Vaporeon could not help but wonder if she had done the right thing. After she confessed her motives to Zeraora, he simply walked out on her. It made sense, but it was still painful.

After a minute passed, Scorbunny poked her head into the area and asked, "Hey, you've been talking an awful long time. Is everything al-?" her eyes wide when she noticed Vaporeon on her knees with a blank look on her face.

The rabbit sprinted over to her and rested her hands on her shoulders, asking, "Hey, Vaporeon, what's wrong? Where's Zeraora," the blue fox uttering, "He left."

Scorbunny blinked and remarked, "I beg your pardon?" Vaporeon grunting, "He left! Or, more specifically, he responded to my confession like he should have! I knew I was taking a huge risk telling him all of this and, well, my fears came true!"

Just as Scorbunny was about to speak, Vaporeon sighed, "Look, you don't need to say anything. It's fine. I was using him for my own benefit, and he really deserves better than that."

"But what about your match?" Scorbunny enquired, "If you don't have a teammate, you won't be allowed to compete anymore!" the blue fox blinking and staring silently at the rabbit.

After a few seconds, she shook her head and groaned, "Well, come on, Machoke and Gardevoir will beat Dialga and Palkia then they'll beat Toxtricity and Sutorinda. Admit it, they're the champions of this time line. They can do it easily!"

Zeraora just happened to return to the area with a calm look on his face. He nodded with a confident smile, but for what reason was anyone's guess. But just as he turned the corner, he noticed Vaporeon and Scorbunny engaged in their conversation, thus he decided stay where he was until they were finished. After all, it would have been rude to interrupt.

"But what if they lose?" Scorbunny asked, "Think about it! It's not like their track record is perfect! Not only did Machoke lose to Lucario back in the day, but he actually lost another match prior to that! People don't talk about it because he defeated that same villain in a rematch shortly after, but yeah, it's possible for him to lose! And, well, Gardevoir's lost to five opponents in her career! If they lose, who's gonna defeat Dialga and Palkia, The Electric Metal Heads!?"

Vaporeon blinked and was about to respond only for Scorbunny to sigh, "Look, I'll admit they have skill, and, well, despite their arrogant nature, they are heroes, but do you really think they have what it takes? Even if they had enough power, they would most likely hold back. Thing about it! You're the only one left in this tournament who knows that Dialga and Palkia are evil! You're the only one who would likely go all-out against them!"

Zeraora's eyes widened when he thought, 'They're evil?' Scorbunny adding, "I know, you probably don't think you're anywhere near good enough to match Machoke and Gardevoir's skills, but I think you could be. Or rather, we could be."

Vaporeon and Zeraora both went wide-eyed when the rabbit rested a hand on her shoulder. She smiled sweetly only for the blue fox to utter, "Wait, what? What are you saying?" the rabbit chuckling, "Hey, we both kind of owe each other right now."

"What do you mean by that?" Vaporeon remarked only for Scorbunny to fold her arms and state, "First off, I wanted to team up with you at first, but you turned me down just so you could upstage me. I think you owe me big time for that!"

The blue fox bit her lower lip, Zeraora about to step in until the rabbit added, "But even more so, I owe you for giving me a chance to fight alongside my idol. Even if it was for your own benefit, you let me to do something I never thought I'd get a chance to do. And for that, I owe you everything."

Vaporeon stared wide-eyed and released tears, Scorbunny adding, "Now, I took a little look at the rules just in case something like this happened. Now, apparently, Dialga convinced Beedrill to make it so those who have been eliminated are not allowed to compete again most likely so there wouldn't be a case similar to how Machoke changed allies every round due to every other teammate getting badly injured. But Beedrill added an extra step, and it's that those who have been eliminated before can compete as long as one of the fighters who defeated him or her approves of it. And since you defeated me, you agreeing to let me team up with you is all the approval he'll need."

As much as the cat wanted to step forward, for some strange reason, he decided to exit the area. Though he did not have a look of anger or spite on his face. Instead, he looked happy. However, that smile turned to a serious look before he thought, 'Yeah, those two can definitely win this tournament, and I'll be there to watch it happen.'

Vaporeon wiped her eyes before she held Scorbunny in a tight embrace, sniffing, "Thank you so much!" The rabbit let out a sigh and patted her on the back before the two of them exited the area, Scorbunny suggesting, "How about we call ourselves The Boilers?"

Afterwards, the duo headed to the hospital to check up on the others. Thankfully, Morgrem and Rolycoly were finally awake, but according to the doctor, they would not be able to move for another four days. But of course, they would be more than ready to watch and support Vaporeon and Scorbunny once the day came.

"So, um, where did your cat friend go?" Morgrem uttered only for Vaporeon to chuckle nervously and utter, "Um, he had other things to do."

Rolycoly nodded and replied, "Well, I know you and Scorbunny will be amazing. I mean, you two have been together much longer than that, right?"

After conversing for a little while longer, Vaporeon and Scorbunny checked up on Drizzile and Rillaboom. The fox simply could not believe it. All three of them had advanced so far in the Hero Olympics yet not one of them made it past the quarter-finals. If anything, this only made the fox want to do better for their sake.

With that in mind, she and Scorbunny were both ready to leave the hospital. After a quick meal and a good night's sleep, they would get to work right away. After all, they only had two full days to prepare themselves and they wanted to use every moment.

Vaporeon walked with Scorbunny to a hotel the rabbit had been staying in this whole time. After all, she suspected Zeraora would not want her to enter his house ever again, and she did not blame him in the slightest. If anything, she hoped that what she told him would not break his spirits. The last thing she wanted was for him to lose all that confidence he had built up over the years.

After a quick bite to eat, both heroes crawled into bed next to each other. Vaporeon smiled at Scorbunny and said, "Hey, thanks," the rabbit giggling, "You already thanked me once. You don't need to do that again."

"No, not for teaming up with me," Vaporeon replied, "Though I'm still beyond grateful. I mean everything else," the rabbit raising an eyebrow, "I've said it before and I'll say it again. Before you and the others entered my life, it was boring in Edmonton. Sure, I got along with everyone in my neighbourhood fine, but I had no real friends. Just people who depended on me to protect them."

Scorbunny nodded while she continued, "Ever since you moved in, life has been fun. And while I was jealous before, I really am grateful for everything you've done. Hell, when I started out as a hero in Edmonton, my biggest concern was that I was alone. If anything, it felt like a miracle that I was able to get help from Ben and Incineroar when you and your friends threatened to take over. You all gave me companionship, but you're the one I connect with the most."

She then looked down and sighed, "Even though you're okay with it, I still feel awful for the way I took advantage of you like that," only for Scorbunny to rest a hand on her shoulder and reply, "Look, it's not as if you committed murder. Besides, that was a great match regardless."

The rabbit then giggled, "Also, don't tell the others, but I feel a stronger connection with you than them too," before leaning in and giving the fox a light peck on the cheek.

Vaporeon's eyes widened as she pressed her hand lightly against said cheek. A light smile formed on her face before she returned the gesture and drifted off to sleep. Neither could believe what they had just done, but they felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off of their chests.

The following day, all four teams were hard at work for their upcoming matches. Toxtricity and Sutorinda mostly worked hard on upping the strength of their Overdrive. They did this by playing loud music in an abandoned building. They aimed the move at a pair of loud speakers with music blasting from them, the lizards doing their best to overpower it.

Machoke and Gardevoir, meanwhile, practised their best moves on iron dummies. After an hour passed, they took a break on a nearby bench when Machoke said, "So, Gardevoir, I've been thinking about how to approach this. You remember how Rillaboom and Aipom hurt those two, right?"

Gardevoir nodded and sighed, "I get the feeling that might not work. Since it's been used on them once already, they'll probably see it coming," the reptilian man stating, "That's right, but the main thing is that they took in far more damage than they did when they fought Shaymin and Melmetal, and I have a funny feeling that's because of all the damage they dealt to each other, meaning if we can draw blood from them, it'll cause them to take in a lot more pain."

Gardevoir tapped her chin for a little bit before she asked, "Wait, do you think I should use my family power right away?" Machoke nodding and replying, "I know you prefer to save it for dire situations, but think about it. That power greatly enhances your strength for three minutes. That means you could deal all sorts of damage to them and leave them much more vulnerable, meaning we won't even need to have them hit each other for us."

After a few seconds, Gardevoir's eyes sparkled as she squealed, "Yeah, you're right! That's perfect! That way, even when the power wares off, they'll be in such poor condition that even slapping them will hurt them!"

Machoke nodded with a grin before the couple pounded their fists together. There was no doubt the dragons would go down for sure.

All the while, Vaporeon and Scorbunny practised a variety of team moves. Although the fox was much more motivated than ever before. After last night, her spirits were insanely high, and the same went for Scorbunny.

At one point, Scorbunny latched her legs onto a dummy's neck before Vaporeon took hold of her shoulders and lifted her up. She then leaned backward, allowing Scorbunny to slam the dummy into the floor and put a large dent in the back of its head. After the rabbit rose to her feet, her eyes sparkled before she squealed, "Yay! I can use my Asteroid Frankensteiner without straining myself!"

Vaporeon nodded and said, "I feel a little bad keeping this a secret from the others, but I really want Toxtricity and Sutorinda to be surprised. If we breathed a word of this to anyone, they'd likely find out, and that would spoil everything."

The rabbit nodded and giggled, "Yeah! It's just a shame only Morgrem and Rolycoly will see us fight! But we'll still do an awesome job for their sake!" before sighing, "I still can't believe they beat Drizzile after all of that."

Vaporeon nodded and replied, "That's why we're gonna do even better. They'll wish they never messed with us," the two sharing a quick kiss before going back to training. It certainly seemed as if Dialga's suspicion of the rabbit and fox making for a better team was correct.

Both days passed by and many people were assembled at the stadium. Though Vaporeon could not help but feel a touch nervous. While she and Scorbunny had come up with all sorts of tactics for this match, this would be her second time facing an opponent with none of her friends from Edmonton in the bleachers to cheer her on.

The rabbit could see this, thus she rested a hand on her shoulder and said, "Hey, Vaporeon, calm down. I'm sure Gardevoir and Machoke will cheer for us. We're not alone, okay? Plus, Morgrem and Rolycoly are watching from the hospital. Do you want to let them down?"

"Hell no!" Vaporeon remarked with a smirk before she and the rabbit bumped their elbows together and readied themselves.

All the while, Machoke and Gardevoir sat among the crowd. The reptilian man looked around and sighed, "It's weird not having the others here with us," only for a familiar voice to retort, "Guess I'm not one of the others, eh?"

He and Gardevoir turned to see Blaziken next to them, a grin on her face as she said, " Hitmonchan told me I should come to support you guys. Figured you'd need it, you know, all four of you."

Machoke and Gardevoir both smiled and nodded before the white woman blinked and enquired, "You haven't seen Scorbunny around, have you? We've been saving her a seat for twenty minutes," looking down at her red jersey, which she had placed on the seat for that very purpose.

Blaziken blinked and replied, "Wow, that's strange. She usually tries to be super early for everything. I hope nothing's going on. I mean, we still haven't found whoever it was who assaulted Hitmonchan."

"Oh yeah, about that," Machoke uttered, "I think I might know who attacked her. The only problem is we can't bust the culprit without proof," the chicken blinking. She then thought hard about this and gasped, "Wait, are you implying that Shaymin's ramblings might have actually been true!?"

"Yeah," Gardevoir whimpered, "Lucario felt it too. That's why we all tried so hard yesterday, partly to instill fear in Dialga and Palkia. Though I'm not really sure why they'd attack Scorbunny. Wouldn't it make more sense for them to attack Zeraora? I'd include one of us, but we've been together this whole time, so they'd have no way to catch a single one of us off-guard."

"Don't worry, Scorbunny's fine," came a familiar voice from behind the trio. Their eyes widened before then turned around and saw what looked like a cat seated behind them with a trench coat and fedora on. Machoke blinked and uttered, "Zeraora? What are you doing here?"

Zeraora tensed up and gasped, "Oh my god, how did you see through my disguise!?" Blaziken retorting, "Don't avoid the question! You should be in the back with Vaporeon!"

The cat laughed nervously and uttered, "Um, yeah, about that..." rubbing the back of his head only for Beedrill to take a seat behind a desk and exclaim, "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, the semi-finals of the Ultimate World Team Tournament are about to begin! These first two rounds have certainly lived up to expectations, but we know these two will be even more exciting when you see what our new advisers cooked up for these matches!"

Machoke narrowed his eyelids and growled, "They had gimmicks added? No doubt they only thought of concepts that would benefit them," Zeraora feeling a tad nervous. Now he could not help but wonder if it was such a good idea leaving Vaporeon with someone she had not spent roughly two weeks training with.

"But before we find out about that, it's time to announce the teams!" Butterfree stated, "In the blue corner is a relatively new duo who have certainly made quite the name for themselves! Despite the odds frequently stacked against them, they continue to overcome the odds and come out on top, kinda like one of the teams fighting in the second match!"

Nori nodded and exclaimed, "Everyone, give a round of applause for..." holding up the card with the name and uttering, "The Steaming Boilers?"

The crowd was beyond confused while Machoke blinked and said, "Wait. Fire and water make steam, right?" He and the others looked at one-another and gasped, "No way!" Zeraora chuckling, "Yeah, there's quite the story behind this."

Everyone watched as steam shot from the entrance. Sure enough, Vaporeon and Scorbunny both marched forward with a serious looks in their eyes. They had no special gimmicks or anything, just a standard, serious entrance while the crowd continued to stare.

When they stood in the ring, they held their arms in the air while Beedrill stated, "As it so happens, Vaporeon's partner, Zeraora, seems to have had other plans. While we have a new rule forbidding those who have been eliminated from competing again, it is considered acceptable if one of the two fighters who defeated him or her approves of it! And, well, as I assume you all recall, Vaporeon was the one who dealt the finishing blow to Scorbunny!"

"Wait, did you know about this?" Butterfree remarked before the wasp nodded and replied, "Yeah. Scorbunny came to me in private and told me to make it a big surprise. I thought the idea sounded fun, so I figured why not."

Dialga stared wide-eyed as Palkia uttered, "Oh, yeah, you were hoping this wouldn't happen, weren't you?" the blue dragon taking a deep breath and sighing, "No, it's fine. They had very little time to prepare themselves. This might actually work in our favour."

Machoke and Gardevoir both clapped for their friends with big smiles while Raboot suddenly arrived and said, "That lucky sod. She got to fight again. Why didn't I get a chance like that?" Leafeon and Jolteon both shocked by this.

"You know, I'm not so sure about this," Leafeon groaned, "Vaporeon and Zeraora worked so well together! Why would he just up and leave?" Jolteon replying, "Well, whatever the case, I'm sure it's alright. We'll just give our relative all the support she needs," taking a sip of coffee.

Once the shock of it all died down, the people cheered. After all, both Vaporeon and Scorbunny had truly proven their worth up to this point, so they could not help but feel excited for what the two would pull off.

When they calmed down, Butterfree stated, "And in the blue corner are two rocking punks who are just as powerful as they are loud! They've blasted their way through the first two rounds and return to entertain us some more! The Electric Metal Heads, everyone!"

Both lizards entered the area with their electric strings at the ready. But just as they were ready to strum them, Toxtricity's eyes widened as he spat, "Hey, wait a minute!" Sutorinda stared at him before he sighed, "Just forget it, sis. Apparently, the song we came up with won't work."

The blue lizard looked down in disappointment before she and her brother walked toward the ring. Many members of the crowd felt similarly. They had actually been looking forward to what they had planned for their entrance.

Once they entered the ring, Toxtricity glared at Vaporeon and Scorbunny and grunted, "What the hell is this!? Did you do this just to fuck with us!?" the blue fox sighing, "I wish that was my intention. No, something unexpected came up and I was left with little choice. It was either get a new teammate or drop out, and I'd rather not do the latter, thank you very much."

"Though to be fair, we did keep it a secret to fuck with them," Scorbunny said with a cute grin before Sutorinda noticed Toxtricity's anger had not subsided. Thus she patted him on the shoulder and whispered, "Who cares? This'll just make things easier for us. We spent our time making our Overdrive stronger because we thought Zeraora would be able to take it, but now he's been replaced by a non-electric type."

The yellow lizard blinked and nodded before he sported more neutral look and said, "Oh well. It doesn't matter, anyway. We've seen enough to know that both of you are awesome, so we won't need to give you an early lead like the last couple of teams."

Vaporeon blinked and uttered, "I don't know whether to be flattered or alarmed," only for Scorbunny to shrug and remark, "We don't need their charity, anyway," Zeraora nodding in agreement.

"Oh yes, let's not forget the gimmick for this match," Beedrill stated, "You can't quite make it out, but the turnbuckles actually have a strong iron underneath their cover! That means anyone who hits them will be in for a world of hurt!"

Machoke blinked and said, "Okay, I'll admit, that's not as bad as I was expecting," Gardevoir nodding and replying, "I'm sure Vaporeon and Scorbunny can work around that."

However, panic rose among the group when Butterfree added, "Now, this one is much more noticeable," pressing a button and causing metal spikes to emerge from the ropes before she explained, "These spikes are also made from iron and are razor sharp! Sure, the fighters can still use the ropes to attack, but should they take the risk!?"

"This is more what I was expecting," Machoke sighed only for Vaporeon and Scorbunny to look at one-another with serious faces and nod. There was no way they would let this intimidate them.

With all said and done, both teams headed to their sides of the ring before Nori nodded and stated, "Well, looks like the Electric Metal Heads seem to be okay with this arrangement as well. Anyway, without further ado, let's begin!" ringing the bell.

Vaporeon and Scorbunny poised themselves for whatever Toxtricity and Sutorinda had in store. The crowd could not help but stare in shock when the lizards formed their electric strings and barked, "OVERDRIVE!"

"Wait, already?" Vaporeon uttered before they strummed their strings and released sound waves from them. However, Scorbunny gasped, "We prepared ourselves for this!"

The blue fox nodded and curled her tail into a spring, she and the female rabbit leaping over the waves. Everyone watched in shock while Vaporeon formed a ball of ice around the tip of her tail and flipped vertically toward Toxtricity. Scorbunny lit her feet on fire and descended toward Sutorinda.

When the lizards took the hits to their faces, Vaporeon shouted, "BOUNCING ICE BALL!" while Scorbunny squealed, "INFERNO AXE!" Needless to say, neither Electric Metal Head was prepared for this, thus they groaned in pain and fell on their backs before the area erupted with cheers and applause.

"Despite the Electric Metal Heads saying they would not allow their opponents an early lead, the Steaming Boilers manage to snag one anyway," Beedrill stated, "But of course, this fight has only just begun. Let's see if they can keep this up."

It seemed as if they might when Vaporeon wrapped her tail around Toxtricity's neck, Scorbunny wrapping her legs around his ankles. Both forced him upward into a bridge formation as he gritted his teeth and felt his back start to bend. But of course, they knew now was not the time to try and take things that far since Sutorinda had more than enough strength to rise to her feet.

With that in mind, Scorbunny used her legs to throw Toxtricity's lower body upward. Vaporeon performed a handstand and formed her ice on her tail again, thus sending a cold chill down his neck and barking, "ICE FRANKENSTEINER!" ramming his upper back into the canvas.

Scorbunny placed her hands against the surface once Sutorinda was back up and pushed herself toward her. Her friends all cheered when she planted her feet hard into the blue lizard's face, causing her to stumble backwards.

But just as Scorbunny was ready to unleash more pain, her eyes widened when Sutorinda shifted her right leg back to prevent herself from falling. She then held up her arms and took hold of the rabbit's ankles before she exclaimed, "HIGH VOLTAGE GLOVES!"

Electricity coursed through her hands and into Scorbunny before she cried out in pain. Vaporeon gasped and turned to face her partner just in time for Toxtricity to smirk and wrap his legs around her. He rested his heels up against her chest and barked, "HIGH VOLTAGE BOOTS!" electricity covering his legs and spreading to the blue fox.

But of course, since Vaporeon had frozen water on her tail, the element was much more powerful against her. As such, she cried even louder than Scorbunny as Zeraora watched nervously. By now, he was used to seeing them in situations like this, but this somehow looked worse than anything they had dealt with so far.