world could have very well depended on those two being defeated.

Although this would be difficult for sure. As if Dialga and Palkia had not already proven themselves a big enough threat, both were also hard at work in the mountains. They used various rocks as targets for their moves and crushed them with ease. Deep down, they felt this was unnecessary, that they had this tournament in the bag, but at the same time, the blue dragon felt that they could not be too careful.

Though before the day was over, Drizzile and Gallade headed to the hospital. After all, Hitmonchan was supposed to be awake today, and sure enough, when they entered, the boxer had just gotten up out of bed. Upon spotting her husband, her eyes sparkled before she squealed, "Gallade!"

She then ran over to Gallade and held him in a tight embrace. His eyes widened briefly before he smiled and patted her on the back.

"It's so nice to see you in high spirits," Gallade said with a grin, "You really had me worried," Hitmonchan nodding and whimpering, "I'm so sorry. If I was stronger, I could have avoided getting badly hurt."

She pouted only for the green man to sigh, "No, it's fine. As long as you're all better. I just wish I knew who it was who attacked you," before groaning, "It just suddenly occurred to me, we never actually looked for the assailant. What is wrong with us?"

Hitmonchan sighed, "Hey, it's fine. I'm sure if that monster appears again, you'll just beat her up anyway," before groaning, "It's too bad she was wearing a cloak, otherwise I could just tell you what she looks like."

"I was just about to ask about that," Gallade replied before Hitmonchan spotted Drizzile and smiled, saying, "Oh, hey, you were with that crazy grass mouse thing at the sign up booth. Did you come all the way here to see me!?" the chameleon replying, "Yeah."

"That's so sweet!" the boxer squealed before Gallade chuckled, "Well, he mostly came with me out of obligation. See, he's my super-" only to remember how many times he had already put it that way before uttering, "He's my new teammate, Drizzile."

He then looked down and sighed, "Please don't be mad," only for Hitmonchan to stare back and forth between the two. She then smiled, gave her husband a hug and squealed, "If you had dropped out of the tournament because of me, I would have been mad! I'm just happy you have a partner!" before blinking and uttering, "By the way, what day is it? Have you two fought already?"

"Oh yeah, you'll never believe it!" Gallade exclaimed with a big smile, "We're both competing in the tournament quarter-finals!" Hitmonchan's eyes wide with shock while he added, "Yeah! We actually won two matches, an elimination match and the first round!"

Drizzile nodded with a big smile before Hitmonchan squealed, "Yay!" giving Gallade another hug, "I knew you could do it, because you're my super awesome husband! I bet you're the one calling all the shots, right!?" Gallade about to explain how Drizzile had done most of the work only for the chameleon to chuckle, "Yep. This team wouldn't work nearly as well without his amazing skills."

Gallade stared briefly at his partner with a look of shock on his face. As if Drizzile was not an amazing enough partner, to think he had just given the green man that much credit without a second thought. He would definitely have to take him and Hitmonchan out for a huge celebration after the second round ended since he just knew they would win.

Either way, all three kept up the conversation for a while until they were ready to head home. Of course Hitmonchan joined them, though now Drizzile would have to sleep elsewhere. After all, the couple had been away from each other for about two weeks. It would have been wrong for the chameleon to rob them of any time they could afford to spend together.

The following morning, everyone was assembled at Nissan Stadium. Beedrill, Butterfree and Nori were all seated behind their podium while the wasp exclaimed, "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it's just about time for the quarter-finals to begin! The first round was exciting with our newcomers really impressing us! But we can only expect round two to be even more amazing!"

Needless to say, everyone was pumped with Hitmonchan seated next to her husband, saying, "It's a good thing I didn't miss the whole thing. I can't wait to see your new friends in action."

As it so happened, the green man had introduced the heroes of Edmonton, or at least those who were still conscious, to the boxer shortly after they arrived. It was a shame Morgrem and Rolycoly were still in the hospital, but even so, Hitmonchan was happy to meet those who she could.

Aipom smiled and said, "Well, you're certainly in for something special. Seriously, these guys are awesome," patting Rillaboom on the shoulder as the gorilla grinned and blushed lightly.

All the while, Vaporeon and Zeraora were preparing in a training area. Both had just finished working out with a few punching bags before the blue fox took a deep breath and thought, 'Alright, come on, Vaporeon. You got this. You beat her once, you can do it again,' patting her cheeks.

Zeraora blinked and asked, "Hey, are you okay?" Vaporeon chuckling, "Of course I am," laughing nervously. However, she tensed up when the cat rested a hand on her shoulder and said, "Hey, it's okay to be nervous. You're about to fight a really good friend in front of a huge crowd. I'm feeling a tad nervous about that myself."

The blue fox blinked and nodded before she took a deep breath. She then smiled at him and said, "Yeah. We can do this. Let's dazzle the crowd together."

During this time, Scorbunny delivered a barrage of kicks into a sandbag, using her flames to turn the inside into glass and make it better for building strength. Blaziken smiled and said, "I gotta hand it to you, I thought you'd be at least a little nervous about this."

"Well, I am," the rabbit replied, "But I've also been raised never to take any opponent lightly no matter what. I'm sure Vaporeon would be insulted if I held back."

"That's a good mindset to have," the chicken replied, "I remember back in the last tag team tournament when I teamed up with Gardevoir in the first round, we got Smeargle as one of our first opponents. Not only is he a really good friend of the Beaulieu family, you'd never believe it, but he was a total weakling back then. Apparently, the only reason he graduated was because his opponent's back broke. I'm not even kidding."

"Oh my god!" Scorbunny squeaked, "I find that so hard to believe! He gave Gallade and Drizzile such a hard time!" Blaziken nodding and replying, "Yeah, you can thank Gardevoir for that. Because of his lack of strength, she held back against him and it made him go insane. I can guarantee, if you did the same to Vaporeon, she'd at least take offence to that. Nothing's more insulting than taking an opponent lightly."

Scorbunny nodded and said, "Well, I doubt she'd really take offence to it, but I would never take her lightly. You've seen how tough she is, right?" Blaziken nodding before she and the rabbit resumed their preparation. Needless to say, both teams were more than ready for this.

Once the time had passed, Butterfree stated, "Alright, folks, it's now time for the second round to truly begin! In the red corner, we have two newbies who have truly proven themselves to be quite the fighters! They both defeated Scolipede and Geodude despite so many things going against them and they come here to amaze us even more! Give it up for the Atlantic Catfish!"

The crowd went wild when Zeraora and Vaporeon bounded toward the ring on all fours. The blue fox proceeded to slide forward on her belly like a seal before the cat leapt onto her back and used her like a surfboard. He then leapt off of her, flipped vertically and landed perfectly on his feet, the crowd going wild while Vaporeon propelled herself up with her tail and performed a handstand.

Rillaboom grinned and shouted, "Looking good, guys!" Zeraora blushing lightly as Hitmonchan clapped and said, "That was pretty cool. Just think, we could have tried something like that," before looking down only for Gallade to pat her on the shoulder and kiss her on the cheek.

Jolteon and Leafeon sat in the back and held up a sign to support Vaporeon. The tan fox even blew into a noisemaker and squealed, "Kick their asses, cousin!" Jolteon squealing, "You go, Vaporeon! Boo everyone else!"

Vaporeon blushed from embarrassment while those around the other two foxes stared awkwardly at them. Nevertheless, she certainly appreciated the support, thus she smiled and waved at them.

"And in the blue corner are two powerful fighters who really went all-out against Alcremie and Stonjourner," Beedrill stated, "One is a long-time hero of Tokyo and the other is yet another newcomer who has surprised us all. Though most of that is because of just how perfect of a fit she is. Everyone, I give you the Flying Phoenixes!"

The crowd was truly amazed when Blaziken and Scorbunny rode toward the ring on the backs of rented horses while western music played in the background. No one knew where the horses had come from or how they had been snuck into the area, but this was truly a sight to behold.

Once the heroes were close to the ring, they leapt off the horses' backs and landed perfectly against the ring. The cheers only got louder while Machoke and Gardevoir both clapped and squealed, "That was your best entrance yet, Blaziken!"

The chicken chuckled and said, "That was a good idea, Scorbunny," the rabbit nodding and replying, "Yeah, I figured after my football theme, I'd go with something that's more your style. It's the least I can do, right?"

"You didn't have to, but I appreciate it greatly," Blaziken replied with a grin before pounding the rabbit's fist. Afterwards, the owner of the horses blew into a whistle and signalled them to return to her before she waved to the heroes. Of course, both bowed their heads to her in appreciation.

But before the match could begin for good, Scorbunny approached Vaporeon and held out her hand, saying, "Hey, here's to an awesome rematch," the fox staring for a few seconds. She could see just how serious the rabbit was about this, thus she formed a serious smile, nodded and shook her hand while the crowd cheered once more.

Raboot watched this and thought, 'I just know Scorbunny will win. Not only is she part of our family, but she's teamed up with Blaziken. These two don't stand a chance.'

Once both teams took to their sides of the ring, Nori nodded and exclaimed, "Without further ado, let's begin!" ringing the bell.

Blaziken and Scorbunny raced toward Zeraora and Vaporeon respectively then leapt toward the duo with their feet pointed forward. The blue fox smirked and asked, "Ready, partner?" before Zeraora nodded and replied, "Hell yeah!"

Both that, Vaporeon formed her ice sphere and swung her tail forward, shouting, "ICE FLAIL ROUNDHOUSE!" Zeraora forming electricity around his own tail and doing the same before her barked, "LIGHTNING SLASH!"

The Flying Phoenix's eyes widened when the ice hit Scorbunny's foot and sent her backward. However, Zeraora showed more results when his tail not only sent a surge of electricity through Blaziken but put a small cut in her foot. Thus a tiny bit of blood trickled out as she fell on her back.

Vaporeon breathed heavily and turned toward Zeraora who grinned at her. The blue fox soon returned the gesture and nodded before she flipped vertically toward Blaziken with her ice still on her tail and barked, "BOUNCING ICE BALL!"

She then struck the chicken's gut and propelled herself behind her before wrapping the tail around her neck while the crowd cheered wildly. All the while, Zeraora raced toward Scorbunny with sparks flying from his claws, Jolteon and Leafeon both grinning from ear to ear. They could not have been happier to see the duo perform so well.

"Well, this is certainly a better start than last time!" Nori stated, "While The Atlantic Catfish really struggled before, now they're on fire! Zeraora's making much more use of his electric abilities, which really makes me wonder if he knew how to use them before or not."

Rillaboom bit her lower lip and uttered, "I really want to cheer for those two right now, but I also don't wanna take sides," Machoke sighing, "I know what you mean. There were quite a few of those matches in the last tournament too."

"I think in a situation like this, it's best to just be happy for both teams," Gardevoir stated before Gallade shrugged and replied, "When she's right, she's right."

But just as Zeraora was ready to strike Scorbunny, the rabbit smirked, placed her hands against the mat and pushed herself up. Her timing was perfect as she planted her feet hard into the cat's gut. Thus he winced and allowed her to shift her lower body upward and boost herself into the air, barking, "ROARING VOLCANO!"

As the name suggested, her feet caught flame as she rammed her heels hard into the cat's chin. Thus he already coughed up a bit of blood and flew into the air. Scorbunny did not let her assault end there when she leapt into the air and used a roundhouse to send him careening toward Vaporeon.

The blue fox's eyes widened when the cat landed hard against her gut. This caused her to cough up a bit of phloem before releasing Blaziken. The chicken grinned at Scorbunny and gave her a thumb up before she lifted up Zeraora and took hold of his ears, propelling herself up into the air and shifting behind him.

The crowd watched in anticipation while Scorbunny sent an axe kick into Vaporeon's gut to keep her from interrupting. Thus Zeraora was at Blaziken's mercy when she lit her feet on fire and spat, "BLAZE KICK!" ramming them both into his back. Thus he cried out in pain and fell flat on his face.

Cheers flooded the entire area while Drizzile uttered, "I knew they were gonna take this seriously. I had a feeling neither Vaporeon nor Scorbunny would hold back, but I didn't think they'd go all out like this. They're really taking this seriously."

Vaporeon slowly rose to her feet and breathed heavily before she looked at Zeraora and gasped, "Are you alright!?" a look of horror on her face. After all of Zeraora's improvement, even against a friend, she could not bare to see him take in this much pain after only delivering one hit. And sure enough, Leafeon and Jolteon could not believe this either.

It seemed that Zeraora thought this as well when slowly pushed himself up and grunted, "Well, good to see you two really are as serious about this as I'd hoped. But don't think I'll go down so easily. I've finally mastered my electric powers, so even though I consider you friends, Vaporeon and I will win this match."

Vaporeon beamed bright and breathed a sigh of relief. However, Blaziken would not simply allow the cat to get the upper hand, thus she raced toward him with her fist raised. But unlike before, Zeraora was completely prepared, thus he covered his forearms in electricity, folded them in front of his face and blocked the incoming blow.

Once again, Blaziken felt electricity course through her veins, and while she tried her best to ignore it, it still caught her off guard just long enough for Zeraora to send an X-shaped slash into her midsection. Small cuts formed on her while the cat barked, "LIGHTNING DAGGERS!"

The chicken winced but managed to avoid letting this hurt her too much before she grabbed hold of Zeraora's arms. She then pulled on them and forced them into an X formation. But while this certainly hurt, the cat did not wish to let a submission hold get to him, thus he once again covered his tail in electricity and jabbed it into Blaziken's midsection.

All the while, Vaporeon and Scorbunny both seemed evenly matched. The blue fox whipped her tail forward only for the rabbit to counter with a variety of kicks. But after a while, the rabbit came up with an idea and leapt into the air after the fourteenth attempt. She then latched her feet onto the tail and shifted them backwards thus causing Vaporeon to lose her balance and fall on her back.

Zeraora noticed this and gasped, turning away from Blaziken just long enough to fall victim to a kick to his cheek. He stumbled backward while the chicken quipped, "Never turn your back to an opponent!" kneeling down and sweeping her leg into his ankles. This caused him to trip and fall on his back before Blaziken wrapped her arms and legs around his right leg and started to twist it, barking, "TORCH FAMILY SPECIAL!"

Sure enough, Vaporeon was in a similar position when Scorbunny latched onto her tail and used the same move. Only she had her teeth planted into the tip, a big smile on her face while she pulled back. When the blue fox noticed this, she frowned and grunted, "Sorry, Scorbunny, but like you, I'm not holding back!"

Thus she formed her water sphere around her tail only for the rabbit to release her teeth from the tip and move her head away, squealing, "Did you really think I'd let you catch me off guard with your ice ball? I've watched you fight more than enough times to know you'd try that!"

The fox's eyes widened while Nori stated, "And it would seem Vaporeon cannot break free from Scorbunny's hold, though how amazing is that!? It's one thing for her to be able to use so many of Blaziken's signature moves, but to think someone as small as her can even pull off a submission hold even some of the mightiest of fighters can't pull off!"

"You know, I never quite understood that," Beedrill replied, "It doesn't look that hard to pull off," Nori replying, "Well, yeah, you could probably catch someone in a hold like that easily enough, but it does require a certain muscle mass to make it fully effective. The Torch family just happens to have that kind of muscle."

To make matters worse for Vaporeon, she had never seen Scorbunny use this move before. After all, the vast majority of the rabbit's techniques involved kicking. However, it was at this moment that the blue fox realized that Nori was right. Sure, the hold Scorbunny had on her was effective, but it also lacked a certain level of strength, and when the rabbit removed her teeth from the tip, it lost some of it.

With that in mind, Vaporeon smirked and said, "I may not be able to strike you with my ice in this position, but I can still fight back," before she placed her hands against the mat and pushed her body up and pulled off a perfect handstand. The crowd cheered, Scorbunny's eyes wide with shock when Vaporeon leapt toward Blaziken with the rabbit still attached to her. She spun vertically while all of her friends could not believe what they were seeing.

"BOUNCING BUNNY BALL!" Vaporeon exclaimed before she rammed Scorbunny's back into Blaziken's gut. Thus the chicken gasped in pain and released her hold on Zeraora. The cat breathed a sigh of relief and rose to his feet, he and Vaporeon distancing themselves from their opponents.

The area erupted with cheers and applause for the blue fox while Machoke uttered, "Damn, that was impressive. Has she always been able to use moves like that?" Rillaboom replying, "Honestly, this is the first time I've ever seen her pull off something like that."

Vaporeon smiled lightly and panted, "See, Scorbunny? I'm not holding back!" the Flying Phoenixes rising to their feet before Scorbunny nodded and replied, "I can see that. That was really impressive."

For some strange reason, her heart skipped a beat after she said that, but why? Whatever the case, she still would not allow the Atlantic Catfish to come out on top, thus she looked back and forth between the duo and thought hard about her next move. After a few seconds, she smiled and nodded at Blaziken, the chicken grinning and giving her a thumb up.

With that in mind, both raced toward them while Blaziken held her arm out. She then took hold of Scorbunny's wrist and held her up so now both arms were aimed at the Atlantic Catfish's necks, Blaziken's striking the cat while the blue fox was hit by Scorbunny's.

But shortly after the Atlantic Catfish took in the double clothesline, Vaporeon blinked when she noticed something off. While the Zeraora had taken in a fairly good amount of damage, the blue fox was able to ignore the pain dealt to her neck, thus she lifted up her tail and held it gently against the cat's back to keep him from falling.

Scorbunny tensed up before Vaporeon smirked and dealt two karate chops to her shoulders. When Zeraora saw this, he regained his own focus and smirked before he formed electric spheres around his paws and balled them up into fists. With that, he unleashed a barrage of rapid punches into a spellbound Blaziken's face and barked, "PLASMA FISTS!"

The crowd continued to be amazed while Hitmonchan grinned and squealed, "Oh yeah, now that's my kinda move!" Gallade staring awkwardly at her while she chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of her head.

After enough damage had been dealt and Blaziken started to look a tad winded, Vaporeon formed her ice once more and asked, "How's about we try that move that failed before? I think it might actually work this time."

Zeraora nodded and replied, "I think you might be right," electricity surrounding his tail. He and Vaporeon both leapt vertically toward their opponents and exclaimed, "FROZEN THUNDER BALL!"

Both then cupped their tails together, thus the electricity covered Vaporeon's ice. Scorbunny and Blaziken coughed up blood when the ice struck them both, the ball just big enough to hit each one's side at the same time.

But just as it seemed as if the Atlantic Catfish had truly won, Blaziken spread out her legs and held her ground while she reached out her hand and grabbed hold of Scorbunny. Much like Vaporeon, she stopped her partner from falling, took hold of the rabbit's ears and distanced herself from the other two.

Scorbunny took many deep breaths with her eyes wide open while Blaziken wiped a bit of sweat off her forehead and said, "Damn, those two are good. You hanging in there alright, partner?" When she turned to face the rabbit, she blinked and uttered, "Partner?"

Scorbunny continued to breathe for a few seconds before she blinked, looked up at Blaziken and asked, "Wait, what?" before she shook her head, patted her cheeks and grunted, "Right, the match! Sorry, that was just a really powerful move!"

Blaziken nodded with a smile and replied, "Yeah, that it was. I can see why Vaporeon's been a long time ally of yours. That was an incredible counter."

While Scorbunny certainly could not argue with that, there was one thing weighing on her mind. Those last two counters that Vaporeon had pulled off felt as if they were partly the rabbit's fault. First she had managed to use Scorbunny's own version of the Torch Family Special against her because she lacked the muscle required to make the move, let alone any submission hold, work entirely in her favour. And when the blue fox managed to counter their clothesline, it was because the rabbit's arms were easily the weakest parts of her body.

Blaziken soon realized that herself, thus she smiled at Scorbunny and said, "Hey, it's alright. Don't beat yourself up. I should have thought twice before having you try moves like that. Let's just stick with kicks for now, alright?"

Scorbunny blinked, nodded and replied, "Right, of course," as Zeraora and Vaporeon prepared themselves for more. While Scorbunny certainly would have been fine if Vaporeon won, there was no way she would make it this easy for her.