FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

After a long, comfortable day on the Kyogre's Rest, the island where the tournament's main event was to be held was finally in sight. It wasn't a very big island; from above it would appear shaped like a three-pointed object, with the lower-left point curving around and flattening out closer to the ocean, where the dock was located. Directly across the island was a large mansion house, built with symmetricity in mind as both ends of the mansion seemed to match the other. This mansion was the apparent place of residence to Team Warmachine.

But at the largest point of the island, there was an even larger structure; a huge, round, stone colosseum of recent construction -easily determined by the lack of weathering in the masonry; probably only a few years old at most. It stood as high as the very ship they were on, and, judging by the passenger boats arriving at the far end of the dock, there would be a crowd of spectators to witness the competition. Warmachine had taken their tournament public, and anyone not competing was free to observe the tournament instead.

Only Team Warmachine left the boat; despite being able to house two large structures the space on the island was still nonetheless limited, and there were no other areas of housing for the competing teams, therefore requiring them to live on the ship in the meantime. Not that anyone truly minded; the ship was comfortable and had many comforts to accommodate them in the short term.

Team Valiant was gathered in the dining hall, seated by a large window allowing them to stare out to the island beyond and take in the sight of the colosseum where they would be fighting in the tournament. "Well," Volcan said. "We made it. Here's where the real contests begin."

"Yep!" Hank said patting his chest and giving a small burp. "Damn that was some good food," he remarked before continuing. "Things are gonna get pretty damn interesting from here on out."

"Personally I'm already anxious to challenge my next opponent." Wade commented. "I want to find out just how far I've come, and how much more I still need to grow."

"Someone's eager." Eagle Eye said with a snicker. "Can't say I blame the kid though; I'm ready to make some heads spin myself."

"Remember, everyone," Luke started. "We may be he here to test ourselves but don't forget to enjoy the tournament as well. We're not in this for glory, fame or wealth."

"Of course, Luke," Katsu returned with a nod.

Volcan chimed in again, leaning forward on the table as he began to speak. "I've been checking out some of the other teams too," Volcan began. "Seem to be a lot of themes going around with this lot, if you get my meaning; kind of like that Team Ursa yesterday that got booted out of here with that bear theme of theirs."

"What have you observed?" Luke asked.

"Well to start, over there," Volcan began, cocking his head towards another table a few paces from where they were seated, where three snake-like Pokémon were dining and talking with each other; an Arbok, a Seviper, and a Serperior. While following a serpentine theme, as all were of a snake-like species, their typing was certainly mixed; two Poison-types and one Grass-type was a strange combination. But, each of them was fairly large and looked quite strong in their own way.

"That's Team Orochi," Volcan began. He turned, gesturing to another. "The Serperior is their team leader, while the Seviper is their strongest. These guys come from Daffodil Valley, way off in the south-east of Westport or Azure."

"That's quite a long ways away," Katsu commented. "They must've had to rush to reach the tournament on time."

"Back there," Volcan continued pointing over his shoulder to the far corner of the room, pointing out a collection of Reptilian Pokémon, including a Charizard, a Flygon, and a Dragonite. "There's Team Drake, all Dragon-types except for the Charizard. I heard they also have a Tyrantrum on their team who, for obvious reasons couldn't join them here in the dining hall, but from what I hear, he's a freaking giant, so we need to be on our guard if we run into them."

"Dragons are quite powerful," Wade added, nodding in agreement. "But prone to reckless action and letting battle rage get the better of them. You may need to use that."

"Moving on," Volcan continued, looking around the room and humming. "Around here somewhere are two teams of all Fighting-types. One of them consists entirely of Pokémon from the Tyrogue evolution line, three of them. Brothers, from what I've heard."

"And the other one?" Hank asked.

"More diverse in the variety of Pokémon, but nearly all of them are Pure Fighting-types," Volcan began. "The odd one out being their leader, a Medicham, and they've also got a Mienshao, Sawk, Throh, Hariyama and a Primeape."

"I see." Luke nodded, rubbing his chin. "A lot of diverse teams out there...but if we strategize well enough, we should be prepared for anything." Luke commented. "That said, I think I might already have some strategies in mind for those four teams if we face them."

"What about for Sickle's team?" Volcan asked. "Call me presumptuous but I have a hunch we will be facing them."

"Ah right," Luke hummed as he rubbed his chin a little. "Well they're balanced; a fire, water and grass type," He muttered. "Blaster looks like he'll have a solid defense as well as some muscle, so we'll have to hit him just as hard." He said, looking to Katsu.

The Samurott nodded back to Luke and beat his chest with one clenched paw. "There is no defense I cannot break through," he said confidently.

"As for the Arcanine -Howler I think his name was." Luke said. "We saw for ourselves, he is fast; very fast." He muttered. "Either Kage, or Eagle Eye for him." Luke added. "As for Sickle, I'll take him myself."

"You don't think Eagle Eye should handle Sickle? He has several advantages," Volcan stated. "Not just in typing but in surroundings; the colosseum looked big enough to give him adequate maneuverability for flight, not to mention Sickle has nowhere he could climb up to chase after him."

"True, Eagle Eye would have a distinct advantage," Luke returned. "However, I'd personally like to fight him as one team leader to another."

Volcan shrugged. "Well, okay then," And then the Blaziken shuddered. "Ho, ho; I'm getting excited now," he admitted with a grin.

"Glad to see I'm not the only one." Luke said, sharing the grin. "Normally I like to think I am more composed than this, but I'm starting to feel the adrenaline rushing already."

"How can we not? There's so much competition here; it's enticing -almost intoxicating to fighting-types like us -or even just those who are warriors by nature," Volcan replied, gesturing to the rest of the group.

Confidentially, Luke was feeling quite happy that Volcan so excited. It was good to see that his troubles weren't weighing down on him in that moment, as he looked forward to the competition instead of looking back at his missing past. Though Luke knew they would have to resume the journey sooner or later, at least now they had more time to let the Blaziken collect his thoughts -maybe even remember more about himself throughout the tournament.

And, as unlikely as it seemed, perhaps find his team there -they had not seen anyone so far that jogged Volcan's memory but the tournament had many competitors, and no doubt soon many spectators as well by the look of the boats they had seen earlier. The chances were slim, but maybe they would get lucky, and someone who knew Volcan would be there. Until then, at least the Blaziken seemed to be at peace.

"This competition shall be a worthy test of all our skills," Katsu commented, the conversation carrying on even though Luke had stopped paying attention for a moment.

"I agree." Wade said with a wide grin.

"Attention!" Leon's voice suddenly boomed through the dining room, drawing all eyes to the Empoleon who stood at the far end of the room in an open area. "The first round of the competition will begin within the hour; I ask you all to turn your attention to the screen above me." He pointed up with a flipper to a massive television monitor that was lowering down from the ceiling. "We are starting with the Team Division; each group registered as a team was assigned a number by order of their check-in times, and you will be referred by that number as well as your team name."

The screen hummed to life, revealing thirty two icons each resembling team emblems -including their own- which then spread out along a tournament roster grid, each one landing above a number. Luke and his team saw their emblem, the Gold-plated V on a blue medallion-like surface, appear above the number seven, with their opponents being team number eight -Team Drake, whose emblem was in the likeness of a Charizard's head reared back with mouth open to bite or breath fire. They were up against the dragon team right off the bat! Meanwhile, Sickle's team, identified by the twin-crossed kama, was in number 4, meaning that Team Valiant would be facing them in the third round if both made it that far.

"Team Drake already eh?" Luke muttered.

Volcan swallowed a little at the sight of their first matchup. "Alright then," he said, taking in a deep breath. "Nothing to worry about; they're only Dragons."

Luke smirked. "Getting cold feet already?" He asked, teasingly.

"There's a reason those guys are practically top of the food chain, my friend; they're powerful," he said.

"You will be fine." Katsu assured him, giving Volcan a pat on the shoulder. "You have an ace they most likely won't expect."

"Yeah, that's true," the Blaziken agreed. "Don't mistake my being nervousness for being unwilling, though; I'll meet any challenge head-on."

Katsu let out a hearty laugh and landed an equally hearty slap on Volcan's back. "Ow..." The Blaziken grunted, slightly winded by Katsu's strength.

"That's the spirit!" He proclaimed. "Let that fiery warrior's soul lead you to victory, my friend!"

"Yeah, you bet Katsu... Oof."

Luke gave a smile at the both of them, feeling confident in their chances of emerging victorious. Of course they still had to wait for the first matches to go by. First up was a team of middle-stage evolved Pokémon , including a Braixen, a Kirlia and a Bayleef, known as Team Rising Star who were up against a similarly ranked team composed of Insect Pokémon ; a Beedrill, a Dustox and a Venomoth. The remaining combatants were able to remain on the ship to watch the battle on television, or they could proceed to the arena to watch it from there.

As if thinking the same thing, Volcan asked, "are we going to stay here or, should we head over to the colosseum?"

"I say we should watch the battles from the stands." Luke said. "Better to watch it live than from a screen in my opinion."

"Alright then," Volcan agreed, standing up from the table, joined shortly by the others.

The team left the dining hall of the ship, blending in with the rest of the crowd that were leaving to go watch the match in person like they were. The row was slow to move, but they had plenty of time before the battle would start, so they patiently followed them to the gangplanks a short walk from the dining hall, descending to the island docks and onto the dirt road that covered the island. As said road only went one of two directions, it was easy to find their way to the colosseum.

Find their way through the halls was another matter; as it was their first time here, they needed to follow the other Rescue Teams and spectators who had already been there before. Apparently, this would be the third year one of these tournaments was being held at that very colosseum; previously they were held at another one in a city called Valvatna. Most of the Rescue Teams competing there had already fought in the previous tournaments, and knew what to expect.

Finally they made it to the stands, stepping out of the dimly lit halls and into daylight again, where they found themselves in a massive, open space, with row upon row of bleachers where they could be seated, each with padded, waterproof cushioning to provide the maximum amount of comfort possible on seats without back support. These seats filled the stands, providing enough seating for everyone who entered the colosseum.

"Damn, these guys really thought of everything," Volcan commented, surveying the layout of the colosseum's inner arena. "A whole town could watch the tournaments here."

"I still say these guys are overcompensating for something." Hank commented, applying a bit of warpaint on his face and arms as they arrived, then adjusted his tribal garb a little to make sure it fit properly.

Eagle Eye looked over to Hank. "You _still_wear your old tribal stuff? I thought you gave that life up man."

"Eh, my Gatr told me I look good in em, so figured I'd keep wearing the stuff," he returned, adjusting his clothes. "Does feel kinda nice going back to my roots a little too."

Volcan didn't know what the two were discussing, so he stayed out of it, instead turning to talk to Luke about their upcoming battle. "So, any thoughts on how we take down those dragons? That Charizard in particular could be a problem; my Thunderpunch might work on him but I'd have to get pretty close, and he's still a Flying-type too."

"I thought about that..." Luke returned. "Partly why I chose Katsu for this battle. He can handle the Charizard, and he has the brute strength required to match their power." He explained. "However, just in case things go south, I'll have Kage join the battle. He may not have any ice moves himself, but he's definitely crafty enough to win a fight without needing any."

"What's his trick for outmaneuvering someone who can fly though?" Volcan inquired. "Most of those guys have wings."

"He's got plenty. Mist, Substitute, Double Team." Luke returned. "Kage's always the type to go into battle with a plan."

"I don't doubt that, but still. To me the only way to beat a flying opponent is to ground them; take away their advantage," the Blaziken commented, rubbing his chin in thought.

"Trust me; he'll have that covered," Luke returned confidently.

As doubtful as Volcan still felt, he gave no further inquiries, deciding to trust in Luke's team. They seemed to know what they were doing, and who was he to question them, anyway? He didn't even know himself, let alone any of them. Instead, he chose to sit quietly, and watch until the battle began, tapping his foot with some impatience.

Eventually, the combatants wandered out onto the field, and the Braixen went up first, as against their opponents she was the only one with any sort of advantage against them, being capable of both Fire and Psychic-type attacks to counter the Bug and Poison-typing of their opponents in Team Hive. The match was declared an Elimination-style battle, meaning that combatants could remain in the ring as long as they wanted, swapping out only if they felt they needed to.

The rest of the team watched the battle intently, some getting a kick out of the action while others were studying each combatant and grading them on their combat prowess and overall skills. Kage, though, being as deadpan as ever, had a look of disinterest in his gaze as he watched the battles unfold. To some, it seemed like Kage wasn't the least bit interested in the battles, but to the rest of the team, it was exactly the opposite. Kage's disinterest was more a front. In actuality, he was studying each combatant more intently than the rest of the group, already formulating plans in his mind in case they ever had to face them in battle.

The Braixen's performance was admirable, successfully beating both the Dustox and the Venomoth on her own, but when the Beedrill charged in, she finally capitulated when she was struck first by a mighty Twin Needle, followed by a Bug Buzz that left her vulnerable to a second assault; the Beedrill was vicious in its attacks, and it took Leon ordering a stop to the match to make it back off enough for the Bayleef and Kirlia to get their teammate, after which the Bayleef stepped in, and managed to catch the Beedrill with a Takedown attack that won them the match.

"Team Rising Star moves on to the next round!" Leon declared. "Team Hive is out of the competition! The next round will now begin; #3 Team Orochi, vs. #4 Team Kama!"

"There's our cue," Luke heard Sickle's voice, turning to see the Grovyle and his team had sat down not too far away from his group, and were now standing up from their seats to answer the call to their match.

Luke smiled a little and waved over to Sickle as he and his team stood up from their seats. "Good luck down there!" He called them with a firm nod.

Sickle heard Luke calling out to him, turning to look over at him and seeing Luke and his team cheering him and his friends on for their match. Sickle could not help giving them a warm smile. "Thanks!" He called, winking and jerking up a thumb at Team Valiant before he rejoined his fellows as they headed for the stairs.

"Think they'll last beyond the first round boss?" Eagle Eye asked, looking over to Luke.

"I am certain of it," Luke responded. Even though Sickle's Aura was nowhere near as powerful as Luke's, something about the Grovyle made him feel confident that the Grovyle would stand out above all others in this tournament. He shuddered a little at the thought of facing Sickle in the arena...for whatever reason, it REALLY got him pumped up. He normally wasn't this giddy, but this tournament seemed to be bringing out the inner warrior within him.

The two teams appeared on the field moments later, the three snake Pokémon being the first to arrive, each one weaving their way along the ground until they stopped at the edge of the battlefield, waiting for Team Kama, who arrived just seconds later.

"The second match of the day; Team Kama of Bluegrove, vs. Team Orochi of Daffodil Valley!" He reached onto a table behind him, flipping over a card resting there. "The match will be a best of three; team members will battle one at a time, with the team to win two out of three battles to move on to the next round! But all three fighters from both teams will still be expected to battle even if the match is decided, meaning it can end in a two to one margin, or three straight victories! If one team can reach three straight wins, they will earn the right to choose a match-type for a later battle!"

Hearing Leon's words, Volcan looked at Luke. "So that means if they win three battles in a row, Sickle gets to choose the type of battle he fights against his next opponent?"

"Seems to be the case." Luke said, already getting ideas in his head. "...That could work to our advantage if we can pull off three straight wins or other applicable methods."

"That it could," Volcan agreed, nodding as he turned his gaze back down to the battlefield below. "Let's see how this goes."

The first to step up for Sickle's team was Blaster, who was faced by the Serperior of Team Orochi; a typical attempt at type-advantage, pitting a grass-type against a water-type. That said, Serperior were notorious for being quick as lightning and able to fight well at any range. But the massive turtle didn't seem at all concerned, taking his position and facing the Serperior as they waited for Leon to give the signal to begin.

The battle began, and the Serperior started with a Razor Leaf; Blaster withdrew into his shell, letting the leaves bounce off of the hard surface of his back, before he entered a Rapid Spin and went skidding towards the Serperior, forcing them to back out of the way. He stopped his spin, emerging from his shell and turning around again. The Serperior raced towards him, the end of his tail glowing as he attacked with a Leaf Blade, which Blaster once more turned to let his shell take, and then headbutt the Serperior right in the face before opening the slots for his cannons, letting them emerge and taking aim.

Much to the surprise of spectators though, what came out wasn't a water attack, but twin Ice Beams, striking the Serperior as he tried to get away, only to be stopped in his tracks as his tail became frozen to the ground. And then, before he could break free, Blaster lowered his head, getting down onto his hands before he charged at the Serperior, slamming head-first right into their face and knocking them clean out. He tucked into his shell again, rolling before emerging back on his feet again.

"Blaster wins; victory to team Kama!" Leon called.

"Holy shit... he did it!" Volcan exclaimed. "He clobbered that Serperior like it was nothing!"

"Damn! That's one sturdy shell he's got!" Hank commented, and then looked to Katsu. "Looks like you'll have your work cut out for ya man."

Katsu gave a chuckle. "Perhaps...I won't know until I face him."

The next round had Howler against the Arbok, the two of them stepping into the ring and facing each other, the Arcanine remaining as silent as the grave while the Arbok was chuckling sinisterly, as if he had some kind of plan for his battle against Howler. When the match begain, he started by using a Poison Sting, sending a flurry of toxic needles at Howler. But in that instant, Howler darted to the side, so fast that nobody on Team Valiant had even seen his paws move -except Eagle Eye, as his heritage afforded him keen vision, but even to him, the movement was blurred. It was as though he had been transported to that spot by some unknown force, but the truth was not so complicated.

"Whoa, when did he move?" Volcan asked.

"Right before the needles were about to hit him!" Eagle Eye exclaimed. "But DAMN! He moved so fast even I couldn't see it properly, and there ain't nothing my eyes can't track!"

Immediately after, Arbok tried to get Howler with a Glare to slow him down, but he had to close his eyes briefly to charge it, and the second he reopened them, the Arcanine was gone. He looked around, confused, and alerted to the danger only when his teammates called "Behind you!" And when he looked behind him, there was Howler, almost nose-to-snout with him; Arbok froze with fear, and it was his last mistake.

Howl bie down on the end of his tail, reared up and threw the Arbok through the air, sending him arcing and screaming in fear until he slammed head-first into the wall, knocking him unconscious in that single attack. Much quicker than even with Blaster, the battle was over, just like that...

Volcan stared in awe at the spectacle, slowly turning to look at Kage for a few seconds before returning his gaze to the battle alone. "Always the quiet ones you gotta watch out for," he muttered.

Kage's gave no reaction to Volcan's comment, but his eyes had widened slightly at the sight of the battle below. Howler's speed was unlike anything he had ever seen; the Arcanine was truly gifted with such power, able to move faster than even the eyes of a bird Pokémon could track. Not even Luke could run that fast on the ground with Extreme Speed, and they could not even tell if that's what Howler was doing, or if that was his natural speed.

Finally, it was Sickle's turn, and it looked like off the bat he had a disadvantage, as not only was he a Grass-type against a Poison-type, his opponent was the Seviper, who looked quite powerful himself. But Sickle did not appear worried, even though when Luke compared Sickle's Aura to that of Seviper's, he found Sickle was actually slightly weaker than the snake. Luke watched with keen interest, wondering what kind of plan Sickle might have to face against the Seviper, and also curious as to his lack of concern; was it because his team had technically already won? Or did he have some kind of strategy?

"Alright Sickle... let's see what you've got." He muttered softly, resting his head on his paw.

"Luke... think Sickle can win?" Volcan asked. "That Seviper looks powerful..."

"I'm not sure honestly..." Luke returned. "This will be an interesting match nonetheless, but I'm hoping Sickle comes through."

"Honestly... me too," Volcan admitted, watching as the fight was on. "Kind of strange, actually wanting one opponent or another to win."

Luke chuckled. "I guess Sickle left a good impression with us," he said.

As the battle began, Sickle let Seviper move first, narrowly dodging the Seviper's opening move -its signature Poison Tail attack. He backflipped away, dropping to all fours before he darted forward with a Quick attack to land a blinding tackle on the serpent, but he only succeeded in grazing the Seviper. However, right after he stopped, he about-faced and used it again, this time striking Seviper in the side and making the snake wince.

Luke noticed how Sickle seemed to be sticking to Normal-type attacks -instead of his Grass-type ones, knowing that the latter wouldn't work. A good strategy, to be sure, except that a Grovyle did not learn many Normal-type moves on their own, especially not the stronger ones he might need to defeat the snake.

Seviper seemed to catch onto this, eventually waiting as Sickle charged him again before lashing out with Poison Tail once more, this time catching Sickle across the chest and sending him stumbling backward. No sooner did sickle regain his balace did Seviper lung forward, whipping around him in a loop and closing in with his tail, forcing Sickle's arms to his side as he was caught in a wrap attack.

"Oh crap; he got him!" Volcan exclaimed, sounding honestly worried about the Grovyle.

Seviper brought his head around to face Sickle, chuckling sinisterly. "Nice try, pal," he said. "But I had every edge." His sabre-like fangs glowed as he prepared to finish off Sickle with a Poison Fang, and it seemed like the battle would end there...

But Sickle wasn't done yet. In fact, he was actually grinning. "Fight's not over yet," he rasped before he opened his own mouth, and a flurry of Bullet Seeds erupted from within, aimed directly into Seviper's open maw.

The Snake's eyes widened in shock, choking as the seeds filled his mouth until he had no choice but to spit them out, turning his head away to cough them up. "Why you little..."

It was only then he saw what was happening behind Sickle; the wind had kicked up suddenly, and distorted the air visibly as it rushed across the ground, kicking up plumes of dust. The attack was Razor Wind, somehow cast by Sickle even though they did not learn the move naturally, and it assailed Seviper with hurricane force of what felt like knives across his flesh. Sickle dropped to his knees, angled forward as Seviper's grip on him loosened, and the snake was pulled off of him by the wind, freeing the Grovyle from his grasp.

"Now, for the finishing touch...!" Sickle began, charging at the Seviper with his fist drawn back as it glowed with orange energy. Seviper was too stunned to dodge the attack, and took the punch right to the face, upon which tendrils of that orange energy flowed out of Seviper and into Sickle's arm, the cut left by the Poison Tail to Sickle's chest earlier closing as Seviper hit the ground, and Sickle stood, tense and ready if the snake got back up again, but it failed to do so before Leon made the call.

"The last of Team Orochi is down!" Leon called. "Three straight wins for Team Kama, who advances to the next round!"

Sickle finally relaxed after that, and he held up his arm as the spectators roared with applause, raising a triumphant fist into the air as they sang his praises before he turned and headed to rejoin his team, accepting a Pecha Berry from Blaster and munching on it as they left the arena to let the next team fight.

Luke was actually applauding with the rest of the audience as Sickle left the arena, smiling broadly all the while. "Well done..." Luke said softly to himself. "Now I REALLY do look forward to facing you, Sickle."

"I can barely believe he pulled that win," Volcan commented, sharing in the applause. "Far be it from me to say when I'm impressed, I tell ya. Team Kama's got some good fighters."

"That they do." Luke said with a nod, looking to Volcan. "They'll be tough opponents, that's for sure."

"One more round to go, then it'll be our turn," Volcan reminded.

Luke nodded. "Yea. Should we stay here or head on down to prepare for when it's our turn?"

"I think we got time, yet," Volcan said. "And, I think we got our plan in place for dealing with Team Drake when we face them."

"Alright then." Luke said, getting a little more comfortable in his seat. "We'll move when it's our turn to fight."

The next round featured the Tyrogue-evolution trio Volcan had talked about earlier against an all Water-type team; a Golduck, a Poliwrath and a Croconaw, versus a Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan, and Hitmontop. The draw for this was Last Team Standing, meaning all three fighters on both teams would fight all at the same time.

The two teams clashed, and although it started out chaotic it became clear who had the edge; the Hitmonlee knocked out the Croconaw first in the fight, and soon the last two were sent into a midair collision following a triple kick from the Hitmontop, and a Thunderpunch from the Hitmonchan, bringing a swift end to the battle. Both the Golduck and the Poliwrath were knocked out after that crash into one another, and lay moaning on the ground as the match was called by Leon.

The three victorious Pokémon; a Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan and Hitmontop, introduced as Team Martial, stood with their fists held high in victory as the audience cheered their names for the swift victory. The former and latter started to depart, but the Hitmonchan stayed, stilling posing for the audience until the Hitmonlee came back, seized him by the shoulder and dragged him off of the battlefield.

'Well, easy to see who the arrogant one of the three is,' Luke thought. "And with that, it's our turn." He said, standing up from his seat and gesturing the rest of his team to do the same.

"Here goes," Volcan muttered as he rose and followed the others down to the battlefield. "So, who's going first? Or are we picking based on which of their guys come up first?"

"We'll pick depending on who goes up first." Luke returned.

They reached the ring after a short, semi-confusing trek through the colosseum interior. Hank at one point commented that Team Warmachine needed to put up signs or something for first-timers so that they could find their way to the arena, but eventually with help from a passerby in the halls they found it.

Out into daylight they stepped, all in one packed group, and across the way from them stood Team Drake, with all of their members gathered in a row... and that is when they saw that Volcan's initial count of the dragon Pokémon team was off. There was a fifth member of the team as well; among the four they had seen previously there was now a large, purple figure among them resembling that of a hammer-headed shark; a Garchomp was now in the mix, throwing a monkey wrench right into Luke's strategy, because he had only prepared for four of their team, not five.

"Damn." Luke growled, clenching his paws tight. "...There goes THAT strategy..." He added.

"There's five of them now?" Volcan hissed. "Crap... and the last one's a Garchomp too."

"And the last one had to be a freakin' Garchomp too!" Hank complained. "Now we've got to deal with _two_Pseudo-Legendaries."

"Okay... new plan needed," Luke commented, already thinking hard on a new strategy.

"The next match will now begin!" Leon called. "Team Valiant vs. Team Drake!" He reached for the cards behind him, which would discern the type of battle they would be fighting. Luke tensed up a little, secretly praying it would be elimination style, but preparing for the worst at the same time. His team may have tackled threats larger than Dragons, but that wasn't to say he could relax...

Finally, Leon lifted up the card, peering at it, and holding it up in the air. "Tag team battle!" He called.

"Tag team?" Volcan echoed.

"Two teams of two will face each other; as one team has an odd number of fighters, the battle will be limited to four contestants working in pairs!" Leon announced.

Team Drake seemed particularly displeased with this result. "You have to be kidding us!" The Garchomp yelled. "Can't we call for a redraw? We _all_want to take a bite out of this team!"

"The battles are decided by chance; unless you win three matches in a prior round, you cannot have say in the setting," Leon replied. "And since this is the first round of the tournament, put up or shut up; your choice." He continued to address the crowds. "As such, if one team wins both rounds, they will be granted match choice in the second round of the tournament. Now, both teams, choose your first two combatants and choose well."

The Dragon Pokémon continued to fume over the results of the card draw, giving Luke the chance to come up with a new opening plan. Fortunately, it seems he did not need to change much from the old one now that the cards had determined they would only have to fight four of them after all. But with so many powerful Pokémon packed into one team they needed to ensure they had their bases covered, especially without any Ice or Fairy-types to give them an advantage against those four. Of course, the Charizard was another problem himself, because he didn't share the weaknesses of the others.

Luke looked to Kage and Katsu after a moment of consideration. "What say you two go in first?" He asked. 'A balance of speed and strength should give us an edge; most Dragons rely primarily on power to win, so we've got to outmaneuver them.'

Kage gave a small nod as an answer, whereas Katsu proudly beat his chest. "They will be no match for our combined might."

"...Strength isn't always everything..." Kage pointed out, then both the Greninja and the Samurott stepped forward toward the ring to face their opponents.

The first ones to step up for Team Drake were the Garchomp and Dragonite, both of them looking ready for a brawl as they walked out onto the field, but neither one of them seemed very pleased with the match choice; even though these guys were a team, it was clear they were mostly used to working independently -or at least the Garchomp was, and was now put right out of his element. The Dragonite seemed more relaxed and more at peace with the battle type.

Katsu and Kage sized up their opponents, looking at them from head to toe. Katsu gave a low, respectful bow to the two of them. "...Let us enjoy this battle." He stated.

Kage didn't say a word, already conjuring different strategies on how to take down his opponents quickly and efficiently.

The Garchomp growled, rubbing razor sharp, curved claws on the ends of his arms together as he eyed Katsu. "You take the skinny one; the big one's mine," he snarled.

"Gavel, this is a team battle," the Dragonite protested. "We have to..."

"Begin!" Leon called, and at that the Garchomp was off, without even letting his teammate finish, spurred on by battle fury as he made a beeline right for Katsu. He wasn't the fastest Garchomp the Samurott had ever seen but he certainly wasn't slow, crossing the field in seconds and slashing at Katsu with his first blade with his first claw.

The Samurott smirked, lifting his arm up and blocking the attack with his forearm guard, skidding a little, but still holding his ground otherwise. "...You DO understand that this is a team battle..." He said.

And then from behind, the Garchomp was nailed by a hard Night Slash from Kage's Ninjato, then he followed up with a searing hot Scald attack right where he left the slash. While the Garchomp was reeling in pain, Katsu then pushed the Ground Shark Pokémo's arm back, then began punching his face and chest heavily before ending with a point blank Hydro Pump to send him flying away.

The Garchomp, despite the pain, backflipped in midair and landed on his feet, skidding slightly before managing to stop himself and glare at his teammate. "Pull your weight, Cairn!" He bellowed.

The Dragonite let out a sigh. "Okay; I have an idea," he said. "You... keep doing what you're doing; I'll do the rest."

"Ideas? Just quit thinking and fight!" Gavel yelled, revealing how hot-headed he was.

"Gavel!" The Charizard called from outside the battlefield. "Get yourself under control; work with Cairn or you're going to cost us the match!"

The Garchomp growled, but he made no argument, turning to face Katsu and Kage again. "Okay... what's your plan?" He asked.

"You'll see," replied the Dragonite before he spread out his deceptively weak-looking wings and took to the air as thunderclouds began to appear above the stadium, but not accompanied by rain as he flew up, higher and out of reach of the Greninja and Samurott as electricity crackled on his horn.

The Garchomp grinned. "I misjudged you, Cairn," he said before he made a beeline for Katsu again.

At the same time as Gavel charged, Cairn unleashed a surge of lightning -a Thunder attack, which showered the battlefield while he was safely up high; although he would normally risk hitting his own teammate with a move like this, Gavel was in no such danger, but Katsu and Kage were, because now they had an attack from above as well as below to worry about. They had pulled together at the last minute, and it wasn't too late for them to turn the match around either.

Gavel rushed at them, this time appearing to go for Katsu first, but at the last second he banked, slashing at Kage with his claws. Of course the Greninja dodged, but rather than pursue his foe, he then entered a defensive stance, expecting a counter-attack from Katsu, while more lightning peppered the battlefield around him.

Kage looked up at the Dragonite launching the Thunder attacks from above, narrowing his eyes before he quickly weaved a sign and disappeared in a plume of water, leaving his ally to handle the hot-headed Garchomp. Katsu did indeed go for a counter attack, this time using his Seamitars, his blades clashing with the Garchomp's claws in a deadlock.

"...You think lightning will scare me off?" He growled, pushing Gavel back a little.

Gavel kept his footing, grinning at the Samurott. "It doesn't have to," he returned before he lunged at Katsu again, once more locking claws to blades with Katsu. "But you're the only one it presents any danger to!"

As if cued, Katsu was suddenly stricken by a lightning bolt right in his shoulder; while deadlocked with Gavel he had been unable to keep maneuvering, and the unaimed lightning bolts sweeping the battlefield eventually found their mark. Gavel himself, of course, was not even affected by the lightning thanks to also being a Ground-type, even as it coursed into his arms, and took advantage of the attack to kick Katsu hard in the chest, sending him reeling.

Katsu let out a pained growl as he was struck by the lightning, then again from the kick that sent him back. Managing to land on his feet, he stood there for a moment, almost as if he were paralyzed by the last Thunder attack... until he suddenly grinned, stood tall once more and flexed his body a little, facing the Garchomp.

"...Come on now... You call that a Thunder attack?" He asked.

"And Infernis says I'm overconfident; can you not see I'm..." He trailed, and began to turn about, searching the battlefield. "Wait... where's your frog friend?" He asked, warily searching the battlefield for the Greninja.

Katsu grinned even more. "I was wondering when you'd catch on to that..." He replied.

From above, as if waiting for a cue, Kage then appeared above Cairn, Ninjato at the ready and dove down for another Night Slash along the Dragonite's back. Cairn's yelp, mixed of surprise and pain, drew Gavel's attention to look up, eyes widening in surprise as he saw his comrade under attack, defying all expectation.

With Kage on the Dragon's back and his wings already failing him from the earlier slash, Kage was free to blast him with an Extrasensory attack as they fell out of the sky, sending a searing pain through the Dragon's head before he jumped off, seconds before impact with the ground. Kage landed in a crouch next to the fallen dragon, and rose to his full height again slowly, his gaze turning to Gavel.

"Now for you," he said.

"Impossible!" The Garchomp protested. "How did you get up there without Cairn seeing you? There's nothing in this arena you could have jumped off of to get up that high!"

Kage then looked toward Gavel with a stern, cold leer, one that only an assassin would give to their unsuspecting target. "Just because your partner was in the air, doesn't mean I couldn't reach him..." He coldly explained. "You're dealing with a battle hardened warrior and a former assassin... There is no target I cannot reach." He said, his glare intensifying. "Your teammate is down. Forfeit. Now."

"A dragon does not surrender, ever," Gavel returned. "Especially not me. I will not stop as long as I can still fight." He held out his arms, his claws shining in the light. "So come; try to finish me if you have what it takes!" Immediately after saying this, he brought his arms and legs together and began to spin in place, kicking up a cloud of sand and dust around him that quickly began to spread out into a full Sandstorm that blanketed the battlefield, assailing Kage and Katsu with blowing sand and blinding them with the cloud.

Both Kage and Katsu had to shield themselves from the billowing sandstorm that Gavel created. Even Luke and the rest of the team had to shield themselves as some of the storm blew in their direction as well.

"...This might be tougher than I originally anticipated..." Luke muttered.

"Damn it; I can't see what's going on in there!" Volcan exclaimed.

"They won't be able to either." Luke answered back, tuning to his aura sense to get a better look at the situation.

To Luke, he could see Gavel was still spinning in place to stir up more of the Sandstorm, while Katsu and Kage were left to wait for him to make the next move as they couldn't pinpoint his location through the blowing sand. Finally, Gavel stopped twirling, and started to approach them in a wide-angle arch to try and catch them in the blindspot. Kage had to tune to his Extrasensory to get a better grasp on things as well, then when he felt that Gavel was on the move, he weaved a sign and disappeared into his own shadow with Shadow Sneak. Katsu though, had to rely on his own instincts to try and detect the Garchomp moving through the storm.

Gavel let out a fierce roar as he sprang at Katsu through the sand cloud, nearly blind-siding the Samurott as his scythe-like claws glowed and raked at the Samurott with vicious zeal. Thankfully the Samurott's instincts were keen enough to block most of Gavel's attacks, but the sandstorm was still hampering his ability to properly fight, feeling the particles graze along his fur and irritating him mildly. Still he held strong, waiting for an opening to present itself, or at least an opening created by Kage...

Garchomp repeated his onslaught with a series of Dragon Claw attacks, sparks flying as his claws struck Katsu's seamitars again and again with bone-jarring force in every swing. Eventually, as Katsu's defense held firm, he instead unleashed a Dragon Rush to charge into him, breaking through his guard and ramming into his chest with his spiky shoulder.

Katsu stumbled back and growled, gripping his chest with one paw while shielding himself with the other from the sand. "Anytime now, Kage!" Katsu muttered under his breath.

"Now, you're finished!" Gavel declared, rearing back his arm for one more Dragon Claw to end the battle.

But it would never land. Kage suddenly appeared right in front of Gavel with a rising uppercut right out of his Shadow, knocking Gavel's head back. Finally, while the Garchomp was reeling back, Kage then unleashed a punishing combo with Power-up Punches, his physical strength increasing with each hit, never striking the same spot twice.

Of course Gavel was being pulverized, but so were Kage's fists as they repeatedly struck his hard, rough skin. That said, the increased power of each of his punches served their purpose, eventually sending the Garchomp stumbling backward, struggling to keep his balance only to fall to one knee before Kage, panting for breath. Even though he was at his limit though, still he tried to attack, weakly bringing back his claw to Slash at Kage.

The Greninja effortlessly parried the claw with his blade, then he reared his arm back. "You lose," He said in a low town before slamming the pommel of his blade on top of the Garchomp's head as hard as he possibly could.

This time, when Gavel went down, he stayed down, his vision blackening as he lost consciousness and lay face-down in the dirt. As he slipped away, the sandstorm began to abate, the dust settling around them and giving them and the audience a clear view once more, allowing Leon to finally call the match, announcing Team Valiant's victory.

"They did it!" Volcan cheered, pumping his fist in the air. "Oh yeah!"

Luke smiled and sighed in relief. "That's a victory for us..." He said, then looked to Volcan as Katsu and Kage stepped off the ring to rejoin the rest of the team. "I think you might be the best choice for taking on what they've got left. Ready to fight as my wingman as we did against that Hypno?"

"You bet," he said, but then looked past Luke towards Kage as the Greninja angled his path around him, noticing the bleeding tears in the Greninja's fragile skin. "Hey, Kage; your hands. Are you okay?"

"I'll live..." He returned as he passed by Volcan. Mikhail was already on the scene, quickly using a Heal Pulse to mend Kage's webbed hands.

"Mikhail will take care of him," Luke bade his friend. "Now come; it's time for battle."

The two of them walked in a close sync while the Flygon from Team Drake collected his teammates, starting with Cairn by dragging him over to the hallway entrance, leaving him there before flying over to Gavel and doing the same for him, while the Charizard and Tyrantrum stepped into the battlefield. The latter dwarfed Luke _and_Volcan utterly, towering over them and eliciting a growl so fierce they actually felt it in the air. Volcan let out a nervous chuckle, before shaking his head and shifting to his fighting stance, taking in a deep breath to ready himself.

"Just stay calm... remember our sparring matches together." Luke said to him calmly, never taking his eyes off either of the opponents before them.

"I know. Just this guy is a little bit... big," Volcan remarked, looking up at the Tyrantrum who was glaring back down at him.

"Only means they'll fall harder when you hit them," Luke returned.

"I can hear you, half-pint," the Tyrantrum growled at Luke, turning his gaze over to him.

"Let's make this quick," the Charizard stated.

"The usual plan?" The Tyrantrum asked.

"You bet," the Charizard replied with a grin as they waited for Leon to give the signal to begin the fight.

Luke and Volcan took a couple steps back and assumed their stances, with Luke eying both the Charizard and Tyrantrum carefully and weighing his options. No matter how he sliced it, both he and Volcan were at a major disadvantage, as each opponent had ways of finishing them both off quickly; Tyrantrum was a Rock-type, which although made him vulnerable to Fighting-types like them, is typing also made him strong against a Fire-type like Volcan.

As for the Charizard, as a Fire-type himself he had an edge over Luke, but his flying Sub-type gave him an advantage over both of them, as their Fighting-type moves wouldn't be as effective against him; truly, their only edge was Volcan's Thunderpunch -Luke had some moves that might work against the Charizard, but only Volcan had one that would be super-effective. Only their first match and already he was thinking he'd have to get serious against these two.

Leon gave the signal, and then the fight was on. Tyrantrum made the first move, lifting up his foot off the ground while the Charizard took to the air. Volcan watched the Charizard take off, until his eyes widened with realization, figuring out what Tyrantrum was about to do, and he lunged for Luke. "Watch out!" He called, grabbing the Lucario around the waist and taking him with him as he jumped into the air less than a second before Tyrantrum brought his foot down, and the entire arena below began to shake violently as he unleashed an Earthquake attack.

Immediately after, the Charizard, having seen their evasion, went straight for them, attacking with a mighty Dragon Claw. Still Volcan managed to save both of them by sending a Flamethrower right into Charizard's face; it may not have hurt, but it threw off his aim, successfully saving them both from taking hits from either attack. When they touched back down, Volcan released Luke, and turned his attention to the Tyrantrum.

"Air and ground cover," Volcan analyzed. "We can't fly, but if we stay on the ground, that Tyrantrum could still get us with an Earthquake, and neither of us can take a hit from that. We have to take him down first."

"Agreed." Luke returned. "I'll keep his attention focused on me while you flank him." Luke added, looking toward the Tyrantrum for a bit, then took off toward him in a quick sprint, zigzagging left and right as he approached and firing off a steady stream of Aura Spheres as he approached his target.

Tyrantrum took the spheres, growling in annoyance as they struck him, before he leapt at Luke, rearing back his head and bringing it down like a hammer as he tried to crush the Lucario with a Head Smash attack. The Lucario was quicker though, weaving out of the way of the Head Smash and letting the Tyrantrum smack his face into the ground. Luke then followed up with a Sky Uppercut to send the Tyrantrum's head up into the air and stumbling him. Immediately following this, Luke used Extreme Speed to rush at the Tyrantrum, running up his leg and charging all over his back, striking him with repeated Force Palm's to keep the pressure on.

"My turn," Volcan muttered before he charged at the Tyrantrum, falling into a slide and striking him in the leg with a Low Kick as he neared, sending the giant dinosaurian down to one knee, his leg white-hot with agony as he dropped as Low Kick became stronger against heavier opponents.

"Infernis!" The Tyrantrum called for aid.

"Hang on, buddy; I'm coming!" The Charizard called down as he plunged, aiming for Luke first. "Protect yourself!"

The Tyrantrum, fighting through the pain, complied by tensing himself, his whole body flashing a brief white just as Volcan and Luke tried to attack him again, their fists hitting an invisible force field around the Tyrantrum and buying the Charizard time to go for Luke, coming at him from the side and slamming into him with all of his weight, not only taking him off of the back of Tyrantrum, but also sending Luke hurtling away from his ally in the process.

"AGH!" Luke cried out as he was sent hurtling away from the Tyrantrum and his ally, tumbling a bit before landing back on his feet, quickly straightening up and stancing himself. "Shit...caught onto our plan..." He muttered to himself.

"Gavel may have been reckless," Infernis taunted Luke as he landed to stand between the Lucario and any hope of going to rejoin Volcan against Tyrantrum. "But I'm not; you won't find Team Drake one to go down easy."

Luke grit his teeth for a moment, glaring up at Infernis as he taunted him. Then he smirked a little. "...Where's the fun if it's too easy?" He asked rhetorically.

At that, the Charizard grinned. "I rather like your attitude," he said.

Behind him, Volcan was left to fight the Tyrantrum alone, and so far the battle was a stalemate; although Volcan was successfully keeping away from him, he scarcely found a chance to counter attack; every opening he found was quickly countered by an abrupt turn from the rugged-backed Pokémon, causing him to miss.

Luke glanced over to see Volcan struggling against the Tyrantrum, then turned his gaze back to Infernis. 'I'll have to try and finish this one quickly....' He thought to himself, then he let out a small sigh. "I guess I'll have to go crazy after all..." He said as he stood tall, relaxing a little.

But at that moment, Infernis suddenly raced towards him, deceptively fast on foot for a Pokémon normally meant to fly, and swiping at Luke with his flaming tail. Luke quickly ducked back as the flaming tail was rushing toward him, falling onto his back. However, the Charizard immediately followed it up with a Flamethrower as he turned about in a full circle, exhaling a cone of flames at the Lucario, forcing him to hurriedly jump back up to his feet in time to start darting away from the Flamethrower coming his way.

As he ran, he began channelling his aura through his body, coming to a stop when the cone of flames had ceased. Luke then turned towards Infernis, crossing his arms in front of his face as he tensed up and let out a loud roar upon unconrossing his arms, his body suddenly exploding with power and leaving an imprint in the ground around him as an unseen wave pulsated out from his, a gentle blue aura flame surged around him as though the Lucario had immolated himself, empowering his body further.

"What's this?" Infernis asked, narrowing his eyes. "I've never seen anyone do that before."

"I'm one of the few that can." Luke returned, then he crouched low, still keeping his eyes on Infernis as he hovered in the air. Then a glint shone in Luke's eye before he was suddenly right in front of Infernis within a literal blink of an eye, rearing his paws back and unleashing a double Force Palm into the Charizard's chest.

The Charizard recoiled from the hit, cringing a little, but otherwise maintaining his balance. "Keep in mind I am still a Flying-type," he reminded, before he unleashed another Flamethrower, sweeping this time to cover a wide arc.

While Luke and Infernis continued to battle, Volcan's had taken a turn for the worse; after dodging a Crunch attack from the Tyrantrum, he tried to move in with his Dual Chop, but he never made it, because Tyrantrum turned again and struck Volcan with a Dragon Tail, sending him smashing into the ground and skidding across the stand, leaving behind a dust trail in his wake. He scrambled to get back up, looking up in horror as the Tyrantrum loomed over him, bringing up his foot and coming down with a Stomp on the Blaziken.

Amidst Luke's clash with Infernis, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Tyrantrum trying to step on Volcan; instinctively, he tried to go and help, but Infernis blocked his way again, this time managing to land that tail strike in his stomach and making him stagger. By then, it was too late; Tyrantrum closed in on Volcan and brought his foot down on one the Blaziken, a cloud of dust stirring up as he was apparently crushed underfoot.

The rest of the team stared on in horror as they say the Tyrantrum bring his foot down on the Blaziken. "Rookie!!" Hank hollered out, then bared his fangs and took a step toward the ring.

"Hey dude! Don't!!" Eagle Eye hollered. "You barge out there, you'll get us disqualified!"

"That bastard should be disqualified! He probably went and killed the poor guy!!" Hank retorted angrily.

"Eagle Eye is right, sadly." Katsu returned. "There is nothing we can do at this point without jeopardizing the tournament rules. We must place our trust in Luke to finish this battle alone... somehow."

Almost as if cued, Katsu and the others would suddenly notice the Tyrantrum's expression turn to one of surprise as his leg twitched involuntarily, staring down at his foot as if it were foreign to him as his leg continued to quiver. He tried to make it stop, pushing down harder, but his leg was starting to be lifted from the ground. Infernis and Luke's clash paused as the spectacle began to unfold, both of them looking over in time to see the Rock/Dragon's leg being lifted... but not by him.

Under his foot was Volcan, hands and shoulders pressed against the sole of the Tyrantrum's foot as his two, powerful legs pushed with all of their might. The rest of team Valiant from where they stood could see the hardened look on Volcan's face, his expression that of one falling into a battle rage, with his eyes seemingly glowing with power as he lifted the Tyrantrum off of him.

"What... the... fuck?" Infernis asked, stunned by the impossible feat. "That's... impossible!"

"Whoa whoa!! You guys seeing this!?" Eagle Eye hollered, flapping his wings frantically.

"He's....lifting a Tyrantrum off of him?" Katsu asked in disbelief. "Since when was he so strong...?"

Even Luke was in a state of shock and disbelief as he saw his ally lift the Tyrantrum's foot off of his body. He knew Volcan was strong, but this exceeded any expectation he had on the Blaziken before. He wasn't the only one either; up in the stands, Teams Kama, Warmachine and every other team there were staring in utter awe at the display of strength, even Torolf, who although was certainly capable of such a feat himself, had clearly never seen a Blaziken show so much strength on its own.

Finally, Volcan rose up to his full height, and with a loud cry, he finally pushed Tyrantrum's leg off of him, sending the behemoth falling backward and hitting the ground with a thunderous crash. Immediately, Volcan jumped into the air, soaring high above, and then fell back towards the Tyrantrum with an outstretched foot, delivering a powerful High Jump Kick right to his sternum. The velocity, combined with the sheer strength of Volcan's kick, forced all of the air from Tyrantrum's lungs, coughing so loudly that Volcan's crest feathers were tossed about by the gust that erupted from the giant's maw.

With that, the Tyrantrum fell slack; he was still breathing, but the act of -quite literally, knocking the wind out of him, had made him light-headed and dizzy, causing him to slip away as Volcan stood, panting, on top of him as Leon called a knockout on the Tyrantrum. The Blaziken was a little dirtied by having been pressed into the soil before, but otherwise he seemed relatively unharmed, calming down after nearly being crushed like a Caterpie under the foot of the dragon.

Infernis was starting to look a little nervous. "I've never seen a Blaziken do anything like that before, and I've fought a dozen of them," he said, turning his attention back to Luke, occasionally his gaze shifting warily between the two of them.

Luke snapped back to reality after gawking at Volcan for some time, his attention shifting back to Infernis and tensing his body again to reignite his Aura Surge. He leered at the Charizard, filled with strength and confidence that he and Volcan could actually pull this off and claim the first victory for their team.

"This is going to require a different strategy," Infernis stated, before he flared open his wings and jumped away from Luke, throwing an Air Slash at him to cover his retreat before taking to the air, stumbling Luke as he tried to give chase.

The Charizard flew as high as the building would allow and stayed far out of their reach, where he proceeded to drop a Flame Burst down towards Luke. Of course it was easy to see coming and avoid, but when it hit, the explosion was bigger from the force of the drop, sending little embers to shower him. But from where he was, not even Volcan could jump high enough to reach him -at least not before he moved out of the way.

Luke used his speed to quickly evade the ember showers after the Flame Burst's initial impact onto the ground, rejoining his friend and staring up at the Charizard hovering in the air. "Well at least that's one down...Now how are we going to deal with that one..."

"Luke!" Volcan called. "Do you know anything that'll at least damage him normally? A Normal-type, or even a Dragon or Dark-type move?"

Luke thought through a mental list of moves he knew; Close Combat, Sky Uppercut, Aura Sphere, Focus Blast...There were others to choose from as well, such as his Extreme Speed and Bone Rush, but both attacks required him to be close to his foe, and Bone Rush would be ineffective....unless....He looked to Volcan for a moment. "I might have something that could work....you have a plan?" He asked.

"I do," he replied, with a nod. "I've got the air if you've got the strike."

Luke nodded. "Alright...Whenever you're ready."

Volcan nodded as he strode over to Luke, grasping him by his arm. "Better clench up; this might be a bit jarring," he said, leading them out of the way of another flame attack before he grasped Luke by both of his arms, and then made a mighty leap into the air, pulling Luke up with him. They only made it about three-quarters of the way to Infernis, but then Volcan started to twist around, spinning in midair before he shouted "NOW!" And hurled Luke right at Infernis, startling the Charizard as the Lucario suddenly came flying at him at breakneck speeds.

As he rocketed toward Infernis, he began charging a different attack in his paws, this time his paws held together a swirling mass of violet-blue energy. When he got close enough, Luke thrust his paws forward and discharged what looked like a Dragon Pulse attack, sending a stream of Draconic energy point blank into Infernis' chest.

Infernis took the attack head-on, unable to get out of the way in time as Luke was now too close for him to possibly miss. He let out a bellow of pain as he was knocked out of midair, beginning to drop just as Luke did. Now Luke was faced with another problem; he was falling, a hundred feet out of midair. It would have been a painful drop, but it appeared Volcan had planned ahead; after returning to the ground himself, he maneuvered himself below Luke, sprang up to catch him again, and held onto him as they dropped back to ground level, letting his powerful legs take the impact and sparing Luke from a landing that might've broken his leg.

With that, Volcan released Luke, letting him stand on his own pawed feet again. "Not bad for an on-the-fly plan, eh?" He asked, smiling.

Luke gazed up at Volcan after he stood back on his own feet, a smile creeping along his face as he began to nod. "That was...VERY well conceived." Luke said. "Well done, Volcan."

Volcan rubbed the back of his head, chuckling a little. "I guess I have my moments."

The two heard a sudden growl behind them, turning around to see Infernis was still standing; he had managed to correct his drop before landing and was now on his feet, but he was clearly almost at his limit after that Dragon Pulse as his stance was a little shaky.

"This fight's... not over yet," he said.

Volcan scowled. "Really? You can barely stand," the Blaziken retorted.

"My team... doesn't quit," Infernis returned. "So either finish it, or I will keep coming."

Volcan looked at Luke. "You want this one?" He asked.

He nodded. "I think I'll take this one..." He returned, keeping his gaze on Infernis as he slowly strode toward the exhausted Charizard, stopping a fair distance away from him. "...Let's finish this, Infernis...as one team leader to another." Luke stated, clenching his paws tightly at his side.

Surprisingly, the Charizard actually smiled. "Regardless of what happens next," he said. "This has been... a very good fight." With that, he opened his wings once more, preparing another Air Slash to send at Luke, drawing both of the limbs back for a mighty flap. However, Luke, with his Extreme Speed, had already closed the gap between the two, rearing his arm back and throwing his paw as hard as he could into Infernis' solar plexus with an aura enhanced punch.

And that, was it. Despite the pain that lanced through his body after that hit, Infernis still looked oddly pleased as he fell back, collapsing from the finishing blow and dropping to Luke's side, stirring up a little dust as he hit the ground, shutting his eyes in surrender and letting himself lay until Leon called the match.

"Team Drake's last fighter is down!" The Empoleon bellowed. "Team Valiant is the winner, and now advances to the second round!"

"YEEHAA!! THAT'S how it's done!!" Hank hollered from the sidelines, pumping his claws in the air in celebration of their victory.

Luke then knelt next to Infernis. "...Good fight, Infernis...You performed admirably..." He said to him, even if he couldn't hear him. Luke then looked over to Volcan. "Mind helping me get this guy back to the rest of his team?"

Volcan nodded. "Sure thing," he said, walking over to assist the Lucario. He stepped around Infernis to get on his opposite side, kneeling down and lifting the Charizard's arm to drape around the back of his neck, slowly lifting the winged reptile off of the ground.

Luke followed suite with Infernis' other arm, draping it over his shoulder, then the two of them dragged the limp Charizard over to the rest of Team Drake, handing him off to the still conscious members of the team before Luke and Volcan made their way back to their own side of the arena to regroup with the rest of Team Valiant.

"We make a great team, huh?" Volcan asked, smiling down at Luke as they crossed the field.

Luke looked up to Volcan with a warm smile of his own. "Yea...one hell of a team." He returned with a nod.

The rest of the team came swarming in on the two, minus Kage, keeping his distance. "DUDE!! That was tight!!" Eagle Eye hollered happily. "And you! How the hell did you get so damn strong?!" He asked Volcan.

"Yea what he said! I mean, even Kats here would have a struggle lifting something THAT large up by himself!!" Hank added in.

"To be honest, I'm not sure," replied Volcan, looking at his talons. "When that foot came down on me, it's like I willed myself stronger, and then was able to lift him..." He rubbed his arm, feeling over his muscles, which had since returned to their normal size. "I think, perhaps, I may have relearned one of my old moves."

"Bulk-up," a voice chimed from the hall, diverting the group's attention to their entryway, where Sickle had been standing, long enough to at least hear part of the conversation and found his chance to step in. "Howler said he saw your body seem to actually swell a little while you were under that Tyrantrum; like your muscles just spontaneously expanded to compensate. That, to me, sounds like you learned Bulk-up. A Fighting-type move that enhances your strength and durability for the duration of the battle."

"So that's how you did it." Katsu said, looking from Sickle to Volcan, a broad smile crossing his face. "You continue to surprise us, Volcan; might enough to bring down a Tyrantrum is no small feat. With you on our side we are certain to win this tournament!"

"Well don't give me that much credit," the Blaziken returned humbly. "You and Kage did pretty damn good yourselves; I doubt I could've taken a Thunder like that while deadlocked with an angry Garchomp, and I'm not even a Water-type!"

Katsu chuckled at that remark, pounding his chest with one paw. "My friend, to me that Thunder attack was like receiving a static shock! I've taken on lightning type attacks ten times as powerful as what I endured," he said proudly.

"I can vouch for that." Luke added. "Katsu's the walking definition of a living tank. There's no hit he can't take that he can dish out just as hard."

Following a brief chuckle, Volcan looked at his talons again, staring at them in a melancholic manner, as if he were rediscovering his own hands for the first time in years. "Still, I had no idea I was this strong; it seems I've forgotten more than just my past." He let out a sigh. "So much still unclear... yet steadily returning, especially my attacks when I need them."

Completely forgetting about Sickle, Volcan tensed slightly when the Grovyle spoke up again. "Uh... am I missing something here?" He asked, tilting his head curiously.

"Oops," Volcan grunted, his face falling into a blank expression.

Luke also stiffened a bit, as Sickle was unaware of Volcan's amnesia. "Uhm..." He stammered. "What he means is erm...There are some moves he's a little rusty on, and this fight has helped him remember them." He said, and then subtly nudged Volcan's side. "Riiiight?"

"Er, yeah; something like that," he said, looking back at Sickle.

But the unconvinced look on the Grovyle's face made Volcan's forced smile fade, especially when Sickle's eyebrow raised slightly, as if saying 'really, you expect me to believe that?' without voicing the words.

"He's not buying it," he muttered to Luke. "Should we...?"

Luke sighed. "Seems we have no choice; the Liepards's already out of the bag..." He muttered back to Volcan.

"Well, we don't really need to be here for the remaining matches of the team division, and they're probably starting the Singles after the first round is over," Volcan pointed out. "So... we can probably go back to the ship; plenty of privacy there since everyone's out here now."

Luke nodded, then looked to Sickle. "It'd be best if we discussed this in private." Luke said. "Let's meet at the ship, away from prying eyes and ears." He offered.

"Is it really that big a secret?" Sickle asked.

Volcan stepped a little closer to Sickle, leaning down slightly as he replied. "Let's just say that apparently I know something that somebody really doesn't want out there, and they sent a Gyrados after me to make sure I don't tell anyone, who levelled part of a town trying to get to me," Volcan said in a low voice.

Sickle's face went blank. "Back to the ship then," he said. "Drinks on me."

~~~~~

When Volcan and Luke finished retelling the story Volcan's first arrival in Azure, along with all of the other events prior to them joining team Warmachine's tournament, to Sickle, Blaster and Howler, the Bluegrove rescue team was left dumbfounded unable to formulate a clear response for a little while, until Blaster started with a few sympathetic words.

"You've been going through a lot, haven't ya?" He asked Volcan. "Sorry all this is going on with you."

Volcan smiled sadly, nodding to the Blastoise. "I'm managing," he said. "Fortunately I've found new friends to help me cope with everything that's going on." He added as he glanced over at the rest of Team Valiant, especially Luke who smiled and nodded back. "They've been kind enough to let me work with them until my memories come back, or until we find out where I'm from."

"Exactly how much do you remember?" Sickle asked, leaning forward on the table slightly.

"Only what I've seen in my dreams," Volcan replied, briefly glancing at the rest of Team Valiant as he remembered this would be the first time any of them had heard some of this as well. "A burning town... me fighting a Gallade, saved by a Lucario -but not Luke or Mikhail because I hadn't met them yet," he cocked his head at the Lucario brothers. "Rather one that I think was on my own team -the one I was part of before... all this."

He carried on. "After that I remember being thrown through the air, though I don't know by what, or why, landing in the ocean and scrambling onto what I think is my team's boat. Everything before and after that though is where things get foggy. What else we've learned was from clues on my boat; a photograph of me with three other Pokémon. It referred to us as 'Team Phalanx'."

Sickle rubbed his chin in thought. "I may have heard that name in passing once but I can't say I know much beyond that, unfortunately."

Howler nudged Sickle, and gestured down to the floor below the table where he seemed to be etching something on a sheet of paper. Sickle turned back to Volcan and Luke. "Howler wants to know if you recall the other Pokémon on your team."

"Only their races and their names; all of them were on the photograph. The Lucario was named Minato, then there's a Vaporeon named Serena and an Aggron named Tristan," Volcan recalled.

At the mention of the Aggron, Blaster glanced over at Sickle, speaking low to him before the Grovyle nodded back, and then the Blastoise spoke up. "It may be a longshot," Blaster chimed in. "But I remember an Aggron is competing in the Singles Division here at the tournament; we saw him when we boarded the ship but he didn't fight in the tryout rounds since he was one of the last to arrive."

"There is?" Luke asked, his ears perking up and looking toward the Blastoise with keen interest. "Did you happen to catch his name at all?"

But Blaster shook his head. "No; I only saw him when we came aboard the ship," he said. "But it was definitely and Aggron. A big one too; lots of battle marks -looked like the guy got into an argument with an angry Steelix."

Volcan cursed under his breath. "I should've brought that photo with me," he said.

"Don't worry. If it's the same Aggron that's on your team, then maybe he has some answers for you." Luke said, trying to sound hopeful. "We'll just have to look out for him in between matches and intercept him then."

"I... don't want to sound like a downer," Sickle began, eyeing Volcan apologetically. "But Blaster did say it was a long shot; it's pretty unlikely to be the same Aggron."

Volcan nodded. "I won't raise my hopes too high, don't worry," he assured. "Luke and I theorized we might find one of my teammates here -even if not as competitors, they might come here just hoping to find me. It's a gamble, I know, but it's all we've got now; since we've found no other clues, not to mention still having no memory of where I came from, we have no trail to follow from here. All we can do is hope at least a few answers find us instead."

"And what about that Gyrados that came looking for you?" Blaster asked. "Did you get any answers from him?"

Volcan shook his head. "He fell unconscious before we could interrogate him, after a beatdown Katsu and I gave him," he replied. "He was still out cold when we left Azure, but he's locked up now."

"I hope whatever cage you put him in has really strong bars," Sickle commented. "Takes a lot to stop a Gyrados."

"We made sure of that." Luke assured Sickle. "That Gyarados won't be leaving his cell anytime soon, that much I promise you."

Sickle nodded. "Good to know," he said. "And hey... even though we're currently rivals, I just want to say, my team and I will keep a lookout for any information for you, Volcan. Bluegrove's a small place but it's near a major road; a lot of word reaches us. If I hear anything at all, I'll bring it right to you."

"And don't worry," Blaster added, making a zipping motion with his claws across his mouth. "Code of silence; nothing said here leaves this table without your approval."

Volcan nodded to the Grovyle and Blastoise. "Thanks, guys," he said. "That means a lot to me."

"Any help would be greatly appreciated." Luke added in with a smile. "On another topic though, I was rather impressed with the way you handled that Seviper from Team Orochi." He said to Sickle.

The Grovyle chuckled. "Kind of improvised, I'll admit," he said. "Once he had me wrapped up I thought I'd go down, but then I had an idea; Grass-type moves may normally be pretty useless against Poison-types like Seviper, but when he opened his mouth to bite me I just... tried what came to mind. In the end it worked."

"But how'd you hit him with that wind attack after?" Volcan asked.

"That was Razor Wind," replied Sickle. "I learned it from my dad; was concentrating it even while he put the squeeze on me. I'll admit, it's hard to do that subtly but, I've been practicing."

"Impressive," Luke said with a nod. "Now I'm REALLY looking forward to facing your team in the tournament."

"That makes two of us," Sickle returned, winking at Luke. That wink... seemed as much flirtatious as it was friendly, or at least Luke felt it was. But Sickle moved onto another topic. "But enough about me; when I saw you guys against Team Drake I was actually a little worried. What really startled me though was when your Greninja friend -Kage, right? When he appeared above that Dragonite. I know frogs are jumpers but there was nothing around he could've used to help get up that high. Care to clue me in?"

This time Kage spoke up. "I appeared under his shadow, and then as I leapt up, I used Hydro Pump to lengthen my jump until I was right behind him..." Kage said in a low tone, not even batting an eye or showing any sign of pride in his tone. "Like I told Gavel and his compatriot... there is literally no target I cannot reach."

"And you did all that without him or Gavel seeing or hearing you?" Blaster asked. "I've heard of subtlety but that's just spooky. Cairn must either have bad tunnel vision or you're just that good."

Kage shot Blaster a small leer. "....I am known as the Shadow of Team Valiant for a reason."

"Geez, if looks could kill," muttered the Blastoise.

"I guess everyone makes a name for themselves using their unique skills," said Sickle, reaching over and petting Howler's neck. "Our boy here is known as the fastest critter in the north; I've yet to meet anyone who can catch him."

"I've been meaning to ask about that," Volcan went on. "Is he using Extreme Speed or is he really just that fast?"

"A little of both," Sickle replied. "He uses Extreme Speed to get moving; as a quick takeoff kind of thing, but when he's at ample speed he stops using it. The rest is his own."

"Wow... and I thought I was fast." Luke said, looking to Howler and giving him a respectful nod. "So much for trying to be original with my approach."

Eagle Eye scoffed. "Please. Your boy there may be the fastest on the ground, but there ain't no one faster than me in the air!" Eagle Eye stated. "I mean, I used to be part of the best damn fliers in the world before joining up with Team Valiant."

Blaster perked up at that. "Best fliers..." he echoed, eyes rolling as if he was recalling something. "Wait a minute, you were with the Red Talons?" He asked.

"Hey, good guess!" Eagle Eye said with a proud chirp. "But yea, I was known as Talon 1 'Eagle Eye' In the the group. My old man runs the show. Perhaps ya might've heard of him." He said with pride, even grinning smugly. "Goes by the name Jake Talonclaw. Callsign 'Red Leader.'

"I can't say I know any of the specific members by name; I just know _of_the team because they worked with me once, back when I was still a Wartortle on Team Tsunami," the Blastoise informed.

"Wait, that was you?" Eagle Eye perked up. "We worked with Team Tsunami on one mission as well, saving a town from a flood."

"That was probably me then, or my cousin, Sera -also a Blastoise by now, both on the same team," replied Blaster.

Eagle Eye thought back a bit, then nodded his head feverishly. "Yep, I was there fer that, though I was a Fletchinder at the time." He squawked. "Still, my old man was so impressed with how daringly I flew, he let me join despite my inexperience."

Blaster let out a hearty chuckle. "Well don't we live in a small world?" He asked.

Eagle Eye nodded. "Yea; never thought I'd run into you again at some tourney shindig." He said with a grin. "Only this time it's us against you, not us with you."

"World works in strange ways like that," Blaster commented.

It was then Eagle Eye noticed Sickle eyeing him curiously. "So if Eagle Eye was your codename, what's your real name?" He asked. "No wait, lemme guess; is it something like... 'Maurice'? 'Toby'? Or maybe..." He went over a list of various names that left the Talonflame slightly flustered, as a few were a little uncharacteristic for him. Of course Sickle was only teasing, but it still worked.

"Uhhhh..." Eagle Eye averted his gaze and blushed a bit. "I'd... rather not say."

"Aww, what a shame; I'll have to use a little of my investigative skills to find it out," the Grovyle toyed with him a little further, bringing a laugh out of most everyone in the group.

He looked even more embarrassed at that notion, but Hank slapped his back gently. "Chin up flyboy, he's just teasing ya. Hell I tease you all the time."

"Yea, I guess." Eagle Eye returned.

Volcan finally stopped laughing after the little spectacle, looking up at the TV as the announcement of the last team battle of the day concluded. "Looks like the Team Division's last round is over; it's still early in the day so they'll probably start the Singles now." He looked around the dining area. "Seems Rigel and Wade are probably already there," he stated, noting the absence of the Dewott and Lucario.

"They're probably getting ready for their matches." Luke replied. "Should we head back to the arena or just watch from one of the monitors here?"

"Well I'm going to just chill here for now," Sickle said. "Once the Single Battles are done, we'll all just be coming back here anyway."

"I guess I'll stay too," Blaster agreed, with Howler giving a nod as well, once more saying nothing. Despite his name, 'Howler' was actually completely silent. Either it was intended as a running joke or there was something else amiss with the Arcanine that prevented him from speaking.

Luke seemed to catch onto that little detail, but decided not to press the subject. "Well, we ought to go down to cheer on Rigel and Wade," Luke stated after Team Kama gave their vote. "So, we'll be taking our leave momentarily."

Sickle nodded, and suddenly smiled as he glanced over at Luke. "You know, it's a shame we'll meet in round three and not the semi-finals; I kind of feel like you guys should be the final trial between us and Warmachine," he said.

Luke smirked back at Sickle. "Such confidence," Luke pointed out, crossing his arms. "And you clearly have the skills to back up those claims. In a way, I almost share that line of thinking..."

"Well either way, I look forward to it," Sickle returned, lowering his head slightly as he grinned at Luke. "I think it'll be a battle to remember."

"So do I..." Luke said with a nod and a friendly smile back at the Grovyle as he and his team prepared to depart back to the colosseum.

~~~~~

Within the hour, the next match was launched, pitting a Raichu against a Quagsire. Although the Raichu couldn't use its electric attacks thanks to the Ground Sub-typing of Quagsire, it still won on account of being too quick for the Quagsire to catch, resorting instead to normal-type moves to defeat him, thus calling the match in his favour. At least now they knew who would be fighting Rigel in the next round if he won against his opponent.

On came the next batch of contestants for the second round of the tournament. Rigel, the #4 entry applicant, against the #3 -a Weavile known as Lenner, who brandished his claws with vigour as he and Rigel faced each other, and at the start of the match, the two charged each other, a metallic ringing sounding as Rigel used the spikes on his paws to block many of the Weavile's claw swipes, before eventually launched his counter-offensive, pressuring the Weavile relentlessly with his wild but effective battling style.

The Weavile put up a good fight, all things considered, dodging many of his attacks and scoring a few good ones himself, but with the triple-advantage Rigel had against the Dark/Ice-type, it was only a matter of time before he scored the hit that would end the match -a single well-placed Force Palm floored Lenner, sending him skidding halfway across the battlefield, and he did not stand after.

"Match over!" Leon called. "The winner is Rigel!"

The Lucario gave a yawn and sighed as he approached the downed Weavile. "Man... I said to make it interesting." He said in a disappointed tone, though Lenner was out cold and couldn't hear him.. "Whatever. Good effort I guess." He said, scooping the Weavile up in his arm and tossing him over his shoulder, before he carried him towards the medics that were entering the arena, earning some cheering for his sportsmanlike behavior.

"Well that was kind of one-sided," Volcan commented as the field cleared, and crews began to prepare it for the next round.

"Nah. He just had an easy opponent." Hank commented. "He just got lucky really. The next fight he'll probably get more of a challenge."

"Yeah, true," agreed Volcan. "Hope he doesn't get a big head after this."

"One thing I will give Rigel." Luke commented. "He may be cocky, but he's not undisciplined. Deep down he knows he had it easy this round, so he'll be expecting a tougher opponent the next round."

"I guess we'll find out," said Volcan.

After Rigel departed, the next contestants to enter the ring were a Rhydon, entry number five, and a Kabutops as the sixth. Both were Rock-types, but the Kabutops was primarily a Water-type, while Rhydon was primarily a Ground-type; their sub-typing would not be a factor in this battle. It would be their primary, for both would be vulnerable to the other.

Unfortunately for the Kabutops, the match would not be his, for the Rhydon, introduced as Everest by Leon, proved to be too sturdy for the Kabutops to overcome, for his ranged combat was weaker in favour of an in-close preference, and there, all it took was one well-placed strike to floor the Kabutops, allowing Everest to move on to the next round. He and the Kabutops cleared the field, and once more it was smoothed over by a crew of ground-type Pokémon, before the next competitors were summoned.

The seventh competitor entered the arena first, thunderous footsteps marking the arrival of another, very large and heavy Pokémon like the Rhydon before, and from the left hallway emerged a humongous Aggron that stormed into view of the spectators, who were awestruck at his sheer size. The Aggron wore a determined yet highly confident expression on their face, as if they were going to make certain they were going to win this battle.

And this Aggron looked like he'd been in his fair share of battles; his body was riddled with various scars, everything from dents to slash marks where other Pokémon had unsuccessfully tried to cut him, some of which looked to be in areas that might've been quite painful, and yet he walked without any sign of slowing down, unhindered, undeterred. Just the sheer sight of this Aggron left the other members of Team Valiant wondering if such a being could even be harmed...

At the sight of the Aggron, Volcan stiffened, eyeing them intensely. Undoubtedly this was the same Aggron Blaster had spoken of to them, and he stared long and hard at the titanic Rock/Steel-type, studying them.

Luke watched the Aggron for a while as he marched out onto the battlefield,and then looked back to Volcan, judging his expression as the Blaziken gazed down at said contestant. "Is that the same Aggron as the on in that photo you have?"

"I..." Volcan began, squinting. "I'm not sure... it looks like him but I don't have the photo to compare him to. I really should have brought it with me."

"You said his name was Tristan." Luke said, then looked back down to the Aggron. "I guess we'll find out if it's really him or not in a second."

"Unless he entered under a different name," Volcan pointed out. "Just in case someone is looking for him too..."

"...Good point." Luke returned. "Then I suggest after this match, we go down and find out ourselves."

The tenth combatant was an Excadrill who marched out from the other end, tapping his claws together as he faced the Aggron, hearing Leon's announcement of the match begin. "Fourth round of the Single Division; King from West Isles, vs. Bore of the Brass Mountain!"

Volcan hid his disappointment when Leon announced the #7 fighter under a different name, hoping that he would hear the name of his friend but also bearing in mind what he had said to Luke just a moment ago -that it might be a disguise. "Steel/Rock versus Ground/Steel," Volcan commented. "At first glance, it seems like this is pretty... set."

"Don't go assuming this fight is over already..." Kage stated sternly. "Never judge a book by its cover."

"I know," Volcan returned, watching with interest. "I said it seemed set... I didn't say it was."

"He's got'cha there, froggie," Hank commented, earning a dagger-sharp glare from the Greninja in retort. "Geez! Relax, man!" Hank returned, leaning away from the Greninja instinctively.

"Begin!" Leon called down below, and the fight was on.

Bore started off by launching himself straight for King, attacking with its signature move -Drill Run. It tore across the battlefield, heading straight for the Aggron, crashing into him like a torpedo in the water. Much to the surprise of the entire audience, the Aggron did not even attempt to move or block in any way, shape or form. He just stood, watching as Bore came towards him, bracing himself as the Excadrill collided with his chest.

The direct hit succeeded in knocking King back somewhat, but if it had hurt him at all, the Aggron showed no sign of it; he stubbornly remained on his feet, looking at Bore and grinning widely at the look of shock on his face. "You'll have to do much better than that, small fry," the Aggron growled.

"How're you...?!" Bore asked, gawking. "That was a direct hit!"

"And it's my turn now!" King declared, charging at him at him and striking the startled Excadrill with a Head Smash that sent a resounding clang throughout the entire colosseum, loud enough to make a few Pokémon cringe when they heard it, not to mention undoubtedly sending stars exploding across Bore's eyes.

Yet once again, despite an attack that normally had tremendous recoil damage, King seemed completely unaffected by his own attack, while Bore himself fell limply onto his back, laying sprawled out on the sand and laid there as everyone took in the sight of the swift defeat.

"OOOHHH! That sounds like that'll leave a mark!" Eagle Eye commented, still cringing from witnessing the Head Smash into the Excadrill.

"An attack that deals moderate recoil damage...and he's acting as if he didn't even feel it," Katsu muttered, already feeling his blood boil from seeing such a strong combatant.

"I don't think it's an act," Volcan stated. "I think that really did not hurt him!"

Kage narrowed his eyes. "...He has the Rock Head ability it seems...a trait that nullifies recoil damage from any attack such as Double Edge or Head Smash..." He explained nonchalantly. "And to knock out an Excadrill -a Ground/Steel-type in one strike... that Aggron is boasting tremendous strength."

"So this guy could use any attack that'd normally do recoil damage without suffering any?" Volcan asked the Greninja, who simply nodded his head in reply. "Sheesh... He's a freaking titan... and suddenly." He narrowed his eyes. "He does seem familiar..."

Leon stepped a little closer to Bore, examining him closely and tilting his head as he studied the downed Excadrill. "It appears Bore has already been knocked out," Leon called. "The winner is the #7 fighter, King, who shall advance to round two!"

Luke looked to Volcan for a moment to study his gaze before he spoke again. "What do you think...?" He asked. "Should we go seek him out now? Hopefully get you some more answers?"

Volcan hesitated to answer, unsure of what to say to the Lucario at that moment. He didn't really want to get his hopes up too high, but he was indeed desperate to find out the truth about his past, and if that Aggron was the same one that was on Volcan's former team, then he could have a great many answers for him.

Something about him was sparking a sense of familiarity too; even if he did not at first look familiar to Volcan, the behavior of the Aggron -his incredible fortitude, and the use of such a powerful attack without consequence. It struck a chord somewhere in the Blaziken; this Aggron, be it Tristan or someone else, he knew them from somewhere... and he had to find out the truth.

"Yes," he said, looking at Luke. "And... you'll come with me?" He asked.

He nodded. "I told you that I'd be right by your side as you searched, remember?" He said in a firm tone.

"I know," he said. "I'm just not sure I can face this alone now; what memories I have, they tell me that... my past is not exactly a pleasant thing." He shook his head. "But I can't change my mind now." He stood up, looking at the others. "You guys going to stay here and cheer for Wade?" He asked, knowing the Dewott would be having his match soon as well.

"Sure. We'll root for him in your places," Hank said, giving Volcan an a-ok sign with his claws.

"I hope you find the answers you seek, Volcan." Katsu bade the Blaziken with a nod.

Volcan nodded back to the Samurott. "I'll let you know," he said. "See you later, guys."

Luke gently pat Volcan's shoulder as they stood up to make their way back to the arena, already tuning to his Aura Sense to more accurately pinpoint where the Aggron in question was right now.

It was hard to pick out the Aggron from among the other large Pokémon in the Colosseum at first, and one of their nearer picks brought them to a member of Team Drake that was wandering the halls -Infernis, it was, who didn't even notice them as he carried on. He focused his Aura Sense, wishing he had taken the time to memorize what the Aggron's Aura felt like beforehand to make this easier.

Eventually, he located one that was heading towards the colosseum exit; a huge Aura, not as large as Torolf's but bigger than many others he could see, and the outline of it seemed to match the profile of a very large Pokémon . This one seemed the most likely, and so Luke ushered Volcan to follow him, making a beeline for the exit.

They followed the titan Pokémon out of the colosseum, and upon exiting the halls, they saw him heading down the path. Driven by desperation and fueled by the hope that he was close to answers, Volcan ran ahead, actually outpacing Luke as he sprinted on until he was in proper earshot of the Aggron, panting briefly before he called out the first name that came to mind.

"Tristan!"

The Aggron stopped mid-step, his foot hovering above the ground briefly, before he finished that step with an audible sound upon meeting the soil. With that, he slowly turned around, looking over his shoulder at the Blaziken standing a short sprint away from him, their eyes locking together for a long drawn-out moment even as Luke made his way over to them as well, staying back a ways from Volcan so as not to interfere.

The Aggron turned more to him, still studying the Blaziken closely until he finally spoke. "...Volcan?" He asked.

Volcan's heart soared with glee as he heard the Aggron speak his name, relief crossing his expression as they stepped up to each other. It _was_Tristan... Finally he had found one of his comrades.

Luke saw Volcan's reaction, glad to see that at least one of his questions had been answered, smiling along with the Blaziken. "Seems it was him after all..."

As if cued, the Aggron suddenly charged at Volcan, at first looking like he was going to knock the Blaziken senseless -a look that Volcan recognized as well and instinctively stared to back up until he was grabbed in a bearhug that forced the air from his lungs, exhaling sharply and eyes opening wide as he was embraced by the powerful Aggron.

"You big flaming turkey; where the hell have you been?!" The Aggron demanded, spinning around as he continued to hug Volcan. "I've been lookin' all over for you!"

"You picked a..." Volcan coughed, starting to go a little blue in the face. "Hell of a place to look for me -ugh can't breathe!"

Tristan finally let go of him, letting Volcan catch his breath. "Oh, sorry," he said. "After what happened on our home isle, I thought you were swimming with the fishes for good." He pulled Volcan to hug him again, gentler this time. "Thank fuck I was wrong; I've been lookin' all over for you and the others!"

Volcan hesitantly returned Tristan's embrace, putting his arms over the Aggron's metal hide while his eyes stared absently off in the distance. "Hey uh... Tristan?" He began, pulling back from his comrade. "There's... something you need to know..."

"What?" He asked. "Can't it wait? We've got to find the others, don't we?" He looked past Volcan, towards Luke. "Is that Minato? No wait... too skinny to be him. Are he or Serena with you?"

"Tristan, hang on," Volcan urged, silencing the excited Aggron so that he could explain the situation. "You see... the thing is..." He shifted uncomfortably, taking in a deep breath and trying to calm himself, looking Tristan in the eyes as he tried to form the words that were in his mind, struggling with them. "I... I've lost my memories," he said.

Tristan tilted his head. "Say wha...?" He asked.

Luke stepped forward to stand beside Volcan. "I'm afraid he's telling the truth. I've been with him the whole time, ever since he crashed his boat into Azure's harbour." He explained. "Even as I nursed him back to health, I could tell he was being serious...He really has no recollection of his old life up until this point."

"...Wait, I still don't get it," Tristan said, much to Luke's dismay. "What doesn't he remember?"

Volcan suddenly facepalmed, letting out a groan. "I think I just remembered something else about Tristan," he said, low so that only Luke heard him.

"Yea? What's that?" He asked quietly back.

"That he is a complete and utter bonehead," Volcan returned bluntly. "This might take a while..."

"Well we're not really that pressed for time." Luke pointed out. "I'll help anyway I can."

Volcan let out another sigh, and then he and Luke suggested they return to the ship where there wouldn't be too many ears to eavesdrop on them, marching together along the path back to the Kyogre's Rest, where they would tell Tristan the whole story, and in return, they hoped, hear what had transpired in Volcan's past to leave him as damaged as he was.