While Vaporeon and Zeraora had gotten the upper hand, Blaziken was not about to let Scorbunny go down so easily. After all, she knew how much the rabbit had looked forward to this match. As such, she was content focusing on moves that primarily required kicking for the time being.

With that in mind, she smirked and said, "That combo move they used earlier was pretty sweet, but we can do better, right?" Scorbunny nodding before she and the chicken linked arms. They then leapt backward into the ropes and lit their feet on fire, Vaporeon frowning and grunting, "Don't look now, Zeraora, but I think I know what they're about to use. On my mark, jump."

The cat nodded only for Blaziken to wink at Scorbunny, she and the rabbit tilting their lower bodies upward and launching themselves into the air. The crowd stared in shock before both spun vertically toward their opponents and shouted, "INFERNO BATTLE AXE!"

Sure enough, Zeraora took Blaziken's foot to his skull while Vaporeon succumbed to Scorbunny's. Both gritted their teeth with their eyes wide opened and fell hard on their chins. Thus Blaziken mounted herself onto the cat's back, folded his legs into a figure-four and pulled back on them for a Texas Cloverleaf. All the while, Scorbunny wrapped her legs around Vaporeon's head and applied a firm grip to her neck.

While standard submission holds may not have been the rabbit's strong point, any move that only required her legs was easy for her to pull off. Thus this alone proved far more effective than what she had used earlier, Vaporeon grunting and attempting to pry her feet off.

The crowd cheered while Butterfree stated, "And with one fake-out, the Flying Phoenixes have managed to get the upper hand back. Though I'm a little confused. How is it that this move that requires only feet is somehow stronger than a move that had Scorbunny's hands adding to it?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Beedrill replied with a shrug of his shoulders, Drizzile stating, "I think I know why. It's because when Scorbunny used the Torch Family Special earlier, she had to put just as much focus on her hands as she did her legs, thus she wasn't able to apply as much strength with her legs as she is right now."

"I was just about to say that," Rillaboom uttered only for Aipom to say, "Still, I'm really surprised. Honestly, I'm with you, Drizzile. I didn't think this match would be this intense."

"I kinda did," Gallade replied with his arms folded behind his head, "After all, nothing's more insulting to a fighter than the opponent giving them a handicap. I'm sure Vaporeon and Scorbunny are each thinking that if she holds back, the other will feel offended. They're really letting each other know just how serious this is while also working well alongside their partners."

Gardevoir nodded and sighed, "He's right. I learned that the hard way," Machoke ruffling her hair only for it to straighten in seconds.

Zeraora refused to let Blaziken defeat him, though, and when he saw Vaporeon struggle, he knew he would need to help her soon. Thus he sent electricity into his tail and lifted it up only for Blaziken to notice this and leap off of his back in time to avoid it. Then with Zeraora distracted, the chicken lit her feet on fire, planted them into his back and barked, "BLAZE KICK ANVIL!"

The cat coughed up blood with his eyes and mouth wide open when Vaporeon gasped and thought, 'Wait, there's a more logical way out of this hold. What was I thinking?'

With that in mind, she took a deep breath and pushed hard against the side of the mat to the left of her. She then used all her might to push her body upward before flipping over. Scorbunny's eyes widened as this caused her legs to loosen, Vaporeon smirking and squealing, "SEAL LOG ROLL!"

The crowd watched while she continued to roll to the side, Scorbunny's legs getting more and more loose by the seconds. After the blue fox had rolled for the seventh time, she managed to slid out of the hold and right herself up. She then turned around, formed her ice ball and rammed it into the rabbit's cheek as she barked, "ICE FLAIL ROUNDHOUSE!"

Scorbunny coughed up blood and flew sideways before Scorbunny leapt toward Blaziken. But just as she was about to strike the chicken, the rabbit managed to place her right hand against the mat and stop herself from falling against it. She then lit her feet on fire, flung herself toward Vaporeon and yelled, "BURNING ROCKET!"

Vaporeon's eyes and mouth widened with shock when she took the rabbit's heel to her back. And when Blaziken saw this, she smirked and sent a roundhouse into the blue fox's neck, causing her to cough up blood of her own. Thus she hobbled back and forth slightly before she dropped to her knees and fell face-first into the mat.

Jolteon and Leafeon stared in shock, the yellow fox taking a sip of coffee while she tried her hardest not to jump to conclusions. After all, there was always a chance that Vaporeon might be able to get up from that.

However, she and Zeraora would need to hurry when Nori started the ten count, Beedrill exclaiming, "Wow! the Atlantic Catfish certainly put up a good fight, but after Scorbunny and Blaziken's hard kicks, both seem to be down for the count! Let's see if they can rise back to their feet!"

When Nori reached four seconds, Zeraora started to twitch and planted his hands against the mat. He breathed heavily and pushed himself up before the area went silent. Blaziken and Scorbunny both stared wide-eyed as the cat looked down at his partner and gulped.

'No, I can't let her down,' he thought, 'Not after all that hard work. After all, the others have been able to take over while their partners were down before. I should be able to do that as well, even against a couple of friends. Besides, after all of my improvements, it would be a real shame to lose now.'

However, since Zeraora was a friend, Blaziken was more than willing to play fair now. Thus she took a deep breath and said, "Hey, Scor, that was an awesome save back there, but you can take a breather if you want."

Scorbunny was about to protest before she suddenly remembered who their opponents were. Thus she nodded only for Zeraora to bite his lower lip. Deep down, he wanted to accept this. After all, with just one opponent, it would be a lot easier for him to keep the Flying Phoenixes busy until Vaporeon could recover. But at the same time, he had worked really hard to finally master his electricity, and if he could do a good job against both by himself, he could truly prove himself worthy of being a hero.

With that in mind, he took a deep breath and said, "No, it's fine," the Flying Phoenixes staring at him, "This is a team match, so you should both fight me at once. I can handle it, don't worry."

The entire area went silent as even the announcers had no idea how to respond to this. All of the cat's friends stared at him like he was crazy. It was not as if he had anything to prove to them, so there seemed to be no reason for him to do this.

As such, Blaziken took a deep breath and asked, "Are you absolutely sure about this? You know Scorbunny and I won't go easy on you, right?" the rabbit nodding before Zeraora clenched his fists and grunted, "Just come at me, and give me all you got!"

With that in mind, the chicken and rabbit both nodded at one-another and raced toward Zeraora. And of course, the cat knew he would need to pull out all the stops, thus he focused hard and formed electricity around his forearms, legs and tail. And when spheres appeared around his fists, he knew he was ready.

However, his eyes widened when Blaziken swerved to the right and sent a roundhouse into his neck. Scorbunny added to this by delivering a hard kick to his midsection as the crowd gasped. As if that was not enough, Blaziken leapt toward the ropes and pressed up against them while Scorbunny leapt into the air and planted both her feet into the cat's gut.

This caused him to back up before Blaziken bounced toward him with her feet out and engulfed in flames. And when she was close enough, she sent them both into his back and shouted, "ROARING PHOENIX!"

But while Zeraora had coughed up blood, everyone was shocked when he spread his legs out and stopped himself from falling. Gallade stared at this and uttered, "Did anyone else just see that?" Hitmonchan nodding with a look of shock.

Zeraora took a deep breath and said, "Not bad, but as I said, I can handle this." He swung his tail upward and put a light cut along Blaziken's front as he shouted, "LIGHTNING SLASH!" This caused her to fall on her back before he reached toward Scorbunny and exclaimed, "PLASMA FISTS!"

The rabbit leapt backward and held herself up with her hands. She then sent her feet forward and matched blows with the incoming fists. But thanks to the electricity, pain coursed through her each time she blocked a strike, and eventually, this caused her to lower her guard. Thus Zeraora wrapped his arms around her and leapt high above the canvas.

The crowd cheered wildly while he looked back and noticed Blaziken rise to her feet. Thus he planted the claws on his paws into Scorbunny's shoulders and wrapped his legs around, jabbing the ones on his toes into her lower back. Finally, he leaned backward and descended diagonally toward Blaziken just in time for her eyes and beak to widen.

"FELINE SUPLEX!" he shouted before he rammed Scorbunny's skull hard into Blaziken's forehead. Thus both Flying Phoenixes coughed up blood before the chicken fell on her back again, Zeraora releasing his hold on Scorbunny and allowing her to collapse.

The crowd stared silently for a few seconds, Machoke and the others unable to believe what they had just seen. But soon, the area erupted with cheers and applause for the cat, Jolteon grinning wide and clapping at the speed of a machine gun, squealing, "Wow, that was amazing! You are so cool, Zeraora, truly a worthy student if I ever saw one!" She then held her hands against her side and nodded multiple times while Leafeon stared awkwardly at her.

At that moment, Vaporeon finally recovered and pushed herself up. She breathed heavily before she noticed Blaziken and Scorbunny both on their backs, her eyes and mouth wide with shock as she looked at Zeraora. The cat turned to face her and breathed a sigh of relief.

Nori started the ten count while Beedrill exclaimed, "And in a truly stunning display, Zeraora seems to have taken out the Flying Phoenixes while Vaporeon was out cold! But could this really be it!?"

As happy as Vaporeon was to see that he had done well on his own, this still felt off. And sure enough, she could see Blaziken and Scorbunny start to twitch when Nori reached seven seconds. Thus she bit her lower lip before barking, "Wait, Zeraora, they're gonna rise back to their feet soon! We need to set up a team finisher now!"

Zeraora turned and saw the duo moving, thus he nodded and sprinted toward Blaziken. He then lifted her up by her legs and leapt into the air. He covered all of his claws in electricity and planted them into her ankles and upper back, Vaporeon wrapping her arms around Scorbunny. She curled her tail like a spring and launched herself high above the ring, all with a look of uncertainty in her eyes.

Rillaboom and Drizzile both watched in stunned silence while the others tried their hardest to accept this. After all, this was a match between friends. They would be happy no matter who won.

Scorbunny just happened to open up her eyes in time to feel her skull pressed up against Blaziken's feet. And when she realized Vaporeon's arms were wrapped around her, she blinked before a smile formed on her face as she said, "Good job, buddy. I think you've got us beat now."

Seeing the rabbit act like such a good sport even in her current predicament put Vaporeon's mind at ease just a little bit, but at the same time, she could not help but feel like she might have been rash. Zeraora, however, was far too caught up in the moment, thus he grinned and said, "You were a great opponent, Blaziken," the chicken replying, "You too. Good luck in the rest of the tournament."

Thus she closed her eyes and allowed her to skull to hit the canvas hard while Zeraora exclaimed, "TRAMPOLINE THUNDER CAT DRIVER!"

While it was odd that Blaziken was the only one of the Flying Phoenixes to cough up blood, it was still clear that both had taken in far too much damage when the Atlantic Catfish released them and allowed them to collapse. Thus Nori started the ten count again while the crowd watched in silence. Vaporeon looked down at Scorbunny and took many deep breaths, a conflicted look in her eyes. But when Zeraora smiled at her, she returned the gesture before Nori reach ten seconds.

The woman rang the bell and shouted, "And that concludes this very intense match! While it was between friends, neither team held back, and in the end, the Atlantic Catfish will advance to the semi-finals!"

The area broke out into heavy cheers and applause, Gardevoir and Machoke just glad it was all over. Jolteon and Leafeon, especially, were ecstatic. It seemed all their help had paid off in the end.

Zeraora rose his arms in the air with a big smile on his face while Vaporeon held one arm up with a light smile. Now the cat could not help but wonder if something was up. After all, she wanted to defeat Scorbunny and she did, yet she did not look too happy about it.

Either way, she felt relieved when the rabbit managed to rise to her feet. She took many deep breaths and smiled, saying, "Well, guess we know who the better hero is after all, eh?" rubbing her head.

Vaporeon bit her lower lip and uttered, "Uh, yeah, I guess we do," chuckling lightly while Zeraora looked at her again. After a few seconds, he stroked his chin. While he was unsure of this before, now he could tell that something was off, but now was hardly the time to question it.

Thus he smiled and patted the blue fox on the shoulder, giving her a thumb up and a grin. Scorbunny took a deep breath and said, "I gotta say, that was one awesome team move. Guess you two must have practised that earlier, eh?"

"Yeah," Vaporeon replied, "It was actually a spur of the moment sort of thing. I'm honestly surprised it works as well as it does all things considered."

After a few seconds, all three heroes looked down at Blaziken with concern. Vaporeon blinked and turned to Zeraora before she asked, "Um, you did hold back a little bit, didn't you?" the cat gasping, "Oh, shit, were we supposed to do that!?"

Luckily, though, Blaziken was very strong, thus she finally opened her eyes and coughed a bit. She slowly sat up and breathed heavily. She shot the Atlantic Catfish a grin and said, "Damn, that really was something else. If I had to lose this tournament, I guess I'm glad I lost to you two."

With that, Scorbunny helped her up before she held out her hand. Zeraora's eyes sparkled when she shook his first. She then held her hand out to Vaporeon who gently took it only for the chicken to smirk and say, "Aw, come on, you can be more firm than that."

The blue fox nodded and increased her grip while more cheers could be heard from the crowd, Beedrill stating, "And even after all of that, their friendship will not waver! Moments like these are what we live for, folks!" Butterfree sighing, "Speak for yourself."

All four heroes were ready to return to the bleachers when Beedrill added, "And as you all know, the next two teams will go up soon, though since there are only four matches today, we will take a twenty minute break instead. Afterwards, we'll have an hour long recess before the second half of this round can begin."

Drizzile and Gallade nodded before they rose from their seats. And as they passed by Vaporeon and the others, the chameleon gave the blue fox a grin while Gallade smiled at all of them. Hitmonchan decided to join him in the training room simply for moral support, though she also wished to help with their entrance since she had been robbed of her chance to compete.

Once Vaporeon took a seat with the others, Rillaboom grinned and said, "That was a really good match. You were all amazing out there," Aipom adding, "Especially you, Zeraora. You've really improved."

"Well, I couldn't have done it without Vaporeon's help," Zeraora said with a smile, "She's the glue that holds us together."

"I can believe that," Scorbunny replied with a nod while Gardevoir squeaked, "I'm just glad we can still be friends after all of that!"

"Damn straight," Machoke replied with a grin, "I guess now we'll have to go all out against Lucario, eh, honey?" Gardevoir nodding and replying, "Yeah. I'll make sure you get an official victory over him today."

In the training room, Gallade and Drizzile were hard at work on an entrance that Hitmonchan had suggested. As it so happened, this was something she and her husband had planned in advance, but due to the fact that she had been knocked out, they did not have that chance.

"So you're absolutely sure you want me doing this," Drizzile uttered before the boxer sighed, "Of course. It's the least I can do after you helped my dearly beloved make it this far," pinching the chameleon's cheek, "Besides, are you gonna rob me of this chance to see our masterpiece in action?"

Gallade shrugged and replied, "She's got a point. Lords knows when we'll get a chance to do this again," as Drizzile nodded with a serious look in his eyes and stated, "I'll make you proud."

Once all twenty minutes passed, Beedrill stated, "Ladies and gentlemen, it's just about time for the second match to begin! That was an amazing first bout, but we still have more to cover!"

Butterfree nodded and stated, "In the blue corner are two heroes who have really surprised us so far! One is a French hero who up until this point has not had that great of a track record, but his spirit and determination has truly paid off! And his partner is a fighter not many of us know about but has certainly proven himself a force to be reckoned with! Give it up for the Aquatic Katana!"

The crowd cheered as a dramatic melody played in the background. Gallade and Drizzile both entered the area in full boxing gear and marched toward the ring while punching the air. And when they got close to the ring, Gallade extended his hands before Drizzile leapt atop them and allowed himself to be launched into the air. He then landed perfectly against the ring with his arms out as Gallade leapt over him and landed on his shoulders.

The crowd was truly amazed while Drizzile gritted his teeth and whimpered, "Could you get off my shoulders, please?" Gallade nodding and leaping off, uttering, "Right, sorry. See, Hitmonchan can actually handle my weight. That's why we came up with... yeah."

Hitmonchan, all the while, beamed bright and gave them a round of applause. She could not believe that had worked out as well as it did as the Aquatic Katana removed their boxing gear and tossed it out of the ring.

Gardevoir giggled at this and said, "That was your idea, wasn't it, Hitmonchan?" the boxer nodding and replying, "You know it."

Rillaboom and Scorbunny both grinned at this and cheered for Drizzile while Vaporeon gave a light clap. She then blinked and said, "Hey, if you don't mind, I need to use the washroom. Can you save my spot?"

Zeraora nodded and replied, "Allow me," with a grin before she got up and headed off. The cat simply rested his tail on the seat while Machoke blinked and uttered, "She should have gone during the break."

"And in the red corner are two reptiles with a rocking style!" Beedrill stated, "With their electric personalities and skills, they are the Electric Metal Heads!"

All went silent among the crowd as smoke seeped from the western entrance into the area. Toxtricity and Sutorinda stood there with strings made of electricity reaching from their knees to their shoulders. And of course, both created a melody by strumming them while they advanced toward the ring.

"I gotta say, I've been looking forward to this day," Toxtricity sang, "The day I'd get to face Tokyo's local punching bag! But it seems you might be worth our time. Don't you dare let us down! If you're as weak as your rep says, then we will surely frown!"

Gallade blinked while Sutorinda turned to her brother and remarked, "You give him too much credit. You and I know that was a fluke! That loser didn't deserve that, it makes me wanna puke! It was that disgusting lizard who did most of the work! If anyone is worth our time, it's that slimy jerk!"

"Did she just call me a jerk?" Drizzile uttered with his eye twitching, both lizards belting, "No matter how they perform, no matter what they do, it's obvious who the winners are, oh yes, that much is true!

We are the entertainment, we are the rising stars! By the time all this is over, the world will know just who we are!"

They ended their song as the cheers got louder, Machoke folding his arms and grunting, "I really don't like those two," Hitmonchan pounding her fists together and grunting, "Agreed! Did you hear what they said about my beloved!? I wish that was me in that ring! I'd fuck them up!"

Gardevoir simply smiled and said, "I'm not worried. Gallade and Drizzile will come out on top and make them eat their words, I just know it."

Zeraora nodded and looked at the empty seat next to him. He hoped Vaporeon would hurry. After all, she and the cat would have to face the winning team, so it would have been a shame if she missed the entire match.

But while Vaporeon had indeed gone to the bathroom, she did not go for the reason everyone thought. She was currently in front of a mirror as she splashed water on her face and took many deep breaths with a look of regret in her eyes. But just what was it that ate away at her so much?