Rillaboom and Aipom had started their match with a lot of promise. Unfortunately, Dialga and Palkia had seen through their strategy. Thus the duo would need to come up with something else.

But while Aipom had spent a lot of time as a trainer with good strategies, she was still not exactly perfect. After all, she started her career at the age of ten. As such, she could not help but turn to Rillaboom and whisper, "You wouldn't happen to have a plan B, would you?"

The gorilla took a deep breath and replied, "Well, the only other plan I have is to fight like before, but I think at the very least, we should stick with slam moves. You saw how easily they resisted standard moves like punches, kicks and the like before, right?"

"That's true," Aipom replied, "Luckily, as hard as their bodies are, they aren't too difficult to lift up. Yeah, we can still do this."

Dialga let out a sigh and enquired, "Are you two done discussing how hopeless this situation is for you? It doesn't matter what you come up with. You know you can't hurt us yourselves," Beedrill blinking and uttering, "You know, I appreciate their help in arranging all of this, but do they need to be so smug?"

Butterfree implied raising an eyebrow and remarked, "Weren't you just like that before you turned good?" the wasp folding his arms and grumbling, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Aipom frowned as Rillaboom took a deep breath and said, "I'll let one of them hit me. As tough as they are, believe me, I can handle it," the monkey nodding before both got into a fighting stance. Thus Palkia sighed, "Finally," before she and her partner raced toward their opponents.

Dialga lashed out his claws and swung them toward Rillaboom only for her to hold up her arms and block them with her barrels. She blinked when she noticed the claws lodged into them, and while she was rather alarmed to see a bit of blood trickle out of the holes, she also saw a golden opportunity. Thus she smirked, lifted Dialga up and leaned backward, planting his back into the canvas.

Aipom, meanwhile, dodged Palkia's various scratches before latching onto her ankle. She then pulled back and caused the purple dragon to fall on her back. But just as she was about to do more, her eyes widened when Nori stated, "While Rillaboom has taken full advantage of Dialga's move, it seems as if his claws are stuck in those barrels of hers!"

When the monkey turned, it seemed so as Rillaboom tensed up and tried her hardest to pry them away. Unfortunately, Dialga had her right where he wanted her as he smirked and said, "That was a nice counter. Too bad it means nothing in the long run.

Thus he lifted himself up and planted his feet into the gorilla's forehead. He then latched his legs onto her neck and leaned forward, planting his claws into her ankles. Afterwards, he flipped one hundred and eighty degrees, slammed the back of Rillaboom's head into the mat and shouted, "METAL DRAGON ROLLING CLUTCH!"

He then moved his arms downward and caused her knees to bend, thus the gorilla cried out in intense pain while her friends all stared in horror. While Dialga had shown off some impressive moves up to this point, this submission hold seemed more devastating than all of them. And things only got worse when Aipom tried to rush in and help only for Palkia to latch onto her tail, lift her up and slam her belly into the canvas.

"Aipom!" Machoke gasped after she coughed up blood. And it only got worse when Palkia stomped down on her back, her flesh now a darker shade of purple. She then turned the claws on her feet pink and exclaimed, "SPACIAL REND TWO POINT O!" scraping them across the spot she had stepped on.

Aipom cried out in agonizing pain before her eyelids started to lower. While it was already established that her body was weaker than those of her friends, she had also proven herself capable of handling moves like this. And yet the few hits she had succumbed to seemed to take a massive toll on her.

When Rillaboom saw this, her eyes widened before she growled and whipped her hair vine forward. She then wrapped it around Dialga's ankle and sharpened her hair. Finally, she took a deep breath and cried, "ROSE BUSH CATAPULT!" before she pressed the hair hard against the mat and used it to propel herself and the blue dragon into the air.

Dialga's eyes and mouth were wide with terror when she used her hair vine to flip herself over one hundred and eighty degrees, barking, "VINE REVERSAL!" and descending toward the mat. Sure enough, the back of Dialga's head hit the mat hard. This seemed to deal just enough pain when he released his claws from the gorilla and allowed her to distance herself from him.

Dialga remained upside-down with a look of shock on his face. He could have flipped upright, but he was too stunned. He could not believe how much that slam had hurt. While the ones used earlier may have been effective, they were not this effective.

Rillaboom growled when she saw Palkia scratch Aipom again. However, the purple dragon stopped before she turned her attention away from the monkey, changed her hand claws pink and uttered, "Oh, you escaped. Big deal. I'll just-" only for the gorilla to form her hammerheads and ram them both into her gut, barking, "WOOD HAMMER!"

Much like the slam earlier, this proved far more effective than it should have as Palkia gasped in pain. And things only got better when Rillaboom whipped out her vine and latched it to the purple dragon's neck. She leapt into the air, wrapped her arms and legs around Palkia and flipped multiple times backward.

"VINE BOULDER SLAM!" Rillaboom cried before planting Palkia's skull into the canvas. While none of these hits had been enough to draw blood, they still dealt a considerable amount of pain, and the crowd could not help but cheer as Beedrill exclaimed, "And after suffering all sorts of abuse, Rillaboom seems to have gotten the upper hand!"

The gorilla released Palkia and ran toward Aipom, asking, "Hey, you alright?" the monkey slowly opening her eyes and breathing heavily, panting, "Yeah, but man, that's the worst pain I've ever felt in my life."

She then rose to her feet and grunted, "Still, I'm really impressed. I know you're strong, but after how hard it was for Melmetal to hurt them-" the gorilla replying, "Yeah, I think it might be partly because of the damage they dealt to themselves earlier. It must have weakened their bodies a little bit."

The monkey blinked and thought, 'That makes sense. And they don't seem to have processed this yet. Good, we can still win,' thus a smile formed on her face as she asked, "Ready to unload a barrage of team moves?"

Rillaboom nodded with a smirk and lifted up Aipom onto her shoulders. She then curled up into a ball and had her hair form a boulder and sharpen before she rolled toward Palkia, she and the monkey barking, "ROSE BUSH MONKEY BOULDER!"

The purple dragon winced in pain when she took in the strike and flew backward into Dialga who had only just risen back to his feet. He coughed up blood before Rillaboom retracted to her normal state and formed a hammerhead on her right arm. Aipom then placed her tail hand up against it before both monkeys swung their hands back. Finally, they moved them forward and flew along with them.

Palkia's eyes widened when she took both fists to the face, the Super Simians exclaiming, "WOOD WARHAMMER!" The crowd cheered wildly when the purple dragon coughed up more blood, Vaporeon's eyes sparkling as she squealed, "Yeah! Way to go, guys! You got them!"

Before Dialga could finally snap out of his trance and fight back, Rillaboom reverted her hands to normal and had spikes jut out of her barrels. She then threw her arms inward and planted them into the blue dragon's neck, leaping up into the air and leaning backward. Aipom flipped vertically toward the two and planted her tail fist into Dialga's chin, thus the two managed to force his skull into the canvas and yelled, "THORN HAMMER SUPLEX!"

Dialga gritted his teeth with his eyes wide open while he thought, 'How are they doing all of this!? They're not even having us hit each other as much yet they've dealt so much damage! We need to up our game right now! Clearly these two are a major threat after all!'

All the while, Zeraora uttered, "Wow, I seriously can't believe it. I wouldn't be surprised if those two won the tournament," Scorbunny nodding and replying, "Well, you never know," winking at Vaporeon.

Dialga took a deep breath after the Super Simians released their hold on him and flipped back upright. He then turned to Palkia and grunted, "Alright, that's enough messing around. It's clear what we have to do."

The purple dragon nodded before she turned her body dark purple again. She then took to the sky and flew toward Rillaboom and Aipom. But just as the duo readied themselves to counter whatever she had planned, she flew high above the mat before Dialga raced toward them. Thus the simians realized Palkia must have been trying to distract them, thus they leapt toward Dialga only for him to dodge to the right.

Afterwards, Palkia landed behind them and turned her skull pink, aiming a headbutt toward Rillaboom's back. But just as she was ready to turn around, the purple dragon stopped and flew sideways before Dialga leapt at the gorilla with his leg raised for a roundhouse.

Once again, the gorilla readied herself only for him to land against the mat, Aipom thinking, 'I see what's going on. They're trying to psyche us out. Every time it looks like they're about to attack us, they stop and set up another one.'

With that in mind, she growled, "Alright, Rillaboom, we're gonna have to go on the offensive again!" the gorilla about to question this. But so far, the monkey's tactics had worked, so she nodded and raced toward Dialga while Aipom did the same for Palkia.

As soon as the blue dragon saw this, he smirked and thought, 'Gotcha,' before leaping over Rillaboom's head. Palkia spread out her wings and soared right past Aipom before both dragons were together. They then linked their arms and spun around like a twister before the blue dragon flew toward Aipom and the purple dragon aimed for Rillaboom.

"SPACE TIME REND!" both dragons shouted before Palkia sent a fierce slash into the gorilla's chest and Dialga, now with a blue aura around him, scratched open Aipom's forehead.

The crowd stared as after the monkey had gotten up from so much damage earlier, this was the final blow that did it. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she fell hard on her back, Machoke and Gardevoir both mortified as they stared at this.

Rillaboom breathed heavily and looked at the dragons only to grit her teeth and growl, "Oh, hell no! I am not rendering our efforts pointless! You may have outsmarted us back there, but let's see you overcome this!" Palkia flying over to Dialga.

She then rolled toward them and sharpened her hair, barking, "ROSE BUSH BOULDER!" only for Palkia to lift Dialga up after he went down on all fours. Both pointed their claws toward Rillaboom and spun forward like a drill.

"SPACE TIME DRILL!" they barked before their claws collided with Rillaboom. Everyone watched while smoke started to rise up from all three fighters. However, it seemed that the gorilla had lost when her hair was engulfed in flames. Thus she retracted back to her normal state and cried out in pain only for her voice to become higher than the dragons jabbed their claws into her gut.

Blood spewed out as Rillaboom gritted her teeth and placed her hands firmly against their arms. However, after a few seconds, she could no longer handle it, thus her eyes closed and her body went limp. Dialga and Palkia ended their assault and allowed her to collapse, her friends all horrified.

Nori was just about to start the ten count only for Beedrill to rest a stinger on her shoulder and shake his head. He then pointed at the simians, the woman noticing that neither one was able to move at all. With that in mind, she nodded and rang the bell before exclaiming, "And moving onto the semi-finals are Hero Planet's new advisers, the Time Space Squad!"

While the audience had been devastated at first, this changed when one member said, "Wow, to think they actually beat those two despite so much going against them," another adding, "Yeah, Dialga and Palkia are even more badass than I first thought."

As such, the area erupted with heavy cheers and applause before Dialga and Palkia rose their arms in the air. Both had wicked smirks on their faces, the purple dragon unable to believe that humans could really be this naive. But then again, many heroes throughout history had been known to possess brutal fighting styles, so perhaps it was not so strange for people to accept this.

Machoke lowered his eyelids and groaned, "Oh yeah, I forgot that fight fans are like this," Zeraora shrugging and replying, "Well, it's not like they're cheering for the forces of evil, right?" Scorbunny and Vaporeon both chuckling nervously.

They then watched as medics enter into the area and load Aipom and Rillaboom up on stretchers. Scorbunny bit her lower lip and whimpered, "Maybe it's a good thing I fought you instead of those two, otherwise that could have been me."

"No way," Vaporeon remarked with a light smile, "You would have kicked their asses," the rabbit rubbing the back of her head.

Even so, all the blue fox could do at this point was hope that whoever won the next round would be good enough to defeat them. After all, both were tournament champions. Either team would be a great pick, especially now that Rillaboom and Aipom had managed to reveal a major weakness that the dragons shared.

Whatever the case, Lucario and Clauncher were both ready, thus they rose up from their seats and headed toward a training room. Machoke and Gardevoir nodded at one-another and did the same, Machoke blinking and enquiring, "Hey, Scorbunny, would you like to help us with our entrance?"

The rabbit nodded and replied, "Sure," slowly getting up while Vaporeon bit her lower lip and uttered, "My god, we had so many people to cheer alongside us before, but now it's just the two of us in the bleachers right now."

Zeraora patted her on the shoulder and replied, "Hey, it's alright. I'm sure at the very least, Morgrem and Rolycoly will be awake to cheer us on three days from now. Plus, Blaziken and Hitmonchan will support us from the hospital, I just know it."

The blue fox nodded and said, "Um, hey, Zeraora, there's something I'd like to discuss, but let's wait until the round is over. I feel like that would be the best time."

The cat nodded and replied, "Oh, okay," but while he had a neutral look, a part of him had a feeling that he knew what this was about.

Machoke took a deep breath while Scorbunny looked over Gardevoir's plans for the entrance. She nodded and said, "Wow, this is a really cool idea. I can see why you wanted my help with this." As it so happened, the two had decided on a sports theme and after seeing Scorbunny and Blaziken's first entrance, this just seemed right.

Meanwhile, Lucario and Clauncher were hard at work, the shrimp saying, "This must be really exciting for you, eh, buddy? It's been so long," the dog nodding before she added, "It's also nice that you're not revenge crazy this time."

"Yeah," Lucario sighed while he rubbed the back of his head, "Don't worry, I won't go insane this time. This will be a good, clean match, and if Machoke wins, I'll accept it."

Amanda and Veronica both entered at that exact moment, Lucario blinking and saying, "Oh, hey, there," a big smile on his face while his girlfriend walked over to him and said, "I thought I'd give you a little something for luck."

The dog's fur turned beet red when she planted her lips up against his. She then pulled back and chuckled before Amanda gave him a hug and added, "Just so you know that I'm gonna cheer for you. I like Machoke and Gardevoir, but hey, family first, right?"

"You know you really didn't have to explain that, right?" Lucario remarked only for the two to chuckle. The dog then blinked when Veronica said, "Just know that even if you lose, you're still my champion."

Lucario grinned and asked, "What did I ever do to deserve such wonderful people in my life?" before he turned to Clauncher and added, "By the way, there's a little something I'd like to add to our entrance if it's alright with you."

The shrimp blinked, shrugged her shoulders and replied, "Hey, you know me. I'm up for whatever you have in mind," Lucario bowing his head before he turned to Veronica and stated, "Anyway, we'll be starting soon. Best you head back to the bleacher's, eh?"

The silver-haired woman nodded and replied, "Oh, of course." She then gave the dog a light peck on the cheek before heading out of the room.

Amanda folded her arms and snickered, "You are such a sap," only for Lucario to roll his eyes and retort, "You'll understand when you find love."

Dialga and Palkia, meanwhile, were conversing with Beedrill. While they did so, many of the audience members stared. After all, this was the first time since sign-ups that the dragons had actually been seen discussing anything with the chairman. Until now, many wondered if they really were advisers or not.

"So just to be clear, we're still going through with the gimmicks we thought up for the semis, right?" Dialga enquired before Butterfree nodded and replied, "Hell yeah we are. Seriously, that iron turnbuckle idea is genius."

"Well, I dunno, it seems a little much," Beedrill uttered, "But then again, I did allow my father to add a spiked rock to the Olympic semi-finals, so what do I know?"

"Speaking of which, could we maybe change the gimmick for our match?" Palkia uttered, Dialga turning to face her. He could not help but wonder what she had in mind, though it looked highly unlikely her idea would fly when Beedrill asked, "It depends. Would this give you an unfair advantage?"

"Oh no," the purple dragon chuckled, "In fact, this gimmick is perfectly fair for everyone. I was just thinking maybe we could have an electric cage match!" Dialga raising an eyebrow before Butterfree stroked her chin and asked, "You haven't been talking to Blitzle, have you?"

The purple dragon looked confused until she shrugged and replied, "Oh, so it's an enhanced version of the electric rope match we had planned before. Okay, I'm all for that," Beedrill nodding and adding, "Yeah, that should be fine."

And so, their meeting came to a close before the dragons returned to the bleachers, Dialga saying, "I have to say, that is an interesting proposition. But why did you decide on that?" Palkia replying, "I just figured it might be fun to have an electrified wall that we can toss our opponents into. Besides, after that last match, I don't wanna give either of these teams a chance to recover."

The blue dragon nodded and said, "I have to say, Palkia, I'm genuinely impressed. You really thought this through," patting her on the head, "Anyway, I guess we may as well see which team we'll face."

Scorbunny soon rejoined her friends in the crowd before Vaporeon said, "Oh, hey, Scorbunny. I imagine this entrance will be epic if you helped set it up, eh?" the rabbit chuckling, "It's gonna be amazing."

At that moment, Beedrill stated, "After an incredible set of matches, we're now down to the last one! In the red corner is the Olympic champion and a partner who has truly proven herself to be a great match for him! Give it up for the Fancy Fighters!"

The crowd went wild when Lucario and Clauncher both stepped into the area dressed in street clothes. Both folded their arms and bobbed their heads up and down to an upbeat J-Pop song and stepped toward the ring. Clauncher leapt up onto Lucario's head and held up her claws before the dog pulled out a microphone with the sound turned off and lip-synced to the song.

When he entered the ring, he pretended to sing the romantic part of it and pointed at Veronica who gasped, "Oh my god, that's so cool!" before turning to Amanda and uttering, "So, um, what do those lyrics say?"

Amanda chuckled, "It's a love song about fighting for your special someone. Lucario picked it out himself. He said it would be perfect for this," Veronica's cheeks beet red.

Once the song ended, the crowd cheered wildly and turned to the silver-haired woman when Lucario yelled, "That was for my fiance, Veronica!" Scorbunny blinking and uttering, "Oh god, he might have upstaged us with that one."

After Lucario and Clauncher removed their clothes and tossed them out of the ring, Butterfree exclaimed, "And in the red corner, we have the world tag team champions themselves! Having defeated many a foe, they have displayed a great deal of power time and time again! Give a round of applause for the Glamourous Fighting Machines!"

The crowd stared when Machoke and Gardevoir raced into the area dribbling a soccer ball back and forth. But while this seemed simple at first, the green woman lifted it up with her foot and launched it into the air. She then leapt up toward it and performed a perfect three hundred and sixty degree flip, planting her foot into the ball. Afterwards, Machoke rammed his skull into it to send it into the air before it exploded and released fireworks from inside of it.

Everyone stared at this display while the couple walked toward the ring, Machoke sighing, "I can't believe that actually worked," Gardevoir giggling, "I just realized, I'm wearing the perfect outfit for this."

Lucario folded his arms and said, "I gotta say, that was a pretty good entrance," the reptilian smirking and replying, "Yours wasn't half-bad either. A little on the cheesy side, but still good."

However, before the match could begin, Machoke held out his hand. Lucario nodded and took hold of it, though his eyes went wide when the reptilian whispered, "Hey, I don't wanna cause any alarm and I'm not entirely sure about this, but I have a funny feeling Dialga and Palkia might not be on the side of good."

"I'm impressed," Lucario replied with a nod, "I've actually had that feeling about them myself since this tournament began, and not because they fight with the same level of ruthlessness Talonflame did when he was evil. I've felt terrible vibes from them from the start, but without any definitive proof, we can't just accuse them. Therefor, we're gonna fight our absolute hardest."

Machoke smiled and said, "Good. Because if I win today, I want it to feel earned. That way, I'll know that Gardevoir and I truly are ready to face them," the two patting each other on the back while the crowd cheered, Nori stating, "What an amazing display of sportsmanship! Even though these two had quite the brutal match five years ago, it's clear that they're still great friends!"

And with all said and done, both teams headed to their own sides of the ring. Nori nodded and rang the bell before Machoke and Lucario got into a fighting stance, both turning toward Dialga and Palkia with serious looks in their eyes. Both were certain that no matter which of them came out on top, the dragons would be in trouble.