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The first round of the Singles Division was ready to begin, bringing on the third battle of the day now that the Team Division had finished. Wade, having heard that his cohorts in Team Valiant had made it to the Semi-Finals, marched out onto the field to meet his new opponent; only this enemy stood between him and following in the footsteps of his friends -him, and the Semi-Final rounds. He was almost there, now...

As he stepped out onto the field, the crowd roared with applause, pleased to see him again; he had put on a good performance in this tournament, and it seemed the masses were hungry for more. Across from him, equal cheering was done for a male Marowak that stepped out onto the field.

What stood out about this Pokemon was that it was of a rare colour; as opposed to the usual brown skin of a Marowak, this one was green with a yellow undertone, adding to the already reptilian appearance of its species. His skull bore a long scar across it from one eye down to the nose. It had already weathered and smoothed over somewhat but it served as a lasting reminder to a time he had let his guard down.

Furthermore, Wade had seen this Marowak battle already just a moment before; due to the uneven number of contestants, caused by the renegade Typhlosion, it was inevitable that one of the competitors would eventually be forced to battle two opponents in one round. This Marowak had been that competitor, having defeated a Nidorino who had been climbing the ranks. Now, after taking a short break to heal himself with medicine and energy supplements he was ready to keep fighting, and Wade was his next opponent.

Wade approached the Marowak in the center of the arena, looking at him from head to toe before placing his paws together and bowing respectfully toward his opponent. "May the best man win." He bade him.

"Indeed," the Marowak returned, holding up the bone in his hand and revealing a seam in the middle as he grasped both ends with his paws, and with a twist and a sharp yank, pulled the weapon into two segments connected by a chain in the middle. He had modified his weapon into a Nunchaku, which he now spun, whipping around his body before one end landed under his arm.

Wade studied the weapon closely for a bit, then hopped back and drew his Scallchops this time, holding one in his dominant paw while spinning the other beside him with his left paw, grasping it by the gauze anchoring the weapon to his arm.

"Quarter-final round of the Singles Division; Wade of Azure vs. Craneo of Damas! Ready?" Leon called, raising his flipper up high, eyeing the two of them briefly to assess their preparedness before swinging the limb down. "BEGIN!"

Wade opened the battle by firing several Water Pulses from his clenched paws at the Marowak; Craneo used the swiftness of his weapon to disperse the attacks, ignoring the spray that followed, but was then caught off guard by one of Wade's Scalchops being hurled at him, still anchored to their wielder by gauze wrapping and grazing off of his bone mask; the Dewott had used his weapon like a rope dart, in a dazzling display of finesse and control, catching Craneo off guard.

Unfortunately, it had hit the most solid part of Craneo's body, rendering it ineffective. Wade knew he had to be more careful where he struck. The Dewott yanked his weapon back into his paw, slowly circling around his opponent, then in a flash he shot forward with his Aqua Jet in a zig zag motion toward the Marowak. However, rather than strike him head on, Wade then shot upward into the air as soon as he was within arm's reach of the Marowak, hurling his weapons down at his foe in two wide arcs, aiming to pincer him between the Scallchops.

Much to his surprise, Craneo spun, and struck both of the scallchops out of midair with his bone nunchaku, before he sprang up at the airborne Wade and slammed into his stomach with a powerful Headbutt. The skull helmet was harder than stone, leaving Wade feeling like he had been struck by a hammer. He wheezed when he was struck, feeling a tad winded, but he recovered enough to release his grip on the gauze on his arms and grab the Marowak by his face.

He then shot point blank Water Pulses right at his face, then he grabbed him by his waist, flipped a full 180, then started spinning with his foe and shooting back to the ground with Aqua Jet, aiming to pile drive his foe into the ground. But again, he underestimated how solid the Marowak's skull was, for even after they hit the ground and Wade leapt away from the impact zone, Craneo was not down for long, standing up from the point of impact, shaking his head to clear it before glaring at Wade.

"Got to admit... That hurt," he growled, angrily.

"I thought that was the idea..." Wade returned plainly, yanking his weapons back into his paws via the gauze along his forearms. "That's a sturdy helmet though. I was hoping that last hit would have knocked you out."

"It will take much more than that to knock me out," Craneo returned before he merged the two halves of his bone nunchaku back into one, and then hurled it at Wade.

Wade dodged it, but when he did, he made the error of looking behind him after the bone had passed, only to find Craneo lunging at him and slamming into him with another Headbutt, knocking the wind out of him. As if that weren't enough, when Wade was knocked backward, the Bone previously thrown by Craneo struck Wade from behind -it had been a Bonemerang attack, and now on its return trip, had found its mark, sending Wade faceplanting into the dirt, pain from both sides of his body.

Following it slamming into him, the bone was launched airborne, and so Craneo after regaining his balance from the Headbutt, sprang up to retrieve his weapon, snatching the bone out of midair before he fell towards the stunned Wade, gripping the weapon with both hands and swinging with a Bone Club as he fell into reach of him

Wade took the hit square in the cranium, making him flinch and shudder from the impact for a moment. Then the Dewott exploded in a puff of smoke, leaving behind a pokedoll in his place.

"Substitute?!" Craneo demanded, his eyes widening beneath his mask.

"You're open!" Wade called from behind him. When Craneo looked back, he saw the Dewott firing a Hydro Pump right at his backside.

Craneo tried to dodge, but he had been caught off guard, taking the hit directly and sent flying across the battlefield, landing in the dirt with a trail of dust marking his skid. For a moment, he lay there, unmoving; a direct hit from a Hydro Pump against a Ground-type was devastating, but just when it seemed like Craneo was down for the count, he forced himself up, gripping his bone tightly and once more separating it into two pieces linked by a chain.

"I did not come all this way to fail now!" He growled before he charged at Wade and attacked him before he could move away, swinging at him in a series of rapid attacks, each one from a different direction to pressure him, having now lost his patience and driven instead by his desire to win.

Wade grinned, seeing the Marowak lose his patience marked a small victory for the Dewott as he drew his Scallchops and began parrying the Marowak's attacks almost flawlessly, keeping his cool despite the pressure being put on him, patiently waiting for an opportunity to counterattack, and hopefully end this fight.

But in his waiting for an opening, he found himself left in one when the Marowak whipped his nunchaku around Wade's main hand weapon, giving a hard yank and pulling it from his grasp. Pivoting to the right and make a full turn of his his body he then bludgeoned Wade from his main-hand side in the shoulder with his weapon.

Wade cried out when his shoulder was struck, grasping his shoulder as he kicked at Craneo's stomach before hopping away, landing in a crouch and gritting his teeth as he rubbed his shoulder. "That's going to bruise in the morning..." He muttered as he looked on at his opponent. "Now...what will you do next I wonder..."

"This is where I end it!" Craneo called as he reunited his weapon into one again, gripping it like a staff and raising it high before he struck the ground with it, eliciting a loud cry as the bone was slammed into the dirt, smashing through the sand, and causing a mild tremor, before giant spikes of stone began to erupt from the ground rapidly, making a beeline straight for Wade. He was using Stone Edge!

Wade watched the stones make their way to him, knowing he couldn't go over them due to their size, or around them and risk a counterattack from Craneo. "...Shishio... Sensei... forgive me." He whispered, knowing there was only one thing he could do to break through this attack and finish off Craneo.

Reaching onto his back drawing his sword, he made a beeline for the oncoming Stone Edge, dashing between the stones with his Aqua Jet, leaping between them with astounding acrobatics -even avoiding a stone just as it shot up from below, narrowly missing striking his unprotected back, only to then land on top of an already erupted one and jump through the air, launching himself clear over the range of stone columns.

Wade then altered his direction in midair, shooting for the ground below and landing on both feet zooming over to the awestricken Marowak and slamming the pommel of his blade into his sternum. "This is where _I_end it!" He shouted before grabbing him and hurling him up into the air. Wade then made two doubles of himself with Double Team, and began the final phase of his attack.

"RAGNAROK!!" He hollered, then all three of them vanished. The confused Craneo suddenly felt himself being struck from all directions, crying out in agony as shallow cuts appeared all over his body, drawing small amounts of blood in the process. Finally, Wade and his two clones appears over the Marowak, delivering one final strike from above and then kicking him down to the ground.

Craneo hit the sandy floor with a crash that sent up a column of dust, and went it cleared, Wade had already landed back on the ground, and saw the unconscious Marowak lying partially buried in the floor.

"It's over!" Leon called. "The winner is Wade from Azure! Let us give our congratulations to our Single Division Semi..."

Wade did not even wait for Leon to finish before he ran over to Craneo, quickly picking up the unconscious Marowak and fled the battlefield as fast as he could, not even staying to revel in his glory. Leon watched with mild confusion as he left, and at the same time, the medical crews had been just coming out from Craneo's side when Wade went running down the exact opposite hallway, leaving them to look at each other oddly.

"...Finalist." Leon concluded, grunting and clearing his throat. "Well. He advances either way; the match was his victory! So, everyone, we will take a brief intermission to smooth out the battlefield. During this time, I would like to call the second and last contestants for today to the field; Rigel of Port Azure, and King of the West Islands! Be present in fifteen minutes, and prepare yourselves for battle!"

As always, the rest of Team Valiant was watching from the stands, all of them having mixed reactions to the battle they had just witnessed. "Well that was a flashy end." Hank commented with a snicker. "Here I thought I was the flashy one here."

"Nah, that's my schtick." Eagle Eye replied.

"Can't it be both?" Hank asked back.

While the two were talking, Kage had quite possibly the most stern look in his eyes he had ever held, especially after seeing Wade's finishing move. He narrowed them with deep contempt, and without saying anything he stood up abruptly and began making his way out of the arena to follow after his pupil. Normally one who was quiet, his departure was so brisk, Volcan heard him standing and watched as he stormed out, wondering what was bothering him, but not without catching the look in his eyes as he descended down the stairs.

"Where's he going?" Volcan asked. "...And why does he look pissed off?"

Luke looked on to Kage as he left. "Probably to go see Wade... it's not our business to get involved with Kage's affairs with Wade. That's personal business between those two as master and student." He said.

"Yeah... maybe," Volcan returned, before looking at Luke with a wry smirk. "So, now your brother, against my teammate. I'm not sure if I sense irony or one hell of a coincidence here."

"Whether it's a coincidence or not, Rigel will give this fight his all." Luke responded. "He's got a lot riding on in this..."

Volcan nodded. "Yeah... it makes me want to root for him, but," he grimaced. "Got to stand by my teammate too." He turned down to look at the arena as Tristan's heavy footsteps were heard; he was entering the arena. "And now we're about to see just how far these two can go."

Luke nodded, turning his gaze toward the arena, watching Tristan entering the arena. Shortly after, he saw Rigel enter from the other end. "...Good luck, Rigel." Luke whispered softly. "You're going to need it..."

The thunderous footfalls of Tristan continued all the way to the center of the arena, where he and Rigel met, and stood waiting as Leon made announcement of the match, introducing the two of them. Rigel still didn't know about Tristan's true identity as Luke hadn't had the chance to tell him yet, and so he was still being introduced by Leon as 'King' of the West Islands region.

He regarded Rigel with a cool expression, and asked. "You're Luke's brother, right?" He asked the Lucario.

"Damn straight I am." Rigel returned hopping a bit on the spot and limbering up a bit. "And yer the guy they call King eh? Well no offense, but I'ma be taking that crown off yer head after today."

The Aggron chuckled. "It's not my actual name," he stated. "But that's a story for another time." He punched his fists together. "And yer not takin' nothin' from me but a freshly opened can of whoopass."

"Yea? Let's see if you can say that after I melt off that hide of yers." Rigel retorted.

With their trash-talking done and the two urged to move to their starting points Leon stepped in to begin the match, raising his flipper up high and eyeing the two separately before he made the call. "And..." He brought down his flipper. "Begin!" And began to back away urgently, getting out of the path of these two fighters.

Rigel ended up making the first move right as the signal was given to proceed, quickly rushing toward his foe and immolating his paw with fire, then dishing out a fiery Sky Uppercut, which struck home on Tristan's jaw, but left Rigel's paw with only an ache with very little sign of damage to Tristan at all. While he was airborne after the first attack, Rigel started firing a few Aura Spheres at Tristan as he fell.

Tristan put up his arms defensively, using Protect to shield himself from the bombardment of Aura Spheres, and when he found a gap, he fired a Flash Cannon from his mouth, slamming Rigel square in the stomach with a beam of energy.

"FUCKING-!!" Rigel hollered as he was slammed, spiralling in the air a bit before regaining his senses and landing in a crouch. He then cupped his paws together and created another Aura Sphere, this time immolating it with his own fiery hot aura and discharging it toward the Aggron.

Tristan used Protect again, clearly knowing how to defend himself from Special Attacks knowing that his own defenses against them were severely lacking. The sphere slammed against his shield and dispersed it, allowing Tristan to drop the shield. With that he gave Rigel a sly grin. "That all you got?" He asked, mockingly.

"Tsh...Damnit." Rigel cursed under his breath, taking up his stance again. "No way I'm goin down here..."

Tristan resumed his as well, wide-legged and arms up, ready to catch oncoming attacks his tail thudding against the ground hard enough that Rigel actually felt its impact through the sand. There was no question this Aggron was strong, and tough enough to take any hit. Rigel needed to find some way through that defense if he was going to win.

From the stands, Luke could sense Rigel's growing desperation, giving a small sigh. "The fight's barely begun and he's already starting to lose his cool." He commented.

"I don't blame him," Volcan stated. "Tristan's a living tank; if you can't get through his defenses you're going to exhaust yourself just trying to hurt him. That'd be frustrating for anybody."

"Sadly Rigel never was much of a thinker. He relies mostly on instinct when fighting." Luke returned. "...I don't mean to sound hopeless, but I'm afraid Rigel doesn't have a prayer right now."

Volcan eyed Luke quizzically. "I'm a little surprised at you; I'd think you'd have more confidence in your brother, especially when he's got something to fight for."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm plenty confident of his skills and abilities." Luke returned. "However, like I said, he's not much of a thinker, and this is one scenario where just throwing attacks wildly won't work to his advantage..."

Volcan hummed in thought, before he turned his gaze back down to the battle below, anxious to see how this would play out...

Tristan and Rigel clashed again, this time up close and personal. Tristan missed a Head Smash on the Lucario thanks to Rigel's superior speed. He saw his chance for a counterattack, this time immolating his foot. "Time for some payback!" He hollered, then he leapt forward, spinning as he did, landing several flaming roundhouse kicks on Tristan before skidding to a halt past him, turning around and swinging his leg one last time. "One more for good measure!!"

The barrage of attacks had results this time; they had done enough damage that Tristan was actually sent off of his feet following the last kick, growling with pain and blinking the stars from his eyes, before he sprang back onto his feet and let out a guffawing laugh before turning to Rigel. "Not bad, but I took kicks like that from my sparring partner back home every day, and he's a Blaziken!"

With that, he charged at Rigel, jumping up into the air and front-flipping to bring an Iron Tail attack down like a giant sledgehammer. The Lucario quickly rolled out of the way of the attack, prepping another immolated Aura Sphere and discharging it right at Tristan's flank, successfully staggering him with the maneuver, then he dashed forward and started quickly pummelling that same spot with Fire Punch after Fire Punch, fiercely driven to win this fight no matter what.

Tristan took the hits repeatedly, grinding his teeth in pain before, with a low growl, he drew back the fist of his opposite arm, which much to Rigel's surprise, ignited with flame. He swung at Rigel with with his fist; the Lucario dodged, but sparks were throwing in his face, causing him to shut his eyes, and with that Tristan delivered a backhand swing of his flaming arm, smacking Rigel across the face and sending him flying through the air.

Rigel cried out, skidding along the ground and laying still for a moment. Then he slowly forced himself back up onto his feet, wiping a bit of blood away from his lip and glaring at Tristan. "Teh...that all you got?!" He demanded.

Tristan scoffed. "Tough little nut I'll give you that," he said, pounding his fists together again.

"I've been through worse..." Rigel retorted, though in reality he was nearing his limit. There wasn't much the Lucario could do against someone as durable as Tristan...

"Well I can't keep up with you at my normal speed, that's for sure," Tristan commented, grinning. "So I think it's time I lighten the load a bit!"

He held out his arms, his metal-plated body glowing brightly before the metallic plates all over himself began to fall away -minus the helmet-like portion on his head. The plates clattered heavily to the ground, and left Tristan with a sleeker form protected only by stone skin. With a fierce growl, he charged, moving twice as fast as before and rushing at Rigel, leading with a Head Smash.

The Lucario dodged easily enough, but Tristan's new speed cut his recovery time in half; after hitting the ground with thunderous force, he was back up again and charged Rigel a second time, both of his fists igniting as he unleashed a barrage of Fire Punches along with Iron Tails, every attack flowing into the next with the grace of a professional fighter, using fist, elbow and tail all to attack.

The onlookers from Team Valiant quickly noticed how Tristan's fighting style seemed to mirror that of the Blaziken sitting with them, who they had seen in battle enough times to know how he fought; the use of momentum to carry into another strike, always aiming for maximum damage -like Tristan was doing now. Although his technique was more brutish, clearly he had adopted some of Volcan's battle style -not the least of which being that an Aggron was using Fire Punch of all attacks, which they could not learn naturally.

Luke was the first to make a comment about it, looking over to Volcan. "He's using techniques similar to your own." He commented. "Did you..." He paused mid-sentence, flattening his ears a bit. "Wait...nevermind."

"Actually, I think I can answer that," Volcan returned. "Tristan's using Fire Punch the same way I do, including using its momentum to go into a tail attack -which in my case would be a kick, but because his legs are so stumpy and not useful for kicking he uses his tail instead." He nodded. "I think it's safe to assume he learned Fire Punch from me, and he executes it the same way I do because it's what I taught him."

"Were you some kind of a tutor to him then?" Katsu asked.

"More likely we just swapped techniques while training together," Volcan replied. "If I recall, Tristan's older than me by at least ten years so he's got way more experience than me. If anything he might have been my tutor but I don't remember for certain."

"Well he certainly has picked up a lot from you. I mean...look at the way he moves." Hank pointed out. "Ain't that how you fight?"

Volcan nodded. "Yep; that's my technique," Volcan replied. "But, the execution is different, like I said." He narrowed his eyes. "Let's see how Rigel handles this one."

Rigel was being forced onto the defensive now, having no choice but to dodge and weave around all of Tristan's attacks and barely finding any opportunity to counter attack...not that it would do much, as his strikes only dealt minimal damage despite his typing advantage. Tristan only let up to catch his breath briefly before going back on the attack, utterly relentless; he had every advantage in this fight, and short of wearing him out, Rigel was running out of options.

Eventually the Lucario fell to one knee from exhaustion, panting heavily from all the moving around he was forced into doing. He lifted his head up only to defiantly glare at Tristan for a few moments, knowing he was out of options.

When he saw Rigel fall to his knee, Tristan backed up, also panting for breath as he regarded the Lucario. "Is that all?" He asked. "I was hoping my last opponent before the semi-finals would be more challenging but you've worn yourself out just evading me and barely ever attacking" He scoffed.

Rigel lowered his head a bit, still gasping for air, but now wearing a small smirk. "...Hehe...So this is what it feels like...being backed into a corner..." He muttered under his breath.

Tristan stood watching, waiting to see what the Lucario would do, his eyes narrowing with intrigue when he noticed Rigel's smirk. Suddenly, Tristan would notice that Rigel was starting to emit a faint smoke from his body, and the air around him was starting to slowly heat up as well. "Never thought I'd be pushed this far so early on..." He muttered.

"What're you up to?" Tristan asked, and sniffed the air. "And... is your fur burning?"

"Let's just say..." He then looked back to Tristan, that cocky smirk of his back on his face. "That I'm REALLY on fire now!!" He hollered. With that, he forced himself to his feet and let out a loud roar, his body suddenly becoming immolated with raging hot flames.

Tristan backed up instinctively as if he thought the Lucario was going to explode, eyes widening in surprise. "What the hell?!" He demanded.

Volcan rose slightly in his seat, looking down at the now burning Lucario below. "Am I imagining things or is Rigel on fire? Literally?" He asked

Luke had a stunned look on his face before it turned to one of worry. "Oh no..." Luke muttered.

Mikhail on the other hand, was looking much more concerned. "Damnit Rigel! You promised you wouldn't use that ability again!" He hollered.

Volcan looked at them. "What ability? Don't tell me he can use Flare Blitz."

"It's not Flare Blitz." Luke explained. "It's a latent ability he awoke a long while ago."

"Rigel's Aura flow is like a raging inferno, which is why he's always so motivated for a fight." Mikhail added. "What you're seeing now is a physical manifestation of his burning fighting spirit..."

"I'm guessing that's a bad thing for both Tristan..." Volcan trailed off, turning to look at Rigel again. "And him?"

"Very much so." Mikhail returned. "His attacks deal more force, and all of his attacks become fire based....but the cost is that he's slowly burning away from all the heat he's generating..." He added remorsefully.

Volcan looked at Mikhail with an expression of shock, before back down to the battle again and finally across the arena to the box where Team Warmachine was spectating the battle. His eyes narrowed as he seemed to slip briefly into thought, before he spoke again. "We have to stop this match," he said, before he leapt away from his seat, jumping over several other spectators who called out in fright as he passed over them, and then the Blaziken strode off along the rails, circling the arena.

"He's right. If this keeps up..." Mikhail trailed off, looking back to Rigel down below, then he whimpered before he too took off, following after Volcan to wherever he was heading. Luke was quick to follow as well, deeply concerned for his eldest, as he knew if things kept going the way they were... there was a chance Rigel would end up killing himself.

But as they made their way around the arena, the fight below had resumed. Tristan was now the one on the defensive with the sudden surge of power from Rigel. His attacks were now dishing out even more damage, not to mention the heat from his attacks left behind scorch marks upon impact. Rigel was bearing down heavily on Tristan with punches, kicks and flaming Aura Spheres alike in a relentless onslaught. Every attempt Tristan made to counter-attack was usually met with him being struck first, and finally it seemed his seemingly impenetrable defenses were giving way to Rigel's rampage. Any wall would crumble with enough force against it, and he was no exception.

Rigel finally ceased his assault after nailing Tristan hard along his jaw with a heavy roundhouse kick, hopping back and taking up his stance again. "Whazza matter? Can't take the heat, big boy?!" He demanded, hopping on the spot a bit.

Tristan shook the stars from his eyes and spun to face him, eyeing him with disbelief. "Can you?! You're burning alive, man!" He bellowed at him. "The smell of your flaming fur is filling up this whole colosseum!"

"Well then you better find a way to put me out before I put you DOWN!!" He roared, charging up another flaming Aura Sphere, then roaring as he discharged it.

This time, Tristan had time to react, putting up another Protect to stop the Aura Sphere, but just as it dropped, Rigel was already coming at him again, leaving him no time to plan his next move. Instead, he was forced to use the first attack that came to mind -and possibly the strongest one he had used yet.

He put his hands together, and then pulled them apart to reveal a white, glowing sphere the same colour as his Flash Cannon but in a condensed form, which he then crushes and swings open his arms again, unleashing a wide-berthed blast of Steel-type energy that struck out with the force of a small explosion, blowing Rigel back across the battlefield. The attack was Metal Burst; a Steel-type move that turned all of the damage inflicted against the user back on their opponent, and given all the punishment Rigel had inflicted on Tristan, it was a _big_hit.

Rigel grunted as he was hit with the attack, sending him tumbling along the ground before he was back on his feet, wiping his face a bit. "That's better..." Rigel muttered with a grin, despite half of his fur now being charred black from all the fire around him.

"You've lost your freakin' marbles!" Tristan bellowed to the Lucario. "You're burning yourself alive!"

"I ain't come this far in this little shindig to lose now!" Rigel bellowed back. "Like I said, you better find a way to put me out before I put you down!"

At that, Rigel began to move to attack again, but before he could move even ten steps, a huge shadow passed over him and a behemoth shape fell in front of him. Unable to stop in time he was rushing straight at it, only for a powerful hand to grab him and stop him dead in his tracks. The hand belonged to Torolf, who held Rigel still while Leon rushed over and hosed the Lucario down with a Brine attack, putting out the flames coating his body with warm water so as not to shock him.

Rigel sputtered as he was hosed down, quenching the flames around him and saving him from anymore burns. Rigel looked up at Torolf with a bewildered expression. "The hell's all this?! Lemme go! I got a fight to finish!"

"Not in the state you're in!" Torolf barked at the Lucario in a stern, commanding voice, not releasing his hold on him. "I'm ending this match right now, and you're going straight to the infirmary."

"But I'm fine! I can still fight!" Rigel shot back defiantly.

"No, you cannot!" Torolf yelled at him. "You've got first-degree burns covering almost your entire body and your fur is still smoldering! If you keep going in that state you're going to kill yourself!" He pointed up towards the stands with his other hand. "Do you want your brothers to watch you die over some competition?!" He demanded.

Out of the corner of his eye, Rigel could see where Torolf was pointing. Up above, standing with the rest of Team Warmachine, were Luke, Mikhail and Volcan, all of whom were staring down at him; Volcan still looked blank to the whole situation, but Luke and Mikhail's expressions were the ones that struck him. Mikhail was already rubbing his eyes as tears were streaming down his face, whereas Luke's expression was that of great concern, minus the tears. Rigel stiffened a bit from the sight and he calmed down almost immediately.

"Your family cares about you," Torolf stated. "To endanger yourself in this manner right before their very eyes, it's unforgivable. But it is not why I am stopping you." Gently, the Swampert set Rigel down, letting his feet touch the ground before releasing him. "They told me what you have waiting for you back home; no child should be born without their father there as well. So, for your safety, and the sake of your family, I must pull you out of this competition. Do you understand?"

"I-I..." Rigel trailed off a bit, slowly lowering his gaze to the ground. "But...the whole reason why I was fighting in this thing was for them..."

"And this competition is worth killing yourself for?" Torolf asked, plainly. "Would they really want that?"

Rigel's shoulders slumped a bit more, his ears flattening all the way down to their sides as the reality finally set in for him. "....No..." He said, staring dejectedly at the ground.

Torolf gently touched his shoulder. "Then there's only one thing for you to do, Rigel," he stated. "Head to the infirmary; get yourself checked, and head home. Be with your mate, where she wants you to be."

Rigel let out a long sigh, then gave a gentle nod before gently brushing Torolf's hand off his shoulder, walking past him and Tristan as he made his way out of the arena and toward the infirmary. He had a rather defeated look in his gaze as he walked off, but at least he had calmed down enough to listen to reason... He tried not to listen as Torolf was forced to announce his disqualification.

"Due to medical reasons, Rigel must be removed from the match; by default the victory goes to King who will now advance to the Semi-final rounds!"

While the audience erupted with applause, the concerned brothers of Rigel could only watch as their eldest sibling trod slowly and disheartedly out of the arena, removed from the tournament. They knew he had to have been shattered by what had just happened... to be disqualified and unable to see it through to the end was difficult for any combatant, but for him... it was downright demoralizing.

Luke glanced to his elder brother, who was still silently weeping and rubbing his cheeks a bit from the turn of events, then turned to gently comfort Mikhail in a warm embrace for a few moments. "...We should probably go check on him." Luke suggested to Mikhail, who only nodded softly in response.

"I'll go wait with the others," offered Volcan. "Let you guys sort things out." He gently touched Luke's shoulder as he walked around them. "You know this was the right thing to do though, right?" He asked, as if wanting to make sure Luke thought so as well.

The Lucario nodded back to Volcan. "Yes...having Rigel removed from the tournament is better than what could have happened to him..." He answered. "Neither my mother, nor Trish would let us hear the end of it...."

Volcan nodded back to him, and then left the two's company, letting them go to sort things out with Rigel. As he left, the Blaziken began to wonder if he had ever gone through any similar situations with his own brother back home -the brother Tristan had told him about? Had he ever had to be the level-headed brother, and act out against sibling's intentions because they were about to bring harm to themselves or to others?

Then again, after what he witnessed here today, did he want to remember something like that?

~~~~~

Rigel stopped by the Kyogre's Rest to pack his things for the trip home. As a show of good intentions, Torolf had arranged for him a boat that was ready to take him home as soon as he boarded, waiting down on the pier. Tensions were high between him and his brothers who had followed him out from the Colosseum, but still they felt obligated to see him off and were waiting for him now, while the others remained on the ship and watched from afar, knowing they had no place following the three Lucario as they headed towards the boat.

Rigel soon exited his room with all of his things packed up, a couple bags slung over his shoulders and half his body wrapped in gauze, courtesy of Mikhail -the second-eldest brother had refused to let Rigel leave without checking him even though Team Warmachine's medic had already done so. He gave a sigh as he made his way down to the gangway plank to head on over to the pier where his boat would be waiting. Luke and Mikhail followed him down to the wharf, and they turned to each other as they reached Rigel's boat.

"You sure you have everything?" Mik asked him. "Make sure you keep that gauze on you until after you get checked out by the doctors."

"Relax Mikkie." Rigel urged him. "I'm alright, really..."

"Try not to get that desperate again." Luke firmly told him. "The last thing either of us wants is for you to roast alive..."

"Heh...the big brother getting lectured by both of his little brothers," Rigel commented. "I know I owe you guys an apology..."

Mikhail cut him off. "If anything, apologize to Trish." He said. "More than anything, she wants you back safe and sound, not burnt to a crisp in the morgue..."

"...I didn't need that image painted in my head Mikhail." Luke said.

Rigel chuckled light-heartedly, before glancing over his shoulder as he heard the hired boat's captain call out, reminding him that they were wanted to leave before it got dark. He turned back to his brothers. "Well...guess this is bye for now." He said softly. "I'll see you two back at home."

Mik hugged Rigel hard and kissed his cheek a bit. "Safe journeys brother...tell Trish we said hi."

"And good luck, Rigel..." Luke returned. "Being a parent will be hard... but I'm sure you can pull it off this time."

"Yea...thanks guys." Rigel returned, giving each of them one more hug before he made his way over to the boat, jumping onto the side and letting one of the crew take his bags for him as the engine started. He made his way to the stern as it started to pull away from the whatf, and hollered back to his brothers. "Luke! Do me a favour!" He called. "Kick their asses fer me, will ya?"

Luke smirked and nodded. "Will do!" He called back, waving to his brother as the boat slowly crept out into the bay, picking up speed and sailing off to the south. They watched until the boat was little more than a speck on the horizon, before the youngest Lucario then looked to Mikhail. "Let's head back..."

"Ok..." He said softly, turning with Luke and walking with him as they headed back to the Kyogre's Rest.

They were met at the top of the gangplank by the rest of Team Valiant. Volcan was the first to speak up, approaching Luke and asking, "You guys all doing alright?" He asked.

Luke nodded a little, looking up at Volcan as they walked up the gangway. "I suppose I owe you an explanation..." He said softly.

Volcan put up his talon, shaking his head. "It's Rigel's personal life... I have no business knowing until he wants to tell me himself."

"Fair enough..." Luke said with a sigh and rubbed his head. "Today really has been quite a day huh?"

"And the craziest part is still yet to come," he said, looking at the rest of the team. "I was talking with the others, and we all agree we need a plan for dealing with Team Phobia. I did some digging on them and their progress in the tournament; we may have a problem."

"What's that?" Luke asked, going right into his strategic mindset.

Volcan let out a sigh. "That team has scored perfect wins in every single match of the tournament up until now, including against that Mega Medicham in the most recent round," he explained. "They're a master of Tag Team battles; their first match against a Bronze-ranked team wasn't one but the members didn't stand a chance. They beat them effortlessly, and in the next match used Power of Choice to make the battle a Tag Team match, and scored another perfect.

"But, here's where it gets problematic," Volcan went on. "Against that team of all-fighting-types last round, they didn't use their power of choice, because the match was in a Last Man Standing format, and that Dusknoir beat every single one of them by himself; none of them could take him down. So now they have two Powers of Choice they can use against us, meaning they can not only select the match but who among us fights first. If they set the match to Tag Team, we run the risk of picking a pair who isn't used to working together, and I have a sneaking suspicion they'll somehow know to do just that."

"That does pose a problem..." Luke said, rubbing his chin, humming in thought. "And they get to pick the teams to put us in, correct?"

"If they use both powers of choice, yes," Volcan replied. "They can pick exactly who fights first; Sickle had the opportunity to do that when he fought us, but he didn't use it since he wanted to fight us fairly. Unlike him, these guys are not above tipping the scales in their favor to get an advantage."

"Kaen said the theme of the team was Bug, Dark and Ghost, right?" Luke asked, looking up to Volcan.

He nodded. "Common pathological fears, yes," he said. "Two bug-types -both arachnoid. A Galvantula and an Ariados. A Drapion, a Houndoom -who is also the team's Captain, and two Ghost-types; the Dusknoir known as Revane and the Gengar, who we met already -the little bugger called Phanto."

Luke narrowed his eyes a bit as he spoke. "If there's one thing we have going for us, it's diversity..." Luke returned. "We all have moves that help us compensate for certain weaknesses, so we might not be at as huge a disadvantage as we thought." Luke then looked back to Volcan. "Plus... we've yet to use Kage's secret weapon... That will be our game changer."

Volcan put a finger to his beak, motioning for Luke to be silent, as he looked around the ship briefly. "If it's all the same to you," he began, speaking low. "Maybe we should discuss our strategy elsewhere. After Phanto pulled that stunt on me in the dining hall I don't feel like we're very secure, being somewhere any one of them could find us."

At first Luke felt Volcan might be being a tad paranoid, but remembering that Ghost-types like Phanto could hide in walls -and could not be seen by Luke or Mikhail's Aura Sense, there was no way to know if they were being eavesdropped on or not. Maybe the Blaziken was right, and that they couldn't talk there on the ship. "Yea good idea." Luke returned. "Perhaps somewhere far away. Somewhere in town or even farther than that; any thoughts?"

Volcan turned towards Valvatna, surveying the town with his eyes as he sought somewhere that stood out to him, eventually seeming to spot something before he motioned for the group to gather around him so he could speak low. "Okay; if we all move as a group, they can easily follow us. On the other side of town, there's a mill by the river; we'll scatter, and head there.

"Kage, since you have the best chance of losing anyone who might be tailing us, you'll leave last. The rest of us will go by air or by water; if one of them wants to fly after us they might break their cover as Ghosts can't maintain their invisibility if they go too fast."

Kage gave Volcan a nod in acknowledgement to his plan. "Seems sound enough..." He returned.

"Or I could just cloak us in a shroud." Hank offered. "Master Illusionist, remember?"

"Some ghost-types can project illusions too," Volcan pointed out. "They might see through it, and you can't block out the sound of our voices with a projection."

"Ah damn; good point," Hank returned.

"I'm ok with flying." Eagle Eye added. "I'd like to see em try an keep up with me."

"Then we're all agreed?" Volcan asked, waiting for everyone to reply with a nod.

Luke was impressed at how Volcan was taking the stand; by now he was more convinced than ever the Blaziken had been the leader of his own team, as Tristan had confirmed -and quite a competent one at that. He was a cunning strategist, and although cautious to a fault there was some merit to his evident paranoia.

"So who leaves first?" Hank asked Volcan.

"It doesn't matter," he replied. "Long as we all go different ways and stick to the maneuver, we can avoid being tailed."

"Then I'll take to the skies!" He said as he suddenly took off into the air, making sure to fly as high as he could before heading off, flying in an intricate pattern to keep anyone from following him.

Luke tugged at Volcan's arm. "Hey... can I talk to you for a second?" He asked.

"Sure; what's up?" Volcan asked as they headed over to the gangplanks while the others began to leave their own way.

Once they were alone Luke spoke. "I'm not going to lie... that was a very well-conceived plan." He said softly to him. "Even Kage agrees it was a good plan, and it's hard to earn a compliment from him."

Volcan blushed. "I'll admit, when I thought to bring it up with them I thought they'd all just think I was being paranoid... but when I suggested that someone might eavesdrop on us, they actually agreed..." He smiled. "I guess I have knack for tactics."

"I don't think so." Luke said. "I think this further proves how effective a leader you were back in your own team." He said as he placed a paw on his shoulder. "You've got a good strategic intuition, Volcan... maybe rivalling even mine."

He smiled at Luke. "Let's see if it works this time; I'll see you at the meeting place."

Luke nodded, and then he turned and began making his own way to their meeting spot. Like with Eagle Eye, he took a long route, making sure to keep anyone from trailing him. Meanwhile, Volcan took a rather obvious start but made his route more complicated after jumping off of the deck of the ship, leaping across a few buildings before disappearing into the streets. If there were any pursuers, they would never keep up...

~~~~~

The team met up at an old windmill that stood on the hill on the opposite end of Valvatna. Currently not in use as the wind was rather still that night, leaving the arms motionless and unmoving. The ground there was open, but they were far away from the ship, with little else around to bother them. After a brief sweep, they confirmed that they were alone -this was the safest place they could be for their planning session, and so they began. Just the same, Hank covered them with an illusion to make the area appear empty, so that any stargazing Noctowl or the like wouldn't spot them.

"So, the way I see it," Volcan started the conversation. "The first and most obvious advantage they could try to exploit, is that we have two Dark-types with us." He gestured to Hank and Kage. "And they've got two Bug-types -one of which is also an Electric-type, so dual-typing advantage against a Water/Dark-type like Kage; a hard advantage not to go for." He turned his attention to Kage and Hank specifically. "If that's what they do, what're your thoughts; have you guys got anything to counter Bug-types?"

"I got my trusty Flamethrower at my side." Hank returned with a smirk. "Getting rid of yer pesky bug types since way back in the day." He said with a snicker. "A good year fer agriculture, that was."

"...You had me at 'Flamethrower'; what the hell did you say after?" Volcan asked, blinking in confusion.

Hank laughed. "Just a quote I heard once. Nuthin important."

"Oooookay," Volcan returned, clearing his throat. "Fire-type move; perfect. Hopefully they won't expect a Zoroark to have that." He looked at Kage. "What about you?"

He looked over to Volcan. "...I have Bounce as my method of dealing with Bug and Grass Types, but that isn't my only defense."

"Bounce will work; it'll help keep you away from their webs too," he stated, nodding. "So, if they press for that advantage, you two have attacks you can meet them with. We didn't get to see these guys in battle so we don't know what sort of team strategies they use, but if I were them... my focus would be on immobilizing my opponent; that is the primary advantage of both Ariados and Galvantula, in using their webbing to gum up opponents and set them up for a knockout. So, we need an answer to web-based attacks like Stringshot or Spider Web."

"My blade is sharp enough to cut through any webbing..." Kage returned.

"I can either roast em or cut em up with my Night Slash or Fury Swipes." Hank returned.

"Good, good," Volcan returned, nodding. "Okay... so we have some straightforward ideas for webbing; anything else to add?"

"I suppose now is a good time as any to bring it up." Luke said. "And that's Kage's secret weapon."

"What's that?"

"Protean..." Kage answered.

"I'm... not familiar with that," Volcan admitted, waiting for an explanation.

"It's my unique ability..." He explained. "Any move I use, I take on its typing..."

"In short. If Kage were to use something like Bounce..." Luke suggested, and then looked to Volcan to see if he'd catch his meaning, which he did.

"He turns into a Flying-type," Volcan nodded in acknowledgement. "Brilliant."

"And since he gains the attack type as he's performing it, he'll gain a same attack type boost every time." Luke went on to explain.

"Hell yes; that's perfect," Volcan said, nodding. "So, Kage can match up with pretty much any one of them, but he might only get to fight once. How do we deal with that Dusknoir? From what Kaen told us, that big guy can take hits that could flatten bigger Pokémon. We need a way through that."

"In terms of brute strength, normally Katsu would be our go to, but normal attacks won't work on Ghost-types, and Katsu is primarily a physical striker," Luke said, then rubbed his chin. "That leaves Eagle Eye...or myself."

Volcan perked up at that, and turned to Luke. "Wait... you wouldn't happen to know Foresight, would you?"

Luke grimaced. "Uh... actually I don't know. I've never tried it."

"Drat... there goes that idea," he said, putting his fist against his chin and narrowing his eyes as he thought about another solution."

Luke continued. "I do have a possible solution..."

"Yes?" Volcan asked.

Luke lifted his paw and focused, then his paw ignited with a dark, violet aura for a moment before he grunted and the aura vanished. "I have Dark Pulse..." He said after taking a moment to catch his breath.

Volcan eyed him with concern. "Are you okay? It looked like just showing that took a lot out of you."

"Physically no, but dark pulse relies on negative emotions to have any form of punch to its attack..." He explained. "Too much negativity can affect one's mind, and eventually consume the user, which is why I keep its use to a minimum."

Volcan eyed him curiously. "But we've seen other Pokémon use Dark-type moves here even when they weren't Dark-types themselves; why does it have such a strong effect on you?"

"Moves like Night Slash or Punishment don't require Aura Energy to empower them." Luke explained. "Dark Pulse is literally taking all of your negative emotions and unleashing them as a metaphysical attack, and aura varies for each practitioner, depending on their state of mind." He rubbed his paw. "To someone like me, Dark Pulse can be just as dangerous to myself as it is to my opponent if I don't keep my negative feelings in check, whereas others who thrive off of negativity, they'd pack a much bigger punch when using that move."

Volcan shuddered. "Yikes... better try to keep away from that," he said, going into thought again. "When dealing with Phanto or that Ariados your Bone Rush should still work since it's a Ground-type move. If one of us," he gestured to Eagle Eye, Katsu and himself. "End up in the battle, Fire and Water-type attacks should still work too. We just can't use Fighting or Normal-type moves against them."

"I also have Extrasensory to deal with their poison users..." Kage stated.

Volcan turned to him. "That'll work against that Ariados or even Phanto," he said, before shaking his head. "But not that Drapion." He put a finger to his chin in thought. "So... now we've got their Dark-types. One's a Dark/Poison -thus removing the use of Psychic-type or Fighting-type moves. Ground-type should still work, though."

"Only one of us that knows a ground move is the boss man." Eagle Eye squawked. "Sure could use ol' digger right now..."

"So Luke's our best shot for dealing that Drapion; immune to Poison and able to use Bone Rush... but Team Phobia's not going to let that happen on the first round." He stood up from the stump he sat on, and began to pace. "And then, there's the boss himself; the Houndoom. From what we heard from Kaen, that guy has been Torolf's rival for years, and we've all seen how incredibly strong Torolf is. If that Houndoom is as strong as Torolf then we're in for a fight no matter who faces him."

"I can take him on." Katsu said with a nod. "I'm about the closest one out of all of us who's remotely as strong as Team Warmachine's leader."

"Then if we have any say in the matter, Katsu must be on the team that fights the Houndoom," stated Volcan. "And... as long as it's not one of the Ghost-types with him, maybe me too. I can take his Fire-type attacks and I'm a Fighting-type; I'm at the least risk besides Eagle Eye." He looked at the Talonflame. "But since speed beats power, we may also need him against that Drapion."

"The next thing we need to be concerned with... is the combinations they may use," Volcan went on. "If those Ghost-types know Hex, they can partner up with that Drapion or that Ariados as well, mixing Poisoning with Hex to amplify even the weakest Poison-type attacks. Or, with that Houndoom, burns."

"In other words, we have to be prepared for absolutely anything." Luke clarified to the rest of the team, stepping back up as Team Valiant's leader. "Whatever teams they could possibly put us in, cooperation is absolutely crucial if we're to succeed. No squabbling, no splitting up. Understand?"

The team gave a nod all at once to Luke once Luke finished.

"If I may make one more suggestion," Volcan began after they were finished. "I think we should take this moment to do some preparation training."

"Good idea." Luke said. "We've worked as separate teams before, but extra practice is always a good idea."

"The biggest issue I see, actually, is me,"Volcan stated as he looked at Luke. "We've shown that I can work very well with you because our approach to combat is similar," then to Katsu. "And I can work well with him because we're of a similar mentality as well." And finally to Eagle Eye. "And an Air/Ground Hybrid assault is quite effective and easy to plan."

"But," he carried on, "with Kage and Hank, however... I haven't had the opportunity to work you two yet. Your tactics rely on outwitting your opponent, fooling them with imitations or illusions while I'm a more straight-forward type; we haven't devised a way to make my tactics work with yours. In other words, despite the strategies I offer, I'm still the Achilles Heel of this group; if they pick me in the first round and pair me with Kage or Hank, we won't know what to do."

"Heh well, let's head on out and work on a few tricks we can use." Hank offered.

"...I can think of a few ideas..." Kage returned, closing his eyes. "Just try to keep pace with me..."

Volcan nodded; up until now, he and Kage had not exactly seen eye to eye, but in this moment he was willing to push that aside to find a way to work in tandem with the Greninja, because just like the rest of them, they knew that against these opponents they would face on the morrow, there was no room for error; one slip-up would put them out of the tournament. Though they had come far, and losing now would not be a crushing defeat, they were all eager to see just how far they could go.

Volcan glanced up at the moon briefly before he looked at Luke, Katsu and Eagle Eye consecutively. "Alright... no sense in all of us staying out here in the dark. I heard from Kaen they're going to have the Single Division's Semi Final round first tomorrow, so it'll be Wade and Tristan, but it doesn't start until ten in the morning; I'm guessing it's roughly eight-ish now. I'll remain here and train with Kage and Hank for a while, but you guys can head back to the ship to rest if you think you should."

"You sure I shouldn't stay and supervise along with you?" Luke asked.

Volcan smiled at him. "I appreciate it... but I think I can manage one night by myself. Well, not that I'll actually be alone," he said, gesturing to Hank and Kage. "But you three are the core of the strategies we have so far; I'm the only one who needs touch-up."

"Alright." Luke nodded and patted his shoulder. "Good luck then, Volcan. I'll see you tomorrow I guess."

Volcan nodded to him. "You too," he said.