While the first two matches of the quarter-finals had been intense, there were still two more. And of course, Rillaboom and Aipom were hard at work. After all, their next opponents were the very villains the gorilla and her friends had gone to the past to defeat. While Shaymin and Melmetal may have failed, there was no doubt the two simians could do it instead.

Aipom was currently lifting a dumbbell with her tail hand as Rillaboom delivered an onslaught of punches to a sandbag. But after a while, she took a deep breath and said, "You know, I can't help but feel like we may need to do more to prepare ourselves. You saw that last match. Shaymin and Melmetal barely managed to draw blood from them."

"You're right," Aipom replied, "But still, we've already done a lot to prepare ourselves. If we work too hard right now, we'll just tire ourselves out. Besides, from what I saw from them, I think I've devised a strategy that might actually work."

The gorilla nodded with a smile and said nothing more. After all, if this plan had been thought up by Aipom, there was no doubt it had to be good.

While this went on, Machoke and Gardevoir were off training for their own match. Even though they were not up against any villains, one of their opponents was Lucario, so far the second fighter to ever defeat Machoke. Although unlike the first to best him in combat, the reptilian was still yet to get an official victory against him.

Gardevoir currently unleashed an onslaught of punch punches to a metal dummy. A big smile formed on her face as she managed to leave small dents, Machoke looking at this and saying, "Wow, that's amazing, honey."

"I know!" the white woman squealed, "I knew I'd gotten stronger, but not that strong!" before sighing, "I just hope it's enough to beat those two."

Machoke blinked and replied, "Well, I'm sure we'll win, and even if we don't, it's not the-" Gardevoir shaking her head and saying, "That's not who I meant. Remember, there is a chance that Dialga and Palkia might truly be evil. If we end up facing them, we'll need to be as ready as possible."

"Right," the reptilian man replied, "Those two are pretty scary. They took in all sorts of punishment but still came out on top. Even Hoopa wasn't this intimidating."

With that in mind, both worked extra hard. They were determined to defeat Lucario and then do the same to Dialga and Palkia. Right now, that mattered more to them than winning the tournament.

All the while, Vaporeon, Zeraora and Scorbunny were having lunch in the lobby. Vaporeon had a serious look on her face while she ate hers. She had quite a bit on her plate. Not only did she need to support Rillaboom and Aipom with all her might, but she also felt like she had to avenge Gallade and Drizzile's loss, let alone Morgrem and Rolycoly's.

And while Zeraora was more than happy to join her, there was something else weighing on his mind. It was the same thing that had bothered Vaporeon earlier, and it was their victory of Scorbunny and Blaziken. While it had felt earned and he was happy with the results, there was something off about them using their team move to end it.

But he felt now was not the time to bring it up. After all, Rillaboom and Aipom would need as much support as they could get, and right now, a good number of their friends were in the hospital. At the very least, Zeraora needed to be there for them.

Once lunch was finished, Scorbunny was the first to get up as she stretched and said, "Hey, come on, let's get back to the bleachers. The Super Simians will be fighting soon!" only for Vaporeon to take hold of her shoulder and enquire, "Hey, can I talk to you about something real quick first?"

The rabbit blinked before the blue fox turned to Zeraora and added, "Oh, yeah, this is kind of private. You can go on ahead," the cat nodding and replying, "Right, of course," before walking ahead. He hesitated briefly before he shook his head and thought, 'I shouldn't eavesdrop. That would be wrong.'

"So, what's up?" the rabbit enquired with a smile only for Vaporeon to sigh, "Why are you acting like nothing's wrong? I mean, I appreciate that, but it makes no sense to me."

"Hey, I haven't forgotten about the situation," Scorbunny remarked, "I'm just trying to be a little optimistic about this. No sense assuming the worst, right? This is Rillaboom we're talking about."

"Well, yeah, there's that, but you know what I'm talking about, don't you?" Vaporeon asked only for Scorbunny to stare briefly at her, the blue fox growling, "Just admit that you noticed the horrible, selfish thing I did near the end of our match!"

The rabbit knew exactly what she was talking about. She had felt it from the moment Vaporeon told Zeraora to set her and Blaziken up for their team move. And yet she had acted as if nothing was wrong because she did not really see a major problem with this. But now that she knew Vaporeon did, how could she ignore it?

Thus, she folded her arms and asked, "Alright, I'll bite. What's the selfish thing you did?" Vaporeon sighing, "Look, I could tell that you and Blaziken could barely move after taking in Zeraora's slam. No offence, but I felt like the two of you wouldn't be able to get back up in time to beat the ten count. If I'd just left you two as you were, you would have still lost and taken in less damage."

Scorbunny nodded and replied, "But you wanted to be involved with the final blow, right?" the blue fox whimpering, "Yeah. I mean, that's dishonest enough, but I did that mainly because I just really wanted to feel like I was still that powerful hero who bested you in our first match!"

"But you are a great hero!" Scorbunny squealed only for the blue fox to retort, "Can you honestly say that!? I'm grateful to you and your friends! You gave me companionship and made me feel like I belong, but ever since you joined the side of good, you've all managed to upstage me! As much as I love having you all around, I also envy all of you!"

Tears welled up in her eyes while Scorbunny stared and uttered, "Wait, that's why you did that?" Vaporeon sniffing, "I was the hero chosen to protect Edmonton, and yet all three of you have done so much more! I lost to Obstagoon without landing a single hit, so the three of you had to come in and finish him off for me! Then I lost to Furfrou and Rillaboom defeated her after you dealt a considerable amount of pain to her! I was the first to lose to Melmetal, and on top of that, you guys put up a much better fight against him than I did! And when those gods tested us, I lost to Eternatus within mere minutes while you and the others managed to pass their test! I wanted to prove that I really was worthy of protecting Edmonton!"

"But you beat Corviknight," Scorbunny replied with a shrug only for Vaporeon to groan, "And no other villain after that! Let's face it, Morgrem and Rolycoly have been more useful than me! In fact, I'll be honest, while I'm fine if someone else defeats Dialga and Palkia, I want to be the one to win the whole tournament. Does that make me selfish?"

Scorbunny stared for a few seconds before she let out a sigh and approached the blue fox. She then held her in a tight embrace and said, "You are a great hero. So what if you haven't won as many matches as us? You have great skills! On top of that, you're a great person! You let us into your home without a second thought! You helped us adapt to our new lifestyle! Hell, I can guarantee that we, or at the very least, I wouldn't be nearly as happy as I am now if it weren't for you!"

Vaporeon stared into Scorbunny's eyes. As much as she wanted to question this, she could tell that her friend was completely serious. Thus she took a deep breath and said, "Thank you so much, Scorbunny. Though there is one more confession I have to make, and don't worry, I fully intend on telling Zeraora later."

The rabbit blinked and enquired, "What would that be?" Vaporeon groaning, "Well..." She then went into great detail about why she had helped Zeraora gain all that confidence and recruited him in the first place, how she figured that if she could train a loser like him to be amazing, she would come off as even more impressive.

"Oh, wow," Scorbunny uttered before Vaporeon stated, "Though before you ask, I am glad I helped him out, but not for that reason anymore. Honestly, I'm just really happy that his life has improved."

The rabbit nodded with a smile and said, "Well, I hope he takes this well when you tell him. You might be taking a bit of a risk here," Vaporeon nodding and replying, "I know. But you know what? I don't really care if I win the tournament anymore or not. Hell, I'd be perfectly happy if Machoke and Gardevoir claim the championship again."

A big grin formed on her face as Scorbunny nodded and replied, "That's really good to hear," resting a hand on her shoulder and adding, "Also, after we return to our time line, I'll arrange an official rematch. Then we can fight one-on-one and see who truly is the best among us."

Vaporeon gave the rabbit a cute grin and said, "I'd love that," before pounding her fist against hers. And with all said and done, the blue fox felt much better. At the very least, she would definitely defeat Toxtricity and Sutorinda.

Once the hour had passed, Machoke and Gardevoir entered the bleachers and took a seat next to their friends. The reptilian grinned and said, "This'll be good. Those dragons won't know what hit them."

Vaporeon nodded and replied, "Yeah, they have no idea what they're in for," before smiling at Zeraora and adding, "And those lizards won't know what they're in for three days from now, eh?"

The cat nodded before Beedrill stated, "Ladies and gentlemen, it is just about time for the third match to begin! Those first two were simply incredible, but we still got another half of this round to cover!"

Butterfree nodded and added, "In the blue corner are a couple who have truly made an amazing first impression! Despite all the torment they suffered in the last round, they still came out on top! Give it up for the Time Space Squad!"

The crowd cheered wildly when Palkia flew toward the ring with Dialga's shoulders in her grasp. She then soared high into the air until she was in front of the sun and everyone could only see the dragons' silhouettes. The purple dragon slowly made her way down toward the mat and set her partner down before both struck a pose.

Scorbunny and Vaporeon frowned while Beedrill exclaimed, "And in the red corner, we have yet another truly unexpected team! These powerful primates have really made a name for themselves, showing us a perfect blend of strength and smarts! Now, everyone give a round of applause for the Super Simians!"

Unlike before, Rillaboom and Aipom had chosen to go for a more simple approach. This time, the monkey was dressed like a performer as she stood atop Rillaboom who was curled up into a sphere. The gorilla rolled forward while Aipom ran along her while juggling a set of balls.

Gardevoir stared in stunned silence while Machoke uttered, "Seriously, why has she agreed to two of these? Whenever I'd have her help me with an entrance like this, she always hated it!"

Whatever the case, Aipom seemed to enjoy this as she thought, 'I think I'm finally starting to understand why Machoke always puts on over-the-top entrances like this. This is actually a pretty good stress reliever.'

Once she was close enough, she jumped off and landed perfectly on her tail hand before removing her performer outfit and tossing it out of the ring. Rillaboom propelled herself into the air and landed hard against the mat before retracting out of her ball-like state and striking a pose.

Dialga simply had his arms folded but rose an eyebrow when Palkia clapped and squealed, "Bravo!" only to notice the blue dragon's awkward stare. Thus she forced a serious look and folded her arms.

Rillaboom narrowed her eyelids and thought, 'Yeah, keep up that calm look. Once we're done with you, you'll be left to rot in prison.'

Dialga eyed them and said, "I must say, it is a pleasure to stand in the ring with someone of your stature, Aipom. But it's one thing to have trained one of Earth's mightiest heroes. Do you think you're good enough to face us?"

"Oh, don't worry about that," Aipom remarked with a grin, "I promise I'll be the challenge you're looking for," Rillaboom nodding and thinking, 'Yes, with the strategy we've cooked up, there's no way even you two can possibly win.'

Once the teams were ready, Nori nodded and said, "Well, folks, it looks like the teams are all set. Let's begin!" ringing the bell.

Rillaboom and Aipom stood their ground while the monkey waved her tail hand toward herself. After seeing just how powerful the dragons were, many could not believe either of them would even think about goading them like that. Even Palkia had no idea how to react as she turned to Dialga and asked, "What should I do about that? It's pretty obvious what they're doing."

"Indeed," the blue dragon replied, "Still, it doesn't matter how they choose to fight us. We're too powerful for any strategy to work. Even though these two are intelligent, their strength greatly differs. While Rillaboom is strong all over, Aipom only has one strong part on her entire body. So we might as well just attack them anyway."

Palkia nodded and flew toward them, Aipom smiling and thinking, 'Hook, line and sinker,' before she leapt up into the air and Rillaboom dove under Palkia. The gorilla lifted up her arms and took hold of Palkia's sides while the monkey placed her tail hand against her head, both swinging their arms to the side.

Everyone stared as this caused the purple dragon to fly head-first into the turnbuckle. And unlike many of the moves Shaymin and Melmetal had used, this actually seemed to hurt her just a little bit when she winced in response.

Dialga frowned and raced toward them. But when he leapt toward Rillaboom to send a kick with his right foot into her face, the gorilla simply leapt to her own right. And when the dragon missed, she held out her arm and transformed her grass bracelets into barrels before she rammed her arm into his neck. And while the strike itself barely dealt any visible pain to him, it along with his lack of balance right now proved enough to knock his upper back into the canvas.

Of course, Dialga immediately flipped back onto his feet, but he had a look of shock in his eyes. He could not believe that had worked as well as it did. But he quickly calmed down and thought, 'Whatever. That barely hurt, anyway. She won't pull that off a second time.'

Palkia seemed to think the same thing when she flew toward Rillaboom with her arm out, Dialga switching tactics and aiming for Aipom. The monkey watched him closely and noticed that he was about to attempt a knee kick. With that in mind, she used her tail hand to lift herself off the mat and propelled herself away from him.

The blue dragon growled and attempted to strike her again while Palkia was seconds away from hitting Rillaboom with her arm. Luckily, the gorilla had counted on this, thus she swerved far enough to the side to avoid it and took hold of it. She then shifted herself around just enough to redirect Palkia's flight and send her right toward Dialga who was still trying his absolute hardest to strike Aipom.

Just as it looked like the monkey was about to slip up, a grin formed on her face when Palkia's skull rammed into Dialga's cheek. Thus he coughed up blood and fell on his side, the crowd staring in stunned silence. All the while, Vaporeon blinked and uttered, "I think I've finally figured out what they're doing. Oh my god, that's brilliant!"

Palkia gasped and backed away from Dialga slightly, uttering, "Oh my god, I'm so sorry. Are you alright?" the blue dragon rubbing his cheek and growling, "Of course I am. I can handle this sort of thing. Let's stick together for now."

The purple dragon nodded and lifted Dialga up by his shoulders. She then flew toward Rillaboom while the blue dragon held his arms out and lashed out his claws. And when they got close, he exclaimed, "METAL DRAGON LANCE!"

Fortunately, Rillaboom was more than ready, thus she knelt down and leapt up just high enough to avoid the move. She then planted her feet into a spellbound Palkia's back and shifted her sideways, causing her to fly toward the turnbuckle.

The purple dragon gasped and released Dialga, her eyes wide with terror when he continued to fly forward, his claws soon stuck in the pole. With that, Rillaboom grinned at Aipom and asked, "What say we try a real attack now?"

The monkey nodded and squeaked, "Hell yeah!" before she and the gorilla leapt toward Dialga from behind. Palkia gasped and flew toward the Super Simians only for them to take hold of Dialga's legs and pry him out of the turnbuckle. Both then leaned backward and shouted, "DOUBLE SIMIAN SUPLEX!"

The Time Space Squad's eyes widened when the back of the blue dragon's head collided with his partner's skull. Palkia's eyes were wide with terror when she coughed up blood this time and fell hard on her belly. And it did not end there as Aipom and Rillaboom nodded and threw Dialga forward, exclaiming, "DOUBLE PRIMATE POWERBOMB!" planting his chest into the canvas.

"This is absolutely amazing!" Butterfree gasped, "So far, Rillaboom and Aipom have dealt significantly more damage in less than two minutes than Shaymin and Melmetal dealt within five, and all without taking any damage themselves!"

Beedrill nodded and added, "Besides, remarkable," Butterfree and Nori both staring awkwardly at him until the butterfly uttered, "That wasn't even a full sentence. I mean, seriously, what the hell did that even mean?"

"You know, I have no idea," Beedrill replied, "I just felt strangely tempted to say that."

Of course, Rillaboom and Aipom's friends could not have been happier right now. Machoke smiled and exclaimed, "Wow, I've never seen Aipom fight so well before!" Gardevoir nodding and replying, "Well, this is only the third time we've seen her fight, but yeah, she's definitely at her best today."

Zeraora nodded and stated, "I wasn't sure what you meant before, Vaporeon, but you're right. This strategy they're using it perfect."

"Care to let me in on this?" Scorbunny uttered, "I've gotten better at strategizing since I first started hero work, but I still don't entirely get how they've shown better results with mostly simple techniques than Melmetal did with his toughest moves."

"Simply put, they've barely done a thing to Dialga and Palkia themselves," Zeraora explained, "In fact, I think they both knew that even Rillaboom's strength wouldn't be enough to do all that much harm to them, so they've basically been causing the dragons to hurt themselves, figuring no one could possibly deal more damage. On top of that, they seem to be specifically limiting themselves to slam moves, figuring their weight could work against them as well."

Machoke grinned and said, "Yep, Aipom thinks of everything," Gardevoir giggling, "I'm sure you could have come up with that too, though, right?" the reptilian chuckling, "Yeah, eventually."

Luckily, the five had not said any of this loud enough for the dragons to hear, thus they were still in the dark after Dialga was released and distanced himself from Aipom and Rillaboom. Palkia then flew over to him and panted, whimpering, "I think we might have underestimated these two. They've already managed to hurt us and draw blood twice."

"No, these two are not that strong," Dialga grunted, "They weren't the ones who drew blood from us. We were," the purple dragon gasping, "Us!? What are you saying!?"

"You can't be this dense!" the blue dragon retorted, "Think about it! That first time I coughed up blood, it was after you hit me! Then when you did the same, it was after I made contact with you! They're turning us against ourselves!"

Palkia nodded before a smirk slowly creeped over her face, saying, "Oh, that was a good tactic, but now that we know, we're not gonna fall victim to that again, are we?" Dialga nodding and replying, "Good to know we're both on the same page. They've had their moment in the spotlight, but let's see them try that again."

With that in mind, he had Palkia lift him up and hurl him toward the simians. He pointed his knees toward them as Rillaboom smirked and readied her arms long with Aipom. But just as they were about to retaliate, they were shocked when Dialga lowered his feet and planted them against the mat to stop his flight.

With the Super Simians distracted, Palkia flew over her partner with arms out. Her skin had become a darker shade of purple and arms turned pink before she exclaimed, "SPACIAL WHACK!" ramming one arm into Rillaboom's gut and the other into Aipom's face.

Just from this one hit, the monkey already coughed up blood before Dialga raced toward her and grabbed hold of her tail. He then spun his body around and flung her back-first into the turnbuckle while Dialga turned her claws pink and barked, "SPACIAL REND!"

Rillaboom cried out in agonizing pain when she took the claws to her chest. Blood spewed out as she backed up with a look of terror in her eyes. And things only got worse when Palkia took hold of her shoulders, turned her forehead pink and cried, "SPACIAL HEADBUTT!" ramming the part in question into Rillaboom's.

Now she could not help but cough up blood of her own and stumble backwards before she lost her balance and fell on her rear end. The crowd stared in shock while Machoke's jaw dropped. And of course, the others were just as devastated.

"I'll admit, I'm impressed," Dialga stated with his arms folded, "I heard you were a genius, Aipom, but I never thought even you could come up with a tactic like that so easily. Even so, we're onto your little game. You'll have to fight us for real now."

Aipom shook her head before she blinked and thought, 'No,' Rillaboom equally concerned. Could they possibly win with a normal strategy?