The Junior Champion Tournament still continues. Uryu, Renji, Ikkaku, and Rukia all advance with Ichigo and Chad. Round two began where Uryu took on Chad. Despite having the disadvantage, Uryu was able to pull off a win. We'll see who else is going to round three.

Ohh oh-oh-oh oh-oh
I'm unbeatable
Walking down this endless highway
With nothing but my friends beside me
We'll never give in, we'll never rest
Advanced Battle is the ultimate test
From the earth, the land
The sea and sky
They can never win, but they sure can try
Ohh oh-oh-oh oh-oh
I'm unbeatable
Pokémon
(Advanced Battle!)
Oh oh-oh-oh oh-oh
I'm undefeatable
From the stars and the ancient past
They come to play, but they'll never last
Ohh oh-oh-oh oh-oh
I'm unbeatable
Pokémon
(Advanced Battle!)
Ohh oh-oh-oh oh-oh
I'm undefeatable
Oh oh oh
(Advanced Battle!)
I'm unbeatable
Pokémon

(Ichigo's voice) Breaking the Ice

"Palpitoad use Hydro Pump." Ichigo said. Palpitoad unleashed a powerful blast of water and blasted Julia's Magmar. Magmar was blasted right into the wall and was taken out.

"Magmar is unable to battle. Palpitoad is the winner. Victory goes to Ichigo." The referee said.

"Ichigo is now moving to the semi-finals and is joining Uryu."

"Yay, Ichigo." Orihime cheered.

"That was an easy win." Rukia said.

"Ichigo's come pretty far since the last time I faced him." Renji said. "Don't tell him I said that or he won't let me live it down."

"Yeah. I can't wait to take him on myself once I win my battle." Ikkaku said. Ikkaku's battle was next against Clark. Ikkaku was using a Breloom and Clark was using a Gurdurr.

"Now use Mach Punch, Breloom." Ikkaku said. His Breloom moved greatly fast and pounded Gurdurr right in the gut. Gurdurr dropped down and was beaten.

"Gurdurr is unable to battle. Breloom is the winner. Victory goes to Ikkaku." The referee said.

"That makes three spots filled in. Only one remains and we'll soon have that spot filled out."

"Looks like it's just you and me now, Renji." Rukia said.

"I'm warning you, I'm not going easy just because you're a girl." Renji said. "When I battle, I battle to win."

"I feel just the same way." Rukia said. Both of them went on the battlefield and they were both ready to go.

"This will be it for round two. It's down to Rukia and Renji, but only one will walk in the semi-finals. Now, they both can begin."

"Cryogonal, let's go!" Rukia said.

"Cry!"

"Arbok, you're in!" Renji said.

"Chiarbok!"

"An Arbok? That Arbok must have been his Ekans. So he actually got it to evolve." Ichigo said.

"That pattern almost looks like a face. It's a little scary." Orihime said.

"Stay focus on the battle and it won't be so bad." Chad said.

"I'm ready to win this. Arbok, give them a taste of your Poison Sting." Renji said.

"Chia!" Arbok shot poison needles from its mouth.

"Cryogonal use Rapid Spin to deflect them." Rukia said. Cryogonal spun around and deflected all of the needles. "Now show them your Ice Beam." Cryogonal shot out the cold beam and Arbok got blasted from it.

"Arbok use Screech." Renji said. Arbok unleashed a painful sound and Cryogonal couldn't stand the sound and couldn't keep the attack going. "Now use Poison Tail."

"Cryogonal use Rapid Spin." Rukia said. The two of their pokemon collided their attacks and tried to push the other back, but they both ended up cancelling each other out.

"Arbok use Poison Tail again." Renji said. Arbok had its tail glowing and slammed it against Cryogonal.

"Renji is battling hard against Rukia. How's Rukia going to get out of this?"

"Cryogonal use Confuse Ray." Rukia said.

"Cry!" Cryogonal unleashed golden orbs and had them go around Arbok.

"Use Dig to escape." Renji said. Arbok burrowed its way underground and was able to avoid the attacks.

"Arbok dodged with Dig, but how will that effect Cryogonal whose ability is levitate?"

"Don't need to go in for the hit. Arbok, come out and strike with Poison Tail." Renji said. Arbok climbed out of the ground and slammed its tail against Cryogonal.

"Cryogonal! Are you hurt?" Rukia said and it looked like Cryogonal could still keep the battling going. "That's what I like to see. Now use Ice Beam."

"Cry!"

"Dodge it and give it another Poison Tail." Renji said. Cryogonal fired the cold beam, but Arbok was able to slither away from the attack. Arbok got close enough to Cryogonal and slammed its tail against Cryogonal again. Cryogonal was thrown against the wall and it was taken out.

"Cyogonal is unable to battle. Arbok is the winner. Victory goes to Renji." The referee said.

"That's it! It's all over. That means we have our four semi-finalists." Pictures of all four of them have been shown. "One of these four will have the chance to battle Yamamoto."

"It looks like it's just down to you in our little group, Ichigo." Rukia said as she walked over to the others.

"And I'm not stopping at the semi-finals. Absol, we'll win this whole thing." Ichigo said.

"Absol."

"We'll now show the matches for the semi-finals." The pictures were shuffled around and showed that Ikkaku was against Ichigo and Uryu was against Renji.

"It looks like it's you against Ikkaku." Orihime said.

"Ichigo!" Ikkaku called out. "May the better trainer win. I don't intend on showing the least bit of mercy on this battle."

"I'm not going easy either." Ichigo said.

"After these battles, we'll only have two remaining. For now, everyone get some rest. Tomorrow is when we'll see these amazing trainers battle for the top spot."

…..

The Pokemon Center

"Eat up." Ichigo said as he fed Palpitoad and Absol. "You and the others are going to need to be at the top form. Our remaining rivals are going to be some tough ones to beat."

"I'm so excited for this." Orihime said. "I can't wait to see what kinds of battles these semi-finals are going to have." She looked around and noticed someone was missing. "Where's Rukia?"

"I think she said she was going to take a little stroll." Chad said. Rukia was just outside and taking a nice stroll and taking in the cool night air. She looked over to the side and she saw Renji just hanging against a tree.

"Hey, Renji." Rukia said to break the ice as she went over to talk to him.

"Hey. How's Cryogonal doing?" Renji asked.

"A lot better." Rukia said. "I must admit that was quite the battle we had. You are a really strong trainer."

"Oh! Thanks. It was nothing." Renji said. "Arbok, Vigoroth, and my other pokemon all battle really hard."

"You must really enjoy battling. I can see you're very passionate about it." Rukia said. "I actually admire how much you're devoted to battling and to your pokemon."

"You admire all that?" Renji said as his face was starting to turn red.

"I really do." Rukia said. The ice was starting to break between the two and Renji was starting to see something about Rukia he's never noticed before as the moonlight reflected off of her.

'Wow. Underneath all this moonlight, I'm starting to see….just how pretty she is.' Renji thought. 'Wait! What am I thinking?!'

"Well, you better get yourself ready for your battle tomorrow." Rukia said as she was heading back in the pokemon center. "You'll be up against a tough opponent tomorrow. Uryu is no pushover." Rukia headed back inside and Renji just stood there and watched her when he actually wanted her to stay.

….

The Next Day

"We're back and it's time for the semi-finals of the Junior Champion Tournament. Only four powerful trainers remain. We've got two of them right now. We have Ikkaku against Ichigo." The two of them stood and faced each other as they were both ready for this battle.

"I'm all set to go." Ikkaku said as he held out one of his pokeballs. "Marowak, time for some battling!"

"Marowak!"

"So he's going with a Marowak. This will be over quickly with this guy." Ichigo said as he took out his pokeball. "Palpitoad, let's go!"

"Palpitoad!"

"So you're using Palpitoad again. You might have the type advantage, but that won't mean you'll win." Ikkaku said.

"Let's just see what this Marowak of yours can do." Ichigo said. "Palpitoad, let's test the waters with Rock Smash."

"Marowak, intercept it with Bone Rush." Ikkaku said. Both of them went to attack. Palpitoad swung its tail with energy flowing through it and Marowak's bone glowed. The two of them collided against each other in midair.

"Not bad, but I probably shouldn't stretch this out." Ichigo said. "Now use Hydro Pump." Palpitoad jumped away and unleashed all that volume of water.

"Use Bone Rush again and twirl it." Ikkaku said. Marowak spun its bone around and was able to deflect the water from the attacks. No one was expecting that.

"Who would have seen that coming? I've never seen a Marowak use its bone like that."

"I've trained my Marowak pretty well to handle the type disadvantage. You don't need to worry about dragging this out, Ichigo. It won't be a problem." Ikkaku said. "Now use Double Team."

"Marowak!" Marowak made copies of itself and surrounded Palpitoad. Palpitoad and Ichigo weren't sure where the real one is.

"Now use Bonemerang." Ikkaku said. All the copies of Marowak tossed their bones.

"Which way do we dodge?" Ichigo wondered, but it was too late as the real bone hit Palpitoad and it came back around and hit Palpitoad again as the copies disappeared. "Are you okay?"

"Palpitoad." Palpitoad was able to keep the battle going.

"Palpitoad use Mud Shot." Ichigo said.

"Now use Double Edge." Ikkaku said. Palpitoad shot out the mud, but Marowak glowed yellow and dodged all the mud and slammed against Palpitoad and knocked Palpitoad off its feet. "Now let's finish this with Bone Rush." Marowak jumped up and was planning to slam it down to finish this.

It would seem Ichigo is not getting the easy win he was hoping for. Will he be able to win this battle and move on to the finals or has his time in the tournament ended here? Stay tune to find out.

To Be Continued…..