The arena shook so violently that even those in the stands could hardly remain afoot. Jagged spears of earth rose in waves, striking all Pokémon on the ground repeatedly for the entirety of the quake. Once the shaking ceased and the dust scattered, only two remained standing, albeit barely.
While the announcer went about describing the ongoing events fanatically, two figures gazed down upon the catastrophe of an attack with casual interest.
"Sir, this seems to be playing out just as we'd thought," Queen spoke to her companion in the sky.
"Like It would go any other way," James rolled his eyes. "Hydra would've probably blown a gasket if Rumlow allowed the Captain to advance to the finals. They wouldn't miss such a prime opportunity to snub the person who caused them so much trouble back in the day, even better it’s in front of the entire world."
Queen chuckled as she pointed towards the western side of the coliseum, "That sorry excuse for an AI in New Jersey is there in the stands right now. Look how smug he is over such a little thing, those people sure are petty."
"It's human nature my dear," James laughed alongside her, "the higher people view themselves on the totem pole, the more likely they are to become irate over perceived slights. Much more so when an entire organization is involved."
"Hmm," the AI hummed in agreement before switching topics. "Do you wish to play the trailer after this round instead? I don't believe the finals will be able to draw in as big of a crowd as this one."
"Yes," he nodded with a hint of excitement, "I'm eager to see their reactions. I have no doubt that all the researchers sent into the game world are disappointed by the fact that most technologies in Pokémon are either nonrealistic or unachievable in their universe."
James smiled as he glanced down towards the stadium and the millions of ghosts floating excitedly around it. The battle below had progressed rapidly into its final climax and looking at the crowd, it was as if he could see a fuse rapidly burning towards its final destination, "Our next world however, will undoubtedly blow their minds."
•••••••••••
"It looks like Empoleon's Ice Beam was enou- NO WAIT! ZYGARDE HAS MANAGED TO HANG IN THERE AND KNOCKED OUT MISS SHURI'S REUNICLUS!" the emcee was nearly hoarse from shouting as the crowd shot up from their seats.
They couldn't help it, this was just too thrilling, in their minds it was as if they were seeing little David's fighting against a massive Goliath or the Greek God's battle against the Titans. Such a spectacle plucked the heartstrings of everyone watching and they just couldn't sit still anymore.
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"It seems Roger's impromptu plan has paid off and Machamp has taken advantage of the chaos to finish charging up a Focus Punch! Rumlow may be done for, but what a showing it-," the announcer paused upon seeing how the status hologram hadn't indicated any new changes.
Looking down upon the arena, the announcer's eyes nearly bulged out of his sockets as he spotted a small, inconspicuous crimson band marked with yellow flames, wrapped around the red 'wing' of Zygarde, "I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! RUMLOW ACTUALLY EQUIPPED HIS POKÉMON WITH A FOCUS BAND, AND IT PROC’ED! IN ALL MY YEARS, I'VE NEVER SEEN SUCH AN ITEM PULL THROUGH IN A MATCH OF THIS LEVEL! WHAT LUCK, WHAT DARING, WHAT SHEER GALL MUST RUMLOW POSSESS TO PULL THIS OFF?!?"
As the crowd went wild at the revelation, the announcer had to wipe the sweat from his brow and take a drink of water to sooth his aching throat. He was just your normal Champion, this amount of yelling was just too much for him.
On the arena floor, Rumlow was unknowingly mimicking the emcee's actions as the thought of the consequences for failing to take down Rogers briefly terrified him. Luckily, the item he'd equipped his Pokémon with weeks ago and completely forgotten about, had saved his hide.
Regathering himself, he stared down the bane of his organization and flashed him a cruel smirk as he gave his Pokémon what would likely be his final order of the tournament, "Zygarde, Outrage."
He'd tested it before, while no one could control where a mindless dragon would attack, it almost always charged for the closest thing in its proximity. Just his luck, Roger's Machamp had recently punched it in the gut and stood mere feet before Zygarde's now bloodshot eyes.
With a cry of primal rage, the titanic dragon lunged at its opponent. Its limbs flailed wildly upon the Fighting type Pokémon, pounding it into the earth until its trainer was forced to call it back to save its rapidly fading life.
Mere seconds was all it took before a resounding chime went off throughout the arena, signaling the first elimination of the semifinals.
"Empoleon, Ice Beam!"
"Come out Liepard, use Fake Out!"
Alas, before Zygarde could let out a roar of victory, it was slammed by attacks from both sides, leading to yet another chime followed swiftly by trumpets, dums, and flutes, which announced the end of the match.
"There you have it folks, despite the odds against him, Rumlow managed to knock Steve Rogers out of the match before going down!" announced the emcee over the thunderous crowd. "Truly, I have no doubt that this battle will be remembered by all those here today for decades to come! Even in all my years as the Hoenn League Champion, it's rare to witness such a scene of endurance!"
Somehow, the cheers of the spectators managed to grow even louder, as if agreeing with the announcer's words. Almost no one seemed to care anymore about how he was berated by the Pokémon God at the beginning of the round as, despite Brock's supposed 'crimes,' everyone could respect what he managed to pull off.
Even down upon the devastated battlefield, Tony, Steve, and Shuri, all looked at Brock with some newfound respect as they weren't sure they could've pulled off the same. Sure he hadn't even come close to defeating them all, but taking down five Pokémon on his own while the three of them combined could only manage one a piece, was worthy of such a gaze.
"Well folks," called the announcer as the cheers began to die down. "Let's hear it for our two finalists, Tony Stark and Miss Shuri!"
The stadium erupted once again.
"IRON PENGUIN! IRON PENGUIN! IRON PENGUIN!" the fans of Tony were undoubtedly the loudest.
"WAHH! We love you Shuri!!"
"Rumlow rocks! Zygarde was so awesome!!" was on the lips of all the youth above.
“You were cool too Steve! Machamp is my favorite!”
"Hail Hy-*cough* Zygarde! Hail Zygarde! Hail Zygarde!" even one short, stubby man cried in excitement.
Like that, Marvel’s first ever Pokémon Multiplayer League Tournament semifinals came to a close. However as people began to get up to depart the stands, little did they know that the day was far from over.