Emerging from the entrance tunnel into the arena, Rebeca surveyed her opponents. If she was being honest with herself, she would not have predicted [b]these[/b] two making it to the finals of a combat tournament. Alain was kinda weird looking with those wings of his, and she'd seen that he was certainly capable during the parade attack, but he didn't seem like he had the temperament to go up against serious fighters. Maybe he just hadn't encountered some until now, Rebeca hadn't paid much attention to the other fights, preferring instead to work out. 

She also had mixed feelings on Kaze replacing Drystan. On the one hand, it was something of a relief not to be facing Dialga's Avatar. The impression that she had gotten from him when they had talked had not been a good one; like he was a worse version of who she used to be. On the other hand, if he wasn't here fighting, then he could be anywhere, and unless he didn't have access to a TV (which she was pretty sure he did), Giratina most likely knew that he was in Mauville. [b]That[/b] was a disaster in the making. The best she could hope for was that Germaine had the sense to keep his tagalong in check, and that Drystan stuck around to watch the fight in person. 

Kaze himself made her grimace. Alain at least looked like he might be around her age, but there was no hiding the fact that Suicine's avatar was barely out of childhood. She did [b]not[/b] want to be fighting yet another kid, but it was looking like she wasn't being given a choice. 

Again.

As the announcer boomed out her assumed name, a slight meloncoly feeling passed over her, memories calling her back in time. A quick shake of her head, however, and she dismissed the feeling. [color=crimson][i]They're all gone. I can't go back.[/i][/color] 

Mihkail, sensing her morose mood, nudged her bare foot with his nose. [color=e25822][i]You alright?[/i][/color]

She nodded, rolling her shoulders as she shucked off her jacket. [color=crimson][i]Yeah.[/i][/color]

A soft rumble came from the Rhyhorn's throat. [color=e25822][i]It wasn't your fault, and you're better now.[/i][/color] A slightly more amused note entered their connection. [color=e25822][i]Now go show them, "Becky".[/i][/color]

Rebeca rolled her eyes and dropped her jacket over her brother's head. [color=crimson][i]Shut up, and look after Maya.[/i][/color]

As she entered the battlefield in nothing but a sports bra and a pair of old shorts, her markings were on full display as they glowed red. Dry heat rolled off of her in waves, spreading across the arena and leaving the three Avatars feeling like they were standing under the hot noon sun in the middle of a very clear day. To all outwards appearances, Groudon's Avatar was completely relaxed, paying the cheering crowd around them not even the slightest attention, eyes flicking between the other two. 

Alain wore the same torn trousers and jacket he usually did, but to use his wings in the fight he would need to take the latter off.  This would be...uncomfortable for him, as he was painfully aware of the audience and spotlights shining on him. The announcer callled his name, and he nodded quickly, as if to acknowledge that yes, they had found the correct avatar of Yveltal.

He looked at Kaze, briefly remembering him as the avatar that had given him a soothe bell when he was frightened during that dinner that that he had gone to. He didn't know much about him, except for the fact that he seemed to be young. A little young for the arena, Alain thought, but he evidently wasnt being forced to attend, so...

...and the other one. He remembered the other one from the parade fight. She was pretty strong, and carried herself in a confident manner. She was probably going to be the one to worry about. And...she wasn't wearing much. He noticed that. He quickly turned away, his face going a bright red as he attempted to think of something else quickly.

He briefly wondered where Exo was. Knowing him, he was either laughing at his awkward situation in the arena, or attempting to seduce another bug pokemon. Or, more likely, both. 

Oh, right. The battle. Finally getting the courage, he pulled off his jacket and let his wings unfurl to their full size, before crouching and turning them to steel. As soon as one of them moved, he would strike. 

Alain wasn't intending to give them a chance to hit him back. 

Rebeca's mind was already flipping into "battle mode", analyzing what her opponents were doing and comparing it to what she had already seen as white light percolated into claws around her fingers. Setting aside their ages and temperaments, this wasn't going to be an easy fight for her. Most of Alain's attacks that she had seen at the parade meant that he could hit hard from range, and being able to go air-born would limit her ability to get close to him. She knew even less about Kaze, but at the very least he was a Water type, so she could expect similar attacks, making him the bigger threat to her. The heat would lessen the impact, but she wasn't about to rely on that. 

On the plus side, with their respective typing she was reasonably sure that neither of them would be able to stand up to her attacks after a couple boosts, if she could connect them. Best strategy for now was to stay defensive, try to slowly get close. The sooner Kaze was out of the fight, the better it would be for her.

The heat billowing into the arena was going to put a damper on Kaze's strategy. Or rather, it wouldn't be damp enough. But that was the least of his worries. With Alain looking like a predator ready to strike, and with Rebeca looking as steadfast as ever, Kaze couldn't let himself be an easy target for either of them. He would worry about making things more wet in a moment, but for now, he used his power to conjure a breeze which sounded amplified due to the structure of their arena.

Using this wind to his advantage, Kaze began to move at full speed. He wasn't aiming for anyone in particular, though his momentum was in the direction of Alain's territory. He knew one thing: He didn't need to get close to Rebeca. If the last battle was any indication, he wasn't going to be able to hold his own in a close-range battle with someone with even half her strength. But in the case of Alain . . . Kaze had seen his hesitation before, and maybe, if he was lucky, he could gain the upper hand from that.

One was moving! And what's more, he was moving fast. Alain didn't expect this, as he assumed that the smaller avatar wouldnt be much of a problem. He quickly tried to remember the typing. Kaze was...water? Yet, oddly enough, he seemed to be using the wind. Strange. The other would be a ground type, giving him a slight advantage. He still didn't want to get in a pitched fight with her though. He still remembered how dangerous she was in the parade.

He couldnt remember seeing Kaze fight though...so he decided to go for him first. Once he was out of the way, he could concentrate on the Groudon avatar. He kept his eyes fixed on Kaze, concentrating as he moved. As soon as the Suicune avatar slowed down, he would neutralise him on the spot. At least, in theory.

Kaze sensed Alain was preparing a direct attack, and he didn't exactly feel like getting hit in the face with a sheet of metal today. He made the first move from a short distance, firing a stream of bubbles at the winged Avatar.

Alain prepared to strike as the Suicune avatar slowed down, only to realise he was about to attack. He was pleasantly surprised when, instead of a jet of water, he fired a stream of bubbles. Diving to the side, he landed on the balls of his feet as the bubbles passed over his shoulder. He didn't know if they would hurt, but he didn't intend to give his opponent a second chance to attack. He launched himself foward, swinging his wings though the air to hit him like a steel wall.

The glowing claws that enveloped Rebeca's hands pulsed and became a little brighter, her amber eyes also taking on a slight glow as she silently watched the battle going on in front of her. It was just fine by her if they decided to wear each other out, it would make ending the fight that much easier for her. She wasn't here to impress the crowd.

Vuduin watched the battle progress, though to be honest he was not as excited as he'd thought. At first the thought of seeing avatars go toe to toe with each was exhilarating, but now it just seemed crude. Fighting another avatar had been just like fighting a normal person and it honestly made things seem just gladitorial. Vuduin found himself wishing there had been something less confrontational and more like a contest. Like an obstacle course, or an eating contest. Ah well, he was basically just thinking selfishly. Vuduin brought his attnetion back to the fight. It seemed Rebeca was merely waiting for her chance to strike while Kaze and Alain were going at it. He toyed briefly with the thought of disabling whatever Rebeca was doing, but that would be rude and against the rules, despite how amusing it would be.

Meanwhile, in a bar outside of the arena, a lonely bartender was cleaning some glasses inside out, while watching the ongoing fight on his TV screen hanging above the bar. The rest of the bar was deserted, as it seemed everyone either stayed at home to watch or was at the finals themselves. Suddenly, the door of the bar opened. The bell at the door made a small noise that alarmed the bartender about his new customer. "Welcome sir, what do you like to drink?" The customer, a young man with brown hair and a red clothes, sat straight across the bar from him. "This is the 'Em-bar', right? Where they serve 'the hottest drinks'?" "yes sir, this is the place." The bartender responded proudly. "Well, I want something so hot, it melts my body." The bartender first laughed, but then saw the look on the customers face. "You're serious? Well, I might have something in the back." He said, then moved to the back of the bar. Meanwhile, with nothing to do, the customer watched the TV to see the finals.

The steel wing hit Kaze full-on in the chest, sending him tumbling to the ground. The Avatar groaned for a second. Then he kipped up, using the momentum to fire another Bubble Beam at Alain.

Alain put his wings in front of him like a shield, wincing as the bubbles popped against them, luckily, they were still steel, so they managed to block the worst of it. He was surprised by the parkour that Kaze was capable of, but at least he hadn't been able to dodge the worst of his wing. This looked like it would take a while though, and he couldn't afford to waste time. He had noticed that the Groudon avatar had not joined the fray, which led him to assume she was powering up somehow. He needed to get rid of them both as fast as possible.

He had already activated his entropic field, but he wasn't sure when the effects were going to be apparent. It depended on their constitution. That would certainly help, but...

He looked around, noticing shining claw-like appendages on the groudon avatar's hands. This was going to be a waste of time. The suicune avatar had been more resilient than expected. Alain smiled, and launched himself at Kaze, materialising a dark pulse in his hands, he raised his hand to strike, but at the last second, landed on his foot and spun around, launching the pulse in the direction of Rebecca. 

As soon as he did that, he stepped back and covered himself in his wings, preparing for Kaze's counterattack. They weren't as durable as when they were made of steel, but they still made decent shields nonetheless.


A peculiar, tingling feeling came over Rebeca, and her eyes narrowed. In a situation like this, she wasn't about to dismiss anything as trivial or unimportant. Somebody was doing something, and as long as she didn't know who or what, that was a problem. 

Abruptly, Alain sent a stream of violet energy her way. The sudden change in tactics wasn't too surprising; apparently he had noticed that she wasn't just standing around watching. Still, she remained disinclined to go on the offensive just yet, instead choosing to just duck down as her claws pulsed yet again. The Dark Pulse passed overhead harmlessly, carving a shallow furrow in the concrete several feet behind her. 

Standing back up, Rebeca finally began moving, slowly circling the other two Avatars as they continued fighting.

Kaze noticed Alain's change of focus and used that time to dash away from the two fighters. As much as the whirling wind helped his agility, he knew he couldn't win an endurance race against these opponents. It was time to start packing a harder punch. Kaze's limbs moved gracefully with the wind. A rumbling sound echoed throughout the cave as a dark cloud formed overhead. Then, a downpour started at the end of Kaze's Rain Dance. Fortunately for the audience, the deluge stopped just short of their seats. The referees and medics were not so lucky... along with the other two Avatars.

Vuduin blinked in surprise as the torrent of rain hit him as well, though only for a few seconds before he phased through it. Ghastly however beat a quick retreat away from the rain, though it wouldn't disperse him or anything the rain going through his body was distinctly unpleasent. Vuduin sitting now alone in the rain with his silver hair wetted down made an imposing figure as he spectated the battle. He silently made a bet with himself than either Rebecca would win or the other two would temporarily team up against her, maybe even both. 

Alain, with his long hair and wings, bore more than a passing resemblance to a drowned rattata in the sudden downpour. He managed to keep his hair out of his eyes, but it was still going to be annoying. Couldn't his two opponents fight each other for a while? Why was the ebodiement of destruction considered to be the one they should stop?

Although...it could be interesting if he tried something with it. He put his hands together, and slowly spread them apart, forming a miniature cyclone in the centre, before opening his arms, causing the new hurricane to almost cover him before he launched it at Rebecca.

Wisps of steam curled off Rebeca's skin, forming a barely noticable aura around her as she squinted through the rain. It took only seconds for her to be completely drenched, her Ponyta tail plastered against her neck. It was nothing more than a minor annoyance, however; she'd walked through much worse storms in the mountains back in Johto. 

Then the wind began to pick up, until it was howling in her ears and buffeting her powerfully, peppering her exposed skin with raindrops like tiny darts. She shielded her eyes, trying to see, and dropped down to one knee. The glowing claws around her hands pulsed and shrank a little, some of the light flowing down her body to form a second set of claws around her bare feet, and she dug into the concrete as the wind strove to drag her loose.. 

From the looks of things, Alain wasn't going to leave her alone anymore. Smart boy. It was only a matter of time before Kaze decided that he had more of an advantage of her than he did over Yveltal, and Rebeca had no desire to be fighting a Water-type in a rain storm. 

[color=crimson][i]Come on boys, just a little more...[/i][/color] she thought to herself as her claws pulsed once again, growing until all four sets were the same size.

Kaze gulped at the sight of Rebeca's claws growing ever longer. At this point, the fear was not as much about getting knocked out as being decapitated or something! A violent torrent of water streamed forth from Kaze's outstretched hands as he fired the Hydro Pump at Rebeca. Then, he used the rushing wind to dash away from the Avatar of Groudon, hoping Alain would present himself as an easier target. Kaze felt his footsteps slow down as the Tailwind petered out.

Alain watched Rebeca's claws glow again, desperately trying to pay attention to them and...nothing else. Quickly, he began to think. Her claws would take him down easily if he wasn't careful, but even then, he didnt know if she had any ranged capabilities. If he brought her down first, Kaze wouldnt be too much of a problem...

His entropic field had been on for a while now, and Alain realised that the effects would be felt by now. Of course, it didn't take a genius to figure out that the draining effect was coming from the embodiment of destruction...In that case, they would go for him. Ideally, he would use another hurricane while it was still raining, but there was a distinct lack of debris that would cause any serious damage. His entropic field would become stronger the closer they got to him, but getting close to Rebeca would be idiotic...

...suddenly, he smiled to himself, before crouching and turning his wings into steel once again. Finally, he launched himself foward, his wing cutting through the air towards Rebeca while his fist went straight for her face.

When at last the wind cleared and she was able to see properly again, Rebeca's eyes widened as she saw the immense stream of water heading straight for her. [i][color=crimson]SHIT![/color][/i] Immediately she threw herself to the side, but wasn't quite fast enough, the powerful torrent catching her trailing leg and spinning her off course, tumbling across the ground. Everything below her knee hurt like a bitch; walking or running was going to be out of the question. 

Things didn't get much better from there. When she looked up, she found Alain racing towards her, arm drawn back to throw a punch and wings gleaming beneath the stadium lights. Rolling onto her back, Rebeca caught both wings in her hands as she jerked her head to the side, his fist striking the concrete right beside her ear. 

The tingling feeling that she had felt earlier intesified, until it was like something was being pulled out of her. Instinctively, her grip on his wings tightened, the smooth metallic feathers bending and crumpling beneath her claws, and she snarled, a deep, throaty growl that was more Pokemon than human. Her good knee rammed upwards into his groin, and she yanked him to the side, ignoring the spikes of pain in her palms as the edge of his wings sliced through, bucking her hips, until their circumstances were reversed, and she now had him pinned to the ground. Straddling his waist, she released one wing and reared up, the light from her feet and occupied hand racing up her body, until the entirety of her free arm was glowing. 

Alain grunted in pain as her knee smashed into his crotch, but didnt have enough time to do anything else before Rebecca pulled him to the side by his wings, somehow ignoring the blades sticking into her palms. HIs face was planted in the floor as he felt her hold onto his wings

"There's a woman wearing very little sitting on my back! What am I supposed to do?!?!"

The answer was simple. He concentrated, and fired a dark pulse radiating from his entire body, launching her backwards a few metres as he got up, whirling around to meet her next attack.

The blast of dark energy caught her off-guard, leaving her entire front feeling scorched and like something was crawling beneath her skin. Panting, and feeling far more exhausted than she aught to have been, given the effort she'd been putting into the fight thus far, she raised her still glowing arm into the air. She wasn't going to give Kaze a chance to capitalize on her sudden vulnerability, as she smashed her fist into the concrete. An immense shockwave raced through the ground, and a sound like a thunderclap split the air as the concrete broke into a spider web of deep cracks around the Avatar. The powerful attack shook the stadium to its foundations, shaking loose a shower of dust and miniscle rock fragments from the ceiling.

Kaze felt relieved to see his opponents going after each other, giving him more time to gain more distance away from the brawling Avatars. However, that relief was short-lived. With a deafening crack entire floor erupted into sheer rocky chaos. Even much of the audience were jostled out of their chairs and thin cracks traveled up the supporting walls.

Without a Tailwind up, there was no way for the Legend of the North Wind to avoid such a massive attack. A tidal wave of rock hurled Kaze into the air and sent him careening right into a wall, leaving a nice splatter as he unceremoniously dropped to the ground.

Fortunately, the wall was conveniently right by the waiting medical staff. Once the crew recovered from their own taste of Earthquake, a few nurses and Pokemon quickly assessed Kaze's wounds. All the audience could tell was that Kaze was unconscious, there was a lot of blood, and one leg looked sickeningly twisted out of place. The pinkish glow of Heal Pulse radiated from the area and nurses began to put splints on him. Nobody injected him with a revive; it would be best for the Avatar to remain unconscious for now.

From the stands, Emry groaned and rubbed a bruised knee. Being a steel-type, the outskirts of the Earthquake had affected her about as much as the normal humans. The blonde looked back at the battlefield, a hand flying to her mouth in shock. She paled at the gruesome scene. Solomon quickly deduced the cause of his companion's distress.

[i]"I can sense his aura,"[/i] the Lucario assured. [i]"He is alive, and with proper medical care, the Avatar of Suicune will probably recover."[/i] According to his aura sense, his statements were mostly true.

Vuduin felt a vauge sense of relief that he was already incorpreal, as it made the wave of rock and shaking ground had no affect on him, other than being mildly intimidating. Goodness Rebecca was terrifying, not that he was lookng at her anymore, given her somewhat undignifed current state. Not that she minded he knew, she probably couldn't care less but that wasn't the point. Such an odd battle this, decided more by character than anything else. He felt a flash of alarm as Kaze was ragdolled but the staff seemed remarkably prepared to deal with it, rushing him into safety quickly. Hopefully another attack like that didn't happen, otherwise the area might be in danger.

Alain jumped to his feet as he watched Rebecca fly backwards and land on her feet. He materialised another dark pulse, only to see her raise her glowing arm. In half a second, he realised what she was doing.

That was far too late.

The shockwave smashed into him, launching him backwards through the air. He must have spun a few times, befpre managing to get himself upright in the air, using his wings. The claws would shred him if he got hit, so he rose into the air, making sure she couldn't run and jump to get him. 

He needed to finish this fast. He was starting to get tired, and with his fragility, he would go down easy to another powerful hit. He clapped his hands together, forming another ball of energy, which slowly began to almost seep into his wings, like water on his feathers. Soon, his wings and his entire body were glowing.

Watching the other Avatar spiral through the air, Rebeca's eyes narrowed, the usually molten amber irises taking on a silver sheen. Up above, a matching silver light traced a sizable circle in the ceiling, and with a loud cracking sound, a three meter wide chunk tore itself free and plummeted towards the stadium floor. As fell, the chunk continued to break up into smaller pieces, like stone buckshot, except this seemed to home in on the floating Alain.

"OBLIVION WI..."
A chunk of rock struck Alain in the shoulder. A massive beam shot out from him, but the rock had thrown off his aim, making it carve a trench across the arena not half a metre from Rebecca. Struggling to right himself in midair, he was able to land on his feet.
He was grounded. All he could do now was go all out. He charged, turning his wings to steel once again, with one cutting towards her chest while his other hand grabbed at her arm. Partcially to stop her hitting him again, partly to drain her faster.

Rebeca saw stars as the hard wing slammed into her chest. She staggered back for a moment. But the Avatar of Groudon was a fighter, and this battle was not over yet.

With her right arm pinned, she lifted a foot, as if she were about to strike back with another Earthquake. But instead, she put her remaining strength into a crackling uppercut of a Thunder Punch into Alain's chin.

Alain hit hard and fast, ignoring the pain in his back as he struck with metal wings and fists as fast as he could. He could win this; He knew it. He had been beaten a lot before and had a surprising ability to ignore pain. Of course, it would come back with a vengeance eventually.

He hit again, striking her in the torso...
Which he realised was mostly uncovered. He turned bright red, and for a second, he was back in the restaurant, his shyness overcoming him.
It only lasted a split second, but in that split second, he moved his gaze slightly up a bit.

It was enough.  He didnt see her move her arm until it was too late, and felt her fist smash into his chin, blasting a current of electricity through his entire body as he was thrown up into the air and down again, landing on his back. Slowly, he scrambled to his feet.

"I...m...still....not...done..." He groaned, raising a hand, dark power beginning to form in it...

...and then proceeded to fall face down in the dirt.

More rumbling, more rocks falling, and everything finally fell silent as Alain lay defeated on the ground. So that was the end of things hm? Well to be honest Vuduin wasn't sure how to feel about it. This tournament had been the oddest mix between sparring and fighting to the death for victory, something he'd been unable to prepare his mindset for. Ah well, it had been an interesting experience. He wondered what would happen next and looked to the mayor and Justine expectantly.