Epilogue: Champions of Hearts, Part 3
Objection was futile. Epsilon had made up her mind to sit out the fight against Team Ironfist, to see her team win and ultimately to be in top form against the source of all evil. It was probably not the smartest strategic move, but as Marshadow had already said, a defeat cost nothing. Especially not against a team as powerful as Ironfist.

"The second semi-final begins in a few minutes. The teams please gather in their waiting rooms and announce their line-ups!"

It was only a matter of minutes before the presumed favorites' duel began. Now that Team Radiance had suffered a surprise defeat, the two remaining favorites were now facing each other in the semi-final. So, at least in the eyes of the spectators, something like a preliminary final was already taking place here. But nobody could ever count out Aralsa, especially after taking a win like this! And the first duel was one that almost every spectator had not wanted to see. Not after the last meeting between these two teams. Kel faced Incineroar. However, similar to the Heavyweight Clause, Elementareon had learned here too.

"Round one of the second semi-final. Incineroar against Kel, Ironfist against Polarna vatra. And, we all learn from mistakes, Earthquake is banned for you two!"

There were no complaints from the fighters, and even relief from the spectators. Thinking of the last duel between the favorites, Kel was already very confident. Earthquake was Incineroar's only weapon against his own type. Immediately, rock spikes filled the battlefield again. But adaptation was key, often in the league and this time too. Because it was true that the wrestler had no effective attacks... but what stopped him from using Kel's rocks himself?

He quickly knocked the next rock spike out of the ground in order to arm himself in a similar way to Tyrantrum. A good idea in theory. However, it had a big problem, which Kel recognized immediately.

"Is that how you want to play the game? Sure thing!"

The challenge was followed by a direct attack with the rock spear. However, Kel was more than ready. Because Incineroar had ignored a single fast. Rock against fire is good and all, but the cat had no experience wielding a weapon while Kel trained against this playstyle on a daily basis! Once again, it was the teammates who knew best how to fight the rest of the team. And for Kel, this fight became almost a simple duel against a weaker version of Tyrantrum.

"And that will be the lead for Polarna vatra!"

An immediate lead was all well and good, but Incineroar was probably Team Ironfist's smallest hurdle overall. The team's own Rock Spear faced a much more difficult opponent in round two: Gallade. Fast, experienced with weapons and a fighting type. Despite this, Tyrantrum would not be intimidated. He kept his typical calm, tried to follow his everyday fighting style. But similar to Necrozma, this opponent showed full focus, no fear. Although he did not protect himself against combos as Necrozma did, Tyrantrum still had to land a blow first. And both Pokemon did not want to try the attacking first because this was very punishable. However, neither of them could do nothing forever if they didn't want to be disqualified by Elementareon.

Ultimately, it was Tyrantrum who lost his patience first. A quick, far-reaching blow from nowhere was supposed to end the duel, but Gallade was ready and blocked immediately. However, Tyrantrum had expected this much. Because at the same moment a rock spike shot out of the ground, right where Gallade was standing. Yet where the fossil had thought one step ahead... Gallade was ahead one more. After the spear block, Counter followed, a technique that left you incredibly open if you missed it, but if you timed a close combat attack, you hit back with insane force. And it was a fighting-type attack. Although Tyrantrum's rock spike was not a close combat attack, he was still close enough to take the full force of the attack.

"That's the tie! One on one between Polarna vatra and Ironfist!"

The dangerous part of the fight had begun. Garchomp and Tyranitar were both still available. If both won their duels, that would be it. So Polarna vatra decided on a fairly safe route. Zeraora wasn't particularly strong against anyone. But if he faced Mawile now, he had a real chance of winning. If he met Garchomp, the probability of this would be close to zero, but Marshadow would have a good chance against both remaining opponents. If Zeraora met Tyranitar now... it would be the worst case scenario, because after that it would be a pure 50/50 gamble if he lost.

And as luck would have it, that was exactly the situation at hand. Ironfist's newest fighter, Tyranitar, faced Team Slash's former leader. Electricity would not be the solution here, that much was clear. Zeraora had mastered a few fighting-type attacks, incredibly powerful against this opponent, but he had to be able to hit them first. There was exactly one real chance of victory: the massive Pokemon fell under the Heavyweight Clause. And Zeraora was incredibly agile. So if he could hold out for three minutes, he would be able to regain the lead!

The plan was in place, but was made much more difficult by one fact: Earthquake, the favorite attack of all league fighters. Zeraora could run as much as he wanted, but this attack went over the entire field and so there was no safety anywhere. And although Earthquake alone could not bring about a KO, it weakened and slowed down in the long run. Nevertheless, Zeraora tried his best and tried to shamelessly exploit the new clause. However, Tyranitar quickly recognized this and adapted to this rather boring strategy by using his own boring strategy. Earthquake alone, nothing else. The more league fights Aurora watched as team leader, the less she understood how she actually enjoyed watching them back in the day. In the King's League, Pokemon do everything to win. And oftentimes, the optimal strategy is not an interesting one.

Zeraora also noticed that he couldn't keep up his tactics for three minutes straight. So he tried to create sudden pressure by changing his strategy abruptly. Without warning, he jumped into close combat with Hammer Arm and managed to land a powerful blow. Despite his weight, Tyranitar was pushed many meters into the danger zone by the attack. There, however, he caught himself and didn't seem ready to give up yet. Instead, as if gravity were no more than a suggestion for him, the beast jumped several meters into the air and landed in the middle of the field with a powerful blow, which left a crater in the ground. The shock wave of the impact alone was an attack in itself. And one look into the monster's eyes showed Zeraora: This opponent was out of his league.

"Match point! Team Ironfist is leading two to one!"

So it was a guessing game of Polarna vatra. Marshadow for Mawile or Aurora for Garchomp. Overall, Marshadow would be the safer choice, as he would have a chance against both opponents, while Aurora had no chance against Mawile, but that was exactly where the tactic lay in choosing Aurora. Team Ironfist would be much more likely to count on Marshadow. Because anything else in this situation could mean a certain defeat for Polarna vatra.

And the gamble paid off. Aurora was able to fight Garchomp again, just like in the team's last tournament. Back then, they were two to one ahead, but Aurora failed because she hadn't considered Iron Head. This time they were behind, but Aurora was ready. This time she would put up a better fight. Round four began!

And immediately the signs were good for Polarna vatra. Not only did Aurora have an extreme type advantage anyway, Garchomp was also far too optimistic, obviously expecting Aurora to no longer remember her last defeat. An Iron Head immediately missed and an Ice Beam from Aurora did a lot of damage, but more importantly, it bought time. Time that she used for the Hail-Aurora Veil combination. The land shark also had to realize that he had underestimated his opponent enormously, as his victory had been so easy last time. And this time, the roles were reversed.

On the screen, Kel could see how his partner delivered one of the best performances she had shown in the league so far. Garchomp was a top fighter, team leader of long-time champions, but Aurora made him look like an average Upper League fighter who couldn't keep up with the simplest of tricks. A Blizzard raged in the ring, claw strikes, Flamethrower and Iron Heads flew around wildly and aimlessly, while the ice and moon hit the target without fail and Aurora became almost one with her surroundings.

"Another equaliser! Two to two, one last duel will decide the outcome of this top encounter! Send your fighters, teams!"
When Aurora went back into the team room, she was already expected and greeted enthusiastically.

"See, I told you that you wouldn't have any problems! That was the perfect showing!"

The Ninetales playfully pushed Kel away from her.

"You can get an autograph later. We haven't won yet."
"And what do you think we should do?", Zeraora asked.

Such situations usually brought with them uncertainty, strategy and a pinch of luck, but there was no trace of uncertainty this time. Aurora had a plan.

"Marshadow, we won the two against two last time. They probably won't expect us to choose the same formation again. Besides, Garchomp will not be able to resist a chance at redemption, so he will step out himself and take Tyranitar, his strongest fighter, with him. And if we really get into this duel, we will focus on Garchomp, and when we get rid of him, we will use your copies and Aurora Veil to delay the three minutes. Does that sound like a plan?"
"And if we're not up against these two? What do we do then?"
"Improvise. Come on, we can do it!"

The two siblings stepped onto the battlefield of a big duel. On the other side, they could already see how right Aurora had been. The two biggest Pokemon on Team Ironfist, Garchomp and Tyranitar, were waiting for their opponents, a duel which might have looked unequal just looking at the Pokemon.

"The finale of the semi-finals! Let's go!"

Without hesitation, Aurora created icy pillars across the field, confident that Garchomp would not try to attack her directly again. And she was right. Instead, both opponents seemed to focus directly on the team leader without attacking just yet. She immediately jumped onto the next ice pillar and began to create Hail that fell from the sky. In the meantime, however, the ice pillar beneath her broke and she narrowly avoided an Iron Head. Just as planned. Because Marshadow had seen the same thing as Aurora. Freedom for him to create his copies. Just as Tyranitar was about to follow up with an attack, an Aura Sphere hit him critically in the back and Aurora returned Garchomp's favor with Ice Beam. Marshadow had completely seized control and now gave Aurora the time for Hail and Aurora Veil.
Garchomp, on the other hand, now seemed to see through the plan.

Tyranitar was at the front, protecting his team leader, who used various attacks from the back to attack Aurora and eliminate copies. Aurora herself used her ice pillars to move around and thus evaded most of the attacks, while the Marshadow's copies kept Tyranitar busy. Their original plan couldn't work out like that... but the alternative was just as easy. Because the duel was interrupted by an announcement.

"Three minutes have passed! Due to the Heavyweight Clause, Tyranitar is now expelled from the ring! Garchomp must prove himself alone!"

The expression on the dragon's face showed exactly that his current plan had ignored the clause, had been far too defensive. Against four Marshadows and an Aurora as a single ground and dragon-type Pokemon...

"A great showing of both the favourites is over! Team Polarna vatra beat Ironfist in five duels once more and are now taking the second spot in the finals where they will meet Team Aralsa!"

Just one more win and then it would be a rematch against Team Nordika. And yet they knew it was not impossible that they would lose the finals. And yet no one would try to stop Epsilon from dueling her personal nemesis, even though Grimmsnarl himself knew little of his role. This next duel was not about winning or losing. It was about more. About a broken Pokemon. About revenge!